Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 412 Rout
Chen Yunzhe slept for more than a day and a night, and only woke up at noon on August 17.

As soon as Shen Lizhen saw her husband woke up, she quickly asked someone to prepare lunch and also quickly arranged hot water for Chen Yunzhe to wash up.

After Chen Yunzhe had cleaned up everything and the food was served, Shen Lizhen told her husband that her sister Chen Xiuyun had given birth to a baby.

"This is a letter sent to you by your brother-in-law. I didn't dare to open it. Please take a look.

The messenger has left, saying he has to go somewhere else for business.

I have prepared the gift these past two days, and I am waiting for you to take a look at it when you wake up, and then send someone to deliver it to you."

Shen Lizhen handed the letter to her husband and told him about what had happened at home in the past few days.

Chen Yunzhe took the letter and read it carefully, then remained silent for a long time.

Seeing this, Shen Lizhen couldn't help but feel anxious, so she had to ask tentatively, "What did my brother-in-law say in the letter? But what's going on with my parents?"

Chen Yunzhe rubbed his brows and shook his head, "No, my parents are fine over there.

It was Shaoyang who analyzed the current situation with Uncle Liu and said that the battle situation might be unfavorable to us.

Fengtian might be better, but it’s hard to say about other places.

Shaoyang wants us to temporarily shut down the businesses in Andong and Yingkou to avoid greater losses." Chen Yunzhe handed the letter to Shen Lizhen.

After reading it, Shen Lizhen frowned slightly, "No way? Is it that serious?

Didn’t the imperial court send a lot of troops? How can we not defeat such a small country?

Those industries make a lot of money, and if they are shut down now, they will suffer huge losses."

“Shao Yang meant that all businesses must be closed by early October at the latest, and all property must be shipped back and properly stored as much as possible.

I will keep looking for news these days. If the situation is really not right, we should not plan to make a profit in the next few months. We should be cautious in everything."

Chen Yunzhe pondered for a moment and finally said.

The couple was eating and chatting, but they didn't know that the situation on the Goryeo battlefield had become very serious.

On August 16, the four Japanese armies arrived outside Pyongyang and launched a general attack on the city without resting.

The attacking Japanese army was divided into three routes, attacking from the south, southwest and northeast of Pyongyang respectively.

Zuo Baogui, the general of Gaozhou Town of the Qing Dynasty and the commander of the Fengtian Army, led 1,500 people to guard the Xuanwu Gate in the northeast of Pyongyang City.

Xuanwu Gate is close to a high mountain, and hundreds of Japanese soldiers carried cannons up the mountain, used the cannons to clear a path, and bombarded Xuanwu Gate from below.

The wall of Xuanwu Gate was pierced by artillery fire.

Under such an extremely unfavorable situation, Zuo Baogui led the Qing army to adopt the strategy of luring the enemy deep into their territory and inducing them to launch a charge.

The Qing army ambushed on both sides, waiting for the Japanese army to approach and then killing them in one fell swoop.

The Japanese army suffered heavy losses, and even the detachment commander who was in command was shot and wounded.

Unable to attack by force, the Japanese army could only retreat temporarily and use cannons to bombard from high above.

The walls of Xuanwu Gate were soon covered with dead bodies, and the Japanese army occupied the outer city.

Due to the continuous and intense work in front of the station, Zuo Baogui suffered a sudden stroke and fell to the ground.

But when the Japanese army launched another charge, Zuo Baogui forced himself to stand up, wearing the yellow jacket bestowed by the emperor, and stood on the top of the city wall, commanding the troops personally.

Under the command of Zuo Baogui, the Japanese charge was once again repelled using only four cannons.

At this time, the Japanese army had already realized that as long as Zuo Baogui was there, Xuanwu Gate would be difficult to capture, so they all pointed their guns at Zuo Baogui and fired.

Zuo Baogui rejected the advice of his subordinates, stood on the top of the city wall wearing a yellow jacket, and vowed to live and die with the city wall.

