When the main force of the Dingbei Army rushed to Liaoyang City and prepared to attack the Japanese Southern Route Army, the Japanese Northern Route Army had already attacked Funing City near Shanhaiguan for 7 days. The 100,000 green battalion soldiers who made the Japanese Northern Route Army think that they were vulnerable have been dragging on Funing City for so long, not only have they not captured Funing City so far, but also brought nearly 10,000 casualties to the North Route Army, which the Japanese army did not expect.

The lack of progress in the war also made the commander of the Southern Route Army, Yama Prefecture Youpeng, very angry these days, and he had already shot and killed 2 Japanese soldiers who were unfavorable in battle.

Especially today, Youpeng in Shan County received a message from the Japanese intelligence department in the Qing Dynasty that the Dingbei Army had marched to Liaoyang City, where the Southern Route Army was located, and could launch an attack on Liaoyang City at any time! This news made Youpeng in Shanxian County even more anxious, eager to immediately eliminate the Qing army in Funing City, and then wave his army south to capture Beijing City!

In the headquarters of the Northern Route Army, considering the current difficulties of the battle in Funing City, the commander of the 1st Division, Yamachi Yuanzhi Jianyì, said: "Commander! The outer positions of Funing City have been occupied by us, but the Qing army in Funing City is still very tenacious, and it is impossible for our Northern Route Army to completely wipe out the Qing army in the city and occupy Funing City in a short period of time! We left one division to monitor the Qing army in Funing City, and the other three divisions immediately went south to attack Beijing City, the capital of the Qing Dynasty! I believe that as long as 1 division can firmly contain the remnants of the Qing army in Funing City! ”

Youpeng in Shan County himself also has this idea, the green battalion of the Qing army in Funing City suddenly burst out with strong combat effectiveness, so that the 4 divisions of the Northern Route Army have been attacking Funing City for a long time, and the Northern Route Army has not had much time, and it is delayed here, and Youpeng in Shan County has to say helplessly: "Okay! Just follow the idea of the commander of the mountain division! Let Watanabe Yokogi's 11th Division stay in Funing City, monitor the Qing army in Funing City, and prevent them from flanking us in front and rear, and the other 3 divisions will immediately march in the direction of Beijing City! ”

On May 13, the Japanese North Route Army was divided into two routes, one route was the Japanese 11th Division continued to stay outside Funing City, but did not continue to attack the city, but only guarded outside Funing City to prevent the Qing army in Funing City from going out of the city to attack the rear road of the main force of the North Route Army. On the other hand, the Japanese army led the 1st, 7th, and 10th divisions by the commander of the Northern Route Army, Yama Prefecture Youpeng, and headed straight for Beijing.

In a courtyard in Funing City, there is the headquarters of Iktanga, the commander-in-chief of the defenders of Funing City.

At this time, Iktanga learned that most of the Japanese army had gone south, and immediately found Nie Shicheng and the four newly promoted young generals Wang Shizhen, Feng Guozhang, Yu Guangxi, and Zhou Xianzhang to the headquarters.

Iktanga said to a few people: "I found out early this morning that most of the Japanese army has left the Japanese camp outside Funing City and headed south, there is no surprise that these Japanese troops should attack Beijing City!" Ben Shuai asked a few people to come over and discuss, did our defenders of Funing City send troops to support Beijing City? ”

Nie Shicheng and the other 5 people couldn't help frowning when they heard Yi Ketang'a's words, and Wang Shizhen, Feng Guozhang, Yu Guangxin and Zhou Xianzhang couldn't help but look at Nie Shicheng.

Nie Shicheng said: "Handsome! According to the reconnaissance of the soldiers dispatched, the Japanese Northern Route Army has 4 divisions, and now there are 3 divisions and regiments going south, and one division continues to stay in the large camp outside Funing City. ”

Iktanga sighed and said, "Could it be that you are watching the Japanese Northern Route Army attack our Qing Dynasty's Beijing City?" ”

Nie Shicheng glanced at the four subordinates, and then Wang Shizhen first said to Yi Ketang'a: "Handsome! Although we resisted the attack of the Japanese army for more than ten days, the combat effectiveness of the green battalion soldiers was too weak, so that our casualties in the past ten days were very large, and the total number of casualties in each unit was nearly 30,000! And this is still our defense of the city, if we take the green battalion out of the city to fight the Japanese army, maybe the Japanese army can only Funing this division outside the city, and we can defeat our remaining 70,000 troops! ”

Feng Guozhang then also persuaded: "Marshal, we hold Funing City, and at least drag one division of the Japanese army!" If we go out of the city and are defeated by the Japanese army, the Japanese army will be able to attack Beijing with impunity! Please think again! ”

