From August 10 to 17, 1914, the northern land was full of gunsmoke.

At noon on 11 August, the central government of the Republic of China issued an ultimatum to Germany, demanding that German assets in China, including the Qingdao and Jiaoji railways, and local concessions, be immediately handed over to the Wehrmacht. As soon as the news came out, the Japanese government became more and more urgent, and that night after the reinforcements of the 2nd Division arrived one after another, Terauchi Masayi once again ordered to attack Jiulian City and Haicheng, and the Japanese 20th Division drew a lot of puppet troops from Korea and braved the intensive artillery fire to cross the river again, and after paying heavy casualties, although they reluctantly crossed the river and successfully recaptured the Andong to Sinuiju Bridge, but due to the serious damage to the bridge, the heavy equipment never came, so they had to stick to Andong and wait for the bridge to be repaired.

Seeing this, Terauchi Zhengyi knew that it was impossible to break through the line of Jiulian City and Fengcheng, so he simply asked the 20th Division to attack Dagushan Fortress and Xiuyan along the coast to the west, and strive to open up the road from Andong to Jinzhou, and he personally led 20,000 Japanese troops and more than 4,000 Manchu ** troops to attack Haicheng, but he was stubbornly blocked by three infantry divisions in the Northeast Theater on the periphery of Yingkou, and Xiuyan behind him was never taken, so that he had to stop again and fall into a chaotic battle.

At the same time, Otani Kikuzo finally took Jinzhou City after repeated attrition, but because the Japanese army began to focus on attacking Shandong, almost all of the originally weak maritime forces were thrown there, resulting in a serious lack of support, and he could only hold on to the city, and finally on the 5th, he was surrounded by the 4th Division from Shanhaiguan and the 16th Division led by Chen Huan, a total of 4 brigades and regiments in the city. Although the railway line was cut off, it did not stop the Wehrmacht's reserve divisions that were constantly pouring into Mukden, and in four days from the 12th to the 16th, they arrived in Mukden on foot via the Rehe River. After occupying the east of the Jiaodong Peninsula, Chuan Yi united with the three wings of the Japanese Guards Division to storm Laiyang and Jimo, and at the same time, the 18th Division, which landed from Longkou, also drew a wing to cooperate, trying to completely cut off the peninsula and the Jiaoji Railway.

Mitsutomi Kamio also stepped up his attack on Qingdao, and the main force of the 18th Division and the 6th Division, an infantry wing, and an engineer wing, totaling more than 20,000 people, with the support of the fleet and two siege heavy artillery brigades, launched a fierce attack on Qingdao.

Due to the deployment of hundreds of mines by the German troops stationed at the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay and the inner side of Dagong Island, and the fact that Cai Yi had sprinkled a full 300 in the later period, the Japanese fleet had to use heavy artillery to carry out long-range strikes in the waters off Dagong Island. 240 and 210 heavy guns, plus 6 150 and 8 120 long-range cannons and mine arrays, plus the attack of the Austro-Crarian armored cruiser Queen Elizabeth, which had been operating in the bay and was used as a makeshift battery, made the Japanese navy, which had been given hope of victory, afraid to get too close.

Faced with this situation, the Japanese army began to lay improvised railroad tracks for two 240 Army siege guns in the vicinity of Li Village, and tried to solve the battle with army heavy artillery.

And the most fierce competition in this round of attacks was Sifang Mountain and Taiping Town Fort (called the Fourth Infantry Fortress by the Germans), especially Sifang Mountain, because the Germans lacked fortifications here, and only more than 100 people were stationed

From the fortress of Mount Ilqis, the direction of the Sifang Mountain, which was sandwiched by Maurtik and Bismarck, was full of corpses and blood, and heavy shells had completely changed the landscape! In the rumbling explosion, the Maxim heavy machine gun made a characteristic clicking sound and waved death drills, and the dense rain of bullets blocked wave after wave of charging Japanese troops on the hillside, but the situation was still not optimistic. "Boom..." An earth-shattering explosion sounded from afar, and the bunker of the Ilqis Fortress, which was covered with more than a meter of cement, was also shaken into smoke and dust. Waldeck had already changed into his uniform, and the originally shiny epaulettes of the major general were now much darker.

"General, it's the fourth infantry fortress one."

