The sun never sets

Lin Yongchang's Japanese has reached LV4 level, so teaching his subordinates a few sentences in Japanese is not a problem.

The battle ended quickly, with 41 Japanese soldiers surrendering, which was not unexpected by Lin Yongchang. After taking Tianjin, more than Japanese prisoners of war were captured, but only or so of them surrendered, which was nothing.

After the battle was resolved, Lin Yongchang went to check what was on the carts, and then he found that many of them were loaded with silver. It was fine for him, silver, gold, and various foreign currencies, banknotes, in his eyes were just numbers, but the Mongols were dazzled, and many of them breathed heavily.

The captured Japanese soldiers were also stunned. They only knew that they wanted sports equipment, but the car was packed tightly and sealed. Who could have imagined that it was full of silver? Well, it’s not that no one could have thought of it, but even if they thought of it, they didn’t dare to say it.

Lin Yongchang saw the reaction of the crowd and immediately ordered the cart to be rebuilt. The Japanese army had so much silver in their hands, so didn't the armies of other countries rob even more? What should we do with so much gold, silver and jewelry? We need to find someone we can trust, who is that person?

After much thought, there are not many people to choose from.

Chapter 105: Phased Victory

The Eight-Nation Alliance in North China was divided into two parts. One part was near Beijing, led by the commander-in-chief of the alliance, Alfred von Waldersee, and could advance eastward at any time; the other part was the remnants of the Japanese Fifth Division, which was in a pincer attack.

An entire infantry regiment was lost in Tianjin, and only one squadron of troops was left in Beijing. Most of the remaining troops were lost in several days of fighting. During the retreat, they were constantly attacked by the rebels and were now caught in a pincer attack. Their defeat soon turned into a rout.

After Marshal Lin led his cavalry to attack the fastest baggage train, he then went to attack the commander of the Fifth Division. There was no other way, Yamaguchi Sushin's name was too dazzling, and he was also a division commander. Marshal Lin didn't care about the other baggage trains transporting silver, and he went straight to the Fifth Division's headquarters.

Yamaguchi Sushin's headquarters was usually heavily guarded, but the frontline combat personnel suffered too much loss, a large number of troops were withdrawn, and in the midst of defeat, the troops lost their organization, morale dropped sharply, and the various troops were in chaos. When Lin Yongchang led the Mongolian cavalry to kill, Yamaguchi Sushin had only more than 200 people around him, and more than half of them were civilian staff and officers, and they were eating and drinking, so they didn't even have the strength to resist.

"Line up, line up!"

"Free Fire!"

An officer shouted loudly: "Let the division commander go first!"

Yamaguchi Sushin said sadly: "There are at least thousands of cavalry around, where can we run to?"

"What should I do?"

How did the enemy suddenly appear near the headquarters? Where did the troops on the left and right wings go? Were they wiped out or what? The officers were about to cry. A major drew his samurai sword tremblingly and shouted, "Division Commander, I'll help you!"

"........."

The so-called "kaishakunin" is when a Japanese samurai helps chop off the head when committing seppuku to reduce the pain of the suicide. The muscles on Yamaguchi Motoomi's face twitched. He had never thought about seppuku. What seppuku? That was something that only lower-ranking samurai could do.

Before he could express his agreement or disagreement, someone on the side scolded: "Baga! What nonsense are you talking about? How can the division commander die here? Lieutenant General, please get on your horse and leave quickly!"

Yamaguchi Suchen had no chance to mount his horse. The enemy came too fast and in too many numbers, surrounding the place completely. It was impossible for him to rush to the side of his mount. He was dragged by several officers into the woods beside the road. Some soldiers

The soldiers followed and fled in a panic.

The sound of gunfire continued, and the shouts and screams of the soldiers were getting closer and closer. Suddenly, a horse that lost control rushed over and knocked over several officers in succession. Then there were screams, and then a dozen Mongolians surrounded them. When they saw Lieutenant General Yamaguchi, they were excited and talked a lot.

The two lieutenants roared and drew their sabers, trying to fight forward, but were immediately shot dead. Yamaguchi Sushin stopped the others and said to the enemy: "I am Yamaguchi Sushin! I want to see your general!"

The Mongols could not understand Japanese, but they understood the general meaning. Ulemuji saw that the man in front of him was wearing gorgeous clothes and knew that he had caught a good prey. He and his companions took action, confiscated the weapons of Yamaguchi Sushin and others, and then took these prisoners to see Marshal Lin.

"Sir! I have captured the high-ranking Japanese official!"

Ulemuji excitedly pushed the captive, "Look! I was the first to see him, and I was the one who caught him!"

Lin Yongchang glanced at the old Japanese soldier in the general's uniform and the prisoners of war beside him, then smiled and said to Wulemuji: "You have indeed caught the most juicy prey. What reward do you want? A thousand horses or something else?"

