"There is also a way to steal. We are pirates, but we are thieves who practice the way for heaven, rather than robbers who burn, kill, robbers who do evil. Is it wrong for us to grab the things of the Japanese? The Japanese soldier blackmailed 200 million taels of silver from our country through the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and snatched Taiwan Island and Penghu Islands. How to calculate this account? The woman Cixi promised them that we descendants could not easily admit that this kind of powerless and humiliating country.

In the treaty, how many things the Japanese have taken from China, I will sooner or later ask them to spit out. Not only will they vomit, but they will also have to pay back twice as much. Now we are still weak and cannot make too much noise. But we can go to the Japanese to steal some, and steal some secretly and use them. What's the point of using them? When we grow stronger in the future, we will rob the Japanese to rob the Japanese clearly." Li Tiancheng thought of the humiliating history that China has suffered in recent years, and his eyes suddenly showed a hint of anger and said with a stern expression.

"Things can be done, but if the whereabouts are exposed, offending the Japanese at this time may be detrimental to us?" Tan Jianye knew that the Zhenguo Army was facing the Beiyang Army that was about to go south. If he provoked a second enemy, he would put him in a very passive situation. He immediately frowned slightly and said with a hint of worry.

"Did you forget that we still have two Tang-class submarines? We invested millions of taels of silver to build submarines. Wouldn't it be a waste to put them there without them? Now is the time to use them. In addition to submarines, we also need several civilian ships to help. As long as we plan carefully and act cautiously, I think it is still feasible." Li Tiancheng had this plan a month ago, collected a lot of information, and finally decided to come down, and then responded solemnly.

"If there is no major interest in front of me, I will not take this risk. This time we have found out that in two days, there will be a batch of valuable good things in Japan that will pass through the Taiwan Strait. If it is ordinary goods, we don't need to rob it. If we succeed this time, it will be enough for us to use it for a while." Li Tiancheng paused and said solemnly.

"What valuable thing is it?" Tan Jianye's eyes immediately rolled and his eyes shone brightly.

"It is a batch of gold imported from South Africa. It was transported by a freighter from Yokohama, Japan. The gold transported on it weighs about five tons. If it is exchanged for silver dollars, it can reach more than five million yuan, which is equivalent to the factory's annual profit. After getting the money, it can be used as military expenses. The next half year of military expenses will be settled. This kind of opportunity is not often available, and it is much more cost-effective than looting other goods."

"So that's it, but since it's gold of such a high value, I believe the Japanese will not be careless and will definitely send warships to escort it. How sure is we are? Don't steal chickens and lose rice?" When Tan Jianye heard the total amount of gold, his eyes lit up, but then he thought again.

"We have always used our own strengths and the weaknesses of the enemy. This time we also adopted the same tactics, using two submarines to deal with the Japanese warships, and then using armed civilian ships to board the Japanese cargo ships and seized this batch of gold. Before the Japanese fleet rushed to the rescue, they escaped. The Japanese could not find any evidence and could not find out who did it, so they had to stare blankly." Li Tiancheng said slowly with a little thought.

"Since you have done a lot of work in the early stage and think this matter is feasible, I think you can take action. When the money is obtained, the recent difficulties will be solved. Although the risks are a little bit greater, I am very interested in digging the Japanese's corners." Under the temptation of huge interests, Tan Jianye did not hesitate and immediately expressed his support.

Li Tiancheng then summoned a group of people and began to discuss specific plans in detail, preparing to take action two days later, with the goal of targeting Japanese cargo ships carrying gold.

On the other hand, when southern Jiangsu was lying down, the shock caused by the whole country was already great, but there was no national chain reaction in the end. Li Tiancheng was also a little disappointed. After the lying down of Zhejiang, all parts of the country seemed to be boiling, with similar signs after the Wuchang Uprising. Li Tiancheng could not judge whether the Wuchang Uprising was meaningful at this time. Perhaps the Wuchang Uprising would be replaced by its irreplaceable historical role because of its arrival.

After Zhejiang was liberated, the governors and governors of all provinces across the country pointed their finger at the new army in each province. All provinces adopted a policy of guarding against the new army. Some withdrew the new army's ammunition, and one soldier had only a few bullets in his hand, and some transferred the new army from important cities such as provincial capitals to prevent them from following the example of Zhejiang. Then, they strengthened their control over the new army, replaced the new army's generals, and supplemented the new army with the old forces.

Although the measures have been done in good condition, the impact of Zhejiang's liberation on the new army in various provinces is really great. Now Huang Xing and other revolutionaries have long lurked into Wuchang and other places, planning some major events. The new army in various provinces is also excited, and the fire of revolution is being ignited everywhere in secret.

