Part 6 Chapter 6 Investigation

Time flies, and it is the spring of 1913 in a blink of an eye.

A special train with the Chinese flag rang on the wilderness of the European continent, and after leaving the German border, it entered the French border.

The train carried more than 100 members of the friendly officers of the Republic of China on a steamer from Shanghai, China, to Europe, to conduct "friendly" exchange activities with European countries such as Germany, France, Britain and Austria, and to investigate the current situation of European military.

Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang have formed an indissoluble bond since the Battle of Harubin. After the Sino-Russian War, they were transferred to the garrison military region and continued to cooperate. Now Yang Zhi is the major general commander of the First Garrison Division, and Chen Yiyang is the major general chief of staff.

Looking at the scene flying past the window, Yang Zhi stretched lazily, glanced at Chen Yiyang who was reading a book opposite, and said, "Brother Jiangong, this inspection team will not allow him to take his wife. It has been a month since he came out, but it has been so suffocating. The Germans are too rigid and the itinerary is so tight that French women are different. When we arrive in Paris at night, we will find a place to have fun."

Chen Yiyang couldn't help but smile bitterly, put down the book in his hand and said to Yang Zhi: "Brother Chu Ming, the military region sent us out to conduct an investigation, not to play. Have you forgotten the instructions of the President before leaving?"

Yang Zhi curled his lips and looked at a group of French soldiers passing by far outside the window. He couldn't help but sneer: "If you want to investigate, we have seen the German army today, and actually understood the style of the strongest army in Europe today. What is the French army worth learning from? Besides, our relationship with France has been half-dead in the past few years. If it weren't the British mediation several times, the Chinese and French armies had already fought in Vietnam."

Yang Zhi said the truth. In the blink of an eye, 8 years have passed. In 1912, China's GDP has jumped to the fifth place in the world. Today, China has released data to the outside world. The Army's standing army is 800,000, the navy is 200,000, and the total tonnage is one of the most powerful countries. In the past few years, China and France have been constantly in conflict with Vietnam, and they almost fought. If the United Kingdom had not mediated, the French would have been forced to make some concessions due to the huge pressure from the German-Austrian alliance and gave up the rights and interests of the Vietnamese railway, but I still don't know what would have happened.

The new generation of generals represented by Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang are all militants who have experienced the baptism of the Russo-Japanese War. Most of these people have studied military affairs in Germany, and are basically a bit pro-Germany. In the past two years, the situation in Europe has become increasingly tense. The German government has sent officials to China many times and privately requested alliances. Chen Congyun has always been very vague on this issue. Last year, he signed the "Military Friendship Cooperation Agreement" with Germany and at the beginning of the year he signed the "Secret Sino-British Friendship Agreement" with Britain. This time the delegation came to tour Europe and was said to have some friendly cooperation and exchanges with France.

Yang Zhi wrote his disdain for the French army on his face, sneered twice and said to Chen Yiyang: "Brother Jiangong, the French Army has become a second-rate army since the French-Prussian War. Their army is not as famous as Paris's socialites. Since they have arrived in Paris, they naturally have to see it."

Chen Yiyang smiled bitterly after hearing this: "Brother Chu, the art of war means knowing oneself and enemy, and being able to win every battle. Although our government has not yet turned to any side in Europe, don't you think that once our government turns to one of them, will we obtain first-hand information this time when we inspect Europe? Whether it is Germany or France, as far as the current situation is concerned, they are likely to be our future opponents."

Yang Zhi smiled and said, "This is true. The former President told me that in the next one to two years, European powers will surely break out. Let us understand the local terrain and landforms well and collect more maps. I think the President has made a decision in almost every ten years, but now we are taking advantage of the opportunity to raise prices while the allies and the Allies are trying to win over China."

Chen Yiyang nodded and smiled, "That's natural. Before leaving, I asked Director Li of the attendant's room to drink. He heard him mention two things. The first is that China and France are in secret negotiations. The French are likely to give up Vietnam's interests in exchange for China to join the Allied Powers. The second thing is that China and Britain are negotiating on customs issues. I am afraid that the customs rights lost during the Qing Dynasty will be taken back this time."

Yang Zhi shook his head and said, "It's hard to say, the British are not that easy to talk about. It's too early to talk about this now. According to my opinion, our country should join the Allies."

Chen Yiyang said: "How can I see it?"

Yang Zhi said: "Look, if we want to talk about the new and old hatreds between our country and Britain and France, let alone the Russians, it will occupy a lot of territory. The President really wants to form an alliance with Germany. Once the battle starts, our 300,000 troops in the Northern Military Region will just stab the Russians in the ass."

Chen Yiyang heard this and said in a slight contemplation: "These things are not something we should worry about. The system of military and political division determines that we soldiers will just obey orders and fight. Let's go to the private room to sit in the activity room."

The two of them said and left the private room and came to the activity room of a separate car.

As soon as I entered the activity room, I saw a group of officers whispering around a table. I saw that they were all brigade-level officers of the First Division of the Garrison Army. Chen Yiyang was also surprised why the officer inspection team came this time, all the main military chief officers of the garrison army and the First Army.

The people surrounded the table were several brigade commanders, including Cai E, Tang Jiyao, Feng Yuxiang, Li Liejun, etc., all of them are representatives of the younger generation in the garrison army, and a group of rocket-promoted officers. These four people are officers of the First Brigade under Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang, among which Cai E is the brigade commander of the First Brigade, Feng Yuxiang is the deputy brigade commander, and Tang and Li are the chief and deputy chiefs of staff. Because there is a phenomenon that the officers of the First Brigade are generally young, Chen Congyun personally gave the order to the "Youth Guard Brigade".