Under the guidance of the officer, Waldeck shook off the mud and walked to the observation window, only to see that the two layers of barbed wire on the east side of the No. 4 Infantry Fortress, two kilometers from the left flank of the Sifang Mountain, had been torn open by the 5-mm shell. With this gap as the center, the shells from the sea began to fall rapidly, and in just ten minutes, the Dongdashan Mountain, where the fortress was located, seemed to have been gnawed by dogs, and there were deep and terrible craters everywhere, and several thick bunkers were blown away by the shells. When the heavy artillery fire was over, the dense Japanese infantry spread their bullets through the gap to the flanks in an attempt to flank the vital Fourth Infantry Fortress. Seeing that the fortress was in danger, the German soldiers stationed here pushed in again - Maxim machine guns, and at the same time the two 120-mm guns hidden in the bunker also lowered their muzzles and opened heavy fire.

But there were too many Japanese soldiers, and the fire of the six heavy machine guns was diluted after the troops dispersed quickly, and the 120 heavy guns, which were originally used to defend against long-range targets, were not really effective in this kind of melee combat.

"Why don't you start mines?" As soon as Waldeck finished shouting, the officer with the telephone behind him shook his head bitterly: "General, it was destroyed just now, and Captain El is leading people to repair it. The likelihood of detonating a mine is already very small. ”

Seeing that the minefield preset on the hillside could not be effective, Waldeck was so angry that he stomped his feet: "Tell El to dodge!" Tell Major Alec to shell the slopes of Fort No. 4 in five minutes, don't skimp on ammunition, we don't have much time! ”

Soon after Waldeck's order, the heavy machine guns on the No. 4 fortress gradually ceased fire, and when the soldiers took re-shelter with the heavy machine guns, the coastal fortress, the Irchis fortress, and the Bismarck fortress opened full light and heavy fire, especially the two 150 heavy guns and four 75 rapid-fire guns that turned around and kept smashing the shells on the hillside that had been ravaged by the Japanese navy just now, and a large number of Japanese infantry were suppressed on the hillside in a ball of fire, and soon after the artillery bombardment of the Irchis fortress, The Japanese fleet on the sea also threw dozens of shells at the fortress, especially the 356 mm naval guns on the battlecruiser Kongo were very terrifying, and in just a few minutes, the entire mountain seemed to be deep in the center of the earthquake zone, and the German officers in the command post were crying on their backs.

"Wouldn't it be better if Spee was still here?" Shocked again, Waldeck suddenly had this idea, but quickly rejected it. The two heavy cruisers of the Far East Fleet stayed here, and I am afraid that they could only add military merit to the Japanese fleet, so it is better to take the risk and see if they can return to the Atlantic.

"I'm afraid the general's No. 4 fortress can't be defended." The officer closed his eyes in some pain, only to see that the Japanese troops all over the mountains began to charge at the No. 4 fortress with the help of naval guns, because the No. 4 infantry fortress is a special location, it is the high ground second only to Bismarck Fortress, once lost, then the Sifang Mountain behind will also be missed, then the Japanese army can easily set up heavy artillery on the top of the hill to shell various fortresses and fortresses! "General! Sergeant Busen's call, Japanese mongrels near Lee Village are deploying 240mm siege artillery! ”

"God!" Waldeck immediately spread out the map, because the guide rails used by the fortress heavy artillery slid and could only face a 180° fan, so Li Village, located in the east of Qingdao, became a blind spot! If these two 240 were allowed to fire, then the nearest forts four and three would most likely be destroyed immediately, causing the entire fortress group to collapse.

Just when everyone was at their most pessimistic, two lightning bolts suddenly pierced the sky, and the raindrops the size of beans were violently sprinkled after brewing for several days, and the heavy rain blocked the view of the Japanese infantry attack, and the old and spicy German army took this opportunity to launch all 7 heavy machine guns again. At the same time, the two 77-mm rapid-fire guns on Fort No. 3, which was close at hand, finally turned their muzzles and aimed at the eastern slope of the hill under the drag of the soldiers.

The rumbling artillery bombardment and machine guns were intertwined, the entire No. 4 infantry fortress in Taiping Town seemed to be turned into hell, the flesh and blood were easily torn apart by bullets, and the shells blew up the dead body, and the tenacious German army took advantage of the baptism of the rainstorm to burst out the combat effectiveness that shocked Europe, and when the night was about to fall, the Japanese had to leave hundreds of corpses and retreat to Li Village again in disappointment.

