The train slowly stopped at Weifang Station, a railway station on the Jiaoji railway line that had been taken over by the military, and in order to accommodate more train stops and turns, the engineers rushed to lay six temporary tracks, but they still looked crowded.

Miao Luo held Yang Qiu's arm, with a sweet smile on the corner of his mouth, as if he was very happy as long as he could be by his side. Rui Yao, who was not worried about her safety, also followed, although her heart had already pounced on Yang Qiu, but she still kept a little distance in front of everyone, and her resentful gaze stopped on the two arms holding each other, pursing the corners of her lips.

They only arrived in Beijing the day before yesterday, but before they could say a few words, Yang Qiu began to take a special train south to Shandong, because this section of the railway was all under the control of the National Defense Forces, so the two also followed Weifang. In addition to them, there are hundreds of students from universities in the southwest and more than 1,000 condolence groups from all walks of life, and even though the railway is overloaded, the military still gives them the green light first.

If there is anyone who supports the National Defense Forces the most, it is undoubtedly the eight southwestern provinces that were the first to start reform. The northwest is vast and sparsely populated, and the implementation of land reform can disintegrate the power of the local gentry, but it will not touch the south, where conservative ideas are the heaviest. After waiting for this battle to be fought, the Northeast Ken can quickly calm down after maintaining a heavy army for a long time, so that the old forces in the southeast that are caught in the middle can slowly disintegrate.

Jiang Baili, who was sitting opposite to explain the battle situation, was so focused on this battle that he didn't even pay attention to the arrival of the vehicle, let alone notice that Yang Qiu had begun to conceive of the post-war national layout, and continued: "Fengtian has entered a strategic stalemate, Yue Peng has already sent a brigade to support the marines of Dagushan Fortress, the terrain over there is complicated, the Japanese army will not be able to take it unless it launches a brigade-level strong attack, the Japanese 20th Division cannot cross the river with heavy weapons, and Feng Huafu's two infantry divisions are behind, if we storm Dagushan, we have to consider the danger of being surrounded by us." In the past few days, Chen Shaokuan has been active in Korea and the Tsushima Strait, and it has been confirmed that he has sunk four Japanese ships, and the Japanese army is mainly attacking Shandong, and the shipping capacity has also reached the limit, and the Japanese 2nd Division will not dare to carry out a large-scale cross-sea landing until the submarine is caught, so Terauchi Masashi can only ensure that Yingkou and Gaizhou are entrenched at present.

In the direction of Jinzhou, Otani Kikuzo also had insufficient troops and could only defend the city.

It was no longer possible for the Japanese army in Qingdao to take the fortress in a short time, and even began to show a lack of follow-up, and during the day it could only carry out long-range strikes with naval guns and cooperate with some army artillery. The battle was fierce at night, except for the three main fortresses, the rest of the fortresses were basically fought over several times, and last night there was the first street fighting in the city, and Cai Ye had already driven the Japanese out of the city after throwing two regiments.

Kamio Mitsutomi had personally arrived at Li Village to command the battle, but Qingdao was narrow, and his troops could not spread out, so he could only fill it up little by little! So in the past few days, Laiyang has become the key to the competition. Shirakawa Yoshinori led 20,000 Japanese troops to encircle the 103rd Division and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in Laiyang, and the evening before yesterday there was a small force attacking Jimo for the first time, and was repulsed by the 102nd Division and withdrew to Laiyang.

Judging from the information we have so far, the Japanese military top brass has been very dissatisfied with the war situation, and it is rumored that some friends in Yama Prefecture want to let Kuroki Weizhen replace Kamio Mitsutomi in command of the Shandong Campaign. So I think the time has come for the big counterattack! If you can gather 3 infantry divisions to launch a general attack on the Baichuan Yize Department and press it back to Longkou and Penglai, Qingdao will have the opportunity to carry out a large-scale counterattack and cooperate with the 102nd Division defending Laoshan to take Fushan in one fell swoop! As long as Fushan is lost, then whether it is Shenwei Mitsuchen or Kuroki Weizhen, they will either jump into the sea by themselves, or they must enter the Laoshan Mountains and retreat all the way to Weihai. ”

"So, Brother Baili, do you think it's time for a counterattack?"

