Lushun

Although the "lonely mountain bandits" on the dock knew that he was a senior officer, Kurokawa didn't want the crew on the ship to recognize him, and now he was watching with great interest another shipload of goods being transported back to China. This is already the fifth cargo after the agreement,

"Mr. Kurokawa, is your army short of food? You can buy a batch from us. I think there should be 3,000 soldiers who have returned to China. Liang Huadian on the side asked with a smile.

"No, no, no, they are wounded soldiers. It is the valiant soldier of the Fourth Division of my empire who was wounded in the battle with your troops. They are being ordered to return to China to recuperate. Speaking of nonsense, Kurokawa not only did not blush, but also said righteous and stern words. After speaking, he asked rhetorically: "When it is King Liang, he transferred his brigade back to Gushan early, leaving only these more than 500 people, are you afraid that I will regret eating you all?" ”

Hahaha...... Liang Huadian laughed out loud after hearing this: "Not to mention that there is a fort location, if you want to eat our five hundred people, you will have to fill in two thousand people." Besides, as long as we finish playing, you won't be able to send back a single line of goods from across the state. This is not what a businessman should do. Of course, there are still worries, but when you say that, I don't even need to worry. ”

"Haha, King Liang doesn't have to be careful, I'm just curious." Kurokawa responded: "I'm just a businessman, and businessmen are talking about credit. I'm not going to tear up the agreement with my own hands. ”

"Of course, we will also abide by the agreement. Doing business, of course, it's hello, I'm good, everyone. After Liang Huadian finished speaking, the two smiled at each other.

At this time, the cargo ship, which had just untied its cables, suddenly scratched on board, and the lookout on the mast shouted: "Southeast, a fleet is approaching. ”

"Yaga, it's the Empire's fleet." Kurokawa Rail's face turned blue with fright, if he let the combined fleet know that he sold Lushun to the bandits of the Qing Kingdom in order to save his life and make money, this would definitely be a seppuku in front of the emperor. In the panic, the Kurokawa rails forgot that Lushun was now in the hands of the bandits, and in a hurry, he ordered indiscriminately: "Let all the soldiers on the ship come down and enter all the batteries." Pretend to be on patrol. ”

Liang Huadian was unhappy: "Mr. Kurokawa, you forgot that this is Lushun." Now Lushun is in our hands. Order all units to get into battle positions and be ready for battle. ”

"Yes, yes, yes." Kurokawa Tongrail, who reacted, hurriedly said: "Let the cargo ship put everyone down, and then leave quickly." After finishing speaking, the Kurokawa Rail suddenly found a problem, so he asked in a low voice: "King Liang, what did you just say?" What's going on with the troops? ”

"I'm sorry Mr. Kurokawa, I never told you. I, Liang Huadian, the head of the Reading Regiment of the Great Fresh Army. Ordered to attack Lushun by surprise, our army has completed the sneak attack mission and will hold Lushun until the last moment. After Liang Huadian finished speaking, he stretched out his hand: "This farewell may become forever, Mr. Kurokawa is very happy to meet you." ”

"You are really disguised by the Qing army. That's great. Kurokawa also responded by shaking Liang Huadian's hand: "I'm also very happy with you." But I still want to say that, just like you, I am a soldier of the Empire. I'll attack from behind. However, you can rest assured that unless the Empire's troops arrive in Art, we will not launch a real attack. "In the telegram to the Second Military Department earlier, this bandit was disguised by the Qing army, and the military department still didn't believe it.

Don't wait for Liang Huadian to say anything. The cargo ship looked at the hand and shouted, "What should you do?" It was the Beiyang Fleet, and it was the Cruiser that approached quickly. ”

Liang Huadian and Kurokawa Tongrail glanced at each other, and saw that both of them were full of confusion. The passage of the Heichuan rail was even more frightening, and the Beiyang Fleet had remained in Weihai since the occupation of Lushun. If the Beiyang Fleet can safely make it here, then the Empire's Combined Fleet ......

It wasn't until the Cruiser docked at port that the slow-moving Beiyang Fleet revealed its smoke-covered and tattered appearance. The flagship Dingyuan leaned left and slowly approached, as if it would sink if it drove faster.

