Chapter 165: Old Yuan's Trial

(Note: Thanks to Pianhong for the precious monthly vote. This is the second guaranteed chapter, and today's updates are complete.)

Long Dahai adopted the Smiling Maitreya's suggestion. Instead of leading the cavalry unit in a mass charge, he chose to use small squads for harassment, planning to first exhaust the ammunition of the Maxim heavy machine gun. From a tactical standpoint, his choice was entirely correct. The Maxim posed the greatest threat to cavalry, capable of firing up to 600 rounds per minute. How easy would it be to attack once the enemy ran out of bullets?

However, the Smiling Maitreya was destined not to have the last laugh. First of all, Chen Hao had prepared an extremely ample supply of ammunition, with over ten thousand heavy machine gun rounds, which could last for more than ten minutes even with continuous firing. Upon discovering the tactics of the Guanning Iron Cavalry, he instructed the passersby who were fishing to be mindful of saving ammunition, ensuring the heavy machine gun bullets would certainly not run out within half an hour.

Secondly, the Smiling Maitreya miscalculated the speed at which reinforcements would arrive, or perhaps he never thought there would be reinforcements at all. Yuan Shikai possessed his own intelligence department; less than three minutes after the Guanning Iron Cavalry launched their attack, he had already received the intelligence. Yuan Shikai, who was discussing the transcendent Chen Baxian with Yang Shixiang, was furious upon receiving the news and immediately ordered Duan Qirui to lead the cavalry battalion of the Right Guard Army to provide support.

In 1898, Ronglu reorganized the garrisons in the Beijing-Tianjin area into the "Guard Army," divided into five divisions: Front, Rear, Center, Left, and Right. He reorganized the Newly Created Army, which Yuan Shikai had trained with the rank of Daotai, into the Right Guard Army, commanding the left and right wings (equivalent to brigades). Each wing had one commander, and under the commander was a deputy commander responsible for training the infantry, cavalry, and engineering battalions. Each battalion had one commander and one deputy commander. The left wing consisted of two infantry battalions and one artillery battalion; the right wing consisted of three infantry battalions and one cavalry battalion, totaling over 7,300 men, with Yuan Shikai serving as the commander-in-chief.

In 1899, the Boxer Uprising broke out across Shandong, and Governor Yuixian failed to suppress it effectively. In April, the Qing government ordered Yuan Shikai to lead the Right Guard Army into Shandong. The Right Guard Army was Old Yuan's direct subordinate force, and its right wing had long been stationed in Qinan. After Duan Qirui led the cavalry battalion to the rescue, Old Yuan personally led three battalions of infantry to rush over.

Long Dahai followed the Smiling Maitreya's suggestion, sending only a few cavalrymen at a time to harass. To lull the Guanning Iron Cavalry into complacency, Chen Hao instructed the fishing passersby to open fire for a short while whenever the enemy charged. Hearing the roar of the Maxim heavy machine gun, both the Smiling Maitreya and Long Dahai wore expressions of cunning success—until dense gunfire erupted from behind them.

The cavalry battalion led by Duan Qirui numbered only 600 men, but they were all elites of the New Army. Duan Qirui's commander attribute was over 80, with artillery mastery at the highest rank of S and cavalry mastery at B. Boosted by the commander and troop-type masteries, coupled with individual combat qualities far superior to the players at the current stage, the 600-strong cavalry actually overshadowed the Guanning Iron Cavalry in momentum.

The Smiling Maitreya and Long Dahai were instantly dumbfounded. This powerful cavalry force composed of hundreds of men was clearly government troops. Moreover, they were not the old-style patrol battalions, but a drilled New Army. In the land of Shandong, the only New Army was Yuan Shikai's direct subordinate Right Guard Army; the appearance of this cavalry battalion meant Old Yuan had made a move.

The Smiling Maitreya decisively chose to retreat. He believed that even if Guanning were present, he would have made the same choice. Offending Yuan Shikai in Shandong would definitely not end well. After the Smiling Maitreya gave the order, the players of the Guanning Iron Cavalry whipped their horses and began to flee in all directions. After running for a distance, they unanimously headed toward their base camp in the suburbs of Qinan.

