"Keep going... Keep moving forward!" shouted the battalion commander of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 2nd Division of the 15th Army, who was leading the charge, gasping for breath. Unlike marching on a battlefield, every step in a snow charge involved sinking half a leg into thick snow. Pushing through the snow with leg strength required great effort, and pulling the leg out to take another large step forward required even more.

Half an hour had passed since the charge bugle sounded, and the 1st Battalion, flanking from the side, had only advanced just over 600 meters. Every soldier was panting heavily, and some with insufficient stamina even stopped halfway to catch their breath. The 1st Battalion Commander was anxious. In Shandong, Hebei, and battles in other liberated areas, this short distance of 600 meters could be easily covered by the troops in three minutes, allowing them to immediately engage in fierce combat. He wanted to shout to encourage the comrades to push forward, but the oncoming north wind was extremely fierce, and he was also exhausted. He found that his voice couldn't be heard by the comrades at all. Gritting his teeth, the 1st Battalion Commander continued to trudge heavily forward in the thick snow.

From a high ground, Commander Wei Bo of the 15th Army watched the charge clearly through his binoculars. After the order to attack was given, the speed of the charge was far slower than imagined. Except for the 1st Division's vanguard, which used dog sleds to launch a surprise attack and managed to rush into the Japanese defensive circle in a relatively short time, and the subsequent troops who picked up some speed by following the path pressed by the sleds, the flanking teams all invariably encountered difficulties in movement.

Even knowing there was a problem with his order, Wei Bo couldn't change the operational command now. After the troops had scattered, ordering the comrades to turn back would not only waste physical strength for nothing, but the time spent following the path opened by the 1st Division again might not necessarily be shorter.

"Order the sled troops to open the way!" Wei Bo issued a new command. However, the dog sled troops couldn't be redeployed that quickly, and the troops relying entirely on manpower to charge had to sustain it for a while longer.

Born from the 38th Army, the 15th Army had a tough style, and Commander Wei Bo's character was also quite straightforward. Therefore, the tactics adopted by the 15th Army were very direct, which were the most common infantry squad and platoon tactics of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army. This was a fairly universal tactic in other regions, but when deployed in thick snow, the 15th Army's battle seemed unreasonable.

Wei Bo also made a profound self-criticism for this after the war. The military review meetings of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army did not allow empty talk. After summarization, the final conclusion was, "The 15th Army certainly organized and learned a lot of experience, and also felt the various inconveniences brought by the severe cold of winter, but they were far from truly accepting the objective existence of severe cold and heavy snow like the 18th Army. Subconsciously, the 15th Army still treated this natural environment as an enemy to be overcome, rather than being able to turn these natural conditions into a part of their own combat."

But even so, the 15th Army's battle still had commendable points. First, the 1st Division inserted itself into the defensive positions of the Japanese 7th Division with lightning speed. Although called defensive positions, due to the South Manchuria Railway being completely wiped out and the severe winter weather, the Japanese had not been able to grasp the strength of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army at all. The 7th Division's key defensive direction was still north rather than south. Not long after they discovered the main force of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army charging over, the entire deployment fell into comprehensive chaos. Before the Japanese could fully organize a battle line, the commanders and fighters of the 15th Army had already begun fierce exchanges with the 7th Division.

The battle distance shortened constantly during the exchange of fire. From the first gunshot, it took less than 20 minutes for the battle to develop into the bayonet fighting stage. Fortunately, the Japanese situation was equally bad. The 7th Division certainly had the advantage of defense, but the Japanese army's consistent disregard for logistics was revealed undoubtedly at this time. The tents had poor wind and cold protection, the uniforms were not thick enough, and the warmth retention was low. By the time the Japanese heard the combat order, began to assemble, deploy, and finally felt a little warm, the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army had already crossed the snow and rushed to their faces. Although the process was not as Wei Bo had initially envisioned, a balance was reached due to a series of internal and external factors.

Thus, the current situation became the 1st Division's vanguard troops, with the strength of two battalions, starting a battle against the Japanese 7th Division. Charging and fighting fiercely was the characteristic of the 15th Army. The Japanese troops who initially engaged were insufficient in both numbers and preparation, and lacked unified command. The hastily responding troops couldn't even attack at the battalion scale; many were small squads of dozens of people coming one after another to join the battle.

Facing the Japanese soldiers wearing black uniforms, the soldiers of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army first swept with machine guns, then exchanged rifle fire, and threw grenades to clear the way. After approaching the scattered opponents, they stabbed fiercely with bayonets and fired pistols at close range. In a moment, they wiped out three groups of Japanese soldiers numbering less than a hundred and rushed into the Japanese camp.

The regimental headquarters of the 1st Regiment, 1st Division of the 15th Army followed the first wave of troops into the Japanese camp. The regimental headquarters rushed in with the 2nd Battalion. The 2nd Battalion Commander pulled down the wool neck warmer covering his face and asked the Regimental Commander breathlessly, "Commander, should we set up a position?"

