The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 664 Which rebel would do this?
The staff officer of the Fifth Town did not come to greet them, but to deliver an ultimatum to Wang Yingkai.

The ultimatum from the Fifth Regiment bluntly told Wang Yingkai that the two all-mule and horse fast-moving regiments of the Fifth Regiment and the Eighth Regiment of the Zhi Army had entered Shanxi from Datong two days ago, and were now deployed in Fanzhisi and Shuozhou. Another regiment would follow up from Datong and had now progressed to Hunyuan.

There is another brigade that entered Shanxi from Jingxing via Niangzi Pass and has now entered Taiyuan.

They were ordered to prohibit the Henan troops led by He Zonglian and Wang Yingkai from staying in Shanxi Province, and required them to turn northwest at Pingxingguan, enter Hengshan Mountain from Wangzhuangbao, and then cross it. After entering the Datong Basin at Dongwan south of Hunyuan, they continued to move south through Yingxian and Shanyin to Shentou, bypass Shentou from the northeast and enter Luliang Mountain, and then rush to the Yellow River through Pianguan to cross the river.

If the He Wang and his two tribes do not comply with their demands, they will take resolute military action and deal a devastating blow.

The ultimatum was signed by Wu Ziyu, the commander of the Fifth Regiment of the Zhi Army.

After receiving this ultimatum, Bao Guiqing was very surprised, but not too worried.

Because they went from Zijing Pass through Laiyuan and directly to Lingqiu, which was a straight line, but Wu Peifu's troops were all outside the pass. Even if they took the train all the way to Shimen, it would take two days. There would not be many troops that could go from Shimen to Jingxingkou, through Niangzi Pass into Jin, and then through Taiyuan.

After all, the train's carrying capacity is limited, and not many troops can arrive.

As for the all-mule and horse express cooperation, Bao Guiqing believes that it is just a gimmick to scare people.

No matter how fast they are, they are not a cavalry unit, so how fast can they go? To enter Jin from Kouwai, they can only take the road to Datong. They have to gather the troops and prepare food and grass, and then they have to cross mountains and rivers to walk a distance of seven or eight hundred miles. Not many troops can arrive unless they can fly.

Therefore, in Bao Guiqing's opinion, the Zhi army that blocked their way should be a small number of elite vanguard troops of Wu Peifu's Zhi army, or even a cavalry unit, and there was nothing to be afraid of.

This ultimatum was sent by a small group of Zhi troops who rushed ahead of them in order to bluff and scare them. The purpose was probably to make Wang Yingkai and He Zonglian suspicious and hesitant, so as to slow down their march towards Taiyuan and buy time for the Zhi army to control the new army in Shanxi.

For a small group of Zhi troops, there is no need to use the first and second towns, and even the main force of the second town is not necessary. One of his flags can break through the blockade of the Zhi army.

They still have some pride towards the Henan Army, especially the generals and troops of the old Wuwei Right Army.

So, Bao Guiqing rudely drove the other party away, even injuring one of their soldiers, and then ordered the vanguard troops to send personnel forward in the direction of Dai County to search and check the situation.

However, after finding out that most of the investigators he had sent out had not responded at all, Bao Guiqing realized that something was not right. He personally arranged for the troops, organized into sentry units, to go out in multiple directions to conduct armed reconnaissance.

This time they did get reconnaissance intelligence, but several troops were hit head-on by the Zhi army that blocked their way. About 300 people were killed or injured by the Zhi army, and even two sentinels died. The troops they sent out were almost wiped out before they could find out some of the situation.

According to reports from several sentries and platoon leaders who escaped from the advance troops, the several mountain roads leading to Fanzhi were tightly blocked by the Zhi army. The Zhi army built a large number of blocking fortifications at the obstructions of the mountain roads along Dayangpo, the Ming Great Wall, and Yaozijian south of Pingxingguan, and the defense was extremely tight.

The Zhi army troops that blocked them not only had a large number of machine guns, but also a lot of artillery. They even used cannons to bombard their small troops composed of sentries.

The situation further away cannot be detected for the time being, and a further detailed report will not be available until tomorrow.

At this point, Bao Guiqing finally came to his senses and no longer thought that the other party was threatening them, but was going to fight them for real.

Although the situation of the Zhi army blocking the road cannot be confirmed yet, a force with a large number of machine guns and artillery pieces is definitely not a small force of the enemy. Even if the Zhi army is well-equipped, that is something only a large force would have, and machine guns and artillery pieces require people to operate.

Bao Guiqing did not dare to delay any longer, and immediately sent someone to deliver the Zhi army's ultimatum to Wang Yingkai, who was resting in Lingqiu waiting for follow-up troops. At the same time, he reported that the Zhi army had blocked several mountain roads leading south to Fanzhisi.

