The Xiaozhan Mountain Fortress (No. 1 Fortress), one of the main support points of the land defense line in the southern part of the German Qingdao Fortress, was captured by the Chinese army at 5:40 pm on the 25th. Two companies of the defenders (later reinforced by a reinforced company) were crushed, with some 190 officers and men killed and missing, and the remainder retreated along the communication trenches to the adjoining No. 2 fort to the northwest.

The shelling on both sides invariably stopped, and the battlefield took on a palpitating silence. The German soldiers began to climb out of their bunkers, clean up the bodies of their comrades, and repair the broken fortifications.

Although the No. 2 fortress repelled the Chinese army and held the position after a bloody battle, the defenders also suffered heavy casualties, and two cannons were destroyed, and if the Chinese army continued to attack, the No. 2 fortress would be doomed to fall. Major Bichna, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 66th Regiment of the German Army, who was in charge of the first-line position on Xiaozhan Mountain, reported the situation to the regiment commander Colonel Venaker by phone at Fort No. 2 and asked for reinforcements, and Major Bichna said, "Mr. Colonel, I have just experienced the most brutal battle I have ever experienced, and the Chinese are all crazy, and they simply do not take the lives of soldiers seriously. If there are no reinforcements, the next attack will be launched, and the fortress complex I am in will be captured. I demand a counterattack on Fort No. 1, otherwise the southern line of defense is finished. ”

As he said this, Major Bichna's voice trembled a little, which he himself was completely unaware of, but Colonel Venaker heard it.

"Hold your ground and wait for reinforcements, and you won't be allowed to retreat a single step! The honor of the German Army is at stake! Venak put down the phone, then immediately picked it up again and asked to go back, "All the wounded of the Chinese army should be properly treated, and the prisoners should be transferred to the rear immediately." ”

This order is actually nonsense. Major Bichna heard the subtext of the colonel, and the Qingdao fortress was afraid that it would not be able to hold it!

If a few hours ago. Three hours ago, to be exact, Bichna must have thought it was a joke when he said that the fortress complex of Xiaozhan Mountain would fall in six hours. But the truth shattered the illusion, and even a strong fortress could not withstand such a frantic attack. The overwhelming artillery fire of the Chinese army did not give Bichna much blow, but the decisive impact of the Chinese infantry that was not afraid of death knocked him down, and he never thought that there would be such an attacking army in Asia! Bishna closed his eyes and could see the scene of extreme tragedy, machine guns and artillery swept down the Chinese soldiers in waves, but wave after wave came up again, the pouring rain The red military flag held high by the Chinese soldiers was so eye-catching, and one of the standard-bearers was knocked down. The flag was immediately picked up by another soldier and the bullet-ridden flag continued to rush forward. In particular, the sappers who were armed with explosive bags and blasting canisters left him with an indelible memory: a sapper who was clearly seriously wounded struggled to crawl forward. Standing up more than ten meters from the bunker where he was and pulling the blaster, the green smoke coming out of the tail made him shudder, and the soldier was shot again, and the blaster exploded in his hand—shattered to pieces. The scene of his body turning into pieces and flying in all directions was the most shocking scene that he, a veteran of nearly 20 years in the army, had ever seen.

In the deafening sound of gunfire, he would not have heard the shouts of his opponents at all. But he heard it again! It is the cry of a nation that has awakened after a hundred years of oppression!

Bishna felt a chill to the bone. Even though it's the hottest season in China. The heavy rain had stopped, but the sky was still rolling with dark clouds. Bichna ordered the capture of thirteen wounded Chinese soldiers (all of whom had been preliminarily bandaged) to be transferred to the rear, and then summoned his company commanders to discuss the military situation. Xiao Zhanshan lost an excellent company commander in battle, and the other was also wounded, but he could hold on. The wounded company commander who withdrew from the No. 2 position from Xiao Zhanshan said clearly, "If Fort No. 1 is not restored, this place cannot be defended." Maybe right now, they're going to attack in two directions, maybe before it gets dark, we're done. ”

"From the enemy's armband, it is confirmed that it was the 46th Regiment of the Chinese Army that attacked the No. 1 position, and it was the 47th Regiment that attacked us." Another lieutenant company commander said, "These two regiments have lost their attack power." Their casualties were too great. ”

"But how many regiments do they have? God knows! "The last little captain from Hesse said, "Although we have repelled the 47th Regiment, they are still there," he raised his arm and pointed to the southeast, "even if we kill all the 16th Brigade, they still have the 17th and 18th Brigades!" You know, there is more than one 6th division besieging the fortress! If the Haibo River defense line can be held, this battle can still be fought, but now it can't. God, the Chinese are crazy, they are all crazy! ”

Bishna's 3 battalion certainly did not have the strength to fight back. Moreover, it was clear to Hina that the Chinese army wanted his soldiers to climb out of the bunkers.

