The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 170 Naval Guns and Mines

Everyone agreed for a while, and now the military police were responsible for transporting people across the river, selling tickets and maintaining order. Anyway, these people who were both soldiers and spies were the best at this, so He Wei was relieved.

As for the layout of the defense system near the dock, that was naturally the responsibility of He Wei. However, the naval officer who came over this time also reminded He Wei that the Japanese threat to Xiaguan dock did not only come from land. And the direction of the water surface.

In the historical battle to defend Nanjing, the Japanese army advanced on both land and water. While attacking crazily on land, the Japanese surface ships also moved up the river. All kinds of warships and motorboats came up, and the Chinese army set up along the river. The fort could not stop the menacing Japanese ships.

In the end, the Chinese soldiers and civilians crossing the river were brutally massacred by Japanese warships. However, He Wei had been too focused on the land direction, and he inadvertently ignored the threat to the water direction.

"Sirs, we seem to have overlooked a problem."

After He Wei finished speaking, the conference room suddenly became extremely quiet, and everyone was looking at He Wei suspiciously.

"what is the problem?"

Jin Zhengqiang asked.

"If the Japanese really want to attack, they will not just attack on land. Their navy is extremely powerful. They can come along the river and outflank Nanjing's retreat. By then, the Japanese navy will definitely be at Shimonoseki Pier. Within the attack range, if we defended the land but failed to defend the water, wouldn’t we still be doomed?”

"No, that's not the case. Lieutenant Colonel Sun of the Navy told us that the Chinese army has many forts in Jiangning Fortress, and the Navy has organized dozens of merchant ships, civilian ships and old warships to actively sink the river to block the waterway. I heard that a large number of mines have also been deployed. , with so many defensive measures, how can the little carrot-headed navy still charge over?"

Jin Zhengqiang asked rhetorically.

He Wei was speechless, thinking that with your level of mine density and blockage, the Japanese would only need some time to solve it. Besides, it doesn't matter even if the Japanese can't solve it in a short time. Anyway, the Chinese navy is now equivalent to a total annihilation. There is no need to bring in large ships such as destroyers and light cruisers. Just bring in a few small gunboats, small motorboats and minesweepers, which will cause catastrophe to the Chinese military and civilians on the river.

"Sir, this is not necessarily the case. We have to be on guard. If they clear the channel, we will not only save the people, but we will also have to get in. Besides, even if the channel is not cleared, the Japanese army can also send some Warships with small displacements coming up are also an extremely serious threat to us. We are all civilian ships, fishing boats and sampans, and large warships and small warships are the same to us, and we cannot defeat them all."

After He Wei finished speaking, everyone also realized the seriousness. They all frowned and pondered. Even He Wei didn't pay much attention to the threat on the river. It was even less likely that these military policemen and police would think of it. Now after He Wei reminded them, Everyone also came back to their senses, feeling like their buttocks were exposed to others.

At this time, Lieutenant Colonel Sun of the Navy looked at He Wei and said: "Major He's views are very insightful. Alas, our Navy has actually tried its best. As early as the beginning of the Songhu War, our Navy has organized more than 200 Merchant ships, as well as the old cruisers Haiqi, Hairong, Haichiu, Haichen left over from the former Qing Dynasty, the old gunboats Desheng, Weisheng, Wusheng, Datong, Ziqiang, and the torpedo boats Chenzihao and Suzihao, which were actively self-sinking In order to block the enemy's waterway on the river, even the ship Tongji, which I practiced as an intern at the Naval Academy, had its sea valve opened and sank in the river, and all the old assets were lost."

"But as Major He said, I am in the navy, and I understand the navy's professional skills. As long as we sink those ships, we can't actually stop them for long. The Japanese navy is very powerful and professional. They have specialized Minesweepers and wrecking warships, it won’t take long for them to clear a safe channel.”

"Lieutenant Colonel Sun, can the navy now rely on its remaining warships to compete with the Japanese in the Yangtze River?" Jin Zhengqiang asked
"The remaining warships?"

Lieutenant Colonel Sun gave a wry smile, and then said with some self-deprecation: "There are no remaining warships now. All the family funds have been lost. A month ago, in Jiangyin, the remaining main warships of our navy fought a bloody battle with the Japanese army. Ninghai, Almost all the main warships such as Pinghai, Chuyou, Jiankang, Yingrui, and Yixian were sunk in the battle. Our navy's surface ships were almost completely wiped out, and all that was left were a few torpedo boats."

