A.D. 1**4 July 19, Toshima Ocean.

In order to deal with the situation when the Chinese army entered Pusan and the combined fleet appeared on the ocean, the Huai army of course also had its moves. These tens of thousands of Huai troops can be regarded as the elite of the Qing Dynasty who have experienced wars, and the generals who lead the troops in Zhuzhen are also quite capable. Of course, they don't huddle around Seoul and wait for someone to come to the door.

The navy has retreated to the northern part of the Yellow Sea, and the main force controls the land of the gateway. It is tantamount to taking the initiative to give up the right to control the sea along the coast of Korea, which is also the result of Li Hongzhang's countermeasures to protect ships and contain the enemy. The most worrying thing for the DPRK-Huai army is that the army will take advantage of the naval superiority of the combined fleet to transfer troops from the sea and attack their vital points. Li Hongzhang also gave the instruction, ordering the Huai army to divide its troops and control Incheon, Asan, Chenghuan, Wonsan and other key points, so that the Yue army felt that there was no way to advance and had to retreat in the Pusan area. As long as there is no contact, there is room for a negotiated settlement.

Isn't he Li Hongzhang just busy with this? When it comes to negotiations, you have to believe him Li Lao Zhongtang!

The Qing Dynasty of the imperial court will never back down, and Guangxu will naturally gladly adopt it. He also repeatedly instructed the Beiyang armies to cover the key points as soon as possible, to have enough military uniforms, food, and ammunition, and not to have the slightest heart of retreat. This order should be said to be the consensus of Yanjing City, Xiao Yue came to the door like this and wanted to meet Daqing facelessly, so what else is polite? I hate Devil Li, and I want to come up with the same set of negotiations with France, I am afraid of losing his strength in Beiyang, so how can I negotiate!

At present, what the Imperial Party and Li Hongzhang are considering is really not what the strategic intentions of the Emperor are in the book, and there is still less a general staff-style strategic research and planning organization to find out the overall situation. Fighting back and forth in order to fight for the dominance of this incident!

As for Cixi, let's be honest. The old woman has a natural ability to control and balance domestic power, and for the political power struggle, it is above the level. For this international struggle, her insight can only be said to be a traditional old lady - she doesn't want to ruin the Wanshou situation, and she feels that it is too embarrassing to let the little devil bully her...... As for what the little devil wants, the old lady is just blind! With the support of the imperial party, Guangxu sent several edicts a day, and the old lady had to take a look at the wind first.

No matter what differences there are between the ideas of the imperial party and Li Hongzhang, in short, the soldiers must be sent out to defend the important places. However, Li Hongzhang still sent a telegram, if you encounter a provocation from someone else, you will absolutely tolerate it, you can't just shoot back, and you must wait for the Beiyang Center to make a decision before acting!

Awkwardly, the Huai army finally divided Nie Shicheng into four battalions to protect Incheon Yasan, and Zuo Guigui five battalions to cover the area around Yuanshan. First defend Haikou, Ye Zhichao and Ma Yukun, Wei Rugui and other descendants, and defend the hinterland of the Han River, including the area around Seoul. In any case, the GI always moved.

Once the troops are mobilized, it is good to ask for salary. First of all, the strength of each battalion is insufficient, and the infantry battalion has a strength of 500 per battalion, and now it has been customary to say 350 people, but how many battalion heads, 350 people are not enough! In recent years, there has been a shortage of war horses and a shortage of horses and pack horses in the artillery battalions, so they must be replenished from the heart of the Beiyang.

What about salary, the previous ones can not be counted for the time being, I know that Zhongtang can't take it out now, they are all Beiyang Chinese, do you want to know to be considerate of Zhongtang! It can be far away from the battlefield, which is equivalent to preparing for war. Ten percent of the salary must be paid, and all the food for the battlefield is provided by the official family, and all the salt, vegetables, silver, food, public expenses, and temporary expenses must be paid.

