After the breakdown of the negotiations in Beijing, the Japanese moved extremely quickly, and on September 23, the 18th Division, which had been assembled, had boarded the ship and set off in the direction of Shandong under the escort of the First Fleet. Their aim was not Jiaozhou Bay, but Laizhou Bay in northern Shandong.

The 55th Wing was the first unit to board the ship and was considered the pioneer of the 18th Division. After nightfall, Senior Private Koshi Hoshino of the 2nd Brigade was in the dimly lit cabin of the transport ship Omi Maru, smelling the smell of sweat and horse manure, and he had not slept for a long time, and his mind was full of the image of his newlywed wife.

"Hoshino-kun, what are you thinking?" Koichiro Miyazaki, a military officer from the same village, asked.

"No, nothing ......"

"Haha, I know you're thinking about your beautiful wife." Miyazaki Juncao patted Senior Private Hoshino on the shoulder, "This time to attack Shandong, I must bring her a few meaningful gifts." ”

"Miyazaki-kun, we will land tomorrow morning, you say, will we meet resistance?"

"Didn't you see the escort warship on the deck just now? The Settsu's cannon will tear the Shina to shreds! Then we wade ashore and it was like a pleasant trip. Ha ha. "Miyazaki's brother served on the battleship Settsu, and when he talks about the Settsu, his eyebrows are always fluttering.

Miyazaki Juncao participated in the Russo-Japanese War, but Hoshino Ko never fought, "The squadron leader said that the Shina Army is different from the Qing Army, I don't know if it's true." ”

"The people of China are nothing but a flock of sheep to the slaughter! As long as you raise your bayonet, a single charge can crush them! The Russians are all our defeated men, the Shina people. Hehe......" Miyazaki remembered his experience in Manchuria, and his heart was filled with contempt for the Chinese army. The squadron leader, Lieutenant Uizaka, did tell the squadron about the situation of the Chinese army, but Koichiro Miyazaki did not listen at all.

"However, the Chinese army defeated the Russians in Outer Mongolia. My wife's uncle had fought against the Shina people in Manchuria and was loyal to the emperor...... "Hoshino's wife's uncle was a captain in the Akiyama Yoshiko Cavalry Brigade and died in battle at Shendan Fort.

"Yaga!" Miyazaki slapped the senior soldier Hoshino, "You are not allowed to advocate for the Shina people!" The Imperial Army is invincible, and you should avenge him with the blood of the Shina in tomorrow's battle. Got it? ”

"Hay!" Hoshino subconsciously wanted to stand up, but the cabin was too crowded.

"Miyazaki Juncao is right," said the voice of Captain Huisaka in the dimness. "The people of China have no military spirit. No matter how good their weapons were, they either knelt down and begged for mercy in front of the Imperial warriors, or they fled. ”

There was a burst of laughter from the cabin.

Hoshino lowered his head. He remembered what his wife had told him. "Be careful. Will come back alive. I'm already pregnant with your child......"

"Alive......" Ko Hoshino's thoughts returned to his hometown. The year is not good, and the tax is raised, and life is very difficult. It's not bad to fight a war. Except for the military quartermasters, all other booty is their own. It is said that Shandong Province is the richest province in China, and there are treasures everywhere, so let yourself make a small fortune, for the sake of the child who has not yet been born.

In the wee hours of the morning, Hoshino fell asleep. But he was soon woken up and heard the dull sound of cannonball, with a piercing scream, which was very uncomfortable.

"Yo Si, the battleship has begun shelling. It's great, it's a shame not to be able to witness the spectacular sight with your own eyes. Miyazaki Shuncao, who was bending down and walking towards the gangway, shouted. He could not get on the deck, there was no order, and the soldiers still had to stay in the cabin.

The shelling seems endless. Hoshino didn't have a watch, he didn't know the time, and the ship seemed to have dropped anchor, but there was still a slight shaking. He unscrewed the kettle to drink and felt his throat run terribly dry.

"Nothing to fear, they are not Russia, and even less Germany. An Imperial warrior can deal with at least five Shinamen......" Senior Private Hoshino clenched his rifle without a bayonet.

Until the shrill whistle blew, the officers and men who had been waiting for a long time in the cabin got up one after another and began to organize their personal equipment. Squad Leader Nakamura's hoarse voice came, "All of the 3 squads, count the items and follow me!" ”

Hoshino, who poured onto the deck, looked towards the coast, where smoke was shrouded in smoke. A huge warship on the left side of Omi Maru was still shelling, and the huge sound made Hoshino subconsciously cover his ears, "Quick, quick, keep up, keep up!" The voice of the diminutive Squadron Leader Huisaka came, and Senior Private Hoshino clutched his rifle and ran forward after Miyazaki Guncao.

In the early morning of September 25, in Longkou, under the cover of the firepower of the battleships of the First Fleet, the 18th Wing of the 55th Division, the forward, landed.

