The Qing Dynasty's domestic forces were gathering in the northeast, and Liu Shengxiu, who was far away in Korea, was also deploying defensive forces as the supreme commander of Pyongyang. The problem was that the Koreans had long been frightened by the Japanese outrageous attack, and they had only one regiment of troops to trust, or artillery. He can only put the Koreans on the city walls, and his own troops can only be reserves, where to support nervously. Originally, this arrangement was okay, but after all, the Korean king Yi Xi was still in Pyongyang, and the idea of defending the king was still relatively reliable.

However, today I received a notification from the General Staff Headquarters that the emperor ordered all troops to assemble in the northeast and rush to the battlefield with his own soldiers. When the news came, Li Xi took his son Li Kun and left, and he was going to the Qing Kingdom to meet the emperor of Shangguo and ask Shangguo to send more reinforcements to help Korea. If you want to go, just go quietly, what's the matter with such fanfare. Liu Shengxiu was very angry, although Li Xi handed over the command of all Korean troops to Liu Shengxiu in front of all the senior Korean officers, but the soldiers below did not know that their king was going to ask for help.

The king ran away! This is what ordinary North Korean soldiers think. At this moment, the whole Pyongyang was in chaos, all the soldiers were talking about it, and even some people in the Qing army advised Liu Shengxiu: Let's run too, anyway, it is a place in North Korea, and it is not heartbreaking to lose it.

If you give your own people a slap, you will kill the North Koreans. The gendarmes killed a group in the barracks, and their heads were hung on the gates and swayed in the wind. This suppressed the speech in Pyongyang, but the North Korean soldiers could not control what they thought in their hearts. The emperor's secret decree said that while the Japanese were to be consumed, the Koreans should also be consumed. What the emperor meant, Liu Shengxiu didn't know how to understand. He believed that to consume the Japanese was to kill more Japanese, and to consume the Koreans was to make the DPRK die more. If you can't kill yourself, let the Japanese kill them. Liu Shengxiu did not let a single North Korean leave Pyongyang, and the guards arranged by Li Xi to go to the Qing State were all Qing people. Now that Pyongyang cannot hold on, it cannot let its own people lose their lives here. The artillery is not just a gun given by the infantry, but the artillery is actually shot with shells. Every artilleryman is required to be able to shoot artillery of all calibers and be able to shoot accurately, and now a qualified artilleryman has at least two or three hundred shells to be trained. Artillery is much more expensive than infantry. So in this case, Liu Shengxiu sent all his artillery abroad, leaving only the infantry in the artillery regiment responsible for defending the artillery, and all the artillery was handed over to the North Koreans to operate.

Liu Shengxiu has tried to properly arrange Pyongyang's defense, and he thinks he has done his best. But Pyongyang still lost in one day. The Japanese 1st Division arrived and began to attack early in the morning. In the morning, the Koreans were still fighting in good shape, and artillery, machine guns, and rifles could effectively cooperate with the Japanese army. But in the afternoon, the Japanese army came out again to sacrifice the "pig rush" tactic, and the Koreans collapsed at once. Liu Shengxiu's infantry was like firefighters who rushed around in an emergency, and after repelling countless Japanese attacks, they inevitably lost their numbers. Finally, in the evening, Liu Shengxiu could not be saved, and the Japanese army attacked Pyongyang again from Xuanwu Gate. As soon as Liu Shengxiu got the news, he immediately drove his headquarters out of Pyongyang, and then ordered all the North Korean units to withdraw, and then left the north without looking back. As soon as the North Korean army received the order, the whole army collapsed. All the soldiers abandoned their positions and fled, and the officers ran after seeing that they could not hold it down. Fortunately, Liu Shengxiu withdrew from Pyongyang first and then ordered to abandon it, otherwise he would have been blocked in the city by the North Koreans rushing out of the city.

