The first wave of the offensive against Japan was launched by Li Shutong's unit of the 7th Army in Xiuyan. Previously, the 1st Army of the 1st Army, which attacked Xiuyan, stopped here after occupying Dagu Mountain and Hat Helmet Mountain. Because it was a mountainous area and it was not the main direction of attack, the Guards Division and the 2nd Division deployed here were very leisurely, and they did not fight the Revival Army for too long. After that, there was no hope of breaking through the northeast defense line, and the elite Japanese troops in the northeast continued to be transferred to Gyeonggi for the decisive battle of the Zhili Plain.

Unexpectedly, the hopeful Naoli offensive was also frustrated, and in order to win a desperate victory, the Dispatch Corps Headquarters secretly transferred the 12th Division of the 1st Army in the Andong direction and the 21st Division of the 3rd Army into the pass to strengthen the strength of the Naoli Dispatch Army. This left only six divisions in the Andong direction. Although there were six divisions, the battle against Motianling caused heavy losses to four of these six divisions, and only the Guards Division stationed in Dagushan and the reserve 1st Division that was finally transferred were relatively complete.

The Northeast sent so many troops into the pass, and the headquarters of the China Dispatch Army wanted to order the two reserve divisions stationed in Korea to reinforce Andong, but the Korean volunteers who had been dormant for a long time began to move, and the Japanese army finally gave up the transfer plan.

The offensive began at dawn on June 19 in the third year of Shenwu, and this time the offensive plan was completely a copy of last year's snow raid, with the difference that this time the entire three divisions of the 7th Army acted together. When the 20th Division broke through the thin defense line of the Japanese army in Heigou Village, the commander of the Guards Division, Takeliang Yamane, strangely found that the Shina Army had cut off the land connection between the Guards Division and the Andong direction, and he was actually semi-surrounded in Gushan Town. Takeliang Yamane, who had a premonition of the next move of the Shina army. had to hold on to the resistance while sending people from the sea to Anton for help.

Under the submarines of the Baath Army. Yamane Takeryo's messenger for help miraculously arrived at Anton, and General Terauchi Masatsuki, who heard the news, immediately jumped up from his chair in shock. He looked at the staff officer who sent the message and said, "Are you sure it's the Chinese army?" How many of them are there? ”

"Your Excellency, it must be the Chinese army. There is probably a division of troops, and they are besieging Gushan Town, so please send reinforcements. Even if no reinforcements are sent, please send naval ships to meet the division's retreat. The staff officer who came to ask for help said with a bitter face.

After he finished speaking, Terauchi Masashi didn't ask again, and Akashi Genjiro on the side asked, "You came from the sea?" ”

The staff officer nodded, "The land has been blocked by the Chinese army. I can only come by sea. ”

"You can go down." After hearing this, Akashi Genjiro suddenly said, he was so shocked that he was so dispelled from the staff.

"Your Excellency......" asked for help but did not get a response from the commander, and the staff officer was full of urgency and wanted to speak.

Terauchi Masashi was trying to persuade him, but he was secretly pulled by Akashi Genjiro, and he had no choice but to say: "You go down first, I will never leave any of the emperor's people." ”

The commander promised this, and the messenger went down, and as soon as he left, Akashi Genjiro said, "Your Excellency, this is a trap for the Shina people." If we send troops to the rescue. Not to mention whether it will be ambushed by other Chinese armies, it is more likely that the Chinese armies of Motianling and Kuandian will take the opportunity to attack and occupy Andong from the north. ”

"Can you not save it?" Masaki Terauchi also understands this truth. Since the two 1st, 3rd, and 4th armies were all transferred to the customs with one division, there were only eight broken divisions left in the entire Andong Ji'an front. For this reason, he solemnly proposed to the General Staff of the Dispatch Army that the defensive line should be appropriately reduced, and even most of them should be withdrawn to the territory of Korea, and only the construction of Andong Jiulian City should be retained, but these were vetoed by the General Staff. The reasons for the veto are simple. That is, once the Japanese troops on the front line of Andong Ji'an retreated, the Chinese army must know that the Japanese troops here have been transferred into the pass; At the same time, it was taken into account that the army of China would have a decisive battle with the army of Lucia. Andong and even the Northeast are safe in this one to two months.