Inspired by the commander, the morale of the Qing army was greatly boosted. They fought a desperate battle with the Japanese army on the wall, and the Japanese army's attack was once again repelled.

The Japanese army's bullets and artillery fire were more concentrated on Zuo Baogui. When a shell flew over, Zuo Baogui had no time to dodge, and the flying shrapnel cut off a piece of his forehead.

Zuo Baogui tore off the white cloth, bandaged the wound and continued fighting.

Then, a piece of shrapnel hit his ribs, cutting open his abdomen and causing his intestines to spill out.

Zuo Baogui finally fell down. He supported himself on the ground with his sword, his eyes wide open, and ordered other soldiers to defend the city wall to the death.

The Japanese sniper aimed at Zuo Baogui, who was shot several times in the left chest. Finally, he could no longer hold on and fell to the ground and died.

Although the Qing army had suffered heavy casualties and their commander had been killed, no one in the remaining Qing army gave up their defense.

The soldiers shouted Zuo Baogui's last words, gathered the troops again, and attacked the Japanese troops on the city wall.

When the Japanese army rushed to the city wall, the Qing army jumped directly on top of them, knocked them down, and fought with their bare hands.

This was the first time that the Japanese army witnessed the bravery of the Qing army since entering the Goryeo battlefield. This reckless fighting style was very terrifying.

The Japanese army could only retreat temporarily, and at this time, the Qing army in the inner city took advantage of the situation and launched a counterattack.

The Japanese troops at Xuanwu Gate could only retreat with regret and a hint of confusion.

On the battlefields in the south and southwest of the city, the Qing army also repelled attacks from two other Japanese armies, and the situation was greatly favorable for the Qing army.

At this time, the Japanese army suffered more casualties than the Qing army, and their artillery shells were almost used up, and there were not many rifle bullets left.

More importantly, the rice balls that the Japanese soldiers brought with them were all eaten up. Many of them had not eaten anything during the entire day of charging and could only dig wild vegetables to fill their stomachs.

Just at this time, it started to rain heavily. The shivering Japanese soldiers huddled together, feeling tired, hungry and exhausted.

The wounded soldiers had no medicine and could only wail incessantly. The entire army had lost all morale and fell into a pessimistic situation.

For the Qing army guarding the city, this was an excellent opportunity to completely wipe out the Japanese army.

As long as the Qing army took the initiative and launched a surprise attack at night, the Japanese army would be hungry and tired and would be unable to resist.

In order to prevent the Qing army from launching a surprise attack overnight, the Japanese army decided to retreat as a whole.

However, just as the Japanese army was about to leave, they discovered that a white flag was hung on the city wall of Pyongyang.

Yes, Ye Zhichao, the governor of Zhili who was in charge of commanding all the troops in the city, surrendered to the Japanese army in the name of Goryeo officials.

It was said that the Qing army had agreed to cease fire and withdraw, and hoped that the Japanese army would abide by international public law and cease fire at night. The two sides would formally negotiate how to surrender the next day.

Based on the Japanese army's understanding of Ye Zhichao, they immediately concluded that the so-called negotiations the next day were just a cover and that this guy would definitely escape overnight.

This is an excellent opportunity to completely wipe out the Qing army.

Therefore, on a stormy night with thunder and lightning, the Japanese army sent out all their assistants on empty stomachs and rushed to the rear of Pyongyang, ambushing on both sides of the road.

As expected, as soon as it got dark, Ye Zhichao and his personal soldiers quietly ran away in the rain.

The news that the commander-in-chief was missing soon spread among the army, and all the Qing troops defending the city were defeated.

They had no time to take their weapons and supplies, and rushed out of the city gate and fled towards Pyongyang.

The Japanese troops ambushed on both sides of the road took the opportunity to open fire, and the Qing army, who were only concerned with escaping, had no idea what was happening.

