"This is observation post No. 1, and an unknown fleet has been spotted approaching, possibly an enemy."

It's been almost two weeks, and even if the Wushan No. 1 observation post is the farthest from the main position, they haven't seen a single enemy in the past two weeks.

Because the main force was moving relatively slowly, and it was easy to delay the fighters, the special reconnaissance battalion and a communications company rode to the area from Wushan to Wanzhou to set up an observation post before the troops.

As a result, they spent eight more days here than the main force.

These days are nothing short of tormenting! For the observers, it is much better to start the war because all the attention of the brain is focused on the battlefield than when it is waiting.

Of course, if this were not the case, it would not have been possible to connect the observation posts and the command headquarters with the luxury of telephone lines, in which case, there would be no way to achieve the tactical objectives in the future.

"Can you make out the details?"

In the command headquarters, the commander of the fourth division personally took the phone from the signal corps.

In order to familiarize himself with the artillery branch, he had spent some time in the artillery regiment, but he also had no confidence in this artillery mission.

The experimental high-explosive shell of the 210mm caliber could kill soldiers within a radius of 31 meters, whether lying down or not, but the cap-piercing shells that were mainly used this time were only a man-wide hole in a very thick steel plate. (Note: He doesn't understand naval warfare, so he has no concept of wearing depth)

Even if the opponent this time is the ship...... He still thinks it's more reliable to use high-explosive shells...... A hole the width of one person? Can you just let the ship sink like that?

But this time there were only forty high-explosive shells, which he used in foot combat...... It made him very weak...... The one hundred and twenty quilt cap-piercing bullets that deactivated the RDX charge didn't reassure him either.

So, even when he was in contact with the sentinels, he came in person to gain some security.

"There are five gunboats, and the rest of the ships have dozens, which should all be troop carriers."

Although there was some fog on the river, the black shadows that appeared to be somewhat large could be clearly seen.

The length of about 100 meters is enough to conclude that these ships are not civilian ships, as evidenced by the barrels in the observation glasses and the familiar Yellow Dragon Flag.

But it's still a little too difficult to count the number of these ships, and the fleets that transport troops behind can't see the edge.

"Is that all?"

The tone of the fourth division commander was as calm as possible...... Dozens of ships! Even if those armor-piercing shells are powerful, it is impossible to deal with so many ships!

It seems that you have to count on your own 105mm heavy guns, although there are only high-explosive shells and explosive shells, but armor-piercing shells basically have no effect, that is, these can be used.

"That's all...... Wait, two of those gunboats are not flying the dragon flag of the Qing army, division commander, will there be any problems?! ”

In the Yellow Dragon Banner that he knew, an existence of unknown origin was suddenly mixed in, which made this sentry squad leader a little uneasy, not that he was worried about the existence that could not be provoked, but that if it affected the task, it would be bad.

"What does that flag look like?"

Could it be the Black Flag Army? That's a group of people he admires a little, and if that's the case, it's a little embarrassing.

"A red ten is drawn on a white flag, and then a red meter is written in a blue square in the upper left corner."

The sentry squad leader tried his best to describe the flag with a somewhat different style in the language he could organize.

This may be an important piece of information!

"What the hell, what kind of flag is this? Could it be a big official? ”

The commander of the fourth division was puzzled, he had seen a lot of flags of this group of officers and soldiers, but he had never heard of this kind of flag.

"Forget it, whatever, the observation post closely monitors the opponent's movements, and if there is anything wrong, report it to the command immediately."

His task now was to wait for these guys to get into an effective fifteen-kilometer range, and then sink them, as long as it wasn't a variable that would affect the matter, he didn't need to care.

Staring at the sand table, his eyes felt like they were about to burst into flames...... Even though he knew the terrain around him by heart, he still wanted to remember every detail.

What will happen to the Qing army when he catches the rebel party, he knows very well that at first he was just greedy for these wages, but now that the fight is really fighting, he is extremely afraid, and the fear of the Qing army's methods has put pressure on him, and the pressure has forced him to work hard to improve the chances of winning this war!

Thirty minutes ended in this ordeal, and the phone on the desk rang again.

"Division commander, I'm the No. 1 observation post, and I've counted it clearly, there are forty-eight troop carriers...... The last one has already left us. ”

Thirty minutes to get through Observation Post No. 1? It seems that the speed of these ships is not very fast, it should be the reason for the troop carriers, it should have been thought of a long time ago, those ships carried baggage in addition to the soldiers, naturally they would not be too fast.

"Alright, I see, Observation Post 1 is preparing to evacuate to Observation Post 3."

"Observation Post No. 2 reports that the enemy's first five gunboats have entered the eighteen-kilometer range! Please instruct. ”

It only took a minute for the phone call from Observation Post 1 to be hung up before the news came from Observation Post 2...... Listening to this report, the opposing flotilla should have taken off very long, so it is almost impossible to sink all the ships of the opposing side......

Then the goal is to sink the gunboats and identify the ships with the guns! Positional battles should be much easier after that.

"After these ships have sailed over, you stay where you are, ready to cooperate with the calculations."

"Yes."

The heart of the fourth division commander was a little more settled.

Three sentinels, no, three groups of artillery observers should be able to guarantee a correction for the shelling at any time.

The special reconnaissance battalion directly under the General Staff is very good, it can do almost any job...... If it weren't for the commander-in-chief personally ordering the soldiers of this battalion to cooperate with the 210 heavy artillery to fight, he would never have had a chance to command them.

"Hey, artillery positions? Prepare for shelling, temporarily use flowering shells, and so do those two guns. ”

The people in the artillery position were not at all surprised, "It is clear that there will be some time before the enemy will enter the firing range, so start preparing so early?" "It's impossible for them to say this kind of nonsense.

The 210mm gun is divided into parts, which is not as convenient as the 105mm fixed load, and it takes more work to prepare before the shelling.

"Then, just wait for this group of grandchildren!"

PS: In terms of setting, one-sixth of this batch of armor-piercing shells can explode...... There is a high probability, in this era, after all, it is the 1918 fuse.