The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 339 Take Care, Teacher
Hearing that Teng Yuzhao was going to make a desperate attempt to inflict heavy damage on the Russian reinforcements, Wei Jinghai couldn't help but remind Teng Yuzhao with some concern.

"Marshal, the Imperial Guards are not yet fully staffed, and they have fewer people to begin with, and the proportion of new recruits is too high."

"If we remove the troops responsible for blocking the British, French and Australian coalition forces that may come to the south of the city, their strength will be greatly reduced, especially their combat effectiveness, which is very worrying!"

"Also, even if the assault column wipes out the tens of thousands of German troops in front of them in a short period of time, their own casualties will definitely not be small, at least three to four thousand people."

"In this case, the strength of the assault column and the Imperial Guards is only a little over 20,000. Even if the Russians who come to support only have 20,000, their strength is almost the same."

"Isn't it too risky to ambush the enemy with the same number of troops?"

"We have too few ambush troops. If things go wrong, it will just be a melee. If we are dragged down on the battlefield and can't withdraw, it will affect the breakout in the early morning."

"Besides, if the Guards' blocking troops can't stop the British, French, and Australian coalition forces coming to support them, the assault column and the Guards will be in danger. What do you think? Should we transfer the Second Mixed Brigade to participate in the ambush?"

Wei Jinghai's worries are not unreasonable.

The Guards Association is a newly formed unit. It has only more than 4,000 wounded veterans who have returned to the team after recovery, and more than 1,000 people from the original Guards Battalion, while there are more than 7,000 new recruits, so its combat effectiveness is extremely worrying.

In particular, they only had three battalions responsible for blocking the British, French and Australian coalition forces coming from the south of the city. It was indeed extremely worrying whether they could stop the attack of the coalition forces.

If Li Xianze's Second Mixed Brigade was coordinated to join the battle, and even Hu Dianjia's Third Mixed Brigade was also transferred over, the ambush would be more certain.

However, Wei Jinghai's suggestion only gave Teng Yuzhao a short moment to think about it before he decisively rejected it.

"Ningbo, the Second Mixed Brigade cannot move. Even Hu Dianjia's Third Mixed Brigade and Cao Futian's Independent Column cannot move. They are our new force for breaking out tomorrow!"

Teng Yuzhao sighed softly and continued.

"The early morning breakout is the main task in our plan. All other operations, including this surprise attack on the Germans and the ambush of the Russians, are carried out for the early morning breakout."

"Don't forget, there are 60,000 Japanese troops to the west. We must not underestimate the Japanese army, otherwise we will suffer a great loss."

"Whether we can break through and bite the Japanese devils hard depends on these three new forces."

Teng Yuzao softened his tone and said, "However, what you said makes sense. We are indeed taking some risks in this battle."

"However, there is no such thing as a safe and stable war. When the enemy is strong and we are weak, it is impossible to only fight battles that we are absolutely sure of winning."

"How about this, for the sake of safety, at least we must be able to retreat safely back to the city. In addition to leaving behind the necessary personnel, you should stop as many troops directly under the headquarters as possible and assemble them outside the Qihua Gate as a reserve force in case of emergency."

"Also, once the ambush begins, as long as the two sides get entangled, the three mountain artillery battalions of the artillery association will be useless. We can have them rush back to the city immediately and enter the existing positions inside the Qihua Gate to wait, ready to assist our troops in retreating into the city at any time."

Teng Yuzao continued with a smile, "Ningbo, you have learned the Art of War well. It says that when you go to war, you should think about defeat before thinking about victory. But we can't let go of the opportunity easily. This is not my style. Just follow the order."

"Yes, I will resolutely obey the Marshal's orders." Wei Jinghai answered loudly on the phone.

Since Teng Yuzao has made his decision, Wei Jinghai has no choice but to go all out and try to assist Teng Yuzao to win another great victory.

Teng Yuzhao put down the phone and saw Wu Peifu was listening to a staff officer who graduated from the camp school and was reporting to him the information from the General Staff Office.

"We just received a report from the General Staff that a company of Russian cavalry has passed Dongzhimen and is heading towards them."

Wu Peifu had just learned this news from a conversation between Teng Yuzhao and Wei Jinghai, so he spoke without hesitation.

"Order the commander of the first battalion responsible for blocking the Russian reinforcements to only allow his battalion to use the front blocking position to drive away the invading Russian cavalry."

"Tell him that he is not allowed to use heavy machine guns, and his troops are only allowed to fire with volleys."

"besides."

There was already murderous intent in Wu Peifu's tone as he spoke.

