After the meeting ended that day, Liu Yun left Wen Yi behind, asked the cook to make a few side dishes, heated two pots of light rice wine, and sat opposite each other on the long oak table in the conference room.

"Give me a history supplement, I'm too busy with things, and my memory has been bad lately. What was the situation before we took over the Xinjiang and Tibet issues? ”

Liu Yun is like this every time, he waits until after the meeting to find someone to understand things privately, so when the meeting is held, most people always see a wise leader who knows everything and can do everything, especially those young people in their twenties, all worship him as a god, of course, this kind of personality cult is only reflected in the work - this is enough.

Wen Yi ate a few bites of food, drank a glass of wine, recovered his spirits, and sorted out his thoughts before talking eloquently: "Let's talk about the Xinjiang issue first, which started with the Xinjiang anti-Qing uprising in 1864. The reasons for this incident are very complex, and they are all implicated in religious, ethnic, and official and civilian contradictions, first initiated by the Kucha* and Uyghur people, and then responded by Urumqi, Yache, Tacheng, Yili and other places, and quickly spread to the whole of Xinjiang. As a direct result of this uprising, Xinjiang fell into a chaotic situation of feudal theocratic separatist regimes attacking each other, strife, and causing an opportunity for the invasion of Aguba, an officer of the Kokand Khanate in Central Asia at that time, and the Russian army. At the beginning of 1865, the regent of the Kokand Khanate sent an officer Aguba to lead a group of mercenaries to invade southern Xinjiang, and successively captured the Ingishal, Shule, Yeerjiang and other areas around the Taklamakan Desert, and annexed the two major separatist regimes of Hotan and Kucha in 1866 and 1867 respectively, and reached the area of Karasar and Korla, and then established the Seven Cities Khanate, and Aguba proclaimed himself the king of Hongfu. In 1870, Aguba invaded Urumqi and the Turpan Basin, eliminating the regime of the Halal King Tuoming, and so far, most of Xinjiang has been invaded by Agubai. Taking advantage of Aguba's invasion of northern Xinjiang, Tsarist Russia invaded Ili in May 1871 and occupied Yining in July. Speaking of this, Wen Yi paused and took another drink to moisten his throat.

In 1872, Russia signed a treaty of trade with Aquba, which granted a large number of privileges, while the British incited Aquba's vassal to belong to the Turkish Sultan, who was in fact a vassal of the British, and finally Aquba respected Turkey as his superior state, and the Turkish Sultan named Aquba the 'Amir' of the southern Tianshan Road.

In 1874, Britain entered into a treaty with Aguba, recognizing Aguba's status as "Emir" and obtaining privileges over those of Russia on the condition of arms assistance. ”

"The government at that time was deceived by Agubai's so-called "serving" the Qing Dynasty and "helping China to fight thieves", and it was not until two months after the Russian occupation of Ili that the government informed our government, and the government realized the seriousness of the situation and ordered General Ili to go to Ili to negotiate with the Russian side about the reception. Because the Russian side did everything possible to avoid discussing the issue of exchanging Ili, and instead put forward a series of unreasonable demands, the government turned to Beijing to negotiate with the Russian minister. ”

"At the same time, Japan has invaded Taiwan, and the situation in the southeast coastal defense is tense. Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, advocated abandoning Xinjiang under the pretext of taking into account the dilemma of coastal defense and defense, which was refuted by Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. While strengthening coastal defense, the government also accepted Zuo Zongtang's proposal to march westward, and in 1875 appointed Zuo Zongtang as the minister of the Qincha to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang. ”

Liu Yun knocked on the table with his knuckles and interjected: "In 1876, Zuo Zongtang's army entered Xinjiang in three ways, and by 1877, most of the northern and southern Xinjiang were recovered, and Agu Bai died, which I still remember. ”

