The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 201: The Allied Forces' Troubles

Five days later, in the southern suburbs of Tianjin.

Inside the meeting room of the Allied Forces' temporary headquarters at the woolen weaving factory in the British Concession, the air was filled with smoke and fierce arguments were going on in several languages.

Surrounding a long table covered with a gold velvet tablecloth were more than thirty officers from powerful countries, wearing neat uniforms covered with military rank medals.

However, there were only seven sparse officers from the great powers sitting at the empty conference table. They were all the highest commanders of the great powers' expeditionary forces in the Qing Dynasty. Sitting on the chairs behind them were their translators, recorders and other attendants, or subordinates with higher military ranks.

At one end of the long conference table sat the bearded Vice Admiral Yevgeny Ivanovich Alexeev, the Governor-General of the Kwantung Province of the Tsarist Russia, Commander of the Garrison and Commander of the Pacific Navy, and currently the Supreme Commander of the Tsarist Russian Expeditionary Force.

Alexeev was not an ordinary nobleman of Tsarist Russia. He was the illegitimate son of Alexander II and the uncle of the current Tsar Nicholas II. Not only did he have great power in the Tsar's court, he was also highly trusted by the Tsar, which was why he was able to serve as the Governor-General of Kwantung Province.

Although it was at one end of the conference table, it was wide enough to accommodate two people. However, at this end of the table, only Alexeyev was sitting on the chair in the middle.

Later next to Alexeyev was a lieutenant general of the Tsarist Russian Army named Nikolai Lenavych, the current commander of the Expeditionary Army. He was the deputy commander of the Russian Expeditionary Force who had just arrived in Tianjin and the actual commander of the Russian army.

Although Alexeyev didn't mind Lenavich sitting next to him, Lenavich could only sit a little behind Alexeyev, away from the conference table.

Because, although the highest commanders of the armies of the powerful countries present had different military ranks, they all represented their respective countries. They were equal here. Even if he was just a major, as long as he represented his country, he was qualified to sit at the conference table.

Otherwise, even if you are a prince or duke of a country, you can only sit in the back.

In order to ensure fairness, the great powers have also agreed that only one person from each country can sit at the conference table.

Although there was a low table with a coffee cup and an ashtray next to Lenavich, he still leaned back in his chair with a bored look on his face, silently smoking the cigar in his hand.

There was a table behind Lianavich, and three Tsarist Russian officers were sitting behind the table, but their ranks were much lower. They were only two colonel-level officers and a young captain who was obviously in charge of taking notes.

At the other end of the long conference table opposite Alexeev was British Lieutenant General Alfred Gasley.

Behind Alfred Gasley, the arrangement was almost exactly the same as behind Alexeyev, the difference being that there was no other British general sitting behind Gasley, and there was not even a seat with a coffee table.

The supreme commander of the Allied Forces in the Qing Dynasty was Edward Hobart Seymour, Vice Admiral of the British Royal Navy, who was elected by the governments of the great powers after communication. The last time Seymour led his troops to the capital, Alexeev was temporarily the commander of the Allied Forces. Since Seymour fled back to the concession, Alexeev reluctantly returned the title of supreme commander to the defeated general.

However, the defeated general in Alexeev's eyes was not in the conference room at this moment, and he was not even in Tianjin. Although the defeated general still shamelessly occupied the position of the supreme commander of the coalition forces, this made Alexeev grit his teeth in hatred.

It turned out that in order not to affect the expeditionary force's military commander's command of operations and to ensure the most correct operational command when commanding the coalition forces, a telegram had been sent from Britain instructing Seymour, when he served as the supreme commander of the British Expeditionary Force and the supreme military commander of the coalition forces, to hand over the actual military command to Lieutenant General Gasley who came from India, while Seymour was mainly responsible for contacting local powerful groups in the Qing Dynasty.

Seymour not only scoffed at this domestic arrangement, but was even extremely dissatisfied in his heart. However, it was an order from the country after all.

Since he couldn't disobey, and even pretending to obey was not feasible, Seymour simply decided to out of sight and out of mind, so he simply didn't stay in Tianjin and stayed away from here.

Therefore, Seymour himself was in the British Concession in Shanghai at the moment, and he would only come back occasionally.

In the absence of Seymour, the proud British Empire did not hand over the position of supreme commander to be elected by the great powers again, but directly gave the position of supreme commander of the Allied Forces to Lieutenant General Gasley, who was also a soldier of the British Empire.

Fortunately, the British Empire, which was in its heyday, was bound to be the protagonist anywhere in the world. Gasley replaced Seymour as the supreme commander of the Allied Forces. Except for some complaints from Alexeyev, it did not cause widespread objections, even from the French, who were on good terms with the Russians.

