The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 69 I Finally Found You
Hu Dianjia said with a heavy expression, "As far as I know, after the old general returned to Tianjin, he just sent his family to secretly deliver a letter to Yu Zhongtang, asking him not to make it public, saying that after he settled his family affairs, he would commit suicide to repay the court's kindness."

"For this reason, Yu Zhongtang and Nie Junmen went to the Luo family incognito to persuade them, but to no avail."

"Although the court had not yet declared war on the foreign powers, Yu Zhongtang was indecisive and worried about gains and losses, so he did not send troops to rescue. But in hindsight, even if Yu Zhongtang got the news, the reinforcements would not be able to arrive at Dagukou, dozens of miles away, before 7 o'clock in the morning. It would definitely be too late for rescue. Even so, after all, he did not send reinforcements. Yu Zhongtang felt guilty and did not make the matter public."

"Those Dagukou Green Camp soldiers who fled back had nowhere to go because no one was in charge, so they all gathered at the Three Camps Green Camp stationed in Tianjin. This time, it should be Yu Zhongtang who instructed General He to send them all to you, so the Three Camps Green Camp left in Tianjin has become more than 5,000 people."

Hu Dianjia looked back in the direction of the small parade ground and said, "Xingfu, I am a little worried. These Dagukou soldiers who have fled back may be resentful because they could not get rescued. This will cause the Green Camp's morale to be unstable. Not only can you not use them, but also..."

Hu Dianjia's words surprised Teng Yuzhao. He admired this 67-year-old veteran who had already received a transfer order and could have just left. However, he had no way to convince the old general and could only sigh in his heart!
However, Teng Yuzhao was secretly concerned about what Hu Dianjia said. He really had to find a way to boost the morale of these Green Camp soldiers as soon as possible, otherwise it was possible that these people would collapse at the first blow in the war and thus shake the entire army's defense line.

Hu Dianjia sighed again and shook his head, saying, "Xingfu, I will go back and make preparations. I have picked out thirty veterans with the best riding skills from the three battalions of cavalry for you. These people will probably be here in an hour or so. They don't have to go back to the Wuwei Front Army, just stay with your army. Take care of yourself!"

Although Teng Yuzhao's cavalry battalion now has war horses, equipment, and even personnel, all the people in the cavalry battalion, including Xue Zhiqian, have no practical experience in cavalry warfare. It would naturally be a great thing to have these veterans join his cavalry battalion.

However, Teng Yuzhao suddenly remembered something. Seeing that Hu Dianjia had already climbed onto the warhorse brought by his guards and was about to ride away, he had no time to thank Hu Dianjia and hurriedly added.

"Xuan Qing, don't leave those three battalions of cavalry in the camp. As soon as you learn that Seymour has retreated, release them and have them patrol west of the Xigu warehouse to threaten Seymour's flank and prevent him from escaping back to the concession from the west."

Hu Dianjia nodded while sitting on his horse and said, "No problem, but I still want to ask you, isn't Seymour worried that he will be blocked by us in Xigu?"

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "When Seymour left the concession, there was a battalion of training troops stationed here in Xigu..."

Although Teng Yuzhao hadn't finished speaking, Hu Dianjia had already understood what Teng Yuzhao meant. He shook his head with a wry smile, and galloped away with his dozen or so guards, whipping their horses.

Not to mention one battalion of trained troops, even if there were ten battalions of trained troops and more than two thousand coalition forces from Western powers, Seymour would not be afraid at all.

Teng Yuzhao even believed that Seymour's retreat in Langfang was not because he did not want to, or could not, break through the obstruction and rush to the capital, but because he did not carry enough food and ammunition.

It only takes one day to reach the capital from Tianjin by train. At that time, the fighting at Dagukou had not yet started, and the Zhili troops had not yet gone to war with the Allied Forces. It is estimated that Seymour and the Allied generals in the concession had never thought that they would encounter obstacles on the road.

Because two groups of allied forces had already arrived in the capital by train and had successfully entered the Legation Quarter in Dongjiaomin Lane.

This time, the coalition forces let Seymour lead his troops into the capital, probably because they were still worried about the safety of personnel from various countries in the embassy district.

Teng Yuzhao did not think that the coalition forces would be so arrogant as to think that they could capture the Qing capital with just over 2,000 people.

Moreover, no matter what the reason was for Seymour's withdrawal, Teng Yuzao would not easily let him withdraw to the concession.

While Teng Yuzao was thinking about what he needed to do next to stop the coalition forces from retreating, he turned around and prepared to walk back. "My lord, please stay!"

Just as Teng Yuzhao turned around, a shout suddenly came from a distance.

Teng Yuzhao turned around and saw a tall and thin young soldier, about 25 or 26 years old, wearing the uniform of the Wuwei Front Army and carrying luggage on his back, running towards him from a distance.

Looking at the somewhat familiar face, Teng Yuzhao couldn't help but feel excited, and his feet involuntarily wanted to move forward, but he changed his mind and suppressed his excitement, stopped and waited where he was.

Soon, the young man ran in front of Teng Yuzhao, stood at attention and saluted Teng Yuzhao, then asked carefully.

"Excuse me, sir, is this the newly built Wuwei Army vanguard camp?"

Teng Yuzao carefully looked at the tall young man and said, "You are right. This is the front-line camp. You are from the Wuwei Front Army. What are you doing here?"

"Your Excellency, I am here to report to General Teng of the Vanguard Army."

When the young man ran over, Li Dazhu, who had been following Teng Yuzao with two guards, had already reached for the handle of the Mauser pistol at his waist and rushed to Teng Yuzao's side. When he heard the young man say that he wanted to report to Teng Yuzao, he couldn't help but smile.

"Big guy, the one standing in front of you is our Teng Army."

Although the Wuwei Army was taught by the German Army, they did not adopt any Western-style military ranks. None of its subordinate units had military ranks, so people who did not know him could not tell how high Teng Yuzao's rank was in the army. Perhaps because Teng Yuzao was only a few years older than him, the young man did not quite believe what Li Dazhui said and hesitated without saying a word.

Teng Yuzao asked, "Is your last name Wu?"

The young man stepped forward and said, "My humble servant is Wu Peifu."

After getting a definite answer, Teng Yuzhao could no longer contain his excitement and burst into laughter.

All the unhappiness and worries in his heart disappeared at this moment and turned into nothing in an instant.

Wu Peifu was not only the most capable general in the Beiyang Army, he was also a talented commander with great charisma and an all-round capable figure.

Teng Yuzao took a step forward, grabbed the hand of Wu Peifu, who was slightly taller than him at 1.78 meters, and held it tightly, saying excitedly, "Wu Ziyu, I finally found you."

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(End of this chapter)