Intelligence staff officer Shibuya Nakasa arrived at the Jiaoxian Dispatch Army Headquarters late at night on 6 October with the base camp supervision team and reported the latest information on the base camp to General Terauchi: It has been determined that the 1st Division, which has the oldest qualification in the China Army, has been transferred to Shandong, and a new division, the 18th Division of the Southeast Military Region, has also entered the theater.

The sudden increase in the strength of the Chinese army made the base camp begin to worry about the success or failure of the Battle of Shandong. It has been eleven days since the start of the war, the progress of the dispatched army is lagging behind the plan, the 9th Division's attack on Qingdao is very unsmooth, the only thing that can be comforted is that the 6th day of the external attack has made progress, the 9th Division on the southern front captured Gaomi, the 6th Division on the northern front has inflicted heavy losses on the 16th Division of the Chinese Army in Changyi, according to the report of Lieutenant General Michiharu Umezawa, tomorrow, that is, October 7, the 6th Division will be able to capture the county town of Changyi. However, Lieutenant General Umezawa once again "complained" about the logistical problems, that the supplies transferred from Laizhou were simply not enough to consume, and that if the situation could not be completely changed, the 6th Division would have to stop at Changyi.

The troops on the southern front also complained fiercely about the shortage of supplies. The 3rd Division, which occupied Gaomi, reported that the Chinese army had destroyed a single qiē, that there had been no capture, that the troops were already short of food, and that they had to cut rations.

After listening to Major General Onishi's report on the battle situation, he avoided the situation of the Chinese army's addition of two divisions, "It seems that the honor of seizing Weixian will fall on the head of the 6th Division on the Northern Front." All efforts should be made to strengthen the supply of materials to the 6th Division and ensure that the 6th Division occupies Weixian within three days. In order to obtain the starting point of the attack on Jinan. ”

Changyi is one step away from Weixian. But Gaomi is still far from Weixian, and the battle report of Lieutenant General Senba Taro has confirmed that the number of the 16th Brigade of the Chinese Army appeared in the Gaomi direction and was put into battle, this is a very strong brigade, with it in the front, the 3rd Division cannot seize the front of the troops on the northern front in any case.

"Your Excellency Tanaka, do you have any specific guidance from the General Staff Headquarters?" Terauchi squinted and asked Tanaka, who looked respectful.

"Don't dare. In view of the fact that the Chinese Army had added two divisions in Shandong, the base camp believed that the dispatch army should occupy Weixian and realize the meeting of the north and south routes. Concentrate on the capture of the Qingdao fortress first. If the Chinese army marches east to the rescue. and dealt a severe blow to it. ”

Terauchi, who had served in the army's top ranks, was familiar with this special style of language, and he knew that the base camp had no plans to increase troops in Shandong, "Your Excellency Tanaka, you are representing the General Staff Headquarters and the Ministry of the Army. Now it has been confirmed that the Chinese army reinforced two divisions to Shandong. The strength of the sending army is weak. In particular, the supply situation is terrible. According to my statistics, since the landing at Longkou on the 25th, the proportion of supplies on the north and south lines has only met 65% of the plan. The situation is even worse on the southern front, only 55%! In this case, the attack power of the troops was affected by Yanzhòng...... Part of the troops is already starting to go hungry! Although the Troop twice reported to the base camp on logistical issues, there was no effective improvement. ”

"Your Excellency, with the Navy's strangulation of the submarines in China, the supply situation will improve. The base camp is concerned about the following questions, "Tanaka finally got to the point, this is his main mission in Shandong, "First, how long will it take for the Kanazawa division to conquer Qingdao?" Second, could the Imperial Army encircle and annihilate the main force of the Chinese Army east of Weixian? If not, can Jinan be captured with the current forces? ”

Terauchi's face sank, but these three questions had to be answered, and Terauchi looked at Onishi and lowered his eyelids.

"General Tanaka, I'll answer your question. First, it has been ascertained that Qingdao is guarded by the 6th Division, the most elite of the Chinese Army. You know, their formation is extremely large, one of their infantry brigades significantly exceeds the strength of our brigades, and they have an advantage in small arms......"

