Regarding Ye Zhichao's question, although Qin Chuan already had a case in his heart, he had already said it to Nie Shicheng, and I believe that Nie Shicheng's words must have made his meaning clear, Ye Zhichao asked again at this time, and there was some disbelief in it. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Qin Chuan thought for a while, looked at Ye Zhichao and said slowly: "Qin Chuan thinks that after returning to China, he will lead the salt regiment out of the customs to fight with the Japanese army and stay in Pyongyang for the time being. ”

After listening to Qin Chuan's words, Ye Zhichao's face couldn't help but darken, and he sat for a long time before staring at Qin Chuan with a scrutinizing gaze and asked in a deep voice.

"Listen to the meaning of Ming Hong's words, but say, the battle of Pyongyang will be lost by the Qing Dynasty? Will the Japanese army take advantage of the situation to invade our Liaodong in the future? ”

Qin Chuan did not answer Ye Zhichao's words immediately, but reached out and took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the table, lit a match, and took a deep breath before spitting out two words with a heavy heart.

"Exactly."

Qin Chuan's words made Ye Zhichao silent for a while, his face became more and more gloomy, he stood up slowly with his hands on the table, and paced heavily in the center of the room with his hands behind his back.

Ye Zhichao's one-meter-eighty-meter tall body is long gone, his back is already slightly hunched, his sideburns are gray, and from the back, he is much older than his actual age.

"Ming Hong."

Ye Zhichao stopped in front of the carved window lattice, looked out of the dark window, and asked Qin Chuan without looking back.

"What do you think of the battle between Asan and Cheng Huan?"

Qin Chuan stared at the faint green smoke rising from the freshly lit cigarette in his hand, took a long breath, and said in a low tone.

Qin Chuan thought that it would be okay for the president to lead a large army to garrison Asan and eliminate the Dongxue Party, but it would be a failure for the Japanese army to occupy Inchon and Seoul and then trap and defend Asan. By the time the Japanese army sank the Gaosheng, the battle had begun, and it was even more important to return to the north decisively, and no longer care about it, and it was meaningless to sit and wait for the battle of Asan and Chenghuan. I wonder what the president thinks? ”

Although he was more than a dozen steps away from Ye Zhichao, Qin Chuan still heard Ye Zhichao sigh heavily.

"Ming Hong."

Ye Zhichao still looked out of the dark window, and was silent for a while before he said in a more and more heavy tone.

"Since the Japanese army entered Seoul, I have telegraphed to the Central Hall, proposing three strategies to deal with the situation in Korea."

Ye Zhichao's heavy voice sounded faintly in the room: "The Japanese are becoming more and more rampant, and Han is desperate for rescue." The mediation of various countries has been fruitless. At this time, the army of the waterway was sent from the north, and the over-rate troops advanced from here, and chose to strangle. If you break up, you won't have a way out. This is also the best policy. Otherwise, please send three or four merchant ships to the tooth to withdraw our army. Our army came to suppress the bandits, and the bandits were appeased and immediately withdrawn, which is also the right thing. After the withdrawal, the envoys of various countries and the Japanese court were sent to declare the agreement of the same withdrawal on the previous time. If he doesn't follow, he will try to make a big move after the autumn. It's the middle way. If you stay still, you will see that the Koreans are trapped in Japan, and they will despair with me. And the sergeant has no war, and the long service is exposed, which is very worrying.

Qin Chuan could understand that Ye Zhichao was reciting a telegram he sent to Li Hongzhang, the content of which was a suggestion on the situation in Korea when he led the army to defend Asan.

Ye Zhichao's telegram showed his thoughtful strategic consideration of the Korean war situation, and the best strategy he proposed was: to flank the Japanese army in Seoul from the north and south; The middle strategy is to withdraw the army, and then make a big move after the autumn.

In Qin Chuan's view, Ye Zhichao's two suggestions are very insightful. According to Ye Zhichao's telegram, Qin Chuan believed that the time of this telegram sent to Li Hongzhang should be in June, shortly after Ye Zhichao arrived in Asan, that is, in June. If the Qing court really acted according to Ye Zhichao's suggestion, the Korean war would never be as passive as it is now.

Ye Zhichao said again: "It's just that the imperial court of the upper and middle strategies did not allow it, and the lower strategy was fought and disagreed, and the first rat was at both ends, and there were endless disputes, so that a lot of time was wasted, not only watching the Japanese army grow in Korea, but also causing the defeat of the army on the southern route led by me to Chenghuan and Asan。。。。。。 ”

After a moment of silence, Ye Zhichao asked Qin Chuan persistently: "Ming Hong, you haven't answered your opinion on the battle between Cheng Huan and Asan?" ”

Ye Zhichao was obviously worried about how others viewed Asan and Cheng Huan's battle, and Qin Chuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Taking a puff of cigarette, Qin Chuan looked at Ye Zhichao's back and said softly: "President, can you allow Qin Chuan to speak freely?" ”

Ye Zhichao's somewhat rickety body shook slightly, obviously Qin Chuan's words surprised him a little. However, Ye Zhichao's body immediately straightened again, and even the slightly hunched back was stubbornly straightened, and he said in a light tone.

"Although this is not a dark room, there are only you and me, Ming Hong said it is okay."

