In the early morning of Cining Palace, the rain falls on the roof, and then falls down the eaves, forming a rain curtain that crackles. The members of the six Jiuqing who knelt on the ground in the Cining Palace were as quiet as death, and under Cixi's feet were pieces of porcelain. Li Lianying, who was standing on the side, didn't dare to let people clean up. At this moment, Cixi's face was bright red, and how could her face not be red when her blood rushed to the top of the door.

Before dawn, Prince Li Shiduo and Rong Lu handed signs to the palace. After Li Lianying asked, she was frightened and hurriedly woke up Cixi, who was sleeping. Everyone knows how uncomfortable it is for people to be called to sleep. But Cixi was not angry about this, but the emperor Guangxu of the Great Qing Dynasty actually led the second division of the new army to conquer Tianzhuangtai in person. What made Cixi most angry was that the emperor stepped on the train to Liaodong last night, and the news of the pro-conquest was not known until the early morning of the next day. When she heard the news at first glance, Cixi was so angry that she even slammed the tea bowl in her hand to the ground.

When the news came that the emperor led the second division of the new army to conquer Tianzhuangtai, the entire court was instantly dumbfounded.

For example, since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor personally conquered only the battle of the Holy Ancestor Kangxi to conquer Geerdan. But that was under the condition that the Qing Dynasty was strong and the war was sure to be won. At this moment, the Beiyang Fleet has been severely damaged by the Chinese army. Liaodong and southern Liaoning were attacked and plundered by the army one after another, and although they won two battles, they did not make a big change to the already rotten war situation. At such a time, the emperor personally conquered the Grange. That's just a hell of a death, huh?

At first, the people sent by the infantry commander Yamen to monitor the new army saw that the emperor had gone to the Fengtai camp and also noticed the movement of the new army. But seeing that the troops were transferred to the railway station and did not come to the capital, the Fengtai battalion was also heavily guarded as usual. I thought it was just the emperor's order to go on an expedition, so I didn't care much. It wasn't until he found out later that the emperor had entered the railway station and never came out again until all the second division got on the train, and there was no news about it, so he hurriedly reported it to Rong Lu. Rong Lu also felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly went to the train station to inquire. And the people at the train station didn't know the emperor, so Rong Lu reported to Shiduo. Shi Duo was frightened on the spot and personally led people to the Fengtai camp. Only then did I know the news of the emperor's personal conquest.

As the Minister of Supervision and Training of the New Army, Shi Duo did not know anything about the transfer of the Second Division of the New Army, and the emperor had no news of it. The entire palace inside and outside the palace and the court are also unknown. Cixi was so angry that her whole body was trembling. One after another, the Minister of Military Aircraft and the Six Ministries and Jiuqing were summoned to Cining Palace.

"The king of a country, how can he be so foolish." Cixi was shocked and angry at the moment, during this time, the emperor frequently went to the Fengtai camp, and she was secretly on guard, otherwise she would not let Ronglu strengthen the vigilance in the capital. But she never expected that she would be on guard and beware, and the emperor would be gone. The emperor fiddled with such a situation, and Cixi's whole heart was in chaos.

Cixi is like this, and so are the ministers who kneel below. Even Weng Tonggong, the leader of the imperial party, was shocked into a cold sweat at this moment. The emperor's move is really too dangerous. The emperor has no queen, but if there is an accident, the court will be out of control in an instant......

"The emperor is in charge of the country, and he must not be lightly involved in danger. Please ask the Queen Mother to issue an edict to recall the emperor immediately. Weng Tongyi knelt on the ground and was already in a cold sweat: "Weichen implored the Queen Mother to give another order to the Shanhaiguan guards to prevent the emperor from leaving the customs." As long as the emperor can't get out of Shanhaiguan, this situation can still be reversed. ”

"Recall? If the emperor is willing to come back, will he carry me, the queen mother, and the Manchu ministers behind his back? Cixi looked at Weng Tonggong and was angry: "Weng Tonggong, the emperor is your student." Is this how you read this book of the sages? Did he ever think that he was still an emperor? Does he still have this court in his heart? The ancestral foundation, the country and the society, where is the emperor going to be placed......"

