Chapter 67: The Rise of Ping'an's Two Book Peddlers, Heaven and Earth Bookstore

  After careful consideration, Li Hongzhang decided to send Xu Bangda's troops to Yashan. It is worth noting that his two most trusted generals in the Huai Army are currently stationed there, and defending Yashan would mean dragging the Japanese army south of Hancheng. This would allow northern troops to pour into Korea continuously. If the battlefield were locked down in Korea, Japan would gain no advantage. With international mediation, ending the war wouldn't be difficult. Even without modern military thinking, Li understood that wars are ultimately about money, and in this regard, small Japan was no match for China.

  Although this will ultimately cause the Huai Army to suffer significant losses, war is also a good opportunity for expansion. The current situation where troops are scarce is, after all, due to the imperial court's distrust of its own military and restrictions on the expansion of the Huai Army. Take Nie Shicheng and others like him - which one of them doesn't have the rank of General or Commander-in-Chief? Yet they can only lead a few thousand or even just a few hundred troops, whereas according to military regulations, a general should have at least tens of thousands of men under his command.

  It was then that Li Hongzhang discovered that this war seemed not to be a bad thing, at least for him it was both danger and opportunity.

  Xu Bangda's garrison troops in Tianjin began to board ships and sail to Yashan, but on the very day he set off, fighting broke out in a place no one had expected.

  Three Koreans, a team of Qing soldiers wearing numbered uniforms were galloping wildly on horseback, with about thirty or fifty people. The officer in charge had a red belt around his waist, holding a handgun and wearing a waist knife, looking quite fierce. The Koreans by the side of the road were scared away, but at this moment, a local Korean official suddenly ran out to greet them.

  "What's going on?" The officer shouted, reining in his warhorse.

  "General, I just heard from the hunting guard that there seems to be a Japanese trail on the west side." The official said in a hurry. In fact, at this time, the sticks (Japanese) still had feelings for China. During the Sino-Japanese War, they leaked secrets and laid landmines, making the Japanese army suffer greatly. It was just that the Qing army was too incompetent, which couldn't be blamed on others.

  The officer's eyes lit up, he was originally a scout, Kiyotaro's 3rd Division and Oshimura's brigade had been missing since they landed in Wonsan, the four major armies that arrived in Pyongyang were particularly careful about this Japanese army, because Toyotaro Abe's army was basically all cavalry, so the reconnaissance work was basically done by his men.

  After inquiring about the direction, the officer immediately waved his hand and dozens of horses rushed away. As soon as they ran to a secluded place, a Qing soldier urged his horse forward and said in a low voice: "Brother, we just need to go back and report the news, do we have to take risks?"

  "What's there to fear? This world is my family's, can't just watch those Han slaves flaunt their power! What's so scary about the Japanese, even Nie Shi Cheng and his men could kill them until their heads roll, I'm a Manchu noble, how can I be inferior to those slaves?" The officer said with a swagger, immediately followed by a chorus of assent from around him.

  "Hey boy, that gun is not to be trifled with! Didn't Old Master get killed by the foreign guns of the Monk King's troops back in the day?" The servant beside him said tearfully.

  "You're just a waste of other people's morale, and you're ruining your own reputation!" His master slapped him in the face, then waved his pistol and said: "Look at this! A self-loading pistol, a Borchardt C-93, the best quick-shooter from Borchardt, even foreigners are envious when they see it. With such a great gun, if I don't kill a hundred or two Japanese devils today, I'll be unworthy of the red sash on my waist."

  "Right, after all, it's up to us Eight Banners' sons to fight this battle. Today we'll let those Han slaves open their eyes! Kill them until they're in and out seven times!" Another guy started singing "The Slope of Changshan", which was met with a burst of applause. The cavalrymen then swarmed forward like a hive, leaving the Bannerman no choice but to follow behind with a look of resignation.

  They ran out for dozens of miles, and an old soldier suddenly stopped his horse. Others also followed suit and stopped. This old soldier, who was over 50 years old this year, frowned and listened for a while. Under the puzzled gaze of everyone, he suddenly jumped off his horse and agilely drilled into a nearby forest. The red scarf and his soldiers hurried to follow him. This old soldier was one of those who crawled out from under the pile of dead bodies at Baliqiao Bridge that year, and his family had spent a lot of money to have him followed.

  A group of people followed behind him, quickly passing through the dense pine forest and climbing up this small mound. The scene before their eyes made everyone gasp in shock. Rows upon rows of Japanese soldiers marched in formation, stretching as far as the eye could see, advancing along the road below the mound. On their shoulders were forests of long guns, while cavalrymen galloped past on either side, and the large cannons being dragged behind them looked terrifying.

  A group of Eight Banners' young masters turned pale, and that certain noble's teeth chattered loudly as he held his self-provided hand in constant tremble.

  The old soldier frowned and glanced at the bunch of good-for-nothings behind him, lightly waving his hand to signal them to retreat quickly. There were at least several thousand Japanese soldiers, not to mention a handful of actors playing Zhao Zilong on stage - even if the real Zhao Zilong came out, they would be beaten into a sieve. Judging from their marching route, it wouldn't take long for them to circle around in front, and by then it would be too late to escape.

