After the Japanese forces attacking Longkou suffered a head-on blow during the day, the entire Kyushu Division maintained heavy security throughout the night. Having stayed up all night, the Japanese soldiers, their eyes bloodshot, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw the first light of dawn. Before long, the Japanese positions began to show more signs of life. Soldiers resumed landing operations. Whenever soldiers whispered to each other, Japanese officers would immediately shout at them to stop. The Kyushu Division had issued orders strictly forbidding soldiers from conversing privately, and especially from discussing yesterday's battle.

This high-pressure posture worked. Combined with the fierce fighting yesterday and the fact that the units which had suffered heavy losses had been moved to more distant positions—effectively isolated—the soldiers executed the various unit arrangements in good order. That is, until a figure holding a white flag appeared in the distance.

Holding a white flag meant one of two things: either surrender or a request for negotiation. Given the current situation, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army could only be coming to negotiate. The Japanese army still retained a minimum of rationality; killing the enemy's negotiators on the battlefield was dishonorable no matter how you looked at it. So, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army negotiator holding the white flag was relatively safe as he approached the Japanese positions.

The content of the negotiation was very simple. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army informed the Japanese that they had captured some Japanese personnel during yesterday's battle. Due to the limited medical capabilities of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, they were unable to treat these people. They hoped the Japanese army could send someone to take these Japanese wounded back for treatment.

The Japanese Kyushu Division was very suspicious of this move. The Japanese army had no habit of treating prisoners well. Not killing enemy wounded on the spot was already considered a very merciful act. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's request to hand over Japanese wounded at this time was completely unexpected. However, the Japanese army at this time hadn't yet degenerated to the moral level of WWII. Suspicious as they were, the two sides discussed the process for returning the wounded. Both sides would refrain from fighting for the time being during the morning. Unarmed troops from the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army would send the Japanese wounded to a designated open area, and the Japanese side would go over to receive them. Then both armies would withdraw simultaneously.

With extreme caution, the Japanese sent unarmed troops to receive the wounded. Apart from the psychological shock caused by the groans of the Japanese wounded, the process was far more peaceful than imagined. The Japanese wounded had all received basic bandaging, which reduced the hostility of many Japanese soldiers. Both sides used unarmed troops, and once the handover was complete, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army troops quickly withdrew from the area.

It wasn't that no one among the Kyushu Division's staff officers suggested letting the artillery attack these Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army troops. The Division Commander pondered for a moment; it was clear he was also struggling internally. Yesterday's brutal battle had built up immense resentment in the Kyushu Division, including in the Commander himself. However, the Kyushu Division Commander's military ethics led him to ultimately reject this suggestion. If the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had ignored these Japanese soldiers yesterday, or simply killed them all while clearing the battlefield, the Kyushu Division Commander would have had no recourse. What is lost on the battlefield must be won back on the battlefield. The Division Commander still held such thoughts in his heart.

What happened next made the Kyushu Division Commander feel somewhat regretful. He had completely failed to anticipate one thing: transporting three or four hundred wounded back would inevitably require passing in front of the Japanese troops who had already begun deploying. Those wounded soldiers wrapped in blood-seeping bandages, either limping along or lying on stretchers, caused a tremendous impact on the troops' morale.

Strict gag orders had been issued to the entire force, but some things couldn't be stopped by orders alone. Not just the soldiers, but even the officers began to spread all sorts of rumors. The Japanese losses were greatly exaggerated. Listening to his subordinates' reports, the Kyushu Division Commander began to feel that if he hadn't had that "womanly benevolence" and had instead ordered the artillery to fiercely attack the moving Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army troops, it probably would have greatly boosted morale. At least he could have used the excuse, "Even if they are killed, the Chinese on the other side wouldn't dare abuse Japanese POWs."

Putting regret aside, the Kyushu Division Commander ordered naval guns and army artillery to fire together, and the infantry prepared to enter combat. The coordinated bombardment by the navy and army artillery took the Japanese four hours. It wasn't until after 4:00 PM that the Japanese infantry began their attack. With yesterday's experience, the Japanese were extremely careful during their offensive. In the telescopes, the Japanese troops advanced cautiously and slowly over the shell-ravaged terrain, entering the positions that had cost them so dearly yesterday, one by one. By 7:00 PM, the Japanese finally reached the hilltops. From beginning to end, they encountered no enemies. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had completely vanished.

