Chapter 123 It's all bad news

Yanjing, the Forbidden City.

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

Under the eaves of the corridor, a team of inner guards dressed in bright yellow coats stood cold and solemnly. The eunuchs and maids seemed to feel that the atmosphere in the palace was a little different. They stepped lightly against the wall one after another, carefully afraid that a person would accidentally go wrong.

One door, two doors and three doors...

The Zhumen is heavy, and the cloister is deep, separating the inner and outer world of the palace. As the weather gradually becomes cooler, the big palace becomes desolate and desolate.

In the imperial study, the copper stove has long been full of fragrant charcoal, so that the whole study is bathed in the faint sandalwood and warmth. But even so, the people standing in the study still feel cold.

Emperor Guangxu, dressed in a soap-colored dragon robe, glanced coldly at the several people in front of him before slowly withdrawing them. Many times, the continuous Korean war reports had made him a little frustrated. Now he waited for another night, which made him pale. He looked at the people standing in front of him and asked in a low voice, "Is there no news?"

Several people present are all exquisite, so I don't know what the emperor is asking about! They looked at the old man standing in the front one after another, and the corners of his eyes were **.

Li Hongzhang knew that all his eyes had been focused on his back at this moment. If there was a thorn in his eyes, he believed that he had been stabbed to death by these people at this moment. However, since he has come to this day, there is no reason to give up again. He couldn't help clearing his throat and bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen has sent hundreds of horsemen. Rui is stationed in the post hall. If there is any news, it will be reported in time.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured." After slanting at Li Hongzhang, the minister of the Ministry of Household, the Prime Minister of Yamen, and the emperor Weng Tonghe, who were also in the front stand, also comforted him, "I think that my Beiyang navy are all elites, and there are two giant ships in the middle army. I believe that I will be able to break through myself and restore North Korea."

Since his teacher said that he would win, Emperor Guangxu was also a little relieved and waved his hand: "You Aiqing, you have also worked hard. Let's break up."

"Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live." The ministers, who had already stood numbly, heard that your majesty had retreated, hurriedly shouted long live, and turned around and dispersed.

"Long live, hum!" Hearing the long-shouting voice of the ministers, Emperor Guangxu hummed slightly and then walked to the back of the hall.

Li Hongzhang's pace is the fastest. There is nothing he can do. The Korean war has been involved for too long. At this moment, Ding Ruchang has been out with the fleet for three days. In case there is a good or something! He can't explain it.

"Report..."

I'm anxious, all of a sudden! A figure rushed over from outside the palace gate. The forbidden army captain held the war report, raised it high, ran all the way, and even straightened up with the whip in the back of his head.

"What's going on! Shouting!" " Sun Yuwen was originally a red man in front of the back, and he was also the master of the iron team. At this moment, when he saw the captain's urgent report, he quickly stopped the other party and shouted.

"Your Excellency, Lushun urgent report." How dare the captain offend the red man in front of him and hurriedly replied.

"What!" Li Hongzhang rushed over with an arrow step. Before others could react, he had already snatched the war report. After opening it, he suddenly turned pale and his face was stunned. After a long time, he patted his thigh and shouted, "Yu Ting (Ding Ruchang's brand), wrong me!" Then, it was dark in front of my eyes and I fainted!

As Li Hongzhang fainted, the rest of the ministers gathered together and picked up the battle report of Beiyang's fiasco and looked at each other. Who should submit this battle report to your majesty? ——

In the Lushun military port, the mansion of the admiral of the large navy 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, and his face was gloomy.

At this moment, Ding Ruchang did not know that Li Hongzhang would faint after receiving the war report. He only knew that he must find a person in charge for this failure as soon as possible. Otherwise, even the middle hall would not escape the blame of the court.

What's more, he had been impeached once a month ago. Those Qinglius in the court saw that they were not good as early as the beginning of the war. Weng Tonghe and Sun Yuwen were even more popular. If it hadn't been for the people in the middle of the hall to turn the tide and block those attacks for him in the name of catching the wind and shadows, maybe he would have been attacked at this moment. I'm guilty of raiding the family.

