The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 181

The experience of going to the Sixty-sixth Army was indeed not in vain. He Wei successfully reached a cooperative combat agreement similar to an offensive and defensive alliance with Ye Zhao, the commander of the Sixty-sixth Army.

The main contents are as follows. First, the two sides cooperate in fighting, and if one side needs support, the other side must do its best to reinforce it. This article is actually mainly aimed at He Wei's spy camp. Although the Sixty-sixth Army has strong troops, the special Heavy weapons are very limited, but He Wei's spy battalion is completely opposite. Although the size of the army is not huge, it has a complete range of light and heavy firearms, and is equipped with treasures such as tanks. It is definitely a sharp blade when used properly.

Therefore, the Sixty-sixth Army's own attributes are more suitable for playing the main role of filling in large-scale field positions, while He Wei's special agent battalion is suitable for performing field offensive assaults and critical moment counterattack missions.

Second, He Wei can participate in the command and staff decision-making of the [-]th Army, and can also make various suggestions based on the battle situation. This actually gives He Wei a certain command power. As for the weight of this command power, How big it is and how effective it can be depends on the actual situation on the battlefield.

However, He Wei felt that with just his company of tanks, this weight was not small.

After reaching a cooperative relationship that day, the two sides naturally enjoyed themselves as guests and hosts. The commander of the [-]th Army, Ye Zhao, was obviously in a good mood. He personally took He Wei to the troops directly under the army to have a look at the communications battalion, the special agent company, the engineering battalion and After visiting all the artillery battalions, the Cantonese army's troops were indeed well-equipped, but what attracted He Wei the most was the artillery battalion directly under the [-]th Army.

This artillery battalion of the Sixty-sixth Army is equipped with the M1928 75mm ultra-light gun. This artillery was developed by the French Schneider Company in the 1920s. It can be broken down into several parts for transportation, because the heaviest part of the gun barrel can be It is placed on the back of a man and carried away, so Schneider Company said: As long as a man can go, the gun can reach it.

The Schneider Company's code name for the gun was SEL (Schneider Ultralight). It was tested by France as an army artillery gun at Bourges in 1926, but was later adopted by the navy in 1927. The gun is equipped with French naval landing combat troops. This type of cannon is very similar to the mountain cannon, they are detachable, lighter, have "human power" towing, and can then be towed/transported by sailors to land to fight the enemy.

In French Marine Corps documents, the gun is called the M1927 75mm landing gun. In the 1930s, the French Schneider Company once promoted products to China. At that time, the Chinese called it the "Snaider-style seven-centimeter five-inch infantry howitzer" and "Snaider ultra-light mountain gun". Later, it was taken a fancy by Guangdong boss Chen Jitang and ordered dozens of them at once. However, Chen Jitang was buying this batch of artillery. It seemed that the full payment was not made at the time, but in the end it was Guozuo Center who paid the money to take over the deal, and then he got all these artillery pieces.

The biggest advantage of this cannon is its portability. That day, He Wei was amazed to see that only one soldier could pull the mount of this mountain cannon and drag the cannon around. The mountain cannons He Wei had seen in the past were either made in Japan. Taisho [-]th-type mountain cannon, or Bofors mountain cannon. These mountain cannons are relatively heavy and require many pack horses to pull or carry them when marching.

Even after it is disassembled, it either cannot be carried on the back by manpower, or it can only be carried for short distances. However, this French-made [-]mm Qingshan cannon can only be pulled by one person. It is really good, and the combat of the artillery The performance is also very good. The longest range of this gun can reach six kilometers when using a strong charge, and it can also shoot [-] kilometers when using the weakest charge.

The artillery shell weighs [-] kilograms and contains [-] kilograms of TNT explosives. Compared to the weight of this artillery, its range and power data are really good. After watching the drill of the artillery battalion directly under the [-]th Army, Later, He Wei was even more grateful for his "collaboration" with the [-]th Army. At least according to what he knew so far, the various military divisions of the Nanjing Garrison basically did not have any body-barrel artillery equipment. The artillery of the [-]th Army The camp is also unique.

After seeing the troops, Ye Zhao entertained He Wei with Cantonese food, and then ended the meeting that satisfied both parties.

In the next few days, He Wei was mainly busy with the affairs of the [-]th Army. One was cotton-padded clothes and the other was the retreating ferry. He Wei found the Military Police Headquarters and was full of requests from the Military Police Headquarters. Promise, clothes and boats are not a problem. During this period, the military police organized people to cross the river in Xiaguan, and at the same time mobilized military police units stationed in other cities to search for ships.

