The battle of the Liaohe River, with the return of the first division of the Qing army. The army lost the last opportunity to capture the Qing emperor, and Dashanyan turned to drag the main force of the Qing army on the Liaohe River, and took the initiative to give up the breakthrough and stick to it, learning the trench tactics of the Qing army in a small area, and digging trenches widely.

According to Dashanyan's original plan, the only troops of the Qing army that could compete with the empire were only two divisions of the Qing New Army. As long as he can drag these two divisions of the Qing army in Liaodong, the Third Army of the Qing Dynasty on the Shandong Peninsula will force into the Qingguo Zhili Plain. At the same time, the combined fleet of the empire would force the Dagu Pass, forcing the Qing army to withdraw from Liaodong and defend the capital instead. In this way, the Qing army's encirclement of the Liaodong army will be broken without attack, and it can also follow the Qing army to follow and kill. Even if the Qing army wanted to annihilate the Liaodong army first, it would have to pay a heavy price. Therefore, Dashanyan spared no effort to dig trenches, and there was a great deal to turn this small area into the grave of the Qing army. It's like Haicheng Cattle Village.

While Dashan Yan was secretly happy about his impeccable plan, he was horrified to find that the Qing army on the opposite side did not seem to have any intention of attacking. Like the soldiers who were digging trenches, they wielded shovels. Just under the nose of the Yue army, connecting the trenches, the Qing army with the right tools to dig is obviously more efficient than the army, only three days later, the Liaohe army has been completely blocked by the Qing army's trenches.

Looking at the big mountain rock that the Qing army dug in the trenches that was wider than himself, he was completely panicked. Only then did he realize that his so-called impeccable plan was based on the Qing army's initiative to attack, and once the Qing army gave up the attack and turned to besiege, the mountain rock would dig its own grave. At this time, he wanted to counterattack, but he could see the barbed wire fence in front of the trenches of the Qing army, and even Nogi Noshinori, who had always been tough, thought that taking the initiative to attack was no different from sending him to death.

The sound of gunfire that once resounded over the Liao River was quiet, and only the howling north wind sounded. The once vigorous fighting stopped, and only the trenches that were dug again and again were stopped.

The snow fell again one after another, and after a day and a night, the positions of both armies were covered with snow. Without the roar of artillery fire, the earth was once again covered in a white coat.

"Boom-boom-" A shell landed on the position of the Japanese army, destroying a section of the Japanese army's trench. But the soldiers just moved their positions, and they were used to it. Today's military position has become a training ground for the Qing army. Artillery fire, infantry attack, under the command of the remnants of the second division of the Qing army, the Huai soldiers used the army to conduct real exercises. The emperor once said that a soldier who has not been baptized by fire can only be regarded as a recruit forever. As far as the Qing army is concerned, where can they find such a good training target for lack of food and clothing, low morale. The actions of the Qing army completely destroyed the confidence of Dashanyan, and the Qing army did not launch a decent attack on the Yue army from the beginning to the end. It is not that the Qing army does not have the courage, nor does it lack the strength, but that the Qing army sees through its own weakness, or fatal flaw - supply. The Qing army wanted to let this cold winter in Liaodong destroy itself.

There are now only more than 18,000 people left in the first, third, and fifth divisions of the Liaohe Army, including the wounded soldiers. Even if it is a tael of grain per person per day, it costs more than 1,800 catties, and now the actual situation is already like this. Food is so scarce that it has reached the point of running out of food. Even the soldiers on the front line only have one rice ball a day, and the other soldiers can only drink two meals of rice soup a day. Moreover, in the face of the harsh winter in southern Liaoning, most of the soldiers of the Yue army were still wearing single clothes. Having lost the initial opportunity to break through, now can only sit and wait. Moreover, there is not much wood left for heating fires. But Dashanyan is not dead, if the Qing army is allowed to besiege it, the army will be completely out of food for five days at most.

"Your Excellency, there is no chance. In the battles of Tianzhuangtai and Da Mill Village, the Qing army only had more than 2,000 people to use this trench barbed wire and machine gun to resist the attack of nearly ten times the strength of the empire, and now the Qing army has sufficient supplies and high soldiers, and it is difficult to highlight the existing encirclement. Katsura Taro pointed to the map and said, "Suppose that even if you break out of the Qing army's Liaohe encirclement, you can only retreat to southern Liaoning." The troops, who have long been short of ammunition, how can Yingkou and Gaiping get around. And now the snow is heavy and the road is rugged......"

"Then let the Fourth Division come to respond, being trapped here can only be a dead end." Dashan Yan shouted angrily.

"Just that group of vendors, even bandits can't beat them, so don't count on them." Nogi Noshinori, who had just walked in, shook the snowflakes on his body: "Your Excellency, General, I have checked around, and the Qing army's position is only the weakest in the west. ”

To the west? Everyone laughed wryly.

"It seems that our fate can only be entrusted to the Third Army." Katsura Taro let out a long sigh.