"Planes, planes in China!" Someone shouted.

Hoshino, who had descended the rope ladder to the landing craft, suddenly looked up, and saw two biplanes rushing out of the clouds and rushing down towards Omi Maru, two black dots fell from the sky, and a loud bang exploded not far from the landing craft, and the sea water soaked all Hoshino's upper body, and a few drops of seawater poured into his mouth. Hoshino spat out the salty and bitter seawater, and found that one of his comrades who had just sat on the side of the boat had fallen into the water, and a bloodstain stained the clear water.

"He was shot!" Hoshino saw that the unfortunate guy's body had sunk to the bottom of the sea, "He's dead!" Hoshino felt a chill rush from his neck to the top of his head.

"Omi Maru has been shot! Yaga! Captain Nakamura at the bow of the ship looked at the fireworks rising from the transport ship in surprise, "Shoot!" Shoot at the planes in China! Squad Leader Nakamura shouted hysterically, and the sound of "crackling" gunshots came, and Hoshino also raised his rifle, but the shaking boat made it impossible for him to aim at all, and besides, Shina's plane was no longer visible.

"Dismount! Charge! Nakamura jumped off the landing craft, stood waist-deep in the water, and rushed to the shore, the soldiers following closely behind the squad leader.

With the exception of the aircraft, the Japanese landing force was not stopped by any ground fire, which was a relief to the Japanese commanders. The fleet immediately telegraphed to the base camp, "The 55th Wing has rushed to the beach." ”

230 nautical miles away, in the luxurious cabin of the Second Fleet's flagship battleship Zhoufang, Admiral Masaki Terauchi, wearing a scabbard decorated with chrysanthemum coats of arms, received a telegram from the First Fleet and nodded slightly, "Yo Xi! It seems that the Chinese army did not expect us to go ashore from Longkou. ”

"Yes. The troops were only harassed by the Chinese aircraft and suffered minor casualties. But a mine sank in one of the destroyers of the Navy. His chief of staff, Major General Onishi, reported.

"What?! Mine? The Chinese Navy laid mines in Longkou? Yaga! The general stood up, and the famous bald head looked even brighter.

This is not good news. It shows that the Chinese army has anticipated the direction of the Japanese army's landing, the concealment strategy of the 18th Division has failed, and the Chinese army must be waiting in the direction of Laizhou.

"However, it is not disadvantageous for the 18th Division to attract the main force of the Chinese army......," Major General Onishi said cautiously to Count Terauchi.

"Call Lieutenant General Kamio and act as originally planned." Admiral Terauchi paced in front of the map and gazed at the map of the war zone again.

The Empire's response was still too slow. The Earl of Terauchi pondered that the Empire was clearly a big step behind in dealing with the changes that had erupted in Europe. Now they have to face the Zhina army, which has occupied the Qingdao fortress for twenty days.

There were a few in the base camp that I didn't expect. The first was the "sudden" outbreak of the war in Europe. Originally, the death of Archduke Ferdinand could have been settled through negotiation, but at best it was between Austria and Serbia. The dead-eyed powers of Europe were confined to the Covenant agreement. After the mobilization of Russia, it quickly became involved in the European War, which surprised Japan. The second is that the Chinese army actually completed the deployment of its military strength in the name of the exercise, and the "Peace Fortress" exercise attracted the attention of the military department, but who would have thought that they were targeting Qingdao? In this way, you get the first hand. Twenty days or more were won. The third is that the Germans actually opened up Qingdao. The Rang China Army basically obtained a complete German fortress. Including those cannons and precious shells. It has added great difficulty to the empire's attack on Qingdao. The Empire repeatedly increased military spending and mobilization for the Shandong campaign.

Senior General Terauchi Masatsuki, the third person in the Choshu faction of the Army after Yama Prefecture and Katsura Taro, is 62 years old this year. He has served as the principal of the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School and the director of education. Deputy Chief of Staff, Minister of War. He was a very influential figure in the army, and was recommended by Shanxian County as the commander of the Battle of Shandong, and the military department basically had no different opinions. However, after studying the situation, Terauchi Masayi still had a lot of questions about the Shandong strategy determined by the empire, and he was not worried about the insufficient strength of the Japanese army, and after increasing the elite 9th Division, Terauchi thought that the troops were sufficient. Even though the main force of the 1st Division, the oldest member of the Chinese army, was still in Shandong, Terauchi was confident that it would be defeated (General Uehara swore that the 1st Division had indeed returned to Baoding). However, the temple was worried that the Chinese army would be encircled and wiped out in Tianjin, and the troops of the Chinese army were scattered and stationed on the long railway line from Tianjin to Shanhaiguan, and there was no defense capability at all. The second is that the Chinese invaded Manchuria in spite of the shame and anger, and although the 12th division was added to the Kwantung Prefecture, it was still uncertain to deal with the Northern Military Region of China, which had an absolute superiority in troops. Unlike those middle and lower-ranking officers, Terauchi understood the financial predicament of the empire as he had been in a high position for a long time, and he did not think that the empire was capable of waging a full-scale war with China (Terauchi believed that China did not have this ability), the war in Europe had already broken out, and it was difficult to get war loans from Britain, so the United States did not even think about it, and it would be good if they did not give China support when the differences between the United States and Japan became more and more serious. If the war against China becomes protracted, the temple is worried that the economy will not be able to support it.

