A.D. 1** 4th August 10th.

The wind was very strong, and there was a whistling sound around the main position of the Janissary Guard's Cave Immortal Ridge. The gale hunted from the sea and crossed Korea until it set off waves on the Yellow Sea!

Xu Yifan quietly watched as the clouds in the sky were pushed by the wind to flow rapidly, and the light and shadow changed.

Deng Shichang, will you never see him again?

At the beginning of Tianjin, Nanyang was through the same storm, and the two of them had already fallen into the same place. Deng Shichang's sacrifice for the future has achieved his great cause in Nanyang, and it can even be said that without Deng Shichang, there would be no Xu Yifan today!

The one who is black, always has a cold face, and can't say anything good from his mouth. is gone, he is no longer the national hero he saw in history textbooks, but like Xu Yifan, he is looking for a way out in this gloomy world, and he is the same road that breaks his head and blood!

Lao Deng, Lao Deng, you are watching from the sky, am I embarrassed to retreat? Hold a bunch of beautiful women to be a rich man, think about it, I'm afraid you're going to die of shame. You really don't want to die so peacefully, you think I can carry this burden?

Depend on...... You're still dead, and I want to hand over the navy to you!

Xu Yifan only felt that he had not changed history, but history was profoundly changing him.

Pu Yang walked up to him lightly and said in a low voice, "My lord, the main priest." Xu Yifan nodded in agreement, put the general's hat on his head, and strode out.

On a small flat ground behind the main position of Dongxian Ridge, all the senior officers of the Praetorian Guard were already here. Tang Shaoyi and other civil officials were also all there, a white wooden altar was placed in the center, and the banners were readily available, the soul-attracting banner was blown by the wind, and the horns of the flag slapped on the flagpole with a crackling sound.

In the queue, there were several Huaijun military attachés wearing Wuyun coat uniforms, trying their best to keep their expressions indifferent, but Ye Zhichao, who was pale, was also among them, his big hat no longer had a red top, just a knot, and he pretended to look left and right calmly, but no one looked at him more. Even Nie Shicheng had a look of disgust on his face.

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Deng Shichang is dead, but this guy is still alive. Xu Yifan doesn't have the ability to rebel too much now.

On the seventh day of August, the Beiyang Naval Division appeared off the coast of the Datong River, and the five troop ships they escorted were directly escorted by Fulong and other torpedo boats at a distance of two hours in the rear. The Beiyang Naval Division, which opened the road in advance, met the main force of the long-awaited United Fleet!

The naval battle broke out, the distant battle sank, the super brave battle sank, the mighty battle sank, the distant battle sank, the far battle sank! Deng Shichang resolutely ordered to ram Yoshino when the whole ship of Zhiyuan was on fire, and Zhiyuan was hit by a torpedo, and Deng Shichang sank with Zhiyuan as he wished. Zhiyuan's sailors once saw Deng Shichang's dog Sun swim over to pull Deng Shichang's hair, but Deng Shichang was pressed and martyred together.

Dingyuan Zhenyuan and others were scarred, and turned around and returned to the nearest Lushun. It is said that many ships of the Combined Fleet were injured, and after gaining control of the sea power, they also retreated south one after another. After this battle, the Beiyang Naval Division suffered a heavy setback, and no longer had the ability to set sail for battle. The sea passage of North Korea is also completely isolated!

When the news was transmitted back to China, the world was shaken, and Li Hongzhang immediately vomited blood. Even Emperor Guangxu, who had been constantly issuing edicts, thinking that he was in control of the war in all aspects, had not issued new instructions for a whole day, and everyone had already been emboldened, and the situation in Korea had become extremely dangerous, and not only that. In recent decades, the Qing Dynasty has been beaten several times by the Western powers, and it knows the danger of losing Haikou, and the opponent can land anywhere and approach the key point of Gyeonggi. The hard work of preparing for the construction of the water division is also to consolidate the sea. As a result, now that the sailors are gone, what can we talk about to consolidate Haikou?

