The Sino-Korean coalition forces were in full swing on the Han River, but the Japanese army did not know about it for the time being.

The Japanese army led by Sakamoto Ryoma and Saigo Takamori was still the same as before, guarding the east gate and confronting the Sino-Korean coalition forces outside the city, but I have to admit that since the last time Dongfang did not confuse the Japanese army's territory, the morale of the Japanese army has been quite damaged, and it is no longer the same as in the past.

This is also why, after the fight, no matter how the Taiping army challenged, the Japanese army just couldn't hold out.

The Japanese army has been defending for many days, but in addition to simply defending, they have also been closely monitoring the movements of the Sino-Korean coalition forces in case the Sino-Korean coalition forces fail to lure the war and cause other accidents.

In short, the Japanese army clung to the tactics formulated before the start of this battle, and held on to it, waiting for the Chinese and North Korean armies to change.

So, the days passed so tense and ordinary, until one day, an unexpected news broke this rather tacit peace.

On this day, Sakamoto Ryoma and Saigo Takamori were playing with each other in the tent, but a junior colonel came to report that the Japanese patrol had found a Taiping army in the hinterland of Seoul, the number was not very large, and the patrol was trying to annihilate it.

The two of them were shocked when they heard the report at first, but then they heard that it was only a small group of Taiping troops, so they didn't make much fuss, they judged that this was just a reconnaissance team of the Taiping army infiltrating Seoul, so they could just kill it directly, and they didn't take it as a thing.

However, later on, people continued to report that they found more Sino-Korean coalition troops, and the number of them continued to rise, Sakamoto Ryoma and Saigo Takamori became nervous, and they decided to send a sentry directly under the military headquarters to investigate the situation.

Hope is just a small nuisance of enemy forces, the two thought.

However, before they had finished their game, the Sentinel returned, and he had brought back accurate news, but bad news, and enough news to shock them.

The Sino-Korean coalition forces came, and there were so many of them that they should have been between 400,000 and 500,000 men at a preliminary estimate, and they were less than ten miles away from the Japanese camp.

It's coming so fast.

When the two of them heard this, they were shocked, Huo Ran got up, and asked the sentry several times if what they were investigating was true, they couldn't believe it was true, because they always believed that the main force of the Sino-Korean coalition army was still stationed outside the city, and it was absolutely impossible for them to suddenly appear behind them, impossible, absolutely impossible.

It is impossible for the two of them to say a few words in a row.

However, after receiving another positive answer from the outpost, they knew that the matter should be true.

Moreover, they have already understood at this time that they have fallen into the big dang of the Chinese and North Korean sides, and the Sino-Korean coalition forces confronting them outside the city are just suspicious soldiers of the enemy, and they are the blind tricks of the Sino-Korean coalition envoys, and the real main force of the Sino-Korean coalition forces is the hundreds of thousands of troops behind them.

However, they still don't understand a little bit, the city defense of Seoul is unusually strong, not comparable to ordinary cities, and from east to west, all of them are stationed with heavy troops, and, so far, Dongcheng is still in the hands of their own people, and they have not heard of the loss of Xicheng, how did the Sino-Korean coalition army appear in Seoul.

They thought about it for a long time, and finally felt that the only place that could go wrong was the waterway checkpoint above the Han River, but this place was definitely a moat, and there was a battalion of troops stationed there, even if the Chinese and North Korean coalition forces were allowed to smuggle in, they might not be able to enter safely.

But how did they get in?

Ryoma Sakamoto and Takamori Saigo can't figure it out.

However, if you can't figure it out, you can't figure it out, the Sino-Korean coalition is right in front of you, and the top priority is to raise an army to meet the enemy and try to retreat from the enemy.

They had no time to raise their tents to gather generals, and directly issued an order, except for a small number of troops to hold on to the east city, all the other armies went out of the camp to meet the enemy.

Seoul is the capital of North Korea, and it can be regarded as a wide street, but it is obviously impossible to accommodate two armies with a combined total of almost one million on one of the streets of this city.

Therefore, the battle between the two sides can only be fought in the streets and alleys of Dongcheng, and almost every main road in Dongcheng is the place where the two sides fight.

What a city mayhem!

Magnificent enough, gorgeous enough!

