The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 325: Receiving the Fire Signal
"one two Three!"

"one two Three!"

On Banbi Mountain, bursts of neat chants were heard one after another. On a temporary improvised artillery position on the top of the mountain, a huge artillery piece in white with a large rear open shield and a huge reentry machine was standing majestically. Standing quietly, the shiny gun breech gave off strange reflections under the sunlight. The huge gun barrel was tilted high, and the black muzzle pointed directly at the river in front of the mountain.

Beside the artillery, hundreds of officers and soldiers with bare arms and sweaty backs were pushing two huge crankshaft rocker arms. Connected to the crankshaft rocker arms were two huge winches wrapped with thick cables used by navy warships.

Under the steep cliffs of the mountain facing the river, a small transport ship was parked. The cabin of the transport ship was filled with naval officers and soldiers in white navy uniforms. The officers and soldiers on the ship all raised their heads and stared into the air.

More than forty meters away from the transport ship, in mid-air near the side of Banbi Mountain, a huge white gun barrel was slowly moving upwards. The front and rear ends of the gun barrel were fixed with naval cables. When the officers and soldiers on the top of the mountain erupt into a chorus of chants, the gun barrel will move upward.

At the lookout of the command post on the half wall of the fortress, He Wei looked at the naval officers and soldiers who were dismantling and transporting artillery with the most primitive manpower, nodded slightly, and said to the Navy Major Lei Zhongwei beside him: "Major Lei, thank you for your hard work. It’s really not easy for these big guys from the Navy to move.”

Major Lei Zhongwei, the former chief mate of the Xianning gunboat of the Chinese Navy, standing next to He Wei, nodded and said: "Yes, I couldn't feel anything on the warship before. Now that the ship is gone, I know how heavy these guns are." Feeling real.”

"The gun that is being hoisted up is an anti-aircraft gun, right? I see that the height of its mantlet is very high."

"Yes, Sir He, this gun is a 76mm high-level dual-purpose gun made in Japan. It has the function of shooting in the air, and of course it can also shoot horizontally. The effect we used on warships in the past is still very good."

Lei Zhongwei paused and then said: "Our ship's 120mm main gun has been lifted to the mountain, and the lighter 20mm machine gun and two 57mm machine guns have also been moved to the mountain. Once the 76mm anti-aircraft gun is lifted and transported, all the equipment of our naval artillery team will be ready."

"Well, let's go and take a look at your position."

Immediately, He Wei led Lei Zhongwei out of the command post and strode towards the temporary emergency artillery position of the naval artillery team that was lifting artillery.

It has been half a month since He Wei went to the Eleventh Army Headquarters on the north bank to meet with Li Yannian. During this half month, the strength of He Wei's men has been further expanded and expanded.

After meeting with Li Yannian that day, He Wei not only showed Li Yannian the powerful strength of the assault force, but also said that he would obey his command, thus winning Li Yannian's great favor. Subsequently, the various improvements Li Yannian promised also One cashed out.

Shortly after the meeting, Li Yannian issued an order to establish the Banbishan garrison headquarters on the south bank in the name of the Eleventh Army Corps, and appointed He Wei as the supreme commander of the Banbishan garrison headquarters.

The subordinate units include He Wei's Assault Corps, Ma Ji's 385th Brigade, Hu Rizhen's 2nd Battalion of the 10th Army Mechanized Heavy Artillery Regiment, and Huang Tiaoqi's 75th Anti-aircraft Artillery Company.

Subsequently, under the coordination between Li Yannian and the naval force, the navy also agreed to disassemble the naval guns from the naval gunboat Xianning that sank on the river near Tianjia Town and install them on Banbi Mountain to serve as Jiang Defense Artillery for Banbi Mountain Fortress.

Dozens of officers and soldiers of the Xianning ship survived the battle without being injured. They also formed a naval artillery team under the leadership of the former Xianning gunboat Major Mate Lei Zhongwei and assigned it to the battle sequence of the Banbishan Garrison Command.

In addition to this naval artillery team, Li Yannian also took a small team from the naval mine team at Tianjia Town Fortress under his command and assigned it to He Wei to control the mines on the river near Banbi Mountain.

In this way, with Li Yannian's order, the strength of the troops under He Wei's command suddenly exceeded the 10,000 mark. He Wei's current actual authority and actual combat strength under his command have reached the level of an infantry division.

Li Yannian was also very generous in terms of material and nutrient supplements.

All kinds of ammunition, supplies, cement, steel bars and various civil construction materials are constantly transported from Tianjia Town to Banbi Mountain by waterway. Some chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep and other meats that are extremely precious nowadays are also sent to Banbi Mountain from time to time. The army's rifle machine gun shells, mortar shells, grenades, food, and supplies filled the ammunition depot and material storage of the Banbishan Fortress.

