Chapter 34: Trap

  Li Zhongtang was enraged, and his subordinates were trembling with fear, not knowing what would happen. All the officials and students gathered outside the Wumeng Hall, guarded by Ye Tong and Chief Instructor Cui Bo, who led the guards to search for Zhou Xianzhang separately, and finally caught him in the reception room.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was taken to the martial arts hall, saw the Weihaiwei sandbox in the center of the hall, and finally understood that his answer sheet had given Li Hongzhang a great embarrassment.

  It's too late for regrets now. Outside the Martial Arts Hall, he had already played the role of a good man once, and if he was going to be tough, he would be tough all the way!

  "Kneel down!" Ye Qiao shouted.

  "Tianjin Martial Arts Academy does not perform kneeling and bowing rituals!" Zhou Xuan Zhang said proudly, anyway it's all about dying, if you're going to die, then die with dignity.

  Ye Tong was furious: "Damn you......"

  Li Hongzhang slowly waved his hand, and Ye Tong stared at Zhou Xianzhang with a sideways glance, standing aside.

  "Are you Zhou Xuan Zhang?" Li Hongzhang said slowly. Li Hongzhang had been an official for several decades, and his city was quite deep. He was annoyed in his heart, but his face was relaxed.

  "Student Zhou Xianzhang reporting for duty. I have seen Lord Li and Lord Weng!"

  Weng Tonghe stroked his beard and said, "Li Zhongtang, I think this Zhou Xiang is extraordinary, with a broad vision that sets him apart from others. Our Qing dynasty is currently plagued by internal and external troubles, making it the right time for us to select talented individuals without adhering to conventional standards."

  Weng Tonghe did not know Zhou Xuecheng, nor could he understand why Zhou Xuecheng wanted to embarrass Li Hongzhang in public. However, political affairs have always been like this: the enemy of an enemy is a friend. Regardless of Zhou Xuecheng's intentions, anyway, today he and Weng Tonghe are standing on the same front line. So, Weng Tonghe immediately spoke well of Zhou Xuecheng.

  Li Hongzhang smiled faintly: "Sir Weng, you and I are both high-ranking officials of the imperial court. Selecting talents for the country is our duty, no need for your reminder. I have already reviewed his academic records." Li Hongzhang said, handing over Zhou Xuanzhang's academic records to Weng Tonghe: "Your desire to seek talents for the country is truly commendable!"

  Weng Tonghe took over the academic file and looked at it, his face turned red. Zhou Xiang's grades were all poor, and he was only one step away from being expelled. Li Hongzhang said that "his heart is praiseworthy for seeking talents for the country", which is a big irony, actually scolding him for being blind to talent.

  "A student of the Martial Arts Academy, with a muddled understanding of professional courses, yet goes to search for phrases and quotes, and writes in the eight-legged essay style. Truly worthy of being a disciple of that Jin!" Li Hongzhang directed his spearhead at that Jin, who was kneeling on the ground trembling with fear.

  Li Hongzhang was convinced that Zhou Xuanzhang had someone behind him directing his actions, and that Jin was Zhou's mastermind with major suspicions.

  That Jin's intestines are about to turn green with regret, a thousand shouldn'ts and ten thousand shouldn'ts for making that bet with Feng Guozhang, inexplicably taking on an apprentice, this apprentice's military achievements were a complete mess, he had acknowledged it, but today Zhou Xianzhang came up with this, leaving Jin speechless, wanting to explain that Zhou Xianzhang was the apprentice he took in because of the bet, but the words couldn't be spoken, who would believe it!

  Jin's face turned bright red with anger, and he could only knock his head: "Your subordinate was momentarily unaware..."

  "That would be redundant." Li Hongzhang interrupted Jin's words and said coldly, "I think your original intention is the same as that of Weng Gong, both are seeking talents for the country, the starting point is good. As for whether this Zhou Xianzhang is a talent or not, you don't count, I don't count either. Ah, the sage says, practice is the only standard to test truth!"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was shocked. Li Hongzhang was indeed formidable, even the sage Yun of the 21st century knew it, and his momentum greatly decreased.

  "Yue Qiu!" Li Hongzhang shouted.

  "At your service!"

  "Now you are the commander of the Red Army, and Zhou Xuanzhang is the commander of the Blue Army. You two will demonstrate on this sand table how the Blue Army breaks through Weihaiwei!" Li Hongzhang said: "I think Zhou Xuanzhang, this great talent, must have a clever strategy."

  Li Hongzhang was furious, but his mind was extremely calm. Zhou Xiang's behind-the-scenes manipulator must be dug out, but the first thing to do is to refute Zhou Xiang and shut up Weng Tonghe and his Qingliu faction!

  "Obey orders!" Ye Tong walked to the edge of the sand table: "Zhou Xianzhang, make your move!"

  In the hall, everyone's eyes were focused on Zhou Xianzhang.

  Zhou Xuanzhang sneered coldly in his heart.

