The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

"Yes, we can't lose a brigade commander in the first battle.

South bank of the Rui River.

"Hurry, hurry, get on board! Hurry up and move quickly!"

Liu Lianrui, commander of the 37th Brigade of the 10th Army, shouted as his men climbed over the gangplank and boarded the wooden boats. The heavy water-cooled machine guns were also disassembled and brought aboard by the soldiers.

Liu Lianrui: "Set up the heavy machine gun! Set it up! Don't take it apart! Set it up at the bow! Do you hear me?"

"Brigade Commander, Brigade Commander Liu!" The 10th Army's messenger ran to Liu Lianrui, "The commander asked me to tell you that you should stay on the shore to coordinate and not get on the ship.

Liu Lianrui: "Should I stay on the shore?

“Right Inch.

"I'm not fucking crossing the river with them. They dare to turn back halfway through the boat," Liu Lianrui said through gritted teeth. "Do you believe that if the heavy machine guns on the other side were to fire, these soldiers would turn back?"

The messenger said: "This is the commander's order."

Liu Lianrui: "I know, I know! I have to obey the commander's orders, ah!" "Swoosh--" "Oh no, artillery fire!"

Liu Lianrui's hearing and reaction speed were first-rate. As soon as he heard the whistling of the shells, he immediately threw himself to the ground, shouting "Oh no! Artillery fire!" as he fell.

'Boom boom boom..

More than a dozen loud explosions were heard at the riverside dock.

"Damn it! The Southern Army has been targeting us for a long time, just waiting for us to board the ship!" Liu Lianrui yelled on the ground. "Go and tell the Marshal that the fleet can't set off! Let the artillery continue the bombardment! I think it will succeed after another day of bombardment!"

Messenger: "." Preparation: Japanese language:: City Book

Liu Lianrui: "Go, go.

The messenger remained standing without saying a word. Two seconds later, he collapsed to the ground, two meters away from Liu Lianrui. Blood began to flow from the brim of his military cap.

Liu Lianrui:

“Boom boom boom boom…

Second round of shells.

The Northern Expedition's artillery fire was perfectly accurate, and the first salvo completely covered the fleet's anchorage, eliminating the need for calibration. Less than ten seconds later, a second round of shells arrived. Liu Lianrui rolled on the ground, landing in a safer pit. The second round of shells only caused a ringing in his ears.

After the shells exploded, he stood up and looked around. One of his most elite infantry battalions, the 37th Brigade, had been destroyed. Soldiers were fleeing everywhere, and some who had boarded the boats decisively jumped over the side into the water. Liu Lianrui ran a few steps, calculated the time, and when he felt it was almost time, he lay down on the ground again.

“Boom boom boom boom…”

The third round of artillery shells. Liu Lianrui counted 14 explosions. There were 14 mountain cannons on the opposite side, probably an artillery battalion.

This is just one artillery battalion! The 10th Army used 4 artillery battalions to fight from morning to noon!

As a result, an artillery battalion on the opposite side thwarted the 10th Army's plan to cross the Rui River.

war!

The third round of bombardment hit the ferry boats, and two of them were hit by shells. One of the side planks broke completely loose, and two long planks fell into the water, revealing the dark cabin. This was a mountain artillery shell that had penetrated the boat, and the blast from the explosion inside had blown the poorly built wooden ferry apart.

The ship was broken into pieces. The wooden boat that was hit by the cannonball was probably destroyed, and all the soldiers on board were probably dead.

After the third round of bombardment, Liu Lianrui leaped up again, sprinting deeper into the riverbank. Ten seconds later, he lay down again. Sure enough, the shells from the other side flew in again, with a series of explosions. But this time, Liu Lianrui felt the explosions behind him.

After the fifth round of shelling, Liu Lianrui was already more than 200 meters from the shore. He stopped running and turned back to look at the riverbank.

The Northern Expedition's artillery continued to fire, with the shells landing concentrated in an elliptical area 200x150 meters, and more than half of them landing in an elliptical area 100x70 meters. This area of ​​impact just happened to cover the embarkation dock of the 37th Brigade and the fleet.

Because the Northern Expedition Army's artillery shells landed in a very concentrated area, Liu Lianrui, who had run more than 200 meters, felt relieved and leaned half of his body forward to observe the situation at the shelling site.

"Seven. Eight. ... Ten.

