Han Xing smiled and said, "That's right, orders are dead, and people are alive." If all the shells are confessed, it will be too late to regret it. ”

So, Hou Dashan gave an order to concentrate all the manpower and renovate the existing artillery positions, and one of Wang Yifei's companies also helped. The Southern Expeditionary Army transferred two more companies to him, and he must complete this huge civil engineering project within two days.

It was not until the afternoon of September 12 that the Z-8 helicopter formation was able to transport all the troops to the area around Wharf Town. Zhang Weihan and Xu Da also came to Han Xing's side to discuss the next plan of action.

Han Xing's first thought was that it would be great if he could leave this straight 8 helicopter formation behind, because the terrain in this area is complex, the rivers and lakes are crisscrossed, and if the helicopter formation stays, it will be equivalent to the infantry with wings, which can advance or retreat, defend and attack.

For Xu Da, Han Xing didn't need to talk to Xu Da with the way he wanted to capture and retreat to deal with Wang Yifei.

Han Xing said to Xu Da: "Commander Xu, thank you Commander Sun for helping us transport so many soldiers, but what should we do next?" Will the helicopter formation continue to support this war, or will it leave immediately? ”

Of course, Zhang Weihan also hopes that this helicopter formation will stay, if this helicopter formation really stays, then whether it is going up the mountain or crossing the river, it will really be like walking on the ground, and it will really be the infantry on the Hot Wheels.

So Zhang Weihan also looked at Xu Da's eyes and said, "Commander Xu, as far as my current situation in the Southern Expeditionary Army is concerned, you have also seen it, it is really difficult." Whether it is Wharf Town, Wuxue Town on the other side of the river, