Three days later, Emperor Guangxu issued the "Declaration of War on Russia", pointing out that Russia was above the Yellow Sea, without warning, and without authorization, attacking our Qing Dynasty merchant ships without prior warning, causing more than 100 innocent people to die in the Yellow Sea. In addition, after the Qing Dynasty leased Lushun to Russia, the Russian army did whatever it took to do in the three northeastern provinces and slaughtered the people at will, which was really angered by both humans and ghosts, the Qing Dynasty decided to take back Lushun by force and drove the Russian army out of the Northeast.

As soon as the declaration of war was issued, the great powers were in an uproar. The ministers of various countries gathered in the Zongli Yamen to seek the truth. In addition to being sad, Yuan Shikai circulated all the outrageous photos of the Russian army in the Northeast to the ministers of various countries, accompanied by photos of the recent attacks of the Qing merchant ships on the Yellow Sea.

After seeing the photos, the ministers from various countries understood the "truth" of the matter, condemned the atrocities of the Russian army, supported the Qing Dynasty's military operation to send troops to the Northeast, and expressed their willingness to remain "neutral".

Location: Liugong Island, Weihai, Shandong, time: 9 am

In the combat command of the Naval Academy on Liugong Island, officers at all levels of the Beiyang Navy held their last meeting before the battle.

Tang Jian was still sitting in the upper head, Yan Fu was on his right, and other officers at the colonel level and above were on both sides.

Tang Jian coughed lightly and said solemnly: "Everyone must know that this is the last plenary meeting before the war, and we will attack Lushun at night tonight. Now I will reiterate the combat plan!"

After Tang Jian finished speaking, Li Gates distributed the combat plan to officers at all levels.

"I will only tell you about the general scheduled combat plan. The specific and detailed division of labor is all in the combat plan you have. Please read it in detail! If there is any change in the battle situation, it will be adjusted." Tang Jian said.

"Combat route: The front line is the Beiyang Navy as the main force. The Beiyang Fleet landed in Lushun in advance, attracting Russians from western Liaoning to help in Lushun. The front line is supplemented by the Beiyang New Army. After Nie Shicheng's troops in Jinzhou, the 20,000 troops of Nie Shicheng's troops were captured by the Beiyang Fleet, they inserted into the Liaodong Peninsula and ambushed Russian reinforcements in Yingkou and Phoenix City. This is the first combat plan!"

"Second step: After Nie Shicheng's troops ambush the Russian reinforcements on the spot, the main Russian forces in western Liaoning and Twin Cities of Russia will surely rush to Lushun. At the same time, the Beiyang Fleet's troop transport ships will be on the front line of Qinhuangdao and transport more than 10,000 Beiyang troops stationed in Shanhaiguan to Vladivostok. At that time, the Beiyang Fleet will take advantage of the empty defense of the Twin Cities to take the lead in defeating the Russian Pacific Fleet anchored in Vladivostok, and then use the Marine Corps as a sharp knife to land in Vladivostok. Then, the Beiyang New Army landed and captured the Twin Cities with the Marine Corps."

"The third step: the main force of the Russian army who found out that they were deceived would immediately return to the Twin Cities, the most important military fortress in the Far East, Vladivostok. At this time, the new Beiyang Army, which was constantly increasing troops, will rely on the Twin Cities, a ready-made military fortress, to fight against the main force of the Russian army returning to the aid. Even if the Russian army is a Cossack cavalry with good movement speed, after a long-distance raid, its combat effectiveness will be reduced sharply, and the cavalry will have no siege weapons. At that time, attack from land and water will be wiped out completely!" After reiterating the combat plan of General Tang Jian, he clenched his right fist and his eyes were sharp, showing his confidence that he would win.

"Annihilation of the Russian army!" The captains of each ship and other officers also expressed their determination!

"Okay, if you don't understand anything, you can raise it now. If you understand, the meeting will be terminated immediately. After everyone goes back, let the officers and soldiers at all levels be prepared!" Tang Jian said.

Seeing that everyone had no objection, Tang Jian said, "The meeting ended!"

After everyone walked to the conference room one after another, only Zhu Lianjie, Li Gates, Yan Fu, Chu Zhaoliang, Liu Wenqing and Wang Jianchuan were left in the conference room.

Tang Jian asked Lee Gates: "What about the CIA's news about Lushun?"

Li Gates replied: "Report to Young Master, the Russians seem to have understood our intentions, so they drove all the local people in a radius of hundreds of miles in Lushun early. The CIA's intelligence personnel could not get close to Lushun at all. They could only take Colonel Liu Wenqing's airship to check in the air. However, before they could approach Lushun, they were attacked by Russian anti-aircraft guns. The intelligence personnel only saw dozens of Russian warships anchored in Lushun Port, and other shore artillery deployments were not known."

Tang Jian frowned slightly. He didn't expect that the Russian soldiers' defense was so tight that even intelligence personnel could not sneak into Lushun to investigate the situation. It seemed that the Russians had been preparing for a long time, and even the anti-aircraft guns to deal with the airships had been arranged.

Tang Jian thought for a long time and said to Liu Wenqing: "This time, you Nighthawk Airship will stay on Beizhu Island for the time being! The Nighthawk troops are concerned about raids. Now the Russians are well prepared, and there is no point in air raids. The Nighthawk Airship is on standby and dispatches when necessary!"

Although Liu Wenqing was reluctant, he could only accept the order helplessly. It seemed that this time, the Nighthawk Air Force was going to be a spectator.

Tang Jian said to Chu Zhaoliang and Zhu Lianjie: "This battle depends on your performance. The Marine Corps is the first battle as a virgin. I hope Zhu Lianjie will not let me down!"