The government and the opposition, including Li Hongzhang in Beiyang, were shocked, so they called North Korea like crazy, and concentrated on Xu Yifan, just to ask Ye Zhichao's whereabouts and how the war situation in North Korea was. Now that the Beiyang Naval Division is gone, and the main force of the Land Division is also in Korea, this force is urgently needed as the backbone to defend the seaports!

Xu Yifan was ominously silent for a day or two, and on the ninth day of the eighth month, led by Xu Yifan, the military attache under his command was ranked, and many Huaijun generals below Nie Shicheng also jointly played by telegram at the same time.

The North Korean Army Division is also eroded! The main force of the army, Asan, was defeated, Seoul was defeated, and Zuo Guigui was killed in battle. After Ye Zhichao lied about his achievements, he led the main force to flee north without a fight, and after being pursued and ambushed by hundreds of people, the whole army was already defeated. Li Hongzhang tried his best to assemble more than 26,000 elite Huai troops in Korea. Now there are only more than 2,200 people in the combined army of Nie Shicheng and Zuo, Ye Zhichao originally had 23 battalions of infantry, 4 battalions of horses, 4 battalions of artillery, plus more than 18,000 people such as Changfu, and Li Hongzhang was counting on the absolute main force of the Great Wall, but now there are only more than 8,000 people left! And the weapons and ammunition are heavy, and all of them have lost a fine light!

If Xu Yifan hadn't dispatched the Praetorian Guards to respond, there wouldn't have even been these 8,000 people left!

With the rank of general of the Huai Army as a witness, Xu Yifan counted Ye Zhichao's domineering, stubbornness, stupidity, timidity, lies, and a series of misdemeanors. How did Nie Shicheng and Zuo Guigui fight hard, but they were abandoned by him. All the rank personnel unanimously asked the imperial court to deal with Ye Zhichao, Wei Rugui and other generals, and Bao Nie Shicheng commanded the rest of the Huai army, and asked the imperial court to instruct the Korean war defense to be appropriate!

…… The most pessimistic people in the government and the opposition did not expect that the Qing Dynasty, which had been self-reliant for more than 30 years, was beaten into such a tragic situation by Xiaoxiaoben! Even Tan Sitong, who was instructed by Xu Yifan to preach for him how fragile the Qing Dynasty was and made the worst prediction of the future situation, did not expect it!

The world shook. Maybe after the shock, some people will wonder if this society can still be maintained according to the original old way!

To everyone's surprise, Li Hongzhang did not collapse. On the contrary, it is much stronger than the imperial party Qingliu who shouted for the main battle at the beginning, but now he is in a hurry. After Xu Yifan telegraphed, he immediately sent a telegram to plead guilty, and told North Korea that now the country must immediately prepare for defense. Originally, there were about 100 or so defense battalions of various kinds in Gyeonggi, with a usable strength of about 50,000. Half of the North Korea was transferred, and the rest was counted as vacancies, but there were less than 20,000 people. It is necessary to immediately transfer the defense battalions of the southern provinces to the north and recruit new battalion leaders. To do the domestic war defense plan, Beiyang is willing to take out all the money, and other provinces must also take this as the first priority.

The affairs of North Korea can only be entrusted to Xu Yifan's department, and Xu Yifan has full power to lead all the Qing troops in North Korea. Whether it was the Praetorian Guard or the Huai Army, however, he still asked the imperial court to give the Huai Army's headquarters the opportunity to make meritorious service for their crimes, Nie Shicheng could take charge of the remaining battalions of the Huai Army, and Ye Zhichao would defend the two generals of Rugui, or give them the opportunity to make meritorious contributions for their crimes, and serve themselves in the army in vain. After all, the Huai army is still brought by them for a long time, and it is more appropriate to command, the imperial court gives them a chance to reform themselves, they will inevitably contribute to redeem themselves, and the most important thing is to share Xu Yifan's momentum a little, with Ye Zhichao, they can play a role in containment. can't let Xu Yifan's family dominate.

…… Even if the war against this is defeated, the Qing Dynasty will not be damaged. But Xu Yifan has always done extraordinary things, and the imperial court has a weak ability to control him, once he sits big, I am afraid that there will be something unbearable to say at that time!

