At the same time as the land war in Liaodong began, the 19 warships purchased by the Japanese Combined Fleet from the British, plus the original 9 warships of the Combined Fleet, a total of 28 main warships have been assembled at the Sasebo Military Port in Japan, ready to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division at any time!

Lin Daxin didn't expect the Japanese army's actions to be so swift and resolute, and when he learned that the Navy of the Naval Academy had captured 11 Italian warships, he immediately decided to take advantage of the fact that the Italian warships were all injured and needed time to enter the dock for repairs and start the war again!

Lin Daxin knew that the Japanese Combined Fleet would definitely choose the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the Beiyang Naval Division before the maintenance of the Italian warship was completed!

It seems that most of the captured Italian warships will not be able to participate in the big battle with the Japanese Combined Fleet! However, according to the current strength of the entire Beiyang Naval Division, there is no fear of the Japanese Combined Fleet!

Lin Daxin transferred the two fast-protection cruisers with a displacement of 2,800 tons that were not injured among the captured Italian warships to the Second Fleet and named them Nichikai and Chenhai. So that the Second Fleet has the sun, moon and stars, 4 fast protection cruisers.

The First Fleet and the Second Fleet of the Naval Division in Weihaiwei, as well as the Beiyang Naval Division's own team, as well as the Lushun Garrison Fleet of the Naval Academy, are all ready to go to sea to fight at any time.

Both the Beiyang Naval Division and the Japanese Combined Fleet are ready for a decisive battle with each other, and now both sides are looking for an opportunity for a decisive battle!

Early in the morning of 2 March, the positions of the Qing army on the front line of Hunhe Fort on the outskirts of Shengjing were shelled by more than 150 Japanese artillery pieces of various calibers for 20 minutes.

After the shelling, the Japanese infantry launched a large-scale all-out attack on the front line of Hunhe Fort, unlike yesterday when only one brigade was dispatched, today the two main brigades of the 1st Division of the Japanese Army, 1 brigade of the 7th Division, and 1 brigade of the 11th Division all participated in the attack!

The Japanese army was even more targeted to carry out a key attack on the 6 heights on the first line of Hunhe Fort, and the Qing army guarding the first line of Hunhe Fort immediately couldn't hold on, and the general soldier Nie Shicheng immediately asked for help from the commander-in-chief of Shengjing City Defense in Shengjing City, Yi Ke Tang'a did not expect that it was only the next day, Nie Shicheng couldn't bear it, but Yi Ke Tang A did not hesitate, and immediately sent 5000 newly recruited Huai troops to reinforce the defense line of Hunhe Fort in the south.

At the same time, Iktanga sent 20,000 Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry to surprise the Japanese army attacking the defense line of Hunhe Fort and carried out a counter-charge!

I didn't expect that the Qing army still had this hand of the Japanese army, and was confused by the surprise attack of the Manchurian cavalry, thanks to the Japanese commander Yama Prefecture Aritomo, who immediately mobilized 3 cavalry brigades of 3 divisions of the Japanese army, and 2 infantry wings as reserves, to attack the Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry, so that the entire Japanese army was not defeated.

After the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry relied on the cold weapons in their hands to inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese army, they retreated to the north bank behind the defense line of Hunhe Fort, and less than 12,000 of the 20,000 Manchu and Mongolian cavalry remained! Seeing the loss of more than 8,000 cavalry at once, Iktanga was distressed and did not shed old tears, these 20,000 Manchu and Mongolian cavalry were all drawn from the three northeastern provinces and Mongolia, which can be said to be the most powerful force in the hands of the Manchu magnates in the entire Qing Dynasty.

Now that he has lost nearly half of the battle, Yiketang Azhen doesn't know how to explain to the Queen Mother and the Emperor!

Commander Youpeng of Shan County felt even more distressed, the Japanese army that was attacking the defense line of Hunhe Fort did not expect to suddenly kill a large force of cavalry, and was caught off guard by the Manchurian cavalry, if it were not for Youpeng of Shanxian County to immediately put into reserve to attack the Manchurian cavalry, plus the Manchurian cavalry was only equipped with cold weapons, and the combat effectiveness was limited, otherwise the entire Japanese Northern Route Army would be in danger of collapse!

After the Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry retreated, the Japanese army also stopped attacking the Hunhe Fort defensive line, and when the Japanese army withdrew, the three divisions lost more than 6,000 people.

Commander Yamaguchi Aritomo immediately decided that the Japanese army had lost its vigor and decided to stop today's offensive.

On the position of the 32nd Brigade outside Jinzhou, the attacking Japanese army has been replaced by the 8th Division to the 9th Division!