This is Liu Lianrui counting how many boats were destroyed by artillery shells. A single direct hit on a wooden boat like this on the Hui River would completely disintegrate the entire vessel. Even if it didn't hit directly, a shell that exploded within a meter or two of the boat would still send wood chips flying everywhere, and the underwater hull would undoubtedly take on water, making it impossible to sail.

00"...fourteen ships.

"It's over!"

"Huh? A boat's sailing out?"

Liu Lianrui was surprised. A ship had actually sailed out, and it was loaded with soldiers! Anyway, everyone should be given a thirty-dollar death squad reward!

The ship was more dodging bombardment than making a brave charge.

When the bombardment began, the boat was lucky enough to escape damage from the first few rounds of shells. With more than 20 soldiers already aboard, the officer ordered the boatman to set sail. With the boatman paddling and rowing, and with the boat sailing downstream, the boat quickly escaped the bombardment range and sailed from the tributary to the main stream of the Hui River.

"Sir! Shall we... take you to the other side of the river?

"We?" The platoon leader commanding these 20-odd soldiers shook his head. "Cross the river! Yes, cross the river!"

"Platoon Leader! Don't go any further, you can't get up!" "Platoon Leader Zhang, wake up!"

The soldiers under his command tried to dissuade him. A few veterans realized that the platoon leader had jumped onto the boat just before the shelling and his head might have been damaged by the shell.

The platoon leader shook his head again at the stern: "Did you hear what I said? Cross the river!!"

North bank of the Rui River.

“Stop the shelling!

Zheng Dongguo observed the opposite bank through a 20x artillery telescope. The small river branch had been bombed into a mess. Most of the ships collected by the Fengtian Army had been blown to pieces, and many soldiers on board the ships had also been killed or wounded. The surprise artillery attack had been successful.

The mountain artillery position behind him fell silent. If Zheng Dongguo's estimate was correct, the artillery battalion, which had stopped firing, was now packing up and would be moved to another location by truck in a few minutes.

Speaking of which, this small mountain cannon pulled by a car moves very fast. If it were pulled by mules and horses in the past, it would take several minutes just to harness the draft horses to the cannon. Now, just click, click, the truck connects to the cannon, and the cannon moves as soon as the truck steps on the accelerator.

"Commander, a Fengtian Army ship is coming, heading towards us!

Zheng Dongguo picked up the telescope again and saw that it was indeed a medium-sized wooden boat, swaying out of the tributary Hehanzi and sailing on the Hui River. Its destination was the river bank.

Zheng Dongguo: "I... attack with a single ship?"

Zheng Dongguo did not need to give orders personally to deal with this boat. The troops of the First Regiment defending this section of the river, the Seventh Company of the Third Battalion, had already taken up their positions after the Fengtian Army's artillery bombardment ended, set up various light and heavy weapons, and waited for the Fengtian Army's river crossing assault.

If the Fengtian Army couldn't get any boats out, the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion would probably just wait until dusk, leaving one platoon on duty at the observation point/stronghold while the rest of the troops went back to eat. Now that was good, there was something to do.

On the Rui River, the lonely wooden boat continued to sail, and the boatman steered the boat closer to the north bank little by little.

"Mrs. Da, Mrs. Da--"

The Maxim heavy machine gun fired the first long burst, and more than a dozen bullets landed seven or eight meters from the side of the boat, creating a long string of splashes. After a few seconds, there was another long string of "Tu Tu Tu Tu Da--"

The second burst of bullets completely penetrated the cabin of the wooden boat. The 7.62mm bullets hit the Fengtian Army soldiers on the boat, and the soldiers fell to the cabin floor without a sound.

"Oh my god, help me!" "Help me!" "I don't want to die!

The boat thudded to the sides, and four boatmen leaped into the river. The machine gun fire on the other side was incredibly accurate. The boatmen didn't know what level of marksmanship it took to achieve such precision, but they at least knew what the soldiers lying silently in the cabin looked like. Some of them had severed major blood vessels, and blood was still gushing out!

...Don't shoot at people who fall into the water, take some prisoners if you can.

In Zheng Dongguo's telescope, the uncontrolled wooden boat was spinning in the Rui River and drifting slowly downstream.

Thank you book 1

15 kilometers south of Guzhen, Xinmaqiao Station of Jinpu Railway.

"Commander-in-Chief! Marshal! The Northern Expedition Army on the other side of the Hui River is heavily defended! We don't have enough boats! There are no shelters or major tributaries along the Hui River! It's difficult for us to board a boat and cross the river!"

