The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 392 Waldersee

Although Teng Yuzhao was also anxious and even blamed Hu Dianjia in his heart, this was not a good time to blame any general.

The current situation is extremely tense, and he, as the commander, must remain calm.

Otherwise, as long as he shows panic or a hint of uneasiness, it will affect the people below him, and this panic and uneasiness from top to bottom will quickly spread and expand.

Teng Yuzao glanced at Wei Jinghai and Li Jinyu, and said as calmly as he could, "Now is not the time to panic, and this is not the time to blame anyone. You must stay calm."

Teng Yuzhao's words made Wei Jinghai and Li Jinyu unable to complain anymore. Wei Jinghai took a deep breath and was about to speak.

Wu Peifu raised his head and said, "Marshal, we should still have enough time. The foreign devils may not be able to know our movements so quickly, so we can't rest and must hurry on our way."

"Our transport troops must cross the Duntai and Gongxinzhuang line before the foreign devils, and then rush to Yi'an, where we cross the Nanjuma River and enter Laishui, and we will be safe."

Wu Peifu's words made Teng Yuzhao secretly praise him in his heart. Wu Peifu, the future "Jade Marshal", was able to remain calm in the face of adversity. This kind of psychological quality was still very strong.

Wei Jinghai also nodded and said, "Marshal, I agree with Ziyu's suggestion. We must act immediately."

"In addition, our investigators must immediately find out where the German troops are going to, to see whether they are staying in the capital to recuperate, or are being followed by some other foreign devils."

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "We need to find out the situation of the newly arrived German troops as soon as possible. However, I think the 20,000 reinforcements from the German and Russian armies should be right behind the foreign devils on the southern route. Otherwise, these foreign devils probably wouldn't dare to chase them here."

Teng Yuzao then ordered Wu Peifu, "Zi Yu, send two battalions to rush to Duntai and Gongxinzhuang immediately. Before our transport troops pass through, they must hold these two places and not retreat a single step."

Teng Yuzhao originally wanted to say that he would lead the troops there personally, but then he gave up the idea.

The current situation is very dangerous. Not to mention that these people will definitely unanimously oppose it, and under the current circumstances, he needs to follow the transport troops so that he can make decisions and respond at any time.

The generals under him are still too young.

At this time, it was not suitable for Wu Peifu to leave the army.

"Marshal, Ziyu, I will lead the troops over. These two battalions need a unified command."

While Teng Yuzhao was still hesitating, Li Jinyu spoke up.

Wu Peifu obviously agreed with Li Jinyu's suggestion and looked at Teng Yuzao.

Teng Yuzao nodded, "Okay."

Then he looked at Wu Peifu and said, "Let Mingguang take him there."

Although the amount of captured weapons, ammunition and supplies they carried was huge, with thousands of carts and thousands of pack horses, they still arrived at the official road north of Gongxinzhuang before dawn under the constant urging of Wei Jinghai and Wu Peifu.

Li Jinyu reported that the investigators he sent out had already reached Zhuozhou and found no trace of the foreigners, which meant that the foreigners were likely still staying near Yanjiachang.

Only then did Teng Yuzhao's heart finally settle down.

Soon, the investigators sent by Wei Jinghai came back to report that the Southern Allied Forces were indeed still staying in Yanjiachang. Moreover, they also reported that in the early morning, tens of thousands of foreign devils rushed to Yanjiachang from behind.

Because it was dark, they didn't dare to get too close, so they didn't know which country the foreigners who had just arrived at Yanjiachang were from. They just judged from their words that there should be Russians and Germans. As for whether there were foreigners from other countries, they couldn't confirm.

Although the investigators were unable to confirm it, Teng Yuzhao could roughly confirm that the foreign devils who came later were most likely the German and Russian troops who had just arrived at the capital as reinforcements. They were probably left behind because the continuous march had caused the troops to be very tired, which slowed down their marching speed.

Otherwise, the coalition forces, which had already been frightened by his attacks near the capital, would probably not dare to pursue him overnight.

Although the coalition forces were not clear about their location, Teng Yuzao knew that the coalition forces would soon get their intelligence and respond quickly.

Therefore, Teng Yuzhao still ordered the troops not to rest, but to directly cross the Duntai and Gongxinzhuang line and rush to Yian to prepare to cross the river from there.

Only after crossing the Nanjuma River would the transport troops be truly safe, and the seized weapons, ammunition and supplies would truly belong to him, Teng Yuzhao.

In the early morning, in Yanjiachang, due to the presence of a large number of coalition forces, not only were there many bonfires lit everywhere in the villages near Yanjiachang, but the villages were also filled with coalition forces, and even a large number of tents were set up in the wild. Teams of coalition soldiers could be seen patrolling and on guard, but as it was already late at night, there was not much noise, and there was silence everywhere.

