Years of the Republic of China 1913

Yatsushiro Rokuro's Second Fleet and the Qingdao Fortress had a lively exchange of bombardment for a day. From the beginning to the end of this boring artillery battle, neither side made any progress. Except for the loss of a layer of skin, it hardly caused any damage to the forts of the fortress. The same is true for Wu Peifu's side. Except for a few near-misses that caused some troubles to the Japanese Second Fleet, they did not receive any results.

For this result, Wu Peifu is still satisfied. It is already very good to be able to match up with the powerful Japanese under the sneak attack of the Japanese Second Fleet. Moreover, during the whole day of back and forth artillery battles, the Chinese soldiers still had some strength at first. The slightest panic dissipated as the artillery battle progressed, and the artillery became more and more proficient from being a little rusty at the beginning, and the shots became more and more accurate one after another, forcing Rokuro Yatsushiro to order the fleet to fight against the fort again. Keep a distance, lest his precious battleship get hit by such a shot

Wu Peifu's judgment was very accurate. Seeing that Qingdao was not so easy to chew, Yatsushirokuro decided to divide his troops and send the army to land from Longkou, and to attack Qingdao by land and water. For the tactical adjustment of Yadairokuro, Wu Peifu, who had been prepared for a long time, commanded the fortress with confidence. The fort tried its best to block the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay, so that the tentative Second Fleet did not dare to get too close

This battle lasted from morning to evening, and the Japanese Second Fleet, which couldn't find any bargains, readjusted its battle line and assumed the posture of encircling Qingdao at sea. When night fell, the two sides tacitly stopped their shelling

"Your Excellency, the Army is asking when you can land," the flagship staff officer of the Second Fleet reported to Yatsushiro Rokurohui, who was eating

"Tell them to wait patiently..." Picking up a napkin and wiping his mouth, Yatsushiro Rokuro said casually

"Hi!" The staff officer stood at attention and responded, then turned around and conveyed the commander's order.

Picking up a glass of red wine and taking a sip, Yatsushiro Rokuro had to admit in his heart that it would not be easy to easily take down Qingdao. The whole day of tentative attacks allowed the Japanese Second Fleet to see its tenacity and firmness. Moreover, letting the transport ship send the army in without fully grasping the initiative of the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay is undoubtedly an act of suicide. A way to achieve this

"Night attack" is right, Yatsushiro Rokuro's is the idea of ​​a night attack. During the day, the Qingdao Fortress has an incomparable advantage to the Second Fleet. A forced breakthrough will cause the Second Fleet's transport fleet to suffer huge losses. As long as the transport ship quietly enters Jiaozhou Bay, as long as the army can land smoothly and attack Qingdao from the side and rear, the Qingdao Fortress with strong frontal defense but weak side and rear defense will be in a dilemma.

After carefully calculating the whole plan in his heart, Yatsushiro Rokuro laughed very proudly. If everything goes well, no matter how strong the opponent is, he will still be defeated by him in the end.

Looking at the clock, it is now eight o'clock in the evening, Yatsushiro Rokuro's night attack will start at zero o'clock, and there are still four hours of free time. Yatsushiro Rokuro took off his coat and took a short nap on the bed, so that he will feel full after four hours Spirit to greet the upcoming victory

In the sound of the slightly undulating waves, Yatsushiro Rokuro soon fell asleep. In his sleep, he seemed to see himself standing on the highest point of Qingdao Mountain, and under his feet was the Qingdao Fortress that he had just conquered, and those who resisted stubbornly were powerless. The Chinese soldiers are running around like frightened mice...

"Bang bang bang..." While Yatsushiro Rokuro was enjoying his dream, a sudden knock on the door brought him back to reality from his dream. Although he was a bit displeased to be awakened from his dream, as a qualified soldier, Yatsushiro Rokuro He got up immediately, but when he turned to look at the clock hanging on the wall, an unknown anger burst out

"Eight Ga" slammed open the cabin door, Yatsushiro Rokuro roared at the adjutant at the door, he clearly told him to wake him up at [-]:[-], but it's only five minutes past ten, can't this guy see Do you know the time? It's just a pig's head

"... Your Excellency..." The adjutant was stunned for no reason by the scolding and quickly handed over a telegram: "I'm sorry Your Excellency, urgent telegram..."

