The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 394: Conflicts among the Allied Forces

Waldersee said proudly, "This shows that Teng Yuzao knows that he has weaknesses. Of course, his weaknesses are also our strengths."

Seeing that everyone was just looking at him and no one showed much strong desire, Waldersee was somewhat disappointed and had to talk to himself.

"Teng Yuzao is very clear about his troops' weaknesses and strengths, so he has been trying to avoid using his weaknesses to touch our coalition's strengths, because he knows very well that he will get hurt."

"On the ship to the Far East, I read many books from the Qing Dynasty. In their words, this is called"

At this point, Waldersee couldn't help but get stuck, because those Eastern books he was cramming often contained some insightful phrases, and remembering these insightful words and phrases was very damaging to his brain cells as a Westerner.

"Dear Marshal, the Qing Dynasty's saying is, use your own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses." Fukushima Yasushi bowed slightly to Waldersee respectfully in his seat.

"Yes, it is to use one's own strengths to attack the opponent's weaknesses."

Waldersee bowed slightly to Fukushima Yasumasa with appreciation, and then said.

"I discovered that the ancients of this mysterious Eastern country were very wise. However, their thinking seems to have degenerated, and only a very small number of people can still retain some of their ancestors' wisdom."

Waldersee shrugged and spread his hands. "Generals, it is regrettable that Teng Yuzao is just one of the few, and an elite who has received military education from our German Empire."

Waldersee waved his hand again, "Generals, then, what is Teng Yuzao's weakness?"

"His weakness is that his troops are, after all, a group of farmers and fools who only know how to kill foreigners. They lack formal training and powerful artillery."

"Pismayr once said it well: Truth is only within the range of the cannon, and dignity is only on the edge of the sword."

"This cunning Teng Yuzao is trying his best to avoid direct combat with our powerful coalition forces, while trying his best to create a hand-to-hand combat with us."

"So, we have to do the opposite. We have to try our best to avoid close combat with them and force them to engage in direct combat with us."

"Our specific tactics are that if we are in the plains, we will burn all the crops within a kilometer on both sides of the road to leave them no place to hide."

"In hilly areas and mountainous regions, we must not only intensify reconnaissance and search, but also act in large groups and not give them any chances. Once we find our enemies, we must bombard them with artillery fire and then launch a charge, just like the capture of Yanjiachang this time."

"In this case, do you still think they can pose a threat to us?"

The senior commanders of the Allied Forces present here carefully recalled the combat examples of the Vanguard Army and had to admit that Waldersee's analysis was extremely correct.

Teng Yuzhao avoided engaging in frontal regular combat with them, and preferred to resort to sneak attacks, ambushes, and even nighttime combat. After giving them a sudden and fierce blow, he would rush forward with superior forces and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

In hand-to-hand combat, although not every one of their soldiers was better trained than the Allied soldiers, at least they would not be at a disadvantage, and in almost every hand-to-hand combat, their advantage in manpower was overwhelming.

Colonel Lehman was the first to applaud Waldersee. Following Lehman's lead, the highest commanders of the coalition forces of various countries present also began to applaud Waldersee's analysis and the tactics to be adopted to express their recognition of Waldersee.

Waldersee waved his hand proudly, "Generals, do you still think that the coalition forces in the north are insufficient? You know, they have 50,000 men!"

When he mentioned "50,000 people", Waldersee shrugged exaggeratedly and looked extremely shocked.

Gasley was extremely disgusted by Waldersee's affected expression. He shrugged and said, "Your Excellency, Marshal, I have to admit that Pismarck is indeed a respected politician. His words even point out the way for us to deal with this Qing army."

"However, although this tactic can indeed play to our strengths, I have to remind you that we do not have enough artillery shells right now."

"Moreover, the final solution to the battle must be solved by the infantry charging the enemy's position. Therefore, I think we still need to continue to increase our troops. Otherwise, it will be difficult to finally solve the problem and force the Qing government to take the initiative to cease fire and negotiate peace." Waldersee and Pismarck were political enemies. Such things could not be concealed in Europe. Gasley's words were poking at Waldersee's pain points.

