The dozen or so Japanese generals present at the meeting bowed to each other in this way, and no one dared to raise their heads without raising their heads, and after a full minute, Dashan Yan slowly raised his head, and Dashan Yan waved his hand to signal everyone to sit down. Then he turned to Sakuma and said, "Sakuma-kun, which path do you think we should choose?" Oyama Iwa stared at Sakuma Zuo Matthew deadly, as if he wanted to see through Sakuma's heart.

Sakuma's Zuo Matthew frowned slightly, he didn't look up, let alone look at Dashan Yan, he still had an expression that was not shocked, "Your Excellency, I think that although the first way is relatively safer, as Kurogi-kun said, in this way, our previous efforts will be wasted, and it is also very likely that we will lose the opportunity to capture Beijing." ”

Oyama Iwa nodded and said, "What does Sakuma-kun mean that we can only choose the second path now?" ”

Sakuma Zuo Matthew nodded slightly, "Although the second path is risky, if you want to defeat the Great Qing, this is the only chance!" ”

"Adventure? At the beginning, the base camp decided to land in Shandong was a big adventure, and now we are pawns crossing the river, there is no turning back at all, only by going all the way forward and fighting to the death can we achieve the final victory! Kuroki said excitedly.

Oyama Yan nodded at Kuroki Weizhen, and then moved his gaze to the commander of the Seventh Division, Nagayama Takeshiro, who had always remained silent, "Nagayama-kun, what do you mean?" ”

Lieutenant General Takeshiro Nagayama said with a stern face, "Your Excellency, Commander, according to your humble opinion, the worst outcome is just the shattering of the entire jade of my Second Army!" And retreat, it was the entire Great Japanese Empire that was defeated! He is willing to launch a final attack on the Qing Dynasty with all his might together with His Excellency the Commander, and fight for enough space for the survival of the empire! ”

"Well said!" Da Shanyan shouted hello first, and glanced at the generals present, "What did we come to Daqing for thousands of miles?" It was to defeat the Qing Dynasty and fight for enough living space for the empire. We think that our Yamato nation is the best nation in the world, but the injustice of God has made us trapped on the island, and we must use the sword in our hands to fight for enough living space for hundreds of millions of people and future generations of our Japanese Empire. Long live the Great Japanese Empire! Long live His Majesty the Emperor! The locust army will win! Dashan Yan raised his hands and shouted.

"The locust army will win!" Everyone raised their arms and shouted in unison, and it took a long time for the cries to cease.

"Chief of Staff!" Dashan Yan shouted.

"Hay!"

"How long can we hold up our weapons and ammunition at the moment?" Dashan Yan asked loudly as he glared at the chief of staff.

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, based on the current consumption situation, our weapons and ammunition will only last for seven days at most, and if we use them sparingly, we will be able to use them for at least ten days." The chief of staff hurriedly replied, and at this time, no one noticed a trace of strange color flashing on the chief of staff's face, because at this time, the Japanese army did not have so much ammunition, and it was only enough for five or six days at most.

"Yo Xi! Ten days is enough time for us to capture Beijing! Da Shanyan said excitedly, "Gentlemen, since this is the case, let us work together to defeat the Qing Dynasty, and we will all become national heroes in the annals of history." Your families and future generations will be proud of your bravery today! ”

"Hay! We are willing to follow His Excellency the Commander to capture Beijing and defeat the Qing Dynasty! The generals said loudly together.

"Now I order, the whole army will attack Cangzhou with all its might, and be sure to take Cangzhou City before dark!" Dashan Yan ordered with a stern face.

"Hay!" The generals responded in unison.

The states of the Qing Dynasty were divided into Zhili Prefecture and Sanzhou, and the prefectures directly under the political envoy (governor) were called Zhili Prefecture. Zhili Prefecture has subordinate counties, which are local administrative regions equivalent to the prefecture level. Prefectures that are subordinate to prefectures, called sanzhou, are local administrative divisions equivalent to the county level. Both the prefecture and the governor of the prefecture are called Zhizhou. Cangzhou was set up as Zhili Prefecture during the Yongzheng period, and later changed to Sanzhou, which belonged to Hejian Prefecture. In other words, the current Cangzhou is just a small county town, far from being comparable to later generations.

Tens of thousands of Japanese troops gathered under the city of Cangzhou, if it were not for the rout troops who withdrew from Shandong and the tens of thousands of troops who Li Hongzhang hurriedly transferred from Baoding and other places to fill the defense stationed in Cangzhou, such a small county town could not stop the footsteps of the Japanese army at all, and Cangzhou City would have fallen long ago.

Now the commander of the Japanese Second Army, Dashan Yan, has given a death order that Cangzhou must be taken before dark. And the senior generals of the Japanese army also knew in their hearts that if they couldn't reach Beijing as much as possible, what would await them? Not only is their lives in jeopardy, but it also means that Japan will be completely defeated, which is an outcome that these crazy, self-proclaimed samurai Japanese high-ranking generals do not want to see! So even though they knew that the future was dangerous, they decided to give it a go, because this was their last chance.

"Fire!" With the commander's order, the Japanese army concentrated all the more than 100 mountain artillery, and the field artillery began to bombard Cangzhou City! Soon the entire city of Cangzhou was enveloped in artillery fire.

"Kill, give!" After the bombardment, the little devils marched on their short legs, held up their bright bayonets, and stepped on the snow to launch the most fierce attack on Cangzhou City.

The battle lasted from morning to afternoon, and the Japanese army finally succeeded in breaking through the south gate of Cangzhou, and the crazy little devils poured into Cangzhou City like a tide, and the Qing defenders in the city were all routed and fled from the north gate.

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, the Locust Army has successfully captured Cangzhou, and the defenders in the city have been routed on all fronts and fled north!" The signal corps conveyed the news of the victory at the front to Dashan Yan as soon as possible.

"Yo Xi! Big drop good! Oyama Yan couldn't help but shout excitedly, "Immediately send an order to Lieutenant General Nagayama Takeshiro, ordering him to lead the Seventh Division to pursue the defeated Qing army with all his might." ”

"Hay!"

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, the reconnaissance cavalry has just sent back the latest news, more than 20,000 troops under Liu Shengxiu's department have rushed to Cangzhou from Tianjin, and it is less than twenty miles away from Cangzhou City at this time!" A Japanese staff officer ran to Dashan Yan in a panic and said loudly.

"Nani?" Da Shanyan couldn't help frowning, "I didn't expect them to come so quickly!" It's all to blame for those navy's wine bags and rice bags, they can't even stop a defeated general like the Beiyang Naval Division, it's just a bunch of waste! ”

"Your Excellency Commander, the top priority is to defeat the 20,000 Qing troops as much as possible, if you are entangled by them, you will be in trouble!" The chief of staff said with a worried face.

"Humph! How can a mere 20,000 Qing troops stop our tens of thousands of elite locust troops! Dashanyan said disdainfully.

"But this Ming Army is known as the first elite of the Huai Army!" The chief of staff said worriedly.