The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 344 Heartfelt words
Although they are only small cannons with a caliber of 54mm, their power is enough to deal with sandbag fortifications like the Guards Association.

When a cannon strikes, not only will the fortifications be instantly filled with smoke and dust, but a gap will also be immediately blown in the fortifications, and the soldiers of the nearby Guards will also be blown to pieces.

Just the momentum was terrifying.

The shells of these coalition artillery were very accurate. In just a short while, not only were the blocking positions badly damaged, but two to three hundred people in the blocking force were killed or injured, and the new recruits of the Guards were even scared to desert.

The commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Guards, who was in charge of the blocking, ran over angrily with a Mauser pistol at the open end and said.

"Mingguang, I have already sent my guard platoon to the battlefield to warn them that if anyone escapes from the post again, I will set a precedent for the Guard Association and implement the collective responsibility law for the first time. You don't have to do anything. I will just kill these cowards and their squad leaders."

A shell suddenly exploded thirty meters away, and the blown-up mud covered the heads and faces of the two men. Li Jinyu hurriedly reached out and grabbed the commander of the third battalion and jumped into a nearby bomb crater and squatted down.

Li Jinyu sighed and said to the captain of the Third Battalion, "Zixiong, don't blame them. Although these people followed the Boxers and fought against the foreign devils in the embassy in Beijing for a month or two, they have never seen a scene like this, where they were bombarded by foreign devils."

"But it's so dark, and there are so many foreign devils coming, we dare not withdraw the troops to defend against the artillery."

Li Jinyu sighed again and said, "Although we have to enforce battlefield discipline now, we also have to understand those squad leaders. It's still dark, how can they keep an eye on everyone?"

"Think about it a few months ago, when we first fought the foreign devils at the Beiyang Military Academy, weren't we also terrified?"

The commander of the third battalion was named Li Zixiong. He was also a student who stayed behind in the Beiyang Military Academy. He and Li Jinyu had always been good friends.

The commander of the third battalion nodded and said with a sigh, "Yes, it's really embarrassing to say it. If the Marshal hadn't rescued us in time, we would have been dead by now."

Li Jinyu waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Even if it's to repay the Marshal for saving our lives, we brothers have to risk our lives today."

"Right now, the Marshal is leading his troops to ambush the Russians who are coming to rescue him in the north. He wants to ensure that the assault column completely wipes out more than 10,000 German devils. We can't let the Marshal down at this moment. Today, even if all of us brothers die in battle, we must stop these foreign devils."

The commander of the third battalion took a deep breath and said, "It's a small matter to die in battle. It's a way to repay the Marshal for saving our lives and showing us a favor. But if it affects the Marshal's efforts to eliminate the foreign devils, our sin will be great."

Li Jinyu nodded and said, "If the assistant commander hadn't returned yet and I hadn't come to the Guards Association yet, our Guards Association would not have been assigned the task of harassing the foreign devils, so these new recruits wouldn't have been trained early, and there wouldn't have been so many deserters today."

Li Zixiong also shook his head with some regret, "Let's not talk about this anymore."

"Mingguang, this group of foreign devils today is a little special. Although they only launched a tentative attack, the small French soldiers who participated in the attack fought very fiercely. We have to pay more attention to them later, otherwise they might rush over us."

Li Jinyu spat out some dirt that had splashed into his mouth and said, "Those short French soldiers are not real French devils. They are Annan people. They are not only cunning in fighting, but also very ruthless. We should be careful."

Li Jinyu patted Li Zixiong on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry too much. Did you hear the intensive artillery fire from the north? That was our commander ambushing the Russian reinforcements. He might even be encircling and annihilating the Russians now."

"As soon as the Marshal can spare some troops, he will come to support us. You should hurry to the position. I guess the foreign devils will organize an attack soon."

Li Zixiong nodded, "Okay! I'll be there right away."

Li Zixiong jumped out of the bomb crater and ran a few steps. He seemed to remember something, turned back a few steps and jumped back into the bomb crater. He pulled Li Jinyu who had just stood up and made him squat again.

"Mingguang, if I go there, I might die in battle. I have something to tell you."

Seeing such a tense moment, Li Zixiong ran back to talk about something, knowing that what Li Zixiong was going to say must be very important.

But Li Jinyu couldn't help but urge, "Time is running out, hurry up and tell me."