  The officers in the hall were either seasoned generals of the Huai Army or proud sons of the military who had been abroad, yet not one of them noticed the obvious strategic mistake at Weihaiwei. Their expressions were different, but there was one thing they all shared - they all believed that Zhou Xuanzhang would undoubtedly be defeated.

  Even Weng Tonghe secretly shook his head, although he didn't understand military affairs, but he knew Li Hongzhang too well. If he wasn't 100% sure, he wouldn't have taken the risk of letting Zhou Xuanzhang and Ye Tuo confront each other. If Zhou Xuanzhang had defeated Ye Tuo, wouldn't Li Hongzhang be lifting a rock only to drop it on his own foot?

  Ye Qiong was full of confidence and disdainfully sneered at Zhou Xianzhang.

  Li Hongzhang chose Ye Qiao and Zhou Xianzhang to confront each other, which was also the result of careful consideration.

  In his view, the defense of Weihaiwei was impenetrable and anyone could easily defeat Zhou Xuanzhang. The opportunity for victory should be given to Ye Zhong most suitably because Ye's father, Ye Zhiqiao, as the Tianjin Tidu, had a deep private relationship with Li Hongzhang, the Tianjin General Governor.

  Ye Kui is of a violent and arrogant temperament, yet he considers himself to be the son of a noble family, with a mind full of literary and military strategies. As a sixth-grade guard, it's really a waste of his talent. Now it's just the right time for him to show off in front of Li Hongzhang.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang walked up to the sandbox and gave Ye Tong a fist bump: "Ye Shou Bei, student has begun."

  Zhou Xuan Zhang said, pointing his baton at Rongcheng Bay.

  The battle map on the test paper did not indicate Weihaiwei, only a certain military port was marked. On the sand table, Li Hongzhang, in order to make Weng Tonghe convinced, simply presented the true appearance of Weihaiwei Military Port and its surrounding terrain, and also equipped the Armstrong giant cannon that was not on the test paper.

  Ye Kung coldly smiled, along the coastline, deployed five battalions of infantry in Rongcheng and Li Island, with a total force of three thousand. Rongcheng Bay had no artillery emplacements, and could only rely on infantry to defend the ground.

  The Blue Army's cruisers began to bombard the coastal defenses, while at the same time 1,500 landing troops sailed towards the beach on eighty small landing craft.

  Ye Qiao was shocked. The Blue Army did not use the large landing craft that could carry 200 people at a time, which was commonly used by the Japanese army, but instead a group of small sampans.

  The Red Army fired field artillery at the landing craft.

  Soon, the Blue Army's landing craft rushed onto the beach.

  The Red Army fired Gatling guns to blockade the beach, causing heavy casualties to the Blue Army. Of the 1,500 landing troops, only half were left.

  However, the Blue Army's naval gunfire suppressed the Red Army's machine guns, and the landing troops quickly established a foothold on the beach and concentrated ten mountain guns to bombard the beachhead. The remaining 800 landing soldiers took advantage of the momentum to launch a fierce attack, tearing open a gap in the Red Army's defensive line.

  Ye Qiang suddenly realized he had made a mistake.

  The Red Army infantry adopted the standard configuration of the Qing army, with a mix of infantry and artillery. Each infantry regiment was equipped with three field guns, for a total of 15 German Krupp 7.5 cm field guns deployed across a two-kilometer front. The scattered firepower of the 15 field guns made it impossible to concentrate fire on either naval or land targets. As a result, the Blue Army broke through the Red Army's defenses at great cost.

  Once breached, the entire coastal defense line of the Red Army collapsed immediately.

  Ye Qiu's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

  Li Hongzhang, however, had a leisurely expression on his face.

  The Red Army retreated to the coast, gathering eight battalions of 4,000 men at a distance of 10 kilometers from the coast, relying on Rongcheng County to build a second line of defense. At the same time, another ten battalions of 5,000 infantry and cavalry rushed to Rongcheng from Zhibo, Jiaozhou Bay, Qingzhou, and Yanzhou.

  At the same time, the Blue Army's landing force reached 4,000 men and began to advance towards the Red Army's defensive line. The vanguard of 800 men arrived at the foot of Rongcheng City and confronted the defending troops.

  Ye Qiong's cold sweat on his forehead disappeared, and a triumphant smile appeared on his face.

  The officers present all saw that the seemingly weak defense line of Rongcheng Bay was actually a trap.

  The Blue Army's 4,000-strong landing force was stuck in a dilemma under the city wall of Rongcheng, while the Red Army's reinforcements were gathering from all directions towards Rongcheng, forming an encirclement against the Blue Army below the city.

  At the same time, the Beiyang Fleet launched a full-scale attack and pressed straight to the vicinity of the Rongcheng Bay where the Blue Army's fleet was anchored — the Blue Army's follow-up landing force was cut off.

  Four thousand Blue Army troops were isolated under Rongcheng.

  Ye Kui now only needs to wait for the arrival of reinforcements and then launch a general attack, wiping out the Blue Army's landing force in one fell swoop.

  Ye Qiong rushed towards Zhou Xianzhang with a cold smile and threw away the command baton in his hand, he no longer needed this thing.