About half an hour later, the Fiery Feng people in front of the position shouted loudly, and then shouted everywhere.

It turned out that the left wing team of the Fourth Division was attacking forward under the cover of artillery fire. They found that Liu's troops were shaking in front of the Liu army's front, and some soldiers even retreated.

In night battles, it is the least easy to master the troops. Although this garrison regiment fought during the day, when encountering night battles or even white soldiers, the combat effectiveness of the troops was immediately. Therefore, the soldiers of the Fourth Division shouted, "Please try my best to be a man of the Strength" and rushed forward. Then the soldiers of the First and Third Divisions rushed into the position one after another.

By 7:30 that night, the Liefeng people occupied all the bunkers and forts in less than an hour. At 8:00, the Liefeng people had occupied the entire position.

The Second Guard Regiment was in a state of collapse in the night battle. The regiment commander considered that the Beishan Fortress was just a key point at the front and did not need to stick to it. He was determined to give up the frontline trenches and finally leave the position and retreat.

The battle in Beishan is known as the "prelude of the bloodiest siege battle in the history of Liefeng". The 36,000 people participated in the battle, with 4,500 officers and soldiers casualties, while the Liu army suffered 1,400 casualties. However, the Liefeng Army occupied the front line at a heavy price, just opening a small key point in the huge defense line.

In Beishan, Aisu Saburo's 11th Army suffered heavy casualties, and even the base camp called back and asked: "Does your army have written the casualties wrong..."

But in order to ask for resources from the base camp, Aimizu Saburo had to call back and said, "It's very regretful..."

"I will be on the front line of Cangzhou... I will never leave you!"

Liu Jingxiao stood in front of these familiar or unfamiliar faces and promised: "The fate of our Shandong is just watching this time..."

His words were still full of heroism: "We have tens of millions of strong men, large factories in the southeast, and food that the people have sent us... Can't we fight this battle well... Yesterday, the Second Guard Regiment retreated without ordering, and the regiment commander was removed, and the relevant responsible personnel were sent to the military court for handling!"

Before the war, Liefeng's judgment on the jurisdiction of Liu Jingwan was that there was a population of 37 million, but during the war, Liefeng's talents were surprised to find that this number was not 37 million, but a terrifying 71 million. This number did not even include the four million people in Shanghai.

This population number is compiled based on the Republican population number carefully collected by Master Qianwang Shendu in Shandong. We have no way to know which memoirs these numbers come from, but we can basically think of it. This number is the population during the initial establishment of the Republic, and during the initial establishment of the Republic. Shandong and Jiangsu are all over the region. The former Jin and the Rebellion Army fought back and forth, and there were no three or three mouths left, and even Zhejiang and Jiangxi were very ruined.

There is no way to know how Grandpa Qiandu Shendu got this wrong number when he was in charge of Shandong intelligence business, but the key is that the General Staff believe in this number: "Everyone, we all think this number is correct!"

As long as you believe in this number, you will always find a lot of reasons. For example, Shandong has experienced wars for a long time, from the time of Wang Ziqi to the rule of Liu Jingxiao. There are no less than a hundred wars in all sizes, especially the battle between Wang Liu, involving several provinces, and the number of soldiers and civilians is no less than one million...

"The seven provinces of Liu Jingxiao have only 37 million people, and two of them cannot control them. Our Dalifeng Empire, including the entire Nanman Empire, has a total population of more than 50 million! In addition, there are support from various powerful countries. This is the last opportunity given to our empire by history..."

To put it bluntly, it is to find excuses for the war to start. As much as possible, Liu Jingxiao is belittled, but after the war, Qianwang Shendu claimed in his memoirs: "The incompetence of the General Staff Headquarters... Anyone understands that the seven provinces of Liu cannot have only 37 million people, but the General Staff Headquarters has always insisted on this number and has been reluctant to mobilize... These noble masters are these groups that have led the storm to destruction..."

Qianwang Shendu's speech after the war must have used 37 million of these to criticize those who are superior, and at the same time he also explained his foresight: "In the ninety-six years of the Republic, it was the best opportunity to win the Three Years' War. He mobilized three million troops and allowed two million Tiel people to march south... But the corrupt bureaucrats and generals easily put aside this opportunity..."

Three million troops... This is really a terrifying number... Although the Liefeng people have already formed infantry divisions in a crazily manner. In the 96th year of the Republic, the number of infantry divisions reached terrifying forty, but this is still far from the Qianwang Shendao: "Eighty divisions! At that time, we met Tiele and there would be one hundred divisions, but those bureaucrats only care about their own enjoyment and do not take the fate of the motherland seriously... For example, the commander of Lieutenant General Aisuzakura of our 11th Army, the first thing he thought of every day was to watch the geisha performance..."

