In this way, starting from August 22, Li Jingfang convened the generals several times in succession to discuss the war, and each time he pulled cowhides, pulled cow eggs, and made noise, no one could convince anyone. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the end, it was all unhappy.

In desperation, Li Jingfang sent a telegram back to Jinmen, wanting to ask for an idea from his father.

Li Hongzhang immediately called back and reprimanded Li Jingfang severely, telling him that "Pyongyang's affairs are serious, and Boxing only needs to make friends with Pyongyang officials to negotiate various matters and do a good job in their own affairs. ’

Then Li Hongzhang called Ye Zhichao again, clearly demanding that he go all out to stick to Pyongyang, not to divide his troops lightly, let alone to advance rashly, and to give up on the left bank of the Datong River.

The generals patiently waited for the results of his mediation with Dongyang, and did not speak in vain.

As for Li Jingfang's mention of Nie Shicheng's hard battle in Chenghuan and Ye Zhichao's hasty retreat from Gongzhou without firing a shot, Li Hongzhang directly did not mention it.

In this way, Li Jingfang has been in Pyongyang for 11 days, and as a result, not only has there been no change in the military deployment and when he arrived, but the contradictions among the generals have intensified even more.

In the back and forth of the generals, on August 30, Min Bingzao, the superintendent of Pyongan Province, suddenly received information from Seoul, saying that the rest of the 3rd Division and the 5th Division in the East would be led by Yamasan-Ang Youpeng to land in Korea and participate in the war.

Li Jingfang, Ye Zhichao and other generals were immediately stunned.

This is a sign of all-out war!

The two army divisions of the East, with about 40,000 troops, pointed to the Qing army of less than 20,000 to defend Pyongyang City.

Li Jingfang secretly complained in his heart, he knew that he would not wade into this muddy water without saying anything, and now he is not only an ornament in North Korea, but also puts himself in danger.

When the telegram arrived at Jinmen, Li Hongzhang really panicked, and while giving the imperial court an urgent performance, asking for the rapid transfer of troops from all over the country to North Korea, he squeezed out another 4,000 training troops to let Nie Shicheng come back to lead the army.

As a result, Nie Shicheng had just left the day before yesterday, and last night Min Bingzao, the superintendent of Ping'an Province, and Min Yongjun, the former government in exile in Pyongyang, received the news that the Oriental Army was heading north.

Moreover, there was a surprise army landing at Wonsan and making a detour to Pyongyang, to establish a defensive line in Anshun and cut off the retreat of the Pyongyang defenders.

This news is like a thunderbolt from the sky, blowing up on the heads of the generals!

For a time, all the generals of the Qing army gathered at Li Jingfang's consulate and quarreled, you said to fight like this, I said to do that, it seems to make sense, anyway, no one is convinced by anyone's anger.

It was noisy until midnight, and in the end I couldn't come up with a strategy to deal with it.

When the telegram was sent back to Jinmen, Li Hongzhang was also stunned, thinking that the telegraph operator had made a mistake in translating it.

He couldn't have imagined that the Orientals had such a big appetite and wanted to use more than 16,000 troops to attack Pyongyang's Xiongcheng, which was defended by his 20,000 elite Qing troops.

He's not afraid of losing his teeth?

Li Hongzhang immediately called back, asking Ye Zhichao to rely on Dajiang Xiongcheng to strike hard at the invading enemy, so as to strengthen my prestige in the Qing Dynasty!

He also said that the imperial court was dispatching troops, and a large number of reinforcements would cross the Yalu River and go to Pyongyang for reinforcements in the near future.

This afternoon, the generals who had slept all morning quarreled at Li Jingfang's consulate for another afternoon, and finally barely got a coping strategy.

To the east of Pyongyang City, the Datong Gate and Changqing Gate near the river, as well as the area around Yangjiao Island in the center of the river, are the defense area of the Sheng Army, which is defended by Sun Xianyin, the general soldier of Chongqing Town, under the command of the Left Army of the Sheng Army.

