Lanzhou is located in the narrow basin surrounded by mountains, the Yellow River runs through from west to east, Lanzhou is located on the south bank, there is a just-built iron bridge in the west of the city to connect the north bank, this bridge is the only bridge from the Yellow River for thousands at that time, so the military value is very great. If Lanzhou is controlled, Nanshan in Lanzhou is a position that must be defended. From east to west, Nanshan is Shili Mountain, Gucheng Mountain, Doujia Mountain, Majia Mountain, Yingpan Ridge (Gaolan Mountain South Liang), Shenjialing, and Gouwa Mountain. Among them, Shenjialing is the closest to the iron bridge, and together with Gouwa Mountain, it guards two southbound highways, which is considered to be the "key to Lanzhou". Shili Mountain, Gucheng Mountain, Majia Mountain, Yingpan Ridge and the remnants of some field fortifications repaired by Zuo Zongtang before entering Xinjiang.

Although the Qingma officers themselves believed that Lanzhou was easy to defend and difficult to attack because of the steep mountains, things were not so simple. Macroscopically speaking, the Nanshan Mountains are lined up from east to west, but except for the Shili Mountain in the east, which is a horizontal "one" character to the outside, the rest of the mountains mentioned above are elliptical mountain beams that are long from north to south and short from east to west, and to hold these mountain beams, it is necessary to build an elliptical annular position on them, which not only magnates the battle line several times, but also can be attacked in front, left and right as soon as the battle begins. Objectively speaking, Lanzhou is neither easy to attack nor easy to defend.

Ten days after the green horse arrived, the national defense army from afar also entered the outside of Lanzhou. The deployment of the two sides is, on the Qingma side: the 4th Regiment of the Qingma Cavalry, the 3rd Infantry Regiment and the 1st Qinghai Security Regiment guard Donggang Shili Mountain, Guchengling, Doujia Mountain, and Majia Mountain, of which the Qinghai Security Regiment guards Doujia Mountain. Ride a regiment to defend the camp Panling (South Liang of Gaolan Mountain). The main force of the 3rd Infantry Regiment guards Shenjialing and Gouwa Mountain, of which one battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment guards Shenjialing, and the other two battalions guard Gouwa Mountain. The second cavalry regiment and more than a thousand gunmen of the True God Army guarded Xiaoxihu. Xiao Xihu played a covering role behind the west side of Gouwa Mountain. Ma Bufang took the third cavalry regiment as a mobile force to be placed in the village near the iron bridge of the Yellow River, and the remaining independent cavalry battalions and more than 3,000 cold weapons troops of the Zhenshen Army were placed in the southern city of Lanzhou.

From the later information of both sides of the description of the defensive surface of the first regiment of the eastern Qingma infantry is inconsistent, the layout map of the national defense forces marks that the first regiment of Qingma defended Donggang Shili Mountain, but the Qingma officer later recalled that one battalion of the first regiment was transferred out of Lanzhou before the war, and the other battalion was arranged in the urban area, and this first regiment was actually a Hui soldier from Qinghai, lacking hot * weapon training and weak combat effectiveness, so it is estimated that it will not be allowed to defend such an important position as Donggang Shili Mountain, so it is believed that Qingma said. However, the Tsing Ma review data did not mention the Qinghai Security Regiment, which is based on the National Defense Forces.

In terms of the National Defense Forces: the 5th Infantry Division attacked Doujiashan and Shili Mountain, the Great Han Sect Instructor attacked Guchengling, Majia Mountain, the Shengtang Instructor attacked Yingpanling, and a regiment of the 27th Division of the Feng Army feinted to attack Shenjialing and Gouwa Mountain. The 11th Independent Cavalry Division pinned down the enemy in Xiaoxihu and served as a general reserve. Basically, except for the feint attack of the Feng army, the Wehrmacht attacked one division with one army.

Zheng Weishan, the instructor of the Great Han Sect, was originally from Tianshui, Gansu. Zheng was the leader of the robbery of large households during the famine in Gansu, and most of the bitter haha died under the sabre of Ma Jiajun, and he escaped by crossing the Yellow River alone by relying on a section of house beams. Because his organizational ability is much stronger than other mud legs, after all, he is a person who provokes the revolution, so he rises very quickly in the new army, after further study at Zaolin Military Academy, in the suppression of bandits and the Northeast War, Du Zicheng feels that he can do things at a critical time, and has the demeanor of Han Xin, this thin and thin northwest man became a senior commander in five years.

