The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 393 Waldersee's Discovery
Frey continued, "Some church members came to my station and reported that yesterday morning, the abominable vanguard of the Qing Dynasty had crossed the Yongding River in Xinzhuang. This is consistent with the report of the Sixth Cavalry Regiment of the US Army, and this situation can be confirmed."

The top commanders of the Allied Forces present were not interested in what Frey said. Not only had they learned about this from the Japanese and American cavalry who had escaped, but they were also more concerned about the next destination of the vanguard army, which was one of the reasons why they stopped at Yanjiachang.

In addition to the fact that the troops were very tired from the continuous march, so that they had to rush out this time with the intention of retaking their weapons, ammunition, and supplies, and even two months' salary for several countries, another reason was that they were not sure where the vanguard army would go next.

The vanguard army could go directly southwest to Baoding, which was their most likely destination, because most of the coalition's highest commanders believed that the blocking positions set up by the Qing army at Dongxianpo and Yanjiachang were proof of this.

The purpose of the Qing army that had just been defeated by them was to stop them from marching all the way to Baoding. After all, it was one of the most important cities in Zhili, second only to the capital and Tianjin in importance.

After all, Baoding is the seat of the Zhili Governor-General's Office. This Qing general named Teng had just been promoted to Governor-General of Zhili. How could he easily abandon the location of his Governor-General's Office?

Of course, not everyone agrees with this view.

Fukushima Yasumasa and Chaffee disagreed with this view. They believed that Teng Yuzao did not necessarily want to keep his seat of government. Since he could give up important cities like Tianjin and even decisively gave up the capital of their Qing Dynasty, he would naturally give up Baoding.

What's more, Baoding is not a big city like Tianjin and Beijing, nor is it a fortified city like Tianjin and Beijing. Once the Allied Forces arrive, it will be immediately surrounded. Under the heavy artillery bombardment, it is almost impossible to hold on to such a big city.

This extremely warlike general of the Qing Dynasty would definitely be aware of this. They both even believed that this was the reason why Teng Yuzhao decisively gave up the capital.

Therefore, they believed that Teng Yuzhao and the main force of the vanguard army would not necessarily go to Baoding next. He could go directly west to Shanxi to reunite with their queen mother.

You can also go directly south from Xinzhuang to Hejian, or even further to Dezhou.

They also believed that, given that Teng Yuzao had traveled from Tianjin to the capital of the Qing Dynasty and up to the present, he was trying his best to avoid a head-on confrontation with the Allied Forces. He wanted to use space to buy time in order to continuously weaken them and eventually drag them down.

Seeing that the crowd did not seem to be interested in his intelligence, Frey yawned and said, "Gentlemen, our parishioners also said that the main force of the vanguard army, including their 1st and 2nd mixed contingents and assault columns, their artillery contingents, and their field hospitals, including the wounded, numbering nearly 50,000 people, has already headed straight for Baoding."

Seeing that everyone was attracted by his words, even Gasley and Lenavich showed a smile of "as expected" on their faces, Frey smiled slightly and continued.

"I'm afraid I've disappointed you gentlemen, but they are not going to Baoding. They said they are going to Shanxi to protect the emperor."

As if somewhat dissatisfied with Frey's keeping the secret, Waldersee interrupted Frey and said.

"Generals, it's just that their general Teng Yuzao is not with their main force. He is with a troop of more than 10,000 people called the Imperial Guard Mixed Brigade, escorting their baggage troops and a transport troop composed of civilians, carrying the weapons, ammunition and supplies snatched from us and heading west."

"In addition to the heavy machine guns, they only have six 75mm mountain cannons and three 37mm cannons, but intelligence says they also have more than a hundred short-barreled small cannons and the like."

Waldersee said disdainfully, "Although the specific power of this small cannon is unknown, its range is bound to be not too far, and it poses almost no threat to us. Our cannons are bound to effectively suppress or even destroy them."

Waldersee's eyes swept across the faces of Gasley, Frey, and Terhap.

"If it was sold to the Qing people by your general's homeland, I would also be happy to hear its detailed specifications."

Seeing that Gasley and others looked at each other without any reaction, Waldersee waved his hand.

