Yanjing, the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is majestic and majestic, the vermilion high walls are full of majesty, and the golden glazed tiles shine with golden light in the afterglow, making the whole palace more magnificent and extraordinary.

Under the eaves of the corridor, a group of guards dressed in bright yellow vests stood with cold and solemn eyes, and the eunuchs and palace maids seemed to feel that the atmosphere in the palace was a little different, and they all leaned against the wall to slow down their steps, carefully afraid that one would accidentally go wrong.

One door, two doors and three doors .......

The heavy doors and deep corridors separate the inner palace from the outside world, and as the weather gradually cools, the palace becomes deserted and desolate.

In the imperial study, the copper basin stove has already been filled with fragrant charcoal, making the entire study bathed in the faint sandalwood and warmth, but even so, everyone standing in the study still feels cold and prickly.

Emperor Guangxu was dressed in a soap-colored dragon robe, his eyes swept coldly over the few people in front of him before he slowly retracted, and the continuous Korean war reports for many days had already made him a little discouraged, and now it was another night of waiting, which couldn't help but make his face a little pale, looking at the few people standing in front of him, and asked in a deep voice: "Is there no news yet?" ”

Several of the people present are all exquisite, so I don't know what His Majesty the Emperor is asking about! They all looked at the old man standing at the front, and the corners of their eyes twitched.

Li Hongzhang knew that at this moment, all his eyes had been concentrated on his back, if there was a thorn in his eyes, he believed that he had been stabbed to death by these people at the moment, but since he had come to this day, there was no reason to give up again, so he couldn't help but clear his throat, bowed his head and said: "Back to Your Majesty, Weichen has sent hundreds of elite hussars to garrison the post house, if there is news, it will be reported in time." ”

"Your Majesty, please rest assured." After glancing at Li Hongzhang, the head of the household department, the prime minister of Yamen, and the emperor Weng Tonggong, who were also in the front station, he also comforted: "I think that my Beiyang Naval Division is elite from top to bottom, and there are two giant ships in Dingcheng and Zhen as the Chinese army, I believe that I will be able to break through and recover North Korea." ”

Since his teachers said that he would win, Emperor Guangxu was also a little relieved, and waved his hand: "All of you Aiqing have also worked hard, so let's disperse." ”

"Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live." The ministers, who had already stood numb and sore, heard that His Majesty had retreated, and hurriedly shouted long live, turned around and dispersed.

"Hooray, huh!" Hearing the involuntary voice of the ministers, Emperor Guangxu snorted slightly, and then walked towards the back of the palace.

Li Hongzhang is the fastest, there is no way, the Korean war has been involved for too much and too long, at this moment Ding Ruchang has been out with the fleet for three days, if there is a good one! He couldn't even explain it.

"Report ......"

I was anxious, suddenly! A figure rushed over from outside the palace gate, and the captain of the forbidden army held the battle report in his hand, raised it high, and ran wildly all the way, even with the whip on the back of his head.

"What's going on! Yelling! Sun Yuwen was originally a celebrity in front of the Queen Mother, and he was the lord and faction of the iron fighter, and when he saw the captain's urgent report, he hurriedly stopped the other party and shouted.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Lushun is urgent." How dare the captain offend the big celebrity in front of him, and hurriedly replied.

"What!" Li Hongzhang rushed over with an arrow step, and without waiting for others to react, he had already snatched the battle report, and when he opened it, his face turned pale, and the whole person was stunned, and only after a while did he slap his thigh, looking up to the sky and shouting: "Yu Ting (Ding Ruchang), mistake me!" Then, my eyes went dark and I fainted!

As Li Hongzhang fainted, the remaining ministers rushed together, picked up the battle report of the Beiyang fiasco and looked at each other, who should present this war report to His Majesty? ——

In the Lushun Military Port, the huge Navy Admiral's Mansion was silent, and the air was frozen and even a little anxious, Ding Ruchang looked at the generals at all levels standing left and right, his face was gloomy.

At this moment, Ding Ruchang didn't know that Li Hongzhang would faint after receiving the battle report, he only knew that he had to find a person in charge of this defeat as soon as possible, otherwise, even Lord Zhongtang might not be able to escape the reproach of the court.