In addition to being stimulated by the Zhenguo Army uprising, the revolutionaries were also upset about the short life of the Zhejiang Revolutionary Army, believing that the Zhenguo Army had no longer reliable to the revolutionaries. After receiving this lesson, the revolutionaries believed that they must start again in other provinces in the country and carry out new uprising struggles in order to establish their own independent sphere of influence. They could not watch the Zhenguo Army erode the southern provinces. After all, the goals pursued by both sides are not very consistent. Everyone wants the world to operate according to the rules they set. In order to achieve this goal, they must ultimately rely on strength to speak.

In this chaotic period, as long as people with thoughts, pursuits and beliefs will not miss the opportunity to be a hero. Li Tiancheng has just emerged and is well-known. Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Chiang Kai-shek, Yuan Shikai and others also want to leave a name for themselves in this era and become the pride of emperors who are attracted by thousands of people. History also provides them with such a suitable platform. Let's see how they perform next.

A few days ago, the narrow area of ​​southern Jiangsu resisted the siege of the Qing army. For the Zhenguo Army, which had just been established, it was very unfavorable to the long-term anti-Japanese war, because as long as the Qing soldiers blocked the main land transportation routes in southern Jiangsu, the sales of Zhenhua's industrial products in China would be basically interrupted. Due to the constraints of the great powers at sea, the Qing soldiers did not dare to block the ports in Shanghai and other places.

Moreover, the great powers are doing a lot of business with Zhenhua now. Many factories need to use various new products from Zhenhua. Zhenhua's civilian products are gradually becoming popular abroad. Therefore, if the Qing army blocked Zhenhua's outlet, it will have a certain impact on the domestic economy of the great powers.

In addition, the Qing navy was weak at this time, and it was a bit difficult to carry out blockade missions. However, although the Zhenguo Army now has several gunboats cruised within the Huangpu River, it is still relatively weak compared to the Qing navy, so several warships have never sailed out of the Huangpu River.

The Qing army's naval ships did not enter the Yangtze River section in southern Jiangsu. The Hubei fleet was stationed in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, while other fleets were distributed along the coast. Fearing the power of the shore defense cannons of the Zhenguo Army, the Zhenguo Army set up anti-ship heavy artillery positions at the estuary of the Yangtze River and the control section, which can carry out artillery fire strikes on ships on the river. For the narrow Yangtze River estuary, it is not conducive to the maneuvering war of naval ships, and the navy's role is limited and the range of strikes is limited. Therefore, the navy has not been mobilized during this confrontation.

In addition, by the late Qing Dynasty, there were many people in the navy who sympathized with the revolution. During the Wuchang Uprising, the Qing Navy did not actually become a powerful helper of the Qing court, but soon turned to the rebel army. At this time, the Qing court did not dare to rely too much on them.

After that, the war subsided for two days, and both sides were making final preparations. The Beiyang Army had accelerated its pace of moving south, but before the large army arrived, the Qing soldiers of various units were afraid of the power of the artillery fire of the Zhenguo Army, so they temporarily remained silent and kept their distance.

There is no other way to deal with the artillery fire of the Zhenguo Army except for similar artillery fire. During this period, most of the artillery fire equipped by the Beiyang Army was small-caliber artillery such as mountain cannons with a caliber of less than 75 mm, and the range was less than 20 kilometers away from the howitzers and cannons of the Zhenguo Army.

In fact, there are large-caliber heavy artillery in the Beiyang Army, but most of them are immovable turrets. For example, Zhang Xun's Jiangfang heavy artillery has a caliber of 150 mm. These fixed artillery weighing dozens of tons cannot be maneuvered everywhere. There were no heavy trucks in this era. It is very difficult to carry such giant artillery on land. In contrast, the Zhenguo Army's heavy artillery weighs only a few tons, and all are wheel-type towable aircraft. As long as it is not fighting in the mountains, it can maneuver around under human or horsepower, which is more flexible.

Currently, only the Imperial Guards in the Capital have 18 heavy howitzers with a caliber of 150 mm. They were not called before because of the need to defend the capital. After Zhejiang was restored this time, the Qing court was anxious and had to bear the pain of giving up. They also transported the eighteen cannons to Tianjin, preparing to arrive in the south through the navy. However, it was difficult to transport such cannons, and it would take some time to arrive in southern Jiangsu.

Given the obvious artillery advantages of Zhenguo Army, the Qing soldiers had to purchase more artillery from abroad with long range and flexible and maneuverable artillery. However, these artillery returned from imported foreign countries for at least two months and at most six months, and could not form combat effectiveness for a while. Zhenguo Army could seize this time to take further action and gain more territory.
Chapter completed!