"Comrades, the Beiyang Army is coming to attack us, do you know that?"

"We know!"

"Then do you know why we are fighting?"

"To protect the fruits of the revolution!"

"In the past, comrades had no land and no livelihood. You had to pay rent, pay taxes, and suffer bullying. Now with the revolution, everyone has shared land and food, and you are no longer bullied by officials and landlords. But the officials and landlords won't agree to this; they want to fight their way back and snatch everyone's things. We are fighting this battle with them to defend the fruits of the revolution, to defend everything that everyone has worked so hard to build! Comrades, do you have confidence?"

"Yes!" A cry like a tsunami erupted from the army. This was not a perfunctory shout. Most of the soldiers in the Shandong Military Region of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were not from Shandong, but they were all of commoner origin. Striking down local tyrants and dividing the land in Shandong, and helping the locality with infrastructure construction—all this work was not just needed by the masses in the Shandong base area; placed in any ordinary region of China, it was support that the local masses desperately needed. Although they were serving in Shandong, the soldiers believed that their own homes were undergoing similar changes. Even if they came from old base areas where a considerable part of the infrastructure construction had already been completed, the soldiers still believed that what they were doing was absolutely correct and just.

Regarding the Beiyang Army attacking the base area, the soldiers firmly believed that these people were coming to snatch the people's fruits of revolution. The consensus at the pre-battle mobilization meeting was naturally to thoroughly annihilate the invading Beiyang Army. The political commissars struck while the iron was hot, shouting loudly, "If we don't thoroughly annihilate the Beiyang Army, if we don't thoroughly overthrow the Beiyang government, we common people will never have good days!"

"Annihilate the Beiyang Army!"

"Down with the Beiyang government!"

The soldiers shouted with aroused indignation.

Relying on shouting slogans naturally wouldn't overthrow the Beiyang Army, and battle deployment was also proceeding urgently.

Jin Yunpeng knew that even the Japanese hadn't been able to conquer Qingdao. Simple attacks would be useless; to attack Qingdao, one had to pile on superior forces, just like the Japanese relying purely on troop superiority to take the lushun Fortress during the Russo-Japanese War. The forces in Jinan plus Dezhou totaled around 400,000. Leaving 50,000 to guard each city, using the other troops to attack Qingdao should be about enough.

Even so, Jin Yunpeng didn't dare to be overconfident. From his perspective, it would be best if the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army concentrated its forces to defend Qingdao. If they were stalled under Qingdao and their rear was cut off, that would be too stupid. Of the 300,000 attacking troops, about 100,000 were used to maintain communication lines and guard against the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army south of Qingdao moving north to reinforce. After completing such a deployment, Jin Yunpeng took a train towards Qingdao on July 10th.

The carriage was naturally temporarily modified. Apart from Jin Yunpeng's own bedroom being very comfortable, another carriage had been converted into a staff headquarters, and the military conference was held inside.

"Brothers," because those inside were all high-ranking officers, Jin Yunpeng was much more casual in his address, "In this attack on Qingdao, as long as we take it, I won't take a single bit of the things inside; brothers can take it all for yourselves. However, I'll say this upfront: the Great President and Commander Duan have already issued strict orders. In this battle against the People's Party, victory is permitted, defeat is not. If anyone fights ineffectively or cowers from advancing, it's not that I, your brother, won't show mercy, but the Great President and Commander Duan won't show mercy."

The high-ranking Beiyang officers remained silent. These words were actually as good as unsaid. Yuan Shikai wouldn't show mercy to officers who fought ineffectively, and that had nothing to do with Jin Yunpeng.

After a moment of silence, Chen Guangyuan, commander of the 5th Army, asked, "Commander Jin, regarding our attack on Qingdao, do you have any plan?"

Jin Yunpeng wasn't completely incompetent in military matters; someone without ability couldn't be valued by Duan Qirui. He said seriously, "What plan can there be? First bombard the city with heavy artillery, then charge in. The last time the People's Party fought the Japanese, Qingdao faced the Japanese Navy; the Japanese Army was wiped out before they even saw Qingdao. This time we are attacking from both land and sea, I don't fear Qingdao won't fall."

"Could you be more specific?" asked Zhao Yuke, commander of the 6th Army. Although what Jin Yunpeng said was already the best tactic the Beiyang Army could adopt, any plan would seem insufficient before the battle. Wanting to take Qingdao and having a detailed, reliable plan to attack Qingdao were two different things.

Jin Yunpeng frowned. "Brothers, are you afraid?"

"How could we?! Commander Jin, you must be joking!" The generals didn't dare say the word 'afraid'. At this point, apart from risking their lives in battle, they had no other choice.

"Fighting relies on this spirit. If you're afraid and lose morale, you can't fight anything. Explain clearly to the brothers below this time: once we take Qingdao, the things and people inside belong to everyone!" Jin Yunpeng tried his best to encourage them. The Beiyang Army had no experience in siege warfare at all, and besides saying this, Jin Yunpeng really couldn't come up with anything else.

