At that time, most of the defenders around Qingdao were drawn to participate in the Battle of Weifang, so the defensive forces of Jiaozhou were also very empty. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Only one infantry company and a few dozen gendarmerie police are responsible for maintaining normal law and order.

With such a meager force, of course, it is impossible to organize any strong defense.

The 1,000 pioneers led by Zhang Tingshu broke through the west gate of Jiaozhou almost effortlessly, and then easily defeated the more than 100 defenders and gendarmerie police in the city.

After annihilating them, Zhang Tingshu immediately dispatched troops to guard the four gates, and sent a telegram urging the follow-up main force to speed up the advance, and at the same time sent a telegram to Zhang Xinghan to report the victory.

Weifang City, Zhang Xinghan led 6,000 troops just arrived, at this time the city has already been empty, and the Northeast Army easily occupied it.

Guo Zhong walked towards Zhang Xinghan with a telegram and said to Zhang Xinghan, who was visiting the original Qingdao Army Headquarters: "General seat, according to the latest intelligence, Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan's headquarters have retreated to Gaomi.

In addition, Zhang Tingshu also just called, he had already taken the lead in the army to capture Jiaozhou by surprise, and the follow-up troops would arrive later. ”

After hearing this, Zhang Xinghan patted his thigh and said: "Okay, order the troops to immediately approach Qingdao, this time I will see where Zhang Xiaoliu will flee!" ”

………………

Qingdao, the Young Marshal's Mansion.

Zhang Xueliang was having a meeting with Shen Honglie and his subordinates Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan, who had just arrived from Gaomi.

Adjutant Chen Dazhang ran in from outside in a panic, came to Zhang Xueliang, and said in a panting voice: "Young marshal, no, I just got the news that Jiaozhou was captured by Zhang Xinghan's rebels." ”

"What?" Including Zhang Xueliang, Yu Xuezhong, Liu Duoquan, Shen Honglie and other cadres attending the meeting all stood up.

Zhang Shaoshuai was the first to react and asked, "Didn't the rebels just arrive in Weifang?" How did it appear in Jiaozhou? Will they not be able to fly? ”

"Young marshal, this group of rebels shouldn't have come from Weifang. It seems to have come from Linyi. Chen Dazhang said.

As soon as Chen Dazhang said this, Yu Xuezhong and the others immediately looked down at the map on the table in front of them, and exclaimed: "Young marshal, the rebels who attacked Jiaozhou should have come from Jining. ”

"Jining?" Hearing this, Zhang Shaoshuai looked at the map, and immediately took a breath of cold air, his face turned pale, and said: "Zhang Xinghan, this bastard, is so cunning, he calculated that our army would retreat south after learning about the situation in the Central Plains. That's why a partial division will be sent to attack Jiaozhou in a roundabout way to cut off our army's rear road! ”

"Young marshal, the reason why this group of rebels can be so fast is that they must be lightly armed and rush forward, and they will not carry too many heavy weapons, and the number of people will not be too many.

The top priority at the moment is to take advantage of the fact that its foothold is not stable, immediately dispatch troops to counterattack Jiaozhou, and open up the southward retreat route of our army. Yu Xuezhong persuaded.

Zhang Shaoshuai came back to his senses at this time. nodded again and again: "Yes, Xiaohou, Fang Bo, the two of you will return to Gaomi quickly." Command the troops to immediately counterattack Jiaozhou, and be sure to recapture it as soon as possible. ”

Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan were just about to receive their orders, but Shen Honglie stopped them loudly: "Young marshal, don't do it." ”

"Chapters. What do you mean? Zhang Xueliang asked puzzled.

Shen Honglie explained: "Young marshal, since Zhang Xinghan has this arrangement, his rebels in Weifang. We won't stop there.

After learning that Jiaozhou had been successfully attacked by his partial division, the army of Weifang must take advantage of the situation to advance eastward.

If Gaomi our army is used to counterattack Jiaozhou, once it cannot be attacked for a long time, it is very likely that the army of Weifang will take the opportunity to attack the rear.

And the strength of the rebels attacking Jiaozhou is still unclear, in case it cannot be attacked for a long time, then the 20,000 troops of Fang Bo and Xiaohou are likely to fall into the rebels' two-sided attack, and the consequences are unimaginable. ”

Zhang Xueliang frowned when he heard this, and said, "Then what should we do?" ”

Shen Honglie pondered for a while and said, "Young Marshal, in my opinion, let Fang Bo lead 10,000 troops to stay in Gaomi to block the enemy in the direction of Weifang."

The rest of the troops were under the command of Brother Xiaohou, and the young marshal transferred two or three regiments from the Qingdao Guard Army, which were also under the command of Xiaohou to counterattack Jiaozhou. ”

Zhang Xueliang thought about it, even if he couldn't open up the way to flee south, he could ensure that Gaomi would not be lost, block the rebels' north and south routes, and win time for Qingdao's relocation and evacuation.

nodded happily, and then instructed Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan: "Xiaohou, Fangbo, this battle will be entrusted to you!" ”

The two of them stood up and saluted at the same time: "Young marshal, please rest assured, the lowly rank will definitely fight to the death to repay the young marshal's kindness." ”

Zhang Xueliang patted the shoulders of the two with a solemn expression to show encouragement, and for a while, the atmosphere was a little sad.

At that moment, Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan returned to Gaomi urgently by car, but before the person arrived, the telegram had arrived.

More than 10,000 Qingdao troops stationed in Gaomi left Gaomi and after about two or three hours of marching, they came to the county seat of Jiaozhou, which was 60 miles away.

