The Manchu court was dreaming of a constitution, especially after the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War became clear, and the constitutionalists completely gained the upper hand. For what? Japan won the constitution, and the Russian autocracy was defeated. The outcome of the Russo-Japanese War gave the constitutionalists the greatest theoretical support.

The two major victories at Heigoutai and Shendanbao did not bring a real turnaround to the Russian Far Eastern Army. The Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin's indiscretion and the incompetence of the commanders of the three armies ruined Russia's chances of victory. When the Third Army and the newly formed Fifth Army (Yalu River Army), which had moved north from Lushun, arrived on the battlefield in time, General Kuropatkin lost the courage to continue the attack from the right flank and surrendered the dominance of the attack to the Japanese army.

Marshal Oyama Iwa first launched a feint attack from the eastern flank of the battle line, aiming at the Russian First Army, misleading Kuropatkin's judgment and mistakenly believing that the eastern flank was the main direction of attack of the Japanese army, and even transferred all reserves to the eastern flank. Subsequently, the Japanese army transferred the Third Army and the newly formed Fifth Army to the front of the Shahe River after the Battle of Arthur and launched an attack on February 27, and the Russian Second Army on the western flank was in danger of being outflanked by Nogi Noshinori's Third Army and had to retreat to Mukden. As a result, the Japanese concentrated the 1st, 2nd, and 4th armies to launch a fierce attack on the positions of the Third Army on the central front of the Japanese army, and reached a breakthrough at the junction of the 1st and 3rd armies of the Russian army on March 9, cutting off the Russian front. Frightened, Kuropatkin immediately ordered Mukden to be abandoned, and the whole army retreated to Tieling.

On March 10, the Japanese army entered Mukden City. Large quantities of weapons, ammunition and munitions were seized from the Russian army, which were neither taken away nor destroyed. To commemorate this glorious victory, Japan has designated this day as Army Day.

Battle of Mukden. Russian casualties and prisoners are as high as 89,000. However, the Japanese army also paid a heavy price, its 8th Division was basically annihilated, and the 1st Cavalry Brigade was completely wiped out. The total number of casualties exceeded 100,000.

Earlier, Major General Artemyev, who served as deputy chief of staff of the Far Eastern Army, had pointed out that the eastern flank would never be the main direction of attack of the Japanese army due to the limitations of the terrain. Even if Fushun is lost, Mukden can still hold on. But the western flank was different, the Japanese army could bypass Mukden and rotate behind the Russian front and outflank the main forces of the Russian army. In this view, Artemiev was clearly influenced by Major General Lu Shan, commander of the South Manchurian Independent Division, who had already led his troops to leave the front line and go to North Manchuria to rest and maintain the Russian army's lines of communication.

After the Battle of Mukden. The Japanese also lost their offensive capability due to heavy casualties and depleted ammunition. The performance became passive, and the land war basically came to a standstill.

The focus of both sides returns to the sea, and the outcome of the naval battle will determine the course of the Russo-Japanese War.

On May 27, 1905, the Russian reinforcement fleet from the Baltic Sea encountered the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Tsushima Strait after circumnavigating most of the world. The Battle of Tsushima broke out. The Japanese Navy thus created a miracle of modern naval warfare.

The naval battle began at 1 p.m. Twenty-four hours later, 21 of the 36 ships of the Russian fleet (not counting the two hospital ships) were sunk. 5 ships were captured, 6 escaped into a neutral port and were seized, 1 sank while escaping, only one cruiser "Diamond" and two torpedo ships miraculously arrived at the military port of Vladivostok. More than 5,000 Russian troops were killed, burned and drowned, and 6,142 were rescued and captured. The Japanese Navy lost only 3 mine boats, with 700 dead and wounded. The ecstatic Japanese designated this day (May 27) as Navy Day.

The Battle of Tsushima basically wiped out the Russian navy, and the Russian fleet was no longer visible on the high seas! Tsar Nicholas II was indifferent to this, and on the afternoon of the day he learned of the defeat at the Battle of Tsushima, he was still excited to shoot birds with air guns in the Imperial Garden! Admiral Alekseev, the former Governor-General of the Far East, went to St. Petersburg's luxurious Mikhail Theater that evening to entertain his mistress, the French ballet dancer Elsa. Spectators who received the news of the defeat in the naval battle, including the nobles in the royal box, booed the incompetent and unscrupulous admiral loudly, "Get out of Russia!" You are carrying not gems, but our sunken battleships and cruisers! ”

The fiasco at the Battle of Tsushima caused huge political turmoil in Russia, and of course there was the merit of Genjiro Akashi, who had a very poor grade at the non-commissioned officer school and almost failed to complete his studies. He contacted Lenin, who was hiding in Switzerland and continued to carry out revolutionary propaganda, and made him play a huge role in inducing the political crisis in Russia.