"Move the Guards Artillery Battalion to the south to block the rear of this place and help the blocking troops to block the foreign devils." "Order the commanders of the three battalions responsible for blocking the enemy that may come to the south. Once the foreign devils' reinforcements arrive, no one is allowed to withdraw from the position without my order. They must fight to the death to stop the foreign devils' attack."

"If they stop the foreign reinforcements, after the battle, I will personally ask the Marshal to give them three awards. Otherwise, they will all be put to military punishment!"

After giving instructions to the staff, Wu Peifu solemnly saluted Teng Yuzhao.

"Teacher, I will personally go to the ambush position to command the Russians. If this battle fails, I will die on the battlefield. I hope you take care of yourself!"

Teng Yuzhao was also worried about the war situation, and knowing that Wu Peifu had expressed his determination to die, he was also worried and nodded.

"Zi Yu, don't worry. I only want you to be alive, not to die in battle. Unless it is necessary for us to die, never mention the word death lightly."

Teng Yuzao took a deep breath and said, "I will go with you. You can arrange for Mingguang to go to the southern blocking position and have him personally supervise the battle."

Teng Yuzao took another step forward, patted Wu Peifu's shoulder and said, "This battle is of great importance. If we lose, it will not only have a great impact on the morale of the Guards, but also affect our breakout plan."

"But if we win, not only will we achieve the biggest victory in the history of the Vanguard Army, but the Imperial Guards will also be reborn and become a powerful army with great combat effectiveness."

In the night wind, on the road from Dongzhimen to outside Qihuamen, there was a large mound of earth at the edge of a withered green tent.

A dozen staff officers and communications soldiers of the Guards Association were busy behind a large mound of earth. They were busy laying telephone lines connecting various places, making calls in low voices, and communicating with the connected telephones.

There was also a staff officer from the artillery brigade, who was directing several artillery brigade observers, who were busy piling up sandbag shelters and setting up observation scopes on a large mound of earth.

There were several tents set up on the flat ground behind the big mound of earth, and a few dim lights were visible through the gaps between the tents.

This large mound was the front-line joint command post of the Guards and Artillery Assault Team. Since Teng Yuzhao had to command the battle personally, this place actually became Teng Yuzhao's front-line command post.

Since the troops involved in the ambush included not only the Guards and the Assault Column, but also Liu Changfa's Artillery Brigade, Teng Yuzao had to come in person to coordinate and command this temporarily deployed ambush.

Teng Yuzhao stood on top of the mound, holding a telescope in his hand and looking towards the three villages in the southeast where fires were still burning.

Although it was still dark, the scene in Teng Yuzhao's telescope was vaguely visible. Not only was the village illuminated by the blazing fire, but white flares were also rising one after another in the sky above the open space and fields west of the village.

The gunfire in the village was still intense. In the field of view of the telescope, one could occasionally see flashes and explosions, which were obviously caused by the explosion of Teng's grenade.

In particular, these flashes were mainly concentrated at the edge of the village and in the wilderness outside the village. Outside the village, near the direction of Qihuamen, the gunshots were even more frequent.

It was obvious that the battle in the village was coming to an end. The assault column still had troops clearing out the German troops occupying the edge of the village and trying to cover the remaining enemies' breakout. The gunfire outside the village should be the remaining German troops being blocked by the three battalions of the Guards Association when they were breaking out.

Although Teng Yuzhao could not see the situation of the personnel clearly through the telescope, it was obvious that the flare was fired by the Gruson gun of the assault column, providing lighting support to the troops of the Guards Association responsible for blocking the escape of the German army, as well as the people of the assault column who followed up the attack.

Since the remaining German troops have begun to organize a breakout, it means that they have been defeated, so the battle will not last too long. It is estimated that the battle there will be over in about half an hour at most.

Although the victory of the assault column was completely certain, how many enemy troops were left?
Can the three battalions of the Imperial Guards stop the remaining enemies from desperately trying to break out?
Can the main force of the assault column reach the ambush area in time?
These things still concern Teng Yuzhao.

"Commander."

The voice of Liu Changfa, the commander of the artillery brigade, sounded behind Teng Yuzhao.

Teng Yuzao put down the telescope and turned around.

Liu Changfa walked quickly from the bottom of the mound to the big mound, came to Teng Yuzhao, and said excitedly.

"Marshal, our mortar battalion has made a great contribution this time!"

"This small cannon is really powerful. With just one round of incendiary bombs and two rounds of ordinary artillery shells, it not only set three villages on fire, but also blew the foreign devils inside so hard that they were dizzy and the assault column rushed in."

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(End of this chapter)