The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 252: Being stretched thin
After Li Xianze and Liu Shijiu left, Teng Yuzhao did not rush back to the headquarters. Instead, he washed his face in a basin of cold well water fetched by the soldiers of his personal guard squad and tried to cheer himself up.

Time was too tight, and Teng Yuzhao didn't even have time to inquire about the situation in Dongjiaomin Lane. He only heard from Li Xianze that there were still a small number of soldiers from the Tiger God Camp and tens of thousands of Boxers besieging the foreigners inside.

Teng Yuzhao did not care about the foreigners in Dongjiaominxiang. The thousands of foreigners and Christians inside did not dare to rush out and could not cause any trouble. As long as they dared to walk out of Dongjiaominxiang, these people who would lose the support of fortifications would be overwhelmed by the Boxers in minutes.

Moreover, he has changed his mind now. It is not a bad thing to keep these people in the capital as hostages in some form.

What Teng Yuzhao is concerned about now is the impending siege by the American and British troops. He must draw the enemy into street fighting and make them follow his rhythm, otherwise, he will not be able to hold out for long in the defense of the capital.

However, Teng Yuzhao was helpless and somewhat puzzled about the coalition forces' separate siege warfare. According to common sense, they should have launched fierce attacks on multiple city gates of the capital at the same time, making the defenders lose sight of the big picture.

But they kept beating him so slowly that the time intervals between each beating were extremely large.

The information I saw in my previous life about the Eight-Nation Alliance's attack on the capital was probably written by non-military personnel. Almost all of the information was written very vaguely. Specifically, the time nodes were not very clear.

It’s just that when the 14th American Regiment arrived at their attack position, the East Gate, in the morning, they found that it had already been occupied by the Russian army with no professional ethics. Regardless of the plan they had already made, they not only occupied it first, but even ran into the city wall and were blocked inside.

The frustrated American troops had to move their attack position southward. First, a bugler climbed up the city wall with bare hands, and then began to set up ladders to climb the city wall. It was not until after eleven o'clock that the American flag was raised on the city wall.

If they had reached the East Gate in the morning, it would not have taken too long even if they had changed their attack position. However, they did not occupy the city wall until after eleven o'clock, which seemed to indicate that there should have been people guarding the city.

However, there is no record of fighting on the outer city wall. What is clear is that the American bugler Calvin P. Titus volunteered to climb the 30-foot-high wall. Other American soldiers followed him to climb the city wall. They then used ladders to climb the city wall. The th Infantry Battalion raised the American flag on the outer city wall after o'clock.

After that, the US troops exchanged fire with the Qing troops below on the city wall while climbing down the wall and began to attack the inner city where the embassy district was located, and entered the embassy district after four o'clock in the afternoon.

In this battle, only one American soldier was killed and nine were injured.

Among the nine wounded soldiers, one later participated in World War I and achieved the highest rank of major general in the Marine Corps. His name was Smedley Butler.

The above information shows that the US military did not encounter any resistance, at least on the outer city walls.

Teng Yuzhao inferred that since the U.S. military's initial target of attack was the East Gate, they should not have prepared ladders to climb the city wall, so some people climbed up with their bare hands. Their main force did not go up to the city until after eleven o'clock, so they might have been hastily preparing ladders.

They occupied the outer city wall at noon, but did not enter the embassy area until after four in the afternoon, which means that they began to encounter relatively favorable resistance only after entering the outer city.

The Russian troops who were blocked in the city wall at the East Gate finally broke into the outer city at the very small cost of 26 deaths and 102 injuries.

At the same time, although the Japanese army encountered resolute resistance at Qihua Gate, they were able to rush into the inner city under the cover of artillery fire with only about 100 casualties.

The British army arrived late. They did not arrive outside Guangqumen until twelve o'clock, and broke into the outer city at around two o'clock in just two hours. Then, with the help of a drainage ditch, they miraculously rushed into the inner city and entered the embassy area.

Teng Yuzhao believed that someone must have informed the British army of the location of the drainage ditch in advance.

What made Teng Yuzhao even more distressed was that, according to the information, at that time not only were there common people watching the foreigners attacking the capital, but there were also merchants doing business with the Allied Forces. The common people also helped the Allied Forces transport food and ammunition, and even used ladders to attack the city.

What's worse, there were people who led the way for the coalition forces.

If it is said that the people were forced to deliver food, ammunition and ladders to the coalition forces, that is understandable, but doing business with the coalition forces, especially leading the way, cannot be simply explained by being forced.

Even the British siege generals were puzzled by such a bizarre situation.