After reading it, Wang Yingkai was shocked and angry, but he did not dare to delay. On the one hand, he sent someone to deliver the ultimatum to He Zonglian, who was still in the mountains more than a hundred miles away. On the other hand, he urged the lagging troops of his Second Town to march quickly overnight, and strictly ordered that all units must not enter the city after passing through Lingqiu, and were not allowed to rest. They must camp at Pingxingguan before this morning.

Wang Yingkai had just arrived at Pingxingguan more than two hours ago. Although he was sleepy and tired after driving on the mountain road for most of the night, he still forced himself to be alert. He just washed his face quickly, drank a bowl of porridge, and then ordered his three divisions to each leave enough troops on guard, while summoning his trusted generals to discuss countermeasures.

Before his generals arrived, his brother-in-law got a seven or eight day old copy of the Ta Kung Pao from a Shanxi merchant who was passing by. The content of the book surprised him again.

After Sun Chuanfang finished reading the Ta Kung Pao in his hand, the generals under him were all shocked by the content of the newspaper and no one spoke for a long time.

Wang Yingkai sighed lightly, closed the folding fan in his hand with a "snap" and threw it onto the low table beside him in annoyance. Seeing this, the adjutant standing in the distance hurriedly walked up to Wang Yingkai and handed him a wet towel that had just been soaked in well water.

Afterwards, another guard brought Wang Yingkai and his generals the same soaked cold tea, replacing the tea that had become warm in front of them.

"Tell me, what should we do now?"

Wang Yingkai frowned and continued, "Should we join forces with He Chunjiang, continue south to Taiyuan, and enter Shaanxi via Puzhou, or should we follow the Zhi army's request and rush to Hequ via Pianguan to cross the Yellow River and enter Shaanxi?"

Perhaps because Sun Chuanfang was shocked by the content of the Ta Kung Pao that he had just read, no one responded for a long time after Wang Yingkai finished speaking.

Wang Yingkai was in no hurry to ask. He frowned, picked up the cup of cold tea on the low table, drank it in one gulp, then grabbed the folding fan on the low table and fanned it violently.

Because in just a short while, the sweat that Wang Yingkai had just wiped off his forehead appeared again.

Wang Yingkai is tall and strong, and is known as Fatty Wang. Such a hot weather is an unbearable torture for him.

Seeing that no one said anything, Bao Guiqing spoke in some doubt.

"What is Teng Xingfu trying to do? Is he rebelling by doing this?"

Bao Guiqing must have been shocked by the content of the Ta Kung Pao. He actually ignored Wang Yingkai's question and questioned Teng Yuzao. Lu Yongxiang, whose face changed a little, sighed and said, "Need I say more! This is rebellion."

"Didn't you hear that he founded the Civil Human Rights Front and appointed himself the chairman of the Military Commission?"

"What is this Military Commission used for? Isn't it to manage military affairs? This is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Army. From what he means, this Military Commission is to manage the entire Qing army."

"Also, Duan Zhiquan, who was stripped of his post and never reappointed by the court, was reinstated in the military with just one word from him, and he even recommended to the court that he be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed as a member of the Military Commission."

"They even threatened to expel the imperial officials and change the official system and appoint some high-ranking officials."

"What's more, they even petitioned the court to appoint Zhou Fu as a senior official in Anhui, Zhang Peilun as governor of SD, Li Jingfang, son of Li Zhongtang, as governor of JS, and Zhao Daiwen, the prefect of Taiyuan, as governor of SX. Even the little-known Liang Dunyan and Wen Bingzhong were recommended as senior officials in Zhili and governors of ZJ."

After taking a breath, Lu Yongxiang continued, "He even dared to cancel Shuntian Prefecture. Tell me, is he rebelling?"

Zhang Huaizhai and Wang Zhanyuan glanced at Wang Yingkai, then at Ma Longbiao who was frowning in thought, then looked at each other and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

In the end, it was Zhang Huaizhai who spoke.

"Tingjiu, Zijia, please don't say such harsh words. When did Marshal Teng say he wanted to overthrow the imperial court? Didn't you hear what Brother Xinyuan just read? Marshal Teng publicly said that he supports the constitutional reform of the imperial court. He is just dissatisfied with the imperial court's appointment of Yikuang as the first prime minister."

"Also, have you ever heard of a rebellion leader who didn't want to sit on the throne, but only wanted to be a court official like the Minister of the Army or the Prime Minister?"

Zhang Huaizhi continued, "The People's Alliance was founded by General Teng, Xu Juren, Yang Lianfu and others. The chairman is Xu Juren, not General Teng."

