For a long time, Ding Yuntong had a strong interest in resisting US aggression and aiding Korea in his previous life.

The most terrible thing in North Korea is the cold and severe winter, more than minus 20 degrees is already commonplace, and the lowest temperature even reaches minus 40 degrees, and the volunteers have to fight in hunger and cold due to the extremely unfavorable logistics supply, and more than 700 people were frostbitten on the first day of the march alone. In the Battle of Changjin Lake, a company ambushed at the Watergate Bridge blocked the troops, and the entire company was frozen to death in battle formation!

Therefore, strengthening the troops' ability to withstand the cold is a decisive factor in maintaining the combat effectiveness of the troops, and to some extent is even more important than ammunition and food.

The standard of winter clothing for the Guards was a set of cotton clothes, a velvet hat, a cotton coat (and some fur coats, for field and night duty guards), two pairs of cold-proof shoes, and a pair of cotton gloves.

Cold-proof shoes are military shoes that are sewn with leather on the outside and filled with ura grass on the inside.

Ula grass is a natural wild herbaceous plant in Northeast China, which is watered by Tianchi water all year round, so the leaves are soft, the fibers are extremely tough and durable, and it has the effects of light and soft, breathable and moisture absorption, deodorization and sterilization, warm in winter and cool in summer.

Fill the shoes with a hammer of ula grass, which is properly cool in winter and summer, and will not get frostbite even if the feet are frozen in the cold. Although cotton shoes can protect against the cold, sweating too much on the feet during a long march will cause pain and swelling of the toes, while the wool grass can breathe and absorb moisture, which not only has an excellent effect on keeping out the cold, but also is more comfortable. Therefore, it is called the "Three Treasures of the Northeast" together with mink and ginseng.

The cotton military uniforms that were originally copied from foreign countries, after the study of the Guards, were considered to be not suitable for the cold weather of North Korea:

The military uniform has poor air permeability, and it is difficult to take off after being injured, which affects the ambulance; Cotton is easy to kneurel into piles, affecting warmth, and is easy to be scratched; The pile cap has no listening hole, which is not conducive to avoiding shelling; Fur boots have a short waist, are easy to fill with snow, and so on.

Therefore, under the personal care of the emperor, the warm cotton military uniform of the Guards was specially designed.

The collar is a straight collar, with cotton, a placket, a chest in the front bosom to protect against the wind and cold, a shoulder cloth on both shoulders, and a few lines with buttons to make the shoulders wear-resistant;

The cotton pants are breeches, with five buttons at the lower end of the trouser legs, and the buttons are buckled with copper buckles and bakelite buckles, and buttoned with sail wire, axis or silk thread to achieve the purpose of being strong and durable;

The cuffs of the trousers are laced with a drawstring to tie the fur waistband, the front knee is a knee pad, the back crotch is a crotch guard, and a belt is provided.

Everything is designed to adapt to the harsh winters of North Korea. It was because of the good preparation in this regard that the harsh weather had little effect on the Guards.

On 13 December, 11 warships of the Japanese Navy's main fleet, plus the four warships of the reserve fleet, Iwaki, Atago, Maya, and Chokai, a total of 15 warships, formed a combined fleet, and together with a minesweeper formation, they set off from Sasebo in a majestic manner.

In the past few months, the Chinese fleet has been in a stalemate with the Japanese army relying on the mine line, and the Chinese mine battalion has an excellent level of mine-laying and an astonishing speed. Sometimes there are even battles and mines are laid at the same time, which is very exaggerated.

On December 14, the Japanese army had already reached the outer waters of the Shandong Peninsula, and under the command of a large number of Russian specialists, the minesweepers began large-scale demining.

At this time, the mines were basically triggered anchor mines, and the minesweepers used special minesweepers to carry out minesweeping. This type of minesweeper is a steel cable equipped with a cutter and can reach a length of hundreds of meters. The cutter resembles open scissors, with a very hard blade and a balance plate on top of it to keep the minesweeper level and the edge of the knife to the outside.

When the minesweeper drags the minesweeper forward, once it hits the anchor mineline, the cutter on the minesweeper will cut the mineline, and the anchor mine will surface, if it cannot cut the mineline, it can also drag the mine to the surface of the water, and then destroy it with naval guns.

The role of mines is a kind of deterrent if there are none, as long as there are so many in this sea area, it will make people feel that they are everywhere, and it is difficult to move an inch, but with minesweepers, the situation is very different.

In just one day, the Japanese army cleared more than 200 mines and quickly cleared a large area of sea east of Weihaiwei.

