The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 127: The Rout
As soon as Teng Yuzao's horse sped up, the platoon of cavalry that Xue Zhiqian had arranged to protect Teng Yuzao closely immediately began to urge their horses forward and rushed forward in pursuit of Teng Yuzao.

Looking at Teng Yuzao's back, which was raising a trail of dust, Xue Zhiqian said to his assistant Su Xilin with a wry smile.

"Xiangfu, let's speed up and get to Dongjuzi and then act accordingly."

Although Su Xilin was reluctant to gallop his horse now, Teng Yuzao had already sped up. If they did not speed up, and Teng Yuzao, who arrived at the battlefield first, encountered any danger, the responsibility would not only be borne by him, a newcomer who had just joined the vanguard army, but also by Teng Yuzao's trusted generals.

Following Xue Zhiqian's order, all the cavalry battalion immediately let their horses gallop. For a moment, the sound of iron hooves filled the air, and dust was raised wherever they passed.

In a small forest about 400 meters away from Dongjuzi, Teng Yuzhao was observing the situation in Dongjuzi with a telescope.

At this moment, in the wilderness northwest of Dongjuzi, hundreds of Boxers wearing red turbans and Qing soldiers wearing training uniforms who had rushed out of Dongjuzi had scattered together. Everyone was running desperately, and in order to run faster, many people even threw away the swords and guns in their hands.

About 600 Japanese cavalrymen on ponies were divided into more than a dozen groups. Most of these Japanese cavalrymen were on the east, north and west sides, outside the fleeing soldiers. They rode their horses frantically to kill the fleeing Boxers and training officers and soldiers. The bodies of one or two hundred training officers and Boxers had already fallen in the wilderness.

Through the telescope, Teng Yuzhao even saw a Boxer who could not be more than twenty years old. He was so scared that he dropped his sword and fled in a daze. A Japanese cavalryman who caught up with him from the side and chopped off his head. Blood spurted out from the broken neck without a head, but his body continued to run forward for a few steps before falling to the ground dejectedly.

In addition to riding their horses to encircle and kill the fleeing soldiers on the periphery, the Japanese cavalry also split into two groups of more than 20 people each, charging left and right among the fleeing soldiers, constantly killing the fleeing soldiers who tried to gather in one place.

In the woods, through a telescope, one can see the northeast corner of Dongjuzi, where there are many British soldiers in red uniforms. They keep shooting at the outer earth wall of Dongjuzi, while dispersing their formation and carefully approaching the earth wall in a skirmish line formation.

One could vaguely see that on the earthen wall at the northeast corner of Dongjuzi, there were still soldiers of the Wuwei Front Army holding their ground and shooting at the attacking British troops. Seeing this, Teng Yuzhao felt a little better. The Qing court still had soldiers who dared to fight, and there were always some passionate men.

At this time, the artillery fire here had long stopped, only around and inside Dongjuzi, there were still dense gunshots. There were also people from the Lian Army, the Boxers and a small number of Wuwei Vanguard Army who continued to escape from the open west gate.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Teng Yuzao was already extremely angry, but he still tried hard to suppress his impulse. He turned around and said to Xue Zhiqian who had caught up with him and was also observing the battlefield situation with a telescope.

"Captain Xue, rescue the fleeing soldiers immediately. You will be in charge of the specific battle."

Although Teng Yuzao also understands cavalry warfare, he is not as good as professional officers such as Xue Zhiqian and Su Xilin who are proficient in cavalry warfare. Teng Yuzao does not want the cavalry battalion he has just established to suffer premature losses due to his improper command.

Xue Zhiqian looked at Su Xilin, and Su Xilin said, "Captain, the Japanese troops are now dispersed, so we should also disperse to meet the enemy. The six sentries will attack separately as units and meet the enemy separately. This way, we will have the advantage in numbers locally."

The Japanese cavalry that was besieging and killing the fleeing Dongjuzi defenders had a similar number of troops to the cavalry battalion, which should be the organization of a Japanese cavalry brigade, divided into more than a dozen groups, each with thirty to forty people. If the cavalry battalion used sentries as units and charged before the scattered Japanese cavalry gathered, the strength of each sentry would be three times that of the small group of Japanese troops that the enemy had no time to gather. Even if most of the cavalry battalion were new recruits with little experience in cavalry warfare, with more people against fewer, and with the advantage of war horses, the two sides would not suffer much in the fight. This was indeed the most appropriate tactical choice for the cavalry battalion's first battle.

Xue Zhiqian, the captain, did not take the assistant's suggestion seriously. He turned his horse to face the cavalry, drew out his sword from his waist and raised it high, shouting murderously, "Those who advance will live, those who retreat will die. All cavalry battalion listen to my order, and each of the six sentries will fight on their own."

"He who moves forward lives, and he who retreats dies!" the cavalrymen shouted.

This was what Teng Yuzhao took into consideration, as the vanguard army was now a force mainly composed of new recruits. Without strict iron discipline, it would most likely collapse at the first blow when encountering a strong enemy. Therefore, it imitated the strict military discipline of the Hunan Army. Not only would anyone who retreated be executed immediately, but it also implemented the collective responsibility system. If one person deserted from the battlefield, the entire squad would be punished, with three months' military pay deducted. The squad leader and platoon leader would not be promoted within one year or six months, unless the deserter was shot dead on the spot by the squad leader, platoon leader or their soldiers themselves.

Moreover, even if the escapee was shot dead for deserting the battlefield, he would not be entitled to any compensation.

Xue Zhiqian turned his horse's head and swung his sword high into the air, pointing the tip of the sword at the Japanese cavalry. "Kill!"

Before he finished speaking, Xue Zhiqian had already urged his horse to charge out, followed closely by his assistant Su Xilin. Both of them brought their own group of people, who were their personal guards during the cavalry battles.

As Xue Zhiqian and Su Xilin took the lead, the six cavalry patrols, led by the sentinels and deputy sentinels, immediately urged their horses to follow them out of the woods, and with the deafening sound of iron hooves, they rushed swiftly towards the Japanese cavalry on the opposite side.

Teng Yuzhao did not immediately lead the row of cavalry following him to charge out. He suppressed the impulse in his heart and gave stern orders to the three cavalry battalion messengers following behind him.

"Pass my order to Captain Liu of the Assault Battalion and Captain Liu of the First Regiment. First, after the Assault Battalion arrives, they must not rest but charge immediately and rush into Dongjuzi as quickly as possible to drive out the invading enemy and retake Dongjuzi. At the same time, the First Regiment will send a Maxim heavy machine gun sentry to follow the Assault Battalion into Dongjuzi to cooperate with the operation. "

"Second, after the First Regiment arrives at the battlefield, Commander Liu will lead the rest of the First Regiment and the entire army to quickly launch a fierce attack on the British troops northeast of Dongjuzi, striving to defeat them, and then threaten the Allied forces attacking from the east from the flank, and if possible, take advantage of the situation to continue to expand the victory;"

"Third, after the artillery battalion arrives, it is necessary to quickly establish artillery positions and be ready to provide artillery support to the battlefield at any time."

"Also, they must each explain to the entire army and reiterate military discipline. Military law is ruthless and retreat means death. In this battle, the entire army must be determined to fight the enemy but not ourselves. Everyone must fight bravely and attack the enemy fiercely."

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(End of this chapter)