"How's it going?"

"Leap farmer and the commander, let's get on."

"Are Sifang Mountain and Taiping Town still in our hands?"

"How's Fushan?"

Just a few dozen meters from the telegraph room to the headquarters, Zhang Xiaozhun's ears were filled with all kinds of worries and inquiries, and even if he stood on the flat ground, he could feel the fierce explosion dozens of kilometers away, and even the boiling water in the water cup on the table was rippling. However, it was only the first day, and the wounded soldiers sent down like a stream of water almost pierced all the hearts, and the petition calls almost flooded the headquarters. But when he walked into the battle, he didn't see a tense and busy scene, but most of the staff officers looked anxious and discussed quietly, not that they didn't want to help, but that they should have been deployed, and now they can only see how the soldiers are fighting and then make adjustments.

After chatting with a few familiar officers, Zhang Xiaozhun pushed open the office door, and in the dimly lit room, the thin Cai Ye stood at the window, with a cigarette between his fingers. "Matsupa, why are you smoking? You are not in good health, especially if you have been coughing all the time in the past few days, and the commander-in-chief has repeatedly told the military doctor to pay attention to your diet and body, if he knows it, he still doesn't know how to scold his mother. ”

"I haven't smoked this stuff before, and it's really not good to taste it now, why do you say that those foreigners always like to have a cigar in their mouths?" Cai Yi smiled slightly, listened to his words and extinguished the cigarette

Although Cai Ye was persuaded not to continue smoking, Zhang Xiaozhun still told a few more words before taking out a telegram: "Chu Nan called just now, Kato Yuzaburo dispatched three capital ships, including the King Kong, to bombard Sifang Mountain, Taiping Mountain said that the distance was too far for their shore artillery to reach and could not counterattack, and now the situation of Sifang Mountain is unknown, but... He paused before raising his head again: "The German engineers said that they focused on the shelling from the sea before building the fortress, so as long as the main fortresses were not hit by the navy's special armor-piercing shells, there would be no problem, but Sifang Mountain and Taiping Town are only auxiliary batteries and bunkers, and they do not have the ability to deal with heavy artillery." I also asked the naval technician just now, and they said that if the battle situation is true, even if it is not directly hit. Dozens of heavy shells will also crack the liver and gallbladder, so I am afraid that the company stationed there will be sacrificed! Chief of Staff He couldn't sit still after receiving the news, and had already gone to the front to check the situation. ”

Cai Ye did not speak, and quietly took the telegram and sat down, but the green tendons on the back of his hand still made Zhang Xiaozhun see the changes in his heart. After a while, Cai Ye asked, "What's going on at the Fushan Observation Post?" ”

"The 57th Brigade attacked twice, but the Japanese deployed a 75-gun wing and a wing of infantry there, so there was little progress. Sun Chuanfang had already set up a mine array and an anti-infantry trench in the small depression of Dayao Village, which was low-lying and surrounded by hills to block the threat of the Japanese navy's naval guns, and he had also deployed infantry artillery on several forts around him to prepare for it. Zhang Xiaozhun continued: "K has already deployed a defensive line along Huajiao Mountain, Shuangfeng Mountain and Weiziding, and with the support of ironclad trains, it can ensure that the Japanese army is suppressed in the Fushan area and cannot break through in depth. Qiu Wenbin also called from Laiyang, and Shirakawa Yoshinori gathered four infantry wings, two cavalry wings, an artillery wing, and a siege artillery brigade to assemble there, and it seemed that he had also received orders to prepare to forcibly open Laiyang and Laoshan at any cost to join the Japanese army ashore.

"Laiyang must be defended! Go and tell Qiu Wenbin whether the Battle of Qingdao can be won depends on how strong the fortress is, but whether his KB division can resist the attack of 20,000 Japanese troops! Cai Yi pointed his finger at Laiyang, which protruded from the entire defense line: "Naval artillery is not omnipotent, and large-caliber armor-piercing shells for ships are not currently manufactured by Japanese industry. Now Europe is fighting fiercely, and the British themselves have not enough shells, and they will certainly not sell important armor-piercing shells anymore. As long as they can't take Qingdao for a day, their battle plan to cut off the peninsula will not be realized, so when they find that they can't gnaw on a few main fortresses, they will definitely rely on army artillery and infantry to fill this hole!

Now there are about 20,000 Japanese troops near Qingdao, plus the divisions in the direction of Jimo and Laoshan, we also have three divisions, and their numbers are not enough! As long as the Jiaoji Railway is in our hands for a day, the Japanese army will not be able to encircle Qingdao, so we are in a hurry to open up Laiyang and let the 20,000 Japanese troops in Longkou come over. So Laiyang must defend me! If the 103rd Division is not enough, the Second Cavalry Brigade will be pulled over, and if it is not enough, the Reserve Division will also be pulled up! Yoshinori Shirakawa must not be allowed to come over. Let the 102nd Division send troops with mortars to attack Laoshan Bay in a roundabout way, they are now relying on this coastal supply line, and they are required not to be afraid of sacrificing to fight a few more times, and they must not be allowed to safely and steadily transport ammunition and supplies to the front line. ”

