After returning to Qingdao, the delegation made a report to the Executive Yuan.

Li Sanjie concluded: "Due to Makarov's accidental death, the Japanese side thinks that it has a certain military advantage and does not need our military help, so it will not be needed for a considerable period of time, but Japan does not dare to say too much, so it is agreed on the time of the next consultation, which also shows that the current Japanese rulers are still sober-minded. The military circles are indeed elites, although they have a side of crazy expansion and gambling on the fortunes of the country, but they also have a rational and cautious side. ”

You Qianming said: "Isn't this a very good result? Anyway, we have no intention of negotiating with Japan, and now Japan has taken the initiative to end this consultation, which is in line with our plan." ”

Li Sanjie said: "But the next negotiation is scheduled for June, and if the war situation in Japan is unfavorable, it is likely to make concessions to us, so I am afraid that the negotiations will really be completed." ”

Qin Zheng said: "Don't worry, whether it is from the current war process or the history of the old time and space, Japan will slowly determine the advantage in the course of the war, I estimate that by June, Japan should have a clear advantage, I see that at that time it is a headache for Japan how to delay." ”

Wang Jun said: "Also, I can only say that Japan's luck is too good, one * actually won the jackpot, if such luck can't be won, it's too useless." ”

Xia Bohai said: "I agree with Lao Qin's opinion, and when the time comes, I will continue to urge Japan, so that Japan thinks that we still want to stay within the framework of cooperation, and delay Japan's materials and collect the money that should be collected." ”

You Qian Ming said: "We have sold three batches of materials to Japan, but we have made a lot of money, and if we continue like this, this year's financial revenue is expected to exceed 1.2 yuan." ”

Xia Bohai nodded, and asked Xiao Jianjun again: "The training of the army must be paid close attention to, whether it is the navy or the army, the winter training is good, but we can't just focus on winter training, we must also pay close attention to summer training, the summer in the northeast is not cool, our plan is to join the war in May, and we are about to enter the summer." ”

Xiao Jianjun said: "Don't worry, the training plan from now until April next year has been worked out, and it will be handed over to you tomorrow." I'll keep an eye on it myself, but I'll have to keep up with the production of weapons. ”

Xia Bohai said: "The Industrial and Mining Energy Committee must find a way to ensure that the production target is fully achieved. ”

Lu Hong said: "Yes, it will definitely not lag behind." ”

Xia Bohai said: "There is also the issuance of bonds, and we must also pay close attention to it, which is our source of funds." ”

You Qianming said: "I plan to go to Germany and the United States in a few days, and I will not touch the people in the financial circles to try to buy bonds better." ”

Xia Bohai nodded and said, "Okay." ”

After the delegation left, the Japanese Combined Fleet also submitted the plan for the third blockade operation to the Military Command Department, and the War Department was also actively preparing to implement the operational plan for landing on the Liaodong Peninsula.

On April 25 and 26, the Japanese army first captured Jiuli Island and Qianding Island at the confluence of the Yalu River and the Yalu River.

On April 2 9, the three divisions of the 1st Army crossed the Yalu River from Shuikou Town and Jiuli Island respectively, and the Russian army had about 30,000 troops on the banks of the Yalu River, but it did not deploy heavy troops to defend along the Yalu River, only a small number of troops were deployed at several distance points, but the main force was deployed in the depth 10 kilometers away from the river.

As a result, the Japanese army's crossing of the river proceeded very smoothly, first of all, the 12th Division successfully crossed the river, and advanced along the river from the Jackal Gully in the evening, and the Russian troops guarding this area only had 2 companies, so the result was naturally unable to stop the Japanese advance.

At 10 o'clock in the morning of April 30, the 12th Division successfully crossed the river, and at noon, captured the 192 heights in the northeast of Tiger Mountain. and set up artillery positions on Jiuli Island and Qianding Island to shell the Russian positions along the Yalu River and cover the crossing of the 2nd Division and the Guards Division.

At 11 o'clock in the evening of April 30, the three divisions of the 1st Army basically crossed the Yalu River, and the Russian army retreated to the periphery of Jiulian City to assemble and defend. At 6 a.m. on May 1, the Japanese army launched an attack on Jiulian City, and the first large-scale ground war of the Russo-Japanese War began.

The 2nd Division first exchanged fire with the Russian army on the right flank of Jiuliancheng, defeated the Russians, occupied the Russian positions south of the waist ditch, and advanced to the north of Jiuliancheng.

After learning of the actions of the 2nd Division, the other divisions also began to move forward. At 7:30 a.m., the 12th Division reached the northern heights of Weizigou, and the 2nd Division advanced to the line from the northeast heights of Jiuliancheng to the western heights of Yangou; at about 9 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese army had occupied the Russian positions on the west bank of the Sanhe River from Weizigou to Jiuliancheng, and the progress of all fronts was very smooth, which surprised the commander of the 1st Army, General Hei Mu Weizhen.

