The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 267: Bite the Japs Again

The call was connected quickly. It seemed that Wei Jinghai knew what Teng Yuzhao urgently wanted to know, so he first reported the situation at Guangqumen to Teng Yuzhao.

"Sir, Guangqumen has been successfully blocked. The British troops outside the city are insufficient. After being repelled twice by the defenders on the city, they have temporarily stopped attacking the city. The remnants of the British and American coalition forces we have surrounded there are estimated to be more than 5,000 people."

"I believe you have witnessed the battle at Qihua Gate. Hu Dianjia just called and reported that he has eliminated more than 8,000 Japanese soldiers inside and outside the city. He estimates that there are about 6,000 Japanese soldiers trapped inside the city. Now there are at most 6,000 Japanese soldiers outside the city, who are desperately attacking Qihua Gate in an attempt to rescue the Japanese soldiers inside the city."

"Hu Dianjia suggested that we use the unscrupulous artillery to quickly eliminate the Japanese soldiers surrounded in the city before the Japanese reinforcements outside the city arrive. Then he led his troops to rush out of the city and bite the Japanese soldiers outside the city again. Even if we can't eat them all, we can at least defeat them."

Hu Dianjia's suggestion was very bold, and his appetite was also very big. The Japanese troops outside the city who were desperately trying to rush into the city would never think of doing so. As for the side defending the city, if they took the initiative to send troops out at this time, they would inevitably suffer a great loss. It was entirely possible to defeat the Japanese troops outside the city.

Hu Dianjia wanted to maximize the results of this ambush in which he successfully lured the enemy into the city!
If the Japanese troops outside the city can be defeated again, the Japanese troops in the Eight-Nation Alliance will at least temporarily lose their offensive capability. Although the Japanese army will replenish it in time, after several battles, most of the veterans of the Fifth Division who participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 have been wiped out by him. Taking into account this fierce counterattack, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Fifth Division will be greatly reduced.

"Okay, the Japanese garrison area inside Qihua Gate is very small, which is very conducive to the unscrupulous artillery to exert its power. Order Liu Changfa to immediately mobilize all his unscrupulous artillery squadrons to build firing positions as quickly as possible. Try to eliminate most of the Japanese troops in the encirclement with one round of artillery fire, and then leave only a small number of troops to lead the 8,000 new recruits to eliminate the remaining enemies. Remember, also let Hu Dianjia ask the Gansu troops at Qihua Gate to cooperate in the battle."

"We need Hu Dianjia to concentrate the main forces and charge out of the city. We need to attack fiercely and catch the Japanese off guard."

"But you have to tell him that he is only allowed to chase the Japanese artillery positions. If there are Krupp or French artillery pieces among the Japanese artillery pieces, he can bring them back. All the bronze artillery pieces of the Japanese army must be blown up. Then he must quickly clean up the battlefield and withdraw immediately."

The artillery of the Japanese army at this time was mainly bronze cannons made by the Japanese themselves. These cannons were not only too heavy but also had a poor range.

However, Teng Yuzhao knew that the Japanese army also imported a small number of German and French artillery after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, but he was not sure whether the Japanese 5th and 9th Divisions were equipped with imported artillery.

This time, will the Japanese Army's 5th and 9th Divisions bring these new artillery pieces to participate in actual combat?

Since the unscrupulous cannons were used here, Teng Yuzao simply stopped hiding it. His original plan to starve the remnants of the British and American coalition forces for a day and then use the unscrupulous cannons to deal with them in the early morning was also overturned by Teng Yuzao.

"Tell Liu Changfa again that after the conscienceless artillery fires a round, no matter what the situation is, he must immediately move his conscienceless artillery squadron to Guangqumen to assist Li Xianze's Second Mixed Brigade and Liu 19th Assault Battalion in destroying the British and American coalition forces there. The conscienceless artillery can fire a few more rounds there and try to destroy as many coalition forces as possible."

"Also tell Liu Changfa and Hu Dianjia that the artillery of the artillery brigade can stop shelling now, let the Japanese troops in as much as possible, and try to use the Maxim heavy machine guns of Hu Dianjia's Third Mixed Brigade to inflict the greatest damage to the Japanese."

Teng Yuzhao suddenly thought of an important issue and continued.

"Tell Li Xianze again that this time we must kill as many of the Americans and British who are surrounded by them as possible."

Teng Yuzhao believed that Li Xianze could understand the meaning of this sentence.

