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The post-war military conference of the Liberation Army was also very gloomy. The Second Regiment, which faced the attack head-on, was almost destroyed. Of the three battalions that went into the battle, two of the three battalion commanders were killed on the battlefield, and one could not be saved in the hospital and died of internal bleeding. More than half of the company commanders, platoon commanders, and squad leaders were killed or wounded, and the rest were all wounded.
The only one who was not injured was the battalion commander of the Fourth Battalion. This battalion commander was timid and did not join the battle when Regimental Commander Wu Liao led the charge. This was discovered in the post-war investigation, and the battalion commander was immediately sent to military court. This battalion commander also became the first soldier in the Liberation Army to be executed because of fear of battle.
However, it was impossible for such a valiant unit to meet the fate of being stripped of their designation. The Second Regiment was awarded the honorary title of "Iron Guts Regiment". All the soldiers who participated in this battle, except for the 4th Battalion Commander who was shot to death and a few soldiers who followed him, received an armband of "Battle of Foshan Defense".
But no matter how much honor was used to boost morale, all the officers in the Liberation Army's middle and senior officers' meeting had ugly expressions. The Liberation Army had a very strong officer corps, so the combat effectiveness of the troops was very average. The level of the Second Regiment could basically represent the strength of the main force of the Liberation Army. But the performance of the main force in this battle could not be said to be outstanding. If the Second Regiment could be said to have fought to the death, using blood and lives to maintain the honor of the troops. The regiment responsible for the flank attack was much worse. The First Regiment was first attacked by the British artillery while moving, and suffered a lot of losses. Then the British retreated, and the First Regiment was lured by the British into the artillery range of the steamship when they gave chase. Not only did the troops fail to increase the results of the battle in the pursuit, but they also suffered a lot under the British large-caliber artillery.
All calculated, the casualties of the First Regiment were 1,000. Together with the casualties of the Second Regiment, the Liberation Army suffered more than 3,200 casualties, almost three times that of the British army. In a battle launched with three times the number of troops, 5,000 Liberation Army soldiers against 4,000 British soldiers, the number of casualties of the Liberation Army far exceeded that of the enemy. This was the first time in the military history of the Liberation Army.
Being able to dominate the north and south of China was not something that the Liberation Army boasted about, but something that had been fought for. The pride established by such a proud record allowed the Liberation Army to not collapse in the face of the British army's onslaught. They had this kind of pride, but they didn't have the ability to match it. This was also the reason why they suffered such a great loss.
When Vézé saw that the Liberation Army finally knew the immensity of heaven and earth, he finally felt some comfort in his heart. He said, "This time, we won. The British had failed not only in battle, but also in strategy. This victory was real. No one can deny this victory. "
Everyone had heard what Vézé had said many times, and they knew that Vézé was not bragging. However, the cost of this victory was too great. More importantly, everyone's confidence had indeed suffered a heavy blow.
Vézé continued, "The strength of the British does not only come from their individual fighting ability. From the intelligence gathered after the war, our army stabilized the front line in hand-to-hand combat. If it had not been for this hand-to-hand combat, and if they had continued to shoot at each other, I'm afraid that our army would not have been able to hold out. But from this point of view, the division headquarters' arrangement was very good. There was no disconnect on the front line. The distribution of the first and second brigades between the first and second brigades was very reasonable. When the first brigade encountered an accident, the second brigade quickly arrived as reinforcements. Moreover, the first brigade did not ignore the situation at the time and immediately asked for reinforcements from the second brigade. This was a very good move. "
Many of the senior officers had a slight look of lingering fear on their faces. If they had not taken into account the factor that Vézé said that the British army was very good at fighting, the General Staff would not have considered the possibility of a brigade being wiped out in the blink of an eye. When this possibility, which seemed to only exist on paper, suddenly became a reality, the plan finally worked.
Wei Changrong, who was in charge of combat training for a "long time", could not help but ask, "Commander-in-chief, the British artillery is powerful, and the British infantry is also powerful. The key is that they cooperate better. If we want to catch up with them, how do we train? "
Although Wei Changrong was the one who carried out the plan, Vézé was the one who proposed the concept of combat training. When Wei Changrong asked this question, everyone's eyes fell on Vézé. Just like in the past, with Vézé backing them up, the battle was won even though they had to pay such a heavy price, and the purpose of the campaign was achieved. Based on the ability that the British had shown in the battle, they probably would not dare to go deep alone. If they dared to go deep alone, the Liberation Army was confident that they could defeat the British troops at a smaller cost. It did not matter if they had 4,000 or 40,000 troops.
"First of all, we have to correctly understand that our future opponents are not the Qing Army, but these world-class armies. The British were able to fight their way here from thousands of miles away, so they are capable. As long as we recognize the strength of the enemy and do not underestimate them, we can reduce our losses. What we need to do now is to train well, especially during the maneuvers. In previous maneuvers, everyone knows that the Qing Army is not good enough to fight at the level that we use to pretend to be the enemy. So, you should pat your chest and ask yourselves, is this a maneuver or an act? "Vézé's tone began to become impolite.
The General Staff was better. They had done their best when drawing up the homework on paper. The faces of all the commanders turned ugly. They did not take this too seriously when they carried out the maneuver.