"I promise not to disappoint the young master!" Zhu Lianjie saluted and replied.

"And you, Chu Zhaoliang, although your submarine force performed well in the last battle against Japan, you also made a contribution in Lushun a few days ago. This time, you must continue to work hard and exert the combat effectiveness of your submarine force!" said Tang Jian.

"Haha!" Chu Zhaoliang smiled honestly and touched the back of his head, and saluted, "I will never let down the commander's entrustedness and complete the task resolutely!"

"Okay, you guys go out first! Mr. Yan and I have something to talk about!" Tang Jian said.

"Yes!" After hearing this, the few people stepped out with their heels, and after saluting, they retreated. Only Wang Jianchuan did not withdraw, but instead came up and asked with a smile: "Commander, where is me! Why don't I have my mission?"

"You?" Tang Jian pointed at Wang Jianchuan and said seriously: "Not yet!"

"What? I want to sit on the bench like Liu Wenqing?" Wang Jianchuan said dissatisfiedly, then salivated and begged: "Commander, at least we have to arrange something, otherwise, the hundreds of brothers under my command will not do it. If I go back empty-handed, I will not be swallowed by them alive!"

Tang Jian's face relaxed and he smiled and said, "Forget it, I won't tease you anymore. You lone wolf has a special task. You can let your subordinates eat and sleep well these days, so don't complain then!"

"Really, there is a special task? Well, I'll prepare now." Wang Jianchuan happily ran down to prepare when he heard that his lone wolf had a special task.

Seeing that everyone retreated, Yan Fu asked, "Since all the combat plans have been clear, I don't know what the commander wants to talk to Yan Fu about?"

Tang Jian smiled, walked to Yan Fu's side, and whispered a few words. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Yan Fu's face changed drastically, and he quickly shook his head and disagreed: "No, absolutely not! As the supreme commander of the first army, how can you do such a rash thing? What if something happens, what will happen to the Beiyang Navy?"

Tang Jian said without any attention: "Don't the Beiyang Navy still have you, Yan Fu?"

"Thanks to the commander's kindness, Yan Fu, what kind of virtue, how can I do? How dare I take on such a great responsibility!" Yan Fu continued to refuse.

Tang Jian put away his smile and said seriously: "I hope Mr. Yan can understand my good intentions. I will consider this from the overall perspective. This battle against Russia can only win but not lose. This is the most important thing, so I will hand over such a heavy responsibility to Mr. Yan."

Seeing that Tang Jian was so serious, Yan Fu knew that Tang Jian had made up his mind and could not refuse any of it. As long as he was reluctant to do so, he said, "Yan Fu is not talented and can get so trust from the commander. Yan Fuding should do his best to live up to the commander's high hopes. I also hope that Commander, you can pay attention to safety. If the Beiyang Navy lacks you, it won't work!"

"Haha, that's good, that's good!" Tang Jian was relieved when he saw that Yan Fu, the stubborn donkey, finally agreed to his request. He was afraid that Yan Fu would bite him.

………

The sea breeze is gentle and the sunset is setting. The light golden sunset seems to have a layer of gold on the sea surface, but there is a busy situation on the docks in Weihaiwei.

The manual crane sent shells weighing hundreds of kilograms into the ammunition depot of the warship, and the logistics officers and soldiers also transported freshwater vegetables from daily life to the food storage warehouse.

On the dock, the officers and soldiers of each ship were proud and walked along the gangway along the gangway. The white navy uniforms gathered into a beautiful landscape under the afterglow of the sunset.

The officers and soldiers sang in unison: Chinese men, Chinese men, must support the sky with one hand, sleep with a lion for thousands of years, sleep with a lion for thousands of years, and one man can lift his arms and a hero. I have a precious sword, generously join the army, strike the oars, and the great wind, and the decisive battlefield, and the spirit runs through the long rainbow, and the strange husbands in ancient and modern times. The yellow dust, Yan Ran has made great achievements, and the blood is still red until now...

The heroic singing circled over the sea of ​​Weihaiwei for a long time, and with the gentle evening breeze blowing towards the Yellow Sea.

With a long whistle, thick smoke columns rose from the towering chimneys of the Beiyang Fleet ships. The Longwei took the lead and slowly drove out of its berth and headed towards the Bohai Sea.

Then, other ships followed, sailed from their respective berths, drove one after another, left Weihaiwei Port, and headed towards Lushun opposite the strait. Dozens of warships were driving at a constant speed on the sea. From a distance, the masts on the warships were as dense as forests on the sea, and the smoke columns rising from the chimneys covered the clouds and sunlight, all showing the hugeness of this fleet.

Soon, the shaking sunset sank under the sea level, and the figure of the Beiyang Fleet gradually merged into the darkness.

After nightfall, Tang Jian quickly ordered the entire army to implement light control. Except for necessary navigation lights, all other unnecessary lights were turned off. People were strictly prohibited from making loud noises on the deck.

At the same time, Tang Jian also issued a strange order. The combat command was directly commanded by Chief Yan Fuyan. He was only responsible for supervising on the side and would never interfere in Yan Fu's command and operations. He could report anything directly to Chief Yan.

Although the captains were surprised, they had no objection when they thought that Tang Jian had been supervising the battle. The captains knew that the actual command was still under Tang Jian's own responsibility, and Tang Jian's purpose of doing this was nothing more than to enable Yan Fu to establish prestige in the army.

Just as the captains were speculating, a small boat hanged down from the Dragon Power and slowly sailed towards Weihaiwei under the cover of night.

ps: The first update today.
Chapter completed!