As the war in Jiaodong became increasingly tense, the scale of the "exercise" of the National Defense Forces was increasing day by day. All combat units rushed to their designated positions under the unified command of the front enemy command. Although China and Japan were still constantly negotiating on diplomatic occasions, relevant people who knew the inside story knew that both Japan and China were just using negotiations to find cover for the upcoming military operations.

The Japanese aggressive momentum not only did not scare the empire that had been prepared, but instead aroused anger from the government and the country. Once the resentment that had been accumulated for 20 years was released, it would be hard to match. In the subconscious of many people, they felt incredible that they had lost to this "Little Country" for 20 years, and they were full of energy to compete. This desire was so strong that there was no one who publicly expressed opposition to the war.

The Imperial Congress held consecutive meetings, on the one hand, passed a bill urging the government to safeguard national sovereignty, and on the other hand, it passed an urgent additional 30 million yuan. The Ministry requested that the exchange of the Imperial currency and silver dollars be temporarily stopped to avoid impacting the financial order.

In recent days, under the secret mobilization of the base camp, the 1st Division of the Army (Lieutenant General He Zonglian), Lieutenant General Cao, the commander of the Division, Wu Peifu served as the chief of major general staff, Lieutenant General Wang Ruxian, the commander of the 4th Division, Major General Li Chun, the commander of the 5th Division, and Major General Wu Luzhen, the commander of the 7th Division, Major General Lan Tianwei, have successively entered the Shandong battlefield.

These troops are all the old foundation of Beiyang. After years of reform, they have been strengthened. They have become model troops with good equipment, neat soldiers, long training time, and tacit understanding. They are the most combat-effective troops in the national defense force. The arrival of these troops has caused the main force of the national defense force in Shandong to rise to more than 100,000, and along the Jinpu Road and along the Jiaoji Railway, a series of orderly and reasonable defensive systems are laid out.

These six divisions are divided into two wings, the northern wing consists of three divisions, the 1st, 3rd, and 11th divisions, and the warning direction mainly faces the Longkou area; the southern wing includes three divisions, 45 and 7th divisions, with Laoshan Bay as the main guard direction, and the Imperial Guards are responsible for connecting the two wings on the west side near the inner line. Looking down from the map, the entire force deployment forms a bow-back shape, and the central point lies in the direction of Qingdao.

Although Japan has been thinking about the strategy of Shandong for a long time, it is not as comprehensive as the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. On September 4, as the National Defense Forces acted in advance, the Japanese side had the idea of ​​using aircraft to conduct reconnaissance under the conditions that the most traditional personnel reconnaissance and spy were not working. On the 95th, the weather slightly improved. The Japanese aircraft carrier "Warumiya Maru" took off for the first time. In addition to shouldering the heavy responsibility of reconnaissance, these aircraft were also equipped with several small bombs in an attempt to intimidate the German defenders in Qingdao.

After reconnaissance, the Japanese army judged that the main force of the German Navy in Qingdao was no longer in the port, and determined that the defense in the port was relatively loose - they had no idea that a unit of the Imperial Guard was infiltrating under the leadership of Liang Bi.

On the 97th, the sky began to clear. The Second Fleet and British warships rushed towards Jiaozhou Bay under the leadership of Kato Dingji. The Japanese army did not know much about the hydrological situation of Jiaozhou Bay. Because the British had a leased land in Weihaiwei, the situation was relatively comprehensive. After the guidance of the British, the Japanese understood the main difficulties in solving the Qingdao problem:

First, during the preparation period of more than a month, the main channel of Jiaozhou Bay was covered with mines, and it was impossible to enter and exit Jiaozhou Bay directly without mine clearance. Perhaps the Germans had secret channel when they were mined, but this situation was obviously impossible to let the British and Japanese fleets learn about it, so it is necessary to clear the mines before taking the next action;

Second, Jiaozhou Bay is a clamp-shaped harbor, with a long area of ​​land extending to the ocean and a short distance between them. The German army built five pairs of sea artillery on it and blocked the entire port entry channel and nearby waters. This is a great threat to the minesweeping work of minesweeping boats. Minesweeping boats are generally small hulls, and a 150mm howitzer can be sent to the seabed. There is no question of minesweeping before the firepower of the turret is destroyed;

Third, based on the local intelligence provided by the British army and the careful investigation of the Japanese army, Kato was sure that there was a German artillery observation station on Fushan, a suburb of Qingdao, which indicated the direction and corrected the ballistics for the German artillery during wartime. If you want to remove the German artillery, it is best to first pull out the nails on Fushan. However, this nail was neither within the Japanese artillery fire nor the infantry was able to conquer it with infantry before removing the firepower of the artillery.

