Lushun and Weihaiwei are two Yadong military fortresses, located on the Liaodong Peninsula and the Shandong Peninsula, defending the Bohai Sea and guarding the choke point of the Gyeonggi Sea.

But now, with the defeat of the Russian [***] team in the land battle, the commander of the Russian Far Eastern Military District, General Kurobetkin, hurriedly adjusted the military deployment, and the Heilongjiang direction was transferred to strategic defense, and the second division of the Amur District that threatened Hunchun was transferred to Aihui to assist the 11th regiment in the defense, which not only consolidated the defense of Aihui, but also had the purpose of containing the main force of the Beiyang Army.

However, the arrogant Russians were not reconciled to the fact that they had lost the battle, and Kurbertkin decided to get back on the field and regain face. He ordered the Russian Far East Fleet to blockade the two fortress naval bases of Lushun and Weihaiwei, and completely blockade the Beiyang Naval Division in the harbor. Then prepare for the landing of the marines on the shores of the Bohai Bay, while the 2nd Primorsky Division and the Amur Reading Brigade in the direction of the Yalu River began to attack the Qing troops on the west bank of the Yalu River.

The Russian army tried to open a passage along the Yalu River-Liaodong Peninsula, and the military approach to Shengjing could better force the Qing Empire to compromise and retreat.

Because Li Hongzhang believed that the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division was far inferior to that of the Russian Far East Fleet, and that the battle would undoubtedly be lost, in order to protect the ship, Li Hongzhang strictly ordered the Beiyang Naval Division to hide in the two fortress bases of Lushun and Weihaiwei and not to fight. Although the Beiyang Navy Division had the heart to resist the enemy to death, it did not have the courage to disobey Li Hongzhang's order.

The Beiyang Naval Division could not avoid the battle, which made the Russian Far East Fleet very arrogant, and after gaining sea control in the Yellow Sea, it sent warships into the Bohai Bay to carry out artillery bombardment on the Dagukou Fort in Tianjin.

The defenders of the Dagukou Fort fought back bravely, and the Dagukou Fort had been significantly strengthened at this time. As Wang Chenhao built an industrial base in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangzhou area, the safety of Beijing-Tianjin-Tangzhou was also put in the first place. He knew that the Dagukou Fort was the last barrier to the security of Gyeonggi, and it was here that the Eight-Nation Coalition Army landed. After the Russian army occupies the Korean Peninsula, if it invades China militarily, Dagukou will inevitably bear the brunt. Therefore, when Wang Chenhao purchased arms with the German Krupp Company, he asked Li Hongzhang to buy some fortress artillery for the defense of Dagukou. Li Hongzhang was reluctant to let the Beiyang Naval Division fight, but he had a soft spot for the firepower of the fortress, so he immediately purchased six 240 mm and six 155 mm caliber Krupp cannons to equip the Dagukou Battery.

The original fixed artillery mount cannon at Dagukou could only be adjusted up and down by three gears, and there was no firing range on the left and right. It was very difficult to deal with enemy ships on the sea, and after replacing the Krupp cannon, the firing range, firing range, rate of fire, and power were greatly increased. When the Russian battleship launched an artillery attack, the Krupp cannon on the battery opened heavy fire, sinking a small 100-ton gunboat and damaging two Russian ships, forcing the Russian fleet not to dare to approach the Dagukou battery.

The Russian army had no intention of capturing Dagukou, which would force the Qing Empire to resolve to start an all-out war with Russia. With Russia's current military strength and financial resources, Russia was not ready to start a full-scale war with the Qing Empire, because the shelling of the Dagukou Fort was only to scare the Qing Empire.

After the Russian fleet blockaded Lushun and Weihaiwei, in order to prevent the Beiyang Naval Division from having a chance to come out, the Russian minelayers placed a large number of mines on the periphery of Lushun and Weihaiwei, completely blocking the Beiyang Naval Division in the harbor and unable to get out. In this way, the Russian fleet will be able to cover the breakthrough of the Yalu River defense line by the Russian army in North Korea.

