Master Yuan, start!

Although he said this, Yuan Xiangcheng became alert in his heart. It was obvious that Guangxu no longer trusted him and wanted to send a military supervisor to keep an eye on him.

However, by this time, Yuan Xiangcheng had already prepared himself mentally. It was now a foregone conclusion that his achievements would surpass his master's.

He is the current Guo Ziyi, who is about to recapture Chang'an City.

And he did not intend to follow Guo Ziyi's example and defame himself, so it was inevitable that he would arouse suspicion.

What's more, after he captured the Eight Banners soldiers in Shengjing City, he took half of them to the Construction Corps on the Sino-Korean border to chop firewood, build houses, turn the soil, and prepare means of production for the people who were crossing the Guandong Pass.

The other half were taken to coal mines across North Korea and became glorious coal miners.

This move did not conceal the news, so it is normal for Seoul to react after knowing it.

After all, although these Eight Banners stood on Cixi's side, they were also considered "Manchus". The Manchus who were once high and mighty have now become "serfs" and "miners" enslaved by the Han and Koreans. This was difficult for anyone to accept.

As my thoughts turned, Yuan Xiangcheng came back to my mind.

"Pack your bags, Huafu, and take the injured soldiers to Jinzhou Prefecture. Leave 2000 more men behind to take care of them. The rest of you, don't worry about your retreat, and head straight south!"

"Yes, Chief Instructor!" Feng Guozhang saluted in reply.

"Send a telegram to Duan Qirui in Lushun. If we can't capture it, then give up and return to Niuzhuang to defend it." Yuan Shikai issued an order to the troops heading south to the Liaodong Peninsula.

Duan Qirui almost set out at the same time as Feng Guozhang, but after Feng Guozhang took Liaoyang City, Lushun was still not taken.

Yuan Shikai could not delay that long, so he could only decide to send Duan Qirui of the First Town to the north to defend Liaoyang and Niuzhuang.

At the same time, except for the necessary personnel to defend the city, the rest of the weapons and personnel of the First Town were all transferred westward, together with the troops of the Third and Fourth Towns who had just arrived at Jinzhou Prefecture, and headed straight for Shanhaiguan.

"Chief Instructor, Shanhaiguan is a narrow place close to the ocean, and Laolongtou Pass is directly in the sea. What should we do if we encounter warship bombardment?" asked Sheng Fei, commander of the Third Regiment of the National Defense Army.

"Warship bombardment?" Yuan Xiangcheng thought for a moment.

This is not impossible. After all, Li Hongzhang's fleet was patrolling the Bohai Sea and might not have dared to fire.

"Try to attack in the middle of the night, when the temperature is lowest and the ice in the Bohai Sea near the coast increases. They won't easily get close to the offshore community.

But if they really open fire, we can just go around and enter the customs. Can he still drive into the mountains?"

...

The next morning, the 3-strong vanguard army of the National Defense Army was fully prepared in Jinzhou City and marched south.

Accompanying them were captured artillery supplies, as well as countless hunting dogs of different colors following behind the army.

The National Defense Army marched south from Jinzhou Prefecture with unstoppable force!

For three consecutive days, they took down the three cities of Ningyuan, Lianshan and Huludao, and all the strongholds along the way surrendered at the sight of them.

The army marched straight to Shanhaiguan.

For a time, the whole country was shaken, the morale of the Zhili army was unstable, and the officials were in panic. As many as thirteen or fourteen court officials resigned.

Inside the capital, a notice with only a few large characters was posted everywhere the next day.

"Lord Yuan is heading straight for Shanhaiguan!"

Chapter 136 Beiyang Dogmatism

When powerful figures from all over the country took action, Yuan Shikai had already arrived at the Shizi River on the northeast side of Shanhaiguan.

After surveying the terrain, he did not launch an attack immediately like he did in the previous cities, but rested on the spot and let the soldiers set up camp in several small forts nearby.

This was the first long-distance march and the first long-term combat since the establishment of the National Defense Force, which was a great test of the leadership skills.

Along the way, some teams suffered too many casualties, some teams consumed too much ammunition, and some teams suffered too many non-combat casualties.

The problems that arise are varied and diverse.