"Carry out the order, stay on standby." Major Bichna spat out the cigarette he had just taken two puffs. He heard a buzzing sound in the sky and knew that the Chinese army's plane had reappeared. Soon, there were continuous explosions from the north, which were dropped by Chinese planes. They had a five-kilogram bomblet, which was dropped by the pilot's hands.

"Damn it, damn it!" The little captain stamped his feet and left the main fortress.

Reinforcements did not come, and the Chinese army did not attack after occupying the No. 1 fortress group of Xiaozhan Mountain, the sky slowly darkened, and looking out from the lookout hole, the Chinese army position on the opposite side was no longer clear.

"Mr. Major, they're digging fortifications, they're going to dig all the way." The little Hessian, who had just gone out, turned back, "Gotta figure figure it out." ”

"It's all stones, and earthwork isn't that easy." The lieutenant company commander lit a cigarette.

"Their sappers are strong! They have the best sappers in the world. The little captain was a little anxious, "Please allow the artillery blockade." ”

"Yes." Bichna nodded.

Two minutes later, the silence was broken again, and German artillery began shelling positions north of the trench. And the Chinese artillery fire also came, and a heavy bomb hit the big fortress where they were located, which startled several German officers.

The sturdy super-thick reinforced concrete fortress held out the heavy bombing, but the northwest corner still collapsed, revealing a gray-black sky. The three company commanders had left the big fortress and returned to their respective companies, and Bishna said to the Hessians, "Luersen, pay close attention to the direction No. 1. ”

"Rest assured, sir." The Hessian said without looking back. The figure was gone.

The attack that Bishna feared most did not happen. It seems that the Chinese army is adjusting its deployment, and it is possible that there will be no night battle tonight.

After eating a can of canned beef, Bishna went out with the signal corps and walked around the companies. The soldiers were resting, and countless red bright spots were flashing, which was the soldiers smoking to decompress. He couldn't see the faces of his subordinates clearly in the darkness, but he could feel an atmosphere of despair on the battlefield.

There is still no sign of reinforcements. Obviously, the Chinese will break through from the southern front, and if the No. 1 and No. 2 positions are lost, the land defense line will be opened, and the Chinese can even penetrate the city without attacking the three large support points in the north! What exactly is the above thinking? After returning to the big fortress, Bichna wanted to call the regimental commander, picked it up and put it down again. There is no need. It's not like the colonel or even General Strauss doesn't know what is going on here! Major Bichna drank a glass of water, spread out the paper under the candle, and prepared to write a letter to his wife, who he wanted to sue (his wife did not come to Qingdao). The Qingdao fortress could not be held. His fate had only two outcomes. Either die in battle, or wait for the end of the war in the Chinese prisoner of war camp...... Just wrote the name of the wife, the signal corps report. Here comes the colonel.

"Major, our war is over!" Colonel Venaker took off his hat and threw it on the table made of ammunition boxes, and the candlelight reflected the colonel's gloomy face, "Twenty minutes ago, General Strauss received instructions from Berlin to surrender to the Chinese army and hand over Qingdao!" ”

"Why is this happening?!"

"Carry out the order," said Venaker, in a deep voice. Send someone to contact the commander of the Chinese army. Instantly. ”

Bichna felt that his strength was immediately drained, and he stood on the "table" for a moment, "Yes, contact the commander of the Chinese army immediately." ”

Forty minutes later, the signal corpsman entered the bunker with a Chinese lieutenant, who was thin and wide-eyed, staring at several German officers in the bunker and saying in very non-standard German, "I am a staff officer of the brigade headquarters and Lieutenant Wen Jin, and I have come to negotiate the surrender of your army on the orders of my superiors." ”

"We have been ordered to surrender to your army......" There was silence for a long time, and Colonel Venaker spat out a sentence with difficulty.

Colonel Venaker, of course, did not know. Berlin's order came from a major general who had made great contributions to the fortress of Liège, and that person was General Ludendorff, who was destined to become famous in this great war, he was ordered to go to the Eastern Front to deal with the crisis, the two armies of the Russian army had penetrated deep into East Prussia, the German Eighth Army in charge of the Eastern Front was at a loss, the high command had decided to change generals, and Ludendorff was appointed chief of staff of the Eighth Army - the commander had not yet been selected. Ludendorff learned of the war in the Far East and told the Kaiser that since it was certain that the Japanese army would attack Qingdao, it would be better to give Qingdao to the Chinese. If the Japanese continue to attack, it will be possible to push the Chinese into our arms.

