It was a beautiful summer morning on July 8, 1911, and the sky was bright enough to see the seaside clearly. The German warship slowly approached the Lianyungang pier. General Maximilian 61 von 61 Spee observed the beachhead near the port of Lianyungang with a large magnification telescope on a warship.

In the battle plan, the Germans did not plan to drive straight into the port from the beginning, but planned to build a defense system near the port first, and then rely on this defense system to occupy Lianyungang. At least the entire port can be controlled.

And yesterday, as soon as the German troops landed, they were attacked by the cold guns of the People's Party. The People's Party's shooters were apparently carefully chosen, at least in the Germans did not observe exactly where the enemy was ambushing. Fortunately, the naval observers were carefully selected with good eyesight, and the smoke after the shooting slightly revealed the location of the BJP gunners' ambush. The German marines then attacked. The Germans, who had bowed slightly, were then fired upon by more ambush sites.

Not only bullets, but the People's Party actually used mortars, and General Pace personally saw at least three mortars explode in the ranks of the German attack. The members of the German marines immediately lay down. The attack was just stopped.

Instead, the German naval guns opened fire on the blocking positions of the People's Party. Listen to the rumbling of the cannon and feel the tremor of the artillery firing. General Pace was distressed for a while. The shells of the German Pacific Fleet were all transported from the German mainland. Due to the limited capacity, the shells were not fired at will. It's not just a matter of the number of shells, shells are consumables, and the barrels are also consumables. Small-caliber secondary guns can also be replaced by the navy itself, and there is not even a dock in China where large-caliber main guns can be replaced.

After the secondary guns of the German Navy warships fired at the infantry and artillery positions of the People's Party, the Marines continued their attack. Although the Germans were much more careful during this offensive. But it is clear that the first artillery bombardment did not completely wipe out the soldiers on the positions of the BJP.

Unfortunately, the smoke of the shelling obscured the smoke of the BJP soldiers' firing. The bullets of the BJP were supposed to be smokeless gunpowder, thanks to the naval observers' standing tall and sharp eyesight. Only then could the location of some of the BJP's firing points be found in the first round of shooting. But there is a limit to human eyesight, and in the second round of the battle, German naval observers could not help at all.

The BJP's troops should have been recognizable in their dark blue uniforms, but there were no signs of them on the beach. One of the most annoying things about mortars is that the angle of fire can be amazingly large, and German warships can't shoot near the sea after all. The Germans lacked hydrographic data on Lianyungang, and the emergency surveys before the war could only ensure the safe navigation route of the basic warships.

In such close combat, if a shell misses and hits the Germans directly. The German army, which was already short of troops, could not afford such losses at all. When the guns on the landing ships joined the battle, the People's Party mortars began to fire at the German landing ships without showing weakness. Although the mortar shells were not capable of destroying the warship, General Pace saw at least two shells explode near the German gun emplacement, and the attacked gun emplacements were immediately turned on their backs, and the fire came to a halt for a while.

The Germans were in high spirits, and even in the face of fierce enemy fire, they still managed to advance. The infantry on both sides fought closer and closer, and the explosion of grenades finally appeared in the sound of rifle fire. The German offensive came to a halt. The heavy machine guns that the Germans had dragged ashore under artillery fire also began to roar at this time, and the stormy bullets opened fire on the positions of the People's Party in the smoke of gunfire. Attempts were made to suppress the BJP's point of fire with firepower. Crisp machine-gun fire rang out from the opposite People's Party position. Not yet one position, several positions of fire points fired at the same time. General Pace saw through the binoculars the rubble and sand that had been fired from the German heavy machine guns as they hit the ground. The German heavy machine gunner, on the other hand, was swept away by the machine-gun bullets and fell to the ground like a tiny scarecrow in a twisted dance.

It was a completely different battle from the imagination, and General Pace had expected to encounter a BJP line attack, or even a phalanx charge. But the enemy has not yet been seen, and there is no sign of trenches, and the fighting is already so fierce. If it weren't for seeing the German servicemen being knocked to the ground one by one. General Pace even thought that there was no enemy on the other side at all.

In the fierce exchange of fire, the German troops, who could not resist, had to retreat again. This time, General Pace did not dare to hold on to it again. After all the German troops had withdrawn to a safe place, the main guns of the German light cruisers and heavy cruisers finally began to fire. If the vibration caused by the fire of the secondary gun is like someone tapping the table with their fingers, the shot of the main gun is like someone slamming the ground with a sledgehammer. What is felt is not at all the same level. It was no longer a shock, but a shaking that came from the warship being pushed back a little distance by a huge reaction force.