On December 16, the Chinese and Japanese fleets once again broke out in a large-scale battle, but without the cover of mines, the Japanese ships showed their superiority in sophistication and speed, and after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the Chinese fleet retreated, of which the three ships Jingqing, Baomin and Huantai were sunk, while the Japanese only lost the Kaohsiung ship.

By the 17th, the Japanese army had basically blocked the perimeter of Weihaiwei, and the Chinese fleet had shrunk into the harbor, forming an impregnable defensive line composed of coastal naval guns and mines, and the Japanese could only surround the port.

In any case, Japan had successfully mastered sea supremacy, and now no one could harass the Japanese army's sea transport lines.

The headquarters officially gave the order for an all-out sortie, and the Second and Third Armies set out from Osaka and Hiroshima respectively, with Army veteran Aritomo Yama himself as commander-in-chief, and marched towards Korea.

And in Beijing, Ding Yuntong had already learned of the situation at sea, and the Japanese had shown enough caution to finally attack without scruples, and through reports sent by spies, the number of troops dispatched from Japanese ports would be unprecedented.

But this was not enough, even if the Japanese army sent all the main divisions, it still had a large reserve in the country, so it was not yet time to send out a secret fleet.

And there is another thing that bothers Ding Yuntong, logically speaking, after the Japanese army has mastered the sea dominance, it will inevitably choose to land in Liaodong or Shandong in order to open up a second battlefield. Landing on the Liaodong Peninsula can contain the main force of the Guards; Landing in Shandong can outflank Weihaiwei, annihilate the Chinese navy, and even directly threaten the Beijing-Tianjin Plain.

Therefore, Ding Yuntong decided to continue the strategy of luring the enemy, and if necessary, he could abandon Pyongyang, attract the Japanese army to the line of the Yalu River, and further extend its supply line, while waiting for Japan to make a choice.

In accordance with his instructions, Pyongyang also made corresponding preparations. Daewonjun and Gojong, as well as North Korean government officials, were all stuffed into the train and began to retreat to Uiju County, and the rear also stopped sending more materials to Pyongyang.

On December 21, 1883, a large number of Japanese troops arrived in Korea and landed at Incheon, Haeju, Nampo and other ports, so that the total strength of the Japanese army invading Korea has reached an astonishing seven divisions and 120,000 people.

With the arrival of the army, the Japanese First Army, which was dormant on the east bank of the Datong River, was already ready to move. On December 19, the Japanese began to move northwest, and Jihua, before the arrival of the army, crossed the Taedong River and cut off the retreat of the Pyongyang defenders from the flank.

Almost at the same time, Liu Jintang, commander of the Guards, correctly predicted the Japanese army's Jihua based on the intelligence sent from China and the reconnaissance of the Japanese army, and came to a conclusion: with the arrival of a large number of reinforcements, the goal of the Japanese army will change from capturing Pyongyang to annihilating the Guards.

He decided to personally lead the intact 9th Division to move to Pyongseong, a small city northeast of Pyongyang, to cover the retreat in the rear, and Kim Soon was in charge of Pyongyang's defense.

Pyongseong is the main transportation route from Pyongyang to the north, and the railway leads from here to Peony Peak, which can be said to be an important choke point to keep Pyongyang's rear unblocked. As long as they hold on, the Guards will have the flexibility to retreat at the right time.

At this time, the Japanese army was marching with difficulty towards Heijo.

Over the past half month, the Japanese officers and soldiers have endured great suffering, and their uniforms have not been designed with such a harsh winter in mind.

Military uniforms and trousers are serious air leakage, especially the lower part of the military pants is wide, and the shoes can not be firmly sealed, marching in knee-deep snow, snow water continues to pour into the shoes, greatly consuming physical strength, but also leading to a large number of severe frostbite. Because the snow and sweat will make the socks completely soaked, as long as you stand still, you will find that the wet socks have been firmly stuck to the feet, and you can't take them off at all, if you tear them off, you will find that even the whole skin on the feet will be torn off. Moreover, in this cold low temperature, even if the skin is torn off, there will be no pain, because the foot is completely paralyzed and will need to be amputated in a short time, who cares about a skin?

In the second division alone, hundreds of people in the Japanese army were severely frostbitten, their toes were swollen like turnips, and their shoes could not be worn at all, so they could only step on the snow barefoot, wishing they would die early. Thousands more were frozen with frostbite, and the pain was so severe that they couldn't move an inch and were in agony.

The Japanese brigade, which served as the first reconnaissance, even got lost in the snowy fields and turned around repeatedly, and many people had no strength to pull their feet out of the snow again as soon as they stepped on them.

On December 22, after a hellish march, the Japanese First Army finally reached the outskirts of Heijo, and the offensive began again.