The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 518 Call for reinforcements
"Teacher." Wu Peifu said first.

"It would be best if we could wipe out the 150,000 foreigners coming from Tianjin in one fell swoop, but the foreigners coming from Beicang are too close to Beicang. If the situation is not right, they will retreat quickly."

"According to the enemy situation report issued by the General Staff Office, the foreign devils in Tianjin have built a large number of cement fortifications near Beicang and the canal. It will be difficult for us to take them down in a short period of time. In this way, the foreign devils evacuated from the capital may be able to support the foreign devils in Langfang. They can either retreat to Dagukou, or return to Tianjin via Lutai, or even retreat to Shanhaiguan."

"So, we should still fight the more than 100,000 foreign devils evacuated from the capital. If we can wipe them out in one fell swoop, the 150,000 foreign devils sent by Tianjin will have to give up rescuing the enemy in Langfang. In this way, it will be much easier for us to turn around and deal with the foreign devils in Langfang."

"Correct."

Liu Shijiu also said, "Marshal, Zi Yu is right. We are here, just in time to block the way for the foreign devils who are evacuating from the capital. It is just right to attack them."

Li Xiance also said, "Marshal, behind this group of foreign devils in the capital is the First Town. We can at least concentrate the forces of four towns. We have the advantage in manpower, and with the artillery town, it will be no problem to destroy this group of foreign devils. Let's attack them."

Subsequently, Liu Changfa, Li Jinyu and Pan Jinshan also expressed their agreement to attack the coalition forces withdrawing from the capital first.

In the attack on Langfang this time, both artillery towns were pulled up to participate in the bombardment, mainly to train the two newly formed artillery towns. These two artillery towns now have more than 500 mountain and field artillery pieces, and 162 mortars with a caliber of millimeters or above. Such fierce artillery fire gave Liu Changfa full confidence.

Even if they were to attack Tianjin, which was heavily defended by the foreign devils, Liu Changfa was confident that he could suppress the artillery fire of the Allied forces that had lost hundreds of cannons.

Teng Yuzao turned to Wei Jinghai and said, "Ningbo, they think the same as us, you announce the order."

Wei Jinghai immediately opened his wallet and began to read out the battle plan drawn up by the General Staff.

The specific combat plan was that Hu Dianjia would command the Third Regiment and Cao Futian's Independent Column to block the coalition forces coming from Tianjin at the Wuqing and Huanghuadian lines.

Li Jinyu and Pan Jinshan continued to besiege Langfang, but they could only launch small-scale feint attacks. Their main purpose was to trap the coalition forces in Langfang and prevent them from taking the opportunity to break out.

To this end, we must speed up the digging of trenches around Langfang and quickly connect the trenches that have been dug for several days.

The battle command was led by Li Jinyu.

Wu Peifu's Fifth Regiment immediately occupied Xianghe and set up blocking positions at the narrowest part of Chaobai River and the canal outside the city to resolutely withstand the coalition's attack;

Liu 19's Fourth Town occupied Houhuangzhuang and Guoxian Town in the northwest of Xianghe and expanded to the west of the canal;

Li Xianze's second town was deployed on the east bank of the Chaobai River in the line of Jiangxintun and Zhaozhuang in the northeast of Xianghe;

When the Allied Forces attacked Wu Peifu's Fifth Regiment, they crossed the canal and Chaobai River as quickly as possible under the cover of artillery fire and launched an assault on the Allied Forces from both wings.

According to the battle plan, the three towns set up an open pocket formation in Xianghe.

The opening of this pocket would naturally be blocked by Liu Yuzhi's First Town, who was chasing closely.

The two artillery towns were divided into two. The heavy artillery town of the second town, which was inconvenient to move quickly with the army, continued to stay in Langfang to cooperate with the two towns to besiege the coalition forces here. The artillery town of the first town, which was fully equipped with mountain artillery, went to Xianghe with the army and deployed at the canal bend west of the canal. After the battle started, it launched artillery bombardment on the coalition forces and supported the second and fourth towns to launch an assault on the coalition forces.

After Wei Jinghai read out the combat order, Teng Yuzhao stood up.

"Time is urgent, so I won't say much, but I want to emphasize that, first, it's more than 100 miles from the capital to Xianghe, but less than 80 miles from Tongzhou. It is estimated that the foreign devils evacuated from the capital have already reached Tongzhou. If the foreign devils hurry up, they may be able to reach Xianghe before noon tomorrow."

"Therefore, all troops must set out immediately and rush to the combat positions. In order to save time, each town must march at a rapid pace. After arriving at the designated area, not only must they establish the necessary positions, but they must also block the news and make the positions as concealed as possible. As for your artillery and baggage troops, they can follow later."

"Fifth Town, send a battalion to Lucheng Town to establish a blocking position."

"The foreign devils who withdrew from the capital include many cavalrymen of the US Sixth Cavalry Regiment. The foreign devils will definitely send cavalry troops to explore the way ahead. The task of this battalion is to prevent the foreign devil cavalry from discovering the Fifth Town blocking position outside Xianghe City too early. They have to fight and retreat at the same time to delay the advance of the foreign devil cavalry."

"At the same time, the Fifth Town will be responsible for relocating the people south of Lucheng Town to the east of Chaobai River and west of the canal."

"Second, Second Town, Fourth Town, before you launch the assault, you need to cross the canal and Chaobai River. The crossing tools must be prepared immediately after arriving at the designated area. After the battle begins, you must build a pontoon bridge in the shortest possible time and move the troops to the battlefield on the other side."

"It is still the dry season, and the water levels of the Chaobai River and the Grand Canal are not deep, which makes it easy to build a floating bridge. The floating bridge must not only be fast, but also be built in multiple areas at the same time so that the troops can move quickly to the other side."

Teng Yuzao said solemnly in a low voice, "In this battle, the combat missions on each battlefield are very important and crucial. As long as we eliminate the more than 100,000 foreign devils evacuated from the capital, we can go back to deal with the besieged enemies in Langfang, and then we can go straight to Tianjin."

"Now, the foreign devils are clamoring to continue fighting and no longer negotiate with us. As long as we achieve the goal of this battle, the foreign devils will immediately rush to ask us for talks. The initiative is in our hands. Therefore, we must win this battle, even if it costs a great price."

"Especially the second and fourth towns. We must be fierce and ruthless when attacking and not give the foreign devils a chance to breathe."

"Do you understand everything?"

Teng Yuzao raised his voice when he said the last sentence.

"I understand!" Several town commanders answered in unison.

After receiving a satisfactory answer, Teng Yuzao stopped talking and waved his hand, "The meeting is adjourned, and all units will set off immediately."

At ten o'clock the next morning, on a small hill on the west bank of the canal, more than ten miles north of Xianghe City.

In the makeshift shelter, Teng Yuzao was eating a cold steamed bun while listening to Wei Jinghai's report.

".Two hours ago, the Sixth Cavalry Regiment of the US Army and a regiment of Russian cavalry had arrived at Lucheng Town and engaged in a firefight with a battalion of the Fifth Town. This battalion had already repelled the first round of attacks by the foreign cavalry and was now gradually retreating."

(End of this chapter)