On September 16, all 4,000 Mingjun troops finally boarded the five transport ships belonging to the Beiyang.

With the order of the Navy Admiral Ding Ruchang, the set sail signal rose on the mast of the Dingyuan iron-clad ship, and the high-pitched whistle sounded throughout the sky. Dozens of sailors struggled to twist the huge discs, and the dark and thick iron anchors were slowly lifted from the water and tightly fixed at a specific position in the bow. In the power compartment, the blower had begun to fill the circular boiler with fresh air, and the sailors sent a shovel of coal into the boiler, and the fire was raging and machinery roaring. The high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor fully released the internal energy it contained in a specific area, pushing the steam engine to perform regular reciprocating operations.

At 1 a.m., the huge Beiyang fleet set off with an anchor. The displacement exceeds 11,000 tons. The large battleship, which has been renamed the Kaiyuan, took the lead and sailed in the front of the fleet. Behind her, the main battleships such as "Dingyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Zhiyuan", "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan", "Jiyuan", "Jiyuan", "Guangjia", "Shaoyong", "Yangwei", "Pingyuan", "Pingyuan", "Guangbing", "Zhenzhong", "Zhenbian" and other main battleships, as well as

The torpedo boats "Fulong", "First Right", "Two Right" and "Three Right" advance in sequence, and lined up in two columns, which is what the Beiyang Navy calls a pisces formation. Due to the tight time, there is not enough time to form a new formation suitable for the Kaiyuan ship; in addition, Li Hongzhang did not want the Beiyang Navy to fight head-on with the Japanese main fleet at all. This battleship that fought on the side was strangely incorporated into the bow of the enemy array that the Beiyang Navy has always adhered to.

Although Ding Ruchang really wanted to quickly transport the army to North Korea to land, he understood better that this large-scale maritime troop transport operation would never allow any mistakes in safety. In order to ensure that he ordered five troop transport ships full of soldiers and supplies to unpack one hour later than the escort fleet and set out along the waterway opened by the main force of the Beiyang Navy. In this way, even if the fleet encountered the main force of the Japanese Navy halfway, the warships could discover Japanese ships first, thereby covering the transport ships in the rear to turn and evacuate.

Under the bright moonlight and in the vast dark night, more than twenty ships of various types were subject to wartime light control and slowly moved towards the east. The waves were faintly sounded and the mechanical sounds were slightly loud. If you turn on the Korean Peninsula chart, corresponding to the Luojingpan on the flagship "Dingyuan", the destination of this voyage was already very clear. In the admiral command post, Ding Ruchang, who had a faint bloodshot in his eyes, pressed his finger on the low-scale chart, a place name that aspiring people who have a deep understanding of China's modern coastal defense will never forget. It focused everyone's eyes under the dim light.

"Dadonggou!"

Ding Ruchang looked around everyone and said slowly: "According to the Zhongtang military order, the fleet will advance along the coastline of the Liaodong Peninsula and finally unload and disembark at the Dadong Port at the mouth of the Yalu River. The success or failure of this operation will directly determine the battle situation on the North Korean front. I believe everyone can understand the importance! In the next six hours, all the people in the office must cheer me up and act carefully, and have you heard it clearly?"

"Abide by the military order!" Everyone looked solemn and answered in unison.

Liu Buchan looked at the naval admiral standing in the first place, with a complicated expression and wanted to speak but stopped. Ding Ruchang keenly noticed the abnormality in his arms. He turned his head and looked directly at Liu Buchan's eyes: "Zixiang, do you have anything to say?"

Liu Buchan gritted his teeth and said, "I dare to ask the military gate, what will happen to the Beiyang Fleet after the Army landed in Dadong Port?"

Ding Ruchang said with some displeasure: "Two days ago, when the fleet set out from Weihaiwei, hadn't it already formulated all the steps of this operation? When the army landed in Dadong Port, the Beiyang Navy immediately turned back, turned back to Weihai through Dalian, and continued to act as a tiger in the mountains to shock the Japanese. As the leader of the fleet's flagship, why do you even ask me this?"

In normal times, Liu Buchan must have lowered his head and kept his eyebrows silent; but today Liu Buchan is obviously different from usual. After being questioned by Ding Ruchang, Liu Buchan met his gaze and said in a humble and arrogant manner: "The Japanese warship has appeared on the banks of the Datong River. Why don't the military gate go south to find the enemy and find the Japanese ship to annihilate it to avenge the Fengdao shipwreck?"

As soon as this statement was spoken, it was like a huge rock pouring into a calm lake, causing an uproar. Everyone couldn't help but stop their work and turned their eyes to the naval admiral. Faces with different faces showed a look of expectation at this moment.