The two sides are twisted together, slashing and killing indiscriminately, sometimes it is a general against a general, soldier against a soldier, catch and fight, sometimes a team of soldiers to a general to surround and kill, and more often, a general will gallop in a group of soldiers, and kill at will.

In short, in the entire Seoul, all that can be heard is the sound of earth-shattering shouts of killing, and what can be seen are piles of fallen corpses and the ground washed in blood.

Bright red is the main color of this city, and death is the main theme that permeates the sky over this city.

As long as one side does not fall and does not admit defeat, then this fight will not stop.

The fierce chaos lasted for almost two hours before its momentum began to wane, but it was far from over.

The reason why the momentum will be weak, on the one hand, is related to the human body function, after strenuous exercise, the human body will be fatigued, and the overall momentum will be weakened by fatigue, on the other hand, because the momentum of the Sino-Korean coalition army gradually increased in the process of fighting with the Japanese army, which suppressed the Japanese army.

And one thing that can be expected is that with the passage of time, if there is not much change, the final collapse of the Japanese army will be just around the corner.

And Sakamoto Ryoma and Saigo Takamori, who have been living behind the battle, have also found that the progress of the war is becoming more and more unfavorable to the Japanese army, so the mood of the two of them is also very unhappy.

Their faces were gloomy, silently pondering what to do.

"Sakamoto-kun, our army is completely at a disadvantage, what should we do?" Saigo Takamori turned his face sideways and said worriedly to Sakamoto Ryoma beside him.

"As a samurai of His Majesty the Emperor of the Japanese Empire, how can he be defeated at the hands of the Shina people, if the army is not supported, we can only fight to the death to thank the emperor." The only thing that Ryoma Sakamoto had on his mind was to be loyal to the emperor.

"But ......" Saigo Takamori has a lot of ideas, but as a subordinate, he can't refute the words of his boss, so he is a little hesitant to say.

However, Sakamoto Ryoma seemed to understand what he wanted to say, his face immediately changed, interrupted him, and said sternly: "Saigo-kun, if you persuade me to withdraw my troops or do something that insults the dignity of the Japanese samurai, I will definitely not do it, and I will not agree to you do it."

In this respect, Ryoma Sakamoto, a stubborn Japanese, is somewhat similar to his old rival Yoshida Shoin's temper, both stubborn to the extreme, and empty-eyed to the extreme.

"Yes." Saigo Takamori saw that Sakamoto Ryoma's intention had been decided, and knew that it was useless to say more, so he could only respond to his orders.

Then, the two sides watched the battlefield in silence for a while, and then Sakamoto Ryoma asked again, "Saigo-kun, has the person who asked Commander Ito for help already been dispatched?"

"It's been sent, but, I'm afraid....I'm afraid we can't have much hope for the request for help." Saigo Takamori was not too optimistic about the request for help.

Saigo Takamori is stupid, he should have thought at this moment, since the Taiping army can attack them from behind them without knowing it, then, for the Japanese army guarding Xicheng and led by Ito Hirobumi himself, the Sino-Korean coalition army must have been carefully prepared.

Maybe the Japanese army in Dongcheng has been entangled by the Sino-Korean coalition forces, and it may be difficult to protect itself, otherwise, with such a big movement in Dongcheng, why didn't Ito Hirobumi send troops to help.

When you think about it this way, it's not hard to understand why asking for help doesn't work

"Well, I have been observing for a long time, and I have found that the enemy army is missing the Eighth Army of the Taiping Army, and presumably their target is Commander Ito." Sakamoto Ryoma is also quite a wise man, and he has already thought of some of these joints, and he can see farther than Saigo Takamori.

"That's trouble." The look of worry on Saigo's face was even worse.

"Xixiang-kun, don't be nervous, it's a big deal to fight with these people." Sakamoto Ryoma waved his hand, not caring about the authentic way.

Even if the Japanese army has always been at a disadvantage. But Sakamoto Ryoma never felt that this was because the Japanese army was inferior to the Sino-Korean coalition army, it was just a fluke from the Sino-Korean coalition army.

Looking at Ryoma Sakamoto's overconfident face, Saigo Takamori sighed in his heart and nodded silently. (To be continued......)