There was a layer of gray between the sky and the earth, both dark clouds and rain. When Reynoldson, Richard and Hank came to the brigade compound again, it was nine o'clock that morning, and the sudden fusion weather made
These British people were a little uncomfortable with it, so they brought a few more attendants to help with umbrellas.
We were welcomed into the small conference room on the second floor of the brigade headquarters barracks, served hot tea and exchanged greetings, and then sat down on the left and right sides of the long table.
Reynoldson, Richard and others specially brought two translators today, one Chinese and one British, in order to double translate the text of the terms. This negotiation took nearly a month to prepare.
Time seems to be treated with great respect by each other. In fact, at this stage, there is not much redundant red tape.
During this period, the British side prepared two samples of cooperation agreements. The drafts were given to Yuan Su for review more than half a month ago, and today they brought a revised version that has been adjusted in detail. The content of the discussions was not intense.
The debate was just a matter of explaining, discussing, and revising the revised version clause by clause. Even the revisions were only minor changes. Both parties already knew the important clauses.
Under the terms of this revision, the weapons promised by the UK include 4,000 "Lee Enfield" rifles, 400,000 rounds of supporting ammunition, 1,000 Mills grenades, and the lease of eight Vickers heavy machine guns (
British Maxim). Regarding the Mills grenade, which was the pineapple grenade early equipped by the British army, it was mentioned in the contract that as long as Yuan Su's subordinates have the conditions to produce such weapons, the UK can transfer production technology and technology at the most favorable price.
Production equipment.
Mills-type grenades are much more convenient than the popular wooden-handled grenades. First of all, they are simpler to produce. The wooden handle of a wooden-handled grenade needs to go through seven or eight processes before it can be produced. It is not only expensive but also less lethal than a pineapple-type grenade.
Of course, because of the small size of the pineapple-shaped grenade, it is inferior to the wooden-handled grenade in terms of long-distance throwing. The wooden-handled grenade also uses cluster bundling and detonation to increase its power.
In short, both have their own strengths and weaknesses. For Yuan Su, who is currently pursuing rapid development, of course he prefers pineapple-shaped grenades, which can greatly reduce production costs. [New] And it is fully compatible with Chinese wooden handle grenades
Due to the current situation of illiteracy, a sudden pineapple-shaped grenade may have unexpected effects.
Regarding the "Lee Enfield" rifle and Vickers heavy machine gun, Yuan Su was actually unwilling to accept such weapons and equipment from the bottom of his heart. In a nutshell, the British standard equipment was too incompatible with the weapons and equipment produced in China. As early as
Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, China used German-style equipment as the mainstream, which is one of the reasons why Hanyang-made rifles have been in service for so many years. Looking at the entire history, Britain and Germany were hostile most of the time.
Although the German-made MG08 Maxim heavy machine gun ordered by Yuan Su and the Vickers heavy machine gun currently provided by the United Kingdom are both Maxim series products, they are only the same in principle. However, the caliber of the former is 7.9
2 mm, the caliber of the latter is 7.7 mm, which is destined to be unable to uniformly distribute ammunition.
The caliber of the Lee Enfield rifle is also 7.7 mm. Its characteristic is that it pioneered the unique short rifle concept in the world. The length of the gun body is between a conventional rifle and a carbine (cavalry rifle), which is very suitable for trenches of a certain size.
Used in combat. In addition, the gun has two commendable advantages. One is the double-layer magazine supply, and the other is the use of a rear-end locked rotating rear-pull bolt.
.
The characteristic of the locked rotary bolt action is that the bolt can be loaded very quickly. With ten rounds of bullets in the double-layer magazine, it can provide continuous and rapid firepower output.
However, all the advantages of the Lee Enfield rifle are precisely all its disadvantages. Because of the specific length of the barrel, the rifle cannot shoot accurately once a bayonet is installed, and it is not as advantageous as a conventional rifle in hand-to-hand combat. In fact,
In the history of the use of the Lee Enfield rifle, few soldiers installed bayonets.
The double-layer magazine and the locked rotating bolt action, while providing rapid output, also make it very difficult to alternate firepower. After all, this era is not like the 21st century. Soldiers can carry multiple spare magazines. Once the soldier fires
When the bullet is empty, the magazine must be removed to reload the bullet, which is naturally much slower than a rifle that carries five rounds of bullets and reloads them once.
What's more, the more frequent the firing rate, the faster the bullets are consumed, and the heavier the logistical pressure becomes.[ ]
However, there is never anything perfect in this world. The reason why Yuan Su made up his mind to cooperate with the British and completely replace the British equipment was that on the one hand, the British equipment did have advantages in quality, and on the other hand, he was determined to take advantage of the first
World War II, play a good game to win without losing.
He knew very well that whether he was a warlord or a politician, if he wanted to achieve the fastest development, he would inevitably have to rely on funding from Western powers. He also knew very well the situation before and after the First World War.
The pre-war arms competition between the Entente and the Alliance was almost crazy. Whether it was to prepare for war or to deter the enemy, both sides acted with the attitude of preferring excess to shortage.
It was precisely because of this tense international relationship that he was able to obtain the support of the British so easily. In this war, the Allies won in the end, and he would be able to use his relationship with the British to gain more benefits, such as
Buying machinery, equipment, armaments and weapons from the defeated Germany in large quantities at low prices, and dumping food, clothing, etc. to Germany.
After discussing these basic arms sponsorship, Yuan Su also made an additional new request to Richard, that is, he hoped that the British could donate another 4,000 sets of copper helmets.
