In the city of Pyongyang at night, Youpeng of Shan County looked at the list of seized supplies and smiled from ear to ear. What has not been cleaned up in the second day is the mountain of all kinds of materials left behind after the defeat of the Qing army. 16 70mm Krupp cannons, 13 Krupp fast guns, 6 Gatling multi-barrel guns, 470 repeating rifles, 80 repeating rifles, 409 single-fire rifles, 721 bayonets, 1092 marching tents, 380 broadsword spears, 23 horns, 7 drums, 5 pistols, 560,000 rounds of ammunition, 220 copper pots, 165 carriages, 250 horses, 300 array flags, 3,000 stones of rice, 817 stones of millet, 580 stones of adzuki beans, 317 stones of wheat, 200 bags of tea, 10 bags of salted fish and 2 baskets, 517 bags of salt, 96 kg of gold, 540 kg of silver.

In the city of Pyongyang, a mountain of supplies filled all the warehouses. This allowed the soldiers, who only had two rice balls along the way, to eat well for two days. Take a good look at it, and now you have to point directly to the Yalu River.

"These materials must be well kept, this will be the power of the empire to attack the Qing country." Youpeng of Shan County said to the adjutant beside him with some mockery: "The Qing people are too extravagant, so many important materials have been retreated without destroying them. As a result, isn't it ridiculous that the Qing people used their own supplies to finance our attack on the Qing Kingdom. ”

"Your Excellency, the weak Qing State is no longer an opponent of the Empire. Back then, Guan Bai Toyotomi Hideyoshi's long-cherished wish to drink the Yalu River was not expected to be completed by the emperor [***] people such as us, which is really an honor. ”

Hearing the adjutant talk about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Yama Prefecture Youpeng nodded and said, "This is also the glory of every emperor [***]. ”

Shan County Youpeng looked at the list in front of him with satisfaction. In the storeroom area, where the fire could not be illuminated, the two figures quietly turned around and left.

The three people who were waiting outside Pyongyang finally waited for their companions who came out of the city. Yang Dongzi sat under the tree a little tiredly, raised his binoculars and looked at the brightly lit Pyongyang City and asked, "What time is it?" ”

The soldier next to him raised his wrist and looked at the watch in his hand: "The company commander has fifteen minutes left." ”

The watch in the soldier's hand is a rarity at this time, and everyone guards it like a treasure. In order to be able to accurately plan and accurately grasp the time, Guangxu spent a lot of money and specially bought it from Switzerland, and gave each person in the reconnaissance company a piece.

Fifteen minutes later, a soldier asked a little nervously, "Company commander, why hasn't there been any movement at this time?" ”

"It's okay, that thing is just a prototype, I heard that what material is not up to par, this timing will have a two-minute error. Wait. Yang Dongzi seemed to be calm, but in fact, he didn't know the bottom in his heart. This time bomb uses a clockwork to do timing, and the timing is not accurate during the test, and there have been cases where it does not explode. But this time, there are a total of four, and there will always be something that can sound.

There was no reaction in the sixteenth minute, and there was no reaction in the seventeenth minute. At this moment, Yang Dongzi was in a hurry, and if he didn't blow up this batch of munitions, the Yalu River would have to bear even more pressure. Finally, the eighteenth minute sounded, and the explosion of the time bomb caused by the explosion of ammunition made Yang Dongzi and the five people outside the city feel the ground shake. Four explosions sounded one after another, and Yang Dongzi knew that this mission was completed, so he got up and clapped his hands: "You can go." ”

Wucong got up and walked towards the depths of the woods behind him, and as he walked, Yang Dongzi's whispered question came out vaguely: "Tang Rui, what kind of medicine do you give me?" Don't be busy for half a night, it's really a waste of work. ”

"Rest assured Company Commander Yang, the ancestral loose bones will definitely let the little devils pull for more than three days, and pull them until the bones are loose all over their bodies. You didn't say it earlier, you were fighting Oriental devils, so you would definitely be able to give some poison at home. My Tang family's poison prescription is absolutely stained and you will die. This time, the amount is a little less, and I don't know how many little devils can be put down. After speaking, Tang Rui sighed: "It's just that there are too few Korean herbs, and the medicinal power is not good, otherwise with my Tang family's poison prescription, I, Tang Rui, can clean up this little devil." ”

The sudden changes in the city of Pyongyang made him think that he was attacked by the Qing army. In the panic, he sounded the alarm, and all the strongholds and defensive positions cheered up. The troops in the city began to assemble from their barracks. I have to say that at this time, the army was far better and more professional than the Qing [***] team. However, after being nervous for a long time, he found that except for the successive explosions in the warehouse, there was no sign of the Qing people attacking.

Youpeng appeared in front of the warehouse with a serious face, and the captain of the wing in charge of protecting the warehouse was very nervous and immediately stepped forward to report: "Your Excellency, General, we have been attacked by Qing spies, and all the warehouses where weapons are stored have been destroyed. The fire has been brought under control and the damage is still being counted. Fortunately, there was no loss of food, gold or silver. "He is convicted of the crime of destroying weapons, and if he can't find a suitable reason, then he will definitely be ordered to be disemboweled.