The Regimental Commander answered without thinking, "The 1st Battalion continues to advance, the 2nd Battalion sweeps the enemies inside the surrounding tents. Once the 3rd Battalion catches up, the 2nd Battalion attacks to the left."

The 2nd Battalion Commander looked troubled, "Commander, the comrades are all exhausted! Can we set up a position to rest first, at least catch our breath?"

"If you are tired, rest at the regimental headquarters. I will lead the comrades of the 2nd Battalion to charge forward!" the Regimental Commander shouted angrily. The physical strength required for a snow charge was indeed far beyond imagination, and all comrades, including the Regimental Commander, were very tired. However, the troops had just broken into the enemy's camp. If they didn't take advantage of the enemy's current chaos to develop in depth immediately, once the enemy stabilized their line, the troops that had broken in would face fire from at least a semicircle, or even be counter-enveloped by the enemy. That would be a truly hopeless situation.

The 2nd Battalion Commander knew that the Regimental Commander would not change his mind. He panted a couple of times, then ran back to his troops to start directing the battle.

The sounds of gunshots and explosions became slightly distant in the Japanese camp as the 1st Battalion continued its attack. The 1st Regiment Commander and Political Commissar waited anxiously. Finally, when the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment and the vanguard of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment arrived at the controlled area, the Regimental Commander handed over the controlled area to the 2nd Regiment's troops. He ordered the 2nd Battalion to attack to the left, while he and the regimental headquarters joined the 3rd Battalion, following the path opened by the 1st Battalion to continue attacking towards the north.

Moving through the dense Japanese tents, the further north they went, the denser the Japanese became. In this dead of winter, the Japanese naturally couldn't sleep without their uniforms. Some Japanese soldiers still looked sleepy; these guys basically lost their lives without figuring out what was going on. Although he was still a bit apprehensive, the 1st Regiment Commander urged the troops to move forward rapidly. Theoretically, the remaining Japanese in the many tents did not have the ability to change the development of the battle. But once the attack was blocked, the situation would become passive.

When the 3rd Battalion was about to catch up with the 1st Battalion, a large group of Japanese soldiers suddenly appeared to the front right. Separated by dense tents, the distance was less than a hundred meters when they discovered each other. The commanders of both armies immediately organized volley fire. Fortunately, the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army was well-trained. While the comrades in the front row squatted to fire, the comrades in the back row dropped to the ground almost simultaneously. This exchange of fire, a contest of will, instantly knocked down many soldiers in both formations. There was also a lot of accumulated snow in the Japanese camp, and lying on it was like diving into a simple cover. The Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army had light machine guns in the exchange of fire, gaining quite an advantage. However, the enemy won in numbers. The Japanese quickly dispersed their forces and circled around through the gaps in the tents, and soon the exchange of fire turned into a bayonet fight again.

Unlike the snowy night bayonet fight encountered by the 18th Army, the sky was now clear. The strong wind had blown away the clouds, revealing a blue sky, bright sunlight, and the whistling sound of the wind. The soldiers of the Chinese and Japanese armies fighting in pairs could see every detail of each other very clearly.

Having participated in the Siege of Jinan, the 15th Army understood the role of bayonets in close-quarters combat even better than the 18th Army. On the city walls of Jinan, facing dense enemies, the troops had no time to reload after emptying their magazines. To kill the swarming enemies, the 38th Army engaged in bayonet fights more than once. And every bayonet fight effectively defeated the Beiyang Army's offensive. Since then, the 38th Army and the four divisions separated from it attached great importance to bayonet fighting. In this short-range combat, the 15th Army directly chose bayonet fighting. The Japanese still thought that bayonet fighting could easily defeat the Chinese army. They bypassed the tents with bayonets, only to see the commanders and fighters of the 15th Army opposite them already charging up with bayonets.

The 15th Army was mainly composed of soldiers from Shandong, whose stature greatly exceeded that of the short Japanese soldiers. Moreover, the People's Party vigorously developed the animal husbandry industry, so the soldiers generally had good food after enlisting. As soon as the Japanese engaged with the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army, the difference in physical strength between the two sides was revealed. When the bayonets crossed, the soldiers from Shandong stood almost still, while the Japanese staggered slightly at best, or retreated a step or two at worst. The Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army used a three-man group bayonet tactic. If the Japanese showed a slight flaw in their posture, the other two soldiers could immediately take advantage of the weakness and end the Japanese soldier's life.

When the formations of both sides were relatively dense, the pistols of the junior commanders of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army were extremely accurate at close range. As long as the pistol didn't have a mechanical failure, every bullet could take out an enemy, or at least injure them. The Japanese who were lucky enough not to die under the pistols were immediately stabbed to death by the charging Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army soldiers.