In the second half of Ye Zhichao's disposition, Li Hongzhang went directly to Cixi. The defeat of the war aroused Li Hongzhang's fighting spirit, and no matter what means were taken, his Beiyang group could not be allowed to collapse! And he also knew too clearly and clearly the political reality of the Qing Dynasty.

As soon as Li Hongzhang played the telegram, the imperial court, which was already in a panic, suddenly seemed to have caught a life-saving straw. The imperialist party is clear, and when it comes to commanding a modern war, it can be said that it has not achieved a single thing. Thinking that the curtain was strategizing and the telegram was issued, it was natural that everyone was brave and fought to the death for the Holy Monarch. Strategic planning, tactical design, logistical organization, and resource mobilization are necessary for the modernization of warfare. They have no authority, no actual power! Li Hongzhang came up with a way, and they accepted it all immediately. Cixi also sent a message to protect Ye Zhichao. Guangxu immediately sent out a bunch of sprinkled telegrams.

…… Ye Zhichao Wei Rugui took office! The pre-military service is self-redeeming, if there is a previous situation, the court will lock up and take a heavy punishment!

…… In the headquarters of the Chaohuai Army, it was led by Nie Shicheng. Nie Shicheng rewarded the head and the commander, he was already the rank of commander, and the military attache position had reached its peak, so he could only add a few more titles. Be sure to pack up the embers, put the army in order, and prepare for another battle.

…… Xu Yifan...... Xu Yifan was promoted from the rank of political envoy to the rank of squire of the Ministry of War. In addition to his Nanyang Propaganda and Comfort Minister, the Minister of Janissary Training, and the Minister of the North Korean Road Society, he added the title of Minister of the Korean Preparation and Mission, and removed the title of Minister of the Imperial Mission, no more, no less, and maintained the status of the Four Ministers. With full authority and command of all the Qing troops in the DPRK, it is imperative not to allow the Yue army to cross the line of the Datong River and enter the land of Longxing in the northeast of the Qing Dynasty. The court has a heavy responsibility, and after the matter is completed, it will be rewarded.

Xu Yifan was promoted to the rank of squire of the Ministry of War, which can be regarded as officially entering the high-level cadre system of the Qing Dynasty. has this as a foundation, as long as he doesn't fall, where he will be put outside in the future, he is already qualified to be a supervisor, an out-and-out leader. In just two years, the white body and the four Qin were the deputy minister of defense of the Qing Dynasty...... People can only sigh a strange number.

…… Zuo Guigui, Deng Shichang, Lin Taizeng and others are all heavy-hearted, and the court set up sacrifices to summon souls to comfort the souls of heroes and encourage the future.

…… All provinces must listen to the direct subordinate Shandong and other provinces, and the provinces must immediately report to the imperial court for assistance! Zhili Zhun immediately recruited 200 new battalions of the training army, 40 battalions in the northeast, 100 battalions in Shandong, Jiangnan and other provinces. Select the famous ministers and generals to unify them, and prepare to fight again.

These telegrams were sent down like snowflakes, stirring up waves in the originally stagnant Qing Dynasty.

No matter how bad I am in the Qing Dynasty, I have been doing foreign affairs for decades, training so many soldiers, and buying so many warships. Why was he beaten so badly by Xiao Xiaoben? The people of Jingshi are the most well-informed, and they speak the loudest, and the streets and alleys are full of discussions.

“…… Why can't I do it in the Qing Dynasty? A strong force of 20,000 or 30,000 people was chased and ran away in Korea, and the ironclad warship was sunk...... What went wrong? ”

"Recruit new heads...... Recruit a fart! Three taels of silver recruited a group of recruits, and they won't let go of foreign guns, and they didn't disperse in a hurry when they heard the gunshots? There are 50,000 people in Zhili, 30,000 have gone, and there are 20,000 left, how can you resist the little devils? Hurry up and transfer the troops of Nanyang over! ”

