Chapter 233 Shanxi War

At the end of last year, Wu Fengling led his troops through the Zhengtai Railway from Shijiazhuang to Shanxi. The 43rd Mixed Association and a large number of old troops led by Shanxi governor Enshou, who were loyal to the Southern Federation, fought stubbornly. However, although there were many Shanxi troops gathered by Enshou, there were not many new troops that could fight, full of them. It is only a standard compiled before Yuan Shikai's death.

As for the remaining logo of the 43rd Mixed Association, it is adapted from the old army. Even the guns are messy old guns, and there are few artillery. The 43rd Mixed Association is so unbearable, let alone count on thousands of other old armies under Enshou.

Although Wu Fengling is not as famous as the four giants of Beiyang in the Beiyang system, he is at least one of the seven Beiyang towns before Yuan Shikai's death. The second town under him is a serious Beiyang direct force. To some extent, its combat effectiveness is even better than Duan Qirui's fourth division and Wang Shizhen's sixth. The teacher is still strong. It's not enough to clean up a Shanxi.

So after half a month of fighting, Wu Fengling stubbornly relied on his superior forces to break through the interception set by Enshou, and then killed all the way to Taiyuan, and it only took two days to take Taiyuan.

However, Wu Fengling's life was not easy after taking Taiyuan, because he also fell into a shortage of troops. At that time, although he took Taiyuan, most of Shanxi, especially the prefectures in the southern and western regions, were still loyal to the Southern Federal Empire.

So he was forced to divide his troops to fight one by one, and the terrain of Shanxi was not the plain of Zhili. The railway was only built to Taiyuan, while the rest of Shanxi was gone, resulting in the second division's entry into western and southern Shanxi extremely slowly.

From Shijiazhuang to conquering too far, it took Wu Fengling only half a month. However, in the following months, he failed to completely control all the capitals and counties in Shanxi. The reason is not only that the terrain is not conducive to the mobility of the army, but also the lack of troops. After the division of troops, all forces are not serious. This is especially true for the troops going south.

After all, when he was busy recovering all the prefectures and counties in Shanxi and wanted to include the whole Shanxi in the control of shares, Zhao Erxun, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, was not idle. He gathered troops from Shaanxi and other parts of Shanxi, and even troops from Gansu and other reinforcements to prepare for a counterattack Shanxi.

In the face of Zhao Erxun's search for troops to resist and even counterattack in Shanxi, although Wu Fengling's troops continued to win, they beat the new army of the Southern Federation like dogs, but it inevitably caused considerable losses. Wu Fengling's troops also died in four months. More than 2,000 people were injured, and ammunition was consumed a lot.

In order to supplement the shortage of troops, Wu Fengling also expanded his army like all contemporary warlords and created two so-called Shanxi militias. This new unit also needs ordnance and ammunition. In addition, the original second division's ordnance and ammunition are extremely consumed, and a lot of ammunition needs to be replenished.

In this way, Wu Fengling also faces the same problem as Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, Zhang Huaizhi, Wang Ruxian and others, that is, the need to buy firearms!

The simplest and most convenient way to buy firearms is naturally imported, as long as rich foreigners can even deliver them to your door! But the problem is that imports are expensive. After the outbreak of the civil war in China last year, the price in the Far East international arms market hit a new high. Taking the standard 75mm shell as an example, the price of German origin has reached 45 taels of silver, and the price of the rest of the British and American arms dealers is also about 40 taels. Japanese goods are cheaper. But it also costs about 38 taels.

Even the 75mm shell produced by the domestic Fuyuan Machinery Factory, which has the lowest quality and the lowest price, has been increased by the price of imported raw materials, and the price of the public sale is more than 35 taels of silver. Even if Zhao Dongyun buys it from Fu Factory at the factory price, the price still needs 32 taels of silver. As for Zhao Dongyun sold it to Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen, and the price was 35 taels or even 36 taels.

You should know that before the Russo-Japanese War, the price of 75mm shells produced by Fu Factory was only 25 taels!

Shells are like this, and rifles are no exception. Take the Japanese 30-year-old rifles and German 88 rifles used in large quantities in China as examples. Before the Russo-Japanese War, the price of new 30-year-old rifles purchased by the Beiyang Army from Japan would not exceed 28 taels of silver. However, Now, it costs 20 taels of silver for Wang Yingkai to buy a second-hand 30-year-old rifle from Japan. You know, in previous years, no one even wanted 15 taels of silver for these second-hand guns.