With money to open the way, the gendarmerie troops stationed along the river were looking for ships everywhere like chicken blood. Now there are new ships arriving in Xiaguan every day. He Wei wants to leave a batch of ships for the [-]th Army. It didn't matter at all. The military police readily agreed to this request. As for the cotton-padded clothes, it was even more trivial. They just brought a batch over when delivering the ship. And He Wei helped the [-]th Army in just a few days. Solving so many problems made Ye Zhao and other senior officers of the [-]th Army look at He Wei with admiration.

Time passed day by day, and as He Wei dealt with various trivial matters, the clouds of war gradually enveloped Nanjing. On December 12, the Japanese base camp issued a new battle order.

The Central China Front where the Japanese attacked Nanjing was composed of two combat units: the Shanghai Expeditionary Army and the Tenth Army: the Shanghai Expeditionary Army commanded by Matsui Iwane, the [-]th Division of Yoshizumi Ryosuke, the [-]th Division of Ogisu Rihei, and the Central Shima Kongo's [-]th Division and Amaya Naojiro's [-]th Brigade; the [-]th Army commanded by Yanagawa Heisuke, Hisao Tani's [-]th Division, Ushijima Sadao's [-]th Division, Suematsu Shigeharu's [-]th Division The [-]th Division and Noboru Kunisaki's [-]th Brigade.

The deployment of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, which is responsible for advancing along the south bank of the Yangtze River, is: the [-]th Division advances along the Jurong-Tangshui Town-Nanjing Highway; the [-]th Division advances along the Tianwang Temple-Chunhua-Nanjing Highway. The Tiangu detachment consists of a heavy artillery brigade, a mortar brigade and a reserve artillery and engineer squadron from the [-]th Brigade, advancing towards Zhenjiang along the Changzhou-Danyang-Zhenjiang Highway.

The deployment of the Tenth Army, which is responsible for the frontal attack on Nanjing and the roundabout to the south, is: the [-]th Division advances along the Yixing-Liyang-Lishui Highway; the Sixth Division advances along the Changxing-Guangde-Honglanbu Highway. ; The [-]th Division advanced along the Guangde-Shizipu-Langxi-Honglanbu-Taiping Highway, while the Guoqi Detachment crossed the Yangtze River from the Taiping direction and advanced to Pukou, cutting off the retreat route of the Chinese Nanjing defenders.

In addition to these field divisions, the Songhu Expedition Army and the Tenth Army were also reinforced by a large number of field artillery, including the 5th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade, the 15th Independent Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, and the 2nd Independent Field Heavy Artillery Brigade. , 3rd Battalion, 4th Battalion, 1st Battalion and 4th Independent Mortal Artillery Battalion, 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 5th Battalion of Independent Siege Heavy Artillery, independent siege heavy artillery team, temporary siege heavy artillery team, etc., There are [-] heavy guns over [-] mm alone.

After the fall of Songhu, the area from Songhu to Nanjing was almost flat. Behind them, the Japanese army, relying on the war machines of modern countries and developed countries, bared their terrifying fangs, brandished sharp ice blades, and pounced on Nanjing menacingly.

The battle order of the Nanjing Garrison was also officially issued. The first line of defense of the Nanjing Garrison was from Sanjiangkou, Huayuan, Longtan, Tangshan, Chunhua Town, Fangshan, Yinxiang, and Niushou in the peripheral mountains east and south of Nanjing. From the mountain to Banqiao Town, the second line of defense runs from Ganjia Lane, Yangfangshan, Zijinshan, Xiaolingwei, Gaoqiaomen, Heding Bridge, Matian Bridge on the south bank of Baguazhou to Xishan Bridge and reaches the other side of Jiangxinzhou. Nanjing City is the second line of defense. The three lines are also the last line of defense. Among them, the 2st and 41th Divisions of Xu Yuanquan's 48nd Army defend the front line from Longtan to Tangshan east of Nanjing. The 66th and 159th Divisions of Ye Zhao's 160th Army defend from Tangshan to Chunhua. On the front line east of the town, the 74st and 51th Divisions of Yu Jishi's 58th Army defended the area from Chunhua Town to Banqiao Town and Jiangxinzhou.

The 83th Division and 154th Division of Deng Longguang's 156rd Army defended the line from Mengtang to Longtan. Wang Jingjiu's 87th Division defended the line from Heding Bridge to the Engineer School. Sun Yuanliang's 88th Division was located in the Zhonghuamen, Yuhuatai and Huangshanshan Mountain areas in the south of the city. Song Xilian's 36th Division is located in the Mufu Mountain, Xiaguan, Hepingmen, and Xuanwu Lake areas in the north of the city. Gui Yongqing's teaching corps is located in the area from Zhongshan Gate to the Xuanwu Lake in the east of the city.

