readx; "That's a good idea! It is said that the army has only one brigade in Anqing, and it will definitely not dare to move, only with the two divisions stationed in Madang Fortress, as soon as the enemy leaves the strong fortress, we will have the opportunity to ambush again! ”

The success of two ambushes in a row made the officers present have a special affection for ambush warfare, and they want to do it again at the first opportunity. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Gao Fei found that everyone was full of praise for Ma Debi's plan, and he couldn't find anything wrong with it, so he was ready to assign tasks to each division, and when his eyes stopped at Madang Fortress on the map, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind, and he hurriedly said: "I have a better way!" ”

The congregation hurriedly focused all their eyes on him, and pricked up their ears to listen carefully to what was the best way to make the commander of the legion so excited.

Gao Fei explained in detail: "Ma Debi's plan is indeed very good, but if you do this, you can't avoid huge casualties! You see, Madang is only a few hundred kilometers away from Anqing, and no matter where we choose the location, we can reach it within two or three days at the speed of the army, and the speed of the navy is even faster, so the time left for building fortifications is very limited, and it is impossible to establish a solid defense system. The fleet will certainly have to carry out artillery bombardment after clearing the mines, and the troops, of course, will face huge casualties. But "

Speaking of this, Gao Fei deliberately raised his voice to attract everyone's attention, and then continued: "If we adopt the method of 'repairing the plank road openly and crossing Chencang secretly', pretending to block the Yangtze River downstream, but hiding the main force near Madang Fortress, and seizing the fortress after the departure of the army, we can be invincible!" The current Madang Fortress has been continuously built by the Jiang Defense Army, our army and the Yue Army, and it should be impregnable, even in the face of enemy aircraft and naval artillery! ”

There was no doubt that Goofy's plan was very practical, not only to achieve the same effect, but also to reduce their own casualties, and the division commanders were immediately convinced.

Seeing that everyone agreed with his plan, Gao Fei hurriedly seized the time to arrange the combat mission: "The new fourth division and the two provisional divisions are equipped with guns and grenades, which are suitable for attacking fortified positions, so they will form a group to attack Madang together with the 26th division and heavy artillery brigade; The 60th and 53rd Divisions, together with the anti-aircraft artillery brigades, served as decoys; The New 2nd Division and the 167th Division are blocking and monitoring the reinforcements of the Japanese army along the way, and if they dare to leave the range of the naval guns, they will give me a head-on attack! ”

After the simple and clear assignment of the task, the division commanders immediately began to prepare for another contest with the Yue army.

After the objectives of the campaign were set, the general staff of the group army began to operate at high speed in an orderly manner: ammunition and equipment were quickly allocated to the troops, a large number of new recruits were replenished, and the engineering units began to urgently repair the road from Jingdezhen to Fujian to ensure that the supply line was unimpeded.

After Gao Fei made up his mind, the eight divisions under the Ninth Army Corps, which had the super strength of the National Revolutionary Army, began to set out, and the troops were divided into three routes to advance towards their respective goals.

Dongzhi County is located in the south bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, north of the Yangtze River, across the river from Anqing, west and south of Jingdezhen and Pengze in Jiangxi Province, east and Guichi, Shitai, Qimen as neighbors, is the southwest gateway of Anhui Province. East to the southeast of the county mountains stacked green, the central hills undulating, the northwest plain fertile field, Qianmo vertical and horizontal, Huanghuan, Yaodu, Longquan rivers like jade belt fluttering, Shengjin Lake, Huangni Lake, Taibo Lake such as pearl inlay, can be regarded as rivers vertical and horizontal, lakes dotted, with very obvious Jiangnan water town characteristics.

Because the side by the river is not flat, there is no danger to defend, and the river here is very wide, so it did not attract enough attention from the army, and only a squadron and hundreds of puppet troops who were temporarily put together were stationed in the county seat in the east.

The 26th and 53rd Divisions arrived at the south gate of the county in the east in the afternoon of the same day, and the defenders, knowing that they were invincible, had already fled from the north gate in a hurry, went straight to the Yangtze River, and then took a motorboat to the north bank.

