The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 608: The Battle of the Early th Century

The afternoon sun was extremely hot, illuminating every corner of Tianjin's new city.

Although it was the hottest time of the day, there was still a constant flow of traffic on Central Avenue. Not only were there a large number of gleaming new cars, but there were also rickshaws and bicycles moving quickly back and forth on both sides of the street.

On the sidewalks on both sides of the road, the tall and straight ginkgo trees cast shade on the sidewalks. Most of the people in summer clothes walking in the shade are in a hurry, as if they are in a hurry to do their own things.

It seems that the entire new city is in an atmosphere of efficiency and speed.

The former Governor's Office of Beiyang Minister He Zhishan, which was shining with blue light, has now been renamed the Headquarters of Beiyang He, the Minister who was in charge of Zhishan and the Five Northeastern Provinces. There are also two plaques: the Governor's Office of Zhishan and the General Headquarters of the Zhi Army.

Inside the headquarters, on the sofa in Teng Yuzhao's spacious office, Teng Yuzhao was discussing matters concerning the war outside the Great Wall with a few of his confidants.

Sitting on the sofas around Teng Yuzhao were the Chief of Staff of the Zhi Army Wei Jinghai, Director of Operations Zuo Baotian, Commander of the First Regiment Li Xianze, Commander of the Fourth Regiment Liu Shijiu, Commander of the Fifth Regiment Wu Peifu, and Minister of the Beiyang Navy Ye Zugui.

In addition to these Zhi army generals, Zhishan Governor Yang Shixiang, the Governor of the Three Northeastern Provinces Xu Shichang, the General Manager of the Beiyang Railway Yang Shiqi, and Tang Shaoyi, who had been officially appointed as the chief clerk of the Beiyang Minister, were all present.

Even in front of them, there was a wooden rack with a large battle map hanging on it, as if a military meeting was being held.

Teng Yuzao and the others present, except Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang and Yang Shiqi, were all wearing light and loose casual clothes made of hemp, while everyone else, including Teng Yuzao, only wore a white shirt.

In addition to the cool and refreshing tea in front of everyone, there was also a fruit plate with sliced ​​iced watermelon.

However, the drinks on the coffee table of Teng Yuzao, Yang Shiqi, Liu Shijiu and Tang Shaoyi were a little special. In front of Teng Yuzao and Liu Shijiu were the "Beiyang" beer produced by the brewery under the "Aurora Industrial Development Company", which was just taken out of the freezer.

In front of Yang Shiqi was an open bottle of red wine, and in front of Tang Shaoyi was a cup of steaming coffee.

Today's meeting was not a military meeting in the absolute sense, but rather they were discussing the countermeasures of the Zhi army regarding the war outside the Great Wall, whether to participate in the war against the will of the court, or to continue to stand by and wait for the best opportunity.

Liu Shijiu, Li Xianze and Wu Peifu all hurriedly arrived in Tianjin before noon, of course they all came by airship.

It is no longer a secret that the Zhi army already has an airship. After all, it is impossible for such a large thing to take off and land without being seen.

What's more, the Beiyang Steamship Company headed by Zhou Shoushen had already opened routes from Tianjin to Wuchang, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Although each airship ticket cost one hundred dollars, wealthy businessmen still flocked to it, and even many officials from other provinces who came to the capital took it.

Even though today's airships can carry thirty passengers at a time, and each round trip costs five or six thousand dollars, it doesn't actually make much money.

Zhou Shoushen was not very interested in carrying passengers on the airship, but Teng Yuzhao insisted on doing so.

Teng Yuzao did not want to make money from it. He wanted to use such a novel thing as an airship to inspire the Chinese people to accept advanced technology, so that the Chinese people would gradually eliminate their resistance to science and technology and no longer regard them as strange and obscene skills.

Of course, this also attracted the attention of Tieliang and Yuan Shikai. They both asked Teng Yuzhao about airships. Yuan Shikai even took an airship himself to fly round trip from Tianjin to Hankou. Then Tieliang proposed to buy two airships.

However, due to the court's attitude towards the Russo-Japanese War, Teng Yuzao politely declined on the grounds that the Zhi army was not enough now. But Teng Yuzao already knew that Tieliang had ordered an airship in Germany through Yinchang, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, at a high price of 800,000 taels of silver, but it would have to wait until next year for it to be shipped back.

Although Teng Yuzhao felt somewhat guilty about Tieliang being slaughtered by the Germans, the reality was that although the imperial court remained neutral in the Russo-Japanese War on the surface, it was actually secretly supporting the Japanese.

Especially after Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai entered the Grand Council, the court's inclination towards the Japanese became more obvious.