The conscience of heaven and earth, Ai Mizusaburo had already worked hard enough during the entire war, but only Qianwang Shendu's last words showed his purpose: "Those corrupt bureaucrats, chaebols and politicians still occupy the high positions of the Fierce Feng, benevolence and filial piety and reform! Defeat the corrupt cabinet!"

There was a thunderous joy below. Qianwang Shendu hoped that he would one day occupy the position of the prime minister and let himself taste the most corrupt words. Unfortunately, although former army collude Qianwang Shendu had countless supporters in the regiment, especially the remaining officials and soldiers, he admired him very much, and even had many beautiful widows with him, it was always a dream.

As for the Aimizu Saburo he attacked, what he thought of was still loyal to Liefeng. The fierce battle of Kitayama made him stop the attack.

Before this, he had no idea that Cangzhou had become a fortress group. Among the information provided to him by the Liefeng Intelligence Department, Cangzhou only had some simple semi-permanent fortifications. In one day, Aisu Saburo started reconnaissance while launching his troops.

As a result, Ai Mizusaburo was very depressed to find that there was a steel line of defense in front of him, countless fortresses and endless fortresses. I wonder how Liu Jingxiao built such a large project in a short period of time.

"Architecture! Artillery! I need more artillery! At the same time, more reserve troops!"

But just when Ai Mizusaru wanted to adjust his troops, Ai Mizusaru had already shouted: "Ai Mizusaru, don't you even have the courage to launch an attack?"

The battle was covered with clouds, but Liu Jingxiao was very relaxed. He savored the tea and said, "Ai Mizusaburo still continues to attack?"

Su Xue, who rushed back from the front line, nodded and said, "With our division's strength, we are unable to compete with the main force of the enemy. Please provide support from the division commander!"

Although the two were nominal unmarried couples, they did not have much intersection in their lives. Liu Jingxiao took a sip of tea before saying: "Cangzhou can be protected, but Cangzhou is not lost... Axue, if you want food to be bombed, I will supply it with all my strength!"

Su Xue didn't understand what Liu Jingxiao meant. Liu Jingxiao smiled and said, "What else can I say to you? What I am afraid of is that the Liefeng Army takes Pinghan Road, and attacks Shijiazhuang through Baoding and tramples my way back!"

Su Xue understood: "But the Liefeng people did not use the troops on Pinghan Road!"

Ding Ning took it over and said, "According to the information, the North China Army was originally planning to transfer two divisions from the 11th Army to the Pinghan Road. But I don't know why the 11th Army went crazy and bumped into it by itself!"

Bai Ling was very experienced, and he smiled and said, "Our 23rd Division unit is not good, and fortifications are absolutely good... Keeping them in custody makes them bleed!"

Liu Jingxiao spent a lot of effort on the construction of fortifications on the front line of Cangzhou. First, there were as many as three independent engineers. In addition, the number of engineers and engineers of each military division was unprecedented in the history of the Liu Army.

However, for Cangzhou's long defense line, it was impossible to complete it with just a few thousand engineers in a short period of time. In the past month, the number of civilians recruited as many as 40,000 to 50,000 per day.

With the patriotic enthusiasm of the people, working day and night, and the rain and rain were not stopped, this long line of defense was completed so quickly. In the end, Liu Jingxiao even issued a death order to let all troops build fortifications. Which unit built fortifications, which guarded them on it.

Therefore, Liu Jingxiao said: "If they transfer their main force to Pinghan Road, we have to worry about the retreat route and our hometown in Shandong on the Jinpu Road... Besides, we even want to gather troops to Pinghan Road, but we can't find a useful railway..."

Bai Ling understood Liu Jingxiao's meaning: "We are fighting on Jinpu Road. The rear support has always been continuous. The Liefeng people's offensive may have hit the iron wall! But what should I do if the Liefeng people get back?"

Liu Jingxiao praised the ceremonial provocation: "Thank you, Lieutenant General Aishui! He personally led five divisions to attack, and from now on, he wanted to get out of Cangzhou!"

The Cangzhou operation of the 11th Army copied out the assets of the East China Front Army and the Sixth Front Army. A total of 100 divisions were used, of which five divisions of the 11th Army and the local government were located on the front line. Liu Jingxiao said confidently: "Even if the 1,000 infantry brigades of Liefeng people... I will call it a slump in the mud!"

At this time, the first wave of attacks by the Liefeng people had begun. The cannon sounded loudly, and Ding Ning exclaimed and reported: "The Liefeng people's wings only use one brigade!"

