A few days ago, Cixi asked Li Hongzhang to investigate what strength Lin Daxin had in his hands now, and then Li Hongzhang asked the cronies of the Beiyang Navy Division to investigate carefully in Weihaiwei.

The results of the investigation made Li Hongzhang, a Beiyang tycoon, suddenly surprised, he didn't expect that a Beiyang junior would now have such strength, and it can even be said that he can completely overturn the entire Qing Dynasty! It happened that the imperial court was dissatisfied with Ding Ruchang's quest for Lin Daxin to seek the position of governor of Fengtian Province, which coincided with Li Hongzhang's idea of suppressing Lin Daxin, so Li Hongzhang pushed the boat down the river and agreed to the imperial court's promotion and secret surrender to Ding Ruchang.

Hearing Cixi ask about Lin Daxin's situation, Li Hongzhang said in a deep voice to the Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu and Prince Gong Yixin in the Xinuan Pavilion: "The old minister asked people to investigate the situation of Lin Daxin's Sailor Academy practice fleet and Dingbei Army!" Lin Daxin's practice fleet is currently divided into three fleets, called the First Fleet, the Second Fleet and the Arthur Garrison Fleet, and the First Fleet has 6 ironclad battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons for the original Italian Navy and the Japanese Navy! The Second Fleet has 9 large fast armored cruisers with a displacement of more than 7000 tons! The weakest Lushun garrison fleet also has 9 main warships, and even the combat effectiveness of the Lushun garrison fleet alone exceeds the main fleet of the Beiyang Naval Division! ”

Hearing that Lin Daxin's so-called practice fleet had such strength, Cixi and the other three people all frowned.

Li Hongzhang continued: "Moreover, Lin Daxin's shipyard in Weihaiwei also has 5 ironclad battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons that captured the Italian Navy that are being repaired, and 3 warships of the Japanese Combined Fleet that were captured in the Battle of Jinzhou Bay!" In addition, Lin Daxin captured a lot of warships in Japan this time, it can be said that the navies of some Western powers are not as strong as the current fleet under Lin Daxin! ”

Empress Dowager Cixi asked gloomily: "How many men and horses are there in Lin Daxin's Dingbei Army?" ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "According to the report of Weihai Wei's subordinates, Lin Daxin's Dingbei Army currently has a total of 10 divisions!" ”

Emperor Guangxu wondered and asked, "10 divisions? What is Division? ”

Li Hongzhang continued: "Division is the name of a level of the Western army, and Lin Daxin has 18,000 people in one division, and 10 divisions are 180,000 people!" Moreover, these 180,000 people are elite troops trained according to the Western army, not comparable to those green battalion soldiers in our Qing Dynasty! is the elite of the old man's Huai Army, and its combat effectiveness is far inferior to Lin Daxin's Dingbei Army! ”

At this time, the eyes of the three Cixi people had already leaked a look of horror, if Lin Daxin rebelled, just Lin Daxin's 180,000 Dingbei army would be enough to sweep the entire Qing Dynasty!

Li Hongzhang didn't seem to see the frightened looks of the three Cixi, and continued: "And there is news from Weihaiwei!" Lin Daxin has already trained 5 new teachers in the Weihai Weishui Master Academy! ”

After Li Hongzhang finished speaking, the entire Xinuan Pavilion fell into silence.

In the end, it was the Empress Dowager Cixi who broke the silence first and said: "I didn't expect that there would be such a Lin Daxin in our Qing Dynasty!" Now that the imperial court is fighting with the Japanese, it still has to rely on Lin Daxin's Dingbei army, and the imperial court should not do anything to stimulate Lin Daxin recently! ”

Emperor Guangxu said to Cixi at this time: "Dear father! I didn't expect Lin Daxin to have such strength, what if Lin Daxin turned around? ”

Cixi listened to Guangxu's words, her brows furrowed a little deeper, and she said to the three people in the Xinuan Pavilion: "It seems that our Qing Dynasty must train the new army, otherwise a rampant person like Lin Daxin will not be able to be suppressed by the imperial court!" ”

After Lin Daxin sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang, the eunuch who passed the holy decree in the Weihaiwei Governor's Mansion received an urgent 300-mile flying letter from the imperial court within 2 days, asking them to return to Beijing City, and the holy decree should not be transmitted!