"What is the use of the South Seas Top? It is said that the imperial court was also sick and rushed to the doctor, and the old man Weng came up with the idea. It is necessary to recruit the descendants of the original Hunan army to gather into an army and go out! Hunan Governor Wu is also the most heartfelt. You must know that the soldiers of Nanyang are not used in China and France! Or did they transfer troops from Beiyang to fight in the past, and the children of the Hunan army have enjoyed decades of happiness at home, and they can fight if they take it out? Now that the Huai army is gone, counting on them is just a void! ”

"Who can turn the tide...... Li Zhongtang is old! ”

“…… There is also a Seo-sama in North Korea! He has a newly trained Praetorian Guard, who has killed people all the way from Nanyang to Korea, and his blood is red on the top! At the beginning, he said that he was in trouble in Seoul, and he easily calmed down. Old man Li was jealous of him, and squeezed him out to the north, and his own Huai army guarded Seoul, what was the result? Su Dingfang, who is jealous of his ability, did not end well! I heard that the Praetorian Guards are all heroes who dare to fight, so I pointed out that Lord Xu could turn the tide of the tide! ”

“…… Shame on people, my Daqing was beaten like this by a small book. What about the stronger Westerners? Dude, it seems that we only have the share of slaves to the country, like Poland was destroyed by the Rakshasa country. The people can only walk in the middle of the road, for fear that you will walk next to the side and steal the contents of the business, and when you see the Rakshasa people, whether they are the smallest soldiers or beggars, they must take off their hats and salute...... When that time comes, it's better to die! ”

"The dynasty wants a hero to save!"

"Look...... Let's see......"

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"However, on the seventh day of August in the twentieth year of Guangxu, the sea was surging and the stratus clouds were low. The ironclad giant ship was handed over to the sea, and the guns roared and thundered and thundered......"

Everyone stood solemnly, listening to Xu Yifan read the sacrificial text in a low voice. A platoon of gunmen, heavily armed, stood straight with their rifles in their hands, and looked far away to the sea and sky to the west.

“…… The public shouted, 'Sink Yoshino, or there is a glimmer of life', Zhiyuan warship, puffed up the wreckage, resolutely forward, and hit it with a hundred bullets without a moment's notice. The enemy is helpless with all kinds of plans, and if you use torpedoes, you will be eternal! Pyongyang farewell, from now on the end of the world. The servant dies later, but the only way to go...... Xu swore not to wear it with the Japanese for a day!

Brother Deng, Brother Deng! The Soul Returns! Go to the west and return to your homeland! Woohoo, the sky is vast, the sea is vast, and there is a national death on the ocean! ”

Xu Yifan stood solemnly and saluted, his face was already full of tears. The remnants of the Huai Army, the generals and the top and bottom, all cried when they thought of their colleagues who had been martyred one after another.

A platoon of Praetorian Guard soldiers raised their guns to the sky in a low voice of commands, and fired three times in a row. White smoke rose from the muzzle of the gun, and in the blink of an eye, it was blown away by the wind.

And Xu Yifan had already beaten his chest and mourned.

Pu Yang immediately supported him by his side, and Nie Shicheng, as the head of the Huai Army present, rushed over to support Xu Yifan in a hurry, and comforted him with tears: "My lord, Lord Deng is also feeling under the spring!" Even Brother Guanting, they have spirits in the sky, and they are all looking at adults! We, the losers, are waiting for the adults to take us for revenge! "Huai Jun basically knows the friendship between Xu Yifan and Deng Shichang, this one set up a sacrifice and cried, saying that it was true or false if he was not moved.

As soon as Nie Shicheng spoke, the surrounding Huai army generals responded one after another. Although the situation is still not very clear, there is no doubt that the big guy is going to be on an errand under Xu Yifan for the time being. Whether Li Laozhongtang can hold it or not, in case Xu Yifan gets up and Lao Zhongtang falls, according to this guy's wrist, it may not be a backer...... Everyone's fire should be old!

Xu Yifan gritted his teeth and wiped away his tears, and solemnly saluted to the spirit position of the conjuring spirit, patted Nie Shicheng, and strode towards his basic team. The officers of the platoon had long since stood as straight as the line. Seeing Xu Yifan coming over, Li Yun, who was at the head of the team, gave a command, and everyone snapped upright, and all their eyes were projected.