Although these young people are very talented, Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang were a little puzzled. Why did Chen Congyun value these young people so much? After returning to China after studying in Germany for three years, he was about to become a general star in a few years. In fact, Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang were only two or three years older than this group of people. However, Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang had experienced the iron and blood test of the Russo-Japanese War. Naturally, they did not trust these young officers who had never experienced war.

It is almost impossible for these people to be promoted so quickly in other troops. Who would have put a large number of officers who have experienced wars without using these young people? Only when they are directly under the garrison army with Chen Congyun will such a large area of ​​promotion happen.

Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang, in real history, are called nameless, and they are incomparable to these people. Chen Congyun came back from time to time, so he naturally knew the talents of these people. It would be shocking if he put the roster of all officers of the First Brigade on a modern person who likes history. There are too many familiar names in the First Brigade, including Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Xue Yue, etc., which can be said to be a gathering of stars.

Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang looked at each other and walked over quietly. There was a map on the table, and several people were pointing around the map, whispering something.

"What are you discussing?" Chen Yiyang stepped forward with a smile and asked. The four people who were talking with their heads lowered their heads and saw that they were two division commanders, and they stood up at the same time saluted.

"Report to the chief, after watching the German exercise in Germany, we had privately communicated with some German officers. They confidently believed that once a war broke out in Europe, the German army would be able to defeat the French army and force France to surrender. This is very different from the views explained in the book "The Possible Patterns of Modern Warfare" compiled and issued by the Political Training Department. So, we just talked about this possibility to the map." Cai E replied loudly.

Chen Yiyang and Yang Zhi were quite satisfied with the officers under his command, so they looked at each other and sat down on their mop chairs. Yang Zhi said, "Let's talk together, let's talk about the results of your discussion."

Seeing that the four of them were still standing, Chen Yiyang raised his hand and smiled, "Sit down and talk."

Cai E and others looked at each other, and finally Cai E spoke: "Two commanders, we compared the book "The Possible Patterns of Modern Warfare" and found that the German army currently has a possibility of blind optimism."

"Oh, let's be more specific." Yang Zhi smiled.

"We think that Europe today is different from ten years ago. The large number of equipment of rapid-fire cannons and automatic weapons, and the emergence of trench warfare, from a military perspective, the possibility of a quick battle and quick decision is very small. Another important reason is the establishment of an alliance system. When a country is severely damaged, its allies will send troops to provide assistance from any angle. With this analysis, once the European war breaks out, it will only be a protracted war."

Cai E's analysis result was largely influenced by the book "The Possible Patterns of War Now". This book was personally supervised and written by Chen Congyun. It was compiled by the Political Training Department and combined with some examples of the Russo-Japanese War, and then distributed to officers at all levels of the army.

With his advanced understanding of history, Chen Congyun can be well aware of the future war model. The views he came up with are naturally very convincing. Of course, these views are acceptable to the officers of the Chinese army. In their opinion, Chen Congyun is omnipotent and omniscient, so the book compiled by Chen Congyun himself has a great impact on the officers. In the German army, because of the existence of a large number of German soldiers in the Chinese army, this book can be seen, and seeing it does not mean that you can accept it, right? Where would the German army, which trampled the French under the feet of the French army? The huge psychological advantage naturally retained the views put forward by Chen Congyun.

"When we were in Germany, we also argued with some German officers about this topic. They agreed that the French army was only a second-rate army. The British and Russian army could only be considered a third-rate army. Once the German army was encountered, they would suffer a crushing defeat. Therefore, they were very confident of winning the war." Feng Yuxiang interjected, and Li Liejun couldn't help but take over the conversation: "There is a common view in the German army. They believed that the Russian army could not even defeat the Chinese army, a German student, and in fact, it might not even be considered a third-rate army."

Yang Zhi and Shen Yiyang also became interested when they heard this. They were very happy that their subordinates had such an attitude. They couldn't help but put forward some of their own opinions, and the discussion soon became more lively.

Beijing, in the Presidential Residence.

Tang Shaoyi frowned and sat opposite Shen Congyun. The two were exchanging opinions on negotiations between China, Britain, China and France.

"Sir, the French have repeatedly emphasized that we should join the Allies first and then withdraw from Saigon. This is what the British meant to be willing to return the control of the customs." Tang Shaoyi said with a gloomy face. The recent negotiations have really not gone very smoothly.

Chen Congyun whined expressionlessly and did not immediately express his opinion. Tang Shaoyi had to continue, "My meaning is very clear. Our country will remain neutral at most. The Russian minister has recently protested, saying that the troops in our northern military region have added another army, which is a provocation to the Russian Empire."

"Protest? OK! I just want the Russians to be nervous. The Russians are nervous, and the French and British people will be nervous. The negotiation conditions must not be loosened at all. If you can't reach an agreement, just drag them down, see if they are anxious or we are anxious. The Northern Military Region has recently been going to have a huge acting to cooperate with your bargaining at the negotiating table. After the Second Balkan War, both Russia and Austria wanted to stretch their hands to the Balkans. Humph, the dog bites the dog's hair and let them pinch it. We promise to remain neutral."

"In recent years, the situation in Europe is getting tighter day by day, and the Americans have also increased the size of the army to 160,000. What kind of abacus do you think Americans are using?" Tang Shaoyi asked carefully.
Chapter completed!