Chapter 367 Where is the Tangzhou fleet?

"Madman, madman..."

"Awesome, super awesome. I really impressed these Japanese people now. What is the gambler who is so jealous? At most, he will lose his entire net worth. At most, his wife and children will lose together. But these Japanese people who are so jealous of gambling can bet on the entire country at once... This is the real gambler!"

"Don't sigh. What should I do now?"

"What else can we do? We can't pull the Red Corps out to help them, right? Cheng Degui's girl is also a stick. He didn't know that he had left two cruisers in advance to block the way home of Yoshino... It's all leaking. The British sent their warning letter to my residence. If I intervene again, those John's cows will really be in a hurry."

"Are you still afraid of the British? Didn't you forcefully cut a large piece of land in Canada?"

"Of course I'm not afraid when I stay in Tangzhou. Whether the British come to us from the east or from the west, there are tens of thousands of miles. Even if they take a shortcut and come from Canada, they can't cross the Rocky Mountain. But it's different here. We can only reach the Qing Dynasty through the Pacific Ocean, which is more than 10,000 kilometers wide, but they only need to set out from India... It's much more convenient than us."

Zhili Governor's Office.

Reading Zhou Fu sent the battle report, Guo Jinzhang and Liu Tongfu started a new round of discussions. Cheng Degui failed to complete the prior mission, so he asked Yoshino to run away with the "Yoshino" and also made the Tangzhou fleet secretly join forces with the Beiyang Navy to destroy the Japanese fleet. As a result, the British were dissatisfied and the French were dissatisfied... Although Guo Jinzhang could not care about these two countries, he could not ignore the dissatisfaction of the United States.

Although the Tangzhou fleet left the Dabai Fleet to help fight the Beiyang Navy was originally a plan that the US government and Tangzhou had already booked, but the plan was secret, but the ideas of American citizens were open. Americans did not want their own country's fleet to become the target of command by other countries. In particular, the Tangzhou fleet was almost all Chinese from top to bottom... They were very worried that this was the beginning of Tangzhou's separation from the United States.

Therefore, Guo Jinzhang must take care of this dissatisfaction. Otherwise, it took more than ten years to barely start integrating into American society and the actions that will likely die. In that case, they will lose a lot of things, including the huge American market. If this failure is the case and want to start again, they will have to make greater and more arduous efforts.

"Don't talk about those. Anyway, the court doesn't need our help now..." Liu Tongfu smiled bitterly. In order to help the Beiyang Navy, Tangzhou has indeed encountered a lot of criticism these days. Especially those who deliberately provoked the Tangzhou government to show whether it is a state of the United States or a part of the Qing Dynasty... The new governor Xi Changshou frequently asked Guo Jinzhang for instructions through telegrams in the past two days, but he didn't get much help. He could only claim to the outside world that this was a secret cooperation plan that the Qing court and Tangzhou had already formulated, because everyone discovered that Japan had for the Far East and the

Ping also threatened the interests of the United States in the Far East and had long known Japan's action plan. In order to prove that Xi Changshou also brought out the "Qing Dynasty Expedition Case" he obtained earlier to prove that Japan had long been embezzled against the Qing Dynasty. In addition to these, Xi Changshou also under the guidance of Li Asheng and others, through Morgan, Rockefeller and others, and Tangzhou himself influenced major media in the United States, making the public opinion in the United States barely tilted towards the favorable direction for Tangzhou. However, as another protagonist of the joint action, the Qing court's reaction over the past few days was very depressing.

Empress Dowager Cixi and others immediately encountered trouble for Liu Buchan and others. The reason was very simple. These people dared to cooperate with outsiders behind the court. It was really outrageous. As the immediate boss of Liu Buchan and others and the direct commander of the Beiyang Navy, Li Hongzhang has also been criticized a lot these days. After all, Liu Buchan is only the commander of the Beiyang Navy. He is the owner of the Beiyang, and only he can truly decide whether to cooperate with the Tangzhou fleet... Although his identity is extraordinary, he is behind the court.

The court did this, obviously there was a saying that he would not take the court seriously. Military Minister Gang Yi wrote to Cixi for this, claiming that "if the Han people are strong, the Manchus will perish." It also said that Li Hongzhang's actions showed signs of his disloyalty to the court, so the court should "dismiss his posts and be able to serve as Manchus." Although Gang Yi's memorial was forwarded to Li Hongzhang by Cixi to show his strong trust in Li Hongzhang, this move failed to save the situation. The Qing court thus began to condemn each other between Manchus and Han officials, and the chaos was in chaos.

