The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 614 Gong Changling

In the following days, Bo Lansun personally traveled secretly between Tianjin and the Russian embassy in Beijing, constantly bargaining with Yang Shiqi, and using the embassy's wireless telegram to transmit the message all the way to Siberia through Fengtian, Siping, Harbin and other places.

Then, within Russia, the results of the discussions with Yang Shiqi were sent directly to St. Petersburg via telegram, and then discussions with Yang Shiqi continued based on the instructions received from St. Petersburg.

Finally, Teng Yuzao reached an agreement with Bai Lansun as he wished.

On the second day after the agreement was reached, Alexeev made a public announcement stating that on behalf of His Majesty the Tsar, he extended a sincere invitation to the Qing court for peace talks and negotiated on the return of land outside the Great Wall.

It was reported that Alexeev privately stated that if the atmosphere for peace talks was good, Tsarist Russia could withdraw its troops from the three northeastern provinces, and they would only retain control and use of the Chinese Eastern Railway and hope to lease the Port of Lushun.

They even revealed that they were willing to pay the rent on time at an annual price of two million taels of silver.

At the same time, Alexeev also announced that before the withdrawal negotiations, he was obliged to restore the integrity of the Qing Dynasty's northeastern land. For this purpose, he had obtained the support of Wang Decheng, the former vanguard general who had left the Zhi Army and now formed a mountain team outside the Great Wall.

Wang Decheng will call on many mountain forest teams in Jilin and Liaodong areas to form a restoration army to cooperate with the Russian army to fight against the brazen invasion of the Japanese army.

Alexeev also stated that in order to show his sincerity in the peace talks, he was willing to unconditionally return the entire territory of Xinmin Prefecture, including Zhangwu, and the land outside the Great Wall west of Tai'an and Panshan before the peace talks.

Alexeev also expressed his hope that the Governor-General of the three eastern provinces of the Qing Dynasty would go to Fengtian as soon as possible to discuss the takeover matters.

Once these two pieces of news were published in the newspapers, they immediately caused a huge sensation in the country.

However, the government and the opposition immediately split into three factions, one of which was headed by Yuan Shikai, Yixin and others.

They believed that the Russians had always been treacherous and that Alexeev's words were not credible.

At the same time, it is also believed that the Russians are now being defeated by the Japanese and are trying to delay the war.

They demanded that the imperial court not negotiate with the Russian side, and that everything should be taken back from the Japanese after the war between Japan and Russia was over.

The second group was headed by Zhang Zhidong, Zai Yi and others. They believed that Alexeev's peace terms were extremely favorable and agreed that the court should immediately start negotiations with the Russians.

This group even believed that in order to recover the land outside the Great Wall as soon as possible and to be in a more advantageous position in negotiations, they advocated that the court send the Shuntian Army and the Zhi Army out of the Great Wall to directly participate in the war, or use force to force the Japanese army to withdraw immediately.

The third faction had the smallest number of people. It was headed by Sichuan Governor Xi Liang, and the rest were mostly civilians.

This group believed that both the Russians and the Japanese were untrustworthy and would not willingly exchange land, so they demanded that the court be prepared to use force to recover the land outside the Great Wall.

There was an uproar in the country, and the great powers were confused by Alexeev's statement on behalf of the Tsar. However, the envoys of the great powers soon received instructions from their own countries and took action immediately.

The ministers of Britain, Germany, Japan and the United States found Yixin and the Grand Councilor Yuan Shikai and others and told them that in view of the Russians' consistent performance, Alexeev's words were just a delaying tactic, trying to trick the court into joining the war against him and then betray him.

If the imperial court negotiates with the Russians, they will not be able to interfere in the ownership of the land outside the Great Wall after the Japanese army wins.

As long as the imperial court does not send troops to participate in the war, they will unite to force the Japanese to return the land outside the Great Wall to the imperial court, just as the three kingdoms joined forces to force the Japanese to return Liaodong.

The Japanese also clearly assured that they only wanted to expel the Russians from the Northeast and had no ambitions for the three northeastern provinces.

However, no matter how the court and the public argued, Empress Dowager Cixi, the actual supreme leader of the imperial court, did not say a word about it.

Since Wang Decheng was once Teng Yuzao's subordinate, public opinion would naturally not let him go. People kept asking Teng Yuzao to exert his influence, or asking Teng Yuzao to stop Wang Decheng from cooperating with the Russian army, or suggesting that Teng Yuzao give Wang Decheng the necessary support.

Teng Yuzhao simply said that he would strictly abide by the court's order and did not say anything more.

However, he firmly supported the early recovery of the relevant areas that the Russians had promised to return, and even stated that although there were still many local governments operating in the three northeastern provinces, due to the presence of the Russian army and the court's order of neutrality, it was not convenient for him to send troops to garrison in more areas for the time being. But he would definitely send troops to guard the areas returned by the Russian army this time.