On 3 August, the Russian Far East Fleet dispatched two ironclad ships, four cruisers, and six gunboats to cover 12 troop carriers to carry out beach-rushing landings at Taipinggou and Beijingzi at the mouth of the Yalu River.

The battle began in the early morning, and the Russian warships carried out heavy artillery bombardment on the preset landing sites in Taipinggou and Beijingzi, and the Qing army Guangzi battalion stationed in the Taipinggou area fled without a fight and retreated to Niangniangcheng. The Jinzi battalion stationed in Beijing fought alone under the command of the general soldier Jin Cang, and due to the strong naval artillery bombardment of the Russian army, the Jin battalion soon suffered more than half of the casualties, and the battle reached dawn, the Jincang cannon was killed, and the remnants of more than 80 people withdrew from their positions and retreated to the Longwang Temple.

Beginning on the morning of 4 August, the Russian army landed in Beijingzi and Taipinggou, and by the afternoon of 18 August, more than 12,000 people of the Amur Reading Brigade of the Russian army had completed the landing.

At the same time, the 2nd Division of the Russian Coastal District in the direction of the Yalu River launched an attack on Nie Shicheng's troops on the other side of the river, pinning down Nie Shicheng's troops and preventing them from landing the Russian army. However, Dalian General Wei Rucheng used the excuse of insufficient troops and was already very difficult to defend Dalian, and refused to send reinforcements to Beijingzi. In this way, the Qing army watched the Russian army complete the landing and did not take any action.

On the 19th, the Russian army was under the command of Major General Kendrachev and divided into two routes. Attack all the way to Niangniang City, all the way to the direction of the Dragon King Temple.

On the night of the 20th, Wang Guang, the general soldier of the Guangzi battalion of the Qing army who retreated to Niangniang City, abandoned the city and fled, and more than 400 Qing troops of the Guangzi battalion exchanged fire with less than 200 people of a vanguard company of the Russian army.

The next day, the Russian army continued north along the Yalu River and advanced to Zhenjiang Fort.

Zhenjiang Fort was the right flank barrier of Nie Shicheng's troops in the Zhongjiang area on the other side of the Uiju, and once it was lost, the defense line of the Yalu River would fail. After Nie Shicheng learned that Niangniang City was lost, he immediately dispatched a three-battalion of about 1,000 troops to quickly reinforce Zhenjiang Fort.

On the 22nd, the Russian army advanced to Zhenjiang Fort, but was stubbornly resisted by the Qing army's Nie Shicheng, and failed to advance for two days.

In the direction of Longwang Temple, due to the refusal of Dalian General Wei Rucheng to reinforce, the Russian army easily occupied Longwang Temple and Huangqibao on the 21st, and continued north along the Sheep River, intending to bypass the Hat Helmet Mountain and attack Phoenix.

Phoenix City is the logistics base of the Yalu River defense line, and it is also the retreat route of Nie Shicheng's department, once Phoenix City falls, Nie Shicheng's department will lose its retreat, and will be attacked by the Russian army from the three directions of Yalu River, Zhenjiang Fort and Maohel Mountain, and there is a danger of annihilation of the whole army.

Nie Shicheng asked Shengjing's general Yiketanga to quickly transfer troops to defend Phoenix, but Yiketanga said that the Russian army was strong and was afraid of attacking Shengjing, and Shengjing's defensive forces were limited and it was not easy to divide troops to defend Phoenix, so the battle line was too long and easy to be broken by the Russian army. Iktanga suggested that Nie Shicheng abandon the defense line of the Yalu River and retreat to Shengjing for joint defense.

Nie Shicheng asked Li Hongzhang for instructions, and Li Hongzhang resolutely refused to abandon the defense line of the Yalu River, saying that reinforcements would arrive soon, and asked Nie Shicheng to stick to it and wait for help. Nie Shicheng had no choice but to defend it.

On the 25th, the main force of the Russian army stormed Zhenjiang Fort, although the defenders resisted stubbornly, but the Russian offensive was very fierce, and soon the Qing army lost more than half, and Zhenjiang Fort was in danger.