Seeing that these officers were ashamed, Vézé was relieved. He said, "Secondly, we are developing a new generation of weapons, but we have encountered some problems. I will arrange for everyone to have a look. Of course, this is a top secret, and no one is allowed to leak it! "
The content of the tour was naturally the new generation of "one-on-one" rifles. Except for a few people, it was the first time for most of the officers to see this kind of weapon. After watching the shooting performance and personally operating the rifle, everyone was in high spirits. But what happened next surprised the officers. First of all, a smoothbore gun made of cast iron or a Minet rifle with engraved rifling could be considered qualified. But after using metal bullets, the chamber pressure was greater, and the bullet speed was faster. After the lead bullet rubbed against the barrel, the problem of lead hanging from the barrel was serious, and the inside of the barrel was quickly deformed. Even thickening the barrel or using a double barrel could not solve this problem.
One of the reasons why the Liberation Army had been victorious was that this army had mastered China's first-class weapons for more than four years. When the Qing Army used matchlocks, the Liberation Army used flintlocks. When the Qing Army used matchlocks, the Liberation Army used matchlocks and paper bullets. The superiority of weapons ensured that this army could always overwhelm the enemy in firepower. So when they encountered the British army, even though they knew that the British army also used matchlocks, they were still completely not used to it.
"Commander-in-chief, how should we solve this problem?" Wei Changrong was the first to ask.
Vézé looked solemnly at the expectant officers and said, "We want to use steel barrels, and if possible, we will use copper bullets. But to do this, we need industrial strength. The British are stronger than China in terms of their industrial strength. As long as our industrial strength is not able to completely overwhelm the British, although we can still win the war on the mainland, we will not be able to defeat the British. "
After following Vézé for more than four years, the officers had barely heard of it, and even knew a little about "industry." However, no one really knew what the gap between China and the UK's industrial capabilities was.
"Then what exactly do we need to do?" Wei Changrong continued to ask.
Vézé snorted and shouted, "Bring a pen!"
The guards immediately cleaned up the table in front of everyone, where the guns were placed. Vézé waved the pen and wrote eight simplified Chinese characters in semi-cursive script, "Study hard and make progress every day."
No matter how much the Liberation Army was shaken this time, things still developed as Vézé had predicted. The British strategy of trying to make the Liberation Army yield failed. And the British did not hold on to the past, they soon began to move forward together with the new future.
The trade between Hong Kong and the Viceroy's Office resumed. After a few months, foreign merchants began to reappear in Guangzhou. Everything seemed to be returning to the old way, as if nothing had happened.
But the internal changes were fierce. If the previous Viceroy's Office and the Liberation Army only obeyed Vézé and then took step by step to become the strongest army in China. The tragic battle on Foshan opened the Liberation Army to a whole new world. Even in their own motherland, China, the powerful Liberation Army had to face the even more powerful British. And Hong Kong was only a small existence in the British strategic layout.
Vézé said that the British would not consider fighting with the Liberation Army in the short term, and the Liberation Army did believe that their commander-in-chief, Vézé, would not lie. He said that the British would not fight again in the short term, so they should not fight again. But there would not be a war in the short term, but there would be a war in the long term. The entire army strengthened their military training in an all-round way, at least no one treated the maneuver as a show anymore. In the face of an "enemy" with the same fighting strength, the Liberation Army soon discovered that there were too many loopholes in the tactics they were proud of. Some of them were too lazy to care about, and most of the loopholes were things that no one had thought of at all. As a result, the work of the Combat Training Department suddenly increased several times. Everyone bore the burden of the work without complaint.
Vézé was relieved that the Liberation Army was willing to lower its "noble head." Confucius had a very classic saying, "Confucius said: I am determined to learn at the age of fifteen, to be independent at the age of thirty, to be unconfused at the age of forty, to know the destiny of heaven at the age of fifty, to be obedient to my ears at the age of sixty, and to follow my heart's desire at the age of seventy, without going beyond the rules."
People often quoted this saying: I am determined to learn at the age of thirty, to be independent at the age of forty, and to know the destiny of heaven at the age of fifty. But Vézé slowly felt that the real reason that made Confucius a great man was the word "learn" in "I am determined to learn at the age of fifteen." To learn, one must have a goal, and then one must know one's shortcomings after learning. When Confucius was fifteen years old, he had the ambition to "learn." Vézé estimated that the old man also had the attitude to learn, and later there was the saying, "When three people walk together, there must be a teacher."
If a person studied honestly and diligently from the age of fifteen to the age of thirty, there was no possibility that he would not be successful. Among the people Vézé had met, most of them were still unconvinced even when they were old. When talking about things, no matter whether they were right or wrong, they would first subconsciously preset the idea that they agreed with as the dominant core. How could such people have the "determination to learn", and it was even more impossible for them to have the "spirit of learning."
If the casualties of more than three thousand people could arouse the "spirit of learning" of the Liberation Army, Vézé even felt that it was worth it.
Vézé's luck also seemed to be very good at this time. From the information he got from the British and French merchants, Vézé learned that the East India Company was planning to get rid of the Emperor of the Wamoor Dynasty. There was a question in the history exam, and the general answer was: the Great Indian Uprising dealt a blow to the power of Britain, and the effect was to support China's anti-imperialist struggle.
Of course, the British merchants who leaked the news naturally did not have such an idea. They were proud that from now on, the Queen of England could wear the crown of India! From then on, the Queen of England was no longer a "king," but a real emperor!
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