Don't expect China to make peace. The temple believes that the current government of China is fundamentally different from that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and that they have a great world vision and are highly skilled, and they are by no means a short-sighted Manchu government. Therefore, those who think that defeating the China army in Shandong will lead the government to beg for mercy is unreliable, and even if the whole territory of Shandong is lost, China will have the ability to drag the war on! Hanyang, Taiyuan, and Nanjing already have a fairly good military industrial base, and Zhili has already produced oil ...... The point is that the character of Long Qian, the supreme leader of Shina, determines that he will not give in lightly.

But the Shandong strategy had to be implemented again. Terauchi admits that part of the anti-war views of the cabinet and the senators were correct, and that the division of the unknown general angered the already reborn Shina, and the empire could not afford to lose. If it fails, it may lead to the complete failure of the mainland policy, and the fruits of decades of struggle will be wasted. However, Terauchi admits that it is terrible to let China develop, and look at the reality, the people of China are struggling to catch up with the empire, and they have surpassed the empire in many areas, such as steel, such as automobile manufacturing, such as airplanes. Even in the military industry, the progress of China is amazing. China, with its vast territory and abundant resources, has great potential, and perhaps within ten years, the empire will forever lose the ability to attack China itself. Therefore, the temple agreed to "punish" China, destroy the industrial base of Shandong Province, force China to pay more reparations, and firmly trample China under its feet, laying the foundation for the empire to dominate East Asia. Therefore, Terauchi became the commander of the Shandong Army and took on the burden of this great battle for the fate of the empire.

The Qingdao strategy formulated by the General Staff Headquarters was to send troops on two fronts, advance from the north to the south, and land on the northern front from Longkou, with the strength of the 18th Division and the 6th Division, and the 24th Brigade of the 18th Division to attack Qingdao in the south, and form an inner line corps with the 9th Division on the southern front, with the goal of seizing Qingdao. The 18th Division Headquarters led the 23rd Brigade and the troops directly under the division to cooperate with the 6th Division to advance westward, with the capture of Weifang as the first phase goal. The southern front is the 3rd and 9th Divisions, which will land from Jiaozhou Bay, of which the 9th Division will encircle and command the 24th Brigade of the 18th Division to capture Qingdao, and the 3rd Division will move west to join the main force of the northern front in Weifang, forming the outer line corps of the Shandong Campaign, and the main force of the Central Military Region of the Chinese Army gathered west of Qingdao will be wiped out in one net, so as to achieve the first phase of the Shandong Campaign.

The crux of the plan was to quickly seize Qingdao so that the Shandong army could have a reliable supply terminal. The four divisions cost more than 100,000 men and horses, and the cost is huge, and it will not work without a smooth supply channel.

The base camp Shandong strategy is based on the existing information, according to the believed information, the Chinese army in Shandong has a total of 3 divisions, the 6th, 16th and 14th divisions, a total of 7 brigades. Of these, only the 6th Division was a Division A and was equipped with the strongest weapons. The 16th and 14th Divisions have not yet completed the rearmament, and they are far inferior to the 6th Division in terms of personnel and equipment. The 16th Brigade of the 6th Division had been disabled in the Battle of Qingdao, and the unit had been transferred back to Jinan for recuperation, and it may not be able to recover its combat strength in the short term. In this way, the Chinese army in Shandong has only six brigades deployed, of which the main force of the 6th Division has been stationed in Qingdao, and only the 16th Division on the northern flank and the 14th Division on the southern flank are on the periphery.

According to various intelligence, the Japanese base camp confirmed that the 1st Division of the China Army participating in the "Peace Fortress" exercise had been transferred back to Baoding, and even if the division was transferred back to Shandong again, it would take at least a week. As long as the Northern Front Corps takes Weifang within seven days and completes the strategic division, the Chinese reinforcements will be blocked out of the encirclement, and after the Inner Line Corps seizes Qingdao and annihilates the 6th Division, it will completely gain the strategic initiative.

"Lieutenant General Kato, please." Terauchi said to Major General Onishi. The northern front had already landed, and he needed to know the situation with the Second Fleet, whether it was possible to launch an artillery bombardment of the Qingdao fortress and land in Jiaozhou Bay on time, as planned. (To be continued......)