Now it's time to repay the favor. Only some people can be sacrificed to protect Lord Zhongtang and himself!

After the cold eyes were scraped from each face, it stopped on one of them, but soon he turned away and turned his head to ask Lin Taizeng, "Kashi, how are the ships?"

Kaishi is Lin Taizeng's name. As the management belt of Zhenyuan, he is also the deputy admiral of Beiyang. Naturally, he has a greater right to speak than others. After hearing Ding Ruchang's interrogation, he quickly said, "As a witness to the Admiral, the five fast ships of Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Chaoyong, Yangwei and Guangjia sank. Dingyuan was broken, Zhenyuan was broken, and the rest of the ships were also damaged. The injury is relatively large, and it needs to be repaired immediately. Otherwise, the bandit will do it again, and we will be unable to fight again. Lin Tai once arched his hand and said.

"Ah." Ding Ruchang sighed. Unexpectedly, five fast ships were lost in this naval battle, and the rest of the ships were also heavily damaged and needed to be repaired immediately. I really don't know how to explain to Lord Zhongtang.

Ding Ruchang sighed, but the corners of his eyes swept on the man again. He suddenly asked, "Yitang, why didn't I see your Jiyuan on the battlefield?"

In an eye, all eyes around him were focused on Fang Boqian, who was standing at the end. Everyone knew that Jiyuan had participated in the naval battle, and that Jiyuan had returned to Lushun first. At this moment, the admiral said that he had not seen Jiyuan, which was obviously saying that Fang Boqian fled before the war.

Fang Boqian himself also knew that it was useless to explain. It was a great crime to leave first. He sighed and said, "At 11 a.m. yesterday, the eleven ships of our army encountered twelve Japanese ships outside Dadonggou. They fired each other and scattered the team first. In the war until three o'clock in the afternoon, our team was scattered by the other ship. However, seeing the sinking of the four enemy ships, our army fixed the long-range mast, and Zhiyuan was sunk. The four ships of Laiyuan, Pingyuan, Chaoyong and Yangwei disappeared. Seven people were killed in this round, with many injuries. The bow of the ship was cracked and leaking, and the cannons could not be released, so they were not allowed to sail back for repair. When the ship returned, the rest of the ship was still at war.

"Pon!" Before Fang Boqian finished his self-indictment, Ding Ruchang had already set up and shouted, "Fang Boqian, do you know your guilt!"

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

"Humph!" Ding Ruchang snorted coldly, stretched out three fingers, and said angrily, "First, retreat first in fear of the war and escape from the battle; second, first retreat, disrupt the team, lead Guangjia to escape, causing the ships to wait and see. The formation is scattered! Third, when running away, Yang Wei blocked his waist and broke it.

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

"Nonsense, I didn't escape from the battle, let alone hit Yang Wei. This is a crime to add! As for the scattered formation? I'm afraid Admiral, you know better than me why! It's ridiculous that some people were injured by their own people. Obviously, they can't command, but they still don't want to hand over the command. I want to ask why!"

"Susp up!" After Fang Boqian finished speaking, Ding Ruchang shouted violently and scolded, "Do you want to add a crime? Your Majesty, Lord Zhongtang has made a decision. I have written all the things of the naval war as a fold and reported it to Lord Zhongtang. Let's wait for your judgment!" After saying that, he slammed the table: "Come on, take Fang Boqian down and put him in prison. When the order of the court arrives, he will make a decision."

Fang Boqian originally wanted to defend a few words. At least the fact that the formation was scattered and the impact of Yangwei was purely false, but Ding Ruchang didn't give himself a chance at all. He had already reported these things, and he was so angry that he pointed to the other party and cursed: "Ding Ruchang, you are a peaceful remnants! Why do you frame me! Obviously, I don't understand naval warfare, but I have to occupy the position of admiral! I also ordered people to pile sandbags on the deck! It's ridiculous! Sandbags are piled up on the warship, which is unheard of in China and the West! Unheard of! If not, how could Zhiyuan and Jingyuan sink so quickly!"

