Years of the Republic of China 1913

At [-] o'clock in the morning, that is, one hour after the attack on the Fengtian front line, the Japanese Second Fleet has roughly completed its assembly in the waters off Qingdao* Island, and the entire fleet is nervously making pre-war preparations.

Unlike Fengtian's Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu did not relax his vigilance when the Japanese army in Kantung Prefecture was in a stance of withdrawing troops, and was keenly aware of the changes in the Japanese navy. .In this regard, Wu Peifu once reminded Fang Zida and the General Staff, but for his whimsical "guess", although Fang Zida was skeptical, the General Staff did not take it seriously, and finally did not get the support of the above, but Wu Peifu still firmly believed in his own judgment , and inspected from Jidao, and ordered all troops to pay close attention to the movements of the Japanese fleet.

It is a pity that although Wu Peifu has a large number of troops, he does not have the right to mobilize the navy, not to mention that China's weak navy is unlikely to send a fleet to search for it.Therefore, until this morning, a report came from the lookout balloon observation station at the front of the coast defense line, and the Japanese navy suddenly appeared near Dagong Island, and there were signs of gathering on the sea surface. Wu Peifu, who received the news, rushed to the headquarters to let All fortress garrisons are ready in case of any eventuality.

As the former military port of the Germans, Qingdao was built into a huge fortress by the Germans a few years ago.There are 23 forts including the Bismarck Fort on Mount Qingdao, and a total of 77 cannons, including Krupp howitzers with a caliber of 280mm, 210mm cannons, 150mm wheeled howitzers, 88mm cannons and various guns below 77mm. cannons, machine guns, etc.There are open trenches and dark ditches between the forts, and small tracks were built to transport soldiers and shells.The interior of the entire fortress is dug in all directions.There are many crypts to store ammunition and accommodate soldiers, and dozens of cross heavy machine gun positions have been set up in various critical areas.

Since China took back the Qingdao Fortress, it has been further strengthened and remodeled. On the basis of the original 23 forts, it has been increased to 25 forts, covering the surrounding area of ​​Qingdao.in addition.After returning to China, Wu Peifu personally inspected the Qingdao Fortress. According to the experience of the European War, the top of the small tracks and culverts between the forts was reinforced with steel plates and reinforced concrete to make their structures more perfect.According to the design, even if it is directly hit by a 305mm naval gun, it will not collapse.

In addition to improving the Qing* Island Fortress.Wu Peifu also set up several lines of defense in the Jiaozhou Bay area. All the lines of defense are based on the experience of the European War. Trench and barbed wire are everywhere. Support at the first time. ()

Because of such preparations, although he was shocked by the sudden appearance of the Japanese fleet, Wu Peifu was not flustered, on the contrary there was a trace of joy.It seems.My own judgment was correct, Wu Peifu said to himself, and he issued orders one by one without haste, and quickly implemented them.

At nine o'clock in the morning, another message came from the lookout balloon. The Japanese fleet has completed its assembly near Grand Duke Island, and the entire ship has turned to attack Qingdao Island.

Due to limited conditions, the news of the Fengtian War did not reach Qingdao Island at this time, and even the Japanese Second Fleet did not know that the Japanese Army in Kanto State actually took the lead.Although he knew that it was the best time to launch an attack first while the Japanese fleet was gathering, in order to avoid diplomatic troubles, after consideration, Wu Peifu still put the forts on standby temporarily.Once the Japanese fleet bombards first, the forts can fight back on the spot without orders.

As the time passed by, the commander of Japan's Second Fleet Yatsushiro Rokuro took out his pocket watch with his white-gloved right hand and looked at it, with a proud smile on his face.

"Your Excellency, the time is up soon, can we start?" the staff officer next to him reminded.

"There are still 3 minutes." Yatsushiro Rokuro said calmly, since the attack is set at ten o'clock, it will be ten o'clock, and it will not work by a minute or a second.In a blink of an eye, a short period of 3 minutes passed quickly. When the pointer stopped at ten o'clock, Yatsushiro Rokuro swung his arm downward vigorously, and the naval guns that had been prepared by the entire Second Fleet began to roar at the same time. The huge shell flew towards the intended target with a sharp whistling sound.

At the same time that the Japanese Second Fleet fired, all the forts on Qingdao Island were already ready, and the red light flashed from the muzzles of the Japanese battleships, and the officer who had been watching and observing immediately shouted: "Ready to fight! Little Riben really fired!"

"Boom! Boom!"

The bombardment of the battleship was far beyond that of the army's cannon. The 305mm naval gun's 380-kg high-speed shells hit the soil hard, turning into a huge ball of fire in an instant, and making an amazing explosion.A burst of salvos passed by, and half of Qingdao* Island was shrouded in gunpowder smoke. Before the gunpowder smoke dissipated, a second salvo followed.