"In short, not only are their artillery pieces few in number, but their range and power are far inferior to ours. That's enough."

Waldersee continued, "If they keep heading west, their destination should be the Yi County area. After all, his camp office was once stationed there, and it would be of great benefit to him to stay there."

"This Qing general should be prepared to retreat into the mountains behind him if necessary to avoid our heavy troops encircling and suppressing him."

"There is another troop of more than 5,000 people, numbered as an independent column, which has dispersed on the spot in Xinzhuang. Its purpose is currently unknown."

Waldersee stood up from his seat, waving his arms and continued. "Generals, this is the latest intelligence General Frey has. The situation is now very clear. The main force of this hateful Qing general has been transferred to Shanxi by their ignorant and audacious general who dared to go to war with all of us powers. Now, our frightened Queen Mother has been transferred to Shanxi."

"As for the more than 5,000 people who dispersed on the spot, they can be completely ignored. I guess it is very likely that they had a disagreement among themselves."

"But these are no longer important. What's important is that this damn Qing general only has more than 30,000 troops around him. I'm sure he wants to hide in the mountains."

"We must take action now to thwart his attempt and intercept him. We cannot let him escape into the mountains."

Waldersee wanted to give an order, but he saw that not everyone agreed with his point of view. Some even frowned and thought about it. So he had to patiently ask for their opinions. "Generals, do you have any different opinions?"

Gasley said first, "Respected Marshal Waldersee, I basically agree with your point of view. It's just that although General Frey received the intelligence not long ago, he saw it yesterday morning after all."

"More than 30 hours have passed. Teng Yuzao must be aware that his blocking troops have been defeated by us and have retreated across the Juma River. If he continues to move westward, he will definitely speed up, and may even march at a forced pace."

"If that's the case, he has probably already crossed the road from Zhuozhou to Baoding, and it's probably too late for us to stop him."

Seeing that Lenavich, Terhap, Chaffee and Fukushima Yasumasa all looked at him in agreement, Gasley continued.

"So, I suggest sending at least 10,000 reinforcements to the north and have them pursue the Third Mixed Brigade of the Vanguard Army that is fleeing in Dongxianpo and Yanjiachang as soon as possible."

"Then, we will immediately set out to intercept Teng Yuzao's troops. If we fail to intercept them, we will chase after them and join forces with the northern pursuit force to attack the remnants of Teng Yuzao in Laishui, Yi County, and other places."

Although Gasley's suggestion was worried that the coalition forces in the north would be found vulnerable by Teng Yuzao again and suffer losses, it was still very safe after all.

However, Waldersee did not accept it and said with a smile, "General Gasley, with all due respect, I think you are frightened by the vanguard army."

Waldersee's mocking tone made Gasley's face turn red all of a sudden. Just as he was about to open his mouth to explain, Waldersee continued.

"My dear generals, although I have only been in Qing for a few days, I have carefully studied all the battles of Teng Yuzao's vanguard army in the past few months, and I have discovered a problem."

"He seems to be a genius who is born with superb tactical command ability. Almost all of his victories were won by taking the enemy by surprise, catching the armies commanded by the generals off guard. Ambushes and night battles were the most numerous and successful, and caused us the greatest losses."

"Also, his so-called super cannon caused us huge losses."

"In addition, the abundant crops such as sorghum and corn in the Qing Dynasty provided them with a place to hide."

"Although the generals have taken necessary precautions and cut down the crops within 200 meters on both sides of the road, it turns out that this is far from enough. We should burn all these damn crops so that they have nowhere to hide."

As for burning crops, senior coalition officers including Gasley all agreed with it. Even Gasley couldn't help but take a deep breath and agreed with Waldersee's remarks.

Waldersee smiled smugly, "Generals, I wonder if you have noticed that Teng Yuzao tries his best to avoid fighting with our army in the field, at least during the day."

"Moreover, all his ambushes were sudden attacks on our army with an absolute superior force, and then he relied on his numerical advantage to engage in hand-to-hand combat with our army."

"Generals, what do you think this means?"

"This shows that he is trying to cover up something..."

(End of this chapter)