" Shut up! Pull it down!" Ding Ruchang hates others mentioning his past the most. It's okay for those Qingliu to blame him for this question. Unexpectedly, Fang Boqian also dared to talk about it here. Moreover, he was born in the army and did not know much about naval battles. Although he often made up for it over the years, he was not as good as Fang Boqian, who had stayed abroad. Therefore, after hearing this, 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 was more solemn, and the needle could be heard. Even Lin Taizeng did not dare to come out.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him in fear, Ding Ruchang then said, "Order the craftsman to speed up the maintenance, each ship must complete the repair within half a month, and the violators will be dealt with by military law!"

"Wo." Everyone hurriedly agreed.

" From now on, the battery must be guarded at night to prevent the bandit from coming to attack!" After saying that, Ding Ruchang turned his head and walked out--

Tokyo, the base camp.

A major ran quickly through the passage, through the crowd in and out, and hit others to fall and scatter. However, at this moment, he could no longer care about this and must give this telegram to His Royal Highness as soon as possible.

"Report."

After the Major arrived at the door, he shouted and didn't wait for a reply. He quickly opened the door and was ready to rush in. Unexpectedly, someone inside happened to come out, and the two immediately bumped into each other.

The major fixed his eyes, quickly helped the person who was hit, and shouted, "Your Excellency, it's a big deal!"

"Baga!"

Prince Chihito of Arisukawa Palace is not happy enough today. There is no news about the fleet that should have come back so far. His Majesty the Emperor was even more furious at the declaration of war of the Hawaiian minister. He called himself and several other princes and scolded him, but as soon as he came back to change his clothes, he was hit by his guard. When he arrived, he was furious and scolded, "Bastard, where are your eyes?" Do you want me to dig it out?"

Hearing the prince's rebuke, the major quickly stood up and saluted before continuing, "I'm sorry, please forgive me!" All right! Come on, why are you in such a hurry? What's going on?" Prince Chi Ren got up and walked into the room again.

Major followed behind him, took out the telegram he had just received, and hurriedly read, "Report, the Sasebo base has an emergency call. At six o'clock in the morning yesterday, they were suddenly attacked by the Hawaiian Pacific Fleet. All the military ports were blown up, and all the warehouses and arsenals were burned. The Ninth Nagasaki Brigade and Gang, who were in charge of the garrisoned. The Army Yamada Wing, which has just arrived, has a total of 6,000 people, and there are also more than half of the casualties!"

"Nonsense!" After listening to the telegram, Prince Chi Ren, who had just picked up the water cup, shook his hand suddenly, and the teacup suddenly fell to the ground. At this moment, he had no time to pick up his beloved teacup. He grabbed the guard and shouted, "This is impossible!"

"I'm sorry, General, Mr. Sasebo was indeed attacked!" The guard lowered his head and stood up.

"Fack! This is a forgery!" Prince Chi Ren grabbed the telegram and shouted angrily, "There are only five warships in the Pacific Fleet. Even if Sasebo doesn't have a warship, they can't pass through the forts all over the waterways!"

"And what are those garrisoned soldiers doing? Why was it attacked yesterday morning, and now it's not reciprocated!" Chi Ren sat on the tatami and shouted hysterically.

"Report, this is because most of the soldiers stationed in Sasebo are loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, the telephone line has been destroyed, and the road has been blown off, so there is no way to spread the news at all. This telegram was sent by the Nagasaki Guards, so it was sent one day late."

"Fack! These bastards! Damn them, such an important telegram is a day late!"

Major lowered his head and did not dare to look at the angry prince: "Your Highness, according to the sighting of the survivors, they saw at least seven large warships entering the Sasebo Inner Port, two of which were at least 10,000 tons!"

"What! This is impossible!" After listening to the major's words, Prince Chi Ren couldn't believe his ears. There were seven large warships, two of which were more than 10,000 tons. How could this be possible! Isn't this the Hawaiian Pacific Fleet? It's a navy from European powers! Thinking of this, he immediately thought of another more anxious question. If the witness did not lie, then the combined fleet is now...!