This is a very unreasonable phenomenon. Why do teams with the same equipment and training have different problems?

If so many problems could arise when they were bullying the weak and backward Eight Banners soldiers, what would happen if they were facing the slightly more regular Jiashen Fourth Army, or even the Hunan Army and Huai Army with more advanced weapons and equipment?

So he stopped the team today and discussed from top to bottom why the casualty ratio was too high.

From the three grassroots members to the three middle and senior level members, everyone must express their opinions and give their own suggestions in the big discussion.

After all the discussions, big and small, were over and suggestions were collected, Yuan Shikai was not idle either. He held an impromptu pre-war discussion meeting in front of Shanhaiguan, hoping to really solve the problem of tactical application.

"Comrades, our weapons are more advanced than those of the Eight Banners, and our fighting spirit is also higher than that of the Eight Banners. Why do we make repeated mistakes in several battles and pay a senseless price more than once?"

Yuan Shikai didn't understand. He had clearly hired German instructors to teach Prussian military combat knowledge, and he also tried his best to enforce discipline and obey superiors in the army.

But why do unexpected losses often occur when conducting rapid penetration operations?

"Mingye, Nian Nian has collected the experiences and insights of the grassroots soldiers." After seeing that all the senior combat personnel had arrived, he asked Mingye to come forward and recite them again.

"The first one is from the captain of the fourth squadron of the third battalion of the second regiment of the second regiment of the National Defense Army. It tells the story of the battle to capture Niuzhuang." Ming Ye took out a piece of paper and said loudly:

"Niuzhuang is a small town with light defenses. Our battalion commander is still following the tactics he learned at the Military Academy.

First, the cannons bombarded the city five times from the rear.

Then let the infantry charge at a run,

When the distance was 150 zhang 500 meters, the formation dispersed.

When the distance is 100 zhang (333 meters), crawl and observe or find cover to observe.

At this time, the artillery bombarded again.

After waiting for the bombing to be over, they would advance to an effective range of 70 zhang (about 200 meters), then start shooting and look for opportunities to charge.

If the enemy's firepower is too strong and the charge is hindered, then bomb again."

Ming Ye read out the items one by one, and the generals below listened attentively.

This was the infantry tactics taught by German instructors at the Incheon Military Academy. The soldiers were very familiar with it, so they nodded repeatedly as they listened.

Wagner, the German instructor invited by Yuan Shikai, had participated in the Franco-Prussian War and was a staff officer of the General Staff of the Kingdom of Prussia. During an inspection of the front line, his left leg was broken by an accidental artillery shell and he had to retire.

Later, he was hired by Li Hongzhang to come to China to teach the Huai Army, but was later invited by Yuan Shikai to train the Jiashen Right Army.

During the Franco-Prussian War, the Prussian army's fighting method was to launch an artillery attack first, and then the infantry deployed a skirmish formation under the cover of artillery fire, took advantage of the terrain to leap forward, and finally destroyed the opponent with a fierce attack.

However, due to the ever-changing battlefield situation, there was no effective communication between the soldiers in the front and the artillery positions in the rear, and their own artillery fire could easily accidentally injure the soldiers sprinting in the front.

When Wagner was in Europe, he often reflected on the Prussian army's combat methods and tried to find room for improvement.

9 But in Germany, a country with strict hierarchy, his opinions as a non-Junker aristocratic staff officer from the Saxony Corps were not taken seriously at all.

After Li Hongzhang hired him, he only asked him to do some work on military regulations and logistics preparations, and did not allow him to interfere in military training at all.

As for command, the Huai Army often formed their own battalions. During wartime, no one could command them except the commanders of each battalion.

It was not until Yuan Shikai was training a new army in Tianjin that Wagner was able to implement his improved tactics in the Jiashen Right Army, a more complete skirmish line tactic of the Prussian army.

4. The first round of attack is bombing, advancing, dispersing, and observing.

After san finished observing, the second round of attack started again with bombing, advancing, shooting and charging.

3. If the enemy's firepower is too strong and you cannot rush forward, then repeat the second round until you can rush forward.

Wagner deliberately increased the observation time based on the Prussian skirmish tactics and formed an iron order:

The rear artillery is not allowed to fire before the 10-minute observation time expires.

