Chapter 181 From Elders to Sinners

All the last 20 soldiers of the mixed brigade chose to fight, and they died under Zhang Jun's knife without exception.

The Battle of Anzhou is over.

The Japanese mixed brigade gradually worn out in the tug-of-war with Zhang Jun.

The Second Wing suffered huge losses when it attacked the Qiaochuan River, and in the subsequent retreat, it could not take care of each other at the beginning and the end. It was bitten by Zhangjun's troops crossing the river. Finally, the regimental commander and more than 600 officers and soldiers died at the gunpoint of the Second Regiment.

The first Wing was seriously consumed when it attacked the tire peak. There were as many as 800 Japanese soldiers who died on the highlands of the tire peak. In the subsequent retreat, Aokiyuan was eager to rescue Anzhou and ordered the troops to act separately, resulting in the whole brigade scattered on dozens of kilometers of fronts and being defeated by the Zhang army. In the end, only the joint captain led a brigade of 500 remnants to the Daning River, and all the others were surrounded and destroyed.

Anzhou was lost, and the brigade, led by the joint captain, went east and entered the sea. After more than ten days of drifting, it returned to southern North Korea. Along the way, people suffered from injuries, famine and death, leaving only more than 100 people alive to return to southern North Korea. This is the only surviving force of the mixed brigade. Finally, the joint captain who led this unit committed suicide!

There were nearly 5,000 people in the mixed brigade north into Yizhou, and the whole army was destroyed.

The second regiment of Naha 5 preempted the Dayueling before the 5th Division of the Japanese army, condescending, and cut off the throat of the 5th Division to the north.

When a friend from Shanxian County arrived at Dayueling, it was already 12 o'clock in the middle of the night. At this time, he received three messages.

The first news came from Anzhou: Aokiyuan died in battle, the whole army of the mixed brigade was destroyed, and there were no Japanese fighters north of Anzhou.

The second news came from the base camp: the base camp dismissed the commander of the First Army of Youpeng in Shan County and ordered him to return to the base camp immediately to report. Nozu Daoguan, the commander of the Fifth Division, is the acting commander of the First Army.

The third news came from Liaodong: the First Division of the Second Army of Dashanyan captured Lushun Port, the fortress of the Beiyang Marine Division, pulled out the stronghold of the Beiyang Marine Division in Liaodong, and the Qing army collapsed on the whole line of defense in Liaodong.

That is to say, when Dashanyan won a glorious victory in Liaodong, Shanxian Youpeng suffered a fiasco in North Korea! The destruction of the mixed brigade formed a sharp contrast with the victory of the First Army. The failure of friends in Shan County made the base camp more intolerable. What's more, his failure happened in violation of the command of the base camp!

The base camp's tolerance for friends in Shan County has reached its limit! Finally, he issued a severe rebuke to the military veteran.

Facing the towering Dayue Mountains, some friends in Shanxian County looked up to the sky and sighed and issued an order to the Fifth Division to retreat.

This is the last order he issued as a soldier.

After returning to Pyongyang, Yamagata Youpeng handed over his troops to Nozu Daoguan and left North Korea sadly. He never set foot on North Korea, and he never even left Japan again.

The glory of friends in Shanxian County is over. From now on, he is no longer the soul of the Japanese army, but the sinner of the country!

Of course, as a marshal of the empire, the emperor will not pursue him by law. Generally speaking, the emperor will allow him to retire.

However, the criticism of scholars, the cynicism of politicians, the grief and resentment of the people, and the suffering of conscience will accompany him all his life.

Youpeng in Shanxian didn't understand why he lost to an unknown Zhou Charter! The name Zhou Charter became his nightmare.

Nozu Michina took over as the commander of the First Army, but now the First Army has died in name only.

The third division under the jurisdiction of the First Army was transferred to the Shandong battlefield, leaving only the fifth division. The mixed brigade of the 5th Division was annihilated by the Zhang Army, and the actual strength of the 5th Division was only 6,000.

And the situation in North Korea he is facing is even more severe. On the one hand, Zhou Charter looks at Pyongyang as a winning teacher and may launch a counterattack at any time. On the other hand, the collapse of the mixed brigade not only contributed to the anti-Japanese enthusiasm of the North Korean people, but also made the puppet government in Seoul begin to waver. Third, the Western powers once again questioned the status of North Korea, especially the Russians, who always stared at North Korea. Originally, the Japanese were in North Korea**, and the Russians had no power. Now, Japan has suffered a big defeat, and the Russians feel that the opportunity has come!

Nozu Daoguan led 6,000 people and could only make every effort to stabilize the situation in the occupied area. He was unable to attack Zhou Charter or even defend Pyongyang.

Because Zhou Charter's troops can use Anzhou as a bridgehead to launch the Pyongyang Campaign at any time.

Japan's original plan to occupy the whole of North Korea has completely gone bankrupt. In northern Korea, Zhou Charter's troops occupied a vast area from Anju to the Yalu River.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese army launched a full-scale attack on Liaodong and Shandong, and the war progressed smoothly. However, this also dragged down the main force of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army could not withdraw troops to reinforce North Korea.

Because of Zhou Charter, there was a strange phenomenon in this war. The Japanese army firmly held the initiative of the war in the Qing Dynasty, while in North Korea, the Japanese army completely lost the initiative and even threatened to be expelled from North Korea by Zhangjun.

If North Korea is lost, the Qing Dynasty may launch an attack on Japan based on North Korea!

Nozu Daoguan faced a dilemma, either divide troops to defend various important areas of North Korea from north to south, block Zhang's attack, and suppress anti-Japanese elements from all over North Korea; or gather troops, retreat to the Linjin River, and rely on the Linjin River to stop Zhang's attack.

If the former is adopted, it will inevitably be defeated by the enemy, and it is difficult to take into account the Korean court in Seoul, which may turn against Japan at any time.

If the latter is adopted, Seoul can be tightly controlled and the southern part of North Korea can be preserved. However, this means that the Japanese army must abandon the area north of the Linjin River, including Pyongyang. Giving up Pyongyang means that the Japanese army has completely failed in northern North Korea. This is not a military event, but a serious political event.

Nozu Daoguan dared not make the decision and reported the two plans to the base camp. After a fierce quarrel, the base camp finally issued an order to Nozu Daoguan to give up Pyongyang.

This order* is that the Japanese army has won a decisive victory in Liaodong, and the battle of Shandong is about to begin! Target Beiyang Marine!

Japan decided to completely eliminate the Beiyang Marine Division and quickly launched a decisive battle to defeat the Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop.

In this critical period, Japan can neither lose North Korea nor send more troops to North Korea. The only way is to shrink its forces and control southern North Korea centered on Seoul.

On November 10, 1894, fifteen days after the destruction of the mixed brigade, the first army, that is, the fifth division, withdrew from Pyongyang and retreated to the Linjin River.

Two days later, Zhang's soldiers recovered Pyongyang without bloodshed.

Zhang Jun and the Japanese army took the Linjin River as the boundary, forming a north-south confrontation.

The news of Zhang Jun's recovery of Pyongyang shocked the world. However, soon, Zhou Charter's victory was covered by a tragedy.