In the early morning of that day, General Masashi in the temple also stayed up all night.

Except for the capture of Xiadian by the 13th Wing of the 6th Division, which was good news, the rest of the battle reports made the temple dissatisfied. In particular, the failure of the 9th Division's attack on the southern defense line of Qingdao hit Yan Zòng's confidence in Terauchi Masatsu.

The 9th Division fought bloodily all day long, leaving behind hundreds of corpses, and the troops retreated to their starting point. Is the German army too weak or the Chinese army too strong? The temple pondered hard. After a bloody battle, the 9th Division paid a huge casualties of nearly 2,000, and it cannot be said that it did not do its best. The 9th Division is recognized by the Army as a first-class strong army second only to the 2nd and 6th Divisions, and has undergone countless tests of blood and fire, including the Russo-Japanese War, and its combat effectiveness is beyond doubt. According to Chief of Staff Onishi, who had participated in the Lushun attack under the command of General Nogi Noshinori, the fierceness of the supporting artillery fire exceeded that of the Lushun Campaign, and the artillery (excluding the navy) fired more than 2,600 heavy shells in one day, but the Chinese Army relied on the fortifications left by the Germans but heavily reinforced by them, and simply crushed the onslaught of the Kanazawa Division. The division lost 1 group leader, 4 squadron leaders, and countless officers below the rank of lieutenant throughout the day.

"The front of Xiaozhan Mountain has become a hell on earth," reported Major General Onishi, who had arrived at the 9th Division in the afternoon to supervise the battle, "and the 18th Wing, which was mainly attacking the fortress of Xiao Zhanshan, has been crippled and has lost its attack power. At least two squadrons of the wing were wiped out, and the trench north of the Haibo River became a grave for the burial of the Imperial warriors......" Onishi drew a map of the battlefield on paper after returning to the headquarters, "and the artillery fire of the Chinese army was extremely fierce. Supplemented by a large number of light and heavy machine guns and mortars, the Kanazawa division fought too hard! If you want to find a way, you have to find a way! ”

What's the solution? Wait for the 24 Brigade to launch an attack in the north to attract the Chinese army to transfer troops? Major General Onishi once again popularized common sense for Senior General Terauchi, "It has been confirmed that the 17th and 18th brigades of the 6th Division are guarding Qingdao, and all the troops directly under the division have been transferred to the Qingdao fortress. Each brigade of the A Division of the Chinese Army is composed of three infantry regiments and one artillery regiment...... Each infantry regiment has three infantry battalions and one machine gun battalion, and each infantry battalion has four infantry companies...... In terms of troop composition, the brigade of the A division of the Chinese army is superior to the imperial army tour regiment in terms of firepower and soldiers, and the regiment is equivalent to the wing of the imperial army, and the firepower density below the regiment exceeds that of the imperial army. Even if the 24 brigade joined the attack. The Chinese army occupies a favorable position. Our army has no advantage at all......"

"Don't talk about that! What did Sogoro Kawamura say? Actually, Terauchi had already spoken to Lieutenant General Kawamura on the phone, but he still wanted to hear the report of Onishi, who had "visited" on the spot.

"The commander of the Kawamura Division was determined to continue the offensive and overwhelm the Shina Army with the spirit of bushido." Onishi reported.

The failure of the 5th assault aroused Lieutenant General Kawamura's madness, especially the leaflets dropped by Chinese planes mocking the 9th Division, which made Kawamura deeply ashamed. After the end of the battle in the evening. Kawamura severely reprimanded the officers above the rank of commander of the 18 brigade. Scolding them for disgrace to the Imperial Japanese Army! At the beginning, the Zhina army broke through the Xiaozhan Mountain defense line in one day. Major General Strauss was forced to raise the flag, but forty days later, it was still this battlefield. The prestigious Kanazawa Division was beaten to pieces by the former attackers.

"Do you think the Germans deliberately released the water at the beginning?" The temple is also comparing, and it is impossible for him not to compare.

This can only be explained. The Germans have been eye-to-eye. It's no secret. ”

Unlike the Navy, which was taught by the British, the Japanese Army has always been taught by the Germans, and the Japanese Army has learned from Germany in an all-round way, from its establishment to its tactics. But now, the Chinese army, which has never been an opponent, has actually defeated the Japanese army's teacher, and in turn, taught the Japanese army a hard lesson, proving that its victory over the German army is not a fluke.

Can we adopt siege tactics against Qingdao and concentrate the main forces to defeat the peripheral Chinese army first? A terrible thought suddenly popped up in the temple.

