The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 18 Respect and Students

Although Major Luke was in a bad mood, he was still trying to fulfill his final duties.

"Dear President, you are the only soldier I have ever met who truly abides by the Universal Red Cross Convention. I would like to express my sincerest respect for your honesty and sincerity once again!"

After Luke finished speaking, he did not salute Teng Yuzao this time. Instead, he took off his hat and held it in his hand, then bowed deeply to Teng Yuzao.

There is no international convention on prisoners of war in the world now. There is only the International Red Cross Convention on the treatment of wounded soldiers formulated in Geneva in 1864, but it only stipulates that the wounded should be given medical treatment.

Luke looked into Teng Yuzao's eyes and then said, "You said that our seriously injured will be sent back to the concession for rescue. Can I take this as true?"

"And, of course, the remains of your fallen soldiers."

Teng Yuzao said seriously, "Since you, Major, have led your soldiers to surrender to me, you are my prisoners. I will treat your wounded in a timely manner according to the convention and fulfill all my promises to you."

Teng Yuzao spread his hands, "But, as you can see, our conditions are limited. The medical officers can only do simple treatments. We have no way to treat those who need surgery, and I dare not send you to the hospital in Tianjin. Sending the seriously injured back to the concession is actually the best option at the moment."

Hearing Teng Yuzao mention the hospital in Tianjin, Luke shook his head repeatedly, "No, no, Your Excellency, if you send them to the hospital in Tianjin, it would be equivalent to murdering them with your own hands. They would be torn to pieces by those thugs...oh, the Boxers on the way."

Teng Yuzao sighed softly, "I just rescued some people from the Lihe Company and some Christians in Tianjin City. I will arrange for someone to call them over right away. I can send all your wounded, including the lightly wounded, back to the concession with the people from the Lihe Company."

After Major Luke was taken away, Teng Yuzhao was about to inquire about the casualties of the troops when students wearing the black Beiyang Military Academy uniforms lined up and ran over. There were even some lightly wounded soldiers who had already been bandaged in the team. Teng Yuzhao had no choice but to greet them. These students were all his students, and he could call out almost every one of them by name.

Although the battle was over, the students were still excited, and their state was in stark contrast to the soldiers in the vanguard battalion.

After cleaning up the battlefield, many of the soldiers looked pale and some even vomited. Now, the soldiers without missions were sitting on the street to rest, looking a little listless.

Teng Yuzhao did not blame these soldiers of the vanguard battalion. Many of them were new recruits, and it was already very good that they did not desert the battlefield and could fire the bullets in their rifles.

Moreover, Teng Yuzhao believed that if it were not for his tent leaders, platoon leaders and sentry leaders, who not only graduated from the Beiyang Military Academy, but most of them had also participated in the battle against the Japanese in Liaodong a few years ago, it was these vanguard army commanders, including him, who were able to lead the charge in battle, that his soldiers would have performed reasonably well in today's real combat, which was their first time.

As the first student of Beiyang Wubei Academy and having taught there for many years, Teng Yuzao was very clear about the situation of Beiyang Wubei Academy. The German instructors hired by the academy, such as Renner, Schmidt, Eide, Chikaifen, and Frank, were all military experts. They completely adopted the teaching methods of the German Military Academy and attached great importance to practical exercises and assessments. Every three to five days, students had to go to the military camp for practical exercises. The projects they practiced were all projects that met the needs of actual combat, not flashy flower racks. These projects included fortification, artillery techniques, and offensive and defensive tactics of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineering teams, which tested the theoretical military knowledge they learned. The examination system of the academy was even more strict. During the monthly and quarterly examinations, Li Hongzhang would either send senior officials to supervise the examinations or come to examine and select in person. Those who passed the graduation examinations would be sent back to their camps for appointment according to their abilities, and those who failed would stay in the school to make up for their studies, otherwise they would never be allowed to graduate.

Due to a large number of practical exercises and a strict examination system, it can be said that every student trained at the Beiyang Military Academy can quickly become a qualified grassroots officer of a new-style force in a very short period of time.

Teng Yuzhao believed that these students, including the officers who graduated from the Vanguard Army's academies, were the backbone of his Vanguard Army. As long as he made good use of these people, his Vanguard Army would grow rapidly in a short period of time. These students who had been trained through the formal military education system were the backbone of the Vanguard Army.

When Teng Yuzao was still a little distracted, the students had already run to him. At the command of a tall student at the front of the line with excited eyes shining, the students quickly stood in front of Teng Yuzao. When they put down the rifles in their hands, they made a neat and powerful sound on the ground.

The tall student is called Wei Jinghai, with the courtesy name Ningbo. He is from Weihai and is a student in the infantry department of the school. He has excellent grades in all subjects and is very prestigious among the students.

When Teng Yuzao was studying in the academy, he was in the infantry department, and he was the first in the infantry department. However, when Li Hongzhang appointed him and Duan Qirui and other five people to study in Germany, there was not only an infantry department but also an artillery department. Moreover, out of respect for cannons, except for Duan Qirui and Shang Dequan who originally graduated from the artillery department, Teng Yuzao, Kong Qingtang and Wu Dingyuan who graduated from the infantry department were required to take cram courses in artillery subjects under German instructors for several months before they could go abroad.

Moreover, when they were in Germany, in addition to learning German infantry subjects, they also had to follow Duan Qirui to complete some planned artillery visits and internship projects. The five of them even fired a 280mm caliber heavy artillery at a German shooting range.

Therefore, after Teng Yuzhao returned to the Beiyang Military Academy to teach, he was not only responsible for teaching the infantry department, but also the artillery department. Therefore, he was familiar with students in both infantry and artillery departments. Although he had not taught students of other subjects in their majors, he was also familiar with their situations.

Teng Yuzhao noticed that there were bloodstains on the bayonets of the rifles of some students, including Wei Jinghai. This surprised him again, as he knew that they had been in hand-to-hand combat.

"salute!"

At Wei Jinghai's command, the students saluted Teng Yuzhao in unison.

"Report to the instructor."

Wei Jinghai stepped forward and stood in front of the team and reported to Teng Yuzao loudly, "There are a total of 90 students staying in school, and 83 are actually here. Now report to the instructor."

Hearing that seven people hadn't arrived, Teng Yuzao's heart sank.
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(End of this chapter)