Chapter 236 Failure Unbreakable

All signs indicate that the Japanese army will launch the Shandong Campaign within 20 days, and their main target is Weihaiwei.

The war is approaching, and there is no commander on the core fort of Weihaiwei!

Weiwei coastal defense is divided into land defense and maritime defense. Land defense is under the unified command of Dai Zongqian, the commander of Weihaiwei Army, including the forts of the Weihai Guard Port. Ding Ruchang is an admiral of the navy, and his fort is not under his jurisdiction. Now, the Weihaiwei war is approaching, and the Beiyang sailors are facing life and death. Ding Ruchang did not dare to be careless and personally inspect the Japanese island battery. Unexpectedly, the Japanese island battery would be so ridiculous!

The lieutenant said, "Your Excellency, not only the Rishima Fort, as far as I know, there is no command on at least five forts."

Ding Ruchang's face turned blue. I have known for a long time that the army of the Qing Dynasty was cowardly and incompetent, but I didn't expect it to be so incompetent!

"Report your name and position." Ding Ruchang said.

"Duan Qirui, graduated from the first phase of the artillery department of Tianjin Military Academy. He once built a fort in Lushun, and is now an instructor of Weihai Wei's Military Academy."

"I now appoint you as the leader of the Japanese island battery!" Ding Ruchang said in a low voice.

Duan Qirui pondered, but did not answer.

"Why, you don't want to? It turned out to be a greedy and afraid of death!" Ding Ruchang shouted.

Duan Qirui said Angly, "Admiral, as an instructor, you don't have to be on the front line of the fort. The humble position did not avoid danger and took the initiative to come to the Rishima Fort in order to serve the country! However, without Lord Dai's order, he dared not accept the order.

Only then did Ding Ruchang realize that the fort was under the jurisdiction of Dai Zongqian, and the Admiral of the Beiyang Marine Division had no right to intervene in the affairs on the fort.

Ding Ruchang looked at the vast sea and sighed.

The loss of Lushun has completely torn off the bright coat of Beiyang sailor! Before this, as the only modern high-tech service in the Qing Dynasty, the military rated the Beiyang Marine Division very highly, and the army generals would naturally be lower in the upper half in front of the Beiyang Marine Division generals. At least in Weihaiwei, Admiral Ding Ruchang has always been the same. The army general assigned to Weihaiwei and coastal defense generally does not object to his suggestion.

However, now, the army generals have begun to despise the Beiyang Marine Division! I despise him as a sailor admiral!

Lushun was lost, and the Beiyang Marine Division became the target of public criticism. It is generally believed that the reason why the Japanese army could easily capture Lushun was that the Beiyang Marine Division passively avoided war and did not provide support to Lushun from the sea.

However, Ding Ruchang disagrees with this conclusion!

In fact, the strategy of "avoiding war to protect ships" is the only correct choice!

After the Battle of Dadonggou, the navies of Qing and Japan suffered huge losses. The Beiyang Marine Division not only lost several warships, but its giant cruisers Zhenyuan and Dingyuan were also scarred, but at the same time, at least five Japanese warships lost their combat effectiveness.

Generally speaking, both the Beiyang Marine Division and the Combined Fleet have lost the ability to fight in a short period of time.

However, the war is not just about guns and cannons, but also about the country's industrial production capacity!

After five Japanese warships that lost their ability to fight were towed back to the military port, they were repaired in just 15 days!

This is a miracle of the Japanese shipbuilding industry! At the same time, this is also a miracle of the Japanese people's dedication to war! Within 15 days, tens of thousands of Japanese workers worked on warships 24 hours a day, radiating unimaginable perseverance and endurance, and some even died of fatigue.

When the severely damaged Yoshino sailed out of the repair dock with a new look, Western observers were stunned!

What they see is not a warship that has restored its combat effectiveness, but the dedication and inexhaustible spiritual energy of a country's citizens!

This alone is enough to frighten the Western powers!

On the contrary, the Beiyang sailor, after the severely damaged warship entered the dock, the maintenance workers were lazy, causing the maintenance period to be delayed again and again.

Those so-called workers are just local forced husbands. They don't understand what the war has to do with their lives. The only purpose of entering the dock is to earn money to support their families, and even have a considerable part of their labor income to be handed over to local officials as harsh taxes.

The people are out of touch with this war!

Although Li Hongzhang repeatedly urged Ding Ruchang to quickly repair the warship and put it into the Liaodong Campaign, it was not until the Japanese army launched the Liaodong Campaign and launched an attack on Lushun, the injured warship of the Beiyang Marine Division still did not recover its combat effectiveness.

Zhenyuan and Dingyuan, the two so-called sea giants, are just for decoration.

Lushun was in an emergency, and the court kept urging the Beiyang navy to go to sea to fight against the joint fleet. Ding Ruchang had no choice but to lead the unrepairing Zhenyuan and Dingyuan to travel to sea, but he did not dare to meet the joint fleet. Once there was an exchange of fire, the Beiyang Marine Division would be doomed!

The loss of Lushun is not the failure of an army, but the failure of a country!

This war exposed the decline of the Qing Dynasty from all aspects!

