1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 53

After the probing attack during the day, Du Zihua realized that his opponent was no fool, but an expert. The barbed wire, trenches, heavy machine gun emplacements, and various fortifications and firepower arrangements were all very sophisticated.

But Du Zihua had already found a way to break the deadlock. This tactic had been thoroughly used by the Beiyang Army during the Central Plains War, and everyone knew exactly how to deal with it.

Yokotani Takeshi actually chose such a place with an unobstructed view to hold his ground. Although this move could maximize the concentration of troops and avoid being defeated one by one, the prerequisite for holding the position was to have firepower superiority. The number of artillery pieces in the Japanese divisions was only about the same as that of the Beiyang Six Divisions.

Without enough artillery, daring to huddle together on an open plain is practically suicide!

The only thing Du Zihua's troops needed right now was rest. Sending exhausted soldiers to charge through barbed wire and heavy machine guns would be murder, and Du Zihua would never do something so stupid. After all, sharpening the axe doesn't delay the work.

In fact, Yokotani Takeshi was already regretting it. After being bombarded by the National Defense Army's howitzer group during the day, the morale of the entire 3rd Division dropped a level.

Previously, everyone thought this would be an easy and pleasant battle, just dealing with the weak Chinese army, and the arrogant Japanese army did not take it seriously.

They had fought several skirmishes, but they had only encountered weakened National Defense Forces that had infiltrated the area and were not equipped with much heavy equipment. The 3rd Division had gained some advantages and thought it was invincible.

However, after being bombarded by artillery fire, the Third Division immediately realized the reality: the enemy was no longer the weak Qing army, but the fierce National Defense Army!

Yokotani Takeshi cursed loudly in the command post, wondering why no one had told him this intelligence, and why the Chinese army on the other side had such powerful firepower and such fierce fighting spirit.

That's a complete misunderstanding. The Japanese troops who had engaged in high-intensity combat with the National Defense Army were all wiped out. In those days, radio communication wasn't advanced, so there wasn't much time to report intelligence. The Japanese on the mainland knew some intelligence, but they couldn't care less about that because they were all desperately trying to send people to the Korean Peninsula.

You insisted on jumping in headfirst, so who can you blame?

The following day, the National Defense Forces still did not launch an attack, and even the artillery was silenced, leaving the battlefield in an eerie calm.

Although he hadn't been attacked, Yokotani Takeshi felt even more uncertain. This calm was not a good thing; it meant the enemy was making preparations and was confident they could break through the Third Division's defenses in one fell swoop.

Yokotani Takeshi repeatedly surveyed the unobstructed terrain around him, deeply regretting his overconfidence! He should have retreated south instead. He could only enjoy the strategic benefits of the overall situation if he survived. If he were to perish here, no matter how much time he gained, it would only benefit his colleagues!

They might not even appreciate it, and instead keep calling themselves an idiot!

The following morning, although Du Zihua had spent a precious day, his troops had all recovered from a full meal and rest, and the heavy firepower at his disposal had arrived one after another, with the artillery of each division returning to their posts at the front line.

Du Zihua has assembled 120 artillery pieces, 29 of which are 105mm large-caliber cannons, and the rest are imported mountain guns.

With open terrain, abundant troops, and superior firepower, winning this battle is only a matter of time.

The two divisions that attacked Longyuanli before only took fifty hours to finish the battle. Now, five divisions with a total of more than 86,000 men have surrounded and annihilated 15,000 men. This battle is a kind of combat environment that you can't find in textbooks!

The National Defense Army was very experienced in dealing with such fortifications. Without Du Zihua's instructions, each division began to form assault teams, concentrating a large amount of automatic firepower at the forefront of the assault teams, and coordinating with combat engineers.

At 10:00 AM sharp, the encirclement and annihilation force launched a fierce artillery barrage on Lipingchuan, unleashing a full six tons of shells in one wave of fire.

