Three days after the Battle of Fengdao, Ding Ruchang's telegram and details about the battle were finally delivered to Lao Li's desk. The most powerful official of the Qing Dynasty, who had been in charge of the army for decades, had never opened the battle report with such trembling as this time.

.as if this

The news of victory is a fragile thing, and it will disappear if you are not careful. Chen Jinkui, Cheng Biguang and Hannagan, who came from Lushun to report, stood aside, preparing to describe this to Li Hongzhang.

Details of the battle.

"What a great victory. The Qing Dynasty defeated foreign invaders at sea for the first time since the founding of the country. This Jishi really lived up to my expectations. He sank two Japanese main cruisers in one battle. He is really a tiger general. Youqiao, get ready.

Writing a book, this time I want to take credit for those who have made meritorious deeds!" Li Hongzhang said with a red face.

"Then how to deal with Fang Boqian's matter?" Chen Jinkui said hurriedly when he heard that Lao Li did not mention Fang Boqian. Fang Boqian escaped from the battle and almost killed the army brothers on the Zhiyuan and Gaosheng Caojiang. Chen Jinkui was a warrior, and he only knew that there was

Mistakes will be punished, and even if you win the battle, you still can't cover up the mistakes of some people.

"What do Ding Ruchang and the three generals think?" Li Hongzhang asked with a frown.

"Admiral Ding, General Liu and General Lin meant to deal with it strictly. Now Fang Boqian has been captured and thrown into prison," Chen Jinkui said.

"What do you think of Ji Shi?" Li Hongzhang said dissatisfiedly. In his opinion, mentioning Liu Lin, the two generals, but not Xu Jie, clearly shows that the Beiyang Navy still has strong opinions on this upstart.

"I dare not say that because of my humble position." Chen Jinkui said, cupping his hands.

"What are you afraid of? You are spreading the word for Ji Shi, will I still be angry with you?" Li Hongzhang said angrily.

"General Xu's opinion is that severe punishment will not be tolerated." As he said this, Chen Jinkui made a beheading gesture.

"Hiss~~." Li Hongzhang couldn't help but sucked in a breath of cold air. No matter what, this Fang Boqian still has the title of Commander-in-Chief, and this Xu Jie kills him whenever he wants. Although Xu Jie didn't look down on Fang Boqian at the beginning, he once openly

He told Li Hongzhang privately that Fang Boqian could not be used, but Fang Boqian's escape this time was indeed beyond Lao Li's expectation, but Lao Li was still undecided about whether to kill Fang Boqian.

Because it is very simple. Although Lao Li also hates Fang Boqian very much, if he wants to execute him, he must find an excuse no matter what. If the matter of escaping from the battle is really brought out, even if it is a big victory, I am afraid that those in the court who have nothing to do are looking for trouble.

Will the Qingliu people make a big fuss out of this matter? Chen Jinkui can ignore politics. Xu Jie has no time to consider it now, but Li Hongzhang cannot but consider it.

"This matter has been spread among all armies. If we don't punish them severely, how can we convince the public? If someone in the German army escapes from battle, even if he is a member of the royal family, he will be sentenced to death!" Hannagan looked at him.

Li Hongzhang said hesitantly. Fang

Boqian's behavior of escaping and ignoring the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Marine Division made the instructor who was born in the German Army very angry. Whether it was from the provisions of the "Beiyang Navy Charter" or from a personal point of view, Hannagan wanted to

This coward who ran away from battle is gone forever.

"Hengqi, what do you think?" Li Hongzhang asked.

"Fang Boqian's behavior has seriously affected the reputation of the Beiyang Navy. His crime of escaping has spread in Lushun. Whether it is the Beiyang Fleet, Nanyang, Guangdong or Taiwan Navy, they are all extremely angry at his behavior!

If this kind of behavior is allowed, if a war breaks out, there will still be escapees? Cheng Biguang said angrily. Cheng Biguang can speak better than Chen Jinkui. First of all, he pointed out that this matter

The matter has spread, even if Lao Li doesn't say it, those Qingliu who are chasing after rumors will know and make a fuss about it. In this case, it would be better for Beiyang to take the initiative to kill Fang Boqian. The second time Beiyang is the navy of all parties

If the leader favors his own people, I am afraid that other naval forces will be dissatisfied with him in the future. Therefore, regardless of Beiyang's own interests or the overall situation, Fang Boqian cannot be retained!!

"Okay, everyone, take a rest first. I will give you a reply tomorrow." Li Hongzhang said a little tiredly.

After Chen Jinkui and others resigned, Li Hongzhang still couldn't make up his mind. Zhang Peilun, who was standing by the side, couldn't stand it anymore, so he whispered: "This Fang Boqian is also to blame for himself. Master Zhongtang once mentioned him. He was still in the naval battle."

With such a failure, we cannot blame Mr. Zhongtang for being ruthless. The most important thing now is to prepare for the subsequent battle. If Fang Boqian is not executed, not only will the Qingliu people not let Beiyang go, but there will also be discussions within the navy.

?”

"Hey." Li Hongzhang let out a long breath. "Yitang, you can't blame me."

"Is Yan Fu coming?" Li Hongzhang asked immediately.

