Chapter 64: My Trump Card
At this time, the Tianjin Maritime Police's submarine force had expanded to 12 "Jiaolong"-class submarines and its torpedo boat force had expanded to 30 "E"-class torpedo boats. The service of these submarines and torpedo boats gave the Tianjin Maritime Police limited capability to defend the coast of Tianjin, while the submarines, as a new type of naval weapon, also possessed certain capabilities for attacking at sea, so they were used by Kang Fan as a "trump card".
Following Admiral Kamimura's orders, the five "Kotetsu"-class submarines that had been lurking off the coast of Port Arthur before the land battle with Russia began launched a surprise attack on the unguarded Japanese fleet anchored in the harbor on the night of June 10.
The warships of the time were limited by technical conditions and had no effective means of detecting submarines, relying only on visual searches. The "Menglong" and "Xiaolong" submarines first sneaked into the Port Arthur naval port unnoticed, using the cover of night to hide underwater, exposing only their snorkels and periscopes as they navigated, assisted by active infrared night vision devices and radar, two new types of electronic equipment that indicated targets. They used powerful "torpedo" torpedoes to launch accurate and covert close-range nighttime attacks, causing heavy losses to the Japanese naval fleet, which was unable to counterattack. In one fell swoop, they sank the Japanese first-class armored battleship "Fuji" and the "Kasuga" battlecruiser. Other ships in the port saw the situation and fled in panic, colliding with each other as they hastily retreated to the outer sea of Port Arthur, where they were met by the waiting "Jiaolong", "Yunlong", and "Zhandou" submarines, which gave them a good thrashing, sending four more Japanese ships to the bottom of the sea.
The Battle of Lushunkou, the 5 "Jiaolong"-class submarines that participated in the battle brought a disaster to the Japanese fleet, resulting in the loss of more than 4,000 well-trained and experienced excellent naval personnel overnight. For the navy, this type of personnel is difficult to replenish in a short period of time. After driving away the Japanese fleet that occupied Lushunkou and blocking the Bohai Strait and the surrounding waters of the Liaodong Peninsula, cutting off the Japanese army's sea logistics supply line, it created extremely favorable conditions for Kang Fan's upcoming land battle against Japan.
On the night of June 22, during the intense land battle against Japan, the submarine force intercepted and sank all Japanese transport ships escorted by the Japanese Navy in the Yellow Sea, causing thousands of Japanese soldiers and a large amount of war materials to be swallowed up by the sea, directly crushing the Japanese military's intention to land on the Liaodong Peninsula. The "Cloud Dragon" submarine unexpectedly encountered Russian mines left behind and unfortunately sank, with all crew members sacrificing their lives.
The Jin army stationed in Tianjin, upon learning of the outbreak of fighting in Northeast China, joined forces with local Qing troops to annihilate the small number of Russian and Japanese garrisons in Tianjin, recovering the Russian and Japanese concessions in Tianjin. Upon hearing this news, people from other regions across the country rose up in emulation, leveraging their vast numerical superiority and geographical advantages to sweep away all Russian and Japanese garrisons stationed throughout the country!
At that time, people in the concessions of other Western countries across the country were nervous, fearing that they would be the next target of attack. They requested their embassy personnel to inform the Qing government, repair relations and clarify their neutral stance. However, Kang Youwei would not go to war with all Western powers at the same time, which was too unwise. Therefore, the Tianjin garrison also stopped when they saw an opportunity, without offending the interests of Britain, France, the United States, Germany and other countries in Tianjin. The military and civilians across the country looked up to the Jin Army, so when the Jin Army stopped, they naturally stopped as well.
