readx; In the dark night, the strong light from the searchlight was clearly visible several kilometers away, providing accurate coordinates for the artillery of the squadron, so that they destroyed more than half of the motorboats in just two attacks, forcing the remaining motorboats to switch to flashlights to clear mines. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

However, the [***] team did not stop there! Half an hour later, just as Shimizu Jiro was secretly rejoicing, several flares slowly rose from the south bank, illuminating the empty river as if it were day. Immediately after, more than a dozen shells whistled and smashed into the minesweeper. Shimizu Jiro judged from the sound of the cannonballs that the landing point was near him, and hurriedly kicked his legs, lowered his head again, and dived underwater. The shells exploded in the air next to the motorboat, and shrapnel flew in all directions, many of which were shot into the water with a whoosh, and then the speed plummeted, and finally slowly sank to the bottom.

Shimizu Jiro resurfaced after holding his breath for two minutes, and then found that his motorboat had turned into a sparkling fire and burning wreckage on the water, and several corpses were floating up and down with the waves.

The first two attacks by the Chinese artillery raised the vigilance of the fleet, and under the command of the fleet commander, all the ships quietly adjusted their positions, and the gunners were also in their positions, so that when the shells had just exploded around the motorboat, and the afterglow of the flares had not yet dissipated, hundreds of shells rose from the river and flew behind the mountains a few kilometers away.

The earth-shattering explosion quickly returned, and it was not long before an even more violent explosion was heard from the Chinese artillery position, followed by a series of loud noises, and the blazing fire stained half of the sky red, apparently detonating the ammunition box.

The commander of the fleet was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered to take advantage of the victory to pursue and completely destroy the counterattack capability of the Chinese artillery with continuous artillery bombardment.

Ten minutes of heavy bombardment fired thousands of shells, and endless fireballs slid across the night sky with long tails, covering the southern shore like flowers!

For the next few hours, the Chinese artillery did not fire a single shell and seemed to be completely destroyed, so the minesweepers turned their searchlights back on and went all out to clear the mines.

By two o'clock in the morning, the minesweepers had already found more than 80 mines, and the cleared channel was less than five kilometers away from Xiangkou, and at this speed, it was completely possible to advance to the waters of Xiangkou before dawn.

However, what the army did not expect was that after nearly ten hours of arduous marching, the heavy artillery brigade of the Ninth Army Corps had advanced to the south bank of the Yangtze River and all entered the artillery positions of the blocking troops.

At 2:30, the heavy artillery brigade began to attack, and more than a dozen flares were fired first, and then, with the explosion of shaking the ground and shaking the mountains, hundreds of large-caliber armor-piercing shells broke through the air and fell into the sleeping fleet, stirring up countless columns of water and soaring flames. Despite the very good preparation of the heavy artillery brigade, the darkness of the night affected the effectiveness of the shelling, and the first salvo wounded a cruiser, two destroyers, and not a single warship was sunk.

The screeching sirens sounded in the fleet, which had been awakened from its sleep, and the soldiers haphazardly dressed themselves and hurried to their posts, where they fired the artillery of the Ninth Army with the same heavy fire.

In order to give full play to the superiority of the fleet and avoid the attack of the heavy artillery brigade, the ships kept moving in the channel, suddenly moving forward and retreating, and rarely stayed in a fixed place.

The evenly matched artillery battle continued until dawn, and when the dawn light cleared the early autumn fog, the situation on the battlefield began to change subtly: the calibrators set up on the commanding heights along the river could provide accurate coordinates for the heavy artillery brigade, and the artillery could be guided to attack the transport ships of the Japanese army first. In order to recover the inferiority, the army requested to dispatch bomber groups and reconnaissance planes to guide the attack of the naval guns while suppressing the artillery fire of the [***] team.

When dozens of bombers and reconnaissance planes flew over the battlefield, the crisp sound of anti-aircraft guns immediately sounded on the ground, and the anti-aircraft artillery brigade of the Ninth Army welcomed them with a dense barrage of shells. So downstream of Xiangkou, the artillery of the Ninth Army went to fight to the death with the fleet and bombers!

