The sun never sets

On the road of social reform, Lin Yongchang went too fast and too far, so that even people like Wang Qi could not keep up. Land reform was something that rebels and founding emperors of all dynasties would do. The Fubing system and military households were all about the ownership of land. Wang Qi thought that many of the policies strongly promoted by his brother were good, but were the means too drastic? Could he slow down a little? Didn't he say that he wanted to establish a "united front"?

Wang Qi had studied in a private school and knew some truths. A few months ago, he thought that Marshal Lin was not decisive enough and did not kill people thoroughly enough, so many gentry organized militias to counterattack. However, in the past few months, he found that there were many unjust, false and wrong cases on the side of the rebels. Many people casually labeled wealthy businessmen as "local tyrants and evil gentry", "corrupt officials" and "traitors", and then robbed people of their property and killed their entire families.

After seeing those things with his own eyes, Wang Qi felt that what his brother said might not be the truth. Although there are many corrupt officials and local tyrants in the world, the situation has not improved much after the poor people have risen up.

Criticize people who abuse their power.

We are smashing the old world, but can we really create a new one?

Wang Qi did not tell anyone about these things. Now that the enemy was at hand, the most important thing was to fight. So he asked:

"If the worst happens, what are you going to do, brother?"

Lin Yongchang touched his shiny bald head and said, "If the Russians send all their troops to North China, we will send people to the Northeast to establish a base and fight guerrilla warfare with the Russians. The most important thing is to mobilize the masses, especially the countryside, which is our focus. Who has the most people in China? Farmers! If the Japanese and Russians dare to attack us in large numbers, let them see what the vast ocean of the masses is like."

When the big bald man spoke, he had a powerful and commanding demeanor. Wang Qi felt that he was suddenly full of confidence, and all his previous worries disappeared. Every time he began to doubt, as long as he talked to his big brother, he would immediately be full of motivation!

Lin Yongchang continued, "We need to eat one bite at a time and do things one by one. Let's deal with these foreigners in North China first, and then think about the future. I'll leave the old devil Yamaguchi Suchen to you, and I'll take the cavalry out to meet the Westerners."

Wang Qi said: "Okay!"

He did not think there was anything wrong with Lin Yongchang personally leading the troops into battle. Everyone in the rebel army admired Lin's ability to use troops, and Wang Qi was the same. He had to admire him. Throughout history, how many people could raise an army of hundreds of thousands in a year? Well, there were many such people. It took only one year for the Zhang Jiao brothers to raise an army of millions of people and then be annihilated. In terms of heads alone, Lin Yongchang did not seem to be much stronger than those fierce men in history.

But apart from Marshal Lin, there is no one else who dares to fight the foreigners and can win!

Marshal Lin was good at fighting on horseback, governing the people on foot, and smelting steel. In his spare time, he could also write military songs. Military songs are catchy and powerful!

[The Yellow River, the Yellow River, originates from the Kunlun Mountains,

It flows from far away Mongolia into the Great Wall.

Since ancient times, sages and wise men have been born on the bank of this river, standing alone on the embankment with a carefree mind.

Outside the Great Wall, beside the Hetao River, there is yellow sand and white grass, and no one lives there.

I want to get 100,000 soldiers to march to the northwest.

Drink from Wulianghai Lake, ride on Wula Mountain,

I vow not to return until I win. You play the cymbals and blow the trumpets, and I listen to the songs of triumph. 】

The song "Yellow River Song" is full of heroic spirit, but the militiamen prefer the song "Guerrilla Song", "We are all sharpshooters, one bullet can kill one enemy!"

After parting with Wang Qi, Lin Yongchang led the cavalry to penetrate the Japanese front line and attacked a Japanese baggage squadron in Niexin Village. Nearly half of the more than 2,000 [Mongolian Iron Cavalry] carried rifles and easily wiped out hundreds of Japanese devils in the village.