In the face of Yang Qiu's inquiry, Jiang Baili nodded very seriously: "I personally think that the time is ripe, the Japanese army in Qingdao has been weak, and the 20,000 horses of Shirakawa Yoshinori are also at a loss, and 10,000 fresh troops have been gathered one after another in the direction of Longkou and Penglai during this time, if they are allowed to pounce smoothly, then the pressure on Laiyang and Jimo will be greater." ”

Miao Luo couldn't read the battle situation map, but he could also hear the decisiveness in Jiang Baili's tone, and couldn't help but look around. Yang Qiu also felt that it was time to launch a big counterattack, but just as he was about to speak, Cai Gongshi ran over: "Vice President, Commander Cai, they are here." ”

Yang Qiu and Jiang Baili quickly ran out of the car to see that Cai Yi was waiting outside with He Xi and Zhang Xiaozhun, and after seeing Yang Qiu for so long, he almost couldn't recognize a few people, Cai Yi, who was already thin, had his cheeks exposed, his eyes were red and his expression was sluggish, and his bright official uniform became wrinkled and covered with mud, Zhang Xiaozhun and He Xi were also like this, and the latter's military boots simply opened a gap, revealing the yarn socks inside.

Miao Luo and Rui Yao, who came out behind them, were taken aback by the appearance of several people, and the mist in their eyes suddenly rose. What a group of men! What a tragic war it is, can torture these originally handsome and free men like this!

Cai Yi was just about to salute, but Yang Qiu walked up quickly and hugged him fiercely, he was stunned for a moment, and his eyes turned redder: "Commander-in-chief!" In the words, Yang Qiu hugged the remaining two again before solemnly raising his right arm: "Thank you, let me see the unyielding backbone of this country!" From you, I see the hope of the country! Salute! ”

Just a few words made the three of them numb, and the guards and soldiers who saluted together behind them made them feel that their efforts were not in vain. After greeting Miao Luo, Cai Ye began to introduce the war situation, and the former took Rui Yao to the middle of the condolence groups from all over the country to help. After they left, Cai Ye took the lead in introducing the situation in Qingdao: "The casualties are still relatively large, and the statistics have killed more than 2,000 people, and the number of injuries is also quite high, and a huge part of them were killed by Japanese naval fire in the competition." But the morale of the troops was still quite high, and the rotation system gave us an advantage over the Japanese army. So we are discussing and preparing to take a large-scale counterattack against Fushan. As long as Fushan can be taken, even if heavy artillery is not used, the supply line from Licun to Qingdao will be under the fire of 120-mm mortars. ”

Hearing him say that Qingdao was also going to carry out a big counterattack, Yang Qiu immediately said what Jiang Baili thought he should start to fight back just now, and Cai Yi sighed slightly after hearing it: "I also think it's almost time!" At present, there are 4 reserve divisions that have arrived in Shandong, and with the 5 divisions currently invested, the number has more than doubled that of the Japanese army! If the Japanese army can't open Laiyang, it won't even be able to form a piece, and it is impossible to echo each other, so we have to consider whether to hit Qingdao or Laiyang first. ”

"Qingdao is backed by Laoshan Mountain, not only does it have naval support, but the terrain is also more complicated, and it is impossible to put too many troops, but as long as he is driven to the mountainous area, the Qingdao threat will be lifted. Laiyang is surrounded by plains, which is suitable for large troops to carry out encirclement and annihilation warfare, and also because there are many retreats for the flat Shirakawa Yoshinori, the most likely is to converge more than 10,000 people from Longkou to defend the line from Longkou to Yantai. ”

After listening to his introduction, Yang Qiu looked through the map and waved his hand to Lei Meng: "Take the guard armored company and set off, go to Laiyang!" ”

It rains for three days and is cloudy for two days, and there are two days to see the mood.

