Now everything is clear.

Although this Ji Changxing joined the Blackstone Society, he came forward to organize and plan the assassination of the emperor. But he must also be worried about the rabbit dying and the dog cooking, so he deliberately hid such a picture to imply the name of the murderer "Wu Dog".

This is like a password, which was finally deciphered by Ding Yuntong.

For a period of time, the Blackstone Society has been full of shadows, full of mystery, and extremely tightly organized, always able to cut off clues in a timely and accurate manner, so that Ding Yuntong has no way to track down, but this time he can be regarded as being caught by him. But Ding Yuntong doesn't want to pull out this "Wu dog" for the time being, but wants to put a long line to catch big fish.

If this person is arrested now, the result is likely to be similar to Rong Hong, and it will end here, and it will not be possible to trace it further. So this clue should be retained, so that the "Wu dog" thinks it is safe. Rong Hong had already explained before that the Blackstone Society would hold regular meetings, and at that time, "Wu Dog" would become the most haode guide, leading Ding Yuntong to wipe out the Blackstone Society.

Although Jihua, who had exterminated the Black Stone Society, already had an eyebrow, Ding Yuntong was still very emotional and a little frustrated: "I can't imagine that even you will betray me!" ”

He was full of unpleasant feelings, and asked Xue Fucheng, the head of the Japanese intelligence group, to see him.

Ding Yuntong wanted to get rid of his bad feelings, but he still couldn't help but feel resentful in his heart: "Lao Tzu has worked hard to deal with Japanese devils for the great cause of the Chinese nation. Who loves the country and who loves the nation? ”

He ordered Xue Fucheng to come in and see the driver, and Xue Fucheng reported an important piece of information.

After the declaration of war between China and Japan, the diplomatic envoys of the two countries have already lowered their flags and returned to China, and although this has an impact on China's intelligence network, Xue Fucheng has been prepared in advance, so he can still carry out intelligence collection work.

For example, Yao Wendong, the former intelligence officer in charge of the embassy in Japan, Yu Xuan, the chief governor of Nagasaki, and Liu Shoukeng, the chief director of Kobe, all returned to China to take up their posts, and the core of the intelligence network became Hu Zhen, an overseas Chinese who moved to Nagasaki from Kobe, and Wang Zhichun, who pretended to be a businessman and opened a store in Shinagawa, Tokyo.

It was Wang Zhichun who provided this information, and he gathered a large number of troops and materials in Shinagawa Port, and Wang Zhichun estimated by various means that there were roughly two divisions. And it has been stationed for some time, but it has not been set out for a long time.

Ding Yuntong believes that this information is very important, it proves that Japan has a large-scale military force, but does not dare to implement it rashly, it can be seen that Japan is still in the tentative stage on the whole, and has not used all its strength, which reflects the caution of its government: if the war goes well, the elite will do their best, and all the victories will be won; If it doesn't go well, retreat and stick to it, and plan later.

This does not meet Ding Yuntong's expectations, he does not have the patience to dance slowly with Japan, the vast Central Asia and South Asia are calling him, time is not waiting, Japan must be allowed to exert all its strength as soon as possible.

What to do?

Ding Yuntong believed that it was necessary to make adjustments to the strategy of sea and land, and he decided to fight a battle with Japan at sea and on land, choose the appropriate way to make concessions, and then completely cede Seoul and sea supremacy, so as to stimulate Japan's desire for victory and make it feel at ease and boldly release its main force. At the same time, it can also stimulate Siam in the south to start early.

After some consideration, Ding Yuntong sent two telegrams to North Korea and Weihaiwei one after another.

In mid-October 1883, in the city of Funsali, the first Jewish armed force, the Haganah, which means "defense" in Hebrew, was officially formed.

The entire force currently numbered just over 400 men, armed with Springfield trap-action single-shot rifles, all lightly armed, with no artillery or machine guns. But the quality of the personnel is quite high, all of them were selected by the Zionist Union from all Shijie, and generally have some experience in military operations, and will serve as the commander of the future Jewish Defense Forces.

Only 150 kilometers apart, in Luang Nam Tower, the first Lao indigenous armed force was also formally established, Tang Jingsong named it "Security Team", the number of about 2,000, are the strongest men in the Lao people, not only Enfield rifles, but also some Grusen guns and Gatling machine guns. The security forces were nominally set up to defend against Siam, but secretly they were supposed to be enemies of the Jewish armed forces.

Ding Yuntong's jihua is to first take advantage of the constant contradictions and conflicts between the Lao people and the Jews to accumulate excuses for future anti-Semitism, and to win over the Jews in the first place, because industrialization requires Jewish funds and jishu, but it is not allowed to sleep soundly next to the couch.

On October 21, Ding Yuntong received the latest war report from North Korea, and he was very shocked by the results.

The report describes in detail the Sino-Japanese battles on the banks of the Han River. The Japanese 6th Division crossed the Han River on 20 October three kilometers west of Yongtan-ri. Halfway through, the Su Yuanchun Brigade of the Guards Army came out of Longtan and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese army.

But unexpectedly, the Japanese army had already been prepared, and Gu Gancheng also lurked a brigade on the riverside, and the commander was Terauchi Masashi Daisa, who carried out a counter-outflanking of the Guards, which made Su Yuanchun's troops fall into a bitter battle.

