The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 97 Li Xian Ce's Threat
Teng Yuzao still paced with his head down, and continued to ask, "Brother, I really want to know, what gives you such strong confidence?"

Originally, after Teng Yuzhao's explanation, Liu Shijiu's face was no longer livid, but gradually returned to normal, but at this moment it turned a little pale again. It was obvious that he was deeply shocked, but he still tried his best to resist the huge blow brought to him by Teng Yuzhao's words.

He had never thought about whether he could win the battle. Teng Yuzhao's words at this moment were undoubtedly an awakening to him.

Liu Shijiu whispered, "They are just a bunch of small countries. Even if there are many of them, what can they do? How can they be compared with a great country like our Qing Dynasty..."

Teng Yuzao sighed slightly, "Brother, don't say that this group is not a bunch of small countries, because they almost include all the most powerful countries in the world today. It can be said that now we are fighting against the most powerful force in the world with the strength of one country."

"Moreover, to be precise, it is because those governors and governors-general in the south have no regard for our country in their hearts. The reason I say this is that these governors and governors-general, just because they have a different view from the court on the attitude towards the Boxers, they have disregarded the greater good and have been on their own to protect the southeast, completely disregarding the interests of the country and the nation, and turning a blind eye to the invasion of the great powers. How short-sighted they are."

"Little do they know that once these powers succeed, our country will probably be forcibly divided up by them. When the nest is overturned, the eggs will be broken. What good will their self-preservation do?"

Teng Yuzhao's words were not alarmist. He remembered clearly that from historical records in his previous life, after the Eight-Nation Alliance occupied the capital, these invaders planned to divide up the Qing Dynasty. Among all the countries, only the United States firmly opposed the division of the Qing Dynasty and finally had to demand an astronomical amount of compensation.

"Besides."

Teng Yuzao continued to speak calmly, "The lesson of the disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 is right in front of us. A small Japanese country defeated the mighty Qing Dynasty, which had mobilized the entire country to fight. In the end, it had to cede territory and pay compensation. Now, we are actually using the strength of Zhili Province to resist these most powerful countries in the world. Tell me, what are our chances of winning?"

"Brother."

Teng Yuzao said to Liu Shijiu in a sincere tone, "Now, do you still think we can defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance?"

At this moment, not only did Liu Shijiu's face turn pale, and he sat down on the ammunition box that served as a stool nearby, but even Li Xianze, Wu Peifu, Li Jinyu, and the two young staff officers from the Second Regiment in the regiment headquarters all had extremely ugly expressions.

Wu Peifu gritted his teeth and said in hatred, "Teacher, what you said is that even if we know we can't win, we must dare to draw our swords! Our vanguard army should be determined to die and draw our swords to the foreign devils, so that they know that the Qing Dynasty is not only a land of great wealth, but also has heroic men like us who dare to fight them to the death!"

"well said!"

Teng Yuzao praised loudly, "We must have this kind of chivalrous spirit of daring to draw the sword, the courage to fight to the death, and the determination to fight to the death with these invaders."

Although Liu Shijiu had never heard Teng Yuzhao's words about "drawing the sword", he understood what it meant. Liu Shijiu, who looked depressed, jumped up excitedly and shouted.

"Well said. Even though we know we can't win, we still dare to show our swords and knives to these foreign devils. Even if we die in battle, we won't be scared to death by them. There are plenty of passionate men in the Qing Dynasty."

"Yes." Knowing that Liu Shijiu had listened to his words, Teng Yuzao said to Liu Shijiu earnestly, "Brother, to fight against these invaders, we must not only have the determination to die, but also pay more attention to strategies and tactics."

"We must not only fight to the death against the invasion of the foreign coalition forces, but also remember that this war will not last forever. It will end one day. And there are only four possible outcomes to ending a war."

"One is that one side is completely defeated and has to accept humiliating terms of defeat, and then cede territory and pay compensation like in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, or even be divided up by the great powers and lose the country; the second is that the two sides are evenly matched and neither can do anything to the other; the third is that one side is exhausted and does not want to fight anymore, so it takes the initiative to ask for peace; the fourth is that both sides cannot bear the damage caused by this war and both want to negotiate to end it."

"For us, the best cases are the latter two, or even the last two possibilities, because we cannot defeat the eight most powerful countries, and the possibility of both sides becoming evenly matched is basically non-existent, so the only way to end this war is the latter two."

"In my opinion, the third possibility is the most likely. Once the court and the foreign powers start negotiations, the court will definitely be the weaker party. At that time, the foreign powers will not ignore the killing of prisoners and harming civilians. Soldiers like you will naturally not be able to pursue it, but as the leaders of the Boxers and the ministers in the court who advocate war and condone the Boxers, they will definitely pursue it and want to put you to death. At that time, I am afraid that I will be powerless to absolutely protect my brother even if I want to."

"Even the great powers may demand more compensation because of the killing of civilians." So for the sake of my brother and the court, killing civilians and prisoners of war should be avoided as much as possible."

"Also, in order to seek peace as soon as possible, given the morality of the current court, will she protect the Boxers who are only being used temporarily by her as a stopgap measure? I guess even the ministers in the court cannot be saved, let alone you Boxer leaders."

After Teng Yuzao finished speaking, Liu Shijiu remained silent for a while, then waved his hand and said, "Good brother, I understand what you mean. I will go and tell the brothers that they will obey your military orders."

Seeing that Liu Shijiu was finally convinced, Teng Yuzhao felt relieved. With Liu Shijiu's understanding, not only could he basically guarantee that there would be no indiscriminate killing of innocent people, but it would also plant a seed for recruiting Liu Shijiu's Qianzi Group in the future.

Seeing that Liu Shijiu had been convinced, Li Xiance, Wu Peifu and Li Jinyu all breathed a sigh of relief. Li Xiance suddenly spoke to the two staff officers in a cold voice.

"What you said to Chief Liu today must not be spread to anyone else, otherwise don't blame me, Li Xian Ce, for being cruel and ruthless!"

The two staff officers were startled by Li Xianze's sinister tone and quickly stood at attention and answered, "Yes, we dare not reveal a word to anyone, otherwise we will be punished severely by you, my Lord."

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(End of this chapter)