General Falkingham immediately agreed, and the General Staff did so (Moltke's Chief of the General Staff was not in Berlin). Falkingham agreed with Major General Ludendorff's proposal after receiving the report from Major General Strauss, and Major General Strauss affirmed that Qingdao could not be defended.

Wilhelm II would have been angry. He was extremely disappointed in Strauss, and the battle of Tsingtao lasted only half a day, and the general on whom he had high hopes made such a disappointing judgment. You must know that Qingdao is a first-class fortress city in Asia. If the opponent was an Englishman, Wilhelm II would be in a much better mood, but the opponent was the yellow-skinned monkey he had always looked down upon! How can this be?

Falkingham succeeded in convincing the Kaiser. Qingdao was insignificant to the war, but if China were to join the Allies, it would mean a lot different. The general attack on Paris on the Western Front is about to enter a decisive stage, and East Prussia cannot afford to lose, and we cannot afford to take care of Qingdao. In the event of a war between Japan and China, Britain and France are likely to be involved, so why not seize this opportunity?

Strauss carried out Berlin's instructions. On the evening of August 25, the German army began to withdraw from the Qingdao fortress from the southern front, and the Chinese troops began to take over the fortress, all in a hurry. By dawn, the Qingdao fortress had been fully opened to the Chinese army, all the weapons were handed over to the Chinese army, and the specific inventory would take a few days, the German troops began to withdraw to the barracks in the city, and the 18th and 17th brigades of the 6th division of the Central Military Region were ordered to take over the Qingdao fortress, and the 16th brigade, which suffered severe casualties, was withdrawn to rest and replenish.

The battle of Qingdao lasted less than ten hours before the curtain came down and ended in a strange way.

During the battle, the Germans lost 131 killed and 165 wounded. The 46th and 47th Chinese Army and the Combat Engineer Regiment suffered a total of 677 killed and 1,233 wounded, six times that of the German army. However, the overall plan of the two infantry regiments of the 16th Brigade and the combat engineer regiment of the military district to overwhelm the decisive attack of the German army played a victory overture and won the respect of the whole army.

Chen Hao, who had been commanding the battle with a wound in his right hand, was sent to a field hospital in the early morning of the 26th. Sun Juan personally treated his wounds. He had known Sun Juan a few years earlier, when he was a young soldier who had just joined the army.

"Your daughter-in-law should be distressed now." Sun Juan said to the pale-faced Chen Hao, "If you knew that the Germans were going to surrender, you shouldn't have played with your life like that." Fortunately, there is no phase breaking, the thumb and index finger are there, and it will not affect too much. Do you want to get an injection to relieve the pain? ”

"It doesn't matter, I can bear it. It's a pity that my soldiers are ......" Chen Hao scolded more than once he learned that the Germans had surrendered, and was more dissatisfied with the command of his superiors. If he had attacked a day late, his elite and loyal soldiers would not have spilled blood.

"Rest in peace......," Sun Juan said, "Brigade Commander Qu called to ask if you were coming, and I told him that you were okay, only one finger was lost, and there were nine more." Sun Juan covered a sheet for him and left the tent.

Chen Hao wanted to write a letter to his wife, who was confined at his mother's house in Wuxi, but his right hand hurt so much that he couldn't hold the pen at all, and he didn't want to write with his left hand, so that his wife could see at a glance that he was injured. Chen Hao, who was half-lying on the bed, desperately forgot the bloody battle that had just ended, the troops had been withdrawn, the casualty list of the 1st Battalion had not yet been counted, and his thoughts turned to his wife, a month ago, his wife gave birth to a son for him in Wuxi, and his mother had already rushed to take care of him, and the letter said how cute the child was. If he dies in battle, his son will never see him – only his father, whom he has never met, in photographs. Now that he has lost a finger, he is alive and will definitely see his son.

Chen Hao met his wife in Wuxi when he followed the 6th Division south to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, she was a teacher at Wuxi Art College, she was one year older than him, petite and beautiful, and looked like his little sister. Chen Hao thought of his wife's beautiful appearance, especially the pair of dimples she showed when she smiled - he said to his wife, I fell in love with you because I was greedy for a cup. At that time, he was still a company commander, and after returning from the Beiyang Army prisoner of war camp, he returned to the old unit under the care of Division Commander Ye and continued to serve as a company commander, without any discrimination. In the beautiful Jiangnan town of Wuxi began his love, after the marriage wife was unwilling to give up the job she loved, so he has not been with him to Jinan, when he was in labor he wanted to ask for leave to go back, but the army is in a big exercise, really can't open his mouth. How happy would it be if my father were alive and had grandchildren? Consider that it has been fifteen years since my father died......

"I didn't embarrass Uncle Chen, let alone Commander Long." Chen Hao closed his eyes. (To be continued......)