The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 640 The savior is coming
The sudden gunshot frightened Zhang Xiyuan so much that he trembled and immediately squatted down to hide behind the parapet.

Fortunately, although Zhang Xiyuan had never been to the battlefield, he had been in the army for a long time and was still quite courageous. While he squatted down to avoid possible bullets, his eyes did not leave the confrontation scene in front of the gate.

When he discovered the cause of the gunshot, he immediately stopped his subconscious movements.

It turned out that at some point, Liu Zhengang had snatched a strange-looking gun from a soldier holding a strange gun behind him, held the gun with both hands, raised his hand and fired a volley of bullets into the air.

The sudden gunshot not only scared Zhang Xiyuan, but also seemed to frighten the officers and soldiers of Ma Longbiao's brigade who were confronting the escort team.

Especially the strange-looking gun in Liu Zhengang's hand, which fired a long string of dense bullets in the blink of an eye. Judging from the sound, there were about thirty bullets. This frightened the officers and soldiers of Shuntian Army, including Ma Longbiao, and stopped their aggressive steps.

If this volley of bullets was fired at the neatly arranged Shuntian Army coming towards them, almost an entire platoon of soldiers would be killed or injured. How could this not shock Ma Longbiao and his men?

What's more, there is not just one strange-looking gun on the opposite side that is comparable to a machine gun, but sixty or seventy of them. If these sixty or seventy strange-looking guns that have never been seen before fire at the same time, the casualties among Duan Shun of the Shuntian Army will be so heavy that it is unimaginable.

As Liu Zhengang fired this volley of bullets, the officers and soldiers of the escort team behind him immediately pulled the bolts and pushed bullets into the chamber, making a series of "clatter, clatter" sounds.

Although the sound of pulling the bolts was not uniform, it only happened within two or three seconds. The sound of thousands of people pulling the bolts was still very loud, and Zhang Xiyuan, who was standing on the roof, could hear it clearly.

The guards on both sides who were holding strange guns in their hands, at the moment of the gunshot, had already pulled the bolt to load the bullets, so that the powerful weapons in their hands were ready to fire at any time. At the same time, they quickly knelt on one knee in the front row, while those in the back row also slightly bent their bodies and pointed the strange-looking guns in their hands at the approaching Shuntian Army.

Although there were no orders, the Shuntian army, which was already in a panic, subconsciously heard a chaotic sound of pulling the bolts to load bullets.

Even some soldiers in the front row of the Shuntian army had raised their Mauser rifles and pointed the black muzzles at the escort team.

Although the officers and soldiers in the front row of the Shuntian Army were somewhat timid and even frightened when facing the escort team, their instinctive self-defense actions still made them ready to counterattack at any time in a short period of time.

At this time, as long as a soldier on either side shakes his hand and accidentally pulls the trigger and fires a bullet, even if he doesn't hit anyone, it will instantly trigger a brutal shootout.

At this moment, the scene of the confrontation was so silent that it made people shudder. It was as if the armies of the Western powers had lined up to shoot each other until not long ago. This place could turn into a Shura scene at any time.

Even if someone screamed at this moment, it was possible that the soldiers on both sides, who were already highly nervous, would not be able to help but start shooting at each other.

"Oh!"

Colonel Karl, who was beside Zhang Xiyuan, had instinctively crouched down and stood up again, exclaiming, "My God! This is a terrible weapon. It will play a huge role on the battlefield!"

Zhang Xiyuan understood that what Colonel Karl was amazed at was the strange-looking guns of the escort team, but Zhang Xiyuan had no time to care about the extremely shocked Colonel Karl. His eyes were already fixed on Ma Longbiao.

Ma Longbiao was known for his bravery. Not only was he daring to fight in previous battles, but he was also very tough when he was in the Wuwei Right Army. Faced with Liu Zhenggang's aggressiveness, Zhang Xiyuan was very worried that Ma Longbiao's temper would be unbearable.

Once Ma Longbiao gets angry, the consequences will be absolutely unimaginable.

Thinking of this, the words "When an ordinary man is angry, blood splatters every five steps; when the emperor is angry, millions of corpses are buried" suddenly popped up in Zhang Xiyuan's mind.

Although Ma Longbiao is not an emperor, but just the commander of an army, if he can't control his anger, there will probably be thousands of corpses here immediately.

Even if the two sides really come to blows, the Shuntian Army will definitely suffer the loss, and the price is also not something that either side can afford.

This is because, although only Ma Longbiao's troops were completely wiped out, the casualties of the escort team at such a close distance would definitely not be a small number.

