- Boom, boom.

Standing at the narrow window of the warehouse, looking at the flames that exploded from time to time in the distance, Dong Dahai hammered his fist on the wall, and cursed a few times in his mouth.

With the fall of the North Ocean, the Russian fleet has taken full control of Port Arthur, and at the moment is shelling the remaining batteries with all its might, and without naval support, these immovable batteries have completely become their targets.

Beiyang is still easy to maintain, even if it loses the support of warships, most of the green battalions have already fled, but the remaining sailors stationed on the shore still carry guns and resist stubbornly, but the more this happens, the more he feels sad, and he can't wait to rush out immediately to fight side by side with them, and give the Russians a head-on blow.

But reason stopped him, and his task at the moment was more important than leading the Nighthawk team to intervene in the frontal battlefield and teach the Russians a lesson.

"Report, the explosives are planted." A nighthawk walked up to Dong Dahai, and seeing that he was still staring out the window, he hurriedly pushed it gently: "Captain, if you don't leave, the Russians will come here." ”

Dong Dahai took a breath, quietly clenched his fist, then turned around, took out his pocket watch and said, "Yes, it will detonate in ten minutes." ”

The Nighthawks took out their watches and checked the time, then immediately pulled out the detonator, inserted one end into the explosive block, and then attached the other end to a timer like a pocket watch, and pressed the start switch.

As the switch was pressed, the hour hand began to tick and tick, and at this time, the gunfire outside the warehouse intensified!

Soon, as the Nighthawks gathered one after another, Dong Dahai walked to the door of the warehouse, and saw several sailor soldiers hurrying towards the dock with guns on their shoulders, but he didn't notice this, and immediately beckoned back, leading the Nighthawks out of the largest ammunition depot set up by the Beiyang Sailors in Lushun.

After walking out of the warehouse, he looked up, and the head of the old oystermouth fort in the distance was already in flames, so he had to sigh, give up the plan to save people, and withdraw to Jinzhou.

The old oystermouth fort was already at the moment of life and death, and the soldiers stood in front of Xu Bangdao, their faces black and white, and their eyes were red from gunsmoke.

"My lord, the brothers have all fought out! I can't hold it! ”

Looking at the few remaining soldiers around him, Xu Bangdao's eyes widened angrily, and he reprimanded: "If you fight all of them, you have to fight!" Go, immediately send someone to the general office of Lord Zhao, and ask him to give me another thousand men, and I will definitely be able to defend here!" ”

The soldier shed tears and shook his head: "My lord, Gong Zhaoyu of the Lushun General Office had already run away with the torpedo boat in the afternoon when the naval division and the Russians were at war!" His subordinates had already sent someone to contact Zhao Huaiye, the chief soldier of Jinzhou, but he replied that Lord Zhao had also fled to Haicheng with people! ”

"What!"

Hearing these two news, Xu Bangdao was stunned, and the knife in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.

For a whole night, the Russians' shells kept falling from the sea as if they didn't want money, and the Mozhu Reef Battery, the Golden Mountain Auxiliary Battery, the Golden Mountain Battery, the Tiger Tail Battery, the Weiyuan Battery, the Barbarian Battalion Battery, and the Mantou Mountain Battery were all gone! Due to the sudden attack of the Russians, the battery could not stock up on ammunition in time, so even the old oystermouth vault battery, which was most hidden at the moment, ran out of ammunition and food half an hour ago.

The Russians have landed along Port Arthur, thousands of Russian soldiers are rushing inland along the coast, and the 1,000 soldiers who have finally gathered from the enemy's artillery fire are almost the same, I thought that as long as Zhao Huaiye, the general soldier of Jinzhou, can rush to help, even if a few hundred more people are sent, they can support the arrival of imperial reinforcements, but who would have thought that these bastards actually ran away!

If you don't leave now, I'm afraid you won't have a chance to leave the old oyster's mouth again!

Xu Bangdao stood on the top of the mountain, looking at the dense Russian soldiers at the foot of the mountain, tears in his eyes!

Defeated! Still defeated! I have worked hard, but the Russians' artillery is too powerful, and now it has fought to the last moment, even if it dies, it can be regarded as loyal to the country!

