Lin Daxin learned from the information of modern time and space that now from the Meiji Emperor of Japan to the ordinary Japanese soldiers below are ready to go to war with the Qing Kingdom at any time.

At this time, the Qing Dynasty was very political, and the Empress Dowager Cixi, the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty, was busy with the 60th birthday of the Summer Palace. The primary use of the silver in the Qing Dynasty treasury is to build the Summer Palace for the longevity celebration prepared by Cixi, and the Qing Dynasty, known as the Qing Dynasty, which has millions of troops, is actually strong and middle-class, lax in discipline, and weak in combat!

In 1868, Japan passed the Meiji Restoration, declaring that it would "break away from Asia and join Europe", and began to embark on the road of capitalism, and its national strength became stronger and stronger.

In 1888, Japan's Industrial Revolution appeared, so it was in urgent need of export of goods and capital. However, as an island country, Japan itself lacks resources and a narrow market, coupled with the strong feudal remnants at home and the very acute contradictions in the period of social transition, so the Japanese ruling clique headed by the emperor is eager to find a way out of foreign expansion.

In the end, Japan set its sights on its neighbor, the Qing Dynasty.

Historically, after the outbreak of war, Japan also received support from Western countries.

The United States wants Japan to be its assistant in its aggression against China and Korea.

Britain attempted to use Japan to contain Russia's influence in the Far East, and gave Japan tens of millions of pounds in loans.

Germany and France also supported Japan's aggression against China in order to seize new interests by taking advantage of Japan's invasion of China.

Russia, although it had great ambitions for Northeast China and Korea, was not yet ready, so it adopted a policy of non-interference towards Japan.

The attitude of the great powers, either acquiescing or conniving, became a favorable condition for Japan to carry out its aggressive plan.

Lin Daxin now knew that the Sino-Japanese war would break out from Korea, but Weihaiwei was thousands of miles away from North Korea, and he could only use Ding Ruchang to remind the bigwigs in Beiyang that they should be careful of what trouble Japan would make in Korea, which would cause a Sino-Japanese war.

And Lin Daxin's reminder is not unfounded, Japan's ambitions for North Korea were exposed many years ago!

In 1876, Japan opened the Korean country by force and forced the Korean government to sign the "Ganghwa Treaty", obtaining a series of privileges such as consular jurisdiction. Article 1 of the treaty declared that "Korea is an independent state and retains equal rights with Japan," which openly excluded the Qing Dynasty, the suzerainty of Korea, and fully exposed Japan's ambition to monopolize Korea.

In 1882, the Renwu Mutiny occurred in Korea, and China and Japan sent troops to Korea at the same time, although the Qing army suppressed the Japanese army in this incident, Japan still obtained the right to send troops and garrison troops in Korea in the "Jemulpo Treaty".

In 1884, Japan helped the Kaihwa Party of Korea to carry out the Kashin coup d'état in an attempt to expel Chinese influence in Korea. Yuan Shikai led the Qing army to defeat the Japanese army and suppressed the coup.

However, the Japanese still took advantage of the mediocrity of the Qing court and concluded the "Special Article of the Tianjin Conference" with the Qing Dynasty, stipulating that China and Japan should withdraw their troops from Korea at the same time, and that the two countries must notify each other of sending troops to Korea.

The "Jemulpo Treaty" gave Japan the right to send troops to Korea on the pretext of protecting the legation, and the "Special Articles of the Tianjin Conference" gave Japan the right to act jointly with China in Korea, and these two treaties laid the groundwork for the imminent outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War.

So many facts show Japan's wolf ambitions, but it's a pity that Lin Daxin found that his reminder didn't seem to have any effect. Ding Ruchang passed Lin Daxin's words to Li Hongzhang, but Li Hongzhang did not pay much attention. Lin Daxin had no choice but to work hard to train his troops, and at the same time pay attention to the situation in North Korea from time to time.

The wheels of history rolled in, crushing the peaceful and prosperous era that the Qing Dynasty magnates thought they had, and the fuse of the war finally came.

In 1894, the Donghak uprising broke out in Korea, and the Korean government army was defeated and forced to beg for help from the Qing government. Japan, believing that the time had come to start a war, said to the Qing court, "Why don't your government act on behalf of Han Jian quickly?" …… Our government will have no other intentions", which means to sue the Qing government and let the Qing government quell the Donghak uprising, and Japan will not intervene to induce the Qing government to send troops to Korea.

The Qing government did not see through this Japanese conspiracy, so it sent Ye Zhichao, the governor of Zhili, and Nie Shicheng, the chief soldier of Taiyuan Town, to lead the elite 2,000 people of the Huai Army to land in Asan in North Korea around June 6, and set up camp here to prepare to suppress the uprising, and at the same time informed Japan according to the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Tianjin in 1885 that our Qing Dynasty had sent troops!

On June 25, the originally planned third group of Qing troops landed in Asan, bringing the total number of Qing troops stationed in Korea to nearly 2,500. These soldiers are the elite of the Huai army, although the number is not large, but in the face of the rebel army with very weak combat effectiveness in Korea, Ye Zhichao, the commander of Zhili, and Nie Shicheng, the general soldier of Taiyuan, are very sure of winning the battle.

But I didn't expect that before the elite troops of the Huai Army could exert their might in Korea, the North Korean government and the rebel army reached a peace agreement on Jeonju, and the two sides made peace! The elite troops of the Huai army of the Qing Dynasty did not fight, and the Korean uprising was quelled.

At the same time that Korea was begging for help from the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese legation in Korea was overjoyed when they learned that the Qing court was going to send troops to Korea. At this moment, Ito's cabinet was facing impeachment in a no-confidence motion in the parliament, and after receiving this news, it was like grasping at a life-saving straw and starting a war with all its might.

