After the defeat in the Battle of Pyongyang, the Qing army in Korea broke north, and rushed all the way to Anju before stopping.

Anju is 180 miles away from Pyongyang in the south, leaning on the Cheongchon River in the north and surrounded by mountains in the south, making it the largest town north of Pyongyang. This is the only way for the Japanese army to invade the north, and the city wall is high, so the Qing army can stop the Japanese army here.

160 miles northwest of Anzhou, is Dingju in North Korea, and it is also a dangerous place.

Ye Zhichao took the remnants of the Pyongyang campaign, retreated to Anzhou, gathered more than 10,000 people, Nie Shicheng persuaded Ye Zhichao to block the Japanese army in Anzhou and Dingzhou, and wait for reinforcements, but Ye Zhichao was already afraid of the Japanese army and had no courage to fight again. Along the way, the wind was loud, the grass and trees were all soldiers, running 500 miles, and after arriving in Sinuiju, North Korea, they encountered more than 4,000 Huai army reinforcements transported by the Beiyang Naval Division, so they did not flee all the way back to Liaodong.

Behind Sinuiju, in order to strengthen the defense line of the Yalu River, Guangxu ordered Heilongjiang General Yi Ketanga to lead 3,000 people to the defense of Jiulian City, and sent personnel to quickly recruit new battalions and march one after another.

He also ordered more than 5,000 people of the 4th Battalion Yi Army stationed in Lushun, led by Song Qing, the assistant of Beiyang Military Affairs, to rush to the defense line of the Yalu River. In the end, the Qing army on both sides of the Yalu River concentrated more than 30,000 troops.

Ye Zhichao was the first to escape in the Battle of Pyongyang, so that after the defeat of the Battle of Pyongyang, Ye Zhichao was dismissed and investigated and escorted back to Beijing! This incompetent Qing army general who led the defeat of the Pyongyang campaign finally left his position and no longer dragged down the three armies!

At this time, in the Governor's Mansion of Liugong Island, at this time, Admiral Ding Ruchang, Lin Yongsheng and Lin Daxin were in the study, gathered around the desk, looked at the map on the table, and the three of them talked about the war by the Yalu River.

Lin Yongsheng frowned and said, "Now there are at least 30,000 troops gathered by the Yalu River!" But I don't know if I can hold the Yalu River? If you can't hold it! That's not easy! Now in addition to Lushun and Shenyang, the garrisons in other places in Liaodong are useless! If the Japanese army breaks through the Yalu River, it will be able to drive straight in, and the Lushun base of our Beiyang Naval Division will be in danger! ”

Lin Yongsheng heard his son say that in history, the defense line of the Yalu River was broken through, the Qing army was defeated, and the Lushun base was also captured by the Japanese army!

Ding Ruchang was also a little worried about the Lushun base of the Beiyang Naval Division, and there were a total of 2 naval bases in the entire Beiyang Naval Division, namely Lushun and Weihaiwei.

Lushun is the maintenance and repair base of the Beiyang Naval Division, and Weihaiwei is the permanent berthing of the Beiyang Naval Division. The two bases of Lushun and Weihaiwei are like the arms of giants, encircling the Bohai Sea and forming a pincer defense network against the Gyeonggi region.

There are 13 coastal forts in Lushun, and a total of 9 coastal forts are built on the coastal side according to the mountainous terrain. With the Lushun Kou Gate as the boundary, there are 5 in the east and 4 in the west, from east to west, respectively: Lao Oyster Mouth Fort, Lao Oyster Mouth Fort, Mozhu Reef Fort, Golden Mountain Auxiliary Fort, Golden Mountain Fort, Tiger Tail Fort, Weiyuan Fort, Manziying Fort, Mantou Mountain Fort.

Among them, except for the old oyster mouth battery, which is a dome kiln type, the rest are open-air batteries, equipped with a total of 58 artillery pieces, including 9 Krupp long-range giant guns of 260 mm caliber. Later, 4 additional forts were built one after another, and 23 gun emplacements were added.

From 1889 onwards, a land fort was built around the back of Lushun, with a total of 17 guns and 78 gun emplacements. At the same time, in order to cover the Lushun back road and defend Jinzhou, 5 coastal forts, 1 land fort and 24 gun emplacements were built in Dalian Bay. On November 9, 1890, the Lushun base of the first military port fortress in Asia was officially completed.

There are more than 20,000 defenders in the entire Lushun base, with more than 120 large and small cannons and more than 2.46 million shells.

Now 5,000 elites have been taken away by Song Qing, so that there are only more than 15,000 people left in the Lushun base, and most of them are green battalions of the Qing army.

