In 1891, the Qing Dynasty officially declared war on Japan, and Guan Xuqing appointed Dong Liang, the general of the Northeast Group Army, as the commander-in-chief of the DPRK, and commanded the 13th, 29th, and 30th divisions under his command and the 1st and 7th divisions of the previous troops to form an expeditionary force to conquer Japan and all the armed forces of the alliance with Japan

In addition, the elite of the Beiyang Fleet made the best efforts, "Zhenyuan", "Dingyuan", "Weiyuan", "Jiyuan", "Chengfeng", "Victory", "Triumph", "Breaking the Waves", "Sailing", "Flying Eagle", "Sea Lion", "Rising" 12 capital ships, "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan", "Zhiyuan", "Jingyuan", "Pingyuan", "Guangjia", "Guangji", "Guangbing", "Guangding", five "Yuan" class gunboats with a displacement of 2,000 tons, and 4 "Guang" class fish ships with a displacement of 1,000 tons. Mineships such a huge Beiyang warship formed a great wall in the Yellow Sea

However, in this case, Guan Xuqing was still not at ease and urgently transferred a fleet composed of six capital ships of the British Royal No. 1 and No. 2 10,000-ton ships captured by "Changsheng", "Undefeated", "Nanji", "Nanxiang", "Daqing No. 1" and "Daqing No. 2" from the Nanyang Fleet to the north for reinforcements

The Lushun Military Port, the Dagu Military Port, and the Wusong Shipyard have all stopped their ongoing shipbuilding work and are all on standby, preparing for the urgent repair of warships, and a major war is about to be staged

Merchants and students from all over the country in teahouses and restaurants in major cities near the capital and on the southeast coast have discussed Japan's moves in Korea and Xian and the upcoming war, and they all think that this time Japan is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg, and they are not interesting to themselves

In the imperial court, the excerpts of the transfer of troops and horses in various places were personally approved by Guan Xuqing, and in addition, a secret telegram was sent to Zhao Bingjun, so that he could directly contact Dong Liang directly with Dong Liang for any military situation in the future, and then play

Internationally, the Qing Dynasty's declaration of war on Japan has attracted the attention of Germany, the United States, Russia, Britain, France and other countries, after all, the two wars fought by the Qing Dynasty, whether it is Britain or France, have been affected by various domestic situations, although the Qing Dynasty's combat effectiveness is quite strong, but there are fluke factors in several victories, Germany attaches the most importance to the Qing Dynasty, on the one hand, I want to test the strength of this eastern ally through Japan, On the other hand, I also want to make a good amount of money on the Qing Dynasty, Russia has no good impression of the Qing Dynasty or Japan, and is happy to watch the excitement, no matter who loses, it is the best time for Russia to expand to it, and the idea of Britain and France is simple, I just hope that Japan can wear down the increasingly powerful Qing Dynasty through the war, and it is best that this war will never be able to distinguish the winner or loser, so that Britain can turn around and move on Burma and the three northwestern provinces of the Qing Dynasty after dealing with African affairs, and they don't care about providing more loans to Japan, even said that the whole of Japan can become a mercenary of the British, if Japan is defeated, then there is no need to be polite to this incapable lackey, after stopping the sponsorship, it is time for them to repay the money According to the current situation of Japan, if it cannot defeat the Qing Dynasty, it will definitely have no ability to repay, and it is also a good choice to cut a few colonies in Japan at that time, and the United States is concerned about the industrial capacity of the Qing Dynasty, to see if the Qing Dynasty has the ability to communicate more with the United States in industry after the development of the past few years, after all, the whole world is a grenade for China. Bullets and mortars are envious, I don't know what will happen in China in this war, who knows?

Just when the eyes of the whole world were focused on China and Japan in the east, a fierce battle suddenly appeared in Korea and Xian, and the Japanese army, which had been overwhelming all the way, was surrounded by two Chinese divisions as it continued to advance north

Lieutenant General Katsura Taro's Third Division was completely annihilated, and there was an international uproar calling it a divine soldier from heaven, and the Japanese "chrysanthemum" organ in the northeast clearly gave the news that the Qing Dynasty had not sent troops to Chao Xian so far, and was still gathering troops, but the Third Division of Lieutenant General Katsura Taro was indeed attacked by an army with strong firepower and wearing Qing military uniforms, and almost all the troops were wiped out

After the surprise attack of the Japanese, the entire division retreated all the way south until it withdrew from Pyongyang, and did not gain a foothold in Seoul, thanks to the strong fortifications of Lieutenant General Nozu Michikani's Fifth Division in Seoul

After the attack was frustrated, the 7th Division of the Qing Dynasty also retreated to Pyongyang and held out for reinforcements, and the Japanese troops who fought this counterattack were caught off guard, and they did not even know when the troops of the Great Qing Dynasty entered the DPRK, and even the top leaders of the "chrysanthemum" organs in Japan were demoted by two levels

However, Zhao Bingjun sent a detailed report to Dong Liang's headquarters on the number of Japanese troops, the key points of defense, and the deployment of the Dongxue Party, and this information played a key role in the targeted deployment of troops in the Qing Dynasty

Dong Liang has not yet entered the DPRK Xian, and he has analyzed the situation of the enemy of the DPRK Xian quite thoroughly, and it has to be said that it is all due to Zhao Bingjun's various detailed analysis and reports on the enemy situation

Since the reinforcements of the Nanyang Fleet had not yet arrived, Deng Shichang's Beiyang Fleet did not dare to penetrate too deeply, and several times when he saw the Japanese fleet 10,000 nautical miles away, he did not dare to rush forward, for fear that the rear road would be cut off, so he could only patrol in the Yellow Sea area and stand by

After Japan's humiliating defeat in Korea, it mobilized five field infantry divisions from the country, totaling 100,000 people, and its cruisers "Yoshino," "Takachiho," "Akitsuzu," "Nani," "Matsushima," "Chiyoda," "Itsukushima," and "Hashidate," which had sailed 19 knots, also came to the Yellow Sea from time to time to observe the deployment of the Beiyang Fleet

In the Beiyang Fleet, only the three cruisers "Riding the Wind", "Breaking the Waves", and "Rising" can be compared with the Japanese cruisers, and although the ironclad ships such as Deng Shichang's "Zhenyuan" have reached a flight of 16.5 after improvement, they still cannot be compared with the traditional cruisers, so they can only let the Japanese cruisers shuttle back and forth between the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, and do not dare to attack rashly

In the case of being unable to control the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, Japan was still able to continuously transport troops and supplies to the DPRK and Xian, so before the reinforcements of the Nanyang Fleet arrived, the reason why Deng Shichang did not dare to attack rashly was also because he was afraid that the two fleets would be divided and destroyed by the Japanese fleet

Just like Feng Xianghua said, either if you don't fight, you will directly beat Little Japan and can't get up, so Deng Shichang held back the impulse to attack several times and anxiously waited for reinforcements from the Nanyang Fleet

At the same time, Dong Liang's three divisions also crossed the Yalu River and joined the two divisions that had entered the dynasty in the early stage