Teng Yuzhao couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the country doesn't know that there are people, and the people don't know that there is a country, should such a court still exist!
It was past seven o'clock now. In a little more than an hour, the U.S. troops should have begun to attack the city, or at least should have reached the city. Teng Yuzao was on the top of the city wall, sometimes using a telescope to observe the situation of the assault brigade soldiers who had already entered the city near Guangqumen, and sometimes observing the streets and alleys below the city, where they were driving out the people stranded in the outer city, and the situation of Li Xianze's two battalions who were busy building barricades. He even checked the situation in Dongjiaomin Lane behind him and the distant Xishiku direction.

Teng Yuzhao walked around the city for a long time, feeling a little uneasy. There was nothing he could do. He felt that his troops were insufficient and he felt weak and powerless.

Although excluding the First Mixed Brigade Cavalry Unit taken away by Liu Yuzhi, including the troops directly under his headquarters, Teng Yuzhao still has nearly 40,000 people, but if Liu Changfa's artillery brigade is removed, there are only more than 36,000 people, and his strength is still a little small.

Hu Dianjia's Third Mixed Brigade could not be relied upon at all, as he had to deal with emergencies at Dongzhimen and Qihuamen.

The Gansu Army defending at Dongzhimen and Qihuamen could not withstand the attacks of the Russian and Japanese armies for too long. Once the Gansu Army was unable to hold on, Hu Dianjia had to command his troops to replace them as soon as possible and take over the defense of the entire inner city's east wall. Even with the cooperation of Liu Changfa's artillery, Hu Dianjia was under tremendous pressure facing the fierce attacks of the two relatively brutal forces of the coalition, the Japanese and Russian armies.

As for Cao Futian and Pan Jinshan's independent battalions, the South City, East City and North City they defended had not been attacked by the coalition forces in history. However, the number of coalition forces had increased sharply, more than five times that in history. Teng Yuzao did not dare to guarantee that the coalition forces would not attack these places under the current circumstances.

Although the independent battalion, like the assault battalion, also has more than 5,000 people, they have to defend a city wall that is dozens of miles long. On average, there is only one person every five meters, and the pressure is also not small. Teng Yuzhao will never withdraw their troops unless it is absolutely necessary.

Looking at the densely packed streets and houses below the city, Teng Yuzhao couldn't help but sigh, this is the capital after all, it is so huge.

Troops are needed everywhere, but Teng Yuzhao only has so many troops at hand.

Teng Yuzhao thought of incorporating the Gansu Army, but this idea only flashed through his mind. The Gansu Army had too strong ethnic and regional concepts. Even if they were temporarily incorporated, they might not be willing to be loyal to him, Teng Yuzhao, wholeheartedly.

The Gansu Army is now not only extremely loyal to the imperial court, but also unruly and arrogant. Take the defense of the capital for example, they should have surrendered the city defense, so as to avoid being unable to hold on and letting Teng Yuzhao scramble to fill the resulting defense gap.

It is possible to consider recruiting some of the Boxers, but it is a matter of distant water to quench immediate thirst. In the short term, the newly recruited Boxers will not be of much use.

As for mobilizing Liu Yuzhi's First Mixed Brigade into the city, this was even more impossible.

Although the capital city is vast and it is impossible for the coalition forces to besiege the entire city tightly, it is not difficult to block a few city gates. In that case, it will become extremely difficult for him to lead the vanguard troops to withdraw.

You know, there are more than 100,000 coalition troops outside the city. If Teng Yuzhao only evacuated with personnel, it would be somewhat easier. But he wanted to evacuate with heavy weapons such as artillery, and he couldn't take them away unless he went through the city gate.

With Liu Yuzhi as a mixed-force assistant staying outside, he can support him in evacuating the capital at any time.

Teng Yuzhao sighed silently, walked back to the city wall, picked up the telephone receiver, and dialed the number himself.

This was a direct line between Teng Yuzao and the headquarters. As soon as the call was connected, Wei Jinghai's voice was heard. Teng Yuzao didn't have time to waste time and gave the order directly.

"Ningbo, I order, first, immediately transfer the Guard Battalion to Chongwenmen to stand by as our army's general reserve in the city; second, you organize all the personnel directly under the headquarters, except for the field hospital and the communication post, to serve as the headquarters' defense force and support the Boxers besieging the embassy district when necessary."

After hanging up the phone, Teng Yuzhao still felt uneasy, as if he always felt that something he had not expected would happen.

Teng Yuzhao took out the cigarette box from his pocket in annoyance and took out a cigarette.

But before Teng Yuzhao could light the cigarette in his mouth, the telephone next to him suddenly rang.

The rapid ringing of the phone made Teng Yuzao's heart tremble suddenly.
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(End of this chapter)