Although the commanders of other countries did not like the arrogance of the Russians, because it was the Russian naval force, Britain and France, the two major naval powers, did not look down on it at all, and even the new navy of Germany, did not take the Russian navy seriously, because a strong navy is by no means just a matter of building a few big ships. How could it be impossible for two Russian 10,000-ton giant ships to be sunk, even if the guns of the protective cruisers of the Beiyang Naval Division could not penetrate the armor of the Russian ships, but don't forget that there are several torpedo boats in the Beiyang Naval Division, and a surprise attack in the dark night is a great opportunity for torpedo boats to play, as long as one torpedo is hit, it is enough for a 10,000-ton giant ship.

However, the commanders of the Eight-Nation Coalition decided to launch a counterattack immediately like Dagukou, not in the hope that the coalition fleet would escape how many warships, but because at this time, the commanders of the Eight-Nation Coalition in Beijing had already received the news that the commander of the Eight-Nation Alliance, the German Marshal Waldesi, led a German fleet that had arrived in China, which was a fleet with one armored cruiser, three battleships, and four ironclad ships as the core, and its strength was far above that of the coalition fleet.

Although there were extremely deep contradictions between Britain and France and Germany, before sending troops, the parties had reached an agreement, and the contradictions between the countries were not brought to the Chinese battlefield, so the arrival of the German fleet could naturally strengthen the strength of the Eight-Nation Alliance, and whether or not the Beiyang Fleet attacked the allied fleet at Dagukou, it could not be the opponent of the German fleet. What's more, the German fleet also brought 8,000 army troops, and the combat effectiveness of the German army cannot be questioned in any way.

After deliberation among the commanders of the Eight-Nation Alliance, it was decided that the Eight-Nation Coalition Army in Beijing would be able to defeat the enemy and retake Dagukou by using only half of its strength, plus the Japanese troops stationed in Tianjin to counterattack and cooperate with the German fleet to attack Dagukou on both sides.

It is precisely because of this confidence that the commanders of the Eight-Nation Coalition Force ordered Fukushima Yasumashi to lead the Japanese troops stationed in Tianjin to attack, advance to the vicinity of Dagukou to establish a forward position, and squeeze the enemy's activity space at Dagukou; at the same time, Beijing will also send troops as soon as possible to join Fukushima Yasumasa, and then depending on the strength of the enemy's army, if the enemy's strength is not strong, then the Eight-Nation Coalition will directly recapture Dagukou, and if the strength of the Eight-Nation Coalition is not enough to capture Dagukou, then wait for the German fleet to arrive, and the two sides will work together to break the enemy.

Although Fukushima Yasumasa is not familiar with the military, as an intelligence worker, Fukushima Yasumasa has a very keen intuition, and through the investigation in the past few days, Fukushima Yasumasa instinctively feels that the opponent he encountered this time is by no means an ordinary opponent, and it is a little too risky to launch an attack rashly without knowing the strength of the opponent, and even without even knowing who the opponent is.

However, Fukushima Yasumasa is only a commander stationed in Tianjin after all, and of course he must obey the orders of the upper echelons of the Eight-Nation Alliance, not to mention that there is also Japan's Lieutenant General Yamaguchi Sutomi in the upper echelons of the Eight-Nation Alliance. Of course, thinking from another angle, Fukushima Yasumasa can also understand the commanders of the Eight-Nation Alliance, after all, the geographical location of Dagukou is too important, this is not only the retreat of the Eight-Nation Alliance, but also the reinforcement line of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

In addition, Fukushima Yasumasa also thought that until now, all the information about the enemy that had been collected was collected by the soldiers, and he was only divided according to the soldiers' reports. As early as 1883, when Fujima was only 31 years old, he once pretended to be a diplomat and infiltrated northern China to carry out activities in the name of "political performance inspection", which lasted for a total of a year, and he carefully investigated the garrison situation in Zhangjiakou, Shanhaiguan, Tianjin, Fengtian, Yingkou and other places, and after returning to Japan, he devoted himself to writing books and sayings, and compiled his investigation notes and experiences into a book entitled "Military Preparation Strategy for Neighboring Countries", which was the reference of the Japanese military department.

In 1885, Yasumasa Fukushima followed a delegation of Ito Hirobumi to China to negotiate the signing of the Treaty of Tianjin, collecting information on the Liaodong Peninsula and the coastal areas along the Bohai Bay, with the strategic goal of investigating the Chinese Qing government's military records and preparations for war in these areas. This trip enabled Yasumasa to gain a better understanding of China's armament situation, and after returning to Japan, he put forward a plan for fighting against China.

In a report in 1886, Fukushima Yasumasa clearly stated: "One of the great Achilles' heels of the Qing State is the blatant offering and acceptance of bribes, which is the root of all evil." However, the Qing people did not reflect on this at all, from the emperor's ministers to every soldier, all of them were like this, this was an incurable disease of the Qing country, and such a country was not Japan's opponent at all. ”

This is not a topic made up by the Japanese, such as "seeing soldiers drying their pants on the cannons, so it is concluded that the military discipline of the Beiyang Navy Division is lax and vulnerable", and there are real things that can be verified by words.

