If such a thing as psychokinesis truly existed, the Commander of the Sendai Division would undoubtedly have used it to snap his subordinate's neck. With the heavy pressure in his heart and the surging tide of his emotions, he might have even killed a few more. Unfortunately, the Commander of the Sendai Division was just an ordinary Earthling, so he glared at the Deputy Chief of Staff with murderous eyes and said in that unique tone of a superior suppressing a subordinate: "The reason for executing prisoners in front of the formation is to let the Beiyang Army opposite know what result awaits them if their attack fails."

The Sendai Division Commander really couldn't say too much. The artillery barrage that just intercepted the Beiyang Army's follow-up forces had already consumed more than half of the Sendai Division's artillery reserve. The Naval guns were certainly large, but communication between the two sides was poor, and it was a toss-up whether the called-in shells would land on the Beiyang Army or the Japanese troops. Secondly, the traditional conflict between the Army and the Navy also meant that the Sendai Division Commander could not command the Navy at all.

Faced with such a reality, the Sendai Division Commander had to control the situation as much as possible before the Army Ministry's next order arrived. Killing prisoners of war wasn't very glorious. According to the Commander's view, as long as it could effectively intimidate the Beiyang Army and cause their offensive to ease up slightly, the Commander believed he could bear this bit of infamy.

The Deputy Chief of Staff didn't quite accept the Commander's explanation. "Your Excellency, will this method work? If our side is only sticking to our defense here, there is absolutely no need to take the measures just now."

Hearing the words "sticking to defense", the Sendai Division Commander could no longer hold back. "Idiot!" he shouted in anger.

When retreating from the Yakou in Laoshan, no matter how the Sendai Division advertised that they were going to attack Rizhao, and that the purpose of attacking Rizhao was to better strike the People's Party... These words had to be said, but no one from the Division Commander down to the Sergeants believed them. Ending a war is far more difficult than starting one. As for a dignified retreat, unless a victory was achieved, it was absolutely impossible.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, who "saw off" the Japanese army retreating from Yakou, had no flowers in their hands. Even though the Japanese naval guns were trying their best to provide fire cover, the Revolutionary Army's artillery and bullets were also trying their best to kill and wound the Japanese rear guard. After fighting for five or six days at Yakou, suffering endless shelling and shooting every day, and losing thousands of officers and soldiers, the Japanese army fled onto the warships with their tails between their legs. No matter how it was embellished, it was impossible to make the Japanese soldiers believe this was a victory.

Seizing Rizhao also brought a little excitement to the Japanese army. The order issued by the Army Ministry to the Sendai Division was simple: "Hold fast." The Army Ministry had no obvious plan for operations after occupying Rizhao, but any fool could see that for a division to penetrate deep into the Chinese mainland, meeting the People's Party's troops would mean certain death. The Japanese army scoured Rizhao, an empty city, for everything they could loot. But before they had enjoyed a couple of good days, tens of thousands of Beiyang troops attacked. The failure of the Qingdao Campaign and the fact that the Kyushu Division was almost completely wiped out brought pressure as heavy as Mount Tai to the Sendai Division Commander.

Just now, the Beiyang Fourth Army's first wave of attacks broke through the Japanese positions, greatly discounting the possibility of completing the "hold fast" mission. This couldn't help but make the panic in the Sendai Division Commander's heart far greater than the feeling of actual combat capability decline caused by troop losses. Killing prisoners of war was also a way for the Division Commander to relieve his own psychological pressure.