Cheers rang out on the hilltops. The fear of attacking the Japanese felt just now turned entirely into a smug "sense of victory." They waved their military flags desperately or raised their rifles shouting "Banzai," as if they had won a great victory. Upon receiving this news, the Kyushu Division Commander's brow furrowed slightly less. Securing the beachhead was certainly a good thing, but the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army couldn't have evaporated; they must have gone somewhere else to make new combat preparations. The Division Commander's gaze fell on the map. The Japanese plan for landing at Longkou involved passing through Pingdu and Yexian to Jimo. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had proven yesterday that they were definitely not an army afraid to fight. The Japanese army could face attacks from the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army at any time on this long road. Perhaps this was the reason for the People's Party's retreat.

Just as the Kyushu Division Commander thought, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's strategy was extremely concise: mobile warfare, annihilating the enemy in motion. Facing the Japanese army was the 4705th Division of the Shandong Military Region. The troops had disengaged from the front line last night and shifted towards the area between Pingdu and Yexian. By evening, the division headquarters held a meeting. "We've said this many times in meetings, and this is the last time I'll emphasize the operational thought. It is to annihilate the enemy's effective strength. If no one is there to use the weapons, even if the weapons are piled as high as the sky, the battle can't be fought. Moreover, we can't suffer losses in our fighting; we must adopt the most effective tactics. Yesterday's battle proved that the Japanese can still fight; they are not the Beiyang Army. If we exhaust our tactics and really go head-to-head with the Japanese, the casualty ratio would be one to two—if the Japanese lose two, we lose one. Before the final decisive battle, we must weaken them to the maximum extent. First, lure the Japanese out of the cover of their naval guns, then cut off their logistics lines as much as possible. Small units will constantly kill and wound to weaken the Japanese strength. Finally, implement an encirclement and annihilation battle..."

When the division commander finished speaking, the regimental commanders began to ask questions one after another.

"Can the various harassment attacks be arranged in more detail this time?"

"The battle line stretches for twenty or thirty *li*; can the troop allocation be explained in more detail?"

The division commander listened for a while, then waved his hand for everyone to stop. "Comrades, none of us have conducted combat operations at the division level. Combined tactical training for infantry squads and platoons has only reached the battalion level. Everyone was taught by Chairman Chen at the military academy. Let me explain first: I listened carefully during lectures, and I answered carefully during exams. Now that we're really fighting, I realize I didn't understand what I was hearing before. Only by using it do I know what Chairman Chen was actually talking about."

The division commander's frank words triggered laughter from the comrades; everyone felt basically the same. Precisely because everyone was a soldier, they could best understand these honest words.

"Sharpening your spear right before battle might not make it sharp, but it makes it shine. Don't expect us to suddenly have an epiphany about these military skills right now. Without practice, any 'realization' is just blind guessing. For now, comrades, don't expect us to perform beyond our level and fight some exquisite battle. Right now, taking advantage of the last few days and combining it with the latest combat, let's determine the basic level of the troops and what kind of battle we can fight at the minimum. As for summarizing, there's no need to talk about it now. Fight whatever battle we can fight; don't brag and end up harming others and yourselves."

After listening to the division commander, the regimental commanders felt it was quite good. In this round of cadre promotions within the People's Party, anyone who liked to blow hot air and couldn't seek truth from facts had been sent to the military academy for study. These newly promoted cadres had all come up through hard work. If a regimental commander said his regiment could march 60 *li* a day, then they could definitely march 60 *li*. No one dared to falsify or brag anymore.

Moreover, in yesterday's battle, the formidable combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was truly unprecedented. Platoon leaders and deputy platoon leaders fired pistol bursts in combat, squad leaders and deputy squad leaders engaged in bayonet fighting personally, and the casualty ratio between the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army and the Japanese army actually reached something like 3:5. If it were the Beiyang Army, they would have collapsed long ago. The casualty ratio wouldn't have exceeded 1:4. To say things that couldn't be done in front of such an enemy would be harming others and oneself. Every unit cadre knew this clearly in their hearts.

