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Emperor Guangxu was also caught in a dilemma. No matter what Xu Gengshen or Weng Tonghe said, they were correct, but he had to make his own decision on how to choose. In the past few years, although he has been in charge, In terms of major affairs of the court, Cixi is still firmly in the hands. If the Eight Banners soldiers who support Cixi are transferred to Xi'an, Emperor Guangxu believes that he will definitely be able to control the new imperial guard army. Once he controls the military power, then he can He calmly took the power away from Cixi's hands.
However, if this is done, the disadvantages are also obvious. Emperor Guangxu is very clear about how much fighting strength those Eight Banners disciples who only know how to walk dogs and fight cocks are left. Letting them go to Xi'an will completely lead to death. Moreover, it may also cause The already eroded occupation of the front line completely collapsed. If that were the case, I'm afraid the final result would be exactly as Xu Gengshen said. The Western Sichuan Army would march straight in and directly attack the capital city. The country and the country of the Qing Dynasty for more than two hundred years would be destroyed. Yu once. If he sends the new imperial guards to Xi'an, even if he cannot reverse the situation of the war, at least he can avoid further deterioration of the situation. But in this case, he will lose a good opportunity to gain power. Maybe he will never have it again in this life. Such an opportunity came. Therefore, Emperor Guangxu had a very difficult choice.
"What should we do? Do we want power or the country?" Emperor Guangxu asked himself.
"Your Majesty, please make a decision quickly! It's more than two thousand miles from the capital to Xi'an. Even if the new imperial guard army marches at full strength, it will probably take more than half a month. Can the defenders of Xi'an City hold on? It's hard to tell in half a month. If Xi'an cannot be defended, the consequences will be disastrous!" Xu Gengshen urged. The new army of the Imperial Guard is infantry. Although there are more mules and horses, because of the heavy baggage, the speed of long-distance marching is very fast. It is not very fast. Therefore, Emperor Guangxu must make a decision early.
"Your Majesty, think twice before you act!" Weng Tonghe also advised. As Emperor Guangxu's teacher, he was very clear about Emperor Guangxu's thoughts. He also knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As long as he could seize power, in the end he could fight with the Western Sichuan Army. Peace talks, no matter how high the price is, are completely worth it! This is far better than being a puppet emperor.
The military ministers were also divided into two groups, supporting the views of Xu Gengshen and Weng Tonghe respectively, and they started to quarrel. The whole Jinluan Palace was as lively as a vegetable market. Emperor Guangxu frowned but didn't say anything. Now even he You can't make a choice yourself, let alone rely on others.
"Your Majesty, once the troops from Western Sichuan arrive in the capital, everything will be over! You are still young at night, and the emperor will be needed for the resurgence of the Qing Dynasty in the future!" Xu Gengshen said again.
Emperor Guangxu was shocked. He understood what Xu Gengshen meant. He was only twenty years old this year, while the Empress Dowager Cixi was already fifty-six years old. Even if she lived longer, the Empress Dowager Cixi was not his opponent! Fighting for power and so on There is no rush at all. Even if this opportunity is missed, the power will naturally belong to him after the death of Empress Dowager Cixi. But if he is defeated this time and the Western Sichuan army comes to the capital and overthrows the Qing Dynasty, then He has become the king of a subjugated country, and it is completely useless to try to fight for power.
After thinking about this, Emperor Guangxu immediately made a choice.
"Shut up! As high-ranking members of the imperial court, how can you behave so noisily and loudly? Xu Gengshen obeys his orders. You immediately go to the new imperial guard army to declare my will. One hundred thousand new imperial guard troops must set off immediately. , march to Xi'an, resist the attack of the Western Sichuan Army, and try our best to win victory!" Emperor Guangxu ordered loudly.
"Your Majesty is wise! If our new imperial guard army comes out, we will surely win!" Xu Gengshen immediately flattered him. The other ministers saw that the matter had come to this point and had no choice but to shout that the Emperor was wise and stop arguing. Only Weng Tonghe was a little disappointed. , he knew that after losing this opportunity, if Emperor Guangxu wanted to seize power, it would be difficult to have such an opportunity again. As an emperor's master, he did not want his disciple to be just a puppet emperor.
There are 100,000 people in the New Guards Army, all equipped with weapons imported from Britain, including Lee-Metford rifles, Maxim heavy machine guns, 105mm light howitzers, etc. In terms of equipment, it can be said to be the best among the Qing army. No one can compare with it, not even the Zhili New Army and the Hubei New Army. The soldiers of the New Imperial Guard Army are all from the Eight Banners of the Manchu, Mongolian and Han Dynasties and are loyal to the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. The commander-in-chief of the New Imperial Guard Army , is also a famous general among the Manchus, Fengshan. Although he is only thirty-one years old this year, he has done everything very well since he was ordered by Emperor Guangxu to form a new army, and he is already quite talented as a general.
After receiving the order from Emperor Guangxu, the new imperial guard army immediately set off for Xi'an. However, the journey was long and it would take at least ten days for them to get from the capital to Xi'an. In order to allow the defenders of Xi'an to persist for ten days , Emperor Guangxu even personally ordered Zhu Hongzhang, Wei Guangtao, Zhu Shijun and Zhao Wenkai, asking them to hold on until reinforcements arrived. As long as they succeeded, then they would all be heroes of the Qing Dynasty, and they would not be able to get promotions or promotions. If If they fail, then they will wait to be punished by the Nine Tribes! Such an order forced Zhu Hongzhang and others to defend Xi'an with all their lives, which brought a lot of trouble to the Western Sichuan Army.