  The Qing soldiers hastily retreated to the pine forest, and no one noticed that Tianying's self-loading rifle had been opened. At this time, he was rushing down in a panic, accidentally pulling the trigger, and the sudden gunshot stunned everyone. The old soldier's face immediately turned white.

  "Run fast!" he yelled, dragging the incompetent and troublesome guy to run away. At this time, the gunfire had already sounded from behind, a Qing soldier who had just turned around fell down with half of his face blown off, staring at Tianyingui with his remaining eye.

  Tian Huang's noble family was frightened and screamed, immediately paralyzed on the ground and urinated in his pants. He was dragged down the mountain by an old soldier like a dead dog. As soon as he was thrown onto the horseback, the silhouette of Japanese cavalry appeared behind him, followed by a burst of gunfire. Seven or eight Qing soldiers who were mounting their horses fell to the ground at once.

  The old soldier didn't bother to care about anything else, pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into the buttocks of Tianying's noble horse. The carefully selected golden state horse let out a miserable cry and galloped wildly, the old soldier holding that troublesome self-earned thing, shooting backwards while jumping onto his own horse and fleeing in a hurry.

  Behind them, dozens of Japanese cavalrymen pursued relentlessly. The Qing army hadn't run far when they had already lost more than half of their men. Even the old soldier himself was shot in the leg. As he ran, he saw that Tianying, the nobleman from a prominent family, had fallen off his horse. This wasn't surprising, as even if he knew how to ride, it was just for show and not for such frantic galloping. The old soldier thought of going down to help him but just then, a warhorse that hadn't dodged in time trampled Tianying's chest with its hoof. There was no need to take risks anymore, so the old soldier gritted his teeth and charged forward on horseback.

  The news that the main force of the Japanese army appeared in Sanding immediately made Ping'an City tense, and the death of a red bandit was not worth mentioning. In this era, even yellow bandits were worthless, let alone red bandits. Zuo Baogui had killed two disobedient soldiers, which could be considered as dying in battle, and did not humiliate his ancestors.

  Pyongyang, although not officially in command, was actually commanded by Zuo Baogui, who was a first-class general of Jianwei, although this was only a military rank similar to that of the other three, but also much higher than them, even higher than Ye Zhichao. Therefore, when Li Ergui later let Ye Zhichao command the Pyongyang army, it was unacceptable from an identity perspective alone.

  He, on the one hand, sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang urging Song Qing and Liu Shengyou's two divisions to hurry into the capital, while on the other hand, he began to quickly deploy Pyongyang's defenses. As for taking the initiative to attack, this was not even worth mentioning. Although they had not yet clashed with the Japanese army, they all knew what level their troops were at.

  Moreover, as both were part of the Huai Army system, Wei Rugui and Ma Yukun would not have been unaware of the situation at the Battle of Asan. In this case, it was still better to rely on a strong defense, besides, the Japanese army's transportation relied entirely on Wonsan Port, from there to Pyongyang, not only was the distance far, but also all mountain roads, and the Koreans did not welcome them, such an army could not sustain long-term combat, they were both seasoned generals, this point was still very clear.

  It should be said that Zuo Baogui and the others performed well in the Sino-Japanese War, except for Feng Sheng'a who was just a figurehead, and Ma Yukan doesn't need to be mentioned. In the Battle of Weihaiwei, even the Japanese acknowledged that they almost lost an entire brigade.

  Even Wei Rugui, who was scolded by later generations, was mainly because of his wife's letter that harmed people. In fact, from that letter, it can be seen that the couple still knew each other well. During the Battle of Pyongyang, this sixty-year-old old man really took up a knife and personally went to the battlefield. The only counterattack in this battle was done by him, although the counterattack failed, but it is enough to prove that he did not live up to his wife's expectations.

  On September 10, 1894, while Pingyang was in urgent preparation for war, the main fleet of the Beiyang Navy was sailing on the Yellow Sea, with four merchant ships flying British flags in the middle of the fleet. The ships were carrying Xu Bangda's two thousand strong garrison troops and a batch of military supplies being transported from Dalian to Asan.

  Ding Ruchang, sitting on the deck in his old habit, was frowning at the sunset on the horizon. The victory of the naval battle did not make this Admiral of the Navy happy, because he knew very well what this victory relied on. If it weren't for Yang Feng's gift of quick-firing guns and explosive shells, he would probably have lost that battle. But he also knew that this was an unearned victory, as one-third of their ammunition had been consumed in the previous battle, and his proposal to purchase more ammunition and quick-firing guns had been rejected again. The victory of the Beiyang Navy was not something that made everyone happy.

  Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile wryly. As an admiral, what he needed to consider wasn't just the enemies on the battlefield, but also those off it, and even those behind his back - that was the sorrow of a general.

  Just then, a faint trail of smoke appeared on the horizon.