Zhang Xiyuan's military rank was already major general, which nominally corresponded to the rank of the imperial court. However, at a time when all provinces were generally training new armies, the rank corresponding to officers on the march was gradually fading and had little significance. He himself was very clear about this.

Now, although he was neither a general in the Zhi Army nor Teng Yuzhao's confidant, he was merely the chief officer of a department under the Zhi Army's General Staff. He had already vaguely felt that Teng Yuzhao had rebellious intentions, and he was even more aware that Teng Yuzhao would sooner or later break off relations with the court.

After all, Zhang Xiyuan had been in the Wuwei Vanguard Army's camp school for many years, and many of his students had become captains in the Zhi army, and some had even become standard commanders, so he was not isolated from information.

He knew that there was a force secretly operating in the Zhi army that intended to push Teng Yuzhao to power, and even in the military academy, many instructors held similar ideas.

Hundreds of thousands of Zhi troops had already formed an ironclad alliance, and outsiders could not interfere at all, not even the imperial court. As long as Teng Yuzhao made a call, hundreds of thousands of Zhi troops would overthrow the imperial court by force.

Zhang Xiyuan didn't believe that Teng Yuzao was unaware of this.

Therefore, Zhang Xiyuan believed that the reason why Teng Yuzhao was still serving as the Beiyang Minister and President of the Zhi Army in the court was that he was enduring and waiting for a more suitable opportunity.

Zhang Xiyuan would also like Teng Yuzao to continue this mentality for a while longer.

He could see clearly that as the people's livelihood and economy in Zhishan Province were booming, the hearts of the world's literati, gentry and ordinary people were already leaning towards Teng Yuzhao.

As time goes by, the economy and people's livelihood in Zhishan Province will further improve and develop, and more people will be inclined to support Teng Yuzhao.

Zhang Xiyuan was even certain that as long as a few years passed, or if Teng Yuzhao successfully led his Zhi army to recover the land of the three provinces outside the Great Wall, Teng Yuzhao's reputation would be at its peak and he would be in the limelight. At that time, no one would call on the court to implement constitutional government as soon as possible, but someone would directly call on the court to abdicate.

Time is on Teng Yuzao's side, and the longer the time, the more advantageous it is for Teng Yuzao.

But now, once a fight breaks out here, this superficial peace and tranquility will immediately disappear. The imperial court, which still temporarily occupies the position of orthodox imperial power, will definitely fight with Teng Yuzhao and make a final struggle.

This would not only plunge the people who had just enjoyed a peaceful life into war again, but would also disrupt Teng Yuzhao's plans and make him lose his reputation for righteousness.

That’s not all. What worries Zhang Xiyuan the most is that he thinks Teng Yuzhao is likely to vent his anger on him.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiyuan no longer cared about Colonel Carl, but shouted loudly again.

"Don't shoot, stay calm! Stay calm! We can talk it out!"

Knowing that neither of them would calmly put down their guns because of his shouting, Zhang Xiyuan continued shouting.

"Commander Ma, I'm Zhang Xiyuan. If you have anything to say, let's talk it out!"

Because of nervousness, Zhang Xiyuan's face turned pale and his speech was even incoherent.

But the two sides in the confrontation still refused to give in to each other. Not only was Ma Longbiao, who was holding a pistol, blocked behind him by several guards with only his head showing, but Liu Zhenggang was also blocked behind him by two guards holding pistols.

If either of them reacted violently, blood would still flow like a river. Ma Longbiao, with veins exposed on his head and eyes wide open, stared blankly at Liu Zhengang, who was also glaring at him, for a long while, then looked at the guards on both sides who were holding those strange guns with strong firepower and were ready to shoot, and exhaled heavily after a long time.

Ma Longbiao raised his hand and put the pistol he was holding tightly in his hand into the holster at his waist. He seemed to be worried about causing some unexpected incident, and spoke to the people around him in as calm a tone as possible.

"Tell the brothers to put away their guns."

As soon as Ma Longbiao finished speaking, several officers near him also seemed to be greatly relieved.

Because this time they came to the military academy to arrest the students who took the lead in cutting their hair, not to fight. No one even worried that the students would take up arms to resist, so they did not carry any high-powered weapons, let alone artillery, even the heavy machine guns were left in the barracks.

At this moment, seeing that the strange-looking guns of the Zhi army's escort team could fire rapidly and continuously, with a power comparable to the Maxim heavy machine gun's short bursts of fire, they no longer had the courage to fight the enemy and hurriedly shouted loudly.

"Put down your guns, brothers of the Shuntian Army, put down your guns."

One officer even added, "Be careful, brothers. Turn off the safety and don't fire the gun accidentally."