The 1st Division of the Jin Army, after strengthening its artillery, bypassed the Japanese army's main force stationed in Fengtian City and made a deep penetration. With the strong support of the people along the way, it launched a long-distance raid on two strategic locations in the Liaodong Peninsula: one was the Dalian Commercial Port, the most important supply base of the Japanese army, and the other was the Lushun Military Port, which the Japanese army had taken from the Russian army at great cost. Like a heavenly army descending from the sky, it suddenly defeated the unprepared Japanese garrison, captured Dalian and Lushun, seized a large number of weapons, ammunition, and military supplies, blocked the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, and pushed all Japanese troops into a desperate situation where their supplies were cut off. This threw the entire Shengjing area's Japanese army into great panic.
At the same time, Captain Li led the special forces to continuously attack and destroy the scattered Japanese supply points, and eliminated many Japanese command posts, killing a large number of Japanese commanders, which played a role in pushing the waves.
The operation to capture Dalian and Lushun Port was actually a very difficult fortress siege. The Japanese army relied on various buildings and structures to stubbornly resist, causing great trouble for the Jin 1st Division.
Zhou Shizhong personally directed the battle on the front line, timely changing tactics. First, using armored forces to destroy the Japanese army's command post, communication facilities, ammunition and material storage sites, artillery positions and other important targets, and dividing their defensive positions into many small blocks that could not respond to each other. Then, cutting off the supply of food, water and materials for these small defensive positions, on this basis, the Shanxi army infantry assault troops were divided into combat units of 100 to 1,000 people, engaging in block-by-block contention with the Japanese army.
In each combat unit, infantry were concentrated with 02 assault rifles and 96 sniper rifles, carrying a large number of hand grenades and strengthening the 82 recoilless cannon and 96 universal machine guns. After adjustment, each squad split up to infiltrate and attack from all sides, and the battle situation quickly improved: The 82 recoilless cannon, which was disassembled and used as a single-soldier shoulder-fired weapon, showed great destructive power against Japanese fortifications and high flexibility, almost invincible within 200 meters. Hand grenades and 02 assault rifles provided fierce close-quarters firepower for infantry squads, and the defending Japanese troops were instantly blown away by blood and flesh as soon as they faced each other, without even having time to counterattack. The 96 sniper rifle and 96 universal machine gun provided cover from behind, completely suppressing the Japanese machine gun fire, creating an excellent opportunity for the infantry charge. With small targets, flexible mobility, and close fire support from "Tiger"-style tanks, the advance was rapid, occupying both cities in three days and annihilating the entire Japanese garrison.
The hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops who had gathered in Fengtian City and its surrounding areas to rest were forced to leave a small number of soldiers to garrison the city, rushing to reinforce the Liaodong Peninsula. However, their actions were too slow for the Jin Army, which had mechanical advantages. The Jin Army infantry followed closely behind, riding "iron horses" (armored vehicles) to quickly maneuver, splitting off some troops to surround Fengtian City, which was still in Japanese hands, without attacking it, while the main force pursued and attacked the Japanese troops.
The 1st Army of Shanxi cleared the Japanese army in the Shandong Peninsula and joined forces with the 3rd Army of Shanxi from northern Shanxi, coordinating with the following 2nd Army of Shanxi and the main force of Shanxi army to attack the Japanese army from two sides, encircling the main force of the Japanese army in the southeastern direction outside the city of Fengtian.
Kang Fan ordered the whole army to build strong fortifications, surround but not attack, and each unit took turns to rest. For a time, the Jin army's logistics troops sent large numbers of military vehicles day and night to deliver supplies, fuel, medicine, weapons, and ammunition, and evacuated wounded officers and soldiers. The "Pursuing Wind" reconnaissance plane also flew over the battlefield all day, closely monitoring the Japanese army's movements, and from time to time dropping large quantities of Japanese-language leaflets to harass the Japanese troops within the encirclement.
Despite the encircled Japanese troops launching wave after wave of desperate break-out actions, the Jin army's iron defense line composed of numerous armored vehicles, machine guns and artillery shattered the Japanese troops' frenzied "human wave" charges to pieces. Tens of thousands of Japanese troops came in waves, shouting and then fell silent one after another, repeating this process multiple times. After that, the front of the Jin army's defense line was piled high with Japanese corpses, with blood flowing like rivers, and the battle turned into a massacre!