Zhang Huaizhai was not a classmate of Teng Yuzhao like Wang Yingkai, Wang Zhanyuan, Wang Huaiqing and Tian Zhongyu. However, when he enrolled, the curriculum of the Beiyang Military Academy had been changed from the original one year to two years. By the time he enrolled, it had been changed to a three-year system. Teng Yuzhao even taught him as a teacher for more than a year.

He and Teng Yuzao were not classmates, he should be considered Teng Yuzao's student.

People at that time still respected their teachers, at least verbally. Others could call Teng Yuzao Teng Xingfu or Xingfu, but he could only call him Teng Shuai.

Although Zhang Huaizhai was a graduate of the fourth class of the Beiyang Military Academy, he was not only very smart but also very capable. He was highly valued by Yuan Shikai, so much so that he became an assistant commander long before Wang Huaiqing, Tian Zhongyu and other graduates of the first class.

Zhang Huaizhai also had a good relationship with generals under Yuan Shikai, such as Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui and Wu Fengling.

Even in the Second Town, Wang Zhanyuan, the elder brother from the first class of Beiyang Military Academy, had a good relationship with Zhang Huaizhai, his junior, and even followed his lead in many matters.

Bao Guiqing was not from Zhang Huaizhai's First Corps. He was the standard commander of Wang Zhanyuan's Second Corps. Zhang Huaizhai's words did not make him shut up, but he asked back.

"If he hadn't rebelled, how could he dare to send troops into the capital? And how could he dare to send troops into Shanxi without the consent of the court and the Ministry of the Army? Not to mention that he announced that he would return to the post of President of the Zhili Army!"

Any one of what Bao Guiqing said was enough to prove that Teng Yuzhao had rebelled, and Zhang Huaizhai was speechless for a moment.

Seeing this, Wang Zhanyuan quickly took over the conversation.

"Tingjiu, judging from the memorials from Teng Xingfu published in the newspapers, although Teng Xingfu did some extremely rebellious things, he certainly did not rebel. Didn't he send troops to the capital to protect the imperial palace and its property?"

"All the officials and nobles in the capital have gone to Huguang with the emperor. The remaining low-ranking officials in the capital have no one who can control the eunuchs. It is easy for treasures and money to be lost in the palace. Teng Xingfu did this for the sake of the court."

Wang Zhanyuan took a deep breath and continued, "As for Teng Xingfu's suggestion to replace officials from several provinces, it cannot be said that he was rebelling. It is even impossible to say that he was committing treason based on this alone."

"Don't forget that Teng Xingfu is not only a minister of Beiyang, he is also a university scholar and the prince's guardian. It is understandable that he proposed to the court to replace or recommend officials."

"As for him sending troops into Jin Province, we cannot conclude that he is rebelling. If he really wanted to rebel, it would not be as simple as asking us to take a detour. His troops only need to occupy the natural barrier of Pingxing Pass to block our two towns and nearly 40,000 troops in the mountains."

Seeing that Wang Yingkai did not respond, Commander Wang Huaiqing continued to fan himself with the folding fan in his hand and added.

"Our Fifth Town has retreated to Xinyang, which is thousands of miles away from here. Shanxi's new troops are of no help. If the Zhi army really surrounds us, no one will come to rescue us."

Tanaka Yu also echoed with a wry smile and said, "At that time, we only had two options, either surrender or disperse. It would be difficult to escape."

Zhang Huaizhi added, "As for whether Marshal Teng will return to serve as the president of the Zhili Army, in my opinion, this is just a gesture he made to the court. Even if he doesn't return, the Zhili Army will not listen to the court. Didn't you see that the people sent by the Ministry of the Army to reorganize the Zhili Army were dragged out of the car by his fierce general Liu Shijiu in Langfang, and then they were all driven back."

"So, at least Commander Teng hasn't rebelled yet. What he did is at most just forcing the emperor to abdicate!"

Wang Yingkai, Wang Zhanyuan, Wang Huaiqing, Tian Zhongyu and others were all from the first batch of the Beiyang Military Academy. In the Wuwei Right Army, these people from the Beiyang Military Academy have always been very close to each other and their ideas are similar.

Wang Yingkai, who was in a rage, suddenly felt clear-headed after listening to the words of his two generals, Zhang Huaizhai and Wang Zhanyuan.

He had already understood what the two men meant, which was that they must not say that Teng Yuzao had rebelled now, otherwise it would be difficult for them to deal with him later. This was exactly what was happening now.

Otherwise, at least they would follow the marching route given to them by the Zhi army to Shaanxi, which would become a handle for punishing him in the future.
Moreover, Wang Yingkai could hear that his men did not want to fight the Zhi army. He could also guess what they were thinking. They wanted to keep their friendship with Teng Yuzao as former classmates, so that they could have a way out from Teng Yuzao in the future.
(End of this chapter)