As if reading the psychology of the temple, Major General Onishi said, "Your Excellency, it is not feasible to adopt siege tactics. The pressure on our logistics is too great, and we must do everything we can to seize Qingdao. At present, the way of material transfer is too passive, giving the China plane an opportunity. The 3rd Division's seizure of Gaomi Airport did not completely eliminate the attack on the port by the Chinese planes, and just yesterday, the port material transfer site was bombed by three waves of incendiary bombs from Chinese planes totaling 20 sorties, and the losses were enormous. And another transport ship full of ammunition was sunk by a submarine off the coast of Qingdao, and the losses were ......very serious."

The situation is of course strict. This is not clear, Onishi said that the temple is also clear. Large transport ships cannot dock, and small landing ships need to be used to transfer materials to the shore, not to mention the low efficiency, the key is that the beachhead material transfer has been repeatedly harassed by Chinese aircraft. The supply of materials for the troops on the southern front has become increasingly tight, and in particular, the consumption of artillery shells has not been able to keep up.

"Have you figured out where the plane is coming from?"

"It should come from the southern mountains."

"Organize anti-aircraft fire to defend the landing site! A wing was drawn from the 9th Division to completely destroy the airfield of the Chinese people! Order Lieutenant General Umezawa on the Northern Front to speed up the offensive and join the 3rd Division in Weixian! Destroy the main force of the Chinese army! "The general of the temple has felt that his troops are insufficient, but he really has no face to ask the base camp for reinforcements, when the staff headquarters proposed to add a division, it was ridiculed by the navy, to deal with China, three divisions are not enough? You must know that every time a division is added to overseas operations, not only is there a huge increase in military spending, but also the transportation problem depends on the navy.

Sure enough, Major General Onishi raised this question, "Your Excellency, Commander, with all due respect, the war has been going on for ten days, and considering all aspects of the situation, I think that the base camp is Yan Zhan Zhòng underestimated the enemy," Onishi observed the complexion of the temple, carefully considered the choice of words, and tried to be as tactful as possible, "With the current enemy situation, it is extremely unlikely that the Chinese army will be severely damaged east of Weixian. Obviously, the Chinese army was full of confidence in holding Qingdao. In this way, there is a problem, that is, the Zhina Army has concealed its strength, there are by no means only two B divisions west of Weixian, perhaps the 1st Division of Zhina has already been deployed in place, and what worries me even more is that more reinforcements may have arrived. Therefore, in order to complete the Shandong Raiders and continue to increase the number of troops, it is best to add two more divisions! ”

This is exactly what Terauchi Masaki had in mind, but Terauchi could not publicly agree with Onishi's opinion. At the beginning, I studied the Shandong strategy. Terauchi Masashi participated from beginning to end, believing that three divisions were enough to capture Jinan. Later, due to Shibuya Nakasa's weighty report, the base camp mobilized the 9th Division to participate in the battle, which had already overwhelmed the cabinet. Now that the war situation is not yet clear, mentioning the matter of increasing troops first shows his own incompetence.

"Onishi-kun, it's not easy to talk about! Not to mention whether the finances can bear it, even the logistical problems cannot be solved! Moreover, it must be said to the few patriarchs who opposed the war. The temple was not angry at Onishi's "recklessness", but shook his big bald head vigorously.

Both Saionji and Katsura Taro were opposed to sending troops. Katsura Taro's influence in the military department is not much smaller than that of Yamayama. These Onishi all knew, "However, the safety of the empire is at stake, and we can't help but plan for the worst." The base camp continued to inquire about the progress of the battle. It's better to write a comprehensive report. Give them a heads-up. ”

"Yes, I'll read it." The temple nodded, "Onishi-kun." I appreciate your prudence. However, there was no need to worry too much, the 6th Division captured Weixian, and the situation opened. ”

"Yes." Onishi nodded. However, he is more concerned about the attack on Qingdao, and if Qingdao is not resolved to open up the bottleneck of logistics supply, the dangerous factors of the war situation will not be lifted, and the longer the time drags on, the dangerous factors will increase exponentially, "My subordinates will go to the 9th Division tomorrow." ”

"No, Commander Ben believes in Lieutenant General Kawamura's abilities."

Gaomi, in the early morning of October 6, Chen Hao's 1st Battalion took over the position of the 3rd Battalion.

"Camp Commander Chen, you see, from Liulin in the north to the Land Temple in the south, the total length is five and a half miles, an inch is not a lot, and it will be handed over to you." The commander of the 3 battalion shone a flashlight on the map and handed over the position to the 1 battalion.

"Rest assured, the positions held by the brothers of the 3rd Battalion will never lose an inch in the hands of the 1st Battalion." Chen Hao stretched out his left hand and shook the hand of the 3rd battalion commander vigorously.

"Brother, it's up to you. Our 46th regiment is this fate, and it sings the leading role wherever it goes. Although the commander of the 3rd Battalion was distressed by the casualties of the troops, he repelled 6 Japanese charges throughout the day, and he was proud not to lose an inch of position.

