Beiyang Dream

July 12, 1891, 7:7 AM.

The Wharf of the Japanese Concession in Yuanshan.

Captain Borovkov still stood at the end of the pier, a Berdan rifle clutched in his hand, his palms damp with sweat. Before him stood another wall of men, dozens of Japanese policemen, all short and small, each wielding a katana, its blade gleaming coldly.

That's not all, damn it.

Borovkov heard a cacophony of voices approaching from ahead. He looked up and his face immediately darkened. A dense mass of people was surging towards them on the street outside the dock.

Some were wearing kimonos, some were wearing Western-style clothes, and some were shirtless wearing only vests. They were all damned Japanese!

These Japanese men were all armed; some carried shovels, wooden sticks, and hoes, while others wielded samurai swords. Their faces were contorted with rage, and they emitted chilling shouts.

"Heaven will punish you!"

"Kill all the Russians!"

The crowd grew larger and larger, soon filling the open space outside the dock. Borovkov roughly estimated it to be at least seven or eight hundred, and it was still growing. He swallowed hard, his fingers gripping the gun feeling a little stiff.

He suddenly remembered the Otsu Incident... ...that Japanese policeman named Tsuda Sanzo used a very long knife to slash Crown Prince Nicholas's head!

If it weren't for the Crown Prince's "stubbornness," the Russian Empire would already be in a state of mourning!

These Japanese dared to behead even the Russian Crown Prince, aiming for his neck... What are Borovkov and these few dozen marines compared to them?

He glanced back at his men.

The fifty marines all turned pale.

We don't have enough bullets!

Each of them carried ten bullets.

There are over a thousand people on the other side. Even if you take them down one by one with a single shot, it won't be enough to go around. Besides, they also have guns... Those Japanese policemen have pistols on their hips; who knows if they're hiding even more weapons?

Borovkov took a deep breath, turned his head, and looked out at the sea.

The armored cruiser "Pamyat Azov" was anchored in the sea, its gray hull looking quite imposing.

Colonel Leontiev must be watching this way from the bridge, but will he really fire the gun? If he does... the situation in the Far East could spiral out of control!

But he knew that if the Japanese really went all out, the cannons on that armored cruiser would be their only hope. At the other end of the dock, Hashiguchi Naoemon was also sweating profusely.

He stood behind the wall of Japanese policemen, looking at the Russian soldiers in front of him who were a head taller than him, and then looking back at the growing number of Japanese expatriates behind him. He felt like an egg caught between two iron plates.

He was well aware of the instructions from the Tokyo Foreign Ministry: to utilize the strength of Changdesheng of the Qing Dynasty to resist the Russians and ensure that the port of Yuanshan was not lost.

The problem is... the Japanese concession in Yuanshan is too close to the sea! The Qing concession, on the other hand, is inland, only four or five miles from the coast. The Russians wouldn't need to pass through the Qing concession to occupy the Japanese concession!

When Yuanshan was opened as a treaty port, the Japanese acted first, seizing the best and largest plot of land and pushing the Qing concession inland. At the time, they thought they had gotten a good deal, but now the Japanese concession has become a shield for the Qing concession.

How can I utilize Chang Desheng's power?

We can't just let the Qing army occupy the Japanese concession, can we?

What's that old Chinese saying again? Inviting a god is easy, but sending him away is hard!

But there's not much we can do now.

Hashiguchi gave a wry smile, then turned to Shimada and said, "Send someone to clear out the concession and ask Lord Chang and Commissioner Yao to come and mediate."

Shimada paused for a moment, then said, "Your Excellency, are we really, really... going to count on the Qing people?"

"Otherwise what?" Qiaokou glanced at him. "Do you have a way to make the Russians back?"

Shimada fell silent, then turned and gave an order to one of his men.

Hashiguchi turned back, took a deep breath, and called out in English to the Russian officer opposite him, "Captain! I am Hashiguchi Naoemon, the Japanese Consul in Motoyama! I would like to speak with you!"

Borovkov heard this and replied in English, "What are you talking about, Consul? Your men are besieging the legitimate armed forces of the Russian Empire!"

"We did not besiege them!" Qiaokou took a step forward. "The Russian nationals in Wonsan are all safe and sound; there is absolutely no need for your country to send troops to protect them!" "No! You are wrong!" Borovkov's voice rose even higher. "The consular representative of Wonsan personally boarded the ship yesterday to plead for help! Your obstruction of us now is a violation of the treaty and will be condemned by the entire civilized world!"