"But not all of the 6th Division of the Chinese Army entered Qingdao, and its main force, the 16th Brigade, was not in the fortress!" Because it was Onishi who replied, Tanaka's tone was not so polite, "And it was one and a half divisions of the empire that attacked the fortress, and it was supported by the fire of battleships!" A month ago, the Chinese army broke through the main position of Xiaozhan Mountain in just one day! ”

Unbeknownst to the general, the small number of German defenders and the lack of serious resistance were the main reasons for the success of the Chinese army, and they only made a symbolic resistance and handed over the Qingdao fortress to the Chinese people. The Chinese received a large number of heavy artillery and sufficient ammunition from the German army, which made it more difficult for our army to capture Qingdao. Secondly, the Chinese army vigorously strengthened the fortifications in the month after entering Qingdao, and the trench on the north bank of the Haibo River was deepened and strengthened by them, to a depth of six meters, and a large number of mines were laid...... The 6th Division of the Chinese Army was equipped with at least three times as many machine guns as the 9th Division, and the firepower was extremely fierce...... "Onishi remembered the tragic situation of the 9th Division, just today, the 24th Brigade on the Northern Front and the 9th Division on the Southern Front failed again in their assault on the Qingdao Fortress, the 36th Wing suffered heavy casualties and did not cross the trench, the trench with a width of about 10 meters and a depth of 6 meters became an out-and-out ditch of death, Lieutenant General Kawamura had to stop the assault on the two main fortresses of Xiaozhan Mountain at four o'clock in the afternoon, and concentrated artillery fire on the trench, It was hoped that the trenches would be leveled with artillery and a way for the attacking troops.

"That's not entirely true!" Major General Tanaka unceremoniously interrupted Onishi's report, "The British observers confirmed that the attack on Qingdao by the Chinese army was serious and that the German resistance was tenacious. Moreover, a large number of pillboxes were blown up, is the Imperial Army inferior to the China Army?! ”

"I'll talk about the Qingdao issue later," Terauchi finally spoke, "Regarding the other two questions of the Major General, this commander can answer." To the east of Weixian, there was no longer the main force of Zhina, and the Zhina army was all withdrawn to the west of Weixian. Therefore, it is impossible to destroy the main force of the Chinese army east of Weixian. With the existing logistical supplies, the sending army was unable to capture Jinan, especially with the addition of two divisions to the Chinese army. Although the Imperial soldiers were brave, they could not attack the enemy's machine gun array with bayonets! ”

"So, what is Your Excellency Commander going to do?" Rear Admiral Tanaka asked.

"I have already said that after obtaining the North-South Division. The outer line will be forced to turn to the defensive, and first concentrate troops and firepower to capture Qingdao. This is also fully in line with the intentions of the base camp. ”

Tanaka's task was to find out the situation of the dispatch army on the spot and consult the strategy of the dispatch army headquarters so that the base camp could make a reasonable judgment on the situation in Shandong. Now the attitude of the general of the temple has been very clear, and the strategy of the base camp in Shandong has been greatly revised, and only the first goal is to seize Qingdao. While the Ministry of the Navy and the Naval Command Department made it clear that they must seize the Jiyang oil field, the Army wanted to occupy Jinan and destroy China's largest military industrial base. The situation of more than ten days of war has only increased the fear of the base camp about the Chinese army, and there is a tendency to unify opinions, believing that the empire has been too ineffective in the past few years. It is even said that even if the whole country is mobilized. Just like the Russo-Japanese War ten years ago, it was not spared. It is necessary to completely defeat China, promote internal changes in China, and oust the Mengshan military regime that hosts Japan from power is the proper goal and courage. But this bold plan was unanimously opposed by political circles, and a bitter quarrel broke out at a cabinet meeting on October 2. In the face of the application of the army and navy for an urgent increase in war spending. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have severely rebuked the military. It is believed that the military Yan zhòng misjudged the form shì and misled the emperor. In this case, Prime Minister Shigenobu Okuma sent this monitoring team. Led by Major General Tanaka, a hawkish figure in the army, he went to Shandong to learn about the war situation on the spot and make further countermeasures.

On October 7, with the consent of General Terauchi, Tanaka's supervisory group went to various battlefields to learn about the situation of each division and regiment. Shibuya Nakasa was sent to the northern front. He did not take a detour to Longkou by warship according to Onishi's advice, but took two lieutenant-level staff officers and went overland to the northern front under the escort of the guard troops sent by the dispatch army headquarters.

Shibuya Nakasa first went to the 24th Brigade on the front line of Fushan to understand the situation, and the attack of the 24th Brigade on the Fushan position continued on the 7th after the failure of the attack on the 6th, and Lieutenant Colonel Shibuya witnessed one of the attacks: two squadrons attacked under the cover of artillery, the attacking troops lost Yan Zòng under the blow of the artillery fire of the Shina army, and some of the officers and soldiers who arrived at the position near Shina were blocked by layers of barbed wire, and the sappers began to blast those barbed wire with explosives packs, and in the binoculars, a large number of officers and soldiers were swept down by the opponent's machine guns, Mortar shells constantly exploded in the ranks of the Japanese attack, and the trenches of the Chinese army collapsed without breaking through, and the offensive failed. Shibuya personally asked Matsushima Daisa, the commander of the 48th Wing, who commanded the attack, and Matsushima admitted that the Wing had suffered more than 30% casualties, but it had not yet broken through the main position of the Shina Army.