"Of course. We're the main force. Chen Hao smiled silently, his face couldn't be seen clearly in the dark, and he only saw a mouthful of neat white teeth, "Brother, tell me about the tactical characteristics of devils." Chen Hao pulled the commander of the 3rd battalion to squat under a tree with a thick bowl mouth that had been blown up, took out the cigarettes distributed before the war, lit one for the commander of the 3rd battalion, and then lit one himself.

"Their guns were accurate," the commander of the 3rd Battalion unreservedly introduced, "and my light machine gunners suffered heavy casualties!" Fortunately, we were equipped with a new heavy machine gun, otherwise the firing point would have been dumbed! At first, I thought the devils were equipped with a large number of snipers. In addition, their infantry artillery works well together, and as soon as the artillery fire stops, the infantry's bayonets are on the tip of your nose. The little devil's style is also tenacious enough, and the few people who died are still fighting to the death. It's a fierce rival. However, their firepower is weaker than ours, and the offensive formation is too dense......"

"Thank you, brother. You go down and rest, and see how the old brother cleans them up. ”

The commander of the 3rd battalion extinguished the half-smoked cigarette butt in the soft soil, "I don't worry about this, there is no position that the 1st Battalion can't take, and there is no position that the 1st Battalion can't hold." Be careful, don't worry your little daughter-in-law. Standing up and patting Chen Hao on the shoulder, the 3rd battalion commander disappeared into the dawn light.

After the 16th Brigade was transferred to the Gaomi main defensive line, the 46th Regiment was placed on the flank due to too many additional troops, and the 3rd Battalion, which suffered the least casualties in the Qingdao attack, took over the main position. But what I didn't expect was that yesterday the direction of the Japanese army's main attack was aimed at the 46th Regiment instead of the 48th Regiment in the front. It seems that preparations are set to continue the success of the flank attack in the Battle of Jiaoxian. After a fierce battle throughout the day, the 3rd Battalion lost Yan zhòng, and Commander Li decided to replace the 3rd Battalion and transferred the 1st Battalion.

Chen Hao sniffed the faint smoke of gunpowder and inspected his position along the dilapidated communication trench, which was the position of three companies, but Chen Hao decided to put only two companies, and the 1st and 2nd companies were left behind as reserves. However, eight heavy machine gun crews of the 1st and 2nd companies were transferred and assigned to the 3rd and 4th companies. This is Chen Hao's own tactic, that is, to strengthen the front-line firepower as much as possible, and to allocate less infantry.

The soldiers were desperately reinforcing the fortifications. The water-cooled heavy machine gun that had just been modified and finalized by the Shandong military industry was not dragged to the position by the machine gun crew, but was stuffed into the anti-artillery hole on the inner wall of the trench, and it was necessary to wait for the enemy to launch a charge before setting up the position. This new machine gun was only equipped with troops in Qingdao after the war, and it is said that the 16th Brigade was the first unit to be reequipped, and the new machine gun was very popular with machine gunners, the gun was lowered in height, and the triangular bracket became two steel wheels that could move. The heavy body of the gun was propped up, and the most obvious thing was that the shooter pretended to have a protective steel plate in front of him, which, although it weakened the observation, gave the shooter a great sense of security.

"Battalion commander, the 14th Division is really loose, and it depends on us at a critical time." A platoon commander of the 4th Company said to Chen Hao.

"That's it. Or how about the main force? The positions they can't hold, we will defend. Positions they can't hit, we'll fight. This is called the main force. There was a faint figure shaking in front of the position, and Chen Hao knew that it was the sapper who had gone out to lay mines.

"Those people aren't from our camp, are they?"

"No, it's from the 3rd battalion."

"Take care to protect them. Then send them down. ”

"Yes."

Chen Hao continued to walk south. Came to the position of the 3rd Company. The light began to shine, and two new barbed wire fences had been erected in front of the position, but the barbed wire was not continuous, but left a gap in the gap. That's the firing range for the machine guns.

"Battalion commander. It's really relieving to look at these heavy machine guns. This time, let the Toyo file come and die as much as you want! The commander of the 3rd company said with a grin.

"Don't be careless. Just now the commander of the 3rd battalion told me. Oriental soldiers are not easy to fight. Do you know who our opponents are? The 3rd Division, which has been established for more than 20 years, is Japan's oldest main division. Chen Hao took out the telescope and observed the frontier. Pay attention to the use of grenades, and keep them close to fight to take advantage of our firepower. ”

"Yes. You can go back to your command post with peace of mind, it's almost dawn, and I guess it's time for the dogs to begin. ”

After inspecting the position, Chen Hao was called back to the command post set up at the rear of the position by the correspondent, and the regiment commander called him on the phone. Honestly stay at the command post for me! ”

"Yes." Chen Hao replied with a grin.

