Super Dictator

In Dengzhou, Shandong, since the Japanese occupied Weihaiwei, Duan Qirui retreated here with most of the Qing army, waiting for new orders from the Qing court.

Although China and Japan have signed the Shimonoseki Contract, and follow-up matters are ongoing, and the Japanese troops in some places are slowly retreating, the Japanese troops stationed in Weihaiweihui will not be able to withdraw within two or three years until the compensation is paid.

Before the war, Duan Qirui was an instructor at Weihaiwei's military preparation school. After the war broke out, he led his students to carry artillery shells to fight against the Japanese.

Duan Qirui can be said to be one of the top talents of this era. First, he was admitted to the Beiyang Armed Forces Academy with excellent results, and then graduated from the Artillery Department of the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy with the best results. He and Wang Shizhen were both in the Armed Forces Academy. He is a person of great reputation.

After graduation, he and four other classmates went to Germany to study in the first place. They studied at the Berlin Military Academy for one and a half years, and interned at the Krupp Arsenal for half a year. After returning to China, they were transferred to instructors.

Naturally, Wei Jichen would not let go of such a talented person who was proficient in Western-style artillery.

On this day, Duan Qirui came to the military camp as usual and prepared for class in the temporary teaching room. There were more than ten students sitting inside. Originally, the number of students was more. Unfortunately, people were panicking during this time, and the court heard that there would be many layoffs. In the camp, if Duan Qirui hadn't made a strong request to the superiors, I'm afraid the classes wouldn't have started.

"Alas, the current situation is difficult, where is China's way out?" Duan Qirui looked at the listless students below, and couldn't help but think of the invitation sent by Yuan Shikai not long ago.

The newly-established army will use Western-style military training to train soldiers. Maybe I can put my knowledge to use. Moreover, I will be given the position of commanding the 3rd Battalion of the Left Wing Artillery Battalion. It should be much better than being an instructor here.

Duan Qirui was a little moved, maybe he should agree to it.

"Okay, fellow students, I know that you are all uneasy right now, fearing that you will be dismissed, but as long as you are still in the army, you should do what a soldier should do."

"Teaching, it's not that we don't want to learn artillery. In fact, in this battle with the Japanese, our forts didn't play a big role at all. The Japanese attacked our army from the rear. The cannon was heavy and out of reach at the angle. It's better to use a gun," one student complained.

Several other people also echoed: "That's right. I think it's useless to defend the fort. Waiting for others to attack, it's better to take the initiative."

Weihaiwei's land defense fort had been breached without much effort by the Japanese, leaving some students frustrated.

Duan Qirui put down the lesson plan and said sternly: "This is caused by the shooting defect of the fort. It is not that the cannon is ineffective, and there are many types of cannon. In addition to coastal defense artillery, there are also various field artillery. This time we are fighting against the Japanese. , I heard that in the Liaodong battlefield, General Wei assembled more than a hundred cannons to cut off the path of the Japanese Nogi Nogi Hide's tribe, and ultimately played an important role in annihilating their tribe. It can be said that this battle would have been impossible without our artillery. Without the troops participating in the battle, General Wei would not have been able to achieve such a great victory."

Duan Qirui paused for a moment. Seeing that the students below were interested, he simply put the lesson plan aside and slowly analyzed it using Wei Jichen's battle as an example.

Duan Qirui only spoke with great precision, and was very excited and wonderful.

The students below were not as listless as before, but followed Duan Qirui's ups and downs tone, as if they had personally experienced that thrilling battle.

"So, in my opinion, artillery will only become more and more important in war, and the large-scale centralized use of artillery like General Wei did, making it an independent army in addition, is exactly what the artillery teams of various countries have developed. The trend is that the artillery team will no longer be reduced to a vassal, but will exist as an arm comparable to the infantry," Duan Qirui finally asserted.

As soon as he finished speaking, a student below clapped his hands, and then many students joined in, and the applause was thunderous.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Duan Qirui packed up the things on the table and walked out of the teaching room. The students were also talking excitedly and forgot to go out for a while.

The student who was leading the applause just now quickly caught up with him.

Duan Qirui looked the student up and down suspiciously, only to realize that this student seemed to be here for the first time.

"Teacher Duan's words are wonderful. I believe that General Wei will burst into laughter and praise him even if he is here." The student said with a smile on his face.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Duan Qirui asked with a frown. This person's origin was unknown. He couldn't be a spy sent by the Japanese.

The student stretched out his hand, pointed to the bench next to him, and said with a smile: "Master, why don't you sit down with me and talk, then you will know who I am."

Duan Qirui nodded, and the two sat on the bench.

The student smiled and took out a letter from his arms, handed it into Duan Qirui's hand and said, "After reading the lesson, you will know what happened."

Duan Qirui called in the letter out of curiosity, and saw that the characters were majestic and majestic with flying dragons and phoenixes, and the characters were just like the person he was. It seemed that the person who wrote the letter was definitely an ordinary person.

Duan Qirui skipped the previous greetings and read the text directly.