"Let's go! Take your people, immediately break through in the direction of Haicheng, the Russians should not have controlled there yet! After taking two breaths, Xu Bangdao slowly leaned over and picked up the fallen long knife and shouted to the guards.

"What about you, my lord!" The pro-soldier said urgently.

Xu Bangdao raised his head, looked at the Russian soldiers who were climbing up in the distance, and said with tears: "Lushun is lost, and I have no shame to see the emperor again, and then to the people of the world!" I have made up my mind, I vow to live and die with Lushun, you all have a family and a room, let's go, you don't have to accompany me to give up your surname in vain! ”

"But my lord!"

"Nothing! I Xu Bangdao has children and daughters, so why die! Xu Bangdao held a big knife in his hand, his hair was scattered in the gale, and he pushed the captain of the guard and shouted: "Hurry up, remember to say hello to me when you see my wife." ”

"No, don't go, a few of us swear to follow the adults to the death!" The soldiers wept and shouted bitterly, and all drew their knives.

"Let's go! Don't distract me anymore! Today I want to see and understand, it is the neck of the Russian big hairy man! It's still Lao Tzu's knife hard! ”

"Your Excellency."

The pro-soldiers still wanted to persuade again, and a few excited even wanted to pull people, but Xu Bangdao slashed back a few steps: "Go, protect my family for me, go!" Looking at Xu Bangdao's resolute posture, the soldiers wiped their tears, and after a long time, they gritted their teeth violently, knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times before walking behind the fort.

At the foot of the hill, a large number of Russian soldiers began to charge. On the top of the mountain, Xu Bangdao stood on the rock, and shouted with a cruel smile: "Come on, dog, let's see if your grandfather's knife is hard, or your neck is hard!" ”

After shouting, the last barrel of gunpowder was pushed off the battery, and the barrel rolled down the cliff, and after seeing that it was almost in front of the Russian army, Xu Bangdao immediately took out the handcuff and shouted.

"Medium!"

I only heard a bang, and in an instant, the medicine barrel exploded to form a huge fireball, drowning more than a dozen Russian troops around! Looking at the Russian soldiers covered in fire and wailing and rolling at the foot of the cliff, Xu Bangdao laughed and rushed down the cliff alone with his knife.

"Kill!"

As if to cooperate with his shout, the ammunition depot of the Marine, which had stored thousands of shells and explosives in the distance, suddenly shook the earth with a loud bang, and a huge cloud rose sharply from a distance, and the smoke gradually enveloped the entire battery.

The earth-shattering explosion made the Russian soldiers even more distracted, and when they saw Xu Bangdao holding a big knife and killing him, he didn't even bother to see if there was anyone around him, so he turned around and ran away in fright.

"Haha. Russian boy, Hugh's escape, look at the knife! Xu Bangdao shouted violently, ran wildly to cover up, looked up to the sky and laughed, like crazy!

At the foot of the mountain, the guards had just mounted their horses, and they were shaken down by this earth-shattering sound, and looked at the artillery fort behind them, which was already full of fire, and fell to the ground with tears in their eyes.

Lushun is gone! ——

Inside the Ryukyu Headquarters, the atmosphere was depressing and tense.

Zhang Zuolin stood in the center of the hall, reading the information he had just received.

"The Exocet called, two hours ago, they found the Zhenyuan and Jingyuan that had broken through in the waters off Jinzhou, and now they have routed the pursuing Russian cruisers and are protecting the two ships on their way to the Ryukyus, but." Zhang Zuolin paused, looked at the corner, and turned his back to the chief of staff, before continuing to report: "According to Captain Ning, the Zhenyuan has basically lost its combat effectiveness, and the Jingyuan is even more seriously injured, the hull is greatly damaged, the water ingress is serious, and the rudder is also damaged, and he asks if he can abandon the ship." ”

"Lin Taizeng, the Zhenyuan pipe belt, has also confirmed that except for the two ships, the rest of the ships in Beiyang have been destroyed and sunk, and the Qingyu has arrived in the warring waters and is searching for and rescuing personnel, and as of now, a total of ten people have been rescued."