The news that the Japanese army had once again captured Pyongyang in one day reached Japan, and the Japanese population was once again boiling. The lantern procession of 10,000 people once again appeared on the streets of Tokyo, and Aritomo Yamaprefecture watched the crowd of people marching worriedly. The capture of Pyongyang was a victory for the Japanese army. But it's not critical to the bigger picture. The Qing army, which lost Pyongyang, could still defend the Yalu River and retreat to the Liao River. It will take at least three months for the Japanese army to break through the Liao River all the way, which is enough time for the Qing army to deploy troops. Since the Russian Far East Fleet failed to capture Shushun, only the Russian occupation of Mukden could deal a fatal blow to the Qing State. The Qing State could no longer be given time, and the elite troops of the Qing State had already been transferred north.

Because there was no press control, news of Pyongyang's loss spread throughout the Qing Dynasty. Originally, I thought that the first news from the emperor after the expedition must be the people who had won a great victory, but they were blinded by the news of the loss of Pyongyang. Pyongyang lost. Fengtian heard that he couldn't hold it anymore, what's wrong with the Great Qing Kingdom? This time, even the emperor's personal levy doesn't work? How did the people know that it had only been a day since the emperor's personal expedition, and the emperor's special train had just passed the Shanhaiguan.

The only reassuring news was that the Ryukyu King Shota, who was far away, loaded the country's only infantry regiment on a ship at the port of Naha without receiving an order to send reinforcements. Drive and stay in Lushun without the escort of warships. It was just to repay the kindness of the Qing Dynasty for the restoration of the Ryukyus.

The sound of tick-tock telegrams resounded throughout the General Staff Headquarters, and the order to attack arrived at the divisional stations with the current waves. The troops, who had long been ready to attack, were on fire, and when the order to attack was received, they completely exploded. In particular, the 10th Regiment of the 4th Division stationed in Liaoyang abandoned all their uniforms and left the garrison in just five minutes with only weapons and ammunition. Now the city of Mukden is full of Russian soldiers. They just wanted to get to Mukden a little earlier.

Just two hours after their departure, Shoushan received another encrypted telegram. Tsushima won a great victory, and the Russian Far Eastern Fleet was completely annihilated. Shoushan, who saw the telegram, shouted with joy at that time. Radio is still top secret, and apart from the signal corps, only officers at the rank of major general and above know about radio secrets, and even ordinary regiment commanders do not know about it, and even the Liangjiang unit to which the German instructors belong cannot be used at any time. The outcome of the Battle of Tsushima cannot be announced yet, otherwise people will ask why the Battle of Tsushima has ended, and how do you, who are thousands of miles away, know? You know, now the most powerful British Empire in the world, no one knows the outcome until the fleet arrives in port.

"Each person should bring only one day's rations and two bases of ammunition, except for mortars and grenades, and abandon all heavy equipment that one person cannot carry, and must rush to the city of Mukden early tomorrow morning." The great naval victory gave Shoushan great confidence, as long as the 8th Division could hold on to Mukden City and wait for his arrival, the fate of Russia's defeat could be predicted. For this reason, Shoushan didn't even want excess food.

This kind of artillery, which was named a mortar by the emperor, was a kind of artillery that was loaded from the muzzle and mainly fired in a curved manner. In fact, the cannon body had been developed as early as before the First Sino-Japanese War, but it was not used because the shell landing point fan shot was too large. After numerous modifications to the body and the tail flight stabilizer wing of the projectile body, the first mortar was finalized in the First Sino-Japanese period. It's just that the emperor was fighting in the Liaohe River at that time, and this new artillery was not as good as it should have been. After the war, the emperor was very dissatisfied after inspecting this new artillery. Mortars weighing more than a hundred kilograms are still monolithic.

