On 12 November, the British, who had been watching for a long time, believed that the situation had developed to the limit and that it would be uncontrollable if the war continued to be fought again, and immediately joined forces with the United States and France to mediate.

Whether it was inclined to peace talks, or those who did not want to continue to see Yang Hao's military exploits, or those who did not want Li Hongzhang to get a chance to turn over, they all expressed their approval. Under the great form, there were very few who supported the continuation of the war to drive out Japan.

Even if Yan Fu repeatedly appealed in the newspapers, he should take the opportunity to cheer up, organize and train the new army to continue to enter the battlefield, and use the Japanese invaders as a whetstone to rebuild a powerful military force, train a group of generals of the new generation, and ensure that the Qing Dynasty will be forever consolidated and China's dignity will not be lost. As a result, there was hardly a single person from the court who was completely in solidarity.

Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, and others were all in favor of organizing and training the new army, but they were also in favor of talking about peace and dismissing troops. In short, they don't want to see Li Hongzhang's family dominate, and it also fits the meaning that the Qing court can't say clearly - what if they fight a strong army again, what if they come back and rebel?

Yang Hao's branch is redundant, and if he wants to train soldiers, he doesn't have a door.

Unlike the attitude of the Qing court, which actively cooperated, the Japanese side obviously suffered a great loss, but it refused to agree to it.

According to the views of various countries, since Japan has already occupied Korea, you can accept it when you see it. Both the British and the Americans promised to explicitly guarantee Japan's interests in the terms of the peace talks, allowing them to control Goryeo, thus forming a containment of the Qing and Russia. At the same time, it also allows them to acquire a large colony, which is enough to make up for the cost of waging war and solve the domestic economic crisis.

However, when the Japanese base camp held a meeting, it was in front of Emperor Muhito. There are several sides of the quarrel!

Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito first said that he was willing to accept the peace talks, and that Japan should do what it can. Every step of the way. Don't rush to get too much of a gain, beware of gluttony and indigestion. Other than that. The sacrifice is already great enough, and it is not advisable to overinvest troops until we have come up with a way to defeat the enemy.

Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu explicitly objected, stating: "For the empire to agree to peace talks, it must be reached with military superiority in order to ensure that there will not be too many additional terms." We can't hope for the discipline of the great powers, especially the two foxes of the Qing state, the cunning Li Hongzhang and the vicious Yang Hao. Judging by their words and deeds, it was even difficult for the empire to completely take Goryeo. ”

Admiral Minister Saigo Tomichi leaned towards an armistice: "The navy has been severely damaged, and it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive renewal and refurbishment of weapons. It is necessary to add new warships in order to restrain the Beiyang Fleet. Otherwise, without supremacy at sea, how can support for land warfare be guaranteed? ”

The Minister of War Dashan Yan was not happy: "The Navy's table is too bad!" If half of the money spent on them was used to update the weapons and increase the number of soldiers in the army, it would have been possible to sweep away the Qing country a long time ago, and it would not have dragged on to this day! The blood debt owed by China must be repaid, and the strong army we encountered is only a part, and it is completely possible to attack their capital directly! ”

Don't look at the current navy officers are still from the army, especially Oyama Iwa and Saigo from the province are still from the Satsuma Domain, and they are competing for military spending. There has been a lot of sputty between the two sides. Especially this time the navy has lost one after another, and a ship is a loss of millions, what a pain!

There are several disputes, but in general. You can't just just suffer a loss, and the attitude is to have the upper hand. In addition, whether the terms of mediation between the countries can be negotiated or not is not accurate at present, and in the end, the emperor Muren has not made a decision.

Ito was unhappy with this. After the meeting, he met with Muren alone and patiently stated the benefits of stopping here. and the drawbacks of continuing the war -- among other things, a financial strain. It's enough to kill people.

But Muren is very assertive. He himself did not want to sue for peace in the face of seemingly failure, and even if he obtained certain benefits, it would make him very unhappy and greatly dampen the morale of the army. He even agreed with Mutsu Munemitsu's briefing that it would not be too late to gain military superiority before agreeing to peace talks. There is only one Yang Hao who can fight in the entire Qing Kingdom, and he can't take care of many battlefields.

Under the ambiguous attitude of the Japanese army, the Qing court thought that there was hope for peace talks, and then turned around and forced Li Hongzhang to step up his cooperation with the mediation of the foreign powers.

A few days later, Nogi Noshinori's body was generously found by the Qing court to be packed in a fine coffin, and the British escorted it back to Japan, carrying a large pile of limed heads.

On the day the ship docked, the people of Hiroshima were shaken. The newspapers they saw claimed that Nogi Noshinori was a model of heroic and resolute Imperial warriors, who were killed by shelling when they were attacked by shameless enemy forces.

A personal edict from Emperor Muren made him a model for soldiers and gave him great honor.

After his solemn burial, Nogi Shizunori's wife, Nogi Shizunori, personally sent his two sons, Nogi Katsunori and Nogi Honori, to Liaodong to inherit his father's will and fight bravely for the empire and the emperor. In order to strengthen their faith, Shizuko Nogi calmly fasted and bathed, and then committed suicide to cut off their thoughts.