Waldeck breathed a sigh of relief, and the exhausted officers slowly sat down thoughtfully, when suddenly a crisp bell interrupted the calm, and soon after the staff officer hurriedly picked up the phone, he brought a message: "General, it is Minister Traun who has called, and His Majesty Wilhelm has promised to use the design coordinator and the new aircraft to exchange the Qingdao and Jiaoji railways." ”

In the deep twilight, Fang Yuqiu hid in the hidden soldier's bunker that was almost buried in the ground, tore open the cigarette, dug out the tobacco, put it in his mouth and chewed it. Meiyuan is less than a kilometer away from the nearest Taiping Town Fort, and a little bit of spark will be discovered by the Japanese army, so everyone has eaten all the hard nests these days, and it is impossible to smoke.

"Damn! What are you waiting for? Lao Tzu would rather be killed by a cannonball than nest in this mouse hole anymore. "The rain is pouring on the tarpaulin, and the bunker has long been a quagmire, and no one likes this kind of lurking, so the machine gunners also nagged.

"Bear with me, I guess it's been these two days." As a company commander, Fang Yuqiu knew that his responsibility was important at this moment, so he comforted everyone and smiled: "Didn't you hear this cannon?" As far as the Japanese little radish head is not as tall as the shell, hehe. The Germans really played with their lives. If you want to say that Germany is still powerful, I went to a meeting yesterday ̈ Do you know what the brigade commander said? ”

Fang Yuqiu attracted the attention of the soldiers, and only after deliberately buying a pass did he gently pat his thigh: "Damn it!" Five days, just five days! Destroy Belgium, which built the Jinghan line for us back then! "What! The country will be destroyed in five days! "Nonsense, what the brigade commander said himself, could it be a lie? Grandma's, this is the war! This time, after winning the battle, a few of our brothers simply went to the book, and directly crossed the sea to taste the taste of destroying the country. "I've heard that Japanese Kabuki tastes good, why don't you eat it first and then kill it?" Thinking about women all day long! I'm not afraid to kill you. "Haha."

The soldiers' attention gradually turned away from the latent complaints, Fang Yuqiu finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this, but the corners of his eyes still showed anxiety when he looked at Qingdao, if this kind of lurking was too long, even if the troops pulled it up, it was estimated that there would not be much combat effectiveness. Just as he was pondering whether to return to the regimental headquarters to suggest a strong attack, the sentries arranged in the front suddenly rushed in. "Company commander, go and take a look!"

Fang Yuqiu jumped up almost without thinking about it, and rushed to the front in the heavy rain, and before anyone arrived, he heard a series of small footsteps, and then saw a group of German soldiers with their heads bowed

The sound of footsteps alarmed everyone, and more and more soldiers came out of the canopies and cellar-like bunkers. The Germans also did not speak, and the two armies of different faiths passed by slowly, and there was no trace of dialogue between them. Moments later, a pair of stretchers appeared, along with thousands of pale German expatriates. When Fang Yuqiu saw the wounded German soldiers on the stretcher who were biting in pain in order to conceal themselves, something was suddenly stuffed into the bottom of his heart, and he saluted them.

The German soldier who protected him looked at him silently, and after a moment also raised his right arm, and the language of the soldier began to spread rapidly, and after a moment everyone saluted each other.

It has nothing to do with the nation, nothing to do with interests, it is just a brief exchange between soldiers. Looking at the German army column with no end in sight in the darkness, Fang Yuqiu waved his arm fiercely!

"Brothers, look at us! Departure one. ”

On 18 August, at the last moment, after receiving a telegram from Wilhelm II and the General Staff of the country approving the abandonment of the Qingdao and Jiaoji railways, Traun immediately agreed with Yang Qiu to exchange the fortress and the railway, plus 50 tons of gold (to be purchased and raised by Germany from the market) for Haidongqing and the firing coordinator. Upon hearing the news, Waldeck immediately ordered more than 3,000 defenders, including the Austro-Hungarian Empress Elizabeth armored cruiser, to surrender to the Wehrmacht.

That night, the two forward regiments hiding in the plum garden in the pouring rain, under the guidance of the German guides, went upriver and quickly took over the Qingdao fortress and various fortresses.