In mid-November, Li Guolou accompanied Liu Mingdeng on the march, and the two arrived at the Xinlupo forward position.
Fu Xianchu felt disgusted with Li Guolou and Liu Mingdeng when they went to the front line. The commander didn't like the commander to come to the front line to dictate. In addition to worrying about the commander's personal safety, he would also be robbed of the command power. But because the commander's legs were long, Fu Xianchu could only I took Li Guolou and Liu Mingdeng to visit the forward positions and introduced the battle situation in detail.
On the surface, there is no conflict between the officers. They are all comrades in the same trench, and their dirty deeds are secretly unknown to others.
The new road slope has turned into a piece of scorched earth. The Japanese positions along the mountain have been destroyed by Qing artillery fire, and no piece of land is intact.
Some fortifications on some hillsides are already in the hands of the Qing army, but the main fortifications are still in the hands of the Japanese army. On the narrow hillside, fighting continues every day.
The offensive turned into a war of attrition. More than 400 Qing troops and more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers died on this land. Their severed limbs and remains witnessed the loyalty and bravery of Chinese men. The Qing troops persevered in attacking the Japanese positions, leaving the Japanese troops on the high slopes. The main fortifications were only 500 meters away, but the higher you went up, the steeper the mountain became, and the Qing army's offensive stalled.
The Jianwu Army has many old-fashioned cannons. Fu Xianchu transferred 80 powerful mortars to consolidate the position. The mortars fired thousands of lead bullets. One shot covered an entire area and destroyed the Japanese army within thirty or forty meters. It was beaten into a sieve, causing the Japanese army who wanted to regain their position to suffer heavy losses.
The Japanese army did not recapture the position halfway up the mountain, and the Qing army did not break through the position on the top of the mountain. The new road slope seemed to be a dead end, and the war was in a stalemate.
But the Qing army did not stop digging tunnels. The sound of explosives blasting kept going day and night. The Japanese army also knew the Qing army's trick. There was a constant shaking of the ground and mountains under their feet, which was like an earthquake.
The Japanese troops hiding in the fortress knew that the end was coming, but they had nothing to do. A powerful radio station sent out a "Jade Broken" message, letting people all over the world know how tenacious the Japanese army was.
A group of officers were holding single telescopes and looking at the enemy's positions. Li Guolou crouched and asked, "How many enemies are there in the enemy's cave? Do you know?"
Fu Xianchu heard that Li Guolou was dissatisfied and was on the verge of breaking out. The commander would get angry and the consequences would be serious. The field commander would probably be replaced. Fu Xianchu quickly said: "I learned from the captured prisoners that the new road There are more than one legion of Japanese troops on the slope. Including the Japanese troops who escaped from Orchid City and some miscellaneous troops, there are about 1,500 people and more than a hundred bronze cannons. According to the analysis of our army's battle situation, the enemy is still fighting until now. With less than 1,000 men left, 35 Japanese bronze cannons were captured and more than 800 enemies were killed."
Fu Xianchu peeked at Li Guolou's expression, but when he saw that Li Guolou was silent, he quickly added: "I have used my troops carefully to minimize casualties. Less than 500 of our troops died in the battle, and the injuries were within the tolerable range." within,”
Fu Xianchu did not mention the casualties of the soldiers. Liu Mingdeng understood and said quickly: "That's good. Step up the tunnel work. Fu Xianchu, you have to strive to seize the new road and break the main position as soon as possible."
"Yes, I promise to complete the mission without any accidents. I have prepared five thousand kilograms of explosives, and I can do it in five days," Fu Xianchu swore.
Li Guolou was not fooled by Fu Xianchu's words. He broke the casserole and asked the truth: "Fu Xianchu, don't lie to me. You killed more than 800 enemies. Have you verified it?"
Fu Xianchu smiled calmly and said: "Commander Li, aren't you making things difficult for me? It's almost the same. Our army's cannons are also not vegetarian. Don't you think so?"
"Fu Xianchu, please don't be arrogant. The Japanese army is still very capable. Especially guard the Nidu River and don't let the Japanese army sneak across the river and escape back to Langjiao Port." Li Guolou coughed seriously, showing the dignity of a commander. Calm and steady, which is completely different from his original character.
"I've also thought of this. Three thousand troops were stationed along the Nidu River, and a ten-mile-long trench was dug on the other side," Fu Xianchu was able to speak eloquently, preventing Li Guolou from catching any clues.