Wen Yi nodded and continued: "After Aguba's death, Britain and Russia supported Agubai's son Beri Huk to become Khan in Kashgar, and Britain asked our government to save Berkhuri and establish it as a protectorate, but it was rejected. In the winter of 1877, our army recaptured Kashgar, and Berry Hook set fire to the city and fled to Russia. In January 1878, our army regained Hotan, and thus our army recovered all the territory of Xinjiang except Ili. ”

"In 1878, the government sent Chonghou to Russia to negotiate the issue of reclaiming Ili, and Chonghou signed the "Treaty of Settlement of Ili" in 1879 without authorization under the coercion and foolery of Tsarist Russia, which not only ceded land and paid compensation, but also allowed Russian merchants to trade duty-free in the whole territory of China, Mongolia and Xinjiang, as well as opened more trade routes, and added consuls in important places. Under pressure from public opinion and hard-line officials such as Zuo Zongtang, the government dismissed Chonghou in 1880 and sentenced him to imprisonment – that is, a suspended death sentence – and declared Chonghou's contract null and void. However, under the pressure of Tsarist Russia and the great powers, the government 'temporarily exempted' Chonghou from the crime in June of that year, and sent Zeng Jize to inform Russia of the incident, and then transferred Zuo Zongtang, who had been reorganizing the army in Hami, out of Xinjiang and announcing that he would release Chonghou. After that, our current Foreign Minister Zeng Jize was sent to St. Petersburg, Russia to negotiate, and after repeated negotiations, the Sino-Russian Treaty of Ili was signed in Petersburg in 1881. Compared with the treaty signed by Chonghou, this peace treaty has won back part of our sovereignty in terms of boundary affairs and commerce, but some of its provisions, such as the survey and modification of the borders and the free relocation of the inhabitants of Ili, have created a pretext for Russia to further occupy our territory and rob our inhabitants, and the indemnity has also been increased from 2,800,000 taels of silver to 5,000,000 taels. In the following three years, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty, the Sino-Russian "Ili Boundary Treaty" and other border protocols, Tsarist Russia occupied more than 70,000 square kilometers of land along the Xinjiang border, and coerced more than 100,000 people of all ethnic groups in Ili to move to Russia. After our government took back Ili, it established a province in Xinjiang in 1884 and set up prefectures and counties. ”

"Bell, bell, bell......" The golden bell on the cabinet rang twelve times.

"It's twelve o'clock in the middle of the night." Liu Yun said, pouring in another glass of wine.

"Don't worry, it's just a matter of time." Wen Yi said that he was on the rise, and he didn't mean to stop there.

From 1876 to 1890, Tsarist Russia sent more than 10 groups of armed expeditions to illegally cross the border and spread throughout the Pamir region. Seeing that the situation in the Pamirs was critical, the local authorities in Xinjiang set up seven Karen in the Pamirs, and in 1889 they set up another in Sumantashti Karen and sent troops to inspect them. After we seized the central power in 1890, we were busy dealing with the issue of political power and military power in key areas, and did not pay enough attention to the defense of the northwest frontier, and did not take any measures to strengthen the border defense of Xinjiang for two years, until June 1892, when Tsarist Russia sent more than 1,000 cavalry to invade the Pamir on a large scale, occupy Sumantash, and then destroy the three Karens set up by our country, and forcibly occupied more than 20,000 square kilometers of our land west of the Sarykole Ridge. In the autumn of that year, Tsarist Russia asked to negotiate with China on the issue of the demarcation of the Pamir border, but because of the rogue attitude of the Russian side, there was no result, and in order to prevent Tsarist Russia from continuing to invade, we had no choice but to order the local troops in Xinjiang to confront the Russian army along the Sarykole Ridge. By May of this year, in order to prepare for war against Japan, and in order to avoid premature open confrontation with Russia, we were forced to agree to the Russian government's proposal to keep the positions of the two armies for the time being, but Zeng Jize issued a note to the ministers of various countries, stating in a euphemistic tone that China would never give up its sovereignty over the occupied territories, including the Pamirs. Now, taking advantage of the fact that we are focusing our main attention on Japan, Russia is making small moves in the Pamir region, with sinister intentions. ”

