"Your Excellency, you are saying that 'no ship of the Eastern Empire is allowed to enter the Bohai Bay'?"

Prince Akihito Komatsumiya looked at Lieutenant General Filimante and waited for his answer.

"Of course, the British Empire has always kept its promises, and this is the essential difference between civilization and barbarianism."

Philmante smiled and said, "Port Arthur, you can attack at any time; Of course, if the Oriental Fleet goes south to attack the southeast coast of the Qing Dynasty, don't complain afterwards that I didn't warn you, and it may not only be the British Fleet that will trouble you. ”

"Under the wise leadership of the Emperor, we in the East have always been committed to Westernization and to be an advanced and peace-loving civilized country; Helping North Korea free itself from the rule of the barbaric Qing Dynasty and attacking the Qing Dynasty to demand that he treat his people equally is all sincerity that we have done to Western civilization. ”

Prince Akihito Komatsumiya endured the anger in his heart and said with difficulty: "We will not go to the southeast coast and offend the interests of Western countries, including Yantai. ”

"Very well, then I'll see."

With an arrogant smile, Phelimant brushed the snowflakes off his shoulders and said, "Your Excellency Prince ,——, a peace-loving civilized country, you are so humorous. ”

An hour later, Prince Akihito Komatsumiya boarded the Edo Maru, which turned around and headed east.

Soon, in the midst of the snowstorm, the Edo Maru sailed to the Japanese anchorage ship group, waved the flag, and immediately headed east to the waters of Weihaiwei.

At the same time, Prince Akihito Komatsumiya wrote a telegram ordering the Kitty Hawk torpedo boat to be sent to Dalian Bay and telegraphed to the Hiroshima base camp.

There were only a few lines on the telegram, which read: "The British ships blockaded the Bohai Sea, the First Army was deeply trapped in Zhili, and the Navy was to be transferred to Weihaiwei, and the 11th Brigade landed in Ludong and coordinated the attack from the south." ”

"Woo-"

With the sound of a whistle, the Japanese ships began to turn eastward.

"The Japanese escaped, the Japanese escaped!"

Suddenly, in the temporary snow canopy on Dangji Island, all the civil and military officials of the Qing army were screaming with joy.

"Happy, happy! Bring the pen! ”

Although Li Bingheng has always been disgusted with these Western yellow-haired horse monkeys in his heart, he still feels particularly excited to see the Japanese warships fleeing without firing a single shot.

So he loudly ordered his entourage to take pen and paper and give the emperor some telegrams.

Tangshan.

Snowstorms.

"Long, long, long—"

In the wind and snow, the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Brigades of the Japanese Army's vanguard, nearly 1,200 cavalry came to the east bank of the Tang River, looking at the small town of Tangshan (Qiaotou Town) that had been completely hidden in the wind and snow three miles on the other side of the river.

Seven miles to the north, is the Luanzhou Kaiping Coal Mine in the Qing Dynasty, which is by far the largest coal mine in the whole of East Asia, with an annual output of 500,000 tons of high-quality raw coal.

"Smack, smack—"

The closed environment and the strict massacre blockade of the Japanese First Army in Yongping Province made the Qing people in the surrounding countryside almost unaware of the coming of the disaster.

Every family is celebrating the Spring Festival in a lively and lively manner, eating hard dishes, drinking wine and setting off firecrackers.

"There is the Kaiping Coal Mine, and the commander has ordered not to enter it to prevent the Qing army from destroying the coal mine; This coal mine will be a valuable property of the empire in the future, and with this coal mine, the empire will no longer have to buy Western white coal at a high price! ”

The captain of the 2nd Cavalry Group, Fukuhara Hisakei Shaosa, looked at the vast snow in the north, with a greedy face.

"Discharge the scouts, disguise themselves to conduct a covert search of the surrounding area, and the rest of the troops retreat to the West Malaysia Village and the East Malaysia Village, lock up the village, and not leak the slightest information."

The commander of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, Matsushi Yasuji Shaoza, ordered the adjutant beside him: "For the villagers who do not obey the order, they will all be killed!" Note that the grass hut must not be burned to arouse the vigilance of the Qing army. ”

"Da, da, da-"

In the quiet sound of horses' hooves, the Japanese cavalry quickly completed the encirclement and blockade of the West Malaysia Village and the East Malaysia Village, and then contracted the encirclement and entered the village.

"Bang, bang—"

Soon, in the midst of the blizzard there were cries everywhere, the Japanese cavalry laughed wantonly, and there were occasional gunshots.

By the time the gunfire died down, the Japanese army had completely controlled the two Zhuangzi, which were almost connected, after slaughtering nearly 20 civilians.