The army is a violent machine, and rewards and punishments must be timely. Lin Yongchang himself does not like luxury, but he has always been generous when building factories and rewarding warriors.

"I don't want a horse!" Ulemuji puffed out his chest and said loudly, "I want to be a high official!"

Lin Yongchang laughed in silence, "You are now a captain of ten men. If you capture the enemy's general, I will promote you to a centurion and give you one thousand taels of silver. What do you think?"

Wuermuji's eyes lit up and he answered loudly, "Okay!"

Lin Yongchang laughed loudly, took off the knife from his waist and handed it to Wulemuji, "I'll give you this knife too!"

The Mongols are generally useless, but the Mongolian cavalry is still very useful. The [Mongolian Iron Cavalry] is much better than the ordinary Mongolian cavalry, and is most suitable for Marshal Lin to open the whole map. Of course, it would be better if the war horses were replaced with tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. The cavalry's ability to attack is very poor, and it is not very powerful against prepared enemies.

However, we haven’t even developed a test model of the tank yet, so it would be thirty years too early to develop the [Armored Torrent].

After Wulemuji and others left, Lin Yongchang asked in Japanese: "Are you Yamaguchi Sushin?"

This was a question that was deliberately asked despite knowing the answer. Those four words were hanging over Yamaguchi Suchen's head. After catching this old devil, Lin Yongchang felt a lot more relaxed, so he asked a nonsense question.

Yamaguchi Sushin's face was pale, and he looked like a completely different person compared to the high-spirited man he was a month ago. He looked at the young man in front of him with a complicated expression, trying hard to maintain his honor as a soldier, "I am Yamaguchi Sushin, and I request to see your supreme commander!"

"Oh, you've seen it."

Lieutenant General Yamaguchi was shocked and blurted out, "Are you Baldy Lin?"

After fighting for so many days, the rebels captured many Japanese prisoners, and the Japanese also captured many people, and tortured them to get a lot of useful information. He knew that the commander of Langfang Railway Station was "Hebei Hero" Wang Qi, and that the biggest leader of the enemy was a fierce bandit called "Lin Baldy".

In Yamaguchi Suchen's mind, Lin Tuzi should be a burly, bearded, evil man, how could he be such a kind-looking, fair-skinned young man? But then he thought again, among a group of murderous Tatars, this young man simply stood out.

"You are General Lin."

Yamaguchi Sushin sighed, took a step back, bowed his head, and said, "I, the defeated general Yamaguchi Sushin, greet General Lin."

He then straightened up and asked, "Has Tianjin really fallen?"

"Yes. More than 2,000 Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner. I didn't kill them."

"........How is General Lin going to deal with us next?"

"Don't worry, you will be given a fair trial." Lin Yongchang laughed, "I have heard a lot about you, Lieutenant General Yamaguchi. I will not forget that your troops were able to maintain relatively good military discipline during the war, and the Chinese people will not forget this either."

Chapter 106 Principles

When Lin Yongchang first heard that the Japanese army had good discipline in North China, he didn't quite believe it. Are there any good people among the Japanese? Of course there are. However, he had always believed that most of the Japanese generals and officers should be shot, and those deceived soldiers should be exiled to Siberia to dig potatoes.

After summarizing some information, he estimated that the Japanese army wanted to leave a good impression of civilization to the great powers. Now Lin Yongchang felt that the reason why the Fifth Division was able to maintain relatively good military discipline was mainly related to the division commander Yamaguchi Sushin. In the Sino-Japanese War five years ago, Yamaguchi Sushin led his troops to capture Weihaiwei, and there was no such thing as the Port Arthur Massacre.

This veteran had always maintained the honor and discipline of the soldiers well, from the Anti-Qing Dynasty War to the Sino-Japanese War and the Eight-Nation Alliance. If someone else had come to the Fifth Division, the situation would probably have been different.

Lin Yongchang returned the saber to Yamaguchi Suchen, and then said with a serious expression: "You have already lost this war. In order to reduce the losses of both sides, I implore your Excellency the Lieutenant General to come forward and ask the surrounding Japanese soldiers to lay down their weapons and surrender. I promise to treat them fairly. They will get food, and their wounds will be

The soldiers will also be treated, and when the war is over, they will be sent back to Japan."

There are still several thousand Japanese troops scattered around, and it will take time to wipe them out. The rebels can now fight defensive battles, but they are not very good at attacking. The most important thing is that destroying the Japanese army is just the beginning, not the end. There are nearly 4 Eight-Nation Alliance troops more than a hundred miles away, so save some energy if you can.

Yamaguchi Sushen was silent for a moment, then asked, "General Lin, do you think you can win?"