The National Defense Army's artillery was trained by Germans at great expense, unlike the Qing army's incompetent soldiers. Furthermore, following Zhao Yan's combat tradition, the National Defense Army preferred to concentrate its artillery deployment whenever possible.

Under the cover of the fierce artillery fire, the Japanese troops were so badly bombarded that they couldn't lift their heads. Then, as the shells landed further, the Japanese troops on the front lines had just gotten up when they found that the National Defense Army's assault team was already close at hand, and the combat engineers had begun to clear the minefield and barbed wire!

After the Japanese army retaliated, the assault team fought to the death and did not retreat. They managed to carve out a gap in the barbed wire obstacle area and then charged forward without hesitation.

The assault team members even sacrificed themselves, using their bodies to break down obstacles and serve as springboards for their comrades to cross.

The vanguard assault team mobilized more than 1,200 men from three directions, forming more than 20 assault teams, and successively broke through the Japanese army's obstacle zone.

After closing to within tens of meters, they began wildly throwing grenades, then stormed into the Japanese trenches. The assault team, heavily equipped with Madsen light machine guns, entered killing mode.

After eliminating the machine gun fire of the Japanese forward positions, the combat engineers began to dismantle more obstacles in an orderly manner, and the second wave of main attacking troops also shouted and rushed out of the trenches, charging with bayonets.

A complete combo, from artillery barrage to assault team approaching and breaking through, then combat engineers clearing obstacles, and finally the main attacking force seamlessly launching a charge.

This combo is simple yet very practical, and it is also a valuable experience accumulated during the Central Plains War.

The Japanese army, in its haste, did not have much time to construct positions, and could not possibly build fortifications to World War I standards. At best, they were only field fortifications. After the National Defense Army broke through, the battle began with brutal close-quarters combat in trenches.

Every position, every trench, was repeatedly fought and changed hands between Chinese and Japanese troops, only to be recaptured again.

The participating national defense forces, under orders from the leader, cared nothing for casualties, only for time, and wave after wave of attacking troops rushed forward.

With such open terrain, there was room for as many people as needed, and the artillery in the rear was also continuously firing, striking the Japanese defenses in depth and preventing the enemy from assembling and reinforcing their forces.

After the battle began, the National Defense Army's offensive did not stop. The battle lasted from 10 a.m. until nightfall. The Japanese army lost all its outer positions, leaving only a core position near the water in the Riping River.

The remaining thousands of Japanese troops were surrounded in a narrow plain of less than 0.7 square kilometers and launched a final Banzai charge against the National Defense Army.

The National Defense Forces were naturally happy to do so and took the initiative to engage in battle.

The battle continued until the morning of the 14th, when the National Defense Army completely quelled the sporadic resistance of the Japanese army and completed the encirclement and annihilation campaign against the Third Division.

However, the 3rd Division also accomplished its mission, successfully disrupting the National Army's operational rhythm.

The logistical progress of the Lipingchuan project was delayed for three full days. This was not just a matter of the project funds being held up for three days; it was a delay in the military supplies process!

Military supplies must always be delivered on time, in the correct quantity, and at the designated time. Even a delay of three hours, let alone three days, is a major problem!

The central army's operations have been severely slowed down, and it has not yet captured Seoul. Some units have even had to stop and requisition food locally.

After receiving the report of victory from Du Zihua, Zhao Yan, who was in the headquarters, showed little joy on his face. He simply ordered Du Zihua to be promoted to Major General and appointed as the commander of the Western Route Army.

Chapter 97 The Weak Have No Choice

The campaign was already starting to deviate from the plan, and no matter how hard Zhao Yan tried, achieving the plan perfectly remained a pipe dream.

Man proposes, God disposes; nothing is ever perfect, and theoretical plans can never match real-world changes.

The Third Division's voluntary suicide caused Zhao Yan to waste three precious days in Lipingchuan. These three days could be made up for elsewhere, but they simply could not be made up for on the battlefield.