After the eunuch left the Admiral's Mansion, Ding Ruchang, the Admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division, swaggered back to the Admiral's Mansion on Liugong Island, and Li Hongzhang also sent a telegram to Ding Ruchang, informing him that the Imperial Court had decided to continue to let him serve as the Admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division, so that Ding Ruchang could continue to serve the Imperial Court.

Prince Gong Yixin also sent a telegram to Lin Daxin, asking Lin Daxin's Dingbei Army to attack the Japanese Southern Route Army in Liaoyang City to prevent the Southern Route Army from reinforcing the Japanese North Route Army in Shanhaiguan! Let Lin Daxin be sure to drag down the Japanese army's Southern Route Army at any cost!

Lin Daxin sneered when he received the telegram, it seems that when it is time to be tough, it must be tough, and there must be no compromise! Otherwise, after the imperial court replaces Ding Ruchang this time, there may be some moths waiting for him!

The captured 2 ironclad battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Fengxiang and Zuihe, were directly transferred by Lin Daxin to the First Fleet of the Navy of the Naval Division School because there was not much damage, so that the First Fleet temporarily owned 8 ironclad battleships!

After obtaining two large fast armored cruisers from Wugang Shipyard, Lin Daxin ordered Weihaiwei Shipyard to paint and conduct rapid sea trials of the two warships before joining the Second Fleet. As a result, the Second Fleet had 11 large fast armored cruisers with a displacement of more than 7000 tons.

Two protective cruisers, also obtained from the Wugang Shipyard, also entered the Weihaiwei Shipyard, and Lin Daxin planned to join the Lushun garrison fleet after installing naval guns, painting and sea trials.

The captured Japanese ship Hashitachi was still given to the Beiyang Naval Division's own team, renamed Chaoyuan, and the pipe belt of the Chaoyuan was served by Ye Zuqi, the pipe belt of the Jingyuan who was sunk by the original Beiyang Naval Division in the Yellow Sea War.

In this way, with the addition of the Dingyuan ship, the Zhenyuan ship, the Jingyuan ship, the Laiyuan ship, the Zhiyuan ship, the Jiyuan ship and the Weiyuan ship, the Beiyang Naval Division has reassembled the eight great distances!

Moreover, the new ultra-long-range ship pipe belt Ye Zuqi can also be regarded as Admiral Ding Ruchang's henchman, so that Ding Ruchang's henchmen occupy 3 seats in the Eight Great Yuan. This time, the imperial court wanted to remove Ding Ruchang from the post of admiral, and even the eunuchs who passed the holy decree arrived at the Weihaiwei Admiral's Mansion, but in the end, Ding Ruchang was still the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, and the eunuch who passed the holy decree left Weihaiwei and returned to Beijing!

It also made some of the pipe belts on the warships of the Beiyang Naval Division recognize the current shape and began to move closer to Ding Ruchang's side.

As soon as Lin Daxin saw that the imperial court had softened, he sent a telegram to the Dingbei Army in Liaodong, asking the main force of the Dingbei Army to continue to approach Liaoyang City!

Lin Daxin considered a decisive battle with the 160,000 Japanese troops in Liaoyang, although it was a new division that had just been formed, but he still boarded the transport ship with the newly formed 11th and 12th divisions of the Dingbei Army, and under the escort of the first fleet and the second fleet of the Navy of the Naval Academy, he embarked on the route to Liaodong, and the two new integrated divisions were ready to be used as reserves.

On the route to Liaodong, Lin Daxin called Duan Qirui, the commander of the 11th Division, and Zhang Zuolin, the commander of the 12th Division, to the Flying Bear, which was specially set up for Lin Daxin in the lounge.