The southeast of Pyongyang City, and the boat bridge across the river on Toulao Island, and the fortresses on both sides of the boat bridge on the left bank of the Datong River, were defended by Ma Yukun, the general soldier of Taiyuan Town, Shanxi.

At the same time, the Sheng army sent out a battalion and assigned it to Ma Yukun to assist in guarding the bridgehead.

In the south of Pyongyang, Suzaku Gate is the defense area of the Sheng army, and Wei Rugui, the chief soldier of Ningxia Town, is responsible for defense.

In the southwest of Pyongyang, the Fengtiansheng army led by Phongseung-ah and the Jilin Lian army defended.

To the west of Pyongyang, Jinghae Gate, was defended by the Asan Army led by Nie Shicheng.

The Qixing Gate in the northwest of Pyongyang and the Xuanwu Gate in the north of the city were jointly defended by the Bongjun Zuo Guigui and the Renzi Army Jiang Zikang.

The two divisions of Jiangzuo have a total of more than 5,000 troops, and nearly half of the troops are defending in the fortresses around Jiziling and Peony Terrace outside the city.

The Sheng Army's Lu Benyuan Department was in the city as a reserve, ready to reinforce and respond.

Ye Zhichao finally finished dividing the defense area, and the generals left the consulate with different expressions, leaving only Ye Zhichao and Li Jingfang, sitting in the signing room and sighing.

"Bo Xing, although this Pyongyang is said to be a six-way army and a prosperous army, you have also seen it."

Ye Zhichao said angrily: "This is a loss to defend the city, and each is optimistic about each family; If you really want to go out of the city to fight as Zuo Guigui said, in addition to our Huai army, Zuo Guigui and Fengsheng Ana can I move? It's Huaijun, if you don't listen to a word, or if you can't go along with it, Wei Rugui will have to wrestle with me! ”

Li Jingfang was also speechless when he heard this, if he secretly regretted this trip to Pyongyang before, now his intestines are full of regret.

"And in Asan, Gongting and I only have 4,000 troops, and Toyo is only the ninth mixed brigade of Oshima Yoshimasa, which is not less than us; If we really fight, before they can reach Pyongyang, the 5th Division of Nozu Dokan will wipe us out in Asan. ”

"Lord Kaiyu."

At this time, Cheng Guande, the leader of Li Jingfang's personal soldiers, walked in with a smile.

"What's the matter?"

Li Jingfang wondered, what is the good thing, it is worth being so happy.

"My lord, the cadet army of He Garrison is here, and they are entering the Xuanwu Gate."

"Good! You go to An Zhi and ask him to come to the consulate quickly. ”

Li Jingfang couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this, and now he was eager to hear some of the opinions of this sharp-eyed 'little Zhuge '.

"Bo Xing, I'll be the east tonight and pick up the wind for our little fellow in Feixi."

Ye Zhichao has also heard some of He Changying's deeds these days, and Zhongtang actually handed over all the students in Beiyang to him, and the future is obviously going to be of great use.

Ye Zhichao is already a handful of years old, and as a military commander from the first grade, there is nothing to 'inch in' in the future, but he might as well make a good relationship for his children and grandchildren.

Li Jingfang was slightly stunned, he was so anxious these days in Pyongyang, but he couldn't use his strength at all, so he desperately wanted to have a private conversation with He Changying and discuss it well.

However, Ye Zhichao, as his father's right-hand man and the consul general of Pyongyang City, Li Jingfang really can't refute his face.

So Li Jingfang said with a smile: "Junmen, our little fellow from Feixi is a rare young talent I have seen in more than ten years, why don't we also listen to his high opinion on Pyongyang." ”

Ye Zhichao laughed, but he was a little disappreciative in his heart.

It's just that he wrote a book, and he dared to beat the foreigners, and then the blind cat met the proposal of the dead mouse, which prevented Lin Taizeng's left squadron from falling into the ambush circle of the Oriental Fleet.

A hairy boy, what 'high views' can he really have in the war?