"Report." A lieutenant came in: "A squad of the Fifth Division mutinied and surrendered to the Qing army. We killed most of the soldiers who surrendered, but three escaped, and we captured two. What should I do? ”

"Yaga. They were all cowards, all dead. Nogi Noshinori roared angrily, what he didn't understand. Why did the valiant Imperial warriors surrender to the cowardly Shina pigs, and where did the bushido spirit of the Imperial warriors go.

When it came to Da Shanyan, he waved his hand: "Don't kill them yet, just lock them up." "Oyama understands the temptation of hot food when you're hungry and cold. And what really worries Dashan Yan is that the initial surrender of individual people has developed into a small team. Well, how many days can the army of the empire without food support?

Just when the surrender incident occurred, Dashanyan also personally went to various positions to see it. Dressed in the same clothes as the soldiers, they went to the camp to dine with the soldiers, hoping to salvage the low morale. In front of the position, I also heard the shouts of the Qing army to persuade them to surrender. The Qing army's shouting was very tempting: cotton clothes, cotton pants, pork buns, come over. Once when it was dinner time, Dashanyan heard the sound of the Qing army on the opposite side of the meal, and the Qing soldier who shouted to persuade him to surrender didn't know if he had spoken too much, so he said in the microphone: How is it pork bun again, can it be changed for something else, I am tired of eating it every day. When Dashan Yanshi heard this, he actually swallowed his saliva. He is still well fed, not to mention those soldiers who are universal.

In front of the Qing army's position, several soldiers ran quickly, and behind them were the gunfire of their own people. In the end, only three men stormed the trenches of the Qing army. As soon as he entered the trenches, the soldiers were wrapped in cotton clothes by the Qing army, and then drank the hot water brought by the Qing army, and their bodies immediately warmed up. The hungry soldier stretched out his hand and wanted to eat, but the Qing army said, there is nothing for you to eat here, follow that person to the back, and the back is enough. The three soldiers followed the Qing soldier who took the lead, wrapped in cotton clothes, through the crooked trenches to the house behind. The Qing soldiers motioned for the three of them to stand in place, and then went into the house inside. After a while, more than a dozen Qing soldiers appeared, and without saying anything, they stepped forward and pulled out the cotton clothes on the soldiers. Several Qing soldiers with big knives pounced in front of them, and the soldiers realized that they had been fooled.

"Stop, stop all." A middle-aged man in the distance ran over: "I want to see your supreme commander." ”

"I am. Who are you? Standing at the door is the new commander of the second division Liu Shengxiu, he is the first general to abandon the position in Niuzhuang, and the first general to return to the aid of Tianzhuangtai, the emperor did not kill him or reward him, only let him take the temporary second division to watch the aftermath. Therefore, when the emperor ordered the siege of the Yue army, he was also the first to come up with a way to persuade the Yue army to surrender to reduce the morale of the Yue army, and he was also the first general to kill the surrender army. Just because the emperor said that the revenge of Lushun should be avenged tenfold.

"Below is the Northeast Railway Bureau, entrusted by Lord Zhan Tianyou to persuade you not to slaughter prisoners."

"Fart, the little devil deserves this retribution when he killed my Lushun soldiers and civilians."

"Junmen doesn't have to be angry, I'm just passing on a message for Lord Zhan. Lord Zhan is already facing the saint in Jinzhou at this moment, please suspend the military gate for a while, if there is no will, the military gate can do its own thing. A few soldiers should not be a threat to the military. ”

The Jinzhou Emperor camped

Zhan Tianyou knelt on the ground with a bloodless face, and the Guangxu Emperor on the stage was furious. Even Tang Shaoyi knelt on the ground in fright, the emperor had never been as angry as he was!

"Zhan Tianyou, you think you have merit in building the railway, and you are talking nonsense in front of me. Is military decision-making something you can interfere with? The angry Guangxu threw the teacup in his hand on the ground: "Remember to me, you are just a minister of transportation, don't overstep your powers." "Overstepping one's authority is the most taboo thing in Guangxu. Although Guangxu is not against anyone, he can put forward his own opinion. However, if you want to enforce something that is not within your purview, you must prohibit it. If anyone can intervene in other people's work, then the power of some people will become greater and greater, and in the end it will cause the layman to lead the insider, and the end result will be nothing. Therefore, Guangxu is absolutely not allowed to overstep his authority.

But Zhan Tianyou still stubbornly said: "Your Majesty, killing prisoners since ancient times is a bad omen. In the past, it was said that I slaughtered our Lushun soldiers and civilians, and then suffered the defeat of the Liaohe River, which is a lesson from the past. There is an ancient saying: Great countries should put benevolence and righteousness first......"

"Fuck your shit. Don't talk to me about the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period, and tell you that this set will not work here in Lao Tzu. The will to kill the captives is my will, and I want everyone to know that if they dare to kill my innocent people, they will wait to bear my wrath. ”

"Your Majesty, the Son of Heaven should be benevolent and influence the world with benevolence and righteousness......" Zhan Tianyou wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Guangxu.

