The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 665 Asking Teng Xingfu for Food

Especially after learning from the previous example of Duan Qirui, Wang Yingkai estimated that many of his subordinates had the same idea.

They all knew that Teng Yuzao was willing to stand up for Duan Qirui who was detained by the Ministry of Army. What Teng Yuzao had in mind was the friendship between them and his classmate!

But Wang Yingkai still didn't quite understand. He couldn't understand that Teng Yuzao's open memorials and telegrams could be said to be a rebellion in fact, but Teng Yuzao was still hiding it and expressed his support for the court's constitutional reform! He still spoke to the court in the tone of a local official and courtier!
Teng Yuzhao has an army of hundreds of thousands and such strength, but he is still so pretentious. Why?
Wang Yingkai was just thinking about it when Zhang Huaizhai shook his head and spoke again.

"Sir, the road to Taiyuan is flat and we don't have to climb mountains or wade through ravines, but there are Zhi troops blocking the way. Not to mention the road out of the mountain is blocked. Even if we can rush through, there is still the natural barrier of Yanmen Pass. It is a barrier and it may not be easy to get through."

"If they really have troops that have already entered Hunyuan, it will be even more difficult to deal with. They can come and cut off our retreat at any time."

Zhang Huaizhi said in a serious tone, "I heard that the strength of one division of the Zhi army is almost catching up with one of our towns. Although we may not be afraid of them if our two towns are gathered together, it will be bad if we are trapped."

Zhang Huaizhai's meaning was very clear. He did not agree to take the route south to Taiyuan.
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Ma Longbiao, who had been silent, seemed to be unable to bear these people lying with their eyes open. He took a deep breath, frowned and spoke.

"Sir, whether Teng Yuzao rebelled or not is not up to us to decide. That should be determined by the court. We should not worry about it."

Ma Longbiao glanced at Zhang Huaizhi and continued, "Although what Brother Zizhi said makes sense, I also think it is not easy to go south from here, but then again, it is eight or nine hundred miles from here to Hequ, and most of it is mountainous. If we follow Teng Yuzao's request, we will have to go through the mountains, and it will be difficult for us to reach the Yellow River in less than 20 days."

"It will take such a long time. Not only will our brothers be exhausted, but even the food we brought will not be enough!"

The shortage of food is not just a problem in Wang Yingkai's Second Town. Even in He Zonglian's First Town, they did not carry much food.

We did get some supplies in Laiyuan, but unfortunately we didn't bring too much. After all, marching in the mountains would be more difficult if we carried too much.

Although they had arrived in Lingqiu, which was in the territory of Shanxi Province, Tie Liang had explained before leaving that the Zongli Yamen had already sent an official document to Zhang Renjun, the governor of Shanxi, so there would be no problem with supplies.

The food for his town for twenty days, including mules and horses, would be nearly 100,000 kilograms. He couldn't carry so much food through the mountains!

If supplies are provided along the way, it will be equally difficult.

There are almost no larger towns and villages in the mountains. To ensure military rations, we may have to rob them from villages along the way. It would be difficult to feed the entire army.

Moreover, if what was said in the ultimatum of the Zhi army was true, the Zhi army would have occupied the entire Shanxi province and forced them to leave. How could they have allowed them to rob supplies along the way? This might have given the Zhi army a reason to deal with them.

Although Ma Longbiao did not say it explicitly, his meaning was very clear. He did not want to take the road from Pianguan to Hequ, but still wanted to go south to Taiyuan as originally planned.

While Wang Yingkai was still weighing the pros and cons of the two paths, Wang Zhanyuan had already smiled and shook his head and said to Ma Longbiao.

"Brother Jinmen, it is better for us to stay in the mountains for a few more days than to be defeated or disarmed by the Zhi army. In my opinion, even if He Chunjiang's first town comes, we will not be able to get away with it in the hands of the Zhi army."

Wang Zhanyuan's words made Ma Longbiao a little unconvinced, and he said with a frown.

"Brother Zichun, don't try to boost the morale of the Zhi army and destroy the prestige of our Yu army. It is true that the Zhi army can fight, but they have recruited a lot of new soldiers in the past two years, so their combat effectiveness is bound to decline."

"And our Henan Army is no pushover. It has been more than ten years since we started training at Xiaozhan. We have been training every day and replenishing our weapons and equipment. We now have more than ten 75mm mountain cannons. If we really fight, they may not be our opponents."

