By mid-August, in the area of Pyongyang, Korea, the Qing Dynasty and Japan had completed their final preparations for the war.

Pyongyang was originally the old capital of North Korea, is the northern North Korea water and land transportation hub and strategic town, located on the west bank of the Taedong River, surrounded by mountains and waters, the shape of shì dangerous, the city wall is tall and strong.

There are six city gates: Suzaku Gate in the south, Jinghai Gate in the southwest, Qixing Gate in the northwest, Xuanwu Gate in the north, Changqing Gate in the east, and Datong Gate in the southeast. The Xuanwu Gate was built across the Peony Mountain.

The Qing army stationed in Pyongyang had a total of 35 battalions and 17,000 people, most of which could be regarded as the most elite troops of the Huai army, and were divided into four defense areas: the northern defense area was garrisoned by the Feng army of Zuo Gui and the Sheng army of Fengsheng Asuo; The western defense area of the city was garrisoned by the Asan Army; The southern defense area of the city was garrisoned by the Sheng Army and the Yi Army of Wei Rugui's Division; The defense area on the east bank of the Datong River in the southeast of the city was garrisoned by Ma Yukun's Yi Army; Ye Zhichao sits in the city and dispatches in the center.

The terrain of Pyongyang City is also very dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, the Qing army also had the support of the Korean people. Although the Korean government was forcibly drawn into the Japanese camp, North Korea's Pyongan Province observation made Min Byung-seok actively assist the Qing army in the war, and even the puppet Dayuan Jun Li Yuying, who was pushed to power by Japan, secretly transmitted information to the Qing army.

The follow-up troops of the Japanese army were still being transported to Korea, so that the Japanese army attacking Pyongyang was only more than 16,000 people, and the strength of the two sides was equal. The Japanese forces in Korea decided to divide the 16,000 Japanese troops into four directions to attack Pyongyang.

The specific deployment was as follows: Army Major General Yoshimasa Oshima led the newly replenished 5,000 troops of the 9th Mixed Brigade of the Army from Seoul, pointed to the southeast of Pyongyang along the road, and attacked from the front; Nozu Michiguan led 5,000 troops to cross the lower reaches of the Taedong River and attack the southwest of Pyongyang; Army Major General Satsumi Sang-moon led 2,000 troops across the Taedong River to attack northeast of Pyongyang. The army commander Sato is leading 3,000 troops to land from Wonsan and attack northern Pyongyang to cut off the Qing army's rear route.

At the headquarters of the Qing army in Pyongyang, he learned that the Japanese army was divided into four routes, and the commander-in-chief, Zuo Guigui, said to Ye Zhichao: "The Japanese army is besieging Pyongyang in four ways, and the troops are scattered, so we can just concentrate our forces to annihilate the Japanese army along the way!" ”

Qing generals such as Ma Yukun and Nie Shicheng also thought that they could take the initiative to attack the Japanese army.

But Ye Zhichao said to the generals of the Qing army: "Lord Li Hongzhang has instructed that we must first set the defensive situation and then try to forge ahead, so the first task of our army is to hold the city of Pyongyang!" ”

Zuo Guigui and other generals continued to persuade Ye Zhichao, hoping to take advantage of the division of troops by the Japanese army and attack the Japanese army.

However, Ye Zhichao completely ignored the construction of other generals of the Qing army, and the actions of Zuo Guigui and others to attack the Japanese army were constantly obstructed by Ye Zhichao. On September 13, the Japanese army, numbering more than 16,000 people, completed the encirclement of Pyongyang in accordance with the original plan.

The battle unfolded in three battlefields at the same time: one was the battlefield on the south bank of the Datong River. At 3 o'clock in the morning of the 14th, the 9th Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, under the command of Major General Yoshimasa Oshima, first launched an attack on the Qing army on the south bank of the Datong River.

The Ninth Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Chenghuan a few days ago, and a large number of reserve soldiers were replenished from the Japanese mainland before it regained its combat effectiveness.

When the Japanese army rushed across the Datong River, they were met with fierce resistance from the Qing army, which had bursting rifles and Gatling guns, bringing a large number of casualties to the Japanese 9th Brigade.

The two teams of the Japanese army, Takeda Hideyama Nakasa and Nishijima Sukeyoshi Nakasa, desperately supervised the battle, and finally captured the fortresses on the left and right flanks. But then it was attacked by the Qing army's infantry and artillery, and was hit again.