The Sendai Division Deputy Chief of Staff could probably understand the Commander's thoughts. His opposition to shooting prisoners in front of the formation was not directed at the Commander. The Beiyang Army was coming aggressively, and the Deputy Chief of Staff worried that shooting prisoners might trigger intense retaliatory psychology from the Beiyang Army. The Japanese army formed units based on regional origin, one of the purposes being to hope that the troops could improve cohesion due to regional factors. The desire for revenge is also a form of cohesion. Seeing fellow villagers die in battle can always give Japanese troops more reason to keep fighting. But seeing the Commander's exasperated appearance right now, the Deputy Chief of Staff also tactfully shut his mouth. The hierarchy in the Japanese army was strict. According to investigations, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army under the People's Party adopted "officer-soldier equality." The Japanese army laughed greatly when studying this. Because the Japanese army could not imagine how an army could operate smoothly without high and low ranks. The Deputy Chief of Staff was also one of those who laughed loudly; he naturally dared not overstep the Japanese army's "rules."

But the Deputy Chief of Staff's worry was obviously justified. Outside, the screaming sound of shells tearing through the air suddenly rang out. Just by the sound, it could be determined that the Beiyang Army was firing at the Japanese army again. Everyone in the Sendai Division headquarters immediately became tense. The report from the front line arrived in the blink of an eye: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, the Beiyang Army has started charging again."

Infantry-artillery coordination is a very important method of warfare. Hearing that the Beiyang Army began to attack under artillery cover, the Sendai Division Commander said nothing and strode to the telescope in the headquarters bunker. Sure enough, in the telescope, he saw the stream of people composed of Beiyang Army cyan uniforms lunging at the Japanese positions again.

Even if Wu Peifu did not have the combat capability of the People's Party, he was not an incompetent person. This attack was still divided into left, center, and right routes, but these three routes had at least absorbed the experience of the last attack. At least in terms of routes, the three Beiyang Army columns were more orderly during the attack. The Beiyang Army was not as willing as the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army to waste so many shells on live-fire practice, so they could not form a creeping barrage attack. Wu Peifu used a very primitive method, observing through balloons to determine the approximate shooting area on the Japanese positions. With artillery fire flying and shrapnel shooting everywhere, it could at least affect the Japanese army's operations. The Beiyang Army relied on a burst of fierceness, treading on the path marked by the blood of their Beiyang brothers from the last attack to launch a ferocious attack on the Japanese army.

The Japanese army also learned their lesson, and heavy machine guns immediately began to fire fiercely. The Beiyang Army also immediately lay down, using the high rate of fire of the Lee-Enfield rifles to return fire. The reliability of the Japanese heavy machine guns was obviously inferior to the Lee-Enfield rifles. The Beiyang's concentrated fire knocked out some heavy machine gun strongpoints, while other heavy machine guns stopped roaring due to mechanical failures. In this instant when the Japanese firepower weakened, the Beiyang troops lying on the ground stood up and began to charge.

The Japanese army obviously underestimated the fierceness of the Beiyang Army. Having just failed in an attack, the Beiyang Army immediately organized the next attack. The evil consequences of shooting prisoners of war appeared. Shooting prisoners certainly relieved the Japanese army's anxiety, but it also made the Japanese army's nerves, which had relaxed, unable to tense up again immediately. In more colloquial terms, after "leaking murderous intent," the speed of condensing it again is not that fast. Since shooting prisoners failed to knock out the Beiyang Army's morale, it could only stimulate the Beiyang Army's determination to fight to the death.

The Japanese troops on the front line had to raise their bayonets to fight the Beiyang Army. The Beiyang Army's three-pronged attack only broke through one Japanese position on the left last time. This time, the attacks in the center and right both succeeded, and they all killed their way into the Japanese first-line positions. The black uniforms of the Japanese army and the cyan uniforms of the Beiyang Army were instantly mixed together in a melee. Gunshots, roars, the sound of bayonets colliding, and screams mixed together.

Two Beiyang follow-up units immediately began to follow up. The Sendai Division had no choice but to use artillery fire again to stop the Beiyang Army's follow-up troops. Only this time, limited by the shell problem, the Japanese army could no longer launch a fierce bombardment like the last time, but strove to shoot more accurately. To carry out artillery strikes on the two reinforcing columns.

