Chapter 778: Starting a war

When He Fuguang walked into the Shandong Theater Command meeting, the officers of the three divisions of the National Defense Forces, the officers of the Air Force Command, and the representatives of the German officials of the Qingdao Fortress Command were waiting for a long time. He took off his dusty military coat and handed it to his entourage, took off his military cap and slapped the snow. Three days ago, the temperature in Shandong dropped sharply, and it had already snowed for two consecutive days. Fortunately, the military base was turned on, so he would not have been trembling with cold when commanding the battle.

When he arrived at the conference table, he did not even give any greetings or self-introductions, and directly said: "Everyone, it has not been many days since the transfer of sovereignty in Qingdao. According to the information sent by the intelligence department, the Japanese army will dispatch the entire army of the 18th Division, part of the reserves of the Fifth Division, and three columns of the Second Fleet to launch a raid on Qingdao. Although the specific date is not known at present, our reconnaissance forces are fully watching the Lushun Fortress. The *** fleet will immediately report it whenever there is any movement. No matter what, we are now in a passive defense and must be vigilant at all times."

Sun Jizhi, commander of the First Division, said: "Our unit has been gathering in Shandong for more than half a month. Although we are not sure about the landing location and offensive route of ***, we cannot do nothing. We should arrange preset defensive fortifications as soon as possible so that we can have more advantages when fighting."

Li Jishen, Li Xuanting and others nodded in agreement.

Xu Shuzheng signaled an adjutant to lay the strategic map of the Shandong Peninsula on the conference table, then picked up the command whip and pointed it out, saying: "Yesterday, we and the staff officers of the division headquarters discussed and formulated a preliminary plan. Since we are not clear about the movements of the Japanese army at present, the best way to deploy horizontal fortifications is to lay out horizontal fortifications in the Qixia to Wendeng area to strictly prevent all Japanese landing sites. Even if the horizontal defense disperses troops, as long as the enemy's landing area is discovered, the horizontal defense line can quickly be transformed into a shrinking formation. No matter which direction the Japanese army lands in, we can complete the attack. As for Jiaozhou Bay, the German forces and artillery are enough to cope with the suppression of the navy, and the Japanese army will never land in Jiaozhou Bay at the risk of being bombarded by shore defense guns."

Li Jishen said: "We asked the representatives of the German officials that they were confident in defending Qingdao and only hoped that we could hold the infantry from behind to attack."

He Fuguang glanced at the map and said expressionlessly: "There is no need to set up defenses in Qixia and Wendeng. All the fortifications are concentrated in the areas from Laiyang to Jiaozhou. We adopt vertical defense, with Laiyang as the main battlefield, and engage in face-to-face battles with the Japanese army."

After saying this, everyone in the venue was shocked. Even if the National Defense Forces are China's leading troops from equipment to quality, there are still many unknowns compared to the *** army. Giving up the advantages of mastering the front line and taking a head-on decisive battle, this is obviously an irrational decision.

"Mr. He, the total strength of a Japanese division and reserve force is at least 60,000. The three divisions combined have less than 40,000 troops. It is correct to fight head-on, but you have to choose the right place." Li Jishen said emphatically.

"Yes, if fortifications were laid in Laiyang and Jiaozhou, the Japanese army would have enough time to climb to the beach to complete the assembly, and wait for them to prepare well before attacking, which would have no benefit to us at all. What's more, the combat effectiveness of our army and the Japanese army is not yet in reference. It would be a loss to fight like this." Li Xuanting said in agreement.

"It was an excellent opportunity during the Japanese landing. Their troops could only go ashore in batches. As long as we appropriately avoid the suppression of Japanese naval artillery and launch a blocking attack when the enemy is not yet firm, we can gain geographical advantages." Cai Chengxun said seriously.

He Fuguang waited slowly for everyone to finish his words, then showed an unanimous smile and said, "I know that the strategy that can make you reach a consensus must have its own reasons. In Qixia and Wendeng's defense, it can indeed occupy the advantage of the front line. Moreover, Qixia and Wendeng are a distance from the coast, and Japanese warships cannot shoot blindly, which is the most suitable place for us. However, the defense I decided to have other purposes, which is to fully reflect the advantages of joint combat between multiple armies, and to cooperate with the strategic level."

Everyone looked at each other, waiting for He Fuguang's next explanation.

He Fuguang said: "Now that time is tight, the engineer team must immediately rush to Laiyang to start operations. Later, the three division commanders and the commander of the Air Force Command went to the internal conference room for a meeting. I will explain the arrangement of this battle in detail."

Although everyone thinks that He Fuguang is a bit too reckless, after all, the battle requires matching everyone's opinions. How could it be done immediately without explaining it clearly? However, seeing He Fuguang's confident appearance and worrying about He Fuguang's identity as the Chief of Staff, he could only order the other party to send an engineer team. In short, the defense project matters can be adjusted in time, at most, it is to make the engineer team more difficult.