"The Queen Mother, the minions and others also mean the same thing. At this moment, the second division led by the emperor has already boarded the train from the capital to Fengtian, and it will be too late. The servants and others asked the Queen Mother to make an order immediately. Shi Duo also said with horror in his heart at this time. The new army under his supervision is gone, and he, the military aircraft foreman, is completely at the end of the day. If the emperor makes any mistakes, the court and the central government will not immediately become a mess. Under the anger of the Queen Mother, whether his head can be kept or not, not necessarily.

"The Military Aircraft Division immediately drafted the order. One for the emperor, one for Shanhaiguan. Say anything to keep the emperor out of Shanhaiguan......" Cixi sat on the chair dejectedly, and her heart was already a mess.

Since the emperor dared to do this, he wanted to call the emperor back with a will, but Cixi herself did not do this. At this moment, there is only hope that the defenders of Shanhaiguan can stop the emperor. But after all, he is the emperor, if he really wants to rush out of the pass, who can stop him, who dares to stop him. If something really happens to the emperor, the situation that has been stable will be chaotic in an instant. The country cannot be said to be without a king, this situation is really out of control......

On the evening of July 23, Yanjing Railway Station sent a full ten trains to Mukden at a rate of every ten minutes. These ten trains were loaded with 8,322 officers and soldiers of the Second Division of the Imperial Army of the Qing Dynasty, 208 staff officers and guard units of the General Staff, as well as necessary logistics materials.

The imperial court has always deliberately closed the news of Guangxu's personal expedition, and the military aircraft department led by Shiduo sent three wills to Shanhaiguan in a row, asking the Shanhaiguan guards to close Shanhaiguan and urge the emperor to return to the palace. In the capital, Weng Tongyi and other Qingliu Yushi were ready to leave for Shanhaiguan to kneel and admonish, no matter what, they would block the emperor in Shanhaiguan. The emperor is not only connected to the world, but also maintains the fate of the emperor's party and others.

However, it was too late. When Guangxu's first military train arrived at Shanhaiguan Railway Station, the Shanhaiguan guard had already greeted the emperor with a platform.

"Shanhaiguan guards the elevation, long live after knocking on me, long live, long live."

"Why, do you think you can stop me, or do you think I won't dare to kill you." The Guangxu Fire Center that received the stop signal from Shanhaiguan Railway Station came.

"Weichen didn't dare. Weichen just wants to see the emperor, so he can give an explanation to the queen mother. ”

"Now you've seen it." After speaking, Guangxu turned around and ordered: "All board the car and prepare to go." ”

"The emperor's ......" Gao Cheng knelt down a few steps: "Please allow the emperor to accompany Weichen." "Gao Cheng, who has no background and is not reused, understands that after this incident, his career is over. No one will use him anymore, so it's better to go out with the emperor, and maybe you can refute your future.

Guangxu thought for a while, this elevation is to exchange his life for the future. As soon as Guangxu nodded here, Tang Shaoyi came from afar: "Your Majesty, something happened to the Jingshi University Hall." The news of the emperor's personal conquest was somehow leaked, and many students in the university hall wanted to follow the emperor in the bloody battle of Tianzhuangtai. Principal Rong couldn't stop him, and now they have all set off for Shanhaiguan together. ”

When the train stopped at Shanhaiguan, he was the first to get off the train and use the station radio station to get in touch with the people left behind in the capital. He originally wanted to know what the imperial court's reaction would be to the emperor's personal conquest, but he waited for such news.

Gao Cheng didn't understand that it was a good thing for people all over the world to follow the emperor, why did this Lord Tang say it was a bad thing: "Congratulations to the emperor, the emperor personally invigorates the momentum of the people of the world." If the hearts of the people follow the emperor today, the emperor will be victorious and successful. ”

"Fart." Guangxu and Tang Shaoyi actually came out in unison. The two glanced at each other, and Tang Shaoyi stepped back.

