The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 610 Waiting for the Second Pacific Fleet

Zuo Baotian continued, "Not only did the old Mao's East Manchuria Group fail, the Japanese First Army took advantage of the victory to advance to the vicinity of Benxi Lake, and the Japanese Second Army also made important progress."

While Liu Shijiu, Wu Peifu and Li Xianze were still expressing their regret for the Russian army's inexplicable defeat of the Russian East Manchuria Group, Zuo Baotian had already begun reporting another defeat suffered by the Russian army.

"Half a month ago, the four divisions of Okubo's Second Army began attacking the Russians near Dashiqiao."

"The Russians defending Dashiqiao have more than 42 infantry battalions, nine cavalry companies, cavalry regiments and two artillery brigades, with 122 artillery pieces, defending the plains and mountains east of the railway, as well as the Qianzhaizi and Zhangguantun lines."

"The right wing is covered by the cavalry of Kosagovsky's Cavalry Division; the left wing is covered by Mishinko's cavalry, under the unified command of Zarubaev."

"Although the Russians have slightly fewer troops than the Japanese, they can get support from the reserve troops in Haicheng and the troops mobilized from the north via the railway. In theory, the two sides have equal forces and are in a defensive posture, which gives them some advantages."

"Ao Baogong, commander of the Second Japanese Army, focused his attack on the front stockade and Zhangguantun on the left wing of the Russians based on the Russian troop deployment at Dashiqiao."

At this point, Zuo Baotian said to Wu Peifu, Liu Shijiu, and Li Xiance, "Commanders, from the large-scale battles between the old Russians and the little devils, we can see that they still start with fierce artillery fire before launching an attack. Please pay attention to this and be sure to fire carefully when fighting with them in the future."

Teng Yuzao also reminded, "This is a good reminder. The Russians, unable to increase their military strength on a large scale, have mobilized a lot of large-caliber artillery to the Far East, and the Japanese are also doing their best to transfer their large-caliber artillery to the Manchurian Army."

"Now, they all have howitzers with a caliber of more than 200 mm, and even siege mortars of about 300 mm. You must pay attention to this, otherwise you will suffer a great loss."

The so-called mortar is a smoothbore artillery with a short barrel, large firing angle, low initial velocity and high-arc trajectory.

Due to its short range and powerful projectiles, it is mainly used to destroy strong fortifications.

Because its barrel is short and thick and its shape is similar to a Chinese mortar, it is called a mortar in the country.

After Teng Yuzao finished speaking, he signaled Zuo Baotian to continue reporting.

"This time, the Japanese used artillery to support the infantry and launched an attack on Qianzhaizi and Zhangguantun, which were defended by the Russian Siberian Fourth Army. The Siberian First Army and the Fourth Army also fired back, trying to suppress the Japanese artillery. Then the two sides launched a fierce artillery battle."

"The artillery battle was extremely fierce and lasted for an unimaginable amount of time, almost a day and a night."

"According to the intelligence gathered by our staff's airship, the Russian artillerymen hid well in the woods and even in sorghum fields. They even hid their cannons in civilian houses. As a result, during the artillery battle, the Japanese observation posts were unable to find the Russian artillery positions in time, causing great losses."

"According to our observations, the Russians fired more than 20,000 shells during the artillery battle, causing heavy losses to the Japanese artillery."

Wu Peifu looked at Wei Jinghai and Teng Yuzao and asked, "Marshal, does Deputy Chief of Staff Liu know about this situation?"

The Director Liu that Wu Peifu mentioned is the Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Artillery Liu Changfa. Liu Changfa has now become a core member of Teng Yuzhao's team. Wu Peifu did not see Liu Changfa attending the meeting this time, so he had no time to ask about it.

Wei Jinghai smiled and answered for Teng Yuzao, "Don't worry, Ziyu. You must tell Director Liu about the situation of the Russian and Japanese artillery. Director Liu has been following the airship to observe their artillery battles in the field for the past ten days."

Li Xianze suddenly asked, "Since the Russians' artillery fire has suppressed the Japanese, they can free up their hands to use artillery fire to support their infantry. How could they still be defeated when their forces are almost the same?"

Liu Nineteen also asked in confusion, "It is said that the Russians during the Eight-Nation Alliance were more difficult to fight than the Japanese. Could it be that the Russians' troops outside the Great Wall are now made of tofu?"

Teng Yuzhao took over the conversation without waiting for Zuo Baotian to answer.

"The Russians haven't become soft-hearted soldiers, but after several major battles, the Japanese are no longer afraid of the Russians and are getting braver with each battle."

"Moreover, the Japanese are very good at finding the enemy's weaknesses. They suffered a great loss in the artillery battle, so they naturally have to find a way to solve it. Just listen to what Director Zuo has to say, and you will understand."

