Chapter 5: In a chaotic world, military power comes first (PS)

  He Tianxi lay on the kang, turning over and over, his heart full of longing for the future, as well as unconscious worries about Zhang Xun's unclear attitude. In today's conversation, Zhang Xun obviously felt a hint of worry, fearing that if things were to be known by the Qing court in the future, he would not be able to keep his official hat. As such worries grew, He Tianxi gradually lost consciousness.

  That night, He Tianxi had a good dream. In the dream, he heard someone calling him "Great General". In the dream, he became the true overlord of the forest and snow plains - the "Northeast Tiger"...... In the dream, he finally pushed forward the wheels of history, making Chinese civilization stand tall among the world's nations.

  Along with a series of "thud, thud, thud" knocking sounds, He Tianxi's beautiful dream was ruined. All he heard was the Zhang family butler shouting: "The sun is already shining on your butt, and you're still not getting up! Master Zhang wants to see you, there's something important to discuss!"

  As soon as he heard this, He Tianxi suddenly gained spirit, quickly got out of bed and tidied up, then smiled at the butler and said: "I'll be right there!"

  He Tianci rushed all the way and came to see Zhang Xiluan, then adjusted his clothes and breathing, and walked slowly into the main hall.

  At this time, Zhang Xiluan stood at the door looking somewhat anxious, with a military officer in his thirties standing beside him, wearing a sheepskin coat and yellow woolen cavalry trousers.

  Zhang Xiluan saw He Tianxi walk in and said while holding his hand, "Tiger Minister! You've worried me to death, why did you come so late?"

  "He Tianci said with some embarrassment: 'I'm really sorry, Director General. I made you wait for a long time. Yesterday evening, this humble official was quite tired and fell asleep rather deeply.'"

  "Oh, I see, come on in, come, the adults want to have a discussion with you"

  Zhang Xiluan glanced at the officer beside him, then stopped and formally introduced to He Tianci: "This is Nao Zhongwu, a regular yellow banner of Manchu."

  After a simple understanding, the two people can be considered officially acquainted!

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  Next, for several days in a row, He Tianci would be called by Zhang Xilong to discuss some matters. He Tianci also poured out his wisdom, and many problems were analyzed clearly as soon as they reached his mouth. Moreover, after a week had passed, Old Zhang's "Fire Dragon" really did recover, and he was overjoyed. As a result, Zhang Xilong also increasingly appreciated this young man who had studied abroad, seeing that He Tianci was a talented individual. With age comes wisdom, and after several days of observation, he had put down the last bit of caution in his heart.

  What's the way to get close in this era? "Apron strings" relationship, Zhang Xiluan, who has been through officialdom for a long time, how could he not know this principle, so he made up his mind to recognize He Tianxi as his "godson".

  As a second-class official in the border town, Zhang Xiluan thought it would be easy to adopt a son, and He Tianxi was also eager to cling to Zhang Xiluan's big tree, so everything was under Zhang Xiluan's control.

  The next day, when the sky was slightly bright, Zhang Xiluan sent someone to find He Tianxi.

  After a while, Zhang Xiluan saw He Tianxi walking in and immediately stood up to greet him. While holding his hand, he said: "Tiger Minister! I have a request, I don't know if you can agree or not? You also don't have any close relatives now, and I quite like you. If you're willing, I'd like to take you in as my adopted son. What do you think?"

  He Tianci was overjoyed upon hearing this, but didn't show it. Instead, he quickly knelt down in front of Zhang Xianzhong and loudly kowtowed while shouting: "Father, please accept your child's bow."

  Then Zhang Xiluan pulled up He Tianxi while saying, "As for the old Maozi thing, I thought carefully about it last night and decided to form a battalion of soldiers. What do you think?"

  He Tianci smiled and said: "Since Master has already made up his mind, why bother testing me?"

  Zhang Xiluan nodded in satisfaction, and the father and son exchanged a smile. Zhang Xiluan chuckled and said: "Since you also agree, then go and be the commander of an infantry battalion, although it's a bit humble, but it's not a bad place to gain experience. There aren't many soldiers from Fengtian who have retreated with me either, and there is just enough manpower for a company of 100 men. You are also familiar with Zhiwu, so I'll appoint him as the deputy commander. What do you think?

  He Tianxi was taken aback, he didn't expect that after just arriving in the Qing dynasty, not only did he have a place to settle down, but he also climbed up the big tree of Zhang Xun, which is now called "hugging the thigh". He knew that Zhang Xun was a powerful figure, whether it was at the end of the Qing or the beginning of the Republic. Especially since Zhang Xun was his "godfather", when he mentioned the word "godfather", he thought of the recent "Mei Mei" incident and his heart was in turmoil. In this era, having a godfather was not just a privilege for women like Mei Mei, but also for him!

  He's about to take over as the leader of the band, and this is a great opportunity for him. He'll have a solid foundation for his future endeavors! With a satisfied nod, he said with utmost respect: "Thank you, Uncle. I will definitely work hard and dedicate myself to the cause, giving my all until my dying breath."

  Zhang Xiluan continued: "I'll give you a battalion of 500 men, and the remaining 400 people can be recruited from our county. I've also written a letter to that Russian, telling him to come see me this afternoon. Once you receive your weapons and funding, immediately go to the vicinity of Zhen'an to recruit soldiers and buy horses."

  He Tianci walked up to Zhang Xielong and said: "Thank you, sir, for your cultivation. I will definitely work hard for my adoptive father like a horse."

