The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 343 Enemy fleet discovered!
On August 1938, 8, the sky was gloomy and the air was filled with the thick humidity before the heavy rain.

On the Daxiong Mountain plateau behind Banbi Mountain, He Wei stood on the top of the plateau, holding a telescope and looking around with a serious expression. Looking down from the plateau, all he could see was endless plains and complex water networks. The dark clouds that filled the sky merged into the rolling waters of the Yangtze River at the end of the horizon.

Although the scenery is unique and interesting, the weather is not good. From time to time, muffled sounds can be heard. I don’t know whether it is thunder in the distance or the sound of gunfire from the fierce battle outside Huangmei Guangji.

He Wei's mood was just like the bad weather. It had been more than half a month since the advance column returned victoriously. During this period, fierce fighting on the Huangmei Guangji front outside Tianjia Town was still going on.

Although there has been no exchange of fire with the Japanese army in Banbi Mountain, the situation is becoming more and more critical day by day.

After discovering that the Japanese army intended to launch a surprise landing operation on Tianjia Town and Banbishan Fortress by water attack first, the Military Commission has continuously strengthened its reconnaissance of the Japanese surface fleet in the past half month. The recent movements of the Japanese army have further confirmed the Military Commission's judgment.

Not only did the Japanese army gather a large number of ships on the river near Jiujiang, but there were also a large number of transport ships and troop transports carrying troops downstream that were constantly moving upstream to gather on the river.

The main force of the fleet's vanguard, which had been assembled, had already left Jiujiang, which had been captured not long ago, and was attacking towards the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with great momentum.

Compared with the aggressive and restless Japanese troops on the water, the Japanese army troops attacking along the land route on the south bank of the Yangtze River simply stopped advancing.

In short, this series of movements and abnormal actions of the Japanese army basically confirmed their intention to carry out landing operations in Tianjia Town, Banbi Mountain and the Fuchikou fortress area further ahead.

After determining the Japanese army's combat intentions, the Military Commission, which was still frightened by the Japanese landing operations in Anqing, Madang and Jiujiang, did its utmost to strengthen the defense of the Banbi Mountain line in Tianjia Town.

These days, Li Yannian, commander of the 11th Corps who was in charge of commanding the river defense at Tianjia Town and Banbi Mountain, received telegrams of imperial orders from the Military Commission almost every three to five days.

The telegrams sent by the Military Commission included those full of encouragement and consolation, as well as those with harsh words and full of warnings.

The most ruthless telegram among them was the one that reminded Li Yannian not to repeat the mistake made by Xue Weiying, the commander of the 167th Division, who neglected combat preparedness and led to the rapid loss of the Ma'an Fortress.

You know, Xue Weiying was shot directly after the fall of Ma'an. The Military Commission used Xue Weiying's example to warn Li Yannian, which shows their determination to defend Tianjia Town to the death. Moreover, Xue Weiying was also Li Yannian's classmate in the first class of Huangpu Military Academy. Li Yannian was actually trembling in his heart after receiving this telegram.

All the telegrams sent by the Military Commission to Li Yannian were forwarded to He Wei intact by Li Yannian. Every time after reading these forwarded telegrams, He Wei knew very well what Li Yannian's intentions were. The Military Commission used Xue Weiying to warn Li Yannian, and Li Yannian was also using Xue Weiying to warn He Wei.

Anyway, after He Wei received the telegram from the Military Commission forwarded by Li Yannian, he became even more cautious about the overall defense of Banbi Mountain.

Of course, in addition to warnings and imperial decrees, the Military Commission also gave a lot of benefits.

During this period, a large amount of ammunition and supplies were replenished to the 11th Corps. The officers and soldiers under He Wei have been living quite comfortably recently, and the ammunition stock in the ammunition depots and ammunition supply stations has been increasing day by day.

Not only were large quantities of bullets, mortar shells and grenades continuously dispatched by land and water transport, but even the mechanized howitzer battalion temporarily under He Wei's command, equipped with eight German-made 150mm howitzers, received valuable supplies of 500 imported shells per gun.

Both the Chinese army that was actively preparing for war, and the Japanese army that had stopped advancing on land while sharpening its swords on the water, were closely accumulating strength and making final preparations for the battle of water and fire on the Yangtze River.

Faced with an increasingly tense situation, He Wei became increasingly strict in supervising the various troops under his command. He went to the grassroots units to inspect their positions almost every day. He was almost familiar with each unit's defense zone deployment, position layout, fortification construction, and even fire network formation and front-line key points.