This is the Jiaodong Peninsula at the end of August, the rainy season has made the war a mutual attrition, compared with the quagmire that has already appeared in Europe, although the scale of the war quagmire in the Far East is much smaller, but the intensity is not much worse than that there. Two Haidongqing planes that took off from Weifang soared in the sky like gulls, and the rare good weather made the pilots rush to the sky to fly towards their respective targets. The mission of these two Hai Dongqing aircraft is to reconnoiter the all-important Laiyang theater.

On the third day after the start of Qingdao, a dense explosion also sounded in Laiyang, and after landing from Longkou, Bai Chuanyi, who had entered no man's land, was attacked head-on, and the Ninth Brigade and the Guards Division, two infantry wings, two cavalry wings, an artillery wing, and a siege heavy artillery brigade were more than 20,000 people.

Hai Dongqing soon arrived in the sky above Laiyang, and because the distance was too long, the pilots could not stay for too long, so they immediately dispersed to reconnoiter the enemy's movements.

Looking down from the sky, Laiyang, which is in the center of the Jiaodong Great Plain, has completely become a fortress, three wave-like anti-infantry trenches surround the county town, the periphery of the trench is a dense circle of anti-infantry mines, a 150 heavy artillery battalion in the central open space of the county town has a muzzle to the sky, there is a 105 howitzer battalion on the left and right wings, and a 160 mortar battalion that came before the firepower started was also deployed in the front of the county. In addition to the heavy artillery, the pilots could clearly see the infantry guns and light mortars deployed throughout the trenches, and the number of machine guns was incalculable, many of which were newly equipped with 12.7 mm fanged heavy machine guns, which were mainly used in armored vehicles.

When Hai Dongqing bypassed the county seat at a low altitude, countless army comrades below got up and waved, and the excited pilot also deliberately made a turn of Yu Lei, who had just become famous in the world and was imitated by European pilots. After playing a circle, the pilot began to fly northeast, as the line of sight gradually crossed the trench, his face slowly became heavy, only to see a piece of charred black patch appeared on the ground, familiar people know that it is the scar left after the heavy artillery bombardment, the charred black patch is full of corpses lying around, both Japanese soldiers and their own army comrades, and hundreds of dead war horses.

The plane continued to the north, and all the way were densely packed with Japanese positions, and when the fuel gauge was about to reach the cordon, the pilot saw the Japanese army camp stationed in Beishanghe Village, 20 kilometers east of Laiyang. Although he wanted to avenge the army with a twin heavy machine gun, the fuel gauge told him that he didn't have time to wait, so he immediately took out his camera and took dozens of photos, then recorded what he saw with a pen, stuffed it into a bamboo tube, and threw it at the position of his comrades on the way back.

Shirakawa Yoshino, nicknamed the wild boar, was dressed in a military uniform, with his hands behind his back and staring at Hai Dongqing, who was constantly circling in circles, until he left.

He hates airplanes!

With these flies, the army is like a stripped singer who has no secrets. What's even more annoying is that the enemy can see him, but he can't see the enemy because there is no comparable plane.

"Damn it! It is necessary to break through Laiyang as soon as possible. The unfavorable news from Qingdao made Bai Chuan Yoshino more and more unable to suppress his temper, but he didn't know that Lei Meng's hob meat was rolling up his sleeves, with Yang Qiu's personal guard armor company, his face flushed.

"Wild boar? Look at how your Grandpa Lei pulled out the wild boar skin and stewed it home! ”

As the hob meat smiled and turned the 12.7mm fanged heavy machine gun, one command after another, one after another, the radio waves began to transmit rapidly across the peninsula, and one after another troops walked out of the trenches and left the camp and rolled towards Laiyang.