Li Hongzhang had no success in discussing with Yiketanga, so he had to transfer the third and fourth towns of the Beiyang Army from Tianjin for reinforcements. Due to the war, the Beiyang Eight Towns Army at this time had completed the relevant training in advance. However, far water could not quench the thirst of the near, and when the third and fourth towns of the Beiyang Army drove to Shanhaiguan, Zhenjiang Fort had been lost on the night of the 26th. Nie Shicheng was afraid of being counter-surrounded by the Russian army, so he had to abandon the defense line of the Yalu River and lead his troops to retreat to Phoenix.

On the 27th, the 2nd Division of the Russian Primorsky District crossed the Yalu River to occupy the Zhongjiang River, and returned to the division with the Amur Reading Brigade, and the defense line of the Yalu River was lost.

On the 29th, the Russian army launched a decisive battle with the Qing army under the Phoenix City. Nie Shicheng's unit also faced the Russian army in the same way as dealing with the Yue army, but the combat effectiveness of the Russian army far exceeded that of the Yue army at the same time, and it was not comparable to the backward Qing army in terms of numbers, firepower, and combat experience, and its combat power was not something that Nie Shicheng's department could stop by courage alone.

However, Nie Shicheng's troops still gritted their teeth and held on to Phoenix City for two days without reinforcements, but due to heavy casualties among the troops, they had to abandon Phoenix City on September 1 and retreat to Liaoyang. The Russian army immediately occupied Phoenix, and the Qing army's Battle of Phoenix was lost.

Subsequently, the Russian army continued to march towards Liaoyang, and the Shengjing generals Yiketanga and Nie Shicheng organized 37 battalions, totaling more than 40,000 people, to prepare to launch the Battle of Liaoyang to block the advance of the Russian army.

The Qing army's successive defeats in the Liaodong region quickly diluted the previous victories of the Beiyang Army in the Heilongjiang region, and replaced them with panic throughout the imperial court.

Russia did not have any sincerity in negotiations, and a series of military actions such as shelling Dagukou, sending troops to attack Liaodong, and threatening Shengjing immediately touched the bottom line of the Qing political axe.

As the capital of the Qing Empire and the foundation of the imperial family, the Qing court did not allow any mistakes. And the Russians repeatedly used negotiations as a cover, secretly took military actions to finally sober up the Qing political axe, and only by winning the war can the Russians be forced to sit down at the negotiating table honestly.

On September 2, the two supreme power symbols of the Qing Empire finally reached a compromise on the main battle, and Cixi supported the main battle faction in order to keep the land of Longxing in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Russian army's attack on Liaodong threatened Li Hongzhang's Beiyang business there, which made Li Hongzhang's attitude towards the main battle more and more tough.

In the afternoon of the same day, Emperor Guangxu ordered the Prime Minister Yamen and the Ministry of Rites to draft a spy document declaring war on Russia. At the same time, he sent a note to the Russian minister Cuman, issuing an ultimatum to Russia, demanding that the Russian army immediately withdraw from Liaodong, otherwise it would officially declare war.

Cuman never imagined that the Qing Empire would have such a big reaction, and he realized that Shengjing was far more irritating to the nerves of the Qing Empire's top brass than Heilongjiang. Cuman expressed his willingness to negotiate an immediate armistice, and he did not want Qing Russia to formally declare war. However, Cuman's telegram to the commander of the Russian Far East, General Kurbertkin, asking the Russian army to stop the military operation, was refused. The reason is that Major General Kendrachev put aside his arrogance and captured Shengjing within a month and occupied the entire northeast within three months, and the Russian army on the front line was achieving a great victory, and it was fearful of losing morale by stopping rashly, and at the same time, the 50,000 reinforcements transferred by Russia from Central Asia had already arrived in the Far East and were about to enter the battle. Under these circumstances, General Kurbertkin saw no need to hide from the Qing Empire.

On September 3, 1896, on August 1 of the 22nd year of Guangxu, the Russian legation did not respond to the ultimatum of the Qing Empire, so Guangxu immediately issued an order to declare war on Russia, which was a declaration of war on August 1.

(To be continued)