"Now you can't go with me. I will give you a will, no matter what method you use, you can't let a student out of your Shanhaiguan. You can do it, and you have to do it if you can't. If it is against the will, I will not forgive. ”

"Tang Shaoyi, you plan to leave it to Gao Cheng according to my wishes, so that he can become famous. The gist of it is that they are the hope of the country, so that the students can go back to study with peace of mind and use what they have learned and thought for national construction. It is necessary to grow more food, and to be able to produce qualified weapons and ammunition on its own. Only then will the soldiers at the front have enough strength to resist the enemy. If everyone dies on the battlefield with a momentary surge of blood, it will be a pleasure. But who will grow grain in the rear, who will produce weapons and ammunition. Is it necessary to let the soldiers at the front line go hungry, attack the enemy with their bare hands, and saliva? Serving the country does not necessarily have to be on the battlefield, and working in all walks of life is also loyal to the country. Anyway, that's the idea, you look at it. ”

Everything was ready to stop, and the troops who had already gotten off were getting on board. Guangxu suddenly asked Tang Shaoyi, who was standing beside him: "Can we win this?" How many of these 8,000 people will come back alive? ”

"It will be the courage of a soldier. If it weren't for Ye Zhichao's escape, how could the troops of these hundreds of battalions in Beiyang collapse at the touch of a button. Now that the emperor is personally in charge, with the emperor personally in charge, why not win. ”

Guangxu looked at the young but resolute face in front of him, and his heart rose with pride, but he completely forgot that he was as young as them. Guangxu asked loudly, "Are you really not afraid of death?" ”

After a brief silence, there was an earth-shattering shout: "Don't be afraid. "The emperor is not afraid of death, what are we ordinary people afraid of.

"Then kowtow in the direction of your hometown. Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been difficult to achieve, and this time I went, I won't come back. After speaking, Guangxu knelt down towards the south: "Mother, my son is not filial, I can't be filial to you anymore-"

Wang Shizhen still went to Tianzhuangtai, because Tianzhuangtai also needed staff officers as a front-line command. Tang Shaoyi stayed in Jinzhou to arrange logistics for the front line. At the same time, the strength of a battalion remained. It's good to be the general reserve, and it's good to be the last line of defense. Before leaving, the emperor's words clearly told him: If I die in Tianzhuangtai, you will take this battalion to die in Jinzhou, and the Qing Royal Army will not retreat if it is not victorious.

"Your Majesty, this is gambling with his life, but who can guarantee that there will be no accidents on the battlefield. The bullet will not turn because he is the emperor. Lin Qizhao, who stayed in Jinzhou to prepare for logistics, sighed deeply after listening to Tang Shao say what happened along the way.

"Who's to say it's not. Now that the war situation in Liaodong is like this, the non-emperor cannot deter the ministries. Only in this way, the Qing Dynasty has the power to fight with Yueben. Tang Shaoyi also sighed: "But the emperor shouldn't have acted like this along the way, but he forced himself to the point where there was no way back." ”

"It doesn't matter then, as long as the two adults Hao Leng and Lord Wang can work together, the emperor's surname will not have to worry about his life. The world can't blame the emperor, after all, the emperor was forcibly brought out without willingness. Saying that, Lin Qizhao smiled: "No matter what the outcome of this battle is, the hearts of the people in the world are already in the emperor's hands." The emperor has no foundation in the court, and there is no loss if he is defeated. If you can win, Brother Shaochuan. The emperor is really the emperor. ”

Looking at Lin Qizhao's sly smile, Tang Shaoyi also smiled: "Yes, if you win this battle, you will win under the command of the emperor." Not to mention that the two divisions of the new army fought side by side with the emperor, and as long as the emperor used some means, the Beiyang departments would also be attributed to the emperor. In addition, the Beiyang Fleet is on the side, and when the emperor returns to Beijing victoriously, this situation will be different. With that, both of them burst out laughing.

"It is said that the army is strong, and I can't compete with it head-on. can only resist step by step to drag the army to death. He said that his country was not strong enough to fight a long-term war. Therefore, if the emperor wants to win this battle, this logistics supply is the key. This is where Lao Zihua is needed. Tang Shaoyi politely hugged his fists.