More than 1,000 Japanese troops began to occupy the magpie's nest and sit in the houses of each house, asking for food and drink.

Although the Japanese army forbade rape and humiliation in military regulations, the snow was howling all over the sky, and how many Japanese soldiers who had eaten and drunk enough began to force innocent women into the inner room with bayonets.

From the afternoon to the end of the night, more than a dozen martyrs committed suicide, and more than 60 civilians were bloodily slaughtered.

On the night of February 8 in the Western calendar, hundreds of people in West Malaysia villages and East Malaysia villages rebelled and killed the Japanese soldiers, but unfortunately the people did not know how to use guns, and were immediately shot and killed by the swarming Japanese troops.

In the early morning of the 9th, Matsuishi Yasuji saw more than 30 corpses of Japanese soldiers who had been cut beyond recognition by hoes, kitchen knives, axes, and shovels, and immediately issued an order to slaughter the village in anger.

That night, nearly 2,000 people in the two villages, from civilians to rich people, from women and children to the elderly, were brutally stabbed to death by the Japanese army with bayonets, and none of them survived!

The heavy snow soon covered the layers of corpses, and the entire village was covered in silver, like a fairy tale world of ice and snow.

Jiujiang River.

"Brothers, let's go, kill the Japanese and get revenge!"

On the long river, 2,600 Lu Dongjun and more than 500 Lu Yong, under the leadership of Wang Liansan and Mei Dongyi, were marching towards Shanhaiguan in the night before dawn.

The 3,000 Ludong Army, after 4 days of difficult climbing and trekking, lost more than 300 soldiers along the way, and arrived at the Nine Gates on the morning of the 8th, joining forces with Mei Dongyi's 500 remnants.

They were also greeted by Huang Bojie and Shi Weicheng from the independent battalion.

Shi Weicheng recounted the words that fooled Mei Dongyi.

The general meaning is that although the Shanhaiguan Pass is broken, but Liu Kunyi, the minister of the Qincha, is still sitting in the three cities outside the pass, and now the main force of the Japanese has already entered Zhili, and there are only four or five thousand Japanese soldiers on the periphery of the three cities.

There are now 15,600 elite soldiers concentrated in the three cities, and they will counterattack and destroy the enemy at any time, and they will make miraculous achievements.

This heavy snowfall, the generals at the Nine Gates can't catch up even if they want to, so it's better to take advantage of Liu Kun's counterattack on the Japanese troops stationed there, send troops together, and make war achievements.

Wang Liansan listened to Shi Weicheng's words, and like Mei Dongyi before, he almost didn't think much about it, so he flatly agreed.

Whether it is Lu Yong, who was broken through the nine gates, or Lu Dongjun, who was blocked by the broken city wall and blocked in Jiaoshan, waiting until the autumn to settle the account, according to the crime, it is a big crime that can be dismissed and sent to prison.

Now waving the division into the pass to pursue, it is already five or six days late, according to the itinerary it is estimated that the Japanese army has arrived in Kaiping, the next step is to enter the Tianjin Gate, or to attack the Beijing Division, this heavy snow can not be pursued for thousands of miles.

Moreover, the military rations at the nine gates are about to run out, and the three thousand troops can eat all the food in less than three days, and the team has run out of food before they reach Kaiping, once the soldiers disturb the people, Wei Rugui will be a living end.

Therefore, going to Shanhaiguan to defeat the Japanese army or break through to the three cities outside the pass is the only way for the 3,000 soldiers at the Nine Gates to live.

Moreover, when they arrived at the Third Customs, if they defeated the Japanese army and recaptured Shanhaiguan, everyone would be considered to have made a penance, and in the future, the court thundered down, and Liu Kunyi was in front.

At 3 o'clock in the morning on the 9th, the 3,000-strong army urgently assembled the team, and after eating a full meal, they immediately marched downstream along the Jiujiang River.

"Brothers, there are 20,000 elite soldiers in the three cities outside our gates, and Liu Duxian is personally in charge, plus our 3,000 brothers, as well as 1,000 warriors from the independent battalion, we can easily kill the 3,000 weak soldiers left behind by the Japanese Yi! When the time comes, the emperor will be happy, everyone will be rewarded, and you can go into the kiln to play tricks when you eat meat and drink! ”

Fan Tiangui, the battalion officer of the Ludong Army, shouted and cheered, and everyone listened to it with a fiery heart, and felt that his whole body was full of inexhaustible strength.

"Go to Shanhaiguan to kill the Japanese, eat meat and drink wine and play the kiln sister!"

There was a roar in the ranks.