Beijing, Cining Palace. --

Originally, Cixi had already fallen asleep, but now it has passed the third watch, and Cixi's 'essence' strength is not as good as before.

Li Lianying, who was outside, had arranged the night duty and was about to rest, when a little eunuch ran over, bowed down and said: "Lord Chief, Li Hongzhang, a scholar, and Xu Yongyi, a scholar of the Ministry of War, have jointly asked to see the Queen Mother, and I have an urgent matter to see the Queen Mother." ”

Li Lianying was shocked in her heart, now is the time for Japan and Russia to use troops against the imperial court, Li Hongzhang and Xu Yongyi, two important ministers in charge of the defense of the north, came together, and there must have been a major military situation.

Li Lianying said: "You go and ask the two adults to come to the front and wait first, and I will go out to meet you immediately." ”

The little eunuch turned around and went down to arrange, Li Lianying then walked out and came to the front room, at this time Li Hongzhang and Xu Yongyi were full of anxiety, and they were 'chaotic' in the room.

Li Lianying hurriedly arched her hand and asked, "Two adults, what's wrong, why did you come to Cining Palace so late to see the driver, and Lafayette has already fallen asleep." ”

Li Hongzhang hurriedly said: "Manager Li, of course something big happened, the Ministry of War and the Prime Minister's Ya'men 'Gate' received an urgent telegram from Jining Ke's 'Meng', 60,000 Russian cavalry raided Hohhot, and Hohhot has been completely captured, Ke'meng' can't resist it, and withdrew to Jining, and now the Tsarist Russian army has entered Zhangjiakou, 100,000 are in a hurry, and the Russian army will pass Zhangjiakou again, then it will enter Changping, and it won't take an hour to get to the city of Beijing!" ”

"Ahh After Li Lianying heard Li Hongzhang's words, she was stunned with fright, and according to Li Hongzhang's statement, she was afraid that she would not be able to use up for a few days, and the Russians would enter the city of Beijing.

Li Lianying hurriedly asked, "Then, what should Lao Zhongtang do now?" This is terrible! ”

Li Hongzhang gritted his teeth and said: "Manager Li, now there is only a desperate palace, there is no way, even if Lafayette blames, there is also an old man who bears it, such a big thing must not be delayed!" ”

Li Lianying also knew that once the Russians really attacked, it would be a big trouble, which was really burning her eyebrows.

Li Lianying stomped her feet and said, "Okay, our family will accompany Lao Zhongtang to take a risk, for the sake of the Qing Dynasty, it's worth it!" ”

Li Lianying took Li Hongzhang and Xu Yongyi all the way in front to the Yangxin Pavilion of Cining Palace.

Li Lianying stopped and said, "If the two adults don't stay, let's go and wake up Lafayette." ”

As he spoke, he came to the 'door', gently pulled the 'door' of the room, and shouted: "Lafayette, Lafayette wake up, Lafayette, the slave has an urgent matter." ”

When Cixi was sleeping in a groggy and fragrant sleep in the 'door' of the house, she was awakened by Li Lianying's cry and said unhappily: "Little Lizi, what are you doing?" Scared me at this time? ”

Li Lianying wiped the sweat of the 'door' of her brain and replied: "Lafayette, something has happened, Li Hongzhang Zhongtang and Xu Yongyi Shangshu have asked for an audience, and there is a major military situation. ”

Cixi was shocked in her heart, Li Hongzhang was well-known, stable, and the city government was very deep, not a vital military situation, and he would definitely not take the liberty of meeting him late at night.

Cixi replied, "Come in and serve the mourners, and let them wait for a while." ”

After a stick of incense, the two of them were summoned in by Cixi.

