"Alright. Pen, Fun, Pavilion www.biquge.info" President Meng handed the message back to Wang Zhankui and continued to go in to burn incense.

On the same day, Xuan Jianzhang received a reply from Seoul, thanking the emperor for giving him full powers, but also feeling a great responsibility.

The Japanese had absolute superiority in strength, and in the face of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Field Division of the Chinese Army advancing towards Yucheng, they chose to hold out.

"Master, the Japanese don't dare to come out, this is not like the Japanese? Are you scared of us? The chief of staff of the division said strangely.

"It should be that I want to take Ujo as the core, move around, rely on the superiority of troops, and look for fighters in the movement, and the Japanese have learned to be smart." Xuan Jianzhang said.

"I think that we have successively conquered six important Japanese towns, and the Japanese are afraid of being beaten by our Chinese army and dare not confront the first field division of our Chinese army." The division chief of staff said with a smile.

"Don't underestimate the enemy, the Japanese are not simple, the overall combat effectiveness is stronger than the original Beiyang army, especially the courage to fight head-on, the soldiers are brave in battle, and the fighting spirit is not weak." Xuan Jianzhang waved his hand, "What we are facing now is the Japanese government army, the main commander will be Katsura Taro, this person is scheming, experienced in combat, and experienced in using soldiers, and the few Japanese troops we have encountered are not simple." ”

"Yes, I can't take the enemy lightly." The chief of staff of the division said convincingly: "It's still the division that says right. So what do we do now? ”

"Advance slowly, no matter how the Japanese fight, we will fight slowly and quickly." Xuan Jianzhang ordered.

"Yes." The chief of staff of the division gave a military salute and immediately asked people to give orders.

The Japanese assembled outside Ujo and outflanked the Chinese army in five ways, and the two sides engaged in battle.

The Chinese army built fortifications on the spot, because the enemy soldiers were too numerous and widely distributed, and the artillery could not find the target, so Xuan Jianzhang ordered the troops to stop advancing and build fortifications on the spot.

The Japanese and the Chinese army engaged sporadically in more than a dozen battles, and the two sides fought for three days, with casualties on each other.

On the fourth day, Xuan Jianzhang ordered a fierce attack on Yucheng.

The two sides fought fiercely for a whole day.

"Division, you can't move, the Japanese have built three lines of defense on the periphery of Ujo, plus the five-way army is harassing from the flank, it's not easy to fight, it's not good, we will still be surrounded." The chief of staff of the division came to report.

Xuan Jianzhang looked at the map, frowning, it was not easy to fight, he even began to doubt his plan to advance Ujo, he guarded Kumamoto Castle, originally planned to use Kumamoto Castle as a meat grinder, but the Japanese were not fooled, so they could only advance towards Ujo.

"They're going to defend Ujo to the death." Xuan Jianzhang said in a low voice: "Let's not rush to attack Yucheng first, attack more of the Japanese armies left and right, and consume part of their living force!" We have sufficient ammunition for the time being, but our navy is inferior to the great powers, and it is difficult to transport it, so we must save some of it, otherwise, we will not be able to hold out in the spring of next year. ”

"Okay." The chief of staff of the division gave a military salute.

The two sides continued to fight fiercely on the outskirts of Ujo, constantly changing their strategic deployments.

Two more days passed.

The chief of staff of the division asked, "Division, is it possible to transfer a regiment from Nagasaki Castle over?" Nagasaki now has a garrison regiment, and there is no problem defending the city. ”

After Li Hongzhang came over with a large number of supplies last time, the First Brigade of the First Field Division of the Chinese Army has completely replaced its equipment, and all the equipment that has come out has been distributed to a garrison brigade that has just been formed.

This garrison brigade is composed entirely of young and middle-aged people selected from the Han Chinese in Japan, and it is undergoing intensive training.

"Don't move the forces of the other cities for the time being." Xuan Jianzhang said, "Tell the first battalion to attack Yucheng at night!" The walls of Ujo are short, and they must be taken in one fell swoop. ”

"Yes, Master." The chief of staff of the division gave a military salute and immediately went to arrange the arrangement.

Xuan Jianzhang looked at the map, feeling feverish, commanding the battle, it was really much more affected than when he was just a regiment commander or battalion commander before, and the entire battle situation could cause irreparable losses because of any of his tactical commands, or even the entire battle situation collapsed.

The sneak attack of the first battalion only broke through the first line of defense on the periphery of Yucheng, not to mention attacking Yucheng, it didn't even reach the city gate, and it lost more than 300 people, all of whom were veterans who had experienced several wars, which made Xuan Jianzhang very annoyed.

The next day, the Chinese army launched another fierce offensive and stormed Yucheng.