The opinion of the staff officer of the Dispatch Army Command was actually correct, but they did not expect that the Chinese Army would completely annihilate the Lucia Army in three days. Unexpectedly, the losses of the Chinese army that annihilated the Lucia army were extremely slight and the consumption was not large, and it launched an offensive against itself on the third day after the encirclement and annihilation, and it was not the previous guess to transfer troops into the pass to strengthen the Gyeonggi army.

It can be said that the entire war plan against China was completely overturned on this day, first the government of China announced the encirclement and annihilation of the Lucia Siberian Army, and then China announced the blockade of the entire Bohai Sea and carried out unlimited submarine warfare here. Such a change made everyone unexpected and unexpected.

"Maybe they can retreat from the sea with the help of the Navy." At this time, Akashi Genjiro did not know that China had begun to implement unrestricted submarine warfare, and the news of the landing of the China Army in Taiwan was also blocked by the base camp.

"Sea ......" Terauchi Masaki sighed, knowing more than Akashi, he took Akashi Genjiro to an empty room, and then said solemnly, "Last night, the Shina Navy announced that their submarine will sail into the Bohai Sea, since they have arrived in the Bohai Sea, is there probably no submarine in Dadonggou?" ”

"Nani?!" Genjiro Akashi heard the news for the first time, "How is this possible. The Navy doesn't say ......"

"Those Baga of the Navy will only compete with the army for military spending! It will only mislead the country! It's only going to add the ass of the white animal!! Terauchi Masashi interrupted angrily, "There is no way for them to deal with the submarine at all, and when the army is fighting bloodily, they will only enjoy the scenery on the sea!" Will only eat steak and drink coffee! They are the sinners of the Empire!! ”

Terauchi Masatsuki's anger seemed to be about to tear off the roof, and he knew very well what the appearance of the submarine in China meant, and it was precisely because of this that he was so angry when he had always been peaceful, and the Naoli Dispatch Army had been wiped out.

"Your Excellency, can you know how many submarines there are in China?" Genjiro Akashi still doesn't give up, and plans to get to the bottom of it.

"Akashi-kun, do you think there will be fewer submarines in Shina?" Masaki Terauchi looked at Akashi, who had always been extremely smart, and couldn't help but remind. "The Chinese army has just annihilated the Lucia army, and they will immediately enter the battle without resting, which shows that the Chinese must have a sufficient number of submarines to blockade the Bohai Sea."

"Your Excellency, the Guards Division cannot be rescued. Instead, Andong's army was to withdraw to Korea as best they could. Akashi Keny, who calmed down, said.

"Hehe..., Akashi-kun. It is impossible for the Guards Division not to save. If you don't save us, you're sinners of the Empire. As for the withdrawal to the DPRK, I will again ask the General Staff. After saying that, Terauchi Masatsuki walked out of the empty room. After giving instructions to the radio officer, he summoned the messenger who had called for help.

Anton's battle has started, but Zhili's side is still quiet, and according to the plan, the attack will start in three days, but at present, it seems that it is too late.

Anton's telegram to the headquarters of the China Dispatch Army outside Tientsin did not arouse the idea of the staff officers, who at this time gathered around several commanders and begged them to attack in advance.

