"Old Nie, I just heard that this kid has been calling us vice marshals in front of his subordinates. I didn't think it was anything in the past! Now, I suddenly feel that we're missing a host here. He's called Deputy Commander every day. Just from the sound of it, he's the second-in-command. What do his subordinates call him? My lord! It's as if we have to listen to him. Don't you feel it?”
Wang Zhizhen began to wonder if she was stupid. "Ma Shuai! What the hell is this! At this time, can we stop arguing! How were they going to chase after the troops from the three counties? They had 20,000 people!”
"You don't have any ulterior motives, so why are you changing the topic? Why do I think you have a bad heart? When will you still serve the country and the people? You're so afraid of death. It's fine as long as you don't run away. I remember that you were the first one to run away in Korea!”Ryan looked at Wang Zhizhen in disbelief.
"The first one to escape should be Ye Zhichao, Commander Ye! He's still in Shengtian. Do you want to ask him yourself?”Wang Zhizhen said with a smile.
"Alright, alright! From now on, you are not allowed to call me Deputy Commander Ma. Call me Commander Ma, Commander Ma! Did you hear that? Otherwise, I'll give you a big slap as if I'm your subordinate.”Ma Chun said strangely.
"The Imperial Court has asked me to lead 20,000 troops to Lukou to provide support. Currently, the garrison at Lukou, apart from the Northern Navy's Torpedo Boat Sub-fleet, only has 12 Thunder Boats. The Northern Navy's Commander Yang Yuchun has 5000 Green Army soldiers and a Lianjun Division. On the other hand, the Sun Nation's army had 60,000 soldiers from the Third Corps. The difference in strength between the two sides was huge. The imperial court asked me to reinforce Lukou. That's it. I'll lead 20,000 men from my headquarters and leave the remaining 10,000 to Wang Zhizhen. Your 30,000 men will stay in Nine Links City, Wang Zhizhen will be in Andong City, and Song Qing from Shengtian will be in charge of Liaodong. Marshal Song will be in charge of all the troops in Liaodong, and His Majesty and Li Hongzhang will be in charge.”Nie Cheng said.
"Alright then! I'll go to Nine Links City. Nine Links City currently has 10,000 men under my command. I'll bring another 10,000 men back. The remaining 10,000 men will be handed over to you. You should bring 30,000 men over! My 10,000 men are all armed to the teeth. Rifles, grenades, heavy machine guns, cannons, I don't lack anything. This time, I'm afraid that you'll be in trouble if you go to reinforce them. I don't know when we'll be able to reunite after we part ways here. I still have a batch of firearms on hand, and I'll give them all to you. How about this! You don't know how much equipment your army is missing, list it all out. Tonight, Wang brat will give you all the equipment! As long as you go down south to provide support, you can still have a chance to live. Otherwise, you'll be courting death. I won't be able to look at you in the future!" Ma Kun said excitedly.
Seeing that Wang Zhizhen didn't say anything, he meant for Wang Zhizhen to quickly shed some blood to replenish Nie Cheng's military equipment.
"Alright, alright! Commander Ma ordered. I'll take half of it, but I still have a batch of silver. So how much silver do I have left in the county government office? I need silver to buy firearms and train the army. Silver, silver. Now I'm looking for silver all over the world. Aiyo! Why did you hit me! Marshal Ma!" Wang Zhizhen was punched in the head.
"Do you still lack money? Didn't you say that Yu Wentai's 500,000 gold taels were equivalent to 5 million taels of silver? How long has it been? You've spent it all! " Moreover, the rifles you gave me are all Murata Type 13 Single Strike Rifles. These were all eliminated by the Sun Nation's army. I have also seized more than 2,000 of them here. Including the ones you gave me, there are 10,000 Murata Type 13 Rifles.”Ma Kun said.
"Old Ma, don't force him! "Actually, I've also obtained a batch of weapons in this war. There are more than 5,000 rifles. Although it's only a single rifle, it's enough. It's better than our sabers and spears. With these, your 10,000 people and my 20,000 people will make a total of 30,000 people. "These 30,000 people should be able to resist the attack of the Sun Nation's Second Army. I'll write to the Imperial Court and ask Wang Zhizhen to lead 20,000 people from his headquarters to support the south. If there's an order from the Imperial Court, Wang brat, don't drop the ball. "Save me as soon as possible. I'll try my best to delay the enemy's attack. However, to defeat them, my 30,000 men will definitely not be a match for the Sun Nation's army. Therefore, I still have to rely on you in this war. That's right!" Give me some more of that grenade. It's very useful. Replenish the bullets. Give me 100,000 bullets first!”Nie Cheng seemed to be talking to a former subordinate. He knew that he would most likely stay in the south after this trip. This little brother had been following him all this while. They had known each other for 15 years since they were nine years old.