For the 88 rifle, the factory's factory price has not fluctuated much. In recent years, it has been maintained at about 30 taels. Although the two arsenals in the south of Hanyang and Jiangnan have not said the factory price, their cost price is always higher than that of Fu factory, and it is estimated to be about 323 taels. As for the second-hand Type 88 rifles pushed by the Germans in large quantities, they were limited by orders from the Qing court in the past few years. After ordering local governors to give priority to the purchase domestic Type 88 rifles, the German second-hand Type 88 rifles were generally not sold, and the price was once as low as 15 taels of silver and no one wanted them.

However, after October last year, with the outbreak of the internal war in China, the demand for ordnance, especially the 7.92 mm standard rifles, was greatly increased. At that time, whether it was two arsenals in the south or a blessing factory in the north, their production was far from meeting the huge domestic demand for firearms, so there were many People have set their sights on second-hand goods.

Wang Yingkai, who has been using Japanese weapons, bought Japanese second-hand 30-year rifles, while other warlords all chose the German second-hand 88, which led to a surge in the price of second-hand 88 in the Far East. One is 80% new, the river line is available, and the well-maintained second-hand 88 can be sold for 20 taels, and The sealed Type 88 rifle that the Germans have not used is more expensive than the Fuzo rifle, reaching 35 taels of silver.

At this price, you may not be able to buy it, and you can't get the goods in a short time, so the price of * often continues to rise on the basis of this price.

In such a shortage of ordnance in the Far East market, Zhao Dongyun, who holds Fuyuan Machinery Factory, is lucky.

In addition to the field guns, artillery scopes, telescopes, artillery balloons and other rifles, shells, and even mountain cannons, light and heavy machine guns can basically be purchased from Fuyuan Machinery Factory, which is much cheaper than imported.

And because the output of Fuyuan Machine Factory is relatively large, after Zhao Dongyun's three divisions and five brigades are full of personnel, although there is still a patrol regiment change plan and an expansion plan for a new infantry division, in fact, it is still impossible to consume the huge output of Fuyuan Machine Factory. Especially rifles.

You should know that with the gradual expansion of Fuyuan Machinery Factory in recent years, the production of rifles has increased, and overtime during the war, the daily production of rifles was once as high as more than 300. Now, although the start of work day and night has been suspended, with the expansion of production in the past six months and the maintenance of the overtime system, the daytime output has reached two More than 100, more than the domestic Hanyang Arsenal and Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau combined.

This day is the output of more than 200, and more than 6,000 a month. Naturally, Zhao Dongyun cannot consume such output alone. After all, when Fuyuan Machinery Factory was originally designed and planned, the factory's task was to undertake the supply of ordnance in northern China, not just to supply Zhao Dongyun's hands. These tens of thousands of troops.

In addition to the new expansion of the rifles and the changing of the patrol forces, the rifles of this factory are also stored, and the extra ones are conditionally supplied to several other Beiyang warlords.

Among the many warlords in Beiyang, except for Wang Yingkai's Japanese weapons, the rest of them use 7.92 caliber ordnance. If Zhao Dongyun is willing to sell them, they are naturally willing to buy weapons from Fuchang. This has nothing to do with preferences, but because the price given by Zhao Dongyun is cheaper and the transportation is also comparable. I was able to get the goods earlier.

"Have you given Duan Qirui a thousand guns this month?" Zhao Dongyun did not look at the report in his hand, but asked directly.

As the minister of the Ordnance Department, Zhao Dongping, who manages the procurement of ordnance and also manages the private business of ordnance exports, said: "Yes, in addition to 1,000 guns, there are also four heavy machine guns and 300,000 bullets!"

"Someone came to me yesterday and said that they wanted to send 3,000 guns, 20 heavy machine guns and 2 million rounds. In addition to these, they also asked if we could buy some guns? Mountain cannons and mortars!"

Zhao Dongyun nodded: "It seems that Duan Hefei has made a lot of money in Jiangbei. He also bought at least 6,000 guns in the past few months, and now he wants 3,000. I'm afraid he will expand another brigade."

Zhao Dongyun did not immediately make a decision whether to buy or not, but continued to ask, "What about Wang Shizhen and Wu Fengling and Zhang Huaizhi?" How many orders are there this month?

Zhao Dongping said, "Wang Shizhen in Hubei purchased 1,500 guns, 800,000 bullets, and eight machine guns this month!"

"Wu Fengling from Shanxi also sent people to buy 3,000 rifles, 3 million bullets and 12 machine guns!"

"Henan Wang Ruxian has not made a new order this month. They have purchased 4,000 guns in the first half of the year, and now I'm afraid they are full."

"Zhang Huaizhi from Shandong did not get a new order this month, and only purchased 500 guns last month. The Ministry of Service heard that he hooked up with Germans in Qingdao and bought a batch of second-hand Type 88 rifles from Germans!"

"Other people more or less want to buy our artillery!"