"I've been waiting outside the door for a long time." Zhang Peilun returned. A moment later, Yan Fu walked into Li Hongzhang's study, saluted and stood to one side.

"Ji Shi said that the Beiyang Navy should stick to Haikou, what do you think?" Li Hongzhang glanced at Yan Fu and asked. To be honest, Li Hongzhang was very dissatisfied with Xu Jie's suggestion, since the fast fleet can achieve such a goal in one day.

Big advantage, Nabei

The foreign troops would not be any worse. In this case, they should concentrate their forces to directly fight the Japanese army. But Li Hongzhang was not a naval general after all. To be safe, he decided to ask this Tianjin sailor who had studied in the British Navy.

The teacher's school will organize Yan Fu.

"Reporting to the Zhongtang, my subordinates think that General Xu's suggestion is very correct. Although our Beiyang warships did not sink this time, the Jiyuan and Zhiyuan ships were severely damaged and need repair, and the two thousand-ton warships of the Nanyang Navy also

We were injured, so currently the only warships we can use in Beiyang are the Beiyang 5 Yuan (the speed in the distance is too slow--!), the Zhenhai ship of the Nanyang Navy, and the two thousand-ton warships of the Penghu Navy.

, this kind of combat power is slightly inferior to that of the Japanese Combined Fleet. Although the Beiyang Navy's fast fleet battleships are excellent, they are too few in number, with only 3 ships. Compared with the Japanese fleet's fast fleet, their strength is also slightly inferior.

Therefore, the best way at present is to look for opportunities to eat some more Japanese warships, and then gain a decisive battle with the Japanese fleet after gaining an advantage." Yan Fu replied after thinking for a moment.

"In that case, let's follow what Ji Shi said." When Li Hongzhang saw that Yan Fu, a naval expert, agreed, he naturally had nothing to say.

After solving the naval problem, Li Hongzhang exchanged opinions with some army generals in Tianjin. The generals agreed that since the supplies and materials of the Japanese army that landed in Incheon had been severely damaged, the Qing troops stationed in Pyongyang and Asan

can take advantage of the favorable opportunity to fight the Japanese army. Although most of the people who went to Korea

They are all old Beiyang troops, but the total number is 20,000, and there are also 3 battalions of the new army. The generals felt that they needed to use these troops to test the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army and collect relevant intelligence for the future decisive battle. Lao Li also

He gave up the unrealistic idea of ​​decisive battle overseas because Sheng Xuanhuai settled an account for him. If he wanted to

It is absolutely impossible to support a hundred thousand troops fighting in Korea without more than 50 million taels of silver. (You know, the Japanese army spent as much as 230 million yen on the Sino-Japanese War of 1898!!) Don’t say that Beiyang cannot afford this money.

, even the Qing Dynasty could not afford this money at once. (Historically, the Qing Dynasty was in A

During the Noon War, more than 20 million taels of silver were borrowed.) What is more difficult to raise than money is manpower. To support the army in fighting in Korea, it is impossible without hundreds of thousands of front-line troops. Moreover, Korea is mountainous and difficult to transport.

It was even more difficult. So Lao Li finally decided to adopt the strategy of first consuming and then fighting decisively on home soil.

Five days after the Battle of Toshima, the Beiyang Fast Fleet fought two battles in one day, sank five Japanese ships, and bombarded the Port of Inchon. The news spread around the world. Then the Qing Dynasty and Japan declared war on each other, and the two countries

Public opinion also began to encourage

The Qing people generally believed that the Japanese army was vulnerable to a single attack and sank five warships in one day. The army also bombarded the Incheon Port and killed and injured thousands of people. In the eyes of some Qing scholars,

so called

The Japanese army was just like this, they were just chickens and dogs, as if victory was just around the corner. However, Emperor Guangxu, who wanted to enhance his imperial power through foreign wars, was making a fuss about it. On the one hand, he greatly rewarded the officers and soldiers who participated in the war, and on the other hand, he paid Li Hong

Zhang said that even if he borrows debt, he will absolutely guarantee the supply of Beiyang's military supplies. Li Hongzhang, on the other hand, said very obediently that he would celebrate Lafayette's birthday with the victory of the Qing-Japanese War and establish prestige for the Qing Dynasty. In short, if the war situation goes smoothly, Beiyang's form

Everything is great. But at the same time, there is a lot of yelling in Japan, and the cries of "Death to punish the national traitors" are endless. In the eyes of ordinary people in Japan, there must be spies in the Ministry of War and the Navy. Otherwise, why would Kawara be beaten in a sneak attack?

As for the army, they are even more bastards. Even the navy was beaten. The army was not in a hurry to move the supplies and left them at the port for everyone to take the blame. Isn’t this a national traitor? (During the Russo-Japanese War, even Japan

aboard the combined fleet

Murahiko no Prime Minister was regarded as a national traitor by some people. After the Russo-Japanese War, because they did not receive the expected compensation, some people even sent death threats to Prime Minister Katsura Taro. As for rallies, vandalism, looting, etc. were even more serious.

universal

, even the official residences of the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister can be set on fire. This fully shows that the traitor's hair can be taken at will in Japan.) And the Japanese government has only one voice, vowing to avenge Toshima's shame!

That's all.
Chapter completed!