Ma Debi, who served as the temporary commander of the Eastern Route Army, left a battalion to defend after taking over the county seat, and then marched forward in a hurry, moving his troops to Dadukou Town in the northwest of the county before dark. This town is on the edge of the Yangtze River, and there are countless rivers on the east and west sides, which are covered with lush reeds, and the banks of the river are full of hills dozens of meters high, which are very suitable for concealing troops.

After Ma Debi and Bai Yuehai inspected the riverside, they were very satisfied with the terrain here, and immediately ordered the troops to build fortifications overnight, and at the same time recruited civilian ships to lay mines in the river.

The next morning, as soon as the sun rose, three reconnaissance planes of the Chinese army came along the river, circling back and forth over the squadron, and from the low altitude, the pilots could clearly see the ant-like Chinese soldiers and thousands of civilians on the ground shuttling back and forth along the river, and nearly 100 trucks loaded with all kinds of equipment were passing through the position -- obviously huge fortifications were being built, and in the rear of the position, nearly 100 large-caliber artillery pieces stood with their heads held high. To the surprise of the pilots, the Chinese people did not hide their intention to act at all, nor did they show any panic at their appearance, and they acted as if no one was around. The reconnaissance plane hurriedly turned around and returned to the base to report this important information to the command.

After waiting for the reconnaissance plane to leave, Bai Yuehai asked Ma Debi: "Why didn't you just let the antiaircraft artillery brigade shoot down the reconnaissance plane?" ”

Ma Debi said with a smile: "Since we are bait, don't always think about hitting the enemy, as long as we attract Madang's army and ships, we will complete the task!" Boom, a few artillery shots have knocked down the enemy's reconnaissance plane, who will send us a letter! ”

Bai Yuehai said worriedly: "I wonder if the 'heavy artillery' arranged in the back has been seen by them?" ”

Ma Debi said: "I must have seen it: how can I not see so many cannons in such a conspicuous place? I'm worried that the little devils will see that it's a fake, and that's it! ”

Bai Yuehai turned his head to look at the artillery position and said, "Impossible! I can't even see it from here, the enemy has no reason to find out! ”

Ma Debi also looked back and said, "If this doesn't attract Okamura Ningji over, we have no other way!" ”

As Gao Fei expected, Okamura Ningji was very surprised after receiving the report: if the Yangtze River waterway was blocked by the 19th Route Army at this time, the troops who were fighting in the Jiujiang Lushan area would face annihilation at any time! He hurriedly issued three orders in succession: dispatch bombers to destroy the most threatening heavy artillery; The 101st and 26th Divisions, stationed in Madang, went down the river and expelled the squadron [***]; The Third Fleet went down the river and, in coordination with the Army, completely destroyed the positions on the south bank.

Dozens of warplanes flew over the positions in the afternoon, braving the dense anti-aircraft fire on the ground to drop bombs on the artillery positions, and after losing two planes, finally succeeded in raining down all the bombs. Heavy artillery guns flew into the sky with the sound of explosions, and then fell in pieces, and the ammunition box was hit and then exploded into more violent explosions, enveloping the entire position in gunsmoke.

Compared with the smooth bombardment of the air force, the advance of the navy and the army was very difficult: the fleet and the army maintained a parallel position and advanced downstream, but from the hills, mountains and dense forests on the left side came from time to time with cold guns and cold guns, and it was obvious that small groups of [***] were disturbing and delaying the movement of the troops. In order to deal with such a target, the naval artillery was obviously overkill, and the army had no choice but to fight and walk, stop and go, and slowly advance eastward, with the result that the forty or fifty kilometers journey took a full day and one night to complete. The fleet encountered mines when it was ten kilometers upstream from Dadukou, and a destroyer lost power and could only drag forward, and the fleet commander was afraid of suffering greater losses, so he had to send a large number of troops to the river to feel the mines, and the speed of advance was as slow as a snail.

At this time, the 26th and 53rd Divisions had abandoned the fortifications along the river and retreated to the second line of defense ten kilometers away from the Yangtze River. At the same time, the blocking force had cut off the land route between the Yue army and Madang, and the enemy in Madang had become a lone army.