The battle did not last long, but Lin Yongchang discovered many problems. The cavalry was too inefficient to fight a blitzkrieg. Even when facing hundreds of Japanese baggage soldiers, the superior cavalry could not resolve the battle in the shortest possible time. In the end, the cavalry had to dismount and fight on foot to eliminate the stubborn Japanese.

After destroying the Japanese army, the cavalry hurriedly cleaned up the battlefield and burned all the supplies that could not be taken away, especially the ammunition and shells. Less than an hour after the cavalry left, a large group of Japanese infantry rushed over, but they came too late and saw only corpses and raging fires.

Because the whole map was open, Marshal Lin was able to take advantage of the battle without suffering any loss. Even if there were thousands of Japanese soldiers ten miles away, he dared to pull out the teeth of the tiger's mouth. After killing hundreds of Japanese soldiers, Lin Yongchang led the cavalry and left, and then headed west, killing all the small groups of enemies and non-combatants along the way, and destroyed a French artillery position.

The French were still able to fight at this time, but the artillery had few guns. After being approached, the French resisted for a few minutes. After finding that resistance was futile, they wisely chose to retreat. Lin Yongchang sent some troops to chase and kill, and then blew up all the shells and cannons.

Alas, that was the famous Miss 75, the most advanced rapid-fire gun in the world. Lin Yongchang tried to fire two shots, which was very refreshing. But there was no other way. In order to maintain high mobility, he could only say goodbye to the lovely Miss 75.

Chapter 102: Massacre

Why lead cavalry into the enemy's controlled area?

It's to buy time.

The main purpose was to buy time for the main force to rush over from Tianjin and for Wang Qi to annihilate Yamaguchi Suchen's troops. The effect of the "Hundred Regiments Campaign" was so great that the entire Hebei railway was almost stripped clean. Even the section of railway from Tianjin to Langfang was stripped clean.

Lin Yongchang went to attack Tianjin only when he was sure of his victory, but the performance of the Japanese soldiers was beyond his expectations. He thought it would take four or five days to capture Tianjin, but who knew they were finished in two days? If he had known this earlier, he would have kept the railway section in the east first, so that it would be more convenient to transport soldiers, ammunition, food and so on.

When he led his troops to attack Tianjin, other troops had already started to tear up the railway. By the time Lin Yongchang remembered this, it was too late to let the militia put the rails back. Even if the militia gave up the money they had earned, it would be difficult. Marshal Lin offered 30 silver dollars per rail. Even if the officers and soldiers were generous,

Private, but what about the sleepers that were burned?

But then again, it is not wrong to prepare for the worst in war, but it is just that there are not so many wins. Lin Yongchang had to be more cautious in his first encounter with the Japanese army. What if he failed to quickly capture Tianjin and the Eight-Nation Alliance under the city of Beijing decisively turned back? Wouldn't that mean he would be attacked from both sides?

First make yourself invincible, then you can defeat the enemy.

It's not a big deal to tear up the railway, but it's a little troublesome to transport the cannons to the front line, but everything else is fine. Soldiers often struggle with equipment weighing more than ten kilograms, and there are enough animals and horses, and it's not a large-scale maneuver of thousands of miles.

Lin Yongchang led his cavalry to attack lone enemies everywhere. As long as the number of soldiers was less than 200, he would rush up and kill them without hesitation. If there were more than 500 people and their morale was still high, he would not fight. If it was between the two, he would have to think about it.

In addition, many roads and bridges that the militia did not have time to destroy were destroyed.

Because the Mongolian cavalry was so good at catching lone men, the Eight-Nation Alliance reported that they had encountered large groups of Tatar cavalry, which gave the Allied Commander-in-Chief Marshal Alfred von Waldersee a headache, thinking that he had encountered tens of thousands of Tatar cavalry. The other generals of the Allied Forces were also greatly frightened and asked the soldiers to slow down their pace to Tianjin.

