Chapter 63: Cannon Fire
At this time, the fishing boats on the river had already scattered after discovering a large number of warships gathering here. Gaoyang picked up his binoculars and looked towards the south of the river, where a layer of morning mist covered the river surface in the early morning, and the Jiangyin fortress was faintly visible in the distance. Jiangyin is located at the "tail of the river and the head of the sea", which has been a must-contend place for military strategists since ancient times. The Yangtze River rushes to this point and suddenly narrows, forming a huge trumpet-shaped mouth, which is a natural danger. On the top of Huangshan Mountain by the river, there is the Huangshan Battery, which controls the Yangtze River and is known as the "lock of the Yangtze River".
This morning's fog was very thick, and the lookout soldiers in the fort could only vaguely see that there were boats on the river, but they didn't know what kind of boats. The main reason why the fort did not sound the alarm was that the military operation against Gaoyang had not yet begun, and they couldn't alert the enemy!
Via Jiangyin to the Demon Capital is a journey of just over 100 kilometers, which for an army on full mobilization is merely a day's journey. When Lu Dajun was still around, he treated Jiangyin as a crucial location. At first it was to defend against Qi Xuan Yuan, later it was to defend against Gao Yang.
One of the main forces of the Zhejiang Army, the 6th Mixed Brigade of the Army, has been stationed here for a long time. After Lu Xiaojia decided to take action against Gao Yang, he successively transferred the main force of the Zhejiang Army to the Jiangyin line. By the time Gao Yang launched the attack, there were already more than 30,000 troops gathered around the Jiangyin fortress, including the 10th Division, the First Division of Zhejiang, the 6th Mixed Brigade, and the First Mixed Brigade of Zhejiang. Many other units are also gathering on the Jiangyin line. The plan given by Tōyama Kanken to Lu Xiaojia is to gather the main force along the highway and railway along the Yangtze River and make a surprise attack on Nanjing, breaking through Gao Yang's command center in Nanjing.
Intelligence prior to the battle indicated that the Zhejiang Army had not formed a unified front line, but was deployed along the Yangtze River with Jiangyin Fortress as its center. The 6th Mixed Brigade was at Jiangyin Fortress, while the 10th Infantry Division was in front of the fortress near the border with Gao's forces. The 1st Division and 1st Mixed Brigade of Zhejiang were both behind the fortress. Nobody knew why the Zhejiang Army had deployed its troops this way, but it gave Gao's forces an opportunity, especially on a day like today with such weather conditions.
Weixi's plan was to first attack the Jiangyin fortress and the connection point of the 10th Division, cutting off the 10th Division and surrounding and annihilating this main force of the Zhejiang Army. At the same time, use naval heavy artillery to suppress the firepower of the Jiangyin fortress, as for the Zhejiang Army behind the fortress, wait until they come to rescue the 10th Division's position after being blocked by the firepower of the fortress, and the first phase of the battle has already ended.
In the army's tenth division headquarters in Jiangyin Xiagang Town, Deputy Commander Zhu Shengguang had just finished breakfast and was standing in the courtyard quietly watching the morning mist in the sky. The commander of the Tenth Division had always been Lu Dajiang, but after Lu Dajiang was assassinated, he was succeeded by Lu Xiaojia. However, Master Lu had no interest in his military career at all, and he hung up the title of division commander, entrusting all military affairs to Deputy Commander Zhu Shengguang for handling.
Zhu Guangsheng had been in the army for over 20 years and had followed General Lu for many years as his trusted aide. Zhu Guangsheng did not agree with this attack on Gaoyang, as an old soldier he could judge from a small amount of intelligence that Gaoyang's troops were a very strong fighting force. As for dealing with such a force, Zhu Guangsheng had no confidence in his heart. Moreover, General Lu's death was clearly done by the Japanese, but Lu Xiaojia insisted on blaming it on Gaoyang and even collaborated with the Japanese! Zhu Guangsheng was extremely dissatisfied with this, but as a soldier he still obeyed the orders from above.
After having breakfast, Zhu Guangsheng felt uneasy in his heart. His many years of military career had given him a kind of battlefield intuition. Although the front-line troops reported that everything was normal, Zhu Guangsheng still ordered the troops to send reconnaissance forces to the buffer zone between the two armies.
It's been almost half an hour, and there's still no news from the scouting troops. Zhu Guangsheng looked at the fog in the sky and cursed in a low voice, "This damn weather!" The feeling of unease in his heart grew stronger, and after a moment's thought, Zhu Guangsheng decided to go to the front line to inspect.
Just as he had just arrived at the front line of the first-line array and was about to dismount, a sharp whistling sound of shells piercing the air suddenly came from the sky! As an old soldier, Zhu Guangsheng immediately judged that it was a sound that could only be made by a shell with a caliber of 105MM or above! He didn't make any warning to the surrounding soldiers, but instead directly dodged and dived onto the ground.
A deafening boom, the shockwave and air wave came like a tsunami. The cannonball landed with flames rising, and the mud thrown into the sky scattered and fell back down. The flying shrapnel and massive air wave took the lives of many Zhejiang soldiers in an instant, with many not even understanding what was happening until their death. Zhu Guangsheng, who had been knocked to the ground, didn't have time to tend to his broken lips and nose, and with the help of the guards, quickly ran towards the command center.
Stumbling into the command post, the people inside were already in a state of chaos. Zhu Guangsheng wiped away the blood from his mouth and nose, pulled out his pistol and fired three shots in a row, and the command post fell silent.
