The landed 55th Wing did not meet resistance from the ground, but still paid heavy casualties. Attacks came from the sky and underground, and the nasty biplanes of China constantly appeared over the landing site, harassing the Japanese troops with onboard machine guns and hand-thrown bombs, and the empty beachhead was unobstructed, so that the arrogant Japanese soldiers felt the fear of the planes for the first time in their anger.

In particular, when the Chinese planes swooped down, the machine guns mounted on the nose of the aircraft whipped the Japanese troops like a flaming whip, leaving a string of casualties at each time; the Japanese army had no training in air defense, and the officers commanded the Japanese troops to shoot at the air in an orderly manner, and the cumbersome air-cooled heavy machine guns imitating the method could not fire from the back, and the messy shooting of rifles basically could not pose a threat to the Chinese air force.

The landing was a little deeper into the hinterland, and the Japanese began to be troubled with mines, and on the trail to the interior, the Chinese army seemed to have laid countless mines. Ordinary soldiers had no training in demining and had to urgently call in sappers to come up and clear mines. The landing of the large corps was an extremely complicated matter, and due to poor communications, the 55th Wing, which had been greatly slowed down by landmines, increased the casualties caused by the air raids, and before a single Chinese soldier could be seen, the morale of the Japanese troops dropped rapidly, and there were national scoldings everywhere.

Hoshino's squad has killed 3 people due to the air raid in China, 1 person has been killed by a landmine, and 4 people have been injured by different Cheng Dù. Senior Private Masao Kobayashi, who was very close to Hoshino, was shot through the stomach by a 7.62mm machine gun bullet, and his intestines flowed out, and he screamed in pain. Hoshino desperately tried to help him with his knowledge of field first aid, but before the ambulance arrived, Masao Kobayashi returned to his hometown. Kobayashi's death was a big blow to Hoshino. Unable to deal with Kobayashi's body, Hoshino ran away from the beachhead at the shouts of Captain Nakamura, and kept seeing dead and dying comrades along the way, and the scene was miserable. Nakamura's ugly pig-liver face was dripping with sweat, and his military hat was gone. He kept cursing in his mouth, and fired his gun into the sky, losing his composure.

At noon, the 2nd Brigade entered the first village, and the 1st Forward Brigade had already moved south, leaving a mess behind. Hoshino Ko did not find a single villager in Shina. Except for the Japanese army. Not a single living creature was seen.

"Yaga! Yaga! Squadron Leader Taro Huisaka turned out of the corner angrily, "Damn the people of Shina who actually filled the well!" Team 1, find the water source now! "Lieutenant Usaka gave the order to Captain Nakamura.

"Hay!" Nakamura replied.

Nakamura gathered his team and ran out of the village to the south of the village in search of water. Hoshino felt a heat in his throat. But he didn't feel hungry much. There is not much water in the kettle. It must be saved.

Everywhere there were soldiers looking for water. Other squadrons are doing the same thing. The houses at the head of the village were on fire, presumably by angry soldiers. Obviously, the Shina people are in the clear wilderness of the fortified wall. Not only were the villagers transferred, but even the wells were sealed.

The second brigade left the village that was already on fire, and did not care about the follow-up troops. It took him eight miles to find a small river, and Miyazaki Guncao, who was drawing water from a canvas bucket, heard the cry that he couldn't drink water, and that the water was poisonous, and he yelled in anger. The soldiers of the other squadrons had already discovered the symptoms of poisoning, and the upstream was poisoned by the evil Shina people, and it was not a high-grade drug, but a cloth bag containing a large amount of horse dung and cow dung was sunk into the river by the Shina people with fishing nets, forming a "barrage", which was found seven or eight miles upstream, and the soldiers of the 1st squadron who started to dismantle it stepped on a mine again, and one was killed on the spot. This made the Japanese army even angrier.

The starving 2nd Group braved the air raids of the aircraft and followed the 1st Group south along the creek. Around three o'clock in the afternoon, there was gunfire ahead, followed by a loud explosion. The sudden appearance of the hostile situation made the Japanese troops who complained endlessly come to their senses. The communications staff officer of the wing, who arrived on horseback, sent an order from the 2nd Brigade to the headquarters of the wing, telling them to turn to the southeast and break the resistance of the Chinese army in front of them.

The squadron, running forward under the command of Lieutenant Usaka, left the river bank and turned to a field of sorghum. The gunfire in the south-west direction became more and more intense, and it was clear that the wing was preparing to strike at the Chinese army from the flank with roundabout tactics.

