Jagged Warlord

Archduke Ferdinand, Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife were shot dead by Serbian national fanatics in Sarajevo, in order to show that this Balkan country with a strong folk style intends to get rid of the control and influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.The Balkans have been the powder keg of the European situation since the beginning of this century. Whether it is the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Second German Empire behind them, or Britain, France, and Russia, all European powers are entangled in it.

The complicated political situation has led to a small spark here that may brew into a big war.All Europeans at this moment have only one strong feeling that a big war is coming.

The shooting incident in Sarajevo spread to Japan, and it also caused huge waves.Especially for the army, it is ecstatic.A new situation in the Far East is about to begin!After several years of recession and domestic political chaos after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan finally found this opportunity.Countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States can only use diplomatic means to balance the situation in China, or they are close to withdrawing from it. Looking around, there is no international force to restrict their ambitions. The best excuse for profit.

Everyone knows that a war of unprecedented scale is about to break out, and all European countries have shrunk their front lines, focusing their energy and troops on European affairs, and neglecting the colonies of other countries.Germany had only a few thousand troops in Jiaozhou Bay. At this time, the war-torn Germany consciously expressed to the Chinese government that it was willing to return Qingdao to China, but demanded that the Chinese government give compensation for the construction of Qingdao, and asked to choose a suitable one for Germany. The port, Germany's form of "returning" Qingdao is not a disadvantage to itself. In a sense, it is the best way to delay the attack, and the golden cicada escapes its shell.The Beiyang government had secret contact with Germany on this issue. After Japan learned the news, it issued a warning to the Beiyang government, accusing it of violating its neutral position and standing on the side of Germany.After thinking about it, the Beiyang government dared not mention this matter again, for fear of getting burned and disaster would come from heaven.

Germany, eager to withdraw from Asia, lowered its stance again. On behalf of its government, Germany's Chargé d'Affaires Marsan suggested to Yuan Shikai that the leased land of Jiaozhou Bay should be returned to China immediately and unconditionally.Yuan Shikai did not dare to agree, but suggested that the US government take over Jiaozhou Bay from Germany so that it could be returned to China later.However, Yuan Shikai's attempt to take advantage of the conflict between Japan and the United States failed.The U.S. government is unwilling to intervene for fear of taking unprofitable risks.

Yuan Shikai also felt powerless to deal with the arrogance of the Japanese. The weakness of the country cannot be improved overnight.But indulging the Japanese made many common people and gentry feel dissatisfied.Yuan Shikai himself knew that, as the great president, he could not defend the country's territory, so he had to stick his head into the soil like an ostrich.

Li Mohan is also good at capturing opportunities.In his view, if he were Yuan Shikai, he would take the opportunity of the First World War to recover some of the lost rights, and then work hard to develop the national economy to win a precious opportunity for the development of the Chinese nation.However, this is only if, and now Yuan Shikai is so dizzy that he is thinking of becoming emperor with all his heart.He actually sought the skin of a tiger, hoping to gain the support of the Japanese, and finally made a concession when the Japanese wanted to seize the interests of Qingdao and Shandong.

Li Mohan has a clear understanding of himself, with his current power, it is not enough to change anything, he can only do his best.Even so, this is still an opportunity for me.

Li Mohan first issued a telegram, advocating that China join the Allied Powers to participate in the war.

"As soon as the gunshots fired in Sarajevo, the fight to the death between the major powers in Europe kicked off! On this day of international turmoil, how should our country respond? Although the Republic of China is located in the Far East, it is thousands of miles away from Europe. But it is not a paradise. Thinking back to the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, the Northeast became a battlefield, and our Chinese land was turned into a killing ground. It is the laughing stock of the great powers. Today, the Germans occupy Qingdao, the British occupy Weihai, and the Japanese occupy Lushun. There is no peace on the coast of the Bohai Sea. I, Li Mohan, am willing to lead an army by myself and take back Qingdao from the Germans, so that the British and Japanese have no reason to return to Shandong. , to protect the face of our country, and also to save the people of Shandong from suffering from military disasters.”

