After Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang and their entourage arrived in Tianjin, they were also warmly received by the traversers, Xia Bohai and Qin Zheng met with the two together, and highly praised Li Hongzhang's behavior of taking the overall situation into account, and also thanked Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang for going to Shanhaiguan in person. ．

Early the next morning, the special forces, the first and second battalions of the regimental headquarters of the Second Regiment, Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang boarded the Changbai Mountain ship and sailed to Shanhaiguan.

Shanhaiguan is about 22o kilometers away from Tianjin, and the Changbai Mountain ship travels in a 14-knot economic voyage, which takes about 8 hours. In fact, there is a railway from Tianjin to Shanhaiguan, called Jinyu Railway, (Shanhaiguan is also known as Yuguan), from Linxi Town of Tianjin in the south, to Shanhaiguan City in the north, construction started in 189o, opened to traffic in the spring of 1894, with a total length of 127 kilometers, and later became an integral part of the Jingfeng Railway. This is also one of the earliest railways built in the Qing Dynasty, because Shanhaiguan is also located in Beijing's outer defense pass, so it is connected by rail, which is conducive to the transportation of troops.

However, it is not yet known what the attitude of the guards of Shanhaiguan is, and if they take the liberty of taking the train to transport troops to Shanhaiguan, it is easy to misunderstand. Shanhaiguan is a pass with six lines of sea and six lines, and there is Laolongkou Port in the southeast of Guancheng, where ships can be berthed, so the Military Commission decided to dispatch Changbai Mountain ships to transport Zhang Peilun, Li Jingfang and the army to Shanhaiguan by sea. Moreover, the Changbai Mountain ship is a two-dock ship, with a strong amphibious Deng 6 combat capability, if the guards of Shanhaiguan refuse to let the traverser enter the customs, then they will immediately attack Shanhaiguan by force, of course, because the armament of the Changbai Mountain ship is not strong, so the Military Commission sent the Sanya ship to escort the Changbai Mountain ship.

The last time he visited Tianjin with Li Hongzhang, Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang had seen the Changbaishan ship in Dagukou Port, and they were very shocked that the size of the warship was huge, but at that time they only saw it from afar, and after boarding the Changbaishan ship, they had a more intuitive understanding of the huge ship.

Since there was nothing to do along the way, at the request of the two, Qiu Yahui, the commander of the second regiment, accompanied the two of them to take a turn on the Changbai Mountain ship, and explained that this warship was not a combat ship, but a two-bay dock ship, which was used for troop projection and two-bay 6 operations, and also took the two to the wheelhouse and dock of the Changbaishan ship to have a look, and explained the Changbaishan ship's boarding 6 mode, which also made the two sigh greatly. Transporting supplies and everything is the task of transporting ships, but I didn't expect that warships would still be used like this, combining troop transportation and combat, and this time I really gained a lot of knowledge. Of course, Qiu Yahui didn't take them to the headquarters, after all, there were too many secrets of traversers in the headquarters, and they couldn't be seen.

After having lunch on the ship, at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the fleet arrived at the sea surface of Shanhaiguan, at this time the weather on the sea surface was very fine, standing on the lookout platform of the Changbai Mountain ship and looking from afar, you can see very clearly the majestic undulating mountains, as well as the Great Wall that rises and falls along the mountains, and the Guancheng erected on the mountains.

Shanhaiguan is one of the most famous customs towns in China and has been an important military town in China since ancient times. In the Ming Dynasty Hongwu 14 years (1381) to build a pass to set up a guard, located in the east end of the Great Wall, because the city of the city in the narrow mountain, the sea and get the name, Shanhaiguan north according to Yanshan, south of the Bohai Sea, east of Liaoning, west near Beijing and Tianjin, the terrain demolition and rush to the danger, guard the throat of the railway inside and outside the pass, for the past dynasties of the soldiers must fight for the place, its important geographical location is known as "the two Beijing lock key unparalleled land, the first pass of the Great Wall." ”

In addition, Qinhuangdao, which is 15 kilometers southwest of Shanhaiguan City, is a famous natural harbor in northern China that does not freeze all year round, so after the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance, it has become a place that Britain, Russia and Germany want to occupy exclusively.

On July 1o, 19oo, nine warships of the Eight-Nation Coalition berthed at the coastal dock of Qinhuangdao and then headed east. The next day, three more warships cruised between Qinhuangdao, Shanhaiguan, and Jinshanzui in Beidaihe, spying on the virtual and real, and waiting for an opportunity to land. On July 11, Duan Yueli, the leader of the Boxers, led more than 60 Boxers to enter Qinhuangdao Port, burn the wooden wharf of the port, and demolish part of the railway in the port area. Seeing that Qinhuangdao was ready, the coalition forces temporarily retreated to the southwest sea.

After the Eight-Nation Coalition captured Beijing, Vice Admiral Simon, the commander of the British Navy, presided over a joint meeting to discuss the joint occupation of Shanhaiguan and its nearby coastal areas, but at that time Shanhaiguan was garrisoned by heavy troops, because Shanhaiguan was an important town to guard the capital, so the Manchu and Han dual chief officials system was adopted, and the main commander was Zheng Caisheng, the commander of Shanhaiguan, commanding about 15oo people, and the head of the top Dai Shanhaiguan deputy capital commander Fushun, commanded by more than 1ooo soldiers of the Eight Banners; the Huai Army General Lu Benyuan Department 5 battalions of 25oo people, stationed in the old dragon head fort; stationed in Shanhaiguan Shanyongxie Deputy General Liang Department more than 1ooo, commanding the Wuwei Left Army, Sichuan Governor Song Qing and Huiban Wuwei Left Army, Zhejiang Governor Ma Yukun a total of 25 battalions and 98oo people, respectively stationed inside and outside the city, plus the township regiment, Lian Yong and other Shanhaiguan Qing Defense Army, the total strength can reach more than 16,000 people. In addition, there is a strong fort built on the coast of the old dragon's head, and its gun emplacements are listed in 5 places, all of which are equipped with the latest cannons. Therefore, the garrison force of Shanhaiguan is even more at the mouth of Dagu, Tianjin.