Before the first salvo of the Japanese Second Fleet had completely passed, the forts that were ready began to counterattack at the same time. Nearly a hundred cannons roared together, and the muzzles roared and flew towards the Japanese fleet.

The two sides fought fiercely at the first time, but the actual results were not very good. Although Japan's Second Fleet has larger and more powerful naval guns than the Chinese, due to the long distance and the robustness of the fortress, the effect of salvo was not achieved at all.After three rounds of unison, except for a few shells that tore off the upper layer of soil covering the fort, all the forts of the Qingdao Island Fortress were not damaged at all and continued to roar.

As for the Chinese side, it is also the same reason. The long distance leads to an extremely low hit rate. Except for a few lucky near-misses that caused a small threat to the Japanese Second Fleet, the rest of the shells fell far away. Aside from the bursts of huge water jets, it had no effect at all.

Yatsushiro Rokuro's pride as a navy is unquestionable, but he is not a general without brains, otherwise he would not sit in the position of commander of the Second Fleet.At the beginning of the war, he ordered the whole ship to launch a salvo against Qingdao Island. Although he was lucky, he mainly focused on probing.

As the proud son of the navy, Yatsushiro Rokuro had done research on Qingdao Island a long time ago. Facing such a huge fortress, it is not easy to chew it down in one go.Using naval guns and fortress guns to bombard, this is a fool who would do such a thing, which is why he did not command the fleet to approach, but only assembled on Grand Duke Island and started attacking.Although getting closer, the accuracy and hit rate of naval guns will be greatly improved, but this will bring unnecessary losses to the entire fleet.But now, the fleet is just a little outside the furthest range of the fort's guns, and the opponent can't give full play to its advantage. Although its own naval guns have lost most of their accuracy, they can still cover most of the fortress of Qingdao Island.

Qi she continued, the two sides came and went, and it was very lively, but apart from a few unlucky guys who sprained their feet carrying the shells, there were no other casualties at all.At [-]:[-], Yatsushiro Rokuro saw that the long-range bombardment had not achieved the effect, so he decisively stopped most of the fleet's continuous shooting. Except for a few battleships with the longest range that continued to fire to suppress the fortress, the rest of the ships began to slowly turn to the northwest to assemble.

"The Japanese fleet began to split into two? One turned to the northwest?"

The observation balloon observer immediately transferred the observed situation to the headquarters. Wu Peifu walked to the map and looked carefully, and immediately sneered: "Little Riben has a good plan, they want to land from behind us! It's a pity , the plan is good, but it’s too underestimating.”

The northwest of Qing* Island is Longkou. Judging from the movement of the Second Fleet, it seems that they are going to bypass the front of the fortress and land from Longkou, and then send the army to attack and encircle the entire Qingdao Island.Such a plan looks good. If the Germans stationed here are still Germans, Ri himself's move should be called a wonderful move.But Ri himself has forgotten that it is impossible for Qingdao to be isolated today.Not to mention Longkou, even in the Yangkou Bay area of ​​Laoshan Mountain, Wu Peifu has already laid out a defense line, so how can Japan easily succeed.

"I order! The mine-laying operation in Jiaozhou Bay must be accelerated. The forts in the western region will try their best to block Jiaozhou Bay, and the Japanese fleet will not be allowed to pass through. At the same time, the Hongdao garrison will be ordered to prepare for battle!"

"Yes!"

The staff officer who quickly recorded the order repeated it and sent a report in a hurry. He turned around and looked at the battle situation through the observation hole. Absolutely impossible, unless the sea and land advance side by side, there is only a glimmer of hope to bypass the strong fortress from the rear, but for Wu Peifu, who is familiar with the essence of the European battlefield and has been prepared for a long time, he will never give him such a chance .

On the battleship Suho, the commander of the Second Fleet Yatsushiro Rokuro frowned, feeling troubled by the current battle situation.The whole Qing* Island is like a big tortoise, there is absolutely no place to go, and it is one of his pre-plans to divide the fleet and plan to land from Longkou, but for some reason, Yatsushiro Rokuro always feels a little uncomfortable. How down-to-earth.

"Go, get the Army Liaison Officer, that is...Fujita..."

"Fujita Ichiro." The staff officer reminded the commander from the side.

"Yes, it's him, please come here immediately." Nodded, for this little liaison officer Yatsushiro Rokuro almost forgot his name, but now the battleship's guns have not achieved the desired effect, next It is necessary to rely on the help of the army. At this time, it is still possible to give these dirty army some treatment. It is rare for Yashiro Rokuro to say a word of please. (To be continued..)

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