"The flowing water rushes to the east, and the waves chase the waves; The back wave of the Yangtze River is the front wave, and the back wave is higher. ”

The Yangtze River has been known as a moat since ancient times, and has also been used as a natural military barrier by many dynasties and warlords.

However, when the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in an all-round way, Japan's naval strength was second only to the United States and Britain, ranking third in the world, and our navy still failed to recover its vitality since the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the total displacement of ships was less than one-twentieth of that of Japan.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Japanese invaders, the Yangtze River was the best route for them to attack Wuhan, so that they could maximize their sea and air superiority.

On June 3, 1938, the Japanese Navy's "Chinese Fleet" received the No. 120 Sea Order: to cooperate with the army to occupy the vicinity of Anqing.

On 7 June, the Botian detachment, escorted by the 11th Mine Brigade, anchored from Zhenjiang Port, and on 9 June, it joined up with the Navy's Third Fleet in Wuhu, and the next day began to advance west the next day.

On the afternoon of 12 June, the Botian detachment landed at Jiangjunmiao and Tiepanzhou, and approached the city of Anqing.

In the early morning of 13 June, the marines of the "Yangtze River Force" took advantage of Bo Ming to cross the river, landed on the front bank wall of the city street, and attacked the city, and the 872nd Regiment and the garrison regiment of the 21st Army stationed in Anqing withdrew from the city, and Anqing, a famous city in southern Anhui, fell.

However, before the reinforcements arrived, the 27th Group Army's frontal defense area was lenient, and its strength was not enough.

Li Siwei naturally didn't know about these. He led the team to cross the Dabie Mountain and arrived at the western outskirts of Qianshan Mountain, which was already dusk on the 14th.

According to legend, in the past, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che sealed the Tianzhu Mountain in Nanyue, passing through a high mountain in Yuexi County, Anhui Province, because the emperor did not go back, he did not go out of this mountain for two months, and sighed and said: "This mountain is big, different from the world!" ”

Dabie Mountain is named for this, and its majesty and precipitousness can be seen.

Along the way, all the soldiers meet the water to build a bridge, open the road in the mountains, there is no benefit of the boat, and there is no convenience for the carriage and horses, but also when the rain floods in early summer, the road is muddy, and the hardships are overflowing.

Walking outside a village, Zheng Sanyang whispered: "Commander, it's getting late, and it's close to the battle area, let the brothers rest in the village for one night before leaving." ”

Li Siwei looked around at the brothers, only to see that everyone was tired, and nodded helplessly, "Okay, rest for one night and then leave!" ”

The brothers cheered and went to the village.

There was no cooking smoke or barking dogs in the village, only a few villagers looked nervous under the eaves.

Li Siwei was a little puzzled and walked straight to a house.

Under the eaves stood an old man with a white beard, dressed in shabby clothes, with a cramped smile on his wrinkled face, "Military ...... Master Jun, you ...... Where is this going? His voice trembled a little.

Li Siwei saw him nervously, and tried his best to show a kind smile, "Old man, we are going to reinforce Anqing ......"

The old man's smile froze, "Anqing? Anqing has been lost. ”

"Lost?" Li Siwei's smile also froze, "Why did you lose it?" ”

The old man hurriedly shook his head, "I don't know...... They all listened to the people who fled from Anqing. ”

Li Siwei hurriedly asked, "What about the people who fled?" ”

The old man was stunned for a moment, and smiled wryly, "I left early, there are not many people in our small village, and they say that the little devil is about to call." ”

"!" Li Siwei followed behind Li Siwei's Shi Meng's eyes widened, "Lao Tzu is here, which little devil can beat him?" ”

When the old man saw Shi Meng's anger, he suddenly trembled, "I ...... I ......"

Li Siwei turned his head and glared at Shi Meng, "You turtle can't talk well...... Go back and arrange for the brothers of the third battalion to stay. ”

Shi Meng was stunned for a moment, shook his head at Li Siwei's gaze, and his face was firm, "Regiment leader, I can't live anymore, let me take the brothers of the third battalion over first!" ”

"Yes," Liao Heiniu nodded hurriedly, "Cannon, Lao Tzu is going too...... The friendly brothers are desperately working on the front line, even if they stay, Lao Tzu will not be able to sleep well! ”

The others also looked at Li Siwei one after another, "Regiment Commander, we can still hold on, let's find friendly troops and rest." ”

Looking at the firm faces in front of him, Li Siwei's heart trembled, but he smiled, "Okay!" Good! Get ready to fight! ”

Yuantan Town, located in the northeast of Qianshan, the territory of the hills is undulating, the terrain is dangerous, the highway leading to the direction of Qianshan in Huaining winds through the hills, it is the only way for the Japanese to go south, especially the Hengshan Ridge is the most dangerous, the highest place of the Hengshan Ridge is less than 100 meters, but it is the first mountain ridge in the northeast of Yuantan Town, so it is the highway that guards the Hengshan Ridge.