"Of course! Foreign devils are also human beings. They will die if they are killed!"

Listening to the bald man's decisive words, Yamaguchi Sushin was a little dazed for a moment, as if he had returned to his youth, when the anti-shogunate patriots and the anti-foreignism faction were killing each other. Had they ever been so passionate and decisive?

"I can't ask the soldiers to lay down their weapons," Yamaguchi Sushin paused for a moment and said, "but you can use the flag of the Fifth Division to persuade them to surrender."

"Thank you."

Yamaguchi Sushin smiled bitterly and shook his head. He thought there was nothing wrong with his command, but he still lost miserably. Since he lost, he should be aware of his loss. Most of the soldiers of the Fifth Division were recruited from near Hiroshima, and they were his fellow villagers. It was fine to cut off the tail and survive when he was defeated, but now that the victory or defeat was determined, there was no need to make any more unnecessary sacrifices.

He also had another consideration in mind. If these Chinese troops could really defeat the main force of the Eight-Nation Alliance, it would make him and the Japanese army not so incompetent. Even the genuine powers had failed, so how could Japan be an exception? Did they think they were stronger than the British Empire and Germany, which had the world's number one army?

On the way to meet up with Wang Qi, Lin Yongchang heard Yamaguchi Sushen talk a lot about the Eight-Nation Alliance, including its organization, weapons, logistics, the personalities of its generals, etc. Yamaguchi Sushen said that these were all what he and his officers had observed and inquired about, and they might not be necessarily accurate.

"Thank you again, Your Excellency Lieutenant General."

Lin Yongchang turned around and introduced, "This is our army's deputy commander-in-chief. He will be in charge of your Excellency the Lieutenant General and your country's soldiers in the future. This is Lieutenant General Yamaguchi Motoomi of the Japanese Army's Fifth Division."

Wang Qi was tall, with broad shoulders and a square face, which made him look calm. This was what Yamaguchi Sushin imagined an enemy general to be like. He saluted the other party, and Wang Qi returned the same courtesy. Although the two commanded their troops to fight bloody battles on the battlefield, they had no hatred, but instead admired each other.

"Time is of the essence, so I'll keep it short."

After Yamaguchi Suchen was taken away, Lin Yongchang told Wang Qi about the several million taels of silver that had been seized, and said there would be more to come. "I don't feel comfortable leaving so much money to others, so I can only let you go. You must hurry up with logistics, arms production, military academies, and intelligence. Also, keep an eye on the progress in Taiyuan. If there are any problems along the way, remember to notify me as soon as possible."

Wang Qi shook his head repeatedly, "I'm afraid that won't work. You can't let me manage both money and local affairs. Besides, I don't know anything about building a factory. Can you find a few more people to do the work?"

He was not greedy for military power, and Lin Yongchang knew that he was not. "It is easy to get thousands of soldiers, but it is difficult to get a general. I am not confident about the others either."

"Now that you mention it, I remember someone." Wang Qi said to the guard outside the door, "Go and call Captain Wu of the 21rd Company of the 3st Regiment over here."

He explained to Lin Yongchang, "Wu Xiucai is the one who can really fight. The others are brave but not smart enough. Only this man is both smart and brave. If he thinks about it carefully, maybe he can stand on his own."

"You were the company commander just now, how come you've become a scholar now?"

"He used to be a scholar, and now he is a company commander. Is it true that scholars are not allowed to be company commanders?"

"Haha, that's true."

There were footsteps outside the door, followed by a loud voice, "Report, Wu Peifu, the commander of the 21rd Company of the 3st Regiment, has arrived!"

Lin Yongchang turned around and saw a sturdy young man with a shaved head. "Are you Wu Peifu?"

Wu Peifu had never met Marshal Lin, but he had heard many rumors about him. He looked straight ahead and said loudly, "Yes!"

"I heard that you used to be Nie Shicheng's subordinate?"

"Yes!"

Lin Yongchang had heard of Wu Peifu's name. It was said that he was very famous and had a bad temper, but that was all in the "past". Wu Peifu was still a young man. "General Wang said that you are both wise and brave. What do you think of this evaluation?"

Wu Peifu puffed out his chest and said loudly: "I think this evaluation is very good!"

"Hey, I'm still panting when I tell you you're fat!"

Lin Yongchang reached out and punched Wu Peifu twice on the chest. "But I like it!"

He now had [natural power], and he almost knocked Wu Peifu down with two light punches. Lin Yongchang ignored Wu Peifu's distorted face, turned around and asked Wang Qi, "To what level are you going to promote him?"

"battalion commander."

"Okay, let him be a battalion commander first, and if he performs well, he can continue to improve."

Wu Peifu's face showed joy, "Thank you for the promotion!"