"What about the fleet? Where is Ito Hengyou? What about our fleet?

"Report, the Nagasaki Garrison Wing, which sent the telegram, said that when the Hawaii Pacific Fleet left, it released three boiler tank sailors of the Matsushima. According to them, our joint fleet was ambushed by the enemy when it defeated the Chichina Beiyang Fleet in Daidonggou the day before yesterday. Yoshino, Akitsusu, Takachiho, Naniwa, The seven ships of Nishikyomaru, Chiyoda and Akagi were sunk, Hashidate, Itsushima and Matsushima were captured, and Birui and Fuso sank themselves.

"What about the rest of the people?" Although there was an answer in his heart, Chi Ren still blurted out, because compared with warships, those soldiers are the most important.

Major shook his head and replied, "The three sailors don't know the specific situation. According to what they said, General Ito Hengyou committed suicide before the Songdao was captured. As for the other prisoners, they were also taken away by the enemy."

"Damn it!" After hearing these words, Prince Chi Ren only felt that his strength had been pulled away. He sat on the ground softly, leaning against the wall as if he had been pulled out of his muscles and bones, and there were slurry-like beads of sweat on his forehead.

Five years, five years! His Majesty, the emperor shriveled in food and clothing and exhausted his efforts. All the people built it together and spent a lot of money on the main force of the joint fleet carrying all the hopes of the empire, which was destroyed.

At this time, Chi Ren suddenly understood the words that the Hawaiian minister brought to himself before he left Japan: "You can either compensate 100 million pounds, or we will take it ourselves!"

At that time, Chi Ren only felt that guy was arrogant and domineering! Too much bullying! I wish I could catch him immediately and chop him up with a knife! But what about now? It's like a loud slap in the face! Hawaii not only sent someone to pick it up, but also so fast and so sharp!

If you say that this is not premeditated, I'm afraid even a three-year-old child will not believe it. Prince Chi Ren began to repent at this moment. Why didn't he listen to Colonel Ma Han of the U.S. Navy at the beginning? If the Hawaii Pacific Fleet had been prepared earlier, how could it be today?!

The clock can no longer be set back to the past. Prince Chi Ren knows that he and the base camp, and even His Majesty the Emperor and all the people, will face a difficult choice, which is resistance? It's still compensation!

"Your Excellency, there is another piece of news." In the face of the furious Prince Chi Ren, the major trembled and took out another emergency telegram: "The Tokushima Garrison reported that several unknown fleets had been found in the Jiyi Waterway in five hours. Now the base camp is in a meeting to discuss. Please go and preside over the meeting immediately!" After a short rest, the major slowly helped Prince Chi Ren.

Tokushima! Chi Ren was shocked for a moment, suddenly woke up, and muttered to himself, "Osaka! "Kobe!"

It seems that in order to cooperate with Prince Chi Ren's words, a flustered footsteps came from the outside. Before the major could see the person coming clearly, he heard the other party shouting, "Your Excellency, Osaka, Kobe emergency! Three hours ago, the Hawaiian Pacific Fleet used the early morning fog to cover and suddenly attacked the harbor! The two places were heavily shelled at the same time. At present, the shelling is still continuing, and the losses are very heavy. According to witnesses, they also organized soldiers to land, burned a large number of warehouses and supplies, and even all the cargo ships in the harbor were robbed!"

"Osaka, Kobe!"

Under a series of bad news, Prince Chiren finally couldn't stand it. He held the wall and gasped, "Order all the harbors along the coast immediately to be ready for the enemy's sneak attack. In addition, send someone to immediately mobilize all the warships that can be mobilized and gather in Yokosuka!"

"Contact the United Kingdom, the United States and France." Before Prince Chi Ren finished speaking, the hand holding the wooden door suddenly slipped, and his body immediately collapsed in the young commander's arms, and his eyelids turned over and fainted.

The moment before he fainted, he suddenly thought of another place!

Eta Island!.

(to be continued)