Chapter 68: Jinan

  August 17th, Dasaha River.

  With the main force withdrawing, the Japanese army's advance speed and casualties have greatly improved; Saigō Tsugumichi was finally able to cross the river with satisfaction under the accompaniment of various generals to inspect the remnants of the position.

  "Commander, look at this. This is the stronghold carefully constructed by the Chinese army. Not only are there multiple layers of fortifications and trenches on the ground, but also machine gun emplacements that can withstand small-caliber artillery fire. Underground, there are bunkers and tunnels supported by wooden pillars that can be connected for mobile combat... If the main force of the Chinese army had not retreated, our army would have found it difficult to capture this place easily. Even if the Chinese army only left a small number of troops to hold us back, our casualties and advance speed would not have been satisfactory."

  Nishio was also shocked at the excellence of the Chinese army's fortifications, but overall he was satisfied: "Although the Chinese army built strong fortifications here, due to the strong pressure from our two wings, the main force of the Chinese army retreated after all, and we can advance easily!"

  "Your Excellency, the Chinese army has built similar positions on both banks of the Mangniu River and the Hutou River; according to aerial reconnaissance reports, the position on the south bank of the Hutou River is even more extensive."

  "Don't worry, even if the fortifications are solid, a strong army is needed to defend it." Nishio smiled, "The main force of the Chinese military's First War Zone has already moved south to Shandong, what we're facing now is just a small part of their rearguard, not enough to block our advance for long!"

  Tsuchihashi Yūji interjected: "The Chinese army's solid fortifications are worthy of our army's emulation."

  "Huh?"

  "The following refers to Manzhou."

  "Right! We can invite the Kwantung Army to observe; now, let's advance!"

  The 2nd Army directly controlled the 6th and 10th Machine Gun Battalions, the 5th Mortar Battalion, the 10th and 12th Armored Car Squadrons; the 11th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, the 2nd Airfield Construction Unit, and the 3rd Airport Service Squadron. Commander-in-Chief: Prince Asaka Yasuhiko

  The 10th Division includes the 8th Brigade (39th and 40th Regiments), the 33rd Brigade (10th and 63rd Regiments) and the 10th Field Artillery Regiment, with Lieutenant General Isamu Ijichi as its commander.

  The 16th Division includes the 19th Brigade (9th and 20th Regiments), the 30th Brigade (33rd and 38th Regiments) and the 22nd Field Artillery Regiment, with General Nakajima Ichi serving as division commander.

  The 109th Division was formed from the remaining personnel of the 9th Division, and consisted of the 31st Brigade (69th and 107th Regiments), the 118th Brigade (119th and 136th Regiments) and the 109th Field Artillery Regiment. The divisional commander was Yamagata Shigetaka.

  (Except for the military commander and a part of the directly affiliated team, all are true)

  Jinan

  "Our army cannot give up Jinan!" Isokawa Kanichi and Nakajima Ichiro appealed together, making it difficult for the Crown Prince Akihito to make a decision with his subordinates.

  "Our army can go north and defeat the southern Chinese army, and then execute the order to meet with the Qingdao forces."

  "Ke Hua's army is approaching our military from the north and northwest directions? And Han Fuqu?"

  "Your Highness, don't hesitate. The Chinese army's mobile warfare capabilities are very poor and can only barely hold out by relying on the construction of strong fortifications; now the Chinese army is unable to construct fortifications in the midst of action. Our army has three divisions, I think we can use one division as cover, and after breaking through one route with two divisions, it's not too late to attack another route! As for Han Fuju, he didn't dare to fight a long time ago."

  "What about supplies? Our supply lines to the north have been cut off?"

  "The air force airport troops who followed us are rushing to repair, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest, our transport planes can land in Jinan to provide ammunition supplies for our army. As for food, do we still need to transport it from the Imperial Capital?"

  Asaka Palace, Prince Yasuhiko hesitated for a moment, "Alright, let's settle it! Concentrate the 10th and 16th Divisions to prepare for the attack. See which of the two routes the Chinese army takes first and attack that route first; The 109th Division is responsible for guarding Jinan and covering the rear of the main force."

  At the same time, the front command of the war zone that went south along the Ping-Han line and then turned east also crossed the Yellow River; I waved goodbye to the divers.

  "We're less than 50 miles away from Jinan! Zi'an, this time we've gone too far! If things don't go well on the eastern front, the northern front will collapse." Zhang Xueliang was getting nervous looking at the deployment of various troops.

  "Han Ying hasn't finished speaking, the worst possible scenario is: The remaining two and a half defense lines on the Northern Front are quickly breached by the Japanese First Army, and then the enemy advances in two routes, one from Niangzi Pass to Shanxi to coordinate with the Kwantung Army to defeat the Second War Zone, and another pursuing and defeating our army as it retreats south; while on this side of Shandong, our main force's attack fails, and the defeated troops flee for a thousand miles... We two will be brought together to the military tribunal... To apologize to the nation!"

  "And you?"

  "Old brother is the commander-in-chief, it's old brother who wants to attack the Second Army. Younger brother is just carrying out orders, hehe, don't forget this is on record! On the 8th of this month at Shimen."

  "So you dare to bet on the entire army?" Zhang Xueliang couldn't help but laugh and cry, "Honestly tell me, what are the chances of winning?"

  "Honestly, it's only thirty percent!" I also wryly smiled, "This is still because Kiyohiko is a big fool, if Toshihiko were in command, I would have run back to Nanjing long ago."

  "You're ruthless! When are you going to make your move?"

  "Still have to wait for the weather, sigh..."