Today, after a routine inspection of the positions of the assault corps headquarters, He Wei, accompanied by the 385th Brigade commander Ma Ji, came to inspect the defensive positions of the 385th Brigade.

The three field infantry regiments under Ma Ji's 385th Brigade were responsible for guarding the deep positions in the lake network behind Banbi Mountain. One of the three regiments was deployed on the Big and Small Xiong Mountain heights in front of the rear of Banbi Mountain, and two regiments built positions in the vast water network area from the right depth of Banbi Mountain to Fuchikou. The defense area of ​​the entire brigade protected the rear of Banbi Mountain. For the defense system with Banbi Mountain as the core, the defense area of ​​the 385th Brigade was also very important.

Recently, after learning about Ma Ji's overall defensive deployment of the 385th Brigade, He Wei had more admiration for Ma Ji, a veteran from the Beiyang Army.

The 385th Brigade is a regular unit under the 193rd Division. This division is formed by the merger of the Air Force's Aviation Security Brigade and several local security regiments. It is considered the bottom unit in the sequence of the Central Army. Its organization and equipment are only average in the entire National Army.

The rifles equipped by the three infantry regiments under Ma Ji were all Hanyang-made. Although each infantry squad had a light machine gun, the light machine gun was the older model of the Chirali light machine gun rather than the cutting-edge Czech light machine gun. Moreover, the Chirali light machine guns equipped by Ma Ji's troops were mostly not new guns but old guns in stock that had been repaired in the rear arsenal and issued. Among them were both original guns imported from Switzerland and imitation versions produced by the Sichuan Arsenal.

The heavy machine gun company of each infantry battalion under Ma Ji was equipped with six Hanyang Arsenal Type 30 heavy machine guns, while the direct support firepower of each regiment was only a mortar company equipped with four 82mm mortars.

The equipment and firepower of Ma Ji's troops could only be described as passable. They were considered well-equipped units in the National Army, but they were far inferior to those of the Japanese army.

However, under Ma Ji's training and guidance, the 385th Brigade's soldiers' training and deployment of defensive positions were quite good. The soldiers' combat training, the brigade's position configuration, fortification construction and fire network formation were all unique. From the 385th Brigade's defensive deployment, it can be seen that Ma Ji's reputation as a good defender is not groundless. With such a veteran who is good at defense guarding his retreat, He Wei was not worried about the Japanese outflanking him from the side and rear.

In order to make up for the deficiencies in firepower and equipment of the 385th Brigade, He Wei not only allocated a large amount of ammunition to the 385th Brigade, but also allocated the batch of Soviet weapons in the assault corps' inventory to Ma Ji.

This batch of Soviet weapons included 100 Mosin-Nagant rifles, 20 Dekcharev revolving light machine guns, 6 Maxim heavy machine guns and a batch of Soviet bullets.

This batch of Soviet-aided weapons was given to the Assault Corps by the Military Commission for the purpose of testing the performance of Soviet weapons. Since the caliber of ammunition of Soviet firearms was not compatible with the ammunition of the Assault Corps, and the performance was not as good as the equipment of the Assault Corps, the Assault Corps did not equip the troops with this batch of Soviet weapons after completing the testing of them. Instead, they were all sealed in the Corps' armory as storage equipment.

The Soviet-style equipment that the Assault Corps looked down upon was good stuff for Ma Ji's 385th Brigade. Ma Ji was very happy after receiving this batch of equipment. He patted his chest and promised He Wei that he would never let He Wei down!
This batch of Soviet weapons would have been gathering dust if left in the armory of the assault corps. Now that He Wei has allocated them to Ma Ji's 385th Brigade, it can be said that they are being put to good use.

At the top of the high ground, He Wei put down the telescope, pulled his wet collar, looked at the 385th Brigade's long defensive positions on the high ground, and nodded slightly, but the worry on his face did not disappear.

In recent days, the Japanese fleet's actions on the water have become more frequent. The Military Commission has issued reports to the 11th Corps almost every day, and He Wei has also organized officers from the General Staff to analyze the enemy situation every day.

Based on the current approximate position of the Japanese fleet and its daily advance speed, He Wei estimated that it would only take a few days for the Japanese fleet to advance to Tianjia Town and Banbi Mountain.

He was not afraid of fighting the Japanese, but this time they were not fighting on land. Instead, they were going to clash with Japanese warships and landing troops carried by ships. Although He Wei was not afraid of such a new form of combat, he was somewhat nervous.

But today, for some reason, He Wei had a bad feeling and an inexplicable irritability lingered in his heart.