Liu Yun sighed: "In this situation, there is really no way to deal with Xinjiang, except for a small amount of arms, I can only encourage them mentally." You say, will the Russians do it in Xinjiang? ”

Wen Yi asked rhetorically: "You are the chief of the General Staff, what do you say?" ”

Liu Yun counted out several Liao Liao troops deployed in Xinjiang: "As far as the available strength of Xinjiang is concerned, we have the 47th and 48th Infantry Corps of the 40th Corps of the Improved Army, the 41st Cavalry Corps, four independent infantry battalions, three independent cavalry battalions, and one independent artillery battalion, a total of 19,000 people, but the level of equipment is very poor, the three armies do not have modern firearms, and only about 4,000 people in each independent battalion are equipped with modern rifles and mountain artillery. According to Zhu Tao's intelligence, the strength of the Russian army on the front line in Xinjiang has increased to 18,000 people, and the equipment is better than most of our troops stationed in Xinjiang. In terms of the comparison of strength, the Russian army was able to launch a medium-scale offensive in Xinjiang, most likely with the aim of encroaching on part of Xinjiang's land. ”

Wen Yi smiled slightly: "That's right, the Russian army does not have the ability to swallow Xinjiang in one bite, we still have other troops of the 40th Corps in Gansu and Shaanxi, and we can send these reserves to support Xinjiang nearby." It is estimated that Gansu's 42nd Cavalry Corps should be able to reach Urumqi within a month, and even if the time for assembly is counted, it will take Gansu's two infantry corps to reach the northern Xinjiang line in three months at most, and with this 15,000-strong force, it can at least temporarily stop the initial offensive momentum of the Russian army. Of course, in order to prevent Outer Mongolia from losing its support after the transfer of troops from Gansu, Shaanxi's reform army should be transferred to Gansu, and the two infantry corps and a number of cavalry and artillery units of the 10 th Corps south of Jiangnan should be transferred north to fill Shaanxi's defense.

These things may seem trivial, but they have to be so to be on the safe side. ”

Liu Yun said fiercely: "Damn old Maozi, he always makes trouble for us, wait and see." Our goal now is only to maintain the status quo, and in the near future, we will have to regain all the lost territory - every inch of territory is precious and worth our blood! ”

"So......" Wen Yi shook the empty flask, "Do you still want to make up for the Tibetan problem?" ”

"If you're not too late—" Liu Yun said, and then summoned the cook to heat up another pot of wine.

"Britain has been watching Tibet for a long time, and as early as the sixties, after Britain took control of Sikkim and Bhutan on our borders, it continued to send people into Tibet under various pretexts. In 1876, due to the 'Dian Case' in which the people of Yunnan blocked the British armed expedition to enter the country and killed Margaret, the interpreter of the British Embassy, the government at that time was forced to sign the Sino-British "Yantai Treaty" and the "Special Article on Exploring the Road to Tibet", allowing the British to open up Indo-Tibetan communications. In 1884 and 1886, the British sent a large number of armed men and troops into Tibet to provoke them, and the local government of Tibet submitted a letter to the Minister in Tibet, listing the British aggression crimes, stating that they would resolutely resist the British aggression, and built a fortification at the Longtu Pass in Gennazong. In 1888, the British army captured Longtu Mountain, and the Tibetan local army withdrew to the Yadong Valley to continue fortification. In the years before we took over power, the old government repeatedly ordered the Tibetan military and civilians to withdraw from Longtu Shanbianka, dismissed Wen Shuo, the minister stationed in Tibet who supported the war of resistance, and sent Shengtai to be the deputy minister in Tibet, and sent Hezheng, the brother of the chief tax secretary, to be Shengtai's assistant, using the British as assistants to the minister in Tibet.

