The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 26 Silver and Prisoners

The vanguard battalion's camp was located in a sparse woodland. The woods covered a large area and could easily hide thousands of people. It was almost halfway between Tangjiakouzi and the Beiyang Military Academy, so it was a suitable place to build the camp.

Setting up a camp in this open wilderness is naturally camping in the wild. Fortunately, each unit of the Wuwei Army is equipped with tents, including more than 200 military tents in the warehouse of the Wubei Academy. The vanguard army still has enough tents.

When Teng Yuzhao arrived at the new camp, the work inside had already been in full swing under the organization of Liu Changfa. Not only did they have to cut down some obstructive trees and clear and level the ground in the woods, but they also had to dig and build trenches around the woods. As the project was huge, it could not be completed in one go, so the first thing to build was personal shelters, which would then gradually expand to both sides and eventually form a trench.

Although the workload seems huge, it is actually nothing for a well-trained army.

Teng Yuzhao himself was a graduate of the Military Academy, and all his subordinates above the rank of platoon leader were students of the Military Academy who were selected by him or recruited from other troops. Even among the 37 tent chiefs, including Liu Bingyi, at least half were students who graduated from the Military Academy last year. In order to retain these people, Teng Yuzhao even made considerable promises to them.

With him as an instructor from the Military Academy and dozens of his students in the vanguard army, the Western-style military education and training of the vanguard army was naturally implemented very thoroughly. Almost all the training contents of the Military Academy were moved to the barracks. Outdoor camping and fortification training were part of their daily training. Even the training content of the camp's longfu was the same as that of the regular soldiers.

This also led to the vanguard army becoming the most diligently trained battalion among the almost entirely newly built Wuwei Central Army battalions when Ronglu reorganized the army at that time. This is also why Ronglu valued him so much.

There is gain and loss, and being the tallest tree in the forest is not always a good thing. Teng Yuzhao's old habit of not knowing how to hide his shortcomings came back. He was very grateful for Ronglu's appreciation of him, and he trained the troops more diligently. However, because of this, he soon attracted the jealousy and secret exclusion of his colleagues. When Ronglu left the Wuwei Army, he recommended him to Yulu, because he knew that if Teng Yuzhao continued to stay in the Wuwei Central Army, he would be excluded and forced to leave sooner or later.

Because of this, the vanguard battalion is extremely skilled in building camps and digging trenches to construct positions. Not only is the speed fast but the quality is also guaranteed. The positions built by each outpost do not need to be inspected, and the outpost leader's control is extremely strict.

Dozens of large pots were boiling water on the newly dug stove, and more than a hundred shivering pigs and sheep bought from nearby were also penned in a corner of the woods.

Because they would have meat to eat in the evening, the joyous officers and soldiers had already skillfully slaughtered two fat pigs and were preparing to boil water to remove the hair and clean them.

Teng Yuzhao's tent was the first to be set up. It not only had a simple field bed, but also an octagonal table and a dozen chairs moved from the Military Academy. There were also teapots, teacups, and high-quality Fujian scented tea. These were all moved from the office lobby of Yang Zonglien, the general manager of the Beiyang Military Academy.

Teng Yuzhao had just sat down in the tent and hadn't even taken a sip of hot tea when Liu Bingyi, who had gone to the Governor's Office to report victory, ran in hurriedly with a delighted look on his face.

"Sir, I'm back. Master Qian is here too, with a group of sentries, delivering a large amount of money to our vanguard camp."

Teng Yuzhao looked at Liu Bingyi, who was in a happy mood, in some surprise. Their battalion had just received their salaries not long ago, and there was still more than half a month before the next month's salary was distributed. It was certainly not the case that Yulu had distributed the next month's salary in advance to reward them for their victory in the first battle.

Before he could ask Liu Bingyi in detail, Teng Yuzhao hurried out to greet him.

Master Qian's words carry a lot of weight in front of Yu Lu, and Teng Yuzhao dare not treat him disrespectfully. Now he is no longer the Teng Yuzhao of yesterday. He must make good friends with this master and make him a great help to him in the governor's office.

Moreover, Master Qian came over so quickly, it was definitely not just to escort some military pay, there must be something else that he wanted to explain in person. Under the guidance of Liu Bingyi, Teng Yuzao soon saw Master Qian in front of a group of blond, blue-eyed, eagle-eyed and high-nosed people who were busy building a camp in the forest.

Master Qian was stroking his graying beard, looking with interest at dozens of Allied prisoners who were building a camp under the guard of dozens of vanguard soldiers.

Teng Yuzao naturally would not let these Allied prisoners have an easy time. Except for Major Luke, a genuine colonel-level officer, Teng Yuzao gave him certain preferential treatments. He was not required to participate in labor, but all other prisoners who were not injured had to participate in the labor.

At first, those coalition lieutenants also shouted that they also enjoyed the rights of officers, but after being hit by the butts of their rifles a few times, they all did their work obediently.

Teng Yuzao hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted, "Master Qian, thank you for coming here again. Xingfu is unworthy of this honor! Please go to the tent and have a rest. Have a cup of hot tea to relieve your fatigue."

Master Qian smiled and said, "Xingfu, are these the prisoners you captured in the battle at the Wubei Academy?"
Teng Yuzao smiled and nodded, saying, "That's right. We need to build a camp now, and we are short of manpower, so they naturally can't just sit there and do nothing."

Master Qian nodded and asked, "Xingfu, the number of these prisoners of war doesn't seem to match what you reported?"

Teng Yuzao said helplessly, "Master Qian, there is nothing wrong with the battle report, but there are other difficulties. This is not the place to talk. Let's talk in my tent."

Teng Yuzhao had already thought of an excuse for Master Qian's doubts. He invited Master Qian into the tent and made tea for him again.

Master Qian held the newly brewed hot tea, sniffed it carefully, and said in surprise, "Xingfu, your tea is quite good. This should be the top-grade Minnan flower tea, right?"

Teng Yuzao said somewhat awkwardly, "I don't know what kind of tea it is. This is something that Mr. Yang from the Military Academy has. I'll borrow it for a while."

Teng Yuzao's words made Master Qian burst into laughter. It took him a long while to stop laughing and he said to Teng Yuzao, "Xingfu is a quick-witted person, which suits my personality very well."

He nodded and said, "Xingfu, please don't misunderstand me. Please tell me the details of those foreign captives in detail, so that no one can spread rumors to Yu Zhongtang in the future."

Only then did Teng Yuzhao tell Master Qian everything about his release of the seriously wounded Allied soldiers and German prisoners of war. Although Master Qian did not express his opinion, it was not obvious that he was dissatisfied.

Teng Yuzhao felt relieved after hearing what Master Qian said. He thought Master Qian wanted to take advantage of this incident to get more money from him.

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(End of this chapter)