He Wei exhaled a long breath, breathing in the air full of turbidity. He said to Ma Ji beside him: "Ma Brigade Commander, you have done a good job in the position. It turned out to be right for me to leave the retreat to you. If the Japanese dare to attack your position, I think you will suffer a lot."

Listening to He Wei's praise, Ma Ji showed a fleeting sense of pride and said, "Haha, I dare not say anything else, but I do have some experience in defensive operations. Captain He, please rest assured that you have given me so much ammunition and weapons. My brothers and I will never be cowardly. We will definitely defend the retreat of Banbi Mountain for you and make those bastards hit their heads and bleed!"

He Wei nodded and said, "I am naturally confident in Brigade Commander Ma's deployment. Come on, take me to see the two regiments guarding the water network area."

Ma Ji was about to lead He Wei down the hill when suddenly, a staff officer of the assault corps came breathlessly along the communication trench on the hill and ran to He Wei and said urgently, "Captain, Corps Commander Li on the other side has issued an urgent order that the main force of the Japanese fleet appeared on the river less than 20 kilometers away from the Fuchikou Fortress and is approaching the Fuchikou Fortress. We must be alert and prepare for battle immediately!"

Ma Ji was startled and asked in a loud and urgent voice: "What?"

He Wei had long been mentally prepared for the attack of the Japanese surface forces. Through daily analysis of the battle situation, he had also deduced the approximate date when the Japanese surface fleet would reach Banbi Mountain. He was not at all surprised by the enemy situation described by the staff officer.

He Wei signaled Ma Ji to stay calm, turned his head, looked at the treacherous dark clouds and the river, and said thoughtfully: "Return to the headquarters!"

When He Wei was shocked to hear that Japanese warships suddenly appeared, the surface of the Yangtze River 17 kilometers away from the Fuchikou Fortress was filled with continuous warships and transport ships. A fleet composed of a large number of warships and transport ships was advancing in the Yangtze River in waves, like a tide, as if it was about to break through the river bank.

This fleet with mysterious movements was none other than the main naval force of the Japanese army in the attack on Wuhan - the 11th Squadron of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet.

The Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy was mainly used for offshore operations and coastal blockades. It was the main fleet of the Japanese Navy stationed in China. This fleet was specially organized for China in the Battle of Shanghai in 1932. It was mainly responsible for the task of blocking the Chinese coast. It was mainly composed of gunboats and destroyers. The combat experience of this Japanese Navy fleet also made it the vanguard of the invasion of China.

In the initial stage of the Battle of Shanghai on August 6000, it was this Japanese Navy's Third Fleet that quickly established the Japanese army's defense line in the urban area of ​​Shanghai by organizing and mobilizing the navy's affiliated marines and organizing the fleet sailors to land. It took the lead in bombarding the urban area of ​​Zhabei, covering more than Japanese Marines to land, and marched to Zhabei to establish the initial defense system of the Japanese army in Shanghai. It successfully withstood the siege of the Chinese army in the urban area of ​​Shanghai before the main force of the Japanese Army arrived to support Shanghai.

During the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet continuously supported the Japanese Army's ground operations with naval gunfire throughout the battle, causing considerable losses and casualties to the Chinese army.

After the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet went up the river again, passed through the Chinese Navy's Jiangyin blockade line, and went up the river to the Nanjing area to assist in the battle, helping the Japanese Army capture Nanjing.

After the battle to capture Wuhan was put on the agenda, in order to ultimately control the surface of the Yangtze River between Nanjing and Hankou, the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet withdrew its 11th Squadron and began a combat operation known as the "Upstream the River Operation", and used the 11th Squadron as the main surface force for the future attack on Wuhan. The main combat tasks of the 11th Squadron in the Wuhan attack included dredging anchor mines, bottom mines, and floating mines in the Yangtze River, clearing and dredging waterways, and destroying Chinese artillery and fortresses along the Yangtze River: supporting the Army and Marines in their upstream march and landing operations, and guarding military transport ships in the Yangtze River.

Since the operation plan to capture Wuhan began, the 3th Squadron of the 11rd Fleet of the Japanese Navy has been charging along the Yangtze River, advancing triumphantly, and has successively participated in the battles to capture Anqing, Madang and Jiujiang, winning battles one after another.

After capturing Jiujiang, in order to implement the strategic order of the Japanese headquarters to capture Wuhan, the 11th Squadron, which went up the river, took advantage of the momentum of consecutive victories and set Tianjia Town and Banbishan Fortress, which guarded the last gateway to Wuhan, as the next target of attack.

(End of this chapter)