What's more, he had already been impeached once a month ago, and those Qingliu party members in the court had seen themselves unpleasantly as early as the beginning of the war, and Weng Tongyi and Sun Yuwen were even more fueling the trouble.

Now it's time to repay the favor, and the only way to sacrifice some people is to protect Lord Zhongtang and himself!

The cold eyes scraped from each face before stopping at one of them, but they quickly twisted away, turned his head and asked Lin Taizeng: "Kaishi, how is the situation of each ship." ”

Kaishi is Lin Taizeng's name, as the pipe belt of the Zhenyuan ship, and the deputy admiral of Beiyang, he naturally has a greater right to speak than others, after hearing Ding Ruchang's interrogation, he hurriedly said: "Lord Admiral, Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Chaoyong, Yangwei, Guangjia five fast ships sank, Dingyuan was broken, Zhenyuan was broken, and the rest of the ships were also damaged and needed to be repaired immediately, otherwise Kou will attack again, and we will not be able to fight again." Lin Tai once arched his hand and said.

"Hey." Ding Ruchang sighed, he didn't expect that after this naval battle, he actually lost five fast ships, and the rest of the ships were also heavily damaged and needed to be repaired immediately, so he really didn't know how to explain to Lord Zhongtang.

Ding Ruchang sighed, but the corner of his eyes swept to that person again, and suddenly asked, "Yitang, why didn't I see your Jiyuan on the battlefield?" ”

Suddenly, all the eyes around were focused on Fang Boqian, who was standing at the end, everyone knew that the Jiyuan participated in the naval battle, and they all knew that the Jiyuan returned to Lushun first, but at this moment, the Admiral said that he didn't see the Jiyuan, obviously saying that Fang Boqian fled first in fear of the battle.

Fang Boqian himself also knew that it was useless to explain, and it was a big crime to leave first, so he sighed and said: "At eleven o'clock yesterday morning, eleven ships of our army encountered twelve Japanese ships outside Dadonggou, opened fire on each other, and scattered the other team first; The battle lasted until three o'clock in the afternoon, when our team was swept away by the other ship. However, seeing that four enemy ships were sunk, our army Dingyuan's head mast was broken, and Zhiyuan was sunk, and the four ships of Laiyuan, Pingyuan, Chaoyong, and Yangwei were gone. The ship lost seven casualties, suffered many wounds, the bow was cracked and leaking, and the guns could not be fired, so it was not allowed to sail back for repairs. When they returned, the remaining ships were still fighting. ”

"Bang!" Before Fang Boqian's self-prosecution was finished, Ding Ruchang had already taken the case and shouted: "Fang Boqian, you are guilty!" ”

When Fang Boqian heard this, he knew that he had been targeted, and gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know what is wrong." ”

"Humph!" Ding Ruchang snorted coldly, stretched out three fingers, and said angrily: "First, retreat first in fear of battle, and escape from the battle; Second, first retreated, led the team into chaos, and led Guangjia to flee with him, causing all ships to wait and see. Scatter the formation! Third, when he escaped, he would break Yangwei's waist. ”

"Is there anything wrong?!" After Ding Ruchang finished speaking, he squinted his eyes and asked.

"Nonsense, I didn't run away, let alone bump into Yangwei, this is a crime to be added! As for the scattered formation? I'm afraid you know better than I know why, Lord Admiral! It's ridiculous that some people are injured by their own people in the first shot, and they are still unwilling to hand over command when they are unable to command, but I want to ask why! ”

"Shut up!" Without waiting for Fang Boqian to finish speaking, Ding Ruchang shouted violently and said: "Is it a crime that you want to add, your majesty, Lord Zhongtang has decided, I have written all the things of the naval battle into an excerpt and reported it to Lord Zhongtang, everything is waiting for your lordship's decision!" After speaking, he slapped the table: "Come on, take Fang Boqian down, put him in prison, and make a decision when the court's decree arrives." ”

Fang Boqian originally wanted to defend a few words, at least the scattered formation and the destruction of Yangwei were purely false, but he didn't think that Ding Ruchang didn't give himself a chance at all, and he had already reported these things, and he was so angry that he pointed at the other party and scolded: "Ding Ruchang, you peace remnant!" Why are you framing me? obviously doesn't understand naval warfare, but he wants to occupy the position of admiral! Ordered someone to pile sandbags on the deck! Amusing! Sandbags are piled up on warships, which are unheard of in China and the West! Unheard of! If it weren't for that, how could Zhiyuan and Jingyuan sink so quickly! ”

"Shut up! Pull it down! "Ding Ruchang hates others mentioning his past the most, and those Qingliu can blame him for this issue, but he didn't expect Fang Boqian to dare to make a big deal about it. And he was born in the army, and he really doesn't know much about naval warfare, although he has often made up for it over the years, but after all, he is not as good as a person like Fang Boqian who has stayed abroad, so after hearing these words, he was even more angry, and hurriedly asked people to pull Fang Boqian down.