Ding Ruchang looked at Lin Daxin and asked, "Pingshi, what do you think about this?" ”

Lin Daxin knew that in history, the Qing army could not hold the defense line of the Yalu River at all, and the Lushun base was not kept, so Lin Daxin said: "Uncle Ding! I think the defense line of the Yalu River is enough to choke! The Japanese army now has two divisions in Korea with a strength of 40,000 men. Moreover, the Japanese, who were originally not equipped to catch up with the various divisions of our Huai Army, captured a large number of our army's repeating guns and artillery in the Battle of Pyongyang, and their strength increased greatly! In addition, the Japanese army is well-trained and has an advantage in numbers, and most of our elite troops along the Yalu River are newly defeated divisions, and I am not optimistic about the Yalu River defense line! ”

Ding Ruchang frowned and said, "Then if the Japanese army breaks through the Yalu River, our Lushun base will be in danger!" ”

Lin Daxin's eyes rolled and he volunteered: "Uncle Ding! The army of my Sailor Academy has been in force for a long time! Now is the time to contribute to my Beiyang sailors! I ask for orders to send the army of my Sailor Academy to take over the Lushun base! And send some warships of our Sailor Academy to station in Arthur Port! Defend the Lushun base with the Army! And the original troops of Lushun can be transferred to support the defense line of the Yalu River! ”

Lin Daxin believes that with the strong fortifications of the Lushun base, the army of the Sailor Academy will definitely be able to hold this first military port in Asia and prevent the repetition of the historical Lushun massacre!

Ding Ruchang thought about it for a while, and agreed to Lin Daxin's construction, and Ding Ruchang decided to report to Li Hongzhang for approval, and let the army of the Sailor Academy take over the Lushun base. Ding Ruchang has seen that the equipment and training of the army of the Sailor Academy are more than one step ahead of the most elite units of the Huai Army, and he believes that with Lin Daxin's Sailor Academy, the army will definitely be able to keep the Lushun base of the Beiyang Naval Division.

After discussing the matter of Lushun, Ding Ruchang picked up a telegram and said with a very bad face: "This is a telegram from the imperial court to our Beiyang Naval Division!" In addition to telling us that the court had sent someone to reward us for the great victory in the naval battle, the court asked us to release 4 Italian warships and more than 2,000 captured Italian navies! ”

When Lin Yongsheng next to him heard this, he suddenly jumped up anxiously: "What? Put 4 Italian warships away! The heads of those people in the court must have squeezed the door! These 4 are ironclad battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons! If we have these 4 warships, in the future, in the vicinity of the Qing Dynasty, even the British navy will also see our face! 4 Italian warships must not be returned to the Italians! ”

The 4 Italian ironclad battleships have been used by Lin Daxin as the warships of the Sailor School, and nearly 3,000 naval cadets have been transferred to the 4 warships. The Yoshino was given to Lin Daxin to the Beiyang Naval Division and renamed Weiyuan, and Lin Daxin's father, Lin Yongsheng, became the pipe band of the new Weiyuan. The pipe belt of the Jingyuan was taken over by Li He, the pipe belt of the sunken Pingyuan ship.

Now let Lin Daxin return the 4 Italian ironclad battleships to the Italians, Lin Daxin will not do anything!

Lin Daxin was embarrassed and said: "Uncle Ding, you can't say anything about returning the warship to Italy!" I've even got the crew arranged! Italians, I'm not afraid of them at all! If they want a warship, let them come to Weihaiwei to find me by themselves! As for the court, it relied on Uncle Ding's help to cover it up! ”

Ding Ruchang also agreed with the opinion of the father and son, since 4 such powerful warships entered the hands of the Beiyang Naval Division, and never let the boiled duck fly again, Ding Ruchang decided to say: "Pingshi, you let your subordinates get familiar with the 4 Italian ironclad battleships, as for the imperial court, the old man will help you carry it!" ”

In addition, Lin Daxin's main force of the Beiyang Naval Division and the Naval Academy fleet could block the sea passage between Japan and Korea, so that the Japanese Japanese army in Korea would not be able to obtain supplies and reinforcements, and the defense line of the Yalu River could also be regarded as indirect support.

However, Ding Ruchang told Lin Daxin in embarrassment that the imperial court had formulated a plan to attack a Japanese port, and ordered the Beiyang Naval Division not to take any action in the near future and to prepare for the attack.

This is the imperial court wants to hit the Japanese mainland, a lesson to the arrogant Japanese small country, dare to declare war with the Qing Dynasty of the Celestial Empire, if you are a Western power, the Qing magnates also endured, you are a small eastern country, and dare to argue with the Qing Dynasty, and after the news of the victory of the Beiyang Navy Division over the Japanese Navy came from Beijing, the magnates of the Qing Dynasty formulated a plan to attack the ports of the Japanese mainland.

Lin Daxin had nothing to oppose this plan, and according to the current strength of the Beiyang Naval Division and the Naval Academy's fleet, it would be extremely easy to destroy a Japanese port.

But Lin Daxin was speechless about the imperial court's plan to attack Japanese ports and prevent the Beiyang Naval Division from going to sea in the near future, don't you know that naval warfare is for sea control! Now that the sea has been defeated, you don't let the warships of the Beiyang Naval Division go to sea, isn't it in vain to gain the right to control the sea! Moreover, according to the current comparison of the strength of Japan and the Beiyang Naval Division, if the Beiyang Naval Division wants to attack Japanese ports, the Combined Fleet will not be able to resist at all, and if the Japanese Combined Fleet dares to stop the Beiyang Naval Division, it will take the opportunity to completely destroy the remnants of the main warships of the Japanese Combined Fleet!