"September 27, 1898. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"The expedition into the heart of China has been officially declared a failure - although our commander, Colonel Kittel, still refuses to admit this fact publicly, he nevertheless gave the order to retreat, of course, in the name of 'turning in', not retreating. To this outlandish order, Lieutenant Colonel Rohr gave us a more in-depth explanation and asked each officer to explain to the soldiers that we had not been defeated by the Chinese army and that the expeditionary force's action was not to retreat, but to advance towards the attack on Peking. My company commander, Captain Borman, complained privately to us platoon commanders that the colonel was clearly taking everyone for fools......"

“…… As I expected, the colonel's order to 'advance to the Beijing attack' did not show any improvement in the morale of the soldiers, not even the slightest sign. At least in my platoon, the cloud of defeatism still haunts everyone. Although the soldiers were happy about the imminent retreat, they became frustrated again at the thought that the mighty German Army had been defeated by the Chinese. And everyone was worried about whether the expeditionary force would be able to break through and get rid of the pursuit of the Chinese army. Looking back at the predicament we had when we marched here, I think that concern is quite realistic. But no matter what, we have to complete this difficult task......"

“…… The Captain was ordered that our company was to assume the duties of the avant-garde - a duty that originally belonged to Captain Wiesenberg's company, but which had been wiped out by the Chinese during the raid on the city called Taiyuan, along with the Captain, - although there was no clear evidence of ......"

“…… I took stock of the platoon. There were thirty-four more people, no one was injured, no one was sick, and all of them had rifles and bayonets on their side. In the end, we had a total of 1,900 rounds of ammunition. Thank God, my platoon is in good shape compared to the other two platoons in the company and other units......"

“…… The command is changed again. At first, the colonel asked the troops to complete their preparations by 1200, and later changed it to 1400 in the afternoon, but Major Schellner's artillery kept dragging us back, so the colonel could only change the deadline to 1600, that is, we had to march at night. God, this is a disaster......"

“…… Thankfully, the Colonel, apparently aware of the detrimental effects of a night march, revised the retreat time again to 0700 tomorrow morning, which of course meant that everyone had to be on high alert tonight against a possible attack by the Chinese army. However, all indications seem to indicate that Chinese are not planning to attack ...... yet"

“…… The Chinese did not attack, what are they waiting for? ”

"September 28, 1898."

"The breakout was quite successful, completely beyond everyone's expectations. Obviously, the Chinese did not expect us to rush out of the camp - they had no defensive measures, no trenches and fortifications, no sentry posts, and when we rushed over, these people were either gambling or smoking opium, and immediately collapsed at the sight of our bayonets. It's unbelievable that we could be beaten by such a group of opponents......"

“…… In the morning, I heard terrible news: the colonel had left all the wounded soldiers who could not move on their own in that camp that we had abandoned yesterday, gave them some weapons and ammunition, and asked them to delay the Chinese troops. It was terrible, and although I could understand the reasons for the Colonel's decision, it was still unacceptable that he really abandoned our soldiers and left them to the savage Chinese. To make matters worse, the morale of the troops has been further reduced, and everyone is worried that they will be treated the same if they are injured......"

“…… Lieutenant Colonel Rohr called all the officers together for a short meeting and asked us to use all means to stabilize the mood of the soldiers and restore the morale of the troops. However, this is obviously impossible to do, because it is not only the soldiers who are depressed, but also the officers. A lieutenant colonel should not expect one group of depressed people to inspire another......"

“…… There is good news. At noon, when the expeditionary force stopped to rest, a Chinese army of about two thousand men caught up with us and fought two companies that served as the rearguard. To everyone's surprise, our soldiers routed the unit with ease, using bayonets instead of bullets. Captain Hess, who commanded the battle, revealed that these Chinese were exactly the same as the militants we had first encountered, who knew nothing about white-knuckle combat, had no command and no cooperation, and were purely a rabble......"