As Fang Boqian was taken away by several soldiers, the atmosphere in the lobby became more solemn, and the falling needles could be heard, even if Lin Taizeng was angry, he didn't dare to come out.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him in fear, Ding Ruchang said: "Order the craftsmen to speed up the repair, and the ships must be repaired within half a month, and those who violate the order will be dealt with by military law!" ”

"Huh." Everyone hurriedly agreed.

"From today onwards, the fort must send people to guard it at night to prevent the Kou from coming to sneak attack!" After speaking, Ding Ruchang turned his head and walked backwards-

Tokyo, the base camp.

A young man ran briskly, quickly through the passage, through the crowd of people coming in and out, and knocked others to stumble and scatter, but at the moment he could not care about this, and he must hand over this telegram to His Royal Highness as soon as possible.

"Report."

After Shao Zuo arrived at the door, he shouted and didn't wait for a reply inside, so he quickly opened the door and prepared to rush in, but he didn't expect that someone inside happened to come out, and the two suddenly bumped into each other.

Shao Zuo fixed his eyes, hurriedly helped up the person who was hit, and shouted: "Your Excellency, the big thing is not good!" ”

"Yaga!"

Prince Asugawa Palace is already unhappy enough today, there is no news about the fleet that was supposed to come back, and His Majesty the Emperor was even more furious because of the Hawaiian minister's declaration of war, and called himself and several other princes over and scolded him, but as soon as he came back to change his clothes, he was bumped into by his own guard officer again, and immediately became angry, and reprimanded: "Bastard, where are your eyes!" Do you want me to dig it out! ”

Hearing the prince's rebuke, Shao Zuo hurriedly stood upright, and after saluting, he continued: "I'm sorry, please forgive your Excellency!" "That's it! Come on, why are you so flustered? What's wrong? Prince Chiren got up and re-entered the room.

Shao Zuo followed behind, took out the telegram he had just received, and hurriedly read: "Report, Sasebo base emergency telegram, yesterday morning at six o'clock, they were suddenly attacked by the Hawaiian Pacific Fleet, all the military ports were blown up, all warehouses and arsenals were burned down, the Nagasaki Ninth Brigade in charge of garrisoning and the army Yamada Wing that had just arrived totaled 6,000 people, and most of them were also killed or wounded!" ”

"Nonsense!" After listening to the telegram, Prince Chiren, who had just picked up the water cup, shook his hand violently, and the teacup suddenly fell to the ground, and at this moment he could no longer care about picking up his beloved teacup, and grabbed the guard officer and shouted: "This is impossible!" ”

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, Sasebo has indeed been attacked!" The guard officer bowed his head and stood solemnly.

"Yaga! It's fake! Prince Chihito snatched the telegram and shouted angrily: "The Pacific Fleet has only five warships, and even if Sasebo doesn't have a single warship, they can't pass through the batteries all over the waterways!" ”

"And the soldiers stationed there, what are they doing? Why was it attacked early yesterday morning and only now that it has been reported! Blazing Hito sat on the tatami mat and shouted hysterically.

"Report, this is because most of all the soldiers stationed in Sasebo are loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, the telephone lines have been destroyed, and the roads have been blown up, so there is no way to spread the news, and this telegram was still sent by the Nagasaki Garrison Wing, so it was sent one day late."

"Yaga! These bastards! Damn it, such an important telegram was a day late! ”

Shao Zuo lowered his head, not daring to look at the angry prince: "Your Royal Highness, according to the witnesses of the survivors, they saw at least seven large warships entering the inner harbor of Sasebo, two of which were at least more than 10,000 tons!" ”

"What! That's impossible! After listening to Shaozuo's words, Prince Chiren couldn't believe his ears, seven large warships, two of which exceeded 10,000 tons, how could this be! Isn't this the Hawaiian Pacific Fleet? It's the navy from the European powers! Thinking of this, he suddenly thought of another, even more anxious question, if the witnesses were not lying, then the combined fleet is now ......!