Wu Peifu did not repeat the same mistakes. From the rear of the Beiyang Army column that was originally "blocked in attack," a large number of Beiyang troops suddenly poured out. The troops that were somewhat timid at the beginning of the attack suddenly changed their original appearance, stood up, and charged fiercely at the Japanese army. The Japanese troops facing them were somewhat shaken because the first-line position next to them had been penetrated by the Beiyang Army. They were charged into the position by the Beiyang Army on the left in one go. The Beiyang backup troops behind the left route surged onto the Japanese position like a tide.

The Japanese artillery was firing according to fixed firing data. In the blink of an eye, the Beiyang left route rushed into the Japanese right-wing position. It was too late for them to adjust the firing data. Large numbers of Beiyang troops had already killed all the Japanese soldiers in the first-line positions and began to thrust towards the second-line positions.

After receiving the news, Wu Peifu roared viciously: "Victory or defeat lies here! Artillery, fire all the shells!" The Beiyang Army's artillery immediately fired all their shells at the Japanese positions in one go.

The Beiyang shells effectively disrupted the traffic in the Japanese second and third-line positions, killing and wounding many Japanese troops. The flying dust affected the Japanese observation, and the Beiyang Army shouted and continued to attack fiercely.

The port area currently under construction in Rizhao is a large flat piece of land. On this flat land, there are not many places that can be used as reliance. After breaking through the Japanese front, the Beiyang Army troops moved forward and forward. If it were the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, or at least the well-trained British, French, and German armies, the best strategy at this time would be to give way to the enemy's sharp edge and let them rush directly in. The defending side would mobilize troops to form a pocket formation. After dispatching troops to plug the gap, the pocket formation would rely on heavy machine guns and other firepower to encircle and annihilate the invading enemy troops. At least in the Battle of the Marne that ended not long ago, this tactic was used multiple times by both warring sides.

But neither the Beiyang nor the Japanese army had such high military literacy and quality. The Japanese army feared that their connection would be cut off after the Beiyang Army cut into the position. The Sendai Division Commander ordered troops at all levels to block the Beiyang Army's fierce attack, and the troops began a counterattack.

Wu Peifu trained his soldiers extremely strictly. Even if his subordinates were afraid of death, they dared not disobey military orders. Moreover, the Beiyang Army's tradition of "winning by courage" was still there. Encountering the Japanese counterattack, the Beiyang Army also bravely rushed up to fight to the death with the Japanese army. Units in black uniforms and cyan uniforms ran on the battlefield. The range of engagement and even hand-to-hand combat gradually expanded. As the Japanese artillery fell silent, Wu Peifu ordered both divisions of the Beiyang Army's Fourth Army under his command to be thrown into the battle. The entire battlefield boiled like a large cauldron. The battlefield where rifles were used, after enemies and friends mixed together, gradually turned into a Shura field of flesh and blood.

On October 10th, Chen Ke in Zhengzhou received the news: "After a bloody battle, the Sendai Division in Rizhao has retreated from Rizhao by ship. The Beiyang Wu Peifu unit has occupied Rizhao. Asking the Central Committee for instructions on the next step."

As for how to act, there seemed to be few choices. Either allow Wu Peifu to stay in Rizhao, or send troops to wipe out Wu Peifu. Chen Ke instructed: "Currently, cut off the traffic between Rizhao and other regions. At the same time, contact Wu Peifu and ask if he is willing to accept our medical support. If he sends his troops to our controlled area, we can treat them."

Wu Peifu was able to beat the Japanese away, but failed to annihilate the Japanese army on the beach. Presumably, the Beiyang Army also suffered heavy casualties. Chen Ke knew that Wu Peifu was a very fierce person. Among the executioners who suppressed the February 7th Strike, Wu Peifu was also on the list. If he were a smarter commander who was more compassionate towards his subordinates, at this time, he would borrow the slope to get off the donkey and make a graceful exit. However, if Wu Peifu insisted on learning from Zhang Lingfu, Chen Ke did not care about laying hands on this newly minted "Anti-Japanese Famous General."