The Western Route Army commanded by Liao Qirong marched day and night, and spent two days advancing to the vicinity of Madang, and the New Fourth Division immediately interspersed between Hukou and Madang, cutting off the connection between the two armies, and the remaining three divisions surrounded the Madang Fortress, preparing to break through the enemy's defenses in one fell swoop with a thunderous force.

Remaining behind in Madang was an infantry wing of the 26th Division of the Chinese Army, plus a brigade of infantry and a heavy artillery brigade, of which the strength of one brigade was each arranged in the positions of Zangshanji, Xiangshan, and Changshan, and two brigades, a heavy artillery brigade, and an artillery squadron directly under the wing concentrated on defending the core position of Madang Fortress. Although judging from the comparison of the strength and firepower of the two sides, the Western Route Army had an overwhelming advantage, Liao Qirong, who had always been cautious, still meticulously formulated a very stable operational policy: first concentrate superior forces to break through the outermost Xiangshan position, then seize the highest Changshan position, and then condescendingly sweep away the defenders on the Tibetan Mountain Rock, and finally attack Madang.

When arranging combat missions, Liao Qirong, commander of the Western Route Army, took the initiative to let his 60th Division take the lead because he was worried that the combat effectiveness of the two provisional divisions would not be good, but he did not expect to be strongly opposed by the two division commanders.

Division Commander Lin Yiru said bluntly: "Division Commander Liao, I know that you are worried that the combat effectiveness of the provisional division will not be good, and I am afraid that we will drag our feet. I admit that the performance on the Songhu battlefield was indeed not good, but the troops had been strictly trained at the Fuzhou base for half a year, and finally passed the assessment of the group army headquarters with excellent results. ”

Zhang Qifeng, commander of the provisional 27th Division, further added: "Commander Liao, although our troops have also added a lot of new recruits, but the old ones are all veterans who participated in the Battle of Songhu, and there will be no problem of lack of actual combat experience, not to mention, you are also clear about the standards of the Fuzhou training base, and the distance between it and the actual combat is not very large, right!?" ”

Although Liao Qirong didn't want to hurt the self-esteem of these two division commanders, his responsibility forced him to persuade them to give up again: "Two brothers, Qirong doesn't mean to despise your troops at all, it's just that our army is attacking the fortress held by the Yue army for the first time, and the difficulty must be very great, plus the enemy may attack with poison gas at any time, it is even more difficult to deal with!" Although the 19th Route Army defeated the Yue Army many times, it basically achieved it through field battles, ambushes or street battles, and had no experience in attacking fortified positions. Although your troops are armed with guns and grenades, they are infantry weapons after all, and they are not very useful for reinforced concrete fortresses! Moreover, your troops have no experience with poison gas. ”

Zhang Qifeng was already a little angry, his face was a little red, and his tone of voice began to be unpolite: "Commander Liao, our troops were also attacked by the poisonous gas of the Japanese army in Shanghai, and there were no gas masks at that time, and the actual experience will only be deeper than yours!" The total number of troops here is only a few thousand, and they are scattered in four isolated positions, no matter how powerful they are, how big a wave can they make? Are you insisting on sending your own troops up, are you worried that we will rob you of the credit? ”

Hearing him say this, Liao Qirong was also unhappy, and said: "Heaven and earth conscience, I definitely don't mean this, if you really think so, let your troops go first!" With that, he turned his head away.

Lin Yiru thought to himself, after all, Liao Qirong was the commander appointed by the group army headquarters, and he really couldn't make such a fuss with Zhang Qifeng, so he hurriedly accompanied the smiling face to play the round, and he first said to Liao Qirong: "Master Liao, Xuanwu's surname is impatient, and he speaks without intention, please don't take it to heart." ”

Then he said to Zhang Qifeng in a reproachful tone: "Division Commander Liao is doing this because he is worried that the troops will suffer unnecessary losses, where will there be any ideas for merit?" Apologize to Master Liao! ”

Zhang Qifeng also felt that he was a little excessive, and reluctantly squeezed out a smile, hugged his fist at Liao Qirong, and said, "Senior Liao, Lao Zhang has apologized to you!" ”