Duan Qirui led the cavalry battalion in pursuit from all directions, but because the enemy was too scattered and the cavalry battalion's forces were insufficient, a large majority of the players still managed to escape. Because they rode fine horses, the Smiling Maitreya and Long Dahai managed to escape disaster by the skin of their teeth. As they rallied their subordinates and headed toward the base camp, infantrymen wearing new-style military uniforms suddenly appeared ahead.

Upon discovering the scattered transcendent cavalrymen, Yuan Shikai immediately commanded his three infantry battalions to intercept and slaughter them from all directions. Quite a few players of the Guanning Iron Cavalry fell on the road back to their base camp. Upon entering the game, players would inquire about the appearances of historical figures, so the Smiling Maitreya was no stranger to Yuan Shikai. Seeing Old Yuan personally overseeing the command, his heart sank to the bottom.

After the three infantry battalions swept through the area, eighty percent of the attacking Guanning Iron Cavalry players had fallen, with only two or three hundred managing to escape back to the base camp by sheer luck. Upon receiving the report, Guanning's expression turned extremely unsightly, and he bitter-heartedly said, "Maitreya, are you certain the person who later led the troops to intercept us was Yuan Shikai?"

With a bitter face, the Smiling Maitreya replied, "That's right. The NPC who previously led fifty soldiers to protect Nie Shicheng's family looked familiar to me, but I couldn't remember who he was. Now it seems that person must have been Feng Guozhang. The one who later led the cavalry for rescue was Duan Qirui, and the one leading the infantry interception was Yuan Shikai himself..."

Hearing the Smiling Maitreya rattle off the names of historical figures one by one, Guanning's expression grew increasingly grim. He cursed angrily, "We are developing in Shandong, yet you couldn't even remember the appearance of Yuan Shikai's subordinate luminaries, and you gave me some nonsense about looking familiar? What use is it telling me this now?"

The Smiling Maitreya knew that Guanning had lost his composure. Although players could inquire about the appearances of NPC celebrities, how could one see clearly from a distance? Guanning was clearly finding an excuse to berate him. Knowing that talking back was strictly forbidden at the moment, the Smiling Maitreya nodded repeatedly and said, "It was my incompetence. I will definitely remember their appearances next time..."

After cursing for a while, Guanning grew tired as well. He waved his hand powerlessly and said, "Maitreya, you're the one with more ideas. Our base camp is in Qinan, and now that we've offended Yuan Shikai, what should we do?"

The Smiling Maitreya knew that the best course of action right now was to abandon the base camp in Qinan and move to another province to start over, but he knew Guanning would never agree. Guanning had spent so much money to purchase the headquarters construction blueprint and poured immense effort into giving the base camp its current appearance; asking him to abandon the base camp was more agonizing than killing him.

Since Guanning was still in the heat of anger, if the Smiling Maitreya made such a suggestion, he would surely be cursed to a pulp. Therefore, he carefully ventured, "How about spending some money to bribe Yang Shixiang, the trusted strategist of Yuan Shikai, and have him help explain that this was all a misunderstanding? Perhaps we can escape this calamity."

Guanning grasped at it as if seizing a straw, immediately nodding and saying, "Good, let's do that! Have Ailian take 2,000 silver dollars to bribe Yang Shixiang and see if it's feasible."

Ailian was a female player in the Guanning Iron Cavalry with very high diplomatic attributes. Matters of this nature had a higher chance of success when handled by her. The Smiling Maitreya knew that all the money Guanning spent would be in vain; the Guanning Iron Cavalry had attacked the guard unit led by Feng Guozhang and even engaged in battle with the infantry personally led by Old Yuan. Even Yang Shixiang's words would fall on deaf ears with Old Yuan.

Since it wasn't his own money being spent, the Smiling Maitreya preferred to play dumb, giving Guanning a glimmer of hope to spare himself from disaster.

While Guanning was at his wits' end, Chen Hao met the historically notorious Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai was very charismatic, giving people a warm, spring-breeze kind of feeling. Upon seeing the carriage, he leaped down and stepped forward to bow to Madame Nie as a junior. After paying his respects to the old lady, he came before Chen Hao, smiling as he said, "You must be the transcendent Chen Baxian, right? To hold an official military post at such a young age, you can truly be considered young and promising."

Chen Hao bowed deeply and said, "Chen Baxian pays his respects to Governor-General."