Under Qianwang Shendu, Ai Shuraro was very hesitant to the attack of the Fierce Fengren. Each attack team was composed of an infantry brigade, and the "Sword Mountain" on the left wing was an independent small highland of the Second Division of the Liu Army, with only one platoon of soldiers on it.

The Liefeng people did not even prepare for artillery. A brigade of four-way columns was unfolding, and whistling loudly as the sound of wild soldiers, rushed towards the position. But just as they entered the mountain, the Liu soldiers on them volleyed guns and ferried a large area of ​​the four-way columns, and then densely squatted grenades to suppress the Liefeng army, killing and injuring dozens of people.

Seeing the troops being suppressed, the acting corps captain Reshararo shouted: "Architecture...artifacts...use grenades!"

The artillery squadron of the wing and the two artillery squadrons undertook continuous artillery bombardment. This platoon was very negligent in anti-aircraft, and the personnel were exposed to simple fortifications. Many casualties were killed and injured in the dense rain of artillery, and the morale of the troops was depressed.

At this time, Reshararo personally led two infantry soldiers.

The brigade rushed up, and the defenders were unwilling to fight, so they retreated along the path to the rear.

Before the headquarters' instructions were approved, the division commander Hu Bo had already implemented the platoon leader's battlefield discipline. He ordered: "Whoever dares to withdraw without orders will be ordered. I chopped his head... I didn't even feel any danger, you guys are afraid..."

With his group of examples, everyone in the entire army was in danger, for fear that Commander Hu's knife would fall on his head. Each army was also very attentive to the construction of fortifications.

The right-wing land "Meigaoland" (named by the Liefeng Army, code-named by the Liu Army on the Songshu) is even more intense. The terrain of this highland is very steep. An infantry company of the 23rd Division is responsible for defense, while the attacking Liefeng Army is an infantryman of the 43rd Infantry Regiment. At 13:00 pm, the Liefeng Army began to attack.

When Company Commander Duan saw Lie Fengjun, his eyes turned red and shouted: "Blow me! Beat me hard!"

Before a big match of the Liefeng Army could reach the fortification, the company began to squat gunfire in the middle of the fortification. Although the Liefeng Army rushed forward for more than a hundred steps, the troops suffered heavy casualties and were left behind thirty or forty bodies and fled back.

Company Commander Duan looked at the corpse in a row and shouted: "Come on! Try the demeanor of my Northeastern man!"

Half an hour later, the Liefeng Army launched another attack, and this time it still used a brigade. However, Liefeng actually concentrated thirty light and heavy artillery from two artillery brigades in this small position. After the intensive artillery attack, the officers and soldiers of a brigade were not afraid of death and injuries. They braved the rain of bullets from Liu Jun and stepped on the corpses of their comrades, and rushed to the top of the mountain position. However, Company Commander Duan jumped out of the position for the first time and shouted: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Company Commander Duan waved his sword and killed four Liefeng Army soldiers in a row. The blood was full of his military uniforms. The officers and soldiers were full of energy and collided with the formation of Liefeng Army, washing blood with blood. The mountains were dangerous and slippery. The second echelon of Liefeng Army did not reach the top of the mountain and drove the Liefeng Army's brigade down the mountain.

The infantry brigade lost nearly one-third of the combat troops during this assault, and the blood of both sides dyed the entire position red. In this case, the Liefeng Army launched a third attack again.

This time, the Liefeng Army spent a lot of money and used the third battalion that had not yet passed any battle. At the same time, the artillery bombardment became more and more fierce. "The grenades were like sluggish, hail and roaring on the ground", which once suppressed the artillery of the 23rd Division on the front line. Then the third battalion led the front, and the second battalion then killed the infantry with the roars like a field soldier.

Liefeng's two infantry brigades seemed not afraid of casualties. Although the formation of the four columns was broken again and again, the formation was intact again and again. Finally, the third brigade rushed to the top of the mountain. The sword tips of both sides fought each other, and the projectiles shot each other, fighting together. Company Commander Duan didn't know which enemy he had cut down. He killed the red kid, just shouted: "Kill them down for me!"

Just a gunshot was heard, and Company Commander Duan fell in a pool of blood. At 17:30, the Liefeng Army finally occupied most of the highlands, but before they could come, Shen Company of the 23rd Division had already rushed forward.

The third team, which had not yet stood firm, panicked and took a few steps back when facing the dense bayonet formation. At this time, Shen Lian "Huh! Huh! Huh!" After a dense volley, the entire company rushed forward without fear.