Zhu Guangsheng shouted loudly with a cold face, "The Signal Corps immediately sends a telegram to General Shao, saying that we have been suddenly attacked by Gao Yang! Also, immediately send a telegram to the 1st Division of Zhejiang and the 1st Mixed Brigade of Zhejiang, telling them to immediately move towards us, now!" After taking a breath, he shouted again, "Except for the staff personnel, everyone else goes to the front line to direct the battle, go! Quick!"
At this time, on the front line of the 10th Division, countless shells rained down like dense hail, pounding the ground fiercely, raising large tracts of mud and taking away the lives of countless Zhejiang soldiers. The 10th Division, which had originally planned to launch an attack on Gaoyang, did not make any defensive plans at all and did not dig any field trenches. On this plain without any protection, the casualties were heavy. Just before that, the Zhejiang army had just finished breakfast and was completely stunned by this sudden and intense bombardment.
The Zhejiang army's position was shrouded in smoke and fire, the sky above turned a deep black from the gunpowder. Shell after shell flew towards the Zhejiang army's position with a piercing whistling sound. As the flames flashed, a series of deafening explosions shook the ground, sending chunks of mud and torn fragments of soldiers' bodies flying into the air. The air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder and the stench of charred human flesh.
The crater created by the shell was surrounded by the bodies of soldiers, their clothes shredded by the blast wave, their entire body charred, only their eyes were open, allowing people to feel the cruelty of the bombardment they had suffered.
A small amount of work has been blasted, and many Zhejiang soldiers were buried alive inside. The surface position was covered with countless shells. The trees on the position that were cut off by artillery fire still smoked. Many wounded men were covered in blood and flesh, groaning in pain.
A regiment stationed on the front line collapsed after just a few minutes of shelling. The survivors were all crouched on the ground, holding their heads in their hands, waiting for fate's verdict. At this point, their only hope was to survive this round of shelling and then retreat to the Jiangyin fortress with solid defenses. Old soldiers knew that in the domestic warlords' battles, they would not fire cannons for a long time because shells were too expensive!
Unfortunately, they encountered Gao Yang, who advocated for the supremacy of firepower this time. He had bought more than 200 heavy artillery pieces with a caliber of over 105mm from Germany. At this moment, most of these artillery pieces had been transported to the front line by train overnight. The well-equipped artillerymen poured round after round of cannon fire onto their designated targets without hesitation.
At that time, the needle pointed to 8 o'clock, and the piercing gunfire rang out. The three 150MM quick-firing guns on the Hai Rong fired simultaneously, causing the entire ship's body to shake slightly due to the huge recoil. Amidst the smoke, a long tongue of flame spewed out from the muzzle, and the deafening sound made people's eardrums numb. Immediately after that, the four 105MM quick-firing guns on the left side also fired in sequence. Gao Yang put down his hands covering his ears, holding up binoculars to gaze intently at the Jiangyin fortress.
Soon to be stuffed inside, several huge smoke columns rose up, with flames flashing in the smoke. Even from such a distance, Gaoyang could feel the tremendous power of the shell explosion!
"Are the shells enough?" Putting down the telescope, Gao Yang looked at Ouyang Kun and asked faintly. "Report to the commander, each ship has completed standard combat preparations before leaving the port, and there are plenty of shells." Ouyang Kun replied immediately. Gao Yang nodded slightly and said, "Fire them all out." At this time, the other ships had also successively opened fire!
The distant Jiangyin fortress was immediately surrounded by a dense rain of shells. The explosion in the Jiangyin fortress sent blood, flesh and various debris flying into the air with mud and stones, before they had even fallen to the ground, only to be thrown up again by an even more violent explosion. Wherever the shells landed, it was as if a typhoon of over 12 degrees had swept through, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
After the bombardment lasted for several minutes, the counterattack of Jiangyin Fortress finally came late, with scattered shells falling near the warship and stirring up huge water columns. At this time, Jiangyin Fortress had not been reinforced, and the largest caliber artillery was only 105MM, and there were not many artillery pieces. The heavy artillery supported by the Japanese did not arrive here, and the defenders in the fortress could only rely on the solid defensive fortifications. However, most of the fortifications built during the Ming and Qing dynasties were unable to withstand the bombardment of warship heavy artillery, and as one position after another was destroyed, the counterattack intensity of Jiangyin Fortress gradually weakened.
Gaoyang looked at the skyrocketing fireworks and the continuously exploding Jiangyin fortress, nodding his head lightly and saying "We won."
In the front-line positions of the Zhejiang Army, the cruel bombardment continued unabated, with heavy-caliber shells from 105mm to 150mm falling like rain in the plum rain season! How could a division of warlord troops withstand the continuous bombardment of over a hundred heavy guns?
The Zhejiang army, which had been battered for nearly ten minutes, was on the verge of collapse, even though they were considered elite. Zhu Guangsheng and the main commanders of the regiment were hit by a 52.5 kg 150mm howitzer shell in the regimental command post, and after the explosion, the command post disappeared, leaving only a huge crater.
The defeated Zhejiang army finally collapsed, and the surviving officers and soldiers cried out as they ran towards Xiagang Town behind them. No one wanted to stay in this iron-flying hell for another second!
(PS: Thanks to book friend Little Fox Fairy for the update votes and rewards. I'd like to explain that due to work being quite busy, I usually only double update on weekends. Thank you to all friends who like this book for your support, thank you.)