Moreover, they really did not have many shells left.

As for increasing the number of troops, this was also their consensus. Not only were the Russians and Japanese, who were harbouring evil intentions, scrambling to send troops, but he, Frey, Lehman, and Te Harp also believed that relying on the existing force would not be enough to destroy the vanguard army. Troops must be increased, otherwise the war would continue to drag on.

Therefore, including Chaffee, they have all sent requests to their respective governments for reinforcement of troops. Of course, when such requests were made, Waldersee was still drifting on the sea.

Waldersee could naturally hear the sting in Gasley's words, and he shrugged slightly and said.

"General Gasley, there should be some shells left in Tianjin. The ammunition we brought has been urgently transferred from Qingdao. I think all the generals present should have already mobilized shells and ammunition for your respective armies."

"The battle will ultimately be resolved by infantry, which is not inconsistent with my tactics. Fierce artillery fire will destroy the fighting will of soldiers from any country. Then it will not be difficult to rush forward and destroy the remaining soldiers of the other side."

"As for the reinforcements, I just got off the boat and received a telegram from His Majesty the Emperor. He expressed his incomprehension that the Allied Forces, with such superior forces, could defeat a vanguard army of only a few hundred men at the beginning and win victory after victory, causing the generals to repeatedly request reinforcements."

"But we are still actively communicating with various governments to send reinforcements."

Waldersee suddenly looked at Gasley. "It is said that since your war with the Boers in southern Africa has finally ended with your country's victory, the British Empire's army can finally free up its hands. So, I think the reinforcements should arrive in the Far East soon."

Waldersee would naturally not show weakness. The tens of thousands of coalition forces were defeated repeatedly by the vanguard army of less than a thousand people at the beginning. This was also Gasley's pain point. After all, the generals of their British Empire had occupied the position of commander-in-chief of the coalition forces for a long time.

Moreover, Waldersee still felt that it was not enough to vent his anger, and even did not forget to mention the Boer War, which had brought shame to the British Empire and made the world lose face, taking the opportunity to humiliate Gasley.

The war with the Boers lasted from October last year to September this year. The British mobilized seven infantry divisions and one cavalry division, which almost exhausted the British Empire's domestic forces with a standing army of only 160,000 people. It took nearly a year to barely end the battle.

The reason why it was said that the war was ended reluctantly was that the end of the war was unilaterally announced by the British in order to restore the reputation of the British Empire, and at that time there were still more than 20,000 Boers fighting guerrilla warfare with the British Army.

If Teng Yuzao were here, he could tell the generals of the great powers that the war between the British Empire and the Boers would not end for another twenty-one months, which would probably make Gasley feel ashamed.

Waldersee's humiliating remarks almost made Gasley slam the table in anger, but Frey saw that the situation was not good and spoke quickly.

Although Frey also disliked the British, he was more reluctant to see the marshal of their French arch-enemy be proud, he said slowly.

"Fighting with natives like the Boers is like the war we are fighting with the Qing Dynasty. All of our countries will suffer great losses."

"In the past few months, not only have Japan and Russia suffered heavy losses, but even the army of the prestigious German Empire could be wiped out in an hour. Such a war is not easy to fight, and it cannot be said that the combat effectiveness of the armies of the British Empire and the German Empire has been greatly reduced."

Fukushima Yasumasa had long been annoyed with these self-righteous and arrogant white people. He felt very happy when he saw Waldersee, Gasley, Frey and others attacking each other.

However, he did not want obvious rifts to appear within the coalition.
"Mr. Waldersee, if we can't intercept Teng Yuzao and the people he carries to rob us of our ammunition and supplies, what will we do?"

"According to your tactics, should we send our entire army to chase him and eliminate Teng Yuzao in one fell swoop?"

"no no."

Waldersee shook his head firmly and said, "We."

(End of this chapter)