The night was deep, pitch black as ink, and a crescent moon hung in the sky, cold and dim.

The lights on the Hengshan Ridge are dim, the figures are one after another, and the number of soldiers is not more than 1,000 people, all of them are full of tiredness, ragged clothes, and look a little embarrassed, and many people are still wrapped in gauze.

On the trench, the commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 133rd Division Liu stood silently, but the adjutant on the side looked down the mountain from the ground, and said something in his mouth, "Turtle'er, why haven't they come yet?" I'm afraid the division commander is not coaxing people, right? ”

Head Liu turned his head and glared at him, "You're in a hurry!" Friendly soldiers have come from afar, this friendship is not light, what if we wait a minute? Are you scared out of the little devils? ”

The adjutant sneered, "Commander, are you joking?" Fighting with little devils, when have I ever coaxed it? But ......," he said, his face darkened, "and there are only these brothers left in a regiment, and if the friendly troops don't come, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on." ”

Commander Liu was shocked, turned his head, and slowly swept his eyes over the embarrassed brothers in the trenches, his face darkened, "Alas, this battle was fought ...... It's a pity that there are so many good brothers. ”

Several of the other officers hung their heads and were silent...... They are the old part of the Twentieth Army, and they have also fought bloody battles on the battlefield of Songhu, even if they have suffered heavy casualties, they have never felt like this! This time, the 27 th Group Army's frontal defense area was lenient, its strength was insufficient for distribution, and its various units did not communicate smoothly, so they could not coordinate well with each other at all...... So, they were broken by the little devils, and although the brothers resisted desperately, they were killed and wounded, but to no avail.

"Report," said a soldier who hurried from the bottom of the hillside, with a happy face, "Commander, reinforcements have arrived." ”

When everyone heard this, they raised their heads and looked at the scouts.

The soldier was stunned, "Regiment commander, reinforcements have arrived." ”

"Good! Good! It's really a send-off in the snow," Regiment Commander Liu's face was full of joy, "Quick, follow me to meet the friendly army." ”

As he spoke, he had hurried down the hillside, and several officers hurriedly followed. After walking a few steps, they saw the fire flickering under the hillside, and a team appeared on the road, mixed with torches, looking like a long fire dragon from a distance, churning up the hillside...... They immediately quickened their pace and went down.

"Captain Liu?" Li Siwei walked at the front of the team, strode over, glanced at the collar badge of Regiment Commander Liu, and stretched out his right hand, "I am Li Siwei, the commander of the 66th Regiment, and I am ordered by Division Commander Yang to lead my troops to take over the defense of your department." ”

"Captain Li, hello!" Head Liu hurriedly stretched out his hand and held Li Siwei tightly together, "You guys came in time, it's like sending charcoal in the snow." ”

Li Siwei smiled, "Head Liu is serious...... The military situation is urgent, so let's hand over the defense first. ”

"Yes, yes," Regiment Leader Liu nodded repeatedly, "Please!" ”

The brothers of the 66th Regiment continued to drive up the Hengling position, and after the defense handover was completed, Regiment Commander Liu led his troops to rush to the new position.

The 133rd Division first fought inaction, and then fought Tongcheng, at this time, Tongcheng was lost, and the rest of the troops were ordered to deploy defense in Yuantan Town, however, after repeated battles, the troops had suffered more than half of the casualties...... When Division Commander Yang was worried, Li Siwei led his troops to arrive, although there was only one regiment of troops, it was like sending charcoal in the snow.

After some politeness, Division Commander Yang learned that Li Siwei was also from the Sichuan Army, so he was no longer polite and directly handed over the defense of Hengshan Ridge to him.

Li Siwei naturally would not refuse, before coming, Brigade Commander Luo had already explained, and everything was arranged by friendly forces.

