Beiyang Dream

July 30th, morning.

Tianjin, the council chamber of the Zhili Governor-General's Office.

Li Hongzhang sat in the main seat, surrounded by a large group of people.

Zhang Peilun, Zhou Fu, Sheng Xuanhuai, Luo Fenglu, Dai Zongqian, Song Qing, Wei Rucheng, Zhao Huaiye, Huang Shilin, Zhang Guangqian, Wu Yuren, Liu Chaopei... The room was packed full of people.

Right now, they're passing around a few "winner photos"!

These "winning photos" were all sent from Xinhe Town. The photos were taken yesterday and delivered to Tianjin early this morning.

The person who delivered the photo was Wu Fengling. This man was a confidant of Yuan Shikai and a frequent classmate at the military academy, belonging to the group of "military academy students and teachers of Nanpu". He was one of the two battalion commanders under Yuan Shikai.

Xinhe Town was defended by him and a regiment of Yuan Ji's Nanpu New Army. That so-called "Prince Fushimi no Miyako" fought for a whole day but still couldn't defeat him.

After hanging out with him for a while, he's learned the "seeing is believing" approach.

After the battle, he ordered the army's photographer to climb up the city wall and take more than a dozen "victory photos" with a camera that looked like a wooden box.

After the filming was completed, it was developed overnight and sent to Li Hongzhang along with the good news.

At this moment, the news of victory was in Li Hongzhang's hands, while the photos were being passed around among the group of people below.

However, when these people looked at the photos, they all had long faces, looking more like they were seeing a report of defeat than a report of victory.

But we can't blame them for that.

Since the start of the war, the Huai Army (including Chang's Nanpu New Army) has been like this.

"Winning all the way, retreating all the way," winning from the Nakdong River to Pyongyang, from Pyongyang to the Yalu River, and from the Yalu River to the Haihe River.

You say they didn't win? Well, there are pictures to prove it!

If they've really won, they've practically won all the way to the outskirts of Beijing...

Now they've "won" again, Xinhe Town has won, but what good does winning do?

Since the Japanese pirates couldn't conquer Xinhe Town, they naturally wouldn't move south to attack Dagukou.

If we don't attack Dagukou, then there's only one direction left...

Head west, towards Tianjin!

How could they not worry about this?

Li Hongzhang sat in the main seat, holding Wu Fengling's victory report in his hand, reading it over and over again.

Wu Fengling's report of victory was written as follows:

"To His Excellency: On the afternoon of July 29th, the main force of the Japanese Second Division, numbering approximately 15,000 men, landed in the Beitang area. Their Fourth Brigade, numbering approximately 6,000 to 7,000 men, led by Prince Zhen'ai, launched a fierce attack on our Xinhe Town."

I led my troops, relying on the city's fortifications, and used stun guns, 75mm cannons, and barbed wire to launch a layered attack. The fierce battle lasted until dusk, resulting in the deaths and wounds of several hundred Japanese soldiers, and repelling three of their assaults. Our casualties were minimal, and Xinhe Town remained unscathed. However, although the Japanese army temporarily retreated, they still camped outside the town, seemingly intending to reinforce and launch another attack.

Furthermore, according to intelligence reports, another Japanese force of approximately four to five thousand men has moved westward, presumably targeting Junliangcheng. I believe that since the Japanese army failed to capture Xinhe, they will inevitably turn westward and cut off the Tianjin-Tanggu Railway. I urge Your Excellency to take precautions as soon as possible.”

Li Hongzhang thought to himself: Have the Japanese gone mad? A division of 15,000 men has stormed into Tianjin... What exactly are they trying to do?

It's not like we can't talk!

Isn't what they want North Korea?

The Qing Dynasty could give it to us!

The Empress Dowager has said: We don't want Korea anymore!

We don't mind if the Qing Dynasty pays us money!

The Qing Dynasty simply didn't have the money to support its army, but it did have the money to pay indemnities!

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Tens of millions of taels is nothing.

But these tens of thousands of Japanese troops headed west to attack Junliang City...

If Junliangcheng is lost, the transportation between Tianjin and Dagukou will be cut off, and the passage for the Japanese army to advance westward into Tianjin will be opened!

Xu Bangdao's guards, who are currently defending Junliang City, consist of only five battalions, totaling more than two thousand men, most of whom are new recruits who have been enlisted for less than a month.

They simply couldn't stop several thousand Japanese soldiers!

Li Hongzhang's head throbbed more and more with worry.

I should have placed Yuan Shikai's men in Junliangcheng back then.

But then I thought, that won't work either. If Yuan Shikai's men release Junliangcheng, there will be no one left at Dagukou.

