Just when the 18th Division was being bombarded indiscriminately, the 1st Brigade and the 4th Siege Heavy Artillery Brigade also landed on the east coast of Wanggezhuang in Laoshan Bay, behind Qingdao.

Compared with the fierce fighting on the northern front, the southern front was noticeably calmer. Although the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the Shaanxi Army under Chen Yi also fought a fierce battle when the Japanese army landed, and even moved out the heavy artillery, after seeing that the 6th Division was crazy, it took the initiative to retreat five miles and hide in the second line of defense, allowing the Japanese army to land safely.

It is not that the Shandong Frontier Defense Command cares about one over the other or favors one over the other, but that before that, Yang Du, Chen Xiao, Shen Xiangyun, Liu Mingzhao, Yang Jie, Jiang Baili, and other think tanks had already tailored a set of strategies for them to "fight in the north and drag out in the south" in light of Japan's current economic situation. Specifically, the forces on the northern front were relatively weak, with only two mixed brigades, and it was not suitable for a protracted war, so it was necessary to concentrate tanks, planes and other suppressive weapons to "gather and annihilate" the landing 18th Division and the Second Fleet; On the southern front, the forces of both the enemy and us are relatively strong, and it will be difficult to decide the winner for a while; since this is the case, it is better to lure the enemy into depth, attract the Japanese Sixth Division and other regiments out of the range of the naval fleet's heavy artillery, and then concentrate superior forces to surround them, "encircle but not fight," and try their best to delay the war and firmly trap Japan's troops and financial resources in Shandong until they are exhausted and collapsed!

Of course, the Japanese side is not aware of this for the time being. As a field commander, Umezawa Michiji's first reaction when he received the battle damage telegram from Mitsutomi Kamio was: The same landing, the same face of a brigade or so of the Chinese army, how much difference in the results of the battle? The Sixth Division is indeed one of the two strongest and most combat-effective brigades of the Imperial Japanese Army, and the 18th Division can not match it!

However, Umezawa Michiji quickly calmed down and began to deduce the internal reasons for the disparity in the results of the two divisions.

After pondering, he felt that the root causes were mainly in three aspects: First, the 1st Brigade, the 4th Siege Heavy Artillery Brigade, and the 1st Fleet of the Navy came to the aid of the outnumbered and the strong. On the other hand, the 18th Division did not have such a large advantage in troops.

Second, the 18th Division was first tracked by reconnaissance planes of the China Air Force. Later, it was blocked by the Chinese navy near the Miaodao archipelago, causing the garrison in the Longkou Bay area to be prepared in advance. Although the Sixth Division was also tracked by reconnaissance planes, it used the blindfolding method all the way to make the other side think that it would land at Fushansuokou and Shilao Population near Qingdao, but he did not expect that he suddenly turned around at the last moment and chose to land in the relatively remote area of Wanggezhuang in Laoshan Bay, behind Qingdao. One of the Chinese army was prepared and the other was unprepared, and their performance on the battlefield was naturally judged by two people.

Third, the Chinese army in Longkou Bay had planes to help at the critical moment. This led to the failure of the 18th Division. However, the 6th Division was more lucky, all the bombers of the China Air Force went to attack the 18th Division, which had already guessed the landing location, and there was no time to attack the 6th Division, and it was too late to drop a single bomb on the head.

Of course, Michiharu Umezawa feels that strength is everything. And luck is part of strength.

In fact, Kamio Mitsutomi also thinks so. The failure of the landing resulted in more than 1,500 casualties, and four ships were sunk with the Second Fleet of the Navy, including the 3,159-ton cruiser Akitsuzu, but these were not war crimes, but they were really unlucky. Victory was already in sight, but I didn't expect the other side to come with reinforcements first, and then planes bombed it wantonly. This led to a big loss. - If it weren't for these unexpected reasons, I guess I would have slept on the carved bed in the deep house compound of China by now, right?

Because of this, Mitsutomi Kamio decided to attack again in the early hours of the next morning, despite the fatigue and demoralization of his soldiers. Although the navy's heavy artillery was basically impossible to count on at that time, the Chinese air force could not be dispatched, which was equivalent to the two sides cutting off an arm. Although their respective strengths have been greatly reduced, Kamio Mitsutomi is full of confidence. In his opinion, if the opposite Chinese army did not have planes to help. The rout is just a snap of a finger!

Four o'clock in the morning was the time when the people were most sleepy, especially the various units on the Chinese side, after fierce fighting during the day and long gallops to help, the whole army was exhausted from the mountain. In order to keep their spirits up for tomorrow's battle, many people have fallen asleep. Only the lights in the headquarters were bright, and Jiang Zuobin, Zhang Huizan, and the staff officers were working hard to perfect the battle plan after dawn under the lights.