After conquering Beijing, the Japanese army looted and fled, while the other armies carried out looting, rape, and organized massacres in the city. While doing these things, the Eight-Nation Alliance also recorded everything.

"The allied forces used to take the captured women, regardless of whether they were good or bad, old or young, and drive them to Biaobei Hutong, where they were made to live in rows of houses and used as official prostitutes. The west end of the alley was blocked to prevent them from escaping. Only the east end was left as an entrance and exit, and people were put in charge, allowing the allied forces to enter and play, and rape and stay overnight at will."

Even Empress Tongzhi's father, Minister of Revenue Chongqi, was not spared. His wife and daughter were detained in the Temple of Heaven and gang-raped by dozens of troops from the Eight-Nation Alliance. After returning, the whole family committed suicide. Chongqi committed suicide by taking poison.

After the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing, they first carried out a three-day massacre. The French army drove the prisoners and civilians into the alleys and then fired machine guns. Within a quarter of an hour, the blocked alleys were filled with blood and no one was left alive. Soldiers from other countries also robbed, raped and killed people at will. Whether officials or civilians, they were no different in the eyes of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

They had conquered the capital of this great empire and so they should have the right to do as they pleased.

After Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled, there was no organized resistance in the city, but the sound of gunfire on the streets did not stop. Within a few days, the people in the city were driven into the streets and killed with machine guns, volleys and bayonets. Men, women, the elderly, children, and even babies were not spared.

The streets were piled with corpses, and the blood was enough to soak the uppers of people's shoes. The Allied soldiers drove the people to dig pits and threw the corpses into the pits. After the corpses were cleared, they killed all the people who dug the pits, and then drove the next group of people in. In Beijing alone, the Allied soldiers massacred more than 100,000 people, not to mention the massacres in other parts of North China.

When the massacre took place, the Eight-Nation Alliance was still reviewing in the Imperial Palace. The troops of various countries assembled in front of the Jinshui Bridge in Tiananmen Square and marched through Tiananmen, Duanmen, the Imperial Palace, and Shenwumen. There were 3170 troops from Russia, Japan, Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and Austria. The Russian military band played the national anthems and music of various countries.

Although Yamaguchi Sushin left with a large army, he still left a small number of troops as a symbol of conquering the capital of the old empire.

The coalition enjoyed the fruits of victory in the capital. If Yamaguchi Sushin had not sent people to ask for reinforcements one after another, and if there had not been news that Tianjin might have fallen, the Eight-Nation Alliance would have continued to kill. Alfred von Waldersee could look down on the Japanese, but he could not watch Tianjin being occupied by rioters.

He assembled the army in a hurry and had just sent out some vanguards for the night attack group: Lu Jiu ④ ⑨, ③ Liu Yi ③ ⑤, when he received news that tens of thousands of Tatar cavalry appeared east of Beijing. The battlefield is often filled with too much self-contradictory and inconsistent information, some of which are true and some are false. Excellent generals can distinguish the true from the false information, and famous generals can go a step further and calculate the enemy's movements clearly, and will not be confused by false news at all.

As for people who open maps like Lin Yongchang, there is a person in history who is very similar to him, that is Huo Qubing, the General of Cavalry and Marquis of Guanjun in the Western Han Dynasty. Huo Qubing was a genius, and others could not learn from him even if they wanted to. Lin Yongchang used a cheat, and others could not learn from him either.

Alfred von Waldersee was a German aristocrat who received a complete military education since childhood. He was definitely not a mediocre or useless person, but was he an excellent general or even a famous general?

Judging from his past experience and his performance in the battlefields of North China, Alfred von Waldersee was definitely not a famous general. Waldersee did not have the outstanding intelligence of Moltke and Schlieffen, but his strength was his personal charm. Therefore, through the operation of power, he greatly increased the military's voice in national affairs such as politics and diplomacy. However, his victory in power struggles again and again finally led to a conflict with the German emperor, and he was dismissed as a result.