"If there are no other questions, meeting adjourned," the division commander said.

While the troops at Longkou began to arrange the next stage of combat, the troops at Yangkou in Laoshan, Qingdao, had long since completed adjustments in this regard. The water at Yangkou in Laoshan was deep and the current fast, allowing the Japanese fleet to provide support more effectively. The troops responsible for the Laoshan defense battle adopted operational countermeasures that were purely guerrilla warfare conducted by regular troops. The guerrilla tactics from Chen Ke's original timeline, when used by well-equipped and well-trained regular troops, were exceptionally powerful.

The equipment system of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army frontline troops included Liberation shoes, rifles, light machine guns, mortars, grenades, and entrenching shovels. Compared to the PLA during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, they were not inferior in the slightest. Commanders at the squad and deputy squad leader level were uniformly equipped with compasses and pocket watches. Ordinary soldiers were equipped with steel helmets and camouflage uniforms. Food consisted mainly of canned goods and field rations. They could operate without logistics for over a week in the Laoshan area. Every squad had marksmen, and every platoon had sharpshooters and snipers. This was the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's confidence in their combat effectiveness. The Japanese Sendai Division was the first to suffer ambushes from marksmen and snipers.

The Sendai Division had formidable combat effectiveness, but in the blink of an eye, over twenty men were dropped, with a fatality rate reaching 80%. The dead were all killed with a single shot. This demonstrative shooting greatly incited the Japanese army's anger.

The battle to attack Qingdao was carried out simultaneously by sea and land. The Kyushu Division landed at Longkou, and the Sendai Division landed at Yangkou. The two forces planned to meet at Liuting and coordinate with the Japanese fleet at sea to launch a full-scale attack on Qingdao. Caught off guard just after landing, the Sendai Division immediately sent a company of troops to wipe out the Chinese army opposite them.

Seeing the Chinese soldiers wearing steel helmets and tattered clothes running as fast as rabbits in the mountains ahead, the Japanese company chased relentlessly. At the beginning, the Japanese still had some vigilance. After running for less than an hour, the Japanese troops, panting from exhaustion, simply didn't have the energy to consider so many things. The Chinese army ahead was indistinct, coinciding somewhat with the education the Sendai Division had received that the Chinese army only knew how to run. Until this company of enemies chased into a valley, and the Chinese army ahead actually disappeared without a trace.

The Japanese company commander wasn't foolish enough to insist on achieving some result. The gloomy mountains gave him a very bad feeling. The Japanese company reorganized slightly and began to retreat. They reached a three-way intersection. Suddenly, dense bullets swept violently through the Japanese ranks. The Japanese company commander immediately directed the Japanese troops to begin counterattacking. This company commander did not know about the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's inverted triangle machine gun disposition.

In the inverted triangle machine gun disposition, the top was a marksman, and the two bottom corners were light machine guns. The light machine guns struck and suppressed the enemy's main force with fierce firepower, while the marksman accurately shot to eliminate enemy firepower points. This tactic, time-tested in jungle and mountain warfare, could allow three men to wipe out a squad of troops. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's equipment had not yet reached WWII levels. So the triangle position was composed of half a squad, with two light machine guns each manned by two people. The apex position had two people implementing precision strikes. Facing a Japanese company, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had arranged a platoon on their retreat route, with four inverted triangle positions responsible for the frontal strike.

The soldiers of the Sendai Division had "extreme backbone." After a brief panic, the company commander realized there weren't many enemies opposite them. Generally speaking, in this situation, the Japanese army would adopt the method of pinning down the front and outflanking to attack. Unfortunately, mountain warfare offered no such conditions completely. The four inverted triangle positions in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's layout completely blocked the passage with firepower. Every charge resulted in soldiers either being swept down by machine guns or killed with a single shot. Since they hadn't brought heavy machine guns with them, the Japanese could only use rifles to shoot back at the Chinese army. They suffered a huge disadvantage in firepower.

