Blood-Red Front

After staying at home for a few more days, Lin Zhiyuan took Shang Kebing back to the 404th Detachment.

The plan for the decisive battle of Kyoto has been finalized due to various factors, with Chang Zhongshi commanding 13 main divisions to be responsible for this battle.

The 404th Detachment was transferred to Ushitou Mountain southwest of Kyoto to guard the outer defense line of Kyoto and cover the westward retreat route of the Kyoto troops.

Although Lin Zhiyuan had some minor disagreements with many officers at the exchange meeting, the results he achieved in Lujia Town did reassure everyone.

"Good morning, sir."

Upon arriving at the Niutoushan command post, everyone saluted.

"Go back to work," Lin Zhiyuan waved his hand.

Guan Jianchu brought over a document. "Sir, all three of our infantry regiments are in place."

"The commander of the 3rd Regiment is Sun Zhongmin. The commander of the 6th Regiment has not yet been determined and I will take on the role concurrently. The commander of the 502nd Regiment is Gu Zhizhen."

"What's the situation with manpower?" Lin Zhiyuan flipped through the documents.

The three subordinate regiments are already at full strength, each with 3000 people. In addition, the command headquarters, communications battalion, engineer battalion, supply battalion, and artillery battalion have a total of 12000 people.

"The 3rd and 6th Regiments were inherited from the 1st and 2nd Detachments, respectively, each with over a thousand veterans. The 502nd Regiment is basically made up of new recruits, and..."

"Stop stammering. Just say what you have to say."

Leaning close to Lin Zhiyuan's ear, Guan Jianchu whispered, "Gu Zhizhen, the commander of the 502nd Regiment, is a radical."

"Chief of Staff, there are some things we'd better not say," Lin Zhiyuan said seriously. "I don't care what faction you're from, anyone who's here to fight for the top position is a brother of mine, Lin Zhiyuan."

"Understood." Guan Jianchu stood at attention.

Guan Jianchu wasn't actually hostile to the radicals; he was worried about Lin Zhiyuan. Lin Xing was one of the bigwigs of the conservatives, and the label of conservative on Lin Zhiyuan was impossible to remove.

Lin Zhiyuan glanced at Guan Jianchu and handed him the cannon transfer slip. "Arrange for men to bring these four cannons back."

"A 105mm cannon? That's a treasure." Guan Jianchu was very excited as he looked at the contents of the note.

It's either because your own leader is capable; if I were to step in, I wouldn't even be able to get four more 82mm mortars, let alone cannons.

"This cannon can fire 16 kilometers, which is our trump card. We need to build a concealed artillery position on the high ground of Niutou Mountain. We must make sure it is not discovered by the first-launch aircraft. If it is bombed before it can even fire, I will not let you off the hook."

"There's absolutely no chance of making a mistake," Guan Jianchu said, patting his chest.

At the division level, the functions of the staff department are already very complete, with operations staff, intelligence staff, training staff, and logistics staff each performing their respective duties.

Guan Jianchu made arrangements for the cannons, while Lin Zhiyuan familiarized himself with each regiment.

The 1st Battalion of the 6th Regiment was located at the forefront of the entire Niutou Mountain position. When Lin Zhiyuan arrived there, he saw Ma Daxi, who had been promoted to battalion commander, directing his troops to dig trenches.

Ma Daxi was very happy to see Lin Zhiyuan.

"Good morning, sir!"

"Ma Daxi, you've learned a lot. You've got everything: deep positions, counter-firing, and flanking fire."

"It's all thanks to the superior's excellent teaching."

"Your flattery skills have improved as well," Lin Zhiyuan laughed. "I'll teach you another trick today: reverse slope defense combined with tunnel tactics!"

With Ma Daxi by his side, Lin Zhiyuan took a walk around the hilltop.

"Set up concealed observation points and heavy machine gun bunkers on the mountaintop. When the enemy comes up, bombard them with mortars first, and then use heavy machine guns to create crossfire."

"Here on the mountainside, we dug a series of trenches to connect the various support points with the positions on the hilltop."

"Build reverse slope positions on the other side of the mountain so that the enemy's direct fire cannot reach us."

"Then build some troop shelters and reserve waiting tunnels to guard against carpet bombing by the newly formed army bombers."

"With this whole set of positions, no matter how many enemies come, they'll have to break a tooth first."

Ma Daxi took notes, "I'll hold a meeting to study this now, and then organize each company to start digging."

Ma Zhiyuan had already memorized a lot, but he hadn't learned some of it yet and needed to hold a meeting to discuss it.

