As soon as the Japanese army left Osaka Castle and entered the Fukuchiyama defense line, they had long been ambushing around them. The Qing army troops immediately dispatched and began to harass and block the battle...

Although this defensive tactic can have a certain effect and can effectively slow down the speed of the Japanese army's marching, this also exposed a huge flaw in Hu Xiaomao's army, because they did not expect that the Japanese army could organize more than 20,000 cavalry, and he dispersed the troops, which gave the Japanese army the opportunity to defeat them one by one!

The battle lasted for three days, and the Japanese army was unable to make progress, but the Qing army suffered great losses. This time, the Qing Dynasty also invested a lot of money in attacking Kobe. In addition to the original troops from Henan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces, more than 300 battalions of green camp soldiers were sent from the country, with a total battle of more than 300,000! Hu Xiaomao and Bao Chao each led half of them and fought separately. After the Hu army blocked the battle for three days, the bodies of more than 40,000 soldiers from the Qing army position at Fukuzhi Mountain fell, of which the proportion of China was as high as 300%!

Hu Xiaomao had no choice. The order Li Hongzhang gave him was very clear. Before Bao Chao's troops captured Kobe, no matter what method he used, he had to restrain the Japanese reinforcements in the Osaka direction and assist friendly forces in capturing Kobe. For this reason, he had to give up guerrilla activities in the north and concentrate all his troops.

Gao Yuezhongzhi did not expect that the Qing army's resistance would be so fierce. He organized four suicide squads in succession, and even Prince Komatsu Miyasuki came to the front line in person. However, when facing the Qing army's heavy machine gun fire, the manpower could not resist the powerful power of the firearms, so he had to reluctantly defeat it. Instead, it damaged a large number of soldiers.

The people who were involved in the attack in advance were mainly the National Military Division. The regular division did not suffer much impact, but this situation has reached the last moment - the practice of sending soldiers who have not undergone too much military training to the front line and advancing towards the enemy's heavy machine gun fire has caused an extremely bad psychological impact in the National Military Division. In the eyes of many people, the commander obviously does not take the lives of himself and others seriously!

The appearance of this voice forced Prince Akihito Komatsumiya and Nobuyuki Takayuki to find another way. "Tomorrow, let the second, fourth town and two national divisions press forward together, don't believe it, and can't break through the Chinese defense line?"

"Your Excellency, if you do this, the casualties will be extremely great, so great that we cannot bear it!"

"Then is there any better way for Gao Yuejun?"

"Can you notify Zhao Jun in the city by telegram and ask him to distribute some of the soldiers and attack from behind?"

"No!" Komatsumiya shook his head immediately, "Since the failure of the night attack by Kuramiya, the Chinese have increased their offensive efforts. Now they are still waiting for our rescue! How can they be assigned to the troops again?"

Gao Yuezunzhi had no choice but to nod. Indeed, after Masaki Fukumiya and three others led their troops to counterattack, they greatly angered the Qing army. For five days, Bao Chao's troops attacked without regard for casualties. The pressure from Zhao Jianxinsheng in the city was getting stronger and stronger, and he could not hold on. ** It was precisely because of this that he and the Prince urgently set off from Osaka to support the battle in Kobe Castle.

The troops of Hu Xiaomao, the Qing army, were standing in front of him. If he did not take down Fuzhi Mountain, he would be a dream to enter Kobe. As we all know, Hu Xiaomao was one of the famous generals of the Qing army. In the seventh year of Xianfeng, the Second Battalion of Zhenbiao fled on the battlefield of Anshan Lake, and Emperor Xianfeng of China was executed. The only one survived was Hu Xiaomao, and even his brother, Hu Damao, who was commanding the battle on the north road, was also among them. In the end, the empress of Emperor Xianfeng came to the palace to ask for an order, which saved the lives of hundreds of people! This past is popular, and I don’t know how many versions have evolved in more than 20 years, and even the Japanese have heard of it. I didn’t expect that I am facing the troops commanded by Hu Xiaomao now.

It is impossible to move forward, and it is even more impossible to retreat. In a dilemma, there is only one fight hard! Gao Yuesunzhi thought in his heart: Let's see, how brave the Chinese have? Or are they willing to make way for Fuzhi Mountain after they have suffered a lot of casualties?

In this helpless situation without any choice, Takayuki Nobuyuki had to launch a large-scale battle with the Qing army near the Fukuchiyama Takarazuka in the northeast of Kobe to make the final resistance. The battle began at 8:15 in the morning. In the flying wind and snow, Japanese cavalry were in front and infantry were behind, forming a scattered formation and attacking the Qing army's positions.

The cavalry drove the war horse under his crotch and slowly slowed down. When they ran for 100 meters, they had reached the highest speed. The horse's hooves rolled up the soil wet with snow, forming balls of black mud. The hot air from the huge nostrils of various war horses was evaporating like fog. The knight on the horse's back took off the rifle on his back during the movement and skillfully fired at the opponent.