Since the start of the war, although Japan has a certain advantage in naval warfare, but Russia is not a maritime power after all, but a continental country, only the army is the foundation of the Russian army, said to have a world-class army, so before the war, the Japanese army from officers to soldiers believed that the opponent in front of them was very strong, and even prepared to fight a hard battle, but after the battle began, the Japanese army was like a bamboo, and the three armies were all victorious in successive battles, frequently breaking through the positions of the Russian army.

By 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese army repelled the Russian army on the western high ground of Jiulian City, at this time most of the Russian positions were broken through by the Japanese army, and most of the Russian troops retreated to Phoenix City, but the Russian troops guarding the east and north of Jiulian City were surrounded by the Japanese army; at half past 2 o'clock, the trapped Russian army began to break through, and after paying a heavy price, it finally succeeded in breaking through; at 5 o'clock, the Japanese army occupied Jiulian City, and the battle ended.

The significance of the Battle of Jiuliancheng was not only that the Japanese Army officially entered the territory of Liaodong in China, symbolizing the full-scale development of the Russo-Japanese War, but also shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Russian Army, allowing him to see the weak interior of Russia's huge body and completely overcome his fear of the Russian army, which was very important for the Japanese army's future operations.

The next day, under the title of "Continental War at the Beginning of the Century," various Japanese media reported on the Battle of Jiuliancheng, and some newspapers even claimed that this was the first land victory in Asia against Europe in the history of modern warfare, and they forgot that in the Sino-French War, the Chinese army had won a great victory at Zhennanguan as early as 1885, and it was the French army that had been defeated.

At five o'clock in the afternoon of May 1, that is, at the end of the battle of Jiulian City, the Combined Fleet also attacked again and carried out the third blockade operation.

Although the news of the victory of the Japanese Army in the Battle of Jiuliancheng had not yet come before the departure, judging from the news received, the victory was already in the bag, which also brought a lot of pressure to the Combined Fleet, after all, the Army was a genuine victory as soon as it struck, which was much stronger than these flashy victories won by the Navy, so this closed operation was still a close construction.

However, the Combined Fleet also made great efforts to carry out this blockade operation, fully absorbing the experience of the previous two blockade wars, and only the number of blockade ships reached 12, which exceeded the number of the first two blockade ships, and it also specially studied a "four-three-three-two" blockade combat formation, which was supervised and trained by Captain Nanagoro Saito, who had participated in the first two blockade operations.

However, it backfired, and the third blockade operation did not go well from the beginning, first after departure, the engine of the blockade ship Busan Maru had a problem, and although the commander of the Busan Maru, Captain Okaku Zensheng, insisted on participating in the battle, he gradually fell behind due to the lack of speed, and finally the engine broke down completely, and he had to stop at Ocean Island.

At 9 p.m. on May 2, the blockade operation began, but by this time the weather had become bad, and a strong wind was blowing on the sea, and the 11 blockade ships could not keep in line.

At this time, the commander-in-chief of the occlusion operation on the Shinbata Maru, Hayashi Zhongzuo, considering that this kind of sea and weather was not conducive to the operation, decided to suspend the operation and ordered the closed fleet to return to the sea, but at this time the formation of the closed fleet was chaotic, and as a result, only the two ships of Ogura Maru and Nagato Maru saw the signal and turned back with the Shinbata Maru, while the remaining 8 blocked ships were divided into two teams in the wind and waves, and still headed for Port Arthur.

And in Arthur, after Makarov's death, before the arrival of the new commander Skoridov, Alekseev temporarily acted as the commander of the fleet, although Makarov was not in office for a long time, but after all, he created a perfect defense system for Port Arthur, and although Alekseev's talent is far less than that of Makarov, he is not stupid, he completely inherited the defense system built by Makarov, and also laid a mine protection net in the port, and also laid a mine net outside the port*, so that the defense of Port Arthur is more tight.

As a result, the occluded ships were hit by heavy Russian artillery fire in the outer harbor, and the 8 occluded ships were either sunk by artillery fire, or they were forced to detonate and sink themselves without being able to break through, and none of them were able to sink at the predetermined position.

The scale and losses of the third blockade were much larger than the previous two, and the eight ships that broke into the harbor had a total of 158 people, and only 63 survived, of which the personnel of two ships were all killed. Later, after the Japanese captured Arthur, 16 more survivors were found, and the remains of 39 closed crew members were found in the Russian cemetery.

According to survivors and Russian prisoners, after the end of the third blockade operation, the Pacific Fleet also sent small boats to rescue those who fell into the water, but some Japanese sailors did not accept the rescue, either committed suicide or resisted, and in the end only more than 30 people were rescued, and after being sent to the Lushun Naval Hospital, more than a dozen people died of hunger strike.

Although after the end of the Third Blockade Campaign, in order not to be compared with the victory achieved by the Army, Heihachiro Togo sent a telegram to the Military Command Department saying that "the Third Blockade Operation was basically successful", but he privately admitted that these three Blockade Operations did not actually produce much effect, and at most made it slightly more difficult for the large ships to enter and exit.