The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 194 I Forgot to Tell You
Teng Yuzao met with the Allied Forces representatives in a courtyard of the Trade Office, which was also Teng Yuzao's residence.

Although the weather is very hot now, it is definitely much cooler outside than indoors. Teng Yuzao did not plan to invite them into the house. He just placed a few rattan chairs and coffee tables under the grape trellis in the yard. Negotiating here is quite interesting.

The two blindfolded colonels and little Christian were taken into the yard, while the other two lieutenants were taken into a room guarded by guards. They were not even allowed to take off the black cloth covering their eyes.

Today is a sunny day with plenty of sunlight. The scorching sunlight shining on the body will soon make people sweat.

The three of them took off the thick black cloths on their eyes, and couldn't help squinting under the stimulation of the strong sunlight. They each took out their own handkerchiefs and wiped the ground for a long time before opening their eyes.

It was not just that the sunlight was glaring, but also that the area of ​​their eyes covered by the black cloth was covered with tiny beads of sweat. The salty sweat had already covered their eyelids and eyelashes. As soon as they opened their eyes, the sweat would enter their eyes, causing tears of irritation to flow down.

When the three opened their eyes, they saw Teng Yuzhao, dressed in an ordinary field gray German cavalry uniform, standing in the yard, looking at them indifferently.

Behind Teng Yuzao, Wu Peifu and Xu Ting, dressed in military uniforms and holding pistols on their waists, stood on his left and right.

Teng Yuzao's uniform did not have any military rank. The only thing that indicated his officer status was the pair of shiny black riding boots on his feet, instead of leggings.

Before World War I, since all marches had to be made on foot, the armies of major foreign countries all wore leggings. Powerful countries such as Britain and Germany were no exception. Moreover, they wore not only cloth leggings, but also leather leggings and felt leggings.

The Chinese people were determined to learn from the Western powers in establishing a new army, and this time they learned very thoroughly. The Wuwei Qianjun had the habit of wearing leg wraps since its establishment.

However, the leggings of soldiers in various units of the Wuwei Army were not exactly the same for various reasons. Some were traditional wrap-around leggings, while others were Japanese canvas leggings. Nie Shicheng's Wuwei Vanguard Army and Yu Lu's Central Army were both equipped with German leather leggings, which were more convenient to wear than traditional leggings. When using them, they could be simply buckled around the calf and then secured with two leather belts.

Although leather leggings are not as light as wrap-around leggings, leggings made of hard cowhide are relatively hard and can provide better protection for the calves. They can also prevent the trouser legs from getting wet when crossing a river.

The Vanguard Army was derived from the Wuwei Central Army and used leather leggings. However, only one or two regiments of the Vanguard Army had exchanged leather leggings from the German Army, and the rest of the troops were temporarily wearing cloth bandages.

However, there is one thing that is unified throughout the Wuwei Army, and that is the military salute. The Wuwei Army's military salute is the German salute, which is almost the same as the military salute of later generations.

When little Christian saw Teng Yuzao standing in front of him safe and sound, he excitedly opened his arms and was about to give Teng Yuzao a warm bear hug. However, as soon as he took a step, Xu Ting quickly stepped in between the two of them and stood in front of Teng Yuzao.

Xu Ting's sudden action scared little Christian. He glared at him and even had his right hand grasping the handle of the pistol in the open holster on the belt around his waist. It seemed that as long as he made any move that might be considered dangerous, the other party would immediately draw his gun and point it at him. Little Christian stood there with his arms outstretched, not daring to move.

Teng Yuzao gently pushed Xu Ting away, smiled and said to little Christian in German, "Excuse me, my friend, it's wartime now, and you are the translator of the enemy's negotiating representative, so let's skip this kind of physical contact etiquette!"

Little Christian shrugged angrily, "Well, my friend, I heard that you went to the battlefield yourself, how are you!"

Teng Yuzao was not surprised at all when little Christian heard that he had gone to the battlefield. He had sent back many seriously wounded soldiers to the Allied Forces in Dongjuzi.

Teng Yuzao had to express his concern for little Christian. He spread his hands and said, "Thank you for your concern, my dear friend. I am fine."

Little Christian was relieved and continued, "Alice asked me to give you her regards. She asked me to tell you that she hopes you stay safe and live well! She also said that she will always remember you, and she hopes you don't forget her either."