The underwater telephone line from the Eleventh Army Headquarters in the Tianjia Town Fortress to the Banbishan Fortress Headquarters was also completed under the overtime work of the Tianjia Town Fortress Engineer Battalion. The cross-river communication network from Tianjia Town to Banbishan was also established. Get up, now He Wei can talk directly to Li Yannian by shaking the phone a few times.

It can be said that Li Yannian did give He Wei a lot of help.

When He Wei went to meet with Li Yannian that day, his initial impression of him was very ordinary. After meeting him, he did not show any military behavior, acted very casually, and even had a lazy air.

His words and deeds also revealed an air of arrogance. He completely looked down on Ma Ji, the commander of the 385th Brigade, who was born in the Beiyang Army. He even directly assigned the 385th Brigade to the command of He Wei. He even thought that It is natural for Ma Ji, a major general and brigade commander with a questionable background, to obey the command of He Wei, a lieutenant colonel born in Huangpu.

At that time, He Wei only thought that this man was extremely arrogant, but when He Wei's combat power and troop strength were continuously strengthened by Li Yannian, He Wei gradually came to his senses.

Li Yannian's arrogance was real, but underneath that arrogance, he was probably extremely worried about the future battle situation in Tianjia Town, and he might have hidden other thoughts behind He Wei's vigorous support.

Recently, He Wei has been dealing with other troops on the south bank a lot, and he has a better understanding of the actual combat strength under Li Yannian, the regiment commander.

The final conclusion was that Li Yannian, a majestic army commander who could nominally command seven or eight divisions, actually only had about three divisions of troops at his disposal. He still had to treat the assault corps and the fortress troops. Everything is included.

From a certain perspective, Li Yannian, the commander of the army, was actually quite frustrated and a bit useless.

And with this small number of troops and a chaotic command system, no one can say how the battle will turn out when the Japanese come over.

In this way, Li Yannian hoped that the new force of the Assault Corps would respect his restraint and fight to the death in future battles, so he was very generous to He Wei, asking for supplies, supplies, command power, and command power.

However, if you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight. The words Li Yannian gave to He Wei that day, "Everyone who goes forward will be rewarded, but when you step back, you will inevitably get a knife." He Wei still remembered it all the time. When He Wei first arrived, Li Yannian gave him such great support. On the other hand, I was afraid that if He Wei made any mistakes in combat, Li Yannian would definitely impose "severe punishment" on He Wei.

If we speculate with the greatest malice, He Wei even suspects that Li Yannian has already foreseen the difficulty of the future battle, and may have already prepared that once the war worsens sharply, the higher-ups will use He Wei to share the responsibility, or even use He Wei to share the responsibility. The reason for coming to top the vat is still unknown.

After all, this kind of thing is not uncommon in the national army.

After having this additional layer of consideration, He Wei acted more cautiously. Not only did he constantly improve the current defense deployment of his troops, he was also very cautious in contacting and communicating with the Eleventh Army.

In fact, He Wei made copies of every order and even notices and combat documents issued by the Eleventh Army and Li Yannian to He Wei, just in case, just in case.

There is no way, people's hearts are sinister, so we have to guard against it.

When Lei Zhongwei and Lei Zhongwei walked to the temporary naval gun position, the officers and soldiers on the mountain had completed the hoisting operation of the anti-aircraft gun and were nervously assembling the anti-aircraft gun that was still in parts.

He Wei came to the back of the large naval gun that had been installed, patted the gun body, shook the helicopter twice and said to Lei Zhongwei: "This big guy is quite powerful. I think the rate of fire and power are better than those of the army." The heavy artillery is not much different.”

Lei Zhongwei nodded and said: "Yes, although this gun is made by Japan, its performance is really good. This Japanese-made gun is called the three-year-old 120mm gun. It is also called the "G" gun by the Japanese Navy. According to the Japanese technical manual we translated, this gun body weighs 2.5 tons, has a muzzle velocity of 825 meters per second, a projectile weight of 20.413 kilograms, a propellant weight of 5.11 kilograms, a maximum elevation angle of 33 degrees, a maximum depression angle of 5 degrees, and can shoot for fifteen kilometers. The maximum firing rate we achieved during training on the warship was seven rounds per minute. Many Japanese Navy destroyers currently use this gun, which is considered a medium-caliber naval gun with relatively good performance. "

He Wei looked at the river halfway up and down the wall and asked: "Major Lei, the equipment of our naval artillery team has been fully deployed and has been included in my command's order of battle. What are your thoughts on future operations?"