The four main Japanese divisions had completed preparations at Busan Port and began their northward march on the 15th.

The window of opportunity that Zhao Yan gained by launching the war ahead of schedule has disappeared. Now all that's left is a real, head-on battle.

Zhao Yan's original plan was that he could push forward in one fell swoop to at least the Daegu area, and compress the Japanese army around Busan Port to fight a war of attrition.

As for completely controlling the Korean Peninsula, Zhao Yan wouldn't even dare to dream of such an idea, because he didn't have a navy!

Without a navy, it's wishful thinking to try and occupy any port along the Korean Strait; the combined fleet's naval guns would teach you a lesson in no time.

Having readjusted the battle plan, Zhao Yan lowered his expectations. In any case, there was nothing to be dissatisfied with in how the battle had turned out. Everyone from top to bottom had done their best, and there was nothing to criticize.

Everyone gave it their all, and we still have the initiative. It's already quite an achievement to have done this much.

On June 16, Zhao Yan ordered the Western Route Army to accelerate its southward advance. The soldiers were exhausted, and the logistics line was under great strain. Problems such as ammunition consumption, weapon wear and tear, and material shortages were becoming increasingly serious.

But Zhao Yan still chose to gamble everything and head south. Seoul was the bottom line, the core city that had to be captured!

Because Seoul has a port and the Han River waterway! If we don't occupy this area, the National Defense Force simply cannot continue fighting on the Korean Peninsula.

In this era, any coastal warfare or even amphibious landing operation had to be carried out with ports as the core. It wasn't like you could just find a stretch of beach, think you could land, and then dump a huge number of people there. That's not warfare; that's suicide missions.

Without a port as a base, logistical supplies and heavy equipment cannot be landed. Simply sending people ashore is meaningless; there must be a continuous stream of supplies and equipment to land before it can be called a landing operation.

The Seoul area perfectly meets the requirements. It is located at the mouth of the Han River and has the port of Incheon. Not only can it be used for a landing on the coastline, but the side that controls the sea can even land along the Han River, and subsequent equipment and supplies can arrive continuously.

If Seoul were in the hands of the Anglo-Japanese Allied Forces, there would be no need to fight this war. Their supplies could cross half of the Korean Peninsula and be transported directly to the front lines via the Han River.

Military supplies, ammunition, and ordnance shipped from Japan and even Europe could all sail directly to Incheon Port and the front lines of the Han River basin.

The capacity and speed of water transport are simply incomparable to those of land transport.

If Zhao Yan dares to abandon the Han River, it would mean that the supplies that the Allied forces originally planned to land at Busan Port and then cross mountains to reach the front lines could be delivered directly to Incheon and Seoul.

The other side is an industrialized country, while we are an agricultural country. We can admit defeat before the war even starts.

They can save enough on logistics costs to support a hundred thousand troops, while our logistical support, which involves traversing the wetlands and swamps of Northeast China, crossing the Changbai Mountains, and then continuing our trek into the mountains of North Korea, is simply not competitive.

Therefore, no matter how many difficulties the front-line troops faced, occupying Seoul and the Han River basin was imperative. Zhao Yan's resolute order was relayed to the front lines.

Each division began to advance according to plan. The Western Route Army was delayed for three days, but at least it still managed to join the Central Route Army as planned. The five divisions that fought the most fiercely in the early stages were assigned to the second line as reserves, while the other ten divisions advanced southward across the Korean Peninsula.

On June 19, the 6rd Division of the National Defense Army entered Seoul, Korea, and engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese Marines. Subsequently, the 21st Division arrived as reinforcements and repelled the Japanese army.

The Japanese troops stationed in Seoul, Korea, did not want to follow in the footsteps of the 3rd and 6th Divisions. Now that the fighting had progressed to this point, no one dared to underestimate the fighting power of the Chinese army.

Several thousand Japanese troops in Seoul, along with a large amount of wealth belonging to the Korean royal family and Japanese merchants, retreated to Incheon. Under the cover of the Combined Fleet's naval firepower, they made a calm withdrawal.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the National Defense Army could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything about the enemy.