This change greatly reduces the possibility of accidental injuries and also gives soldiers charging on the front line more time to find weak points in the enemy's firepower or find better cover.

Later, this combat method was summarized by Yuan Xiangcheng as the eight-step tactics of bombarding scattered views and bombarding shooting.

From top to bottom, everyone in the Jiashen Right Army believed that the Eight-Step Tactics was the culmination of Prussian military tactics, so they naturally took it as a guiding principle and studied and practiced it diligently.

But now, as Yuan Xiangcheng listened to the combat experiences of the grassroots soldiers, he had a different opinion in his mind.

Mingye continued to read:

"The battalion commander has implemented the eight-step siege tactics taught in school, such as bombarding scattered temples and charging into the city walls, very well. However, I feel that attacking Niuzhuang doesn't require such elaborate tactics.

After the first bombing, I saw that the defenders of Niuzhuang had retreated back into the city. When I rushed to the position and waited for an opportunity to observe, I found that there was no one defending in front.

I thought we could completely give up the second round of artillery fire and charge directly, but the battalion commander stubbornly decided to fire another round.

966-7?9102?5?digit?

Although we successfully captured Niuzhuang, I believe we consumed an excessive amount of ammunition and it cannot be considered a perfect siege."

The first report was read quickly, and the soldiers below looked at each other in confusion.

Because it was written by a soldier from the Second Regiment, Feng Guozhang quickly raised his hand to indicate that he wanted to speak, but Yuan Xiangcheng did not agree and instead let Mingye continue reading.

"The second one is from the First Battalion of the First Town Artillery, during the attack on Ninghai Fort."

"The third one is from the third town..."

"The fourth..."

The true feelings of the grassroots soldiers were read out, and more and more problems were exposed.

When attacking Liaoyang, Cao Kun's artillery team was surrounded by the Eight Banners cavalry. Feng Guozhang could have set off earlier, but he insisted on waiting until his side suffered heavy casualties before showing up. His purpose was only to encircle and annihilate more Eight Banners cavalry. However, the most important goal of the Battle of Liaoyang should be to capture the city of Liaoyang.

Cao Kun was the same. After the Eight Banners took the bait, he could have simply abandoned the gun carriages and let the soldiers move quickly, but he insisted on dragging those bulky artillery pieces back. Those artillery pieces were short of ammunition and would be completely useless in the short term. They were like hollow rocks, but he still stubbornly refused to give up.

Although Feng Guozhang and Cao Kun finally won the Battle of Liaoyang, if the support and supplies had arrived later, the damage would probably have been more than that.

￥863 paint 7+823 filter

There is also Duan Qirui. The military order issued by Yuan Shikai asked him to lead his troops from Andong to capture Lushun. At the beginning, everything went smoothly. He led the army all the way along the coastline.

However, after encountering obstacles in Ninghai Town in the north of Lushun Peninsula, he did not have any idea of ​​​​flexibility and chose to attack relentlessly. He did not realize that the overall purpose of this expedition was to capture Beijing, not to capture Lushun. This led to him wasting a lot of ammunition and supplies when attacking Lushun, and hundreds of bodies were left in vain during several sieges.

"Have you finished listening?" Yuan Xiangcheng asked with his eyes closed and looking up at the sky. At this moment, he finally understood why the National Defense Army had various problems.

"I've heard it." The sparse voices of the soldiers sounded one after another, and they were obviously not in high spirits.

Before we fought all the way to Shanhaiguan, everyone was extremely excited, even a little inflated.

Whether it's the Eight Banners or the Royal Army outside the Great Wall, capture them all!

But after listening to the problems summarized by officers and soldiers from various towns, they also realized where the problem lay.

Yuan Xiangcheng opened his eyes and said, “If you were training troops in various provinces, or the Xiang and Huai armies, you would definitely be praised by your superiors for your strict discipline and hard training.

But for those soldiers who shoulder the responsibility of national defense, my assessment is that you are too rigid, too dogmatic, and too inflexible!

Seeing Yuan Xiangcheng's criticism, even Feng Guozhang and Cao Kun, who had captured Liaoyang City in one day, lowered their heads.

Both of them had been envied by their colleagues, who congratulated them in advance on their promotions.