After the excavation of the deep pit, the prisoners of war went here one after another, and all 3,000 soldiers and officers of the Marine Corps were responsible for the protection of the inner line of the deep pit, and the rest of the troops were responsible for the defense and vigilance of the outer line, which was separated by about 3,000 meters.

It took a whole day for the prisoners of war to be processed, and the genetic people could be indifferent to this, and the ordinary soldiers on the periphery might not be able to guess what was happening, but Zhang Runnong, Jiang Fangzhen, Cai Songpo and others could basically guess what was going on inside. Even at a distance of more than 3,000 meters, the roar of machine guns could be heard, and even the desperate shouts of prisoners of war could be heard, and they hated the Japanese, but not to the point of such ******.

If they knew that history as well as Lu Liang, if they knew what the Japanese did in Lushun, in Nanjing, and in the land of China, they might be able to understand what Lu Liang is doing now!

Anti-guerrilla warfare is a difficult problem in the world, and with the reconnaissance of the air force, the anti-guerrilla operations of the Marine Corps have achieved good results, eliminating several larger guerrilla units, but the guerrillas in Kyushu have become even more numerous. The Chinese army encountered the problem of the British army in Burma, so they could only protect the larger cities and communication lines with heavy troops to ensure the smooth flow of traffic, and the Chinese army would not stay in Kyushu all the time, so it did not have to make much effort to maintain local law and order.

After the initial repairs to the port of Kagoshima, naval warships set out to attack Japanese transports along the way, intercepting fleets from other countries, and sometimes raising the level of artillery shelling against Japanese fishing boats.

The Chinese naval fleet and the Russian Pacific Fleet were divided into sections, with Russia responsible for the waters around Hokkaido and China responsible for the area south of Hokkaido. Due to the shortage of surface warships, the Navy transferred the submarine group, which also set off from Kagoshima and joined the ranks of the blockade fleet. Important areas of Japan, such as Tokyo, have not yet been shelled. However, the war in Kyushu and the strict blockade made the Japanese feel a strong atmosphere of war, and there were no large-scale riots in the mainland under strict suppression, but the lack of materials still greatly affected the lives of the Japanese.

In major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, major grain stores have run out of stock, and civilians who want to fill their stomachs have to go out of the cities to the countryside in search of food. Emperor Meiji called on the people to unite and overcome the difficult time. In addition, the Japanese government also took out part of the grain reserves to supply the market, but it was a drop in the bucket for tens of millions of people.

The most embarrassing thing is that the decision made by Yama Prefecture Youpeng and others was not approved by the Japanese Army's Northeast Theater. The Japanese Marshal Katsura Taro (formerly the commander Marshal Oyamaiwa died in the Battle of Canton), who commanded the Northeast Army, ignored his master's orders and instead demanded that the Northeast Army strengthen its defenses and never take a step back.

Katsura Taro's decision was supported by the upper echelons of the army, including Admiral Kuroki Yuzhen, who believed that the Japanese army had gained battlefield superiority after more than a year of hard fighting, that Japan's continental policy was about to be realized in their hands, and that fertile land and abundant resources awaited Japanese exploitation. How can it be surrendered to the Russians?

In order to speed up the course of the war, the Russian army, after receiving material support from China, was ready to launch a large-scale summer campaign to completely discourage the Japanese army's will to resist.

So far, the Russian army has suffered 270,000 casualties and captures, and a total of 1.2 million troops have been invested; The Japanese army invested 1.09 million troops. About 280,000 people were killed and wounded. The current situation is that the Russian army and the Japanese army are on the line with Mukden. The Russian army has 450,000 people, which is slightly less than the Japanese army's 530,000 people, but it has sufficient supplies and good morale. On the contrary, due to the lack of supplies, the Japanese army was on the defensive despite its large number and was unable to attack at all.

Marshal Katsura Taro, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Manchurian Army, and Kuroki of the subordinate First Army is General Zhen. It has the Guards Division, the Second Division, and the Twelfth Division; General Okubogong of the Second Army (returned to the Northeast after the Battle of Kyushu), with the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Divisions, the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, and the 1st and 11th Reserve Infantry Brigades; Lieutenant General Nogi Noshinori of the Third Army (later replaced by Gentaro Kodama), subordinate to the 1st, 9th, and 11th Divisions. the 1st and 4th Reserve Brigades, the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, the Reserve Engineer Corps, and the Siege Special Forces (three wings and one brigade of the Field Heavy Artillery Wing and the Foot Artillery); Senior General Nozu Michikan of the Fourth Army, subordinate to the 5th and 10th Divisions, and three brigades in reserve. In addition, there are the 10th Yalu River Division, the 1st Reserve Division, etc., and two North Korean divisions. More than half a million people in total.

