Qingdao Elegy

  "You've made the right decision on this matter, it should be put in writing with him." Fu Xiaowen looked at Niu Jingye and said somewhat discontentedly, "If someone else snatches this deal from us, we'll suffer a big loss."

  "Soldiers are violent instruments. Guns and cannons are tools used to kill people, I'm afraid you think manufacturing and selling guns is inhumane, so..." Niu Jingye replied cautiously.

  "Work hard, you! Conservative! Conservative!" Fu Xiaowen shook his head and said excitedly, "Can a kitchen knife or an axe be used to kill people? Can a wooden stick be used to kill people? Just because it can be used to kill people, does that mean we shouldn't use it?"

  "This is also true." Niu Jingye looked at the head of the Fu family with some curiosity, noticing that his emotions were somewhat abnormal today, and didn't dare to speak again.

  "Manufacturing such excellent firearms is not something that can be accomplished in a small workshop, it requires modern processing equipment and refined steel to produce. Fu Xiaowen held up the "Fifty Rounds" in his hand and said in a low voice, "Being able to make such good guns proves that their industrial technology foundation is very strong, no less than Hanyang Factory. What they lack now is scale, which is why they are seeking cooperation with us for production. Do you know what's wrong with China's industry? It's this technology! This is a rare opportunity! The entrepreneurial spirit of our ancestors to save the country through industry may finally be realized!"

  "In today's world, every country takes industrial development as its top priority. Any powerful country that bullies China is an industrially advanced nation!" Fu Xiaowen put down his gun on the table and handed a newspaper to Niu Jingye, "Take a look! The Japanese have already started taking action against Qingdao! You tell me, what makes them so daringly arrogant?!"

  Niu Jingye took over the newspaper, looking at the large photo of Japanese warships sailing on the sea surface and the shocking headline below, couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  "If Qingdao is lost, Japan can grasp Shandong and enter the inner chambers of China, then China will be in danger."

  "So, this business of producing guns and cannons, we must do it! And we must make it big and strong!" Fu Xiaowen said, looking at the gun on the table again, "Their guns are already made very well, but I don't know how their cannons will turn out."

  "They have already manufactured a small cannon for the Fifth Mixed Brigade, which is very light but its power is not inferior to that of large cannons. I saw this cannon being tested there and it was quite powerful. It's said that the Double Dragon Town Security Team used this cannon to drive away bandits. Another time, bandits disguised as soldiers came to rob a salt mine at night, but were also beaten back by this cannon, suffering heavy casualties and fleeing in disarray, with even their leader being killed." Niu Jingye said, "I also saw the design drawings for an even larger cannon there, and one of their technicians said that research and development work has already begun."

  "You must bring this matter to fruition, be diligent." Fu Xiaowen said, "The sooner these guns are made, the better, because they will definitely be useful in Xiaoan's place."

  "Don't worry, it's all right," said Niu Runye. "Leave these things to me."

  Fu Xiaowen nodded and stopped talking. At this time, he picked up the "Fifty Rings" again and carefully played with it.

  On September 2, 1914, Japanese troops landed at Longkou and Jiaozhou Bay on the north shore of the Shandong Peninsula and began to advance into the interior of Shandong. On September 3, after its neutral position was destroyed, under pressure from Japan, the Chinese government was forced to invoke the "precedent" of the Russo-Japanese War and declare the area east of Weixian Station as a "war zone" between Japan and Germany, and the area west of it as a "neutral zone". The Japanese military ignored the Chinese government's declaration. On September 25, Japanese troops occupied Weixian Station. On October 5, Japanese troops occupied Qingzhou Station, on October 6, Japanese troops occupied Jinan Station, and announced that they would take over the Jiaoji Railway (on September 21, the Chinese government had previously announced that it would take over the railway from Germany).

  Beijing, Jurintang.

  "...Wherever the Japanese army went, atrocities were committed one after another. Our people suffered greatly, just like during the Russo-Japanese War in Northeast China." An official reported to Yuan Shikai, who was sitting in a Western-style presidential chair, "Due to the heavy rain over the past few days, the Japanese army forcibly occupied civilian homes to take shelter from the rain and drove out the homeowners. They looted all the food and property inside the houses. In every village along the way where the Japanese army passed through, all able-bodied men were taken away to fetch water and chop firewood, while many women were abducted. Those who refused to comply were beheaded, and some villages were even massacred. All mines along the Jiaoji Railway were confiscated by the Japanese, who also set up military and civil administrations in each occupied county, installed military telegraph lines, drove out local officials, occupied police stations, forcibly requisitioned grain and fodder, and killed and injured civilians..."

  Yuan Shikai's face turned increasingly ugly as he listened to the report, and he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh as he looked at the civil and military officials sitting around him who were all silent.

  "This is really too much!" Yuan Shikai stood up from his chair and paced back and forth in the room, "The Japanese are clearly trying to occupy all of Shandong! They're pushing right up against my capital's belly! Their intentions are sinister! Sinister indeed!"