In his later years, he finally found an opportunity to lead troops. As an old-school soldier, Waldersee

He emphasized discipline, but after conquering Beijing, he allowed his soldiers to massacre the city, without any awareness of the potential danger. He can't be called a famous general.

Regardless of whether Waldersee was a famous general or not, Lin Yongchang had already decided to chop off his head.

【General: Alfred von Waldersee】

[Firepower 2, Assault 1, Mobility 2, Siege 1]

Chapter 103: Good Fortune Is Hard to Give Up

In Yizhuang, Lin Yongchang met several people who had escaped from Beijing and learned about the massacre of the city by the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Killing, looting, rape and all kinds of crimes will accompany war, but there is a big difference between organized massacres and the spontaneous actions of soldiers. It is really ironic that the Japanese had the best military discipline among the Eight-Nation Alliance, although it was because the Japanese wanted to show a civilized attitude in front of Westerners.

Although he had heard about the tragic events in Beijing, Marshal Lin had no intention of leading thousands of cavalrymen into Beijing. After several days of continuous raids, the results were very rich, but the mounts and replacement horses began to lose weight, and the soldiers were also very tired. Even without these unfavorable factors, he would not take such a small number of people to fight the Eight-Nation Alliance.

A general should not raise an army out of anger. What he wanted was to destroy the Eight-Nation Alliance, not to risk his own life. He left some food for the people who escaped from the capital and told them, "Go to Yi County and be careful on the road."

After saying this, without waiting for those people to thank him, Lin Yongchang left at lightning speed with the [Mongolian Cavalry].

His body rose and fell with the horse's back, the wind whistled in his ears, trees, roads, rivers, everything came towards him, and was quickly left behind. The mount under his crotch gradually became excited. Although it was just a replacement mount, it also grew taller and taller in a short period of time. Instinct drove it to run faster and surpass all its peers, but the master suppressed its excitement, which made it very unhappy, and the breath it exhaled became more and more hot.

Lin Yongchang sensed the desire of his mount and slowly relaxed the restraints on it, so it began to run happily. As the speed increased and the wind became louder, the depression in his heart also dissipated.

I have tried my best, there is nothing to regret.

When this cavalry unit that had caused such a big commotion left, Yamaguchi Susomi was retreating with his remnants.

Two days ago, Lieutenant General Yamaguchi ordered his soldiers to continue the attack. The exhausted Japanese soldiers raised their rifles, formed a not very neat queue, and charged towards Takaba. In the previous battles, the Japanese army relied on hand-to-hand attacks to capture the Chinese positions. This time they still used the same tactics, but this time they had no artillery support, and the defenders were greatly strengthened.

When the Japanese army entered the 200-meter distance, the Maxim and Green guns deployed on the battlefield were pushed out, and the crossfire knocked down rows of Japanese soldiers. The power of machine gun bullets was stronger than that of rifle bullets. The Japanese soldiers who were hit burst into large groups of blood, and the body parts flew up with the blood and scattered everywhere.

The sergeant and the sergeants shouted loudly, asking the soldiers to be braver. But it was useless. The braver the people, the faster they died. Wave after wave of Japanese soldiers rushed forward, and were harvested wave after wave. Soon, an entire squadron of soldiers was wiped out, and the next squadron continued to charge forward, stepping on the bodies of their comrades.

Yamaguchi Sushin, who was watching the battle from the rear, turned pale. He had fought for decades, but he had never seen such powerful firepower and such tragic scenes. If he still had shells, he could use field artillery to destroy the machine gun positions, but he had no shells.

In the current situation, he had no other choice but to throw all the infantry squadrons that had been replenished into the battlefield. The Japanese army was equipped with very few machine guns, but he had seen them before and knew that neither the Maxim nor the Green Rapid Gun could fire continuously for too long, and it was also easy to malfunction.

As long as we continue to increase our troops, we will eventually be able to charge in. But things are not that simple. A few days ago, the enemy only had rifles, and more people were using swords and spears. How come they have such fierce firepower now?

