Zhong Lin has been in charge of the Intelligence Bureau for many years, and his orders for his subordinates are the words "fast" and "quasi", requiring intelligence officers to be accurate and fast when spying on intelligence, so Zhong Lin issued an order at noon, and the stations that received the order immediately launched an operation, and in less than a day, that is, on May 29, the day after the armistice agreement with Japan expired, Zhong Lin received the news from Seoul.

As soon as he received the telegram, Zhong Lin quickly pinched the telegram in his hand and ran to Liu Jun's office.

"Head, the information is out." Before he had time to take a sip of water, Zhong Lin walked up to Liu Jun and handed the telegram to Liu Jun.

'What's the situation?' Liu Jun didn't look at the information on the table, but asked lightly.

After pouring the tea brought by Zheng Yiqian and wiping the water droplets from the corners of his mouth, Zhong Lin pointed to the telegram: "According to the intelligence, the three cruisers that set off together did not return to Seoul together. ”

Completely understood, Liu Jun nodded, he had already determined that Li He must have turned back to the vicinity of Jeju and attacked the Japanese escort fleet.

Hmph, since the food was sent, it would be a pity not to eat it. Thinking of this, Liu Jun smiled and looked at Zhong Lin: "Send a telegram to Ding Ruchang, and the day after tomorrow, launch an attack on the Japanese army, and eat this Japanese army as quickly as possible." ”

"Okay." Zhong Lin nodded, turned around and walked out.

50,000 people, leaving 20,000 is also good, otherwise, the First Corps spent nearly ten years with the Japanese army and could not fight, which is really a bit unreasonable.

Seoul. Originally, after the Japanese army evacuated, the people of Seoul were decorated with lanterns and firecrackers to celebrate, but it was less than a day, and the faces of the people of Seoul were pulled down again, and the Japanese came back again.

In fact, not only the current Koreans, but even the Japanese, are full of sighs and questions about why they want to come back.

Japan's former Korean military headquarters, where the removed maps and discarded documents were scattered all over the place, originally belonged to Nogi Nishinori's office, but now it has indeed become the headquarters of the First Army of the Army, Ono Sakujiro.

It's ridiculous and lamentable, his first army, this time was ordered to be the last to evacuate Korea, who knows, God will not fulfill people's wishes, his 20,000 troops are about to return to Japan, but they were intercepted by the Liaodong fleet and had to retreat to Korea. Return to Seoul.

Hey, looking at the documents all over the ground, Ono Zhenjiro shook his head helplessly, he knew that from the moment he returned to Seoul, the fate of his First Army was already doomed, that is, to be wiped out by Liaodong's First Corps in Pyongyang, like pinching ants to death.

More than 20,000 people, more than 20,000 lives, are now placed in front of him, whether to surrender, or to fight with the Liaodong army to the end, he is not sure.

Death is not terrible for him, he is already in his fifties, he has played with the world, and there is nothing to be afraid of, the problem is that more than 20,000 people under his hands are still young, they are all good boys in their twenties, many of them have not yet started a family, if they die like this, then it is not worth it. Themselves will also be condemned in conscience. Because of them, there was a chance to survive.

Two paths, one stubborn and one surrendering, Ono Sakujiro felt in his heart that this was a difficult choice.

"Your Excellency, the division has entered the position and has been deployed on the outskirts of Seoul." The chief of staff, who was in his forties, walked in and said with a dead face.

It can be seen that the chief of staff is also dissatisfied with being forced to meet Seoul this time.

This damn Nogi Nishinori, the day after the order, returned to Japan, and he was simply not human, and he scolded Nogi Nishinori in his heart a few words in his heart, who had already arrived in Tokyo. Ono Sakujiro waved his hand and motioned for the chief of staff to go down, he wanted to take a good rest.

Pyongyang City, the original office of the headquarters of the First Corps Headquarters, has now become the place where Li Hongzhang works, and the headquarters of the First Corps, although it still works here, has moved to the room that originally belonged to the chief of staff.

"Commander, Lushun emergency telegram." The chief of staff picked up the telegram in his hand, walked straight to Ding Ruchang, who was working, and handed over the telegram in his hand.

There are still two days to go, and after reading the content of the telegram above, Ding Ruchang didn't say a word, picked up the telegram and walked next door, after all, Li Hongzhang is here, and he is the number one leader of the North Korean military and government authorized by the marshal.

"Lord Zhongtang, the handsome urgent telegram." How many years have passed, Ding Ruchang still can't change it, and he is still called Li Hongzhang Zhongtang. “

What the? Li Hongzhang, who was sitting on a chair reading a book, put the book on the table and glanced at Ding Ruchang, who was standing straight in front of him, before asking, "What did you say?" ”

"The marshal ordered us to launch an attack on June 1 to destroy the Japanese First Army returning to Seoul, and then advance south to occupy the whole of Korea." After Ding Ruchang finished speaking, he handed over the telegram.

After reading the telegram, Li Hongzhang smiled and said: "Liu Jun, this little guy, has always been a person who takes advantage of it, this time the Japanese army was forced to meet 20,000 people in Seoul, how could he let more than 20,000 people leave North Korea alive." Saying this, Li Hongzhang looked at the map with Yang Shixiang's support and asked, "How are you going to attack?"

"Zhongtang, the Japanese army has only one army of more than 20,000 people, and they are all concentrated near Seoul, I plan to concentrate one division of the first army and the second army, and one army of the Korean corps, march in two ways, and fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army outside the city."

Good way, Li Hongzhang nodded and looked at Ding Ruchang: "Why don't you march in three ways?" ”

Three-way march? Ding Ruchang obviously didn't understand what Li Hongzhang meant, and looked at Li Hongzhang with a puzzled look and didn't speak.

"You know the soldiers who surrender without a fight." Seeing Ding Ruchang's doubts, Li Hongzhang pointed to Seoul and said quietly.

Yes, Harding Ruchang understood this sentence very well, and he heard what Li Hongzhang meant, that is, the three-way march put huge military pressure on the Japanese, so that they could have the opportunity to negotiate with the Japanese army and strive to make them surrender, so as to reduce the casualties of the soldiers.

"In my opinion, we can concentrate 70,000 troops to advance on Seoul." Li Hongzhang didn't look at Ding Ruchang's expression, but pointed to the map and said.

70,000 against 20,000, this is simply spit, and it can also drown the Japanese. Not to mention, he has 70,000 people, all of them are well-equipped, and their artillery is several times more than that of Japan.