  "The Japanese had long been eyeing Qingdao, and with the outbreak of war in Europe, they would not let this opportunity slip away." Yuan Shikai's chief advisor, Yang Du, shook his head and sighed.

  "If the President does not wish the Japanese army to advance further, he can order the army to resist." said General Duan Qirui calmly.

  "Didn't you say last time that with the current state of our troops, we can only hold out for forty-eight hours?" Yuan Shikai turned his head in annoyance and asked loudly.

  "Considering only the troops in the vicinity of Beijing and those near Shandong, we can indeed only resist the Japanese army for 48 hours." Duan Qirui replied, "If we can concentrate all the nation's able-bodied soldiers to come to Shandong, with a skilled general in unified command, using our full strength to confront the Japanese army, the time we can hold out will certainly be far more than that."

  "If the President wants to fight Japan, I, Cai E, am willing to lead the brave warriors of Yunnan as vanguard." The original governor of Yunnan, Cai E, stood up and said.

  At this time, Cai E was appointed by Yuan Shikai as the director of the National Boundary Bureau, and he did not wear a military uniform, but his every move still had the demeanor of a soldier.

  "Sit down, Song Po, sit down." Yuan Shikai came to Cai E's side, patted his shoulder with some emotion, "The country is in trouble, if everyone from top to bottom could think like you, Cai Songpo, it would be good." Yuan Shikai sighed.

  Cai E was originally appointed as the Chief of Staff by Yuan Shikai, but this appointment did not materialize due to the Second Revolution.

  "Now our country is just established, we should not lightly start a war." Yang Du said, "Moreover, this time it was the British and Japanese who jointly attacked the German forces in Qingdao. With our current strength, we are not enough to counter Japan. Once we provoke the Japanese, they will use this as an excuse to land in other coastal areas of our country, and our navy and army have no power to stop them. Then what our country loses will not be just Qingdao."

  Yuan Shikai turned his head and looked at Liu Guanzhong, the Navy Minister, and everyone's eyes also focused on Liu Guanzhong.

  "The Japanese Navy has mobilized its entire fleet, with 24 warships of various sizes in the First Fleet, responsible for patrolling the Yellow Sea and blockading Jiaozhou Bay to cover the army's landing. The Second Fleet, consisting of 23 warships of various sizes, 13 torpedo boats, and 15 support vessels, is also on high alert." Liu Guanxiong stood up and said, "Although our navy is not as powerful as that of Japan, we have completed our combat preparations. If the President decides to go to war with Japan, I am willing to lead the navy in a fight to the death."

  "Our naval vessels are outdated, and not a single one can match the large warships of the Japanese. If we go to battle, it will only be a futile sacrifice." Yuan Shikai shook his head and sighed helplessly, "Our navy has only this many ships, let's preserve them for future use."

  After hearing Yuan Shikai's words, Liu Guangxu quietly sat down.

  Although no one spoke words of criticism and accusation, he, as a naval officer at that time, felt the same inexpressible humiliation and helplessness as General Duan Qirui and the other generals present.

  As a personal experience of the Battle of the Yellow Sea during the First Sino-Japanese War, every time he recalls the scene of commanding the battle on the "Jingyuan" ship and the comrades who sacrificed that year, his heart feels like being cut by a knife.

  In that battle, the Chinese Navy was still able to confront the Japanese Navy face-to-face, but today, it doesn't even have the strength of one war!

  What he said just now was only Liu Guanxiong's angry words, unwilling to let others criticize the naval officers behind their backs. He knew that if he really led the navy to attack, what would be the final result.

  The situation in the army is just like that of the navy, and Duan Qirui's words have made it very clear. Perhaps outsiders might think he was shirking responsibility, but Liu Guanxiong knew that what Duan Qirui said was true.

  As for Yuan Shikai, who had always been appreciated and trusted by him, he also understood the gap in strength between China and Japan, which is why he let out such a helpless sigh.

  Yuan Shikai's words "wait for future" were actually not just comforting words for him.

  After Liu Guanxiong took office as the Navy Minister, he proposed a grand naval construction plan to Yuan Shikai. The main part of this plan was to build 8 battleships with a displacement of 28,000 tons, equipped with 10 x 356mm main guns and 16 x 152mm secondary guns within 10 years at a cost of 230 million silver dollars.

  Although the outside world has always had many bad reviews of Yuan Shikai, with many media outlets being "not a day without scolding Item City", Liu Guanxiong having done things under Yuan Shikai for many years, his understanding of him is much more than others.

  Yuan Shikai's impression, although more is a chaotic hero and military dictator, but an indisputable fact is that if there was no Yuan Shikai's great promotion in the late Qing New Deal, today's China would still be unknown what it would look like.

  To be objective, the new policy reforms of the late Qing dynasty actually achieved quite a good result. The chaotic situation after the "Boxer Rebellion" soon stabilized, and the national economy recovered greatly. Not only did foreign investment gradually increase, but Chinese-run industries also presented a thriving scene.

  Regarding the plot, everyone is welcome to give their opinions and post them in the discussion area! As long as they are good, we will adopt them all!

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