"How is Liu Buchan?"

Guo Jinzhang suddenly asked Zhou Fu again. The chaos within the Qing court was something he had thought of. After all, no matter which government it was, it would not feel good to find that his army had joined forces with a third party without notifying him. But he did not expect that the Qing court was so incompetent and slow... It was obvious that the Beiyang Navy should have taken advantage of the great victory of the navy and ordered the Beiyang Navy to cut off the retreat of the Japanese army invading the Korean and Japanese army in one fell swoop, and then ordered the troops entering North Korea to defend Pyongyang to block and consume the enemy. After the Japanese army's supplies were almost exhausted, they defeated them in one fell swoop. But these guys were so good that they ignored the great opportunity and were only concerned about trouble for Li Hongzhang and the Beiyang Navy and the officers and soldiers. As a result, during the few days of the failure of the navy, the Japanese quickly organized the remaining warships and a large number of merchant ships to transport a large amount of supplies into North Korea. In addition,

In addition, there is an elite army of the A-type division. If Li Hongzhang had not been forced to attack the Beiyang Navy under the pressure from the Qing court, the Japanese army in North Korea would have broken through two divisions. But even so, a Class A-type division had more than 20,000 people, and more than 10,000 people from Otaro Gentaro who had been sent to North Korea, the Japanese troops in North Korea would have nearly 40,000 troops. 40,000 well-trained elite soldiers, led by Otaro Gentaro, Nogi Hidden, Oshima Yoshihara and others, regardless of the retreat, rushed to Pyongyang like headless flies. Among them, Akiyama Yoko of the First Japanese Cavalry Brigade even led the cavalry to bypass Pyongyang, directly into the Qing army's retreat, burned food and grass, and cut off traffic... Now, Ye Zhichao, Nie Shicheng and more than 10,000 new troops are trapped in Pyongyang City, and they have to face the attacks of several times their own Japanese troops every day, which is extremely miserable.

"Why did you suddenly ask him?...I'm suspended for participation!" Zhou Fu looked at Guo Jinzhang for no reason and replied. The Beiyang Navy and the Tangzhou fleet attacked Japan together, sinking eleven enemy ships, seriously injured one, and the joint fleet was destroyed. But the Qing court did not think that this was a great contribution, but "being good at forming a foreigner." Although everyone thought that this should be Li Hongzhang's order, Li Hongzhang was a towering tree and was not so easy to defeat. Therefore, many people were aiming at Liu Buchan, who was the admiral of the Beiyang Navy... Now, the navy admiral who made great contributions to the country is forced to stay at home and not care about the world. But this is because of Li Hongzhang's efforts to protect him, otherwise, the person would have been arrested in Beijing for being punished.

"Liu Buchan became famous in the battle, and now the Japanese are a little afraid of him. If it were me, let him lead the fleet to sea and make a statement to attack Tokyo... What do you think the Japanese would think?" Guo Jinzhang asked.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy." Zhou Fu shook his head, "Since the Japanese dared to fight desperately, they would definitely be wary of us attacking his local area. Now, their shore defense cannons are probably ready, just waiting for us to attack. And their army, and all important places may also have garrisons... Although I don't know much about the navy, I can let the naval guns and shore defense cannons fight, and the Beiyang is not that generous."

"The two most important islands in Japan are Honshu and Kyushu. If the Beiyang Navy leads the army, first attack the four countries and then occupy Hokkaido, the Japanese will definitely not be able to stand it." Guo Jinzhang said.

"What should I do if the two and a half divisions that are besieging Pyongyang? Ye Zhichao and Nie Shicheng are almost unable to hold on." Zhou Fu said.

"It's not long. Although the Japanese fought very hard under Pyongyang, they didn't have any follow-ups, so how long can they support them?... They are the last fight. As long as they persist, they will win." Liu Tongfu said.

