The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 43 The foreign devils began to attack
"The foreign devils have begun their attack!" a staff officer shouted.

More than a thousand Allied troops, armed with rifles with shining bayonets and lined up in neat rows, have begun to move and are approaching the vanguard army's position.

At this time, the sun had just emerged from the horizon. The sunlight shone on the coalition forces' bayonets, reflecting a dazzling and fierce light, which was very murderous. Anyone who saw such a horrifying scene for the first time would feel nervous. It was natural to be nervous.

"Shut up." The staff officer's shout drew a stern rebuke from Wei Jinghai.

In fact, not only the staff officer was nervous, but Teng Yuzhao was also a little nervous. It was the first time he had seen such a scene in two lifetimes.

Teng Yuzao smiled and pretended to be relaxed. "It's okay. It's normal to be a little nervous when you see this kind of scene for the first time. But don't be scared by the aggressive look of the coalition forces. Their offensive tactics are outdated. Now they have powerful weapons like heavy machine guns. Their blatant attack is simply courting death."

Teng Yuzhao pointed at the firing hole where a Maxim heavy machine gunner from a regiment had pointed his gun at the coalition troops' column and said.

"The theoretical firing rate of this water-cooled Maxim heavy machine gun is 600 rounds per minute. When they advance to 500 meters from our position and start to accelerate, the heavy machine guns in our four heavy machine gun bunkers will have a firing range of about 120 degrees. If they enter the 200-meter range, our four heavy machine guns will launch intensive strafing at them from an angle of almost 180 degrees. How long do you think they can hold out?"

Teng Yuzao said to Wei Jinghai, "This is why I have repeatedly emphasized that our vanguard's attack formation must be dispersed."

Teng Yuzao's words really worked. The tension of the staff officers dissipated a lot. Li Jinyu smiled and said, "Sir, do you think we can kill all these foreign devils in this battle?"

Teng Yuzao looked at the staff officer who had just screamed out in nervousness. The staff officer blushed and said, "Yes, in this battle our vanguard army will definitely be able to keep all these foreign devils."

"Yes, we must destroy all these more than a thousand foreign devils here in one battle. We must not only hurt them, but also make them angry and humiliated. Then we will send more troops to attack our vanguard army and teach them an even more painful lesson."

Taking this opportunity, Teng Yuzhao boosted the morale of everyone in the machine gun bunker.

Teng Yuzao pointed to the two heavy machine gun positions of the coalition forces and continued to say to several staff officers, "In the battle, the biggest threat to our army is these two Maxim guns. We must destroy them as soon as the battle starts, and then prevent these two heavy machine guns from having a chance to fire throughout the battle. If we can do this, for us, we can almost say that we have already won half of the battle."

"We must not give them a chance to fire. In the absence of close-range artillery, the only way now is to kill their machine gunners. You must all remember that in future battles, the priority is to attack the enemy's machine gunners, followed by their officers. If you do these two things, any enemy fighting against our vanguard army will be a pile of loose sand that can withstand a single blow."

The emergence of a powerful weapon like the Maxim heavy machine gun inevitably had a huge impact on the mode of war. The Vanguard Army had to adapt to this mode before the Western powers did. To make this change, it was necessary to impose strict requirements from top to bottom. Doing so in the newly established Vanguard Army was not only appropriate but also very timely. To produce this positive change, Teng Yuzao must first start with his side, through precept and example, to let them see the positive significance of this change, and then through them, to spread this positive concept in the Vanguard Army, and finally form the Vanguard Army's unique combat style and combat concept.

Wei Jinghai knew very well that Teng Yuzao had told them the purpose of these extremely advanced military concepts today, and he answered loudly with some excitement, "We will definitely follow your instructions."

Wei Jinghai continued, "Please rest assured, sir. After today's battle, I will sort out everything you said and forward it to the officers of the Vanguard Army, and then implement and promote it to the entire Vanguard Army."

Teng Yuzao was very satisfied with Wei Jinghai's reaction. He talked about so many relevant military issues today, each of which represented a new military concept. He not only wanted to train the staff officers around him, but he also wanted all the officers of the Vanguard Army to master these advanced concepts. Through these officers, he could influence the entire Vanguard Army. Only when he had an army with advanced military concepts in his hands would he have the courage and confidence to compete with the invading army formed by all the Western powers.

"Li Dazhu." Teng Yuzhao turned around and shouted.

"My subordinate is here."

After Liu Bingyi left, Li Dazhui, who was originally the deputy purposer, became the squad leader of Teng Yuzao's guard squad.

Teng Yuzao pointed at the two Maxim heavy machine guns of the Russian army in the distance and said, "The people in your guard squad are the best shooters in our battalion. Now I order you to split your squad into two and enter the trenches immediately. Your target is those two heavy machine guns. When the battle starts, you must resolutely shoot down their heavy machine gunners. As long as you prevent these two heavy machine guns from being used, each of you will be rewarded with 20 taels of silver. Can you do it?"

Since Li Dazhu had been following Teng Yuzao, he heard clearly everything Teng Yuzao said to the staff officers. He already understood the threat of the heavy machine guns. Now that such an important task was handed over to their guard squad, Li Dazhu could not help but answer loudly with excitement.

"Don't worry, sir. I promise to complete the task."

Li Dazhui said as he ran out of the machine gun bunker. After the shelling ended, his guard squad was on alert in the trench outside the machine gun bunker. He left two guard squad members behind and led his guard squad to run to both sides along the trench. The Russian machine gun positions were set up at a distance, so they had to shorten the distance to the Russian machine gun positions as much as possible.

On the river beach, the coalition forces' bayonets were flashing with cold light, like a moving wave, slowly moving from the bank of the Baihe River towards the vanguard army's position. After entering a distance of 500 meters, the marching speed increased significantly. When passing the two advanced heavy machine gun positions, the two heavy machine guns of the Russian army began to "da da da da" fire at the vanguard army's trenches and heavy machine gun bunkers.

"Bang, bang, bang", almost at the same time when the two heavy machine guns of the Russian army opened fire, more than a dozen crisp rifle shots rang out, and the shooting sounds of the two Maxim heavy machine guns of the Russian army suddenly stopped.

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(End of this chapter)