Several huge clouds rose from the BJP position. The armored cruiser's 240 main guns can blow up craters the size of half a football field. The shock wave can even cause creatures within 200 meters of the shell to explode instantly, or at least half dead. Under such shelling, no matter how skillfully the BJP hid. None of them will be immune.

Sure enough, after several rounds of shelling, the German army landed again and did not meet any resistance at all. Supplies were quickly brought to the coast, and the Germans began to build their own beachheads.

But that night, when the German Navy left the vicinity of the beachhead and entered the safe sea area according to the minimum security measures. The German beachhead was lost. According to the report of the observation post on the German light cruiser "Nuremberg", which was cruising relatively close to the shore, the German beachhead was hit by artillery shells with unprecedented explosive force. The enemy's large-caliber guns fired at close range, and naval observers swore assurances that, based on the strange flares of the enemy's guns, the muzzle diameters might even be larger than those of the German armored cruisers. The German beachhead suffered only a dozen shots like a storm, and then there was silence.

As soon as dawn, General Maximilian 61 von 61 Spee transferred to the light cruiser "Leipzig" and approached the sea. After yesterday's day of shelling, both the German positions and the former positions of the People's Party were already in shambles. The only thing that is the same is that after the ravages of the "heavy artillery" of both sides, there is no life on the ground except for the waves crashing against the sand and crashing against the reef. The improvised fortress built out of sackcloth on the beachhead where the Germans once stood was now flattened. Several German corpses loomed in the sand. The efforts of the Germans yesterday were clearly unsuccessful.

General Pace looked at the officers beside him, and the officers also had a look of inability to accept the facts before them. The tactics adopted by the People's Party were very simple: not to fortify the beachhead, which would be heavily attacked by German artillery. At the same time, the Germans were absolutely not allowed to occupy the beachhead, and then build a strong fortress.

This is not such an unusual tactic, the only thing that is remarkable is that the BJP army is able to carry out this tactic. Beiyang was already the strongest Chinese army that the Germans had ever seen, and although they knew that Beiyang had been defeated by the People's Party's army, the Germans didn't care too much. It is true that the courage of the Beiyang surpassed that of the Qing army, but most of their tactics were learned from the Germans, artillery bombardment, infantry platoon attack. Such a model may have been effective in land warfare, but in the face of small positions and the German fleet, the Germans were confident that they would destroy the attacking Beiyang Army, no matter how many men came.

However, the tactics of the People's Party could be understood by the German officers, but such decisiveness and execution were simply beyond the imagination of the German army. This should not be a quality that the Chinese military possesses, and the firepower to destroy the German beachhead should not be what the Chinese army should have.

This time, in order to capture Lianyungang, the German Pacific Fleet brought out two of the three German Marine battalions stationed in Qingdao. Yesterday's battle, especially after the complete destruction of the beachhead at night, the German army had already lost two companies of nearly four hundred troops. A quarter of the strength of the entire Marine Corps was completely reimbursed on the beachhead of Lianyungang.

The situation facing the Germans has become more dangerous than ever, and if they do it again as yesterday, half of the German marines will be reimbursed. Unless all the landing forces are sent ashore to expand the German defenses. This is the only way to ensure the safety of the beachhead. The problem is that if you do this, a part of the Marine Corps will be out of the defense range of the naval guns. The main guns of the Navy are guided by observers on land, and their efficiency will be greatly reduced. In the unlikely event that the main guns of the German armored cruisers missed the ...... with one shot, it makes people shudder just thinking about it.

It was clear that the People's Party was fighting against the Germans, and the People's Party forces were showing great combat ability and skill. And not just infantry, but also artillery.

If the desperate landing battle fails, then this German attack on Lianyungang will become a big joke. That's just a few hundred shells on a warship. When it's over, it's over. Even if Lianyungang is blown to the ground, the People's Party will just ignore it. What's next? General Pace also had no plan at all.

A morning of military meetings was held, and the German Pacific Fleet was finalized. From the afternoon, heavy shelling of nearby points was carried out. Even if communications were cut off, the Germans did not want to engage the People's Party. At least until a strong fortress is established, they do not want to go to war with the BJP.

After nightfall, German warships took turns approaching the coast and used naval guns to fire deterrently. to deter a possible BJP offensive. As long as the fortress was built, the Germans could withstand the attack of the People's Party. In this strategy, the Germans wanted to open the way for the European and American powers to give them an excuse to put pressure on the People's Party. As long as the Germans can hold here, Lianyungang is the second Jiaozhou Bay.