Yu Guangxin and Zhou Xianzhang also said: "Our army in Funing City really shouldn't go out of the city!" Please think again! ”

Yi Ke Tang A saw that these main generals of Funing City were all opposed to sending troops to support Beijing City, and the situation of the defenders of Funing City was indeed a little weak, and then Yi Ke Tang A said with a painful face: "I hope that the imperial army of Beijing City can hold Beijing City, and I hope that God can bless me in the Qing Dynasty!" Alas—"

The Japanese North Route Army only took 3 days, on May 16, Lin Daxin led the 11th and 12th divisions of the Dingbei Army to reach the outside of Liaoyang, 54,000 Japanese Army North Route Army also rushed to the city of Beijing, and there was almost no obstruction by the Qing army along the way, because the Qing army on this road had been concentrated in Beijing.

After the breakdown of the peace talks, Beijing already had 150,000 defenders, but in addition to the more than 10,000 elite Huai Army with relatively strong combat effectiveness, most of the other 140,000 defenders were green battalion soldiers, newly recruited Huai soldiers and temporarily convened Eight Banner soldiers, most of these troops were also equipped with cold weapons, and their combat effectiveness could be said to be very weak compared with the Japanese army.

Fortunately, the 50,000 reinforcements from the south arrived in Beijing City, especially the 20,000 elite soldiers from the south, which made Prince Gong Yixin, the commander-in-chief of Beijing's city defense, feel a little relieved. However, as the Japanese soldiers approached the city, Prince Gong's heart rose to the position of almost his throat.

The rulers of the Qing Empire, the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor, left Beijing and fled to Xingtai City in Zhili Province when the Japanese Northern Route Army and the defenders of Funing City were in a stalemate, and handed over the entire Beijing City to Prince Gong Yixin and the Governor of Zhili Li Hongzhang.

After the Japanese soldiers of the North Route approached the city, Prince Gong Yixin smiled and said to Li Hongzhang: "Hehe! Lee-sama! I didn't expect that the city of Beijing would be guarded by two of us old men who were about to enter the ground! ”

Prince Gong Yixin is in his 60s, and Li Hongzhang is already in his old age.

Li Hongzhang stroked his gray beard, laughed and said, "Prince Gong, this is an opportunity for the imperial court to give our two old men an opportunity to exert their residual heat!" I don't know if Prince Gong still hasn't mentioned the knife? ”

Prince Gong Yixin suddenly said in high spirits: "Last night, the old man really tried it with a knife. Hehe! Fortunately, I played a few tricks! ”

Li Hongzhang said sternly at this time: "Prince Gong, let's let the two old men have a good competition with the Japanese Northern Route Army!" Although the old man can't lift the knife anymore, at least he still has a lot of blood! ”

After the two old men finished speaking, they looked up to the sky and laughed, and their heroic temperament rendered the hundreds of Qing army generals defending the city in Beijing beside the two of them.

Hundreds of generals of the Qing army guarding Beijing City shouted at the same time: "Humble rank swear to defend Beijing City to the death!" Live and die with the city of Beijing! ”

After the Japanese army arrived at the city of Beijing on the 16th, it immediately launched an attack on the city of Beijing, and the 200,000 defenders of the city of Beijing were led by Prince Gong Yixin and the governor of Zhili, Li Hongzhang, and the Japanese army besieging the city to start a big battle, the battle was tragic and abnormal, and the bloody scene moved the commanders of both Qing and Japan.

Although the Qing army was almost 4 times larger than the Japanese army, and it was the defender of the city, it was still in danger of being beaten by the Japanese army, and it was almost broken several times. However, the defenders of Beijing suffered heavy casualties, especially the elite troops of more than 10,000 elite troops of the Huai Army and 20,000 elite soldiers in the south, and there were less than 12,000 people left after a few days of defending the city!

The other troops, now there are less than 100,000 people left, mainly the troops with cold weapons in the face of the Japanese casualties are very large! What makes people helpless is that the 20,000 Eight Banner soldiers who were temporarily gathered have not yet started the war, the Japanese army has just arrived at the city of Beijing, and most of them have fled, and when the Japanese army attacks the city, the remaining half of the Eight Banners soldiers have also broken down directly, so that the Japanese army can take the opportunity to attack the city of Beijing, if it is not for the elite of the Huai Army to fight the Japanese army back, the city of Beijing may be lost on the first day.

The siege of the Japanese North Route Army lasted until May 23, after the British sent people into the Japanese camp outside Beijing, the Japanese army suddenly stopped attacking the city on this day, and the British minister Ogener in Beijing suddenly visited Prince Gong Yixin and Li Hongzhang, and handed them a new Japanese condition that the war could be stopped!