The environment changes a person's character. Li Guolou is mature and prudent. Among a group of senior officers in their thirties and forties, there is no age gap. They are as cunning as an old fox. Li Guolou nodded slightly and looked through the telescope unmoved. Viewing the Japanese military positions.
"Fu Xianchu, you said that we dug a trench ten miles deep. I will go and see it early tomorrow morning. If I miss one mile, I will settle the account with you." Liu Mingdeng also did not let go of his partner Fu Xianchu. A soldier's promise is as important as Mount Tai, and he must be rigid and rigorous in doing things. Careless and boastful.
"Liu Zhentai, you still don't believe me. I've already checked the deep trench. It's not ten miles away, but it's nine miles away." Fu Xianchu said boldly, preparing to attack the deep trench overnight.
Fu Xianchu winked and asked the adjutant to check it first. His subordinates would not act recklessly. He just asked the adjutant to look at the deep ditch again and solve any problems on the spot.
Fu Xianchu was whispering to his adjutant. Li Guolou and Liu Mingdeng knew very well what Fu Xianchu was talking about. The officer is a saint. Do not see anything inappropriate, hear nothing inappropriate, speak nothing inappropriate, or do anything inappropriate.
Only the royal family and nobles do not understand the sufferings of the world. Li Guolou will not care about the petty actions of his subordinates. All the officials who have been promoted have done this kind of thing.
On the top of Xinlupo Mountain, there are three sun flags, which are particularly dazzling in the sun and make people feel sad to see them. The tenacious Japanese army held their position. The sun flags were planted in the land of the Qing Dynasty, which makes people feel ashamed.
Hot weapon warfare has changed the role of commanders. Li Guolou watched Xinlupo from a distance.
At this time, the Qing army was fighting on two fronts, fighting in the northwest and Taiwan. The war in Xinjiang was even more erosive. Northern Xinjiang had become an independent kingdom. The Andiyan people established the Zedeshar Kingdom. The Russians took advantage of the situation and invaded and occupied Ili. Six cities.
What Li Guolou thought most about was to make great achievements. He also wanted to regain Xinjiang and compete with Tsarist Russia. It was very important to him that the Taiwan Campaign had a perfect ending. This was his qualifications as a commander-in-chief.
Therefore, Li Guolou strongly opposed peace talks with the Japanese and wanted to continue the war. No matter how high the cost, the Japanese army must be eliminated.
The Qing army had been fighting the Japanese army for more than half a year. They had a deep understanding of the Japanese army's tactics and did not dare to slack off. The Qing army used night battles to attack Xinlupo. The Japanese army used the darkness to launch a charge. The enemy and we fought on the narrow hillside, killing each other. The blood is flowing like a sea, everyone is trying their best, and no one wants to admit defeat.
In terms of fighting willpower, no one can compare with the Japanese army. If the Qing army did not have superior strength and had extra troops to consume, they would have been defeated by the Japanese army long ago.
Fighting in the northwest, the Hui people are a tough nation and have a unified belief. When the Hui army is faced with danger, they will not have the determination to die together. If the Hui army is unfavorable in the battle, they will choose to surrender, and the leader will lead the whole tribe to surrender together. .
The preacher "Imam" will have another rhetoric to justify his surrender.
However, the Japanese army rarely surrendered and remained very tenacious in holding on to their positions. They fought at Xinlupo for more than 20 days, and the sun flag was still flying on the main peak.
Li Guolou couldn't go halfway up the mountain to check the position. It would be too dangerous, unless the battle situation was critical and the flames of war were already burning below his eyebrows.
Li Guolou was not dissatisfied with the veteran military officer Fu Xianchu. He asked him to lead troops to attack Xinlupo. This was the only way. Artillery and bayonets were used together. Thousands of people could not rush forward. There must also be a human sea tactic. Degree, this is a test of will and quality. The Qing army has the upper hand in people's hearts and will win in a protracted war. Therefore, Li Guolou retreated to the next best thing and led a group of officers to see the tunnel dug by the engineers.
Engineer jobs need to be taught by veterans before recruits can understand them. Officers also need to learn various skills in order to exert their advantages on the battlefield.
Usually, engineers are composed of miners. The Qing army likes to recruit miners who dig coal as engineers, so engineers have many customs of miners, and there are many things to pay attention to when digging tunnels. In addition to believing in Guandi, engineers also have a more important god in their hearts.