The front was shot and turned back in panic, while the back was also unaware of the situation and just rushed forward, trampling and killing each other. The Japanese army took the opportunity to surround and shoot, killing more than 1,500 Qing soldiers on the spot and taking more than 700 prisoners.

The Qing army was defeated, but the Japanese army managed to survive.

Pyongyang fell in this way. On August 17, the Japanese army entered Pyongyang city and obtained spoils that they could not have imagined.

More than 700 artillery shells, 560,000 bullets, a large number of Krupp cannons and Mauser rifles, and a large amount of gold and silver, including 43 kilograms of gold bars.

Ye Zhichao, on the other hand, led his soldiers on the run for six days in one go.

He did not stop at all along the way. He crossed mountains and rivers, running for more than 500 miles, and actually ran all the way from Pyongyang to the Yalu River. Only then did he stop with lingering fear.

On August 18, the day after Pyongyang was captured, the Beiyang Fleet's reinforcements to North Korea were attacked by the Japanese fleet when they landed at the Dadonggou and returned to Port Arthur, thus leading to the outbreak of the Battle of the Yellow Sea.

In this battle, the Beiyang Fleet's Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Chaoyong, Yangwei, Guangjia and other warships were sunk, and another five were damaged.

The captain of the Zhiyuan ship, Deng Shichang, and the captain of the Jingyuan ship, Lin Sheng, died for their country, and nearly a thousand people were killed or injured.

The Japanese fleet's flagship Matsushima, Akagi and four other ships were severely damaged, but no warship was sunk. Only over 100 Japanese soldiers were killed and 400 to 500 were injured.

When the news of the Battle of the Yellow Sea reached Japan, the whole country went crazy.

People from all over the world flocked to Tokyo to celebrate their victory.

Japan's railway companies also deliberately lowered train ticket prices from various places to Tokyo to allow more people to go to Tokyo to celebrate.

Meanwhile, what was the Qing court doing?
When the result of the naval battle came, the whole court was in an uproar. The upright officials now had something to do and spared no effort to impeach Ding Ruchang.

I have disliked him for a long time, and what's more, he was defeated this time?

As a result, Ding Ruchang was implicated in special memorials, implicated individually, and was also implicated in other memorials. For a time, he became the target of criticism and the target of public criticism.

Not only that, the censors also secretly pointed the finger at Lord Li Zhongtang, demanding that he be held accountable for his leadership.

In this case, we must hurry to find a scapegoat.

In this way, under the planning of Li Zhongtang, Ding Ruchang and others, Ding Ruchang went on leave to recuperate from his injuries.

Li Zhongtang ordered the "Fujian Party" official Liu Buchan to temporarily replace Ding Ruchang's position. The second battle report written by Ding Ruchang was signed by Liu Buchan.

Based on this battle report, Li Zhongtang requested an imperial decree to execute the scapegoat Fang Boqian immediately.

Lin Taizeng, Ye Zugui, Qiu Baoren and others, who were also from Fujian, asked to see Liu Buchan and asked him to save Fang Boqian's life for the sake of their fellow villagers and their relationship as classmates and colleagues for 27 years.

However, Liu Buchan said that he had no other options. In this way, Fang Boqian was taken to the foot of Huangjin Mountain in Lushun and executed.

The Qing government, which suffered a defeat in the naval battle, did not learn lessons from the failure. Instead, after killing the scapegoat Fang Boqian, everything returned to peace.

Li Zhongtang, as usual, ordered Ding Ruchang to "avoid fighting and protect the ships."

The Beiyang Fleet could only cruise between Weihaiwei and Lushun, and had to hide away if it encountered the Japanese fleet. The Japanese warships were able to run rampant in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea unhindered.

On the other hand, on August 23, Ye Zhichao led his troops to flee from Goryeo across the Yalu River, and the Qing court ordered him to garrison in Jiuliancheng.