The battlefield is the place with the least room for negotiation because every mistake costs a life. The Japanese 7th Division did not expect their opponent, the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army, to be so proficient in hand-to-hand combat. Even worse, the Japanese still believed that their opponents had the characteristics of the Chinese army during the First Sino-Japanese War. Even if they had firepower superiority, their morale would be greatly damaged or they would even collapse directly when encountering hand-to-hand combat. For such rigid concepts, the Japanese paid a heavy price. If they hadn't underestimated the enemy, the Japanese inserting from the oblique rear into the 1st and 3rd Battalions might have been able to intercept the 3rd Battalion, or at least delay its advance. In the bayonet fight, this group of more than four hundred Japanese soldiers was wiped out in moments. Some Japanese soldiers were even scared into screaming and hiding inside the tents. The comrades of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army naturally wouldn't rush in. After everyone spread out slightly, some comrades threw grenades into the tents. With a loud bang, the tents were blown to pieces from the inside out like balloons. The enemies hiding inside had their clothes completely shredded, their flesh blurred and charred; even if they didn't die, they lost most of their lives. In the severe cold, they couldn't linger on for long.

The 1st Regiment headquarters commanded the 3rd Battalion to leave a small force to pursue the fleeing remnants, while the main force continued to charge forward. The 1st Battalion had already been attacked by enemies from multiple sides at this time. Although the enemies had not yet been able to unify their command, many ants can kill an elephant. Attacked by fierce enemy fire from three sides, the 1st Battalion was almost suppressed and couldn't lift their heads. The reinforcements from the 3rd Battalion first suppressed the enemies on the right, allowing the 1st Battalion to catch a breath. The battle between China and Japan finally entered positional warfare, and the Japanese finally managed to stop the 1st Regiment's offensive. at this time, the 1st Regiment had already penetrated more than 400 meters into the Japanese camp. With a breakthrough point, the follow-up troops of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army killed their way into the Japanese campsite. Perhaps because the weather was too cold, in the temperature of minus twenty-something degrees, despite the increasingly fierce battle, no "fire" occurred. This brought some trouble to the follow-up troops in clearing the Japanese tents. Some Japanese were hiding in the tents, causing some casualties during the search. But these casualties were nothing compared to the Japanese counterattack.

The Division Commander of the 7th Division never expected that a large force of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army would suddenly appear behind him, and that the attack of this army would be so sharp that the vanguard troops attacked to a distance of less than two hundred meters from the Division Headquarters tent. In the chaotic 7th Division Headquarters, the Division Commander howled: "Order the nearby regiments to counterattack immediately!"

Staff officers and the Japanese brigade and regiment commanders who were in the meeting got up one after another to convey orders or gather troops. In fact, the Japanese 7th Division Commander couldn't be blamed for such panic at this time. The attack route of the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army happened to split the Japanese campsite in two, and the attack route was heading straight for the Japanese Division Headquarters. This couldn't help but give the Japanese an illusion that the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army knew the deployment of the Japanese camp perfectly.

However, this anxiety was obviously wrong. If the Japanese Division Commander hadn't mobilized troops like this, the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army might not have noticed that there was a big fish ahead. But such mobilization focused too much on frontal defense. Liu Jiqi, the Commander of the 1st Division of the 15th Army who had followed the troops into the Japanese camp, had always paid attention to observation. The enemy's unusual movement made him keenly feel that the enemy's trend was wrong. He ordered the artillery troops who had already rushed into the Japanese campsite, "All artillery, six rounds rapid fire!" After speaking, Liu Jiqi added, "Extend the range forward with each shell."

The artillerymen who caught up had 12 mortars. They were also panting with exhaustion. Upon receiving the order, the comrades fired immediately. Because of poor control and uneven ground, a shell in the first round of shelling flew relatively far. It drew a beautiful arc with a very high curvature. The mortar shell pierced the top of the Japanese 7th Division Headquarters tent from top to bottom, and then plunged straight into the table in front of the 7th Division Commander. This was the first time the 7th Division Commander had seen a mortar shell fired from the bore with his own eyes, and it was also the last weapon he saw in his life. The violent explosion tore the wooden table to shreds. A relatively thick piece of flying wood deeply inserted into the wide-open mouth of the Division Commander. One end of the wood piece pierced through the Division Commander's throat and cervical vertebrae, exposing a long section from the back of his head. In the post-war report, it was recorded that this Division Commander was stabbed "like a hedgehog" by many flying wood chips.

This unexpected luck basically established the victory. The Japanese 7th Division, having lost its supreme commander, lost its overall command. coupled with the capture of the campsite, they couldn't make up their minds to retreat across the board for a while. As a result, the 2nd and 3rd Divisions outflanking from both sides finally did their best to reach the designated destinations, finally forming an encirclement of the Japanese. The battle continued until late at night. Sporadic fighting even continued until the early hours of the next day. The Japanese 7th Division was eventually completely annihilated.

On the second day of the 7th Division's destruction, which was noon on February 26, 1916, the 18th Army also successfully annihilated the Japanese 6th Division. After the two armies joined forces on the night of the 26th, they moved south under the cover of night and besieged Andong with heavy troops on February 27, capturing this important border city in one day.

March 1, 1916. Except for the Japanese 19th Division struggling to flee in the Changbai Mountains and the Japanese entrenched in Lushun, the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutionary Army had resolved the main Japanese forces in the Northeast. This news finally reached the Central Committee in Wuhan on March 4.