If Dagu Fort is lost, the gates of Tianjin will be wide open!

The more than one hundred cannons at the Dagukou Fortress, which was tucked away at Jingyuan and Jiyuan in Dagukou, were also defeated by the Japanese pirates.

Tianjin will be doomed then!

He was having a major headache when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside. Then a Goshha rushed in, tumbling and crawling, holding a newly translated telegram in his hand.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency! An urgent telegram from Lord Xu of Junliang City!"

The council chamber fell silent immediately.

Everyone turned to look at Ghoshha and then at the telegram in his hand.

Li Hongzhang reached out and took the telegram, looked down at it for a while, and then everything went black.

Xu Bangdao wrote clearly in the telegram: Several thousand Japanese troops are advancing towards Junliangcheng from the direction of Xinhe Town. His cavalry has already engaged the vanguard of the Japanese army. After a brief battle, the cavalry suffered losses and retreated. Xu Bangdao judged that the main force of the Japanese army would soon arrive at the outskirts of Junliangcheng, and with only two thousand new recruits at his disposal, he feared they would not be able to hold out for long.

Li Hongzhang's hand trembled, and his voice shook slightly: "Junliang City is in grave danger!"

There was a moment of silence in the council chamber.

Then, it was like a pot had exploded, and everything suddenly became lively.

Zhao Huaiye, a former soldier, was the first to speak: "Your Excellency, Brother Bangdao only has two thousand new recruits under his command. I'm afraid they can't hold it! If Junliang City falls, the eastern gates of Tianjin will be wide open!"

Wu Yuren, the leader of the Renzi Battalion, also nodded in agreement.

He had returned from the defeat at Beitang Fort, and spoke with lingering fear: "Your Excellency, I'm not trying to be discouraging, but the Japanese infantry are indeed formidable and numerous. Our troops are far inferior to theirs! Commander Xu's two thousand new recruits probably wouldn't last even a day."

Liu Chaopei, who had come from Weihaiwei, chimed in, "Yes, Your Excellency, Japan isn't a big country, but they have too many soldiers... There are sixty or seventy thousand Japanese pirates who landed in Shandong... If they all come to Tianjin..."

They talked about how powerful the Japanese pirates were, how Xu Bangdao couldn't defend the city, and how Tianjin was in grave danger once the grain city was lost.

Li Hongzhang grew increasingly furious, slamming his fist on the table: "Enough! I know the Japanese pirates have many soldiers! They're capable! Tell me, what should we do now?"

The group looked at each other, none of them willing to speak first.

After a while, Sheng Jun's Wei Rucheng stepped forward.

He was Wei Rugui's brother, and the ten battalions of Shengjun left in Tianjin were all under his command.

"Your Excellency," Wei Rucheng said, "in my humble opinion, it would be better to temporarily... retreat to Luanzhou. Luanzhou has a strategic location and is connected by railway, making it convenient to advance or retreat. We can fight our way back once Nie Gongting's army arrives!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huaiye immediately nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, General Wei is right. Your Excellency, as long as Liushan is here, we'll fight another day! Let's retreat to Luanzhou first, and once Nie Gongting arrives, we'll join forces and fight the Japanese pirates to the death!"

Li Hongzhang was stunned.

Retreat to Luanzhou...

What do these two mean?

Before he could speak, Dai Zongqian, Huang Shilin, and Zhang Guangqian chimed in, praising the benefits of "transferring to Luanzhou" as if all problems would be solved once they arrived in Luanzhou.

Li Hongzhang turned to look at the white-haired old general Song Qing, who had been sitting silently in the corner.

Song Qing sighed: "Nie Gongting is leading 10,000 elite troops from Korea towards Shengjing. Once they arrive in Shengjing, they will take a train to Luanzhou. I estimate they will reach Luanzhou in another ten to fifteen days..."

It is clear that he also supported Li Hongzhang's decision to withdraw Luanzhou.

As for why I support it... well, it's definitely because I want to improve!

Once Song Qingyi expressed his opinion, the others became even more enthusiastic.

"Your Excellency, General Song is right. Nie Gongting will arrive in Luanzhou soon!"

"Your Excellency, once Nie Gongting arrives, we can fight our way back to Tianjin together!"

"Your Excellency, there's no time to lose! It'll be too late if we wait any longer!"

Li Hongzhang's face darkened.

Doesn't he understand what his men are thinking?

These old Huai Army soldiers must be spending all their time at home studying the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period!

You must have memorized Liu Zhiyuan's story by heart, right?