After receiving the position and arranging the defense, all the officers and men seized the time to rest, and without much effort, the earth-shattering snoring sound sounded on the Hengshan Ridge, as if the entire mountain range had fallen into a deep sleep...... In the flickering firelight, there was still a group of figures silently busy in the trenches.

On 15 June, when the sky was light, all the officers and officials gathered in the temporary headquarters of the Tongcheng Sakai Detachment (the 11th Brigade of the Sixth Division) and sat upright.

Major General Sakai stood in front of the huge combat map, his eyes slowly swept over the officials, his face was solemn, "In the first battle of Nanjing, our unit was the first to attack the city, but in the first battle of Anqing, the Botian detachment took the lead!" Therefore, in this battle, our department must be one step ahead of them, and we must let the world understand that the Sixth Division is the most powerful army division in the Empire! ”

"Hey!" The generals agreed with a bang, all of them looked excited and eager to try.

Major General Itai turned around, the sandalwood short stick in his hand was on the combat map, and he moved slowly, his eyes moved with the stick, and his eyes burned, "Go straight down to An (Anqing) He (Hefei) Road, to Huaihua, the soldiers are divided into two roads, outflanked by the north and south, and approached Qianshan City, and went down in one fell swoop!" ”

The Sakai Detachment, the backbone of the 6th Japanese Division, has under its jurisdiction the 13th and 47th Infantry Wings, the 6th Cavalry Wing, and the 2nd Independent Mountain Artillery Wing, and its strength should not be underestimated.

The Sakai detachment went all the way south, capturing Shucheng on June 8, and occupying Tongcheng on the 13th, and the troops pointed directly at Anqing, a famous city in southern Anhui, but was preempted by the Hatian detachment, so Major General Sakai turned his target to Qianshan City...... He wants to let the arrogant Hakata Shigeichi understand what the real "A Kind Division" is!

The Hatada detachment was originally the main force of the Hatata mixed brigade stationed in Taiwan, and its brigade commander, Hatata Shigeichi, once publicly declared that its "strength is equivalent to that of a first-class division"! How can this make the proud Major General Sakamoto stand it?!

According to the plan, the Sakamoto detachment went straight down to Anhe Road, arrived at Gaohebu, Huaining County, and divided the troops into two roads at Gaohebu, all the way lightly armed and thrifty from Gongling to Xiaoshigang, and raided Qianshan; The main force started from the nursery village and advanced along the Huaining-Qianshan road, and everything went smoothly.

In early summer, the banks of the Yangtze River have abundant rain, on this day, the sky has cleared, but the sky is very gloomy, and the climate is sultry.

"Bang ......"

The iron hooves flew over, and a group of devil cavalry galloped on the road, heading straight for the direction of Yuantan Town.

On Hengtou Ridge, Li Siwei held a telescope and looked at the devil cavalry under the mountain, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Zheng Sanyang held the binoculars and smiled, "It's the cavalry of the little devils again, why are they everywhere?" What a bunch of things that don't have a long memory! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that the devil's cavalry suddenly stopped far away, and just looked at the Hengshan Ridge in front of him vigilantly.

Li Siwei smiled lightly, "Sanyang, how can you say that people don't have a long memory?" Don't they also understand the principle of 'don't enter dangerous places'? ”

How could the 6th Cavalry Wing not have a long memory? Outside Lu'an City, the tragic situation of those companions in the Nanshan Valley has long been deeply engraved in their hearts, it is a cavalry brigade, and it is all gone without firing a shot! At this time, where do they dare to have the slightest arrogance!

Zheng Sanyang smiled, "They...... Didn't you find something? ”

Li Siwei hurriedly raised the telescope, but saw that the little devil's officer was also holding the telescope to look up the mountain, the devil officer looked at it for a while, put down the telescope, turned the horse's head and ran, and a group of cavalry followed closely and hurried away.

Li Siwei frowned and put down the binoculars, "Turtle's, the little devil has also learned to be careful...... Gan Fei, show the military flag! ”

Zheng Sanyang hurriedly persuaded: "Commander, wait a little longer......"

Li Siwei waved his hand, "Don't wait, this fortification is too conspicuous." ”

He didn't know that this fortification was caused by the 133rd Division mobilizing the surrounding people to rush to work day and night, and it was rushed out in a hurry, so it was naturally a little rough.

Sure enough, the little devil's brigade soon appeared on the road, and the first one had been replaced by infantry.