However, although Alexeyev, who believed that he was the most powerful among the Allied Expeditionary Forces, did not get the position of the supreme commander of the Allied Forces, he was unwilling to lag behind others. He took his seat and occupied one end of the conference table arrogantly, making it clear that he wanted to compete with John Bull.

Other powers that had seats at the conference table included French Army Major General Frey, German Expeditionary Force Supreme Commander Colonel Lehman, Austro-Hungarian Army Major General Jörg Johannes von terhaup, Japanese Army Major General Fukushima Yasumasa, and U.S. Army Colonel Adna Chaffee. Another U.S. Army Colonel Emerson Risken was also sitting a little behind Chaffee, sipping coffee.

There was no seat for the Italians at the conference table. It was not because the Italians had fallen to a situation even worse than the Japanese, but because the Italians had not sent a relatively high-ranking officer to the Far East.

Because the Italians had no real interests in the Far East, their eyes were firmly attracted by the vast black Africa. Joining the expeditionary force was just a gesture of presence made by the Italians. The Italians, unwilling to be absent, only hastily sent 80 Italian soldiers, which was really not worth mentioning.

Since the Italian Expeditionary Force was too weak, the Italians were naturally embarrassed to send a general to lead this insignificant force. The command of their troops was temporarily handed over to their ally, the Germans.

However, after learning that the Germans would send a follow-up 30,000 troops, the Italians immediately dispatched Colonel Russo to lead a hastily assembled, understaffed regiment, which had already boarded a ship and set sail, following the German army to the Far East.

Apparently the commanders of the great powers have been arguing for a long time, Alexeyev said, slamming the table in dissatisfaction.

"Dear gentlemen, I really don't understand what you are worried about?"

"Although we have suffered considerable losses in the past few days, our military strength has been greatly strengthened. Not only have we transferred two divisions of nearly 40,000 troops from Kanto Province, but Japan has also transferred all of its replenished Fifth Division to Tianjin. Now our total military strength is close to 100,000."

"At this moment, we not only have an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, but after five days of fighting day and night, we have even occupied half of Tianjin City. We can completely wipe out the hateful Qing army that has been forced to the north of the city and has caused us serious losses and brought shame to everyone present. However, you insist on adopting a time-consuming siege tactic. Why is this? Who can give us a reasonable explanation?"

Although Alexeev's words were too straightforward and even a little rude, everyone just frowned slightly and no one spoke. No one wanted to easily offend this vulgar Russian guy.

Many people here have experienced the hot-tempered Russian's spitting tongue.

Chaffee, the commander of the U.S. Expeditionary Force, seemed to be extremely bored. He reached out and picked up the pen on the table, spread out the notebook in front of him, and began to write and draw.

Others may remain silent, but Gasley, as the acting supreme commander of the coalition forces, cannot remain silent.

Gasley, whose face was clean-shaven, looked at Alexeyev and said with a smile.

"I have to remind you, Mr. Alexeev, that our diplomats in the Qing capital have been trapped in the narrow embassy district for dozens of days. Although some friendly Qing officials have secretly sent them some vegetables and food, they are seriously short of ammunition and medicine, and the embassy district may be captured at any time."

"Those hateful Qing people, whether they are the Boxer rioters or their corrupt and vulnerable army, will not show mercy to our diplomats. Once the embassy district falls, they will kill our diplomats without hesitation, including their women and children, and thousands of Christians who have accepted God's teachings. Only if we rush to the capital of the Qing Dynasty in time, their empress dowager will surrender to our guns and cannons, and we can get the greatest benefits."

"NE, NE."

Alexeev shook his head unmoved and said, "The reason you said you were rushing to the Qing capital is ridiculous. The real reason is that you are afraid to continue fighting with the stubborn Qing army in Tianjin. In my opinion, you are a group of pitiful people."

Before Alexeev finished speaking, not only Gasley's face darkened, but the commanders of other powerful countries also looked gloomy.

"Bang!" Major General Jörg Johannes von terhaap of the Austro-Hungarian Army slammed the table and was about to respond to this ambitious but incompetent Russian with rude words.

Fukushima Yasushige, who had been observing the situation, smiled and said, "Dear gentlemen, in our opinion, although the Qing army in Tianjin City has just been established, its combat effectiveness is very tenacious. This vanguard army is the most elite force of the Qing Dynasty. It is the biggest obstacle for us to force the Qing Dynasty to surrender. We must completely eliminate them."

Fukushima Yasumasa's words immediately drew cheers from Alexeyev, but the faces of the other coalition officers became even gloomier.

Fukushima Yasushige, who saw this, smiled and said, "However, I think that destroying this vanguard army that is still resisting stubbornly is not inconsistent with our march to the Qing capital as soon as possible."

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(End of this chapter)