In accordance with the establishment requirements of the Party Central Committee, the New First Army of the Northeast People's Revolutionary Army of the Communist Party of China has two divisions in each column, and the number of troops has grown to the point that independent divisions and reserve divisions are allowed; Each division has two standard regiments, and the first, second, and third regiments can be set up according to the number of people. With the continuous growth of the troops and the continuous improvement of the combat capability of the reserve units of each column, Lin Junxiong prepared to expand the columns in accordance with the requirements of the Party Central Committee after the Battle of Changchun.

The 103rd Regiment of the 102nd Division of the First Column was arranged to be responsible for the defense at the sixth fort of the eighteen forts of Lotus Mountain, the regiment commander Nandi looked at the sixth fort three kilometers behind him, and thought of the Tianshu, Tianxuan, and Tianji forts that Longgang Mountain was defending at that time, and couldn't help but shake his head, the fortification of the eighteen forts of Lotus Mountain far exceeded the fort of the Big Dipper, and his own regiment eliminated the devils of nearly one division at the beginning, and with the solidity of the sixth fort, he was confident that he could stop the attack of the devils.

"Brothers, hurry up, we must plant all the explosives before dawn, the devils have been blowing up for days, and it's our turn to blow them up." Nandy shouted at the busy soldiers in the trenches.

"Commander, don't worry, this layer of layers will definitely surprise the devils, the brothers have been blown up by the devils for several days, this time the little devils must have a good drink." A platoon commander said excitedly while digging a pit.

"Well, it's good, you must pay attention to the location when you bury it, so as not to be destroyed by the devil's shells at that time." Nandy walked up to the platoon commander and patted him on the shoulder.

The platoon commander nodded solemnly, watched Nandy leave, and shouted to his soldiers: "Brothers, come on, we can't let the little devil down." ”

A burst of joyful laughter was heard from the trenches, sweeping away the haze of being bombed by devils for several days.

On December 6, at five o'clock in the morning, Kasahara Yukio and Tojo Iwa could not wait to order the troops to start a fierce artillery bombardment of Lotus Mountain, which was shrouded in morning fog and was mixed with smoke and sparks after the explosion of the shells, which looked quite strange.

After the artillery bombarded indiscriminately for nearly half an hour, and almost used up the remaining shells, the devils divided into ten attacking forces to launch a general attack from all around Lotus Mountain, and the new army in Lotus Mountain seemed to be unprepared for the sudden attack of the devils, and after resisting for less than half an hour, they kept retreating, and the troops of the devils everywhere occupied the original trenches and positions of the new first army.

Kasawara Yukio and Tojo Iwa had just received the battle situation of the troops everywhere and were immersed in the joy of the victory in the first battle, but the sudden news shocked both of them, the troops that had just won the victory suffered a violent explosion on the original position of the new first army, and lost nearly 10,000 people in just a moment.

Kasawara Yukio was so angry that he blew his beard, he had studied the situation of the Japanese army and the New First Army many times, and he should have expected that the stubborn New First Army might be defeated so quickly, and Kasawara Yukio was annoyed by his hindsight, and ordered the troops everywhere to advance step by step, compressing the scope of activity of the New First Army, and approaching the center of Lotus Mountain.

Compared with Kasawara Yukio's chagrin and anger, Tojo Iwa calmly analyzed everything, and after a long time, he suddenly opened his eyes wide, and some ominous premonitions kept flashing in his mind, he always felt that there was a big conspiracy in the Lotus Mountain base area, and it was not possible for the eleven Kwantung Army divisions to attack Lotus Mountain, and they would suffer heavy losses. Although Tojo Iwa had this thought, he realized in despair that he was just a defeated general, and now that the situation seemed to be superior, how could Umezu Mijiro listen to his unfounded feelings.

One misstep turned into a thousand years of hatred, and the defeat of the new army became an indelible shame for Tojo Rock, and also made him lose his right to speak in the Kwantung Army Headquarters, thinking of this, Tojo Rock shook his head bitterly, countless sadness welled up in his heart, and his hatred for Lin Junxiong was a little more.

Qiao Xinyu and Shen Yushan stood at the highest point of Lotus Mountain, and the two of them used binoculars to observe the rumbling explosion, and after a while, Qiao Xinyu put down the binoculars and said with a smile: "Lotus Mountain has fired the first shot of counterattack, and it will face a few days of hard defense." ”

"Political commissar, it is the first explosion of the counterattack, and although it is our hard defensive battle, it is also the beginning of the nightmare of the devil." Shen Yushan also put down his binoculars, and the smile on his face showed his confidence in winning the battle.

"The first explosion was fired, and the first shot was immediately fired, but I was worried about how Yukio Kasahara, who had suffered from defending the fortress in Longgang Mountain, would react when he faced an impenetrable fortress again. In addition, although Tojo Iwa was severely beaten by the Six Columns with the Twin Dragons Ghost Formation last time, the calmness he showed a few days ago will not attack with all his might. "With a certain understanding of the personalities of Kasawara Yukio and Tojo Iwa, Qiao Xinyu is worried that the two will not order the troops to attack with all their might.

"Political commissar, don't worry, now Umezu Mijiro has ridden the tiger and withdrawn all the troops to attack Changchun, and he is afraid that the three columns on our periphery will attack. At present, he can only hope that the troops besieging Lianhua Mountain will be victorious in a short time, and then draw out a part of his forces to block the five columns, and the large army will storm Changchun. Does he have any other options? Shen Yushan analyzed the situation faced by Umezu Mijiro, looked at Qiao Xinyu very seriously and asked.

