The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Field gun = field cannon, with a long barrel, heavy projectiles, and muzzle energy four to five times that of a mountain gun of the same caliber. How can it not be heavy?

These four field guns were fine when they were moving on the main road, but when they turned from the main road into the countryside, the six horses pulling the guns tried their best, and the soldiers who helped push the guns were sweating profusely, but they could only make the guns move crookedly and staggeringly.

"Quick, quick! Show some spirit!"

Yuan Yelie, the artillery battalion commander, followed the front field gun, joining in the push when the cannon became too heavy to pull. Estimating they were nearing their destination, Yuan Yelie reached a high point ahead and used the jump-eye method to measure the distance: "The armored train is one thousand meters away. We'll push it another two hundred meters!"

The destination of the field artillery march is very clear. By listening to the sound of gunfire on the battlefield, you know where to drag the artillery.

Dozens of men and horses pushed the field artillery forward another two hundred meters. The horses untied the cables to rest, and the men carried the tail of the gun carriage, trying to aim the mountain artillery roughly at the target - an armored train that was still "thump thump thump" and spewing fire a few hundred meters away.

"Distance, 810!" shouted the observer using the rangefinder.

Yuan Yelie: "Distance 810! Armor-piercing grenades, fire in sequence! Ready—fire!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Close shot, close shot, close shot, hit.

Three clouds of smoke and dust rose in front of the armored train in the distance, and then the second carriage exploded violently. After the fire and smoke dissipated, the armor plate of the second carriage was twisted and cracked with a large hole. The four machine guns in this carriage that had been firing violently were silenced.

Yuan Yelie: "Correction!"

Yuan Yelie: "Shoot in order! Ready—fire!"

Hit, hit, long shot, hit.

The target was the second carriage. Three shells hit the target, and the firepower of this carriage was completely destroyed.

"Dong dong dong dong——"

The armored train's artillery fired back. Four mortars fired a salvo in the direction of the field artillery company, but the Beiyang Army was only concerned with a quick response and did not carefully position the guns, so the four shells were a bit off-center.

The field gun ejected the shell and reloaded.

"Dong dong dong dong——"

While the field guns were reloading and shifting their aim, the armored train's mortars unexpectedly fired another round. The shells were still skewed, deviating in the same direction as the previous round.

The artillery on the armored train was anxious and didn't want to make corrections, so they fired a few rounds to boost their courage.

Yuan Yelie: "Carriage three! Ready—launch!"

Long bullet, long bullet, long bullet, hit.

The third car, one of the two mortar emplacements on the armored train, was much shorter than the armored cars with machine guns, and three shells missed its head, with only one hitting it.

"咚咚-"

My goodness, the two mortars in the undestroyed artillery carriage were still firing.

Moreover, this time, the mortar seemed to be calibrated and was closer to the positions of the four field guns. There were even shrapnel that popped into the soil near the artillery position.

Yuan Yelie: "Carriage 4! Ready—launch!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Three of the four field guns fired, and Yuan Yelie looked at the fourth. This gun had hit the target with all three previous shots, so it was not right for it to fail now.

Yuan Yelie: "What's going on!"

"Report to the battalion commander! I'm adjusting the aiming parameters!"

The gunner yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Swish—swish—” “Boom!”

The three field guns just now fired at once, but what surprised Yuan Yelie was that in the previous round, the field gun company concentrated its fire and hit the third carriage, which had been hit by a bullet, and the mortars actually resumed operation.

Yuan Yelie stared at the fourth mountain cannon with wide eyes: "Xu Guangda! Hurry up! Hurry up!"

"Fire!" Xu Guangda shouted, pulling the trigger: "Boom!"

The 75mm shell flew towards the armored train in the distance at a muzzle velocity of over 500 meters per second. This shell was heading for... the locomotive.

The flash of exploding shells flashed across the locomotive, and the next second, a huge cloud of white steam suddenly burst out and engulfed the entire armored train.

The sound of the boiler explosion took two seconds to reach the artillery position and echoed three times around the mountains and fields.

The energy stored in the locomotive boiler in the heated and pressurized state was at least equivalent to 20 mountain artillery shells. After the boiler exploded, the huge shock wave pushed the entire armored train off the track.

Now, the armored train derailed and tilted.

I don’t know whether the gunners can still aim normally at the mortars on the two severely tilted turrets.