In 1890, after we seized the central power, we again used Wenshuo, transferred Huitai and Hezheng, and transferred 1,500 troops from Sichuan to support Tibet with a batch of guns and ammunition, thus curbing the momentum of British aggression. It was not until last year, after negotiations between Zeng Jize and the British, that the "Indo-Tibetan Treaty" was signed, which, in addition to recognizing Sikkim as a British protectorate, conditionally opened Yadong as a commercial port, and the situation in Tibet was temporarily stabilized. Now the British also want to be like the Russians, taking advantage of the Sino-Japanese war to make extra money, which is really hateful. ”

Liu Yun nodded and said: "Well, the history of the British entering Lhasa must not be repeated in our hands, and Tibet's defense capability must be strengthened, and the enemy must be forced to abandon the invasion with the growth of strength." If the British must fight, we will resolutely fight with him, in order to promote peace, and we will exchange a victory for 10 to 20 years of stability on the Tibetan border. I am going to transfer three infantry battalions and one light artillery battalion from the improved army stationed in Sichuan to reinforce Tibet, and in addition, I will transfer another 2,000 obsolete Lin Mingden rifles and 300,000 rounds of ammunition to the Tibetan local army. ”

"That's enough," Wen Yi said, holding his glass, "The Tibetan army already has 5,000 people, plus more than 3,000 improved troops, although the equipment is backward, it still has modern firearms, and it shouldn't be a problem to defend against danger." ”

"There is also a southwest direction......" Liu Yun drank the last drop of wine in the pot, squinted his eyes and said, "There is Su Yuanchun on the Guangxi side, his prestige and talent, coupled with the strong defense system and more than 10,000 improved troops on the border of Guangxi, the French will not dare to act rashly, what I am worried about is the ...... on the Yunnan side"

"Then transfer the Guizhou army into Yunnan, as long as you can make a strong gesture, the French should not take risks in view of the lessons of the last Sino-French war." Wen Yi said.

Liu Yun put down the wine jug, stood up on the table, and reached out to pat Wen Yi on the shoulder: "No one can stop us, right?" ”

"Yes." Wen Yi felt Liu Yun's drunkenness.

"Russia, England, France, Germany, and the United States must be both hard and soft to survive among these insatiable bandits. Westerners pay attention to the heroic spirit of being ruthless and courageous, and blindly giving in can only arouse their greater greed, so we have to fight hard with those robbers who deceive people too much when necessary, and defeat their arrogance, and then we can start negotiations with the other side on the basis of maintaining our actual interests. But this is not our ideal, it is only our means, and we must preserve and strengthen ourselves through such means. Then, knock them to the ground one by one, and make them kneel at our feet like dogs, lick our toes, give up the colony, and beg us to send someone to be their governor, haha...... Perhaps, only when our offspring grow up will we be able to fulfill such a dream! ”

Wen Yizhi said that it was time for him to go: "Liu Yun, it's not too early, I still have work tomorrow......"

Liu Yun smiled and pointed at Wen Yi: "You kid, I heard that you have a golden house to hide Jiao, and you don't tell me, are you in a hurry to go back to accompany the woman?" ”

Wen Yi didn't defend or admit it, just said "whatever you think", and got up to leave.

Liu Yun called a servant to send Wen Yi away, but he didn't go back to the bedroom, he sat down alone in the conference room, the bright light reflected his angular face, and the death-like silence descended on this small wooden house, and the faint smell of wine and strong murderous aura gradually spread.

A dark figure pushed open the door almost silently, closed it quietly, and then fell to one knee and waited for the master's questioning.

Liu Yun narrowed his eyes, and the black shadow in front of him seemed to be nothing, he lowered his voice, but still asked in a majestic tone, "Has it been solved?" ”

"Yes, master, the 1561st mission of the Haw Par Battalion has been successfully completed." The voice came from behind the black mask, and it was very dull.

"Good work."

"There is nothing to worry about in the affairs of subordinates."