The strategy was determined, the German warships restarted, all the guns were angled along, and the possible targets began to be fired. The dilapidated houses in the already quiet port area near the Lianyungang port area were blown all over the sky like pieces of paper by the huge explosion power of the cannonballs.

"Fuck me!" After Wu Xingchen got the news, the green tendons on his forehead jumped high. This 190-year-tall BJP cadre has had a tortuous experience. Although he was one of the earliest eight-member party members in Shanghai, he was once subjected to a comprehensive review because he did not act with Chen Ke with one heart and one mind, but opened up the Shandong base area alone. Even so, Wu Xingchen did not give up on himself, and after the party organization once again mastered the Shandong base area, Wu Xingchen, who had been reviewed, became the commander of the Shandong Military Region again. This time, Wu Xingchen personally invited Yingying to sit on the front line to deal with the landing of the Germans.

By the time the shelling began this afternoon, the BJP's tactics had been quite successful. Camouflage uniforms, as well as anti-artillery holes, fire points, and communication trenches that make full use of the terrain, all played their part. During the daytime battle, when the Germans retreated in a big way, the front-line commander judged accurately, and also chose a full retreat in the smoke of gunpowder, and the casualties of the troops were not large. Especially in the night attack, the unconscionable artillery that braved the darkness of the night to the front line directly collapsed a dozen explosive bags into the German beachhead. The troops retreated as soon as they were struck a blow, and from the situation observed in the morning, the results were remarkable.

But at this time, Wu Xingchen made a big mistake. Chen Ke's advice before the war was "movement". Give full play to the advantages of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's familiarity with the terrain and engage in-for-tat battles with the landing German troops with small forces. to effectively reduce the superiority of the German naval guns.

If we follow this line of thinking, in the residential area of Lianyungang, the troops only need to arrange a small number of observation posts, and the troops will be on standby at the starting position. As a result, Wu Xingchen hoped that the troops would be able to give the Germans a second landing a head-on blow. A company of troops was arranged in the residential area of the port district. Under the heavy shelling of the German army, this company was already more than lucky. However, the People's Party did not have any heavy artillery capable of firing at the German naval guns.

"Order the troops in the rear, leaving only a few observation posts. The rest of the troops retreated towards defensive positions! "Even if you make a big mistake, you can't make a mistake again and again. This is the spirit of repeated study by the party committee. Since the Germans were shelling like this, it was not safe for the comrades in the starting positions further back. Wu Xingchen can't continue to make mistakes.

By Wu Xingchen's side was Yan Fu, and he didn't expect that Wu Xingchen's command was actually located within the range of German naval guns. The BJP's front-line command post is located in an area five kilometers from the front line. German naval guns could reach a distance of twenty kilometers, to say the least. Although it was impossible for the Germans to be covered by naval guns, if a shell "missed", the command post would definitely not be able to withstand it.

Although he also thought that he could put life and death out of the way, Yan Fu was in the battle at sea. Now that he is being threatened unilaterally, it is impossible if he does not feel the slightest feeling. But Yan Fu appeared as a naval staff officer, and he said: "If the Germans fought like this, they would also use artillery fire to shoot irregularly at night." If we send out another night attack force, the danger will still be very great. ”

Wu Xingchen didn't seem to have heard Yan Fu's suggestion at all, but his words proved that he obviously heard it, "Chairman Chen ordered that the Germans must be dragged in Lianyungang." Can't let them go back to Qingdao. No matter how heavy the casualties of the night raid troops were, they had to be dispatched. If anyone does not obey orders, then immediately enforce battlefield discipline. After enforcing the battlefield discipline, I personally led the team to launch a night attack. ”

Li Changhao, political commissar of the Shandong Military Region, frowned slightly and looked at Wu Xingchen, who had a gloomy face, and Yan Fu, who also had a sinking face, and he interjected, "Commander Wu, don't be rash. I immediately went to gather the political commissar and organize the party members to form a night attack unit. ”

Wu Xingchen and Beiyang have a deep hatred like the sea, and they have a lot of guilt in Yan Fu's heart, so they don't like what they say. After listening to the words of political commissar Li Changhao, he also knew that he had lost his temper. But this is not the time to apologize, he said: "I will now order the balloon troops to take off and observe the terrain." God knows how many of the originally prepared lines of communication can continue to be used by the Germans after being bombed like this. ”

Now that everyone has turned to military work, a clash of wills has not expanded and has been forcibly avoided for the time being.