In the next few days, the Western Sichuan Army launched another fierce attack on Xi'an. However, the defenders were very tenacious. In addition, Xi'an City has high walls and thick walls, and there is no shortage of artillery and heavy machine guns. The Western Sichuan Army hit a wall. Several times. Although it also caused very heavy losses to the Qing army, its own losses were not small. In a few days, the casualties of the Western Sichuan Army had exceeded a thousand. This was something the Western Sichuan Army had never suffered since the annexation of the Ma Jiajun. loss.
The Western Sichuan Army on the eastern and southern fronts made greater progress. During the Battle of Jingmen, the Western Sichuan Army's teaching division and the new Ninth Division, as well as the Western Sichuan Army's First Brigade and the new Third Division, which joined the battlefield from the northwest, were attacked. , the Qing army was defeated again. However, Zhang Zhidong seized the opportunity and led the main force of the Qing army, more than 100,000 new troops and tens of thousands of green camp troops, to escape back to Wuhan before the encirclement of the Western Sichuan Army was formed. Although the Western Sichuan Army was annihilated, Many Green Camp soldiers were killed, but the main force of the Hubei Qing Army still remained. The large force of the Western Sichuan Army also marched towards Wuhan under the leadership of Chief of Staff Xiong Wu.
On the southern front, the Western Sichuan Army has successfully occupied Guiyang, and its troops are pointing directly at Kunming. The occupation of Kunming is just around the corner. Wang Wenshao, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, is also undecided at this moment, not knowing whether to defend Kunming or flee eastward to Guangxi.
"Young Marshal, Chief of Staff, we have been besieging Xi'an for several days, but there has been no progress so far. The morale of the troops has been greatly affected! How about we launch a general attack tomorrow! No matter how many casualties we pay,
We will definitely win Xi'an!" Zhao Bowen found Wang Yuze and Cai Yun and asked for help.
Wang Yuze shook his head: "Commander Liu Zhiye has led the main force of the First Cavalry Army to occupy Tongguan. The Qing army in Xi'an has become the turtle in the urn, and they are bound to lose. In addition, the progress on the eastern and southern battlefields is very fast.
There is absolutely no need for us to pay unnecessary casualties. When the war situation becomes clear, I believe that the defenders of Xi'an will take the initiative to make a choice."
"Yes, Bowen, fighting requires not only courage, but also patience. Since Xi'an is difficult to attack and we don't have any siege weapons, we might as well wait for the defenders of Xi'an to make their own choice, whether they will break through or not.
Surrender. Anyway, it will be very beneficial to us!" Cai Yun also said.
"Young Marshal, Chief of Staff. I received news from the headquarters. The Qing Army's new army of 100,000 imperial guards has set off from the capital five days ago and headed straight for Shaanxi. The headquarters reminds us to pay more attention!" Wu Huiyao said.
Report with a piece of information.
"Okay! Why are the defenders in Xi'an so calm? It turns out they know reinforcements are coming!" Wang Yuze suddenly realized.
"One hundred thousand new imperial guards, known as the most powerful army of the Qing army! I think we can concentrate our forces and fight a field battle with these one hundred thousand new imperial guards to see who is more powerful. One hundred thousand imperial guards
Although the Wei Xin Army has more people, it is definitely much easier to fight than Xi'an!" Cai Yun also said.
"Young Marshal, Chief of Staff. Give the order! Our Second Cavalry Army guarantees to defeat the Qing army's new army of 100,000 imperial guards!" Zhao Bowen also became more energetic and called for battle again.
"A fight is certain. But how to fight requires long-term planning." Cai Yun did not immediately agree to Zhao Bowen's request for a fight.
"Uncle Cai, Commander Zhao. I suddenly had an idea, I don't know if it will work!" Wang Yuze said suddenly.
"What are your ideas?" Cai Yun asked. During this period, Wang Yuze has grown rapidly and has many wonderful ideas, which makes him very impressed. If Wang Yuze does not want to inherit the great cause of Western Sichuan, it is very possible in the future
Become an outstanding military strategist.
"The main defenders of the capital are the New Imperial Guard Army and the Eight Banners soldiers. Now that the Imperial Guard New Army is heading straight to Shaanxi, the only ones left to defend the New Army are the Eight Banners old soldiers. This is an excellent opportunity for us.
Opportunity!" A smile appeared on Wang Yuze's face, and ambition shone in his eyes.
"You want to attack the capital from a long distance?" Cai Yun was shocked. Wang Yuze's plan was undoubtedly too bold.
"Yes! Just give me two brigades of troops, go out from Yulin, pass through Suiyuan and Chahar, and attack the capital in one fell swoop!" Wang Yuze said excitedly.
"No, this is too dangerous!" Cai Yun flatly refused.
"Uncle Cai, there won't be any danger. The Qing army is extremely empty now. If I set off with two brigades of cavalry, there will definitely be no danger. As long as I can successfully reach the capital, the Qing army will definitely be defeated.
Shocked, we can take this opportunity to defeat the Qing army in one fell swoop!" Wang Yuze insisted. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe to (this site) and give rewards. Your support is my biggest
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