You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

Lin Feng stood on a boulder at the top of the mountain and began to set up defenses.

Then, the system space reopened.

Soon, artillery pieces reappeared on the position, and the engineers immediately began digging gun emplacements and building fortifications.

Lin Feng also made meticulous arrangements for the other two subordinate units.

Zhang Wenzhong left his Provisional 50th Division in the county town to maintain order.

Besides the Ma family, he suspected that the Japanese must have bribed other wealthy families or important figures.

If the fighting gets intense, and if there are traitors causing trouble in the city by setting fires, shooting in the back, or causing explosions, the city could easily collapse instantly.

Therefore, Lin Feng's order to Zhang Wenzhong was to arrest anyone whose behavior was suspicious.

At this point, it's better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free.

The Provisional 50th Division, as the general reserve force, cannot be mobilized unless it is the last moment.

Li Dadao's Provisional 51st Division was deployed to the connecting position between Huashan and the county town.

To prevent the Japanese from possibly flanking and infiltrating.

As for the most elite armored regiments, Lin Feng did not place them on the mountain as fixed artillery positions, but instead hid them in the woods at the foot of the mountain, ready to launch a fatal attack on the Japanese flanks at any time as a mobile fire brigade.

After setting everything up, Lin Feng found a high place with a wide view and set up the artillery scope.

This location is excellent, offering a panoramic view of the mighty Yangtze River to the north and control over the highway leading to Wuxi to the south.

"Commander, have some water." The guard handed over the canteen.

Lin Feng had just taken a sip when his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Through the gunner's scope, he saw what appeared to be black smoke rising from the river to the north.

"That is..."

He adjusted the focus.

Several warships flying the Rising Sun flag were seen spitting out black smoke as they cruised arrogantly on the river.

"Signalman, call the fleet!" Lin Feng slammed down his water bottle and roared, "I need to speak with them, immediately!"

-----

Jiangyin Fortress is not a single fortress, but an entire fortress area.

This includes multiple mountain forts such as Huangshan, Dongshan, Xishan, Eshan, and Xiaoshan.

拥有大小要塞火炮十数门，威力最大的是2门刚刚从汉斯进口的 150mm K18型要塞加农炮，射程22km，射程远超老式的前清时进口的203mm、305mm克虏伯榴弹炮。

Thus, this place naturally became the choke point for blocking the Yangtze River after the war with the Japanese began.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the thin mist on the river gradually dissipated.

Colonel Wei Zhen, the commander of the Huangshan Fort, was holding up his binoculars and staring intently at the river downstream.

He was wearing a dark blue naval uniform, which was a bit worn, but the top button was still fastened meticulously.

"Sir, the observation post has spotted an enemy ship."

A lieutenant ran over, his voice urgent: "Seven ships. It looks like a mixed formation of Japanese destroyers and gunboats. Some of the gunboats have already passed the downstream blockade and are heading upstream."

"Boom! Boom!"

Before the words were even finished, several columns of water rose up from the river.

The Japanese warships opened fire. Although it was just a probing reconnaissance mission, their arrogant attitude was so overwhelming it seemed to pierce the sky.

"Do these beasts really think our Great Xia Navy is wiped out?"

Wei Zhen gritted his teeth, his grip on the binoculars making a cracking sound.

"Distance measurement".

"Distance 12800 meters, bearing XXX," the rangefinder shouted out the data.

"good!"

Wei Zhen waved his hand sharply: "Attention all gun positions, target the enemy lead ship, fire rapidly, open fire!"

"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Inside the bunker of Huangshan Fort, four imported Hans-made SK C/30 88mm dual-purpose artillery pieces roared into action.

Although this type of artillery has a relatively small caliber, it has a high rate of fire and high accuracy, and it was also a treasure that Daxia spent a lot of money to import at that time.

As for the two 150mm K18 fortress cannons? Due to the superior's erroneous orders, they had already been forcibly dismantled and were awaiting relocation.

The specific reasons will not be discussed here.

Four 88mm shells pierced the sky and crashed heavily onto the river.

"boom!"

First shot, hit!

A fireball erupted from the bridge of the Japanese gunboat at the very front, billowing black smoke.

"Got it! Well done!"

Cheers erupted from the gun emplacement.

But the Japanese were clearly not pushovers either.

"Counterattack! Counterattack!"

The Japanese fleet on the river immediately adjusted its course, and all its cannons were aimed at the Huangshan Fort.

"Buzzing—"

The roar of engines could be heard from the sky.

More than a dozen Japanese carrier-based planes swooped down and bombarded the artillery positions.

"Air defense! Air defense!"

Wei Zhen shouted.

However, the fortress's anti-aircraft firepower had been severely damaged in the previous battles, and the few remaining anti-aircraft machine guns were simply unable to disperse the aircraft.

The 88mm dual-purpose guns inside the bunkers were even less likely to hit the agile Japanese single-shot aircraft.

Fortunately, the main fortifications of the fort were dug from the mountain caves, and most of the Japanese bombs hit the surface of the mountain, causing no real damage except for some falling rocks.

However, taking advantage of the gap in the aircraft's suppression of the artillery fire, the Japanese fleet began to accelerate.

A second-class destroyer named "Wakatake" arrogantly charged to the vicinity of the sunken ship blockade line, taking advantage of its high speed, and fired its 120mm main gun directly at the gun emplacement.

"This is outrageous!"

Wei Zhen's eyes reddened: "Ignore the planes, shoot down that destroyer, shoot it hard."

The barrels of the 88mm cannons were already red-hot, and the artillerymen, shirtless, were frantically loading shells.

Just when the two sides were locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle.

"Sir, look upstream!"

The observation post suddenly let out a gasp, the sound filled with disbelief:

"A fleet is approaching! A fleet is sailing downstream!"

"fleet?"

Wei Zhen was taken aback and subconsciously turned around to look.

Where did this fleet come from?

The main warships of the Great Xia Navy have already been scuttled in Jiangyin, and the torpedo boats of the Electric Torpedo School have long been wiped out.

Now, on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, apart from a few civilian boats fleeing the disaster, where is there any organized fleet?

Could it be that the Japanese have outflanked us from upstream?

No, that's not right.

Through the binoculars, he saw his own military flags fluttering on the warships rushing towards him at high speed!

"That's...our ship?!"

-----

On the river, the first four white wakes, like sharp swords, cleaved through the turbid water.

Those were the four PT boats that Lin Feng had just exchanged and upgraded, now heavily armed modified versions.

They removed the heavy torpedoes and replaced them with rapid-fire guns more suitable for inland waterway combat, increasing their speed to over 43 knots.

In the Yangtze River of this era, this speed was practically like flying close to the water's surface, with the bow held high and the stern leaving a long white trail.