Hoshino put the bayonet on his rifle and ran desperately with Miyazaki Juncao, the sorghum leaves scraped on his face and hurt, and finally ran out of this sorghum field, "Lie down!" There are enemies! As soon as the shouts of the leader of the Nakamura squad came, before the gunshots were heard, someone around him was shot, and a recruit on the right squatted on the ground holding his stomach. Private Hoshino, who had undergone severe training, lay down neatly, and his rifle was stretched out and pointed forward, ready to shoot. In front of him was a ridge of earth, behind which a cloud of white smoke rose and was followed by a huge explosion in the sorghum field, mixed with screams.

"Mortars, it's the mortars of the Chinese army." Hoshino judged correctly. A figure appeared on the ridge, a machine gun spat out tongues of fire, and another one next to it, the sorghum poles were broken one after another, the squadron was crushed in the sorghum field, and the mortar shells continued to explode in the ranks, "Suppress the enemy's fire, 3 squads to the right, 1 squad to the left," Hoshino clearly heard the order of Squadron Leader Usaka.

Hoshino's 1st squad was ordered to make a detour to the left, not daring to stand up, so they could only crawl forward. Miyazaki Juncao kept cursing, but his movements were extremely skillful and fast, which made Hoshino Gong very admirable, this short-tempered guy was absolutely superb in combat, especially the accuracy of the gun.

Finally remembering the sound of his machine gun behind him, Hoshino breathed a sigh of relief, followed Miyazaki to get up, and ran northeast with his waist bent.

"Charge!" Squad Leader Nakamura shouted. The squads of the 1st squad spread out of battle formation and rushed towards the earth. Hoshino shot his first bullet of the day while running, and the first bullet of his life in actual combat. The fire on the opposite side turned around, and Hoshino saw that Captain Nakamura, who was running, suddenly stood still, and the rifle in his hand was thrown out in a parabola, and then fell straight down, Hoshino ran two steps to catch up, and saw that Nakamura's left eye was already a bloody hole.

"Don't stop, follow me." Miyazaki Juncao shouted. More comrades fell, "Lie down, lie down," another soldier shouted.

Hoshino was lying in a shallow trench, knowing that the attack had failed. The enemy's machine guns were extremely heavy. Without the suppression of artillery fire, it is simply to die.

On the opposite side was the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 140th Regiment of the 47th Brigade of the 16th Division of the Chinese Army, who had been pressing the Japanese Huiban Squadron at the front of the position and could not move until the Japanese artillery came up, and the battalion commander issued an order to retreat, and the 6th Company and other machine gun companies withdrew from the position under alternate cover. The Usaka squadron finally overcame the ridge after paying heavy casualties, but the brigade's order also arrived, and the subsequent attack was stopped.

It's dark.

After counting the casualties, Usaka appointed Miyazaki to replace Nakamura, who had died in battle. As a result of the afternoon battle, 11 people of the squadron were killed and 14 wounded. Combined with the casualties caused by the air raids, the Usaka squadron lost almost a third of its strength.

Usaka was reorganizing his ranks, and the herald called him to a meeting with the brigade. The group leader conveyed the order of the wing headquarters. It has been ascertained that in front of the wing is the 16th Brigade of the 47th Division of the Chinese Army, and the task of the wing is to attack southward and seize Laizhou. Camp in place tonight and continue the attack tomorrow. It was much easier when the artillery was in place.

Usaka answered the captain's inquiries about the squadron's casualties. I thought I would be reprimanded by the captain. But the captain didn't. "The Chinese army has great firepower. And there is the support of aircraft. Please go back to Ban-kun to straighten out the troops. Maintain morale. When we take Laizhou, it will be easy to occupy the main road. ”

The guard post was scattered. The Usaka squadron swallowed dry food with little water. It is forbidden to light fire, for fear of summoning a mortar bombardment.

"Hoshino-kun did a good job." Guncao Miyazaki, who has officially served as the squad leader, patted Hoshino on the shoulder. "Pay attention to vigilance, tomorrow we will give the people of China a good look." Probably because he gave birth to an official, Miyazaki Juncao did not have a trace of depression, but looked excited, like a big victory.

The feared enemy attack did not take place. Hoshino slept for at least four hours, feeling refreshed and confident about the battle ahead. When the first light appeared in the east, the squadron had already begun to form a group, and their position was in a peanut field southeast of the ridge they had captured yesterday, breakfast was being made, and the rising smoke made Hoshino feel pleasant, and the haze that lingered in his heart seemed to dissipate, and this feeling was even stronger when a group of artillery came down from the ridge to the north. The horses pulling the cannons struggled forward, and the sound of the artillerymen shouting and pulling the horses was heard clearly. The squadron leader has already said that this place is only thirty miles away from Laizhou, and he may live in Laizhou tonight.