Liu Yun stretched out his right index finger and shook it in front of his eyes: "No, you have to know that everything I entrust you to do is very, very important, and I don't allow you to see them as trivial things." ”

"Yes, the subordinate is guilty, and the subordinate must treat anything appointed by the master as if it were his own life!"

Liu Yun twisted his neck left and right, closed his eyes, leaned back in the chair, and tilted his head to the sky: "You are the third commander of the Tiger and Leopard Battalion, do you know what the first two commanders of the Dao Dao did to do for Lu?" ”

The man in black thought for a few seconds, and suddenly his head hit the masonry floor: "My subordinates don't know, and my subordinates don't want to know about it." ”

"That's right, I'm sure you'll do better and longer than your two predecessors, and in a few years, when I find the right person, I'll let you fulfill your dreams, do you believe me?"

"The subordinates believe in the master more than in themselves!"

"Okay......" Liu Yun opened his eyes and looked up at the rafter pillars painted red as blood: "The 1562nd mission of your Tiger and Par Battalion, write it down with your brain." ”

"My subordinates are ready." The eyes of the man in black seemed to glow with a wolf-like green light.

※※※

November 5, 1894, Kagoshima Port, southern Kyushu Island, Japan.

Battleships and transports were dotted inside and outside the harbor, small boats transporting supplies and personnel shuttled back and forth, people came and went on the docks and trestles of the harbor, wooden boxes full of ammunition were piled up on hills, and cannons wrapped in canvas were pulled through the streets by horse-drawn carts. Groups of citizens stood by the front windows of the door, indifferently watching groups of soldiers in unfamiliar black uniforms waving battle flags with gold dragons on a red background, beating and blowing trumpets across the bluestone-paved streets, and soon when they saw the troops holding aloft the eighteen-petaled imperial flag and wearing the khaki uniforms of the Imperial Japanese Army passing by, they immediately thundered with joy, and flowers and small flags flew in the air. In particular, when Prince Asugawa Chihito, whose upper body was adorned with various badges and ribbons, and who was so reluctant to arrange his lower body in the same way, appeared on a tall horse with pure white fur, the streets of Kagoshima really became a sea of madmen.

"It's so hilarious."

On the command platform of the armored battleship "Longwei," the general flagship of the Zhenyang Fleet of the Great Qing Empire, Rear Admiral Ding Jieyun, commander of the Japanese Dispatch Army, was holding up a telescope and exclaiming, and he was surrounded by the elites of the Imperial Army and Navy who were destined to be rewarded heavily: Rear Admiral Liu Buyun, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Commander of the Zhenyang Fleet, Brigadier General Wu Beinian, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Dispatch Army, Brigadier General Lin Taizeng, Deputy Commander of the Zhenyang Fleet, Colonel Lu Zixiang, Acting Commander of the First Praetorian Guard Division, and Brigadier General Liu Bailiang, Acting Commander of the Second Praetorian Guard Division.

The powerful figure of southern Kyushu, the commander of the 28th Independent Brigade, Date Shoji, really did not lie in his words, and opened the port to welcome the landing of the coalition forces, which somewhat disappointed the officers and men of the imperial army and navy who had been at sea for more than two days, but their commander breathed a sigh of relief, and Ding Jieyun hoped to show his talent to the fullest in this operation - it was one of his dreams to achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost.

"If you can die less, you have to save one." Before leaving, Ding Jieyun said to Chief of Staff Wu Beinian. In fact, what he really cared about was his own merits in this war, at the beginning, Zhong Xiahuo was appointed as the commander of the Northern Army Corps to take charge of the main attack of the Korean Army, which had caused him deep jealousy and dissatisfaction, and this time he finally seized the opportunity to become the direct commander of most of the new armies in the country, and he had to use his performance on the battlefield to prove that he was sitting in this position as a matter of course. However, these are only the most superficial things in Ding Jieyun's entire cerebral cortex, and in his short but sturdy body, there is something wider than the sky......