The huge cave entrance is dedicated to the "Kiln God", and there is a tablet of the Kiln God on the altar.
Li Guolou entered the cave entrance, paid homage to the kiln god, offered incense, kowtowed, and murmured: "The kiln god bless the Qing Dynasty, and I hope that the enemy will be wiped out with the first ring. Li Guolou swears here that he will be in Xinjiang in the future." On the top of the mountain, build a temple for the kiln god."
But I saw a one-foot-tall kiln god made of sandalwood, being worshiped by everyone. The officers and engineers kowtowed with great piety and offered incense.
There is a couplet hanging next to the altar, which reads:
There are many things going on in the kiln, but everything is peaceful when going down the well.
It turns out that the honor of the kiln god is a huge mouse, rich and lifelike. The base of the kiln god is also carved with a bunch of ears of grain, sorghum ears, corn cobs, and soybean pods. In front of the mouse statue are three plates of tribute, including peanuts. , ghee, rice.
This is the "Kiln God" who was the patron saint of engineers of the Qing army. Engineers would pay homage to the Kiln God at the entrance of the cave when entering and exiting the cave.
The ancestor of the engineers was a miner. The miners lived with rats underground. The rats lived by eating rotten wood. The miners would not harm the rats.
The presence of rats in the mine is a good thing for the miners, because it means that the tunnelers underground can move around. If the rats escape with little mice on their backs, then there will be dangers underground. Toxic gases will leak out of the tunnels, and the miners will immediately evacuate the mine. In the eyes of miners, rats are "gods" with prophetic abilities. Later, rats evolved into "kiln gods".
Engineers in the Qing army believed in the kiln god. Every time they dug a tunnel, they would worship the kiln god. The grain scattered on the ground was used to worship the rats that foraged for food.
Li Guolou only stopped at the entrance of the cave for a while and did not go deep into the cave. However, he asked his officers to take turns drilling into the cave. This was the most direct experience and could not be learned in the school.
When they came out of the dirty cave, the officers turned into clay figures and looked quite embarrassed.
No matter what the officers thought in their hearts, Li Guolou was standing at the entrance of the cave. The officers knew that Li Guolou liked to tease people, so no one dared to complain, and no one dared to smear dirt on Li Guolou.
When Li Guolou stopped casually, he exuded a sense of majesty from the inside out, which made all the soldiers admire him. A group of officers stood at attention fearfully, and no one dared to say anything or move.
After Li Guolou glanced around, he asked: "Do you know why I want you to dig into the ground?"
Li Yunkai, who was like a mud monkey, replied loudly: "I know, it's for our own good that the chief wants us to learn to fight."
Others nodded one after another and unanimously agreed with Li Yunkai's words.
Li Guolou said: "It's for your own good, of course, because the next attack on Guishan involves either climbing the mountain or attacking the fortress on the mountain. It is very difficult. The Japanese army's bunkers are all built on dangerous mountain roads, and artillery is very difficult for this kind of attack. The bunkers have no choice but to dig tunnels, blow up the Japanese bunkers, and slowly encroach on the Japanese territory. You are all generals who lead troops. You must cherish your soldiers, so you must learn to fight in tunnels. Now Do you understand?"
"Understood," many officers raised their heads high-spiritedly, full of confidence. There was still a final battle waiting for them, and the mountain warfare would allow these officers to show off their skills.
The Japanese army was as timid as a mouse. The large Japanese army hiding in Guishan no longer dared to open the battlefield and fight openly. They only dared to use fortress tactics to resist the Qing army's attack.
The arduous mountain battles test the will of soldiers the most.
Li Guolou seemed to be calm, but he was actually under tremendous pressure. Emperor Tongzhi was overjoyed with his success and urged him to regain Langjiao Port as soon as possible. However, he still modified the army plan according to the actual situation of Xinlupo and fought a protracted and difficult battle in Xinlupo. .
Someone in the court said of him, "He supports his troops with self-respect and is content with his ambitions."
"Arrogant and domineering, conniving at the enemy soldiers,"
This is to incriminate others, so there is no reason to worry. The barbarians never read the books of sages, they only value practical benefits. Physiological needs are human nature, and there must be a place to vent. Fan Bing is not the Sun Macaque monkey under the Wuzhi Mountain. There are only two paw.
Li Guolou did not write a defense statement, but went to the front line to supervise the battle in person, hoping to capture Xinlupo as soon as possible.