The Japanese company commander shrank behind a rock. Countless Japanese soldiers hiding but exposed to the fierce firepower of the Chinese army were already dead or wounded. What caused the greatest psychological fear to the Japanese were those few machine guns. "Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da"—three-round bursts or long bursts swept across the Japanese positions, sending stone fragments flying. Japanese rifles fired back one after another, only to be made to scream in misery by the seven or eight machine guns. Even more deadly was the crisp sound of rifles from the Chinese army's side. Japanese soldiers who dared to brave the fierce firepower of the Chinese army to pop their heads out and fire back with rifles couldn't last long before being hit and losing combat effectiveness. The company commander was also well-trained; he had only popped his head out for a moment when two bullets flew past close to his body, forcing him to shrink back behind the rock. The Chinese army had obviously discovered and targeted this firing point.

Hiding behind the rock in shock and pondering for a moment, the company commander remembered that the ambush site was at most an hour's journey from the landing site. As long as they could hold out for a while longer, reinforcements would arrive. But before the reinforcements arrived, the Japanese army suffered a fierce blow from Chinese troops attacking from the rear. The Japanese troops were currently completely concealed behind various covers that could withstand frontal machine gun fire, leaving their bodies completely exposed to the attack from the rear. This time there was nowhere good to hide. Crossfire from both front and rear swept through the Japanese.

The Japanese company commander was hit three times in the back. In the pain of suffocation, he felt confused in a daze: why had the rearguard not had time to issue a warning? Before his consciousness faded, the company commander suspected that everyone's hearing had been attracted by the heavy machine guns of the Chinese army in front, and they simply hadn't had time to hear the sound of the enemy shooting from behind.

The troops in Laoshan didn't execute the discipline of treating prisoners so firmly. After the battlefield fell silent, they quickly swept the battlefield, collecting as much of the Japanese weapons and ammunition, and even shell casings, as possible. During the process of clearing the battlefield, some dying Japanese soldiers tried to raise their guns to shoot, and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army immediately shot them dead. Carrying a large amount of weapons and ammunition, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army troops left behind a ground covered in dead and wounded, carried a few slightly wounded Japanese prisoners, and quickly retreated into the mountains. Nearly half an hour after the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army retreated, the Japanese reinforcements cautiously groped their way up.

For the entire day after this, guerrilla warfare in the Laoshan area continued daily. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army implemented "cold gun, cold run" tactics (sniper and scoot). Posturing to lure the Japanese in various places, they constantly inflicted casualties on the Japanese in bits and pieces. Suffering over a hundred sporadic attacks within twenty-four hours, with casualties every time, the Sendai Division Commander was thoroughly enraged. The Chinese army opposite them could only be described as shameless. The battlefield was no longer a place to display military might, but had turned into a true Asura field, a slaughterhouse.

Facing the enemy's harassment, the Japanese army sent several companies and even battalions into the mountains to clear them out the next day. Before setting out, the Division Commander warned the troops that this battle was for the purpose of eliminating the enemy harassment units in the surrounding area. However, by the afternoon, the sound of gunfire and artillery in the mountains was intense. The Japanese had to send another battalion to provide support. By nightfall, there was no news from either the Japanese vanguard or the reinforcements. It wasn't until dawn the next day that wounded soldiers crawled back. Two battalions had been ambushed in the mountains one after another and completely wiped out.

After daybreak, not only did the Japanese wounded return, but the Chinese army's harassment units also returned. The Japanese had also set up many sentry posts on the hilltops near the landing zone, and these sentry posts were pulled out one by one by the Chinese army. Almost every minute, Japanese soldiers were losing their lives; every minute, the sound of gunfire never ceased.

The Commander of the Sendai Division discovered a terrifying fact: if he wanted to lead his troops to the Liuting area of Qingdao as planned, he would have to endure fierce attacks from the roadside during the march. If he wanted to clear out the Chinese troops in the Laoshan area before advancing on Qingdao, the entire strength of the Sendai Division was simply insufficient to control this unfamiliar mountainous area. On the contrary, the Chinese army, as the local power, could fight or retreat, sticking to the Japanese army like sticky candy. Thinking of the terrible situation they faced, the Sendai Division Commander was indecisive and simply couldn't come up with any solution.