The Japanese army reorganized the attack, and even Major General Yoshimasa Oshima, the brigade commander, personally led the charge with his troops, but Ma Yukun's troops, who were guarding the east bank of the Datong River, resisted hard and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the attacking Japanese troops at critical moments.

In this battle, the 9th Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, which had just replenished its strength, suffered heavy casualties, with about 500 dead and more than 400 wounded below the rank of colonel, 4 officers of the squadron commander rank and 6 second lieutenant officers killed. Major General Yoshimasa Oshima, commander of the 9th Mixed Brigade, Nakasa Nishijima, commander of the 21st Wing, and Captain of the 3rd Brigade of the 5th Artillery Wing, Nagata Kameshosa, were all wounded.

The second was the battlefield outside the Xuanmu Gate of Pyongyang, which was the main direction of the Japanese army's attack, so the superior forces were concentrated, and the 10th Brigade of Major General Naomun Tatsumi and the 18th Wing of Shodasaku Sato served as the main attack.

Gaozhou Town General Soldier Zuo Guigui personally ascended the Xuanwu Pass to command, and the battle lasted until the morning, and the Japanese army successively broke through the five fortresses outside the Xuanwu Gate, and made a fierce assault on the Xuanwu Gate. In order to express his determination to live and die with Pyongyang, Zuo Guigui wore a yellow jacket, commanded the soldiers to shoot the enemy at the Xuanwu Gate, refused the request of his subordinates to persuade him to go down to the city to escape, personally lit the cannon, bombarded the Japanese army, and was wounded in many places, but still bravely supported. The subordinates of the Qing army were excited, and they all fought passionately. Unfortunately, during the battle, Zuo Guigui was hit in the chest by a stray bullet and was killed by a gun.

Three of his subordinate battalion officers were also killed one after another, and at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Xuanwumen was captured by the Japanese army. The Japanese army advanced into the city, but was still met with fierce resistance from the Qing army, and the Japanese army had to retreat to the Xuanwu Gate.

Third, in the battlefield southwest of the city, Nozu Michikan personally led the Japanese Fifth Division to cover the infantry charge from the southwest of Pyongyang at 7 o'clock in the morning with artillery fire. By noon, seeing that it was difficult to succeed, Nozu Michikoru ordered a suspension of the attack and retreated to the station.

Originally, although the Qing army also suffered heavy casualties at this time, the casualties of the Japanese army were even greater, and if the Qing army continued to hold on, the victory or defeat of the two armies was unpredictable! However, the commander-in-chief Ye Zhichao was greedy for life and afraid of death, and in the case of a stalemate in the battle, instead of deploying forces to strengthen the defense, he asked his subordinates to erect a white flag at the head of the city and surrender, and ordered the whole army to retreat.

At that time, the Qing army on the east and west roads had already routed the attacking enemy and was preparing to take advantage of the victory to attack, but after receiving the order to withdraw the army, he had to lead his troops back to the city. The commander-in-chief, Ye Zhichao, was terrified of the Japanese army and decided to abandon the city and flee north on a rainy night. That night, the Qing army swarmed out from the Qixingmun Gate and Jinghaemun Gate in Pyongyang City, and retreated north along the Euiju Avenue.

When the Japanese learned that the Qing army had fled, they were overjoyed, and not only occupied the city of Pyongyang, but also set up an ambush on the retreat of the Qing army. On a rainy night, the retreating Qing army was ambushed, the formation was in chaos, men and horses trampled on each other, nearly 2,000 people died, and more than 800 people were captured. During the retreat, the Qing army discarded 40 artillery pieces, more than 10,000 new rifles, ammunition, food and other materials, all of which were obtained by the Japanese army, and the battle of Pyongyang ended in a great defeat for the Qing army.

When the Qing court learned of the defeat in the Battle of Pyongyang, the Manchu Dynasty was shocked and ordered Li Hongzhang to send reinforcements to reinforce Korea.

Li Hongzhang sent a telegram to the Beiyang Naval Division, asking the Beiyang Naval Division to escort 4,000 elite Huai troops to land in northern Korea, and then let these 4,000 elite Huai Army collect defeated troops in northern Korea and establish a new defensive line in northern Korea to block the Japanese army.

After Lin Daxin received the news of the defeat of the North Korean Qing army in Pyongyang, he looked up to the sky and sighed, Ye Zhichao is really a soft egg, I don't know how such a waste can become a high-ranking official in the imperial court, and he also became the commander-in-chief of the North Korean Qing army.