But the sudden air raid made Hoshino's feelings extremely bad, and the planes of Shina were not not coming at their squadron, the planes aimed at the artillery, and the bombs exploded on the north side of the ridge, and Hoshino was horrified to see that the cannon had been overturned, and the horses were struggling on the ground, and they must have been wounded.

More planes flew north, and Hoshino was sure they were going to bomb the landing site.

There were no casualties among the squadrons, which were in a hurry. But a bullet from an airplane shattered the marching pot, and half of the porridge was spilled in the peanut field. For breakfast, you can only continue to drink dry food and cold water. There was not much cold water that had been sterilized, and only half of the pot was filled. Captain Miyazaki, who was still elated just now, began to scold again, hating the planes of the China to the core, "The cowardly people of China, the people of China who can only use planes to fight, I will split them one by one!" Miyazaki brandished the saber left by Captain Nakamura and shouted angrily, "Defeat Laizhou, I will cut off ten people's dog heads!" ”

The real battle came in the morning. In a village less than five miles from the starting point, the 2nd Brigade encountered stubborn resistance from the Chinese army, and the Chinese artillery appeared, not mortars, which were deeply annoying to the Japanese infantry, but large-caliber field artillery. The two charges launched by the four infantry squadrons of the 2nd Brigade were all defeated, and one squadron leader and two squad leaders were killed, but the village remained firmly in the hands of the Chinese army, leaving a large number of corpses in the crops north of the village, all officers and soldiers of the 2nd Brigade. Hoshino's squad lost 3 more people, and a bullet pierced Hoshino's sleeve, making him happy. Captain Miyazaki's good fortune seemed to be over, his neck was grazed by bullets, and he was thickly bandaged, making it extremely difficult to even turn his head.

Until the artillery suppressed the fire of the Chinese army, and the friendly neighbor squadron finally stormed the village, as yesterday, there was not a single villager in the village, and the Chinese army still vilely destroyed a qiē, leaving them not a single grain or a bowl of water. Brigade Commander Murayama Shaosa stopped the soldiers from burning houses to vent their anger, and yesterday he was reprimanded by his superiors for the fire prevention in the village on the beachhead, and the follow-up troops, especially the logistics troops, needed these houses.

After counting the casualties, Murayama submitted a report to the wing headquarters, and at the end of the report he expressed his concern, "The plane brought fear to the troops. The roads have been completely destroyed, and the Chinese people have been completely cleared of the wilderness, and the troops have not been able to replenish food on the spot, and they have not even been able to guarantee drinking water. They retreated on their own initiative rather than in defeat. I'm afraid that there is a conspiracy on the part of the Chinese army. ”

The commanders of the 55th Wing judged exactly the same as Captain Murayama. The joy of the landing was gone, and in just one day, the combat losses of the wing had exceeded 250 men, but not a single soldier of the Shina Army was captured, and they took with them even the bodies of the dead officers and soldiers. The enemy's situation was unknown, the walls were clear, and especially the planes that kept appearing like locusts caused the morale of the Japanese troops to drop greatly, and "their field airfields must be destroyed." "Murayama Shaoza built yì road.

Where the airport is, Murayama doesn't know. But he already realized that if the airfield was not seized to eliminate the aircraft threat of the Chinese army, the morale of the troops would be greatly affected. Now, as soon as I see the plane of the Chinese people, they scatter and hide without waiting for orders, which is simply hateful.

The command of the 23rd Brigade Corps, which was responsible for the capture of Laizhou, was also annoyed that the war that had begun was completely different from what they had envisioned. The Chinese army did not hold the beachhead, so that the naval firepower could not be developed, and the Chinese army's planes greatly annoyed the navy, and on the one hand, they had to clear the mines, and on the other hand, they had to resist the bombing of the aircraft. The First Fleet supporting the Longkou landing had already lost one destroyer, and four warships had been wounded in different ways, a loss that was unbearable for the First Fleet. Before the war, they had no idea that the fleet would suffer such severe losses with mines and aircraft alone. Therefore, the First Fleet demanded that the troops that had already landed should move forward quickly and destroy the airfield of the Chinese Army (according to the frequency of the Chinese planes, the Japanese army believed that the Chinese Army had built an airfield in Laizhou), and if the Chinese planes were allowed to wreak havoc, it would be difficult for the First Fleet to continue to stay at the landing ground. Now even the 18th Division has not completely landed, and there is a 6th Division floating on the sea.

The commander of the 18th Division, Lieutenant General Mitsutomi Kamio, gave a stern order to the 23 Brigade. The 23 Brigade that had already landed was ordered to continue its assault to the south with a "decisive" operation, and to occupy Laizhou before sunset on the 26th. Fortunately, following the 55th Wing, the 46th Wing had landed and deployed, and its forward brigade had been engaged in the attack on the right flank (west) of the 55th Wing. (To be continued......)