Gao Fei, who personally came to the front line to command, knew very well the truth that "the brave wins when they meet on a narrow road", and ordered the artillery not to spare the shells, and even if all the ammunition is exhausted, the fleet of the Japanese army must be dragged here to the death, as long as they cannot reinforce the units of the 11th Army in the Lushan area in time, it is equivalent to winning the victory in the Battle of Wuhan!

Thick smoke was everywhere on the river and on the shore, forming huge smoke bands in mid-air, almost obscuring the sky, and the originally bright sunlight turned the color of lead gray, and even the red light of the explosion faded to a faint purple.

In order to rescue his main force, Okamura Ninji had to order the fleet and bombers to attack at all costs, making sure to open the passage. From early morning to evening, the bombers made three sorties in a row, and the distance between Wuhu and Anqing was extrapolated, and the limit of speed had been reached. The naval guns, on the other hand, continued to pour steel and explosives into the positions of the squadron, firing dozens of tons of shells in a day, so that many of the barrels could not be used because they were fired too often.

After a whole day of fighting, the Ninth Army Corps lost one heavy artillery battalion and two antiaircraft artillery batteries in exchange for the result of shooting down three bombers, sinking three transports, destroyers, and cruisers, and damaging more than 10 ships.

Okamura Ninji was very dissatisfied with the progress of the fleet, if the current pace of advancement continued, it would take at least ten days to break through the blockade line of the [***] team, and several divisions surrounded by the First Corps of the Ninth Theater were already on the verge of running out of ammunition and food, and they would not be able to hold out for such a long time no matter what!

In the end, Okamura Ninji ordered the commander of the fleet that he had to pass through the Madang fortress within two days, otherwise, military law was engaged. After receiving the order, the fleet commander immediately selected the daredevils and prepared to use the motorboat to directly impact the channel to clear the mines. However, Gao Fei commanded the heavy artillery brigade to move towards Madang Fortress, hoping to intercept the Yue army again, so the artillery battle continued at Madang Fortress.

A round of sunrise rose from the east river, and the morning fog of the river that was originally floating on the river surface immediately became thin under the reflection of the morning sun. A few thin puffy clouds hung sparsely in the light blue sky, like flowers dotted on brocade, some as white as the first snow in winter, some with a faint flush, like a girl's shy smile. A few wisps of morning breeze swept across the river, and the gray mist immediately dispersed, revealing the hideous faces of the warships on the white water!

After last night's artillery battle, Gao Fei and the staff officers of the corps headquarters both believed that the main goal of the Yue army today was still to clear the mines in the waters of Xiangkou and prepare for an all-out attack on Madang Fortress, so they planned to use this precious time to disperse the heavy artillery brigade behind several fortified positions, so as to ensure that the Yue army fleet could carry out continuous strikes. However, the Yue Jun once again taught them a lesson with their actions!

Before the morning fog had completely dissipated, the fleet marched from last night's anchorage in a long column toward the waters of Xiangkou, and more than 30 motorboats lined up at the front of the queue, and the two adjacent motorboats were only one or two meters wide apart, filling the main channel of the Yangtze River. It is strange that there is only one helmsman and a signal man who keeps waving small flags on each motorboat!

When the fleet approached the minefield, it did not stop, but slowly advanced in a fearless attitude, and the front motorboat suddenly accelerated and rushed forward!

"The army wants to break into the minefield!" Gao Fei was taken aback, and hurriedly shouted loudly to the staff officers beside him: "Immediately order the artillery of all fortresses to prepare for battle, and the heavy artillery brigade will immediately enter the position!" The action of the Yue army was completely unexpected, which caught Gao Fei off guard, and after issuing more than a dozen orders in a row, he found that his back was already soaked with sweat, and a chill came from his spine!

