The Japanese offensive began.

The Japanese nation has a peculiarity, which is that it is easy to lose its mind strategically, and it is obstinately going its own way, and Zuihou is on the road of no return. But in terms of tactics, it is Shijie's first-class level, every detail will be done very well, every step will be considered in detail, Jihua is thorough, and the action is delicate.

In the two days leading up to the attack, Japanese sappers wore white camouflage uniforms and crawled through the snow, carefully clearing the minefields around the town of Chestnut Garden. Because they were afraid that the mines would arouse the suspicion of the Chinese, the Japanese sappers only removed the fuse of the mine, but put back the mine that had been dug up, and unknowingly cleared a large open space. And this practice does confuse Chinese patrols.

Secondly, in terms of offensive preparations, the Japanese army formulated a series of new regulations, such as in order to achieve suddenness, the Japanese army violated the conventional practice of not making any artillery preparations, and let the infantry directly charge.

And there are no trumpets, no slogans, no shooting, and quietly moving forward.

The stormtroopers all wore white trench coats, white styles, and even white cloths on their faces, making the most of the cover of the snow.

In general, the most haode attack time is at night, to be precise, from midnight to early morning, because people are the most tired, sleepy, and relaxed during this time.

However, Yama Prefecture Youpeng did the opposite, believing that because most of the sneak attacks were at night, the enemy was more vigilant at night. And after a full night, when the sun comes out in the early morning, the defenders will be relatively lax, and the chances may be better.

In the early morning of February 1st, the sun and snow were flying, and it was becoming more and more charming.

The Japanese infantry stepped on the vast snowfield, spread all over the mountains, and quietly rushed up. In order to keep quiet, the Japanese soldiers even tore strips of cloth to wrap their shoes to reduce the sound of their feet in the snow.

At this time, in the town of Liziyuan, most of the officers and soldiers of the Guards had just gotten up, washing and eating breakfast, and the sentinels on the periphery had been watching from midnight to early morning, and they were all relaxed at this time, waiting for the change of shift in the morning, and some of them couldn't help but doze off. The most important thing is that everyone has a safe mentality, feeling that the battlefield is in front of Tiger Mountain, and here is surrounded by minefields, and there is no expectation that there will be enemies coming to sneak attack.

But the most paralyzing time is when the danger comes, at about seven o'clock in the morning, a gunshot suddenly rang out in the east of the town, followed by sporadic gunfire all around, and immediately there was a burst of fried beans, the gunfire shook the sky, and then the shouts also rose "Onboard!" "Onboard! The list goes on and on.

Only then did everyone realize that it was the enemy who had attacked!

By this time, the Japanese had successfully advanced to the outskirts of the town, and some had even jumped over the breastwork, and the Guards soldiers had dropped their jobs and engaged the enemy in close combat.

Wu Changqing finally realized his laxity, and the enemy attacked under his nose silently. He worked hard to mobilize troops for defense, and Liu Yongfu and Xu Zhanbiao respectively led some people to carry out counter-assaults.

However, the distance between the enemy and us was too close, and the superiority of the Guards in firepower could not be brought into play, but the numerical superiority of the three divisions of the Japanese army was fully manifested, and the tide continued to pour into the town, repulsing a group of rushing in, and the more they fought, by noon, the Japanese army had already captured half of the town, and the two sides were engaged in fierce street battles in various streets, houses, archways, and corners.

Wu Changqing made field calls to Hushan and Jiuliancheng respectively to ask for support, but found that both places were also in fierce fighting, and the situation was critical, and he had to make a painful choice.

According to Ding Yuntong's tactical principle, the guards need to exert their firepower to deal with the enemy, and under the condition that the firepower cannot be exerted, unless there is no room for retreat, they should think of preserving life. The current situation is that the two sides have formed hand-to-hand combat, killing 1,000 enemies and inflicting 800 self-losses, which is contrary to the principle of tactics, and Wu Changqing decided to retreat temporarily.

Since the direction to Jiulian City had been blocked by the Japanese army, the Guards retreated in the direction of Hushan along several secret communication trenches. The process of retreat also reflected the high quality of the Guards, with several rearguard units, alternating volleys, fighting and retreating, in an orderly manner, not busy or chaotic. Except for the heavy weapons that were too late to take away, there were basically no empty-handed retreats, and even the wounded were taken away without a single drop.

By the afternoon, the Japanese had occupied the chestnut orchard, leaving more than 4,000 dead bodies, two-thirds of which were Japanese soldiers.

At the same time, Su Yuanchun's troops, who were guarding Andong, were afraid that the back road would be cut off, so they also abandoned their positions and withdrew to Jiulian City.

Thus, by the evening of February 1, China was in a very unfavorable situation on the Yalu River, and the Yalu River Army had been divided into two parts, Hushan and Jiuliancheng.

