The order of Rama V was finally given, and Siam quickly carried out a general mobilization.

According to the jihua drawn up by the Japanese military advisory group, the military liliang of Siam was to be divided into two waves. The first wave was a 50,000-strong Siamese army assembled on the south bank of the Mekong River to Chao Paya. The "Rama Division" commanded by Surriwang was the core, and the troops attacked Vientiane in two ways, laying the foundation for victory in one fell swoop; The second wave was the 30,000 Siamese Army heading from Bangkok to the Mekong, with the core of the "Siamese Division" commanded by Pannuranggisi, whose mission was to support the first wave of troops and advance the war into northern Laos.

On the night of October 26, 1883, in the Ban Ke Hai area, on the banks of the Mekong River west of the MixC, it was dark and raining heavily.

Suddenly, a flash of fire whistled across the Mekong River. Continuously rising flares, like a long fuse, countless drenched soldiers pierced through the rainy night and swarmed out of the dark river embankment, and the Siamese offensive began.

All the soldiers wore gray uniforms, and a sword-wielding Buddha statue was embroidered on the chest, which was the symbol of Siam's elite army's "Rama Division". The officers and men of the division have generally received strict melee training in Muay Thai and Buddhist swords, as well as land combat training by Japanese instructors, and have strong combat effectiveness and will to fight.

By the early morning of the 27th, Rama's division of more than 6,000 troops had all crossed the Mekong and repelled thousands of Chinese patrol troops, followed by more than 20,000 other Siamese troops.

Almost at the same time, at Bannasson, east of Vientiane, a Siamese army of more than 20,000 men also crossed the Mekong River, and the two troops, one on the left and one on the right, quickly formed a pincer offensive against Vientiane, which was exactly what the Japanese advisory group had envisioned.

In Vientiane City on the 29th, the headquarters of the Chinese Patrol Force was already in chaos at this time, and all kinds of news came one after another, which caught Pan Dingxin off guard. He never expected that the Siamese army would choose to cross the river in such a flood season, and the ferry was so well prepared, that Vientiane had been attacked on both sides overnight, especially the west road, the offensive was sharp, the combat power was fierce, and the 3,000 patrol troops arranged held out for less than an hour, and they were completely defeated, obviously the enemy's elite troops.

Pan Dingxin gritted his teeth and ordered Lieutenant Colonel Staff Officer Zhao Huaiye to lead 6 patrol battalions of 3,000 people, plus 1,500 local tribal armed forces, to contain the enemy from the east. He himself led the main force of the patrol army of 9,000 men to the west to meet the attack. Pan Dingxin believes that as long as the enemy's elite is repulsed, the tide of the battle can be reversed.

On the same day, Ding Yuntong had two documents in front of him at the same time, one was an urgent telegram from the south, and the other was a declaration of war from Siam.

Originally, according to Chulalongkorn's original intention, he did not want a formal declaration of war, but only regarded it as a partial, unexpected, and informal conflict, leaving more room for future turnarounds. However, the Japanese government saw through his intentions and insisted that if Siam did not declare war, it would be a failure to fully fulfill the > of the <-Japan-Siam Alliance Treaty", and the aid that Japan had promised would not be in place.

Ding Yuntong had long been mentally prepared for the declaration of war on Siam, and he immediately sent an order to the land and water troops on the Lancang River, including the Zuo Gui Division stationed in Shangliao, to immediately enter a state of first-class combat readiness and prepare to carry out the "Lushan Jihua."

On October 30, the First Army of the Japanese Army finally arrived at Inchon and began a large-scale landing. Vice Admiral Yoshishin Inoue commanded the reserve fleet and was responsible for the cover of the First Army, and the entire transportation process was peaceful.

But on the southern sea, China and Japan are fighting fiercely. On October 31, the second-line fleets of both sides engaged in a fierce naval battle off Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, caused by a Japanese merchant ship laden with steel.

According to past experience, Chinese warships generally do not harass Japanese merchant ships escorted by warships, but this time it was different, and China received reliable information in advance that the ship also carried more than a dozen French-made 305mm caliber heavy mortars for siege purposes. The so-called mortar gun is a smoothbore gun with a short barrel, large firing angle, low muzzle velocity, and high arc ballistics; Its firing range is short, the projectile is powerful, and it is mainly used to destroy strong fortifications. Because of its short and thick cannon body and similar shape to a Chinese stone mortar, it is called "mortar cannon" in Chinese. And small-caliber, portable mortars later developed into mortars.

Originally, according to the principle of wartime neutrality, France refused to sell such weapons to Japan, but in the end Russia came to the aid and a Russian company ordered these heavy guns, which were then "resold" to Japanese companies. France therefore secretly informed the Chinese envoy to France, indicating that France had no reason to refuse the Russian order, in order to avoid a misunderstanding in the future.

