In mid-November, Li Guolou marched with Liu Mingdeng, and the two arrived at the forward position of Xinlupo.

Fu Xianchu was tired of Li Guolou and Liu Mingdeng going to the front line. Commanders don't like commanders coming to the front line to point fingers, in addition to worrying about the commander's personal safety, they will also be robbed of command. But the legs are long on the commander's body, and Fu Xianchu can only take Li Guolou and Liu Mingdeng to visit the forward positions and introduce the battle situation in detail.

On the surface, there is no contradiction between the officers, they are all comrades in the same trench. The filth in the secret is not known to others.

The slope of the new road had turned into a scorched earth, and the Japanese positions along the hill were destroyed by the artillery fire of the Qing army, and no land was intact.

Some fortifications on some hillsides were already in the hands of the Qing army. But the main fortifications remained in the hands of the Japanese army, and on the narrow hillside, the fighting continued every day.

The battle turned into a war of attrition, and more than 400 Qing troops and more than 1,000 soldiers died on this land, and the severed limbs and wreckage witnessed the loyalty and courage of the Chinese men. The Qing army persevered in attacking the Japanese position, and it was only 500 meters away from the main fortifications on the high slope of the Japanese army. But the higher you go, the steeper the mountain becomes, and the Qing army's offensive stalls.

The Jianwu Army had many old-fashioned cannons, and Fu Xianchu transferred eighty powerful and ferocious mortars to consolidate the position. The mortar cannon fired thousands of lead bullets, and one shot was one side, and within thirty or forty meters, the Japanese army was beaten into a sieve. The Japanese army, which wanted to regain its position, suffered a big loss.

The Japanese army did not recapture the position halfway up the mountain, and the Qing army did not break through the position on the top of the mountain, and the new road slope seemed to be a dead end, and the battle was in a stalemate.

But the Qing army did not stop digging tunnels, the sound of explosives blasting, day and night, the Japanese army also knew the tricks of the Qing army, and the shaking of the ground and mountains under the feet kept coming, like an earthquake.

The Japanese troops hiding in the fortress knew that the end was coming, but they could not do anything. A high-power radio station sent out a message of "jade shattering", letting people all over the world know how tenacious the Japanese army was.

A group of officers armed with mono-unified binoculars watched the enemy position. Li Guolou bent his waist and asked, "How many enemies are there in the enemy's cave?" Have you figured it out? ”

Fu Xianchu heard that Li Guolou's dissatisfaction was on the verge of breaking out, and the commander was angry, and the consequences were very serious, and it was very likely that the field commander would be replaced. Fu Xianchu hurriedly said: "From the captured prisoners, I know that there are more than one regiment of Japanese troops on the slope of Xinlu, plus the Japanese troops who escaped from Orchid City and some miscellaneous troops, there are about more than 1,500 people and more than 100 bronze cannons. According to the analysis of the battle situation of our army, there are less than 1,000 enemies left in the battle. Thirty-five Japanese bronze cannons were captured, killing more than 800 enemies. ”

Fu Xianchu peeked at Li Guolou's expression, but seeing that Li Guolou was silent, he hurriedly added: "I have used my troops carefully to minimize the casualties, our army died less than five hundred, and the injuries are also within the range of bearing." ”

Fu Xianchu didn't say anything about the casualties of the soldiers, Liu Mingdeng understood it, and hurriedly said: "That's good, step up the tunnel operation." Fu Xianchu, you have to strive to win the main position of Xinlu as soon as possible. ”

"Yes! To ensure the completion of the task, there are no accidents, I have prepared 5,000 catties of explosives, and I can do it once in five days. Fu Xianchu swore an oath.

Li Guolou was not deceived by Fu Xianchu's words, and broke the casserole and asked to the end: "Fu Xianchu, don't lie to me, kill more than 800 enemies, have you verified?" ”

Fu Xianchu smiled and said, "Commander Li, aren't you embarrassed for me?" It's about the same, and our army's artillery is not vegetarian, don't you say? ”

"Fu Xianchu, don't be arrogant, the Japanese army is still very combative. In particular, hold the mud crossing river, and do not let the Japanese army smuggle across the river and escape back to Langqiao Port. Li Guolou coughed solemnly, showing the calm and steady of a commander, which was very different from his original personality.

"I also thought of this, 3,000 men and horses were stationed along the Nidu River, and a deep ditch ten miles long was dug on the opposite bank." Fu Xianchu was able to speak well, and he didn't let Li Guolou catch the handle.