“…… Senior officers interrogated the prisoners captured by Captain Hess. The latest news is that it was not the regular Chinese army that was chasing us, but a group of improvised militia and thugs - the ones known as the Boxers - led by a government official named Yu'Xian, who fought only to exchange our heads for a bounty, which is crazy and barbaric! I can't believe that in this age of civilization, such a thing could happen......"

“…… The captive confessed something more. It was the same militants as them, or second-rate government troops, who surrounded and pursued us, and the army that had fought with us the day before had not taken part in these operations, because its commander had been killed by our artillery - which seemed to explain the heavy shelling that followed, and which was now in disarray, awaiting the appointment of a new commander by the Chinese Government. Thank God ......"

“…… The last good news, the same Chinese army that fought with us the day before ran out of shells in the shelling, so we will not be met with artillery fire. Thank God again, and of course, thanks to these honest Chinese, the morale of the troops has finally recovered somewhat. However, there are at least tens of thousands of Chinese militants involved in the pursuit, and our return journey is still difficult......"

"September 29, 1898."

"At noon today, the Chinese militants caught up with us again, but they were still easily routed by the rearguard. This victory raised the morale of the troops a little more, the cloud of defeatism had disappeared from everyone, and some officers and soldiers had smiles on their faces, and even Captain Borman half-jokingly said to several platoon commanders that perhaps the purpose of the militants pursuing the expeditionary force was to restore our morale. I must say that I think he is quite right......"

“…… Not all news is good news, there are some bad news, and the most recent bad news is that the expeditionary force is suffering from food shortages because it has not been able to get supplies. When we marched into the hinterland of China, the supply problem was not serious, and the troops could still get food from the Chinese, but now it became a big problem, and all the Chinese villages we could find had been cleared, there was no food, and not a single Chinese were still there. We must find another way to solve the problem of food shortages......"

“…… The only solution to the food shortage that can now be found and implemented is to halve the ration. Nevertheless, the food carried by the expeditionary force could last only five days at most. If we don't get food supplies during this time, we're in big trouble. ”

"September 30, 1898."

"The situation is starting to get serious. The Chinese have already rushed to the front of the expeditionary force. From this morning until this afternoon, our company has encountered four armed groups, each of which has more than a thousand men. Although these men can be easily defeated with bayonets, each battle consumes a lot of physical strength from the soldiers, recalling what happened during the march and the difficulties that come with it. The morale seems to be declining again......"

“…… Worse news came from the rearguard, including Captain Hess, as a result of today's battle nineteen people killed and more than thirty wounded. As a result, the morale of the troops was dealt another heavy blow, and they returned to the starting point when they set out......"

“…… New problems have arisen. The Chinese blocked most of the wells we could find with sand and stones, and some were even dumped into human and animal feces. Now, in addition to halving the amount of food, drinking water has also been cut in half. There are signs of collapse of the troops......"

“…… A couple of soldiers asked me, where are our reinforcements? But this is also the question I want to know, where are our reinforcements? The British, the Russians, the Austrians, the Italians, even the French and the Japanese, and that American army with many Chinese soldiers and a Chinese general, whoever it is, I want them to be in front of me right now. ”

"October 1, 1898."

"The situation deteriorated further. Last night, the Chinese played their old trick again, draining our energy and physical strength with gunfire all night, and then raided the camp early in the morning. Despite the fact that we were prepared, we still lost more than two dozen soldiers in the battle, and the mules that transported artillery and supplies also lost nearly half of them in the confusion. We can only throw away heavy weapons and unnecessary things......"

"Ensign Bauer!"

"What?" Conrad. Second Lieutenant Bauer put down his pen and turned his head. A soldier was running towards him, but he stopped and took another step back.

The soldier clearly did not intend to make the last bit of the journey, because time was of the essence. "The troops will leave in a minute, second lieutenant."

"I'll come over immediately." The lieutenant replied, but by this time the soldier had already hurried away.

In this chaotic and difficult time, some people have apparently forgotten the necessary etiquette. The second lieutenant sighed, put the pen and notebook in his pocket, and then stood up and walked towards his troops. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )