Chapter 022 The Empress Dowager Returns to the Palace

The coastal artillery on the Golden Mountain Fort and the Pearl Reef Fort sounded in unison, and the dense artillery covered the Japanese ships on the sea. In the melee, two more Japanese ships had to retreat five kilometers away.

Three torpedo boats returned to the military port. In this attack, only Fulong escaped the enemy's artillery fire. The left one was slightly injured, the left double wounded, and lost its combat effectiveness. More than 20 crew members were killed, including the captain of No. 2.

Zhou Charter's eyebrows are locked.

In just half a day, three of the four torpedo boats were injured. If it goes on like this, the maritime mobility will soon be exhausted. When all four torpedo boats lose their combat effectiveness, the Japanese army will inevitably rush to the beach and start to grab the beach.

Although three warships of the Japanese army were injured, they did not lose their combat effectiveness, and the joint fleet may come to reinforce at any time.

Once the Japanese army launches a beach grab, the flaw of the serious shortage of the defenders of Lushun Fortress will be exposed.

It is imperative to strengthen the troops at Lushunkou before the Japanese launch the landing operation, or in the early stage of the Japanese landing.

The only way for Wu Peifu's first regiment to reach Lushun in such a short time is by sea.

If the reinforcements cannot arrive in time, Lushun will inevitably be lost again, and all the efforts made by Zhou Charter before will be lost. The Japanese army can calmly adjust its lineup and launch a more revering offensive against North Korea and the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the Qing Dynasty will still inevitably fail, and Zhang Jun will also not escape the end of the destruction.

Zhou Charter went to the telegraph machine and said, "To generate electricity to Pyongyang: Wu Peifu's first regiment, immediately go to sea from Anzhou and get closer to Lushun!"

The first regiment ventured out to sea, which was very risky, but Zhang Jun had no choice.

If the first regiment is intercepted by a Japanese ship, even if one battalion can rush to Lushun, it can play a decisive role in the battle of Lushun!

At this time, it depends on which side God is on.

The operator tapped the button for a while and said, "Teacher, the telegraph line in Pyongyang is broken!"

"What?" Zhou Charter asked, "What's going on? Is there something wrong with the telegraph machine?

"I don't think so." The operator shook his head.

"Did the Japanese cut off the submarine cable?"

"This is impossible." The operator said, "The Japanese don't know the direction of the submarine cable at all, and the cable is dozens of meters deep. Even if the Japanese know the direction of the cable, they can't destroy it."

"What's going on?" Zhou Charter asked.

The messenger hit the button urgently, and after a moment, he looked up and said, "Master, there is something wrong with Pyongyang. They refuse to give a signal."

"Pyongyang!" Zhou Charter was shocked!

Not only Wu Peifu's reinforcements could not reach Lushun, but also Pyongyang had problems.

That's Zhang Jun's life!

......

Beijing, Forbidden City, Yihexuan.

Concubine stood under the green bamboo by the octagonal glazed well and looked at the blue well water.

A beautiful face is reflected in the well water, and there is uncontrollable joy on the face.

Just now, Zhi Rui went into the palace to say good to her and quietly told her that Zhou Charter succeeded!

With lightning speed, Zhang Jun captured Lushun and wiped out 3,000 Japanese defenders. Yamaji*, the commander of the first division of the Japanese army, died! Liu Bu Toad led four torpedo boats and accidentally sunk the boat of Huashan Ziji*, the commander of the Japanese Navy, and Ziji was buried in the sea.

In one day, the Qing army captured Lushun, a strategic destination, and killed two senior Japanese generals!

This is the most glorious victory achieved by the Qing Dynasty since the beginning of the war! This victory is enough to offset all the achievements of the Japanese army in the early stage.

This is the victory of Zhou Charter and the victory of Liu Bu toad, but in the final analysis, it is the victory of Zhenfei!

She planned and facilitated the operation.

The Zhou Charter is good. Without the Zhou Charter, no one can do it without the Qing Dynasty.

However, Zhenfei is still very proud. Zhou Charter is certainly at stake, but if she hadn't operated secretly and let Zhang Zhidong give Zhou Charter a large amount of "donations", Zhou Charter would have been difficult to complete this difficult task.

Thinking of this, Zhenfei was a little disappointed and unconvinced.

The brilliance created by Zhou Charter can be shown to the world, but what Zhenfei herself has done dares not be made public. The world knows that Zhou Charter is a hero, but they don't know that Zhou Charter's success is at least half of the credit of her concubine!

Zhenfei curled her lips at the shadow in the well water, and the shadow also curled her lips.

Zhenfei blinked her eyes and said to the shadow, "Zhou Charter, let me ask you, who is more heroic than you?"

The shadow is silent.

Concubine Zhen frowned and said in a low voice, "Princess Bingzhen, of course, is more heroic than Concubine Zhen!"

Princess Zhen cleared her throat and shouted, "Are you telling the truth?"

Then, he lowered his voice and said, "Concubine Bingzhen, Zhou's words come from the heart, and there is no lie!"

Concubine "poof" laughed, and a bright smiling face was reflected in the well. Concubine Zhen's smiling face was extremely beautiful, but in the Forbidden City, few people saw her heartfelt smile, even the emperor!