Ding Ruchang turned around helplessly and saw Liu Buchan behind him.

Liu Bu toad's face is withered, his expression is dull, and his two empty eyes look at the sea. He has become a lonely and helpless loser from the heroic young senior general of Beiyang Marine.

After Lushun was lost, Liu Bu toad's spirit collapsed!

The cruelty of war is not only to take human lives, but also to destroy people's beliefs!

The Beiyang sailor he created proved to be an embroidered pillow! The spiritual pillar he relied on all his life was completely collapsed!

Ding Ruchang asked coldly, "Liu Buchan, what's your opinion?"

Liu Bu Toad lowered his head and said weakly for a long time, "Maybe the lock of the cannon on the turret should be removed."

Ding Ruchang suddenly sweated profusely.

Remove the lock of the cannon, which means that the cannon can never fire shells!

"Liu Bu Toad, what did you say?" Ding Ruchang asked in a trembling voice.

"At least, the lock of the Dragon Temple mouth turret should be removed! The 28cm cannon on that turret can cover the whole Weihaiwei!"

"Liu Bu toad, don't you believe that the army can defend the fort?"

Liu Bu toad's face was pale and he nodded slowly.

The purpose of removing the lock is to prevent the Japanese army from using these cannons to bombard the warships in the military port!

That is to say, Liu Buqian predicted that Dai Zongqian's army defense system would inevitably collapse under the attack of the Japanese army! The fort on the road is bound to fall into the hands of the Japanese.

"However, we have strengthened the defense of Rongcheng!" Ding Ruchang said.

About half a year ago, in the martial arts hall of Tianjin Wubei School, student Zhou Charter, as the commander of the Japanese army, landed from Rongcheng Bay and easily captured the base camp of Beiyang Marine Division.

This sand table exercise heralded the Japanese land offensive route. Li Hongzhang, the loser of the exercise, accepted the result. Half a month ago, Li Hongzhang sent an order to Shandong to strengthen the defense of Rongcheng. In the past few days, Japanese warships have frequently approached Rongcheng Bay, which shows that the Japanese army will land in Rongcheng Bay!

To this end, Shandong governor Li Bingheng urgently transferred five battalions of the Qing army to be stationed in Rongcheng and Lidao.

Rongcheng has strengthened its defense, which seems to have filled this loophole.

Li Bu toad shook his head and sighed: "The failure of the Qing Dynasty is not because of strategic mistakes. In terms of Rongcheng, there are thousands of troops and horses, which can't stop the Japanese attack!"

"Bang Bang..." Several gunshots suddenly sounded on the Beishanzui fort directly opposite the Rishima Fort.

"What's going on?" Ding Ruchang asked.

Duan Qirui said, "Admiral Bing, the three battalions of the Suizi Army are bravely making trouble and planning a mutiny. Lord Dai is punishing the first evil!"

Ding Ruchang was in a cold sweat again, and the war was imminent, but the Qing army was still fighting infighting! The army usually scatters sand. This battle can't be fought!

Ding Ruchang said in a trembling voice, "Liu Guandai, immediately inform Lord Dai and ask him to order to remove the lock of the cannon on the mouth turret of the Dragon Temple."

Duan Qirui said, "Admiral, I think Lord Dai will not agree."

"Why?"

"I'm sorry for being humble, this is humiliating the army!" Duan Qirui said.

Ding Ruchang said angrily, "So, are you watching the Japanese bombard the Beiyang sailors with cannons there?"

Duan Qirui shook his head: "Admiral, the fort has not fallen into the hands of the Japanese yet!"

"When it falls into the hands of the Japanese, it will be too late!" Ding Ruchang sneered: "Duan Qirui, do you really believe that the army can defend Rongcheng Bay?"

Duan Qirui was silent. This is a big joke in military history. They know that the Japanese are going to land in Rongcheng Bay, but they are unable to defend it!

"Maybe we still have a chance." Liu Bu toad said in a low voice.

"Ter up." Ding Ruchang seems to have caught a life-saving straw.

"The Beiyang Marine withdrew from Weihaiwei and went to Fujian."

"Hahahaha..." Ding Ruchang looked up to the sky and laughed: "Give up Shandong to the Japanese! The Beiyang sailor just saved it. How can the Empress Dowager forgive me? What's the face of the Beiyang sailor? Oh my God! Guard is death, escape is death! Why did I, Ding Ruchang, fall to this point!"

Duan Qirui said, "Admiral, what if the Japanese army has no time to take care of Shandong?"

"Duan Qirui, what kind of spring and autumn dream do you have!" Liu Bu toad scolded.

"If an army enters Liaodong, the situation will be very different!"

Ding Ruchang looked up to the sky and sighed: "Song Qing's 200,000 army is in Liaodong. What happened? They can't even touch the edge of Jinzhou! The army of the Qing Dynasty, even if there are millions, is just a pile of straw!"

Duan Qirui whispered, "Admiral, there is an army that is different from the army of the Qing Dynasty! Maybe they can do it!"

Liu Bu Toad suddenly woke up: "You mean Zhang Jun?"

Duan Qirui nodded.

Ding Ruchang was stunned and faced the north, but sighed: "Are they the army of the Qing Dynasty?"