"Do a good job. The commander of the 6th Regiment hasn't been decided yet. If you win this battle, I'll promote you."

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"

……

Half a month passed quickly, during which troops continued to withdraw westward from the northern part of Niutou Mountain.

That day, just as Lin Zhiyuan was standing on Niutou Mountain using binoculars to observe the retreating troops, Guan Jianchu came looking for him.

"Sir, we have received an enemy situation report from the Kyoto Headquarters."

"What enemy situation?"

"The enemy on the southern front has broken through Liyang."

"Damn it, what a mess Chang Zhongshi made!" Lin Zhiyuan said angrily, putting down his binoculars.

If Chang Zhongshi hadn't recklessly deployed troops, the defense line south of Taihu Lake would never have been so easily breached.

Now that the Chu Sheng Army has reached Liyang, the main force of the Xia Army in northern Taihu Lake has no choice but to retreat if it does not want to be surrounded.

In other words, the decisive battle in Kyoto is about to begin.

Guan Jianchu seemed not to hear Lin Zhiyuan's cursing and continued, "But there's also good news."

"What good news?"

"The original Bofors Mountain Artillery Battalion of the Second Detachment was transferred to the 404th Detachment, and the General Staff also sent an additional priest regiment to Niutou Mountain."

In addition to war sacrifices, the priesthood also had its own anti-aircraft battalion, which included a four-gun Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun battery, two six-gun Oerlikon 20mm machine guns, and twelve 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns.

This will play a very important role in the defense of Niutou Mountain.

"The mountain artillery battalion of the Second Detachment? And the First Detachment? We inherited two detachments."

"Sir, we're lucky to have even one battalion. The other battalion was taken by the Training Corps, which is equivalent to an entire corps."

"Oh well, never mind." Upon hearing that it was the Training Corps, Lin Zhiyuan didn't say anything more.

However, as soon as he returned to the command post, he called Lin Xing and asked him to help replenish some artillery.

The Bofors mountain gun was world-class in both range and accuracy, but it had one drawback: it was too heavy.

A mountain gun weighs 800 kilograms, which is not much different from a field gun.

In the battle at Niutou Mountain, the copycat mountain gun would be easier to move.

Lin Xing quickly resolved Lin Zhiyuan's request, but instead of sending up a replica of a Kremlin mountain gun, he sent up a large number of mortars and shells.

We have 100mm mortars, 82mm mortars, and 60mm mortars.

"Sir, you have to admire Dean Lin's strength!"

"A 100mm mortar, weighing 98 kilograms, with a maximum range of 4300 meters. With this mortar, which is more suitable for mountain warfare, our infantry regiment's combat effectiveness will be elevated by two levels!"

Looking at the list, Guan Jianchu couldn't stop smiling.

In contrast to Guan Jianchu's excitement, Lin Zhiyuan was rather serious.

"This should be our last supply."

除了18门100毫米迫击炮以外，82毫米迫击炮和60毫米迫击炮的数量远超404支队各团正常编制数量，这应该是无缝钢管厂这段时间生产出来的。

Seamless steel pipe factories have no shortage of seamless steel pipes, but the production of supports and base plates requires additional time, so the output is not very large.

However, once the mortars are moved to the rear and integrated, the production speed will increase dramatically, and the entire Xia army will benefit in less than six months.

"The supply will be supplemented with 3 60mm mortars per company, 6 82mm mortars per battalion, and 6 100mm mortars per regiment. Any excess mortars will be stored by the logistics department and replenished to the front-line troops at any time."

After the 404th Detachment was formed, each regiment was also allocated some weapons, so the mortars produced by the previous gun steel plant did not need to be replaced.

"Tell all units not to be stingy with ammunition, but to master the skills as quickly as possible."

"Also, I have other uses for the 12 Rossian 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns that the priesthood had been transferred out."

"Huh? That's not a good idea. After all, the priesthood isn't our subordinate." Guan Jianchu hesitated.

"What's good or bad about it? The 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun is too ineffective for air defense; it's better used for positional warfare."

Rossia's 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun uses a multi-purpose gun mount, which can be used for both anti-aircraft and horizontal firing. The gun mount is also equipped with small wheels and a shield, making it very easy to move.

"Okay, I'll go ask."

Mu Ya, who was promoted to head of the priesthood, did not say much about Lin Zhiyuan's decision. She not only transferred the machine gun to the 404th Detachment headquarters, but also transferred the corresponding personnel.

As Lin Zhiyuan said, the 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun could only be considered as supplementary firepower in the priesthood; the main force for air defense still had to be the anti-aircraft gun.

……