Officers and soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, a brigade, appeared on the streets of Seoul. Originally, in Seoul, there were already more than 1,000 elite soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, who were patrolling the streets of Seoul in neat uniforms and shiny riding boots. It's already amazing. But the Praetorian Guard officers and soldiers who are coming now are several times the number of soldiers who suppressed Seoul at the beginning!

At any time, a sturdy man dressed in the same uniform marches neatly through the streets, and the oppressive force is amazing. Not to mention the torrent of marching soldiers dressed in neat and well-fitting military uniforms, carrying backpacks, guns on top of their backpacks, and black military boots under their feet!

Thousands of soldiers marched into Seoul in a neat and calm manner, marching on the main streets. Leather boots hit the bluestone pavement, a neat roar. The belt of the patent leather military hat tightened the chins of young faces. No one made a sound, no one looked aside, just moved forward solemnly. The same young officer walked at the front of the line, his chin almost raised to the sky, and almost every officer's left hand was pressed against the belt around the waist of the Sam Brown armed belt, and the right hand naturally drooped and swung. This arrogant move seemed to declare their status as officers of the new army.

This unit, from the officers to the soldiers, is full of sharpness, and the team gives people a little bit of blood. The main forces of the Praetorian Guard have seen too much blood in the north of Korea! After fighting for hundreds of miles, all enemies were defeated, although most of these enemies were rabble Korean peasants. But an army that has seen blood feels completely different from an army that has never seen blood. The entire northern part of Korea, looking at their figures, is now only trembling and trembling!

Li Yunzong, who led them, never seemed to know what forgiveness was, and he really killed North Korea in a sea of corpses and blood in just a few dozen days!

The awe-struck eyes of the foreign people on them, the overwhelming victory of the first battle, and the military uniforms they wore were made of wool, the armed belts of calfskin, the half-height or full-waisted military boots of calfskin, and the new and refined firearms. The combination of all kinds of piles has formed the sharp military temperament that Xu Yifan wants to see the most, a new army!

Under the march of the army, the whole of Seoul was silent. The neat movements of thousands of people, the rise and fall of a single sound of military boots hitting the ground, made the entire Seoul seem to be out of hypnosis. Along the way, the people of Seoul, who had just been a little frightened, hid in dilapidated houses and watched this terrible army torrent in a daze.

The troops of the four battalions of the main force of the 1st Association converged from the four streets in the direction of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Outside the gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, Xu Yifan and Zhang Xuzhou stood with their hands in their hands. The two advance battalions of the First Association formed a shallow vertical and wide phalanx behind them, waiting for the arrival of the large army. The First Association of the Praetorian Guard, which is also the military flag of the Left Association of the Praetorian Guard, was held in Zhang Xuzhou's hands and fluttered in the wind in front of the Korean Palace. The black Canglong Liang Left Paw Banner seems to be able to cover the entire Joseon Royal Palace at this time!

The main force of the First Association of the Praetorian Guard arrived in Seoul, and Xu Yifan didn't know that it would be stupid to use Liwei. These guys think that if they hold a new thick leg, they can be disrespectful to him, or they still want them to know that this army is in hand, and North Korea still has my Xu Yifan to speak! When the time comes, Lao Tzu and Li Hongzhang will fight with the immortals, and you mortals will not participate in it.

When the first leading officer who poured out of the four exits appeared in Xu Yifan's sight, a series of passwords came out of the officer's mouth neatly. The force of the officers and soldiers striking the ground as they marched became even heavier, and the tremors were echoed in all directions!

Although the main gate square of Gyeongbokgung Palace has been cleaned, it is still not spacious enough. The two battalion phalanxes stood behind Xu Yifan, and there was not much space. However, the new army's more than two months of extremely harsh queue training showed its strength at this time, but it was explained in advance. With the sound of the password, the four battalions staggered in and out, this battalion exited from its own exit and entered from the road occupied by other battalions, shuttling back and forth without any chaos! The four battalions walked out of the endless momentum at the gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace!

Whenever the soldiers and officers passed in front of Xu Yifan, they all saluted neatly with flat chests. With the team as the review unit, the same slogan was issued: "Serve Lord Xu to death!" Team after team came, and the slogans became louder and louder, shaking the copper tanks in Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The guards of the Fifth Army Battalion in white clothes, blue pants and straw hats in the Joseon Palace, who were barely re-put together, couldn't hold the simple wooden sticks in their hands. Subconsciously retreated step by step towards the palace gate. Park Yongxiao and Concubine Min, who were far away in the Jiaotai Palace, and Concubine Min, didn't say a word and sat there in a daze. Park Yong-hyo couldn't stop wiping the sweat from his face.