According to Li Yaoting's intelligence, the imperial court has already sent people from the Ministry of the Army to Xinmin. Not only do they use the patrol cavalry and infantry guerrillas led by Zhang Zuolin, a subordinate of Xinmin prefect Zeng Yun, to secretly help the Japanese army spy on the Russian army, they also send officers from the Military Academy in the Shuntian Army to disguise themselves as civilians to help the Japanese army map the German artillery positions.

If the airship is sold to Tieliang, the already passive situation of the Russian army will inevitably be made worse.

Although Teng Yuzhao often anonymously reported some Japanese army movements to the Russian army, he just wanted to make the Russians and Japanese army fight more fiercely, make them bleed more, and give them a fatal blow when they were exhausted.

"Now that we've eaten and drunk enough, it's time to get down to business." Teng Yuzhao said with a smile.

"Today we are going to discuss the war outside the Great Wall and when we will join the war."

Whether to join the war is no longer an issue among Teng Yuzhao's confidants, but there are still differences on when to join the war.

Of course, those who requested to join the war immediately were these Zhi army generals, and the most urgent among them was Liu Shijiu.

Those who suggested waiting for the right time were Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang, Yang Shiqi and Ye Zugui. As for Wei Jinghai and Tang Shaoyi who were also eager to try, they had secretly agreed with Teng Yuzhao's point of view in their daily contacts with him.

It's just that the identities of these two people are special. Before Teng Yuzao makes a final decision, they will not express their attitude in advance, especially Tang Shaoyi.

Now he understood that Teng Yuzao was cultivating his ability to participate in political affairs, which made him extremely excited, because Tang Shaoyi knew very well that what he was learning from Teng Yuzao was not the specific political affairs of a certain place. Teng Yuzao had a comprehensive view of the overall situation, and his height and vision were by no means comparable to those of governors like Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang.

He now completely regarded Teng Yuzao as his teacher, so he became more cautious in doing business.

Teng Yuzao smiled and waved his hand to stop Liu Shijiu who was about to ask to join the battle immediately, and said with a smile.

"Brother, don't be anxious. You are now a general commanding nearly 200,000 soldiers. You can no longer just think about killing like you did in the Gengzi Year. When encountering things, you must think about how to coordinate and plan in a comprehensive manner."

"You should always think about how to achieve victory and how to reduce the bloodshed of the 200,000 soldiers under your command. This is the way to be a general."

Teng Yuzhao's words made Liu Shijiu, who was about to speak, shut up in silence.

Liu Jiujiu's temperament has changed a lot in the past year or so. This is not because Liu Jiujiu was stimulated by something, but Liu Jiujiu was originally a very smart person. He knew that he was a man of the grass roots with a strong sense of the underworld, and he was entrusted with important tasks by Teng Yuzao. He was under great pressure. Including Cao Futian's nearly 100,000 troops, Teng Yuzao gave Liu Jiujiu 200,000 troops to command, which was even more than Teng Yuzao's confidants Liu Yuzhi and Li Xiance. He trusted him very much. Not only could he not cause trouble for Teng Yuzao, but he even had to always look after these troops for Teng Yuzao.

In fact, it is not only about making these 200,000 people into a strong army, but also about making them a powerful force to maintain Teng Yuzao's absolute authority. All of this makes Liu Shijiu feel that he has a heavy responsibility and he must not let Teng Yuzao down.

It was with this in mind that Liu Shijiu devoted himself to learning combat skills in Western wars over the past year or so. Not only had he completed the infantry courses of the original Beiyang Military Academy, he had also read over and over again the infantry drill manuals of the German and Japanese armies that Teng Yuzhao had asked Gu Zhenfu to translate and that had been revised by Teng Yuzhao himself.

Although he was studying books about war, it also made Liu Shijiu's temperament much calmer.

Liu Shijiu secretly blamed himself for falling into his old habits again, then he took a deep breath and leaned back on the sofa.

Teng Yuzhao was also very satisfied with Liu Shijiu's changes. What he needed most was a confidant who could understand his efforts and always consider his feelings.

Teng Yuzao continued, "I have sent you all the war reports before June. You all know that the Russians suffered a great loss. Now I will tell you about the recent war situation, and then we can discuss the topic just now."

At Teng Yuzhao's signal, Operations Director Zuo Baotian walked to the front of the crowd with an open folder, and spoke to everyone while looking at the situation report in the folder in his hand.

"My Lords, the most difficult problem facing the Japanese military headquarters at present is their maritime transportation problem."

As soon as Zuo Baotian opened his mouth, he said something shocking. Everyone present, except Teng Yuzhao and Wei Jinghai, could not help but listen attentively.

"Because the Russian Baltic Fleet has already sailed east. If this fleet reaches Asia, the Japanese maritime transport may be interrupted."