"Please forgive me for reading this letter. Due to busy military affairs, I was unable to come in person. I hope Brother Duan will not blame me. I once talked to Qin Bin about the talents of Western-style military arts in the world."

Duan Qirui was slightly surprised when he hired a minister. This was Wang Shizhen's name. Wang Shizhen and he were both leaders of the Military Academy. Although they were not familiar with each other, they had both heard of each other's reputations.

Judging from the tone of this man's tone, he was not only familiar with Wang Shizhen, but also seemed to have a higher status than Wang Shizhen.

Duan Qirui quickly looked down, "Pin Qing highly praised Brother Duan and called him a prodigy of the world. He said that Brother Duan has learned both Chinese and Western knowledge and is familiar with ancient and modern times. He is indeed a rare Chinese who knows Western-style military methods. Now he has gained Mongolia. The emperor attached great importance to it, and trained an army with Western-style military tactics. He ordered the Liao army to be determined. He was thirsty for talents. When he heard the name of Brother Duan, he thought about it day and night. However, the military affairs were busy and he could not escape, so he had to send Huaiqing to minister. If Brother Duan can come to Ding Liao Army, he will sweep up the couch to welcome him and entrust his artillery team."

Duan Qirui was a little embarrassed by the praise above, his face turned a little red, and he quickly looked at the signature below - Wei Jichen.

Wei Jichen turned out to be Wei Jichen.

Duan Qirui was in disbelief at first, then felt ecstatic, and then his face became calm.

As everyone knows, this scene fell into the eyes of Wang Huaiqing next to him. He couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart. It seemed that something was going to happen. His death order should be completed.

You must know that before setting off, Wei Jichen's order for this trip was that if he did not complete the task, he would find a place to bury himself alive. Although he knew that this was Wei Jichen's joke, Wang Huaiqing could also see that his master was interested in this name. The teacher named Duan Qirui was very important.

Duan Qirui closed the letter, and Wang Huaiqing said quickly: "I am the captain of your lord's personal army. Your lord has repeatedly asked me to apologize to my teacher. It is really rude to say that I cannot come in person."

"Duan is very pleased to be valued by General Wei." Duan Qirui coughed first, and then said unhurriedly. He also felt that the world was too wonderful. A moment ago, he was thinking of other people's battles. For example, the next moment someone else comes to treat you.

"It's just that Mr. Yuan from Tianjin also sent a letter not long ago, asking Duan to go to the new army." Duan Qirui said hesitantly.

"Yuan Shikai? He is just playing a child's game of house, how can he be compared with us adults." Wang Huaiqing was stunned at first, and then said with a proud face.

After hearing this, Duan Qirui almost choked on the mouthful of saliva he had just swallowed.

Wang Huaiqing may have realized that he was looking down on others too much. He scratched his forehead in embarrassment and said with a dry smile: "Yuan Shikai's new army is good, not bad, but we are sure that the Liao Army will become the strongest elite of the Qing Dynasty. Regarding this Point, I don’t have the slightest doubt, Professor Duan, I heard what you just said in the teaching room. But I don’t know that the size of our Dingliao Army’s artillery fleet has not been reduced at all. It is still more than 80 cannons. , Think about it, how exciting it will be for you to command such an unprecedented scale of artillery. It's a pity that I don't know how to play with artillery, otherwise I would have to be transferred to the artillery team. "

Duan Qirui secretly smacked his tongue. He had heard that Wei Jichen had gathered the artillery brigades of several armies to build such a large scale. He never expected that the artillery brigades of the Dingliao Army that were about to be established would be of this size. It was really amazing.

"Professor Duan, our Dingliao Army is stationed in the Liaodong Peninsula and is ready to fight the Japanese at any time. If you are worried and want to go to Tianjin to live a stable life, I, Lao Wang, have nothing to say and will just go back and settle the matter." Wang Huaiqing said lightly. He glanced at Duan Qirui and said slowly.

Duan Qirui secretly smiled in his heart. This fool could also use provoking methods. He couldn't help rolling his eyes and said angrily: "I, Duan, am a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death. In this case, I will let you go to see General Wei. Fight the Japanese together with him."

When Wang Huaiqing heard this, he smiled happily and stood up and said: "In this case, it is better to choose a day than to hit it. We will set off today. Your Excellency is selecting elite soldiers in Tianjin. I have decided to organize the Liao army into more than thirty battalions, with a total of more than fifteen thousand people. If the Liao army is well trained, how dare the Japanese act recklessly?"

Duan Qirui didn't expect Wang Huaiqing to be so impatient, so he couldn't help but said hesitantly: "This way in Dengzhou,"

"Don't worry, everything is taken care of by me. Your Excellency has the emperor's decree to train troops and select elites from each army. I believe no one dares to stop me. As long as you agree, everything will be easy." Wang Huaiqing replied proudly.

Duan Qirui no longer hesitated, stood up with a smile, flicked his sleeves and said: "In this case, Duan will tidy up a little and salute, and will immediately go with you to Tianjin to meet General Wei."

"That's exactly what it should be!" The two of them drifted away.