The anger at the bridgehead flared up instantly.

Civilized world? You Russians clearly want to be bandits and seize Wonsan, yet you keep talking about being a civilized country...

He was just about to quote classical texts and have a proper debate with the Russian officer when he suddenly heard a loud bang behind him.

Rumble...

The words caught in his throat. He whirled around, looking in the direction of the sound, and saw thick smoke billowing from a building deep within the Japanese concession. The black smoke, mixed with flames, shot straight into the sky.

"Where is that?" The voice at the bridgehead trembled slightly.

Shimada, standing nearby, widened his eyes: "It's...it looks like the Russian consular representative office!"

Qiaokou's mind went completely blank!

The Russian consular agent's office... was bombed?

His first thought was: It must have been done by some xenophobic element. There are indeed some radicals in Wonsan, from this society to that society, who are always clamoring to expel foreigners and Qing people and conquer Korea... But why would they bomb the building of a Russian diplomatic mission at this critical juncture? Before he could think any further, Borovkov across from him had already seen it.

A Russian double-headed eagle flag was flying over the smoking building... That must be the Russian consular agent's office! Borovkov thought to himself: Colonel Leontiev is a ruthless man! To take over the Japanese concession in Motoyama, he actually had his own consular agent's office blown up!

He'll do anything to climb the ladder; I must learn from him!

But his face didn't show shock; it showed anger. Pointing at the plume of smoke, he roared towards the bridge entrance, "Damn it! You Japanese bombed our Russian consular office! This is an act of war against the Russian Empire!"

Qiaokou hurriedly waved his hands: "No, we didn't do it! There must be some misunderstanding..."

"A misunderstanding?" Borovkov sneered. "Consul, I am now entering the Japanese concession in the name of protecting our nationals and diplomatic missions! If you continue to obstruct me, you are declaring war on the Russian Empire!"

He waved his hand dramatically: "All...forward!"

The Russian soldiers, bayonets at the ready, took a step forward.

Shimada gritted his teeth and raised his katana: "Stop them!"

The Japanese police also stepped forward, their swords clashing with bayonets, and the distance between them was reduced to less than three steps.

The air seemed to freeze.

But no one dared to make the first move.

Borovkov stared into Shimada's eyes, and Shimada stared back into Borovkov's. Both men's hands trembled, yet neither was willing to back down. Just then...

"Slap! Slap!"

Two gunshots rang out.

It came from the direction where Japanese expatriates gathered.

Borovkov's pupils suddenly contracted.

He recalled the order he had given a few minutes earlier: no firing unless the other side fired first.

The other side has opened fire.

Before he could react, a gunshot rang out behind him. One of his men had fired!

There were no warning shots; they just opened fire on the crowd.

A Japanese policeman's chest gushed blood, and he collapsed with a scream.

Then everything spiraled out of control.

Inspector Shimada roared and swung his katana at the Russian soldier's head. The soldier hastily raised his rifle to parry—a clang rang out as the katana struck the barrel, sparks flying. Before the soldier could react, Shimada's free right hand had already drawn his pistol from his waist, aimed at the man's chest, and pulled the trigger.

boom!

The Russian soldier stared wide-eyed, looked down at the blood gushing from his chest, and then fell straight down.

This caused an uproar at the dock.

Gunfire erupted as Japanese police and Russian sailors clashed. Japanese residents screamed and scattered in all directions; some were knocked to the ground, some were trampled, and others picked up stones and threw them at the Russian soldiers. The building housing the Russian consular office was now engulfed in flames, billowing black smoke that obscured half the sky.

Onboard the "Pamyat Azov".

Colonel Leontiev stood on the bridge, holding up his binoculars, watching the chaotic scene on the shore.

He saw the thick smoke, which was in the direction of the Russian consular office. He saw his marines exchanging fire with the Japanese. He saw people falling; although he couldn't tell if they were Russians or Japanese, there were certainly Russian casualties.

His fingers gripped the binoculars tightly; he had already made up his mind.

We can't back down from this today!

Russia can accept sacrifices, but it cannot accept retreat in the face of war.

If he backs down, his career will be over, and he might even face a military court!

As long as he fires the cannon, whether or not he can capture Yuanshan, he will become a hero!

