The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 485: Cutting off the Foreigners’ Back Road
Hearing that the court was eager to negotiate peace at this time, Liu Jiujiu slammed the table and was about to get angry.

Teng Yuzhao waved his hands hurriedly to stop Liu Shijiu.

Not all the people in this room are dissatisfied with the imperial court, or are "evil-minded" people who want to support him to achieve something. There is also Hu Dianjia who is loyal to the imperial court.

Although Teng Yuzhao has already discovered that these generals have shown signs of distancing themselves from Hu Dianjia to some extent, he does not want to let the conflicts between them and Hu Dianjia surface now, as this would be detrimental to the unity of the vanguard army and would also affect his prestige.

Teng Yuzao continued, "Although the court is a little anxious, peace talks are a matter of time after all, so it's not a bad thing to make some preparations early."

After hearing Teng Yuzhao say this, Liu Shijiu let out a long sigh and said.

"Marshal, that's true, but we have to wait until we win a great victory before we can negotiate peace. The foreign devils have to beg us for peace. We can't have the upper hand here, suppressing the foreign devils and fighting them, and the court will be in a hurry to negotiate peace."

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "That's right. The court asked the Lian Mansion to assist Li Zhongtang in negotiating peace. I have asked the Lian Mansion to take me to the court to submit a memorial. The peace talks should be delayed rather than rushed. Not only is the defense of Luzhou Prefecture about to win a great victory, but the vanguard army will also take advantage of the victory to recapture most of the land in Zhili that was occupied by foreigners."

"When that time comes, the foreigners will take the initiative to propose peace talks, and then we can talk to them again."

"Among the ministers in the court, there are still some discerning people. I believe that the court will adopt the suggestions I made in this memorial."

Teng Yuzao not only submitted a memorial to the court, but also asked Yang Shixiang to convey a message to Li Hongzhang, suggesting that Li Hongzhang also submit a memorial to the court, suggesting that the location of peace talks must not be in a place occupied by foreigners, and that if there is to be talks, they can only be held in a place under their control.

In addition, he also sent a letter to Zai Yi.

Teng Yuzao believed that with Zai Yi and Li Hongzhang's persuasion, Cixi would postpone the peace talks.

"Since we are about to negotiate peace, we must seize the time and kill more foreign devils." Teng Yuzhao continued.

The generals were somewhat puzzled by Teng Yuzao's somewhat contradictory words.

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "What I said is not contradictory. Although it is difficult for us to fight against the tens or hundreds of thousands of foreign devils gathered together, we can attack them where their forces are weak. As the saying goes, pick the soft persimmon to squeeze."

"There is one thing you must understand. The reason why our vanguard army can continue to grow in the battle with the foreign devils is because we have captured spoils in every battle. We fight annihilation battles. This is how we can capture a large amount of spoils and continue to arm ourselves."

"So, this time, we must avoid attacking the places where the foreign devils have strong fortifications, and even if we attack, we must take them by surprise."

"Also, we must do our best to avoid major casualties."

Seeing that all the generals seemed to be hesitant to speak, Teng Yuzao smiled and said to Hu Dianjia.

"Please don't misunderstand me. I don't want to preserve my strength like Yuan Weiting did and intend to keep my troops to myself."

Although Teng Yuzhao was speaking to everyone, his eyes were on Hu Dianjia.

"Even if we negotiate peace, this war won't stop just like that. As long as the foreign devils don't withdraw from our territory, this war won't stop, especially the old Russians who occupy the areas outside the Great Wall, they won't withdraw easily."

"The Vanguard Army still needs to expand. Every officer and soldier now will be the backbone of the Vanguard Army in the future. We must preserve ourselves as much as possible. Of course, we must also take advantage of the good opportunity now that the foreign devils' forces are dispersed to eliminate as many foreign devils as possible."

"Marshal, do you mean to give up attacking the foreign devils in Luzhou Prefecture and attack the towns occupied by the foreign devils?

Li Xianze asked in surprise, "Will Luzhou be in danger?"

Teng Yuzao shook his head and said, "Luzhou must be on guard, of course."

"Choose Qing."

Teng Yuzhao said to Hu Dianjia, "Luzhou must not be lost. You must immediately lead your troops to escort the prisoners, seized weapons, ammunition, and supplies back to Luzhou." Hu Dianjia seemed reluctant that Teng Yuzhao suddenly asked him to escort the prisoners and supplies back to Luzhou Prefecture, and opened his mouth to say something.