By the end of June, the Japanese army finally stopped breaking through due to huge consumption and had to rest.
Shengjing City is the place where the Manchu people rose, and it was originally the capital of the Houjin Dynasty, the predecessor of the Qing Dynasty. In 1636, the Houjin Dynasty changed its national title to "Qing" in this city, and the Qing Dynasty was established. After the Qing Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing in 1644, Shengjing City was downgraded to a secondary capital, but the former imperial palace still exists, and it is still highly regarded by the Manchu people. During the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, there were more than 100,000 residents in the city.
While the Japanese and Russian armies were fiercely fighting on that day, all the crops outside the city were harvested as fodder for military horses. A large number of residents were killed by both Japan and Russia as spies or forced to work as laborers and died in the war. Civilian houses were dismantled to build fortifications, and residents' property, food, and other supplies were looted. The imperial palace inside the city was even used as a horse stable by the Russian army! The gold and silver treasures in various places such as the imperial palace, government offices, and temples were all looted. After that, the Russian army retreated after defeat, and the Japanese army occupied Fengtian City, causing the city to be looted again!
The Qing Empire, which adheres to the principle of "neutrality outside the province", is still like this in its auxiliary capital, let alone other places. Therefore, for this city, which has special significance for both the Manchu people and the Chinese nation, Kang Fan must take it back absolutely. And the reason why he besieged but did not attack the city was mainly that he did not want to see the city suffer further damage. He was waiting for Captain Li of the Security Bureau's Special Warfare Unit, who was the only one who could find a way to retake the city from the Japanese army while protecting it to the greatest extent possible.
On the night of July 2, with the help of some residents in Fengtian City, Captain Li led 650 special troops to sneak into Fengtian City through the drainage ditch, each carrying a cavalry sword borrowed from the cavalry unit. They launched a surprise attack, killing hundreds of Japanese soldiers who were defending the city, and seized all the gates of Fengtian City without alerting the main force of the Japanese garrison. The special troops then guided the main force of the Jin Army to enter Fengtian City, annihilating the Japanese defenders and recapturing Fengtian City before dawn.
In this battle, the Jin army's main force, which cooperated with the siege, also belonged to Captain Li's command. They launched separate attacks, surrounded and annihilated in sections, and acted simultaneously. Each attacking unit had its own responsible area, and in most cases, they fought at close range using bayonets and pistols to resolve the battle. In unavoidable situations, they used rifles and machine guns, but absolutely forbade the use of artillery, hand grenades, and other explosives, so as not to harm the residents inside the city or damage the buildings within.
Therefore, the battle for taking over Shenyang city was fierce, but the residents inside the city did not hear much dense gunfire. The Jin army, which had the most advanced and modernized weapons of its time, seemed to have retreated back to the cold weapon era in just one night!
"What a Li Jinqing!" Kang Fan exclaimed excitedly after receiving the telegram.
The Japanese army was caught off guard by the sudden and fierce attack of the Jin army, and just as they were about to achieve their strategic goal of taking control of the rich northeastern region of the Qing Empire from the Russian army, they found that the victory they had won at the cost of many excellent young lives and almost all of their national strength was almost reduced to nothing in one night. Moreover, all the elite troops sent to fight in the Qing Empire were on the verge of being completely wiped out! The change in the situation was unexpected. Although this newly emerging local force of the Qing Empire had shown its strong vitality in recent years, the cruel reality showed that they had only thought about defeating Russia and ignored this more formidable enemy, leading to a complete defeat! Now they can only gather troops from within the country, which are already scarce, and go to relieve the siege of Fengtian at all costs. And to relieve the siege of Fengtian, there is only one way left: to go through Korea and cross the Yalu River. The Japanese navy had been intimidated by the Tianjin sea police submarine squadron and did not dare to take risks.
