Chapter 94: The Wind Rises and Clouds Gather

  Of course, a few landmines and makeshift barbed wire could not save the Japanese army. Soon, as more and more Allied troops rushed onto the battlefield, the remaining Japanese soldiers began to flee in disarray towards their last line of defense.

  "Bastards, you cowards! You should perish with the invaders!" Prince Komatsu no Miya brandished his sword and shouted in grief and indignation. The soldiers running past him didn't care to listen to him, "If you're so capable, go perish with the invaders yourself."

  The first day of the Eight-Nation Alliance's battle in Tokyo ended like this, although they broke through the Japanese army's most important defense line, but also suffered significant casualties. The German army had over 800 deaths and injuries, Yang Feng's unit had less than 200 deaths and injuries, mainly due to landmines and artillery fire. Song Qing's unit also had less than 200 deaths and injuries, while the losses of the small Ma Qi were only a dozen or so, his attack on Yīshā was more of a harassment, and mountain warfare didn't allow him to form ranks either. The naval fleet led by Tirpitz destroyed all Japanese artillery positions on both sides of the Pūhè waterway exit, at the cost of six warships being hit, including two Russian cruisers, which were only minor injuries that did not affect combat effectiveness. Additionally, over 30 sailors died or were injured.

  But it is clear that the bitter taste of the Japanese Army's acid shells left a very deep impression on Tirpitz.

  "The Imperial Navy must change to this type of shell, the power of nitrocellulose shells is too weak in comparison." He said while eating a steak sent from the Marauder at a dinner party held at a temple in Kamakura.

  "No, no, I prefer to use antimony now. In my factory in Sweden, we have already solved the problem of mass production of this thing. If your country is interested, we can cooperate. Moreover, I also have a new type of armor-piercing projectile technology here, which can also be cooperated."

  "What about the poison gas?" Waldsee said.

  "Of course, this is mustard gas. The technology has been around for a long time, we just perfected it and loaded it into artillery shells. We can also collaborate on things like gas masks." Yang Feng said, he couldn't wait to arm Germany now, so they could gain enough confidence to expand their territory as soon as possible. If he didn't ignite the spark of World War within ten years, he would consider his life a failure.

  "So here's to our friendship!" said Walderez with satisfaction.

  Just as the invaders were celebrating their victory, Ito Hirobumi was begging the British ambassador to mediate at the British embassy. Japan could agree to Germany's lease of Okinawa, but Russia's lease of Sapporo was not acceptable. In addition, they could compensate for military expenses of 2 million pounds. He was really frightened, his painstakingly built and heavily relied-upon Tamagawa defense line had been taken down by the enemy in just one charge, which almost took away his backbone. Although there was still a final line of defense left, this line of defense didn't even have a river to block the way, whether it could stop the invaders or not only heaven knew.

  "Please be assured, Prime Minister, that the British Far Eastern Fleet is on its way. We will absolutely not stand by and see our friends treated in such an unjust manner, so please hold on until tomorrow afternoon." The British ambassador said with righteous indignation.

  This remark left Ito Hirobumi stunned, he really didn't expect the British to be so righteous. To think that previously the British would at most just mediate, and even he himself hadn't dared hope that these guys would send troops to help, but now they were being so generous, this was simply like a pie falling from the sky. But thinking about it, it made sense, whether it was the Germans or the Russians, their expansion in the Far East was something the British couldn't accept, and for the sake of protecting their own interests in the Orient, the British were willing to use military force to show their strength.

  "I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for the assistance from your country. The friendship between Her Majesty the Queen and His Imperial Majesty, as well as the people of Japan, will never be forgotten." Prime Minister Ito said with a bow, his voice choked with emotion, without noticing that the British envoy was smiling somewhat strangely at this moment.

  News of the British naval fleet heading north was delivered to Yang Feng at the fastest speed, and Waldsee didn't even bother with this news. To say that the British would go to war for Japan and Germany is simply a joke.

  "Don't worry about the British, when they come, just let the fleet block the Poho Waterway and we'll take care of the battle in Tokyo as usual." The old man said with a cold smile.

  Since that's the case, Yang Feng naturally had nothing to say. He couldn't wait to see a war between England and Germany now. Although this ideal is hard to achieve in the short term, if the two countries' fleets confront each other at sea, it would be some consolation.

  At the same time as the British Far Eastern Fleet sailed north, the Beiyang Fleet also set sail from Weihaiwei. Their target was clearly Busan Port. Whether it was the Germans or Yang Feng, they were all considered friends of Li Er Guizi's. This was a good opportunity to show friendship. The Japanese First and Fifth Divisions were sailing south along the Nakdong River, and were expected to arrive in Busan tomorrow. If they could be blocked in Korea, that would be a great help to Yang Feng.

  However, just as the fleet was about to set sail, Li Hongzhang suddenly received an imperial edict recalling all troops from Yashan. The reason was simple: on that very day, Shan County's friend broke through the Duck Green River defense line. Following Zuo Baogui's death in battle, the Qing army lost another high-ranking general. Because of the defeat of the northern Iketao and southern Jiuliancheng Liu Shengxiu divisions, Wei Rugui was trapped alone with his troops on Tiger Mountain, barely managing to fight his way out of encirclement by the Japanese army. He himself was severely injured by a Japanese-captured howitzer shell, and almost didn't survive.