After the two of them finished saluting, Cixi asked: "Two Aiqing, what is the important military situation, can't you let the mourning family sleep peacefully?" ”

Li Hongzhang hurriedly said: "Lafayette, 100,000 is urgent, and there is no delay, Ke 'Meng' of Jining sent an urgent telegram to report the military situation. ”

Cixi was stunned for a moment and asked, "Ke 'Meng' huh?" Isn't Ke Meng' in Hohhot, when did he go to Jining? ”

Li Hongzhang said with a wry smile: "Lafayette, the urgent telegram of Ke'meng' is that 60,000 Russian cavalry have attacked, and now they have captured Hohhot, and Ke'meng' is invincible and has retreated to Jining. In a few days, we will arrive in Zhangjiakou. ”

"Ahh

Cixi listened to Li Hongzhang's words, her face was full of shock, and the teacup in her hand fell to the ground.

Cixi screamed, "Li Hongzhang, when did this happen? Why did the telegram arrive in the capital now! ”

Li Hongzhang took a deep breath and said: "Lafayette, this is already the day before yesterday, Ke Meng's forehead retreated all the way to Jining, and he just sent an urgent call to the capital, which was a day late. ”

Cixi said angrily: "Ke 'Meng', this waste! Hohhot is the largest town in ancient Mongolia, and it was lost so easily, and the mourning family must deal with him strictly, and he must be dealt with strictly! ”

Li Hongzhang hurriedly said: "Lafayette, what matters now is not to strictly deal with the 'Meng' amount, but how to strengthen the defense of the Beijing Division, the Tsarist Russian army is going south, Zhangjiakou's Chahar Commander Fu Ting is already old, and he can't bear the heavy responsibility of defending Zhangjiakou at all, and now he has to urgently mobilize capable cadres to rush to Zhangjiakou and defend the fortress, once Zhangjiakou is lost, we have no other barrier to rely on in Beijing!" ”

Cixi hurriedly asked, "Shaoquan, in your opinion, who should we line up to preside over military affairs?" ”

Li Hongzhang pondered for a moment and said: "Lafayette, now in the court, only Dong Fuxiang is stationed in Nankou, which is the closest to Zhangjiakou, and at the same time, Dong Fuxiang was born in the Chu army, and the Gan army under his command can fight well. ”

Cixi asked, "Shaoquan, can Dong Fuxiang repel the Russian army?" ”

Li Hongzhang's eyes darkened, and he said: "Lafayette, this time the Russian army is attacking, the strength is as high as 60,000, even if the amount of Ke'meng' is a little exaggerated, I think there must be 30,000 or 40,000, Dong Fuxiang's men are only more than 10,000 men and horses, and Dong Fuxiang's Gan army is mostly cavalry, good at attacking and not good at defending, we are actually our own short attack on the other's long, the minister thinks, Dong Fuxiang will insist on half a month to 20 days at most, no matter how long the time is, Zhangjiakou will be broken!" Therefore, you must make an order to transfer the army of the king from all over the world, the sooner the better, Lafayette. ”

Cixi said: "Okay, Shaoquan, you draft the decree on my behalf, hurry up for 700 miles, and immediately summon Dong Fuxiang to go north to Zhangjiakou to resist the invasion of the Russian army, and be sure to hold Zhangjiakou to the death!" ”

Li Hongzhang bowed and said, "The minister obeys the order." ”

Cixi continued: "Immediately telegraph the whole country, order the governors of all provinces to receive an urgent telegram, and immediately raise troops to Qin Wang, we are now facing direct pressure from Tsarist Russia and Japan, and we cannot resist it only by relying on the defense of the Beijing Division." ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "Yes, Lafayette, now Yuan Xiangcheng's army is completely contained by the Japanese navy, Zhang Jianzhi's 'elite' is fighting with the Russian army, and the current guarding force in the capital only has Rong Lu, Dong Xiangfu and Song Qing's men and horses, and the total is only 50,000 'elite' soldiers, it is too difficult, if we want to resist the cavalry of Tsarist Russia, we need at least 80,000 horses to be possible." Cixi 'rubbed' her forehead and said: "Shaoquan, all the defense of the Jingshi has been 'handed over' to you, you must make overall arrangements, I will let Rong Lu and Xu Yongyi fully assist you." Li Hongzhang said bitterly: "Lafayette, now I still have to mediate with the foreign powers, it is difficult to separate, and the minister thinks that military defense is better to be presided over by Lord Ronglu or Lord Xu for the time being......