As soon as the ship came out of the Strait of Malacca, it was targeted by the Chinese navy, but the Japanese garrison fleet was already facing a great enemy, and all the ships were dispatched, under the command of Rear Admiral Gonbei Yamamoto, ready to escort the merchant ships back to Japan.

The Chinese fleet followed from a distance in the waters of the Natuna Islands, never found a gap, and followed them all the way to the waters of Scarborough Shoal, and finally launched an attack on the Japanese army.

The two sides fought for a whole day in the waters off Huangyan Dao, during which the Chinese side sank the three warships "Weijing," "Shuhai," and "Jingyuan," while the Japanese ships "Meng Chun" and "Guanshan" were sunk, and the "Fengxiang" and "Jiatie" were damaged.

From a tactical point of view, the two sides were evenly matched, and the losses were about the same. But from a strategic point of view, the Japanese side is the victor. Because the purpose of the Chinese fleet was to attack and disrupt Japan's sea transportation lines, but after this war, the organized large-scale offensive was basically stopped, and the Japanese escort operation was successful, basically ensuring the safety of the sea lifeline.

But this did not alleviate the enormous economic pressure on Japan, which saw a sharp decline in exports, a surge in imports, and a sharp contraction in foreign exchange reserves. Originally, due to the ban on the export of grain from North Korea, the price of grain in the market has risen sharply, and rice, as a strategic substance, must give priority to the requisition of military food, especially the North Korean government is completely controlled by China, so that Japan can not get supplies in North Korea, and the grain is almost completely dependent on the country, which makes the domestic food supply even more tight, like Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and many other large cities, the price of rice has been doubled last year, as for refined white rice (that is, rice that has been processed many times to remove the bran and aleurone layer, the nutrition has been destroyed, but it has an excellent taste and is the favorite food of the Japanese), and the price has skyrocketed by two times.

At the same time, in the international financial market, Japan's capital operation is extremely unsmooth, and it has never been able to obtain sufficient loans. Although Russia expressed strong political support, its own financial constraints and lack of economic strength made it difficult to provide large loans in a row, and this dilemma forced Japan to find a way to deal with it at home.

On November 2, 1883, Japan's first issue of war bonds was officially issued, and under the strong patriotic propaganda of the government, the impetus of newspaper public opinion, and the stimulus of the victory of the Japanese army in the occupation of Seoul, the Japanese people of all walks of life hoped to get a piece of the fruits of the war, and quickly set off a wave of subscription of government bonds.

The Japanese people were convinced that the war would be won, and therefore they were very optimistic about the prospects for the return of the war debt. Those poor ordinary people have taken out all the savings they have earned from their hard work and thrift. Whether it is fishermen, peasant women, miners, or small vendors, even monks in monasteries, and prostitutes in brothels, they all pour everything into buying national bonds, and the whole corner of society is filled with a fanatical patriotic wave.

Soon, the first tranche of government bonds, totaling 85 million yen, was fully subscribed, giving the Japanese government barely the funds to carry out the next step of the war.

On the other hand, China has a huge advantage in terms of capital, and international financial capital has provided China with three large loans in a short period of time, and China's government bonds have also been successfully issued in the London financial market, so that China can quickly obtain a large amount of funds; according to the estimates of Hu Xueyan and Zheng Guanying, in the first half of the war, China did not even need to use a penny in the treasury, and relying only on low-interest loans from foreign countries was enough to sustain the war.

With sufficient financial support, Liu Kunyi, who was in charge of logistics work in the northeast, could quickly mobilize a large amount of materials to be shipped to Pyongyang, North Korea, including a large amount of rice, flour, beef, mutton, chicken, eggs, oil, vegetables, condiments, medicines, tents, clothes, shoes and socks, etc., and even opened a mail business, so that the front line could exchange letters with the rear.

At this time, Yuan Shikai and Su Yuanchun had already withdrawn to Pyongyang, and the Ninth Division commanded by Liu Jintang and the Seventh Division of Jin Shun had also arrived in Pyongyang, realizing the rendezvous of divisions, and the morale of the troops was greatly boosted. Due to the passage of the railway, the transportation of the Guards troops was easy and labor-saving, the physical strength remained intact, and the sufficient material supplies gave the troops enough self-confidence.

According to Ding Yuntong's order, all the units of the Guards in Pyongyang were assembled and organized into the First Army of the Chinese Guards, with Liu Jintang as the commander.

In this way, the Guards in Pyongyang and the Japanese in Seoul faced each other from afar, and the battle between the two sides in the true sense of the word was just beginning.

(Students, the update will resume today!) ）