Xu Yifan, the master of the donkey, can really only come along......

They muttered there, saying that inside the Legation, the remaining Minister Sugimura also climbed to the top of the official residence and tried his best to look in the direction of Gyeongbokgung Palace. From him, only the faint sound of slogans could be heard, but the scene of the parade could not be seen. Rao is like this, and Minister Sugimura's face is not good. The faces of the soldiers of the Guards who were left behind in the legation were even more cloudy.

It can only be said that Xu Yifan's impromptu military parade this time has played a good role.

When the four battalions disappeared again from different directions, Xu Yifan, who had always maintained a posture of standing and saluting, squinted his eyes and glanced at Chu Wanli, who had been accompanying him to stand and salute.

Chu Wanli, this guy, quietly made a foreign-style clapping motion, and almost gave him a thumbs up.

Xu Yifan snorted, after standing under the sun for so long, he was already dizzy. But I feel very good in my heart, the Praetorian Guard is a preliminary fight, and there is such an army in hand. In all aspects, if there are any tricks, use them! His only task below is to continue to build an army steadily!

However, first, I have to give these people who beat him up a little bit of good-looking.

Let's see......

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"Tell your lord, the Janissary Left Association has three battalions in the first standard, and all the second standard, with a total of 3,100 officials. And 5,300 local husbands and 1,600 mules and horses in North Korea, all arrived within nine days, and none of them left the team! ”

After scaring the guys in the Korean palace, Xu Yifan returned to his office. After the flowerwork, you still have to do serious things. Some of them have business to talk to their subordinates.

With the main force of the Left Association, Chen Jinping, the second standard commander of the Left Association, turned out to be Deng Shichang's first mate. He has been from Rong, but he is far more than all the officers in the Praetorian Guard, and he is also the oldest, more than thirty and half years old. With a gesture, he naturally has a kind of steady and calm bearing, and lacks the fierceness and lightness of Xu Yifan's young lineage. He himself seemed to notice this, as if to show that he wanted to get along with Xu Yifan's lineage, and he also shaved himself a big bald head.

It is one thing to forcibly attack with more than 1,000 combatants, but it is another thing to organize nearly 10,000 soldiers to march in a brigade. North Korea was in turmoil, and the Left Association was able to be dispatched so quickly, and with the conscripted civilian men forming a marching army, they went south to Seoul without any confusion, and when they arrived here, the morale of the officers and soldiers was still so high. Not only is Li Yunzong, who is discerning by Xu Yifan, indeed a great general, but Chen Jinping's scheduling and organization skills are also quite good.

Seeing Chen Jinping standing in front of him upright, Xu Yifan patted him on the shoulder with a smile: "Good job!" How are they in the north? Do you have any words to bring along? ”

Chen Jinping still looked respectful, and was not moved by Xu Yifan's praise: "Back to your lordship, after Li Junmen quelled the chaos, he was already reining in the military, and Lord Zhan was also ordered to send personnel to take over the local government in the Datong River area of the Northern Dynasty. After seeing the might of our army, the courtiers have already obeyed. Li Junmen ordered his subordinates to tell the lord that as long as he and Lord Zhan were there, the Northern Dynasty would be the peace of Mount Tai! ”

Xu Yifan smiled, North Korea is the foundation of his regression, and Li Yunzong and Zhan Tianyou have indeed calmed down well. The name of King Lee Yama has been resounded in North Korea.

In his temporary public hall, it is now full of people, and all the officers above the Left Association Battalion are seated. Looking at Xu Yifan's eyes, he was all admiring and following. Who would have thought that their Praetorian Guard had only been in force for a few months, and North Korea had been in flames from north to south, and North Korea was a red-eyed murder of hundreds of thousands of mobs, and at the same time, in the heart of Seoul Korea, it was said that people were coercing the Korean Enlightenment Party to rise up! In this complicated situation, they are facing a foreign danger everywhere with 8,000 newly formed guest troops. After Lord Xu dispatched to kill, the Praetorian Guard made a national achievement?

In addition to these lineage officers who have been obedient to Xu Yifan, there are two outsiders here. One is Yuan Shikai, who followed Rong Lu and wanted to seize Xu Yifan's power, he didn't have a long time to leave Seoul, who knew that creation was like this, he was full of ambition when he went, and when he came back, Seoul had changed the world, and his new benefactor had been sealed and taken back to Beijing as a prisoner!