There are also military uniforms, food and ammunition, bullets to be replenished, equipment to be replenished, and supplies to be replenished...... There's simply no place not to add!

The DPRK even sent a telegram from Beiyang, and Li Hongzhang had no choice but to tear down the east wall and replenish the soldiers to raise money for the west wall. It is not easy for Lao Zhongtang to support the Yellow Sea, the Bohai Sea, and North Korea alone. Originally, the main force of the naval division had retreated northward, but in order to escort the ship, it had to dispatch the already small number of cruiser clippers to cover the China Merchants steamer, set off along Lushun, Yantai, Tianjin and other places, and finally through the sea communication artery of Toshima, a boatload of supplies to North Korea. Just over the sea of Toshima is Incheon Asan Mountain, and these two small port towns are only a few dozen miles away from Seoul. It can be seen that the strategic position of Asan in Incheon is important, and it can also be seen that the sea supply line of Toshima Ocean is important!

On the 19th day of the seventh month, as it happened in real history. The night before, the three cruiser warships "Jiyuan," "Guangyi," and "Weiyuan" escorted the two freighters, "Airen" and "Flying Whale," and transported 850 restocked soldiers and 116 boxes of ammunition ashore. Because of the difference in speed and protection of the three warships, the "Weiyuan" wooden-hulled cruiser first went north, took the Datong River estuary, and then returned to Lushun. The two ships "Jiyuan" and "Guangyi" returned through the sea of Toshima, and by the way, they received the two troop carriers "Gaosheng" and "Yejiang".

On these two ships, it was the last batch of supplementary soldiers who came with the ship, these supplementary soldiers were about 1,100 people, and they were not newly recruited and trained, they were drawn from the left battalion of the Tongyong Training Army, the front battalion of Yisheng, and even included the elite of Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Minister Zhili's front battalion! The Beitang Mine Battalion also came with new Western electric mines, preparing to blockade the Haikou area around Asan in Incheon if necessary. No matter from which point of view, it is the genuine training army that Li Hongzhang painstakingly put together, and the elite of the Huai Army can be used when he arrives at the battlefield!

Not to mention the fourteen German Army guns, hundreds of Mauser guns, hundreds of boxes of ammunition, and 200,000 taels of silver. This can be said to be the most important supplementary aid to the South Korean Huai Army!

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Seeing that the merchant ship "Gaochang" flying the British flag had appeared on the horizon, both sides of the ship were full of officers and soldiers who had gone to sea for the first time, and they also found the "Jiyuan" and "Guangyi" that greeted them on the sea of Fengdao.

Behind Gao Chang, a faint wisp of smoke appeared in the distance at sea level. There is no doubt that it was the "Tsugae" that followed.

From the sea of Toshima to the transfer and unloading place of Asan to the machine, it only takes more than an hour. The surrounding waters are calm, and in any case, this important escort operation is complete!

On the bridge of the Jiyuan Compass, the deputy general took Fang Boqian lazily put down the binoculars and wiped the cold sweat that didn't exist on his forehead: "Good guy, the messenger given by the military gate and Zhongtang this time is really heavy!" Mazu Bodhisattva blesses, smooth sailing and completion...... Go back and reward God! ”

Shen Shouchang, the first mate of the Du Si Rank Gang beside him, also smiled: "This is a blessing for adults!" After going back, Ding Junmen will definitely have a reward! ”

Fang Boqian sneered: "Let's see...... We people usually say that we are diligent and cautious, but when it comes to a critical juncture, we are not popular. It's the guys who pull and pull with other places are popular! Deng Shichang, what a thing! The military gate also asked him to ask Xu Yifan to borrow soldiers! I won't say this now, and when the time comes, let's see who is unlucky! ”

The words of the top boss were not easy to accept, so Shen Shouchang could only put up his binoculars and look around in disguise. At this time, Fang Boqian had already put his hands into a horn shape and shouted to the sailors who were guarding the intercom position on the bridge below: "What the hell are you doing there?" Inform the boiler, the air pressure is sufficient, let's go home! He turned his head and rushed to the banner soldier again: "Send a signal to Guangyi, it's time to go!" ”

