The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 142: Allied Forces Return to Support
On the front of the east gate, under the cover of heavy machine gun fire on the city wall, the assault battalion and the men of Pan Jinshan and Wang Decheng broke into the Russian battalion outside the east gate with only twenty or thirty casualties.

The morale of the officers and soldiers of the assault brigade, who had just experienced a fierce battle, was high. They were not afraid of the hand-to-hand combat with the Russian army again. On the contrary, they became more excited. Under the leadership of Liu Shijiu and others, they rushed directly into the Russian army as soon as the two sides came into contact, and fiercely entangled and fought with the other side.

Although there were only four or five hundred people left of Pan Jinshan and Wang Decheng's men, the assault brigade not only rescued them from desperate situations, but also defeated the Russian troops who had killed their comrades and brothers, causing them to flee in disarray. This also greatly boosted their morale, and they were unwilling to fall behind in the fight with the Russian army.

Especially the remaining 200 or so Boxers led by Wang Decheng. They all wielded a broadsword and were equally ferocious in hand-to-hand combat. They were no less ferocious than the "broadsword team" in the assault brigade, and they killed and forced the Russian army to retreat frequently.

Looking at the miserable Russian and British remnants who were trying to escape to the east gate under the fire of more than a dozen Maxim heavy machine guns on the city wall, leaving behind corpses and wounded all the way, Teng Yuzhao could not help but almost cheered with excitement.

Such a battle scene was almost equivalent to a one-sided massacre. Teng Yuzhao secretly shouted in his excited heart.

"Foreign devils, today I will let you have a taste of the power of the Chinese, and let you know that it is not only Europeans who can use modern thermal weapons in combat. The Chinese are not only equally good at it, but also better than you."

The British army gave up blocking the enemy, which meant that the battalion that was rushing over from the west felt no pressure at all. They shouted and rushed forward, chasing closely from behind. Moreover, the soldiers, with their morale boosted, charged extremely fast and were getting closer and closer to the rear of the remnants of the British army. They were about to intertwine with the rear of the Allied forces that were fleeing in panic.

The vanguard troops were composed of a battalion of Teng Yuzhao's old army and the students who stayed behind in the Military Academy, with a large number of trainee soldiers as the backbone. There were even many trainee soldiers withdrawn from Dagukou. These soldiers who had been overwhelmed by the foreigners' cannons and quick guns, now saw that thousands of coalition forces were defeated by them. They all let out a breath of anger that had been suppressed for a long time, and chased down the remnants of the coalition forces with endless energy and even more fierce momentum.

In a short time, the Russian troops defending the east gate were killed and their horses were thrown into chaos. The troops that had barely organized themselves to resist were also shaken.

Since the vanguard army had an absolute advantage in the hand-to-hand combat at this moment, the hand-to-hand combat team coordination tactics that had not been possible in the past were gradually being able to fight in a proper manner under the constant reminders and requests from the officers.

The soldiers of the assault brigade have gradually formed small group combat formations during the fight. Except for the "big knife team" headed by Liu Shijiu, the rest are gathered in groups of three or two to fight together. Many squad leaders, platoon leaders, and even sentries carrying pistols are hiding behind the fighting soldiers. Once they get a chance, they will decisively open fire. Such small group tactics forced the fighting Allied soldiers to try their best to avoid the shooting angles of these officers carrying pistols during the fight, so that they frequently revealed flaws in the hand-to-hand combat and were stabbed to death by the soldiers in front with sharp bayonets.

Such a scene made Teng Yuzhao, who was overlooking the entire battlefield from the top of the city, even more excited.

Looking at his vanguard troops advancing like a hurricane, and then at the remnants of the coalition forces who had suffered heavy casualties, were in a mess, and were desperately fleeing under the intensive firepower, and the Russian army's formation at the east gate which was being shattered by the assault brigade, Teng Yuzhao excitedly clenched his right fist and swung it hard, almost blurting out a standard Chinese curse.

Although the two coalition forces were about to join together, Teng Yuzhao was no longer worried about defeating them. The more than 1,000 remnants of the coalition forces who escaped back had already been frightened and had no combat effectiveness anymore.

The remnants of the British and Russian troops who had escaped from the northeast corner had not only been completely defeated by the Krupp cannons and Maxim heavy machine guns of the vanguard, but the two thousand men had also been "washed away" to only a remnant of more than a thousand people, including many wounded. Even if they joined forces with the Russian troops at the east gate, it would be of no avail.

Their tragic plight might even shake the morale of the Russian troops who were resisting stubbornly at the east gate. The annihilation of these two thousand people would no longer be empty talk, but might happen overnight.

There were more than a thousand people in the battalion of the regiment that was chasing them, and the vanguard was only tens of meters away from the remnants of the fleeing British and Russian coalition forces, and they would arrive almost in an instant. Together with the assault brigade that fought more and more courageously, the remnants of the Wuwei Front Army, and the remnants of Wang Decheng's Boxer Rebellion, the total number of people was about three thousand.

With their morale high and their numerical advantage, it would be absolutely no problem for the vanguard army to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the remnants of the coalition forces and defeat the approximately 2,000 coalition troops who were already dispirited and had thrown away their weapons and armor. All that was needed was time.

