Chapter 12 New Machine Gun Camp Supervision 1

Speaking of this, he took another look at Zhao Dongyun, and then said to Yuan Shikai, "Your excellency, the reason why the machine gun team was able to shine in the winter exercise last year is inseparable from the tacit cooperation with Dongyun's second battalion. Watching the exercise of the second battalion during the winter exercise, the step team dug deep trenches and built a strong machine gun between the deep trenches. , relying on the close cooperation between the foot team and the machine gun team can be a hundred steps away from the enemy! Therefore, in the training of this machine gun team, the cooperation between the synchronous teams should also be increased.

The previous effect of Dongyun's opening of the machine gun team is obvious to all. As the saying goes, it is not bothering the two masters. I suggest that Dongyun also shoulder the heavy responsibility of this machine gun battalion again, so that the second battalion under Dongyun can also fully cooperate with the training of the machine gun team!"

Wang Yingkai's words slightly changed Duan Qirui's face, and also made Zhao Dongyun frown slightly!

On the surface, Wang Yingkai directly recommended Zhao Dongyun to lead the second battalion to start the machine gun team, but clear-sighted people know that Wang Yingkai's purpose is not to be Zhao Dongyun. His purpose is only one thing, that is, to prevent the machine gun team from being placed under Duan Qirui's artillery, and in the Beiyang circle, everyone Zhao Dongyun has been acquiesced as a member of Duan Qirui's faction. Wang Yingkai's hand is obviously to recommend Zhao Dongyun, but in fact it weakens Duan Qirui's influence, which may also cause a gap between Duan Qirui and Zhao Dongyun.

Wang Yingkai and Duan Qirui just said a few words, but everyone present could smell the strong smell of gunpowder inside, which made Zhao Dongyun, who was directly in the battle with the boss for the first time, also feel a lot of pressure.

This is a battle between Duan Qirui and Wang Yingkai. Not to mention that Zhao Dongyun can't get involved, even Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen can only watch!

However, Yuan Shikai above seemed not to see the hidden smell of gunpowder between the two people, but he slowly turned his eyes to Zhao Dongyun again: "Oh, Dongyun, what do you think of yourself?"

Zhao Dongyun knew that he could not retreat at this time. Whether it involved Duan Qirui or Wang Yingkai, he could not retreat, because Yuan Shikai was in front of him, and in front of Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui and Wang Yingkai were nothing.

"Lord Xian, don't worry, Dongyun is confident to run this machine gun team well!" Don't think too much, Zhao Dongyun immediately issued a guarantee to Yuan Shikai.

When Zhao Dongyun said this without hesitation, the actual people present could see that Zhao Dongyun had given up being sandwiched between Duan Qirui and Wang Yingkai. He chose a more direct and efficient method, that is, he chose to directly choose Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai nodded. In fact, before today's meeting, he had decided to ask Zhao Dongyun to be responsible for the training of the machine gun team, because there are only a few people in China who can understand machine gun tactics, and the only person Yuan Shikai can use is actually Zhao Dongyun. However, although he has internally decided that Zhao Dongyun is responsible for the training of the machine gun team, it makes him feel good to see that Zhao Dongyun did not pay attention to Wang Yingkai and Duan Qirui but directly.

Yuan Shikai naturally knows about the fight between his men, and even to a large extent he provoked it. The reason for doing so can be generally be summarized as a technique of control. If his subordinates do not have a factional fight, then Yuan Shikai has to worry about whether his subordinates are planning to replace him. However, it doesn't matter if his subordinates have factions. The important thing is that his subordinates always know that Yuan Shikai is the boss in the Beiyang system!

Zhao Dongyun promised Yuan Shikai at the first time. In Yuan Shikai's view, Zhao Dongyun did not put Duan Qirui or Wang Yingkai first, but put Yuan Shikai first.

Yuan Shikai immediately nodded, showed a satisfied face and then said, "In this case, you are still in charge of the machine gun team!"

Yuan Shikai's light sentence was that he handed over the power of organizing the machine gun team to Zhao Dongyun, and Duan Qirui, Wang Yingkai and others on the side did not say any objections. They also showed appreciation and approval. As for what they were thinking in their hearts, it was not something that outsiders could know.

Next, the meeting was still based on Zhao Dongyun's explanation. Zhao Dongyun talked about and explained the reasons in detail from the use of machine gun tactics to the formation of the machine gun team one by one, and a group of bigwigs sitting at his head, including Yuan Shikai, listened quietly and expressed a few doubts from time to time.

This kind of scene makes Zhao Dongyun feel quite good. After all, it makes Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang and other Beiyang bigwigs listen to him like primary school students. This kind of thing will not happen often!

In terms of the battalion system, the armies of England, Prussia and other countries have two battalions, and an infantry division of more than 10,000 people is equipped with about 24 heavy machine guns. The number of our army in Beiyang Town is comparable to that of Taixi Division, and each town is equipped with 24 machine guns. However, our army has built a small number of machine guns or sergeants, so it is not appropriate to disperse the new machine gun battalion. The machine guns in each town can be concentrated into one battalion and trained in peacetime. In wartime, one or two teams are assigned to the following infantry standards to participate in the battle according to the situation.