Fourth, theoretically speaking, the Japanese army could bypass the front of Jiaozhou Bay, which had tightly defended, and attack the German army from the flanks such as Laoshan Bay. However, according to the general reconnaissance results, there were Chinese troops in any direction in which direction there were "exercises". However, before the Sino-Japanese diplomatic "negotiation" progress was made, it was impossible to launch a flank attack through the National Defense Forces defense zone without any obstacles.

The fourth point is that the British are quite afraid of. As an agreement in international law, both sides of the warring parties have no right to pass and utilize the territory of neutral countries, otherwise it will be regarded as an invasion of neutral countries. In the eyes of the great powers, it may be that the neutral status of a small country is not a big deal, but when China is becoming increasingly tough, it is obviously not suitable to cause trouble. Otherwise, Britain has a base directly in Weihaiwei, so why should it take the boss's efforts to think about landing elsewhere?

Japan has always been arrogant and did not take China's neutral position seriously during the Russo-Japanese War, and this time was no exception. However, considering the actual impact and relations with China, Kato was unable to make a decision immediately to attack the Chinese army, at least he could not do this without clear instructions from the military headquarters. Moreover, the Chinese army has properly prepared and sufficient troops, and ruthless conflict with the Chinese army is not a good choice. Kato decided to lead the main force of the Second Fleet to conduct artillery fire tests.

Outside the Jiaozhou Bay, the main forces of the British and Japanese fleets gradually gathered. Kato stood on the flagship Zhoufang battleship with a displacement of 12,674, a speed of 19 knots, and a 254MM naval gun, 4, 150mm ship launch tube 2.732 people, Captain Hikasaburo Maruhashi. The ship was originally a Russian warship, which sank in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. The following year, the Japanese army was there. |: Use a telescope to carefully observe the situation of the German turrets. Although it was hazy and difficult to see clearly, it did not prevent him from commenting on it. The ones distributed around the Zhoufang were

The battleships of Ishimi and Tango, Japanese local armored cruisers, also known as heavy cruisers Iwashou, Yakumo, Takaba and British Triumph were at the front of several battleships. Their gun caliber and range were not as good as those of the battleships, so they had to be arranged in front. As for the light cruisers, destroyers and gunboats in the fleet, due to insufficient artillery fire and weak resistance to strike, they were all arranged after the artillery formation and away from the seas covered by the firepower of the artillery. They were used to guard and disarm the ships of neutral countries.

"Report to the commander, the fleet formation has been organized and can act."

"Play flags on each ship and keep a distance. Go in at full speed, be sure to concentrate your firepower..."

"Hay!" The liaison officer obeyed the order and the huge fleet began to march towards the German fortress, and the formation speed quickly increased to more than 15 knots.

"It has entered the maximum range of naval guns. Will it be fired?" As the flagship, Zhou Fang is responsible for data transmission and artillery correction of the entire fleet. Otherwise, each ship will find it difficult to suppress the firepower of the turret. Therefore, a special contact officer is set up to command it.

.Start the attack immediately. Each ship reduces its speed, strives to be stable and quasi-low speeds not less than 6 knots, so as to have sufficient maneuver power..." Kato was carefully observing with a telescope, and there were also professional soldiers on the tall mast of the Zhoufang. The Japanese army said that the sergeant was observing.

The shells emerged from the chamber, and the first Japanese and German artillery battle in Jiaozhou Bay began...

Although the British and Japanese fleets had strong firepower, they lacked effective observation and shooting methods, and they were invincible. They either fell into the sea because they did not estimate the range during the distance measurement, or they crossed high above the top of the German turret and exploded far behind them. Due to the huge explosion sound when the shells landed and the dust and sand that were raised, the shooting effect of the turret in the middle of the turret was almost the same, which made the sergeant responsible for observation on the mast at a loss, as if they were blind.

In just over ten minutes, the Japanese-British Combined Fleet had fired several volleys on the German turrets that had originally performed vague positioning, but none of them hit a few hundred shells. Recently, an explosion point was 40 meters away from the turret, and there was almost no sound at these hard turtle shells. The earth-shaking explosion made the German army and the people tighten their nerves.

Amid the deafening explosion, the artillery observation station located on the main peak of Fushan was in a mess. Professional soldiers were busy working on the map and calibrating the distribution and orientation of the enemy fleet one by one. After patiently observing the opponent's mobility and position transformation rules, the observation station had already forwarded a series of detailed rulers to the fort through the telephone line. In an instant, all German turrets began to adjust the firing boundary according to this rule. The German army had already accurately estimated and measured the rulers and orientations of nearby sea areas, and turned the corresponding sea areas into small blocks according to the rules and shapes. The corresponding ballistic data was also marked in it. As long as it was possible to determine which square the opponent was active, the ruler data could be accessed accurately as if it was checked on the logarithmic table.

In the wartime command center established by the German army, Liangbi saw that the Germans did not rush to counterattack, but ordered unified dispatch based on the measurement results in an orderly manner, and he nodded repeatedly. The German liaison officer next to him said confidently: "Lieutenant General, please be careful, our counterattack will begin soon."