His shout was still silent, but Shen Shouchang said in a trembling tone: "Big ...... My lord! Look at! Southeast Sea! There are cigarette belts pulled out by warships! Three warships! ”

Fang Boqian was stunned: "Which boat went to the south?" ”

He picked up the telescope and looked at the southeast sea, and saw that between the sea and the sky, three light ribbons of smoke were floating high, and if it were not for the clear weather, it would be almost invisible. These three ships of unknown origin obviously burned the finest white coal from Wales or Citigroup, which was very different from the Kailuan bituminous coal that the Beiyang sailors themselves used to make do with it, and burned the sky full of black smoke.

Fang Boqian was already looking straight at the sinking, what kind of merchant ship would burn this expensive white coal? There is no other house except the warship! And looking at the angle at which these cigarette belts flutter backwards, the three ships are all speeding towards here at a speed of more than fifteen knots!

Bodhisattva bless, I hope it is a Westerner's warship!

It's just a short time, the shadow of the ship has already appeared in the telescope, and on the bow mast, it is the naval flag that is hunting and fluttering!

"It's 'Yoshino', it's 'Yoshino'!" Shen Shouchang muttered to himself, this new-style British-built fast cruiser is almost the Beiyang Naval Division, if it weren't for the silver moved to Lafayette Wanshou, maybe it would be the dragon flag now. Officer of the Beiyang Naval Division, who doesn't recognize this ship shadow?

"Your Excellency, get ready to fight! The devil is not good! Shen Shouchang put down the binoculars and looked eagerly at his pipe belt. only to find that Fang Boqian's fingers holding the telescope had turned white, and his face was even whiter!

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"Look, can these two Qing [***] ships be considered powerful?"

Rear Admiral Hirai Kozo, the commander of the 1st Guerrilla Fleet of the 51-year-old Combined Fleet, quietly asked his fleet staff officer, 37-year-old Captain Tadamichi Kamatani.

The combined fleet is going north, and the task is to search for the main force of the Beiyang Fleet, destroy the main force of the Beiyang Fleet, and control the coast of Korea! China said that the two countries did not declare war, and the combined fleet was to take advantage of the unpreparedness of the Qing Dynasty to destroy the Beiyang Naval Division in advance and control the initiative in the war! What kind of international law and what kind of morality has never been a question for Yue himself.

The fast cruiser was sent to search by the combined fleet itself. It was preliminarily judged that at least part of the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division would appear in the waters of Toshima to cover shipping and supply the Huai army. Yiyou received an order that if it was a single advance or a weak group of freighters, it could be let go and more Huai troops could be put into the dead place of Korea.

If there is a powerful escort detachment of the Beiyang Naval Division, it must attack decisively! If you don't have the strength to do so, you have to entangle it, and wait for the United Fleet to arrive!

At this time, under the command of Hirai Kozo, there were three fast cruisers: "Yoshino", "Naniwa", and "Akitsuzu". And in their sight, two Beiyang Naval Division battleships, "Jiyuan" and "Guangyi", appeared!

Hearing Shangguan's soft questioning, Captain Kamatani Tadamichi gritted his teeth, and his eyes burned red. Every year, the Meiji Emperor squeezed out 300,000 yuan for the imperial court, and all civil servants donated 10 percent of their salaries every year to build the navy.

"Whether it is strong or weak can only be judged by fighting...... In short, attack no matter what! Sir, await your orders! ”

Hirai Kozo raised a hand, paused in the air for a long time, and finally waved it heavily: "Prepare for battle!" Once you get close to the effective range, form a horizontal line and fire with all the guns! ”

Xu Yifan's crossing only made the cannon sound of Jiawu start four days earlier.

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On this day of 19 July, Xu Yifan was at the mouth of the Datong River, personally commanding the officers and men of the Praetorian Guards, laying mines at the mouth of the Datong River, and constructing positions, laying obstacles, and placing land artillery positions blocking the river in places where the naval artillery of the Yue Army did not reach the range.

