Super Dictator

Xu Shichang did not expect that Yuan Shikai would speak so highly of Wei Jichen. He was stunned for a while and then said: "Sending help in times of need is far better than icing on the cake. Since Wei Ting values ​​him so much, why not send someone to convey the news from the palace to him, and then mediate from it?" One or two, I believe that Weiting can resolve Wei Jichen's crisis virtually through the relationship between several princes.

Yuan Shikai shook his head and said: "Wei Jichen is now famous. It is a time when he is satisfied with his ambition. I am afraid that the court will not dare to go too far for the time being. In my opinion, I am afraid that it will wait until after the Sino-Japanese War before Lafayette will let this rising star General Xing died midway, and he will be at his most depressed. At that time, I will mediate and rescue him from the predicament. I believe Wei Jichen will be grateful to me, and he will be able to be used by me. "

After a pause, Yuan Shikai continued: "However, we can first convey to him the news that Lafayette does not like him. All we need to do is to inform Mr. Zhongtang in a subtle way. Presumably Li Zhongtang will reciprocate his love for him. Bar."

Hearing that Yuan Shikai actually wanted to conquer Wei Jichen, Xu Shichang couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart that his brother had a big appetite.

Yuan Shikai didn't know that Li Hongzhang was in a state of distress and had no energy to deal with these small matters.

Not long after the Lunar New Year, the Japanese Shandong Combat Army was planning a larger offensive.

On January 29, the Japanese army surrounded the fort group on the south coast of Weihaiwei. Seeing that Weihaiwei's rear position was in danger, Li Hongzhang also followed the advice of German adviser Hannagan and asked the Beiyang Navy to defend the Weihaiwei port and then send troops to rescue by land.

Who is Hannagan? He is a retired captain of the German Army. He was responsible for the design and construction of the forts at Lushunkou, Dalian Bay and Weihaiwei. This German did his best and did not slack off at all.

It's a pity that he is not Chinese after all and cannot understand the thinking of the Chinese. The forts designed by Hannagan are specifically designed to deal with enemy ships on the sea and cannot take into account the rear route, so he proposed to design some forts to deal with the rear approach. Of course, the officials of the Qing Dynasty were reluctant to spend any more money. It was enough to have this face-saving project, otherwise how could they be greedy, so the matter was dropped.

This time Hannagan suggested that Li Hongzhang order the Beiyang Fleet to stay in the port and wait for help. It is not clear whether this idea is correct or not. After all, there are many forts along the port, which can cooperate with the fleet to withstand it for a long time. When the army rescue arrives, the Japanese will naturally be in vain. But if they return and break through, not only will the Weihaiwei base be lost, but it is also unknown whether the Beiyang Fleet can escape.

However, Hannagan once again looked up to the Qing Army. In the original history, the Qing troops stationed at the forts were retreating steadily, and rescue from other armies was delayed.

In the end, the Beiyang Fleet was besieged by the Japanese on Liugong Island from both sea and land. At this time, Li Hongzhang sent a telegram to Ding Ruchang, asking him to break out. By this time, it was already too late. After days of hard fighting, the Beiyang ships had been severely damaged and their ammunition was about to run out. , people are so panicked that they can’t get out at all.

In the end, Ding Ruchang, Liu Buchan, Yang Yonglin and others committed suicide one after another, and ten ships including the "Zhenyuan" became the spoils of war for the Japanese.

When Wei Jichen, who was in Gaiping, learned that the Japanese had landed in Rongcheng Bay and that two armies were attacking Weihaiwei, he was secretly worried and sent three telegrams to Li Hongzhang in one day, suggesting that Li Hongzhang let the Beiyang Fleet break through in time.

Li Hongzhang first called back and scolded Wei Jichen. Wei Jichen was not a naval officer, so his suggestions were naturally not as important as Hannagan's.

However, this time Wei Jichen was determined to persuade Li Hongzhang. He sent dozens of telegrams over several days, containing thousands of words, outlining the pros and cons.

