The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 203 Everyone has their own agenda
Alekseyev said calmly, "It's very simple. I just need the support of your British super cannons."

"Gentlemen."

Alexeyev continued with some pride, "I recently studied an ancient military book from the Qing Dynasty, a book called The Art of War by Sun Tzu, and was very inspired. I suggest that all of you gentlemen read it carefully."

"You all should understand the meaning of the phrase 'a trapped beast will still fight'. The remnants of the Qing's so-called vanguard army that we have tightly surrounded are this trapped beast. In order to survive, they will definitely fight desperately. And they seem to be very familiar with Tianjin City. Fighting a street fight with them here will be extremely disadvantageous for us."

When the vanguard troops in the city were talking about their street fighting methods, the faces of the highest commanders of the coalition forces present, and even the attendants behind them, changed color.

The brutality of the street fighting here was definitely no less than any urban siege they knew of in Europe, and in some cases even more so. The cunning vanguard troops used endless street fighting tactics, making it difficult for them to defend themselves, and thousands of people were killed or wounded in street fighting every day.

Fortunately, the attack on Tianjin City was mainly carried out by the Russian and Japanese troops. The British army only participated in a day of street fighting before being beaten and forced to retreat from the city in a mess.

The Russian and Japanese armies did not care about the huge casualties, as the casualties could be replenished at any time. All they cared about was the military expenditure.

The military expenditures of these two countries were very tight. Even though the war had just started, they had already sought loan support from banks in France and Britain, with which they had relatively friendly relations.

Alexeev continued, "Therefore, we must end this damn battle in the city as soon as possible. We must let them break out actively, and then encircle and annihilate them in the fields."

It is indeed a good idea to escape from street fighting and fight a field battle with the vanguard army. Moreover, it is what they want most.

Frey leaned forward and asked, "Mr. Alexeyev, do you mean to use the super cannons that the British just delivered to drive those damned Qing people out of the city?"

"NE."

Alexeev smiled and shook his head, saying, "Let us ask our Russian General Nikolai Lenavicius, who is good at fighting, to introduce the specific plan to you."

Alexeyev's words made the commanders of these powerful countries look at each other. From an angle that Alexeyev could not see, these people showed mocking expressions on their faces.

They already understood that this Russian plan was definitely not some fantastic idea that Alexeyev came up with from studying military tactics. The so-called plan should have come from the handiwork of Lieutenant General Lenavich who had just arrived in Tianjin.

Lian Navich was still sitting in his chair and did not stand up. He just nodded slightly to the coalition commanders who were looking at him and said.

"Gentlemen, the plan is very simple. We will force them to break out on their own initiative, and then use our superior forces to encircle and annihilate them in the field."

Frey said in disbelief, "Can those two super cannons alone drive this stubborn Qing army out of the city?"

Lianavich shook his head and said, "I know a little about this super cannon. The power of just two cannons is extremely limited. Unless it is used on a large scale, that is, there are dozens of these cannons, its killing effect will not be enough to kill too many of their soldiers."

"However, what I value is not its lethality, but its deterrent power. The Qing people, who have never seen or even heard of this evil shell, will be frightened out of their wits by the damage it causes, and will give up their confidence in holding on in the city."

"Of course, relying solely on a few evil artillery shells is far from achieving the goal of annihilating the enemy in the wild. Although we have surrounded Tianjin City on almost all sides outside the city, if the Qing people want to break out, they will not necessarily break out only in the direction where we have deployed heavy troops. In theory, the east, west, and north may all be options for them." Lianavich continued.

"So, gentlemen."

Alexeev excitedly interrupted and said, "We came up with this wonderful idea. We will strengthen the defense in the east and north, and lift the siege on the west on the surface. In the city, we will not only use super cannons to scare the hateful Qing people, but also intensify the attack to force the Qing people to flee from the west. We will secretly deploy heavy troops in the west."

Alexeev said, clasping his hands together on the conference table. "Once they leave the city, our troops in the city will chase them out and block their way back to the city to resist. Our troops ambushed in the west will immediately surround them and annihilate them. In Chinese military books, this is called..."