"The key is that Ye Zhichao and Nie Shicheng don't know." Guo Jinzhang touched his lips, "especially Ye Zhichao. He retreated from Seoul to Gongzhou, and then from Gongzhou to Pyongyang. If he hadn't been caught up in Pyongyang, he would have escaped the Yalu River and fled to Fengtian... This man is greedy for life and death and has no intention of fighting. Oyu Gentaro is also a famous wise general in the Japanese army. If he uses the technique of attacking the heart, I guess this guy would choose to surrender. In that case, Japan will have no opponent in North Korea, and most of the Northeast New Army is currently in Pyongyang. If Ye Zhichao surrenders or is defeated, the Qing Dynasty's defense forces in Manchuria will be empty... Oyu Gentaro takes the opportunity to rush across the Yalu River, Fengtian may not be protected."

"The court has ordered Wei Rugui, general of Datong Town, Zuo Baogui, general of Gaozhou Town, Ma Yukun, general of Yi Army, and guard Feng Shenga, and others to lead more than 20,000 people to Fengtian for support."

"Hmph, 20,000 old soldiers can be as good as twice the Japanese elite?" Guo Jinzhang couldn't help but snorted coldly. The Japanese army was best at fighting fierce battles, especially its earliest elites, who dared to fight desperately. Yama Prefecture scattered the people of Odama Gentaro to North Korea regardless of consequences, which clearly meant to put them to death and survive. In this way, Odama Gentaro and others would only work harder. In this way, the Japanese army in this state would be better off relying on just 20,000 old-style troops, let alone resisting, not to mention resisting, it would be better if they were defeated at the first time.

"Fengtian stores a large number of arms." Liu Tongfu said.

"Not only that. Fengtian is surrounded by fertile fields. Now it is the end of May, and summer harvest is about to be... Once the Japanese really take it, hum..." Guo Jinzhang couldn't help but shake his head again.

"What should I do?" Zhou Fu also knew how terrible the consequences of being rushed over the Yalu River by the Japanese army? Fengtian was the Longxing land of the Qing Dynasty, and the tombs of Nurhaci and Huang Taiji were piled up there. If occupied by the Japanese army, the Qing court would lose all its face. This is just secondly. Once Fengtian was occupied by the Japanese army, all the military supplies and a large amount of food stored there would be taken away. The Japanese army would change its current logistical disadvantage and threaten the security of the entire Manchuria. Even this crazy army might directly attack from Fengtian to Shanhaiguan and force Beijing.

"What did your old Li think?" Guo Jinzhang asked again.

"The Lord Zhongtang is almost in a state of anxiety now. The Japanese are crying all over the world that the Beiyang navy started the fire first, which triggered this war. As a result, there are actually people in the court who use this to make a fuss, saying that the Lord Zhongtang is deliberately provoking the war..." Zhou Fu said with a wry smile.

"Is this man stupid?" Liu Tongfu asked.

"Even if you are not stupid, you are too smart. Everything will turn back when it is extreme, and the result is that you are no different from being stupid." Guo Jinzhang said.

"The court is still arguing whether to transfer the Jiangsu New Army to the north or the Imperial Guards to the north..." Zhou Fu said again.

"Oh? What did Li Hongzhang say?" Guo Jinzhang asked.

"Of course it's the Imperial Guard. The Imperial Guard is stationed in the capital, and the distance between him and Fengtian is very short. It's still time to raise an army to go north." Zhou Fu replied.

"What are you doing? Why did Li Hongzhang become stupid?" Guo Jinzhang suddenly slapped the table, "He is old and confused?"

"Are you confused?" Liu Tongfu looked at him, "If you don't send the Imperial Guards, would you still be dispatched to the New Huai Army to the north? This distance alone is more than twice as high as thousands of miles!"

"What's going on for thousands of miles? It took only a few days to send warships to Lushun." Guo Jinzhang tapped the table with his fingers, "But now, in order to argue whether to send the Imperial Guard or the New Huai Army, how long have they been wasting? That's not counting. Most of the Imperial Guards are the Qing flag citizens, and most of these people are embroidered pillows, which are not useful. What can I use to send them to? Deliver food to the Japanese?"

"Why don't Zhongtang know this? But what if the Huai Army is sent north to Jiangsu? The Japanese army is coming in full force, Pyongyang is out of danger, and Jiangsu's new army comes from afar, if it loses..." Zhou Fu sighed and expressed Li Hongzhang's concerns.

"If you lose, the Huai Army will basically be finished, right? Since you are so worried, then go to fight Shikoku and Hokkaido. If you hurt the Japanese, I don't believe what else they can do." Guo Jinzhang snorted coldly: "By the way, clear the solid walls and fields in Fengtian, transport or burn all the food, and blow up all the arms... At that time, the Japanese can only take two ways to surrender or go into the mountains to become bandits."