The commander-in-chief of the Tsarist Far East Army, Lynevich, drew up the plan for the Second Battle of Mukden, and part of the artillery, machine guns, and ammunition obtained from China were reinforced to Kuropatkin's First Army in Manchuria as the main force in the Battle of Mukden. After the removal of the former Minister of War Kuropatkin, who served as the commander of the First Army, he hoped to regain face through this battle, and the current commander of the Far Eastern Army, Linevich, was already his good friend and was of course willing to give him this opportunity.

On July 2, 1905, the second Battle of Mukden began, the Russian army attacked Tieling north of Mukden, sufficient ammunition allowed the Russian artillery to occupy an absolute advantage, the Japanese First Army Guards Division suffered heavy losses, Kuroki urgently ordered the second division to support Tieling, but the Russian offensive was strong, the ammunition of the Guards Division was quickly exhausted, and launched a white-knuckle battle with the Russian army, and repeatedly repelled the Russian attack. At the critical moment, reinforcements from the 2nd Division arrived in time to stabilize the defense.

The Russian First Army used the battle of Tieling to attract the attention of the Japanese First Army, launched a surprise attack from the direction of the Shifo Temple northwest of Mukden, and broke through many defensive lines of the Japanese army in a short time. Mukden was in danger, and Katsura Taro would never give up this largest city in the northeast, and immediately ordered the Second Army of Liaoyang Obaogong to go to support, and ordered Kodama Gentaro to lead the Third Army as a reserve force, ready to support Mukden at any time.

Mukden became a maelstrom, and Katsura Taro and Lynevich successively increased their troops, and the strength of both sides in Mukden soon reached 300,000 and continued to increase.

Kuropatkin sent an attack cluster with cavalry as the main force to storm the left flank of Mukden, and the Japanese Second Army Obao Gong Department advanced north from Mukden, trying to block the offensive of the Russian army, but he did not expect the Russian Second Army to attack at this moment and detour back to the right flank of the Japanese army, this action greatly surprised Katsura Taro, he immediately transferred Kawamura Keiaki's Fifth Army to the right flank, and strengthened three reserve brigades for it, which was exactly what Linevich wanted.

The transfer of troops from the Japanese army made the strength of the center and left flank slightly weak, and the first army led by Kuropatkin on the left flank of the Russian army took advantage of the high mobility of the cavalry and the firepower advantage of infantry machine guns and artillery to carry out a surprise attack on the second army of Obaogong, which put the Japanese in a difficult situation, and the left flank of the Japanese left flank was left with only one division in reserve, and the second army on the left flank had to face the powerful offensive of two Russian armies (510 guns). The three-way onslaught forced the Japanese to continue to shrink their forces, and Obaogong's Second Army retreated, thus surrendering the left flank of Mukden.

The Japanese army suffered from a lack of ammunition, and it was difficult to block the attack of the Russian army with strong firepower, in order to reverse the unfavorable situation, Katsura Taro decided to use Kodama Gentaro's Third Army, and transferred three brigades from the Second Army and the reserve to launch a counter-assault on the right flank of the weakest Russian offensive. The mixed force was under the unified command of Gentaro Kodama and began on the morning of 5 July.

Gentaro Kodama was Minister of War during the cabinet of Katsura Taro, served as Chief of Staff of Katsura Taro after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, replaced Nogi Noshinori as commander of the Third Army during the Battle of Arthur, and eventually led the troops to capture Arthur. This man is highly tactical, calm and cruel, and calculating.

The Third Army launched a surprise attack on the Russian Second Army on the right flank, and the rest of the Russian troops, except for the First Army, did not receive much Chinese supplies, and the artillery and ammunition were insufficient, so the morale of the Russian army was not fundamentally improved. Gentaro Kodama first ordered the 1st Division to attack, attracting the attention of the Russian army, and then ordered the 9th and 11th divisions and reserve units to flank from the Russian flanks. The Third Army, lacking ammunition, actually routed the Russian Second Army, and the Second Army did not stop the chaos until it retreated to the vicinity of Tieling.

The defeat of the Russian Second Army made the advantage obtained in the early stage come to naught, the mixed forces of the Japanese Third Army outflanked the Russian middle troops from the right flank, and seeing the failure of the attack, Kuropatkin immediately ordered the left flank to send an army to support the center, and finally occupied a stable position, but due to the defeat of the Second Army, the Russian offensive had to be suspended.

With the strength of the First Army, it was impossible to defeat Mukden, and after Linevich dismissed the commander of the Second Army, he immediately mobilized troops to reinforce Kuropatkin's First Army and reorganize the Second Army. At the same time, a telegram was sent to China asking for help, requesting that material support for the Russian army be increased. (To be continued.) )