Yamaguchi Sushin knew that his worst fear had happened. After the enemy captured Tianjin, they came with their weapons and ammunition! The enemy got reinforcements! The problem now was no longer about opening the road to Tianjin, but about how to retreat. But before retreating, they had to defeat the enemy in front of them!

After capturing Tianjin, the rebels no longer had to worry about ammunition supply, and the soldiers could fully utilize their tactical advantages. The machine gunners fired one ammunition belt after another until the barrels were burning hot. The Japanese troops in the distance were like wheat, being cut down piece by piece.

While the machine guns were changing their ammunition belts and refilling their water tanks, the Japanese launched a larger-scale assault, and hand-to-hand combat had already begun on several positions. On the flat ground outside the village, a whole brigade of infantrymen was assembled, ready to make the final move and seize victory.

Then the shells fell into the dense formation of the Japanese army.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Orange flames rose, air waves rolled, shrapnel flew, and the screams of the Japanese soldiers were drowned out by the continuous explosions.

The Japanese troops could only hide everywhere in panic; after all, flesh could not fight against steel.

Yamaguchi Sushin closed his eyes in pain, "I should have thought of it earlier! How can we have machine guns but no cannons?"

"Lieutenant General!"

"what should we do?"

"How about... withdrawing back to Beijing first?"

"Baga! That's a strategic shift!"

In 1900, the Japanese army had not yet been enveloped by the fanatical atmosphere of militarism, and among the officers who had learned from Germany, there were few who were stubborn. Seeing that the battle situation was so unfavorable, they naturally thought of a strategic shift. However, many officers also thought that it was too dangerous to retreat in front of the enemy, and what should they do with the stolen money?

After conquering Beijing, the Japanese army looted several million taels of silver and then headed for Tianjin. The war had been going on for the past few days, and the Fifth Division still sent a whole squadron of troops to "protect" the silver. It was not easy to pull it from Beijing, but now it was time to retreat. What should I do with the silver?

Retreating was more dangerous and difficult than attacking, and the enemy also had a large number of Mongolian cavalry. Running away with millions of taels of silver would increase the difficulty.

Yamaguchi Sushomin was reluctant to leave his wealth, and so were his officers and generals. After a brief discussion, they unanimously decided to let the baggage train carrying the silver withdraw first, followed by the headquarters, engineers and other special forces, the infantry and cavalry to hold out for a while and wait for the headquarters, mainly the silver, to leave first.

Chapter 104 Victory

The battlefield is always shrouded in the fog of war, and the information obtained by commanders and generals is always outdated. They need to rely on their imagination to respond to the enemy and our forces on the map. Inexperienced people have no idea what to do, and any response they make may be wrong.

For officers and soldiers, they can only see what their eyes see and hear what their ears hear. Often they will find that there are enemies everywhere around them, and there may be more enemies in places they cannot see. Where are the friendly forces? I don't know. Maybe the messenger will bring some good news, maybe the generals above know, or maybe they don't know either.

Therefore, morale is very important, so it is easier to attack than to retreat. When attacking, officers and soldiers know that they have the advantage and that friendly forces are attacking the enemy together, so their morale is high. On the contrary, officers and soldiers who are retreating will be timid and worry about being abandoned or surrounded by the enemy.

When the offensive and defensive forces changed, the morale of the Japanese army dropped sharply, and the organization became chaotic. Yamaguchi Motoshin retreated decisively, just as he did when he launched the attack. The artillery fire of the rebels did not kill many Japanese soldiers, but only caused a few hundred casualties, which was nothing. There were already 4,000 to 5,000 casualties, so a few extra casualties really didn't matter.

Lieutenant General Yamaguchi ordered the infantry to switch to defense on the spot, and the baggage and artillery units to withdraw first, followed by his headquarters, and those infantry and cavalry that did not engage in fire with the rebels also withdrew. He abandoned the soldiers who were at the forefront.

