The gunfire was still ringing like popping beans, and the rain of bullets was like a weave, and the columns of smoke from the guns of the camp were bursting up, and clouds of smoke rose up the hillside.

After the gunshots, there was a shout of killing!

The corpse of the soldier in a black military uniform fell on the hillside like a grain. Adjacent to the trench line, it is even more layered and shocking. But what is surging under the hillside is still a ** military wave!

The two wings, nearly 4,000 officers and men, like stormy waves, repeatedly attacked the Cishan line, controlling the main position of the official road, retreating in one wave and arriving in another. After paying so many sacrifices, if they can't break through the front line of defense in a short time, they can only wait for the follow-up troops to catch up and bring the baggage over. But when the follow-up troops of the Third Division come up, Xu Yifan's soldiers should almost arrive, and there will be only one word at that time. Since they have gambled to this point, then there is only one way to gamble!

These 4,000 officers and men, three days of forced march do not count, this strong attack has been fought for almost two days, and the death and wounded are one after another, and the advance is difficult every day. Although Nie Shichengbu is known as a daring opponent in the Huai army, in the eyes of Kawakami and others, he is not an unbreakable opponent.

The assessment of the combat strength of the Huai Army, when the Fifth Division was still advancing in high spirits, had already been transmitted back to the base camp, and Kawakami Yoroku, who was the chief of staff of the army in the base camp, naturally studied it carefully, not to mention that he was still a Qing Guotong who had traveled around most of China and devoted himself to studying the two ways of politics for many years!

That report is still written word by word by the god Lingshan Prefecture Aritomo, who has now become the "protector of the country", and it is probably the last thing this Meiji general can serve their empire.

“…… The infantry often seemed to be in groups of 200 or even 500, and in this group there must be two large flags (Qing military camp system - Oscar note), and there were two six-centimeter cannons, and the weapons carried were all fine rifles such as Mauser guns and Gela guns, which must be fired as regular after being dispersed...... Their usual formation was to fire in a squad that had dispersed and waved large flags, firing at random and not all at once, and their formation had weak lines everywhere and no reserves. But the general reserve, called the guard, which often served as the commander-in-chief, was in a position several meters behind the skirmishers. When retreating, this reserve retreated first, and the stragglers fled in an orderly manner...... Maybe it's not good at shooting, maybe it's not good at measuring distances, maybe it's because there is a big difference between time and drill shooting, and its bullets mostly pass over the head and reach a long distance. They did not consider taking advantage of the terrain and never used to shoot on their knees, lying down, but always shooting from standing, often in order to keep the formation neat and easy for their incompetent officers to grasp, otherwise they would soon stop shooting and retreat...... Only Nie Shicheng's headquarters had the courage to shoot to the end, but when our army approached and showed its bayonets at a small cost (because of their poor shooting skills), the Qing army collapsed every time, without exception...... (The above is excerpted from "The First Sino-Japanese War" written by Kamei Ziming, 1955 Zhonghua Book Company edition, translated by Gao Yongxue - Oscar note).

Kawakami Yoroku's dark circles were already very deep, and his lips were also chapped by the smoke of the battlefield, and he held the telescope motionless Zhuo Li on the battlefield, just silently reciting in his heart the report that he had memorized a long time ago that Yama County Youpeng exchanged for his life. But today, seeing the last moment of the imminent breakthrough, Nie Shicheng's department is completely different from his cognition!

The army had done its best, and their obedient and resilient officers and men endured exhaustion and hunger, and overdrawn their energy to launch wave after wave of charges. And Nie Shicheng's department not only learned to use the trench to shoot on his knees and shoot, not only did he shoot to the end as the report said, but when the army pounced in front of them, he actually did not retreat, and used bayonets and broadswords to fight with them! Again and again, the loyal officers and men of the two wings of the Third Division and Regiment who thought they had achieved a breakthrough were defeated!

In the field of view of his telescope, he watched this wave of officers and soldiers rushing forward, as if they had been swallowed up by the trenches. The shouts of killing and screaming rang out from the ground, and a small officer of the Qing army wearing a top rolled down with a captain in his arms! The captain's saber plunged into his abdomen, and the little officer's hand was stuck in his neck, and the two of them rolled halfway up the hill and did not move, and they both died together.

Where, I didn't see such a stubborn resistance from the Qing army!

"Crash! Crash! Kawakami's hands shook violently, and he shouted silently in his heart. But the picture below shows that the army was beaten out of the trench, and they retreated with rolling and crawling, everyone was wounded, and everyone was bloodstained. After following up, the shouting of the army was paused, and then I saw a corpse of the army being pushed out, and then the rifle was set up on the trench, pouring bullets downward, and the four 57 camp guns never stopped shooting!