The Japanese captured Chestnut Garden and Andong, and the feint troops also withdrew one after another when they saw that they had achieved their goal, and the Guards Division entered Andong and joined up with the 2nd Division, the 1st, 4th, and 5th Divisions were stationed in Chestnut Garden, and the 3rd and 6th Divisions were assembled at the mouth of the Anping River. After Youpeng prepared to rest for two days, the whole army surrounded Hushan and trapped the Chinese.

Liu Jintang deeply felt that the situation was serious, and this situation was beyond his expectations. According to the normal situation, if the Guards were in good position, the Japanese army would not be able to conquer the chestnut orchard. Previous encounters between the two sides have proven that as long as the Guards are willing to defend to the death, the Japanese will not be able to capture any position in China, be it Seoul, Pyongyang, Pyongseong or Husan.

But this time the chestnut orchard is an exception, Liu Jintang put a whole division, and it was actually lost, it can only be said that the commander underestimated the enemy is a big reason, but Wu Changqing is in danger, he can still withdraw the whole army system, and the role cannot be completely erased.

After thinking about it carefully, Liu Jintang believed that there was only one way to change the passive situation on the battlefield, that is, to concentrate all Liliang to attack Liziyuan, open up the retreat route, let the troops in Hushan withdraw, and then abandon this line of defense and retreat to the Liaoyang area to reorganize.

But there are political obstacles to doing so. The emperor has decreed that not a single step can be retreated! If you retreat, I am afraid that it will be difficult to pass the test in public opinion, and the government and the opposition will inevitably be scolded, and I am afraid that even the emperor will be under pressure at that time.

Liu Jintang called Beijing with a feeling of anxiety.

It took only two seconds for the Emperor to agree to his Jihua, and announced that the original order "not to take a step back" was immediately revoked, and instructed him that it was normal for the battlefield to be passive, because the enemy was also very strong. When necessary, retreat is just as important as attacking, but it is important to remember that victory in a war cannot be achieved by retreat.

At the same time, the emperor said that he only needed to concentrate on the war, and that what was outside the battlefield had nothing to do with him.

After making the phone call, Liu Jintang was deeply encouraged by the emperor's understanding. Without further ado, he immediately ordered all the troops in the Ninth Company City, the Seventh Division, the Ninth Division, and the Su Yuanchun Brigade, a total of 28,000 people, to all be dispatched overnight and pounce on the chestnut garden! At the same time, the 4th and 6th Divisions of Hushan were ordered to immediately abandon their positions and immediately attack the chestnut orchard overnight.

Liu Jintang wants to use a sneak attack to a sneak attack! The Japanese concentrated their superior forces and took advantage of China's laxity to attack the chestnut orchard, and now the Guards should also do the same, taking advantage of the slackness that Japan had just succeeded, and also concentrating their forces to carry out a surprise attack.

Tens of thousands of guards packed up their bags almost in half an hour, threw down all the pots and jars, and disappeared into the night from Jiulian City.

Almost at the same time, the Guards on Tiger Mountain, including the Fourth Division, which had just withdrawn and had not yet breathed, were all mobilized and set off quietly. The positions held in the bloody battle, many good brothers died in battle, and now they have given up in vain, and some soldiers have shed tears.

In the middle of the night on February 1, the chestnut orchard.

After a day of fighting and suffering of all kinds, the Japanese officers and men were extremely tired, and most of them fell asleep as soon as their heads touched the ground, despite the cold. However, Youpeng in Shan County was very cautious, and he ordered several additional cordons to be dispatched, and ordered all checkpoints not to slack off.

There is a reason why he is so careful, in the Southwest War, Yama Prefecture Aritomo's troops were attacked by rebels in Kumamoto, and the Wing Commander Nogi Noshinori almost committed suicide for this, as the actual supreme commander of the government army, Yama Prefecture Aritomo was also deeply ashamed of this, so he was very cautious when marching and fighting.

Youpeng's caution in Shanxian County was rewarded, and in the early hours of the morning, he received an astonishing report that from the direction of Jiuliancheng and Hushan, a large number of Chinese troops appeared almost at the same time, covering the mountains and fields, and the offensive was extremely fierce, and the outer defense forces were almost unstoppable!

The Chinese had just given up during the day, and immediately launched a large-scale counteroffensive at night, so resilient, so quick and decisive, it is really shocking. Yama County Youpeng immediately summoned the commanders to discuss, but in a moment, his subordinates reported that the enemy had attacked the periphery!

In fact, there was no need to report it, he already knew, because the guns and cannons had already sounded outside the town, and the enemy's attack was so fierce that it was like a thunderbolt, which made people feel that they could not resist it at all.

Youpeng in Shan County muttered to himself: "This is the real strength of Zhina!" ”