"There are no problems with the morale of the troops, we need more artillery!" The red-eyed Matsushima shouted, "It is stipulated that we accept the command and supply of the 9th Division, but the artillery shells brought in can only meet 30% of the needs, and our artillery does not have an advantage at all. ”

"The number on the other side?"

"18 Brigade 53 Regiment." Although Matsushima was higher in rank than Shibuya, he was polite to Shibuya, "You see, they are armed with a large number of machine guns, each squad has a light machine gun, and there are mortars that the Imperial Army does not have!" They have enough ammo! The spirit of bushido alone will not work, please report this to the base camp, the Imperial Army must be greatly strengthened in equipment. ”

Shibuya was shocked, "Your Excellency Osa, how long do you think it will take to break through the defense line under the existing conditions?" ”

"It's hard to say." Matsushima felt embarrassed, and truthfully reflecting the difficulties might be considered cowardly, but the troops fought too hard, "Yesterday, the 3rd Brigade broke through the position, but was strongly counterattacked by the Shina Army, and right there, the Shina Army even ignored the hand-to-hand combat on the position, covering the breakthrough with heavy artillery fire, so that the 3rd Brigade was defeated!" Ozaki Shosa was martyred......"

But the commander of the 24th Brigade was very confident, "The casualties of the Chinese Army were also very large. They are almost unable to hold on, as long as the artillery support is strong, our troops are confident that they will capture the Fushan Fortress within two days and break into the city from the north road! ”

In the afternoon of the same day, Shibuya left the 24th Brigade and went to the northern front to supervise the battle. Because Shibuya was going to go to Longkou along the road from which the 24th Brigade came, and there were sporadic troops of the Zài Shina Army along the way, the 24th Brigade sent a whole squadron of soldiers to escort Shibuya in order to ensure the safety of Shibuya Nakasa.

"Nakasa, there are scattered troops of the Shina Army along the way, they are extremely fierce and cunning, you have to be careful." The 24th Brigade concealed the heavy casualties they had suffered and did not disclose the truth.

If Shibuya Nakasa had understood the situation, he would not have taken the overland route to the northern route. In his mind, the area conquered by the 24 Brigade had already eliminated the resistance, and even with sporadic Chinese forces, 200 Imperial soldiers would be enough. He never imagined that the special brigade set up by the Mengshan Army in Guangzhou would be retained and expanded after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and that the General Staff Department would set up a special operations command with two combat brigades and one support brigade under its jurisdiction, of which the first brigade was sent by the Central Military Region to the northern suburbs of Qingdao with the task of harassing the Japanese troops on the northern route. They had fought more than a dozen fierce and short battles with the 24th Brigade, inflicting heavy casualties on the brigade's logistical units. When the Shibuya unit was discovered by the brigade, the brigade after confirming that the Japanese army was only a squadron size after eyeing this Japanese army, whether it was equipment or training far superior to the Japanese army, the 1st Special Operations Brigade had 350 elite officers and soldiers who had undergone brutal training, and with the support of the local people, the battle was one-sided, and the three days after the Shibuya squadron was discovered by the 1st Special Operations Brigade became the most unfortunate three days in Shibuya Nakasa's life, the opponent's elusive attacks and snipers made the Shibuya squadron suffer enough, and they wanted to return to Qingdao, But the circuit was blocked, and the two sides fought a battle very "regularly", judging by the enemy's exposed machine-gun fire, at least one battalion of the enemy, so Shibuya ordered to break through to the north and join the Japanese on the northern front. However, the opponent bit them to the death, always did not fight head-on, and followed them like a shadow, so that the Shibuya squadron could not eat, could not sleep, and would be attacked at the slightest negligence, and never missed. There were incidents of Japanese soldiers who were so obedient to resist the orders of their superiors, on the grounds that the soldiers who were left alone on guard would surely die.

After tracking all the way to the Baisha River, the Shibuya squadron was sharply reduced from nearly 200 at the time of departure to 95 people, and the special operations team finally showed its fangs and launched a surprise attack when the enemy was halfway crossing, and completely annihilated the Japanese troops in the unit after two hours of fierce fighting. Shibuya Nakasa, who desperately crossed the Baisha River, was shot in the leg and could not walk, unwilling to be a prisoner, and committed suicide at the last moment.

Since none of the Japanese soldiers were captured in this battle, and Shibuya Nakasa had destroyed all his identification documents before committing suicide, the General Staff Military Intelligence Bureau did not know for a long time that Shibuyagawa, who was on their dangerous list, had been killed by the 1st Special Operations Brigade in Jiaodong. It wasn't until years later that the truth was learned. Shibuya's body was no longer recognizable, and along with the remains of other Japanese officers and soldiers who were found, it was returned to Japan and placed in the Yasukuni Shrine. (To be continued......)