Chapter 116

While the field artillery company was fighting against the mortars on the armored train, the mountain artillery of the artillery battalion had actually been moved into place.

A mountain cannon can be pulled by two draft horses, and in an emergency it can be pulled by one draft horse. Of course, it is faster than a field cannon.

Fourteen mountain guns raised their muzzles and, under the command of a company commander, opened fire in unison. The position was filled with smoke as the shells flew over the Buckwheat Ridge in front of them and flew to the other side of the mountain.

"Hit! Hit!"

Forward artillery observation team reports.

Deputy Battalion Commander Wan Danping: "The effect of the bombardment?!"

"Artillery fire accurately covers Sun's army, and the offensive group's advance has been stopped!"

Wan Danping hung up the phone with the observation group at the front, and the phone rang again. It was a call from the division headquarters.

Chen Tianheng: "Has the enemy's attack on Qiaomailing been stopped?"

Wan Danping: "We just conducted an artillery barrage, and this wave of attack has been stopped. However, our coordination with the Hunan Army on the ridge was poor, and we often fired ineffectively, which resulted in a high consumption of ammunition."

Chen Tianheng: "The Sixth Division has sent their reserve 17th Regiment to Mahuiling. For the time being, Qiaomailing will be held by their 16th Regiment. Don't be afraid of wasting ammunition; you must ensure that Qiaomailing is not lost!"

……

After contacting the artillery battalion, Chen Tianheng called the Second Division.

Lu Diping was no longer in charge of the matter. Ever since a large number of enemy troops appeared in the north and attacked the positions of the Hunan Army's 6th Division, Lu Diping simply arranged the battle deployment in De'an City and set off for the 6th Division headquarters in the front.

The 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the 1st Division were the first to break through the De'an city wall. After entering the city, the enemy's morale plummeted, and the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Division also took the opportunity to climb the city wall. It was precisely because the battle in De'an was progressing smoothly that Chen Tianheng dared to pull the 1st Regiment out to deal with Sun Chuanfang's reinforcements.

"Old Liu, can you replace the troops you're sending to De'an with the Sixth Regiment? I need the Fourth Regiment to join the northward march and defeat Sun Chuanfang's Second Central Division."

Liu Zhi: "The large number of Sun Chuanfang reinforcements appearing on the northern front must be dealt with, but the Sixth Regiment is small and weak. The Fifth Regiment that entered De'an now has few men left. Adding the Sixth Regiment to the city cannot guarantee a quick elimination of the enemy forces in De'an."

"Sun Chuanfang used his elite troops to defend the city and the perimeter, while the reserve troops inside the city were the less effective Gan troops. After the city walls were breached, the morale of the enemy troops inside the city was extremely low, and the capture of De'an was a foregone conclusion. Commander Liu, inside De'an, by the end of the battle, no matter how many blocks the First and Second Divisions had captured,

Chen Tianheng emphasized his tone and said with certainty: "The spoils of war will be divided equally between the First and Second Divisions."

Chen Tianheng was able to understand what Liu Zhi really wanted and directly gave Liu Zhi what he was most expecting. Of course, Liu Zhi could not refuse.

Like the current First Division, the Second Division also has the Fourth Regiment with strong combat effectiveness, while the Fifth and Sixth Regiments are weak, and the variance in combat effectiveness is also large.

Chen Tianheng needed the 4th Regiment, the most combat-effective unit of the 2nd Division, to join the attack on the Central 2nd Division.

At the First Division Command, Chen Mingren marked the battlefield situation north of De'an on the map.

The 1st Regiment has set out northward and penetrated the enemy line along the east side of the battlefield, near Lushan Mountain. The 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division is penetrating from the west side of the battlefield.

The enemy's Second Central Division wasn't an isolated force. Current reconnaissance indicated that behind it stood Sun Chuanfang's Five Provinces Allied Forces' Guards Regiment, another elite unit. Behind them stood the Anhui Army's Sixth Mixed Brigade. These units formed a long line connecting Jiujiang, with no obvious breakpoints. Zheng Junyan's Soviet 10th Division was also inside Jiujiang.

Chen Mingren: "Commander, the Second Division just told us that the Fourth Regiment has arrived at this position. It is a little behind the First Regiment's advance, but not by much."

Chen Tianheng: "Send the signalman to convey the message to the First Regiment. Oh, and send the six mortars from the Second Regiment as well."

Chen Mingren: "Should we have the First Regiment adjust its existing combat deployment?"

