Chapter 20: One Battle Makes a Name That Shocks the World (Third Update Seeking Recommendations)

  Delivered at three o'clock in the morning, thank you for your support, brothers!

  Ye Zhi Kui discovered on the second day that the Japanese military's offensive had slowed down, and soon received news that Li Jian Wen had died in a human bomb attack the night before. Ye Zhi Kui felt desolate for a moment, but fortunately he still had his wits about him and knew that even if Li Jian Wen had been glorious, his 10th Brigade was not something he could handle at present. His troops had gone through two wars, although their morale was higher each time, but the officers and men must have been physically and mentally exhausted. They were sufficient for defense, but insufficient for offense. After discussing with the other generals, Ye Zhi Kui decided to retreat first and sent people to inform Zuo Bao Guo and Wei Ru Gui.

  At this point, just as Ye Zhiqi was reorganizing and preparing to retreat from Feng Yuxiang's army, Zuo Baogui's unit had already merged with Ma Yukun's. At that time, Zuo Baogui, who was still far away, had not yet clashed with the Japanese army. When he learned from Ma Yukun that the commander of the 9th Division, Oshima Yoshimasa, had taken his own life and the entire division had been almost annihilated, he was shocked to the point where his mouth hung open for half a day. Then he received news that the commander of the 10th Division, Tatsuji Suga, had been killed in an explosion, and he didn't know what to say anymore. If someone were to tell him now that Ye Zhiqi was invincible, he absolutely wouldn't be surprised; he had already become numb to Ye's abilities. Although he had heard from Nie Shicheng that Ye was a skilled fighter, he had still underestimated him.

  The news of the defeat of the 9th Brigade arrived while Nogi Maresuke was having a meal, and he hastily swallowed his food, sending someone to support them. Then came the news that Oyama Iwao had committed seppuku, and he spat out the food he had just eaten, crying loudly, "I have lost a sworn friend!" A greater blow was the news of the death of Saneyuki Akiyama, the greatest military strategist in Japan, which left him speechless for half a day. The old general suffered three heavy blows in one night and aged several years overnight. He hastily ordered other units of the 5th Division to suspend their attacks and gather around him to prevent the enemy from breaking through separately. At the same time, he reported to the General Headquarters and requested tactical guidance.

  The Japanese headquarters had moved from Tokyo to Hiroshima, and Emperor Meiji personally directed the war against China. On September 10th, Meiji received a telegram, disbelieving it, asked those around him, found out it was true, and was shocked, summoning overnight Prince Komatsu-no-Miya, Ito Hirobumi, Mutsu Munemitsu and others to discuss countermeasures.

  After a night of discussion, it was decided that the 3rd Division would be dispatched to Korea as soon as possible and combined with the remaining 5th Division to form the First Army, with General Yamagata Aritomo as its commander. Second, since the war on land had been lost, the war at sea must be won, and Admiral Kabayama Sukenori, Chief of the Navy General Staff, was ordered to concentrate all Japanese naval forces into a single fleet, adopt an offensive strategy, launch a preemptive attack on the Chinese navy, destroy its effective strength, and seize control of the seas. Third, public opinion would be controlled through propaganda, vilifying Ye Zhichao, stirring up hatred for him throughout Japan, and diverting the attention of the people.

  Just as the news arrived in Japan, Li Hongzhang, the Beiyang Minister, also received the news around this time. The old man in his 70s laughed so hard that his false teeth fell out when he heard that Korea had won another great victory.

  He took the telegram and was shocked, with over 4,000 enemy troops killed, Japanese generals ōshima Yoshimasa and Tatewaki Toshio were among the dead. Upon seeing the achievements, he couldn't help but exclaim: "General Ye Zhiqiu is indeed a blessing to our country." The Qing Empire had been losing battle after battle in recent years, and had almost forgotten what it was like to win. Now that they finally had such a great victory, how could people not be overjoyed? He also thought of the intelligence report submitted by Ye Zhiqiu last time, and Li Hongzhang felt that he needed to replace his naval commander.

  Guangxu received the news and was so excited that he pulled up the palace maid beside him, and that palace maid was lucky enough to hit the red heart once and became pregnant with a dragon child. Later, after learning about the reason, in order to thank Ye Zhikui, she even gave him her most treasured and precious bellyband.