Only in the courtyard of a wealthy family in Yanjiachang was the light still shining brightly. Lanterns were hung everywhere inside and outside the courtyard, making it as bright as day. The courtyard was filled with Allied soldiers, and even officers were constantly coming in and out.

This is the headquarters of the coalition forces. At this moment, the highest commanders of various countries in the coalition forces are gathered in the main hall of the rich family's house. The bright main hall is now filled with smoke, so that even in the somewhat cold night, the windows have to be opened.

The top commanders of the coalition countries were sitting around a long table that was put together hastily. It was obvious that these top commanders of the coalition forces were holding a meeting.

However, the person sitting at the first seat at one end of the long conference table was no longer the bearded Vice Admiral Yevgeny Ivanovich Alexeev, the current Supreme Commander of the Tsarist Russian Expeditionary Force, the Governor-General of the Kwantung Province, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Garrison and Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Navy.

Even in the smoke-filled conference room, there was no sign of Alexeyev.

Sitting at the head was a dignified German field marshal with white hair, tall stature and a mustache. This man was none other than Count Alfred von Waldersee, the current supreme commander of the Allied Forces.

Waldersee's father and grandfather were both generals. He came from a family of military officers and of course followed the family tradition to join the army. However, he joined the Prussian General Staff relatively late, becoming an officer at the age of 35.

Waldersee's wife, Mary Esther Lee, was the daughter of an American millionaire living in New York, which was extremely unusual for a Prussian officer at the time.

Before the Franco-Prussian War, Waldersee was sent to Paris as a military attaché of the embassy. In this position, he collected very detailed French military and political intelligence, which attracted the attention and appreciation of the Chief of General Staff Moltke.

During the Franco-Prussian War, Waldersee returned to Germany but did not go to the battlefield. Instead, he served as an aide to William I. Although he had no military achievements, he left a deep impression on the king and the court.

Although Waldersee had never been on the battlefield and had no opportunity to display his military talent, his ability in politics was very outstanding. He was even called an "all-powerful handyman" by William I. He was also nicknamed a political general in the German military circles.

However, Waldersee was a warmongerer who always believed that war with France and Russia was inevitable. He also disdained Bismarck's hypocritical approach to Germany. After succeeding Moltke as Chief of the General Staff, his relationship with Bismarck and Bismarck's successor became very bad. Finally, he was driven out of the position of Chief of the General Staff by William II a few years ago and became the commander of the 9th Army of the German Army.

Waldersee had just been promoted to field marshal and was sent here to serve as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces.

Also present at Waldersee were Lieutenant General Alfred Gasley of the United Kingdom, Lieutenant General Nikolai Lenavicius of the Russian Army, Colonel Lehman, Major General Frey of the French Army, Major General Jörg Johannes von terhaup of the Austro-Hungarian Army, Colonel Russo of Italy, Major General Fukushima Yasumasa of the Japanese Army, Colonel Adena Chaffee of the United States Army, and behind Chaffee was Colonel Emerson Risken.

Originally, the Italians had no place in the Allied forces because their troops were so small that command had to be handed over to the Germans.

However, after learning that the Germans would send a follow-up 30,000 troops to test the enemy, they immediately dispatched Colonel Rousseau to lead a hastily assembled, understaffed regiment to follow the German army to the Far East.

This was an emergency meeting convened at short notice. Even Waldersee, who arrived in the early morning, had to be woken up to organize this emergency meeting.

Many of the top commanders of the coalition forces present were still groggy and yawning, so they had to use strong coffee and cigars to stay awake.

Waldersee took a deep puff of the cigar in his hand, then exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. He felt much more refreshed, and then he began to speak.

"Generals, I am very sorry. Due to the emergency, I have to wake you all up from your sweet dreams and rush you here to attend this military meeting."

Hearing about the emergency finally made these sleepy generals more alert, and they all turned their eyes to the marshal who once served as the formidable Chief of the German General Staff.

In response to the looks from these so-called subordinates who were pretending to obey him but actually disobeying him, Waldersee nodded slightly to them with a somewhat complacent look and responded with a friendly smile.

Then, Waldersee looked at Major General Frey, the supreme commander of the French army.

"General Frey, I'm sorry, but please report that important information to the generals present here."

Everyone had heard from Waldersee's words that the intelligence that Frey had in his possession had already been reported to Waldersee, the nominal supreme commander of the Allied Forces.

Frey did not stand up from his chair. He just took a big sip from his coffee cup, trying to dispel the sleepiness that was coming on him, and spoke.

"Generals, half an hour ago, I just received accurate information about that damned vanguard army."

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(End of this chapter)