Liu Buyun held on to the fence of the command platform and stood in front of Ding Jieyun without saying a word, he had completed his main mission in this war - to lead the fleet to defeat the main force of the Japanese Navy and obtain the honor he deserved, what he had to do now was just to act as a bridesmaid for the army to move towards the glorious victory hall, and what he was thinking about was what this fleet flying with the dragon flag would become in the future in ten or twenty years or even beyond, and where would it go......

Lin Tai once stood silently behind Liu Buyun, the defeat in the naval battle off Inchon covered his heart with a thick cloud, although the emperor and Liu Chief of General Staff called many times to comfort, but still could not make him re-establish the self-confidence that bloomed before the war, he began to become reticent, most of the day was spent studying piles of foreign language books, for this reason, Liu Buyun often praised him in front of Liu Yun for being "studious" and "proficient in naval skills", however, who can really understand the bitterness in his heart......

There are also three army generals of Liu Yun's department gathered under the front mainmast, high-spirited, energetic, their eyes are full of young passion, and their mouths are talking about the topic of war, they don't know what it means to be deep, and they won't be so bored that they pretend to be deep, young people should look like young people, if youth does not burn, then it will have to rot.

Lu Zixiang was still indignant that his troops were "discriminated against" by Zhong Xiahuo during the Battle of Seoul: "It's really hateful! Zhong Xiahuo was so uninteresting, he obviously looked down on our First Praetorian Division, and threw the most unsuccessful task to our brigade, so that after we entered the city, we could only help the Second Praetorian Division drag those baskets full of human heads! ”

Liu Bailiang immediately defended his immediate superior: "In a war, there is always a distinction between the main attack and the auxiliary, in fact, the main attack and the auxiliary are equally important, without your brigade to contain the enemy in the north of the city, our brigade would not dare to boldly enter as the vanguard of the main attack force." Besides, the last time Master Zhong was in Gyeongbokgung Palace to improve our lives, you were about to eat down, but now you are still talking crookedly that our Master Zhong is not, you are obviously not interesting. ”

"It's Commander Zhong." Wu Beinian cannot tolerate any fallacy, whether at work or in life.

"You ...... Is there nothing else to do? Ding Jieyun turned around, his face full of unhappiness - he hated his subordinates mentioning Zhong Xiahuo's harsh name in front of him.

"Chief of Staff Wu, go and gather the people from the headquarters, we are going ashore, Division Commander Lu and Division Commander Liu, you will immediately return to your respective units and organize the troops to deploy according to the plan."

"Yes!"

The young people quickly disappeared from the deck after saying goodbye to each other, and Liu Buyun turned around and asked calmly, "Commander Ding, is this leaving?" ”

Ding Jieyun said: "I have to go." ”

Liu Buyun raised his right hand and drew a small circle in the sea breeze: "Have a good trip." ”

"Thank you." Ding Jieyun handed back the navy-standard blue binoculars to Liu Buyun, straightened his military hat, and strode to the gangway of the command platform.

How much of his future, their future, is truly in the palm of his hand?

※※※

In the following week, with the assistance of the Ita Army of Surrender, the coalition army marched north in two routes: the Eastern Route Army, with the Central Army of the Rebel Army as the main force, marched along the Kyushu Mountains on the east coast, connecting the cities of Shimoto, Miyazaki, Nishito, Hyuga, and Nobeoka, and controlled the entire territory of Miyazaki Prefecture; The Western Route Army, with the 1st Division of the Qing Army as the main force, directly attacked the territory of Kumamoto Prefecture to the north, and connected the Minamata, Yatsushiro, Uto, Kumamoto, and Kikuchi castles, and surrendered the 3,000 militia on Amakusa Island, and the entire territory of Kumamoto Prefecture was "liberated".

At this point, the southern half of Kyushu had been fully in the hands of the coalition forces, however, the rebel 4th Division stationed in Kyushu did not pay a great price in the battles between Miyazaki and Kumamoto prefectures, and the idea of Lieutenant General Itatsushi Shitoshi, commander of the 4th Division and commander of the Kyushu Front, made Ding Jieyun puzzled.