Ding Ruchang's narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and his sharp eyes seemed to be about to penetrate Liu Buchan's eyes and reach the depths of his mind. For a moment, the entire admiral conference room was silent, and only the low sound of the steam engine operation came from the bottom cabin, which reverberated in this space of less than 40 cubic meters.

After a while, Ding Ruchang slowly said: "Zixiang, let me talk first, why did we land in Dadonggou, the junction of China and North Korea, instead of directly transporting the army to Pyongyang, the frontline?"

Liu Buchan was slightly stunned, and then he told the whole story without thinking about the cause and effect of this troop transport.

It turned out that there were two ways to launch the Beiyang Army into the Korean battlefield for reinforcements. One was to cross the Yellow Sea by boat and go directly to North Korea; the other was to advance along the northeast land route and cross the Yalu River to enter North Korea. The mode of shipping by sea is naturally efficient, fast, convenient and fast. However, since the outbreak of the Battle of Toyoshima, the situation in the Yellow Sea has suddenly become tense, and Japanese warships frequently appear in this sea area, which greatly increased the risk of shipping by sea. If you are not careful, you will most likely repeat the mistakes of the Fengshima shipwreck.

There was a situation where he was sneak attacked halfway, but the journey was long, the mountains were high and the river was long, and a large amount of baggage was transported, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive. Long-distance march also had an adverse impact on the preservation of the combat effectiveness of the troops. After careful weighing, Li Hongzhang finally made a compromise plan: that is, the army first took a boat and headed to Dadong Port at the mouth of the Yalu River along its coastline; after getting off the boat there, he then entered North Korea by land. Because this method took into account the characteristics of safety and efficiency, it was soon implemented during the war transport operations.

Ding Ruchang snorted and said, "It's good that you know. In this operation, sending these 4,000 Beiyang soldiers safely to Dadonggou is a great achievement! Our responsibility is to protect the army so that they will not be invaded by Japanese warships during the shipping process; Isn't this a move to search for war in the southeast?

"But the military gate, we can wait until the army lands safely, and patrol the seas south for a section of the sea, and it is not too late to turn back! If one or two Japanese ships acting alone are found and gathered to annihilate them, the upper part can repay the ruthless kindness, and the lower part can be snowed and the soldiers who died in the death of Feng Island will vent their anger. It's so great!" Liu Buchan said anxiously.

"Nonsense!" Ding Ruchang shouted softly. Although the voice was not loud, it made everyone in the conference room tremble. The blue veins on his forehead were protruding, and a scene of extreme disharmony appeared under the wrinkles. He said sternly: "Liu Zixiang, do you really have no idea about the situation in the court and the situation of Zhongtang! Why can Beiyang become the Beiyang today? Why can Zhongtang go through the officialdom and stand firm in the center? Going south to patrol, it will ignore the safety of the entire fleet; if it ambushed, it will cause damage to the soldiers and generals; and if the Japanese ship takes advantage of the opportunity to attack Weihai again, how do you ask me to explain to the court and to Zhongtang?"

Looking at Liu Buchan's face slightly red due to excitement, thinking of the middle-aged man in front of him for more than ten years in the Beiyang Navy, who was rigorous and meticulous and conscientious, and was leaned on by himself as his arm. Ding Ruchang couldn't bear it. He sighed and said, "Zixiang, I understand that you are young and energetic, and are eager to avenge this bloody hatred for the death robbery. I am not holding a sensation in my heart? But, in his position, I must plan my own affairs. As the admiral of the Beiyang Navy, I shoulder the trust of the court and the high hopes of the court. I want to wipe out the Japanese bandits and protect the ships. Now, I can only be careful step by step, walking on thin ice, how can I act irresistibly and ignore the overall situation?"

Liu Buchan remained silent and clenched his fists. He didn't know what Ding Ruchang was in trouble? The enemy was facing the enemy, but he was attacked and suspicious by those Qingliu, and wanted to get rid of it quickly. Although Li Hongzhang had been protecting him in every way, the burden Ding Ruchang was borne can be imagined. However, the shadow of the Fengdao shipwreck had been lingering in his heart, and he was always ready to fight back and retaliate. Now with the addition of such a large iron ship, how could he not want to make any moves?

Ding Ruchang turned around, turned his back to everyone, and said lightly: "I am tired, go to the residence to take a break first. During the period when I was away, all the affairs of all the fleet were managed by Guandai Liu." He paused and added: "If you encounter Japanese naval combat ships in the middle of the journey, be sure to report them to me as soon as possible."

Everyone claimed yes.

Ding Ruchang nodded, pushed open the door and walked out of the conference hall, and through the narrow and dim aisle, he came to his room of several square meters. The moonlight was like water, and through the bright porthole, it slanted on the old man who had too much burden and was exhausted. He raised his hands behind his back, suddenly sighed quietly, and murmured: "I hope the Pyongyang frontline can be as solid as a soup."
Chapter completed!