It was implicitly proposed that if the reinforcements did not arrive and the situation continued as it was, when Weihai Acropolis fell and all the forts on the south and north banks were occupied by the Japanese, the destruction of the Beiyang Fleet would be just around the corner.

Moreover, Wei Jichen proposed for the first time the concept of effective force. The victory or defeat was not based on the loss of a city. As long as the Beiyang Fleet could be preserved, there would be a possibility of a comeback in the future.

Li Hongzhang saw that the situation was developing as Wei Jichen expected, and was gradually moved by Wei Jichen's words. He no longer responded to the telegram to reprimand Wei Jichen, but began to consider the matter carefully.

The fate of the Beiyang Fleet suddenly became confusing.

In Haicheng, Li Yunfei is receiving Li Guangjiu, Wei Guangtao and other Hunan Army generals. Li Guangjiu is the son of Li Xubin, the most powerful general of the Hunan Army, and Wei Guangtao is not an ordinary person.

However, after all, these two men had never led troops to fight against the Japanese, so they looked down upon the Japanese a little too much.

At the banquet, although Li Yunfei was the host, he was not as senior as Li Guangjiu and Wei Guangtao. One of them was a Taoist priest and the other a vassal, so he had to accompany him on the sidelines.

Li Yunfei was not angry, and kept the expression on his face. He smiled and toasted: "I wish you two adults a successful victory and an early recovery of Ximu City."

Li Guangjiu raised his cup and said with a smile: "You adults are still very powerful. You can turn the tide in one battle and let us gain a free advantage."

As soon as Liu Kun dispatched these Hunan troops out of the border, he was here to save the overall situation. Unexpectedly, someone else, Wei Jichen, had already reversed the situation while they were still on the way. This made them feel extremely embarrassed, and they suddenly felt that they had no power to use.

Li Yunfei immediately noticed the sourness in Li Guangjiu's tone, and replied humbly: "From what you two adults said, my lord just won a small victory by chance. There are still a large number of Japanese troops stationed in Ximu City. My lord, It was only after knowing that the two adults were on the road with a group of elite soldiers that they gave up the difficulty and chose to attack Gaiping."

Li Yunfei's words were very touching. The two of them were still a little angry at first, but when they heard Li Yunfei's words, they burst into laughter.

Wei Guangtao nodded and said with a smile: "Don't worry, there are only more than 2,000 Japanese in Ximu City. We, the old and new Hunan Army, have more than ten battalions in total. We are still afraid that we will not be able to capture it. Now as our Hunan Army comes out of the border, our army The military power has been greatly enhanced, and the recovery of various parts of Liaodong is just around the corner."

Li Yunfei was afraid that Wei Guangtao was a little careless, so he couldn't help but remind him: "My lord, I have found out that Shang Min, the great force in Ximu City, is ready to defend to the death. The Japanese have built wide walls and dug deep trenches. Why don't you wait until the other armies have arrived?" Make another plot!"

Li Guangjiu said displeasedly: "Could it be that General Manager Li looks down on our Hunan Army? He thinks that your lord, with an army of 10,000, can encircle and annihilate two Japanese armies in two days, totaling more than 12,000 people. And we The 5th Battalion of the Lao Xiang Army and the 6th Battalion of the Wei Dynasty's Mighty Army totaled 6,000 people. Their strength was three times that of the Japanese defenders of Ximu City. How could they still be unable to capture the city? "

Several battalion officers around him looked at Li Yunfei with unkind expressions. One of them said, "We are all good soldiers in the Hunan Army. Are you the only one who is the only sergeant in Wei Zijun who is not greedy for life and afraid of death in battle?"