  "Master Zhongtang, what shall we do?" Ding Ruchang asked cautiously.

  "This mess, who's going to clean it up for them? Take the wireless operator and get out of here quickly. Don't tell anyone about this telegram, and shut down the wireless telegraph machine." Li Ergou said with a gloomy face.

  Ding Ruchang immediately understood his meaning, and the entire Beiyang Fleet left Weihaiwei at the fastest speed. As for that edict, Nima, without a fleet, how can we withdraw? It's better to explain why it's not possible to contact the fleet. The wireless telegraph signal is inherently unstable, and there have been cases where contact was lost before.

  The Japanese army has just crossed the Yalu River, Fenghuang City, Lianshan Pass, Moyan Ridge, from Andong to Shengjing, how many days of danger, the Japanese army will have to fight for several months, as long as they do not attack southward towards Dalian, the people and horses in Yashan do not need to move.

  Li Hongzhang then memorialized that the various armies at Yashan could not be lightly withdrawn, and once withdrawn it would be equivalent to handing Korea over to Japan. Although the enemy's momentum was high, Commander Ito was a seasoned veteran of the border regions, and besides, Fengcheng and other places were mainly inhabited by bannermen, who were fierce and brave, good at fighting, and would certainly fight to the death against the Japanese invasion of their homeland. Moreover, there was the natural barrier of Mount Maotian, which the Japanese could not breach, and wait until all the main forces gathered, General Ito's isolated army would be without support, and in no time it would definitely offer its head at the capital.

  This memorial almost made Cixi's nose crooked, she found that this old thing was getting more and more disobedient. If Yikuang could stop Shanqi Yifen, would I still need to find you? Maotian Ridge is a natural danger, but it also depends on the defending army not running away. Besides, do the Japanese have to go through Maotian Ridge? Can't they go from Xiyang to Haicheng? That place has many banner people, but it's also the ancestral home of the Manchu people, are you saying that no matter how many of them die, we don't need to care?

  These Han slaves are getting more and more arrogant, even the imperial edict can't control them. The Beiyang Navy has become Li Hongzhang's private army? And that Yang Feng, the court thought it had treated him well, but in just over half a year he rose from being an ordinary person to becoming a commander-in-chief. Now he actually dares to privately withhold military supplies from the imperial court, this is simply contempt for the law.

  Although in her heart, she also thought that the batch of ammunition not being delivered to the front line was a good thing. If those machine guns and cannons fell into Japanese hands again, it would probably not be as simple as just one Left Treasure dying and one Wei Rugui being injured.

  But this matter is different in nature, it's related to the dignity of the imperial court, if things are done like this, wouldn't that be chaotic?

  But now she has no other way, the flag people are not doing well, and this Jiangshan still needs to rely on the Han people to protect it. For these people, they still need to be coaxed, even if they want to deal with them, they have to finish the battle first. It's okay to be a bit arrogant, thinking back to when they just pacified the Long Mao, the Han people were even more arrogant than now, but in the end, weren't they cleaned up? Playing these people, he still thinks it's easy to capture them.

  Besides, it's not like only the Huai Army can fight, you Li Hongzhang don't do it and there are others who can, the Huai Army is no good then there's the Xiang Army, Li Hongzhang doesn't do it and there's Liu Kunyi, and Zhang Zhidong. This old lady sent a telegram to Liu Kunyi, the Governor of the Two Rivers, that night, ordering him to go north as the Imperial Commissioner to replace Yikang'a, while also deploying the main force of the Xiang Army to reinforce the north. Apart from them, there's also the Gansu Army under Dong Fuxiang, this bandit is still obedient if given some benefits...

  This evening, the entire East Asia can be said to be turbulent, with the appearance of a piece of fat, all parties have come out, even an Italian cruiser that originally came to watch the Battle of the Yellow Sea, also announced its intention to join the ranks of those punishing Japan, and then rushed towards Tokyo with a trail of black smoke. The French Far Eastern Fleet has also set sail from Saigon, as for their purpose, it's hard to say, given the feelings between France and Germany, it's likely they won't come to help the Germans.

  But these are small fish and cannot decide the situation in Japan. As long as the British do not give up on the Japanese people, that's all that matters. At this time, Ito Hirobumi couldn't help but feel that it was still the British who were righteous.

  Of course, he didn't idle around either. The 6th Division had already arrived at Shimogawa and was marching north day and night to support the Emperor. However, the Tokaido Main Line was bombed again, so they had to go to Kyoto first and then march north on foot, which would take some time. That evening, many people from nearby counties in Tokyo came to support the Emperor, although these militiamen armed with bows, arrows, and bird guns were unlikely to be of much use. Still, it was enough to prove the bravery of the Japanese people in resisting invaders. As the saying goes, "even a fart can add fuel to the fire." With these brave warriors wielding swords, at least the ordinary people in Tokyo were no longer so panicked.

  After a chaotic night, the next morning at dawn, more than 20,000 well-rested Allied troops launched an attack on the Japanese army's last line of defense.