"Too heavy, reduce the weight. Disassemble the whole cannon, and make each part so that ordinary soldiers can hold it and run. Like machine guns, mortars should be used as the standard weapon for infantry fire support. A word from the emperor. Let the guns that have been finalized start the design again. The Chinese are smart, three months later the first mortar was finalized, 47 mm caliber, 350 mm tube length, maximum range 2100 meters, broken down into three parts: barrel, bracket, base, light mortar with a total weight of 52 kg began mass production, trial equipping the first division in September last year. After several months of exploration, by the end of the year, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd divisions began to fully equip themselves with mortars, and there was no way to limit their output. The military exercises at the beginning of the year were actually aimed at testing this mortar. Now it's time to check it out with real combat.

And grenades. This kind of cannonball that can be thrown out of the hand is also named by the emperor himself. Small size, small mass, easy to carry and use, twist the safety cover behind the wooden handle, pull out the fuse and throw it out, and the explosion will kill the soldiers more than ten meters around. As soon as the grenade was equipped with the troops, it was well received by all soldiers. I heard that this weapon has been there for a long time. It's just that the fuse delay is unstable, and the emperor is afraid that he will blow it up in his own hands before he throws it out. Therefore, it was delayed until the fuse was finalized before mass production and equipment of the troops. The appearance of this weapon made the infantry laugh and say that they can throw grenades and rifles, and if they throw grenades intensively, the ghosts will be blown up, and what do you need guns for.

So Shoushan threw everything he could, except for mortars and grenades. Reinforcements to Mukden were counting on these two new weapons.

It was too late or too late, although the troops set off as soon as they received the order to attack. Despite the weight reduction to the minimum, it was too late. The Supreme Commander of the Russian Far Eastern Army, the Governor-General of the Russian Far East, also understood the importance of Mukden throughout the campaign. After a day of desperate attacks, Iktanga, who was ordered to defend the east gate of Mukden City, was frightened, and he abandoned his troops and ran away from the south gate of Mukden with his own soldiers. The main general fled for his life, and the soldiers who fought bloodily ran away as if they had been drained of their last confidence. At the moment when Iktanga rushed out of the south gate, the east gate of Fengtian City was lost. The Russian ** team shouting the slogan "Ula" poured into Mukden City like a tide.

"Iktanga mistook me!" Knowing that the east gate was lost, Song Qing, who had only recovered from his injuries, spurted out a mouthful of blood on the spot. Song Qing, who didn't say a word, rushed to the east gate with the last 200 soldiers of his direct battalion in an attempt to recapture the east gate. The Fengtian defenders, who had lost their command, could only carry Zuo Guigui, who was still in the hospital for treatment, into the headquarters.

Mukden City was under fire, and the fierce gunfire and shouts of fighting spread far away. For Shoushan. This voice is the order for reinforcements. Shoushan, who ran non-stop for a day and a night, finally arrived at a place ten miles outside Fengtian City at noon the next day. Panting like a cow, he climbed a small hill, and the four gates of Fengtian in front of him, except for the west gate, had all erected the eagle flags of the Russians.

"Attack, don't stop." Shoushan understood that once the troops that had been moving non-stop for a day and night stopped, it would be impossible for them to charge: "Let the artillery come up first. "Shoushan discovered the Russian army, and the Russian army also discovered the reinforced Qing army, and they transferred part of their forces to block the Qing army.

The artillery came up, and they did not bring mountain artillery or field artillery. In order to reach Mukden faster, they abandoned all their cannons. There are only a hundred pounds of mortars in front of you. One by one, the barrels are lowered, the seat plate supports the barrels, and the brackets hold the barrels up. The artillerymen estimated the distance between the two armies and began to adjust the shelling of Zhuyuan.

"Calibrate the distance at 1,600 meters, prepare-" The commander of the artillery company who arrived at the front line first watched the artillerymen adjust the shelling distance to the mark of 1600 meters, and waved his raised right hand: "Put-"

The soldier who placed the shell at the mouth of the tube let go of his hands and covered his ears as he crouched. Knock knock knock...... Shells were fired from the barrels, exploding in the ranks of the Russian attackers.