"Your Excellency, there is no way back. Now the only way is to occupy Beijing! Staff officer Koichiro Tachibana said. An hour every night would give the Chinese army an extra hour to prepare. ”

As soon as Koichiro Tachibana said, the other staff officers also chimed in: "Your Excellency, please start the war in advance!" Just take Beijing to turn the tide, please give the order! ”

Since getting the news of the blockade of the Bohai Sea by the submarine in the middle of the night, Dashanyan has not slept all night, and at this time he seems to be completely asleep, his eyes are not open, and there is nothing he can do about these staff officers. At this time of stalemate. A staff officer outside took a telegram from Anton and read: "Your Excellency, the 3rd Army of Anton has called, the Chinese Army has surrounded the Guards Division, and its intention is to seize Anton by the general of the temple. The 3rd Army requested the Navy to assist the Guards Division in its retreat from the sea. It is hoped that the command will allow it to retreat into North Korea. ”

As soon as the staff officers finished reading the telegram, the staff officers, who were originally surprised, scolded: "Do those cowards of the 3rd Army want to flee back to their homeland so soon? It's a shame for the Army! ”

As soon as this remark came out, the other staff officers immediately echoed it. "Anton has land railways, if they retreat. Then the Manchurian army can enter the customs with confidence. Do the cowards in the temple want us all to die in Naoli?! ”

"Ahem..."Da Shanyan, who had been silent for a long time, finally made a sound, but he didn't pay attention to the staff officer. Instead, he said to the chief of staff, Yuto Uehara, "Let them all go down." ”

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Uehara Yusaku said, he guessed that the marshal probably had something to say to him alone, so he got up and drove these staff officers out. But in the face of this situation, he was also anxious, and when the staff officer retreated, he said without waiting for Da Shanyan to speak: "Your Excellency, the situation is just critical, should we attack immediately to reverse the situation?" ”

"Attack?!" Oyama Iwa looked at the chief of staff who actually asked what he should do, and couldn't help but think of Kodama Gentaro, how nice it would be if he had him. "Now we should be thinking about retreat!"

After speaking, Dashan Yan did not wait for Uehara Yusaku to speak, and then said: "Although the retreat is embarrassing, at least these hundreds of thousands of troops can be brought back, and the attack will not only not be successful, not only can it not save these hundreds of thousands of troops, but it will also lose Korea, and it may even be landed on the mainland by the Shina army." ”

"Impossible!" The marshal actually mentioned the homeland, and Yusaku Uehara's already pale face suddenly turned blue, "This is impossible!" The empire also had a navy, and as long as there was a navy, the Chinese army would not be able to land on the mainland. ”

"Navy? The navy also has no way to deal with the submarines of the China Army, and now that the naval warships in the Bohai Sea have taken refuge in Port Arthur, can we still count on the navy? Dashan Yan asked rhetorically. Now the hope is that Britain and Buddhism and other countries will protest against China's unrestricted submarine warfare, sink merchant ships without warning and search, and block the entire Bohai Sea shipping lane. As long as the government of China compromises with Britain and France, then the army can still withdraw some of its personnel. ”

After Dashanyan learned of the blockade of the Bohai Sea by the submarine of China last night, his only order was for the Consul General of Tianjin, Matsudaira Tsuneo, to immediately negotiate with the British and protest in order to transport some of the soldiers back to the mainland by merchant ships flying the British and Buddhist flags. It was the only way he could think of it.

"Your Excellency, is there really only one way? What if the people don't agree? Yusaku Uehara's blue face began to darken, and as an imperial general, he couldn't accept this fact.

"If the people don't agree, then they can only sue for peace." Oyama Iwa dealt him another heavy blow, but he recalled, "I'm old, Uehara-kun, please bring my head back after the final battle!" ”

"Nope! Excellency! No! The war will not be the result of this, as long as we enter Beijing, the people of China will definitely surrender, and the people of China will not surrender...... We, we will burn the whole of Beijing, we will kill all the people of China, and we will ......"