"I just received a call from the brigade commander, we may have to give up Gaomi, don't fight hard, try to use our firepower to kill and damage the enemy."

"What?! Even Gaomi has to give up? Did you hear it right? ”

"Just know it, don't shake the morale of the army."

That piercing shriek came, "Commander, the enemy has begun shelling." It's hanging. Chen Hao dropped the phone.

Chen Hao sat on the bullet box in the shelter and smoked, the violent explosion sound had already been connected, and a few shells fell near the command post, Chen Hao ignored it. Having participated in the Battle of Texas, he understood that it was all up to luck whether he could survive under the shelling, just like this shelter, although it had a thick beam with a bowl mouth, if it was hit by a heavy bullet, there was a good chance that the people inside would turn into pulp.

While smoking, he looked at his watch, which was a souvenir given to him by his wife when he got married, and it was also regarded as her dowry. Watches are still very fashionable gadgets, and this gift cost her a lot of money. Chen Hao's thoughts turned to his wife in the fierce shelling, and he heard that his wife, who was wounded in his right hand, had come to Shandong to visit, but he severely prevented him, and the war was not over yet, and she could not come.

The wound on his right hand has not yet healed completely, but it is no longer too much of a problem. Chen Hao, who is accustomed to death by blood and fire, doesn't care about losing a finger at all, just like Commander Feng once said to him when he inspected the 46th Regiment, "When you see your hand, you know that you are a qualified veteran!" This is your dazzling medal! ”

"Fuck, it's finally started!" Chen Hao threw away his second cigarette of the day and stood up. The artillery bombardment has subsided, and it is estimated that the enemy's infantry has come up.

The morning battle was not too intense, and the Japanese launched two waves of charges with an hour's interval between them, both of which were easily repulsed by two infantry companies on the position with blazing fire. The little devil didn't even manage to break through the barbed wire. The reserves of two companies of the 1st battalion were also not used. The statistics reported by the 3rd and 4th companies were 23 casualties, of which 7 were killed. 105 enemy casualties were killed. Chen Hao didn't believe in the number of enemy killed, only the corpses discarded at the front of the position were real, and it was hard to believe that the enemy's casualties could be counted in the fierce battle. However, Chen Hao still reported the casualties to the regiment headquarters according to the statistics of the first-line company. The regimental chief of staff informed that the enemy had changed the direction of the main attack today, focusing on attacking the position of the 48th Regiment, and seemed to be preparing to break directly into Gaomi County from the direction of the 48th Regiment, but the 48th Regiment held its position and did not let the Japanese succeed. Later in the morning, the Japanese divided their forces and made a detour further north, and a force of the enemy moved northward around Baimai Lake, where the 14th Division was positioned, and expressed concern about the 14th Division's defensive capabilities. Positional resistance is most worried about the flank being breached, in which case the troops may face the doom of being surrounded.

"You don't move, keep defending where you are." In the end, Regiment Commander Li took the call from the chief of staff and ordered Chen Hao's 1st Battalion to continue to hold on to the same position.

In the afternoon, the positions of the 1st Battalion were largely silent, with occasional cold artillery shots or two. Chen Hao stopped the troops' request for an attack and ordered to continue to strengthen the position. At 4:20, regiment commander Li Shaoqian came to the command post of the 1st battalion, "Battalion commander Chen, I have received an order from the brigade headquarters to withdraw from the position after dark, this is the route map for the march, your battalion needs to wait for the 2nd battalion to withdraw before withdrawing, pay attention to taking away all the supplies and blowing up the small bridge southeast of the regiment headquarters." ”

"Don't want to be high-denial?"

"I don't know, let's do the order."

The 16 Brigade withdrew from its position after two days of resistance east of Gaomi. The troops moved in the direction of Qicheng amid a wave of complaints. Six one-and-a-half-ton trucks were assigned to the 46th Regiment to carry heavy weapons and ammunition, and a 150-man civilian labor team was assigned to the 1st Battalion, making it easy for the heavy machine gunners to march. Facing the scolding of his fellow villagers, Chen Hao was a little ashamed, "Big brother," he said to the captain of the migrant workers with a long beard, "We are not defeated, but transferred." Only by pulling the devil's position can it be counterattacked. ”

The commander of the 1st company is a Gaomi person, and he found a few familiar villagers in the migrant labor team, "Battalion commander, what a shame, why did you give up the county seat?" Let me have no face to face the villagers. ”

"You still went to military school, don't you know that sports warfare is the magic weapon of our Mengshan Army? You see, the superiors must be planning a big counterattack. ”

Chen Hao, including Colonel Li Shaoqian, did not know that the president had arrived in Jinan, and finally approved the revised counterattack campaign plan, and decided to continue to open the road to induce the 3rd Division to continue to advance eastward. (To be continued......)