However, all the brothers who have fought positional battles understand that the habit of the little devil is always to put a few shots first...... The artillery positions of the little devils have already moved.

"Hidden, hidden......"

There are constantly officers reminding their brothers that the 66th Regiment is fighting positional warfare for the first time since its formation! Although the soldiers who were replenished in Luohe had also heard the veterans talk about positional warfare, it was the first time they were there in person, and they were inevitably a little nervous!

As soon as they heard the roar, the recruits hurriedly drilled into the cat's ear holes, while the veterans were much calmer, holding spears and staring closely at the little devil's position.

At the headquarters of the Sakai detachment, Major General Sakamoto gently lowered the binoculars, the corners of his mouth slightly curled, with a hint of ridicule, "A regiment? Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Shina think that one regiment can block the Sakamoto detachment, it turns out that there are really more arrogant people in this world than Habata Shigeichi! And it's a Shina person! ”

"Hahaha......" The officials laughed loudly, their faces full of disdain.

Major General Sakai suddenly smiled and looked at the captain of the Independent Mountain Artillery Wing, "Takahashi-kun, let those arrogant Shina people on the other side bear the wrath of the Imperial Artillery!" ”

"Hey," Takahashi Osa hurried away, full of ambition.

On the artillery position, 12 mountain guns were lined up and ready for battle...... Of course, the independent 2nd Mountain Artillery Wing is by no means limited to these 12 mountain artillery, but Takahashi Dasa firmly believes that these 12 mountain artillery pieces are enough to deal with a regiment of the Chinese people.

"Choking", Takahashi Osa pulled out his saber, raised it high, and swung it down suddenly, "Attack!" ”

"Bang ......"

The sound of the cannon was deafening, and the shells roared out of the chamber, and the artillery hurriedly reloaded and continued to fire, "bang ......"

The black-pressed cannonballs pierced the void like flying locusts, "...... the ", and went straight to the position of the defenders of Hengshan Ridge.

"Bang bang bang...... Boom Boom Boom ...... Rumble ......"

There was a loud bang, and I saw the fire on the Hengshan Ridge, the smoke of gunpowder churning, and the scorched earth splashing in all directions...... A group of devil officers raised their binoculars one after another, and laughed when they saw it.

"Bang bang bang...... Woohoo...... Bang bang bang...... Boom Boom Boom ...... Rumble ......"

The artillerymen were also tirelessly busy as if they had taken stimulants, reloading, firing, reloading, firing...... The artillery fire seemed to blow up the Hengshan Ridge directly.

Suddenly, Major General Sakai frowned, "Enough! ”

All the officers were stunned, the sound of artillery stopped abruptly, and the position of the Sakai detachment suddenly fell silent.

Major General Sakai held a telescope and stared closely at the defenders' positions, but there was no sound on the defenders' positions, except for the blackened and broken military flag still fluttering on the hill, and there was no longer half a figure to be seen.

As the minutes ticked by, Major General Sakai slowly lowered his binoculars and smiled smugly, "Gentlemen, who wants to go up the mountain to have a look?" ”

"I want to go!" The tall Yamada Shaozo immediately stood up, his face tightened, "Maybe you can find some loot!" ”

"Spoils?" The officials were stunned for a moment, and they all laughed, "Yamada-kun, you are really joking, what kind of loot can you have with such artillery coverage?" ”

"Hehe," Yamada Shaoza's face shook twice, and he turned around and left.

Naturally, he thought the same way, but he just told a cold joke with a stiff face.

"This Yamada Shinkuma!" Major General Sakai looked at Yamada Shaosa's back and shook his head, with a smile on his face, "I didn't expect him to be quite humorous." ”

"Hehe," a kind of official laughed again.

Suddenly, Major General Sakamoto felt his heart skip a beat, he frowned, raised his binoculars again, and his gaze carefully swept over the defenders' positions...... There's nothing wrong with that, right?

When all the officials saw him, they were all stunned, and they raised their binoculars to look at the defenders' positions.

There was still a dead silence on the defenders' positions, and there was no more figure, not a single gun...... There's nothing wrong with that!

"No," one of the officers suddenly cried out, "why don't you have a gun?" ”

Everyone looked at him, but it seemed like they were looking at an idiot...... Everything is blown up, and naturally there are no guns!

The officer was stared at by those eyes, and his heart was empty, so he quickly lowered his head with a look of shame.