On February 27, 1884, in the main hall of the Japanese Imperial Palace, Matsunokaku, an emergency imperial meeting was being held, and all the important ministers were kneeling on the ground, the atmosphere was gloomy and heavy, and the Meiji Emperor was frowning and his face was full of sadness.

The news of the destruction of the Combined Fleet was completely out of the Japanese Government's cognition, and no matter how pessimistic and suspicious people were, they did not expect such a result, and for a while everyone did not know what to do, and it seemed that they had lost their language function, and there was a strange silence in the meeting room.

Interior Secretary Hirobumi Ito is well aware of Emperor Meiji's thoughts, and the convening of the Imperial Council today is an extraordinary event in itself.

According to the Regulations on Wartime Headquarters, everything in wartime must be decided by the base camp, but the emperor convened a council to discuss some matters that should have been decided by the base camp at such a special time.

This suggests that the emperor is using the "ventriloquist cues" characteristic of the Japanese to convey a message that he wants to deal with the current situation by means other than war.

Previously, the Japanese government had reached a consensus to seek the mediation of European and American countries to end the war and extort compensation. However, he did not expect the situation to develop so quickly, and in just a few days, Japan has completely lost its sea supremacy, has no material supplies, and the various divisions and regiments of the Japanese army that are fighting the East Asian continent will undoubtedly face an extremely grim situation.

Ito Hirobumi coughed and said: "Bixia, the situation is no longer the case, the original strategy must be reconsidered, and now it is no longer meaningful to expect China to pay reparations." A peace treaty with China could be reached as soon as possible, which would be the most desirable outcome, and it would be helpless for the empire to make some concessions to achieve this end. ”

These words won the heart of the emperor, and he nodded: "This is the words of Lao Cheng Mouguo, I didn't expect the other party's navy to be so powerful, it was really unexpected, I knew today, why bother in the first place." The implication is quite remorseful.

Inoue asked, "Ito-kun, are you trying to get the empire to sue for peace with China?" ”

Kuroda Kiyotaka is stubborn to the end: "Bixia, the empire must fight a decisive battle to the end, and must not compromise with Shina and admit defeat, Ito's opinion is to let the Yamato nation bow down to the lowly Shina people, and would rather die." ”

Xiyuan Temple Gongwang scolded: "It's all you guys, you don't know yourself, you don't know the other, but you start a war rashly, you think you will win, today the soldiers who can fight have been exhausted, the elite warships have been destroyed, and you have to die, mislead the country and the king, it's all you!" ”

Kawamura Junyoshi scolded Saionji Gongwang: "Today's events are all because you and the Ito thieves, if you start the war two years earlier, the preparation of Shina will not be sufficient, why is this!" ”

The two sides scolded together, making the emperor tremble with anger, and without saying a word, he got up and went out directly, and the ministers in the quarrel were stunned.

On the same day, the emperor issued an "oracle" asking Aoki Shuzo to go to England immediately and implore Britain to mediate and settle the dispute peacefully. This is also the suggestion of Hirofumi Ito, who believes that direct peace with China may not be acceptable to the people and the government, so we should ask the international community to intervene. Although Russia is inclined to Japan, Russia has come forward, China has not seen to buy it, and Britain has the most influence and should be able to prompt China to negotiate.

Although the Japanese government wanted to deal with it in a low-key manner, the news of the fiasco at sea still spread uncontrollably, and on the morning of the 28th, the "Shishi Shinbao" finally published a relevant report, and for a time the whole Tokyo was in turmoil, and the whole Japan was in turmoil!

The Japanese people had endured heavy taxation, soaring prices, unemployment, and hunger, and even the employees of government offices had been in arrears of their salaries for several months due to the huge burden of military spending, all in order to be able to get a generous cash compensation from a great victory to make up for the years of suffering, which was the source of their endurance.

And the government and public opinion have always said the same, which has further increased the expectations of the people, and the newspapers have repeatedly publicized the victory of the "imperial army", making them feel that the beautiful results are taken for granted and are already within reach.