"To put it lightly. Fengtian's arms are enough to 20,000 to 30,000 people. Not to mention the food that is about to be harvested in summer, there are now hundreds of thousands of dans of grain stored. Who would be willing to destroy these things?" Zhou Fu said.

"So you small peasant thoughts. The old ones don't go, and the new ones don't come. After winning the battle, let the Japanese pay these losses. What's there to be afraid of?" Guo Jinzhang looked at him with contempt.

"Let the Japanese pay compensation?" Zhou Fu's heart moved. They really didn't expect there was such a way to go. Because in the past, the Qing Dynasty had only had the experience of paying compensation to others. But now they have won. The winner does have the right to ask the defeated party to pay compensation: "But after this defeat, the Japanese don't know if they can survive, and what can they pay?"

"You can't continue to do so? Everyone is qualified to provoke a war, but only the victors are qualified to decide when the war ends. The Japanese took the first move and were defeated, and they must be responsible for their actions... Not to mention just compensation, even if they were asked to cede land, they must also be ceased." Guo Jinzhang snorted coldly and counted his fingers at Zhou Fu: "The Kuril Islands must be ceased to Tangzhou and incorporated into Alaska; Hokkaido must be ceased to Tangzhou and the Qing army stationed in the Qing army, and Ryukyu must be repaid to the Qing army; Ogasawara Islands must be ceased to Tangzhou and the United States stationed in the army; the Beiyang Navy has the right to enter and exit freely in the military ports such as Sasebo, Yokosuka; and in addition, Japan must stop building any warships more than 2,000 tons from then on..."

"Wait, what's the matter with you Tangzhou? Where is the Thousand Islands?" Zhou Fu asked in surprise.

"Why is it not our Tangzhou business? We didn't help the Beiyang Navy to handle the naval battle? The Japanese combined fleet only escaped back to a 'Yoshino', but returned seriously injured, and there was no possibility of repair. The Japanese couldn't cry even if they wanted to cry. Moreover, they actually sent someone to assassinate Li Hongzhang and me... There is no need to pay a price?" Guo Jinzhang said seriously.

"That... the assassination is not yet here, so let's not talk about it." Zhou Fu waved his hand, "We are just fighting a naval battle at the moment. The Japanese still have more than 20 warships there, not that they are completely incapable. You have so many conditions..."

"So you have to continue fighting." Guo Jinzhang looked at him, "Because this is not a fight between two people. This is a national war! It is related to national destiny. If the enemy is not defeated at once until they cannot turn over, he will come again sooner or later. You have also seen the strength of the Japanese this time... The joint fleet can be comparable to the Beiyang Navy, and the army has surpassed your self-righteous "King Army" I don't know much... If we didn't help, what consequences would you think?"

"And Japan had already ordered a battleship from the UK last year, and it was named a new type of Fearless Class battleship... In addition, they also ordered four other battleships from the UK. If they win this battle, these five warships will become their new main battleships in the future! The ship payment will be paid by the Qing Dynasty's compensation! Although they are basically unable to defeat the Qing Dynasty now, at most they are seeking a draw, but if they do not take this opportunity to completely cripple them, you will face more and more powerful new joint fleets in the near future." Liu Tongfu took a note.

"Haibu Ito has long been aiming at Liaodong and Taiwan. As far as I know, if you lose this battle, he will force you to cede these two places and the Penghu Islands, and there will be 200 million taels of silver in compensation. At that time, they will make a fortune." Guo Jinzhang said again.

"Two million taels? How is this possible?" Zhou Fu was shocked. He had fought so many times with the great powers and suffered so much, but even the great powers had never asked for such a ruthless price!

"How is it impossible? Otherwise, you can let Li Hongzhang defeat the battle?" Guo Jinzhang snorted coldly.

"I'll send a report to Zhongtang..." Zhou Fu turned around and walked out, but after only two steps, he suddenly turned around and asked Guo Jinzhang: "When did you push that Tou Shanman out? Also, Zhongtang asked me to ask you, your fleet has been leaving Weihaiwei for a few days, but the Nanyang Navy did not find any trace of their way south. Where have they been?"

"I said they took a detour to chase the Dabai Fleet. Do you believe it?" Guo Jinzhang asked.

“Where did you go?”

"You guess!"


Chapter completed!