Chapter 18 Section 18

After withdrawing from Liaoyang, Krobatkin guarded the Hunhe River. When Lushun fell, a regiment of Cossack cavalry arrived. In order to boost morale, he decided to use this regiment of cavalry to make a surprise attack. The selected targets are Niuzhuang and Yingkou.Krobatkin used a tactic of attacking the east and attacking the west, pretending to attack the "neutral ground in western Liaoning".It has become an open secret that the Qing army assisted Japan in attacking Russia. Russia has repeatedly sent notes to protest, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Beiyang ignored them. Therefore, the Russian army’s attack on Western Liaoning was regarded as a common act of defeating the army and Japan did not. Thought it should be more vigilant.

Ma Yukun, who was ordered to guard the west of Liaoning, could not help being frightened. The regular army could not cross the river to the east of Liaodong. They could only use Feng Linge, who was called the "Justice Army" and the "National Troupe" and others, to fortify the mountains east of Niuzhuang and Haicheng.The name of this place is Qianshan, with rolling hills and good terrain, but the firepower of the militia is insufficient, and it is still not an easy task to block the Cossack cavalry, which is famous for their hustle and bustle. So someone in Ma Yukun's shogunate suggested setting up suspicious soldiers.Twenty-four carts were used, converted into gun carriages, and distributed on the tops of Qianshan Mountains from north to south.In fact, only the two most important places are equipped with old-fashioned muzzle-loading guns, and the remaining 22 carts are all equipped with wooden field gun models.

As for the Cossack cavalry, they swept over like a gust of wind, and naturally fired artillery to demonstrate without waiting for them to approach.The avant-garde commander of the Russian army looked through the binoculars, only to realize that his subordinates had strayed into the enemy's artillery position, and hurriedly ordered to retreat.But instead of returning to the original place, they gave up the task of pretending to attack the neutral ground in western Liaoning. As soon as they got out of the range of the wild artillery, they turned south and galloped from north to west of Haicheng.The Japanese army guarding Niuzhuang was caught off guard and suffered a lot.

Then, Krobatkin mobilized 80,000 troops to attack the Japanese First Army at Heigoutai near Liaoyang. The Japanese army deployed the second, fourth, and eighth divisions for reinforcements and fought hard to hold the original position. After these two battles, both Japan and Russia mobilized large armies to help. Russia has concentrated adjustable troops, totaling 400,000 troops.More than 300,000 soldiers were divided into five armies, facing each other with flags, and the front from northeast to southwest stretched hundreds of miles away. On the Lantern Festival in the 31st year of Guangxu, the Japanese army launched a general offensive. The elite Fifth Army attacked Fushun in the east of Shenyang.On the front, the Second and Fourth Armies attacked from Liaoyang to the north.Krobatkin mistook the main force of the Japanese army, divided the majority of the troops, and attacked the enemy northward, while sticking to the front.Neither the north nor the south were playing badly.

Unexpectedly, the third army, which was severely injured in the attack on Lushun, regrouped, circled out of the northwest of the Russian army, and went straight to Xinmin west of Shenyang. At this moment, Krobatkin knew that he had been surrounded by the enemy, and hurriedly ordered to break through.So the Japanese army captured Lushun first, and then entered Shenyang. This great battle lasted 20 days. The Russian army suffered more than 90,000 casualties, and the Japanese army suffered similar losses. However, the war did not end. Kroubatkin was defeated and deposed. Zuo moved to be the commander of the First Army, and the commander-in-chief was replaced by Li Niweiqi.The Japanese army took advantage of the victory to advance to occupy Kaiyuan and Tieling, but at the end of their efforts, they were unable to advance further, and the two sides became a stalemate.

At that time, the newspapers were buzzing, and everyone said how excited the morale of the Japanese people was. The Japanese army in Fengtian will surely take advantage of the victory and go north, heading straight to Russia.At this time, China and Japan are closely related, and the scholar-bureaucrats in Beijing and China have the same idea as the Japanese people, thinking that the three eastern provinces will be recovered soon, and how to deal with the aftermath should be planned as soon as possible.So the Military Aircraft Department sent a request to send Zhao Erxun, the acting secretary of the household department, to Tianjin to have a preliminary discussion with Yuan Shikai.

Zhao Erxun, who was full of enthusiasm, rushed to Tianjin excitedly. When he met Yuan Shikai, when he mentioned the words in the newspaper, seeing his indifferent expression, Zhao Erxun couldn't help being discouraged. "Ciweng," Yuan Shikai said, "Japan's victory has been won, indeed! To say that Russia is going straight to Beijing is just a dream, and the war cannot end for a while." "Why can't the war end yet? Could it be that Russia still refuses to admit defeat?" Zhao Erxun asked: "Even if Japan can't go straight to Russia, it has more than enough power to drive the Russian army out of the three eastern provinces. Can't Russia see this?"

"Russia has a different view, and the views of the Japanese rulers and the people are different. The Japanese army has suffered heavy losses. Although it is not at the end of its strength, it is still unable to move. It will take at least a few months of recuperation before it can regain its momentum. Now those who are eager to seek peace, Japan, not Russia." Zhao Erxun became more and more surprised, and asked in disbelief, "Japan wants to seek peace?" "Yes." Yuan Shikai replied clearly: "Japan's important ministers all advocate that enough is enough to seek peace in a timely manner. Emperor Meiji held an imperial meeting and planned to ask the United States to mediate. However, Japan's people are so popular that it is inconvenient to announce these decisions for a while." That's all."

"Is there such a thing?" Zhao Erxun remained silent for a long time. "Russia refuses to admit defeat, and of course he has his own plans. The army, Japan is no longer able to advance, and Russia still has a reserve force to adjust; the navy, Russia's second and third fleets, have at least fifty warships, From the Baltic Sea to the east, we want to compete with the Japanese navy. Don't listen to the rumors in the newspapers, Ciweng, Russia is not completely defeated." "According to this, the end of the war is nowhere in sight?" "It won't be close anyway."

"Then, is it within our reach to take back the three eastern provinces?" "These six words 'hope but can't reach' are wonderful descriptions. However, everything can be done beforehand. If there is a great talent like Ci Weng who can be ordered to leave the customs first, it will be much more convenient in the future in terms of reception. .” "Yes!" Zhao Erxun nodded deeply, and then asked: "Weng Wei, shall I just take your words and return to my life according to the facts?" "Yes! Yes! Fanci Weng told me that the three eastern provinces are the birthplace of this dynasty, and I dare not take it lightly."

Sure enough, not long after Zhao Erxun returned to Beijing, Yang Shu, the Minister to Japan, and Liang Cheng, the Minister to the United States, received secret telegrams respectively, stating that Japan had informed the United States of its intention to make peace with Russia.However, President Roosevelt of the United States believed that the time for mediation was not yet ripe, and he was unwilling to come forward rashly. He just issued a statement, urging Japan and Russia to negotiate peace directly, and at the same time asked Japan to keep the door of Manchuria open and return sovereignty to China. These news and Yuan Shikai's words corroborate the situation. The situation is quite clear. Taking back the three eastern provinces is indeed an elusive thing.The Empress Dowager Cixi and the Minister of Military Aircraft seemed to have taken a reassurance, and they ignored the northeast and took care of the southeast first.