Say myself? As soon as Li Zhenhua got off the boat, he saw the Heichuan Rail standing beside Liang Huadian, and couldn't help but be vigilant.

Liang Huadian happily greeted him when he saw that it was an old classmate: "Brother Zhenhua, don't come to harm!" ”

"I'm fine, but you're in a hot fight with myself." Li Zhenhua said coldly.

"Haha, don't get me wrong. Now he's my partner. Let me introduce to you, this is Mr. Kurokawa Tongrail, the commander of the Fourth Division of the Chinese Army stationed on the Liaodong Peninsula. Only then did Liang Huadian tell Li Zhenhua about the cause and effect of the incident, including the cargo ship that was about to leave the port.

Only then did Li Zhenhua step forward and hold the hand of the Heichuan Railway, and said: "The Great Qing Kingdom welcomes any country to come to the Great Qing Kingdom to do business. But for the aggressors, we will simply wipe them all out. ”

"Yes, yes, please rest assured, our Fourth Division did not harm a single Chinese. We do business fairly and help maintain local security. Kurokawa shook hands with Li Zhenhua with a smile, and asked carefully: "What's going on with your country's Beiyang Fleet?" ”

"After a fierce battle with your fleet, it was so bad. I'm not afraid to tell you that Rongcheng Bay, Shandong, is said to have sunk the Combined Fleet. See that warship with the white flag? It was the Yamato of your country, and now it has been captured by our army. ”

The combined fleet sank, and a battleship was captured by the Qing army. The news was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and he was dizzy when he recognized the first warship of the Combined Fleet, and the words on the side of the Yamato ship in front of him were still on it. Lenovo Beiyang Fleet said that Lushun was opened in broad daylight, so Li Zhenhua's words were not rumors. After smiling and saying a few polite words, Kurokawa hurriedly hurried back to the division headquarters in Dalian. The telegraph line has long been out of service and was cut off a few days ago. Heichuan Tongrail, who did not know the battle situation of the Liao River, immediately sent cavalry to inform the general of Dashanyan of the Liaohe River, although this news had no effect on Dashanyan, but the intelligence officer still failed to deliver it to Dashanyan.

When the main force of the first division of the Qing army returned to the front line of the Liaohe River and conquered Haicheng, the situation of the battle had actually been completely reversed. What made Dashanyan even more distressed was that in the morning, news came back from the direction of Xiuyan that after the headquarters of the Oshima Yichang Brigade of the Fifth Division had been completely annihilated, Phoenix City had fallen, all the logistical baggage had been taken, Xiuyan had become an isolated city, and Jiulian City, which was far away by the Yalu River, did not know what was going on because it could not be contacted. From a strategic point of view, the Liaohe army had lost the possibility of victory, and only the emperor who tactically captured the Qing army became the last hope for victory. Now, not only did the first division of the Qing army arrive at Dalianfang Village, it was no longer possible to capture the Qing emperor, but the attacks launched by the Qing troops from all parts of the Liaohe River were no longer something that the Yue army could resist.

"Your Excellency, why did you order the attack to be stopped?" The commander of the 3rd Division, Katsura Taro, and the commander of the 1st Brigade, Nogi Noshinori, strode from behind to catch up with Oyama Iwa, who was on the way to retreat, with a look of indignation on their faces.

"The imperial ** team cannot fail, we should continue to attack while the Qing army is not firmly established. If the emperor ** person does not win, he would rather break the jade ......" Nogi Xidian was interrupted by the anger of Dashan Yan before he finished speaking.

"Enough. How many troops do you still have, how many supplies do you have, and how long can you fight again? Dashan Yan was furious, looking at the only two remaining high-ranking generals in the empire, listening to the voices of the staff officers around him shouting jade shattering, why are the imperial generals all these fanatical and rash martial artists. Dashan Yan couldn't help but think of Nozu Michikan, whose life and death were unknown when he rushed into the Qing army's formation, if Nozu Michikan was still here, he would never say such a thing.