The Qing army's positions remained the same trench, with countless heads hidden under the trenches that were arranged in eight lines respectively. The black muzzle stretched out outside the one-person-deep position, waiting for the arrival of the Japanese cavalry, four hundred meters, three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters, one hundred meters! "Fire!"

With a call from the commander, the 3,500 light and heavy weapons in front of the first line spit out flames at the same time, and more than 200 war horses rushing in front were neighed and shot. When their front legs were weak, their bodies fell down. The knights on them were affected by inertia and flew out like a projectile that was ejected out. However, the quality of the Japanese cavalry was extremely high, and their bodies rolled forward with the momentum of landing, resolving the huge impact force, and then they lay down to the ground, shooting against the enemy with the rifle in their hands.

Without hesitation, the riders behind them flew over the fallen horses and comrades and continued to attack forward with reins.

The weapon that the Qing army could achieve maximum lethality was naturally heavy machine guns. Other light rifles may not be very obvious due to their firing rate and capacity. Even so, thousands of rifles fired at the same time were of great power. The cavalry was put to the ground within a distance of thirty or fifty meters. Even if one or two fast moves could rush to the enemy's position, they were quickly shot and killed on the spot because of their single and lonely force. There were also a very small number of them captured by the Chinese.

The Japanese army's attack was completely unaffected by the battlefield situation. More war horses joined the charge group and launched a crazy attack on the three-kilometer-wide front. The 20,000 war horses ran as they were earth-shaking. The terrifying horse hooves hit the earth, and launched round after round of fierce attacks on the Qing army regardless of casualties.

Behind them were more than 100,000 Japanese infantrymen. Prince Akihito Komatsumiya's attack was finally effective. The Qing army lost three lines of defense in a row, threw down nearly 8,000 corpses, and retreated.

Gao Yuezhong was overjoyed. He could see that the Qing army's retreat was not tactical, but a choice that was forced! In this way, they might not be of great significance? "Go forward, move forward! Quickly, order the front-line troops to speed up their pace, continue to stick to the Chinese, and don't let them complete the tactical subordinates!"

After saying this, an ominous thought suddenly flashed through Gao Yue Shinzhi's mind: Since the war started, I have never seen the Qing army's artillery firing! Could it be that Hu Xiaomao did not lead the artillery battalion?

Gunshots resounded throughout the earth, and the battle became increasingly fierce. The casualties between the two sides were astonishing, but the commanders of each other were even desiring to hear it. Hu Xiaomao stood on the top of Fuzhi Mountain and looked down seriously with a telescope, "How are you, brothers?"

"It's okay." Lu Bingli said loudly, "It's all good! There's no cartilage." After that, he asked timidly again, "Military, start?"

"No." Hu Xiaomao pondered for a while and shook his head slowly. Although the enemy's footsteps were completely in accordance with his plan, the early removal of the enemy would only allow the enemy to escape more. If he could not get the initial confirmation, he would try his best to wipe out the Japanese main force's combat plan at Takarazuka! At this moment, he truly understood Zeng Guofan's combat plan on the Anshan Lake defense line when he was seriously injured, and he still refused to send troops. Seeing his brothers fighting to the death in front of the position at the foot of the mountain, the feeling was absolutely heartbreaking! "Wait a little longer! Let the Japanese advance a little!"

Lu Bingli, Liu Peilin, and Yang Bin stood by the military gate, waiting anxiously; this time the bold combat plan was not known to Li Hongzhang and Bao Chao, and even in his own army, there were only a few, and the brothers below knew nothing. In their opinion, this Battle of Takarazuka was like all previous battles, the only difference was that China and Japan changed positions on the offensive and defensive sides. Therefore, casualties on the front line were real, and even retreating was a choice that could not resist, and it was unexpected that the Japanese could see the flaws.

Seeing the enemy breaking through the five lines of defense on its own, nearly 120,000 Japanese soldiers laying on the land of the Takarazuka Plain, Hu Xiaomao nodded vigorously, "Tell Zhao Lin and the others, fire the fire immediately!"

With an order, 1,350 artillery pieces from the 14th battalion of the Qing army were fired at the same time. Twenty-four-pound shells flew over the ridge and smashed the Japanese army's passage! The landmarks and angles here were measured by the Qing army's artillery in advance. The landmarks and angles were measured in advance by the Qing army's artillery. The landing point of the shells was excellent. Large groups of fire flashed on the position, and from the beginning one by one, they instantly turned into a sea of ​​fire! "Everything is all!"

Gao Yuezhong whined in his heart, knowing that he was finally plotted by Hu Xiaomao! Such dense artillery bombing was obviously prepared in advance. He only waited for his side to unfold in front of the position to give a fatal blow! No one in ten who could escape his life under the bombardment of the shells! He looked sideways with a wry smile and looked sideways. Prince Komatsu Miyasuhito's face had already become as white as snow!


Chapter completed!