Alexeyev seemed to be unable to remember the term. He turned around and looked at Lenavych, who was calm and didn't seem to care that Alexeyev had stolen the limelight. Lenavych just leaned forward slightly and said calmly. "Surround three and kill one."

"Yes, that is, surround three and kill one."

It has to be said that if Lianavich's plan is successfully implemented, it may even be possible to capture Tianjin City in a short period of time.

However, this is just a possibility, and no one can tell whether there will be unexpected variables. Except for Fukushima Yasumasa who is quite interested, the commanders of other powers, although somewhat tempted, still did not change their original intention of rushing to the Qing capital in advance and forcing the Qing court to agree to their harsh conditions.

Gasley was especially displeased that the Russians called their super cannon an evil weapon. He clapped his hands calmly to express his appreciation for the plan of surrounding three sides and attacking one, and then spoke.

“A very nice plan, I applaud it!”

However, Gasley immediately changed the subject and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Alexeyev, I cannot agree to use our only two super cannons to cooperate with you in the battle. Not only do we need them to break through the defense line set up by the Qing Dynasty in Beicang, but also these weapons that you call evil should only be used to deter cowards. They should not be used against truly brave soldiers."

"Unfortunately, in my opinion, this vanguard army in Tianjin is a group of real soldiers that I admire."

Gasley's words surprised Colonel Lehman a little. He naturally would not believe what Gasley said, but what surprised him was that the arrogant general of the British Empire not only accepted Teng Yuzao's warning, but also gave such a high-sounding reason.

Even so, Lehman nodded in agreement and said, "The commander of this unit, Teng Yuzao, is indeed very admirable. In a short period of time, he transformed the Wuwei Army, which was originally composed of a group of scattered soldiers, into a strong-willed and combat-capable modern army. This impressed me deeply."

Fukushima Yasumasa said solemnly, "Yes, this is also his most terrifying point. Therefore, we believe that in order to defeat the Qing court's will to resist in a short period of time, the best way is to eliminate this force as soon as possible. Otherwise, he will become a huge obstacle for us to force the Qing court to accept our conditions."

Alexeev ignored what Lehman and Fukushima Yasumasa said, and seemed to have anticipated Gasley's attitude. He just spoke to Gasley with contempt.

"Although I feel very sorry about this, I still admire the upright generals of the British Empire who still retain the spirit of chivalry. For our Russian Empire Army, which has strong will and powerful combat effectiveness, whether or not we have super cannons to cooperate is just the icing on the cake. It will not affect our successful implementation of our wonderful plan in the slightest."

Gasley seemed not to have heard Alexeyev's words that were obviously mocking and teasing. Instead, he looked around at everyone and said, "Dear gentlemen, I would like to confirm whether you support Mr. Fukushima Yasumasa's suggestion to divide the troops?"

Gasley said, raising his right hand.

"I agree!"

It was still the French Supreme Commander Frey who first expressed his support, followed by Lehman, and then von ter Happ, Fukushima Yasumasa, and Chaffee all raised their hands to express their agreement.

Even Fukushima Yasumasa and Alexeyev raised their hands to show their agreement, but Alexeyev only slightly raised his right hand holding the thick Havana cigar as a sign of agreement.

After expressing his approval of the decision to divide the troops, Chaffee added with a serious face, "In order to show our support for this wonderful plan, we are willing to allocate part of our troops to Tianjin to cooperate with our brave Russian allies in the battle."

Although slightly surprised by 's statement, Gasley continued.

"Gentlemen, we all agree on the division plan, but..."

Gasley glanced at the faces of Frey, Lehman, Chaffey, Fukushima Yasumasa, and von ter Happ, and eye contact was inevitable.

"Tianjin is close to our concession. Not only do our concessions need food and other daily necessities, but we all have a lot of business to do. We want to force the Qing government to accept our conditions and protect the personal and property safety of our people in the Qing country, but we don't want to destroy it."

(End of this chapter)