For this reason, Teng Yuzhao submitted a memorial to Cixi, but his memorial fell on deaf ears and he still did not receive a reply from Cixi.

However, Teng Yuzhao immediately announced that he had sent a small number of troops to maintain law and order in the areas that the Russians had promised to return, and the Zhi army would make further deployments after the court had a clear order.

Subsequently, the Ta Kung Pao published news that the British army had invaded XZ and that the imperial court had instructed Teng Yuzao to send a representative to XZ to discuss the withdrawal of troops with the British, which immediately directed public opinion in the court and the public towards the British and XZ.

Teng Yuzao subsequently published a signed article in the Ta Kung Pao, stating that the personnel he had sent would arrive in XZ soon. Teng Yuzao wanted the people to rest assured that not only would no inch of land be lost in this negotiation, but there would also not be any compensation of a single ounce of silver.

Teng Yuzao's words immediately drew a round of applause.

But Teng Yuzao had no time to take care of all this.

Because Teng Yuzhao, who had received a satisfactory response from the Russians, had ordered the relevant troops to rush to Liaoyang as soon as possible.

After some intensive, orderly and secret preparations, and a secret and urgent march across the sparsely populated Khorchin grassland, Wu Peifu, who had hidden his identity, led the corresponding troops to Gongchangling in Liaoyang Prefecture on the night of the 20th with the help of the Russian cavalry and Wang Decheng's troops, and took over the position overnight.

According to the order issued after consultation between Kuropatkin and Wang Decheng, the Restoration Army was responsible for the defense of Gongchangling and the nearby Hanpoling, an important fulcrum of the second line of defense on the left wing of the Russian army.

The next morning, the continuous heavy rain finally stopped and a rare bright sunshine appeared in the sky.

Under the strong sunlight, the undulating mountains with dense vegetation are lush and green everywhere. The hillsides covered with shrubs and grass are occasionally sparkling in the breeze, between the bushes and on the grass, as if the leaves of the trees and grass were inlaid with large pieces of scattered tiny pearls.

But there were no real pearls. They were caused by the reflection of water droplets left on the trees, grass and leaves due to the heavy rain at night.

If it weren't for the occasional bursts of artillery fire, such a scenery would definitely make people feel relaxed and happy and forget themselves in the mountains and rivers.

At this moment, on the main peak of Gongchangling, Wang Decheng, with a ruddy face, wearing the uniform of a senior Russian officer, black shiny riding boots, and holding the rank of lieutenant general, was introducing the situation of the Gongchangling defense position built by the Russian army to a group of school officers in a Shandong accent with a slight northeastern flavor.

On the nearby log-reinforced positions, a large group of soldiers, also wearing Russian military uniforms, were using various water-holding tools to drain the accumulated water from the communication trenches, positions, and even the sturdy fortresses onto the hillside. That's right, the high-spirited Wang Decheng was introducing the situation of the positions to a group of young officers.

It’s just that these people wearing colonel uniforms were a group of staff members of the command center, including Teng Yuzhao, Wu Peifu, and Liu Shijiu.

Since Wang Decheng was the commander of the Restoration Army on the surface, the actual commander Wu Peifu, who could not attract too much attention, could only play the role of an inconspicuous staff officer.

Teng Yuzhao had always been puzzled as to why the Russian army, which had the advantage in manpower and artillery, could not use strong fortifications near Liaoyang to stop the Japanese offensive. This time, he followed Wu Peifu to the front line, despite the repeated dissuasion of Wei Jinghai and Yang Shixiang.

As for the warlike Liu Shijiu, he also came along on the grounds of wanting to personally experience the combat effectiveness of the Japanese and Russian armies as well as the experience of large-scale troop frontal combat.

There was no other way, Teng Yuzao could only order Li Xianze's First Battalion to move into Shanhaiguan and coordinate the command of all troops outside the Shanhaiguan, including Liu Shijiu's Fourth Battalion and Cao Futian's Seventh Battalion.

The Fifth Regiment, the Eighth Regiment and the Cavalry Regiment, which had already moved their entire army to Duolun, were temporarily commanded by Li Jinyu in place of Wu Peifu.

However, since Teng Yuzao personally led his troops to Liaoyang to participate in the war, in order to ensure Teng Yuzao's safety, Wei Jinghai not only asked Liu Shijiu and Li Xianze to greatly strengthen the two battalions they sent out, but also asked Xu Ting to bring all the special guard battalions except for one squadron left behind to guard the Governor's Office to protect Teng Yuzao.

"Marshal, the Russians have already built a solid defensive position in the Gongchangling area. The Gongchangling position we are responsible for belongs to the left wing of the second line of defense outside Liaoyang, about thirty miles away from Liaoyang City."