At this time, Zhang Tingshu's follow-up troops were still on their way.

In Jiaozhou City, only more than 1,000 Northeast Army troops were stationed.

It is also necessary to take care of the four gates, and the troops are quite stretched.

Zhang Tingshu led the guards to the north gate city wall, Gaomi County is in the north, and this will be the most fierce defensive battle in the city.

Looking at the more than 200 soldiers on the city wall, Zhang Tingshu felt a little heavy, although the soldiers were well-equipped and had strong continuous firepower.

But the number of troops was still too small, and he had only more than 1,000 men under his command, and he left 200 men as reserves, and the troops scattered in the direction of the four city gates were only about 200 men.

Although he was a little worried, Zhang Tingshu knew that as a commander, he still needed to play an important leading role in boosting morale and calming the morale of the army.

He immediately said loudly: "Brothers, our main force will arrive in half a day at the latest, and I have already sent us an air force by telegram, and we are on our way to do so."

Although we are at a disadvantage in terms of strength, I believe that as long as all the brothers go all out, victory will definitely be ours, and the commander-in-chief is not far from us to the north, and now he is personally leading a large army to Gaomi County to intercept the rear road of the Qingdao army!

Our Northeast Army is invincible, invincible, we are invincible!

Swear to the death for the commander-in-chief and fight to the end! ”

"Fight to the end!"

"Fight to the end!"

"Fight to the end!"

Nearly 300 officers and men of the Northeast Army raised their weapons and raised their arms and shouted, and the sound spread throughout the city, causing the other three defenders to echo each other from afar, and the morale was high for a while, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted.

It didn't take long. A large number of Qingdao troops rushed in and quickly launched a wave charge against Jiaozhou City.

Zhang Tingshu oversaw the army fighting to the death, and the battle quickly entered a white-hot stage.

More than half an hour later, Yu Xuezhong arrived in the north of Jiaozhou by car from Qingdao City.

In charge of leading the team and directing the direct siege of the city, a colonel officer with several guards and adjutants welcomed him into the makeshift former enemy headquarters.

"How's it going?" After Yu Xuezhong entered the command headquarters, he asked.

The colonel's officer straightened up and replied, "Returning to the commander, the defenders are very tenacious and have strong firepower, and our troops have been repulsed by them in several charges, and have lost many brothers. ”

Yu Xuezhong was unmoved and took the telescope from the adjutant's hand. He left the headquarters.

The colonel's adjutant and the others did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly followed.

Following the temporarily excavated and built traffic trench, Yu Xuezhong came to a trench at the front of the attack position.

Lying in the trench, holding a telescope, he looked at the battlefield in full swing ahead.

At this time, some machine-gun bullets from the defending side flew over their heads from time to time.

The colonel, officer and other subordinates were frightened, bowed their heads from time to time to dodge, and persuaded Yu Xuezhong with a sad face: "Commander, it's too dangerous and too far forward here, for the sake of safety, you better go back to the command with your humble post." ”

Yu Xuezhong turned a deaf ear. Still holding his high-powered telescope, through which he can clearly see the battlefield where the fierce exchange of fire is taking place.

Under the city, a large number of their own soldiers were charging forward fearlessly, and countless tongues of fire erupted from behind the battlement walls on the city. A large number of bullets rained down.

Some of our own soldiers, who could not dodge, were shot and fell to the ground, suffering heavy casualties.

Yu Xuezhong observed for a while before putting down the binoculars and turning his head to the colonel officer: "Commander Liu, the enemy's firepower is too strong. This battle cannot be fought like this, and immediately order the troops to stop the offensive and bring in the artillery for me. Concentrated artillery fire turned to a section of the wall of the north gate.

Several battalions were transferred to the other three gates to carry out feints. ”

The colonel didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly ordered the adjutant to make arrangements, and respectfully said to Yu Xuezhong: "Commander, you better go back to the headquarters first." ”

Yu Xuezhong looked back at the crowd of attackers who were rushing back like a tide, sighed in his heart, and turned back to the headquarters.

In terms of quality and combat experience, his troops are far from Zhang Xinghan's Northeast Army.

Although this battle had an advantage in numbers, he was not sure of victory in Yu Xuezhong's heart.

I can only do my best and obey the fate of God.

At the head of the North Gate, Zhang Tingshu pulled out the magazine of a submachine gun, looked at the number of remaining bullets, and clicked it back with a casual click.

Spat out the city, and said: "The Qingdao army is nothing more than that, and it is not as strong as Han Fuqu's Shandong army, a group of rabble. ”

Through the confrontation just now, Zhang Tingshu can be regarded as having a preliminary understanding of the combat effectiveness and quality of the enemy army outside the city.

Now he is determined, if the siege force is only these two brushes, then there is no need to worry too much about this battle.

Not long after the assault outside the city stopped, suddenly, a piercing shelling sounded.

Zhang Tingshu, who was resting on the city wall, heard the sound change color, quickly stood up, and shouted: "Everyone immediately go to the city to take refuge, quick!" ”

said that it was too late, and before the defenders could go down to the city, more than a dozen shells fell fiercely.

"Boom, boom, boom......" There was a series of violent explosions.

However, due to the first round of test firing and the lack of actual combat experience of the Qingdao Army's artillery, most of the shells bombarded the city wall or the houses in the city.

It seemed to be dazzling and impressive, but in fact it did not cause much damage to the defenders.

Zhang Tingshu led his subordinates to quickly descend the city wall in the firelight. (To be continued......)