The main force of Tsing Ma rushed back to Lanzhou in early mid-August, and hurried to build and improve the fortifications, and the Wehrmacht arrived on August 18 (keeping a two-day journey with the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Tsing Ma Guard), and began to attack after only one day of preparation. On August 20, the two sides began fighting.

In the aftermath, the Wehrmacht said that the attacks on the 20th and 21st were "trial attacks". In fact, if it is captured, it will not be said to be a "trial attack". Wu Chenxuan also felt that Du Zicheng's creative "trial attack" was probably a pretext after the failure of the attack.

In fact, the two instructors only attacked for one day and then stopped, the first time the Han instructor engaged in the battle with Qingma, the first day could not attack, not convinced, the next day, still could not attack, so Zheng Weishan lamented: In the history of our national defense forces, there has never been a time when we could not take a position for two days. In fact, before the Lanzhou Campaign, Du Zicheng arranged for two instructors who came from afar not to participate in the war first, but only to guard and contain Ma Jiajun, and reported to Jinan and was also approved by the General Staff, but Wu Chenxuan was so anxious that Wu Chenxuan sent telegrams again and again, asking Du Zicheng to tell Zheng and Yang about the characteristics of Qingma operations, they are inexperienced in fighting horses. Judging from the results of the Han Division's two-day "trial attack", Wu Chenxuan really did not wronged him when he received a few more telegrams.

During the "trial offensive" stage, the Wehrmacht suffered 200 casualties on all fronts, but it failed to take a single Qingma position.

Many years later, a reporter accompanying the army met a cadre who participated in the attack on Lanzhou in the army of the Han Division, and remembered that he said: The contact between the two sides was short, the instructor had not yet fully developed, the firepower had not been carried forward, and the bayonets of the Wehrmacht could not compete with the sabers of Qingma, and he also said that when Qingma counterattacked, the artillery hurriedly opened fire and injured many of his own people. However, when it came to the future, the tone was quite relaxed, "I attacked again, and I captured it in one day." The reporter asked him why he did not take the "trial attack", and he said that he was underestimating the enemy.

Whether it is a light enemy, or insufficient preparation, or the two are simply the same thing, anyway, it is estimated that Du Zicheng* must have a tight scalp at that time, and if the first attack does not move, will the second attack definitely be able to capture it? Judging from the telegram sent by General Du to General Wu, Du was ready to attack again and lose the attack.

During the "trial offensive" phase, Tsing Ma repelled the Wehrmacht infantry and boosted morale. "Qingma shares" "rebounded" after the "plummet" after the defeat in Shaanxi. Although its casualties are not at all the "hundreds and dozens" mentioned by Ma Bufang, it is estimated that there are more and more than the Wehrmacht, and it is not outrageous, and it may not exceed 500* people on the whole line. However, after the Ma family father and son were happy, they gradually realized the seriousness of the problem before the decisive battle of Lanzhou began.

First of all, Qingma adheres to Lanzhou's tactics, the fortification firepower is basically exposed, the position does not allow the other party to attack, the casualties are small, but once the attack is recaptured, Qingma will also pay considerable casualties, which has been proven. In the face of the superior firepower of the Wehrmacht, can Qingma accompany him? Second, Ma Bufang's conditions for carrying out the decisive battle in Lanzhou were that part of the horse bandit troops of the Zhenshen Army on the left flank of Lanzhou, and the Hu army in Hanzhong had to make strong cooperation: the cavalry of the Zhenshen Army directly attacked the national defense forces on the periphery of Lanzhou, and attacked Dingxi all the way to cut off the supply lines of the national defense army. Ningma sent troops to attack Baoji again. The security of Lanzhou's right wing must also be guaranteed. And the reality is that Ningma can't get out of the nest after a thousand calls (it is estimated that it is useless to get out of the nest, and the 17th Division, which has secretly entered Shaanxi and then transferred to Ningxia, is waiting). Under Ma Qi's strict orders, the horse bandits of the True God Army attacked Baoji, but they were immediately attacked by the 11th Independent Cavalry Division that was cruising and returned defeated. The so-called independent cavalry division that guaranteed the safety of the right flank had already broken up before the Wehrmacht arrived, and it was seen that the Hulegu division could cross the Yellow River and attack the nest of Qingma Xining.