"This place is located in the southeast of Liaoyang City. The terrain is high, which is conducive to artillery observation and timely fire coverage of the surrounding attacking Japanese invaders."

In the past two years, although Wang Decheng went outside the Great Wall to become a bandit, he never dared to neglect his military studies. He has been studying diligently under the guidance of several staff officers who graduated from the Beiyang Military Academy and the camp school. Now, when he introduces the situation, his wording has become much more standardized.

"The position that the Marshal insisted on choosing is excellent."

Although Wang Decheng was somewhat puzzled as to why Teng Yuzhao insisted on taking over the Gongchangling defensive position, he did not forget to flatter Teng Yuzhao.

"The Russians have built a large number of bunkers on our position, including the Eye Fort, the Curved Fort, and the Four-Corner and Five-Corner Forts that we have just inspected. These forts are extremely strong and are built with heavy stones. Some are even made of cement."

"These forts are five or six feet thick, and even the protective thickness of the concealed gun positions on several main forts and artillery platforms is as high as fifteen or sixteen feet, making it difficult for the Japanese artillery to penetrate them."

"And the trenches dug by the Russians are also very sophisticated. They dug a trench 18 feet wide and 12 to 13 feet deep at the front of the position. It has been raining heavily in the past few days, and now the trenches are full of water, just like a moat."

Wang Decheng smiled and said, "You can't see it now because of the accumulated water, but I saw it a few days ago. There were wooden stakes, barbed wire and mines in the trenches."

Liu Shijiu bared his teeth and said disdainfully, "What landmine? Chengde, don't brag for the Russians. This landmine has been soaking in the water for several days. It's hard to say whether it can explode. I guess their barbed wire will have some effect by then."

Wang Decheng didn't care about being interrupted by Liu Shijiu. He just smiled and continued talking to Teng Yuzhao and Wu Peifu.

"The Japanese have also built a good defense in depth. They have built tunnels behind their positions for the passage of artillery vehicles and other supplies. The tunnels are not straight, but winding and orderly. Even if the Japanese shells fall directly into the tunnels, it will not cause too much damage."

"The Russians have deployed artillery positions at key locations on the battlefield, which can form a crossfire network and will definitely cause serious damage to the attacking Japanese."

"Also, the Russians have dug several wells around the position to ensure water supply. In addition, the ammunition depot and supply warehouse are also very solidly built."

After listening to Wang Decheng's introduction, Teng Yuzhao smiled and patted Wang Decheng on the shoulder, although he still needed a few staff officers who were leading people to draw the floor plan of the entire defensive position to bring the plan, and a stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.

"Chengde, you have worked hard these past two years, but I am very pleased to see your condition."

"Not only have you opened up the Northeast and recruited tens of thousands of people, but you have also not fallen behind in your studies. I can tell from your Northeastern accent."

Wang Decheng smiled and said, "It's all thanks to the Marshal's cultivation, otherwise how could a rough guy like me be where I am today!"

Although he could hear the flattery from Wang Decheng, Teng Yuzao still spoke with a smile.

"Do your job well and control those bandits and bandits you have gathered. When we take back the Northeast, you will be the security commander of the three provinces in the Northeast and completely solve the bandit problem in the Northeast."

Although it was unclear what the Security Commander of the Three Northeastern Provinces as mentioned by Teng Yuzhao did specifically, but judging from the name, this person was responsible for the security of the three provinces, and the control was definitely no less than that of a town commander. This immediately surprised and delighted Wang Decheng, and he saluted Teng Yuzhao excitedly.

"Thank you, Marshal! I am willing to go through fire and water for you in this life!"

"Okay."

Teng Yuzao smiled and said to Wu Peifu, "Let's not talk outside. Let's go to the shelter at the back to talk. I have something else to tell you."

Led by a staff officer, the group followed the communication trench all the way to a spacious natural cave in the back mountain, and sat down in a large room separated by logs that had been simply decorated.

Of course, since it was hastily arranged during wartime, there were only a few chairs and two large round tables.

There were only two large tables, one covered with maps and the other occupied by several real communications staff, with five or six telephones on it.

They could even hear the beeping sound of a wireless telegraph coming from somewhere in a cave not far away.

Teng Yuzhao did not sit down. When he saw everyone sitting down, he smiled and said.

"Although we have only seen the main position, and have not seen all the other positions, as the saying goes, a glimpse of the leopard can reveal a part of it. I think the position designed by the Russians is quite good. Once the staff finishes surveying and drawing up the floor plan, it will be more convenient for us to organize and command."

"The Russians' defensive positions are similar to those of the European powers, and we can even learn from them in the future."

"However, the most important thing now is to ask Director Zuo to report the battle situation to you."

(End of this chapter)