Both sides collided and fell down at any time. The squadron leader of the third brigade was injured and injured. The second brigade charged several times on the top of the mountain. In the end, the forty-third registrar used the most broken first brigade to drive Shen Lian down.

In this battle, the Liu army suffered 240 casualties, and the Liefeng army had 630 casualties, but after all, it gave Aishui Saburo confidence, because Qianwang Shendu's report was: "Our army captured two high grounds in a regiment and a battalion with the power of autumn wind and fallen leaves..."

However, the battle on the right-wing highlands was not over. That night, the 23rd Division organized a night attack. Comptroller Chen, who lost most of his subordinates in the battle, took the lead in participating: "There are so many loyal and brave brothers, and our Company Commander Duan, all fell on the mountain, how could I not participate..."

This night attack shocked the Liefeng Army. The officers and soldiers who participated in the battle said, "The movement is very lively and clever, and even the roots of grass and the horns of rocks are even careful, and they climb this steep and extremely quiet." Company Commander Chen suddenly rushed to the top of the mountain and started an extremely cruel hand-to-hand fight with the Liefeng Army.

The Liefeng Army was once caught off guard, but the number of Liefeng Army increased, but the death squad was not afraid of death. Many people even carried the Liefeng Army down the mountain and fell into the valley before they died. In the end, the Forty-third Regiment still used all three brigades, and the company flag squadron used it to repel the night attack team of the half company.

Before dawn, Twenty-three counterattacked again. The offensive was extremely large. The 23rd Division almost used all the artillery soldiers, and the battle was tragic.

The artillery battle was extremely fierce. The soldiers of the Fiery Wind recalled afterwards, "The birds in the air can no longer fly, and the fierce soldiers on the ground can't hide. Thousands of shells shot from all directions, so that you can't tell the trajectory of their ballistics, making an extremely terrifying sharp sound... The enemy shells were extremely powerful and suddenly bloomed on our heads. The sand and soil and thick smoke were rolled up, and only black and white were seen in the whole sky..."

The officers and soldiers of the two battalions of the 23rd Division shouted: "Kill! Kill! Kill!" charged upwards, while the officers and soldiers of the Liefeng Army shouted, "Please try my friend's wrist" charged downwards. The two sides fought together. After half an hour, the Forty-third Regiment was unable to participate in today's general attack. The broken infantry of the entire regiment could only form a reinforcement brigade. The Liefeng Army was forced to call on two neighboring brigades to come to support, and then stabilized the front.

It was only around eight o'clock that it suddenly rained heavily, the mountains were steep and the road was slippery, and the 23rd Division was forced to retreat.

Bai Ling said regretfully: "What a pity..."

Su Xue took a look at the situation on the battlefield. This time, the 23rd Division lost its territory and failed to win. Four or five hundred casualties were killed and five hundred. The casualties of the Liefeng Army were smaller. She smiled calmly and said, "I have a chance today!"

At ten o'clock, the rain stopped and the sun returned. This counterattack lost the greatest confidence to Aimizu Saburo, and he ordered a general attack on the whole line.

As noon approached, the rain finally stopped. After pouring out artillery for two hours, the Liefeng Army began to attack the entire line from the launch of an attack on the entire line. A regiment on the left wing took the lead and jumped out of the position to attack a battalion in the front. As a result, Meng Dingguo looked at the crowd rushing up and shouted: "Good come! Open fire!"

The artillery shells in Mengding Kingdom immediately fell, causing huge casualties in the formation. Often, a huge roar of the shell can cause half of the Liefeng team to not be able to continue fighting. One twelve-pound cannon even caused all casualties in most of the squadrons. However, the Liefeng people were too tenacious, and the commander personally led the team to charge with a samurai sword.

After the corps captain was killed, the three brigades were killed and two injured, but the squadron leader continued to lead the team to attack. The officers and soldiers of the Liefeng Army also launched attacks in waves of bullets. The artillery pushed the artillery to the foot of the mountain and began to bombard. They rushed to the position several times and fought repeatedly before they were beaten down.

The camp's position remained unmoved until dusk that day, but more than half of the Liefeng people's corps had retreated to replenish their troops. However, the Liefeng people's attack became even more crazy the next day, followed by waves, regardless of casualties. The battle was extremely fierce. It was not until dusk that day that the Liefeng army captured the high ground where only one infantry battalion was defended.