"Uehara-kun!" Dashan Yan looked at his subordinates who were a little crazy. "If we do this," he shouted. The result can only be that the Shina army will retaliate on the mainland, and Tokyo and Kyoto will also be burned by them. The people will also be slaughtered by them. Now all we have to do is how to end this war with dignity. I have already sent a telegram to the country, if the navy cannot remove the threat of the submarine in China, then in ten days the army will collapse, and in half a month they will be starving and unable to pick up a gun. How can this attack Beijing? Can attacking Beijing get food supplies? Can there be ammo? What we need to do now is to save ammunition, to save food, to preserve the whole army. ”

"His Majesty the Emperor will not agree to us doing this!" Yusaku Uehara stood up weakly, he didn't want to talk to the marshal about it, he only knew that with the pride of the Imperial Army, he could never beg.

The Japanese did not dare to attack because of the blockade, and neither Yang Rui nor the General Staff could have imagined that the Japanese would have such thoughts. But it doesn't matter what the Japanese think at this point. The situation is no longer in the ascendancy. While Oyama Iwa and Uehara were arguing, Yang Rui, who had been delusional all night yesterday, was now returning to meet the French minister and the British counselor -- Zhu Erdian did not want to come again since he left, and there were a large number of other foreign ministers.

They came for unlimited submarine warfare and the blockade of the Bohai Sea, and when the representative of the legation finished stating his protest, Yang Rui ignored the British, but looked at the French and the ministers of the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and other countries and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, as far as I know, after the war in Europe, the merchant ships of your country have returned to China. Since there are no merchant ships left, what are you protesting against? Is it here to support the scene? ”

"Your Excellency, I am..." The French Minister Kant was actually pulled by the British, and the Chinese blockade of the Bohai Sea had nothing to do with France. It's just that the British forced ministers from various countries to come to the Prime Minister's Office to protest against the Chinese government's violation of international conventions, and he had no choice but to come.

The French were speechless, and the Englishman next to him coughed a liter. Kant said: "Your navy's blockade of the Bohai Sea is a complete violation of the clause stipulated in paragraph 9 of the Beijing Protocol to ensure the smooth passage of the sea. Moreover, the sinking of the submarine without rescue and search also violates the provisions of the Hague International Convention on maritime inspection and blockade. Your Excellency the Prime Minister. I am not here for French merchant ships, only for international treaties and public international law. If your navy cannot stop this uncivilized behavior. That will be protested and condemned by all civilized countries, and at the same time, we will reserve the right to take the necessary measures against this act. ”

At last Kant had finished what he had to say, and while he himself applauded his brilliant speech, the ministers of other countries also pretended to express unbearable anger at it, except for the British Counsellor Mamuller.

After these foreign ministers finished speaking, Yang Rui smiled and said: "Mr. ministers, I very much want to know what necessary wording you will take?" Of course, if it's inconvenient for you to say it, then please go back first and show me. ”

Seeing that the Chinese did not take the legation to heart at all, the foreigners were furious, and the British Counsellor Mamuller, who had endured for a long time, said loudly: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, does your country really want to abandon international treaties and international public law?" This is worthless except to prove that your country is a barbaric country, spurned by all civilized nations. ”

"Civilization? Spurn? Yang Rui was furious, foreigners actually dared to pretend to morality in front of him. Fortunately, he knew that this was a diplomatic occasion and did not accuse Britain on the spot of how shameless it was. He only said in a very calm tone: "If you are talking about the Faustian civilization of the West, the civilization that is staging cannibalism in Europe, then our country would rather choose the kind of barbarism that your Excellency speaks of. In this way, there will be no massacre like a group fight. ”

The worship of Western civilization in the Eastern world completely disappeared after the European War, but this was only felt after tens of millions of casualties in Europe, but Yang Rui had long known the result of the war, and because he was the initiator of the decline of Western civilization, his accusations were understandable. It's just that as soon as he said this, except for Peru, Brazil, and Mexico, the other ministers present were all angry, but thinking that this was the reality of Europe, these people swallowed back the words that came to their lips.

