Chapter 025 Siege

On the evening of the second day of the Chinese New Year, Ye Zhichao received a secret order from the Summer Palace. The Empress Dowager Cixi appointed him as the Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty in North Korea and immediately led his troops to cross the Yalu River and attack Pyongyang.

The title of Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty in North Korea was originally appointed by Emperor Guangxu to Zhou, but now, Emperor Guangxu has not removed the position of Zhou Charter, and the Empress Dowager gave this title to Ye Zhichao!

That is to say, in North Korea, the Qing Dynasty appointed two prime ministers, one appointed by the emperor and the other appointed by the empress dowager!

If purely from a political point of view, in the political life of a country, the emperor is the supreme head of the country, and the empress dowager is nothing!

However, in the Qing Dynasty, the appointment of the empress dowager was higher than that of the emperor!

The Empress Dowager Cixi openly ignored the appointment of Emperor Guangxu, which was originally the most funny thing in the world, but in the Qing Dynasty, it was a logical thing - the appointment of the Empress Dowager meant that Zhou Charter, the Prime Minister of North Korea, was illegal!

The appointment of the Empress Dowager is also equivalent to declaring that Zhang Jun is a rebel at the same time!

Ye Zhichao has only one mission to march into Pyongyang - to eliminate the rebels!

The Empress Dowager Cixi finally turned against Zhang Jun.

Ye Zhichao issued an order to cross the river. With the support of Cui Yugui, the generals did not dare to disobey the order. According to Ye Zhichao's deployment, they crossed the river from Anping Ferry in Jiulian City in turn.

At this time, Liu Kun, the imperial envoy, sent a warrant and ordered Ye Zhichao to leave Nie Shicheng's Wu Yi Army and Meng Mingshi's Hezi Army to be responsible for the defense of the Yalu River.

The Wuyi Army has five thousand people in seven battalions and 2,000 people in five battalions of the Zi Army. These two troops are the strongest in the Yalu River armies. Ye Zhichao has learned the interests of the Japanese army, and the combat effectiveness of Zhang Jun is not under the Japanese army. If you want to fight with Zhang Jun, the only thing you can really count on is Wu Yi Army and He Zi Jun. However, the two troops stayed in the Yalu River, which made Ye Zhi extremely frightened.

Liu Kunyi was an important minister of the imperial court, and his reputation was even above Li Hongzhang. Ye Zhichao did not dare to contradict him, so he had to be full of frustration. He led 50,000 troops to cross the Yalu River on a starry night, occupied Yizhou and advanced to Pyongyang.

Ye Zhichao was worried along the way. He was afraid of meeting Zhangjun. He knew that with the combat effectiveness of his troops, even if he met a small-scale Zhang army of hundreds of people, once the opponent resisted desperately, this 50,000-man army was likely to collapse.

However, Ye Zhichao was very lucky, and the main force of Zhang Jun was all gathered in Linjin River. Zhou Charter never dreamed that when the Qing-Japanese War was in full swing, under the aggressive attack of the Japanese, the Empress Dowager Buddha would cut off his back!

From Yizhou to Pyongyang, Ye Zhichao did not encounter any resistance. After two days of fearful march, the Qing army arrived at Pyongyang at 2 a.m. on the 28th and surrounded Pyongyang.

However, Ye Zhichao did not dare to order the siege.

Cowardice is Ye Zhichao's instinct.

When fighting with the Japanese, Ye Zhichao has never taken the initiative to attack the enemy. More than half a year later, Ye Zhichao is still extremely afraid of Pyongyang City guarded by Zhang Jun.

Ye Zhichao has 50,000 horses in his hand. Even if Zhang Jun is all in Pyongyang, the total strength is only 8,000. The comparison of the strength of the Qing army and Zhang army is 6:1.

Moreover, intelligence shows that the main force of Zhang Jun is divided into two parts, one in Linjin River, with about 6,000 people, and one follows Zhou Charter in Lushun, with 2,000 people. In the city of Pyongyang, there is no regular troops of Zhangjun, which is an empty city.

However, Ye Zhichao is still afraid.

In Xuanwu Guan, Ye Zhichao sat in the hall. Next to him, he sat Cui Yugui, the second chief of the Empress Dowager Cixi. In the hall in front of him, the generals stood left and right.

Cui Yugui wore a long shirt without helmet and armor. According to the Empress Dowager Buddha's order, Cui Yugui stayed in the army and could not interfere in military affairs. He just came to watch the battle on behalf of Buddha.

However, every time he summoned the generals, Ye Zhichao invited Cui Yugui out and let Cui Yugui sit beside him.

Ye Zhichao did this for two purposes. First, to reassure the Empress Dowager and show that everything he had done was not hidden from the second general manager, that is, he did not hide it from the Empress Dowager. Second, with the help of Cui Yugui to deter the generals, without Cui Yugui, Ye Zhichao really did not know whether these generals would listen to him.

Ye Zhichao cleared his throat and said, "Our army went all the way south from the Yalu River, and the generals moved forward bravely. Wherever they passed, the soldiers used their lives like bamboo, successively conquering the heavy towns guarded by the rebels such as Yizhou, Dingzhou, Anzhou and Pingcheng, killing countless enemies..."

"Kill countless enemies? Why didn't I see any of them!" Liu Shengxiu, the commander of the inscription army, raised his face and said in protest.