A cannonball flew far away, and at the end of its maximum range, it landed and exploded, stirring up smoke and dust, splashing Kawakami and his officers. The staff officers all trembled and put down their binoculars, looked at the lieutenant general who was still motionless, and heard Kawakami's cold order: "What are you waiting for? The rear team continues to attack! What about the 3rd Brigade of the 68th Wing? ”

The herald faithfully conveyed his order, and the captain who had been waiting for him drew his Western-style command knife, howled loudly, and joined the battlefield with hundreds of soldiers who were covered in mud and emaciated like demons!

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

At this end of the battle line, Nie Shicheng was sitting on the horse, he was only a few hundred meters away from the line of fire, almost behind the trench line!

Two large flags are planted behind the back, forming a flag gate-shaped, and fluttering with the wind. The big characters on the left are "The head of the Admiral of the Qing Dynasty Shaobao Admiral Commander Men is wearing Nie", and on the right is a bloody line of big characters "Nie Shicheng died here!" ”

His cronies Goshha were all stripped naked, standing in a row with ghost-headed knives, with a row of long seedlings stuck behind him, many of which had bloody human heads hanging on them! In front of these goshkhas was a row of wooden boxes, the lids of which were opened, and they were full of ninety-eight pieces of official silver, all of which were fifty taels of ingots.

Several people rushed over, escorting a bald and hatless officer, covered in blood. When he arrived in front of Nie Shicheng, he pushed him to the ground: "Military Gate!" The sentry officer of the left post led the team to escape! ”

Nie Shicheng's face turned dark, and he didn't look at the sentry: "Cut it!" ”

The officer's body shook and struggled to raise his head: "Junmen, our two thousand brothers have managed to survive with great difficulty!" Now that nearly half of the dead and injured are dead, we are worthy of Lord Xu! Mark this to leave some seeds for the military gate! ”

Nie Shicheng's expression did not move, and his tone was aggravated: "Cut!" ”

None of the goshkha in that row moved, just looked at each other. Standing behind Nie Shicheng were two liaison officers of the Praetorian Guard, who also glanced at each other suspiciously. I saw the sentry officer jumping up and trying to get up: "Uncle, I have been with you for fifteen years, when have you ever been cowardly?" Asan is also my fight to the end! These 2,000 children are the foundation of my uncle! I also took six flowers and killed four or five devils! Even if we lose Cisan, we will be able to retreat to Pyongyang! Uncle, soldiers are the foundation of our Nie family's children! ”

Nie Shicheng stood up slowly, looked at the officer of his own nephew, and said slowly: "We escaped once, Zuo Guanting atoned for my Nie Shicheng, and I have nothing to say about his own brother...... This time, I'm not for Lord Xu, it's for Zuo Guanting! Escape again, Xiaosi, do you say we can go back to our hometown in Beixiang, Hefei? Can you enter the ancestral grave? Die here, my sister, will summon the soul of your son! You're on your way! ”

With a wave of his hand, two Goshkha came up, one kicked the sentinel's leg crooked, and as soon as he knelt down, the Goshha grabbed his braid, and the other immediately swung a knife, and blood rose to the sky.

Nie Shicheng didn't look at the headless corpse that fell to the ground, and said loudly to the few soldiers who were still kneeling to escort the fleeing generals: "The right camp will be rewarded with two thousand taels!" If you want to make it, move it yourself! ”

Those soldiers were all battalion officers' horses, and they escorted Nie Shicheng, the cousin of the cousin, over, thinking that Nie Shicheng was beating him and asking him to make meritorious service for his crimes, but there was no battalion officer who wanted to see the style. Last night, Nie Shicheng arrived at the front line of Cishan and gave a death order, and all the battalion officers went to the front line, and he sat behind them! Now the silver was moved out, and the reward was given on the spot, and there was one who retreated, he Nie Shicheng recognized it, but the ghost head knife didn't recognize it!

Fought so hard, those who retreated were cut down, and the front line did not dare to retreat with heavy casualties, looking at that row of people with a chill! This battalion officer pushed down Nie Shicheng's nephew to come over to receive the punishment, and he also wanted to see the style, if Nie Shicheng didn't kill his head and tolerate, they could naturally retreat. The old military gate shouldn't want him to be wiped out, right?

No one expected that Nie Shicheng and his nephew didn't say a few words, not even a bowl of water and wine to see them off, and they cut it when they said it!