A bunch of officers in military uniforms were in the color of the red staff officer, hugging Xu Yifan and pointing at the map. Small wooden boats shuttle through the river, throwing heavy mines of all kinds into the river. On all sides of the hill, there were all officers and soldiers digging trenches. Since the soldiers of the sixth battalion were loaded away on the steamer sent by the Beiyang Naval Division, and the last group of personnel, including Xu Yifan's family members were evacuated, this water passage was blocked by the Praetorian Guards themselves!

"One standard infantry, with two teams of artillery, and water machine guns, plus two battalions of supplementary troops, blockade the mouth of the Datong River. The west side of Pyongyang should be safe...... There are still troops on the front, troops on the eastern flank, and reserves in Pyongyang...... This force ......"

Chu Wanli scratched his head at the map, no matter how he calculated, it was not enough.

Among the crowd was the German military advisory group headed by Koontz. They were civilians, not official advisers sent by Germany, and they did not have to leave. No one wants to leave, and for soldiers, fighting is commonplace. They had been driven out of active service by the German General Staff for so long that they went crazy to smell the smell of gunsmoke. Not to mention that this Praetorian Guard is soaked in their hard work, how can they be willing to let go? Xu Yifan also promised a high price, and for consultants, the wartime allowance was doubled! In addition to them, there are not many advisers and instructors from various countries who educate reserve cadets in officer training. Some of them have taken risks and become surnames, and they are ready to mix up their titles in the front-line troops and go into battle in person.

Hearing Chu Wanli complain that there were not enough soldiers, Xu Yifan, who was standing in the crowd, just smiled faintly. He lent six battalions of soldiers to the Beiyang Naval Division, and the people under him did not complain. Even those who have always been so arrogant almost protested in person. For no other reason, more than 10,000 soldiers were trapped in Pyongyang, facing the superior enemy army.

The soldiers are in danger, and there is no joke! In the military aspect, the safest way is to have sufficient troops, good training, and sufficient materials to form an advantage over the enemy. At a critical juncture, more than 3,000 people were sent away, including two battalions of more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the first town of the Praetorian Guard, who were the most combat-effective.

After Chu Wanli complained, seeing that Xu Yifan was silent, he didn't bother to say, and spread his hands: "My lord, the troops are really not enough, and when the time comes, maybe we can only count on the Huai army to guard the east for us." There are many mountains there, and the pressure is less, so we rely on the position head-on, resist the killing and wounding of the army, and drag it down is victory...... I don't know how much of the Huai army can be left, retreating all the way to Pyongyang? ”

The implication is that the officers and men of the Praetorian Guard are not very optimistic about the war of the Huai Army in Seoul. The Huai army collapsed, and the only way to retreat north was to take the land route, and now many people have the idea of absorbing the Huai army.

Xu Yifan spread his hands, since Deng Shichang and the others left, he seemed much calmer: "How do I know this?" Calculating the figures of these changes on the battlefield is the responsibility of your General Staff Staff, and I only need the results to ...... All the armies were defeated, and the Praetorian Guard held firm in Pyongyang, killing and wounding a large number of Japanese troops! ”

Chu Wanli snorted: "It's easy to say......"

Xu Yifan also ignored him, this kid definitely belongs to the kind of guy who doesn't fight for three days and goes to the house to expose the tiles. If it weren't for his ability, the initial establishment of the General Staff would have supported the orderly completion of this mobilization, and it would have been necessary to cure his stinky mouth! He turned his head to look at Koontz, who had been grim since the old man inspected the position, exchanging glances with his compatriots from time to time, and sometimes shaking his head slightly.

"Mr. Koontz, what's wrong?" Speaking of which, the only one in the entire Praetorian Guard who has experienced a large-scale modernization war is these Prussian foreign devils! Xu Yifan's advice from others can be soso, and the opinions of these Prussian advisers with his large salary cannot be ignored.