The Japanese were indeed very clever in their fighting style, interspersing back and forth between the three lines of defense, and cooperating with the attacking troops on the periphery, making the attack of the Chinese army very difficult.

If it weren't for the high combat literacy of the Chinese army, it would not have been able to fight, because the strength of the Chinese army was only a quarter of the Japanese, and in the local battlefield of Yucheng, it was only one-tenth of the Japanese!

If it weren't for the strong combat effectiveness of the Chinese army and its huge superiority in equipment, such a small number of troops would not have been the main attacking side.

In the face of the fierce offensive of the Chinese army, at the head of Yucheng City, Yama County Youpeng, who was observing the enemy situation with a telescope, was sweating profusely.

Aritomo Yamaguchi was a military strategist and politician in the late Tokugawa period and the Meiji and Taisho periods, two prime ministers, the founder of Japan's modern army, and the "ancestor of the warlord kingdom" since the Meiji Restoration.

He was born in the middle of the Choshu domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture). The young name Tatsunosuke, later changed his name to Xiaosuke, Xiaosuke. After the Meiji Restoration, the name was changed to Aritomo, and the number was Hanxue.

Since childhood, he has loved martial arts, and once took "I am a martial artist" as his motto, and is good at judo and swordsmanship.

In 1853, at the age of 16, he served as a member of the Choshu Domain and an attendant of the Inspectorate.

Participate in the "Respect the King" event.

He served as the military supervisor of the armed surprise team of the fallen shogunate of the Choshu Domain.

He studied at Matsushita Murajuku, where he studied under Yoshida Shoin, the leader of the Shogunate faction, and had close contacts with Genrui Kushi, Shinsaku Takasugi, Takayoshi Kido, Hirobumi Ito, Shin Inoue, and Kassei Maehara.

He traveled back and forth between Cheung Chau and Kyoto many times to understand the situation and instigate the downfall.

In September 1864, in the battle against the bombardment of Shimonoseki by the combined fleets of Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, he took the lead and was wounded in the right wrist and abdomen, becoming the vanguard of the rebellion.

In 1865, he led a detachment of strange soldiers to eliminate the "vulgar party" in the Choshu domain, which had shown deference and submission to the shogunate, and regained power in the domain.

In 1866, he commanded the Odd Soldiers to defeat the shogunate army in the second expedition to Choshu and defended the Choshu base area.

In 1868, during the Boshin War, which was crucial to the success or failure of the Shogunate Restoration, he served as a staff officer to the Governor of Hokkaido Province and the Governor of Aizu-Echigoguchi, and personally led his army to conquer strategic locations such as Nagaoka and Wakamatsu, making a major contribution to the establishment of the Meiji Restoration.

In 1869, due to his meritorious service in the "Boshin War", he was awarded 600 stone for generations.

Shan County Youpeng is not only excellent politically and militarily, but can even be called a general with great command ability.

"Evacuate Ujo!" Shan County Youpeng ordered.

Everyone thought they had misheard, and a group of generals shouted together, "Your Excellency, General." ”

"Retreat, don't you understand? We can't hold it, and since we can't hold it, let's take a step back. A friend of Shan County said angrily: "Do you think I'm not sad? Wait for winter, winter understands? Only by cutting off the connection between the Chinese army and concentrating superior forces can we better strike at the Chinese army, which is heavily armed, and in winter, their mobility will be reduced. ”

"Yes, General." A group of generals listened to the tearful explanation of Youpeng in Shanxian County, everyone had red eyes, and everyone went down.

"Brigade Commander Zhang, first send the officer corps to inquire and see how many Japanese there are in Yucheng? I expect there to be no less than 10,000 people. Although he was ready for a general attack, Xuan Jianzhang still calmly gave the order to test the attack.

Zhang Xuan stood upright, "Okay, I'll arrange it right away." ”

"Time is pressing, we can't afford to lose the opportunity, lest we fall into the trap of the Chinese army and fight harder!" Xuan Jianzhang patted Zhang Xuan's shoulder.

"Understood." Zhang Xuan smiled: "Please rest assured. If there are more than 20,000 people, we will use the Japanese soldiers on the periphery of Ujo as the main force, and if there are less than 10,000 troops in Ujo, we will attack Ujo, and I will definitely find out. ”

"You can storm the north gate, and then you can open a gate, and the defenders in the city will be all clear." Xuan Jianzhang narrowed his eyes.

Zhang Xuan turned around to leave, but was stopped by Xuan Jianzhang, "Wait a minute." ”

Xuan Jianzhang personally poured a glass of wine and said solemnly: "This is practiced for you, and this time the task is very heavy." ”