The environment changes people's personalities, and Li Guolou is old and serious, and among a group of senior officers in his thirties and forties, he can't see the age gap, and he is as cunning as an old fox. Li Guolou nodded slightly, and watched the Japanese position from the telescope without moving.

"Fu Xianchu, you said that you dug a ten-mile deep ditch, I will go to see it early tomorrow morning, one mile less, and I will settle accounts with you." Liu Mingdeng did not let go of his partner Fu Xianchu, a soldier is as heavy as Mount Tai, he is rigid and rigorous, and he must not be careless and exaggerated.

"Liu Zhentai, you still don't believe me, I have already checked that deep ditch, there are not ten miles, but nine miles." Fu Xianchu was not ashamed and prepared to assault the deep ditch overnight.

As soon as Fu Xianchu made a look, he asked the adjutant to check it first, and his subordinates would not come nonsense, just let the adjutant go and look at the deep ditch again, and solve the problem on the spot.

Fu Xianchu was whispering to the adjutant, Li Guolou and Liu Mingdeng knew it, and they all knew what Fu Xianchu was talking about? The chief is a saint, do not see, do not listen, do not speak, and do not move.

Only the royal family and nobles don't understand the suffering of the world, Li Guolou doesn't care about the small actions of his subordinates, and the officials who have been promoted have done this kind of thing.

There are three sun flags on the top of the hill of Xinlupo, which are particularly dazzling in the sun. It makes people look heartwarming, the tenacious Japanese army held their positions, and the sun flag was planted on the land of the Qing Dynasty, which made people ashamed.

The hot weapon battle changed the role of the commander, and Li Guolou watched the new road slope from a distance.

At this time, the Qing army was fighting on two sides, the great northwest and Taiwan were fighting, and the war in Xinjiang was even more erosive, and northern Xinjiang had become an independent kingdom. The Andijanites established the kingdom of Zhedeshar, and the Russians took advantage of the situation to invade and occupy the six cities of Ili.

What Li Guolou thinks about the most in his mind is that he wants to recover Xinjiang and compete with Tsarist Russia. It was too important for him to have a perfect ending to the Taiwan campaign, which was his qualification as a commander-in-chief.

Therefore, Li Guolou strongly opposed the negotiation of peace with the Japanese, and still wanted to fight the war, and at a great cost, he would also eliminate the Japanese army.

The Qing army had been fighting the Japanese army for more than half a year, and had a deep understanding of the tactics of the Japanese army, and did not dare to slack off. The Qing army used night battles to attack Xinlupo, and the Japanese army took advantage of the night to launch a charge. Both sides fought on the narrow hillside, killing a sea of blood, both desperate, and no one wanted to admit defeat.

In terms of willpower to fight, no one can compare with the Japanese army. If it weren't for the Qing army's superior strength, there were troops that could be consumed, and they would have been defeated by the Japanese army long ago.

Fighting in the Great Northwest, the Hui people were a fierce people and had a unified faith. When the Hui army faced danger, they did not have the determination to burn the jade. If the Hui army is not in a good position, they will choose to surrender, and it is the leader who leads the whole clan to surrender together.

The preacher "imam" will have another rhetoric to justify his surrender.

But the Japanese army rarely surrendered, and it was still very tenacious to hold on to the death, and the new road slope was fought for more than 20 days, and the position of the main peak was still planted with the sun flag.

Li Guolou couldn't run halfway up the mountain to check the position, it was too dangerous. Unless the war situation is in crisis, the flames of war have burned to the bottom of the eyebrows.

Li Guolou was not dissatisfied with the old military affairs Fu Xianchu, and asked him to lead the troops to fight the new road slope, which was the only way, and the artillery and bayonets were on together. You can't let thousands of people rush at all, and the crowd tactics must also have a degree. This is a test of will and quality, the Qing army occupies the advantage of the people's hearts, and the protracted war will be won. Therefore, Li Guolou retreated and led a group of officers to see the tunnel dug by the sappers.

Engineer work needs to be taught by veterans, and new recruits will understand. Officers also need to learn a variety of skills in order to play to an advantage on the battlefield.

Usually the sappers were made up of miners, and the Qing army liked to recruit miners who dug coal as sappers. Therefore, the sappers have many miners' customs, and there are many exquisiteness in digging tunnels, and the sappers have a more important god in their hearts in addition to believing in Emperor Guan.

