The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 669 Wang Yingkai's Worries
Wang Yingkai continued, "Plus, they have a large number of mules and horses, so there is absolutely no need to leave too many troops in Shuozhou. Therefore, the troops they have in Dai County must be the main force of the two associations. The number of people will not be less than 20,000, and may even exceed this number."

"They don't even need to have too many troops at Yanmen Pass. Yanmen Pass is in a dangerous position. With their superior firepower, they only need to leave one or two battalions to build fortifications."

"Even if He Chunjiang breaks through the blockade, they only need to retreat to Dai County and block the road through Hengshan Mountain to prevent the First Town from crossing Hengshan Mountain from Dai County. As long as the Zhi Army holds on for two or three days, the troops from Shuozhou can rush over through Hengshan Mountain."

"If he doesn't take Dai County, He Chunjiang will never dare to attack Yanmen Pass again, otherwise he will be attacked from both sides. This is just one of the reasons."

Wang Yingkai sneered and said, "Secondly, although He Chunjiang has a town of soldiers, he was a soldier. He was a captain before he entered the Beiyang Military Academy."

"There is also Wu Jing'an from the Fifth Town, who is similar to He Chunjiang."

"Although He Chunjiang and I, as well as Teng Xingfu, Duan Zhiquan, Wang Pinqing, Cao Zhongshan, and Wang Zichun, are classmates, they still cannot change the old methods of the Huai Army in training troops. They only have the appearance of a new army."

Speaking of this, Wang Yingkai couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"It can be said that in our Henan Army, the two towns have the worst combat effectiveness. I dare to conclude that they will never be able to break out of the mountain."

Having said that, Wang Yingkai seemed relieved and spoke with some ease.

"This is the best outcome. What I am most worried about is that the Zhi army's blocking troops will place his first town near Dai County, and then completely defeat the first town there. In that case, Tieliang will definitely blame me."

After listening to Wang Yingkai's analysis, Sun Chuanfang also thought that what Wang Yingkai said made sense.

Although he had never had direct contact with the Zhi army, he had heard many examples of the Zhi army's battles against the foreign coalition forces from the instructors in the military academy. Even the German instructors highly praised the Zhi army's battle examples and were generous with their praise for Teng Yuzhao.

Through these battle examples, Sun Chuanfang had a preliminary understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Zhi Army. The Zhi Army was definitely not something that ordinary new troops in the country could contend with.

Even the Henan Army, which was much stronger than the new domestic army, was the same.

However, Sun Chuanfang still disagreed with what Wang Yingkai said, so he changed the subject.

"Brother-in-law, I think Commander Zhang is right. It is very important to keep the troops. Now it is clear that Marshal Teng is at loggerheads with the imperial court. As long as you control the troops, the imperial court will not dare to do anything to you. It is possible that they will try every means to win you over."

Then Sun Chuanfang asked the question he had always wanted to ask today but never had the chance to.

"Brother-in-law, I see that you seem to be more optimistic about Teng Shuai. I wonder why?"

"Although General Teng is extremely powerful now, the imperial court still holds a righteous position and its strength cannot be underestimated."

Wang Yingkai was quite relieved about what Sun Chuanfang said.

"Xinyuan, you've made progress by being able to think of these things."

Wang Yingkai took a deep breath and said, "Looking at Teng Xingfu's attitude, he will definitely rebel, and he is indeed the most powerful, whether in terms of military strength or financial resources, I am optimistic about him."

"It's just that what you said about the imperial court occupying the righteous position is also true." Wang Yingkai said in a mocking tone, "Although this imperial court is Manchu, to put it bluntly, it is a court established by a foreign race, but it has been nearly three hundred years after all."

"The Manchus have been trying to assimilate since the reign of Emperor Kangxi, saying that there is no difference between Manchus and Han people. And now all Manchus are speaking the Han language and even respecting Chinese etiquette. This is very useful to the literati and scholars. Many of them have forgotten that their ancestors were authentic Chinese people and believe that the Manchu court is the current orthodox Chinese."

"In addition, the livelihoods of the vast majority of the people are still acceptable, and the court is also protecting the interests of the gentry. This puts a lot of pressure on anyone who wants to rebel, and it is even difficult to create an atmosphere where one person can respond to the attacks of foreign races."

"If Teng Xingfu rebels, there will be a bloody upheaval."

Teng Xingfu should be very clear about this. He seems unwilling to bear this bad reputation. It seems to me that he wants to be like Cao Cao or Zhao Kuangyin, slowly changing people's perception of him and eventually replacing him."

Sun Chuanfang understood Wang Yingkai's meaning of comparing Teng Yuzhao to Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao controlled the emperor to command the princes, he always reserved the throne for Emperor Xian of Han throughout his life. It was not until after Cao Cao's death that his son Cao Pi seized the throne.

At that time, there was almost no resistance for Cao Pi to seize the throne.

As for the current Teng Yuzao, he is not the real Cao Cao after all. Sun Chuanfang does not think that Teng Yuzao will wait until his son comes to seize the throne.

Wang Yingkai continued, "As for whether Teng Xingfu can finally achieve his wish, it is still uncertain now. We will have to wait and see."

"We do have troops, which is the most important thing right now. We cannot make our position clear too soon. As long as Teng Xingfu has not raised his banner and the situation is not clear, we cannot break off relations with the court. We must also make friends with Teng Xingfu and keep our friendship with Marshal Yuan."

Wang Yingkai's words puzzled Sun Chuanfang. "Brother-in-law, now General Teng has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command. It is almost easy for him to conquer the world. How can you say that it is still uncertain?"

Wang Yingkai sighed heavily, "Don't forget, there is also Marshal Yuan. Zhang Zizhi and Wang Zichun must have known about Marshal Yuan's visit to Guangdong and Guangxi this time. At least they also heard some rumors. Zhang Zizhi deliberately covered it up today, so there must be something hidden."

Seeing that Sun Chuanfang was still full of surprise, Wang Yingkai patted Sun Chuanfang on the shoulder and said.

"Fortunately, Teng Xingfu has not yet decided to engage in war with the imperial court, otherwise he would not have pushed Xu Juren to the front. If Teng Xingfu wanted to fight now, not to mention the First Town, even our Second Town would not be able to leave Shanxi."

Sun Chuanfang understood Wang Yingkai's meaning of comparing Teng Yuzhao to Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao controlled the emperor to command the princes, he always reserved the throne for Emperor Xian of Han throughout his life. It was not until after Cao Cao's death that his son Cao Pi seized the throne.

As for Zhao Kuangyin, there is no need to say more. However, in Sun Chuanfang's view, if Teng Yuzhao wants to become Zhao Kuangyin, he will definitely not be able to ascend to the throne by simply intimidating a mutiny. He must resort to force to achieve his goal.

Wang Yingkai continued, "As for whether Teng Xingfu can finally achieve his wish, it is still uncertain now. We will have to wait and see."

"We do have troops, which is the most important thing right now. We can't just hang ourselves on a tree. We can't break off relations with the court, and we have to be on good terms with Teng Xingfu. Duan Zhiquan is now with Teng Xingfu, which is the best thing for us."

Wang Yingkai said to Sun Chuanfang earnestly, "Xinyuan."

"I said the same thing. The reason why I want you to follow Zhili to Germany is very simple. When you graduate and return home, the outcome will be clear. No matter whether I still have troops or not, you should ignore me..."

(End of this chapter)