"What about the fleet? What about Hyungyu Ito? And what about our fleet? ”

"According to the report, the Nagasaki Garrison Wing, which sent the telegram, said that when the Hawaii Pacific Fleet left, three boiler room sailors of the Matsushima were released, and according to them, our combined fleet was ambushed by the enemy when it defeated the Shina Hokuyo Fleet at Daitogou the day before yesterday and returned home, and Yoshino, Akitsuzu, Takachiho, Naniwa, Saikyo Maru, Chiyoda, and Akagi were sunk, Hashidate, Itsukushima, and Matsushima were captured, and Hiei and Fuso sank themselves."

"And what about the rest?" Although he already had the answer in his heart, Chi Ren still blurted out and asked, because compared to warships, those soldiers are the most important.

Shao Zuo shook his head and replied: "The three sailors don't know the specific situation either, according to them, General Ito Shosuke committed suicide before the capture of the Matsushima, and as for the other captured personnel, they were also taken away by the enemy. ”

"Damn it!" After hearing these words, Prince Chiren only felt that all the strength of his body had been drained, and he sat down on the ground limply, leaning against the wall as if his muscles and bones had been drained, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Five years, five whole years! His Majesty the Emperor was thrifty and exhausted, and the main force of the Combined Fleet, which was built by the entire people at great expense and carrying all the hopes of the Empire, was completely destroyed.

At this time, Chiren suddenly understood what the Hawaiian minister had brought to him before he left the book: "Either pay 100 million pounds, or we will take it ourselves!" ”

At that time, Chiren only felt that guy was arrogant and domineering! It's too much of a deception! I can't catch him right away and chop him up with a knife! But now? It's like a resounding slap in the face! Hawaii not only sent someone to take it, but so quickly, so sharply!

If this is not premeditated, I am afraid that even a three-year-old child will not believe it, Prince Chiren only began to regret it at this moment, why did he not listen to the words of the Colonel Mahan of the US Navy in the first place? If the Hawaiian Pacific Fleet had been prepared earlier, how could it be today?!

The clock could no longer be turned back to the past, and Prince Chihito knew that he and the base camp, and even His Majesty the Emperor and all the people, would face a difficult choice, which was resistance? Or reparations!

"Your Excellency, there is more news." Facing the furious Prince Chiren, Shao Zuo trembled and took out another urgent telegram: "The Tokushima Garrison Corps reported that several unknown fleets had been found passing through the Kii Waterway in five hours, and now the base camp is meeting to discuss, please come over and preside over the meeting immediately!" After Shaozuo rested for a while, he slowly helped Prince Chiren up.

Tokushima! Blazing Ren was startled for a moment, suddenly came to his senses, and muttered, "Osaka! Kobe! ”

As if to cooperate with Prince Chiren's words, a burst of panicked footsteps came from outside, and before Shaozo could see the person clearly, he heard the other party already shouting: "Your Excellency, Osaka, Kobe Emergency!" Three hours ago, the Hawaiian Pacific Fleet, taking advantage of the cover of early morning fog, suddenly attacked the harbor! Both places were subjected to heavy shelling at the same time, and the shelling is still going on, the losses are very heavy, and according to eyewitnesses, they also organized the landing of soldiers, burned a large number of warehouses and supplies, and even the cargo ships in the harbor were all looted! ”

"Osaka, Kobe!"

Under the blow of a series of bad news, Prince Chihito finally couldn't hold it anymore, leaned against the wall, and gasped: "Immediately order all the seaports along the coast to prepare for a sneak attack by the enemy, and send someone to immediately mobilize all the warships that can be mobilized and assemble in Yokosuka!" ”

"Contact the United Kingdom, the United States and France." Before Prince Chiren could finish speaking, the hand holding the wooden door suddenly slipped, and his body immediately collapsed in Shaozuo's arms, and his eyelids rolled and fainted.

A moment before he fainted, another place suddenly came to mind!

Etajima!.

(To be continued)