The Japanese army used the 127-mm howitzers of the heavy artillery brigade to continue to suppress the artillery units of the Northern Army, and then the five artillery wings of the five Japanese divisions and regiments unscrupulously bombarded the positions of the Northern Army.

Under the cover of artillery fire, the Japanese troops of the 9th Division rushed to the positions of the 32nd Brigade like a tide, and by noon on the 2nd, they had captured 3 positions of the 32nd Brigade, and the entire defense line of the 32nd Brigade was in danger of collapsing.

On the Daoganling Heights, Liu Xiaotian, the first 3rd company stationed on the Daoganling Heights, among the only 2 surviving people, said to the new company commander Li Qingyao next to him in the anti-artillery hole: "Company commander! Now there are only 45 people left on the battlefield who can still fight! ”

The Daoganling Heights are under the fire of the Japanese army almost all the time, so the casualties are very large, and last night the reinforcements were replenished twice, so that there are more than 230 people on the Daoganling Heights, Li Qingyao, the new company commander, is confident that he will be able to hold the Daoganling Heights!

I didn't expect that the Japanese army was so crazy today, and from the first attack in the morning, they didn't care about accidentally injuring their own people! At the same time as the Japanese infantry attacked, the Japanese artillery continued to bombard the Daoganling Heights, making the casualties on the Daoganling continue to increase, and it was only noon, and nearly 200 people had fallen on the position.

Liu Xiaotian asked: "Company commander, the Japanese army is like crazy today, can we hold our position?" ”

Li Qingyao nodded affirmatively on the surface and said, "Of course you can!" But Li Qingyao was also uneasy in his heart, just now he called the commander of his 321st regiment, hoping that the regiment commander could send reinforcements to the Daoganling Heights.

However, the regiment commander told Li Qingyao that now the battle line of the entire 32nd Brigade is tight, and several positions have been occupied by the Japanese army, and there are no reinforcements for Li Qingyao at present, but Daoganling is very important, if Daoganling is lost, the entire defense line of the 321st Regiment will be divided into two by the Japanese army, so he ordered Li Qingyao to hold Daoganling even if there is only one person left!

Li Qingyao was anxiously waiting for the fourth charge of the Japanese army today! At this time, I suddenly heard a loud Dingbei Army charge horn sounding outside! At this time, a soldier on the Daogan Ridge ran into the anti-artillery hole and shouted: "Company commander! The 31 brigade in the back is coming up! Now the attack on the lost few pieces of position! ”

Li Qingyao quickly rushed out of the anti-artillery hole and came to the trench to look to the left of Daoganling. On the lost position of the 32nd Brigade on the left side of Daoganling, there was a group of soldiers wearing black Dingbei Army uniforms charging, and some soldiers were holding a red military flag, and the words "31 Brigade" could be faintly seen.

It turned out that Li Kai, the commander of the 32nd Brigade, saw the Japanese army's crazy attack today, and immediately called the 31st Brigade behind him to ask for reinforcements! After receiving Li Kai's call, the commander of the 31st Brigade immediately rushed to the defense line of the 32nd Brigade with more than 5,000 people of the 31st Brigade. The two brigade commanders decided to carry out a counter-charge against the several positions that had been lost and recapture the positions occupied by the Japanese army!

Under the attack of the 31st Brigade, a new force, the lost positions were soon returned to the hands of the Dingbei Army.

Fujita Masao, the commander of the 9th Division of the Japanese Army, saw that several positions of the Dingbei Army that were finally captured were recaptured! Immediately furious, he ordered the Ninth Division to increase the intensity of the attack, but after the entire defense line of the Dingbei Army was strengthened by the 31st Brigade, even the Daoganling Heights received 2 companies of reinforcements, and the Japanese Ninth Division attacked until dark, and did not break through a Dingbei Army position again!

Fujita Masao, the commander of the Ninth Division, who had a very bad complexion, walked into the headquarters of the Southern Route Army, and saw that the commander of the headquarters, Dashan Yan, and the other 4 division commanders were there, Fujita Masao said helplessly to Dashan Yan: "Your Excellency, Commander! You've been disappointed! The several positions of the Dingbei Army captured today have been recaptured by them! ”

Dashan Yan sighed and said, "How are the casualties of the Ninth Division?" ”

Fujita Masao said gloomily: "Today, the Ninth Division lost 8,100 people in battle and more than 2,000 were injured!" Commander, this kind of assault is really too many casualties! ”

After Fujita Masao finished speaking, the entire command fell into silence, and it had only been two days of attacking, and without even seeing Jinzhou City, 2 divisions had already been hit hard!

If according to such consumption, when the Southern Route Army reaches the bottom of the Lushun Fortress, how many 100,000 people will be left by then, facing Lushun, the first military port fortress in Asia, I don't know if the Southern Route Army will still have the ability to attack Lushun at that time!