Yang Rui didn't want to talk about life and philosophy with these Yang Rui, so he continued: "Paragraph 9 of the Beijing Protocol only requires the safety of Beijing's sea lanes, not the safety of the sea. The war was not provoked by our country, and Tianjin was not chosen by our country as a battlefield, so if you have any problems, go to Japan. In order to prevent the Japanese army from escaping and preventing the Japanese army's war materials from arriving, as long as it is a ship, no matter what country it is flying, it will be sunk without warning! ”

"Your Excellency! You are violating public international law! Mamul was so angry that he omitted even the honorifics. For Britain, it was an ally duty to rescue Japan, but the prohibition of unrestricted submarine warfare was for Britain's own considerations, which is why this clause was included in the Hague Convention in 1907. If China does this, Germany and Austria will do the same. By then the high seas would be full of submarines, and the huge British fleet would be useless.

"Mr. Counsellor, I would like to remind you that our country has not signed the Hague Convention, not even the Convention on Land Warfare. If it is to be signed, it must be approved by Congress, and it will take many months, maybe guò, maybe not, who knows. Yang Rui smiled. As for all the expatriates in the Tianjin Concession, they can be evacuated from Beijing via the Jinghan Railway, and for the expatriates who must stay in Tianjin, our country will send a supply ship to the chartered dock every three days, so that as long as they are Westerners, they can buy enough food and other daily necessities. ”

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, can expatriates leave Tianjin by sea?" Peruvian Minister Furiri asked, apparently relieved of the siege.

"I'm sorry Mr. Minister, I don't know how the Japanese submarines will deal with the expatriate ships, although our country will do its best to ensure the safety of the expatriates of all countries, but the Japanese obviously do not think like this, once the cruise ship loaded with expatriates is sunk, then the consequences will be catastrophic." After Yang Rui finished speaking, he looked at the British and French representatives, "Gentlemen, the war will end soon, I can guarantee that the Japanese will surrender within thirty days, or be wiped out, what really affects you is only a month, this is bearable." In addition, my advice is that there is no need for you to take any specific measures, and that a month, if you do so, only half a month, will be too late to do anything but bring back the Japanese who are trapped on the beach. Why bet on a country that is about to fail? ”

Yang Rui said strongly, and the others were okay - after all, the Chinese would deliver supplies for the city of Tianjin, and only the British Counsellor Mamuller saw his soft and hard appearance and wanted to duel with him. But reason prevailed over anger, but when he wanted to accuse the Chinese of the humiliation of the civilized world, the situation was not right.

Looking at the Zhu Erdian family who were packing up their things in the legation, Ma Mule was surprised and said, "Sir, you are ......"

"London told me to leave China." Zhu Erdian said quietly, although he had a hunch, he didn't expect it to be so early. "So......, can you help me buy a train ticket to leave in the afternoon."

"Sir," said Mamuller, who was still in a state of stupor, did not want Jurdian to end like this. "Okay, I'll buy it right away."

The news that British Minister Zhu Erdian was leaving China soon became known to everyone, and the change of ministers was a common thing, but the change of ministers during this period showed that Britain's China policy would bring about tremendous changes. Of course, this is only speculation by outsiders, and Zhu Erdian himself knows the reason: he was transferred out of China not only because of the complete failure of China's plan to instigate Japan's punishment, but also because of the factor that he strongly advocated that London declare war on China.

As a minister to China, the situation in China and the situation after the victory of the war against Japan can be predicted, and China's victory will be the bankruptcy of Britain's existing Far East policy, and when the war in Europe is over, it will turn its attention back to East Asia, then China will be the only one that will dominate here, and it will be very unlikely that this cunning and evil man will be restrained at that time.

Zhu Erdian thinks long-term, but London only focuses on the present, so his departure is extremely inevitable.

On the train from Beijing to Hankou in the afternoon, watching the servant struggling to hold a box, Zhu Erdian, who had already bid farewell to the Chinese emperor, asked curiously, "What is this?" ”

"Sir, the Chinese say that there are two bricks inside, and they say that their prime minister sent them on purpose. Do I need to throw them away? "The servant said.

Actually sent bricks, Zhu Erdian smiled inexplicably: "Keep them, they will be valuable." (To be continued......)