With an angry general, Katsura Taro lowered his head. Only Nogi Noshinori still didn't give up: "Since Your Excellency the General understands that we won't be able to fight for long, why do you still order a retreat." Once retreated, our army no longer had the ability to be the best, so it could only be trapped here by the Qing army. Rather than retreating in embarrassment and being humiliated as a prisoner of war in the future, it is better to have a big battle with the Qing army, even if it is a broken jade. ”

"Broken jade, broken jade, you know broken jade. When we are all broken, who will drag down the Qing army in Liaohe? When all four of our divisions were shattered, the Qing army could mobilize all its forces to attack the Shandong Peninsula. Do you think that the two divisions of the Third Army can win the tens of thousands of Qing troops in Liaohe. Are you two as ignorant as the rest of your advisers, or do you also want to let the fortunes of the empire and the great cause of the Qing Dynasty fall apart together? ”

Nogi Noshinori finally lowered his head: "Your Excellency, General, we will obey your orders. ”

"Only if we stick to the Liaohe River can we attract all the Qing troops from the Liaohe River. Only in this way can the Qing army on the Liaohe side be held back and create an opportunity for the Qing Third Army to be conquered. Dashan Yan sighed: "There is a news I didn't tell you. The Oshima Yichang Brigade in the direction of Liaoyang has been completely annihilated, and Phoenix City has been recaptured by the Qing State. Don't leak this news, lest the morale of the army be discouraged. Now, the most elite new army established by the Qing emperor himself has all been on the front line of the Liao River, what we can do is to drag the Qing army of the Liao River for the third army, and whether the great cause of the Qing Dynasty can succeed will depend on the third army. ”

"Your Excellency, how do we arrange it now?" Katsura Taro asked.

"Let the 1st Division move closer to us with all its might, and then hold its position to the death. It's as long as it can be delayed. After speaking, Dashan Yan walked in the direction of retreat. After only one step, he remembered something and said: "Learn to learn war in war." Since Niuzhuang, the Qing ** team has a great role in blocking the attack of the Qing Dynasty with the kind of tunnels everywhere, so that the troops can learn and use the same tunnels to block the Qing attack. ”

With the return of the 1st Division to the Liaohe River, the defeat of the Liaodong Army was a foregone conclusion. The main force of the Qing army recaptured Nianfang Village to establish a position, and on the east side, the Temporary Second Division led by Zuo Guigui also captured Rongxing Township, and the remnants of the Liaodong Army, including the wounded soldiers, were less than 30,000 people, and all of them were compressed in a small space near the sea. However, the Qing army unexpectedly did not launch an offensive again, but instead dug trenches around the Yue army. This made the opposing army puzzled, at this time the army was already out of medicine, why did the Qing army stop attacking?

In fact, the Qing army at this time was not having a good time. Due to the mistake of the strategic material reserve before the war, the ammunition of all units of the Huai Army except for the New Army was seriously insufficient, which was also an important reason why tens of thousands of Qing troops had not been able to break the encirclement of Tianzhuangtai by the Yue Army. With the loss of Tianzhuangtai, after the huge explosion at the headquarters, the military supplies stored in the largest logistics base of the Qing army in Liaohe also disappeared, and the ammunition in Jinzhou was also used in the attack to rescue Da Nianfang Village. Now that the Liaohe Qing army has enough food, if they want to resume high-intensity attacks, they can only wait for Lin Yongxiang to deliver the ammunition that secretly "**" to Germany. The good news is that this batch of "**" ammunition has already begun to be loaded in Dagu. In three days at most, the first train loaded with ammunition can reach Jinzhou. As for the Yue army, the way to kill them is not only bullets, but also the cold winter.

Therefore, after the collegial discussion of the General Staff, the Qing army on the front line of the Liaohe River stopped attacking and turned to besiege the Yue army. On the one hand, he took the opportunity to reorganize and reorganize the troops, and on the other hand, he took advantage of the cold winter to inflict both psychological and physical casualties on the Syrian army, which lacked food and clothing, so that the army's will to resist was reduced to a minimum. In order to completely annihilate this army in the future, he can reduce his casualties as much as possible.