"In addition, the Russian fleet has entered Port Arthur and is shelling the battery, and at present two Russian troop carriers have landed on the shore, and at the same time the Russian fleet has made a division of troops, two heavy patrols and two light cruisers, which have circled to Qingniwa (now Dalian Bay), and the fierce battle is still continuing, in addition, according to the report of one of our reconnaissance ships in Jinzhou Bay, two Russian [***] ships have also been found there, including a battleship."

With Zhang Zuolin's voice, the entire command room was silent, and when a staff officer put the two wooden ship models representing the Russian ship in the waters of Jinzhou Bay and Qingniwa respectively, every officer present seemed to be suddenly blocked with something in their hearts, heavy!

Jinzhou Bay and Qingniwa are far away, and there is only a slender neck-like land in the middle, as long as the Russians quickly take the commanding heights in the middle, Nanshan, then Beiyang will be completely cleared!

Two years ago, Beiyang was also facing a crisis, but at that time, it was the Pacific Army that defeated Yue himself, so that they finally escaped, but this time, even if the army is sent to force a landing now, I am afraid that ...... will be over!

Chen Ping's body trembled, his face turned a little black, and the staff officers around him hurriedly supported him and slowly sat down on the chair.

"I'm fine." Chen Ping pushed away the staff officer, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and after the match drew a beautiful flame, the green smoke slowly rose up along his fingers.

After taking two hard puffs of cigarette, his face softened a little, and he continued to ask, "Is there any news from the Russian Army?" ”

Zhang Zuolin quickly opened the third telegram: "The reconnaissance company of the Fourth Division reported that the main Russian force had arrived in Changchun in the evening, and Iktang Abe was caught off guard and the whole line was defeated. ”

"The situation in the direction of Lushun is also not good, Gong Zhaoxi, the general office of the Lushun defense, took advantage of the decisive battle between the Beiyang and the Russian fleet, and led the torpedo boats to flee first, in addition, Zhao Huaiye, the general of Jinzhou, has also escaped by boat overnight, and the 20,000 Qing army green battalions currently stationed in that area are already leaderless." Zhang Zuolin continued to report: "We predict that it will take another day at most, and Russia will be able to basically control Lushun and Jinzhou. ”

"So, by this time tomorrow night, the Russian army will be able to fully control Jinzhou and Lushun?" Zhao Long raised his head, walked quickly to the sand table, squinted his eyes, and looked at Jinzhou's seat, his eyes glowing red.

"Chief of Staff, Army Commander, if you don't let me set off with a division in advance, first block the thirty miles behind Jinzhou, and block the Russians in the Arthur Peninsula and can't go north!" Seeing that the situation was urgent, the army commander and the chief of staff were both displeased, and Luo Feng, the commander of the first division, immediately shouted.

"No, even if we start now, it will take two days for the first division to arrive, and no one knows where the Russians will fight in two days." Zhang Zuolin asked for a look, looked at the sand table and frowned: "And the main force of our fleet is not there, if we forcibly land without escort, the price will be very high!" ”

Everyone nodded, the main force of the fleet was not there, and it was okay to rely on a few small ships to escort some small troops, but to send 10,000 troops at a time, it was no different from sending them to death.

"Where is Long Guozhang?" In his eyes, Chen Ping snuffed out the cigarette butt and slowly stood up and walked to the sand table. A naval staff officer hurriedly reported: "Two hours ago, the fleet called, they are about to pass through the Tsugaru Strait, and it is expected that they will arrive in Vladivostok tomorrow evening." ”

Chen Ping's finger tapped on the Tsugaru Strait, and after roughly measuring the distance from the strait to Vladivostok, he suddenly turned around: "Does the young master know this?" ”

Zhang Zuolin shook his head: "The young master is receiving Liang Dunyan and Tang Shaoyi, who have just arrived, and said not to disturb them." ”

"Give it to me." Chen Ping took the telegram from Zhang Zuolin's hand, paused for a moment, gritted his teeth and ordered: "Tell Ning Xiaochuan that no matter what method he uses, I must ensure that Zhenyuan and Jingyuan arrive safely in the Ryukyus, and immediately arrange for the maintenance ship and tugboat to set off, even if it is with a tow, I will tow them back completely." ”

"Zhao Long, you come with me to see the young master." After Chen Ping paused, he gritted his teeth and continued: "In addition, immediately send all the news here to the fleet and tell Long Guozhang. ”

Chen Ping and Zhao Long walked out quickly, gritting their teeth and spitting out a few words, and in the bright light, everyone saw the hideous face of the chief of staff!

