The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 450 You Can Leave Too
Teng Yuzhao reached out and took the letter from Wei Jinghai. After carefully looking at the handwriting on the envelope for a while, he slowly pulled out a page of letter paper with only a dozen words on it.

Holding the letter paper with the handwriting on it, Teng Yuzhao just glanced at it briefly and then closed his eyes. He seemed to be thinking quietly, or making a difficult decision in his heart.

Teng Yuzao's expression surprised everyone, but seeing Teng Yuzao's appearance, no one asked any questions, they just exchanged glances with each other.

However, from the puzzled looks in everyone's eyes, these people understood that no one knew where the letter came from or what the content of the letter was about.

Then, these people's eyes turned to Wei Jinghai at the same time.

Under the gazes of the crowd, Wei Jinghai just spread his hands with a wry smile, indicating to everyone that he was not in a position to answer this question.

After a long time, Teng Yuzhao opened his eyes, quietly folded the letter paper again, put it into the envelope, handed it to Wei Jinghai, then reached out to take out his pistol from his waist and handed it to Wei Jinghai.

Teng Yuzao's actions made everyone nervous.

In the eyes of these generals, Teng Yuzhao's pistol was almost equivalent to his token of loyalty, and even an imperial sword in the vanguard army.

Using this pistol, even if any staff officer said without any evidence that he was following Teng Yuzhao's orders to execute an officer in the vanguard army, he would not be stopped.

Could it be
Fortunately, Teng Yuzhao spoke in time, which dispelled everyone's nervous imagination and doubts.

"Have someone give him this pistol as well, and tell him that I am presiding over a military meeting and cannot get away. Not only can I not accompany him, I can't even see him off."

"This pistol of mine has been with me since the beginning of the Tianjin Uprising. Dozens of foreign devils have been killed by this pistol. It is not just a pistol, it is also a testimony of my resistance to foreign humiliation. I will give it to him as a memorial."

"I hope he can always put the interests of the country and the nation first, and never be nepotistic or dragged down by personal gain and so-called fame."

After a pause, Teng Yuzao's tone became firm and he spoke again.

"Tell him again that if he is willing to continue to stay in the Vanguard Army, I welcome him very much. As long as he works hard, he will definitely be able to make use of his talents."

After saying this, Teng Yuzao waved his hand with some difficulty, signaling Wei Jinghai to hurry up and make arrangements.

After Wei Jinghai finished giving instructions to the staff officer and came back to sit down, Teng Yuzhao glanced at everyone and finally spoke slowly.

"I think some of you have already guessed who this person is who is leaving."

From what Teng Yuzhao told Wei Jinghai, most generals had guessed that the person who was going to leave the vanguard army should be Duan Qirui.

Although Duan Qirui was not a member of the vanguard army, many people were still angry that he was leaving the vanguard army at this time.

Liu Shijiu said disdainfully, "Marshal, do you even need to guess? It should be that kid Duan Qirui."

"That guy saw that our vanguard army is in a critical situation, so he decided to become a deserter to save his life. He wants to leave our vanguard army as soon as possible. Am I right?"

Teng Yuzao nodded, "Yes, it is Duan Zhiquan who is leaving. He has already packed his luggage and is outside the headquarters right now. He will leave immediately after saying hello to me."

"It's just that your guess is not quite accurate. It's not Duan Zhiquan who wants to leave, but Yuan Weiting who is far away in Shandong who wants him to go back. The letter just now was written by Yuan Weiting to Duan Zhiquan."

Teng Yuzao's face showed a hint of sarcasm as he said, "I guess Yuan Weiting was worried that I would see the letter, so he wrote very few words on it. You can even say that he was very frugal with words. He only wrote 15 words: "My brother, please return as soon as you see this letter. I have something important to discuss with you. I am eagerly waiting for you! Please! Please!"

Teng Yuzhao shook his head slightly and sighed.

"Although Duan Zhiquan is leaving, we can't say he is a deserter. He was originally sent by Yuan Weiting to help us fight the enemy. He is not considered a member of our vanguard army. There is nothing wrong with him leaving now."

"Besides, Yuan Weiting had promoted Duan Zhiquan, so Duan Zhiquan acted according to his orders, which is understandable."

Zhou Fu stroked his beard and nodded, speaking in a heavy tone.

"General Fu is right. I believe General Fu and the other generals have read newspapers and magazines at home and abroad." "This time the foreigners have done their best. Various countries have successively sent troops to our Qing Dynasty. Now hundreds of thousands of heavy troops are gathering outside the mountains. They are thinking of completing the task in one fell swoop and destroying our vanguard army, eliminating the only force in the hands of the court that dares to resist them."