Qiao Xinyu thought for a while, and said with a smile: "Yushan is extremely analyzed, it seems that there is no other way for Umezu Mijiro to go, if the other troops are transferred, it will take at least ten days or so, and we still have five columns, two columns and three columns in the periphery to rush to the strategy within a few days, what he is most eager for now is time, the longer the time, the more unfavorable it will be for his troops, and he can only hope to solve the battle of Lotus Mountain as soon as possible." And Kasawara Yukio and Tojo Iwa are both defeated generals, and they should not dare to disobey Umezu Mijiro's orders. ”

After being bombed and panicked for nearly an hour, the devils regrouped and advanced slowly under the organization of the officers, and when they had advanced less than three kilometers, they found that the fortress in front of them was standing in a dangerous position, and there were various obstacles or cliffs near the fortress.

Yukio Kasahara's troops, after experiencing the defeat at Longgang Mountain last time, developed a fear of such a fortress, and the soldiers all stopped and did not dare to advance. After several troops unknowingly launched a fierce attack, but were attacked by artillery and machine gun fire in the fortress, Tojo Rock suddenly realized that he immediately ordered his troops to stop advancing.

The devil formed an encirclement in front of the eighteen fortresses of Lotus Mountain, but he never dared to take a step forward, and for a time the offensive and defensive sides fell into a stalemate.

This stalemate lasted until dark, and as Qiao Xinyu and Shen Yushan expected, after learning of the situation on the first day of battle, Umezu Mijiro was furious, angrily reprimanded Kasahara Yukio and Tojo Iwa for their indecision, and once again ordered to take Lotus Mountain within three days at all costs.

On December 7, just after dawn, Kasahara Yukio and Tojo Iwa simultaneously issued an order to attack Lotus Mountain, and after several heavy defeats of his troops, Kasawara Yukio thought of a good way to attack, he ordered his troops to dig trenches on the spot every twenty meters of advance, and then continue to advance while using the corpses of the sacrificed soldiers to cover their advances, and when they were less than 200 meters away from the fortress, deepen the trenches and build fortifications. At the end of the day, Kasawara Yukio advanced the forward position to 200 meters from six forts, and at the same time, thanks to the cover of the trenches, the soldiers were no longer living targets as they had been at the beginning, but more than 5,000 people were sacrificed.

Tojoiwa's approach was to make a feint attack in many places, concentrating his forces to storm a fortress, and at the cost of nearly 8,000 men throughout the day, he almost broke through from that fortress several times, but was stubbornly repulsed by the defending New First Army.

"In the past two days, more than 20,000 devils have been wiped out, but Yukio Kasawara has advanced his position to a distance of 200 meters from six forts, and if Tojo Iwa continues to concentrate his forces to storm the thirteenth fort tomorrow, it is estimated that the pressure on the thirteenth fort will be very great." Shen Yushan said with some worry with today's battle report.

"This Kasawara Yukio actually knows how to eat a trench and grow wise, and he actually came up with a method of gradual advancement of the trenches, and Tojo Iwa used the concentration of forces to attack the weak point, and he almost succeeded. Neither of these two is mediocre, and tomorrow's battle will definitely be even more fierce. Qiao Xinyu was also full of worries.

"Political commissar, do you want to let the teaching group attack to solve the possible crisis?"

"Yushan, it's not time yet, the location of the thirteenth fort is relatively gentle, let Lingshan increase the defensive forces here. In addition, let Fang Yun cheer up, the devil advanced the distance to such a close distance, to prevent the devil from suddenly attacking from somewhere. ”

Shen Yushan looked at the location of the eighteen forts of Lotus Mountain on the map, and after pondering for a while, he said to himself: "Why did Tojo Rock only attack the thirteenth fort and the seventeenth fort, the thirteenth fort was almost broken here, Tojo Yan should also be able to guess that our army will increase the defense of the thirteenth fort, will he give up the attack on the thirteenth fort and attack the seventeenth fort instead?" ”

Qiao Xinyu was taken aback, walked to the map and took a closer look, and felt that Shen Yushan's consideration was very reasonable, he patted Shen Yushan on the shoulder and said: "Yushan, according to the cunning of Tojo Rock, your guess is likely to come true, we will personally take the headquarters guard battalion to the seventeenth fort to participate in the defense, I am worried that too much mobilization on the side of Lingshan will affect the defensive layout of other fortresses, and give the devil an opportunity." ”

For the two days almost did not advance an inch, and also lost nearly a division of troops, Tojo Iwa was very annoyed, today's goal of attacking the thirteenth fort has been achieved, he looked at the eighteen forts on the map, he slapped the table and said angrily: "Two days of attack, we have figured out the location of these eighteen forts built of reinforced concrete, but lost more than 20,000 imperial warriors, tomorrow a wing will feint to attack the thirteenth fort, and concentrate the strength of two divisions to attack the seventeenth fort, if the attack does not go well, the tenth, The fifteenth two forts each sent a division to attack, and I do not believe that the new 1st Army on the hill can be so numerous, and tomorrow will be a decisive day. ”

At the same time, Kasawara Yukio also gave an order to the map of the eighteen forts of Lotus Mountain, "We will advance our positions to a distance of 200 meters in the first, second, fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth forts, and tomorrow we will concentrate two divisions to storm the sixth fort, and the other places will also show an offensive posture, and two other divisions will be sent to attack the third and fourth forts, these two forts seem to be the most advantageous for the defense of the surrounding terrain, but the most unlikely places are the most likely to be neglected, and tomorrow will be a critical day." ”