Commander of the 15th Army, Wang Shuchang, returned to Xinmaqiao Station. The special train of Zhang Xueliang, Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang had already stopped at Xinmaqiao.

Zhang Xueliang: "Commander Wang, do you know the consequences if we can't cross the Hui River?!"

Wang Shuchang: "What about the north? Where are the reinforcements coming from Xuzhou in the north?

Zhang Zongchang: "My 15th Army is advancing southward from Xuzhou! But it will take time! The 15th Army hasn't even taken Suxian yet!"

Zhang Xueliang: "Can the 15th Army reopen the railway before we run out of food and ammunition?"

Zhang Zongchang: "I... I will send another telegram, asking him to intensify his attack on Suxian!

Chapter 71, Second Division! Everyone, charge!

"The Fengtian Army tore down all the wooden beams from the houses in Xuzhuang!"

"The situation in Wanggang Village is the same as in Xuzhuang. Soldiers from the 10th Fengtian Army have torn out the beams, timber edging, and floorboards of all the houses in the village, and have also taken away all the wooden furniture!"

"All the timber from Lilou Village was also looted. It wasn't the Fengtian Army that stole the timber for the village's roof beams, but the 4th Army of the Zhili-Shandong Allied Forces. Zhang Zongchang's troops also turned back."

"Based on the three intelligence reports gathered by the First Regiment's reconnaissance company on the other side of the river, I have reason to believe that the An Guo army is looting timber from every village they can control on the other side of the Hui River. They must be urgently building boats and rafts in preparation for another forced crossing. If they attempt to cross the river next time, they will do so along the entire length of the river, with multiple departures and landings."

Zheng Dongguo summarized the intelligence obtained by the reconnaissance company of the first regiment and reported it to Chen Tianheng.

"It's definitely too late to build enough river crossing tools in such a short time. The timber looted by the An Guojun should be used primarily for rafts," Chen Tianheng said. "Rafts have a small carrying capacity and poor maneuverability, but they have a very shallow draft and can be built and launched upstream of the Hui River tributaries, making them difficult for us to observe, and even our artillery fire can't reach their embarkation points. The First Regiment must strengthen surveillance and reconnaissance of the tributaries where the two tributaries merge into the Hui River, keeping an eye out for any raft fleets leaving the tributaries."

"yes!"

Chen Tianheng put down the phone.

Huang Wei: "Even if they were to piece logs together to make a raft, it wouldn't take a day or two to complete. Rafts have a small carrying capacity, so they'd have to build a large number of them, probably hundreds."

Xu Xiangqian: "This will cause disaster to more than a dozen villages south of the Rui River.

But in this Huaibei village, adobe and thatched houses are the majority.

Huang Wei: "The Fengtian Army and the Zhili-Shandong Allied Forces don't care about the peasants and landlords here. In those villages, they will definitely rob the landlords' houses."

In order to open up a retreat route, the An Guo Army gradually became perverted.

If wood was used in rural houses of this period, the largest piece of wood would definitely be the beam. Before removing the beam, the roof would have to be removed, which was equivalent to destroying the entire house.

But then again, with so many rafts setting out simultaneously from various sections of the river at a single command to force a crossing of the Rui River, and with the Fengtian Army's intensive artillery cover, it would have been difficult for the First Regiment to destroy all the boats on the ferry route. Some of them would have definitely fought to the death to reach the other side.

The First and Second Divisions are now stuck in Suxian, having to deal with attacks from both the north and south directions at the same time. The pressure... is a bit.

But the good thing is that the defense in the north will soon improve.

"Instructor Liu, this is the Second Regiment's achievement today. They also lured out the 62nd Division of the 15th Army of the Zhili-Shandong Allied Forces.

Chen Tianheng and Liu Zhi stood in front of the map, and Chen Tianheng introduced the latest developments in the Caocun-Xuzhou direction.

"This afternoon, Liu Wenzhao's 15th Army's 65th Division attacked your division. After the 65th Division set out, Wei Lihuang led the 2nd Regiment to attack Caocun Station. Therefore, your 2nd Division's position was only briefly attacked by Liu Wenzhao, and within half an hour, he retreated. After the 65th Division retreated, the 62nd Division emerged from the city. Now Caocun Station is home to both the 62nd and 65th Divisions of the 15th Army. Zhang Zongchang is urgently urging reinforcements. Liu Wenzhao can only wait overnight; he'll attack early tomorrow morning."

"His attack was to send one of the 62nd and 65th Divisions to attack Suxian under the cover of armored trains; the remaining division remained in Caocun.