"So, the Japanese are now anxious to transport the military supplies needed by the troops invading Fengtian to the South Manchuria land as soon as possible."

"However, the Japanese's maritime transport is often harassed by the Russian Pacific Fleet's Vladivostok Squadron. Although this squadron only has three fast armored cruisers, Gromoboy, Russia, and Rurik, they have a strong fighting spirit. They once sank the Hitachi Maru, which was ridden by Lieutenant Colonel Suzhi, the commander of the First Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Imperial Guards Division, causing more than a thousand Japanese infantrymen to sink into the sea and die."

"Good fight!"

This news made Ye Zugui so excited that he slammed his fist on the coffee table.

"God will punish you if you don't pay him back! The Japanese sank our troop transport ship Gaosheng in 1894-1895, and this is retribution!"

Ye Zugui's words attracted everyone to agree!

Yang Shixiang said with some disapproval, "This type of armored cruiser is about 10,000 tons, not much different from our previous Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, right?"

Teng Yuzao said with emotion, "The displacement is larger than our Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, both reaching 10,000 tons, and the speed is also faster. The only difference is the caliber and number of artillery."

Teng Yuzao sighed and said, "Although the three 10,000-ton armored cruisers of the old Russians cannot fight against the Japanese Combined Fleet, it is still a piece of cake to deal with the Japanese transport ships. Especially since their squadron commander, Rear Admiral Jessen, is very decisive, smart and bold."

"Under his command, these three cruisers disrupted the Japanese maritime transport lines. In just over a month, they caused considerable trouble to Japan's maritime transport and sank more than a dozen Japanese transport ships."

"Foreign ships were also taken with cargo but not ships. Just last month, Jason even commanded his small fleet to boldly cross the Tsugaru Strait and sail south along the east coast of Japan, sinking several cargo ships and appearing in the waters near Tokyo Bay."

"The Japanese Hitachi Maru transport ship was a large ship with a displacement of about 6200 tons. It was sunk in the Tsushima Strait. On board was not only an infantry regiment of the Japanese, but also 280 of the Japanese's most sophisticated 18mm siege guns."

The Russian fleet fired three salvos and easily sank the transport ship "Hitachi Maru". The Japanese army and the expensive siege guns on board all sank to the bottom of the sea with the ship! This regiment of Japanese soldiers was not ordinary soldiers, but the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Guards Division. The Imperial Guards Division was an elite division in the Japanese army sequence, and all officers and soldiers were composed of samurai.

"In fact, on the same day, the Russian Vladivostok Squadron also intercepted another 6000-ton troop transport ship of the Japanese, the Sado Maru. However, the Sado Maru was more obedient and did not dare to escape. It immediately raised the white flag and surrendered."

When Teng Yuzao said this, he was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

"Yessen's commerce-breaking war aroused great anger among the Japanese people. They even smashed the house of Uemura Hikonosuke, the commander of the Second Fleet of the Japanese Combined Fleet, who was responsible for guarding against the Vladivostok Squadron. He was also accused by the people of being a Russian spy."

Teng Yuzhao's words made everyone in the room burst into laughter.

Zuo Baotian also laughed happily and said, "On the Zuodu Maru that the Marshal just mentioned, there are also personnel from the Japanese Railway Administration and Siege Artillery Command."

"Therefore, the Japanese were forced to interrupt the transportation of military supplies and personnel to South Manchuria."

"The main force of the Japanese combined fleet is now concentrated in Port Arthur, and they cannot spare any strength to deal with the Russian fleet for the time being. For this reason, the Japanese headquarters requires Oyama Iwao to quickly capture Port Arthur in order to gain control of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea."

Teng Yuzao said with a smile, "The commander of the Pacific Fleet in Lushun is a coward, but this Jessen is pretty good."

Then he said to Zuo Baotian, "Now that we have finished talking about this happy thing, tell us about the battle situation of the Japanese army."

"Yes."

Zuo Baotian agreed and said, "The Japanese headquarters has ordered the main force of Ao Baogong's Second Army to arrive at Gaiping around June 30th and use the more powerful troops to capture Dashiqiao and Yingkou to create convenient conditions for sweeping the sea at the mouth of the Liaohe River."

"The purpose of the Japanese to clear the Liaohe River estuary was to use Yingkou Port to transport food, fodder, weapons and ammunition, because then the Japanese Second Army entered the vicinity of Haicheng again."

"The Japanese First Army entered Motianling, and the Independent Tenth Division entered Jidongyu and the area to the west."

"According to the Japanese headquarters telegram deciphered by the General Staff Telegraph Office, the Japanese demanded that the main forces of all armies must arrive near Liaoyang on July 15th."

(End of this chapter)