"Bright light."

Li Zixiong gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, maybe these are the last few words I say to you, there's nothing to hide." "To tell you the truth, I and some of my classmates from the Beiyang Military Academy were among the group of people who were rescued from the foreign devils by the Marshal."

"We all feel that the country's weakness cannot be explained by the corruption of one or two powerful people. It is because the country is fundamentally unsuited to the current world situation, and a fundamental solution must be made in the political system."

Li Zixiong's words were shocking as soon as he opened his mouth, which surprised Li Jinyu. Changing the political system is the most taboo topic nowadays. In the year of Wuxu, the imperial court had just killed some people!

Li Zixiong seemed determined to tell Li Jinyu everything that was in his heart, so he continued talking.

"Not only has our vanguard army grown from nothing, but it has also undergone a complete transformation compared to any previous Qing army. Even when fighting against the foreign devils, under the command of the Marshal, we are not inferior to them, and we have even won battle after battle. This is all thanks to the Marshal alone."

"Compared to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the imperial court gave its all to support us, but we still suffered defeat after defeat and ended up ceding territory and paying compensation. Now we are the vanguard army."

Li Zixiong was so angry that he punched the wall of the crater hard.

"The weapons are still the same, and the people are still the same people, but under the command of the commander-in-chief, our vanguard army can win battle after battle. The support given to us by the court, apart from a few imperial edicts, is only limited food and salary support for our vanguard army, nothing else, which can be said to be very stingy."

"There was no criticism of the provincial governors who stood by and watched, including Yuan Shikai, who held the country's most important weapon, the Wuwei Right Army. However, there was a perfunctory attitude towards the Marshal's brilliant achievements against foreigners, which had never been achieved in the Qing Dynasty in the past century. Some even gave him a reduced official position."

"If you give the Marshal the post of Governor-General of Zhili once, he will not have the title of Beiyang Minister. Without the title of Beiyang Minister, this Governor-General of Zhili is just like a governor of a place! How unfair to the Marshal!"

Li Zixiong exhaled heavily, "These are secondary. We believe that if we want to strengthen the country and the army, this court must undergo a thorough reform."

"Relying on these court nobles who are just sitting there doing nothing will make this country a lost cause sooner or later. When the Marshal is no longer around, this country will be bullied by foreigners. The land that has been ceded will never be taken back, unless there is a top-down political system reform like Japan."

"Or, we can simply change the political system to that of the great powers. The Marshal is the best leader of this country. Only a great man like the Marshal can save this country."

"If we just change the government system of the imperial court, those powerful people will definitely not agree. The year of Wuxu is an example. Without military power, everything is fictitious. So we plan to secretly establish a group in the army with our Beiyang Wubei School students rescued by the Marshal as the foundation."

"Our goal is to push the Marshal to the top."

"Okay, there's still a lot to say, but I can't go into detail yet. I'll hurry up and make it short."

"We have contacted more than 20 people, including several associations of our vanguard army, assault columns, and independent columns."

"It's just that we are all captains and sentry leaders, which are too low-ranking positions. We are in need of a leader."

"Ningbo is now in a high position, and no one can figure out what he is thinking. We didn't dare to tell him, so we finally thought of you. My brothers asked me to tell you, but I never got the chance. Today, before I die in battle, I will tell you. You will be our leader."

Li Zixiong's words shocked and excited Li Jinyu.

Although what Li Zixiong said was a bit vague, it is certain that they want to change the political system. As for the great powers as a whole, there are only two types: either constitutional monarchies like Britain, Austria, Italy, Japan and other countries, or republican systems like the United States and France.

Li Jinyu doesn't care about what kind of political system to choose. What he cares about is pushing Teng Yuzao to power.

He also believed that Teng Yuzao was the most outstanding person today. With Teng Yuzao's leadership, the people of the country would no longer be bullied by the great powers, and could become strong again like the Han and Tang dynasties, recover the country's territory, and revive the former might of the Han Dynasty.

Li Jinyu said excitedly, "Zixiong, you did the right thing. This matter must be kept secret. Even now, the Marshal cannot know about it, otherwise it will be very difficult for him to handle it."

"When the time is right, we can learn from Zhao Kuangyin and stage a mutiny at Chenqiao."

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(End of this chapter)