The specter of revolution hovered over Russia, and the Tsar felt threatened by reality. The outcome of the war is not the concern of the despotic monarch, and the number of casualties is a bunch of dry numbers for them. The destruction of countless families was certainly not on their minds. When studying autocracy, it must be understood that they are only taken seriously if there is a real threat to their rule.

On 27 June, two battleships of the Black Sea Fleet, the Potemkin and the Victorious Georgi, revolted with sailors, which eventually led to the decision of the Russian Romanov dynasty to decide to cease war with Japan in the Far East.

At this time, the Manchurian Independent Division led by Lu Shan had arrived in Jilin, recruiting troops to expand its strength, and on the other hand, clearing the local beards to protect the fragile supply lines of the Russian army. In the later part of the Battle of Mukden, the Independent Division did not participate. Major General Artemyev, who was depressed by the defeat in the battle, recorded in his diary that if the South Manchurian Independent Regiment had been left in the Second Army, perhaps there would still be a possibility of a miraculous reversal of the tide of the war.

In July 1905, at the same time that the Russo-Japanese War was basically decided, Sun Wen and Huang Xing established the League in Japan.

Sun Wen has been wandering in the United States, Europe or Japan, mainly doing two things, raising funds and propagating the revolution, the former is the main task. Counting the course of his anti-Manchu movement, by the summer of 1905, Sun Wen had directly and indirectly planned at least three armed uprisings in China. Although none of them succeeded, Sun Wen was determined and had the strength to become more and more frustrated.

He spent most of his time in the United States in 1904, and the following year he traveled to Europe, visiting Belgium, Germany, France, and England. It is worth mentioning that Sun Wen met with Yan Fu, who was visiting London, in London. Yan Fu, who can be regarded as the senior citizen of the Chinese Navy, was at this time serving as the general office of the Compilation and Book Bureau under the Beijing Normal University Hall.

Yan Fu did not approve of Sun Wen's idea of revolutionary platoon, for much the same reasons as Liang Qichao's. He believes that the wisdom of the Chinese people has not yet been developed, and we should start with education and improve the quality of the people before making plans. Yan Fu mentioned Shandong's education plan in front of Sun Wen for the first time, saying that after he returned to China, he would definitely go to Jinan in person to see if it was as heavily invested in education as the legend said.

Sun Wen was a revolutionary, so naturally he couldn't wait for the Xu Jin strategy advocated by Yan Fu, and the two did not talk about any results.

Although there are still supporters among overseas Chinese and international students, they are not enthusiastic. Fundraising is also low. Those overseas who eagerly awaited the success of Sun Wen's revolution seem to have lost hope in him. In the early summer of 1905, he returned to his home base of Japan, which was only Japan. It made him feel relieved and uplifted. There are the most supportive students here, and there are also Japanese friends who are full of expectations for the Chinese revolution, such as Mr. Miyazaki Inzo, who can always give him the greatest comfort and support.

Sure enough. Sun Wen returned to Japan. Received a warm welcome. The rally to welcome him went to at least a thousand people, which made Sun Wen extremely excited. He told the followers at the welcome rally that nationalism had been advocated in previous years. Only the party responded, and there were very few people above the middle class. But now it's completely different! The people of the country were completely disgusted with foreign domination, and the hope of the success of the revolution was greatly strengthened! There was full confidence that the Manchu rule could be overthrown and a democratic republic could be established, so that China could quickly become rich and strong.

Of course, Sun Wen refuted the turbulent call for constitutionalism in China, which is of course, but the reason for the refutation is insufficient, only emphasizing that the Chinese population resources are first-class in the world, and being born as a Chinese is the most happy. If our generation can establish a great republic on this big stage, it will definitely be able to dominate the world.

In a word, as long as the revolution succeeds, all problems will be solved.

Sun Wen first went to Yokohama and then to Tokyo, where he stayed at the house of his old friend Miyazaki Inzo. I met Yang Du, secretary general of the Chinese Federation of Students in Japan. The two met late, and the negotiation was extremely pleasant. To describe Yang Du in a term from later generations, that is, a person with high emotional intelligence, who is bold and hospitable, informal, and can treat each other warmly regardless of his point of view, so he was elected as the secretary general of the students studying in Japan.

Sun Wen made a request to Yang Du, that is, to let him help introduce Huang Xing. Guy Yang Du and Huang Xing are both from Hunan, and they always talk to each other better. Yang Du readily agreed, saying that Huang Xing is a strange man in our Hunan, the leader of the Huaxing Society, and he has long admired Mr. Sun. Hearing the news of Mr., Huang Keqiang (Huang Xingzi Keqiang) must have been overjoyed.