Without waiting for Hu Dianjia to speak, Teng Yuzao continued, "At the same time, take our battle report back and give it to Xu Juren. Ask Xu Juren to submit a victory report to the court on my behalf."

"We also need Xu Juren to carefully polish the battle report and then hand it over to Li Yaoting. We need to publish it in the newspaper as soon as possible so that everyone in the world knows that the vanguard army has achieved an unprecedented victory!"

"Not only should the imperial court be reassured, but the people of the world should also know that as long as the vanguard army is there, the foreign devils will be driven out!"

Teng Yuzao said to Hu Dianjia earnestly, "Xuanqing, I originally planned to give up Luzhou Prefecture when necessary, but now it is not possible. If Luzhou Prefecture is lost at this time, it will hit the morale of the people, so Luzhou Prefecture must not be lost."

"I will write you a written order. After you lead your troops back, the First Town and the Independent Column in Luzhou Prefecture will be under your command. You must resolutely block the two-pronged attack of the foreign devils. If the foreign devils retreat, you must follow and pursue them, but you must be careful not to be ambushed by the foreign devils."

"Also, give all your remaining mortar shells to the artillery town."

Seeing that Teng Yuzao not only entrusted him with the important task of defending Luzhou, but also asked him to take charge of the overall command of the troops remaining in Luzhou, Hu Dianjia could no longer delay and had to stand up and accept Teng Yuzao's order.

"Ruiguang."

Teng Yuzao said to Pan Jinshan apologetically, "Although your Sixth Regiment has suffered heavy casualties and the troops are extremely tired, now is the time to use the troops. You cannot let your Sixth Regiment rest right away."

Pan Jinshan hurriedly stood up and said, "Please rest assured, Master, the Sixth Town can still fight again."

Everyone had gotten used to Pan Jinshan's somewhat flattering titles, and no one was dissatisfied with him.

After Teng Yuzao motioned Pan Jinshan to take a seat, he said to Liu Bingyi, "Chizhong, your guards can't rest either."

Teng Yuzao stopped Liu Bingyi who was about to stand up and said, "Fight well. After this battle, as long as your guards fight well enough, your guards will also be expanded into a town."

"Thank you, Marshal, for your grace!"

Liu Bingyi was not only a graduate of the Beiyang Military Academy, a genuine student of Teng Yuzhao, but also Teng Yuzhao's protector. Naturally, his relationship with Teng Yuzhao was not comparable to that of ordinary people.

However, he was still extremely grateful to Teng Yuzhao for expanding the newly established Guards Association into a town. You know, he hasn't even gotten comfortable in the position of association commander, and now he's going to be given the position of town commander. How could he not be extremely grateful to Teng Yuzhao!

"Kangnian."

Teng Yuzao finally looked at Li Xiance and said, "You will be in charge of the Second Town, the Sixth Town, and the Guards. Set out from the mountain as soon as possible to wipe out the foreign devils in Yongnian, Wu'an, Cizhou, Tangyin and other places, and cut off the retreat of the foreign devils who entered the mountain."

"Then, we will march north to wipe out the foreign invaders along the way, approach and threaten Baoding, and force the 20,000 German-French troops attacking Niangzi Pass to withdraw to Baoding."

"If the 20,000 foreign devils who have withdrawn from the mountains join the Baoding defenders in retreating towards the capital, you should fight them when you have a chance. If you don't, you should follow behind the retreating foreign devils until Zhuozhou is recovered, and then stay there to monitor the foreign devils in the capital."

"Xue Qian and Su Xilin's cavalry units will also be under your command."

After Teng Yuzao finished his instructions, Li Xiance said to Liu Changfa, "Return all the mortars of the Second Regiment to their bases, and allocate two more mountain artillery battalions to the Second Regiment for the time being. Give them as many shells as possible."

Then, Teng Yuzao spoke to Liu Shijiu and Li Jinyu who were ready to go.

"The Fourth Town will bypass Lin County and rush to Hejian. We must quickly capture Hejian, and then hide and wait along the line from Houyao to Hongling. If the foreign devils retreat, we should not attack them head-on. We should just capture their rear guard and destroy them, and then hold them fast."

"The Eighth Regiment and the Artillery Regiment follow me to Lin County"

(End of this chapter)