"Spies of the Qing people?" Youpeng of Shan County stared at the captain of the wing and asked, "So did you catch the spy of the Qing people?" ”

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency. We couldn't find it. The co-captain just finished speaking. Shan County has a friend who raised his hand. Bang, two crisp and loud slaps hit the co-captain in the face, and the co-captain lowered his head violently: "Hi." ”

"Yaga. If it was a spy of the Qing Kingdom, why did they only destroy weapons and the food was unharmed? Weapons of destruction require explosives, while food requires only one fire. The angry Shan County Youpeng gritted his teeth and said, "You cut your stomach and apologize." ”

Youpeng in Shanxian never imagined that the Qing people used different methods of destruction for weapons and food. However, the consequences of poisoning grain can only be applied to a small part of grain because of the small amount of medicine, and the effect of this poisoning does not appear until three years later.

On June 16, the 5th Division and the newly arrived 3rd Division began to shout the slogan of drinking the Yalu River, encouraging the troops to march towards the Yalu River. Due to the rugged roads and the escape of the Koreans, the lack of cattle and horses, the difficulty of transporting the army, the soldiers got sick a lot, and from time to time there were mines buried in the middle of the road and homemade crossbow arrows placed on the side of the road, and the 250 kilometers actually walked for 25 days. It wasn't until July 11 that I arrived at the Yalu River. The whole army was exhausted by the fear of being afraid all the way, and more than 1,000 people were lost due to injuries and illnesses. But they were lucky.

The commander of the 10th Brigade of the Japanese Army, Major General Immediately Sang-wen, was ordered by General Aritomo of Yama County to leave Pyongyang on 19 June, and stopped its advance at noon the next day, and the 10th Brigade was 15 kilometers away from Pyongyang three days later.

More and more soldiers in the 10th Brigade are suffering from diarrhea, which has caused more than 500 people with high fevers, and the trend is growing. The medical officers in the brigade had tried their best but could not stop the spread of the disease. Seeing that Shangwen was already jumping up and down in a hurry. On the 19th, he appeared in the morning, and at first he thought that it was just the weakness of a few soldiers, and the weather in North Korea was starting to be hot, but he did not think that the condition quickly expanded to more than 200 people after only half a day's walk. As a last resort, we had to stop. Later, it was suspected that they had eaten something unclean, but upon investigation, the soldiers had only eaten the meals made by the unit. Every soldier who had diarrhea had a seizure within one to two hours after eating, and it was suspected that a Qing person had poisoned him, but none of them died on the spot. And the poison should have been attacked together, people who have never heard of poisoning still have different episodes at different times, and the food has also been tried with dogs, and there is no poisoning reaction. And I tried to get some of the soldiers to stop eating a meal, but some still had seizures. In the end, the medical officers consulted and could only have one last suspicion - the plague.

(Tang Rui's voiceover: The Tang family's poison recipe is all collected from fresh herbs in the mountains and concocted with the Tang family's secret method.) No preservatives or other chemical ingredients are added, absolute herbal essence, green products. None of the poisoned people can be cured, and there are no other side effects other than this poison. It is a must-have product for killing people and goods. As for the situation I encountered, it was really because the amount of medicine was too small, some people ate it and some people didn't, and after the poisonous rice and non-toxic rice were mixed, the efficacy of the medicine was further reduced, and the person's own constitution was different, so the attack time was different. ）

This is the case. He said that he had decided that the army was infected with the plague. Even Tang Rui, the poisoner, didn't expect that the effect of the insufficient amount of poison would be so ridiculous.

Lijian Shangwen made countless reports to the rear, and all kinds of medicines were transferred to no avail. In this way, after a five-day stop on the road 15 kilometers from Pyongyang, the 10th Brigade began to return, because the brigade commander, Major General Immediately saw Sang-moon, fell ill and had a high fever of 40 degrees. On 25 June, as many as 380 of the soldiers had died of illness by the time they returned, and they had abandoned almost all of their logistical baggage, artillery, guns, and piles of ammunition, which were neatly arranged on the roadside. They also selected a squad of able-bodied soldiers to stay behind. But they took with them all the food, the source of the "plague". Three days later, when they arrived outside Pyongyang, 685 people had died. The 15-kilometre road is full of graveyards. The officers and men of the 10th Brigade were horrified to find that the city of Pyongyang had been placed under martial law. No one was allowed to enter or leave the gates. Because the remaining wings in Pyongyang City have also been infected with the plague.

Three more days later, 15 kilometers outside Pyongyang, the baggage of the 10th Brigade was completely destroyed by a loud explosion. Tachimi Naofumi, who had been in a coma for three days, finally opened his eyes amid the explosion, and he opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he couldn't say it. Major General Lijian Shangwen, who was known for his clever calculations, died unwillingly, and when he was dying, his eyes were still open, and his eyes were full of unwilling expressions. When he died, he immediately saw that Shangwen was already skinny, and his lower body was full of filth.

