Chapter 566 On the dock

Just as the north was preparing for the storm, Wu Shaoting's delegation finally signed an alliance agreement with the German Minister in Dongjiaominxiang, Beijing on the afternoon of December 21, announcing the establishment of a military alliance between the two southeastern provinces and the German Empire. Because once again, the German Empire had military alliances with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, Bulgaria and Italy. On the day the official covenant came into effect, the German Minister also made an additional reminder that if necessary, Wu Shaoting's side would also need to sign a covenant of the same specifications with these four countries. Of course, the communication and coordination before this was still the Germans' own business.

After receiving a confirmation telegram from the north, Sir Andre immediately told Wu Shaoting himself, and predicted that the first batch of aid materials and loans would be delivered to China by April next year. He sincerely hoped that Wu Shaoting would complete the requirements of the additional clauses of the alliance as soon as possible, reflecting his value and status within the scope of the Allies.

On the same day, Wu Shaoting reached another agreement with Sir Andre to hire German experts as consultants to the army under his command. Andre himself had plans and hit it off on the spot. Among the proposed list of consultants, Major Philip was the first to bear the brunt of the resolution. This resolution was quickly approved by the Qingdao Command and the German Minister.

Wu Shaoting invited Major Philip to serve as strategic consultant at the General Staff Headquarters and consultant at the Whampoa Military Academy.

Philip personally introduced several old friends who were on duty in the German Army to Wu Shaoting, and clearly listed their expertise. From artillery consultants, cavalry consultants, army tactical consultants to engineering consultants, and even logistics management consultants were among them.

Wu Shaoting knew Philip's character. This former instructor was a meticulous soldier. He would not be as philanthropist as Andre. The candidates recommended by the other party must be in line with the current situation of the Chinese team. After reading the list, he immediately issued an instruction and asked Major Philip to hire these people to Guangzhou. After these consultants were in place, he would form an army advisory group at the General Staff Headquarters, and would also arrange these German officials to go to Whampoa Military Academy to coach.

In this way, the Air Force Advisory Group and the Army Advisory Group were all in place, with a whole German system.

In addition to hiring consultants, hesitating about the alliance relationship and Germany's support plan for Wu Shaoting, Sino-German Zhang Shengting Ordnance Company also introduced a batch of advanced cannon production technology from Germany, including the latest German m1912 128mm field gun and m1913 77mm howitzer. The latter is made of steel produced by Shengye Heavy Industry to be self-produced, while the former has a slightly strict structural requirement, but with the arrival of the first batch of aid materials, there are raw materials and equipment for producing such cannons.

Major Philip made a suggestion to Wu Shaoting as an advisor that, with China's current environment and conditions, developing artillery is the best choice. Other provinces may not work, but Guangdong Province has been actively cultivating artillery talents in recent years and has also been a long-standing leading position in industrial production, which is enough to build a powerful and systematic artillery force.

Wu Shaoting naturally knew the importance of artillery on the Chinese battlefield. At that time, the Japanese Japanese devils only used the tactic of "blocking the barrage, infantry Xu Jin" to almost conquer half of China's territory.

The artillery organization of the five divisions in Guangdong has begun to take shape, but there is still a lack of system. The artillery at the grassroots level is still quite good, but the artillery command is very lacking. There is no complete set of tactics, no skillful formation, and even the models of cannons are uneven and unscientific in matching.

Wu Shaoting decided to ask German consultants to make some adjustments to the artillery after equipping with new German artillery, even if it is retrained, and it is necessary to establish the most capable artillery unit in the shortest time.

Not only that, the airship technology, which was cooperating with Germany a few months ago, has recently entered the formal production stage.

Wu Shaoting arranged two production bases, one is Guangzhou Huangpu Machinery Company, and the other is the reorganized New Mawei Shipyard. Zeppelin Company sent a group of specialists to set up service points in Guangzhou. When the Chinese airship market matures, this service point will directly establish a branch with Zhang Shengting Company. These are all things that can be encountered.

The airship technology introduced to Guangzhou was also a special airship bombing device for German parties. With this device, the airship became an air cannon. In today's China without air defense equipment, it will inevitably become a killer weapon.

During the production of airships, Luzhou Aviation School cooperated to open airship driving classes and bombardment squads, and began to cultivate talents in airships in advance. Wuzhou, Guangzhou, Zhangzhou, Fuzhou and Shaoguan were built at the same time. The airships could be put into the service sequence immediately after they left the factory.

Wu Shaoting specially consulted the special commissioner of Zeppelin and proposed to them the method of injecting helium into airship airbags with helium. Helium was discovered by humans in 1895, but it was not widely valued because of the difficulty of refining. European airships still used hydrogen until the 1960s, and until more accidents occurred due to the increasing number of accidents caused by hydrogen flammability, the more stable helium began to be replaced in the 1970s.