With an earth-shattering loud noise, a column of water more than ten meters high stirred up in the middle of the military motorboat, and a motorboat suddenly broke apart from the middle, the hull of the ship first tilted upward, and then sinked down sharply, quickly disappearing on the surface of the river, leaving only a pile of debris struggling in the whirlpool. Although some ships were struck by mines, the formation of the army was not scattered in the slightest, and a motorboat at the outermost end of the left flank quickly drove over, filled the gap in the middle, and continued to advance, and two hundred meters away, the cruiser followed closely from the opened channel.

Looking at the advancing fleet on the river, the artillerymen on the fortress battery hurriedly pushed the cannons to the gun position, and heavy shells were transported from the ammunition depot on the mountainside.

After paying the price of 10 motorboats, the fleet finally advanced to the vicinity of the Xiangkou position, and a 150-millimeter armor-piercing shell roared out of the battery and fell more than 10 meters away from the cruiser, splashing a column of water more than 10 meters high, opening the prelude to the artillery battle.

The cruiser at the front accelerated forward, giving the ships behind an effective range, while dozens of cannons on the port side opened fire at the same time, and the huge reaction force pushed the multi-thousand-ton giant ship several meters away. A series of explosions rang out over the defenders' positions, and puffs of smoke rose into the sky, completely obscuring the rising sun, and the air began to waft with a thick smell of gunsmoke. As the distance between the two sides gradually narrowed, more and more ships joined the battle, and the heavy artillery brigade quickly began to support after a short period of preparation, and the unprecedented scale of the artillery battle was staged again in Madang!

Countless shells whizzed through the sky, then rose in the distance, and almost every second, hundreds of shells flew through the sky. The blue sky turned into a heavy leaden gray under the baking of shells, and the rising smoke filled the sky over the battlefield, and it could not be dispersed. Rubble, clods of earth and shrapnel flew over the position, and as soon as it hit the ground, it was lifted up by a more violent explosion and flew farther away.

The ship was surrounded by dead bodies and oil, and the soldiers who had fallen into the water struggled in vain to cry for help, and the surface and the ship that had been shot were in flames, appearing and disappearing in the thick smoke of gunpowder. The sailors hurried around the battleship, doing their best to extinguish the flames and at the same time put large vats of water onto the already red-beaten barrels.

While maintaining strong firepower against the defenders, the warships are constantly moving upstream, and their purpose is very obvious: to use the advantage of the ship's guns to suppress the fire of the fortress and pass through the Madang waters at the fastest speed!

The closer we got to Madang Fortress, the narrower the river became, and the mines became more densely arranged, and the motorboats of the Yue army continued to hit mines and explode, sinking in the deep water, while the ship formations behind continued to advance without hesitation, and even the wounded ships were abandoned, allowing them to sink under the continuous shelling of the [***] squadron.

The actions of the Yue army were not only swift and decisive, but also very well prepared, and the cooperation between the ships was very tacit; even under the continuous resistance of the Chinese artillery, they still maintained a neat queue, and whenever a ship was hit by a bullet and lost power, it took the initiative to retreat to the side, allowing the ships behind to continue to pass, and he himself covered them with heavy artillery fire. Although the artillery of the Ninth Army Corps made every effort to block the attack, it was difficult to aim because the warships were always on the move, and the thick smoke of gunpowder on the river and on the positions seriously affected the field of vision of the shooters.

At this critical moment, a strong southwest wind suddenly blew, sweeping away the smoke of gunpowder over the battlefield, so that both sides of the war could clearly see their targets, and the situation changed decisively -- the inferior army had to fight against the smoke of gunpowder, and the accuracy of the artillery bombardment immediately dropped sharply.

Goofy keenly grasped the situation on the battlefield and ordered the heavy artillery brigade and fortress artillery to attack the first few cruisers with all their might, because as long as they were stopped, the follow-up ships had no choice but to retreat.