Lin Daxin said to the two of them: "Don't be restrained, you two find a chair and sit down!" ”

Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin said at the same time: "Thank you, principal! Then the two of them sat down on chairs in the lounge.

Lin Daxin first asked Duan Qirui: "Old Duan, how is the situation of your eleventh division?" If you go to the battlefield, you can't drop the chain! ”

Duan Qirui stood up with a "snap" and said loudly: "Don't worry, principal! Although our 11th Division is newly formed, the officers at all levels have fought in battles, and they are all veterans of the original divisions of the Dingbei Army! The soldiers have also been trained in our Dingbei Army recruit training camp! Although the combat effectiveness of the 11th Division is not as good as that of the original integrated division, it will definitely not disgrace the principal by beating the Japanese! The 11th Division will definitely not drop the chain on the battlefield! ”

Lin Daxin nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's good, sit down!" Duan Qirui immediately sat on the chair with a "snap-" sound.

Then Lin Daxin asked Zhang Zuolin again: "Lao Zhang, how is your 12th division?" ”

Zhang Zuolin also stood up with a "snap" and said loudly: "Our 12th Division is absolutely unambiguous when it fights the Japanese!" This time to attack Liaoyang City, our 12th Division asked to be the main attack! ”

Lin Daxin said with a smile: "Lao Zhang, you also sit down!" Your 12th Division and Lao Duan's 11th Division serve as the general reserve of the Dingbei Army this time, and you will be allowed to go up at the critical moment! ”

Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin nodded at the same time.

Lin Daxin then said: "I called you this time because I have a very important task to be handed over to you!" It is related to the development of our entire Dingbei Army! ”

Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin glanced at each other, and saw the excitement in each other's eyes, Lin Daxin obviously regarded the two of them as henchmen, and the two of them said at the same time: "Please make it clear to the principal!" ”

Lin Daxin said: "I have now been appointed by the imperial court as the governor of Fengtian Province, and Heilongjiang and Jilin, which are outside the customs with our Fengtian, have not yet set up governors!" Now the two provinces are under the management of Heilongjiang General Enze and Jilin General Sa Thorn respectively, and most of the troops under the two of them have been extracted by the imperial court and lost in the defense of Shengjing! I am going to defeat the Japanese army in Liaoyang City, and deliberately release a group of defeated Japanese troops to let them flee in the direction of Jilin and Heilongjiang! Then your 2 divisions will chase the defeated Japanese army into Jilin and Heilongjiang! It should be noted that it is for your 2 divisions to chase, not to chase and destroy! ”

Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin looked at each other, and Duan Qirui asked tentatively: "What the principal means is that the defeated soldiers in pursuit of the Japanese army are fake, and the occupation of Jilin and Heilongjiang is true?" ”

Lin Daxin nodded affirmatively and said, "Yes!" It is to let you 2 divisions take this opportunity to bring Jilin and Heilongjiang into the sphere of influence of our Dingbei Army! ”

Zhang Zuolin asked with a ruthless look in his eyes: "Headmaster, did the troops of Heilongjiang General Enze and Jilin General Sa Thorn be wiped out by the hands of the Japanese army, or did we pretend to be the Japanese army and clean them up!" ”

Lin Daxin thought about it for a while and said: "If they are wiped out by the Japanese, forget it!" If they are lucky not to be killed by the Japanese, after the two of you divisions pass, if they know the current affairs, they will be sent back to Shanhaiguan, if they don't know the current affairs, the two of you can watch it! ”

Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin glanced at each other again, both of them had a fierce light in their eyes, Lin Daxin looked at the appearance of the two of them, and was a little worried about the lives of Heilongjiang General Enze and Jilin General Sa Ting!

However, those who become big things sometimes have to be ruthless, and then Lin Daxin asked the two people: "How is it?" Can this task be completed? ”

Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin stood up at the same time, and Duan Qirui said loudly: "Don't worry, principal! Students are guaranteed to complete the task! ”

Zhang Zuolin then said: "I promise to make the principal the governor of the three northeastern provinces!" ”