Su Yuanchun made a quick decision, gave up the original Jihua, and led the army to retreat to the north, but he had already suffered heavy losses, nearly a third of the troops, more than 1,500 people were killed in battle, and many seriously wounded people were unable to retreat, so they asked their comrades to help them shoot themselves and end their lives, so as to avoid being taken prisoner, and all the heavy weapons of the entire army were also discarded.

Ding Yuntong sighed: What a hero!

China is wishful thinking to set all kinds of jihua, but the Japanese are not fuel-efficient lamps, intrigues, strategies and tactics, elite soldiers, wits and courage, and there is no shortage of one. The guards here were preparing for a sneak attack, and the Japanese over there had already anticipated it and made careful preparations. Therefore, there must be no negligence.

Ding Yuntong felt that this was not a good thing, whether it was for himself or the Guards, it could be regarded as a wake-up call, strategically to despise the opponent, but tactically to attach importance to the opponent.

At the same time, it will also make China's next retreat seem more natural and reasonable, because since Su Yuanchun's main force has been defeated, then Seoul will naturally be unable to hold on, which is completely logical.

So, Ding Yuntong sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai, asking them to prepare to escape immediately. Attention, it's not a retreat, it's an escape, and it's a chaotic run, you can't tidy up, the retreat is purposeful, and the escape means collapse.

On October 22, after Yuan Shikai received the telegram, he was immediately granted amnesty. In fact, without Ding Yuntong's teaching, Yuan Shikai and Wu Zhaoyou would have wanted to run away a long time ago!

As soon as Su Yuanchun was defeated, Yuan Shikai knew that Hancheng was no longer safe, but the discipline of the guards was very strict, and they abandoned the city and fled without permission, and they were to be dealt with by military law.

Then the Guards began to make a big rope all over the city, loading all the valuable things into horse-drawn wagons and transporting them to the north.

On the 23rd, the forward unit of a brigade of the Japanese army had already rushed to Mount Esa, and there was an exchange of fire with a regiment of Wu Zhao, who was defending. Yuan Shikai knew that there was no further ado, and ordered all the important ministers, including Dayuanjun and Gaozong, to be taken to the north in one go. Everything that can be transported should be transported as much as possible, and all that cannot be transported should be set on fire, including hundreds of stones of grain.

On the night of the 23rd, all Chinese withdrew from Seoul and fled overnight to Pyongyang in the north.

In the early morning of the next day, the Japanese army Sato Masanaka Sato entered Seoul with a wing.

By noon, Gu Gan Shing and Terauchi Masayi had arrived in Seoul with the main forces of the 6th Division. The fanatical Japanese army, with a strong desire for victory, had been suppressed for too long, too long. These officers and soldiers had long been thoroughly brainwashed by paranoid nationalist ideology, believing that because of China's oppression and Korea's ignorance, the Japanese Empire could not develop rapidly. They came across the sea to wash away the humiliation of the empire with the blood of victory.

And so, the revenge killing began.

At this time, there were still more than 100,000 civilians in Seoul, and the Japanese army hated the Koreans for being on the side of China. With the acquiescence and instigation of the generals, the Japanese 6th Division began to carry out inhumane massacres and sacks in Seoul. At first, it was only on a small scale and on a small scale, but gradually it spread and became a collective act, with torture, rape, burning, and looting everywhere, and the whole of Seoul fell into a miserable shijie.

The news of the capture of Seoul quickly spread back to Japan, and immediately set off a national celebration.

More than a dozen newspapers in Japan have sent more than 100 reporters to serve in the military, among which the "Asahi Shimbun" and "Central Shimbun" are the most, followed by "Kokumin Shimbun" by Tokufu Sufeng and "Japan" by Lu Jinnan. Newspapers and magazines reported on how the Japanese army fought valiantly, defeated the Chinese army on the banks of the Han River, and then took advantage of the victory to descend to Seoul, and the captured booty was piled up, and how the Chinese army fled from the wind.

The major media clamored for the expansion of the war, the entry into the interior, and the occupation of Beijing, fulfilling the historical dream of Toyotomi Hideyoshi moving the capital to Beijing. The Tokyo Asahi Shimbun even threatened that "the day when the Japanese flag will be planted at the head of Beijing will never be far away."

People celebrating the victory marched all night long, singing and dancing, and the cheers of "Long live the Emperor" came and went.

Amid the celebrations of the government and the opposition, the Japanese base camp decided to start expanding the war, and the 1st and 2nd Divisions assembled at Shinagawa Port in Tokyo were organized into the 1st Army, and the commander was Lieutenant General Prince Arisugawa Miyashihito, and escorted to Inchon by the reserve fleet. The order of the base camp was: to completely drive the Chinese troops out of Korea.

News of the Japanese occupation of Seoul also spread quickly to Siam, including Chulalongkorn on his way to Europe.

A month ago, Chulalongkorn had arrived in Mumbai, India, from Bangkok, and had finally received news that China would be locked in a vicious war in East Asia, that it would be difficult to take care of South Asia anymore, and that the opportunity he had hoped for had finally arrived.

He was determined to go to war against China.