Ye Zhichao did not dare to drive the army south, took the initiative to annihilate the enemy, nor did he have the determination to defend Pyongyang, once the battle was engaged, his spirit collapsed first, and he was afraid of the Japanese army like a tiger, and took the lead in fleeing, causing the army to be in turmoil, and losing so many elite soldiers of the Huai Army in vain.

Lin Daxin turned around and asked Chen Ergou, the captain of the guard team who was following him, to call the main officers of the Navy and the Army to the Sailor Academy, and Lin Daxin wanted to hold a military meeting!

In the conference room of the Sailor Academy, the officers of the Navy and the Army gathered together, and Lin Daxin said: "I didn't expect my prediction to come true!" The Qing army in Korea was defeated by the Japanese army in Pyongyang! And on the way to retreat, there were heavy losses! This is the battle report sent from the front, let's take a look! ”

After speaking, Lin Daxin asked Chen Ergou to hand the battle report on the table in front of him to the army and navy officers below, and the officers below passed the battle report from the Korean front to each other.

Zhao Hu, the commander of the Second Integrated Division of the Army, finished reading the front-line battle report and sighed: "Thanks to the fact that the army of our Sailor Academy did not go to North Korea, and there is an incompetent commander like Ye Zhichao, we just went, and if we don't get it right, Ye Zhichao will be burdened!" ”

Lin Daxin said to everyone: "Lord Li Hongzhang has ordered the Beiyang Navy Division to escort more than 4,000 elite Huai troops to land in northern Korea, collect the defeated troops, and prepare to organize another defense line in northern Korea!" ”

The army and navy officers in the Sailor Academy looked at each other, no one spoke, waiting for Lin Daxin to continue.

Lin Daxin let out a sigh of relief and said: "I think this time to escort the elite of the Huai Army, Lord Admiral will definitely bring the main warships of the Beiyang Naval Division, and the Japanese Navy has always hoped to have a decisive battle with our Beiyang Naval Division!" This escort mission is likely to be a decisive battle between our Beiyang Naval Division and the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy! ”

At this time, the officers of the Navy of the Naval Academy were all excited, and after training hard for so long, they finally waited for the day of battle!

Lin Daxin then ordered: "The first fleet of the Sailor Academy will set off with the main fleet of the Beiyang Naval Division, and the second fleet of the Sailor Academy will wait for the escort fleet to depart 20 nautical miles before setting off, and keep a distance of 20 nautical miles from the escort fleet!" The fate of my Beiyang Naval Division, the destiny of my Naval Academy, are all in this decisive battle! I hope you will fight bravely to kill the enemy and raise the prestige of my China! ”

The naval officers of the Naval Academy all stood up: "Fight bravely to kill the enemy and raise the prestige of my China!" Rest assured, principal! ”

Lin Daxin also instructed the army of the Sailor Academy to continue training and be ready to go to war at any time.

Lin Daxin, who came out of the Sailor School, went straight to Weihaiwei Port, and took a boat at the port to the Admiral's Mansion on Liugong Island.

The guards of the Admiral's Mansion seemed to have known that Lin Daxin was coming, and asked Lin Daxin to enter the Admiral's Mansion directly.

In the Admiral's Mansion, Lin Daxin not only met Admiral Ding Ruchang, but also met his father Lin Yongsheng.

Lin Daxin immediately saluted the two: "Lord Admiral!" Father! ”

Ding Ruchang looked at Lin Daxin and asked, "It seems that you already know!" In this escort mission, the old man is ready to do his best to do the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division, and it is very likely that on the route to North Korea, he will encounter the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy, which will evolve into a decisive battle between our Beiyang Naval Division and the Japanese Navy! ”

Lin Daxin nodded and said, "I have already ordered the two fleets of the Sailor Academy to prepare!" At that time, the first fleet will go with the main fleet of the Beiyang Naval Division, and the second fleet will sail 20 nautical miles behind the escort fleet! ”

Lin Yongsheng nodded and said, "In this way, if you encounter the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy, the second fleet of the Sailor Academy can play the role of a surprise soldier!" ”

Ding Ruchang was also very satisfied with Lin Daxin's arrangement, and said: "Pingshi's arrangement is very good!" This time, our Beiyang Naval Division will win! ”

After speaking, Ding Ruchang and Lin Yongsheng looked at each other, and excitement rose in their eyes at the same time.