Chapter 048 Empty City

Rongcheng County, the headquarters of the Second Japanese Army.

Commander Dashanyan walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back and lowered his head. His footsteps were short. There was an explosion in the distance. The window paper on the window beeped under the disturbance of the sound waves. Dashanyan raised his head and looked out of the window.

Outside the window is a unique courtyard. There is a plum blossom in the corner of the snow, and the petals falling on the snow.

This is the last cold plum in winter. The weather begins to get warmer and the plum blossoms begin to float.

The mood of the mountain rock is quietly shrinking like the falling petals.

In the distant sky, there were bursts of smoke and dust, which were shells fired by the Qing army and exploded on the walls of Rongcheng.

A day ago, the war almost ended abruptly, and today, the war broke out suddenly.

This morning, the Qing army on the skyscraper fort suddenly launched a counterattack!

The Japanese army, who were packing and preparing to go home, was unprepared and caught off guard. In less than an hour, Jiangjiakou Heights was broken through by the Qing army.

However, this is only the beginning of the nightmare.

With the fall of Jiangjiakou Heights, the Qing army seemed to be suddenly refreshed. Tens of thousands of Qing troops launched a counterattack against the Japanese army from more than ten positions such as Mengjiazhuang, Beibu Shilihe, Baijiaya and Hot Spring Soup at the same time, attacking 20 kilometers wide. The Japanese army rushed to fight. On the front of 20 kilometers, three divisions entered at the same time. The battle was strangled together with the Qing army.

Just eight days ago, these Qing troops were defeated all the way under the attack of the Japanese army. However, God knows what's going on, or these Qing troops seem to have been reborn overnight. They actually met the Japanese bayonet and fought to the death.

Some Qing troops even rushed to an area less than one kilometer away from Rongcheng County.

The three Japanese divisions that were originally planning to retreat back to China had to temporarily adjust their formations and block the Qing army on the spot.

However, because of a truce agreement, the morale of the Japanese army was not as good as before. The officers and soldiers thought that they could go home to reunite with their wives and children, and they had given up their belief in death.

There are deserters in all positions, which was originally a phenomenon only in the Qing army. Now, the military discipline of the Japanese army has begun to waver.

However, the morale of the Qing army was unprecedentedly high.

Fortunately, the training level of the Japanese army is much higher than that of the Qing army. The Japanese army lost more than a dozen positions and retreated 10 kilometers. After experiencing the chaos and retreat in the early stage, it finally stabilized around Rongcheng County and built a new line of defense with Rongcheng County.

However, the situation on the battlefield has changed dramatically.

The Qing army counterattacked and took the initiative of the battlefield, while the Japanese army huddled in the position and was tired of defense.

The war entered a state of stalemate, which made Dashanyan's heart restless.

According to the training order of the base camp, after the armistice agreement came into effect, the battle of Shandong has ended. The task of the Second Army is to immediately withdraw from Shandong and divide a small number of troops to Lushun to eliminate the remnants of Zhou Charter, while most of the troops are to go to North Korea to joint operations with the First Army of North Korea to consolidate southern North Korea and quickly Restore northern North Korea.

According to the agreement between the Qing Dynasty and Japan, the Qing Dynasty will recognize the Japanese occupation of North Korea, but there is a rebellion in the south of North Korea, and there is a Pyongyang regime supported by Russians in northern Korea, which is completely unacceptable to Japan.

However, the Qing army's large-scale counterattack made the Second Army too tired to deal with it and could not organize the retreat at all.

If it drags any longer, the Russians will sit in the north of North Korea, and Japan will be flying eggs in North Korea!

In desperation, Dashanyan sent a messenger to the skyscraper fort and severely protested to Yuan Shikai, demanding that Yuan Shikai follow the armistice agreement between Japan and Qing and immediately order the Qing army to stop the attack!

However, the messenger failed to see Yuan Shikai himself. The defenders of the skyscraper claimed that Yuan Shikai was seriously ill and could not meet guests.

The messenger was received by a battalion officer named Wang Shizhen. Wang Shizhen told the messenger that Lord Yuan was not aware of the current war, and even if Lord Yuan knew about it, he could not control the situation, because the attacks launched by the Qing army were all disobeying the orders of the generals of the unified army. Private action. Lord Yuan is only the commander of the new army. He can only restrain his troops from being enemies with the Japanese army and can't command other generals on the Shandong battlefield.

Wang Shizhen's reply made the mountain rock smoky. He was sure that the Qing army's counterattack must have been advocated by Yuan Shikai behind the scenes.

There are two evidences. First, Yuan Shikai's new army was the first to launch an attack in Jiangjiakou. Although this unit wears the uniform of the Qing army and seems to be no different from other troops of the Qing army, in fact, the combat effectiveness of this unit is much higher than that of other troops of the Qing army, and there are Germans in this unit. Only Yuan Shikai's new army is allowed to allow Western instructors to participate in the battle!

Second, Yuan Shikai said that he was only the commander of the new army and could not control other generals. However, Dashanyan knew that Yuan Shikai was the supreme commander of the Qing army in Weihaiwei. He is the imperial envoy sent by the imperial court to restrain the troops, and Dai Zongqian and Ding Ruchang have to listen to him!