Mortars worked, and the Russian offensive queue was interrupted. Shoushan shouted: "Keep the shelling, the infantry continue to attack." ”

The sound of gunfire, artillery, and fighting resounded throughout the battlefield, and mortar shells exploded in the Russian army. The attacking Russian troops were cut into two sections by dense artillery fire, while the Russian troops who continued to attack watched as the Qing infantry not only did not dodge but charged at them. The Russian soldiers, mounted on horses and sabers held alof, rushed towards the Qing army. They believed that as long as they rushed to the side of the Qing army, they could cut it down, and no country's infantry could stop the great Cossack cavalry.

"It's great to have a saber, rack up all the machine guns, and have the grenades ready." The commander of the Qing army arranged the machine guns on both sides and waited for the Russian cavalry to come into range.

The distance is getting closer and closer, and the Qing army has not yet fired. When they were still 600 meters away, the Russians found that the Qing army had thrown a large number of round sticks at them, and they all climbed down. Are the Qing people trying to scare their horses with round sticks? It's ridiculous.

Before the round stick hit the ground, the Russian army rushed over. 400 meters, boom boom boom...... The grenade exploded, and the shrapnel flying in all directions immediately knocked down a large area of Russian troops. Before the Cossacks could react, the Qing country's heavy machine guns also rang out. The Qing army's position was full of long tongues of fire, and the dense rain of bullets knocked down the cavalry that had survived the grenade explosion again, and even a few fish that slipped through the net could not escape rifle fire.

Mortars cut off the Russian offensive, grenades killed and injured a large number of living forces, and machine guns and rifles wiped out the last resistance of the enemy. Just a few dozen minutes later, the Russian soldiers on horses were no longer visible in front of the Qing army's position.

"The infantry continued to advance, the machine guns followed, and the mortar positions moved forward." Shoushan was very satisfied with the effect of the new weapon: "All arms should pay attention to cooperation and press closer to the south gate of Fengtian City. ”

Under the cover of mortars, grenades blasted through the lines of the Russian army. The Qing infantry was getting closer and closer to the south gate. The Russians were shocked, why could the artillery of the Qing army attack with the infantry?

Although the Russian army captured the south gate of Mukden City, the fighting inside the south gate did not stop. Half a company of soldiers, with the help of machine guns, blocked the Russians at a distance of 50 meters inside the door.

Knock knock knock...... A succession of explosions sounded inside the city gatehouse, and the attacking Russian soldiers were blinded, why were there enemy shells behind them? They didn't have to think about it to understand that the sound of the Qing army fighting was getting closer and closer. Run, or you'll get stuck inside. The Russians are in a mess.

"Listen, it's reinforcements, it's reinforcements. Our reinforcements have arrived. The Qing soldiers inside the south gate shouted happily: "Rush, kill the Russian hair." At this time, within the ruins of the broken wall, hundreds of Qing soldiers rushed out.

As soon as the company attacked the south gate, the Russian troops inside the gate were overwhelmed by the Qing army. Shoushan came in with his helmet, grabbed a soldier of the Eighth Division and asked, "Where is Admiral Song?" Where is Division Commander Zuo? What was the final order you received? ”

"Report to the division commander, after the East Gate was lost, Admiral Song led his own soldiers up. Now the troops are under the command of the left division commander, and the headquarters is at the west gate. Before nightfall yesterday, our company was ordered to block the Russian troops at the south gate, and so far we have not received any other orders. ”

"The 10th Regiment all entered the city. The third battalion stayed at the south gate, the second battalion marched to the north gate, and the first battalion quickly reinforced the east gate, making sure to find Admiral Song. The troops directly under the division followed me to the headquarters. Shoushan turned his head to the company commander of the Eighth Division and said, "The defense of the South Gate will be taken over by the Fourth Division, and you will send a few people to take them there." You take me to the command. ”