Wang Qi soon discovered the unusual behavior of the Japanese army. He sent out cavalry to conduct reconnaissance. After confirming that the Japanese army had retreated, he ordered the various troops to pursue them. This allowed the Japanese army to flee for a distance, but it did not have much impact. He had enough cavalry, and his favorite thing to do was to chase and kill the Japanese.

The North China Plain is well connected and has convenient transportation. Except for villages, towns and rivers, there is no place that can stop the horses from advancing. This is one of the favorite terrains for cavalry, second only to the endless prairie. The cavalry chased the fleeing enemies from behind and cut them down one by one in the wilderness with sabers. Sometimes they would encounter Japanese blockades and even lose a lot of men and horses. Then they would bypass them and leave the Japanese blocking troops to the infantry behind.

The overall situation was very good, but Wang Qi also discovered his own shortcomings, that is, the ability to attack was too weak. Before, he had been on the defensive, relying on some elite troops and a large number of troops equipped with cold weapons to inflict great damage to the Japanese army. Now the situation was reversed, and the Japanese blocking troops also caused great trouble to the rebels.

If it weren't for the terrain in North China, the Japanese army might have been able to stop the rebels with just a small number of troops.

When attacking villages occupied by the Japanese, you must use three times the force to take them down, and they must be elite troops equipped with foreign rifles. If you only have cold weapons, it is difficult to defeat the enemy even if you have a ten-fold advantage in force. The Japanese are under siege and have no artillery or machine guns. There are many ways to destroy them. The simplest way is to drag the cannon over. After a few shots, the houses where the Japanese are hiding will be destroyed.

But what if the enemy also dug trenches and was equipped with many machine guns and cannons?

Those who do not plan for eternity cannot plan for the present. Wang Qi was already thinking about how to deal with the armies of the great powers, as well as the Beiyang Army entrenched in Shandong. Although the Beiyang Army had only 10,000 people, it was built in the image of the German Army, and from equipment to tactics, it was exactly the same as the German Army.

If they were on the defensive, Wang Qi was confident that he could stop the Beiyang Army or the armies of the great powers with equal forces. However, war is not just a defensive form. What if the Beiyang Army or the armies of the great powers dug trenches, laid out barbed wire and machine guns, and had many artillery support in the rear?

他暂

I haven't thought of any good solution yet, but I firmly believe that my brother must have a way.

Lin Yongchang led the cavalry eastward again and defeated a group of Japanese troops on their way near the station. This Japanese army was the logistics unit of the Fifth Division. They were pushing dozens of carts and were followed by 50 soldiers with live ammunition. This looked suspicious, so Lin Yongchang took action.

Well, even if these Japanese didn't look suspicious, he would still take action. He loves to pick on the weak.

The Japanese soldiers were exhausted and filled with fear as they hurried on their way. They had never expected that so many enemy cavalry would appear behind them. When the Mongolian cavalry rushed out from the edge of the woods, they were stunned for a moment, and then someone shouted heartbreakingly, "Enemy cavalry!"

The baggage soldiers immediately panicked. They were just logistics personnel, they didn't have much training, and they didn't have many weapons. How could they fight against a large group of cavalry? The infantry squad reacted quickly. Although their morale was low, they immediately took off their rifles and lined up amid the sergeant's shouts.

The Japanese soldiers had no time to deploy their battle formations, and many of them had already entered the stage of hand-to-hand combat before they could even pull the trigger. Theoretically, the Murata rifle plus the long bayonet was enough to deal with the saber, if the number of infantry was large enough and they deployed their formations smoothly.

However, the Japanese army had neither the advantage in numbers nor the ability to deploy their troops. The Mongolian cavalry moved back and forth, shouting slogans such as "surrender your weapons and you will not be killed" and "kneel down and surrender", while cutting down those Japanese soldiers who dared to resist.