"As long as the vanguard army is eliminated, the imperial court will become a lamb to be slaughtered, and they can control it at will. At that time, whether to cede land or pay compensation will be up to them."

"Public opinion both inside and outside the army is not optimistic about the Vanguard Army and believes that it will definitely fail. This is probably because Yuan Weiting sees that the Vanguard Army is in a critical situation and wants his beloved general to leave the Vanguard Army as soon as possible to avoid an unprovoked disaster."

In order to help these senior generals broaden their horizons and keep abreast of major domestic and international events, the General Staff Office would regularly extract some important news articles from collected newspapers and magazines, print them out and send them to them.

Therefore, these generals were aware of the domestic and international public opinion that the coalition forces and the vanguard army were about to start a major war.

Whether it was the domestic public opinion of various countries reported in Hong Kong newspapers or in newspapers in major cities such as Shanghai, Hankou, and Guangdong, the public opinion was almost overwhelmingly pessimistic about the future of the vanguard army.

Domestic public opinion was worried about the vanguard army, while public opinion in newspapers and periodicals run by foreigners abroad and at home was either gloating or celebrating in advance.

Zhou Fu's words made everyone's expressions solemn.

Teng Yuzao glanced at Yang Shixiang, and after the two of them exchanged glances quickly and imperceptibly, Teng Yuzao's gaze slowly swept across the faces of the generals, and intentionally or unintentionally, Teng Yuzao's gaze lingered on Xu Shichang's face for a while before he spoke in a low voice.

"Mr. Zhou is right. The current situation is indeed very critical. Although we have been expanding our army and intensifying training for more than three months, we have only expanded to more than 300,000 people. In addition, we are short of weapons. Now, including the unarmed artillery, we can only barely arm about 250,000 people."

"Now it's 250,000 versus over 700,000. And we have 250,000 new soldiers who have just been trained for more than three months, fighting against over 700,000 well-trained coalition forces. No matter from which angle we look at it, we don't have much chance of winning. In fact, many people think that we are just like an egg hitting a rock. To say that we are in danger is an understatement."

"I don't blame Duan Zhiquan for leaving. It is human nature to seek good fortune and avoid danger. I solemnly tell you today that before we fight the coalition forces of the great powers, you can leave at any time. I will never blame any of you."

"But once the war begins, it will be a battle of life and death. No one is allowed to shake the morale of the army. Anyone who wants to leave the vanguard army will be regarded as a deserter and will be punished according to military law."

As soon as Teng Yuzao finished speaking, Liu Yuzhi, Li Xiance, Wu Peifu, Liu Shijiu and Liu Changfa had already stood up.

"I swear to follow you till death, no matter what happens! I will never be a deserter."

"I will follow my mentor till death! I will die on the battlefield and never back down."

"Although I am a rough man, I know that every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of his country. I will follow the Marshal to fight against the foreign devils. Even if I get a scar as big as a bowl on my head, I will follow the Marshal to kill the foreign devils again in 20 years."

After these people expressed their opinions, except Zhou Fu, Shen Jiaben, Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang who did not stand up, the rest of the generals also stood up and shouted.

Even Li Yulin, Xue Qian and others expressed their attitudes loudly with angry expressions.

"I swear to follow the Marshal until death and never retreat!"

Zhou Fu and the Shen family were originally civil servants, so they naturally did not need to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy. It was normal for them not to express their opinions.

However, Xu Shichang seemed a little unaccustomed to the behavior of these generals and was slow to react. When he was about to stand up to express his attitude, Yang Shixiang had already stood up and spoke generously.

"Liu Zhentong said it well. Every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of his country. Although Shi Xiang is just a scholar who has just joined the army, he is also determined to kill the enemy and serve his country. Yang is also willing to follow the Marshal until his death, resist the invaders, and support the country."

Only then did Xu Shichang seem to come to his senses, and he quickly stood up and spoke seriously.

"Xu has already joined the Vanguard Army, so he is a soldier. It is our duty as a soldier to resist foreign invaders and kill the enemy to serve our country. There is absolutely no reason to shrink back. Xu is also willing to follow the commander-in-chief and fight the enemy to the death!"

Although Xu Shichang's answer was not as firm as that of Yang Shixiang and other generals, Teng Yuzhao was still satisfied. It was good that Xu Shichang had such an attitude.

After all, Xu Shichang, a Hanlin, had just arrived at the Vanguard Army not long ago, and he was also friends with Yuan Shikai. Even if the Vanguard Army was defeated, he still had Yuan Shikai to rely on.

However, Teng Yuzao believed that as long as he fought well in the current battle, he would be superior to Yuan Shikai. At that time, unless Teng Yuzao drove him away, Xu Shichang would never leave the vanguard army again.
(End of this chapter)