Liu Shengxiu is a famous Huai army general. This man is a good man in the war, and even the empress dowager knows his name. At the beginning, when Song Qing led his army to fight against the Japanese army in Haicheng, Liu Shengxiu disagreed with Song Qing and led the army to leave. Song Qing had nothing to do with him. In the end, the court had nothing but mud.

Ye Zhi was extremely embarrassed, but he was also helpless. What Liu Shengxiu said was true. After crossing the Yalu River, the Qing army was indeed "like a broken bamboo", but they had never met Zhang Jun. How could they "kill countless enemies"?

Ye Zhichao coughed and continued, "Anyway, our army can reach Pyongyang in two days, which is victory!" I have reported to the court to ask for credit for your generals. I hope you will continue to work hard and conquer Pyongyang in one fell swoop!"

Liu Shengxiu snorted and stopped talking.

Ye Zhichao continued: "Our army has 50,000 troops, and the total strength of Zhang Jun is less than 6,000, and the main force is still on the front line of the Linjin River. Pyongyang's defense is empty. This is a great opportunity for God to capture Pyongyang. The soldiers are noble and fast. I think that we should launch a siege of the city immediately. Otherwise, once Zhang Jun returns to Pyongyang, we will It's too much work."

The generals were silent and did not respond.

Ye Zhichao had no choice but to cheer up: "Being the high wall of Pyongyang, the important strongholds are Xuanwumen, Qixingmen, Jinghaimen and Datongmen. Among them, Xuanwumen is the core of Pyongyang's defense. As long as Xuanwumen is captured, Pyongyang's defense will inevitably be shaken. I don't know which general is willing to lead his troops to attack Xuanwumen?

The generals looked at me and I looked at you, but no one answered.

Ye Zhichao's eyes shifted to Zhang Gaoyuan, the commander of the Songwu Army. Zhang Gaoyuan hurriedly said, "The headquarters of the humble office lightly entered the court and did not carry siege instruments."

Ye Zhichao had to turn to Xu Bangdao, the commander of the arch guard army. Xu Bangdao said coldly, "The Beizhi Institute is deployed in the area of Datongmen in the north of the city. This Xuanwu Gate is not a defense area for Beizhi."

"Then ask former General Zhang Guang to lead the Qing army..."

Zhang Guangqian said in a hurry, "Mshal, most of the Qinqing army are old, weak, sick and disabled, which is not suitable for toughness."

The generals pass the shirk to each other, and no one is willing to take the lead.

Ye Zhichao had no choice but to face Liu Shengxiu. Before Ye Zhichao could speak, Liu Shengxiu said, "In my opinion, the army is well-equipped and led by young general Ye Tao himself. He is bound to be able to fight. He should attack Xuanwumen and make contributions to the court!"

Ye Zhichao was speechless.

The training army is Ye Zhichao's direct line. Eight months ago, Ye Zhichao led the training army to fight against the Japanese army in Chenghuan and Pyongyang. After Ye Zhichao returned to his post, he let his son Ye Tuo serve as the commander of the regular training army and equip the regular training army with the best weapons and equipment.

Because it is his direct line, Ye Zhichao also knows the details of the regular army.

This army has long been scared by the Japanese army. Now, what they are going to face is Zhang Jun, who is more interested than the Japanese army. When the training army heard the name of Zhang Jun, his soul dissipated, and this battle can't be fought at all.

Moreover, even if the army can fight, Ye Zhichao is reluctant to give up. No matter how cowardly the army is, it is also Ye Zhichao's family!

In the army of the Qing Dynasty, if a commander has all his direct line, this commander will not be regarded as a commander.

Therefore, from Yalu River to Pyongyang, the army has always been at the end of the whole army and has never taken the lead.

Ye Zhichao deliberately preserved his strength, which made the generals even more unconvinced.

The generals turned their back to each other, and no one was willing to take the lead. Ye Tao was furious and shouted harshly, "Liu Shengxiu, how dare you disobey the general's order!"

Liu Shengxiu glanced at Ye Tao and said coldly, "Ye Tao, this Pyongyang was lost in your hand eight months ago, and now it's time for you to take it back!" When I fought with the Nian army, you were still wearing open crotch trousers. You defeated general, what right do you have to call me a taboo!"

Ye Tuo couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled out his sword and rushed to Liu Shengxiu. Liu Shengxiu was also unambiguous. He pulled out his sword and jumped up, "Ye, if you have the ability, come here and I will accompany you!"

The generals hurriedly pulled the fight, and the hall suddenly became a mess.

Cui Yugui, the second general manager, sat in a chair, looked at the chaotic generals and sighed secretly in his heart. The Qing army has a strength of 50,000, but in the face of an empty city, there is a lot of internal fighting. What kind of climate can you expect from such an army? After losing Lushun, the Japanese still dared to fight the war, just to see that the army of the Qing Dynasty was scattered!

Ye Zhichao's face was pale and helpless, so he had to ask Cui Yugui for help: "Chief Cui, look..."

Cui Yugui stood up and shouted, " Stop it!"

The generals are quiet and can not give face to Ye Zhichao, but they must not give the back of Empress Cixi.

Cui Yugui knew very well that these generals were useless on the battlefield, but the Empress Dowager Buddha still had to rely on them. Without them, the Empress Dowager Buddha could not sit firmly! Anyway, they are still very interested in dealing with domestic rebels.

"All the generals are loyal and brave men of our Qing Dynasty." Cui Yugui said, "Today's debate is for public and not selfish. I hope you don't hurt your harmony. Please take your seats."

Liu Shengxiu and Yetao looked at each other, withdrew their swords and returned to their seats.