In the middle of a group of sturdy officers, there was such a short and fat man with an unlucky face, which was indeed very eye-catching.

But the other guy is even more eye-catching than he looks.

His complexion was much better than Yuan Shikai's, and he even looked left and right with great energy. Dressed in an outdated European-style hunting suit, he wore the military cap of the Hungarian hussars, a pair of knee-high riding boots, and a silver-handled horsewhip hanging from his fingers. Black hair with dark eyes and light blue eyes. In his thirties, he is an out-and-out foreign devil!

Lando. Captain Bartony. Italian, who served in the Hungarian Upper Silesian Cavalry Regiment in Austria-Hungary, was a cavalry artilleryman. Twenty years ago, he studied in Italy, but this guy's family stayed in Austria because of the Austro-Hungarian nobility, he also graduated from the Vienna Military Academy, served in the Upper Silesian Hussar Regiment, and worked as an artillery for ten years. The family was a model of faithful service to the Empire, but he was full of dangerous ideas about restoring the glory of the Roman Empire in Italy. He even colluded with the imperial separatists in Serbia, and as a result, he was stripped of his inheritance, broke his command knife, and drove him out of the army. He didn't go to Italy either, and somehow, he wandered all the way to the East! It is said that this guy also served as a military adviser to the Hejaz chiefs in the Middle East, and was wanted as a dangerous figure by both the British and Turkish colonial authorities.

The Nanyang Li family adheres to Xu Yifan's entrustment and recruits modern military talents on a large scale, and this guy came to the door to apply. It was blown out of the blue, and Li Daxiong was fooled. The employment contract was immediately signed and sent to North Korea.

Because Xu Yifan's original plan was to divide the north and south of the town into the north and south of the left association and expand it at the same time. The Janissaries were still a light infantry unit on the whole, and the training of cavalry artillery and modern engineers was the focus. Li Yunzong and the others naturally wanted to transport these military talents who expanded the special forces to Xu Yifan's pro-town in the south first. So Captain Lando also came to Seoul with the Left Association.

Among the Orientals in the room, there is such a proud Latin man, who wants to pierce his eyes more. Seeing Xu Yifan's gaze sweeping towards him, Captain Lando was generous, took off the light cavalry hat on his head, and bowed his head to signal. Xu Yifan just smiled, these wandering soldiers in the West have too many indiscriminately, thinking that the East is still some uncivilized people. When the time comes, I will slowly test him.

Yuan Shikai avoided his gaze, but he just looked for him, slowly paced in front of Yuan Shikai, and said with a smile: "Lord Yuan? ”

Yuan Shikai sighed lightly, stood up and saluted: "Lord Xu, if you become a king or lose a villain, you can't be guilty of humiliating your subordinates, which also damages Lord Xu's identity." ”

At this time, Yuan Shikai's tone can still be neither humble nor arrogant, and he can leave a name in history. Isn't that a blessing......

Xu Yifan restrained his light smile and became solemn: "Why did Lord Yuan say this? Lord Rong escaped before the army, not before Lord Yuan's army...... Now that the imperial court has telegraphed that Li Zhongtang is presiding over the mission of consolation negotiations in North Korea, what is Lord Yuan's plan? Do you want to return to Beijing in a suit, or do you want to go to Beiyang again? ”

Yuan Shikai glanced at Xu Yifan, but smiled bitterly: "Lord Xu, don't say dark words in front of Ming people." Yuan has worked hard for half his life, all in North Korea, and what is the way to return to Beijing in his clothes? It's not like I'm going back to my hometown in Xiangcheng. If you go to Beiyang again, it will be a widow remarrying, and you won't be able to get trust. If Lord Xu is magnanimous, Yuan is willing to surrender. ”

Yuan Shikai is not stupid, his life's career is indeed in North Korea, but there is a Xu Yifan! Half a lifetime of ambition, all of a sudden, fell into the water. When he returns to Beiyang, he has no fists and no courage, who still takes him seriously? Not to mention that he broke away from Beiyang and joined the hands of Rong Lu, which was already a betrayal. As a group, this kind of person is the most hated.

Although Xu Yifan is still the enemy yesterday, there is no hatred in the world that cannot be dissolved, he did not kill Xu Yifan's father, nor did he rob Xu Yifan's wife. Even if he fights for power and profit, he is still only Rong Lu's subordinates. The most important thing is that when Xu Yifan's group first started, people were needed everywhere, but unlike Beiyang, which was full of people! Xu Yifan still has to live in North Korea for a period of time, and he is a talent who understands the internal situation of Beiyang and is familiar with North Korean affairs, Xu Yifan needs it very much!