Zhang Xiaozhun asked, "What about Qingdao?" Do you want to let the K and 55 brigades go into support now? The Second Submarine Detachment of the Navy has been cruising in Langyatai, do you want to let them fight? At least you can't let Yuzaburo Kato be so arrogant. ”

"It's not time yet! Qingdao is narrow, two brigades are already the limit, and any more troops will only increase the density and lead to greater casualties. The navy did not have much money, and now the Japanese Navy has not forgotten the incident at the Port of Arthur, and only after Qingdao is in a state of anxiety and they are eager to support the land and neglect the sea, can the submarine play a greater role. ”

"But the four sides of the mountain one..." Zhang Xiaozhun was a little anxious, and lost the important Sifang Mountain infantry position in just one day, in case the Japanese army pulled the artillery to the top of the mountain, the entire Qingdao fortress group would be under the threat of 240 mm siege artillery.

Cai Ye saw that he was anxious, patted his shoulder and comforted: "The Japanese army's 240 siege artillery is hiding in Li Village, I can't do anything about it, there are mountain peaks around it, and the cannon ballistic trajectory is straight and out of reach, but if it dares to go up to the top of the mountain and expose it, the heavy artillery group in my Cai's hand is not vegetarian!" So let the troops not worry too much about the threat of heavy artillery of the Japanese army, as for the Sifang Mountain. One. When he said this, he suddenly stopped, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, and his fingers circled around Qingdao: "This is a meat grinder!" We now have the advantage of the fortress, and if one dies, they will die three! As long as the line from Laiyang to Laoshan is cut, the Japanese troops attacking Qingdao can only die here without support, although they have fleet support, but the fleet will never be able to drive ashore. ”

"And." The corners of Cai's mouth hooked coldly, and he looked at the last afterglow on the sea and took a deep breath: "Runnong, do you know why the commander-in-chief told us to let K drive into Qingdao first?" Because of the 5 brigade. It is currently the best night combat unit in the country! Chu Nan should be thinking about launching a night attack now. ”

Cai Ye was right, when the last ray of light disappeared in the west, Fang Yuqiu had already handed over Taiping Town to the reserve company, and he took his troops to make a detour to Sifang Mountain.

Craters, weeds, mud, corpses and wreckage, and the occasional rain made the two-kilometer road from Taiping Town to Sifang Mountain muddy and difficult. The low thick clouds became the best cover, and the reinforcement that almost wrapped its entire body in a black raincoat was like a group of ghosts roaming the ancient battlefield. In the standard three-three infantry formation, multiple sharp groups fanned out to search and open the way, and nine fireteams composed of light machine guns and grenadiers were in the center of the line.

Even in the era of night vision devices, night raid warfare was the most test of the combat ability and tactical execution of the troops, so since he and Yang Qiu fought side by side in the night raid battle of Xiaogan Chenjiaao, Chu Nan intended to start studying night warfare. Later, he became a brigade commander and led the whole brigade to study and research, and also took the initiative to ask Yang Qiu to teach night attack tactics. Yang Qiu also didn't have any private collections, except for some night tactics that could not be achieved because of technical ability, and almost taught Chu Nan and K everything he knew and learned, and these night operation manuals and tactics from later generations tempered by countless wars made K quickly become the first unit of the Wehrmacht to have the tactics of launching brigade-level night raids.

The spearhead raised his right hand and shook it twice, then quickly clenched his fist and slowly crouched down.

This is sign language, a set of nighttime silent communication methods that K has developed through Yang Qiu's night raid manual and self-exploration, and this set of sign language is still highly secret, and non-K soldiers have no way of knowing what the strange gestures mean. But Fang Yuqiu knew very well that this was a signal that he was about to meet the enemy when he found the enemy's traces.

So almost at the same time as the sign language was played, Fang Yuqiu and the Reinforcement Company all lay down and soaked themselves in the mud and crawled forward little by little. After a hard day's fighting, the Japanese were obviously extremely tired, and they could hear thunderous snoring from above before they reached the foot of the mountain.

Sifang Mountain was a temporary infantry position, and there were no caves and tunnels deep into the mountain, so the occupying Japanese could only rely on curling up in the deep jagged trenches to nap. From Fang Yuqiu's point of view, the Sifang Mountain, which was bombarded by heavy artillery from the sea during the day, was full of craters several meters deep, and the southeast slope where the battle was most tragic was densely covered with corpses, both Japanese soldiers and their own partners, and there were many corpses that could no longer be distinguished, scattered everywhere. Between the two layers of barbed wire, the Japanese had laid a layer of sleepers, and it was evident that preparations were already being made for the transport of heavy artillery.

The closer they got to the bottom of the hill, the slower they climbed, and as they were about to reach the charging line, a conversation suddenly sounded in the distance. Fang Yuqiu lowered the bushes in front of him and looked up slightly, only to see that the Japanese army had arranged two machine gun forts at the foot of the mountain, and the improvised fortress was surrounded by thick sandbags, and the shadows of Japanese sentries could be seen from time to time behind the two Meiji Type 38 heavy machine guns. The Heavy quickly climbed into the nearby crater and pulled the bolt to aim at the Gun Fort, while the demolition team behind him slowly climbed over, and then connected the blaster canister he was carrying little by little.