Lei Zhongwei thought for a moment, licked his lips, and then said: "Sir, I do have some ideas about the operations of our naval artillery team."

"If you have an idea, just say it."

"Yes! Sir, I have the guts to say this. You are from the Army and may not have a detailed understanding of the characteristics of naval equipment. I just want to inform you, sir, of the difference between naval artillery and army artillery."

Seeing Lei Zhongwei's nervous look, He Wei waved his hand casually and said, "You don't have to be constrained by me, you can say whatever you want."

Lei Zhongwei stood at attention and said: "Sir, the army's artillery is mainly used to kill infantry and destroy fortifications. It mostly uses blasting grenades and shotgun shells to attack and destroy the enemy. However, our navy's naval artillery mostly considers attacking ships during combat, so the shells used Mainly armor-piercing bombs, supplemented by explosive bombs, I boldly say that in wartime, Commander Wan Wang, if he attacks an enemy warship going up the river, our naval artillery team should be the first choice, and if When attacking soft targets such as infantry, it is best to use army artillery first. After all, our naval artillery team has limited ammunition. We use Japanese naval guns, and the shells are also bought from Japan. Once fired, it will One less shot.”

He Wei smiled and nodded, praising: "Good suggestion, I really haven't thought about this until you tell me about it. There are two professions separated by mountains, and the same goes for soldiers separated by branches of the military. I will consider your suggestion. Once When a war begins, if there is a need to attack soft targets such as infantry, I will not easily use you and will let your artillery shells hit Japanese warships."

Seeing that He Wei accepted his suggestion so openly, Lei Zhongwei also said with joy: "Sir, please don't worry. When the Japanese warships come over, I will definitely teach them a lesson with naval guns and let them have a taste of being beaten." What does it feel like to be bombarded indiscriminately by artillery produced in your own country?"

"Then I'll just wait for the good news."

Next, He Wei and Lei Zhongwei studied the fortification layout of the naval artillery team, the selection of gun positions, and the construction of cover fortifications.

Just as the two were having a heated conversation on the top of the mountain, Wang Yuanling, the Chief of Staff of the Assault Corps, rushed up to find He Wei, handed He Wei a dozen documents, and then said urgently to He Wei: "Captain,... The fire is coming on the north bank, and the Guangxi guys are fighting the Japanese on the Huangmei and Guangji lines outside Tianjia Town! "

"what?"

He Wei was shocked when he heard this, and then opened the document handed over by Wang Yuanling.

This document is the latest frontline battle situation compiled by Wang Yuanling.

The content is just as Wang Yuanling said. On the Huangmei and Guangji lines outside Tianjia Town, the Chinese army has begun a large-scale exchange of fire with the Japanese army.

He Wei learned from the documents compiled by Wang Yuanling and recent war briefings that it was the Japanese army's ace unit, the Sixth Army Division, that launched the attack on the Huangmei and Guangji front lines. After the plan to attack Wuhan began, the Sixth Division The division began to attack Wuhan along the north bank of the Yangtze River. Half a month ago, it successively broke through the defense lines of the National Army 31st and 68th Army, occupied Taihu and Susong, and directed its troops towards Guangji.

In order to block the aggressive Sixth Division, the national army also mobilized heavy troops.

而这次在黄梅和广济一线唱主角戏的则是桂系部队的主力，国军方面的参战部队主力为桂军第7军（军长张淦）的第171、第172两个师，第31军（军长韦云淞）的第135、第131、第138师三个师；第48军（军长由廖磊暂兼）的第173、第174、第176师三个师和第84军的第188、第189两个师，除此之外，亦有几支非桂系的地方杂牌部队。

Under the command of Xiao Zhuge, the leader of the Guangxi faction, these troops also set up a posture to attack the Japanese army, and adopted quite clever tactics. Instead of confronting the Japanese Sixth Division head-on, they first avoided its attack and waited until the Sixth Division. When the regiment arrived at Huangmei, the gateway to Guangji, Xiao Zhuge's heavy military group deployed here suddenly launched an attack.

The 7th Army under his command appeared behind the Sixth Division, reoccupied Taihu and Qianshan, and cut off the Sixth Division's supply line and retreat route. The 48th Army, the 67th Army, and part of the 44th Army appeared from the foothills to the north. Attack the right wing of the Sixth Division; the 31st, 68th, and 84th armies that had retreated before attacked from the front. In a very short period of time, the Sixth Division was suddenly surrounded by seven armies of the national army.

Looking at the battle situation recorded in the document, He Wei suddenly frowned and thought deeply.

Now that the front line of Huangmei and Guangji has received fire, Tianjia Town and the Banbishan position he is responsible for are probably not far away from the enemy!

(End of this chapter)