However, when the news came, it turned out to be such a fiasco, and anyone with a little brain will understand that without the navy, without supplies, and without ammunition and food for the front-line troops, how can this battle be fought?

The balloons of dreams are colorful and dazzling, but they are just a stone's throw away, and what kind of anger will it be after the huge disappointment!

On the evening of the 28th, tens of thousands of Japanese people gathered in Nagano Park in Tokyo to hold a national assembly to denounce the incompetence of the government and the army, and the destruction of the country's future.

The disappointed and angry crowd shouted, "Men of flesh and blood are coming!" Brave and responsible people are here! Those shameless bureaucrats and generals, who ruined the future of the country and ruined our lives, did not come out to give an explanation! Emperor Bixia, do you have any understanding of our innocence! ”

The rally slowly spiraled out of control, and then there were clashes with the surrounding police, and Zuihou turned into a riot. The riots soon spread throughout Tokyo, with fanatical citizens destroying the pro-government Kokumin Shimbun newspaper offices, setting fire to government offices and many police stations, and smashing and looting shopping malls, banks, Christian churches, and city trams, causing numerous casualties. The Japanese government had to urgently promulgate martial law and arrest a large number of people.

In the next few days, large-scale riots broke out in Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and other major cities, and peasants, craftsmen, workers, porters, coachmen, and other urban and rural workers from all walks of life participated in the riots, which made the Japanese government anxious.

Japan was in chaos, but the Japanese army, who was fighting on the front line, was even more like a year. Beginning on February 28, Liu Buyun dispatched a fleet and began to intercept Japanese ships.

Because the four ships of Qinglong, Baihu, Canghai, and Kunlun are relatively old and troublesome to repair, while the Kaiji ships are too seriously injured to know that they can be repaired in the Year of the Monkey, these five warships are unable to carry out their tasks, and the remaining six new ships have become the main force of the mission.

Liu Buyun brought back the small fleet stationed in Mawei Harbor, and there were a total of nine gunboats, namely "Tianji", "Zhen'an", "Yuyuan", "Hai'an", "Chengqing", "Henghai", "Jinou", "Dengyingzhou", and "Junhe".

Liu Buyun also transferred three gunboats from the Mekong River Fleet, namely Longwei, Chaowu, and Fubo, and then divided all the ships into three formations, each formation was two capital ships, and four gunboats.

Three ship formations took shifts, on both sides of the Korean Strait, cruising non-stop twenty-four hours a day. In order to prevent the Japanese from smuggling into the country by taking advantage of the gap, China organized hundreds of torpedo boats, speedboats, and even civilian ships to set up a tight surveillance network from the East China Sea to the Korean Strait and then to the Sea of Japan.

From 28 to 5 March, in just a few days, 13 of the 15 transport ships sent by Japan were intercepted, eight were sunk, and five escaped.

Japan's sea lines of communication have been cut off, and the end of the Japanese Army is coming.

In the snowy northeast of China, at the end of February, after receiving reinforcements, Youpeng in Shan County launched a new offensive.

The 1st Army, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Divisions, captured Fengcheng on 26 February;

The Second Army, consisting of the 3rd and 4th Divisions, captured Kuandian on the 27th;

Yamaguchi Aritomo personally commanded the Third Army, which consisted of the 5th and Guards Divisions, and occupied Xiuyan on the 28th.

Three armies watched the strategic town of Liaoyang from three directions.

In accordance with Ding Yuntong's instructions, Liu Jintang commanded the Northern Group Army of the Guards Army, fought and retreated, constantly consuming the sharpness, ammunition, and food of the Japanese army. By the beginning of March, the large army had retreated to the line from Liaoyang to Haicheng.

At this time, Northeast China was vast and sparsely populated, with a total population of only a few million, coupled with the Guards' strict policy of clearing the wilderness, the place where the Japanese army went was really uninhabited, and it was the season of cold and freezing.

By this time, the Japanese commanders had already received the results of the naval battle and knew that a catastrophe was coming.