And in 1892, Fukushima Yasumasa traveled alone along the Trans-Siberian Railway across the entire Siberia to conduct field reconnaissance of Russia. In this Siberian crossing, Fukushima Yasumasa lasted a total of 488 days, traveled 14,000 kilometers, and even changed eight horses along the way.

It has always been the work of Fukushima Yasumasa to obtain first-hand information through on-the-spot investigations, so as to be able to understand the actual situation more comprehensively and provide more valuable reference materials for war decision-making. Therefore, if you can go to the first battle and observe the enemy army with your own eyes, you may be able to get some new information. Moreover, he has 5,000 Japanese troops under his command, even if he can't defeat the enemy, he should have more than enough self-protection. Therefore, Fukushima Yasumasa ordered the Japanese troops in Tianjin to assemble and attack. After the Japanese attacked, the defense of Tianjin City was paid for by the troops of the concessions of various countries.

The route chosen by Fukushima Yasumasa was to divide his troops into two routes, one along the other along the river. Although this will disperse the troops, it is contrary to the principle of using troops, but there is no way to do it, because from Tianjin to Dagukou, it is along the Haihe River, and the Haihe River generally runs in an east-west direction, but when it reaches the front of Tianjin City, it turns to the north-south direction, so it becomes the moat on the east and north sides of Tianjin, and the Dagukou Fort is divided into the north and south banks of the Haihe River estuary, if you only march from one side of the Haihe River, then the enemy can outflank your own flank and rear from the other side, and you must take into account both sides of the Haihe River. When the Eight-Nation Coalition attacked Beijing from Tianjin, they also advanced to Beijing from both sides of the Haihe River. Fortunately, the Haihe River is not too wide, and with dozens of small boats, no matter which side is attacked, the other side can cross the Haihe River in time to rush over for reinforcements.

Moreover, Fukushima Yasumasa did not divide the army into two parts, but took the south bank of the Haihe River as the main force, with about 3,500 Japanese troops with 15 artillery pieces, while the north bank of the Haihe River was a side division, with only about 1,500 Japanese troops with six artillery pieces; moreover, the Japanese troops on the north bank had to advance about 3 to 5 kilometers in advance, and first rushed to Li Zhuangzi to establish a position; while the main force on the south bank was divided into two parts, the front part was also 1,500 troops, and the rear part was 2,000 troops, about 10 kilometers apart, and it was divided into two days to establish a position in Gegu.

Li Zhuangzi and Gegu are both within 15 kilometers of Dagukou, and the establishment of positions in these two places can indeed create a huge threat to Dagukou and limit the enemy's space for maneuver to move at Dagukou. Moreover, the purpose of marching in three parts in this way is to consider that if the forward army is attacked by the enemy, the rear army can either catch up with reinforcements or provide a response for the retreat of the front army, and if the two front armies have established a preliminary position in the front line, the rear army can also quickly gain a foothold.

Although Fukushima Yasushi is engaged in intelligence work, after all, he has also received strict military education and training, and such an asymmetric troop deployment is exactly the usual tactic of this era, so this arrangement is also based on the rules and reasonable.

So the next day, the Japanese army set out from the city of Tianjin, divided into two routes, along the banks of the Haihe River, and marched towards Dagukou, while Fukushima Yasumasa led the rear army of the southern front to advance, with a total of 53 wooden boats and two small gunboats with a displacement of 200 tons.

The Japanese troops on the north bank arrived at Li Zhuangzi at about 3 p.m. and stationed at Li Zhuangzi. Li Zhuangxiao is a village, but after the Eight-Nation Coalition occupied Dagukou, the nearby villages were washed in blood, most of the residents were killed by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and all the people who were lucky to survive have escaped, and now there are only hundreds of houses left, so Fukushima Yasumasa chose this place as the garrison location of the Japanese army on the North Road, where there is no need to build tents to set up camps, and can live directly in the houses, and the soil fence outside the village can also be fully used as a defensive position, which can save a lot of manpower and material resources. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese troops on the south bank also arrived at the predetermined location, Gegu, and established positions.

The advance of the Japanese troops on both sides was very smooth, and they did not encounter any attacks, which should have been a happy thing, but Fukushima Yasumasa always felt that something was wrong in his heart, but it was wrong in the end, and it was impossible to say, and it could not be said that the enemy must have another conspiracy if he did not attack him, after all, Fujima Yasumasa was not a formal military commander, and his tactics and combat knowledge were all learned from school, and he lacked actual combat experience, so he really couldn't figure it out.

However, the army had already been withdrawn, and the troops in the front had entered the predetermined positions and could not be retracted, so after hesitating for a while, Fukushima Yasumasa decided to follow the plan predetermined at the time of the dispatch and ordered his army to be stationed in the same place, and wait until tomorrow to arrive in Gegu and join the Japanese troops in the front.

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