The blasting canister was equipped with troops at the beginning of last year, and was used to completely replace the old-fashioned explosive bag, don't look at the one-person-high iron pipe is inconspicuous, but it is stuffed with high explosives, once triggered, it is not much weaker than the heavy artillery shell, and what makes the soldiers even happier is that the blasting canister can also be connected and lengthened, and then stuffed into the target that needs to be destroyed little by little from the concealment point.

The demoman in the company was quietly stuffing towards the machine gun fort one after another, fatigue and night made the Japanese sentries not notice the enemy under their noses, and when the blaster finally arrived under the sandbag of the machine gun fort, the demoman quickly made a few gestures and suddenly pulled the lead, Fang Yuqiu and the soldiers immediately rolled in the mud a few times when they saw this, and then buried their heads in the sewage.

"What's that!" The white smoke from the tail of the blaster attracted the attention of a Japanese sentry, and when he shouted to remind his partner, a violent explosion suddenly sounded, and the machine gun fort made of dozens of thick sand bags was blown over by the explosion and sent into the sky before it could react.

Ignoring the debris and rubble falling overhead, several sharp soldiers took advantage of the explosion and lightning to get up and rushed to the second machine gun fort, and before the Japanese machine gun squad could wake up from the shock, they were all killed by the grenades thrown in continuously.

The sudden explosion at the foot of the hill also frightened the Japanese troops in the position into a hurry, and they jumped up from their sleep and climbed to the edge of the trench to search for targets.

During the night attack, in addition to the suppression task, the fireteam also implicitly guided the target, so that the comrades could rush to the target along the fire channels they opened. The Japanese army who was caught off guard couldn't raise their heads at all because of the strong firepower, and after Fang Yuqiu took the submachine gun and rushed all the way to the mountaintop position at a height of many meters according to the guidance of the machine gun, a massacre began! Submachine guns became the best trench scavengers, and often the Japanese soldiers were fired back with four or five bullets, and in less than a moment he and a group of veterans had cleared a gap.

The swarming soldiers caused the Japanese army to fall into a panic, and several soldiers were killed by the best gunners in the reinforced company as soon as they shouted to stabilize the line and not panic. After sweeping the two magazines, Fang Yuqiu had already rushed to the middle of the trench, and before he had time to change the bullets, a few Japanese soldiers screamed and held bayonets and prepared for hand-to-hand combat, but he had already received night attack training, and he didn't want to fall into a bad battle at all, so he quickly pulled out a Minyuan-style pistol and aimed it at them.

For this battle, K specially issued an empty tip bullet for the pistol, this kind of bullet similar to a dummy bullet is very powerful, only one shot ran in the back of the Japanese soldier in the front spewing out a large ball of flesh, through the afterglow of the explosion, the back bullet brought out the wound is bigger than a nest head! There is no hope of survival with such injuries under current medical treatment. After he snapped a few shots and killed all the Japanese soldiers who rushed in, his comrades had already taken his place and continued to rush forward, and he quickly pressed into the new magazine and rushed to the only permanent fortification on the west side.

As soon as they approached the fortifications, a barrage of machine-gun bullets flew out, and the comrades who were running in front were immediately hit by the bullets and fell to the ground in a pool of blood.

"Grenades!" Fang Yuqiu shouted, and several grenades were thrown from different directions at the same time towards the fortifications that had been blown up during the day. Under the cover of a grenade, the Demoman quickly approached the fortifications from the flanks and plugged a blaster through the firing hole. The Japanese soldiers who saw the blaster for the first time were obviously in a daze, not understanding why the opponent had come in with an iron pipe, and when an orange mass burst in front of them, the fortifications buried deep in the mountain had been blown up in its entirety.

Thundered.

The Japanese artillerymen, awakened by the explosion in the distance, opened fire, but the bright muzzle flame ushered in several more intense artillery counterattacks from the main blocks. In an instant, Qingdao, which was snoring like thunder just now, was once again covered in explosions and flames.

Cai Ye is right, Qingdao has completely become a huge meat grinder, during the day is the heavy artillery of both sides attacking each other, at night the Japanese army and the Wehrmacht night attack troops back and forth, the whole battlefield has become a mess, countless lives have been filled into this bottomless pit, both sides are red eyes, gritting teeth you come and go. Fortress after fortress was fought over and over again, and the corpses were piled up on the hillside, and in order not to affect the firing range, the artillerymen finally had to use shells to clear enough for the machine guns.

Every mountain!

Every position!

Every inch of land!

There is no defense line to be breached by the undead here!

So much so that many years later, Cai Ye wrote this in his memoirs. "It was the bleakest half month of my military career, because the terrain was narrow and unable to maneuver, I had to break up the troops and fill them up one regiment after another, and every time I gave an order myself, I didn't dare to look at those young men who sang military songs like moths into the war zone without hesitation, because I knew it. Many of them are destined not to return. ”。