Chen Tianheng: "We don't have any telephone contact with the First Regiment right now. We can only tell him the exact location of the Fourth Regiment, which is cooperating with us. Xu Xiangqian will handle everything on the battlefield on the spot."

Just like the previous battle when Chen Tianheng was the commander of the 1st Regiment, the commander and the regimental staff first obtained battlefield intelligence from the regimental reconnaissance company, and then decided how to deploy and fight the regiment based on the battlefield intelligence. If they reported it to the division headquarters for "tactical guidance request", it would be too late.

Unless the divisional reconnaissance battalion obtained the latest intelligence related to the entire battlefield direction, however, under normal circumstances, the division headquarters should compile and summarize the battle situation and then send it to the regimental-level units operating independently at the front.

Moreover, the 1st Division's reconnaissance battalion has just been adjusted and established, and can't play any role.

……

front.

Theoretically, the situation on the northern front should be that the 1st and 4th Regiments, one on the left and one on the right, would penetrate the Central 2nd Division and attack the 2nd Division's command post. However, the 1st and 4th Regiments were not so closely coordinated and could only make an estimated move.

Xu Xiangqian led the entire regiment to the battlefield, and the first thing he did was to attack the artillery regiment of the Central Second Division.

This is like poking a cat's nest.

The artillery regiment's defenders put up a desperate resistance, but the fierce attack from the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st Regiment proved difficult to withstand. The artillery regiment harnessed its mountain guns to draft horses and retreated, but only managed to get out a few cannons. Troops attacking Qiaomailing and Mahuiling suddenly realized their artillery cover had been cut off. Upon learning that their artillery regiment had been attacked, they abandoned the hilltops they were about to capture and turned back to defend. Lu Xiangting, who still commanded a mobile regiment, saw his artillery regiment about to be destroyed and immediately committed his entire regiment to the battlefield to rescue the artillery.

The 1st Regiment became the focus of the battlefield. The 1st Regiment occupied the artillery position of the Central 2nd Division and counted 22 mountain guns (two of which were damaged) on the position. At this time, Xu Xiangqian received the latest intelligence from the division headquarters and 6 Stokes mortars.

According to the intelligence provided by the division headquarters, the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division would arrive at the battlefield in five minutes. It was indeed a bit late, but Xu Xiangqian had previously believed that the 2nd Division would not send the 4th Regiment to participate in the battle, so this intelligence was actually good news for Xu Xiangqian.

"How is the combat effectiveness of the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division?" asked Zheng Dongguo, the new chief of staff of the 1st Regiment.

"We can only say that we're still a unit," Xu Xiangqian said. "We have several members serving as staff officers and company commanders in the 4th Regiment. But the 4th Regiment's tactics aren't well-executed. ... Assuming they launch an attack in five minutes, the 1st Battalion will have to hold off Lu Xiangting's 5th Regiment before the 2nd and 3rd Battalions launch their offensive."

Five minutes later, the 4th Regiment, under the leadership of Hu Zongnan, launched the attack on time. Hu Zongnan ignored everything and led the 4th Regiment to rush towards Shenjia Village, where Lu Xiangting's division headquarters was located.

卢香亭发现第4团在冲他，就把中央二师第5团缩了回来，先挡住这直奔他指挥部而来的一千多人再说。同时中央二师攻打山头的第3旅第6团、第4旅第7团回撤之后也在向师部靠近。

Xu Xiangqian of the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Central Division, which had retreated, did not intend to let them go. The 1st and 2nd Battalions switched from defense to offense, pursuing the enemy in company units; the 3rd Battalion remained in his hands to deal with Sun Chuanfang's troops, who were retreating in disarray on the battlefield.

"Interrogate the prisoner and make him tell you which unit he belongs to!"

The Second Company of the First Battalion, which was chasing the 5th Regiment of the Second Central Division, captured several prisoners and began interrogating them on the spot.

"The prisoners have spoken. They are from the Third Battalion, Fifth Regiment, Second Central Division."

Second Company Commander Lin Biao: "We have been fighting their Third Battalion since the pursuit began."

"Yes, the prisoners captured from Sun Chuanfang's army several times were all from the Third Battalion." Platoon leader Liu Zhidan replied.

Lin Biao frowned: "They are retreating in an orderly manner."

Liu Zhidan: “…It seems so.”