Yuan Shikai knew this truth in his heart, and Xu Yifan didn't understand it.

The two glanced at each other, Xu Yifan just smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Comfort Pavilion, then it's decided, I will play the imperial court, you are the member of the Janissary Guard's Seoul Guard, and when the Praetorian Guard returns north, I will keep you to deal with the Korean royal family and Beiyang!" Work under my hands, as long as you work hard, are you afraid that there will be no future? ”

He drew a circle with his hand: "Chu Wanli, as long as it is approved, it will be the commander-in-chief of the army, these standard commanders and battalion officers are also the future of the deputy general of the general army, Zhan Daren and Tang Shaoyi These civil officials, Shaochuan Yibao is the political envoy this time, and Daren is also a Taoist." You are still Tongzhi, I will protect you as a prefect first! ”

He placed Yuan Shikai here, and the officers didn't dare to interject, listening to Xu Yifan's future, they all gave up. Anyway, he still brought so many soldiers, and he still served Xu Yifan. Chen Jinping stood up with a moving face: "My lord, what's the matter?" We don't stay in Seoul? ”

There is still half a sentence hidden, since it is not staying in Seoul, why did the main force of the Left Association, with a large group of mules and horses, rush over with all the hard work?

Xu Yifan looked back at him and sighed lightly: "Jinping, I want to stay here and take care of this vassal country for the imperial court!" However, some people are not happy with us staying here, and the plan to expand the army at the same time in the south and north has been cancelled. Let's return north with the whole division and build the army well! ”

His face seemed to be smiling: "Next, let's build a strong army that no one dares to fight again, and I only need to be the first, not the second!" You didn't come for nothing, otherwise what would you do with so many mules and horses? Your next task is to empty all the things worth moving in Seoul! All shipped back to Pyongyang! I'll give way in Seoul, who dares to bully me to the north again, and there will be something good to look at when the time comes! ”

The officers were so shocked by Xu Yifan's tone that they didn't dare to speak, and they only saluted solemnly. are also unhappy, how much credit did the Praetorian Guards make to the imperial court? It's also a small thing to be in charge of North Korea alone, and it still makes people come to the door so much!

Immediately, Chen Jinpin and Zhang Xuzhou both responded murderously. I was gearing up to go down and do it.

This group of tigers and wolves has ransacked it, and the capital of North Korea has accumulated reserves for a hundred years, and it is estimated that in the future, there will only be rats in the warehouse, right? Xu Yifan grinded his teeth and was ruthless there, but he heard the foreign devil wandering captain raise his voice and shout something. He used Chinese, but the four tones were wrong, scattered, and inverted. After a moment in my mind, I realized that it was probably like this: "Your Excellency, how do you arrange my position?" As a trained military talent, I ask to get a position that matches my identity! ”

Can this foreign devil speak Chinese? Studied in Nanyang?

Xu Yifan raised his eyebrows and looked at him, and Lan Du also looked at him calmly, continuing his scattered Chinese: "Your Excellency wants to build artillery, I want to get the position of artillery director, at least colonel, what is the position of colonel corresponding to your country?" Admiral? General soldiers? ”

This foreign devil seems to have put some effort into the Qing military system! I may have understood Xu Yifan's boasting about the future of his subordinates just now. Immediately, my heart was itchy.

The officers around him immediately cast a disdainful look at him. Xu Yifan's two heavy generals, even if they are promoted this time, they are just commanders-in-chief, this foreign devil still wants to be on an equal footing with Chu and Li?

However, Lando's demeanor has always been straightforward.

Xu Yifan was also stunned, and immediately laughed: "Want fame? Say! Your Excellency will first walk in the first specimen department of our Praetorian Guard to find out what is going on with our army. I'd also like to test your excellency's skills. How much fame you can get, just rely on the man's ability to receive it! ”

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Above the Yellow Sea, more than a dozen black smoke ribbons reached the sky.

On the blue-black sea, several ironclad ships parted the waves, moving their steel bodies. These large Beiyang ships with strong guns are divided into left and right wings, and they fly the triangular yellow dragon flag that moves in hunting. There are more than a dozen steamships of different shapes, and these steamships are also flying various national flags. The blue-shirted hedgehogs of the Huai Army gathered on the side of the bow of the ship, pointing at the majestic ships escorting them.

