Chapter 62: Armed Protectors?
While on the Korean battlefield the army was being ruined by the Donghak, their war in Liaodong was going well.
On 21 September, the Chinese army suddenly sent warships to escort the troops of the two divisions to land at the mouth of Arthur.
For this landing operation, the combined fleet of this side sent a total of more than 30 transport ships to escort officers and men under the command of the commander of the First Army, Oyama Iwa, and the commander of the Third Division, Sato Masasa, to cross the sea to Lushun. On September 21, the fleet arrived safely, and on the 23rd, the landing of the army was completed.
The whole landing process lasted a total of two days, and what is puzzling is that during this whole landing process, the defenders of the Lushun Battery, which was close to the landing site of the Japanese army, were indifferent.
Correspondingly, after the Qing Beiyang Fleet experienced the Battle of Incheon, the heartbroken Admiral Ding Ruchang issued a stern order to the fleet in Weihaiwei Harbor in accordance with the wishes of his boss Li Hongzhang.
"No matter what happens, not a single battleship of the Naval Division will be allowed to leave the port." Not to mention the warships, at this time, even ordinary merchant ships and sampans were told not to leave the various ports.
In this way, the Qing side watched as the army completed the landing in Lushun.
As the commander of the front, the commander of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, Sato Masashi, also wondered why he had not heard the sound of the fort at the mouth of Arthur.
It was not until the landing was completed that he personally led his troops to the battery that he knew the answer.
The Qing army has all fled! Abandon their first fortress in the Far East and run away!
Not to mention Sato Masasa, as the commander of this battle, Oyama Iwa is also dumbfounded, so that his own troops will occupy the Port of Arthur?!
At this time, many foreign merchant ships were moored in the natural harbor of Lushun, and the Western sailors who had watched the show for two days were also dumbfounded......
"Hahaha! - Dashan Yan suddenly laughed, "The Great Qing Kingdom looks very big, but in fact, it has long been rotten from the roots!" ”
"Haha, the image you said is very good, the Qing Kingdom is like a rotten tree, just waiting for the Empire to cut him down!"
"Hahahaha! ――”
Looking at the castle not far away, Oyama Iwa pulled out the chrysanthemum-patterned katana given by Emperor Muhito, "Soldiers! Attack me!! Kill them all, not a single one will be left!! ”
……
Gunshots and screams instantly rang out in Lushun City!
"Bang!! Boom Boom Boom !! ――”
"Bang!! Boom Boom Boom !! ――”
"Bang!! Boom Boom Boom !! ――”
Just as the soldiers of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army were using their rifles and bayonets to obtain blood and satisfy their animal desires. Outside Port Arthur, a cannon roar suddenly sounded!
"What's going on? Where did the cannon sound come from?! ”
"Is it our naval warship that is firing guns?!"
"Look! The Navy's 'Yaeyama' is fighting!! ――”
The eyes of the foreign merchant ships, Western merchants and sailors, who were also anchored in the harbor, suddenly widened......
Only a fleet flying an unfamiliar red flag off the coast of Lushunkou was firing at the Arthur Port Battery, and some sailors who had been to the South Seas had already recognized the flag of Seris in front of them.
At the same time, the warships "Yaeyama" and "Kaohsiung", which were expelling this fleet, were instantly sunk by a huge ironclad battleship in the fleet!
Affected by the shelling of the Seris fleet in the distance, the officers and men of the 3rd Division had to stop the atrocities at hand.
A soldier of the Yue Army ran over and approached Dashan Yan and shouted, "Your Excellency the commander, Your Excellency the division commander, look at it...... Look ......"
At this time, there was no need for the soldier to remind them, both of them looked in the direction of the coast, and saw that on the open sea in the harbor, a fleet of four armored warships was facing their guns far away, and the masts of several huge steel battleships were all holding a bright five-star red flag......
The commander of the army, Oyama Yan, looked at the strange fleet on the sea in the distance in shock, "Sato, where did this fleet come from?" ”
The commander of the 3rd Division, Sato Masa, shook his head and picked up the binoculars on his chest to observe the formidable fleet, "I haven't seen such flags, but I don't know their purpose." And why attack the warships of the Empire? ”
"Ahh A signal corpsman of the Combined Naval Fleet, who was in charge of coordination, suddenly shouted, "Sir, they have put out the flag!" - 'We are the Ceris Navy!' Our fleet is under order to protect the overseas Chinese! ’”
At the same time, the fleet in the harbor launched another artillery bombardment, and as the main guns of each battleship fired shells, the thunderous cannon sound immediately resounded in the sky!
“…… Rumble! … Rumble! … Rumble! ……”
In Port Arthur, all the sailors of foreign merchant ships watched the fleet in front of them closely, and the fire that burst out from the shelling shook the mountains, which shocked everyone to see.
"Protecting overseas Chinese?! Damn it! This Seris fleet is blackmailing, there are no expatriates here at all, and they dare to attack the warships of the Empire! The commander of the army, Da Shanyan, was angry and a little afraid at the same time.
A nearby military junior stammered a little and said, "Your Excellency, Commander...... Seris ...... What exactly did the Serisian fleet want to do? Do you want to return fire with the shore guns of the Arthur Port Battery? ”
Sato Masashi on the side shook his head and rejected the idea, "No, it's too close!" The firing range of shore artillery is simply not reached! ”
"Your Excellency Commander, this Seris country is a country established by the Chinese in Nanyang. In doing so, they are warning us not to slaughter their people! ”
"Let the soldiers not act on their own." Dashan Yan thought for a while and said slowly.
"Hay! ――”
"Hay! ――”
At this time, there was no longer any need for the commander's order, and the soldiers of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, who were frightened by the shelling of the Ceris battleship, had long lost the courage to raise their butcher knives again.
After the catastrophe, the city of Lushun was full of devastation and miserable scenes, everywhere you saw were the ruins and broken walls after being destroyed by the army, corpses were everywhere, some wooden roofs were still burning violently, and a few blackened bricks and tiles fell from the roof beams from time to time, and it was all over.
The surviving Qing civilians all wept with joy......
"Great! The court has come to our rescue! ”
"Look! It was the big iron ship of the imperial court that saved us! ”
"This is not a ship of the imperial court, it is a warship of a foreign country!"
“……”
Let the troops withdraw from the outside of Arthur City one after another, Da Shanyan looked at the Seris fleet that was gradually moving away in the distance, and his eyes were gloomy......
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