"Don't worry! Commander Nie, bullets, rifles, how many? Tell me and I will immediately transfer them to you. My main force is not 20,000 people, but 30,000. I have organized this force into three regiments, five battalions, and eight battalions of patrol battalions. To be precise, there are about 28000 people. Of course, these are not counted as sacrifices. If the casualties of the main force were included, there would be around 35000 people. However, we have already sacrificed more than five thousand people. I have given each of these people fifty to one hundred taels of silver as a settlement allowance. "I can't pay for it alone, so I hope that you can write to the court to allocate a batch of salary. I don't have a few months of salary. Starting from the Bangzi Kingdom, all the salary has been cut off. The court has not replenished a single bullet or a single penny for us. There is no indication of food either. They just keep asking us to defend, defend!" There was no food, no bullets, and nothing else. Who could defend this place? Commander Nie and Commander Ma quickly wrote a letter to ask them to prepare all these military supplies. Otherwise, we won't be able to hold out for long in this war. What will we do after this batch of bullets and the military equipment of Andong City are used up? We can only surrender." Wang Zhizhen's anxious expression frightened Nie Cheng and Ma Kun.
"You're telling the truth, right? Kid, aren't you quite rich? I believe we can fight for a year with this batch of supplies.”Nie Cheng said. Ma Kun also hurriedly nodded.
" Who said that this war could be finished in a year? If my guess is correct, this war will continue. Ever since the Sun Nation's navy destroyed the Ancestral Dragon Nation's naval fleet, the two countries 'all-out war had already erupted. First, it was the Green River defense line. The second group landed at Weihai Port. They had basically occupied the Shandong Peninsula and were now radiating south. They had 60,000 people! The third army was made up of three divisions, and there was no decent resistance in the south. All the imperial court's Green Army, Lian Army, and He Army fled at the sight of the wind. The Sun Nation's army seemed to have tasted the sweetness of victory. They burned, killed, and plundered along the way. It was said that they had already plundered items worth 20 million taels of silver. The third army was our second army that landed at Lukou. They also had 60,000 people. It was said that they had three divisions, the sixth, seventh, and eighth. The regular army of the Sun Nation consists of six divisions and ten mixed regiments. Now, in our Ancestral Dragon Kingdom, the Sun Nation has sent nine divisions, two mixed regiments, one cavalry regiment, one auxiliary heavy regiment, and one heavy artillery regiment. The total number of troops has already exceeded the number of troops stationed in the Sun Nation. There are 200,000 troops of the Sun Nation on the land of our Dragon Nation. What does this mean? Did you know? This meant that the two countries had already engaged in a war where either one of them would die or the other would live. This was a country war, a war that would destroy the country. "We need to think about the long term, not just this battle. After this battle, we also need to think about the future. Therefore, this little bit of military equipment won't last long. If possible, get the imperial court to allocate three million taels for me to buy firearms. This way, I can buy more firearms. With these weapons, we can continue fighting. They won't believe it if I say it. But if two marshals write a letter with me, Then the Imperial Court would have a higher chance of believing it.”Wang Zhizhen said casually.
"Alright, alright! " Old Ma and I will submit a petition together, but don't get your hopes up. The entire Liaodong is now in a mess, and the imperial court is also in a terrible state. The Sun Nation has split into three groups to attack the Ancestral Dragon Nation, and Lord Li Hongzhang is counting on the three countries to mediate. The Huai Army has been in their hometown and has not set off yet. There are only the Green Army and the Fang Army in the south. If we wait for them to resist, we will also collapse. Now, money is needed everywhere. I don't think the imperial court can allocate much, so you should be mentally prepared. I'll be here for two days. In two days, I'll be heading south. How many firearms do you have in your warehouse? Transfer all of them to me. I'll try my best to talk to the imperial court.”After saying that, he left without looking back. He knew that the imperial court did not have any money, and it was probably very difficult. No matter how much money they gave him, he needed money to fight a war. As the person with the highest military rank in Shengtian area other than Song Qing, he was too embarrassed to ask Wang Zhizhen for weapons and equipment. However, the military situation was urgent! He couldn't properly explain to Wang Zhizhen. He needed to familiarize his troops with firearms as soon as possible and reorganize them as soon as possible before going south to support the battle at Lushunkou.
When Ma Kun saw how determined Nie Cheng was, he also felt that something big might have happened. The war would not end in a short period of time. He also patted Wang Zizhen's arm." Kid, pack up all the guns in your bag and send them over!" How much was it? I'll help you ask the Imperial Court for it. How much you can ask for will depend on luck. These days, I have been searching the logistics of the Sun Nation's army, but I have never found a tael of silver. I have only seized a little bit of rice. Where did the rest go? 'I really don't understand. If you can find the silver that the Sun Nation's army robbed from the Ancestral Dragon Kingdom, I'll give you this batch of silver. I'll turn a blind eye to what you want to do with it. If you want to sell firearms, just buy them. I won't interfere!' I've already told you about it. Whether you can catch it or not depends on yourself. I still have something to do. See you tomorrow!" After Ma Kun finished speaking, he returned to his camp without looking back.
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