In this way, the new machine gun battalion can have four machine gun teams, three outposts under each team, and two heavy machine guns in each sentry. In such a battalion, there are 24 machine guns and 514 sergeants.

The machine gun battalion in Zhao Dongyun's mouth has been studied by him for a long time. It is not to mention how good it is, but at least it is in line with the current situation in Beiyang. From the perspective of future generations, this machine gun is more and better. It is better for a teacher to make hundreds or thousands of him, but considering that it is only 1902, let's not say so much. Whether the machine gun is enough for well-trained soldiers to use, the expensive cost alone is enough to make the North Sea spit blood.

Machine guns are still a new thing these days. Although the price is much cheaper than artillery, it costs thousands of taels of silver. Not only is the machine gun itself expensive, but the machine gun also consumes a huge amount of bullets.

This consumption is nothing for the great powers, but it is a big problem for China, whose industry is backward and even machine guns and bullets have to be imported. This is not only related to the high price of imported weapons, but also more susceptible to others. At present, the arms embargo imposed by various countries against China is the most obvious example. Zi.

Taking advantage of today's opportunity, Zhao Dongyun simply said to Yuan Shikai, "Your Excellency, if our army wants to equip machine guns on a large scale in the future, it will not only rely on imports, but also be very vulnerable to people in wartime. Therefore, the Ministry suggested that the domestic manufacturing bureau can imitate machine guns by itself, so that it can be in our Beiyang University. Scale equipped with machine guns!"

Yuan Shikai nodded after hearing this: "I know this!"

Yuan Shikai did not say that he would immediately imitate machine guns and so on, because it is too difficult to imitate them in a short time. Although the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau made machine guns in the early years, the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau has fallen. Although there are also Hubei Gun Factory, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and other provincial manufacturing bureaus, it is more or less technical. It seems insufficient, and it is more difficult to imitate heavy machine guns to keep up with the international advanced pace

Of course, this is looking at this problem from a national perspective, but these problems are not the most important for Yuan Shikai. The most important thing is that whether it is Hubei Gun Factory, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau or other southern provincial manufacturing bureaus, they do not belong to him. Yuan Shikai's management!

Yuan Shikai is the governor of Zhili and the Minister of Trade of Beiyang, and the power of the Beiyang system is basically in Zhili and Shandong. In addition, Henan and Northeast can barely be counted, but it does not have much influence in the south.

In northern China, which can be controlled by Yuan Shikai, there used to be a Tianjin manufacturing bureau, but the largest arsenal in North China was destroyed by the Eight-Nation during the Gengzi Incident, resulting in Yuan Shikai's current control of not even one large arsenal.

That is to say, now we have to build our own heavy machine guns, either to build a new arsenal, or invest money in Hubei Gun Factory or Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau to imitate heavy machine guns. It's too difficult to build a new arsenal here. It can't be taken down without millions of silver. Now Yuan Shikai can't even take out the money to build the Beiyang Standing Army. There is more money to run an arsenal.

As for taking out the money to make machine guns in the manufacturing bureaus of southern provinces, it is better for Yuan Shikai to import them directly abroad.

In these days, every province in China is an independent kingdom, and they have independent financial, military, people's livelihood and other rights. When the Qing court needed money and mobilized the army, it had to ask the governors below. Otherwise, those feudal officials really won't dump you. The southeast mutual protection in the Gengzi Incident is the most obvious example. The central government has declared war on the outside world, and the following provinces have even declared neutrality. This kind of thing is more nonsense in normal countries.

So for Yuan Shikai, Beiyang is Beiyang, and Nanyang is Nanyang. Nanyang is actually not much different from other countries for Beiyang. Take your own money to let other provinces develop military industry, and he won't do it even if he kills him!

When Yuan Shikai pondered the problem of self-made machine guns, Wang Yingkai beside him also said, "Self-made ordnance is indeed a problem, and this is not only a problem of heavy machine guns, but also a problem of rifles, artillery and even bullets and artillery."

Wang Yingkai continued: "Now we don't have a manufacturing bureau, and the manufacturing bureau of the southern provinces will not supply us with ordnance. Everything needs to be imported. In the long run, it will not only cost a lot, but also the supply of weapons will be cut off in wartime!"

The reason why Wang Yingkai said this is that the problem of heavy machine guns is the same as that of rifles. At present, many southern manufacturing bureaus in China, including Hubei gun factories, have begun to mass-produce 1888 committee rifles. However, the Hanyang manufacturing they produced has been given to the new and old army in the south. It is impossible to make even one Hanyang in the Beiyang New Army.

Duan Qirui frowned and said, "Everyone knows that it's difficult, but now we are short of military spending and urgent time to become a military. Although there are many drawbacks in the import of ordnance, it is also a helpless move!"