On June 21, the National Defense Army advanced to the Daejeon line, where it encountered the main force of the Japanese army, and fierce fighting broke out between the two sides.

The Battle of Daejeon broke out. This time, the Japanese army did not use the piecemeal tactics or suicide tactics. Instead, three divisions on the front line directly attacked four divisions of the National Defense Army. Both sides suffered losses, but the National Defense Army still occupied Daejeon City and built a defensive line based on the Geum River, successfully blocking the advance of the Japanese army.

As reinforcements continued to arrive, they began constructing a defensive line along the line from Daejeon to North Gyeongsang Province in North Korea.

The four Japanese divisions were unable to break through the ten divisions of the National Defense Army on the front line, and could only continue to call for reinforcements.

Inside the front-line command of the National Defense Forces, senior officers generally believed that it was time to call it a day. The troops were simply too exhausted, their condition was nearing its limit, and the logistical supply lines were getting longer and longer, making it difficult to continue.

Zhao Yan approved the officers' suggestions and announced the end of the first phase of the campaign, ordering the frontline troops to cease their offensive and enter a defensive posture.

Wang Chongshan also suggested mobilizing the five divisions of the Eastern Route Army, which had remained stationary, to move south and participate in the battle, but Zhao Yan refused. Zhao Yan only approved the mobilization of the twenty garrison brigades to participate in the battle, replacing the exhausted frontline troops.

The 120,000 Category C troops were originally created according to the standards of line-filling divisions. Now that it's time to enter a defensive posture, it's time for these Category C line-filling divisions to play their role.

Using elite troops to fill gaps is a huge waste. Moreover, the Western Route Army and the Central Route Army, which fought all the way here, except for the 19th Division which stayed with the headquarters to be responsible for guarding, have all been fighting the entire battle for almost a month and are already severely overstretched.

These troops continued to rotate and reorganize, and several divisions of the Western Route Army were understaffed. They fought the fiercest battles and suffered the most severe losses.

Nearly 500,000 troops entered Korea to fight, and along the way, more than 37,000 soldiers were killed or wounded, of whom more than 11,000 were buried in foreign lands.

The fighting has not stopped yet, and many units have seen soldiers die from exhaustion, but they still have to grit their teeth and persevere.

There's nothing the weak can do; they have no choice but to grit their teeth and persevere, pushing themselves to the limit and using their last ounce of strength to fight for that distant hope.

The Chinese did not want to fight this war; they were forced to. Everyone persevered through gritted teeth. If there had been any other choice, Zhao Yan would not have led hundreds of thousands of people to the Korean Peninsula to risk their lives.

The strong can make any choice they make because they have enough power to make every choice correct. This is the case with Britain and Japan; they have many choices and plenty of room for maneuver.

But Zhao Yan had no choice. He only had one option: to grit his teeth and keep fighting until he saw hope.

In Zhao Yan's mind, the Korean Peninsula was merely a bargaining chip. He had no intention of occupying it for long. The more he could conquer now, the more bargaining chips he would have in the future.

Does Zhao Yan look down on the Korean Peninsula? Definitely not. Without the Korean Peninsula, all the development plans for Northeast China are just castles in the air. As long as there are Japanese troops across the Yalu River, Zhao Yan wouldn't even dare to establish an industrial zone in Northeast China.

If the Republic wants to develop and build up Northeast China, North Korea must be rendered harmless. Otherwise, with hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers sleeping next to our bed, who the hell would dare to develop Northeast China on a large scale?

Ultimately, it comes down to this: the weak have no choice; if they want this, they have to give up that. Only the strong have the confidence to say they want it all.

After the front line entered a defensive state, Zhao Yan gradually began to hand over command to Wang Chongshan. Although Wang Chongshan was not good at mobile warfare and large-scale battles, he had a short-sighted strategic vision and lacked a keen sense of the occupied territory.