"I'm ashamed. There is no problem with this grain, and the grain stock in Jinzhou alone is enough to supply 100,000 troops for three months, not to mention Tianzhuangtai. But the problem lies in the ammunition, except for the two divisions of the New Army, which have sufficient ammunition, the other Beiyang departments are in trouble. ”

"What's ......" Tang Shaoyi was a little confused: "Haven't you been preparing since last year?" ”

"That's right, I started preparing at the beginning of last year. However, the ammunition used in this weapon is different depending on the model, and we have always prepared it according to the weapons of the new army. Lin Qizhao spread out the account in his hand: "Take a rifle as an example." The German Type 1888 rifle, which was used by both divisions of the New Army, used 7.92mm bullets. There are 1.1 million rounds of this kind of ammunition in Tianzhuangtai, 500,000 rounds in Jinzhou, and 10,000 rounds per day if the Tianjin Arsenal is fully operational. Except for a few firearms used by the Beiyang Department, most of them cannot be used. Now the retreating soldiers of all Beiyang divisions are training in the area of Niuzhuang and Yingkou, but they are stagnant because they do not have enough guns. ”

"This is easy to do, and it is not enough to buy the Type 1888 rifle from Germany?"

"It's not that simple. Do all countries say that under what international law should they not provide supplies to the two belligerents? And ......" Before Lin Qizhao could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Tang Shaoyi.

"This is not a problem, did Zihua forget, Pacific Freight is a part-time smuggling business. I also know that the Germans had a Far Eastern Fleet in the Bismarck Islands, where they had two whole divisions of army equipment. I'm going to contact the Germans now and smuggle back the weapons of these two divisions. Speaking of this, Tang Shaoyi understood that the Germans' high interest in the arms business with the Qing Dynasty was actually to increase Germany's voice in the Far East. Moreover, in order to get the Qing order, they even sent a fleet of four cruisers to the Far East, and brought batches of weapons. In order to get the goods as soon as possible after Qingguo places an order.

"My Lord Tang, you listen to me first. I would say, and we run out of money. ”

"The battle of raw silk and the ...... of the pharmaceutical factory," said Tang Shaoyi, who stopped. It is true that these two places have benefited a lot, but they cannot withstand the use, the use of the two divisions of the new army, the supply of the reading regiment, and the ammunition subsidized to the Beiyang departments and naval divisions, and the expansion of the docks in Lushun, Dagu, and Weihai. Not to mention the war reserves, materials, etc., that have been done for this war over the course of the year. But how to calculate how much is left. Thinking of this, Tang Shaoyi asked cautiously: "Can't you transfer it out of Daqing Bank?" ”

"Lord Tang, have you forgotten that our emperor still has a fleet. That's the real Gold Eater. Lin Qizhao pointed to the account and said, "This logistics account will be handed over to Lord Tang." I'm going to meet the emperor and agree on fundraising. I'll leave it to you on the German side. ”

Yingkou

Zuo Guigui, who was knocked out of Pyongyang and brought back, is reorganizing the rout here. Regardless of which part of the defeated army originally belonged to, all of them were reorganized and classified into a provisional first division. Zuo Guigui didn't understand what this temporary division meant, but it didn't affect him to regroup these routs. There are granges to provide food, and although there are few weapons, it is not a problem to use them for training, and the biggest problem is morale.

"My lord, I am derelict in my duty and powerless to stop the rout. They stormed the river bridge, but the officers and men guarding the bridge did not dare to shoot. There are even those who know how to swim directly into the river and swim across the river. If you are incompetent, please punish you. "Kneeling in front of Zuo Guigui was Yang Jiansheng, during the Battle of Pyongyang, after Zuo Guigui was knocked unconscious and taken away, it was he who supported the battle, but the Qing army, which had gone away, finally held out for an hour and then abandoned Pyongyang. At this time, he also gathered the remnants of the army, and hit an ambush on the army that rushed out of the city, and the army did not dare to chase after him. Half a month ago, he retreated all the way to Niuzhuang with the remnants of the army, and when he heard that Zuo Guigui was recruited at Yingkou, he took the remnants to Yingkou to rejoin Zuo Guigui's command. Because his remnants had not yet reached the point where their morale was gone, he was arranged by Zuo Guigui to block the rout from crossing the river by the Liao River. But apparently that didn't work either.

Zuo Guigui sighed deeply: "Let them go, call the brothers back." ”

Before the words fell, only a gunfire was heard on the edge of the Liao River, and countless routs rushed back again. Could it be that I have already hit the Liaohe, why is there no news at all? The frightened Zuo Guigui grabbed a wounded rout and inquired in detail and learned that the emperor drove the Tianzhuang Terrace in person. The rout stormed the positions of the 2nd Division and was shot at. (To be continued.) )