The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 92: Open Plank Road
Wu Peifu's words startled Teng Yuzao. He had always been suspicious of Seymour's reluctance to act. Wu Peifu's words gave him a bad feeling.

"Zi Yu, are you saying that Seymour is repairing the plank road?"

Wu Peifu nodded hesitantly, "Sir, I'm not sure, but speed is of the essence in war. The foreigners will understand this principle. They are only ten miles away from the concession. This Seymour doesn't want to fight back to the concession as soon as possible, but wastes time here with us. Does he want to wait for our troops to surround him and destroy him?"

Before Teng Yuzao could continue to ask questions, Li Xianze said anxiously, "Sir, what Wu Ziyu said makes sense. It has been more than two hours. Seymour will definitely not wait outside the concession. The longer it takes, the more disadvantageous the situation will be for him. He will understand this."

Teng Yuzhao took two deep puffs of his cigarette and threw the remaining cigarette butt far out of the trench. He thought that Wu Peifu was right and couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

These famous figures in the late Qing Dynasty were indeed not easy to deal with. At least their wisdom should not be underestimated. In addition to being more familiar with the trajectory of history, he also has many new ideas and thoughts. I am afraid that he still has many shortcomings, so he needs to continue to learn and grow.

In fact, ever since Seymour had been keeping his troops inactive north of Xigu, Teng Yuzao had always been somewhat confused, because the coalition forces north of Xigu had been slow to move. Even if they fired a few shots at Liu Yuzhi's position, it would have let the coalition forces in the concession know that they had withdrawn. But this coalition force did nothing, as if they were just waiting for something?
Such a strange behavior obviously must be fishy.

Just as Teng Yuzhao was about to make a decision, a series of "ring, ring, ring" phone calls suddenly rang out from the machine gun bunker.

The ringing of the phone seemed to have a huge suction force. Several people quickly got down from the machine gun bunker and trotted back to the temporary command post of the Second Regiment.

As soon as the phone rang, the staff officer of the Second Regiment grabbed the phone, and Teng Yuzhao and others rushed in quickly.

In order to make sure that people around him, especially his regimental commander and the highest officer of the vanguard army, could hear him, the staff officer deliberately placed the microphone farther away from his ear.

"I'm Wei Jinghai, Chief of Staff of the Vanguard Army, and I want to speak to the President."

Hearing that Wei Jinghai was talking to the president, the staff officer did not dare to act rashly and hurriedly handed the receiver to Teng Yuzhao with both hands.

Although Teng Yuzao was already extremely anxious, he still took a deep breath, walked slowly over and took the microphone.

"When faced with great events, I remain calm. I do not believe that there are no wise men in the past."

This is a couplet written by Weng Tonghe, the imperial tutor who was dismissed by Empress Dowager Cixi two years ago. Although Teng Yuzao did not agree with Weng Tonghe's Westernization policy and his methods and strategies for promoting reform, he still respected Weng Tonghe, a famous official of the Qing Dynasty. Teng Yuzao highly praised this couplet by Weng Tonghe and even took it as his motto.

As the war is about to begin, as the commander-in-chief of the vanguard army, he must remain calm, otherwise his subordinates will become panic-stricken and impatient.

"Ningbo, I'm Teng Yuzao, what's going on?"

"Captain Liu called and said Seymour is making a move. They have advanced to a position 800 meters in front of the 1st Regiment's position and are organizing their ranks. It's too dark to see how many people there are, but they should launch an attack soon."

Hearing that the coalition forces north of Xigu were making some movements and were about to launch an attack, Teng Yuzao did not show any joy, but instead his expression became calmer. Teng Yuzao did not hesitate, "Ningbo, immediately notify Liu Yuzhi and ask him to immediately send a small reconnaissance force to conduct an armed reconnaissance around the resting area of ​​the Seymour coalition forces to see how many people are left there? I doubt that Seymour has already taken a detour."

"What? My Lord, you mean Seymour ran away!"

Wei Jinghai's surprised voice came from the receiver, "Yes, Seymour probably only left a part of his troops in front of Liu Yuzhi's regiment, such as the slow-moving artillery and the wounded, as well as a small number of troops. He himself has taken a part of his troops and lightly advanced, taking a detour to escape to the concession."

"Tell Liu Yuzhi that if this is true, Xue Zhiqian's cavalry battalion must immediately rush to the west of the concession to pursue the fleeing enemy."

"After defeating the coalition's attacking forces, the First Regiment will also quickly launch a general attack on the remaining enemies and wipe out the coalition forces in one fell swoop."

"Also, once you confirm that Seymour has taken a detour to escape, if there is still time, you can transfer troops nearby and send the battalion that remains in Xigu to quickly advance to the west of Xigu, harassing and delaying Seymour's fleeing enemies along the way, and cooperate with Liu Yuzhi's pursuit troops to eliminate them."

"Ningbo, you must remember this."

Teng Yuzao raised his voice and his tone became stern. "The battalion and the cavalry battalion that are harassing the fleeing enemy must not confront Seymour's fleeing enemy head-on. They are only allowed to attack from the flank to delay the enemy and wait for the pursuit troops to arrive before launching a siege on the fleeing enemy with superior forces."

Wei Jinghai seemed to hesitate for a moment, but it was only for a moment before Wei Jinghai's voice came from the receiver, "Yes, I will resolutely carry out the order."

After getting Wei Jinghai's answer, Teng Yuzao felt relieved and said, "Ningbo, I now authorize you to coordinate the command of Liu Yuzhi's regiment and the troops that are delaying the fleeing enemy. You don't have to ask for instructions on everything. You can make decisions on your own when necessary."

"Yes!" Wei Jinghai's excited voice came from the receiver.

Initially, there was a position of staff officer in the Wuwei Army, but the functions of this staff officer were completely different from those of the Western staff. If it must be given a suitable name, Teng Yuzhao believed that it was more like the councilors of later generations. They could only make some suggestions and did not participate in the formulation of specific combat plans or various military affairs. In fact, they only participated and did not manage the affairs.

The General Staff Office that Teng Yuzhao set up in his Vanguard Army was set up completely in accordance with the Western concept of general staff. Although the chief of staff system was not implemented, it was only because he did not have a suitable candidate yet. After all, Wei Jinghai had just graduated, and his qualifications in the Vanguard Army were still too shallow and his prestige was insufficient. He was not yet able to take on big responsibilities, but he was fully capable of helping Teng Yuzhao formulate combat plans, assisting in mobilizing troops and issuing orders.

This time, Teng Yuzao delegated power to Wei Jinghai, not only because he was busy now, but also because he wanted to give Wei Jinghai a chance to train and gradually improve his prestige in the vanguard army so that he could share some of the burden with him as soon as possible. After all, he, Teng Yuzao, could not do everything by himself, and he had to let go of some power.

As soon as Teng Yuzhao put down the phone, Li Yaoting's report came from outside the machine gun bunker.

After getting permission, Li Yaoting opened the straw curtain and walked into the regiment headquarters. "Sir, there are artillery sounds coming from the direction of Xigu."

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(End of this chapter)