"What's that idiot warlord thinking? Why don't you take advantage of our unstable foothold to launch a counteroffensive and try to drive us into the sea? ”

Ding Jieyun stood on the steep shore outside Kumamoto Castle, looking at the gray outline of the Shimabara Peninsula (belonging to Nagasaki Prefecture) looming across the sea, and his heart was puzzled.

Brigadier General Wu Beinian, his chief of staff, who walked beside him, with a folder under his arm, called out "Commander Ding", and then directly turned to the topic: "The results of the battle are counted, the Eastern Route Army has annihilated and absorbed more than 8,500 rebels in a week's battle, of which 5,100 have been killed and 3,400 have been captured and recruited; The Western Route Army annihilated and absorbed more than 11,300 enemies, of which 6,800 were killed and 4,500 were captured and recruited; In total, nearly 20,000 enemy troops were annihilated, but less than 3,000 were part of the regular army, and I think there is a big problem with this. ”

Ding Jieyun put his hands behind his back, his eyes did not leave the place he was looking at, and said slowly: "I don't understand either, what is Ban Heng's intention?" He did not take the initiative to attack our army, but also deliberately preserved the strength of his regular army, and put the militia in front to die, is it ......?"

Wu Beinian looked at the silhouette of Ding Jieyun, who was half a head shorter than himself, and put forward his own opinions: "I think that Ban Heng's attempt is threefold: first, to consume the strength of our army and reduce the morale of our army through the continuous blocking of the militia group, and then to fight a decisive battle with our army in the north of Kyushu; second, to use the militia to drag our army and buy time for its entire army to flee Kyushu; Third, he had a second heart, first eliminated the militia groups that were difficult to control through the hands of our army, and then surrendered to our army under certain conditions. ”

"So, which one is Ban Heng's true intention?" Ding Jieyun asked.

"Judging from the current situation, it is difficult to judge, but the most worthy of our fight is the latter case. Once it's a constant or just neutral, then we will be able to solve the Kyushu problem at the lowest cost......"

"The smallest price ......" Ding Jieyun seemed to only hear these words, and a wave of fantasy immediately surged in his heart: honor, prestige, status, and opportunity—the opportunity to control the fate of tens of millions of people, the opportunity to enjoy unlimited power, and the opportunity to create his own world.

"Is there any way to get that guy to surrender as soon as possible?" Ding Jieyun asked impatiently.

Wu Beinian thought for a few seconds and replied succinctly: "First, attack Fukuoka, the base camp of Banheng, and force it to choose between war and peace; second, to blockade the coast of Kyushu with the navy so that it cannot escape; Third, let the government-in-exile co-opt and tempt Ban Heng, promise to be a high-ranking official, and then let those who have a relationship with Ban Heng in the rebel army go to Ban Heng's army as lobbyists to win his heart. ”

"Make a detailed plan, let's do it together, in order to save the blood of the Chinese, we all have to work hard."

Ding Jieyun said, with a compassionate face.

In the following years, Wu Beinian admired Ding Jieyun so much.

Many times, the human heart is impenetrable.

※※※

On November 18, 1894, Lieutenant General Ban Heng Shishou, commander of the Fourth Division of the rebel army, announced his surrender to the rebel army and reorganized his headquarters into the Kyushu Army of the rebel army, with two detachments and several directly subordinate teams.

On November 19, the 1st Regiment of the Qing Army Marine Corps landed at the port of Sasebo and, in the days that followed, turned the military port in northern Nagasaki Prefecture into China's first semi-permanent naval base in Japan.

On November 21, Miyazaki Masa, the captain of the Blood Sakura team, and more than 100 of his remaining subordinates committed suicide on a hillside in Yamato Town, Saga Prefecture.

Then, the army of the Qing Empire was about to set foot on the land of Honshu.