The final decision of the General Staff Department was: Song Qing had full authority to control the three divisions to cooperate with each other to carry out a strict blockade of the Yue army, which was to be taken over by Liu Shengxiu of the Ming Army, which had only 23 men left, and the Yiketang Asuo Division, which had returned to the Liaohe River from the direction of Liaoyang. does not seek to attack and kill the army, as long as it can hold on and prevent the army from breaking through, it will be a great achievement. The 2nd Division, which suffered the heaviest casualties, was reorganized into a regiment, led by Commander Shoushan, as a reserve for the Liaohe Divisions. Of course, you can't let the Yue army be trapped so comfortably, and who else can train the troops better than the Yue army in these encirclements. With the experience of Haicheng, the Second Division sent instructors to guide all units of the Huai Army to launch local attacks on the Yue Army and conduct live exercises. At the same time, all the 31 cannons of the Liaohe River were mobilized outside the encirclement for novice artillery to practice. At the same time, the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Division continued to attack Jiuliancheng until it captured Jiuliancheng. The next goal of Nie Shicheng's troops who occupied Phoenix City was to occupy Yuyan, completely annihilate the Yuyan defenders, and then cooperate with the second regiment ** Korea. As for the Fourth Division of the Chinese Army in the Dalian area of Quanzhou, it is good to send 1,000 people from the 1st Division to make a show and go to surround it.

There was no opinion on the above arrangement, but the arrangement of the first division eventually led to differences of opinion within the command. According to the pre-war strategic arrangement, the 1st Division would be the main force, and Nie Shicheng would attack Korea in a coordinated manner. The current situation is that the Third Army of Shandong has crossed the Yellow River and attacked in the direction of Tianjin, while Li Hongzhang's Huai army is powerless to stop the Yue army. The will of the imperial court wants Liaohe to transfer troops and reinforcements, to adjust or not to adjust?

"It can't be adjusted, not a single soldier can be adjusted without the emperor's will, and the strategy of Liaodong can't be changed." In the Liaodong War Headquarters in Jinzhou, Tang Shaoyi decisively refused, and the decision to transfer the First Division south to reinforce the Shandong War was put forward by Ouyang Zhenhua, the military commander, and Wang Shizhen, the chief of staff.

"Once Tianjin fell, the door to the capital was wide open. I do not think that the various units of the Huai army are capable of blocking the attack of the Yue army, and as a new army established by the emperor himself, they must not watch the capital of a country enter the enemy's range. I need a reason, otherwise I have the right to refuse. Ouyang Zhenhua stood up and looked at Tang Shaoyi and said, "Lord Tang, although you are the head of the civil officials in Jinzhou, I also remind you. The emperor was the most taboo for court officials to interfere in military command. ”

When Tang Shaoyi heard this, he asked everyone in the command to leave the room. Then he whispered to Ouyang Zhenhua and Wang Shizhen: "I'm not interfering in military command, and I won't ask how the battle should be fought." But I also hope that you will remember that the military is a continuation of politics, and the military must have political interests. The victories at Liaohe and Rongcheng Bay mean that the war against China is nearing its end, and now we have to prepare for the aftermath of the war. This involves political issues between the emperor and the queen mother. After speaking, Tang Shaoyi sat down gloomily: "I was summoned before the emperor personally conquered Tianzhuangtai, in fact, these are all the emperor's intentions." To put it mildly, if the country wants to be revitalized, only the emperor can take on this important task at the moment, and we just need to cooperate with the emperor. To put it mildly, people live for a lifetime without the word fame and fortune, do you think these two words can be given by the emperor or the queen mother? ”

"Then the will of the court cannot be ignored, otherwise the people of the world will not think that the emperor should support the army and respect himself. If you don't transfer the 1st Division, where do the reinforcements come from? Wang Shizhen asked seriously.

……

After a long time, the staff officers who had left the headquarters re-entered the headquarters, and one order after another was relayed. It took seven days for the governor of Hunan, Wu Dawei, who had just arrived in Jinzhou, to march south from Jinzhou with his 30,000 reinforcements, and with the help of the railway, the whole army appeared in Tianjin three days later. At the same time, the General Staff sent a telegram to Qinwang's troops in various places, requesting that all of them be moved to Shandong to be subject to Li Hong's order. And the plan of the 1st Division remained unchanged and marched to Korea.

"Repair the Beiyang Fleet as soon as possible, it's up to the Pacific Fleet now." Wang Shizhen, who gave the order, said to Tang Shaoyi. (To be continued.) )