In any case, Zhao Yan could list a whole bunch of his shortcomings, but Wang Chongshan also had one advantage that Zhao Yan couldn't ignore: absolute obedience, and he would carry out orders meticulously.

Zhao Yan dared not entrust Wang Chongshan with the task of developing the situation on his own, but he was full of confidence in having Wang Chongshan finish up the work and take charge of the defensive standoff.

This old fellow studied Zhao Yan's line-filling tactics very seriously and grasped the essence of them. Draw a line and have this old fellow guard it. As long as there are no problems with troop strength and logistics, he can hold it forever. Zhao Yan is very sure of this.

After this great battle, Zhao Yan had gained an understanding of his generals. They each had different areas of expertise and fighting styles, and some were outstanding and worthy of promotion and important positions.

But the time is not right yet, so we can only keep our heads down and play the fill-in-the-blank tactic.

Zhao Yan led his troops through the most difficult battles of the first phase on the Korean Peninsula. What remained was a test of national strength and endurance through attrition.

After Wang Chongshan took over command, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Korean War Zone by Zhao Yan, who promised that if he could survive this battle without any mishaps and remain calm and secure, he would be promoted to general.

Wang Chongshan wasn't particularly interested in any promotion; instead, he was puzzled as to why Zhao Yan was withdrawing at this time.

Zhao Yan didn't explain much, fearing it would affect morale, and could only offer words of encouragement and comfort.

Only Zhao Yan himself knew the truth, but he dared not speak it out, fearing that his subordinates' morale would collapse if they heard it.

It's like a card game where three main players—Chinese, English, and Japanese—are playing against each other. Zhao Yan has the least amount of money, but he still manages to snatch the landlord role despite having no other options.

He was dealt a terrible hand, but he played his best hand and came up with a five-of-a-kind with wings, catching the Japanese off guard and winning two chips from them.

But that's all. Zhao Yan only has this one chance to take the initiative; in the next encounter, the opponent will always be the one to make the first move.

Because the British and Japanese had stronger hands and more chips, Zhao Yan didn't even have a chance to become the landlord.

He is about to face two opponents who can easily win with a royal flush and four twos, which is a manifestation of the weak having no choice.

Zhao Yan knew that there were three or four major hidden mines behind him, and if any one of them exploded, it would bring utter destruction to the front line of the Korean Peninsula.

Zhao Yan couldn't possibly lead Wang Chongshan and the others through the entire battle, so no matter how helpless or worried he was, he had to choose to relinquish power and withdraw.

Having dealt with the most difficult challenges, the only remaining simple task was to fully trust the wisdom of his subordinates. Zhao Yan had no choice but to clear the mines, otherwise, if the opponent were to drop their trump card and four twos without any preparation, he would be doomed.

Chapter 98 The Strongest Players Play Their Cards

Japan was outmaneuvered by China, losing two divisions in one fell swoop, and its front line was pushed back to the Daejeon line, almost reaching Busan.

In just twenty days, the Chinese army, with astonishing endurance and courage, took the initiative to invade the Korean Peninsula and achieved remarkable results.

Immediately, the price of Chinese bonds on the international market rose. The buyers who were originally in a semi-coercive position were all smiles. With such high interest rates and such a good deal, the Chinese bonds in their hands suddenly had a safety net.

Previously, in order to raise military funds, the Republican government issued war bonds with a face value of 320 million taels of silver on the international market, and also issued 410 million taels of national bonds on the domestic market.

These war bonds generally have interest rates between 3% and 7%, which are not very attractive, but they are sold through order binding and negotiation binding.

Holders are mostly in a semi-voluntary state. The international market is pessimistic about the Chinese bonds that the republican government promised could be freely traded, believing that there is a high possibility of large-scale debt defaults due to the defeat of the Chinese army.

The Chinese bonds circulating in the market are being sold off at prices about 3% below face value, but not many people are willing to take them on.