Following the shouts, the soldiers of the Shuntian Army quickly put down the rifles they were holding.

Since many soldiers were worried that their side would suffer in a fight, they hurriedly put down their guns after receiving orders from their officers.

They were in such a hurry to put down their guns that their queue suddenly seemed a little chaotic.

Seeing Ma Longbiao on the opposite side ordering the troops to put down their guns, Liu Zhengang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and turned around and shouted to the people behind him.

"Everyone, put down your guns."

Following Liu Zhengang's order, the guards also put down their rifles.

It was not obvious from a close distance, but from the perspective of Zhang Xiyuan and the German instructors led by Colonel Karl standing high on the roof, the gap between the two sides was very obvious.

Zhang Xiyuan knew that, except for Liu Zhengang, all the officers and soldiers of the escort team were veterans who had fought in the battlefield and had been in the army for at least three years, so they could move so neatly and efficiently.

If they were new recruits, they might not be able to be so orderly after just going through such a tense scene.

However, Zhang Xiyuan now truly realized that the situation of the guard team had completely confirmed the significance of Teng Yuzhao's great emphasis on military posture and appearance training.

Military discipline is not only a guarantee of discipline, but its impact on the psychological quality of officers and soldiers cannot be ignored.

The Shuntian Army in front of us is a good counter example.

You should know that Ma Longbiao's troops were from the Henan Army, and their predecessor was the Wuwei Right Army trained by Yuan Shikai in Xiaozhan.

The military rules and discipline of the Wuwei Right Army were still very good, especially the technical and tactical training, which was always very strict. Although they had just experienced an extremely tense moment and it was normal to be a little messy, it was much worse than the guard team.

The instructors, led by Colonel Karl, could not help but utter words of admiration and admiration.

In their opinion, although the guards' orderly movements were not as good as those of the German active troops, they were still very good overall.

In particular, the psychological state of the guards was surprisingly good, which was not necessarily achieved by many German troops.

"Zhang, are you sure that all the officers and soldiers of the guard team should be retired?"

Seeing that both sides had put down their guns, Zhang Xiyuan couldn't help but relax.

He answered while still keeping his eyes fixed on the confrontation scene.

"Colonel Carl, I can confirm that this is the case."

"Assistant Zhang."

Ma Longbiao's shout interrupted Zhang Xiyuan's subsequent words.

"I am Ma Longbiao, the commander of the Third Brigade of the Second Town of the Shuntian Army. I am here on the orders of the Army Department to arrest GMD at your school. You must immediately ask these guards to get out of the way, otherwise the Army Department will hold you accountable, and it will be too late for you to regret it then!"

Worried that Zhang Xiyuan might not recognize him, Ma Longbiao also gave out his own home address and threatened Zhang Xiyuan.

With Teng Yuzhao's telegram and the escort team sent, Zhang Xiyuan would not care about Ma Longbiao's threat and snorted coldly.

"General Ma, the students cut their hair just to facilitate training. There is absolutely no such thing as a GMD in the school. Marshal Teng has already submitted a memorial to the Queen Mother explaining this. I believe the Queen Mother will make the right judgment soon."

"Therefore, please ask Commander Ma to lead the troops away and wait for the imperial court's order."

Although Ma Longbiao was angry, he had no better solution as the arsenal guards blocked the gate. When he was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves. Looking back, he saw several horses galloping into the street in the distance behind him and heading straight for the military academy.

However, Ma Longbiao's gaze only swept across the horsemen and he no longer paid any attention to them because his eyes had been attracted by the houses at the end of the street near the military academy. He couldn't help but gasp.

Because he saw that not only were Maxim heavy machine guns mounted on the roofs of several houses, but there were also many soldiers in Zhili army uniforms lying on the walls and roofs.

Their 3,000-plus men were completely surrounded by the enemy. If a fight broke out right away, unless he could lead his troops to quickly rush into the military academy, eliminate the harassment from the students inside, occupy some houses and courtyards to defend and wait for reinforcements, he would inevitably face the fate of being wiped out.

At this moment, he had completely understood that the guards were ready to fight him, and these people were even willing to take actions that were close to raising the flag of rebellion.

"Don't shoot, I'm Duan Qirui."

Ma Longbiao was just wondering when he heard someone shouting from several horses galloping towards them.

When he heard that it was Duan Qirui who came, Ma Longbiao immediately breathed a sigh of relief, he knew that his savior had come.

Ma Longbiao and Duan Qirui were old acquaintances when they were in Xiaozhan. With him around, not only would safety no longer be a problem, but the mission he was ordered to do could also be almost completed.

(End of this chapter)