Da Shanyan had a gloomy face on his face, looked at the six division commanders in the command headquarters and said: "After the defeat of the Combined Fleet, it is now impossible for our Southern Route Army to capture the Lushun Fortress of the Beiyang Naval Division!" And in addition to the newly arrived 13th and 14th Divisions, the establishment is still sound! The situation with several other divisions is not so good! Especially the 2nd and 12th Divisions, which had just been hit hard! At present, the only intact divisions of the Southern Route Army are the newly arrived 13th Division and 14th Division! ”

The newly arrived commander of the 13th Division, Yannai Takeya, and the commander of the 14th Division, Mori Guangrutoku, glanced at each other worriedly, originally their two divisions were here to support the Southern Route Army in attacking Lushun Fortress! But they didn't expect the war to turn sharply, as soon as they arrived, the combined fleet was defeated, and the original 2 army divisions of the Southern Route Army were almost wiped out by the formation!

Dashan Yan continued: "I have already sent someone to His Excellency Yama Prefecture Aritomo, the commander of the Northern Route Army, to deliver the news of the defeat of the Combined Fleet! And sent someone to report to the base camp about the current difficulties of our Southern Route Army! I hope the base camp will give us tactical guidance for the Southern Route Army! What do you think about the current situation? ”

The commander of the 8th Division, Hideo Fukuda, stood up and said, "Your Excellency, Commander! Commanders of divisions, now our strategy of capturing the fortress of Arthur can no longer be realized! But now the Northern Route Army has occupied Shengjing in the Qing Dynasty, and the Dingbei Army, the most effective force in the entire Qing Dynasty, is mainly concentrated in the area south of Jinzhou! If our Southern Route Army can block the Dingbei Army from going north in Jinzhou, then the Northern Route Army can go south to take Shanhaiguan, and then continue south to capture Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty! ”

After listening to Hideo Fukuda's words, the commander of the Third Division, Katsura Taro, frowned and said, "Fukuda-kun's strategy is very good!" But now there are several questions, first of all, whether our Southern Route Army can block the attack of the Dingbei Army! Secondly, the Northern Route Army suffered heavy casualties after capturing Shengjing, and there were only more than 40,000 people in the four divisions. Finally, there is the issue of supply, the combined fleet has already lost in the naval battle, although we do not know the specific results, but the waterway passage between the Japanese mainland and the Korean Strait is very likely to be cut off, and when the time comes, the land forces in Liaodong and Korea will lose their logistical supplies! ”

After Katsura Taro's words were finished, everyone in the command fell into deep thought, the three points mentioned by Katsura Taro are indeed crucial issues!

The commander of the Ninth Division, Masao Fujita, broke the calm, "We can't solve the problem of the Northern Route Army and the problem of the waterway passage!" You can only rely on the base camp to plan! As for whether our Southern Route Army can block the Dingbei Army, I think our Southern Route Army should be able to complete this task! Our original 5 divisions were severely damaged, but with the addition of the newly arrived 13th and 14th, and 2 full-fledged divisions, our Southern Route Army still has 84,000 people! Moreover, in Jinzhou City, the only way for the Dingbei Army to advance northward, the Dingbei Army has already built perfect fortifications! Although some fortifications were destroyed when the Dingbei army withdrew from Jinzhou City, most of the fortifications were intact! ”

At this time, Da Shanyan nodded and said: "What Nagato-kun means is that our Southern Route Army will make use of the fortifications of the Dingbei Army in Jinzhou City!" Then rely on these fortifications to resist the Dingbei Army in Jinzhou City! ”

Fujita Masao nodded and said, "Yes!" Commander! I think that our Southern Route Army is fully capable of blocking the Dingbei Army from going north! ”

Dashan Yan finally said, "Okay! I'll hand over your construction to the base camp! As for what decision the base camp makes, it's not something we can consider! But now our Southern Route Army must first firmly hold Jinzhou City! All divisions and regiments immediately strengthened Jinzhou City and the surrounding fortifications, and prepared for a big battle with the Dingbei Army in Jinzhou City! ”

The commander of the Northern Route Army, Shan County Youpeng, was in a prince's mansion in Shengjing City, enjoying a 16-year-old Manchu girl sent by his subordinates, and suddenly received a letter from the Japanese cavalry from the commander of the Southern Route Army, Dashan Yan.

Youpeng of Shan County shouted to his subordinates: "Quick! Go to the telegraph office in Shengjing! ”

At the telegraph office in Shengjing, the panting Yamaprefecture Aritomo had someone send a telegram to the base camp in Tokyo, Japan!