The 3rd Division of the Jin Army was ordered to march east and garrison the west bank of the Yalu River. Having stayed in Shanxi for a long time, the officers and soldiers were eager to join the battle as they watched their comrades fighting bravely in the northeast. At this time, facing the Japanese reinforcements who were advancing recklessly without regard for casualties, the entire division gave the Japanese a head-on blow with the advantage of the wide Yalu River and superior firepower. The large number of machine guns and mortars equipped by the infantry formed an impenetrable wall of fire, and after several days of fierce battle, the Japanese were killed and wounded in large numbers, unable to set foot on the west bank, and had to abandon their attempt to cross the river. Looking out at the wide Yalu River, there were corpses floating everywhere, even staining the river water red!
The participation of the 3rd Division of Shanxi in the war effectively coordinated with the southern advance of friendly forces, and General Yang, who studied in Germany, showed outstanding command ability in this battle.
In early July, all reinforcement operations by Japan failed, causing shock and panic throughout the country.
From November 21 to 25, 1894, after the Japanese army captured the Chinese city of Lushun, a massacre was carried out, killing more than 20,000 unarmed residents! Many Chinese and foreign witnesses to the Japanese atrocities could not help but gnash their teeth in hatred, calling them "beastly troops". Kang Fan will never forget this history, and now he has been given the opportunity to face these beasts head-on, and he is determined to take revenge!
"Do not accept the surrender of the Japanese army, kill them all!" At 2 o'clock in the morning on July 7th, Kangfan issued this order to the whole army.
Suddenly, the entire sky around Shenyang was occupied by those bright-tailed, eerie-sounding 122mm rockets. The 40-barreled 122mm rocket artillery was used on a large scale for the first time, its superior mobility, machine gun-like firing speed, ultra-long range and powerful high-explosive, steel ball, incendiary and other rockets caused devastating effects that were absolutely terrifying! 72 vehicles of 122 rocket artillery fired at the same time, with 2880 rockets falling on the Japanese army's head. After several rounds of firing, this small area was turned into a large red pot, where everything inside was boiling, steel, human bodies, livestock, trees, and rocks were all crushed and cooked into a scalding hot porridge. Next, hundreds of 130mm and 82mm artillery pieces began to fire in unison, with the dense barrage slowly advancing, forming a magnificent circular wall of fire. This circle was constantly shrinking, and the space inside this circle was the Japanese army's living space.
The communication terminal in the command center transmitted various passwords from the Jin army's units of all levels, and Kang Fan heard them clearly. A heroic emotion surged in his chest, like a mad beast rushing back and forth.
…
"Soldiers, put on your gas masks, don't let the flying debris blind you. Fix bayonets!"
"Fire your 82mm mortars and machine guns in bursts! Don't be stingy with the ammunition in your hands!"
"Armored vehicle, start! Gunner, take position!"
"Brothers, put on your helmets and breastplates, take care of your heads and internal organs!"
"Zhang Yingchang, I'm a man of my word: after this battle is over, I'll definitely marry your sister!"
Kang Fan couldn't help but laugh when he heard this sentence and asked his staff officers beside him: "Who is this?"
"Reporting to the principal, it is Zhou Shizhang of Jin 1 Division." A staff officer replied.
Kang Fan's interest was piqued, and he asked: "What's going on between Zhou Shizhang and Zhang Ying's sister?"
That staff officer burst out laughing and said, "Commander Zhou had his eyes on Zhang's sister, but she was worried that she couldn't control a husband like Commander Zhou, so she wanted to find a scholar instead and didn't agree. Later, Commander Zhou went to the door of the tyrant king to force her into marriage, but unfortunately, he was seen by Zhang. Zhang was skilled in martial arts and gave Commander Zhou a good beating. As a result, Commander Zhou was injured and stayed at home for several days, while Zhang's sister went to take care of him, making Zhang so angry that he almost vomited blood.
Kang Fan burst out laughing after hearing it, "How interesting!"
