Rebirth of the Northern Giants

Among the officers and soldiers of Wu Yi's army driving the cattle, there was the head of the bullpen, and the other soldiers next to him laughed and said, "Cowshed, you've really become a cowherd."

The head of the bullpen could only have a helpless wry smile. He had protested for a long time against the task ordered by his superiors.

Soldiers of the Wu Yi Army divided the herd of cattle into four or five teams, with about [-] cows in each team. Hang firecrackers behind and light them.

The crackling sound shook the herd of cows, and the pain from the chrysanthemum bursting from the rear made the cows start to go crazy and angry, and they rushed forward one after another, and they entered the German minefield not long after.

The cattle ran about and stepped on landmines, which caused explosions one after another. The cattle that were not injured by the explosion ran around in fright, but eventually they all fell on the road ahead and died heroically.

Philip was dumbfounded, because the minefields were relatively open and far away from the German trenches, and they were not within the range of the rifles. They could only stare blankly, watching the soldiers of the Wu Yi Army advance step by step.

Every time a batch of cattle was sacrificed, the soldiers of Wu Yi's army stepped forward, set up a fire, and set up a barbecue to roast the beef until it was tender and tender, and the aroma wafted far away.

The German soldiers watched from a distance and swallowed. Birds had already faded out of their mouths after not eating meat for a long time.

A German soldier finally couldn't bear it anymore, jumped up holding a gun, and shouted: "The warrior of the Qing Dynasty on the opposite side, I am willing to pay for your beef. Please make a price."

A soldier of the Wu Yi Army, who knew German, also stood up with a smile and replied, "Come on, boy, let's barter, as long as it is valuable on your body, you can exchange it."

The German soldier was very happy, and immediately reported to the second lieutenant Philip, asking to go to buy beef.

Philip stared at him for a long time, and then said aloud, "Remember to bring me a piece of thigh meat!"

Volume 91 The Wind and Cloud in the Capital Chapter [-] The decisive battle between the Chinese and German troops

The personal communication between the Chinese and German soldiers did not affect the atmosphere of the war between the two armies. Well, it's just that there is an extra plot of heroes cherishing heroes between the soldiers on both sides.

But when the frontline armies of the two countries were about to explode, Hai Jing, the German minister in the capital, wanted to continue blackmailing the Qing government. Hai Jing led all the staff of the German embassy into the gate of the prime minister's office. Rong Lu, Minister of Military Aircraft Li Hongzhang, etc. were all there, and Hai Jing asked the interpreter to read a note full of wild words:

Your Majesty and Excellencies Ministers and Ministers:

In the name of our government, I declare to you that Jiaozhou Bay belongs to Germany.Originally, Germany did not need to negotiate further with China, because no country in the world would help China regain Jiaozhou Bay.

However, the Chinese army attacked the troops stationed in Qingdao and the warships blocked Jiaozhou Bay. This is a provocation to our empire. Considering our traditional friendship with China, we chose to negotiate and sign an agreement.

Doing so protects China's reputation.Our request is expressed in the most modest manner, that we do not seek territorial cession, and recognize that this area continues to belong to the Emperor of China.Our request is only to rent this small space.

If you accept our agreement, in Europe people will say: a country as powerful as Germany must also take into account the wishes of China, they have only leased a small area, and they are very good at evacuating most of the occupied areas.As a friend of China, I urge you to choose the road ahead at this critical moment.

The Emperor of China should hand over Jiaozhou Bay to Prince Henry as soon as possible and stop the attack.At present, the prince is leading the imperial fleet to Jiaozhou Bay, and China should make a decision before then.

After Hai Jing finished speaking, he ignored the reactions of the powerful officials of the Qing Dynasty, and led the staff of the German embassy out of the prime minister's office proudly.

The ministers of the Zongli Yamen were stunned, with different expressions on their faces. Gui Ziliu's face was ashen.

Seeing Hai Jing's arrogance and ferocious look, Sun Yuwen, Minister of the General Administration of Good Death, threatened him with force, showing fear on his face and fear in his heart.

He walked up to Prince Gong and said: "My lord, Germany is powerful. Should we first stop the front-line attack as requested by the Minister of Germany? We are not sure of war, but we are sure of peace. We will start negotiations with victory. Qingdao is a tiny place with a population It’s not much, and it’s okay to rent it to the German army.”