This strongly worded telegram has been spread all over the world along with the radio waves. It is said that it is the whole world. In fact, China has also sent provincial capitals and provincial cities, and foreign countries are only sent to the diplomatic departments of several powers. Just sent one.Otherwise, the huge telegraph fee will be an astronomical figure. Although Li Mohan is not short of money, he can't be too ostentatious.

As soon as the telegram came out, all parties reacted differently, but most of the elderly Xun Jiu laughed at Li Mohan for his overreaching, while most of the young people praised Li Mohan for his military spirit.Yuan Shikai also sent a telegram back to Li Mohan symbolically, saying that he is brave but too impatient, and that the country's major affairs need to be discussed in a long-term manner.Of course, in the end Yuan Shikai definitely rejected Li Mohan's request to send troops to Shandong.However, this telegram made Li Mohan famous, and now almost the whole world knows that there is a Li Mohan in China who dares to challenge Japan.

The weather in Shangqiu in June is already a bit hot. In the conference room of the guarding mission, there are key members of the SS sitting at long tables.

An electric fan bought from Changsheng Foreign Company was buzzing, but the wind blowing out was still warm.So, the logistics manager went to the cellar to fetch a large piece of ice, which made it a bit cooler.

Li Mohan wiped the sweat from his temples with a towel, flipped through the documents in hand, and asked, "How is the reloading going?"

Because Li Mohan has a counterfeit magic weapon in his hand, the SS army is open to the supply of ammunition, and Li Mohan's troops have a lot of live ammunition shooting training every day, resulting in more and more shell casings.What to do with these shell casings has become a problem. It's a pity to just throw them away. They are all copper anyway.So what to do?Li Mohan decided to carry forward the style of hard work and simplicity, using these bullet casings for bullet reloading.In fact, thrift is only secondary, and the more important purpose is to lay the foundation for the establishment of large-scale military factories in the future, so that workers can practice their skills first.

The person in charge of this project is Wang Qinian, a newly promoted military officer, and the engineer is named Pei Yuqing, who used to be a veteran of the Henan Machinery Bureau in the Qing Dynasty.

河南机器局与1898年4月建成投产，能仿造2磅子前膛炮、57毫米过山快炮、开花炮弹。1911年时月产枪弹四五万发、步枪数十支。辛亥革命后，河南机器局归河南督军管辖。1913年2月，改名河南兵工厂。厂下设枪炮厂、子弹厂、装药厂、木样厂、翻砂厂、熟铁厂、白药房。有机器设备126部，员工163人。日产炮1门、毛瑟步枪1支、枪弹3000余发。

However, although the name has been changed, the management model is still the pre-Qing style, with frequent beatings, scolding, and corporal punishment of workers, not to mention paying wages in arrears to the market.Therefore, Pei Yuqing brought a group of apprentices and grandchildren to Shangqiu with Li Mohan's advertisement to find another way out.At that time, Li Mohan's arsenal was still under planning, and he didn't want to be too ostentatious, so he set up a gun repair shop specially for these precious technicians. Get ready for the arsenal.

As soon as Pei Yuqing heard about the reloading of bullets, he said confidently at that time: "It's on my old Pei. I guarantee that each worker will have more than [-] rounds per month. If you provide me with all the machines, sir, I will directly do it for you. It's okay to make new bullets."

Soon, horse-drawn carriages transported batches of empty ammunition casings to the repair shop every day, and Pei Yuqing directed the workers to start using the existing machinery and equipment to reload the ammunition.In fact, Pei Yuqing's method of reloading bullets is similar to the bullet reloading production line developed by the arsenal of the Second Division of the New Fourth Army in later generations.At that time, the bullet reloading production line of the New Fourth Army could allow a production team composed of eight workers to reload 60 rounds of bullets per year, and it greatly saved labor, and the equipment was easy to disassemble and carry.