He was a low-ranking officer under Nie Shicheng, a personal soldier. After joining the rebel army, he was promoted to battalion commander after a few battles. Wu Peifu was not yet the domineering Marshal Wu in the future.

He was overjoyed to be promoted so quickly.

Originally, he was thinking of running away. What future would there be for him to be with the Boxers? But now he was shaken. The ability to fight is the hard truth. The rebels have eliminated so many Japanese, and they may not be unable to create more glory. When Wu Peifu was studying, his grades were mediocre. He read a lot of miscellaneous books. I remember that the famous general of the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, General Fubo, Ma Yuan, once said this: In today's world, the king chooses his ministers, and the ministers also choose their kings.

What this means is that in troubled times, you must follow the right people. If you stand on the wrong side, the consequences will be terrible.

Moreover, the situation of the rebels was different from what he had thought before. It seemed that they could really accomplish something.

"Don't thank me. Merits are rewarded, mistakes are punished. This is the rule in the army and also the principle I follow in life. It's your own ability that allowed you to stand out!"

Chapter 107 Digging a Hole

After hearing that tens of thousands of Tatar cavalry appeared around, Alfred von Waldersee was not afraid, but he was a little nervous. He sent a large number of people to investigate the situation and prepared the army to attack. After a whole day of alert, no battle broke out. The so-called tens of thousands of Tatar cavalry disappeared without a trace.

Marshal Waldersee was relieved, but then he became suspicious. Many places were indeed attacked, and the French had an artillery position kicked out. These things were not false. There must be a Tatar cavalry nearby. The question was, where did that cavalry go?

Before he could figure it out, bad news came. Marshal Waldersee was not worried about Tianjin being besieged. But soon the news was updated to "Tianjin fell".

"How can this be?"

Marshal Alfred von Waldersee jumped up and asked, "How could those mobs capture Tianjin?"

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!"

"Sir, the city wall of Tianjin has been demolished."

"That's impossible. There are several thousand soldiers in the city. How could they be lost so quickly?"

But no matter how Marshal Waldersee waved his arms, the facts were already here, and he had no choice but to believe it. After a long time, Waldersee woke up from his frenzy. He thought of the Yamaguchi Night Raid Group: ⑥⑨④九,３⑥一③Wu Suchen's previous warning, and he felt a little unhappy. The Japanese were just students of Germany, but the students were smarter than the teacher?

Humph! Waldersee thought maliciously in his heart: Let the Japanese bleed more first, and then I will appear as a savior and teach those Japanese how to fight!

It doesn't matter if Tianjin is lost, we can just take it back. Waldersee firmly believed that once his army arrived, he would be able to crush the Chinese resistance. He never thought that he would not be able to take Tianjin, nor did he consider being defeated. What a joke, my great German Army is invincible!

The next day, the coalition army began to set off slowly and reluctantly. The soldiers were exhausted and followed the carts carrying large and small bags. The carts were filled with looted gold and silver treasures, and many exquisite utensils were stained with blood, but they still could not hide the love of humans for them.

After the conquest of Beijing, everyone from Marshal Alfred von Waldersee to the lowest soldier became rich. The commander and generals may have other ideas, but the soldiers just want to go home and have fun. This land is full of people who have ill intentions towards them, and people often disappear inexplicably, so it is better to go back home.

Alfred von Waldersee also made a lot of money for himself, but he thought more and further than the soldiers. He captured the enemy's capital and then signed various unequal treaties, either ceding land, or paying compensation, or certain privileges, and more often taking all the benefits he could.

But this Qing Dynasty... The Queen Mother of the Jin Dynasty died with the Emperor. Who should they ask for money? Collect taxes themselves? The cost of collecting taxes is so high that the great powers have long stopped doing this. Annex directly? I would like to think about it, but I am afraid that I will have indigestion after swallowing it, and the other great powers will not agree.

How many parts should China be divided into? Waldersee sat in the carriage and thought: His Majesty the Emperor will definitely agree, but the British will definitely not agree to this plan. The French will not agree either. Waldersee decided not to think about it. Those are things that His Majesty the Emperor and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should consider.

The noise outside was getting louder and louder. The carriage had been stationary for a while. Marshal Waldersee frowned, walked out of the carriage and asked, "What's going on? Why did the team stop? What are those Russians doing?"

The guard replied: "The bridge ahead was destroyed by the mob, and the engineers are building a bridge."

"Can't we cross the river somewhere else?"

"Sir, all bridges within 30 miles upstream and downstream are destroyed."

It’s those damn Chinese again!

Waldersee looked around and saw crowds of people everywhere. Many people were talking, and their voices gathered together, making a "buzzing" sound. "How can this look like an army?" Waldersee was so angry that his beard blew up, and he ordered: "Let William and the others manage the troops!"