The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 54: Unspeakable Thoughts

Seeing that Teng Yuzhao also denied the combat effectiveness of the Wuwei Vanguard Army, Wei Jinghai couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"Sir, it is said that the Wuwei Front Army is the best equipped in the entire Wuwei Army. Not only do they have more than 80 artillery pieces of various types, but even their training guns and combat guns are different. Some people also say that their weapons and equipment are better than those of the foreign devils. How can you say that their combat effectiveness is questionable?"

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "That's a good question. I said their combat effectiveness is problematic because their training, combat awareness and combat thinking are out of touch with modern warfare. Take what you just said about them using two different rifles for training and combat. Their combat rifles are the Austro-Hungarian Steyr Mannlicher M1895 rifles, and their training rifles are the Mauser 1871 and some Mauser G98s."

"The Steyr Mannlicher M1895 rifle is well-made, and even all its steel parts are made of high-quality steel. It has good shooting accuracy, but its biggest advantage is its light weight. It is now the lightest rifle in the world, weighing only 3.7 kilograms. Other rifles weigh more than four kilograms."

"It's just that the guns used for training are different from the guns used in actual combat. This will cause the habits and shooting feel that soldiers develop during long-term training to deviate during combat. The direct consequence is that the soldiers' shooting accuracy will generally decrease. Moreover, this practice is also a huge waste. These extra training guns can be used to equip more than 10,000 new soldiers."

"Also, although they have more than 80 cannons, they are not well trained and their accuracy is very poor. In addition, their use of heavy machine guns is still stuck in the Western coalition's mindset and they do not attach great importance to automatic firearms. They also do not pay enough attention to hand-to-hand combat. All these problems have led to their mediocre combat effectiveness."

Teng Yuzao took a puff of cigarette, sighed and said, "In my opinion, the root of these problems lies in the top leaders, not only Nie Shicheng and his officers above the rank of sentry, but also Li Zhongtang in Guangdong. These people only have a superficial understanding of Western military affairs. In fact, they know nothing about modern warfare, combat methods and tactical thinking. They are completely laymen. How can the combat effectiveness of this army be high if laymen command it!"

Liu Yuzhi curled his lips and said, "Your Excellency is right. It's not like our Vanguard Army, where all officers only promote people like us who graduated from the Beiyang Military Academy."

Liu Yuzhi patted Wei Jinghai's arm again and said, "Director Wei, you got a great bargain. If you hadn't joined our Vanguard Army, you would probably have only been able to become a captain at best, and who knows when that would happen!"

Wei Jinghai agreed with Liu Yuzhi's words and was about to express his gratitude to Teng Yuzao for his extraordinary promotion. Teng Yuzao said, "Now I am promoting you, the graduates of the Military Academy, out of helplessness. In modern warfare, we can no longer use the tactics of the cold weapon era to command and train. We must appoint people who understand modern combat methods to command, but we still have too few military academy students."

Teng Yuzao looked across the Baihe River. "We must also establish our camp school as soon as possible. Sui Yi Ningbo, you should understand the important position of the staff system in Western military concepts. This matter is not just the business of the camp office. You should also be involved in it in the future to cultivate more new military talents who understand modern warfare for our vanguard army."

As for the importance of the modern staff system originated from the German army, they, who were trained by German instructors at the Beiyang Military Academy, naturally knew it. Wei Jinghai nodded and said, "Thank you for your cultivation, sir. I will definitely follow your teachings in the future."

Teng Yuzao took a puff of cigarette and changed the subject, saying solemnly, "Besides what I just said, I have another reason for making friends with Liu Shijiu and Pan Jinshan. That is, although they are not strong reinforcements for our vanguard army, this war will last for a long time. In the battle with the coalition forces, there will be a lot of casualties, and even high-level commanders may encounter accidents. Our vanguard army is likely to..."

Teng Yuzao hesitated for a long time before saying the following words. He glanced at the two of them and said, "What we said today must not be told to another person. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Understood." Liu Yuzhi and Wei Jinghai answered in unison. Teng Yuzao didn't say the rest of the words, but the two of them obviously understood.

Liu Yuzhi leaned towards Teng Yuzhao and was about to speak when suddenly a hurried sound of horse hooves came from the distant west. Several people could not help but look in the direction of the sound, but the patch of woods behind them, although devastated by the coalition artillery fire and with fireworks burning in many places, there were still many trees standing stubbornly, just blocking their view.

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "I guess it must be Qionglin who is back."

"Sir, there is movement from the foreign devils on the opposite side." Wei Jinghai said, pointing to the other side of the Baihe River.

Liu Yuzhi quickly raised the telescope that had been hanging on his chest and looked over. He couldn't help laughing, "Sir, the foreign devils have been completely subdued by us this time. They have loaded the ships according to our requirements, and several ships have already rowed towards us."

"Ah."

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "Remember, Westerners only recognize force. They will only bow down to strong force. You must have heard of what the late German Iron Chancellor Bismarck said, that is, the truth is only within the range of cannons. They are a group that believes in force. If you don't hurt them, they won't reason with you. For them, we must repay blood with blood and tooth for tooth."

Liu Yuzhi nodded and said, "Your Excellency is right. After this battle, the morale of the soldiers below is high. If we have more people, our vanguard army will be able to cross the Baihe River."

Teng Yuzao waved his hand and warned, "Yuxuan, it's a good thing that the soldiers are in high spirits, but as a senior commander of the vanguard army, you must not underestimate the enemy. Not only are we outnumbered, but we also don't have strong logistical support. You can imagine how difficult it is to go to war with eight Western powers at the same time. We must hurry up and train our troops. We are still not proficient in the coordinated tactics of small groups in hand-to-hand combat, and many people are still fighting alone."

"If you want the soldiers to be proficient in coordination, you also need to let them do it spontaneously from the bottom. Go back and ask each squad to form a unit and independently form a coordinated strategy, including the cover coordination of charge and retreat."

Liu Yuzhi nodded and said, "I understand. I will go back and arrange it right away."

Teng Yuzao waved his hand and said, "Let's strike while the iron is hot. Let each squad review their gains and losses and find out their shortcomings. Then we can start training. You go back and organize the troops. Let Ningbo handle the receiving of supplies and the transfer of the seriously injured allied soldiers."

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(End of this chapter)