Afterwards, He Fuguang reconvened a strategic meeting in the internal conference room. Only division commanders, deputy division commanders and chiefs of staff were present in each department. Even the representatives of the German *** officers could only be attended by one person with the highest military rank. He Fuguang analyzed the Qingdao combat plan formulated by the Ministry of National Defense, emphasizing that this battle was not a simple defensive battle, but annihilation of the invading Japanese army as much as possible, and a lesson for the *** people to hit the head-on.

This surprised everyone. It was unexpected that it was to fight the defensive battle as lethal as the offensive battle. However, the *** people's behavior of disregarding China's sovereignty this time had already angered all the generals present. The small Eastern country, which was originally a vassal of China, actually bullied China. Of course, they could not swallow this breath.

The entire secret strategic deployment meeting lasted for two hours. After the meeting, the commanders of each division finally understood He Fuguang's intention and immediately began to arrange according to He Fuguang's instructions.

On January 10, the rain and snow in the north eased. The small reconnaissance airship "Aoxiang" which was carrying out reconnaissance missions over the Bohai Bay coast discovered that the Japanese Second Fleet appeared at the horizontal line. The airship hovered in the air for more than ten minutes, and determined that the second Fleet was divided into two groups, bypassing the Weihai Guard and heading towards Qingdao, and the other route was directed towards northeastern Shandong. The "Aoxiang" immediately returned and delivered the message to the Weifang War Zone General Headquarters.

He Fuguang announced that the Chinese team had entered a state of combat and was waiting for the Japanese invasion seriously.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the destroyers and troop transport ships guarded by the Second Fleet arrived in the Longkou Sea in Shandong. The 18th Division had already sent spies to mingle into Longkou Town and found out that the Chinese *** team was not stationed here. The *** intelligence department also sent the news that the Chinese National Defense Force built a defense line in Laiyang to the Lushun Command in advance. So there was almost no waiting. The troop transport vehicle dropped the landing craft and began to carry soldiers ashore. In order to be wary of the air strikes of Chinese aircraft, several torpedo boats temporarily equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns continued to cruise on the fleet and the shore to conduct air defense alerts.

However, there was no accident in the entire landing operation. After the first group of soldiers arrived ashore, they quickly seized the key position of Longkou Town under the leadership of their respective commanders, and immediately sent scouts to extend the investigation into the inland hinterland in the south. In just half an hour, the temporary command post on the beach was quickly built, and a colonel who first arrived ashore sent the landing situation back to the division headquarters on the warship.

Kamio Mitsumon stood on the bridge of the Chiyoda cruiser, raised his telescope and looked forward to the continent. Whether it was the sea or land surface, everything seemed very calm. Standing next to him was the captain of the Chiyoda ship Masashita. He was also observing the landing situation with a telescope. After slowly putting down the telescope, he smiled and said, "It seems that the information from the Intelligence Department is correct. The CNA team really gave up on the deployment at the beach. I really didn't expect that the CNA team was afraid of the artillery fire of the warship to such an extent."

Kamio Mitsumon took a breath slowly, and after putting down the telescope, his face looked very serious. As a senior general, of course, he would not make a conclusion so quickly.

"It seems that the escort mission arranged by Commander Kato has been completed. General, it is time for you to show your power." Takamura Masashige owed slightly to Kamio Mitsumon and said in a congratulatory tone.

"Thank you for your hard work this time, we have to be careful no matter what." Mitsumon Kamio said without changing his expression. His mood was not relaxed at all. He always felt that the Chinese people's response methods made him unable to understand. Could it be that the combat ideas of the Zhong*** team have remained unchanged since the Sino-Japanese War?

"It's all right. However, it seems that Chiyoda and Wakamiya Maru will be able to go to Qingdao to support the battle this afternoon." Takamura Masashi said happily.

"Well, I wish you a successful battle. I will go ashore with the baggage force immediately. I will ask you for the attack in Qingdao." Kamio Mitsuko nodded and said.

By noon, Longkou Town had gathered the troops of two corps. Due to the narrowness of the town, the subsequent troops were constantly on the shore. The two corpses that gathered first could only quickly start their operations and start advancing towards Qixia Town. The scouts sent before had returned and informed Qixia Town that there were no traces of the enemy, and the troops could go there to meet smoothly.

Accompanied by the officials of the headquarters, Kamio Mitsuko climbed to Longkou Town. The orderly soldiers had already found a suitable house in the town. The 18th Division Command immediately moved to the house to start working. After understanding the nearby situation and terrain, Kamio Mitsuko ordered the 55th Regiment to occupy Qixia Town, and quickly sent cavalry troops to launch a tentative attack on Guanli Town, northwest of Laiyang, to figure out the defense line of the Chinese defenders.

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Chapter completed!