"Don't leave anything behind!" ——

In the Bahai Villa, Li Mo crooked the corners of his mouth and smiled from ear to ear.

One is a Chinese child who studied in the United States, the only one who has a lot of experience in finance, studied law at Yale University, and because his father lived in Nanyang for a long time, he chose finance, which was extremely rare among Chinese children studying abroad at that time, which was mainly influenced by his father's business in Nanyang.

And the other one is even more powerful, Tang Shaoyi, the historical premier of Beiyang!

But if Li Mo is asked to choose one of the two, I am afraid he will still consider Liang Dunyan first, because the most urgent need in Honolulu at present is not politicians or diplomats, but people who understand finance.

Especially in an era when literati have looked down on businessmen since ancient times, and officials despise them even more, and even many scholars are reluctant to be contaminated with the smell of copper, it is easy to imagine how important a person who is familiar with the Western financial system is.

Whether it is Li Enfu or Yan Fu, it is absolutely difficult to let them deal with political affairs, but when it comes to money, they have two sad faces, now that they are good, there is finally such a person who understands financial management in his hands, how can he be let go!

Therefore, as soon as Young Master Li opened his mouth, he handed over the financial power of the Government Council to him, making this newcomer who had just joined almost go crazy with surprise!

There is a good saying, a soldier dies for a confidant!

But the happiest thing is that he doesn't have to think about who to choose at the moment, whether it is Liang Dunyan or Tang Shaoyi, after staying in the Ryukyus for a few days, they were infected by the thriving atmosphere here, and they all agreed to stay.

The new tea was fragrant, the atmosphere was warm, the three of them sat together, and a series of laughter broke out from time to time, no one noticed that the two figures had already pushed the door and walked in.

Hearing the sound of pushing the door, Li Mo hurriedly turned around, saw Chen Ping and Zhao Long, and was just about to introduce them to a new partner, but after seeing the serious expressions of the two, an ominous omen suddenly rose in his heart, and even Tang Shaoyi and Liang Dunyan slowly stood up, feeling bad.

At this time and now, the chief of the General Staff of the Pacific Army can be so serious, and I am afraid that the only thing that can make this war in the Far East is in full swing.

"The Beiyang Naval Division is finished!"

"The main force of the Russian army has advanced to Changchun, and Iketang Abe has been dispersed, and it will probably take a few days before it can continue to move south!" Without waiting for Li Mo to ask, Chen Ping continued to report, handing over the information, his voice cold and emotionless.

The corners of Li Mo's eyes twitched twice involuntarily, although he had long expected this day, but when he really came, he still felt as if his chest had been hammered by something!

The Beiyang Naval Division, the last army in China's modern history, most of the senior commanders had the backs of the foreign countries, and most of the grassroots officers came from poor families along the coast, and the army that had been dominating the Far East for ten years and was known as the backbone of the Qing Dynasty finally collapsed.

This is not a question of the soldiers, nor of the officers, and even less of the sailors themselves! It was caused by the current situation in the Qing Dynasty, and the emperor and queen party whitewashed the peace, embezzled military funds to hold a longevity banquet, and repaired the Summer Palace. Logistics and supply, the machine manufacturing bureaus in various places are also controlled by their people, and the mixing of shells with sand is only a corner!

What is more important is that the people who control this army have lost their enterprising spirit, and an army that lacks goals and is not enterprising, it is impossible to keep up with the rapid pace of the industrial age by purchasing only a few warships!

The Great Qing Dynasty has long been burdened with internal and external troubles, and the success or failure of Beiyang is just a condensed picture, after the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese Naval War to the strength of the Far Inferior to itself, the great powers have long seen through the true face of foreign powers and cadres, so the Russians will unscrupulously increase their troops in the Far East!

Today, half of the country's backbone has been broken, but even if Russia is avoided today, then there will still be Germany, Great Britain and the United States! In the eyes of the great powers, the Qing Dynasty, with a population of 400 million, was a huge fat cake, and everyone wanted to take a bite!