Ito Hirobumi met with Emperor Meiji of Japan and said: "Emperor, now Korea is asking for help from the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty's dispatch of troops to Korea is an opportunity for our Great Japan!" We have been preparing for war with the Qing Dynasty for so long, and this time the Qing Dynasty sent troops to Japan, we can just find an excuse to start a war with the Qing Dynasty! ”

Emperor Meiji thought about it for a moment and said, "I swore an oath to the princes of the hundred officials at the place of succession, intending to inherit the great cause of my ancestors!" Regardless of the difficulties, pro-camp the Quartet, appease you and other billions of trillions, open up thousands of miles of sea frontiers, and spread the power of the country in all directions! Ito-kun, now is the time! ”

On June 2, 1894, the Ito Cabinet decided to send troops to Korea.

On 5 June, Japan immediately set up a "base camp" with the participation of the chief of staff, the deputy chief of staff, the minister of war, and the director of the navy's military command department as the supreme leadership organ for directing the war of aggression.

On 9 June, Japan sent an advance contingent of more than 400 people, led by Keisuke Otori, minister to the DPRK, to enter Seoul, the capital of Korea, under the pretext that Japan had the right to protect the embassy and overseas Chinese under the pretext stipulated in the "Jemulpo Treaty," and at the same time informed the Chinese side in accordance with the "Sino-Japanese Treaty of Tianjin," and then sent 800 troops to Seoul on 12 June. Before the departure of the Japanese advance team, Japanese Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu authorized Otori to provoke a provocation and find an excuse to start a war with the Qing Dynasty.

After the Jeonju Peace Conference was reached, the Korean government demanded that China and Japan withdraw their troops, so Otori Keisuke began negotiations with Yuan Shikai, the Qing court's minister in Korea. Although Otori verbally promised Yuan Shikai to withdraw his troops, and even reached a written agreement, Japan's determination to start a war was already decided, and it was impossible to agree to withdraw troops.

On June 16, Major General Yoshimasa Oshima led the first batch of troops of the mixed brigade to land at Incheon, and on June 28, the second batch of troops of the mixed brigade landed, and the Japanese army invading Korea reached more than 8,000 people, which was an absolute advantage over the Qing army stationed in Korea.

Knowing that Japan was continuing to increase its troops in Korea, Yuan Shikai, the minister of the Qing court stationed in Korea, and Nie Shicheng, the chief soldier of Taiyuan Town, quickly withdrew their troops from Li Hongzhangjian, thus isolating the Japanese troops in Korea and automatically withdrawing their troops under the pressure of international public opinion.

However, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang, always hoped that China and Japan would withdraw their troops together, and neither reinforced troops to Korea, nor did they withdraw their troops first by the Qing army according to the advice of Yuan Shikai, Nie Shicheng, and others, and blindly pinned their hopes on the United States, Britain, Russia, and other European and American columns to stop and let Japan and the Qing withdraw at the same time. The Qing Dynasty and Japan began negotiations on the withdrawal of troops under the mediation of the great powers.

By July 1894, Japan's conspiracy to start a war had become more and more apparent, and public opinion in China and the Qing generals in Korea had asked the Qing court to increase their troops to prepare for war. However, the European and American powers were clearly biased in favor of Japan and declared that mediation had failed, so that Japan was free to do so, and the war entered the countdown.

On July 17, 1894, the Japanese headquarters made the decision to go to war.

On July 20, Japan formed a combined fleet under the command of Ito Sukehiro, ready to provoke at any time.

On the same day, Keisuke Otori, the Japanese minister to the DPRK, issued an ultimatum to the DPRK government, asking it to "abolish the Warsaw Pact and expel the Chinese soldiers" and demand a reply within 48 hours.

In the early morning of July 23, 1894, the Japanese army raided the palace of Seoul, defeated the Korean defenders, kidnapped the Korean king Yi Xi, killed the actual ruler Min Fei, dissolved the pro-Chinese government of North Korea, and supported the king's biological father, Xingxuan Daejun, Li Yuying, to become regent.

Guangxu, who had always wanted to revitalize the Qing Dynasty, learned that Japan had launched a coup d'état in Korea, a subject country of the Qing Dynasty, and asked Li Hongzhang to send troops to Korea to teach the small country a hard lesson.

Originally, the Empress Dowager Cixi did not want her 60th birthday to be interfered with by the war, but the small Japanese country really went a little too far, and even launched a coup d'état in Korea, a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, which didn't add to the big birthday of the Empress Dowager Cixi! Therefore, Cixi also sent a message to Li Hongzhang to punish the bold and reckless Japan.

At this time, Li Hongzhang gave up the idea of preserving the strength of the Huai Army's descendant army and the Beiyang Naval Division, as well as trying to reconcile, and Li Hongzhang, who had been holding his troops still, began to prepare to send troops to reinforce Korea.

The Beiyang Naval Division received Li Hongzhang's order to send warships to escort the army and increase the number of troops in Asan of Korea by sea.

After the Beiyang Naval Division received Li Hongzhang's order, Lin Daxin knew that the war was about to break out, so Lin Daxin sent the flagship armored cruiser Xinghai, which can reach a speed of 22.5 knots, and the armored cruiser Anhai, which has a high speed, to cruise in the waters of Toshima in the northern Yellow Sea.

Lin Daxin told Sun Xitao, commander of the First Fleet, and Jiang Chen, captain of the flagship Xinghai, that the radio should be kept on in the waters of Toshima and that the first collision between the Beiyang Naval Division and the Japanese Combined Fleet might be in the waters of Toshima.