The voice had not yet dissipated, and the heart-wrenching whistling sound broke through the air. The German counterattack began. The large-caliber heavy artillery of the sea artillery was suppressed for a long time and began to vent its enthusiasm. The shells of various caliber were running fiercely towards the harbor with different ballistic curves. Although it was not very real to see from the telescope, Liang Bi could still feel the heat.

Accuracy and efficiency are the best portrayal of the German counterattack. Countless water columns exploded high next to the warship and fell violently. The calm sea surface boiled like a pot of explosion.

"Hit an enemy ship, nearly 3 bullet loss..." With the telegram from the sightseeing site, the German staff were busy marking the map. Although the flagship "Zhou Fang" was not hit, they also ate several bullet loss. Many sailors who were still on the deck were already hit by shrapnel flying all over the sky. The snow-white navy uniform was covered with scarlet blood and white brains. Kato and others who were protected by heavy armor from the Commander Tower naturally didn't have to worry.

These, but he was also surprised by the German army's sharp and accurate counterattack. Before everyone could come back to their senses, another row of dense shells flew. This time it was the unlucky man's turn to "Shijian". The old ship was hit by a 240mm armor-piercing projectile. The deck near the port side was first opened by the armor-piercing projectile, and then a deafening explosion sound was made in the cabin, smashing a large hole into the armor near the port side waterline, and the sea water poured into the gap like a tide.

"Loss the pipe! Loss the pipe! Block the gap!" As the officers screamed, the sailors were in chaos, but they could not control the influx of sea water at all. In less than 2 o'clock, the Shijian had been flooded with nearly 800 sea water. The lost hull subconsciously tilted 6 to the left, and the power of the boiler was greatly affected. It was originally actively sailing at low speed, but now it wanted to not get up at high speed. The British Triumph was hit by a high-explosive bomb, and the sailors operating on the ship were swallowed by shrapnel. All fragile or insecure equipment were blown to pieces.

In a panic, the Japanese and British fleets lost their inch, and each ship reflexively counterattacked and maneuvered outward. The originally orderly joint fleet turned into a nest of ants under the German sudden shells...

"Retreat, take the banner to each ship, retreat!" Seeing this situation, Kato was furious but had no choice.

The ships were afraid of it, but now they heard that they were retreating, and they all accelerated their evacuation.

"Why didn't Ishimi obey the command?"

"Commander, Shi Jian sent a signal: This ship was severely damaged and it was difficult to escape at high speed..."

Sure enough, the Shijian not only slowed down, but also smoke came out of the deck and other areas. What's more, the hull had been tilted about 10 to the left - although the big holes that appeared in the blockage were not so easy to block, 1,500 tons of sea water caused this consequence without hesitation.

"Wow", "Bang" another row of German large-caliber artillery shells fell into the sea, and the high water column wrapped the stone in the middle.

"Span projectile!" There was a burst of exclamation around him, which meant that the opponent's shooting had already hit the body, and it was likely that he would hit it immediately. "Shi Jian" was in danger.

Kato's face turned red like a pig's liver. He knew clearly that "Ishimi" was an old ship during the Russo-Japanese War, both defense and maneuvering power were in an old state. This round of strike by the German army really cost Ishimi's life.

"Abandon the ship... hurry up!" The high-speed separation just now caused more water inflows from Shi Jian. Seeing that the head of the ship had sunk, the captain could not issue such an order. But it was too late. Although the smoke screen released by each ship as a cover, the German artillery shells came to the door accurately. Two roars, two shells hit the ammunition depot. Shi Jian was shrouded in a sea of ​​fire and accelerated to sink. The surviving sailors on the bridge jumped into the sea in screams.

"The whole person retreats, leaving the destroyer to take in the survivors."

The scene of "Ishimi" sinking made Kato feel deeply shamed: it was nothing special to sink an old ship during the Russo-Japanese War by the German army. It can even be said that if it sinks like this, it is considered dead. It can be built with newer and more powerful firepower to make up for it. But today's tactics have been completely failed. Qingdao's bone seems to be really difficult to chew. After retreating to the outer sea, the fleet was reorganized, and it was found that except for "Ishimi", the rest of the ships and personnel were also damaged.

"What do you think?"

"I think the main force of the joint fleet should be used to cover the army's landing, and then use infantry to solve the various turrets of the independent army first. Otherwise, we will have to pay more for shooting with naval guns and turrets..."

"The problem is that the landing grounds near Qingdao are all within the firepower range of the Independent Army's turrets against land. If forced landings are likely to be very casualties; the places that avoid these turrets and are suitable for landing are all the "exercise" sites of the Chinese army, I am worried..."

"Don't worry, I will immediately issue an ultimatum to the Chinese army, and restrict them from withdrawing within 12 o'clock, otherwise I will bear all consequences."
Chapter completed!