Needless to say, the Japanese government and the opposition are again highly admired and commemorated, and many people have learned the same, in order to let their son join the army, they have all kinds of tricks to wipe their necks and hang themselves.

This news was regarded as anecdote by journalists from all over the world and published in their own newspapers. However, Yang Hao concocted an article in his busy schedule, which was used as a starting point to remind the people in China that the Japanese were so warlike that they expected to make peace with them? That's a dream!

The madness of the Japanese frightened many officials in the Qing court. What kind of ruthless parents do you have to force your son to die on the battlefield? If you don't go, you will put your old life on the line, and this will not be a broken child or grandchild who is not on the pole?

Such a crazy enemy only adds to their fear. The voices of the DPRK and China in talking about peace have become louder and louder, and the forces of recognition and cowardice have emerged one after another.

Among the younger generation, under the call of Yang Hao, they gradually accumulated hatred and hatred for the Japanese. Such a group of enemies, who are more ferocious than wolves, let them watch by their side for more than a thousand years, and try to annex China several times, absolutely intolerable!

In the midst of the chaotic entanglement, most of the Qing court thought that it could be safely delayed until the New Year, and the Japanese army attacked again. Youpeng commanded the army to break through Phoenix City in one fell swoop and force forward into Kuandian. Nie Shicheng and Iktang A's troops tried their best to counterattack, but they were unsuccessful.

The person who was waiting for the column to stop was suddenly slapped in the face, and he was pumped in a daze. The major issue of recruiting and training for the New Army, which they deliberately interfered in and delayed, was finally put on the agenda again. It's just that after this setback, the original momentum in the hearts of the people seems to have been splashed with a basin of cold water.

This capricious court is more and more like a clown, making some funny antics to make, but representing hundreds of millions of people, playing monkeys for foreigners.

Shame on you!

Yang Hao was not in a hurry to wave the army to counterattack, while he stepped up to digest the previous war dividends, he asked Li Yingjiu to return to Tianjin with the training personnel, and trained the recruited young and enthusiastic students on the spot, formed a new regiment, and stepped up training.

At the same time, he also quietly returned from Dalian several times, and returned to the world through the Tianjin Concession to follow up the progress of the construction of warships. In April 08 of this world, the multi-purpose "Zhongshan ship" was completed and launched, and Yang Hao immediately dragged the projection of the superstructure of the gunboat to the second plane and stepped up the outfitting operation.

At the beginning of December 1894, the weather in eastern Liaodong suddenly turned cold, and heavy snow began to fall in the north.

Neither army had prepared sufficient winter clothing, so both the attacking Japanese army and the Qing army trying to counterattack had to endure extreme cold. The Japanese army lost more than 200 troops due to frostbite within a few days, and many troops in the ravine had no choice but to nibble on cold rice balls because they could not even cook on fires.

But that's it, the Japanese army under the command of Yama County Youpeng still persevered. In particular, the beautiful funeral of Nogi Noshinori from the country made the soldiers enthusiastic, and they vowed to resolutely attack the capital of the Qing Dynasty and avenge the shame of the major general! Coupled with the failure of the Second Army's offensive and the fact that it was blocked from advancing in Jinzhou, the hopes of the entire Japanese Empire to defeat a strong enemy were pinned on them.

I don't know if the Japanese have had the disease since then, but the young soldiers have no doubt about such a deceptive lie. On the contrary, I was also motivated to work hard, and the battle was also extraordinarily brave, and I was not afraid of hardships at all!

However, the senior officers such as Youpeng in Shanxian County are not so confused. With the further expansion of Yang Haiwei's naval raids, the entire Yellow Sea became a haunting paradise for their fast gunboats. Anyway, the Japanese army couldn't catch up, they couldn't shoot the artillery, and they couldn't detect it in advance when they encountered heavy fog, and they were exhausted by tossing.

This leads to a very fatal problem - the supply of supplies is not available!

Even if the fleet is escorted along the way, running back and forth one trip at a time, that kind of attrition makes the navy miserable. The doubling of transportation costs has further precariously left their already financially stretched freight, on the verge of collapse.

At this point, Emperor Muren also began to consider whether he had made a mistake in his decision. The army's progress was not as fast as expected, and the Qing army's resistance was far more resolute than they had previously judged.

They don't want to think about it, Liaodong and Liaozhong, which is close to the nest of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, where their ancestors are all there. In addition, the leaders are veterans like Song Qing and Nie Shicheng, who dare to fight, and it is not easy to defeat them!

However, there are friends in Shanxian County who are old and spicy after all, and he sees that the Qing army is fortified everywhere and must divide the troops. As the attacking side, he could calmly choose the breakthrough point, so after several unsuccessful attempts, he ordered the third division to concentrate on attacking Haicheng instead!

As soon as Haicheng is in the city, the portal of Liaoyang and Fengtian will be opened! Even if it is close to Shanhaiguan, it is not difficult!

On December 9, the Japanese attacked in three directions.

Yang Hao summoned everyone and issued a new combat order: "It's almost time to rest, it's time for us to move!" (To be continued......)