  After noon, a four-wheeled Russian horse-drawn cargo cart with a relatively long body ran over to the gate of Zhang's mansion. The things on the cart were covered with felt cloth, and there were several Russian men on the cart. A Russian man in gentlemanly attire sat at the front of the cart, his stature not very tall or large, but distinctive for his slightly upturned mustache.

  Na Zhiwu stopped the Russian carriage and shouted: "What are you Russians doing here?"

  The Russian spoke with a thick Northeastern accent, saying: "What's the big idea? This is a neutral zone, if those little Japanese can come, why can't the great Russian Empire?"

  Zhī Wǔ couldn't help but laugh when he heard the old man speaking fluent Northeastern dialect: "Stop spouting nonsense, kid. What are you doing here? Just answer my questions."

  The Russian said: "I'm here to see He Tianxi."

  "Ah-yo!" Na Zhiwu said, "Are you still calling He Tianci? Our Lord He says he'll see whoever he wants to see. If there's something going on, tell me first."

  The Russian said: "The things on my cart are for He Tianxi, if I don't see He Tianxi, I'll take them back. Do you think you can be the master of this house?"

  Na Zhiwu lifted a corner of the canvas, looked at it and hurriedly ran to inform He Tianci. He whispered something in He Tianci's ear. He Tianci signaled him to call the Russian cart into the yard, and the two came together to the side of the Russian cart.

  At first glance, this Russian really doesn't look great, with a high nose bridge and long facial hair, just like a long-haired monkey. He's quite different from the Russians I've met before. This one is an unevolved version of a long-haired monkey! I thought to myself, but my expression didn't change. As soon as He Tianxi lifted the cover off the car, his eyes lit up. Compared to these long-haired monkeys, he prefers the real thing on the car.

  He Tianci uncovered the things on the carriage, which were two Maxim machine guns and several large boxes of Russian Berdan No. 2 rifles, as well as several bundles of Russian military uniforms. Although the Mosin-Nagant had already been equipped in the Russian army at this time, due to Russia's strategic focus on Europe, the Berdan No. 2 rifle still accounted for a large proportion in the Tsarist Russian forces.

  Although the Berdan II rifle cannot be compared to the Mosin-Nagant, it still remains in a single-shot phase, but for now, having a gun is good enough.

  The Mosin-Nagant was one of the earliest smokeless powder, small caliber (for that time) military rifles. Compared to other contemporary military rifles such as Mauser and Lee-Enfield series, the Mosin-Nagant rifle's bolt-action design is more complex, with a coarse and outdated design, and its overall operation feeling clumsier. However, the advantages of the Mosin-Nagant rifle are easy production and simple reliability - this is extremely important for the Chinese army with low industrial foundation and low educational level of soldiers, especially in times of war when weapon production needs to be increased urgently to meet front-line requirements, while a large number of supplementary combat personnel often have insufficient training time.

  In terms of combat performance, the Mosin-Nagant rifle is not much different from other rifles of the same era. Its effective range is 400 meters, and with the aid of a scope, it can reach up to 800 meters. The actual rate of fire is 10-12 rounds per minute. Although the Mauser Kar98k has high shooting accuracy, it does not have an advantage in actual combat. The SVT rifle is actually a very good semi-automatic rifle, and its so-called complex structure and poor reliability are only relative to the Mosin-Nagant. In fact, the SVT shoots accurately and operates comfortably, which is confirmed by German soldiers who captured SVTs and liked them. However, for most new recruits at that time, the SVT rifle was indeed "complex", so it could not replace the Mosin-Nagant rifle under the conditions at that time. If the SVT were born in America, perhaps the result would be very different. In short, the Mosin-Nagant rifle is a typical Russian-made light weapon - cheap, simple, and reliable. He Tianxi believes that it is undoubtedly the most suitable for the actual needs of the Chinese army at this time.

  So we must seize the opportunity of the Russo-Japanese War to make both sides suffer losses and gain the greatest benefit for ourselves, striving to get more Mosin-Nagant rifles to equip our own armed forces.

  At this time, the Russian had already introduced himself to He Tianxi, shouting in a loud voice with a Northeastern accent: "I am the intelligence officer of the Russian Far East Intelligence Bureau responsible for the Liao Xi area. My name is Mardiev, and I am a senior colonel of the Russian army." He Tianxi put on a very pleased expression and invited Colonel Mardiev into the conference hall.

  Zhang Xiluan also just arrived at Jinzhou Prefecture, and the meeting hall was arranged in an old house. The meeting hall is a very simply decorated room with only one office desk and one chair inside.

  Inside the conference hall, He Tianxi and General Madridov were laughing together. He Tianxi felt that this old Russian was quite conscious, so he said to him: "I've never heard a Russian speak Chinese so well!"

  Ma De Li laughed loudly and said with a grin: "He Da Ren doesn't know me, my nickname is 'Manzhou Tong', I was born in Vladivostok and grew up in Harbin. All the affairs of Manchuria, I have them all in my heart."

  He Tianci responded with a grunt and felt it was time to get down to business, so he asked in a serious tone: "I don't know what instructions Major Madrid has brought?"

  Ma Deifu said seriously: "I am sent by General Ba Dekin to visit Mr. He, just want to make friends with you. Mr. He, you don't know that in the green forest and rural areas, I have many friends who are bandits (a special term in Northeastern dialect), such as Xu Fusheng, Liu Danzi, Li Hanchen. And 'Volume Hair Beast Tiezi Lin Qi' - do you know? That's my sworn brother, I appointed him as the 'General Manager of Logging in the Deep Forest of Manchuria'. After becoming the general manager, he made a lot of money! How much can be earned? Mr. He, do you want to get some?"