The Beiyang Naval Division's Badayuan and Chaowu Yangwei two boats poured out of the nest and escorted the first 4,000 Sheng troops to land in Incheon. Pulling out such a big scene is not only for escort, but also for Li Hongzhang's upcoming negotiations.

You're welcome to the little Oriental devils!

The waves crashed into the bow of the Dingyuan ironclad ship, splashing thousands of white debris. This capital ship of more than 7,000 tons, wrapped in ironclad and with 12-inch guns, and her sister ship Zhenyuan, are the mainstay of the Beiyang Naval Division. It is also the biggest reliance on the power of the East Asian Ocean since the formation of the Beiyang Naval Division!

No matter when, up and down the Beiyang, as long as they see these two giant ships, they feel that the Beiyang military will never capsize.

On the Dingyuan mast, Ding Ruchang's admiral flag was hung, indicating her flagship identity. At this time, Ding Ruchang was standing on the flying bridge, with a solemn expression, just looking at the sea in the distance. Behind him, the chief soldier of the left wing of the Beiyang Naval Division, Liu Buchan with Dingyuan Guan, and several retinue officials all stood firmly behind him.

In these days, Ding Ruchang was preparing to go to sea with the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division, and then went to Tianjin to meet the troop transport fleet, and he was always in a bad mood. In Lu Shi's opinion, the giant ships of the Navy Division are extremely powerful, and only the insiders know how bad the condition of these giant ships is, and many of them are barely on the road. The worst thing is that on each warship, the shell reserves are insufficient, and most of them are solid projectiles. There are very few new flowering cannons. The combat capability of a warship lies in its artillery, and there is a shortage of ammunition, isn't this just a hollow boss? Fortunately, they didn't think they could really fight this time, and they didn't care so much.

Only Ding Ruchang always felt a little preoccupied.

A big wave rushed in, and was smashed by the bow of the ship, and everyone on the flybridge was on their backs, and Ding Ruchang woke up from his contemplation, and when he looked back, his eyes fell on one of his attachés. The attaché stood steadily on the flybridge, slowly rising and falling with the surging waves, and there was always a gloomy and stubborn air on his face. It was Deng Shichang, who withdrew the Zhiyuan pipe and led the messenger, and had been idle and scattered. Seeing Ding Ruchang's eyes turned, he was also silent.

Ding Ruchang was about to say something when he heard footsteps under the flybridge. When I looked back, I saw two Goshha walking up with Ye Zhichao, who was pale.

The president of the army division who sent troops this time didn't know which tendon was wrong, so he didn't sit in the comfortable passenger ship dining room. If you have to be dead-faced, you have to sit on the flagship of the Beiyang Navy Division to be powerful. They are all colleagues of the enemy, and Ding Ruchang is not easy to reply to him. As a result, he got on the boat and squeezed Liu Buyun's official cabin, and as soon as he went to sea, he became seasick and dizzy, and he couldn't even smoke a big cigarette.

Seeing his vague steps walking onto the flying bridge, the sailors saluted him one after another. Ye Zhichao didn't have the strength to deal with it. Windward took a breath of fresh air, retched twice as if he had just recovered, and said weakly: "Ah, Emperor!" Half of my life is removed, Brother Ding, how can you be a good admiral of this water master! Brother is really too late, what to eat and vomit, when will he be able to get to Incheon Pier? ”

Ding Ruchang didn't want to laugh, and helped Ye Zhichao: "Tomorrow during the day, you will be able to go to Incheon." This storm is not big, Brother Shuqing's Sheng Jun looks quite energetic. ”

Ye Zhichao just called Huangtian twice: "Thank God, arrive early!" ”

Ding Ruchang suddenly asked next to him: "When you arrive in North Korea, will Shuqing go straight to Seoul?" Calculate the time, Xu Yifan is afraid that he hasn't left yet...... North Korea telegraphed that Xu Yifan had sealed their treasury, if he met the Praetorian Guard, what would happen to Brother Shuqing? ”

Speaking of this, Ye Zhichao came to his senses, gritted his teeth, and seemed to want to vent all his seasickness resentment on Xu Yifan in Seoul: "What's the matter? Xu Yifan knows each other, but if he doesn't know each other, my soldiers are not vegetarians! There is a middle hall to support us, I see that Xu Yifan dares to move things from Seoul to Pyongyang? If he dares to move, Lao Tzu will dare to shoot! When I arrived in North Korea, the first priority was to snatch back the North Korean Treasury and give this kid a dismount by the way! ”

(To be continued)