Yuan Shikai stepped forward to help him up, laughing heartily, "No need to be so formal. Your teacher, Mr. Li Pisen, and I have frequent interactions. He wrote to me a while ago recommending you, not expecting that you had already attained an official position. Old me won't be of much help to you anymore."

Chen Hao quickly said, "It is this humble official's fortune to be able to serve under your excellency's command. However, I have already resolved to head to the Northeast to resist the evil men. If by chance I retain a remnant breath, I still hope the Governor-General will take me in."

With a look of admiration, Yuan Shikai said, "I once heard your teacher mention your plan to go to the Northeast. I entirely agree with your assessment of the Russians. However, I, as the Governor of Shandong, have the responsibility to defend our land and cannot go into battle alongside you. If you need any help, you can let me know."

Chen Hao immediately seized the opportunity and said, "This humble official does not know much about the Northeast. I have heard that His Excellency Feng Guozhang is extremely familiar with the Northeast and once organized and compiled *The Eastern Travel Itinerary*. I would like to borrow it to have a look, and I hope the Governor-General can put in a good word for me."

Yuan Shikai laughed heartily and said, "You certainly have an eye for things. If you had asked for guns and ammunition, this official would have looked down upon you. The *Eastern Travel Itinerary* authored by Huafu is indeed of much greater use to you."

With that, Yuan Shikai turned to Feng Guozhang and said, "Huafu, Baxian has taken a fancy to your *Eastern Travel Itinerary*. His going to the Northeast is also to serve the country. How about lending him this book?"

Feng Guozhang smiled and said, "Little brother Baxian, even if you had asked me for it directly, I would have given it to you. Since Your Excellency has spoken, how could I have any reason to refuse? I will send it to him upon our return."

"You can hand it directly to me." After saying this, Yuan Shikai looked at Chen Hao with a beaming smile and said, "Nephew Baxian, this is our first meeting. Let me see what skills you possess. I will assign the cavalry battalion to you. If you can lead the troops to annihilate the transcendent rebels who rioted against the state today, I will make the decision on Huafu's behalf and gift the *Eastern Travel Itinerary* to you."

"Player Chen Baxian, NPC Yuan Shikai has issued the quest 'Annihilate the Guanning Iron Cavalry'. Quest completion condition: Annihilate the base camp of the Guanning Iron Cavalry. Quest reward: *The Eastern Travel Itinerary*. Do you choose to accept?"

Chen Hao received the quest prompt, but he did not rush to accept. Since he had a rare opportunity to meet a top-tier boss like Yuan Shikai, he naturally had to seize the chance to show off. Hesitating for a moment, he said, "May I ask if the annihilation mentioned by Your Excellency means to rout them, or to completely wipe them out without letting a single person escape? If the goal is complete annihilation, I earnestly request Your Excellency to add an infantry battalion."

"Oh?" Yuan Shikai said with keen interest, "Are you confident you can completely annihilate those thousands of transcendent rebels without letting a single one escape?"

Chen Hao said loudly, "If Your Excellency adds an infantry battalion, this humble official is willing to sign a military pledge. If even a single enemy escapes, this humble official is willing to accept punishment."

Yuan Shikai said loudly, "I will assign another infantry battalion to you, and then I will wait in Qinan City for your triumphant report."

Chen Hao's superfluous move to completely annihilate the Guanning Iron Cavalry was primarily to demonstrate his capability before Yuan Shikai. Old Yuan would soon become the Viceroy of Zhili and Minister of the Beiyang. If he was willing to put in a good word for him, promotion in official circles would be much easier. Li Pisen's recommendation was merely a catalyst; if his performance had been mediocre, an ambitious warlord like Yuan Shikai would never have paid him much attention.

Yuan Shikai had asked him to lead the cavalry battalion to deal with the Guanning Iron Cavalry, but simply routing them posed no difficulty at all. Completing the quest would be easy, but it wouldn't leave a deep impression on Old Yuan. The Guanning Iron Cavalry were predominantly cavalry; even with the addition of an infantry battalion, wiping them out completely would be extremely difficult. Chen Hao dared to sign a military pledge only because he was overly familiar with the terrain of the Guanning Iron Cavalry's base camp and well aware of Guanning's personality.