At this point, Ma Longbiao turned to Wang Yingkai and said resolutely, "Sir, although the Zhi army claims that four divisions have entered Shanxi, it may not be true. Perhaps Teng Yuzao is bluffing and wants to force us to surrender. If we really don't fight the Zhi army and hand over Shanxi to Teng Yuzao, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the court in the future."

Seeing that Wang Yingkai still did not express his opinion, Ma Longbiao became a little anxious and added.

"Even if it is true that four divisions of the Zhi army entered Shanxi, Teng Yuzao was a little too arrogant. His forces were too dispersed."

"The brigade they had that entered Shanxi from Niangzi Pass has just reached Taiyuan, and the other one is even further away in Hunyuan. The two so-called all-mule and horse fast brigade of the Zhi army we are facing are scattered in the key pass ahead, as well as Daixian, Yanmen Pass, and Shuozhou. The Zhi army in Daixian and Yanmen Pass is at most a little more than one brigade."

"When the first town arrives, we will have nearly 40,000 soldiers and more than 30 artillery pieces. We can outnumber them and win a battle."

"If we ignore their bullshit ultimatum and rush out of the mountains, head all the way to Dai County, and then capture Yanmen, we can shake off their troops in Shuozhou and Hunyuan."

"If our entire army rushes all the way to Taiyuan, it would be best if we can defeat their detachment in Taiyuan in a short period of time. If not, we can also go south and rush to Puzhou to cross the river and enter Shaanxi."

"There are densely populated villages and towns along the way, so supply along the way is not a problem, especially south of Taiyuan, where Shanxi is a prosperous area and the roads are much easier to travel. We can even collect mules and horses along the way to speed up the march."

Lu Yongxiang also suddenly spoke up, "Sir, I agree with Ma Xietong's proposal. Teng Yuzao is indeed a little too arrogant."

"He wants to drive Zhang Renjun away. Zhang Renjun will definitely not sit still and wait for death. He will definitely order the Shanxi New Army to fight against the Zhi Army. Even if the Shanxi New Army is weak in combat effectiveness, both sides are in the same alliance with similar forces. The Zhi Army may not be able to take Taiyuan in a short time."

"Perhaps, when we arrive in Taiyuan, the six or seven thousand new troops in Taiyuan are still confronting the Zhi army. At that time, we and the Shanxi new troops will attack from both sides and defeat the Zhi army in one fell swoop. At that time, whether we defend or retreat is up to us!"

Wang Zhanyuan didn't dare to refute Ma Longbiao directly, so he aimed at Lu Yongxiang and sneered.

"Brother Zijia, the Zhi army has always had a huge organization. It is said that one of their regiments has more than 10,000 people, and their weapons and equipment are excellent. Not only are there many machine guns, but there are also a lot of cannons. In terms of firepower, one of their regiments is no worse than one of our towns." "Brother, you want to defeat all the enemies along the way, break through the dangerous passes, and then rush more than 600 miles to Taiyuan. But even if we reach Taiyuan, we will be exhausted, and it is hard to say how much combat effectiveness we can have!"

"What's more, we don't know how their two mule and horse fast brigades are deployed. Even if we can rush through, they will chase us and harass us along the way, slowing down our advance. Maybe before we reach Taiyuan, one of their brigades in Hunyuan will catch up with us."

Sun Chuanfang, who had been standing behind Wang Yingkai, suddenly raised the Ta Kung Pao in his hand and said.

"My Lords, the merchant who got this newspaper from me was from Taiyuan on his way to Datong. He said that when he passed through Dai County, he not only saw a large number of mules and horses in the Zhili army, but he also saw more than ten cannons and even twenty or thirty trucks in the Zhili army, all of which were produced in Zhili."

"Unless we completely annihilate them or completely cripple them in one battle, it will be difficult for us to escape to Taiyuan. If their troops in Hunyuan and Shuozhou also have trucks, we will not be able to outrun them."

"Also, we don't know how many mules, horses, and trucks their troops in Shuozhou and Hunyuan have. Once they have enough equipment, they will catch up with us if the battle is delayed. It may be impossible to get rid of them and rush to Taiyuan."

Tianjin's automobile factories can produce trucks. Not only do these generals know about this, they have even seen them. Although they are very expensive, costing about two thousand dollars for a truck, they are indeed useful. Not only can they carry a lot of cargo, but they are also fast.

If the road conditions are good, you can travel five or six hundred miles a day.

The Ministry of the Army has ten trucks, which are specially used to transport supplies to the troops around the capital. As for the various towns of the Shuntian Army, they can forget about owning them.