Having grasped the implications, he immediately put down his binoculars and turned to give orders to the officer on duty:

"Six-inch gun on starboard, target the edge of the dock warehouse, warning shot, one round."

The officer on duty hesitated for a moment: "Sir, that's the Japanese concession..."

"I know," Leontiev interrupted him. "Fire."

The officer on duty touched his heel to the ground, turned around, and shouted a sentence in Russian into the microphone.

Half a minute later.

A burst of orange-red light erupted from the starboard mid-bulwark of the Parmiyat Azov. White smoke instantly engulfed half the bulwark as a six-inch shell whistled across the sea.

boom!!

The shell slammed into the stone wall of the empty warehouse on the east side of the dock, sending brick fragments and dust flying into the air. The shockwave knocked several Japanese residents to the ground, scattering broken glass everywhere.

There was a moment of silence on the dock.

Then screams and cries erupted simultaneously, several times louder than before.

The small building of the telegraph office in the former foreign concession.

At the second-floor window, Chang Desheng was holding a telescope he had brought back from Germany, looking towards the dock.

He saw the thick smoke; the Russian consular office was burning fiercely. He saw the chaotic crowd on the dock and heard the faint sound of gunfire. Then he saw a flash of fire erupt from the side of the gray warship...

boom!!

A shell landed at the edge of the dock, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust.

Chang Desheng put down his binoculars, and the expression on his face instantly changed from tension to excitement, and then from excitement to an uncontrollable ecstasy, almost making him jump up.

"Got it!" He slammed his hand on the window frame. "Got it, got it, got it... The Russians fired! Now we have it all!" Duan Qirui stood behind him, his face a little pale: "Brother Zhenbang, you've got... what?"

"Everything will be alright!" Chang Desheng turned around, his eyes gleaming. "Brother Zhiquan, now our Beiyang's game in Korea is finally going to be a success!" Beiyang's game in Korea?

That sounds amazing!

Are you, Chang Desheng, the one playing chess? And what about me? Am I just a pawn that has crossed the river?

Duan Qirui opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Chang Desheng turned his head again, raised his binoculars, and looked at the rising smoke and dust in the direction of the dock, his lips curling up in a wide smile.

That was a well-placed shot from the Russian cruiser...

With this shot, the value of Beiyang and Chang Desheng will skyrocket!

He was already calculating in his mind: Russian warships shelling the Japanese concession... This could be a major event that changes the balance of power on the Korean Peninsula. Japan would suffer a loss and certainly wouldn't dare to start a war; if they didn't start a war, they would have to find someone to mediate.

Who can I contact?

Why not just turn to the Qing Dynasty? Why not just turn to Li Hongzhang?

The British certainly didn't want Russia to seize Wonsan, and they certainly weren't willing to send troops over such a small matter, so they had to find a proxy! Who could they turn to? Japan was definitely out of the question; Japan couldn't handle things right now, and their navy couldn't maintain order. They had no choice but to turn to the Qing Dynasty.

At that time, Li Hongzhang will surely be able to get more benefits from the British for the Beiyang Army, right?

If there's no benefit to it, who will help the British defend against Russia?

And I'm the one directly on the front lines defending against Russia! I deserve some benefits too...

Chang Desheng put down his binoculars, took a deep breath, and turned to Duan Qirui, saying, "Brother Zhiquan, let's send a joint telegram to Lord Yuan in Seoul, saying that the Japanese have burned down the Russian consulate's office, the Russians have shelled the Japanese concession, and the situation in Wonsan is dire. Please inform the Grand Secretary immediately and request an increase in the number of troops stationed in Korea... This is an opportunity we cannot miss!"

Duan Qirui looked at him, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Won't the Russians escalate the situation?"

"Escalate the situation?" Chang Desheng pondered for a moment. "Most likely. Crown Prince Nikolai is still in Vladivostok! If he doesn't escalate it, how can he?"

He turned around and looked out the window again.

On the dock, the two sides were still exchanging fire. The Russians had heavy firepower, and the Japanese fought to the death.

On the sea, the armored cruiser had already aimed both of its 8-inch main guns at the Japanese concession.

Meanwhile, inside the Japanese concession, the building housing the Russian consular agent's office was still burning.

Chang Desheng was extremely pleased with himself!

Burn it, beat it.

The bigger the score, the better.

Anyway, it was the Japanese and Russians who died.

And he was the only person in Yuanshan who could take over this mess.