Li Yunfei thought to himself that this was not a matter of fear of death, but seeing the other party's expression, he had to change his mind and said: "Li is just reminding everyone, after all, it is better to be careful in everything, and I have no intention of looking down on you. "

Wei Guangtao waved his hand and said: "Okay, okay, Mr. Li also kindly said that, so you should stop making more noise. Our army will be dispatched quickly tomorrow. We can arrive in as soon as one day, and then we will take advantage of the opportunity in Ximu City to The defenders have not yet come out of the atmosphere of the last major defeat, and they captured this city in one fell swoop, clearing the way for our other armies to advance. "

After hearing this, everyone raised their glasses and drank with joy.

The battalion officer who had just returned from going to the toilet looked at Li Yunfei and suddenly said: "Master Li, why don't you recruit some singers to come and dance for fun? I don't know if I will still be alive after this battle. I can finally watch a few beauties singing and dancing." Even if I die, I will have peace of mind.”

Seeing his bold words, everyone shouted in agreement.

Li Yunfei put down his wine glass and replied sheepishly: "My lords, it's not that I, Li Yunfei, am neglecting the distinguished guests, it's just that there is no dancing girl in the government office, and it's already late at night. I'm afraid I won't be able to find her if I look outside."

The battalion officer who came back from going to the toilet said in disbelief: "Master Li, please don't lie to me. Just when I was going to the toilet, I passed by the west wing and saw a dancer dancing in the room. Although I was surprised at the first glance, I was shocked. For heavenly beings, the dance is really graceful and very pleasing to the eye.”

When everyone heard this, they all started making noises. Some said that Li Yunfei was not interesting enough, while others said that Li Yunfei wanted to eat alone.

Wei Guangtao and Li Guangjiu both smiled and said nothing. It would not be a good thing to relax before the war.

In the west wing, Li Yunfei's heart skipped a beat. Isn't that the room where Li Que'er lives? Li Queer and his master were confused and entangled. Li Yunfei didn't dare to let her come out to dance for fun, but when he saw the howling of these generals, he was in a dilemma.

It turned out that Li Que'er had gradually recovered from his injuries after many days of recuperation. He had nothing to do in the room tonight, so he turned on the lights and danced to see if his injuries were healed. He never thought that by chance, he would be seen by this battalion officer.

Now she heard people's cries from far away, so she asked the maid to come and investigate. She immediately understood what was going on and bit her red lips. She still didn't want to make Wei Jichen's men too embarrassed.

"My lords, this little lady is being polite." Just when Li Yunfei was in trouble, Li Que'er came out at some point and came forward to salute everyone.

Li Queer's face was very charming. When he walked, he looked at her posture, and when he looked back, he was full of charm. All of a sudden, this noisy general became silent.

After a moment, he let out an exclamation of exclamation.

After Li Que'er saluted, he ignored everyone's whispers and continued to speak openly: "My lords, please don't embarrass Lord Li. Since I want to see the little girl dance, the little girl will dance lightly to entertain you. I hope that after you send troops, you can regain our territory in China."

Li Queer's graceful appearance won a roar of applause.

After the sound of the pipa sounded, Li Que'er was like a butterfly in the flowers, slowly dancing under the dim light.

The slender neck swayed so whitely that it made people dizzy, and the several small bells tied to the ankles made even more pleasant sounds when dancing.

I saw her shaking her hands, stroking her feet, twisting her waist and hips, which made her mouth go dry.

For a moment, the drinkers forgot to drink, and the eaters forgot to pick up their dishes. They all stared at the elf in the middle of the hall. No one spoke, and they even tried to hold their breath for fear of waking up Li Queer who was dancing. .

The sound of music lingered and slowly dissipated in the sky.

Before everyone could recover, Li Queer had finished dancing and then disappeared into the hall at some point.

Wei Guangtao saw that everyone was still in a daze, so he couldn't help but stand up, clapped his hands and said: "Okay, everyone, it's getting late. Today's banquet is over. Let's get some rest after we go back. Tomorrow will be the first expedition of our Hunan Army. ”

The generals who came back to their senses exclaimed for a while and then all left one after another. However, the battalion officer who had gone to the toilet just now sneaked into a corner while everyone was chatting, with a lustful and evil light in his eyes.