Chapter 184: Another Stage

He Haiming knew that his ability to serve as commander of the 43 rd Division of the National Defense Force had a close relationship with the strength of the Hunan people in the General Staff Headquarters and the Ministry of National Defense. He, the division commander, has the strong support of Huang Xing, and Cai Ye said from it. Fang Jianxiong put a lot of thought into the selection of these division commanders and tried his best to balance all aspects. The Wehrmacht is not a good family, especially on the basis of a lack of talent. At the same time, Fang Jianxiong emphasized more on the competition mechanism, the position of each division commander is not immutable, and there is a strict evaluation system within the national defense force, and those with strong ability are promoted and those who are weak are demoted.

The competition mechanism is the long-term way to strengthen the army, and this is the best way that Fang Jianxiong can come up with in the current situation.

Geographically speaking, the location of Liushutai is very fatal, almost on the side waist of Qingdao. The Germans set up a stronghold here to guard against the threat from Laoshan Bay. However, this stronghold was a small stronghold, and the German army, which had few troops, was not too worried about being attacked by a strong opponent from the sea before the outbreak of the European war.

Xu Chongzhi led his troops to rush to Liushutai in two days. When he was in Japan, Xu Chongzhi belonged to the type who did not study hard, but had good talent and middle to high grades. Whenever there is a debate between classmates, Xu Chongzhi can always talk endlessly and appear talented. Objectively speaking, Xu Chongzhi is one of the most outstanding people with military talent on the Kuomintang side.

Xu Chongzhi placed the headquarters in the stronghold built by the Germans, and the troops relied on the terrain of Liushutai to build fortifications. The terrain of the willow platform is high and open, the altitude is more than 500 meters, the east and west mountains stand between the two mountains, and there is a mouth in the middle. From a military point of view, Liushutai is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Xu Chongzhi, who knew very well that the Japanese army was good at fighting in a roundabout way, did not dare to be careless, and he was not too sure about using the strength of a division to block the Japanese army. The key is still the flank, once the Japanese army has a superiority in strength, it will inevitably detour to the flank, and the possibility of a frontal feint is greater. After the landing of the 23rd Brigade of the Japanese Army. There was no rush to attack, but waited patiently for a week, which gave Xu Chongzhi's 19th Division plenty of time to build a stronger defensive position. This is the advantage, but the disadvantage is that once the Japanese army comes, it will inevitably carry heavy artillery, and the defensive battle will inevitably be difficult.

With the landing of the 29th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army. And a heavy artillery wing after going ashore. The Japanese army began to act. At noon on the 15th, the Japanese forward cavalry made contact with the cavalry battalion of the 19th Division, and after a short exchange, the cavalry battalion retreated. The Japanese troops followed in front of the Liushutai formation, and after a short rest, they bombarded the Liushutai position with mountain artillery and launched a tentative attack. Xu Chongzhi is also the master of taking artillery as a treasure, and the division's artillery regiment did not counterattack, but relied on a strong position. Easily repelled the Japanese attack.

The Japanese army had a division and a mixed brigade of troops, and Xu Chongzhi was deeply worried about this, and the former commander of Weifang called and gave Xu Chongzhi a reassurance, with the convenience of the Jiaoji Railway, the 43rd Division could arrive in one day.

On the morning of September 16. The weather was fine, and Xu Chongzhi, who had just taken a nap before dawn, was woken up by the adjutant. After washing his face with cold water, he left the headquarters. The fish belly is white on the horizon, and the Laoshan Mountain is in the distance, the peaks and peaks are beautiful, and the beauty is full of eyes in the morning. If it weren't for the war, Xu Chongzhi would have been interested in visiting Laoshan Mountain. At this time, I can only sigh. Such a great river and mountain were trampled by Japanese guns.

"My generation of soldiers, on the occasion of this invasion of the bandits, can only fight bravely to kill the enemy. Dead and gone. With his hands on his hips and looking at Laoshan Mountain from afar, Xu Chongzhi said to Han Meng, chief of staff and deputy division commander beside him. Han Meng is the first batch of students of the teaching team, with medium grades, thick and steady, and thoughtful. Fang Jianxiong's evaluation of him is that he is a good material for the chief of staff.

Xu Chongzhi partnered with Han Meng, and he really felt this. Han Meng is gentle, does not like to compete with others, and never respects Xu Chongzhi in the division headquarters. The tasks assigned to him are always impeccable.

"The country has been weak for many years, and in this difficult autumn, it is the duty of my generation to fight to the death and fight to the death. Die on the battlefield, seek benevolence! When we were in Wuhu, the chief instructor always taught us that there must be a war between China and Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has pursued a path of military expansion. The best target of its mainland policy is China. Today's events, thinking back to the past, show the foresight of the chief instructor. Han Meng sighed deeply, which aroused Xu Chongzhi's curiosity.

"Oh, what else is that? In the former Qing Dynasty, Fu Shuai taught the monarchs like this? ”

Han Meng nodded and said, "Yes, at that time, the chief instructor was with us every day, crawling, eating and sleeping together. One of the earliest to wake up and the last to go to bed every day. It's really hard to get up at night to check the post. Now that I think about it, my grades were very average at the beginning, and I failed the chief instructor's hard work. Don't talk about this, there are not many shells in the troops, so I'll urge the Qingdao side. ”

Xu Chongzhi nodded, and after the two broke up, they walked briskly to the frontline position. Not long after walking, someone ran in front of me.