A few days later, Yang Du took Sun Wen to Huang Xing's residence, which was the first meeting between Sun and Huang, the two leaders who advocated the revolution.

The next day, Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren, Zhang Ji, Chen Tianhua and other leaders of the Huaxing Association invited Sun Wen to dinner, during which Sun Wen proposed specific measures for the revolution, and he believed that the people of Liangguang and Guangxi were strong, they had been tired of the Qing Dynasty for a long time, and the party would be strong and strong, and it would be difficult for the Qing court to pacify. But because there is no competent talent to host, it is always difficult to succeed, just like last year's Liuzhou incident. Now that we are united as one, and our strength has increased greatly, if we plan properly, and take the two Cantonese as the foundation, once we succeed in the action and set up a civilized government, the world will be decided.

Huang Xing agreed with Sun Wen's opinion, believing that now that the revolutionary power of the 18 provinces is gathering in Tokyo, Mr. Sun should be the leader to participate in the great cause.

However, the next day, when the head of the Huaxing Society studied the alliance with Sun Wen's faction, Liu Kuiyi, an important figure in the Huaxing Society, thought that the Huaxing Society was a dignified organization, and the Xingzhong Society that Sun Wen relied on were all illiterate members. I think Sun Wen is just a lobbyist.

Liu Kuiyi's words were opposed by Chen Tianhua, who believed that Sun Wen had devoted himself to the revolution for many years, was admired by the people, was born and died, and was well-known all over the world, and he was the leader of our group.

The opinions of the Huaxing Association were not unanimous, so Huang Xing decided to decide whether to join the club or not.

So, two days later, at the home of the Japanese Uchida Ryohei, the founding meeting of the League was held. More than 70 people attended the meeting, including not only the Huaxing Association and the Xingzhong Association, but also representatives of the Japanese Information Society, the National Military and Civilian Education Association, the Science Tutorial Institute, and the Qingshan Military School. The meeting was presided over by Sun Wen, and the new joint organization was determined to be the China League, with Sun Wen as the premier, and the program of "expelling the Tartars, restoring China, establishing the Republic of China, and equalizing land rights" was adopted.

The Manchu court was slow to respond to the formation of the League. However, Long Qian quickly got the news. Since the beginning of last year, Jiang Yun's intelligence department has stepped up its infiltration work in accordance with Long Qian's instructions, and there are spies from the intelligence department among the representatives of the science cram school in Tokyo who attended the founding ceremony of the alliance. After the meeting, the spy reported the news of the establishment of the alliance to his superiors in detail when he returned to China to visit his relatives.

That day, Long Qian was bathing his second son at home, and while washing, he chatted with Chen Shu about Long Xinghua, a strange child. The reason why it is strange is that Xinghua rarely cries after birth. It is said that it is normal for babies to cry, but their second son is extremely abnormal, and the number of times he cries is only a handful. Chen Shu felt strange, but Long Qian didn't think so, "What's this?" I can't say that the little guy is a big anomaly, and the future will be above me. ”

Perhaps because Xinghua suffered from childbirth, Chen Shu prefers the eldest son Zhenhua, who has been running around all over the place. I thought, if you want to inherit your family business, it won't be the second child's turn, right?

Jiang Yun hurriedly came over and reported the news of the establishment of the alliance to Long Qian.

"It's finally here. The world is in chaos. Well done, I am satisfied with the work of the Intelligence Service. Very good. ”

"Commander, are you overestimating them? What can be accomplished with just a few scholars who are shouting poorly overseas? They don't even have a platoon of troops in their hands! ”

"Jiang Yun, it's not wrong that the gun is supreme. But you must not underestimate the strength of the people. If the people rise up and rebel, they will kill the guns with hoes and sickles! I know that you have read a lot of books, and you know the story of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, right? How could hundreds of mud legs toss the Tiger Wolf Qin like that? If the people of Shandong rise up and rebel against our Mengshan army, do you think we will definitely win? ”

Jiang Yun shook his head. Thinking that the people can fight the army? Don't talk about a town, it's a mark, don't say hundreds, even tens of thousands of people? What's more, how could the people of Shandong rebel against the Mengshan army?

"Look at the way you look and you know you don't understand it! It's okay, read more and think more. It's just to tell you that the people are not lambs to be slaughtered, and once they awaken, they will be the most powerful force in the world. Long Qian thought for a while, "It's far away, the alliance will be this line, you have to pay close attention." ”

Jiang Yun was surprised by Long Qian's attitude. Looking at his appearance, it seems that he had expected the formation of the Alliance. Could it be that in addition to himself, there is a secret intelligence system at work? Jiang Yun was deeply puzzled. (To be continued......)