Qin Chuan said in a deep voice: "Qin Chuan thinks that the defeat of Cheng Huan and Asan is inevitable. Although there are more than 3,000 of our army, the Japanese army in Seoul is nearly 10,000, which is one of them; Second, Cheng Huan and Asan were isolated behind the enemy, the Japanese army not only had an advantage in strength, but also had taken the lead, and the president's army was in danger of being cut off at any time, and the army's morale was unstable, so how could it win in battle; Third,。。。。。。 It was the president's gentleness and reluctance to give up Asan, or the fear of abandoning the responsibility of defending Asan, which led to the dispersion of the troops and the thinning of the already stretched troops. ”

"Otherwise, if we concentrate our superior forces, contain the Japanese troops along the first route with one section, and attack the Japanese army on the other route with most of them, although we will not gather and annihilate the Japanese troops on that road in one fell swoop, we will definitely be able to inflict great casualties on them, and then retreat north safely, so that we will definitely be able to deter the Japanese army and make it dare not rush north, and give me more time to prepare for the army that is holding Pyongyang."

Looking at Ye Zhichao, who was still silently looking out of the dark window, Qin Chuan continued.

However, although the president had some wanderings in Asan and Chenghuan, and he made small mistakes, after all, he brought back to Pyongyang more than 3,000 Beiyang defeated divisions from behind enemy lines. Qin Chuan thought that the president's move was a great achievement. ”

As soon as Qin Chuan's voice fell, Ye Zhichao turned around, looked at Qin Chuan with blazing eyes for a long time, and exhaled a breath of turbidity, as if the pressure on his heart suddenly lightened, his mood was much more relaxed, his face was also a little ruddy, and he strode back to the table and sat down on the chair again.

Ye Zhichao picked up the wine cup on the table and held it in front of him, and said angrily: "Ming Hong, Zhongtang and Lord Zhou really didn't misunderstand you, you have such a vision at a young age, and you will definitely have a bright future in the future." Come, the old man respects you. ”

After Ye Zhichao finished speaking, he didn't wait for Qin Chuan to speak, he raised his head and dried up the turquoise bamboo leaf green in his hand.

Qin Chuan's words were not pretending to flatter Ye Zhichao, but his true thoughts. In Qin Chuan's view, although Ye Zhichao made a lot of mistakes in the first battle of Asan and Cheng Huan, it was not Ye Zhichao's fault. Moreover, Ye Zhichao led his troops to break up Gongzhou, also in order to keep a way out, otherwise once Nie Shicheng lost the battle and was cut off by the Japanese army, these 3,000 Beiyang elites may really die without a place to be buried.

Qin Chuan also raised his head and drank it, reaching out to take the wine jug on the table, Ye Zhichao had already grabbed it in his hand, stretched out his hand and added turquoise bamboo leaves to Qin Chuan and his own wine cup, put down the wine jug and looked at Qin Chuan and said.

"In the battle of Asan and Cheng Huan, although as Ming Hong said, the old man made a lot of mistakes, but he finally brought back more than 3,000 troops. Japan's small island country is barren in national strength, far less than the Qing Dynasty, which is rich in natural resources, and this Sino-Japanese war, Japan needs a quick victory, and the Qing Dynasty needs to hold on to it for a long time, and the small Japan will inevitably be overwhelmed by its national strength, and at that time our army will fight back angrily, and it will not be easy to take Korea again. ”

Ye Zhichao's meaning is to fight a protracted war with Japan, Qin Chuan naturally knows it, and even agrees that if this Sino-Japanese war really has to be fought for two or three years, the final result is really hard to say. However, there are two key points to this, one is that these elites in Beiyang cannot be defeated too quickly and too miserably, and the other is that the imperial court must have the determination to fight to the death with Japan. Neither of these two can be done without one of them.

finally met his confidant, Ye Zhichao also opened his heart to the young man in front of him who amazed him, and told Qin Chuan eloquently.

"Ming Hong, do you know how many soldiers the Japanese army can fight?"

Qin Chuan nodded and said, "The Japanese army has seven divisions and more than 123,000 people. In wartime, more than 200,000 soldiers can also be mobilized. ”

"Then Ming Hong, do you know how many soldiers I have in the Qing Dynasty?"

For the Qing Dynasty during this period, Qin Chuan didn't count how many army soldiers there were in the country, but in the mainstream historical materials before the crossing, it was said that the Qing Dynasty had more than one million troops at this time. It's just that Qin Chuan has always been skeptical about this number, and he wanted to hear what Ye Zhichao said, so he hesitated and shook his head without speaking.

"The soldiers of the whole country in the Qing Dynasty are divided into flag soldiers, green battalions, and defense forces developed from regimental training."

"The flag soldiers, also known as the former Eight Banners, were organized into fourteen battalions, with a total of two hundred and fifty-four thousand seven hundred. In addition to Xinjiang, Shengjing, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, there are more than 424,000 people in all provinces of the country. And then there's the Defence Army. The defense army developed from Hunan and Huai, as well as Zhang Yao's Songwu army, Zuo Zongtang's Chu army, and Song Qing's Yi army, mainly Zhili and Jianghuai's north and south, as well as border and coastal defense areas, totaling 323,000. The total number of soldiers of the three is more than 1 million and 1,000, a real army of one million. ”

Ye Zhichao's words made Qin Chuan a little dazed.

Although the transportation is inconvenient, if you prepare early and mobilize troops from all over the country to gather in Shandong, Zhili, and Liaodong, the troops in each place can definitely far exceed the troops of the whole country of Japan, but 。。。。。。