These units of the Nanjing Garrison were dilapidated, incompletely replenished, and lacked training. Compared with the fierce firepower of the Japanese army's [-] heavy artillery pieces over [-] mm, the heavy firepower of the Nanjing Garrison was pitiful.

There are only eight Japanese-made Lao [-]-type [-]-mm artillery pieces of artillery over [-] mm. At this time, the total number of artillery pieces over [-] mm in China was only more than [-]. The dilapidated Nanjing The garrison, carrying their bodies riddled with holes, faced the menacing Japanese army.

When He Wei received this battle order, he couldn't help but sigh. The inertia of history is really powerful. The deployment of the Nanjing Garrison is almost exactly the same as the timeline before he traveled through time. Of course, there are still differences. The biggest The difference is the gendarmerie. In the original history, the gendarmerie was deployed in the front-line areas of Mochou Lake, Qingliang Mountain, and Caochangmen in the west of the city. When the fighting situation was urgent near the Nanjing city wall, they were largely removed and split up and strengthened to the front-line areas. place, and was finally destroyed with the collapse of the entire garrison.

The troops stationed in the Xiaguan area are Song Xilian's [-]th Division. Now, because of He Wei's efforts, the military police units took the lead in occupying the Xiaguan area and made a lot of money. Naturally, they were not dragged into the city to fill in the lines.

But Song Xilian's Thirty-sixth Division was still deployed in the Xiaguan area. This operation made He Wei suspicious. Logically speaking, the Thirty-sixth Division was also a main division in the Nanjing Garrison. This division itself was the adjustment division of the national army. An infantry division with better equipment in Xiaguan, four regiments of military police units have been deployed in Xiaguan, but He Wei can't understand that the Thirty-sixth Division has been sent to Xiaguan.

The only reasonable explanation that He Wei could think of was that Commander Tang had a grudge against the military police for blocking the river, so he threw the [-]th Division into Xiaguan District to stir up trouble.

However, Commander Tang also gave He Wei face. He specifically mentioned He Wei's small secret service battalion in the battle order, allowing the secret service battalion to be placed side by side with a group of military and division-level units in the battle command. The order was also very simple. He directly asked the special agent battalion to cooperate with the nearby [-]th Army in fighting. Little did he know that He Wei had already been "connected" with the [-]th Army.

In terms of specific layout, the two divisions of the 160th Army are roughly arranged in two lines. The 159th Division of the Chinese Army is deployed in Jurong and its west line, and the [-]th Division is deployed in Tangshan Town, between the north and south of Xianlan Bridge. Line, its advancing troops have advanced to the vicinity of Lizili on the outskirts of Jurong. All troops of the Nanjing Garrison have already moved and entered various positions. After the Sixty-sixth Army was ready for battle, He Wei also followed It was agreed to lead the troops to advance and join the [-]th Army.

Before He Wei led his troops to leave, General Xiao of the Military Police Headquarters, who was still apologetic to He Wei, carried out the last supply to He Wei's secret service camp and sent a large amount of food, ammunition, fuel, and military uniforms. He Wei was very moved. , made a special call to Commander Xiao, expressed his gratitude, and repeatedly asked General Xiao to take care.

General Xiao's life has been really difficult recently. People in Nanjing are now panicked. Military and political officials from all walks of life have fled Nanjing. Gendarmerie Commander Gu Zhenglun, NJ Mayor Ma Chaojun, etc. are all the same. At this time, Commander Tang actually ordered Xiao Shan to act as "Capital" "Director of the Police Department, Mayor of NJ City, Guard Commander, Air Defense Commander, Commander-in-Chief Crossing the River, plus his own position as Deputy Commander of the Military Police, Commander Xiao actually held six positions at the same time.

Some of these positions are part-time jobs for Gendarmerie Commander Gu Zhenglun. General Xiao himself is a senior cadre within the Gendarmerie system. Now that Gu Zhenglun has gone to Hankou due to illness, it is understandable that General Xiao has taken over the part-time job as Gendarmerie Commander.

But it's too ridiculous for him to take over other people's responsibilities. He should be the mayor of NJ and the commander of the air defense. It's ridiculous for one person to be responsible for the military police business and also do some shitty air defense that is beyond the scope of his profession. Commander and mayor, this is too much nonsense.

Of course, in normal times, any of these official positions would be a lucrative job for people to grab, but now, these positions are all hot potatoes that people can't avoid, and the original owners have all run away, so All these official positions fell on Commander Xiao's head. He Wei was sighing and speechless after learning the news. He could do nothing but tell General Xiao to take care.

However, He Wei felt that although General Xiao was indeed very difficult now.

On December [-], He Wei led all his troops to the [-]th Army headquarters near Tangshan to stand by. After the troops arrived, he discovered that the situation was far more serious than he thought.

(End of this chapter)