  War zone directly under the jurisdiction of Xuezhong 51st Army (91, 113, 114 Divisions) Guan Linzheng 52nd Army (2, 25 Divisions) Wu Kerren 67th Army (107, 108, 117 Divisions) and several artillery and engineering battalions

  Zhang Zizhong's 1st Army Group consisted of Zhang Zizhong's 59th Corps (38th, 180th Divisions), Feng Zhi'an's 77th Corps (37th, 132nd, 179th Divisions) and Zheng Dachang's Cavalry 3rd Corps (181st, Cavalry 9th Divisions).

  Sun Lianzhong's 2nd Army Group controlled Tian Zhen's 30th Army (27th and 30th Divisions), Feng Anbang's 42nd Army (127th Division, Independent 44th Brigade)

  Liao Yao's 21st Army Group consisted of Liao Yao's 7th Corps (170, 171, 172 Divisions) and Wei Yunsheng's 48th Corps (173, 174, 176 Divisions).

  August 18th, sunny to cloudy, good day.

  The 21st Army Group of the Guangxi Army marched south after reorganization and recovery, recaptured Pingyuan, and directly threatened Yucheng; forcing the Japanese 10th and 16th Divisions to cross the Yellow River early in the morning to meet the enemy.

  At 8 o'clock that evening, more than an hour after the sun had set, the officers and men of the 109th Engineer Brigade, who had been busy maintaining two divisions of nearly 60,000 troops crossing the river for most of the day, finally took a break to eat their rice balls, when they heard "Boom", "Boom" several loud explosions, and the four pontoon bridges on the Yellow River were blown up at the same time!

  After the loud noise, the panicked Japanese army swept the river surface with searchlights from both banks of the Yellow River and found that the intense explosion had completely blown up the central part of the four pontoon bridges. The turbulent water of the Yellow River in the rainy season instantly washed away the remaining parts on both sides, leaving them fragmented.

  Immediately, red signal flares soared into the sky from a distance, followed by relayed red star fires rising from an even farther distance.

  Upon seeing the signal, all troops no longer advanced stealthily but instead lit torches and marched towards Jinan with big strides!

  To the west was the 2nd Army Group, with Feng Anbang leading the 42nd Army rapidly north along the Yellow River, pursuing and killing small Japanese army units while continuously deploying troops to unfold river defense; Sun Lianzhong personally led the 30th Army to rush up a small hill in the west of the city, and the small number of Japanese soldiers on guard fled in disarray. Feng Anbang led the 27th Division directly into the newly repaired Jinan Airport, where the unarmed Japanese airport troops fled towards the city under the cover of a few sentry rifles, leaving various air force supplies scattered all over the ground.

  Facing south, Xue Zhong led the 51st Army and Wu Kerren led the 67th Army to quickly pass through the southern mountainous area and rush to the city. The 109th Cavalry Regiment only resisted for a while before fleeing in disarray.

  To the east, Zheng Dawang led the 9th Cavalry Division to arrive first, quickly driving a small number of Japanese troops on high alert into the city, and then the main force of the 1st Army Group arrived one after another, finally completing the encirclement of Jinan. At this time, the attack from the west and south had already begun!

  When the 30th Army broke in from the west and the 51st and 67th Armies from the south, most of the officers and men of the 109th Division who were still looting or sleeping in the city rushed to gather, but it was too late! The Northwestern Army wielded big knives, and the Northeastern Army held light machine guns and rifles, killing into the Japanese army, the reserve Japanese army in chaos resisted bravely, but obviously lacked the accurate and rapid organizational response of the regular army, only relying on instinct to struggle in chaos, relying on past combat training to survive in adversity. Faced with the surging **, the Japanese army struggled in vain, thousands of Japanese soldiers (half of whom were not infantry) died or were injured in close combat; soon, as the retreat sounded, the Japanese resistance collapsed, and the defeated remnants fled eastward to the old city area. In the rear, the pursuit continued until the city was reached, where the Japanese army on the city wall fired indiscriminately with machine guns and light artillery, knocking down hundreds of Japanese soldiers and ** together at the city gate.

  The officers and soldiers took advantage of the chaos, rushing to the old city from all directions and setting up ladders that had been prepared in advance. They quickly climbed the majestic city walls, which averaged about 8 meters high (originally about 10 and 2/3 meters when built during the Ming Dynasty, but reduced after hundreds of years of settlement). On some sections of the city wall, Japanese troops were already deployed for defense, and light and heavy machine guns opened fire together. The "sweet melons" rolled down one by one, and the officers and soldiers at the foot of the city wall suffered heavy casualties and could not counterattack, so they had to retreat. However, in some sections, the Japanese troops did not have time to occupy them firmly, and after breaking through the scattered resistance, some officers and soldiers actually climbed up the city wall. The follow-up Japanese troops rushed over, and within tens of meters or even a dozen meters distance, without any cover on the city wall, both sides fired at each other with rifles and machine guns, accompanied by the mutual throwing of long-handled grenades and "sweet melons". In an instant, there were large areas of death and injury. The follow-up officers and soldiers continued to climb the city wall, and the Japanese reserve troops also rushed over from all directions. Both sides engaged in another round of mutual slaughter. As the Japanese reinforcements increased and the officers and soldiers could not keep up with climbing the city wall, each point on the city wall was eventually retaken by the Japanese one by one.

  As the fierce battle on the old city wall came to an end, the remaining battles in the commercial port and new urban areas also ceased. The 109th Artillery Regiment, the 109th Logistics Regiment and other units were surrounded and completely annihilated.

  By the 19th, the battle ended with the capture of Jinan's commercial port and outer city, completing the encirclement of old Jinan!