The huge entrance of the cave is dedicated to the "kiln god", and there is a tablet of the kiln god on the altar.

When Li Guolou entered the cave, he paid homage to the kiln god, offered incense, kowtowed, and recited words in his mouth: "The kiln god blesses the Qing Dynasty, and hopes that the first sound will make the enemy disappear." Li Guolou swore here that in the future, he would build a temple for the kiln god on the top of Xinlupo Mountain. ”

But when I saw a one-foot-high kiln god made of sandalwood, everyone worshipped him. Officers and sappers kowtow and offer incense with great piety.

There is a couplet hanging next to the offering table, which reads:

There are a lot of things to do in the kiln, and the mine is safe.

It turns out that the honor of the kiln god is a huge mouse, rich and vivid. The chassis of the kiln god is also carved with a bunch of ears of grain, ears of sorghum, corn cobs, and soybean pods, and there are three plates of tribute in front of the mouse statue, including peanuts, ghee, and rice.

This is the protector of the Qing army sappers "kiln god", sappers in and out of the cave, will pay homage to the kiln god at the entrance of the cave.

The grandfather of the sapper was a miner, and the miner was in the company of rats under the mine, and the rats ate a living by eating rotten wood, and the miners did not harm the mice.

The presence of rats in the mine is a good thing for the miners, as it means that people in the tunnels under the mine can move around. If the rat escapes with the little mouse on his back, then there is danger under the mine, the pit leaks toxic gas, and the miner will immediately withdraw from the mine.

The sappers in the Qing army believed in the kiln god, and every time they dug a tunnel, they had to worship the kiln god. The grain that was sprinkled on the ground was used to worship the rats that foraged for food.

Li Guolou only stopped at the entrance of the cave for a while, and did not go deep into the hole, but he asked his officers to take turns to drill the hole, which was the most direct experience, an experience that could not be learned in the academy.

Coming out of the filthy and filthy holes, the officers were turned into mud figures, looking rather embarrassed.

No matter what the officers think in their hearts? Li Guolou was standing at the entrance of the cave, and the officers knew that Li Guolou liked to be a whole person, and no one dared to complain, and no one dared to smear the sludge on Li Guolou.

Li Guolou's casual stop exuded a majesty from the inside out, making all the soldiers respectful. A group of officers stood up tremblingly, and no one dared to talk nonsense.

After Li Guolou glanced at it, he asked, "Do you know why I want you to drill a hole in the ground?" ”

Li Yunkai, who was like a mud monkey, replied loudly: "I know! This is for our good, the sir, let us learn to fight. ”

The others nodded their heads and unanimously agreed with Li Yunkai's statement.

Li Guolou said: "For your own good, of course. Because the next attack on Turtle Mountain is either to climb the mountain or to attack the fortress on the mountain, which is very difficult. The Japanese pillboxes were built on dangerous mountain roads, and the artillery had no way to deal with such pillboxes, so they had to rely on digging tunnels to blow up the Japanese pillboxes, and compress the Japanese army's territory through slow encroachment. You are all generals with troops, and you must cherish your soldiers, so you must learn to fight in the tunnels, now you understand? ”

"Got it!" Many officers raised their heads in high spirits, full of confidence, and there was still a final battle waiting for them, and the mountain generals allowed these officers to show their skills.

The Japanese army was as timid as a mouse, and the large Japanese army hiding in Guishan no longer dared to open the battlefield, and fought in a bright and bright manner, and only dared to use fortress tactics to resist the attack of the Qing army.

The arduous mountain warfare is the most important test of the will of the soldiers.

Li Guolou seems to be calm, but he is actually under great pressure. Emperor Tongzhi was overjoyed and urged him to recover Langqiao Port as soon as possible. However, he still revised the plan for advancing troops in accordance with the actual situation of Xinlupo and fought a protracted battle on Xinlupo.

Some people in the court said to him, "Embrace the army and respect yourself!" Satisfied! ”

"Arrogant and arrogant, conniving at the soldiers!"

This is an attempt to add to its sin, and there is no excuse for it! Barbarians never read the books of sages, they only value practical interests, and physiological needs are human nature, and there must always be a place to vent. Fan Bing is not a Sun macaque pressed under the Five Finger Mountain, only two paws.

Li Guolou did not write an excerpt of the defense, but went to the front line to supervise the battle, hoping to capture the new road slope as soon as possible.