Speaking of this, Lieutenant Colonel Sun's voice was trembling a little, and He Wei saw tears flashing in his eyes. Thinking about it, his own military branch was almost completely wiped out by the enemy within a few months of the war. No one can bear it.

The navy's current situation obviously couldn't provide any help to He Wei. After recalling Lieutenant Colonel Sun's words just now, He Wei suddenly had an idea.

"Sir Sun, I would like to ask, if we want to resist the naval ships coming up the river, can we only rely on forts for defense without using warships?"

Lieutenant Colonel Sun nodded: "Yes, this can only be done like this. Rely on forts or lay mines on the river. Our navy is involved in your matter. All we can provide are a few broken transport ships and training sampans. The Japanese We have only torpedo boats, but even these torpedo boats are very valuable now, and none of them can be used without orders from above. If you need it, I can provide some mines, but the number is not very large."

"Sir, I have a plan. Since many former Qing Dynasty warships owned by our naval brothers have sunk on their own initiative, I would like to ask, have all the guns on these warships sunk with the warships?"

He Wei said.

Lieutenant Colonel Sun seemed to be aware of He Wei's intention and asked: "Brother, what do you want to do?"

He Wei said: "Sir, this is what I think. Anyway, the surface ships can't give us any decent cover now. Why don't you give us a few of those old naval guns, and I will temporarily repair them near the dock. This way It can be used to defend the Japanese warships on the river, and then you give me a batch of mines, and I will seal the river with mines, so as to prevent the Japanese warships to the maximum extent."

Although several military police officers and the police chief didn't quite understand what He Wei meant, they all felt that it sounded awesome, promising, and seemed to be saved, and they all looked at Lieutenant Colonel Sun with hope.

Lieutenant Colonel Sun smiled contemptuously.

"Huh?" "Brother, if you want cannons, I can get you a few. Originally, the Navy didn't even want the cannons on the former Qing Dynasty cruisers. The original plan was to sink them into the river with the warships. Later, It was the military workers who tried their best to unload these artillery pieces. It’s okay to give them to you. There are plenty of artillery shells. But you said that the river surface needs to be sealed with mines. Do you know how many mines it will take to seal the river surface? Is it two thousand or so? The navy’s inventory is not much more than this. I will give you enough mines today to block the river, but tomorrow the naval command will have to put me in a sack and sink me into the river.”

He Wei suddenly laughed evilly: "Hey, brother, why do we need so many? Just give me more than 200, which is enough. If there is no real one, we can make fake ones. When I get the mines, I will be there The city of Nanjing recruited a large number of carpenters and asked them to make fake mines that looked like real mines, paint them on and throw them into the water. I don’t believe that the Japanese have such sharp eyes that they can tell that they are fake.”

"When laying mines, we can mix one real mine into ten fake mines. I think this will definitely make the Japanese drink a pot. The Japanese will definitely pay special attention to the mines when they first encounter them, and they will definitely think that they are real. , they will conscientiously clear mines, and when they find out that the mines we deployed are fake, they may think that they are all fake. If they encounter a real mine when they are careless, hehe."

When He Wei spoke out his thoughts, the conference room suddenly became quiet. The navy principal Sun Zhongjun opened his mouth and looked at He Wei as if he were looking at a monster. Then, thunderous sounds erupted in the conference room. The two military police commanders laughed so loudly that they slapped the table. Jin Zhengqiang even gave He Wei a thumbs up, saying that He Wei was full of wisdom and tricks.

He Wei just scratched his head and received the praise from these officers. In fact, this was not a clever plan. He was completely forced by the situation. He never thought that the navy did not even have enough mines in stock.

After Lieutenant Colonel Sun had laughed enough, he said: "Okay, okay, you can do it, you can really do it. Most people's minds really can't think of this method. I will find a way for you to mine mines and try to send you as many as possible. The problem of naval guns is also Not big. Those old cannons left over from the former Qing Dynasty are not valuable. A total of two British-made Armstrong 150mm guns were dismantled from the four former Qing warships Haiqi, Hairong, Haichiou and Haichen from the sunken ship. Guns, six 150-mm Armstrong rapid-fire guns, twelve German Krupp [-]-mm rapid-fire guns, and eighteen Krupp [-]-mm rapid-fire naval guns."

"What the navy means is that after these naval guns are dismantled, the gunners of the original ships will be organized into multiple naval gun teams, and they will be assigned to various fortresses and forts. It is not a big problem to allocate a naval gun team to you. But you have to figure out how to install these naval guns near the dock."

"There's no problem with this. After I get the artillery, I'll go find someone from the Jinling Arsenal to find a way to install it for us. But when it comes to laying mines, we'll need help from your brothers in the Navy."

