The Rise of the Empire

There is absolutely a reason why Ruprecht decided to hold off on the Russians for another month! It is already March 1895! The Japanese army is also ready, because the navy was severely damaged, and the offensive of the Japanese army was also affected. In history, the Japanese who broke through the Yalu River defense line in 1894 could only spend the winter in North Korea. Nuan, the Japanese finally want to launch an attack on the Yalu River defense line! And it's time for a mercenary army composed of Russian and Bavarian armies!

At this moment, Baron Schmidt, the frontline commander of the Blue Legion (von Carliputt sits in the rear.) is eating steamed buns on the north bank of a boundary river called the Yalu River and eating something similar to the Northeast stew of later generations,... ... There is no way. In order to ensure the supply of ammunition and concentrate feed for the troops, the Blue Army can only wrong the stomachs of the officers and soldiers. Ammunition is absolutely indispensable. The stomach of a horse is more delicate than that of a human. Don’t look at the Far East for a few months. , whether it is a small number of horses brought by the Germans or some horses provided by the Russians, they are not very interested in the feed of the Qing Dynasty.... It’s okay to mix it with food, but if you only use local feed, some horses will immediately quit!

"Our biggest enemy is the unfamiliar environment here, and it is not the Japanese. In this battle, the loss of crew due to acclimatization is more than the crew caused by the Japanese guns! The only thing that can make us feel relieved is that , the diet here is good. The Qing people provided plenty of meat, and some of them are unique animals that we can’t even name. For example, the Siberian tiger.” After the war, Viscount Schmidt wrote in his memoirs wrote in!

Mr. Baron has had a hard time these few months, but he is still grateful to the higher-ups for letting them come to the northeast of the Qing Dynasty in advance, at least here they are familiar with the battlefield. Although hundreds of people were forced to withdraw from the battle due to frostbite or other reasons in a few months, the subsequent replenishment of troops from the country not only made up for the reduction in personnel, but also increased the number of troops to 2,500! And as the weather gradually warms up, the Japanese on the south bank of the Yalu River are finally ready to move!

"All the Qing troops are unreliable, even the Russians are not so reliable. The Qing army is only suitable for transporting supplies behind, and the Russians can be used as an auxiliary force at most." Viscount Schmidt said to the Prussian detachment next to him, representing Marken Major Sen said. Needless to say, the Qing army, most of the elite of Beiyang were lost to North Korea, and the morale of the remaining ones was also very low. As for the quality of the commander? Viscount Schmidt did not deny that some of them had talent, such as Nie Shicheng, who was currently in charge of logistics for his troops. But they lack an understanding of the current war, and there are problems everywhere from command to combat.

"Can't the Russians do it? Their soldiers are the best soldiers, tough and tenacious. There are also Cossack cavalry, they are very capable of small-scale combat." Mackensen came later and knew more about the Russian army. Most of them are still at the level of the Crimean War.

"But their soldiers lack a kind of flexibility. They can't do anything without the commander's order! They are like machines. They are not so tough and tenacious as they are numb! The Cossack cavalry is closer to the bandits and fights with the wind Yes, once we encounter setbacks, accidents are easy to happen! What's more, we don't have the most basic trust between us." Viscount Schmidt said with some concern.

After several months of communication, Schmidt has a relatively deep understanding of the situation of the Russian army. The quality of Russian officers is poor, and their actions tend to be conservative. Although the soldiers are obedient, they are only obedient. It is really hard to say how much combat power a soldier without subjective initiative can exert in a chaotic battle.

As for the Cossack cavalry, this thing gives Schmidt the feeling that looting, looting, aggression is like fire, and turning into the wind when encountering a strong enemy! The Cossack cavalry is not the master who just looked at the history! And now times have changed, under the attack of various rifles and artillery, it is really hard to say how much the cavalry can do. After seeing Schmidt,

The end result of the future cavalry is to become mounted infantry....

"So you rejected the suggestion of letting the Blue Army defend the Yalu River, but deployed it behind, just to prevent your own side from being surrounded?" Mackensen said thoughtfully. Song Qing, one of the commanders of the Qing Dynasty, wanted Viscount Schmidt to guard the Yalu River, but the latter flatly rejected this suggestion. And now, Mackensen understands the deep-seated reasons.

The defense of the Qing army was a simple line of defense, not deep enough, and as long as it was broken, there was not even enough reserves. Although our own troops had a large number of horses, but because the troops had many automatic weapons, they also had a lot of ammunition and baggage. In case the friendly forces on the flank are defeated. (In Schmidt's view, this is almost a certainty) Then there are less than 2,500 people here, and it is very likely that they will be surrounded!

You only have 2,500 people in total. If you are really caught in a pincer situation, how would you run away? Even if it can fight face to face, it can't stop the Japanese army pouring in like a tide! As the first Bavarian officer who came into contact with rapid-fire guns and machine guns, Schmidt has a very clear understanding of these two weapons. Although rapid-fire weapons can greatly optimize the advantages of defensive troops, their range is limited and their firepower lacks sufficient extension. In this era, under the cover of firepower, it is still possible to rush down with a sea of ​​people. So what Schmidt meant was to fight on the outside, not to head-to-head with the Japanese army.

Therefore, in the end, Schmidt's Blue Army was deployed on the second line. Based on the idea of ​​​​fighting if they can, and leaving if they can't, in Schmidt's plan, the Yalu River defense line cannot be defended. According to the Japanese military strength and strategic needs, their first attack target will be the Liaodong Peninsula, where there is the base of the Beiyang Fleet, and the Japanese military strength cannot go straight to the depths of the northeast. Therefore, after the first battle with the Japanese on the Yalu River, the Blue Army will retreat to the direction of Liaoyang, and then rely on Liaoyang's supplies to fight a limited positional battle with the opponent!

"Why don't we launch a limited attack? If your calculations are correct, we should be right on the flank of the Japanese army. Their weak transportation lines and rear troops are exposed to us, taking advantage of the Russian cavalry. , we can completely injure our opponents.” Mackensen said thoughtfully. He is bolder and more radical than Baron Schmidt's plan!

"That's a matter for the Russians. Our troops are not suitable. It is unrealistic for an army with a large amount of heavy weapons and ammunition to attack at high speed. When the opponent has an advantage in firepower, cavalry may not have an advantage in attacking infantry. , This phenomenon already appeared during the Napoleonic period, the key to our victory in the Franco-Prussian War was artillery and infantry, not highly mobile cavalry.” Schmidt opposed this plan.

"Mr. Major, this is a rare opportunity. We must at least experiment with this tactic. It may be the key to our victory in future wars! Rely on fast troops carrying a small number of high-performance weapons to quickly attack and defeat the opponent's key nodes, and then follow the trend Lock the victory! It is impossible for the empire to carry on a continuous war, and the key is to solve the opponent cleanly. Do you understand what I mean?" Mackensen said sincerely.

"So you regard this war as an experiment, and my soldiers are your test subjects? Is that so?" Schmidt's face was a little gloomy, and his tone was a little cold, as if trying to suppress his anger.

Thank you book friend Lian Tianyi Se, Pauline God for your reward~~~. The second is more ~~~, please collect, please recommend, please click! ! !