He knew that even a careful and meticulous operation like Europe would not avoid a tragedy, let alone China, which is just now. It is expensive to build an airship, and it is not easy to train talents. Instead of using unstable hydrogen for cheap use, it is better to use helium more. Anyway, oil energy has not been paid attention to in this era, and it is not too difficult to use asphalt to produce helium by using sulfuric acid.

German technicians are just serving Wu Shaoting. Since customers require this, they can of course do so. However, if helium is replaced, the production time at this stage will be delayed by one or two months, because the largest refining country for helium is not Germany, but the United States on the other side of the Pacific.

The winter in the south finally showed a biting cold. On January 2, 1914, an area of ​​Guangzhou Wharf was specially arranged and surrounded by the guards of the inspectors' office. Wu Shaoting and his subordinates arrived here early in the morning to wait for the German merchant ships coming from the north. Previous delegations from all provinces participating in the General Consultative Conference also sent specialists to come here to welcome the arrival of an important figure.

The mist of the morning gradually dissipated from the sea, the distant whistle whistle pierced the quiet sea area, and a towering large merchant ship gradually floated out of the sea level.

Deng Keng walked down from the meteorological tower next to the pier and hurried to Wu Shaoting's side on the shore. He lowered his voice and said, "It's a German merchant ship, it has arrived. You can dock within about twenty minutes."

Wu Shaoting pulled his military cloak, nodded slightly, and said, "I understand. You go and prepare the car first. It's cold, so we won't stay on the dock for long."

Deng Keng replied: "Yes!" After he said that, he turned around and left quickly.

Cen Chunxuan, who was standing next to Wu Shaoting, heard Deng Keng's previous words. He smiled and said to Wu Shaoting: "General Songpo will be moved even if there is a gap in his experience. With the help of General Songpo, he has won half of the meeting."

Wu Shaoting nodded and said, "That's right. I believe that General Songpo's influence in the south will definitely make General Tang, General Liu and others convinced. It's not in vain for this arrangement."

Cen Chunxuan was silent for a moment, and suddenly said, "Ting Shuai, I heard that Sun Yixian sent a lot of telegrams from Japan, and it seems that he wanted to support this military advisory meeting. Ting Shuai should know this news, right?"

Wu Shaoting naturally knew the news. As early as when the Progressive Party and the National People's Progressive Party issued the "Both Party Statement", the Chinese Revolutionary Party in Japan was ready to move and sent several messages in a row to join forces to resist the new law. Later, the news of the consultation meeting in November spread, and Sun Yixian directly sent a telegram to announce his support for the consultation meeting. However, this telegram only echoed a little in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, and then it was nowhere to be found.

He knew very well that the Chinese Revolutionary Party could no longer sit still. This boycott of the New Law movement launched by himself and Liang Qichao was a great opportunity for Sun Yixian and others to return to the motherland. Unfortunately, he would not buy this account. He just replied to a few telegrams in a manner and said some high-sounding words later, but then he ignored them.

"Yun Gong, do you think it is necessary to let the Chinese Revolutionary Party get involved now?" Wu Shaoting asked slowly.

"Sun Yixian is a pioneer of Chinese revolutionism after all. Even if his influence in China is not as good as before, he is a well-known figure. If they can join in and deal with Yuan Shikai, it will definitely be helpful in terms of momentum." Cen Chun said in a statement.

Wu Shaoting smiled unanimously. He knew that Cen Chunxuan's words are just a hindsight, and they were just saying it nicely. If Cen Chunxuan sincerely wanted to use the Chinese Revolutionary Party to create momentum, he would have said these words to him a few months ago. Why should he say it before the convening meeting was held?

"If there is more force to participate, we must arrange our thoughts. Especially for the Chinese Revolutionary Party, their thoughts are not simple. The other party Yuan Shikai. After struggling for so many years, they have not gained anything. Do you think they will be willing? If it is simply a boost to the rise, I welcome it, but if there are other purposes, then this matter is difficult to estimate." He said in a far-reaching tone.

"Ting Shuai, you seem to have a lot of concern for Sun Yixian. Is it because of what happened in the church last year?" Cen Chunxuan couldn't help asking.

"Do you think I shouldn't mind? Sun Yixian admitted that it was Chen Qimei's actions for such a big thing. He didn't even have an explanation, and it was just in vain! Is this a leader's way of dealing with things? I said that I will definitely avenge this hatred. It would be fine if Chen Qimei hides in Japan all his life. If he dares to step on China again, he will seek death." Wu Shaoting said coldly.

Cen Chunxuan sighed secretly, and now he fully understood Wu Shaoting’s view of the Chinese Revolutionary Party.

"That's right, our momentum and strength are enough now, and it's not as good as the Chinese Revolutionary Party. It's better to have less than more things. Let's make a decision first." He said meaningfully.

"It's great that Mr. Yun can understand this principle." Wu Shaoting said calmly.

At this time, the sound of the whistle on the sea became clearer, and the figure of the German merchant ship was already in sight.
Chapter completed!