War is a continuation of politics, but also a continuation of the economy, industrial surplus will inevitably lead to the need for capital export, and the Qing Dynasty, with a huge population, has become such a piece of fragrant bait.

In the face of the closed Qing Dynasty, the great powers smashed open the gate with cannons and huge ships, forced the export of opium and a large number of cheap products, and plundered the staggering gold and silver, but the Qing government axe guarding the treasure house was powerless to change this situation, and could only silently watch the foreigners take away the profits, leaving a pile of empty shells.

Some people may say that soon after, the Qing Dynasty declared war on the Eight Kingdoms at the same time, showing a tenacious and unyielding spirit, but Li Mo confirmed that it was more of a helplessness, a dying struggle in despair.

Today of the Beiyang Navy Division is the tomorrow of the Qing Dynasty, relying on his current strength, can he save this edifice that is about to tilt? With history completely changed by itself, where will this lost ship go?

Li Mo clutched the information tightly, his eyes were dazed and scattered, far from being full of aura and wisdom as usual, as if the whole person had been washed again.

But soon, his eyes converged again, although at the beginning of the crossing, he also hoped to save the Beiyang Sailor, but since he couldn't change it, why should he change it? Sailors are not fleets! It's already wrong from the moment it was named, a sailor can never become a fleet!

What I need is a fleet, not a sailor!!

Behind them, Liang Dunyan and Tang Shaoyi silently looked at Li Mo's still emaciated back, since they stepped on the Ryukyus, they felt as if they were boiling with a scorching hot heart, but the news in front of them was undoubtedly a basin of cold water, not only poured them cold, but also anxious about the country across the sea.

Even when the two of them set off, they were worried about the Russian sending so many warships to the Far East, and when they visited the Ryukyu military camp, they faintly felt the tension and the atmosphere of the coming big war, but neither of them expected that the Russian fleet would return so quickly and defeat the Beiyang Naval Division.

Both of them are not fools, they both know that without Beiyang, it is impossible to resist the landing of the Russian army by relying on the Eight Banners and Green Battalions of the Qing Army, which have long been corrupted and old in Lushun and Jinzhou, not to mention that the Russian Army from the border has also reached Changchun!

The collapse of the Northeast is a foregone conclusion, whether it is Fengtian's Nie Shicheng Department or Song Qing's Yi Army, there is no way to stop the Russians who are in their prime, maybe at this moment the emperor and queen party in the court are privately considering surrendering, and they are going to prepare for the cession of the three places in the Northeast!

At this time, who can turn the tide?

The two of them glanced at each other, and at the same time saw the shock in their hearts. Gradually, their eyes all converged on that young face, even Chen Ping and Zhao Long knew that although the young master never said that he wanted to save Beiyang, in fact, from the moment he suddenly attacked Yueben, everyone knew that he wanted to save the rotten Beiyang Naval Division, and this attachment was never let go!

But the confusion in Li Mo's eyes made the four of them worry at the same time, but the haze in their hearts was quickly blown away by a smile, only to see that he was only stunned for a while, and his eyes sharpened again, as everyone usually saw, and the corners of his mouth also hung a smile that everyone was familiar with.

"Inform Feng Qi to declare war on Russia as originally planned!"

"Immediately after the declaration of war, cut off all telegraph lines from Yanjing, Tianjin, Yantai and other places to Lushun!"

"Order the troops in Arthur and Jinzhou to intercept and kill all Russian personnel who go to the liaison fleet, and be sure to make the Russian fleet blind and deaf by the morning after tomorrow!"

"Order the ships that are on surveillance in the open sea to abandon the method of long-range tracking, to reconnoiter at close range, and if necessary, they can consider whether to attack the Russian ships on their own, and only one sentence, be sure to make Withoeft nervous."

Li Mo turned his head, looked at the newcomers Liang Dunyan and Tang Shaoyi with a bright smile, and blinked: "Two gentlemen, I'm going to declare war on Russia, don't you want to come and witness it for me?" ”

After speaking, without waiting for an answer, he immediately strode out, Chen Ping and Zhao Long followed closely behind, Liang Dunyan and Tang Shaoyi were also slightly stunned, and quickly chased after them, with firm and fast steps......

(To be continued)