But if others can’t afford it, can’t the Zhi army itself afford it either?

This is obviously not true. The Zhi Army not only has better weapons and equipment, but also has higher military pay than the Shuntian Army. It is said that it is much stronger than the Shuntian Army. No one would think that it is impossible for the wealthy Zhi Army to have foreign things like trucks.

What surprised these people the most was that the other side had more than ten cannons in Dai County. And according to Bao Guiqing, the Zhi army in several obstacles here also had cannons, and the number seemed to be large. This was an aid to the other side!
Sun Chuanfang's words made Lu Yongxiang shut up immediately. Although Ma Longbiao was still a little dissatisfied, he was also a little nervous.

The person who was speaking was Wang Yingkai's brother-in-law, so Ma Longbiao didn't say much. He just turned around and said to Wang Yingkai.

"Sir, this is a serious matter. Why don't we wait until the First Town arrives to see what Town Commander He says before you make a decision? Otherwise, we will be held responsible alone."

Wang Zhanyuan said with a grin, "Brother Jinmen, even if we join forces with the First Town to fight our way out of Yanmen Pass, we will probably suffer heavy casualties. Besides, there are airships in the sky watching us. The Zhi army knows our every move very well, so it will be difficult for us to reach Taiyuan."

"Also, even if they are far away in Shuozhou and Hunyuan, the Zhi army will rely on trucks to transport their troops to Taiyuan ahead of us. There is even a possibility that some Zhi army will enter Niangzi Pass again. In that case, Taiyuan will probably become our burial place."

When Wang Zhanyuan mentioned the airship, everyone including Wang Yingkai couldn't help but look up at the blue sky. In the very high blue sky, there was a small silver dot, still floating there quietly.

In such clear weather, through the telescope, they could clearly see that it was a spindle-shaped airship. They had looked up at this Zhijun airship countless times in these days.

This airship has been following them since they entered the mountains. When they march, the airship also follows them. When they camp, the airship will stay in the air. The purpose is obvious, which is to track and monitor their marching movements.

Now Zhili is the only province with airships, and many domestic routes have been opened. The airship in the sky was undoubtedly sent by Teng Yuzhao.

The Ministry of the Army also wanted to buy it, and initially wanted to purchase it from Zhili, but Teng Yuzhao's price was too high, one ship costing 108,000 taels of silver, so Tieliang, who was short of money, had to give up.

It is said that a ship has been ordered in Germany for 120,000 taels of silver, but it has not yet returned to the country.

"grown ups."

Wang Zhanyuan said to Wang Yingkai without hesitation, "It is absolutely unwise to go to war with the Zhi army in Shanxi."

"The order given to us by the Army Department is to go to Shaanxi. It did not say that we should assist the First Town in stationing in Taiyuan. The reorganization of the new army in Taiyuan has nothing to do with us. It is the same to go to Shaanxi via Hequ or Puzhou. Once we reorganize the new army in Shaanxi as scheduled, we will have completed our mission."

"I think, to be on the safe side, we should go through Pianguan to Hequ, and then we can cross the Yellow River in Hequ and be safe."

"As for food?"

Wang Zhanyuan rolled his eyes and said, "Since Xingfu asked us to leave Shanxi along the route he gave us, he must have left us a way to survive. He can't let us starve to death in the mountains and then force us to go in regardless of our lives!"

"Why don't you write a letter to the Zhi army blocking the road, asking them to contact Xingfu as soon as possible and tell Xingfu that we can go through Pianguan to Hequ to cross the river, but if we don't go through Taiyuan, we will have no supplies. Without food, we can't cross Hengshan and then get out of Luliang Mountain."

Wang Zhanyuan's words made Wang Yingkai's eyes light up, but then they dimmed.

He absolutely could not write a letter to Teng Yuzhao as it would leave a handle. Tieliang had planted people in the Second Town of his place, and his chief of staff was sent by Tieliang, who only arranged for him to take a train with Tieliang to Zhengzhou, and then rush to Xi'an from Zhengzhou to prepare for the Second Town.

The chief of staff sent by Tieliang is very active in his second town. Who knows who else is watching him secretly.

If I have any handle on him, Tieliang might find out one day, and I would be in big trouble.

Wang Yingkai smiled bitterly and said, "Zichun, you know that Xingfu and I have always been at odds when we were in the Military Academy. It's okay if I don't write to him. If I write to him, the food will definitely not be given. Why don't you write a letter to Xingfu?"

(End of this chapter)