Nearly 100 heavy guns of the heavy artillery brigade covered all the channels next to Madang Fortress with six rapid fires, and all the military motorboats that opened the way for the fleet were spared, and all of them were sunk, and a cruiser that followed closely behind was also hit by more than 10 bullets, and the deck, main turret, and power compartment caught fire in many places, and were quickly surrounded by thick smoke and fire, and the ships behind had to stop and fall into a situation of being passively beaten.

As soon as the Ninth Army breathed a sigh of relief, a terrible air defense siren sounded over the battlefield, and a few minutes later, the roar of aircraft engines could be heard in the sky, and dozens of bombers emitted a silvery-white light under the sun, whistling from the east.

"Fifty enemy planes, due east, two thousand meters at an altitude and ten kilometers away!" The observer reported with unusual composure.

Company commander Liang Zhiqiang raised the telescope in his hand and shouted loudly without looking back: "Report to each platoon!" ”

"A row is ready!"

"The second row is ready!"

"Three rows are ready!"

The gunners quickly turned the guns and aimed their high muzzles at the approaching enemy planes, and the loaders bent down and took a charging stance, holding the shells tightly in their arms.

Liang Zhiqiang saw that the enemy planes began to dive down, and hurriedly and decisively ordered: "There are all platoons, listen to my orders, and fire at the same time!" ”

Seven or eight planes broke away from the group and swooped towards the position of the heavy artillery brigade, and when they passed over the woods, Liang Zhiqiang waved the small red flag in his hand vigorously, and at the same time shouted loudly: "Fire!" ”

Twelve shells rose into the air, and an enemy plane in the middle was hit twice in a row, exploding in the volley, and another enemy plane was damaged, staggering in the air, and its speed dropped sharply.

In the end, only three of the first enemy planes to attack successfully reached their destination, and under the pursuit of anti-aircraft guns, they dropped their bombs indiscriminately, and after re-elevating, they immediately turned around and flew towards the antiaircraft artillery position. The other bombers on standby in the air also temporarily changed their targets, swooping down one after another, attacking frantically with machine guns and bombs.

The anti-aircraft artillery brigade counterattacked with all its might, and from the dense jungle sharp arrows rose into the sky, rushing straight towards the enemy planes, and the valley was shrouded in thick gunpowder smoke when it was neutral.

Dense machine-gun bullets kept sweeping over the position, dozens of pounds of bombs exploded around from time to time, and the figures of the gunners appeared and disappeared in the thick smoke, braving the enemy's artillery fire to shoot shells into the sky!

The antiaircraft artillery brigade adopted the tactic of concentrating firepower and firing at the same time, using more than a dozen antiaircraft guns to deal with an enemy plane, using dense and fierce firepower to increase the hit rate, and the troops took the company as a unit to choose the target to attack on their own, and after shooting down an enemy plane, they shifted the target one by one, and the positions of each company were several hundred meters apart, which not only avoided repeated attacks, but also reduced the lethal effect of the bombs.

With a loud bang, the sky flashed dazzlingly from time to time, and the plane that had just been invincible turned into a ball of fire, and then the goddess fell like a flower.

Ten minutes later, after losing twelve aircraft, the army flew back in disgrace, and the anti-aircraft artillery brigade hurriedly shifted its position, preparing for the enemy's frenzied retaliation.

At the same time, the artillery battle of the Madang Fortress was also coming to an end: the seriously wounded cruiser captain, having found himself in an embarrassing situation, did not hesitate to order the detonation of the ammunition depot!

The explosion of dozens of tons of explosives set off a huge wave on the river, and the raging water rushed several meters high on the embankment before stopping, and the cruiser broke in half from the middle, plunged straight into the river, and then disappeared into the rolling rapids.

The ships behind immediately advanced at full speed, braving the heavy artillery fire of the squadron to the upstream, and after losing more than a dozen ships, they finally got out of the range of the shore guns.

Goofy looked through the binoculars at the eight transports in the fleet and let out a long sigh: the interdiction failed!

After the battle, the commanders of the Ninth Legion gathered in the headquarters of the Legion in Goofy to urgently discuss countermeasures!

(To be continued)