A few horses glanced at each other, then looked at the row of heads, kowtowed on the ground, raised their heads and laughed miserably: "Junmen, at this point, we can't bring any silver, we can't bring it into the coffin...... Mark the report to the battalion officer, even if you finish the fight, at least you can see your ancestors! Kill too many devils, and make money! …… The battalion officer still has something to mark the report, now on the right battalion position, there are only 100 people who can fight, and the devil is still impacting, please send some reinforcements from the military gate! ”

Nie Shicheng's body shook, and when he looked back, he saw that his own pro-soldier middle camp had been drawn and filled in. Looking into the distance, the gunfire became tighter again, and the smoke of gunpowder drifted in bursts. He looked up at the blue sky above his head, laughed, and beckoned violently, the row of Goshha holding the ghost head knife suddenly responded, Nie Shicheng tightened the belt around his waist, reached out and picked up a rifle: "Go up with Nie Laozi!" ”

Before he could move, the two Praetorian Guard liaison officers had already grabbed him, and the two young officers smiled and said, "My lord, don't rob this devil-killing business with the subordinates, right?" Give us half of our brethren, and let's go up! There is also a military gate in the back, waiting to greet Lord Xu! ”

Nie Shicheng held their arms with his backhand, and the three of them glanced at each other, but all they saw was calm. Nie Shicheng smiled: "It seems that I have fought my army and kept the Praetorian Guard for the country, and I really did nothing wrong." It's twenty-seven today, don't worry, two brothers, with me Nie Shicheng here, how can I keep it for Lord Xu until thirty! Devils can't get past my army! ”

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

The guns rang out for a day, perhaps God was tired of killing, and let the night fall early. The battlefield, which had been fighting to the death for a day, finally fell silent.

On the battlefield, the thick smoke of gunpowder and the smell of blood still refused to disperse in the night wind.

The battlefield was lit with ghostly fires, and the low moans of those who had not lost their breath floated.

In the two bloody battles, Nie Shicheng's troops suffered nearly half of the casualties, and the Yue army also paid nearly 1,000 heavy casualties!

It is fair to say that according to the fighting qualities of the two armies, if it weren't for the fact that Nie Shicheng's department had been vigorously supplemented by Xu Yifan, the arms and ammunition would have been sufficient. However, the army attacked far away, lacked ammunition, almost ran out of food, and had no heavy firearms. Under the attack of superior forces, no matter how desperate Nie Shicheng's troops are, they should be broken through.

In the night, a group of haggard and tired officers sat around the bonfire with their command knives, just staring at each other blankly.

The three were forced to march and the other was hard fighting, and the combat effectiveness of the two most elite wings, the 6th and 68th Nagoya Corps, had been brought into full play. The soldiers' energy and physical strength were completely exhausted, and their morale was shaken. Let them attack again, break through the enemy in front of them, and then complete the plan to attack and occupy Anzhou. Unless something miracles happen, you can only admit defeat!

Who knew that Nie Shicheng's department would fight so hard here! Originally, in the overall estimation of Sichuan, these Huai troops who were temporarily attached to Xu Yifan could not fight to the death for Xu Yifan, who was not their system, and they broke through in two days anyway, and the optimistic point may only be one day. The Huai army was defeated, and their two wings could attack and occupy Anzhou before August 30, even if Xu Yifan arrived at this time, the remaining two wings of the third division and heavy ammunition and materials also arrived. It was just right to cover their rear roads and flanks, and cut off Xu Yifan's troops in North Korea. The waterways and dry roads are all cut off.

As long as Xu Yifan's Praetorian Guard was isolated, all his strategic initiative would have been lost, and he could smoothly surrender his base camp, transfer to the 1st Division of the Strategic Reserve and land on the Datong River, and annihilate the last hope of the Qing court to Korea. The army's face was saved, and the Qing court could no longer resist.

But no one thought that after two days, it was now the twenty-seventh, and it still hadn't broken through the line of Cishan! If you continue to fight, as long as you delay for another day, even if you can defeat Nie Shicheng, you won't have enough time to rush to Anzhou to attack and occupy this point!

Kawakami sat in the middle of the sixth, although his expression was not moving, but his heart was in a mess.

Who knows how that Xu Yifan made Nie Shi become his such a deadly person, God knows how this risky plan that he thought he had a great grasp of was on the verge of failure, and God knows why he was never the opponent of that hairy young man from the Qing Kingdom!

The officers whispered at first, and then louder and louder.

"Thirty percent of the casualties of the Sixth Wing have been ......"

"The Sixty-Eighth Wing is about ......"

"Ammunition is gone......"

"There is no food left, and many of the soldiers are already fainting from hunger......"