Speaking of Alice, Teng Yuzao couldn't help but sigh softly and asked insincerely, "Is she okay?"

Little Christian shook his head repeatedly, "No, my friend, she is in a bad state! She was taken back to her country by my uncle, and I guess she will probably never be able to come to your Great Qing Empire again in her life."

Alice was brought back to her country by her uncle. This must be because the matter between her and him reached the ears of uncle Christian, so she was forcibly brought back to her country. Although Teng Yuzhao had no feelings for Alice, he did not want to see this beautiful German girl being wronged.

However, Teng Yuzhao had no other options.

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and shrugged, "I wish her good luck! I hope she can find someone she likes!"

The German colonel who came with little Christian was none other than Lehman, whom he had met at Beiyang Wubei Academy. Colonel Lehman stepped forward, extended his hand, and said sincerely, "Hello! General Teng, it's nice to see you again!"

Teng Yuzao also reached out and shook Leiman's hand, "Hello, Colonel Leiman, I am also very happy to see you again."

Leiman smiled and nodded, let go of Teng Yuzao's hand, turned around and pointed at the tall and thin British colonel in a gorgeous military uniform and introduced him.

"Colonel Phillips."

Before Lehman finished his introduction, Colonel Phillips casually saluted Teng Yuzao in the British military style. "Viscount Phillips, Colonel of the British Army, greets you, Your Excellency."

In response to Colonel Phillips' ostentatious greeting, Teng Yuzao also raised his hand and returned a casual military salute.

He spoke in a generous voice, word by word, "Teng Yuzao, the commander of the Vanguard Army of the Wuwei Army of the Great Qing Empire, Lieutenant General of the Army, and General of the Nation, thanks the Viscount for his greetings."

Seeing that Teng Yuzao was intentionally teasing Phillips, Wu Peifu stepped forward and spoke.

"Our president's title is General of the Nation, which is equivalent to the title of Duke in your country."

Being interrupted and teased by Teng Yuzao and Wu Peifu, Phillips retorted somewhat unwillingly, "Dear President, I have no intention of offending your majesty. Please forgive my ignorance. As far as I know, your country does not have military ranks. I wonder which country your lieutenant general is from?"

"Also, according to the information I have, the number of soldiers in each unit of your Wuwei Army is definitely no more than 15,000, which is less than the establishment of an army division of our British Empire. Your rank of lieutenant general is a bit unworthy of the title."

Phillips is right. Taking the most representative German army as an example, a German infantry division at that time was composed of 2 infantry brigades and 1 artillery regiment.

This is the so-called block system, or the two-two system.

Because each of its infantry brigades is composed of two infantry regiments.

Then the organization below changed. Each infantry regiment was composed of 3 infantry battalions, and each infantry battalion was composed of 4 infantry companies.

An infantry company is composed of four platoons, and below the platoon is four squads, with a total of about 245 people. An infantry battalion has about 1 people, an infantry regiment has about 1000 people, and an infantry division has about 1 people.

A fully staffed British army division had 17,488 men, 500 fewer than the German army.

According to Western standards, even the Wuwei Front Army, the largest unit in the Wuwei Army, was less than the size of a division.

Teng Yuzhao smiled indifferently and said lightly.

"I have petitioned the court to establish a military rank system modeled after the West, and I believe it will be approved soon."

"However, you may not know that my title of general is divided into three ranks. My title is second-rank general. There seems to be nothing wrong with me becoming a lieutenant general."

"Also, my vanguard army has four temporary regiments, each with more than 5,300 people, plus an artillery regiment, a cavalry regiment, a guard battalion, an engineering battalion, a baggage battalion, a recruit battalion, a camp school, and a reconnaissance company and a communications company. In addition, there are five directly affiliated departments such as the field hospital, the logistics department, and the staff department. The total number of troops is more than 34,000. This organization is close to the level of two divisions of your British army. Judging from the number of people, there will be no problem for me to be a lieutenant general."

"Oh, right."

Teng Yuzao seemed to suddenly remember something and added, "I forgot to tell you that this general also holds the title of Minister of War, which should be equivalent to your Honorary Minister of War in the UK."

(End of this chapter)