The Japanese base camp in Tokyo received a telegram from Aritomo Yamagu, and there was a cry of mourning all at once, the powerful Japanese Combined Fleet was once again defeated by the Beiyang Naval Division, and the two fully equipped army divisions were almost not left under the attack of the Beiyang Naval Division's naval guns and the Dingbei Army. At this time, the remnants of the warships of the Combined Fleet were still on their way back to Japan, and did not return to the Japanese mainland!

After Japanese Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito received a telegram from Aritomo Yamaguchi, he sat alone in his prime minister's office as if he had lost his soul.

After Ito Hirobumi locked himself in his room for two hours, one of the secretaries knocked on the door of the prime minister's office, "Your Excellency, Prime Minister! A telegram came from the Sasebo Military Port! The remaining warships of the Combined Fleet have returned to Japan! ”

Ito Hirofumi jumped up suddenly, took three steps and made two steps, opened the door, and asked the secretary with a trembling voice, "Joint...... What about fleet losses? ”

The secretary said gloomily: "Prime Minister! The combined fleet suffered heavy losses! Only eight warships returned to Sasebo Naval Port, including the battleship Hosho, the battleship Zuizuru, the armored cruiser Hashidate, the protective cruiser Naniwa, and the protective cruisers Takanami, Murayu, Kakaze, and Ishikari. ”

After listening to the secretary's words, Ito Hirobumi shook his body and fell to the ground, and the secretary immediately shouted in shock: "Prime Minister! Prime minister! Come on! The Prime Minister fainted! ”

Immediately more than a dozen people ran over and carried the fainted Ito Hirobumi to the bed in the rest room of the prime minister's office, and after a while, Ito Hirobumi came to his senses, sat up with strong support, and commanded: "Hurry! Summoning all the chief of staff and deputy chiefs of the base camp, the chief and deputy chief of the military command department, the first chief of the staff headquarters and the chief of the operations section, and the first director of the military command department and the chief of the operations section, follow me to the palace to meet the emperor at once! ”

Soon after, the entire base camp followed Ito Hirobumi into the palace to meet Emperor Meiji, and it was already dark. Emperor Meiji and the personnel of the base camp studied it almost all night, and the next morning, a telegram was sent to the Japanese army in Liaodong!

At present, there were only three Japanese divisions in Japan, namely the Guards Division, the Fourth Division, and the Fifth Division, and at the same time as sending a telegram to the Japanese army in Liaodong, the base camp ordered the Fourth Division to rent a British transport ship to sail to Liaodong. In addition, the base camp urgently began to continue to expand the new Japanese army divisions, and the emperor came forward to call for a large number of school-age Japanese young people to join the Japanese army, which not only allowed the Japanese army to reorganize new divisions and regiments, but also replenished the resources of troops for the divisions and regiments that had been hit hard!

Japan's finances were running out of money, so Emperor Meiji had no choice but to take out the gold and silver from his private treasury and support the continued expansion of the army.

The commander of the Northern Route Army, Yama Prefecture Youpeng, first received the instructions from the base camp at the telegraph office in Shengjing City, and after reading it, he immediately sent Japanese cavalry to send instructions from the base camp to the commander of the Southern Route Army, Dashan Yan!

Dashanyan in Jinzhou City received a letter from the base camp instructing it, and the above base camp ordered the Southern Route Army to hold Jinzhou City at any cost, and give the North Route Army a period of time, so that after the Northern Route Army received the support of the Japanese mainland, it could go south to take Shanhaiguan, and then continue to attack Beijing City in the south, forcing the Qing Dynasty to surrender unconditionally to Japan!

The instructions of the base camp also said that the fourth division has now been sent to strengthen the Northern Route Army, and will replenish 40,000 recruits to the Northern Route Army and 60,000 recruits to the Southern Route Army within 2 months, so that all the Japanese divisions in Liaodong are fully established!

Seeing this, Dashan Yan knew in his heart that now Japan has been forced to a dead end, and Japan has already taken out the last copper plate for this war! If the final victory of the war is not achieved, the whole of Japan will fall into the abyss from which it will never recover.

The instructions of the base camp clearly told the sea route, and the base camp decided to use all British transport ships to be responsible for transportation. The replenishment of troops and logistics will not be interrupted, and the most important thing now is that Dashanyan's Southern Route Army must stop the Dingbei Army in the area south of Jinzhou at any cost.