The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 41: Pre-War Instructions

"First use heavy artillery fire to inflict as much damage as possible on us. Once their infantry crosses the river, it will be easier to defeat us." A staff officer rushed to say in his thick Shaanxi accent.

The staff officer who was speaking was called Li Jinyu, from Lintong, Shaanxi. Teng Yuzhao had taught him when he was an instructor at the school last year. He was a very smart student and absorbed new knowledge quickly, which was why Teng Yuzhao specifically appointed him as a staff officer.

Teng Yuzao looked at Wei Jinghai. Wei Jinghai knew that Teng Yuzao was testing them and teaching them battle command skills. He thought for a moment and said, "The foreign devils launched artillery fire before their infantry landed. In addition to what Mingguang said just now, they probably also wanted to destroy our possible fortifications and cover their infantry crossing the river."

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "You are right. The coalition forces launched artillery fire while the infantry was crossing the river. The possibilities you mentioned should all be included. If our troops are camped in the woods and are suddenly bombarded, we will be unable to organize our troops to rush out and rush to the established positions to stop them from reaching the shore. There will even be great chaos."

Teng Yuzao continued, "But generally speaking, if we want to stop the coalition forces from crossing the river, the best defense point is on the river bank. As long as their infantry can't reach the shore, our position is safe. But why don't we set up a position on the river bank, but in front of the woods a few hundred meters away from the river bank?"

There was still time, and Teng Yuzhao deliberately guided several staff officers to understand the reasons why he established a position here.

The only artillery officer among the few said, "Sir, the Baihe River is not wide. The foreign devils can use a 37mm Gruson cannon on the opposite bank of the river to hit our machine gun bunker, so our pre-set position cannot be set up there."

Wei Jinghai also nodded and said, "Also, there are gunboats converted from merchant ships in the concession. The guns on them are close to the river bank and can more accurately hit our machine gun bunkers. The support points of our defense positions are precisely these four machine gun bunkers. Without their support, our defense positions will not last long."

Seeing that no one else was talking, Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "You said it very well. This time, we set up the blocking position far away from the river bank. The main reason is to prevent our Maxim heavy machine gun bunker from being fired at by the coalition artillery."

"Besides, there is another advantage to setting up our blocking position far away from the river bank."

Teng Yuzao pointed at the large area in front of the defensive position and the river through the firing hole. "The beach on the north bank of the Baihe River is flat, with some depressions. The terrain gradually rises when approaching the woods behind us. Setting up a position at the edge of the woods, which is where we are now, will have the widest firing range and can best exert the firepower of the Maxim heavy machine gun."

Although the Maxim heavy machine gun left a very deep impression on the former Zhili Governor Li Hongzhang, for various reasons, the generals below did not have a good understanding of how to use the Maxim heavy machine gun and how to exert its maximum power. In addition, due to the small number of them in the country, the junior officers also did not pay much attention to this powerful weapon known as the "widow maker."

In 1896, when Li Hongzhang went to Britain, he learned that the British had invented the Maxim heavy machine gun. After arriving in Britain, Li Hongzhang could not wait to go to the Maxim Company in person to watch the shooting demonstration of the Maxim heavy machine gun.

The demonstration was organized by the inventor of the Maxim heavy machine gun, Maxim himself, who even operated the heavy machine gun himself. Each Maxim heavy machine gun could fire 1 rounds of bullets in 400 minute, which shocked Li Hongzhang so much that he wanted to buy them in large quantities.

But then, the price offered by the Maxim Company made Li Hongzhang sad. The price offered by the Maxim Company was more than 300 pounds for a Maxim machine gun, and 1000 shillings for 150 rounds of ammunition.

According to the exchange rate at the time, 1 pound was approximately equal to 15 taels of silver, and 300 pounds was equivalent to 4500 taels of silver. Add to that the countless bullets consumed every day, and the huge expenditure was absolutely unaffordable for the Zhili Army.

You have to know that at that time, Beiyang had just experienced the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and paid a large amount of reparations. It was facing huge difficulties in rebuilding the army. How could it come up with a large sum of money to buy such an expensive heavy machine gun?

Faced with this price, Li Hongzhang could only respond with a helpless sigh. This sigh of Li Hongzhang was mixed with helplessness and bitterness. Li Hongzhang was reluctant, but he gritted his teeth and bought more than a dozen Maxim machine guns before returning to China. He sent them to the machinery factory he founded in China, hoping to copy them. However, it would take another eleven years to truly copy a usable Maxim machine gun.

Teng Yuzao pointed at the German-made Maxim water-cooled heavy machine gun in front of him and said, "This Maxim water-cooled heavy machine gun has a range of more than 2,000 meters. Not only can it cover the entire tidal flat from here to the riverside, but even if the coalition forces hide in the depressions, they will not be able to avoid the heavy machine guns' high-altitude shooting."

"The position is set up here. Due to the height, there is almost no blind spot in the front shooting range, which can maximize its power..."

As Teng Yuzhao was speaking, "boom boom boom" several shells suddenly landed near the heavy machine gun bunker, blowing up a large amount of dirt that fell down like a blanket. Even the barrel of the heavy machine gun that was a little protruding from the firing hole was hit by the rubble, making a sound.

Wei Jinghai hurriedly pulled Teng Yuzao away from the firing hole and shouted nervously, "The foreign devils must have discovered our blocking position and started shelling us."

Sure enough, soon afterwards, the shells that had originally blew up smoke and dust in the woods behind began to shift their firing positions, and the shells soon fell on the entire defensive position.

The continuous bombardment lasted for another ten minutes. During this time, a shell even landed on the top of the heavy machine gun bunker where Teng Yuzhao was located. The violent explosion was deafening right next to his ears, making the top of the heavy machine gun bunker creak. A large amount of mud fell from the gaps between the logs on the ceiling, covering the heads and faces of everyone in Baonei. This made Teng Yuzhao secretly sweat.

However, Teng Yuzao soon felt relieved. The roof of the fort he built based on later experience successfully withstood the impact of the explosion of the 75mm shell. Except for a lot of mud falling through the gaps between the logs, the logs that were firmly tied together with iron wire did not loosen or break at all.

As soon as the shelling stopped, Teng Yuzhao heard sharp whistle sounds coming from the trench. It was the platoons of the regiment calling on their soldiers to take up their positions. From the rapid whistles, it could be heard that the platoon leaders who blew the whistles were very nervous.

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(End of this chapter)