My Italian

The news of the Japanese landing was also informed to the Italian side at the first time.

Italy is also very alert to the Japanese landing in Dengzhou on the Shandong Peninsula (Rongcheng County belongs to Dengzhou).

The newly formed Italian Expeditionary Army in Pontianak also accelerated its preparations.

In particular, Lieutenant General Alvaro, who was the commander of the expeditionary army, knew the seriousness of this matter. As the military chief of this aid to the Qing Dynasty, Lieutenant General Alvaro of course also received a lot of information that outsiders did not know.

This aid to the Qing Dynasty was very important to Italy, and there was no room for loss, so after getting the news of the Japanese landing, he found Governor Antonio as soon as possible.

"Your Excellency, the Japanese army has appeared in the Shandong Peninsula of the Qing Dynasty. This requires us to speed up our preparations and cannot wait any longer."

Facing Lieutenant General Alvaro who hurried to him, Antonio asked immediately. "How can I help you?"

Lieutenant General Alvaro took out a list and handed it to His Excellency the Governor. "I have divided the materials needed by the expedition into several categories. The first category is priority and must be prepared before departure. The second category is also a necessity, but it can be purchased at the stop. The third category can be provided by Qing people. , reducing our preparation time."

Antonio, who took the list, glanced at it briefly. The first category on the list was mainly the spare parts needed by the fleet and military supplies such as the army's spare artillery, ammunition, and field telephones. These were all things that the Qing Dynasty could not produce and did not have in reserve.

The second category is food, winter clothes, raincoats, shovels and other materials. Although some materials look inconspicuous, they are necessities. Of course, these necessities can also be purchased in the Qing Dynasty in a short time, just need to spend a lot of money.

The third category is the materials reserved by the Qing state, such as ammunition, guns and other weapons.

This is not to say that the expeditionary army does not carry weapons, but that there is no need to prepare spare weapons. On the battlefield, guns, artillery and other weapons will be lost. At this time, they need to be replenished. Therefore, in addition to the normally used weapons, the army also needs to reserve a batch of weapons.

"It's no problem, I'll let the people down below step up their purchases."

After reading the list, Governor Antonio gave a positive answer, but then he said it again. "From this list, it seems that you are not optimistic about the combat effectiveness of the Qing army?"

In the face of Antonio's words, Lieutenant General Alvaro did not deny it, but asked instead. "You have also seen the battle between the Qing people and Japan before, and their abilities are indeed questionable."

"But this is their homeland, and Weihaiwei is the last home port of the Qing fleet. If it is taken away, the Qing fleet will have nowhere to go."

Obviously, with Antonio's character, it is difficult for him to believe the idiom of one blow and one blow, which also shows that he doesn't know much about the Qing Dynasty. Of course, there are some things that mislead him.

He has a small Governor's Guard. In order to win over the Chinese, half of this guard is Chinese. Judging from its performance, it is similar to the Italian soldiers in all aspects, and some aspects are stronger. It was also because of the contact with him that Antonio took a high look at the Qing army.

However, obviously, Lieutenant General Alvaro, a military personnel, has a better understanding than the Governor, because there are many Italian advisers in the Qing army.

"According to the report of our advisers in the Qing army, what is the name of the army under the control of Prime Minister Li? By the way, the Huai Army, they can be considered too bad, their morale training is a headache, and the army has to pay money for marching. , you can imagine this. To say something rude, I am most afraid that the Qing people will lose Weihaiwei before we arrive, and that is the worst."

That's right, Lieutenant General Alvaro couldn't understand the spending of the Qing army. If you don't give money, you won't leave. Is this still the country's army? How to implement military orders, do you need money to motivate the army at any time? If this is the case, the European countries will stop fighting the big war, and everyone will go bankrupt.

However, although Lieutenant General Alvaro looked down on this, he still had to do to help Qing. In order to keep the Qing Dynasty from collapsing, he also worked hard.

"Don't worry, I will strictly order all departments to cooperate with you, and I will definitely let your fleet set off before the Qing soldiers collapse."

"Thank you, when I come back, I will definitely **** treasured wine with Your Excellency."