After the train stopped in Weifang, a communications officer hurriedly boarded the train. "Report! The People's Party forces in Rizhao have already rushed into Qingdao before our army could block them!"

Hearing this news, the faces of the Beiyang generals inside the carriage turned ugly. They planned to attack Qingdao with a powerful superior force, but the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army units reinforcing the Qingdao garrison before the Beiyang Army arrived was definitely not good news.

"How many people did the People's Party send in?" Jin Yunpeng asked with a dark face.

"This... probably less than thirty thousand!" The intelligence obtained by the intelligence officer wasn't very accurate either. The telegram said a large group of People's Party reinforcements had rushed to Qingdao, so the intelligence officer could only guess at the specific number.

"Order the 4th Division of the 5th Army to quickly seal off the railway. Absolutely no more soldiers of the People's Party can be allowed into Qingdao!" Jin Yunpeng ordered.

"Commander Jin, previously according to reconnaissance, the People's Party had fifty thousand troops in Qingdao. Now that another thirty thousand have gone in, will it be too hard to fight?" The 6th Army was originally guarding Dezhou and was now sent to attack Qingdao together with the 5th Army. Zhao Yuke, commander of the 6th Army, felt quite nervous.

Before he could finish speaking, the intelligence officer delivered news one after another. People's Party reinforcement troops appeared constantly, and the Beiyang Army units responsible for guarding the south began to request reinforcements.

After listening to this news, Jin Yunpeng first paced back and forth in the staff carriage with his hands behind his back and a vicious expression, then stopped and laughed loudly. This action puzzled the other generals. Everyone's doubtful gazes fell on Jin Yunpeng.

"Gentlemen, when enemies meet on a narrow road, the brave one wins. Currently, our army must take Qingdao, and the People's Party must rescue Qingdao. We are fighting in such a small place, the People's Party can't play any tricks. As long as the 5th Army guards the south well, we will attack with full force and must take Qingdao."

After saying this, Jin Yunpeng strode to the map. "Brothers, the People's Party has no navy and simply cannot reinforce Qingdao from the sea. Our Beiyang Navy has surrounded Qingdao from the sea. The rest is our army attacking from west to east. To reinforce Qingdao, the People's Party will definitely concentrate all their forces to move north. As long as we can take Qingdao and then the main force suddenly moves south, with the cooperation of the navy, I'm afraid none of the People's Party forces moving north to rescue Qingdao will be able to run away. This is a heavenly military merit. Brothers, you must rise up and kill the enemy to earn your own credit!"

With this explanation, the Beiyang generals suddenly felt their eyes light up. Just as Jin Yunpeng said, this was a huge opportunity. As long as they could take Qingdao in one go, the People's Party troops moving north to reinforce simply wouldn't have time to know that Qingdao had fallen. At that time, the probability of the Beiyang Army achieving further victory would greatly increase.

"Commander Jin, we will definitely take Qingdao and report our merit to the Great President!" The Beiyang generals expressed their stance excitedly.

Later that day, Pu Guanshui also received news of engagement with the enemy. The Beiyang Army's firm attitude in attacking Qingdao made Pu Guanshui and the comrades at the frontline command headquarters breathe a sigh of relief. If Beiyang was half-hearted and blamed others after engagement, this battle would actually not be so easy to fight. After all, taking the train on the Jiaoji Railway, one could reach Jinan from Qingdao in just 12 hours. If the Beiyang Army left troops in every place, the pressure on the forces attacking reinforcements would be too great.

And in the received news, the various units of the Beiyang 5th Army not only didn't show any intention of shrinking back, but instead moved quickly towards the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, assuming a posture of blocking the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army firmly in the south.

"The Daming Prefecture Campaign is all about speed!" Pu Guanshui said. The comrades looked at the map, knowing clearly in their hearts. Jin Yunpeng wasn't a fool; he wouldn't stupidly leave Jinan alone in the rear. Apart from leaving 50,000 troops to guard the city, the Beiyang Army had dispatched troops to other key transportation points to prevent the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army from suddenly marching on Jinan. And the only advantage of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army lay in having basically occupied the Yimeng Mountain area. If the troops took the mountain roads, they could avoid all areas heavily guarded by the Beiyang Army and thrust directly under the walls of Jinan. Before this, the marching route in the mountains had long been determined, and engineering troops had been sent to tidy up the roads. Now the only key point was whether the 100,000 troops attacking Jinan could pass through this difficult and rugged road in the shortest time and launch a surprise attack under Jinan city.

"The troops' morale is high, and the soldiers' desire to fight is very high!" said the Military Region Political Commissar.

Pu Guanshui nodded. "This depends on whether our construction in the Yimeng Mountain area can satisfy the masses!"

This remark was truly pragmatic, but there was no helping it. Marching speed in the mountains couldn't be very fast anyway. If there wasn't a good mass foundation, and the mountain people who were used to climbing mountains and crossing ridges reported to the Beiyang Army, although the campaign wouldn't necessarily fail, the resistance encountered would definitely increase greatly.