Zuo Baotian cleared his throat and said, "Without artillery cover, the Japanese gave up the strategy of assaulting the Russian positions and instead adopted a sneak attack. A part of the Fifth Division of the Second Army of the Japanese sneaked into the sorghum field at night and occupied the western heights of Taipingzhuang, a strategic support point of the Russian defense line, causing the defense line to be breached."

"In order to preserve his strength and carry out his planned Liaoyang Campaign, Kuropatkin had to order the frontline troops to abandon the Dashiqiao position and retreat to Haicheng. So on July 26, the Japanese occupied Gaiping again, and the Japanese Manchurian Army Headquarters also moved forward to Xiongyue."

On July 7, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Manchurian Army stationed in Xiongyue City, Iwao Oyama, ordered the commander of the 28th Division of the th Army, Kawamura Keiaki, to launch an attack on the old Russians in Ximu City at the end of last month in preparation for the attack on Liaoyang.

Then, Zuo Baotian began to report the battle situation between the Japanese and Russian armies.

According to the intercepted intelligence, Oku Yasutano, commander of the Japanese Second Army stationed at Dashiqiao, was worried that the Russian army, which still had an advantage in terms of manpower, would besiege the Japanese First Army or Fourth Army, so he made a suggestion to Oyama Iwao.

Ao Baogong's Second Army launched an attack on Haicheng to support the actions of the First and Fourth Armies.

At this time, Oyama Iwao had obtained intelligence that the Russian army had abandoned its outposts outside Liaoyang and began to retreat northward, attempting to engage in a decisive battle with the Japanese army near Liaoyang. He decided to take advantage of the fact that the Russian army had not yet strengthened its forces and to engage in a decisive battle with the Russian army in Liaoyang with the existing three armies.

Oyama Iwao believed that although the Manchurian army was at a disadvantage in terms of manpower, it could make up for the shortage of manpower if it was used skillfully.

Therefore, on July 31, he approved Ao Baogong's suggestion and ordered the Second Army to capture Haicheng, and the Fourth Army to attack Ximucheng.

As the Russian troops defending Ximu City were dispersed, they were unable to stop the Japanese attack, resulting in the defense line being breached by the Japanese again. The Second Army had to retreat hastily. Fortunately, it was still night, and the Russian army took advantage of the darkness to successfully retreat to Haicheng.

On the morning of August 1st, the Japanese Fourth Army occupied Ximu City at the small cost of only more than 80 casualties.

The Russian Second Army suffered a heavy price of more than 2,000 casualties, and even the death of the Third Army commander Carlyle, but still failed to repel the Japanese attack.

In this way, the Russian army's second line of defense began to be exposed to the Japanese army, which was another heavy blow to the main Russian forces defending Liaoyang.

Subsequently, on August 3, Ao Baogong led the Second Army and easily captured Haicheng at almost no cost.

The battle outside Liaoyang ended with the Russian East Manchurian Group withdrawing to Liangjiashan and the South Manchurian Group withdrawing to Anshan.

"As of yesterday, this is the situation," Zuo Baotian concluded his report. Teng Yuzao took a sip of beer and said, "The reason why the commander-in-chief of the Manchurian Army, Kuropatkin, took the retreat approach was to avoid active action, hoping to retreat to Liaoyang with the least loss, and then fight a decisive battle with the Japanese Manchurian Army in Liaoyang."

Teng Yuzao said disdainfully, "But in this way, the three armies of the Japanese have already moved together, and the Russians have completely lost the excellent opportunity to defeat them one by one."

"Also, since the towns and important strongholds south of Liaoyang have all fallen into the hands of the Japanese, the Japanese vanguard troops have already approached the first line of defense set up by the Russians south of Liaoyang. The Russians have lost their room for maneuver on a large scale."

Teng Yuzao pondered and said, "In addition to informing you of the battle situation today, there is one more thing I want to tell you. That is, when will we join the battle?"

Without waiting for anyone to answer, Teng Yuzao continued.

"In my heart, I want to wait until the Russians and the Japanese are both defeated and no longer have the strength to continue fighting, and then we will suddenly attack. At that time, even if the Russians and the Japanese join forces, I will not be afraid. It's just that I'm still a little unsure."

As soon as Teng Yuzhao finished speaking, Yang Shixiang hurriedly spoke.

"Everyone."

Yang Shixiang sighed and said, "The Marshal's considerations are very thorough, but the current situation is a little unfavorable to the Marshal."

Seeing that Wu Peifu, Liu Shijiu, Li Xiangze, Ye Zugui and others were somewhat puzzled, Yang Shixiang sighed again and said.

"You guys are not only outside Zhili, but you are also focused on training troops. You don't know much about the current situation. Let me tell you about it."