The old Ninth Division's offense was even more unsuccessful. After implementing powerful artillery fire preparations, two infantry corps launched an assault, but Liu Jingxiao had already built Cangzhou into an iron barrel, and three consecutive charges ended with huge cracks in the formation. It was not until 7 o'clock that night that night that part of the so-called "Five-Eighth Highland", but the main position had not moved. The Ninth Division wove two death squadron assaults in a row. As a result, four squadron captains were shot dead before they even arrived in front of the main position, and four infantry squadrons were ruthlessly massacred on the main position.

The Ninth Division organized continuous attacks, but the Liu army stubbornly defended the enemy. Their artillery even opened fire fiercely at the infantry of the Liefeng Army who rushed to more than ten inches. The main position of the "Five Eighth Highland" was always standing. It was not until the next morning that the artillery of the 11th Army's military carried out two hours of bombardment. The First Division launched an attack from the flank and rushed up from the west slope. Although the defenders had two assaults, they did not adjust their deployment in time. It was so exciting that this frontier position failed.

fourth.

The division was quite lucky. Although the Liu army was stubbornly defending, the two sides fought hand-to-hand combat repeatedly, and they received support from artillery troops. They captured dozens of small highlands at the platoon level on the same day.

The most tragic battle occurred in the so-called "Highland No. 9" and "Highland No. 7" of the Liu army. These are two adjacent highlands and a key point in the front. Liu Jingxiao arranged an infantry regiment and an artillery battalion on it. The Liefeng Army was mainly attacking the 11th Division. A large number of artillery soldiers suddenly opened fire on the Highland No. 9. The sound of artillery was deafening, white smoke filled the sky, and the smoke covered the entire sky.

The Liu army began to fight back, but the Liefeng Army spent a lot of money on the No. 9 Heights, not only invested twelve pounds of artillery and six pounds of artillery. Even some of the twenty-four and thirty-two pounds of artillery were put into use. The artillery fire fell on the No. 9 Heights and the front-line defenders suffered great casualties and were forced to retreat to the mountain to avoid bullets. However, as soon as the Liefeng Army rushed to the foot of the mountain, the Liu army had already killed Hui Cai and was climbing the No. 9 He was killed or injured in the rain of bullets, but he was forced to continue to be defeated.

Qianwang Shendu, who was commanding the battle on the front line, cursed: "Coward! Without the spirit of warriors, organize troops to continue attacking until the bullets are exhausted!"

Liefeng organized two consecutive attacks of man-style attacks. However, he was beaten to the bottom of the mountain. In this case, looking at Qianwang Shendu's scolding, the Ninth Division organized a intensive shelling again. Although the fierce artillery fire caused Liu's army to retreat to the bulletproof place behind the mountain, when they rushed to the top of the mountain, Liu's army killed from the bottom of the mountain again, and the regiment commander personally led the team: "Kill them all! Let's kill them all!"

As a result, the two sides launched a bloody hand-to-hand combat, and no one wanted to give in. One of the bodies of the Liefeng Army fell down. Finally, the Liu army finally drove the Liefeng Army, which had not yet stood firm, down the mountain. However, the Liefeng Army immediately launched a new charge. An infantry gang braved the rain of bullets and stones in the four enclaves and charged loudly. The two sides started hand-to-hand combat again. The bloody tug-of-war lasted until 21 that night. The 9th Division seized the position on the top of the mountain and planted the Liefeng Army flag. Qianwang Shendu continued to urge: "Attack! Attack forward!"

That night, the Liefeng Army continued to attack the No. 7 Highland. This time, Qianwang Shendu’s suggestion was effective. The Liefeng Army reached the top from 2:00 a.m., and the hand-to-hand combat between the two sides continued until 3:30 a.m. The position on the top of the mountain changed hands several times. Finally, the Liefeng people finally shouted loudly and seized the top of the mountain.

The rest changed hands and fought over and over again. After two days of fighting, the number of casualties of the Liefeng people reached 94,700, and the Liu army also suffered more than 4,700 casualties.

However, the only result of the battle was to sweep the periphery and attack Cangzhou's core city defense position. Aishui Sanlang was determined to launch a general attack tomorrow. He sent a messenger to the Liu army to persuade the surrender: "The glorious defense of Cangzhou is really amazing to the world, but Cangzhou has been surrounded by the absolute advantage of our imperial army, and failure is a foregone conclusion. Even if there are genius generals and soldiers who are loyal and brave, Cangzhou will eventually be sent off. Our army is ready and ready to attack, Cangzhou will be broken just around the corner. In order to benefit mankind and avoid indifferent sacrifice, we specially propose to Junzuo to start surrender negotiations. If adopted, please inform us before 10 am tomorrow. The commander of the 11th Army, Lieutenant General Aishui Sanlang, is pleased to start."
To be continued...