Jin Zhengqiang said.

Lieutenant Colonel Sun looked dumbfounded: "No problem, no problem, just find two small boats to lay mines. The navy can still get these things. Besides, your fake mines are also easy to lay. Get a few more boats and let the soldiers stand on them." Just throw it into the river casually on the boat."

Everyone burst into laughter again, and the meeting ended in a relaxed and happy atmosphere. After the meeting, everyone immediately started to take action, and He Wei's job was much easier than he imagined. Jin Zhengqiang told him , you don’t need to lead people to build the fortifications by yourself, you just need to draw the rough drawings, and there will be professionals and enough manpower to carry out the construction according to the drawings.

It turned out that in order to add a trestle to the dock, the military police not only invested two military police regiments, but also recruited a group of workers and engineers in Nanjing. He Wei only had to draw the plans for the fortifications.

When the drawing is done, the military police will lead the people to construct according to the drawings. The military police even collected a large amount of concrete cement materials and some steel bars, which means that the construction of fortifications is not limited to ordinary civil engineering works. To carry out some semi-permanent fortifications made of concrete and cement, He Wei asked for the paper and pen used for engineering drawings and immediately started drawing without saying a word.

In general, the fortifications near Xiaguan were not only prepared for the military police, but also for the future Battle of Nanjing. Historically, there was no decent resistance here at Xiaguan during the Battle of Nanjing. 10,000 + Military and civilians are crowded here, and it is chaotic. If strong enough pre-set fortifications are built here and there is good organization, He Wei believes that the situation here will be much better than in history.

The outermost layer of the defense system He Wei envisioned near Xiaguan is the street fighting defense system with house barricades a few kilometers in front of Yijiang Gate. The middle layer is the city wall defense system with the Yijiang Gate Tower as the core. The core is the Xiaguan Pier. The outer ring fortifications are five kilometers in front and two kilometers in depth.

If the combined punch composed of these three layers of defense system is used properly, it will be enough for the Japanese army to drink a pot. However, He Wei still needs to make careful plans on how to arrange these three layers of defense system.

The most difficult thing here is actually the street fighting defense system. But now, it is impossible for He Wei to make any preparations for street fighting because the people have not yet started to cross the river. Once the transportation across the river starts, the whole city must pass near Yijiang Gate to enter. Guan awaits luck. If we prepare for street fighting at this time, it will be equivalent to blocking the access road. When the time comes, no one can get through and the people will be unlucky.

As for street fighting, He Wei could only put it aside for the time being. What he could move were the defensive arrangements on the Yijiangmen city wall and the defensive arrangements near Xiaguan Pier.

There is nothing to say about the defensive layout on the city wall. This kind of city wall, which was built in the Ming Dynasty, cannot be modified much. In terms of sturdiness, these old city walls are actually quite strong. In history, when the Japanese army attacked Nanjing, Using a [-]mm howitzer to bombard the Ming city wall had no destructive effect at all and could only make a small hole in the wall.

In the end, large-caliber 150mm cannons and [-]mm large-caliber siege artillery were used, plus advance blasting to break a gap in the city wall.

It can be said that these city walls built during the Ming Dynasty are quite reliable, but they also have inevitable shortcomings, that is, the lack of effective cover and concealment facilities on the top of the city walls.

Historically, when the Chinese army was guarding the Ming Dynasty City Wall outside Nanjing, all the troops were concentrated on the city wall, but they were unable to effectively attack the Japanese troops below the city tower. Instead, they were pinned down on the city wall with fierce firepower by the Japanese army. .

He Wei's solution is to build a large number of low and small concrete bunkers on the city wall. This is the only way. No matter what, hiding in the bunker and firing on the move is better than being suppressed by Japanese fire on the city wall without cover. It's better to die behind the battlements of the city tower.

The deployment of the innermost defense line of Xiaguan Pier is much simpler. What He Wei means is to form a defense circle with Xiaguan Pier as the center, two kilometers in depth and five kilometers in front.

This defensive circle is divided into three layers of defensive positions: outer, middle and inner. Each layer of the position is a circular position. The main structure of the position is a trench defense of civil structure, supplemented by various concrete structure bunkers. There are also communication trenches between each layer of positions. are connected to each other, and behind the innermost position, a concrete fort fortifications prepared for naval guns is built.

It is impossible to say how strong such a defense system is. After all, it only lasts for a month, but as a back-up guarantee for Nanjing's retreat, it is not a big problem.

(End of this chapter)