This time they're definitely trying to lure him to Luanzhou, and then wait for the Japanese to invade Beijing, capture Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi, and take them to Japan. Then these people can put the imperial robe on my head!

He didn't bother arguing with those old military leaders anymore, and turned to his son-in-law Zhang Peilun: "Youqiao, what do you think?"

Zhang Peilun pondered for a moment, then stroked his beard and said, "Your Excellency, as long as Liushan Mountain remains, there's no fear of running out of firewood!"

What?

Li Hongzhang nearly fainted.

You're my son-in-law, how dare you join in this nonsense? Are you thinking that if I became emperor, your wife would become a princess?

Li Hongzhang stamped his foot, pointed at the group of people below, and was speechless with anger: "You, you..."

Just then, footsteps sounded outside, followed by a person rushing in, panting heavily.

"Grand Master, Grand Master!"

The visitor was none other than Yuan Shikai.

He rushed all the way from Beijing back to Tianjin, looking travel-worn.

When Yuan Shikai entered the room and saw so many people sitting in the council hall, he was stunned for a moment. Then he quickly walked up to Li Hongzhang and bowed.

"Your humble servant Yuan Shikai greets Your Excellency."

Li Hongzhang waved his hand: "Alright, alright, no need for such formalities."

Then he handed the two telegrams in his hand (one was a report of victory from Wu Fengling, and the other was an urgent telegram from Xu Bangdao) to Yuan Shikai: "Take a look at this first."

Yuan Shikai took it and first read Wu Fengling's report of victory.

He looked it over, and sure enough, it was just as he had expected.

Wu Fengling's regiment was formidable; it shared the same training system as Chang Ji Nanpu and had been established for a long time, being one of the earliest training regiments in the Nanpu system. One of its battalions even fought alongside Chang in the victories at Lingshan and Anchengchuan!

They arrested all the princes of Japan!

Then he looked at Xu Bangdao's urgent telegram.

Upon seeing this, his expression changed.

Junliang City cannot be defended!

Xu Bangdao's two thousand new recruits were no match for the attack of a Japanese division.

If Junliangcheng is lost, the eastern part of Tianjin will be completely exposed... But that's okay, at worst we can just give up Tianjin.

However, one of his regiments was stationed in Xinhe Town, and another battalion was stationed in Tanglu... Once Junliang City was lost, these four battalions of soldiers were mostly surrounded by Japanese pirates!

Yuan Shikai only had six battalions in total, and four of them were surrounded by the Japanese. This was extremely serious!

We can't ignore them, otherwise he'll only have two battalions left... How can he possibly swallow up the Qing Army and the Yi Army? Like a snake trying to swallow an elephant?

Thinking of this, Yuan Shikai raised his head and said to Li Hongzhang, "Your Excellency, I'm afraid General Xu won't be able to hold out for long. We must hurry..."

Li Hongzhang interrupted him: "What's the rush?"

"Quickly deploy defenses in Tianjin!" Yuan Shikai gritted his teeth, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "Your Excellency, Tianjin is defensible! To the east lies the Haihe River, beyond which lies the foreign concessions, and beyond the north gate is the Sancha River—all natural barriers. We only need to erect two lines of barbed wire along the riverbanks and build a few machine gun bunkers, and we'll be completely secure. To the south and west, we need to dig trenches, perhaps six or seven li long, and then erect two more lines of barbed wire and build some machine gun bunkers, making the city's defenses impregnable!"

Li Hongzhang's eyes lit up: "Continue!"

"There were machine guns and enough ammunition in the Tianjin arsenal, as well as a number of Krupp cannons with a diameter of seven and a half centimeters. These were all readily available."

Furthermore, the Tianjin Military Academy has already been teaching people how to fire machine guns, dig trenches, and erect barbed wire; the students should all be proficient in these skills. The teachers and students of the Naval Academy are also capable of this. I also have two battalions of new troops remaining at Xiaozhan, one of which is an elite unit that fought in the Battle of Yeongsan Pass and the Ahnseongcheon Valley ambush in Korea!

At this point, Yuan Shikai took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Your Excellency, Tianjin can be defended!"

Upon hearing this, Li Hongzhang's eyes immediately reddened.

Finally, someone is willing to help him defend Tianjin!

The old man stood up, walked to Yuan Shikai, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a choked voice, "Weiting, Weiting... From now on, all the armies in Tianjin are under your command. Your orders are my orders!"

Yuan Shikai knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "Your humble servant obeys!"

The Huai Army generals in the council hall looked at each other, completely dumbfounded.

What's going on? Wasn't Yuan Shikai in cahoots with Chang and Nie Shicheng? Why is he now helping the old man defend Tianjin?

Will he stay?