Prince Gong was so angry that he pointed at Sun Yuwen's nose and scolded: "You, you, you also tried your best to seek peace in the Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-]. Now the situation in Shandong is very good, and you also seek peace. Are you an official of the Qing court or a Western country? officials."

Sun Yuwen didn't dare to speak, and thought in his heart: I'm also thinking about Qing Dynasty, am I afraid that Germans won't let it go?

Prince Gong was furious, and because he had just been humiliated by the German minister Hai Jing, he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood, his clothes were bright red, piercing his eyes, the surrounding ministers were in a panic, and they came forward to persuade him to excuse him.

Li Hongzhang glanced at Sun Yuwen, and said to the surrounding ministers: "Laishan, you can't say that. Although Germany is strong, our Qing Dynasty is not bad. Now Wu Yi's army has surrounded the German army in Qingdao. It will be defeated soon. Although Haijing said The German fleet went to China, but according to the information I got, the Germans were just empty words and intimidation, and no real action. As long as our Qing army captures Qingdao as soon as possible and annihilates the German army in China, I believe that the German army will no longer ask for cession Jiaozhou Bay."

Prince Gong breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Shaoquan is reasonable, but the Germans scare you like this with a few words? The Qing army is working hard in front, not giving up an inch of land, but you are here thinking of peace. When the news spreads, what do you want the soldiers on the front line to think about? Who else will contribute to the court in the future? Order Nie Shicheng and Ye Zhikui to end the war as soon as possible."

Rong Lu hurriedly said: "My lord, please rest assured. Ye Zhikui is my blessed general of the Qing Dynasty. He is both wise and brave. After the servant returns, he will be ordered to step up the offensive and take Qingdao in one fell swoop. Stop the mouths of the Germans."

After Ronglu left, Guizi Liucai stood up tremblingly with Li Hongzhang's support, but his eyes were full of ashes. Li Hongzhang saw it and thought to himself: This is the last man of the Manchu royal family in the Qing Dynasty who understands. , it seems that I will die soon, who will I, Li Hongzhang, draw closer to in the future?

Not to mention that not long after Prince Gong returned, he became seriously ill and his soul returned to nine days away. Before he died, Prince Gong took Guangxu's hand and said convincingly: "I heard that Kang Youwei, a Juren in Guangdong, advocated radical reforms. Please be careful. Don't trust villains." The most intelligent and capable person in the royal family of the Qing Dynasty at that time died of illness in the palace full of regrets and infinite worries about the future of the Qing Dynasty.

It is only said that Nie Shicheng and Ye Zhikui agreed with Ronglu's telegram, but they may change if Germany expands the war, or other Western powers take the opportunity to intervene.

After a whole day of cleaning up by the generals of Wu Yi Army, the German minefields were basically rendered useless.Although there are still scattered landmines, they are irrelevant to the overall situation.

In the early morning of April 4th, the sky was clear and there was no strong wind. Sun Wanling's troops began to attack the outer positions of the Qingdao Fort. The two sides launched a fierce gun battle, which opened the prelude to the war.

In the end, the German army took advantage of the terrain and repelled several attacks by the vanguard of the new Shandong army such as Sun Wanling. However, this move tested the firepower of the German army's various hidden trenches and defenses.

Seeing this, Ye Zhikui and Nie Shicheng decided to use the force of thunder to attack the German fort positions.

At noon, the German soldiers in the three forts in Qingdao had just finished their lunch when they saw six hydrogen balloons slowly rising from the enemy's position, and there was a commotion involuntarily.

An Meng's face changed drastically when he received the news. He didn't expect that the Qing army had such a secret weapon. This time they landed in a hurry, and they didn't prepare any weapons against the sky. He could only pray to the emperor to let the Qing people's hydrogen balloon be blown away by the wind. up.

The Wu Yi Army's infantry and engineering grenadiers are also ready to launch a fierce offensive against the outer positions, with snipers interspersed and hidden among them. Once the heavenly soldiers make a contribution, it will be their turn.