If the two sides break contact and fight in the open field with rifles and machine guns, it is hard to say who will win. At least the battle cannot be ended overnight.

But if a chaotic hand-to-hand combat were to take place, Teng Yuzhao was still absolutely confident. His confidence came entirely from the hand-to-hand combat that had just taken place in the East Police Station.

Most of the young men of the Boxer Rebellion who had just joined the vanguard army were good at using cold weapons. After experiencing the hand-to-hand combat in Dongjuzi, they would never be at a disadvantage in a one-on-one or even a one-on-two hand-to-hand combat with the coalition forces. What's more, they were gradually becoming proficient in the tactics of coordinated fighting in groups in actual combat.

Although Teng Yuzhao discovered that the battalion of the regiment that was outflanking the British and Russian forces no longer made all-out efforts to outflanke them after the British and Russian forces fled towards the east gate, and instead only sent out two sentries without Maxim heavy machine guns to continue outflanking them from the flank, the other two sentries, carrying the battalion's 21 Maxim heavy machine guns, had already begun looking for positions on the edge of the battlefield, preparing to deploy battlefield alert in the northeast direction.

Teng Yuzhao even saw that the regiment that had set up its headquarters in the woods could not grasp the progress of the battle because its vision was blocked by the Dongjuzi city wall while it was observing the battlefield situation there. The troops directly under Liu Yuzhi's regiment had also rushed up.

Although Teng Yuzao did not see Liu Yuzhi, he believed that Liu Yuzhi would definitely rush to the front line to command the battle, which made Teng Yuzao calmer. As long as he could quickly defeat the remnants of the coalition forces in front of him, no matter which direction the coalition forces came back from, with Dongjuzi as a support point, Teng Yuzao still had the confidence and courage to fight the coalition forces again.

Now the only thing Teng Yuzhao needs to worry about is that the coalition forces rushing to the concession from the southwest will make a desperate counterattack and arrive at the battlefield before Liu Shijiu and his men are able to spare any effort.

Teng Yuzhao now has no available troops at hand, and another battalion of the 1st regiment needs to prepare to block the coalition forces that are attacking the reinforcements of Tianjin City. There are cavalry units in the coalition forces in this direction, and the cavalry must not be allowed to break into the battlefield where the fighting is still going on.

Therefore, this battalion cannot be easily mobilized.

Although the artillery battalion also has a guard protection force, the artillery battalion there also needs it for protection and cannot be easily mobilized, otherwise the artillery battalion will be left with an empty city plan.

Teng Yuzao was just thinking about checking the situation of the Allied Forces parked on the road in the southwest direction, but before he turned around, he heard Wu Peifu's nervous shouts amid the intensive gunfire of the Maxim heavy machine guns.

"Sir, the coalition forces from the south are coming back."

When Teng Yuzhao heard Wu Peifu's shout, his heart couldn't help but twitch. What he feared was really coming true. He had just thought of the Allied Forces coming to rescue him, but the result he least wanted to see happened.

Teng Yuzhao quickly turned around and raised the telescope to look towards the southwest where the coalition forces were staying. Sure enough, a large cloud of dust had been raised there. After concentrating and observing carefully for a moment, Teng Yuzhao's tense heart finally relaxed a little.

In the field of view of the telescope, he could only vaguely see figures wearing red and white uniforms flashing in the dust. In the coalition forces, the only unit with such bright colors was the proud John Bull.

If the German, Japanese and American allied forces were still eager to rescue the precarious concession, and only the British rushed back to the battlefield, Teng Yuzao still had the ability to meet the enemy at the same time. After all, according to Wu Peifu, this British army had only about a thousand people.

Despite this, Teng Yuzhao still did not dare and could not take it lightly. He always kept in mind the words "pay attention to the enemy tactically".

"Captain Liu."

Teng Yuzao hurriedly called the sentry leader of the heavy machine gun sentry assigned to the regiment, "There are only three Maxim guns left at the east gate, ready to support and cover the vanguard troops at any time. You immediately take the rest of the Maxim guns and rush to the southwest corner of the city wall, set up a position there, and block the coalition forces coming back from the southwest."

"Remember, as soon as this reinforcement coalition force enters one thousand meters, we must concentrate all Maxim heavy machine guns to launch fire interception, and inflict the greatest damage to the reinforcement coalition forces as possible."

"Yes."

After saluting, Sentinel Liu hurried over to deploy according to Teng Yuzao's orders.

"Zi Yu, notify the cavalry battalion immediately and have the entire battalion come to the East Bureau and wait for orders."

Although Teng Yuzhao wanted to protect his newly established cavalry unit, the war situation had reached a critical moment and he had to reluctantly send them to the battlefield.

After explaining things to Wu Peifu, Teng Yuzhao turned to the staff officer of the artillery battalion and wanted to say something, but after opening his mouth, he still didn't say anything.

"Sir, do you need the artillery battalion to move forward?"

Teng Yuzhao, who was very familiar with artillery, nodded, then quickly shook his head to deny his idea.

感谢：20181108132546771、20200907102753168、dongbeidamao、///81///、一船明月、20210301104130418172、读者1744977727343661056、20210101172928180、小哥的说、深蓝等书友的支持！


(End of this chapter)