Liao Qirong said with a wry smile: "There is no need to apologize, the most important thing is to fight the battle well!" Although the army is at a disadvantage, we must not underestimate the enemy, otherwise, we will definitely suffer a big loss! ”

Lin Yiru saw a disapproving look on Zhang Qifeng's face, afraid that he would say something inappropriate, so he hurriedly said: "We will definitely be careful, in case the attack is blocked, please ask Senior Commander Liao to reinforce in time!" ”

Liao Qirong said sincerely: "Everyone is here to protect the family and defend the country, and I will definitely go all out to support you!" ”

Zhang Qifeng grabbed the task, felt like he had won a battle, and said impatiently to Lin Yiru: "Master Liao has agreed, what are we still grinding here, go back and prepare!" Then he hurriedly pulled Lin Yiru and ran out.

Liao Qirong watched the backs of the two people disappear outside the command department, and reached out to grab the phone: "Pick up the heavy artillery brigade for me." ”

In order to eliminate the threat posed by the Japanese bombers, Liao Qirong deliberately set the time for the attack at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, which is only a little more than an hour before it gets dark; even if the enemy planes take off from the nearest Wuhu airfield, they will arrive at the battlefield at dusk at the earliest, and the role they can play is very limited; if it is a little later, it will already be night, and the pilots must consider whether they can return home safely.

According to the prior plan, Zhang Qifeng's provisional 27th Division attacked the Xiangshan position, and the provisional 1st Division was responsible for containing the Yue troops on other positions. After the attacking troops had assembled at the designated position, Liao Qirong immediately ordered the heavy artillery brigade to prepare for artillery fire on the Xiangshan position for 15 minutes. More than 100 heavy artillery pieces began to roar at the same time, the violent explosion sound was earth-shattering, the explosion ignited more fire than the stars in the sky, and the Xiangshan position was already submerged in the sea of fire just a few dozen seconds after the shelling began. The smoke obscured the sky, glowing a suffocating red in the setting sun, and the boiling river was dazzling in the glow of the fire.

Barbed wire fences scattered in fragments in the air, falling to the foot of the mountain along with the shattered rocks and burning trees; After the shelling ended, the surface of the Xiangshan position was all charred black, and a complete section of trenches and barbed wire could no longer be found. There was no defender in sight on the position, and it seemed that it suddenly disappeared into the artillery fire, and what was even more strange was that in the course of such a long artillery bombardment, the army did not make any attempt to counterattack!

Liao Qirong looked at the dead and silent position, his heart was furious, and his intuition told him that there must be a trap ahead, but before he could pick up the phone, the two infantry battalions of the main attack had already rushed up the hillside under the cover of machine gun fire.

The small arms fire at first did not stop the advance of the [***] squadron, but strengthened their confidence that the defenders were no longer able to resist, so they rushed to the top of the hill.

When he was still more than 100 meters away from the top of the mountain, many black holes suddenly appeared from the scorched black mountain, and then one after another fire snakes erupted and swept viciously through the attacking troops. The army was very cunning, and all the machine guns kept their muzzles dozens of centimeters above the ground, so that the body armor equipped by the squadron [***] team was ineffective. Rows of soldiers were shot in the leg and fell on the hillside wailing, then drowned by the rain of bullets.

Before the commander of the attacking force could react, the artillery of the Japanese army began to fire, and due to the accurate calculation in advance, the artillery fire accurately covered the tail of the middle [***] team, making it extremely difficult to retreat. The formation of the attacking troops was quickly disrupted, and the soldiers fell to the ground one after another, looking for a relatively solid cover, at this time, a tree root, a protrusion more than ten centimeters high were precious! Some fighters simply jumped into the crater or dug into bunkers with their sapper shovels and returned fire with a variety of weapons, but fortifications that could not be destroyed by heavy artillery did not care about the attack of small arms, while on the side of the Japanese army could easily attack the outside, the situation of the battle was one-sided.

Originally, after the army seized the Madang Fortress, it spent a lot of effort to expand and consolidate the position, and established a defensive position with a permanent launch point and a solid support point as the backbone.

Most of the artillery positions were also built semi-underground, and although at the expense of the firing range, they also greatly improved their ability to survive heavy bombardment!

(To be continued)