"Tomorrow, after your Second Division's position comes under attack from Liu Wenzhao, withdraw slightly by 2 kilometers and place the armored train into the ambush of the First Division's field artillery. Once the armored train is destroyed, your Second Division, supported by field artillery, will destroy Liu Wenzhao's division. The First Division's Second and Third Regiments will attack Caocun from both sides and eliminate the other division in Caocun. Old Liu, it's up to you.

Liu Zhi: "No problem. The combat effectiveness displayed by Liu Wenzhao's troops this afternoon is not as good as that of Sun Chuanfang's five-province coalition army. One of our attacks will scatter them."

Hu Zongnan: "Even if Liu Wenzhao's entire 15th Army came to attack us, the Second Division could still hold its ground."

Chen Tianheng walked over to the map and pointed north of Xuzhou. "The Battle of the Jinpu Railway has shaken the entire country. The Fengtian Army still has four fronts. Xuzhou isn't isolated; it's connected to the Jinpu Railway. We can't just consider the troops already in the war zone. The Fengtian Army currently has an entire front in Tianjin and Beijing, Yang Yuting's Fourth Front, but it's unclear whether he can withdraw troops south. In Jinan is Zhang Zongchang's 22nd Army, commanded by Xu Baoxiang. Two divisions of this army are stationed in Jinan, and one in Zaozhuang, both on the railway line. If the Anguo Army becomes desperate, Xu Baoxiang's 22nd Army is the closest. If they act quickly, they can reach Xuzhou within a few days."

"Therefore, we must weaken the enemy forces in front of Xuzhou to the greatest extent possible. It is not enough to cut off one division of the 15th Army. According to the calculations of the General Staff, we must cut off two divisions. Only in this way can the defensive pressure in the north be significantly reduced.

Hu Zongnan: “Yes, that’s right.

Morning of May 3th.

Liu Wenzhao attacked.

It was still the 65th Division from yesterday, with the armored train in the middle and two infantry regiments on the left and right sides of the railway. The train and the infantry were synchronized and slowly advanced forward.

Interestingly, the armored train's artillery fired even as it moved, with the flat-firing guns on the front and the mortars on the rear platform occasionally firing a couple of shots. There was no fire control system these days, and since the train hadn't stopped, the artillery fire was essentially blind.

The armored train stopped in front of the 2nd Division's position, and the 65th Division's infantry launched an attack on the defense line. The 5th Regiment of the 2nd Division set up a strong counterattack, and the 65th Division's infantry attack was blocked.

The two sides argued for more than half an hour, and Liu Wenzhao finally couldn't hold back anymore.

He and the commander of the 65th Division were commanding the battle on the armored train.

Yesterday, the 15th Army briefly attacked from Caocun toward Suxian, but was forced to retreat due to a flank attack at Caocun. Zhang Zongchang, trapped in the encirclement, sent more than a dozen telegrams to Xuzhou, cursing Liu Wenzhao's ancestors and demanding that he attack with all his might today, reaching Suxian at all costs. Seeing his offensive stalled, Liu Wenzhao ordered the armored train to restart and move forward 500 meters, allowing for better fire from the flat-fire artillery and mortars and allowing the heavy machine guns on board to be used in the battle.

A puff of white smoke came out of the steam locomotive, and the big wheels began to move. The armored train moved forward slowly for a few minutes and then stopped again.

“This is much better, even I can see the entire battlefield.

Liu Wenzhao opened the armored train's iron-covered window and peered out. As he neared the battlefield, he could even see the fierce exchange of fire between the two armies seven or eight hundred meters away. "Oh, right? Why didn't we do this sooner? Ah, why?"

"Because we have to prevent the Northern Expedition Army from using field artillery to fire at us." The poker-faced commander of the An Guo Army's armored train battalion replied.

Liu Wenzhao: "Huh? What? Field artillery firing?"

"Distance, 1080." "Azimuth, 330."

"Parameters set! Armor-piercing rounds! Ready to fire!"

Four 75mm Krupp field guns were lined up in a row in the wilderness. Their barrels were covered with sheets, evenly smeared with yellow mud, making them look like four clods of earth on the plain. Even the gunners had wrapped their long barrels, making them look like pieces of wood sticking out of the clods.

The field artillery position was 1080 meters from the armored train and only 300 meters from the infantry line where the two armies were engaged in fierce fighting. Thanks to their meticulous camouflage and silent ambush, the attacking infantry of the 65th Division failed to notice the four giants squatting in the pit.