Yuan Shikai is playing tricks!

What puzzled Dashanyan was how Yuan Shikai dared to disobey the Empress Dowager Cixi and brazenly attacked the Japanese army regardless of the armistice agreement. Where did he come from such courage!

What makes Dashanyan more suspicious is what on earth is Yuan Shikai going to do? This does not seem to do any good to him. On the contrary, it will offend the Empress Dowager Cixi and plant the root of disaster.

There are two beneficiaries of this counterattack, one is the Pyongyang regime in North Korea! A Zhou Charter who fell into a desperate situation in Lushun! Because Shandong's military operations can force the Japanese army to abandon the Lushun battlefield.

However, these two beneficiaries seem to have nothing to do with Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai has no reason to offend the Empress Dowager Cixi for them!

Dashanyan had to face the severe situation and organize troops to carry out defense.

The Second Army was trapped in Shandong and could not extricate itself.

......

Liaodong, Gaiping.

A wisp of setting sun shines on the flat tower, and there is crystal ice hanging on the corners of the eaves of the tower, emitting colorful light under the setting sun.

There is peace around. On the tower, a sun flag floats lazily in the breeze of early spring. On the wilderness outside the city, several winter crows are noisy in the bare trees. In the northeast, the Qing River flows lazily and slowly in the afterglow of winter.

This morning, the first brigade finally crossed the Daqing River and captured Gaiping.

However, this is an empty city.

The Qing army, which was originally stationed along the Daqing River, disappeared overnight. The first brigade stranded on the north bank of the Daqing River finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly crossed the river and rushed to Gaiping. Along the way, they did not see a shadow of a Qing soldier. The Japanese army entered Kaiping without firing a shot.

However, after entering Gaiping, Nogi Xidian found that the situation of the troops not only did not improve, but further deteriorated.

Gaiping is an empty city. There are not only no Qing soldiers, no people, but also no food and fodder urgently needed by the First Brigade.

After the Japanese captured Lushun, the first brigade attacked all the way north, after nearly three months of field battle. Under normal circumstances, the first brigade is alone, which is considered to be a taboo. The first brigade is far away from the main force. Not only does it have no side defense, but also logistical supplies is a big problem. However, the incompetence of the Qing army gave Nai Mu Xidian the confidence to move forward. From Jinzhou to Haicheng to Yingkou, the first brigade was invincible. After a series of victories, the arrogant Nai Mu Xidian forgot the embarrassing situation of his troops.

The supply of the first brigade is mainly from Jinzhou and Lushun. Since the first brigade captured Haicheng, the supply line has become longer and longer, and it is difficult to receive food and fodder from Lushun. However, the first brigade captured Yingkou and Haicheng, both of which were densely populated and rich places. The Japanese army raised food on the spot and temporarily solved the supply problem.

However, the situation on the battlefield has plummeted. On January 26, Zhou Charter's army captured Lushun, and the Xikuan Erlang Brigade terminated its northward plan and was ordered to go south to retake Lushun. At this time, the main force of the first brigade was far away at Yingkou and was preparing to cross the sea.

The first brigade was disconnected from the second brigade, and a huge blank area appeared between the two armies.

Soon, the news came that Xi Kuan Erlang's attack was blocked. Then, the base camp issued an order to give up the camp and Haicheng, quickly move closer to Jinzhou, reinforce Xi Kuan Erlang's troops, and work together to recapture Lushun.

The first brigade began this southward operation in a hurry. When the troops set out, they only brought food for five days.

After the troops left Haicheng, the first brigade fell into a dilemma of food shortage.

Nomu Xidian thought that it would only take three days for the troops to reach Jinzhou. However, in the Daqing River outside Gaiping City, his troops were stubbornly blocked by the Qing army and blocked on the north bank of the Qing River for five days.

So, the First Brigade ran out of food.

Finally, Wu Yi's army gave up its position, and the first brigade was finally able to cross the river and come to Gaiping City.

Hungry Japanese soldiers attacked Gaping, but they got nothing.

Then, something worse than food shortage happened.

40,000 Qing troops suddenly appeared under Gaiping City and surrounded Gaiping.

This huge Qing army is not the Wuyi army that previously fought against the Japanese army in the Qing River, but another strange Qing army.

The commander-in-chief of this army is Ike Tanga, the general of Shengjing of the Qing Dynasty.

Ike Tang, a native of Manchuria, served under the command of Monk Greenqin for 11 years. In the battle with the Nian Army, he was brave and good at fighting and made many achievements in the war. He was known as the "Tiger General". Later, he successively served as the commander of the white flag of Manchuria, the commander of the yellow flag of Jilin, the deputy capital of Heilongjiang, and the deputy governor of Hulan. In 1885, together with Wu Dacheng, the left deputy governor of the Metropolitan of the Metropolitan of the People's Procendum, he surveyed the border between China and Russia, and signed the Sino-Russian Treaty of Huichun with the Russian side. Guangxu 21 and became General Shengjing because of his meritorious service.