"That's fine then."

When Lieutenant General Alvaro was worried about the Qing team, Li Zhongtang, who was staying in Tianjin, was also worried about it.

Since the Japanese army landed in Rongcheng County, he has been receiving bad news in the past few days. According to reports from the front line, the Japanese troops were divided into two groups, one from the south and one from the north to Weihaiwei, and mobilized twenty-five battalions in Shandong to intercept and snipe. It is a pity that these more than 10,000 soldiers and horses have been defeated one after another in the face of Japanese attacks. Currently on the northern front, several key points of Gushan, Hedong Village, and Baojia Village have been lost. Only Wenquan Village and Longjia Village are still in their hands. There is also no good news for the southern line. Yangtingji, Hushan, and Hot Springs soup have all been lost. Currently, only Qiaotouji and Buliuji are in hand.

The Japanese troops on the north and south fronts were less than forty miles away from Weihaiwei. What kind of battle was this? These campheads spend so much money and food in vain on weekdays, and none of them will be used in battle.

"General Antonio, when do you think your country's reinforcements will arrive? Can you send a telegram to remind you?"

At this time, Li Zhongtang, who was already in a hurry, didn't care about anything else, and recruited Major General Antonio, the general counsel, to ask about the time when the reinforcements would arrive.

Influenced by the invitation of the Italian reinforcements by the Qing, Major General Antonio has now been promoted. He has been promoted from the general adviser of the Beiyang Navy to the general adviser of the Huai Army. Regardless of whether Major General Antonio is a naval general, he is forced to bear the burden.

Although Antonio didn't know much about the army, there were quite a few Italian advisers in the Qing army. After recruiting a few army advisers to build a small circle, Antonio still gave some good suggestions, so this caused him to be more and more affected by Li Center's attention.

Of course, Li Zhongtang on this day was not normal. After getting along for so many years, Antonio knew that Zhongtang was anxious. Of course, he also knew that the Qing army in Shandong fought very badly, because Li Zhongtang's main troops were all located in Liaodong. Although there were 30,000 to 40,000 troops in Shandong, most of them were newly formed combat effectiveness. Offensive is out.

But knowing is knowing, now he must answer Li Zhongtang's words.

"Your Excellency Zhongtang, when the Japanese army landed, I already sent a telegram to Lanfang, and Lieutenant General Alvaro promised me that he would arrive in half a month. Four days have passed, and we only need to defend Weihaiwei for eleven days. , then the Japanese troops who landed would be self-defeating."

However, Major General Antonio's words did not reassure Li Zhongtang, and he continued to speak. "Whether it can be shortened to one week, I am afraid that the front line will lose, which will shake the military's heart."

Hearing that Li Zhongtang wanted reinforcements to speed up, Major General Antonio was shocked. "One week is too short. A lot of preparations have not been completed, and even some weapons and equipment may not be able to catch up."

"It doesn't matter, as long as my Huai army has it, your army can use it openly, just to be able to speed up."

"In that case, I need to ask to give an answer."

Although Antonio's words were not certain~www.wuxiaspot.com~, Li Zhongtang immediately implemented it. "It doesn't matter, the old man is here waiting for the good news."

"Zhongtang, the reinforcements of Weihaiwei still need to be reminded. At present, the strength of Weihaiwei is still not large."

"Okay, I will strictly order them to speed up."

The telegram from Tianjin quickly arrived in Pontianak through the cable. In the telegram, Major General Antonio gave a detailed account of the current situation of the Shandong war, and also told Li Zhongtang's request for reinforcements.

"Let the fleet speed up its preparations, and we will set off in a week."

Taking into account the concerns about the combat effectiveness of the Qing army, Lieutenant General Alvaro decided to set off without complete preparation. Although he may have discounted the combat effectiveness of the expeditionary army, in order to ensure that Weihaiwei would not lose, he had to do so first.

Although this will cause a lot of logistical trouble, it is not enough to care about now.

So a week later, the huge fleet carrying the First Division of the Imperial Guard, under the protection of the dispatch fleet, set off northward, ready to fight the Japanese in the Far East.