"Master, day

There is an unusual movement in the army. "It was Feng Jiajun, the commander of the 37th Brigade, the commander of the defense unit of the main position of the Liushutai Formation. (A native of Zhili Hejian, graduated from Lushi in Japan, and a classmate of Li Liejun and Cheng Qian.) Historically, he was the chief of staff of the 2nd Beiyang Division)

"As you walk, what's wrong with the Japanese army?" Xu Chongzhi quickened his pace, and Feng Jiajun quickly reported: "As soon as I got up in the morning, the front observation post came to report that the Japanese army was gathering, and I had put the troops on strict alert." ”

"You are also a graduate of the Japanese army, you should know that the Japanese artillery fire is fierce, it doesn't matter if the firepower density of the front-line positions is high, and the troops should not be placed too much." Xu Chongzhi listened to the reminder, and Feng Jiajun said with a smile: "Don't worry, the teacher is at ease, and he has studied at Wuhu Lu University for half a year, and these are all remembered." ”

"That's good, the intelligence of the military intelligence bureau said that the Japanese army came into a mixed brigade and a division, and the pressure on your department is huge, if you want to hold on for a long time, you must be cautious in the use of troops."

The two quickly came to the observation post set up by the artillery, and under the German-made Zeiss high-powered gunner, they clearly saw that the Japanese army was gathering. Feng Jiajun looked at it for a while and then asked an artillery second lieutenant at the observation post: "Is this distance enough for the artillery?" ”

"It should be possible." After the second lieutenant replied, he glanced at Xu Chongzhi.

Xu Chongzhi smiled when he heard this: "Our artillery regiment has a firing range of nearly nine thousand meters, and the current position of the artillery regiment is beyond reach even if the Japanese heavy artillery wants to suppress it." Now this bait is too small, and the artillery regiment should not act rashly. ”

Feng Jiajun listened to it for a moment and said with a smile: "I understand, the division seat means that when the position of the Japanese mountain artillery is exposed, the artillery regiment can knock out the Japanese mountain artillery position." "The Japanese army's mountain artillery in the 41st year of the Meiji era only had a range of more than 4,000 meters, and Zhang Xun suffered this loss in Xuzhou that year. There is this case in the textbooks of Lu University. Fang Dashuai's copycat Bofors Mountain Cannon is really well-intentioned. Of course, this is also based on the sufficient industrial capacity of the Germans, otherwise it would be useless to have a good artillery design.

Aside from the battle situation, another stage is also being staged fiercely.

Students from all over the country burst out with strong patriotic feelings and took to the streets to demonstrate, and patriotic businessmen called for a boycott of Japanese goods. Although the government of the Republic of China has not formed an explicit text, there is an unspoken rule in private: in the course of this war, anyone who cannot cooperate with the government to mobilize the people's morale will step down and get out.

Of course, there were also some people who raised their voices against the war and called for peace talks to solve the problem. This person is none other than Wang Jingwei, a rising star of the Kuomintang Party, whose article was published in the Minli Daily, saying: "Those who fight, the survival of all multipliers. Japan is an industrial power, the Republic of China was established, and the armament is not repaired, and the battle is visible. There are many ignorant people in the people, I don't know how powerful this is, and the princes of the temple dare to forget the change of Gengzi? ”

This article comprehensively compares the strength of China and Japan, and concludes that once China and Japan start a full-scale war, China will inevitably be defeated. He also said: And Britain and Japan have an alliance, the war between China and Japan, have you ever worried about Britain's attitude? For the sake of today's plan, it is best to use the hands of Britain, France, the United States, and other countries to mediate the Sino-Japanese dispute.

As soon as this article came out, the whole country reacted strongly. There are those who agree with it, and there are those who are vehemently opposed. At the beginning of the Republic of China, there was no control of public opinion, newspapers could talk casually, and no one came to the door to ask for tea. Wang Jingwei's article does represent the views of a considerable number of today's so-called elites.

Sun Wen, leader of the Kuomintang Party, telegraphed again in Japan, saying: China and Japan are separated by a strip of water, and peace should be precious, and both sides should adopt a calm attitude and resolve the Qingdao issue through consultations. Sun Zhitong stated that whether it was written by him or not, he was criticized by some literati and writers in China anyway.

You Heng Zhang Taiyan (Zhang Binglin) of the Republic of China wrote an article in the "Republic of China Times", saying: On the occasion of the autumn of the whole people's phased resistance, the son surnamed Sun is hiding in the Japanese realm and does not return, and he actually makes a lot of nonsense,......。 Zhang Taiyan sprayed indiscriminately, drenching the blood of the dog scolded by Sun. Then he began to dig over the old accounts, starting from the various doubts of the fallen grandson back then, to the evil deeds of aiding and abusive. In the end, he came to the conclusion that he called Sun "the first hypocrite of all ages!" In the name of revolution, he betrayed the country. The people of the country should rise up and ask for it! ”

Zhang Taiyan's scolding style is exquisite, and the words written in an article are like knives, and Sun Wen is characterized as a traitor. Because it is an article published in an official newspaper, there is an editor's note below: This family's words do not represent the government's attitude.

The literati fought in the newspapers, which was a major feature of the Republic of China. Zhang Taiyan sprayed, and Liang Qichao was not idle, writing articles in his own newspaper and commenting on current affairs. Regarding the battle of Qingdao, Liang Qichao's attitude is still very firm, believing that since the transfer between China and Germany has been completed, the government of the Republic of China has repeatedly announced it to the outside world. Ignoring this fact, the Japanese forcibly used troops against Qingdao, which was tantamount to aggression. When it comes to Sun and Wang, Liang Qichao's attitude is relatively objective, thinking that Sun Ren may have been deceived in Japan. Although Wang Jingweirui is in China, he analyzes the strength comparison between China and Japan and calls for mediation by Britain, the United States, France, and other countries, which is also a solution.