On August 24, the Qing court ordered General Yiktang'a of Heilongjiang Province to lead his troops to Jiuliancheng as soon as possible to cooperate with other troops in defending the Yalu River.

On August 25, the Qing court ordered the deputy governor Zhang Xiulan to recruit five more battalions of officers and soldiers and rush to the Yalu River area to cooperate in the battle.

In order to curb the Japanese army's attack on the Qing mainland, the Qing army assembled more than 70 battalions and more than 23,000 troops on the right bank of the Yalu River.

The main defensive position was the Jiuliancheng area, with defenses set up along a line from the mouth of Changdian River in the east to Dagu Mountain in the west.

In Fengtian, Chen Yunzhe, who was supposed to wait for the results at home after the provincial examination, could not sit still at home because of a letter from Qu Shaoyang and started to look for news everywhere.

When the news of the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the fall of Pyongyang came, what Qu Shaoyang said in the letter was indeed confirmed.

So Chen Yunzhe wrote a letter and sent someone to deliver it to Kuandian and Maoershan at full speed.

On the other hand, they quickly led people to Andong, Yingkou and other places to consolidate their industries, resettle a group of people and minimize the losses.

Upon receiving the news in Kuandian, Chen Yunhan immediately made arrangements.

Let the militiamen try their best to settle the families of the people in the nearby Huairen City, and transfer all their own property to a safe place.

Then they gathered men and stationed them in several fortresses around the county town to be prepared for any unexpected events.

On the Maoer Mountain side, Qu Shaoyang could only sigh after receiving the news.

The Qing court was a bunch of losers, they were really incompetent at anything and were number one at running away after losing a battle.

"Master, this is a letter from my eldest brother-in-law. Please take a look." Qu Shaoyang took Chen Yunzhe's letter and went to meet Liu Dongshan next door.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Liu Dongshan, Qu Laokouer and others came back to celebrate the festival.

Liu Dongshan is old after all, and he suffered a lot of injuries when he was young, which left him with some health problems.

He had been working day and night at the Mantianxing Gold Mine for the past six months. In addition, he drank too much on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival and caught a cold, so he was sick for some time.

So I stayed at home to recuperate and didn't go back to the Starry Sky Gold Mine.

Liu Dongshan took the letter, read it carefully, and also sighed deeply.

"Shaoyang, do you know who is Lord Zuo who died in the battle in Pyongyang?" Liu Dongshan suddenly asked.

Qu Shaoyang looked puzzled, "Who is it? Could it be that Master knows him?"

“It’s not that we know each other, but we have fought each other.

It was he who led the troops to suppress the Muba Rebellion, and I fought against him several times.

This man was very powerful. Later, the leader of the rebel army was captured by him and sent to Fengtian to be beheaded.

I almost died that time, and I managed to escape from him with all my might, and finally I fled to Changbai Mountain and hid my identity."

Liu Dongshan looked at the name in the letter, and the scene of the uprising that year appeared before his eyes.

“So it’s him. I’ve heard of this person. I heard that he is famous for suppressing bandits.

He also led troops to suppress the Jindan Dao uprising a few years ago.

I really didn't expect that Master actually had such a connection with him."

This was the first time that Qu Shaoyang mentioned this matter to his master, and he was quite surprised.

“This man has been in Fengtian for more than 20 years, and he actually has a pretty good reputation as an official.

I heard that he attached great importance to education, founded free schools, and set up disaster relief soup kitchens, charity halls, and shelters.

I also heard that Li Zhongtang of the time praised him for being diligent, loyal, brave, resolute, hardworking, knowledgeable about military affairs, and both strategic and brave.

I just didn't expect that he would die in a foreign country and his body would never be found. Alas, how sad it is."

What happened back then can only be said to be a matter of different standpoints. Now that time has passed, Liu Dongshan can look back on it calmly.

Even if Zuo Baogui had not led his troops to encircle and suppress the uprising, the failure of the uprising was inevitable.

(End of this chapter)