Suddenly, there was a sudden light outside the window, and then an explosion sounded earth-shatteringly. And the sound became denser and denser, and at last they were connected, and the windows were shaken, and the dust of the beams fell. Jiang Zuobin and Zhang Huizan glanced at each other. I couldn't help but say in unison: "It's not good, the Japanese want to launch an offensive at night!" ”

Jiang Zuobin was older than Zhang Huizan, and hurriedly continued: "Shihou, when the Japanese launched an attack at this time, they must have suffered enough from the bombers yesterday and wanted to completely crush our army before dawn, so as not to suffer from bombing again. Now less than an hour and a half before dawn, they must have put the whole army on a desperate gamble, our Hubei No. 1 Mixed Brigade has suffered nearly half of the casualties after yesterday's battle, and the incident was in a hurry, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to resist the frantic charge of the Japanese army. Therefore, I would like to ask the virtuous brother to return to your brigade quickly, prepare three to four miles behind our army's defense line, and our brigade will strive to support it for half an hour, and then retreat while fighting, luring the enemy into your brigade's preset position, and let them taste the power of tanks! ”

Zhang Huizan knew that the situation was urgent, and he did not shirk it, but before leaving, he repeatedly advised: "Brother Yuyan, although our tank has rough skin and thick flesh, ordinary guns and bullets can't do anything, but it can't resist the heavy artillery of Little Japan, especially the large-caliber naval guns of the Japanese Navy, so Brother Yuyan must focus on taking care of the Japanese artillery, and report to the Border Command in time to ask for support from the Air Force!" ”

"Don't worry, Shihou, I'll be self-reflective!" Jiang Zuobin patted his chest and reassured.

What happened then turned out exactly as Jiang Zuobin expected. The soldiers of the 18th Division, under the encouragement of Jun Cao, were not afraid of death, wrapped in white bowls on their heads, and shouted "onboard" in their mouths, and rushed over frantically, not dodging the incoming gunfire and shells. Only at this time can the Makqin heavy machine gun, Min-III heavy machine gun, mortar, and Zhonggong Type 1911 rifle be able to exert their maximum effectiveness, and almost every bullet can hit the body of the Japanese army, and every shell can knock down a piece of the enemy.

Under the tide of pig-like charges of the Japanese army, the 1st Mixed Brigade of the Hubei Army, which was originally a tired division, gradually could not resist, and could only retreat while fighting under the command of Jiang Zuobin, and retreated faster and faster, until it retreated to the defense line of Zhang Huizan's headquarters before barely stopping its footsteps.

At this time, Jiang Zuobin was covered in dust and blood, and glanced at his watch through the occasional light of artillery fire, and then said to Zhang Huizan breathlessly: "Shihou, the foolish brother is fortunate not to be dishonored, and he barely dragged the Japanese army for an hour, and it is up to you below!" ”

Zhang Huizan patted Jiang Zuobin's arm: "Brother Yuyan has worked hard!" Now there is still half an hour before dawn, brother, please rest here for a while, and the younger brother will come when he goes. After saying that, with a wave of his hand, nearly a hundred Kirin tanks behind him gradually roared, and then roared and crushed forward with an indomitable momentum.

The tanks were staggered in two rows, slowly advancing with the roar of engines, and behind each tank was a squad of infantry armed with a Type 1911 rifle, as if the guards behind the chariots of the ancient emperors. Although Japanese officers and men had more or less heard the word "tank" coined by the Chinese, and the Japanese intelligence agencies had also learned the general appearance and basic functions of tanks through various means, they still took their souls when nearly 100 tanks appeared in front of them with overwhelming momentum.

Kamio Mitsutomi also wanted to repeat his old tricks, trying to solve the tank problem by using a meat bullet attack and a pig rush charge. As everyone knows, the tank cluster is the nemesis of the crowd tactics at all, especially when dealing with the current meat bullet charge like the Japanese army, the 100mm tank gun is used at a distance, the rifle of the infantry behind is close, and the machine gun on the tank is not far away, which is completely the most efficient killing machine! In just 20 minutes, although nearly 10 tanks were destroyed by Japanese bullets or broke down in the middle of the battle, no less than 1,500 Japanese troops fell in front of the tanks. Such an efficient killing was even terrifying to the frenzied Japanese army, and they had to retreat slightly to avoid the edge.

Seeing that the sky was getting brighter, Zhang Huizan did not dare to be too arrogant, and after leaving part of the infantry to defend the position, the tank withdrew to the rear at full speed. Because he knew that once the Japanese army observed the specific position of the tank after dawn, under the bombardment of the navy's heavy artillery, these land overlords would definitely be dead or alive!

Sure enough, after the sky cleared, the Japanese naval ships once again exerted their might, aimed at China's defensive positions and began to bomb indiscriminately. Under the persecution of Kamio Mitsutomi, the soldiers of the 18th Division, who had been fighting for half a night, were also caught up and launched a new round of charge. Under the threat of heavy artillery, Jiang Yuyan and Zhang Huizan had no better way, so they could only fight alternately, barely maintaining the defensive line. It was not until the arrival of the bombers from the Qingdao airfield an hour later that the initiative on the battlefield was again transferred to the Chinese side.

The Japanese Navy and Army were very self-aware, and seeing that the planes had arrived, the 18th Division quickly switched from attack to defense, and the Second Fleet, which had previously gathered in Longkou Bay, also scattered and sailed towards the open sea as if it were dead. However, the order received by the Air Force today is very simple, that is, to concentrate all the bombers to sink the Japanese Second Fleet, and if they cannot be sunk, then drive them away from Longkou Bay as much as possible, so as to create conditions for the total annihilation of the 18th Division in the future!

So the Second Fleet began their frantic escape journey to the roar of bombers. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read. )9