The most famous British helmet is undoubtedly the mk2 steel helmet, which is also a large plate-shaped helmet commonly known as the "farmer's helmet". However, the steel helmet was only gradually derived during the First World War, and now there is no concept of a steel helmet at all.
.Nowadays, the helmets of all teams are basically made of copper, and they are only for decorative purposes.
Regarding Yuan Su's request, Richard and others were very confused. Why did they suddenly think of asking for a batch of copper helmets for no reason? The British team is no longer equipped with such metal helmets, which are heavy, boring and cold in winter, and can only be used under certain circumstances.
It will only be used in small amounts out of etiquette needs on certain occasions.
Yuan Su simply explained that he wanted his troops to be different, to show his friendship with the British, and to show respect for his future British advisors and coaches.
These high-sounding words made it difficult for Richard and others to distinguish for a while, but considering that the bronze helmets were already obsolete equipment for the British team, it would be reasonable to bring 4,000 helmets from the warehouse and give them to the Chinese. Anyway, for the Chinese people's strange behavior
Westerners have long been accustomed to this idea, so they didn’t care too much about it and agreed on the spot.
The main purpose of Yuan Su's request for these helmets was to confuse his men. At that time, he would only say that these helmets were equipment that could withstand bullets and protect the head, and no soldiers would doubt anything. In fact, even in the 21st century,
No matter how advanced the helmet is, it cannot withstand bullet fire and can only protect against damage from shrapnel or ricochet. Since modern times, the greatest significance of military helmets is to give soldiers psychological comfort.
In addition to the benefits that the British gained from this contract, including being able to invest in the coastline at will and being hired as Yuan Su's military advisor and police advisor, there were also some implicit terms that were only unilaterally explained to Yuan Su. These implicit terms
This is to ensure that British people receive special favor in the future of the contract. China needs to bear the responsibility for the personal safety of British personnel. At the same time, when dealing with some legal issues, it must give priority to the "most favored cooperation principle".
In Yuan Su's view, the so-called "principle of most favorable cooperation" is a disguised form of consular jurisdiction, which is just a form of unspoken rules and unwritten clauses. In other words, if the British envoys to the East Zhili Protectorate
If his subordinates violate discipline, Yuan Su should deal with it as appropriate, rather than in accordance with the law.
This is obviously an unfair treaty, but fortunately it is not a real consular jurisdiction. What's more, if you get something, you must come back. It is absolutely impossible for the British to be taken advantage of for no reason.
When it was almost eleven o'clock, all the clauses that needed to be revised were revised on the spot. Yuan Su and Richard formally signed the two copies of the contract. They symbolically exchanged the cooperation agreement and shook hands solemnly.
, the two parties finally established a cooperative relationship.
At noon, Yuan Su invited Richard and others to have dinner at a restaurant near the train station. After lunch, everyone returned to the brigade headquarters compound. Although the cooperation agreement was signed, they still needed to understand the implementation process.
Richard said that in the next month, investors and technical personnel will arrive in Luanzhou one after another and go to places such as Changli and Tanghai for on-the-spot inspections. If everything goes well, it will be completed in the next three months.
The first phase of the investment plan will be formulated within a year and implemented gradually.
The promotion of police work within the jurisdiction of the East Zhili Protectorate and the recruitment of all members of the military advisory group will also be determined within the next three months. Of course, whether they are police consultants or military consultants, the information and background of all consultants
They will be submitted to Yuan Su for review in advance, and Yuan Su will determine the candidates and number of people to hire.
Yuan Su didn't have many plans here. Basically, he just followed the British's wishes to make arrangements as appropriate.
After talking about these words, Richard and others did not stay in the brigade headquarters compound for a long time. They had to return to Jinan as soon as possible to deal with the corresponding affairs. They shook hands with Yuan Su again and stood up to leave.
After seeing off the foreigners, Yuan Su had a brief chat with Chen Wenian, He Qigong and others.
Considering that it is impossible for the British side to form an advisory group and send armaments so quickly, the training plan for the 1st Mixed Brigade does not need to be postponed any longer, and everything will be done according to the original plan. As for the lack of armaments, the necessary armaments must first be
Make up for it as soon as possible. As for the firearms, you can take turns practicing.
According to the established training plan, training will be officially launched in early July. During this period, all regiments and battalions have already been actively preparing. As long as the brigade headquarters issues an order, everything can start step by step.
"That's it. It's been decided that each regiment will start training from the morning of the day after tomorrow." Yuan Su said loudly.
While Yuan Su was still in Baoding, He Qigong had already formulated all the training contents.
Whether it is the new army or the patrol battalion, the most defective part of today's soldiers is their physical fitness. Doing nothing all day long, sleeping in and not moving, the soldiers' arms and legs have long deteriorated. The first thing to focus on during this training is physical fitness, and in
During the training period, a military order ideology will also be implemented, which will also play a role in improving military style and discipline while training.
Even after the training is over, each regiment and battalion still has to maintain daily morning and evening runs, and occasionally conduct surprise training, such as late-night emergency gathering runs, temporary small-scale exercises, etc. These all depend on the situation.
Depends.
In addition, conduct evaluations are held every month. The brigade headquarters evaluates the regiment headquarters, the regiment headquarters evaluates the battalion headquarters, and the battalion headquarters evaluates the company headquarters. Those who excel will be rewarded, and those who fail will be punished. All assessments and evaluations are recorded in officer files. In this way
The purpose is to ask officers to lead by example. If the officers are lazy, how can they lead the soldiers well?
Many unhealthy habits and customs in the military camp originate from the officers. For example, it is stipulated to run in the morning and in the evening every day. Some officers think this is a troublesome thing, so they lie about completing the run every day, but in fact they do not.