  Cixi was watching a play when she received the news. Upon hearing the report, she first expressed surprise and asked Ye Zhiqi some questions. Then, seeing that the play had reached its climax, she hastily waved her hand to have them withdraw, saying whatever it was could be discussed after the play.

  For a time, Ye Zhikuan's name shook the land of China, and the good fortune of the country was formally spread throughout the world. The Times of London first reported on these two wars and published an editorial calling Ye Zhikuan the number one military strategist in East Asia. Germany's Deutsche Neue Revue detailed Ye Zhikuan's entire experience studying in Germany, calling him one of the best foreign students.

  At this time, Ye Zhiwei in Korea was also suffering from the pain of fame. After receiving the news that Ye Zhichao and other major armies were returning to the city, he launched a grand welcoming activity for the Qing army with 100,000 citizens, and the enthusiastic Korean people even went out of the city for ten miles to welcome them. The young women would bat their eyelashes at any returning Qing soldier they met. According to statistics after the event, the birth rate of Pyongyang women increased by tenfold in the following year, many of whom were unmarried and pregnant, and when the children grew up, many ran to China to recognize their ancestors.

  The official uniform worn by Ye Zhiqi when he entered the city was torn into 254 pieces by enthusiastic Korean girls. After the event, a collector spent 13 years collecting all 254 fragments, causing a sensation at the time. The uniform was also donated to the Beijing Museum as a priceless treasure by the collector. The Beijing Museum also saw an increase of 30% in tourist numbers due to this garment.

  That night, North Korean officials held a banquet to invite Ye Zhiwei. The invitation letter was hyped by the wealthy and powerful families with unmarried daughters as a sky-high price. After entering, Ye Zhiwei saw the room full of famous ladies and thought it was a matchmaking meeting.

  Unable to bear it any longer, Ye Zhiwei had no choice but to shut his doors and refuse all visitors, and only then did the storm slowly subside.

  In the Pyongyang barracks of the Korean army, Ye Fu looked at the still sleeping Xiao Linglong and asked the old military doctor with a worried expression: "Why hasn't Xiao Linglong woken up yet?" The old military doctor was not only stubborn but also had poor eyesight, however he was the last remaining medical officer in the entire barracks.

  The old military doctor replied, "Judging from the pulse, this young lady's pulse is stable and her body has no major problems. However, due to past emotional trauma, she herself does not want to wake up. This is not something that can be cured with medicine, but rather requires careful care from adults."

  In the following days, no matter how busy Ye Zhi Kui was, he would definitely take out one or two hours to accompany Xiao Ling Long and talk to her. Xiao Ling Long was delighted because of his injury, and Ye Zhi Kui couldn't forget the scene where she followed him.

  It was another day, Ye Zhi Kui was feeding Xiao Ling Long while talking non-stop, telling her all about the various snacks and pastries he knew from around the world, trying to tempt her with delicious food. Suddenly, he noticed Xiao Ling Long's eyelashes twitching, and his heart skipped a beat with joy.

  Only to see Xiaoling's eyebrows trembling, slowly opening her eyes, looking around with a glance, Ye Zhi Kui was so excited that he dropped the bowl on the ground, and hugged Xiaoling, crying and laughing: "Finally woke up, if you didn't wake up, Uncle really wanted to spank your butt."

  Xiao Linglong weakly said: "Ye Dage, you're hurting me." What's going on? Ye Zhikui hastily lowered his head and saw that Xiao Linglong's face was completely red, extremely shy, and didn't dare move at all in Ye Zhikui's arms.

  "Ah!" Ye Zhi Kui thought of a possibility and exclaimed in surprise.

  Xiao Ling said in a soft voice: "Ye brother, I'm completely fine now."

  Ye Zhi Kui hastily sent away his hands, momentarily at a loss for words. Although he had been close to Xiaoling before, that was when she was 7 or 8 years old. Now, he really didn't know how to face her. Xiaoling also didn't know how to react, and the two of them fell silent for a moment.

  Halfway through, Xiaoling suddenly smiled and said: "Ye brother, I want that lemon tea you told me about earlier!"

  Xiao Ling is still the same gluttonous Xiao Ling, but Ye Zhi Kui is getting what he deserves. Where can he go to find lemon tea for Xiao Ling?