"You should also know that the imperial court is now secretly supporting the Japanese, intending to use the Japanese to drive the Russians out of the Northeast. This has almost become a consensus between the imperial court and China."

"Not only that, there is now a voice in the court that wants our Zhi army to join the war immediately and cooperate with the Japanese to drive out the Russians. It seems that the court has reached an agreement with the Japanese to return the three northeastern provinces to the court after the war."

Xu Shichang also said with some worry, "This is just the voice of the court. Under the instigation of some newspapers and local officials, the public is also calling for our Zhi army to join the war as soon as possible!"

"A bunch of fools!"

It is not known whether Liu Shijiu was referring to the imperial court or the public's call for the Zhi army to join the war.

Wu Peifu asked, "What do Yuan Shikai and Tieliang mean? Didn't anyone mention the Shuntian Army?"

Li Xiance also sneered and said, "The Shuntian Army now has nearly 200,000 people. Their weapons and equipment are all imported from Germany, and they even invited German instructors to train them. If they want to join the war, they should join the war together!"

After the merger of Yuan Shikai's Henan Army and Tie Liang's two towns of Shuntian Prefecture's new army, they were collectively called the Shuntian Army.

Although Yuan Shikai had already entered the Grand Council, Tie Liang found it difficult to command a group of arrogant and powerful generals in the Henan Army. As a last resort, the court finally had to let Yuan Shikai serve as the president of the Shuntian Army, and Tie Liang only served as assistant.

However, Tie Liang was still the actual manager of the Shuntian Army, and Yuan Shikai was just a figurehead on the surface.

Although the court's intention was very clear, which was to buy Tieliang some time so that he could completely control the Shuntian Army, Tieliang's efforts to win over the commanders of the Henan Army were not very effective. Despite spending a lot of money, there was still not much effect.

Yang Shiqi laughed and said, "How could the court be willing to let the Shuntian Army go to the battlefield? They are thinking of waiting for our Zhi Army to be defeated, and then let the Shuntian Army take advantage of the situation to drive the Marshal away!"

Every word Yang Shiqi said was heart-wrenching, but after all, Ye Zugui, the Navy Minister with an unclear attitude, was present. As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Shijiu just glanced at Ye Zugui, who was drinking tea with his head down, and spoke angrily.

"Marshal, the imperial court has always treated you as an outsider. Isn't this forcing us to rebel?"

Teng Yuzao was very clear that Yang Shiqi and Liu Shijiu were in sync with each other and were taking the opportunity to test Ye Zugui. The two of them had been very close recently, which surprised Teng Yuzao.

Although Teng Yuzhao knew very well that neither of them would betray him, Yang Shiqi was after all a ruthless scholar comparable to Jia Xu during the Three Kingdoms period.

Seeing that Ye Zugui did not look overly surprised, Teng Yuzao smiled calmly and said.

"Brother, please don't always talk about rebellion. Otherwise, I, Teng Yuzao, will be misunderstood by others if I have no intention of rebelling."

Teng Yuzao sighed and said, "Although I don't want to be like Yue Wumu, who was at the mercy of others, Zeng Wenzhenggong is an example. As I said before, if we drive away the foreign powers that invaded our land, I will retire and return to the countryside. What's the harm in that?"

Seeing that Liu Shijiu and Yang Shiqi wanted to talk more, Teng Yuzao hurriedly spoke.

"I have decided that we should wait until the Russians are exhausted from fighting now before we join the war. The specific time is to wait until the Russians' newly formed Second Pacific Fleet arrives and fights the Japanese Combined Fleet to the death, so that they have no chance of joining forces. Then we will join the war."

When Ye Zugui heard Teng Yuzhao mention the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, he immediately raised his head.

"Marshal, do you have any information about the Russians' Second Pacific Fleet? When will they arrive?"

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Tong Hou, there is no detailed intelligence on the Russian Second Pacific Fleet. I can only give you a general idea."

"Although the news that the Russians were forming the Second Pacific Fleet had been out for a long time, they had not taken any substantial action until Makarov died in the naval battle. Then they began to take action."

"Specifically, the Russians still have two fleets in Europe, namely the Black Sea Fleet and the Baltic Fleet. Because they have to fight against Turkey and are restricted by the treaty and cannot pass through the Dardanelles, they cannot withdraw them. The Russians have no choice but to send Admiral Rozhestvensky to lead the Second Pacific Fleet, which is composed of the Baltic Fleet, to rush to the Far East for assistance."

"But they discussed this decision for four months, and it was not until recently that the Tsar himself made the final decision."

"However, due to the British and Americans' constraints, they have been informed that all colonial ports in Britain and the United States will not allow the Russian fleet to stop for supplies. They have to go around half the world, starting from the Baltic Sea and going around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to China."

(End of this chapter)