And the Shandong Military Region had no better choice at the moment. Pu Guanshui ordered: "The troops feigning attack on the enemy's southern line should strengthen their offensive to make the enemy feel we are determined to reinforce Qingdao. The troops attacking Daming Prefecture should start marching now!"

The mountainous area from Yimeng Mountain to Mount Tai was a region the People's Party had never let go of. Even after signing the agreement with Yuan Shikai a few years ago, where the Yimeng Mountain area was divided into two, with the south belonging to the People's Party and the north to Beiyang, the People's Party had never given up occupying this area. Now, the 38th Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was marching through these mountains.

For the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, this barren mountain area was not unfamiliar. Patches of oak forests, mountain trails, small reservoirs built with stones, and diversion canals excavated and built from the reservoirs—these were all built by the officers and soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army together with the local masses. As for the bridges built with cement and stones in dangerous areas, they were the crystallization of the sweat of the People's Party engineering troops. On the stone tablets erected at the bridgeheads of many bridges, the names and identities of those who sacrificed their lives while building the bridges were engraved. The proportion of soldiers among the sacrifices exceeded half.

On such a piece of land, the People's Party had only given for the past few years. Now marching in the mountains, the troops had to completely trust the people on this land.

This was the first time such a large force had appeared in the Yimeng Mountain area, and soon the villages along the way were alarmed. By the roadside, children herding sheep looked at this long column with surprised eyes. When the troops passed through villages, the masses inside were also alarmed. No one was afraid; instead, many masses hurried up, making various requests to the troops as before. Some wanted the troops to help watch over planted trees, some wanted the troops to help repair agricultural tools, and some had sick people at home and implored the army doctors to help treat them.

The village heads had learned the news that the troops would pass through the mountains to fight earlier. However, while receiving this news, the village heads also received the order: "Absolutely no leaking of information." so although they wanted to persuade them, the village heads didn't know how to explain to the villagers that the troops weren't here to help everyone work this time, but to fight a war.

Fortunately, the troops were well prepared for this. They left a certain number of personnel in the villages to help the masses solve immediate problems, while the main force continued to advance towards Jinan without stopping.

The mountain roads were naturally not easy to walk. If not for the infrastructure construction carried out with untold hardships in the mountains over these years, many places would simply be impassable. Even so, many places simply couldn't allow the troops to march two abreast. The entire force appeared as a long thin line, winding around the mountains.

During the day, planes of the air force also flew in the sky. At night, the troops lit torches, and the mountains seemed to light up with strings of pearls as the undulating columns continued their march in the mountains.

The clothing of the masses along the way was also changing. The deeper into the mountains they went, the more different the clothing became. In relatively closed-off areas, some masses in the mountains even still wore queues. For them, revolution, the abdication of the Manchu Qing, and China implementing a republic were all distant things. These masses had no concept of what had happened outside the mountains.

But facing the team of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, no one was afraid. This was the "government army" they had seen most in recent decades, and this army had brought them too many things. Although they didn't know where so many people were going, and knew clearly that the little grain used to make thin porridge at home wasn't enough for so many people to even get a small bite each, many simple and honest mountain people still took out their family's grain to cook for the army that had brought them so many benefits.

The troops naturally couldn't accept the masses' food; this was required by discipline. But the enthusiasm of the mountain people couldn't be refused, so the troops had to take out grain and money as payment. "No need for this! No need for this." The masses said with beaming smiles, carrying the grain bags.

Every village along the way was left with a portion of soldiers. These comrades not only had to help the local masses solve problems but also had to be responsible for keeping the local masses from leaving the villages to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Starting the march on July 11th, by July 15th, the vanguard troops had passed through the entire mountain area and arrived stealthily near Jinan.

The intelligence agency in Jinan quickly made contact with the troops. The Jinan garrison hadn't discovered the movement of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. The city defense was still about the same as usual; apart from a few more troops on the city walls, alertness hadn't been raised to combat readiness levels.

After a brief reorganization, the siege corps launched the attack on the night of July 16th. The summer night didn't have the heat of the day. As Jinan, the City of Springs, the summer night wind was exceptionally cool. The wind mixed with water vapor blew across the high ground, making the guarding Beiyang soldiers inevitably a bit drowsy.

Jin Yunpeng didn't dare to be overconfident, and Jinan city couldn't hold these 50,000 troops. So there were Beiyang Army camps and strongholds in key places like Lizhuang, Shuangshantou, and Changqing. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army divided into two groups: one attacked west to seize those key points, and the other went east to seize key points like Maoling Mountain and Yanchi Mountain, which were barriers to the east of the city.

Because many Beiyang soldiers had been captured in the Hebei battles, there was no shortage of Beiyang uniforms from those who came south from Linqing. When the vanguard troops put on Beiyang uniforms and marched neatly towards the enemy's positions, they looked quite convincing. The only thing that might expose everyone's identity was the guns carried on their shoulders. However, no Beiyang soldiers discovered this, and small squads approached the enemy's periphery.