"We're going backwards! In contact with the brigade that the commander of the Gui Division came later, we had to admit defeat! ”

"After sacrificing so many people, do you have to give up? The face of the Nagoya Corps and the Army, will it be lost like this? The Navy has won such a great victory, but the Army has a crushing defeat of the Fifth Division, should our Nagoya Corps also end in a crushing defeat? ”

"In this way, the army will not be able to defeat North Korea in 10,000 years! One corps fills in, fails, and then another corps. Can't we concentrate on North Korea? ”

"What's the use of concentrating the main forces with North Korea? This is the vassal land of the Qing State, and only if we attack their headquarters, the Qing people will admit defeat! The struggle for sea power is also to be able to attack the headquarters of the Qing Kingdom, don't you recognize this? ”

"But then North Korea's forces will not be enough! If the Empire does not have the strength to fight a decisive battle on both battlefields, then why is it launching this campaign? ”

"This is originally a battle between the Imperial National Fortune Department and this! We are not sure, we can only rely on our determination, and the Qing people are far inferior to us in this regard, the strategy of southern Korea, the battle at sea, and the strategy of Dalian Bay have proved this! Although there are many Qing [***] teams, they are not the opponents of my elite army! Our strategy is to do it on all battlefields and beat the Qing people on all battlefields, so that we can end this battle of national fortune as soon as possible! ”

"What about Xu Yifan? What about Nie Shicheng? ”

Watching those young and strong officers pull farther and farther away, Major General Shangmin, the commander of the Fifth Brigade who was sitting next to Kawakami Yoroku, had been closing his eyes and not moving. Although the 6th and 68th Wings all belonged to his brigade, and the advance detachment sent by the 3rd Division was also called the Da Qiang Detachment, but Kawakami was here, and the Da Gang did not give a single order, and was ridiculed as a "puppet commander" by the officers below.

At this time, he opened his eyes violently and shouted: "Enough! ”

All the officers were silent, except for the crackling of the bonfire and the gurgling of the officers' stomachs. A pair of tired and fierce eyes all looked at Major General Daqiu.

Da Qiang Shangmin said lightly: "The action instructions of this detachment have always been instructed by the chief of staff of Kawakami, why are the officials disturbing?" ”

He turned to Kawakami Yoroku, who was still holding the command knife in a daze, and nodded his head slightly: "Your Excellency, whether this detachment advances or retreats is up to Your Excellency." ”

Kawakami has long been in a mess in his heart, and if he insists here, only the Third Division, which has lost half of its strength and the Fifth Brigade, will be able to resist the thunderous blow from Xu Yifan's return to the division? He had no tactical intelligence about Xu Yifan's main force at all, but in his consciousness, he could never forget the experience of Seoul, and at the most unlikely time, Xu Yifan appeared in front of him with the Praetorian Guard!

But I was unwilling to give up like this. Retreated, the third division was preserved, but with only one third division, it was impossible to win the strategic initiative of North Korea, and when the time came, the army would either watch Xu Yifan come and go freely, or increase troops, affecting the entire strategic layout and affecting the blow to the Qing headquarters...... And I can't afford it!

How could a Xu Yifan come out of nowhere, bringing so many variables to the battle of national fortune that the empire has been preparing for for twenty years? He Kawakami himself has nothing, and this time he has already gambled on all his futures, and if he fails, he should no longer think about making an inch of progress in the army, and it is very likely that he will be forcibly discharged from active duty -- when the time comes, it will be nothing more than a problem that can be solved by a poor rib.

But...... With Amaterasu on top, could it be that this national fortune still can't compete with the strong neighbor who has dominated East Asia for 2,000 years? If the great gods take care of your children, give them a miracle like a divine wind! That His Excellency Ito firmly believes that the battle against the Qing Kingdom will inevitably appear a miracle! His Excellency Ito knows the Qing people so well, he won't make a mistake in judgment!

Everyone was looking at Kawakami, the time passed minute by minute, the mountain wind pulled the bonfire long and short, and Kawakami's heart became colder and colder in this silence.

Suddenly, there was movement outside the campfire of the officers' meeting, and then the guards were seen approaching with several junior officers. Kawakami opened his eyes and saw that these officers were leading the search force. Although their main force was on Nie Shicheng's headquarters, they did not care at all about the remnants of the prosperous army of the Huai army on both flanks -- in terms of military science, the flanks they were defending did not have the conditions for a large army attack, and the movement was too difficult, as long as the Huai army had the courage to shoot, they could repel all sporadic attacks -- that kind of terrain made it impossible to carry out a large army attack operation!

But after all, the Sheng army had 8,000 people, and after the two attacks, the Fifth Brigade was exhausted and had to consider self-preservation. A search force must be sent to guard the movements of the Huai Army, even these 8,000 Sheng troops with no combat effectiveness, at this time, the attack is from the flank, and the Fifth Brigade can't stand it!

And these two officers are leading these search troops, keeping in touch with the flank Huai army, and being on guard at any time!

The two officers were pale, haggard, hungry and exhausted, and their trousers were torn into shorts. But Kawakami Kayaroku, on the faces of these two officers, saw a look of surprise and disbelief!

Is the kamikaze blowing?

(To be continued)