This sudden "plague" lasted for 28 days, and then disappeared suddenly. Over the course of 28 days, more than 3,200 people were killed in the 10th Brigade, including the Pyongyang garrison, and the 10th Brigade was not able to resume its formation and go on the offensive until the end of the war.

Uiju is an important town in the north of North Korea, with the Yalu River in the northwest and facing each other across the river in Jiulianseong.

Youpeng in Shan County didn't have time to grieve for Lijian Shangwen. He and the commander of the Fifth Division, Nozu Michikansho, led the first division of the Fifth Division to enter Uiju in advance on 2 July, and immediately set up the headquarters of the First Army of the Qing Dynasty in the city of Uiju, so as to observe the Qing army in close proximity and deploy the battle plan.

After the First Army of the Qing Dynasty successfully captured Pyongyang, the news of the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the defeat of the Qing Beiyang Fleet by the Imperial Navy suddenly came to the Army. As the first person to actually control the Imperial Army, Yama Prefecture Youpeng knew very well that the next battle of the Yalu River would directly determine the fate of the entire war and the fate of the Imperial Army in the future.

However, the progress of the First Army was not smooth, and after the capture of Pyongyang, most of the First Army was still on the way to Uiju. Weapons and ammunition, grain, grass, and various military supplies...... As soon as the battle line was lengthened, the logistical support was exposed to great problems, and it was far from being able to guarantee the operational requirements of the empire in the next stage. At this moment, the soldiers of the two divisions of the First Army could only have one rice ball for three meals, and hunger and exhaustion had seriously damaged the morale of the emperor's [***] team.

Another reason for the slow progress was that the bad weather and heavy rains caused muddy roads, not only the soldiers were miserable, but it was also difficult to transport all kinds of heavy grain and grass, and the materials could not be transported away, and the supply of grain and grass could not be carried out, so this battle against the Qing State could not be carried out. The entire First Army was forced to stay in Pyongyang for several days, waiting for logistical supplies on the one hand, and on the other hand, searching for fleeing Korean civilians to act as civilian husbands and collect horses and cattle, so that the First Army of the Qing Dynasty could barely start the pace of marching towards the Yalu River. However, even so, the First Army had to deal with sudden landmines and ubiquitous traps. In addition to starvation and exhaustion, the soldiers also faced the threat of death at any time.

However, no matter how difficult the situation is, we must grit our teeth and push through, and you know very well that the more times like this, the more you must boost the morale of the army, and morale is the key to determining the victory of an army.

At some point, a pavilion was built on the top of the hill in the east of Uiju Fortress. It seems to be providence, this pavilion is actually named the United Army Pavilion. Ascending the pavilion and looking at it from afar, the terrain on both sides of the Yalu River is victorious, and it is unobstructed.

Shan Shan Youpeng, commander of the First Army of the Qing Dynasty, stood on the pavilion of the unified army, looking at the deployment of the Qing army on the other side. said to the commander of the Fifth Division, Nozu Michikan, beside him. "Nozu-kun, are you sure that you will win this battle?"

The commander of the Fifth Division, Nozu Michikan, frowned slightly, and after carefully observing the fortification situation of the Qing army in various places on the opposite bank in the telescope for a while, he said slowly, "According to the information probed by the vanguard of our army, the Qing army seems to be using Jiulian City as a strategic support point. The entire defense line extends to the left to Hushan and Changdian. To the right is fortified in Yu'an County. Judging from the flags raised by the Qing army on the other side, its total strength should be around 30,000...... Your Excellency Yama County. The Qing [***] team is close to the Yalu River and is fortified, and this battle may not be easy to fight. ”

"Nozu-kun, haven't you found that the Qing army's army no longer has the courage to fight the empire?" Shan County Youpeng smiled and said, "If I am asked to command the Qing army, I will never rely only on the Yalu River to fortify, any war, attack and defense are relative, at this time our army is extremely tired after a long journey, if a Qing army suddenly appears here, attack and harass our emperor's [***] team, what will the situation be?" ……… The Qing [***] team has been frightened, and has no courage to attack our army, so they can only rely on the passive defense of the Yalu River, so in this battle, the first army of the Qing Dynasty will win! ”

While Aritomo and Michikan Nozu were looking to the future to the south of them, a gun was also aimed at them in a mountain hollow in the distance. This is a Mauser equipped with a white light scope, and the gun is held by Qin Yongshan, who is holding the gun and aiming at the two officers on the unified army pavilion. In normal training, he can hit 80% of 500 meters at full speed. Today the weather was sunny with good visibility and no wind after heavy rain. But to be on the safe side, he quietly touched a distance of 400 meters. He only had a chance to shoot in this position, so which of the two officers in the scope was bigger? After some thought, he aimed at the guy who was holding the binocular.

Nozu Michikan was observing the deployment of the Qing army on the other side of the Yalu River through a telescope. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and before Nozu Michikani could react, he felt a heavy blow in his back and fell forward. (To be continued.) )