In the old time and space, the Eight-Nation Coalition also knew that it was not possible to storm Shanhaiguan, so they forced Li Hongzhang, who was then Minister Plenipotentiary and Peace, to write a letter to the guards of Shanhaiguan, asking them to "hand over the customs city and forts, and do not do so". As a result, Zheng Caisheng abandoned the city and fled, and on September 29, 19oo, the army led by the deputy capital commander Fushun surrendered to the Eight-Nation Alliance. Later, the Qing court signed the [Xinchou Treaty] with other countries, and successively seven countries, Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Russia, Japan, and Italy, stationed troops in Shanhaiguan, and established a six-country camp. (The U.S. garrison was withdrawn in 19o2 without a camp).

It's just that in this time and space, due to the appearance of the traverser, Li Hongzhang did not go to Beijing to negotiate peace with the Eight-Nation Alliance, and the Eight-Nation Alliance did not have the energy to capture Shanhaiguan, and until now, Shanhaiguan is still in the hands of the Qing army. However, due to this period of history, the traveler pinned hopes on Li Hongzhang, since he could write a letter to persuade the defenders of Shanhaiguan to surrender in the old time and space, then in this time and space, the guards of Shanhaiguan will open the gate and let the People's Army enter the pass to arrange defensive positions to meet the Russian army.

At this time, the Changbai Mountain ship was about 18 kilometers away from the Laolongtou Port of Shanhaiguan, and the captain of the Changbai Mountain ship, Lu Kai, ordered the ship to be stopped, and at the same time put down the speedboat and sent Zhang Peilun, Li Jingfang and the four servants they brought ashore.

The speedboat left the Changbaishan ship and sailed to the shore, and after driving about 7 or 8 kilometers, it saw a small boat with a shell coming from the opposite side, slightly larger than the speedboat of the traverser, but it was as slow as a turtle, and there were about 14 or 5 Qing soldiers standing on the boat, and a small cannon was placed on the boat.

When the two boats approached, they heard the Qing soldiers on the small boat shouting, "You are the ships from there." ”

Li Jingfang stood at the bow of the speedboat and said loudly: "We are Li Zhongtang's envoys, and we have come to Shanhaiguan to meet Admiral Zheng Caisheng on important matters. ”

When the Qing soldiers on the boat heard this, their attitude immediately became respectful, and they said, "It turned out to be Li Zhongtang's envoy, please come with us." ”

It turned out that after Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang left Shanghai, Li Hongzhang sent a telegram to Shanhaiguan and told Zheng Caisheng and Fushun in advance. Although the official positions of these two people are not low, the admiral is a military general of the first rank, and the deputy capital of the Eight Banners is the second rank, but in front of Li Hongzhang, it is not worth mentioning, although Li Hongzhang has no real position now, but he has been in power for more than 3o years and is deeply rooted, so he still has huge political influence, and it is not comparable to the two of them.

And at this time, the news that the Russian army was going to advance south had reached Shanhaiguan, Zheng Caisheng, Fushun was also frightened, because in the eyes of the Chinese in this era, Russia is a fierce and barbaric country, and the Russian army is an extremely fierce army, so it is at war with the Russian army, often robbing before the battle, and knowing that the Russian army is going south, then the brunt is naturally Shanhaiguan, the two as the guards of Shanhaiguan, according to the system of the Qing court, the lord of the pass will have the responsibility of guarding the territory, if he abandons the city and flees, he will be held responsible, of course, at this time, the escape will basically not be beheaded.

In the second Opium War 4o years ago, Ye Mingchen, who was then the governor of Liangguang, faced the British and French coalition forces, and could not fight, and could not escape, so he could only respond with no fighting, no peace, no defense, no death, no surrender, and no leaving. As a result, after the city of Guangzhou was broken, Ye Mingchen was captured by the British and French forces, and was escorted by the British army to Calcutta, India, and finally died of hunger strike.

If it was in normal times, Zheng Caisheng and Fushun could still ask the court for help, but now the entire Qing court is basically in a period of chaos, and there is nowhere to rush at all, and seeing that they can only follow in the footsteps of the governor of Liubu. And at this moment, Li Hongzhang's telegram was like a life-saving straw, giving the two of them a glimmer of hope. Of course, it was impossible for Li Hongzhang to elaborate on the causes and consequences in the telegram, but only said that in order to resist the southward advance of the Russian army, the only plan was to ask the overseas Chinese for help, and he had sent Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang to Tianjin to negotiate with the overseas Chinese, and if there was a result, he would definitely come to Shanhaiguan to meet with the two of them.

The name of overseas Chinese, now Zheng Caisheng and Fu Shun have naturally heard of it, although the two are skeptical about the victory of overseas Chinese, but if Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang can say that overseas Chinese can come to the rescue of Shanhaiguan, it is better than the two of them are helpless now. Therefore, the two of them also looked forward to Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang coming to Shanhaiguan as if they were looking through autumn water, and instructed the defenders of the two lines of Hai 6 to greet each other respectfully and not slack off.

―――――――― Divider ――――――――― Dividing Line――――――――

Note: Regarding Ye Mingchen's historical evaluation, later generations have different opinions, but it has nothing to do with the plot of this book, so it will not be expanded.