The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 50 Excited Master Qian

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "Master Qian and Chief Liu, please rest assured that the coalition forces that crossed the river to attack us have been destroyed by us."

“Eliminated!”

Teng Yuzao's words made Master Qian and Liu Shijiu stunned. They looked at Teng Yuzao and didn't react for a while.

Could more than 1,500 foreign devils be eliminated in such a short time?
It's no wonder that the two of them were slow to react. Not to mention the two of them, even anyone in the entire city of Tianjin would not think that this was possible. There were more than 20,000 people in Langfang, and more than a thousand foreigners. After fighting for several days, only a few hundred foreigners were killed or wounded. How could a vanguard army of just a few hundred people wipe out more than 1,500 foreigners in less than an hour?
What's more, the Allied Forces' artillery fire was so intensive. Just looking at the large forest in front of you that was blown to pieces and many of the broken trees were still emitting flames, you could tell how fierce the Allied Forces' artillery fire was. Under such fierce artillery fire, it was already very good that the vanguard army was not destroyed by the foreign devils!
Master Qian stared at Teng Yuzao for a long while before he dismounted and took Teng Yuzao's hand and whispered, "Xingfu, this is no joke. There are so many people..."

Master Qian's words were obviously meant to remind Teng Yuzhao that he was not alone now, there were also more than a thousand Boxers led by Liu Shijiu here. If the news got back to Tianjin City, he, Teng Yuzhao, would become a laughing stock.

Liu Shijiu looked at Master Qian and Teng Yuzhao suspiciously, and ignoring the black muzzles of the vanguard's guns on the battlefield, he took big strides and ran directly to the battlefield.

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Master Qian, what I just said is absolutely true. Come with me to the battlefield and take a look."

As he spoke, he took Master Qian's arm and walked towards the battlefield.

Although Master Qian had a goatee and was only a juren, he was actually not very old, probably in his forties. He had failed in the imperial examinations many times and ended up working as an aide to others. Seeing that Teng Yuzao was speaking so confidently, he shook off Teng Yuzao's hand, took a quick step and headed straight for the battlefield.

Before the two men stepped onto the battlefield, they saw Liu Shijiu, who had arrived earlier, standing there in a daze for a long while, then walked down the battlefield with heavy steps, and his figure disappeared on the other side of the battlefield.

The terrain of the vanguard army's position at the edge of the woods is slightly higher. Standing on this side, one cannot see the situation in the direction of the river beach outside the position. Only by standing on the position can one have a clear view of the situation on both sides of the position.

When he stepped onto the battlefield and looked at the large area of ​​bloody corpses of the Allied forces lying in disorder, spreading from the front of the battlefield to the river beach for several hundred meters, Master Qian could no longer resist the churning in his stomach and vomited with a loud "wow".

While Teng Yuzhao arranged for a staff officer to find water for Master Qian to rinse his mouth, he looked at the pile of coalition soldiers' corpses in front of the position. Liu Shijiu was walking and checking the dead coalition soldiers with solemn steps. On the other side of the position, Liu Yuzhi was walking quickly with a tall, pale-faced young man, followed closely by two sentinels and more than 200 soldiers of the Wuwei Front Army.

Teng Yuzhao recognized this captain and the two sentries. He had met them several times when he helped Ronglu to form the Wuwei Army. The captain was none other than Pan Jinshan, the captain of the infantry battalion in Nie Shicheng's Wuwei Front Army, and the two sentries were Pan Jinshan's subordinates.

Pan Jinshan was from Shandong. He was not only skilled in martial arts, but also very humble and popular in the army. He was highly appreciated by Nie Shicheng, so in just one year he was promoted from sentry leader to captain.

Seeing Teng Yuzao accompanying Master Qian on the battlefield, Pan Jinshan hurriedly left Liu Yuzhi and trotted towards Teng Yuzao. He stopped a few steps away. Teng Yuzao was about to greet Pan Jinshan, who was full of amazement, but Pan Jinshan had already saluted Teng Yuzao. "Congratulations to General Teng for such a great victory!"

Teng Yuzao hurriedly approached and smiled as he held Pan Jinshan's hand, "Captain Pan, it doesn't matter whether the victory is great or not, as long as we defeat the coalition forces on the other side, I am very grateful to Captain Pan for coming to rescue our army!"

As Teng Yuzao spoke, he held Pan Jinshan's hand tightly and shook it vigorously.

Following behind Teng Yuzhao, two sergeants with expressions of amazement and admiration came over to greet Teng Yuzhao. Teng Yuzhao walked up to them without hesitation, shook hands with them and exchanged a few words. Just as he was about to talk to Pan Jinshan again, Master Qian, with a flushed face and an excited expression, came over.

"Great victory! This is a truly great victory!"

Master Qian shouted excitedly before he even came close. He walked a few steps to Teng Yuzao and held Teng Yuzao's hand tightly, "Xingfu, this is the greatest victory against the foreigners in the past sixty years since the last Gengzi Rebellion! After this battle, no one will dare to make an exception and promote you. It's because Yu Zhongtang appointed people based on personal connections. There is great hope for us to keep Tianjin City!"

Teng Yuzhao knew that the previous Gengzi Year change that Master Qian mentioned was the First Opium War launched by the British and French forces in 1840. That war was regarded as the watershed that led to China's reduction to a semi-colony.

Moreover, there is a saying that there will be a great chaos in the Gengzi year. Liu Bowen mentioned in his inscription that "Ten worries are hard to overcome in the Pig and Rat years. Jiazi brings good harvests, while Gengzi brings chaos."

Sixty years make up a Jiazi period, and this year is the year 1900 in the Western calendar, which happens to be the Gengzi year.

As for the great victory that Master Qian mentioned, Teng Yuzhao thought it was a genuine compliment to the Vanguard Battalion. If we only considered the number of Allied forces annihilated in one battle, only the Victory of Zhennan Pass could be compared with it. However, in the Victory of Zhennan Pass, the Qing army had nearly 10,000 people, and they were assisted by many local militias, while he only used less than 300 people.

As for what Master Qian said, after this battle, no one would say that Yu Lu was "nepotism", Teng Yuzhao also believed it. Since the war with the Allied Forces until now, the Allied Forces had suffered three-digit casualties in every battle. From Dagukou to Langfang, there were 200 to 300 casualties. Only the Laolongtou Railway Station, which lasted longer, caused more than 500 casualties to the Allied Forces.

However, Master Qian’s next words shocked Teng Yuzhao!
Keeping the city of Tianjin is no joke. Victory in war is not achieved by having good weapons and large numbers of people. It requires not only the right time, place and people, but also advanced military thinking and high-quality soldiers, especially in modern warfare.

Just as Teng Yuzao was about to speak, Liu Nineteen also strode back and bowed deeply to Teng Yuzao with a serious face, "General Teng, this battle killed, wounded, and captured more than 1,500 foreign devils. It is definitely a great victory. You are a good man and deserve my respect!"

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(End of this chapter)