Koontz smiled faintly: "General Xu, since it's wartime, you should call me a colonel...... The defensive posture you have built and the positions you have chosen are impeccable -- I have accompanied General Chu to the field to inspect all of these things, whether it is to blockade the mouth of the Taedong River or to shield the front of Pyongyang. The position was excellent, and the fortifications were extremely strong, such as the laying of deep barbed wire, the laying of mines, the excavation of systematic trenches, the setting of machine-gun firing points mixed with civil engineering, and the placement of a long line of deer obstacles...... I think this way of building and defending cities is worth learning from the armies of European powers! ”

Xu Yifan smiled awkwardly, he piled up all the defense concepts he knew, and he went to learn from the volunteers who resisted US aggression and aided Korea in those years to build the underground Great Wall tunnel fortifications that ran through the mountains of Pyongyang -- if he had enough manpower and time, he really couldn't say. After combining his opinions and calculating the materials and manpower, the General Staff not only mobilized the troops, but also requisitioned a large number of Korean civilians to build a solid defense system as much as possible. The old man praised him, but looking at his face, he didn't know what to say later.

“…… Even the elite army of the German Empire will be unable to break through Your Excellency's field fortification system without paying enough lives, crippling a few legions, and mobilizing enough heavy artillery! All this, I doubt that with the weak national strength of this empire, I can take it out!

…… However, defense does not lead to victory, but offense can. No matter how strong the defensive system is, as long as you change the direction of the offensive and change the focus of the attack, there is always the possibility of bypassing the attack. And if General Xu really wants to win the battle near Pyongyang, he must master more troops and get more resources! If the purpose of setting up a solid defense in this way is to cover the follow-up force strategy of the Great Qing State, then the contemptible people have nothing to say, if not, the contemptible people still suggest that your Excellency set up a retreat position...... Get ready to retreat! ”

Xu Yifan was silent for a long time, and finally just smiled faintly: "Colonel Kongtz, in North Korea, I am not only fighting a military war, but more importantly, I am also fighting a political war...... Thank you for your valuable comments and look forward to continuing to do so in the future. I'll pay attention to all this. ”

Koontz looked at him strangely, and finally sighed: "It's hard to understand the minds of you Orientals!" It's more comfortable to be a simple soldier...... As an individual, I sincerely hope that Your Excellency will achieve victory! Our pension is counting on your generosity! ”

Xu Yifan just smiled and signaled to Kong Ci that this war is not only the rise and fall of the fortunes of the two countries, but also the indiscriminate change of the domestic political map of the Qing Dynasty...... But how can you expect an outsider to understand such a complicated matter?

Think about yourself, too, in a war, there are so many things to carry. All of them are things that need to be done with great care and dedication...... But it is this kind of path that can force out all of a person's wisdom and ability. When he was still a waste wood little white-collar worker, he never thought that he could think so deeply, do so far, and use his scheming so deeply!

For no other reason, this path is too tempting.

Looking down from the top of the mountain, there is the sparkling Yellow Sea in front of you, extending from the Yellow Sea to the Bohai Sea, and the end of the ocean is the Qing Dynasty, which has lagged behind this era.

Mountains, rivers and fields, mountains and rivers...... There is such a magnificent history and so many characters.

Since he came, he wouldn't miss it!

Suddenly, he seemed to hear the sound of a cannon, and the sound of a tsunami-like shout, sounding from the farthest distance. He turned his head sharply to look south, and there was nothing but the sea. Looking around, thousands of officers and soldiers were still working intensively, and the staff officers were still gathering together to discuss and dispute in a low voice. The German advisers were walking to inspect the fortifications that were nearing completion, and by the way, they were admiring the summer scenery of the Datong River estuary.

Is this cannon sound his hallucination?

He stared at the southern sea, not knowing why, but he was so sure.

No, that's the sound of artillery that has begun in the First Sino-Japanese War!

(To be continued)