On August 22, Ma Qi left Lanzhou and returned to Xining after winning the "test offensive" of the Wehrmacht. Judging from all aspects, the Ma father and son had realized that the end of Qingma had arrived at least one day before the Wehrmacht's general attack on Lanzhou. Before leaving, Ma Bufang told Ma to follow the reinforcements, and if there were no reinforcements, he would withdraw to Qinghai.

Three days after the "trial attack" (in fact, the two sides have always been in contact with each other in individual sections of the Tang Dynasty), and on August 25, the general attack on Lanzhou began.

After the battle, the descriptions of the battle situation between the two sides in the eastern section of the front (the 5th Division first attacked Guchengling, and then Kedoujiashan) and the middle section (the Shengtang Division conquered Yingpanling) were inconsistent. The account of the Wehrmacht is that the position was conquered, and the green horse was unable to counterattack, and finally was defeated. Qingma's description is that although the battle is fierce, it is far from the point where it can no longer be supported, and Qingma took the initiative to withdraw from the position according to the plan. Of course, the casualties on both sides are not large, but it is also an indisputable fact that the positions have changed hands.

Comprehensive analysis of various information, it can be concluded that Guchengling and Doujiashan were conquered at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when the commanders of the Qingma front knew that they were going to give up Lanzhou, and the 3rd Qingma Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment here were about to start withdrawing as planned. Even if Guchengling and Doujiashan are occupied by the other side, as long as Shili Mountain and Majia Mountain are not occupied, the national defense forces still dare not penetrate Lanzhou through the torn opening. On that day, the Wehrmacht seemed to be only satisfied with conquering Guchengling and Doujiashan, and did not advance the opponent. The loss of defending Doujiashan was mainly the Qinghai Security Regiment, and Qingma only lost one battalion (according to the Wehrmacht), plus the loss of Guchengling, the entire Qingma is estimated to lose no more than 750 people in the position, so the Qingma cavalry infantry is credible to withdraw from the position with a relatively complete structure.

Similarly, this is also the case with Yingpanling, which was attacked by the Tang Division, which attacked for a day, and only occupied the position of the three battalions at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and there were also the positions of the second battalion, the first battalion and the main peak of Gaolan Mountain in front, which was still early to drive the first cavalry regiment down Gaolan Mountain. At this time, the cavalry regiment was also preparing to evacuate and would not fight back. The commander of the 1st Cavalry Regiment later said that the losses on the positions of his troops were not large, but judging from the battle situation, the losses should be greater than those of the 4th Cavalry Regiment (the 4th Cavalry Regiment had a Qingbao 1st Regiment on its back). It should also be said that the cavalry regiment has been evacuated from the position with a relatively complete formation. Similarly, after the Sheng Tang Division occupied the position of the three camps, it did not advance the enemy, and it was not until the next morning that "the military flag was planted on the main peak of Gaolan Mountain".

Only in the western section of Shenjialing and Gouwa Mountain, the description of the battle situation on both sides is basically the same. The reviewer of Qingma was a regimental deputy at that time, who supervised the battle there from day to day until more than 6 o'clock in the afternoon, when Qingma was driven down by the Feng army and Shenjialing. The conclusion is that Shenjialing was indeed conquered by the Feng army, and judging from the fact that the commander of the 3rd Regiment of Qingma Infantry was still supervising the battle on the last line of defense in Shenjialing at the last moment, the troops responsible for defense and reinforcement of Qingma also fought to the point that they were really unable to fight anymore. However, according to Ma Qi's plan, the 3rd Infantry Regiment should not be able to evacuate Shenjialing and Gouwa Mountain until 9 p.m. Therefore, it seems reasonable for Qingma to blame Ma Zhenwu, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, for the Lanzhou fiasco afterwards, after all, the advantage of the defender is much greater in one regiment against another.