The cavalry was placed behind them, and if the German position was breached, it would be suppressed. The cavalry did not attack first. Because of this kind of fortified battle, the German army fired fiercely and fired machine guns. If they attacked first, they would suffer heavy losses. Reserve troops, waiting for an opportunity.

The positions of both sides were surprisingly quiet before the battle, and they were all watching the hydrogen balloons in the sky slowly flying towards the fort.

Ye Zhikui's flying brigade was divided into three groups, each with two hydrogen balloons to attack a fort. Under the attention of everyone, the heavenly soldiers finally flew to the sky above the German fort. Seeing this, the German soldiers picked up their rifles and machine guns to attack the sky. Strafing, but the range is not enough, not a single hydrogen balloon was hit.

Wang Tiansheng was originally a student who had just graduated from the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy. Because he was bold and careful, he was very fond of hydrogen balloons when he was in the military academy. Sign up, he has a long experience in flying and is skilled in technology.Soon he was promoted to the captain of a hydrogen balloon, in charge of a dozen or so pilots.

Seeing that the bombardier had reached the empty fortress, he asked excitedly in his voice, "Captain, can we drop bombs?"

Wang Tiansheng kept looking down through the aiming device, and when he heard this, he said, "Wait a little longer, Xiao Liu, go a little further to the left."

Pilot Xiaoliu, who controls the direction of operation, hastily controlled the direction and let the hydrogen balloon slowly drive to the left.

Wang Tiansheng raised his hand while looking at it, suddenly pressed down, and shouted angrily: "It's at this time, let go!"

A few bombardiers had already made preparations, loaded the explosives, and waited to be ordered. Hearing this, without any hesitation, they ignited quickly, twisted the button, the mechanism opened, and the bomb fell from the hydrogen balloon with a whoosh.

Everyone looked eagerly at the fast-falling bomb and clenched their fists. This was not a drill, and the tension in their hearts could be imagined.

The first bomb lived up to expectations and fell straight down. It detonated in the center of the German fort position. There was a loud bang. Even the German soldiers who had already hid in the tunnel were thrown out by the violent explosion shock wave and rolled out. It was a mess, bloody and bloody. Four or five soldiers were killed, and the cannon was somewhat damaged.

Seeing this, all the soldiers of the Wu Yi Army cheered high, and their tense mood relaxed. Seeing that Wang Tiansheng had won the first prize, the other hydrogen balloons took aim and started throwing explosives. , Exploded around the fort one after another, only to blow up the German army crying and howling, running around, nowhere to hide, no one knows where the bombs of the Qing Dynasty fell, even Wu Yijun's heavenly soldiers themselves did not know. It's luck. Fortunately, the German fort positions are large enough. No matter how bad the luck is, it will explode inside.

Seeing this, Ye Zhikui ordered Feng Guozhang's artillery team to start attacking. Zhao Ergou had been promoted to battalion officer, but he still did not change his habit of firing artillery himself. gun.

Jiang is still old and hot, and he deserves to be known as the number one gunner in Wu Yi's army. He hit the German front-line fortress, which caused a burst of cheers.

The German rapid-firing cannon turrets are cannons, and the German artillery units are not far behind. The two sides launched a confrontation in an instant. Fortunately, Wu Yi's army was built with all the efforts of the country. Its firepower is equal to that of the German artillery.The artillery team bombarded each other's infantry positions at the beginning, and then directly bombarded each other's artillery positions according to the trajectory of the bombs. Ye Zhikui was heartbroken to see that these artillery were not easy to come by, they were imported. It is hard to say that Germany bought these guns.

After more than ten minutes of artillery battle, Duan Qirui, Song Pinglan and other troop generals issued an order, and more than 3000 soldiers of Wu Yi Army spread across the mountains and plains, launching the strongest charge.Because the German army lacked artillery support, they couldn’t suppress the artillery of Wu Yi’s army, causing the infantry on the front line of the German army to fight directly. , nor can it restore the decline of the German side.

Volume 92 The Wind and Cloud of the Capital Chapter [-] The Final Surrender of the German Army

The decisive battle between China and Germany on April 4 naturally touched the hearts of countless people all over the world.

Guangxu kept walking back and forth in the imperial room, his face full of anxiety, the table was full of various memorials, he couldn't read a word, but kept asking the little eunuch at the door.