"Shut up. Fix your railroad, and you don't care about what you shouldn't be in charge of. You still think I won't dare kill you. Come on, throw them out. Guangxu was furious. Why don't you just kill a few little people, there is a bigger plan in the future, and you should avenge the 300,000 people in Nanjing.

"Your Majesty, you can't-" Zhan Tianyou was dragged away by the guards, but his mouth kept talking: "It's good to let the captives go to build the railway-"

"Slow." Guangxu said to stop: "Let him continue." ”

The guards let go of Zhan Tianyou, and Zhan Tianyou knelt down and said, "If the captives are killed, they will be killed in vain, so it is better to organize them to build the railway." Captives are easier to manage than recruited workers. And we only need to provide a small amount of food and drink, and we don't have to pay for it. The money saved can be used to build more railways. I hope that the emperor will see it! ”

Guangxu was just a flurry, and immediately jumped to his feet: "Why didn't you say it earlier." Quickly issue an order to all the departments of the army, stop killing prisoners, and send all prisoners to Jinzhou. Then Guangxu said to Tang Shaoyi: "Shaochuan, do you say that the plan behind is changed?" ”

"Not good." The emperor's sudden change suddenly made Tang Shaoyi a little uncomfortable, so he could only reply carefully: "That is too obvious, for fear of attracting opposition from Western countries." ”

"Yes." Guangxu nodded: "Zhan Tianyou, you go down first." Shaochuan, we have to find a way to capture all the Yue troops in Liaodong and Shandong. There are tens of thousands of people, and sending these people to build roads can save more than 100,000 taels of silver every month. By the way, who is now the highest rank among the prisoners of the army? ”

"It is said that the acting commander of the First Army of the Qing Dynasty and the commander of the Fifth Division, Nozu Michikan."

"Nozu-kun, we're meeting again." Guangxu came to the cell.

"The first two times, I was attacking, and His Majesty was defending. Now I am a prisoner of His Majesty's ranks, and I am at His Majesty's disposal. Nozu Michikani sat on the only bed in the cell, glanced up and bowed his head.

Guangxu smiled faintly: "Yes, only the victor deserves the right to dispose of it." What do you think I should do with it? ”

"I lost to Your Majesty, and perhaps the Third Army will soon fail. But the empire still has a combined fleet, and the empire has not yet lost. Nozu stood up violently and stared at Guangxu.

"How do you know if there is a combined fleet in the current world?"

"Hahaha-" Nozu Michikani laughed and said, "The Beiyang Fleet of the Qing Kingdom is not the opponent of the Imperial Combined Fleet, even if you add the Nanyang Fleet of the Qing Kingdom. ”

"Well, that's true. But how do you know that I only have two fleets in the Qing Dynasty? You don't know that I still have a Pacific Fleet in the Qing Dynasty. Guangxu laughed a few times in response: "By the way, on November 22, the naval battle of Rongcheng Bay on the Shandong Peninsula was completely annihilated by the joint attack of our Qing Beiyang Fleet and the Pacific Fleet. At the same time, the 6th Division, which was landing, was completely annihilated. ”

"Yaga, this can't be." Nozu Michikan rushed over the wooden bar of the cell, twisted his face and said, "You're lying." ”

"I am the king of a country, how can I be untrustworthy." Guangxu smiled: "Although I don't know the news of the Pacific Fleet now, it is according to the scheduled plan." The Pacific Fleet is shelling all the cities along the coast. So, I think you should be realistic. ”

"I won't believe it, Your Majesty, the Empire is not something you can easily defeat." Nozu Michikan is still the same.

"I won't argue with you. You'll understand everything when you get out of here. As you know, in this war, the Qing army captured a lot of soldiers. I intend to organize them into the Qing Dynasty's corps, and I hope that you will be the commander of the corps to manage these captives. Well, it's not a grievance against you. ”

"I'm not going to surrender."

"You will."

On the execution ground, more than forty prisoners were tied to pillars and piles of wood in front of them. The soldiers were afraid, and as long as the torches in front of them fell on the wood, more than forty of them would be reduced to ashes in the flames.

And the one holding the torch was none other than Nozu Michikan. He was also tied to a post, his right hand, which was tied straight to a stick, stretched out straight, with a torch tied to his palm, and a large stone falling from his wrist, for half an hour.

"Nozu-kun, if you surrender. I'll let these soldiers go, if not? Then you can kill them with your own hands. You see, I didn't force you to do it, it was all of your own volition! ”

Nozu Michikan did not reply. His hands were already shaking, and finally he couldn't hold them anymore. Dragging torches set the wood on fire. The fire grew louder and louder, and the wails of the soldiers deeply stung Nozu Michikani.

"Extinguish the fire, extinguish the fire. I surrender, I surrender......" Nozu Michikan, who couldn't hold back any longer, finally bowed his head, he really couldn't watch these people die in his hands.

"I now appoint you as the commander of the Qing Dynasty. This appointment will be announced to the world. Remember, manage them well, and if one of them escapes, I will let you kill ten of them with my own hands. I did what I said. ”

Since then, the Production and Construction Corps, which was built with prisoners as the main body, has made great contributions to China's future development. (To be continued.) )