Bear, a maid bent down and said, "Your Majesty, the emperor is here."

Princess Zhen was shocked and hurriedly restrained her smile.

Princess Zhen dares to show her inner joy to anyone, even the emperor, her husband.

Guangxu trotted along the corridor and waved to Zhenfei from afar: "My concubine, good news, good news!"

The eunuchs behind them bowed and hurriedly followed Guangxu all the way. They did not dare to stand up and run, so they had to bend down and run. It looked extremely funny, like a group of ducks.

Concubine frowned and sighed in her heart. As the king of a country, it is a great thing to calm down, and her husband, who has been an emperor for so long, is still so unstable.

Concubine Zhen knelt down: "My concubine welcomes the emperor. What good news, emperor?"

Guangxu pulled up Zhenfei: "Zhou Charter captured Lushun and killed the mountain and local governance! Concubine, this Zhou Charter is really loyal and brave, and I didn't see the wrong person! My Qing Dynasty has such a loyal and brave man. My ancestors are lucky, and the Qing Dynasty is lucky!"

"That's Emperor Hongfu Qitian." Concubine Zhen whispered that she had known the news for a long time, but she did not dare to reveal it, so she could only pretend to be deaf and dumb.

"My concubine, think about it for me. How should I reward him?" Guangxu asked urgently.

There was another sigh in Zhenfei's heart. Of course, the reward is deserved, but it is not yet time to be rewarded.

Zhou Charter recaptured Lushun, which only reversed the passive situation of the Qing Dynasty on the battlefield, but the whole battlefield situation has not been fundamentally reversed. In Liaodong, the Japanese army in Yingkou and Haicheng retreated, but in Shandong, the Qing army was defeated like a mountain. The Japanese army has surrounded Weihaiwei and broken through more than a dozen cities including Rongcheng. Jinan is in danger.

Moreover, the Zhou Charter's troops of Lushun will also be counterattacked by the Japanese army. Whether they can defend Lushun is the key to the whole Qing-Japanese battlefield. Once the Japanese army regains Lushun, the Qing Dynasty will still have the bad luck of failure.

The most urgent thing the emperor should consider is to take advantage of the Japanese army's attack on Lushun, organize troops, and launch a resolute counterattack against the Japanese army in Liaodong and Shandong. In this way, it can not only recover the lost land, but also delay the Japanese army and relieve the pressure of Zhou Charter.

If it continues, Zhou Charter can't keep Lushun, and the fighters created by Zhou Charter will be fleeting, and all the victories, that is, bamboo baskets, will be in vain.

However, the emperor turned a blind eye to this. He actually thought that the Qing Dynasty had won the war. In his opinion, the war was coming to an end!

"Your Majesty, I think that the reward can be postponed first." Concubine Zhen said softly.

Guangxu sank his face and said, "Shouldn't Zhou Charter be awarded? He is the meritorious official of my Qing Dynasty!"

"The emperor should immediately upload a decree to let the Qing army in Liaodong launch an attack on Jinzhou. Emperor, Zhou Charter is fighting alone in Lushun. If we don't take the opportunity to counterattack, Zhou Charter may not be able to support Lushun for long."

Guangxu was stunned and said hurriedly, "My concubine is right!" With that, he turned around and shouted to the eunuch behind him, "The decree is to order Songqing and Yike Tang's troops in Liaodong to rush south and cooperate with the troops of the Zhou Charter of Lushun to destroy the Japanese army in Liaodong!"

"Hit!"

A eunuch answered and was about to leave when he saw an elderly eunuch rushing from the end of the corridor and knelt down in front of Guangxu: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has returned to the palace!"

Guangxu hurriedly said, "Is the Empress Dowager going back to the palace? Concubine, we have to pick up quickly."

The middle-aged eunuch said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has returned to the palace, and Luan has arrived at Leshou Hall. Please ask the emperor and Empress Zhen to go to Leshou Hall to greet her."

Princess Zhen's heart skipped, and she knew that something had happened.

The Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly returned to the palace without any prior notice!

This is not a return to the palace, this is a coup!

Guangxu's face was pale, and he also knew that the Empress Dowager suddenly returned to the palace, and the consequences were serious. Although, he couldn't understand why the Empress Dowager returned to the palace at this time.

Guangxu gritted his teeth and said, "Come back as soon as you come back!" Zhou Charter won a big victory in Lushun. I would like to see what she can say!"

In Guangxu's view, Zhou Charter's victory is his victory! With Zhou Charter in front of him, the Empress Dowager dares not do anything to him!

Only Princess Zhen knows that the Empress Dowager probably already knows that!

The victory of Zhou Charter is the victory of the emperor, but it is the sin of the imperial concubine - the intervention of the harem in the government!

Half an hour later, Guangxu and Zhenfei knelt in the Leshou Palace.

A bead curtain isolates the empress dowager inside from the emperor and imperial concubine outside.

The eunuch Li Lianying read the decree of the Empress Dowager Buddha: "Princes handed over the foreign ministers, interfered in the government, and rebuked the title of Princess Zhen and handed it over to the House of Internal Affairs!"