Teng Yuzhao already has hundreds of American prisoners in his hands. If there are one or two thousand or even more British and American prisoners, it will involve a lot of his troops. After all, the prisoners have to be watched over by someone.

Moreover, Teng Yuzao was well aware of the moral character of the British and American Allied Forces.

There was a high probability that two thousand or more prisoners would be captured in the battle of Guangqumen. After a round of heartless bombardment, the British and Americans would raise the white flag and surrender to him. As for Hu Dianjia, there was no need for him to remind him not to take prisoners. He had just witnessed the methods of the officers and soldiers of the Third Brigade.

Although it was the new recruits who killed the wounded Japanese soldiers, Teng Yuzhao believed that Hu Dianjia had already instructed his troops to do this and that his generals had done it deliberately.

Nie Shicheng's death was largely related to the Japanese cavalry. Hu Dianjia would definitely keep his hatred for the Japanese army in his heart.

Wei Jinghai had no objection to Teng Yuzao's arrangement, but he asked Teng Yuzao to rush back to the headquarters immediately because the Boxers insisted on burning down the embassy district right now and he could no longer control himself.

Teng Yuzhao was quite conflicted about the Boxers' plan to burn down the legation quarter.

It would be fine if he hadn't entered the city, but since he was already in the city and his headquarters was in the Ministry of Revenue not far from the embassy district, he could not escape responsibility no matter what.

On the battlefield, he could wantonly annihilate the coalition forces, and it was even understandable that there were "occasionally" deliberate killings of prisoners in his troops. He even had a record of returning the enemy's wounded, which meant that the coalition forces could not blame him in any way.

Although Teng Yuzao was extremely reluctant to go back, he thought about it and said to Wei Jinghai, "Gather their leaders to the headquarters, inform Liu Shijiu, Cao Futian, and Wang Decheng to arrange the troops, and then rush to the headquarters. Let the three of them greet the leaders of the Boxers, and I will rush back later."

Teng Yuzhao also had a headache about these Boxer leaders. He could not beat or scold these people. After all, there were many people who came from the Boxer Rebellion in the vanguard army, not only Liu Shijiu, Cao Futian, and Wang Decheng, but also about 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers. He had to consider these people's feelings.

It would be much easier to deal with the situation if Liu Shijiu, Cao Futian and Wang Decheng came forward first. These three people are at least fourth-rank officials, and they are all powerful figures in the vanguard army. With these role models, it would be much easier to deal with the Boxers. After all, the power of examples is very great.

In particular, they could say things that Teng Yuzao could not say, and they could even do things that Teng Yuzao could not do, so that the people from the Boxer Rebellion in the vanguard army would not have any complaints.

Although Teng Yuzhao instructed Wei Jinghai to gather the Boxer leaders who were besieging the embassy district, Teng Yuzhao still did not rush back. Instead, he took the scouts of the Guard Battalion and rode to Chongwenmen first.

Teng Yuzhao found that he was now too meticulous in his work and was always worried about all the wars.

The sound of gunfire in the outer city has become very sparse. The remaining British and American coalition forces have been tightly surrounded by Li Xianze and Liu Shijiu in a block three or four hundred meters away from Guangqumen. The sound of gunfire here is still very dense, but it is mainly the coalition forces in the encirclement who are still in shock and are constantly firing, while the vanguard troops only occasionally fight back.

The soldiers of the Second Mixed Concorde Assault Battalion were currently using their Gruson mountain cannons to continuously attack the houses and courtyards occupied by the Allied forces.

They fought in a very methodical manner, not blindly attacking from all sides, but appeared to be calm and unhurried.

Whenever they used the Gruson mountain cannon to blow up the courtyard occupied by the remnants of the Allied forces, after the walls of the houses and other buildings occupied by the Allied forces collapsed and the key defensive support points of the Allied forces were taken out, the soldiers of the 2nd Mixed Concorde Assault Battalion would launch a sudden and fierce charge, quickly occupy the place, and then slowly expand to both sides.

In short, they fought leisurely and slowly, slowly squeezing the living space of the British and American forces in the encirclement.

And every attack by the vanguard army would attract crazy shooting from the coalition forces in the encirclement.

Standing on the tower of Chongwenmen, Teng Yuzao listened to the occasional gunshots outside the city. He knew that the British army knew they had been tricked. He also understood that it would be impossible to rush in now, and it would only increase casualties.
(End of this chapter)