Yi Xin and Li Hongzhang were taken aback when they saw the conditions of the Japanese, not because the conditions of the Japanese were harsh, but because the conditions of the Japanese armistice were quite a few fewer than those at the time of the first peace talks, which can be described as a world of difference.

The Japanese demanded the signing of a peace treaty with the Qing Dynasty, in which the Qing Dynasty recognized Japan as the suzerainty of Korea, and the Qing Dynasty symbolically compensated Japan with 10 million taels of silver for its military expenses.

British Minister Ogner also said that the Japanese, out of sincerity in the peace talks, had ordered the Northern Route Army to stop attacking the city of Beijing, hoping that the Qing Dynasty would restore peace with Japan and bring the Far East back to the track of peaceful development.

After the British minister Ogner left, Li Hongzhang sneered, and then said to Prince Gong Yixin: "Lin Daxin of Liaodong has just sent a telegram, saying that he has captured Liaoyang City, where the Japanese South Route Army has gathered, and annihilated more than 100,000 Japanese troops, and the remnants of the Japanese army have escaped from Liaoyang City, and now the Dingbei Army is pursuing the defeated army of the Japanese South Route Army. Lin Daxin's telegram said that the troops would be able to leave Shanhaiguan in less than 10 days, and the Japanese army attacking Beijing City had reached the end of the crossbow after these days of fighting, and a big victory was just around the corner. ”

Although Prince Gong Yixin had a very bad impression of Lin Daxin, he also had to admit that Lin Daxin's Dingbei Army was the most effective unit in the Qing Dynasty, and he defended the attack of more than 50,000 Japanese troops with 200,000 troops in Beijing, resulting in nearly half of the casualties. And Lin Daxin's Dingbei Army annihilated more than 100,000 Japanese troops in Liaoyang City at once!

Prince Gong Yixin also agreed with Li Hongzhang's opinion, at this time, the entire Japanese army in the Qing Dynasty has become the end of the crossbow, as long as the Japanese army under Beijing is solved, the Qing Dynasty will win this war! How could the Qing Dynasty, as the victorious power, sign such a defeated treaty!

When Prince Gong Yixin and Li Hongzhang were about to reject the Japanese conditions, the Empress Dowager Cixi in Xingtai City, Zhili Province, sent a telegram to Beijing City, ordering Yixin and Li Hongzhang to agree to the conditions put forward by the Japanese.

It turned out that the British not only sent the conditions of the Japanese armistice to Yi Xin and Li Hongzhang in Beijing, but also sent people to Xingtai City, Zhili Province, to send the conditions of the Japanese armistice to the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu. Moreover, the British told Cixi that Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States all believed that Japan was very sincere this time, and the five countries demanded that the Qing Dynasty and Japan end the war as much as possible.

The Empress Dowager Cixi has been having nightmares since she left the city of Beijing, often dreaming that her Summer Palace was burned down like the Old Summer Palace. At this time, the British sent the Japanese to the conditions of the armistice, coupled with the faint threat of Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, the Empress Dowager Cixi saw that the demand was not too high, and immediately agreed, without taking into account the whole situation of the war.

Emperor Guangxu did not want to agree to the conditions of the Japanese, but under the authority of the Empress Dowager Cixi, he also issued a holy decree to Prince Gong Yixin and Li Hongzhang in Beijing, allowing the two to sign a peace treaty with the Japanese.

When Prince Gong Yixin and Li Hongzhang received the decree of the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, they couldn't help but smile bitterly, so they had to continue to order the troops in Beijing to strengthen their defenses to prevent the Japanese army from sneaking up. On the one hand, the British minister told Japan that the Qing Dynasty basically agreed to the terms of the armistice, but the Qing Dynasty hoped that the military expenses of the Japanese army could be reduced.

British Minister Ogner told Prince Yixin and Li Hongzhang with a smile on his face that the Japanese representatives were about to come to the Qing Dynasty, and that the Qing Dynasty could negotiate with the Japanese representatives about the specific amount of military compensation.

After seven days of siege warfare, there were less than 30,000 people left in the three divisions of the Japanese Army under the city of Beijing.

A few days after the cessation of the attack on the city of Beijing, the commander of the Northern Route Army, Yamaprefecture Aritomo, looked at the telegram sent to him by the British and sent to him by Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi, sighed, and said to the commander of the First Division of the Northern Route Army, Motoharu Yamachi, the commander of the Seventh Division, Inoue Maewen, and Watanabe Yokoki: "The Southern Route Army has been defeated, and now the remnants of the Northern Army have been driven to Heilongjiang Province in the Qing Dynasty!" This war can no longer be continued in our great Japan! ”