Lin Biao: "The superiors intended us to disrupt the enemy forces during the pursuit and wait for an opportunity to annihilate them, but they retreated in a tight formation. It was the Third Battalion that was always the rearguard. We were unable to tear the enemy apart. The Second Company cannot continue this pursuit."

Liu Zhidan: "So?"

Lin Biao pointed to the hilltop in front of him and said, "There is a place called Fengchekou on the side of this mountain. There is a fork in the road. All members of the Second Company will go to Fengchekou and walk through there!"

There was indeed a narrow mountain road trampled out by people at the windmill mouth, and the second company and its three reinforced heavy machine guns passed through the mountain road.

However, the further we go on this road, the more... it seems to go off the beaten path.

Liu Zhidan: "Captain Lin, are we leaving...right?"

Lin Biao: "Yes. This is not a shortcut, but leads to the north side of the enemy's retreat assembly point."

The Second Company trotted through the two or three kilometers of mountain road. When the one hundred or two hundred men finally saw the broad road, Lin Biao ordered the entire company to occupy the high ground beside the road and set up their machine guns. Checking the time, Lin Biao even ordered the entire company to take five minutes to drink water and eat a piece of radish cake.

Gunshots and rumbling artillery sounds were heard from the mountains. Lin Biao stood there and tried to identify the true source of the gunfire and artillery sounds from the various echoes.

"This is a firefight between the 2th Regiment of Sun's army and the 4th Regiment of the

Liu Zhidan: "Sun's Fifth Regiment finally ran back to protect the division headquarters."

"Division headquarters, ha ha," Lin Biao pointed in the opposite direction: "Lu Xiangting's division headquarters is over there."

The Second Company has now penetrated deep into the area controlled by Lu Xiangting's Second Division. To be more precise, it is sandwiched between the 5th Regiment of the Central Second Division and Lu Xiangting's division headquarters.

Lin Biao did not intend to charge directly at Lu Xiangting's divisional headquarters. Lu Xiangting's divisional headquarters was not running naked. He was accompanied by a supply convoy of several hundred men, as well as combat troops such as guards and reconnaissance teams, totaling at least three or four hundred combat troops. Lin Biao was waiting for the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Central Division to be repelled by Hu Zongnan.

On another road, Wang Yaowu's 1st Battalion, 1st Company, rushed in, with Battalion Commander Song Xilian also in the company. They rammed the flank of the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Central Division. Accompanied by two Stokes mortars, the artillery barrage forced the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Central Division to retreat—they had just arrived and had no time to dig trenches or foxholes.

Qiu Qingquan's 1st Battalion's 3rd Company took a different, interpenetrating pursuit route. They engaged the lagging 3rd Battalion of Sun's army, but remained close to the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion. When Song Xilian launched a flanking attack on the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Central Division, Qiu Qingquan immediately launched his own attack.

Sun Chuanfang's army, which had originally intended to stop Hu Zongnan's 4th Regiment, felt that it was impossible to stay in this place. After holding on for less than half an hour, they retreated again. At this time, the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Central Division was horrified to find that there were also Northern Expedition troops on the retreat route!

The Second Company's heavy machine guns were strategically positioned on the high ground. All three were positioned in front of a straight section of the road, offering a wide field of view. A single firing would effectively block over 200 meters of the road. The 5th Regiment of the Second Central Division was forced to dispatch two companies, trekking through the wilderness in an attempt to capture the high ground held by the Northern Expedition.

Lu Xiangting suddenly realized at the division headquarters that he had not seen the communications soldier who was delivering messages from the front line for half an hour.

His final orders were for the 6th and 7th Regiments to withdraw from their attack positions, see if they could rescue a few more mountain guns, and for the 5th Regiment to hold off the sudden appearance of the 1,000-strong Northern Expedition Army. After the 6th and 7th Regiments returned safely, the 4th Regiment was to withdraw, and the entire division was to retreat in an orderly fashion to the rear, where the Commander-in-Chief's Guards Regiment was stationed.

Now there is no news from the front and no troops have returned to the vicinity of the division headquarters. This is a big problem.

"You, personally lead a reconnaissance platoon, two people, please," Lu Xiangting pointed at a staff officer at the headquarters. "Open the road to the 5th Regiment and tell them not to retreat without permission! You must wait until the 6th and 7th Regiments return."

The staff officer left in response, and came running back half an hour later: "Division Commander! The road three kilometers ahead of us has been cut off by the Northern Expedition Army!"

……