Xu Yifan gritted his teeth and sneered: "Xiao Yue will sink our warship, and the army is large, and the land and water can advance at this time." Our Janissaries are now surrounded by enemies everywhere and are alone in a corner of Korea...... Let's say, what should we Janissaries do? ”

"Bloody battle to the end, only death!"

The majestic and neat roars of these officers made the civilian officials and Huaijun generals next to them tremble.

"Good!" Xu Yifan roared, half-turned and pointed to the south: "Tens of thousands of Yue troops, maybe plus more reinforcements, are coming in a big way, wanting to defeat, expel and destroy us!" And we're going to let them die on this dead line! The Praetorian Guard is the mainstay of our China, and we will defend this screen for the country and bring our luck back! We want to make North Korea a place of national mourning for the devils!

…… All the armies were defeated, the gates were wide open, and the people were panicked...... In this land of Haidong, there is also a group of iron-clad men raised by my Xu Yifan, who are waiting for the last bit of light for this country! ”

He shouted with almost all his strength, shocking the surrounding Huai Army officers to look at each other. This Xu Yifan has such a big breath, he is really a two-hundred-and-five! But for some reason, this feeling just makes them feel a little shivering!

But the Praetorian Guards were up and down, and their chests were higher. Xu Yifan has always cultivated their sense of honor, mission, and even the sense of salvation in this crisis, making them feel that the whole world is re-sent, and it is none other than the Praetorian Guard!

"Disband, get ready for battle!"

Li Yunzong issued a command, and the officers of the Praetorian Guard quietly dispersed the queue and returned to their respective posts, and before everyone left, they all gave a military salute to Deng Shichang's spiritual seat.

Xu Yifan was still standing there quietly, and his agitated emotions didn't seem to have calmed down. Nie Shicheng walked over lightly and said in a low voice: "Lord Xu, why don't you leave my direct subordinates in the area of this cave immortal ridge, I am so aggrieved that I still want to find a devil to take revenge on me!" ”

Xu Yifan glanced back at him, shook his head and said, "Gongting, you still go to the eastern line of Jiangdong, Shunchuan, and Cishan to cover my flank...... The troops must be well controlled. If you are missing, just ask, I will add it to you unconditionally. ”

Nie Shicheng hesitated, and glanced back at Ye Zhichao, who was still pretending to be indifferent: "...... The kindness of adults, that is not said, should be made up, we have made up for it. But...... Let me stay here and fight the little devils. ”

"Worried about Ye Shuqing?"

Nie Shicheng nodded silently: "My subordinates have already decided to part ways with Beiyang...... To be honest, Beiyang will no longer trust his subordinates. Take the Huai army to cover the flank of the adult, and his subordinates are afraid that they will not be able to control it. ”

Xu Yifan smiled faintly and patted him on the shoulder: "Gongting, it's good to have this heart...... Although don't worry, I gave you two battalions of backbones, and there is also a mark of the second town of the Praetorian Guard in Anzhou, plus your headquarters, how can I deter them! Ye Shuqing and Wei Dasan, I have left them in Pyongyang, you look at them and get tired of them, so do I! If they want to make something out of the wind and rain, don't worry, I will sweep them with one hand! I hope they make a fuss, just to use their heads to pay tribute to Zuo Guanting Zuo Gong! ”

At the mention of Zuo Guigui, Nie Shicheng's tears almost fell again. After a flat-chested military salute, he was about to retreat. Xu Yifan can no longer be picky about him, and he will supplement him equally, keep his position, and feel more at ease with full power. didn't use these foreign troops as pioneers to consume the spirit of the devils first...... If he really did this, who would dare not obey the order? The Praetorian Guard is much stronger than them.

People's hearts are made of flesh, so how can they be so kind if they don't repay it? Let's say a word of heart-wrenching, with such a strong army in hand, are you afraid that Xu Yifan will not have the status of Li Hongzhang in the future?

Nie Shicheng now really hopes that Xu Yifan can turn the tide and become the mainstay of the Qing Dynasty!

(To be continued)