"Where did you come from?" Yatsushiro Rokuro suppressed his anger and asked

"Kantong Prefecture Remaining Fleet"

"Oh, it's about the follow-up army boarding the ship? This kind of trivial matter..." Yashiro Rokuro, who was a little angry, beat the uninterested adjutant into a pig's head and said, then he took the telegram and looked down. He was stunned when he saw it

His eyes widened in disbelief, the veins on Yatsushiro Rokuro's forehead twitched, and his entire face twisted

"Baga shameless brute damn guy a bunch of bastards"

The spittle from Yatsushiro Rokuro's mouth was flying around, spraying the adjutant's head and face, frantically waving the telegram on his head and yelling, it took a long time for him to look like a wounded beast with red eyes and panting heavily

The content of the telegram is very brief, but the reason why Yashiro Rokuro is so angry because of the brief content is because the despicable army actually disregarded the agreement between the two parties and launched an attack on Fengtian. Who would have thought that the army would do such a despicable thing and fight against Fengtian before the navy, so that even if the war is won, their navy will not be the biggest contributor or, because the first to go to war was not the navy but the army

"I was tricked...the navy was betrayed...damn the army, damn Yusaku Uehara"

The furious Yatsushiro Rokuro no longer has the demeanor of the commander-in-chief of the Second Fleet. Now he is like a gambler who has been cheated out and lost his pants. State's Yusaku Uehara burned to ashes

"Your Excellency"

I have never seen such an adjutant as Yatsushiro Rokuro whispered in fear, as he shouted, Yatsushiro Rokuro gradually calmed down, although his anger was still there, at least on the surface the gracious Commander of the Second Fleet returned.

"I know about this, I still have some time, I have to continue to rest, please wake me up when it's time." After saying this to the adjutant, Yatsushiro Rokuro closed the cabin door, and the adjutant standing outside stood silently for a while, shaking shook his head and left

At [-]:[-] in the middle of the night, Yatsushiro Rokuro was about to come out of his room. He was fully dressed and he couldn't see the madness of more than an hour ago. When he returned to the bridge, he saw the Army Liaison Officer Fujita Ichiro. He nodded politely to Ichiro Fujita, and then sat in his commander's seat

At 45:[-], Yatsushiro Rokuro ordered the escort fleet and the transport fleet to prepare for the night attack. At [-]:[-] sharp, the night attack officially began. Except for most of the battleships of the Japanese Second Fleet, they still turned on their lights to confuse the Chinese in Qingdao. The fleet and the transport ship were under blackout, taking advantage of the night, they circled half a circle from the left side of the fleet's main force, and quietly sailed towards the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay.

During the army landing battle, as a liaison officer, Fujita Ichiro sat in the corner of the bridge, listening to the navy's back and forth orders. Due to the blackout of the transport fleet, all orders and information could only be communicated quickly, so he sneaked into Jiaozhou at night. Bay, landing from the direction of Longkou, Fujita Ichiro felt that this plan sounded feasible, but he didn’t know what the result would be. Of course, he didn’t have to worry about his own comfort while hiding on the flagship, he just had to wait patiently for the result. He was not sensitive. Finding that the Commander of the Second Fleet, Yatsushiro Rokuro, seemed a little different today. He did not give orders lightly as usual. Instead, he felt an inexplicable sense of urgency. Maybe it was his own illusion. Fujita Ichiro laughed at himself, and did not Think more

At [-]:[-], news came from the contact ship that the frigate and the transport fleet were approaching the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay. There was no response from the Qingdao Fortress. It seemed that everything was going well.

At 45:[-], the second news came that the two frigates had sailed into the seaport of Jiaozhou and had not encountered any attack from the fortress. The transport fleet was about to follow the frigates into Jiaozhou Bay

At [-]:[-], the third news came that the squadron had all entered the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay and was heading towards Longkou.

Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Higashifushimi Prince Yiren and Chief of Staff Major General Suzuki Kantaro heaved a sigh of relief after hearing the news, and smiled at each other. In their opinion, the plan has been mostly successful. After landing, there is nothing to fear from the tough Qingdao Fortress on the opposite side. Victory is about to beckon them.

"Your Excellency, Commander, it seems that our plan is about to succeed." Prince Yoshihito of Higashifushimi congratulated Yatsushiro Rokuro with a smile, and Yatsushiro Rokuro also smiled back and nodded slightly: "Your Highness is right, our lord The navy of the Japanese Empire is invincible, and the Qingdao Fortress on the opposite side will soon become our military port"

"Hahaha, Your Excellency, Commander, is right. I suggest that for the upcoming victory, everyone..." Suzuki Kantaro held the field with interest, but before he could finish speaking, suddenly a dull sound came from afar. from everywhere

"What's going on? The Qingdao Fortress fired? Could it be that the Chinese people found out?"

Everyone's face changed drastically, and they all rushed to the side of the ship and looked hard towards Jiaozhou Bay. In the dark night sky, they couldn't see anything clearly. They could only vaguely see that there seemed to be a glimmer of light in the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay.

When they were guessing, there was another loud noise, and now they clearly saw a group of fireballs flashing in the distance. In the dark night, the figures of frigates and transport ships appeared in the bright light. Welcome,