Not expanding the defense line meant being passively beaten. Expanding the defense line meant the Japanese outposts would be beaten. Attacking with battalion-strength forces resulted in the two battalions being annihilated. The Japanese Sendai Division was a Class A division, also known as a draft-horse division, commanding 2 brigades (each brigade with 2 infantry regiments), and one regiment each of engineers, cavalry, artillery, and transport, totaling 8 regiments. Plus the division headquarters and the non-combat personnel of the two brigade headquarters, the entire division had a strength of 28,200 men. Although the number was large, scattering these nearly thirty thousand men throughout the Laoshan mountains amounted to nothing. The coastline of Laoshan alone was 87 kilometers long; thirty thousand men holding hands wouldn't even be that long. If the Japanese divided their forces, with one part advancing towards the Liuting area of Qingdao, the Chinese army in the mountains would certainly give up attacking the Japanese army and switch to cutting off the Japanese transport lines. At that time, the Japanese troops at the front would be advancing alone... The war games in the division headquarters made all the commanders of the Sendai Division shudder.

In the Qingdao Fortress Command Post, less than 80 *li* in a straight line from the Japanese at Yangkou, Qingdao, Pu Guanshui had already received the latest combat report. Although the Japanese had landed three days ago, under the fierce blows of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, neither of the two Japanese divisions had been able to advance smoothly. Japanese prisoners had revealed the unit numbers and strength of the two divisions. According to the latest news obtained by the People's Party intelligence system, the Japanese had dispatched nearly 80,000 army and navy troops to attack Qingdao this time. The Qingdao Military Sub-district currently had four divisions and other troops, totaling nearly 120,000 men. Judging by the current battle situation, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was in a favorable position.

Even in the Qingdao area, the Qingdao Fortress was gradually regaining the advantage in artillery duels. The German troops captured in the Qingdao Fortress last time had joined the Qingdao Fortress defense troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army under the encouragement of the "United Front." Only now did Pu Guanshui realize that these Germans hadn't told much of the truth after being captured. Including the organization of artillery positions and firing charts, the Germans had held back a move or even several moves. Only knowing that the Japanese facing them had now joined the Allied Powers and officially become Germany's enemy did these Germans contribute all their knowledge and strength. Pu Guanshui knew about the "United Front" and had received relevant political training. This was the first time Pu Guanshui understood that a common enemy and grasping the principal contradiction were the most important driving forces in a united front.

With the help of the Qingdao Fortress builders, the effectiveness of the artillery duels in the last two days had improved significantly. When the Japanese attempted to land, three destroyers were sunk, one cruiser was heavily damaged and nearly sank while billowing thick smoke, and one battleship took three hits. More than a dozen small boats implementing the landing were also sunk. Plus, the Japanese navy's small-scale frontal landing battle failed completely, with the landing Japanese troops being completely wiped out. By September 26, 1914, the fourth day after the Japanese launched their attack on September 22, 1914, the Japanese navy temporarily ceased its attacks, and all fleets in front of Qingdao withdrew to the outer seas.

Pu Guanshui immediately sent a telegram to the Shandong Military Region, reporting the current situation. That same night, Pu Guanshui received a reply. "Comrade Pu Guanshui, the Army expresses great gratification at the combat results achieved by the comrades of the Qingdao Military Sub-district through bloody fighting. After the Japanese offensive was frustrated, there will definitely be adjustments. With their current strength, they cannot complete the operational concept of landing on two wings to encircle Qingdao. Therefore, in addition to preventing the Japanese from jumping over the wall in desperation and forcibly implementing this operational concept regardless of everything, we must also consider another possibility: that the Japanese will expand their troop commitment and even expand the scale of the war. If it is the latter, the Qingdao Military Sub-district will face an even more severe situation. The Shandong Military Region, including the Military Commission, is making preparations. We hope the Qingdao Military Sub-district can stick to defending our national soil and absolutely never let the invaders step onto Chinese land. Finally, we pay high tribute to the comrades of the Qingdao Military Sub-district who are fighting continuously."

After reading the telegram, Pu Guanshui felt somewhat surprised. Both the Chinese and Japanese sides had committed 200,000 soldiers to the war. This was already a war of unprecedented scale in East Asia and even Asia in decades. "Could this battle expand even further?" Pu Guanshui had absolutely no certainty about this.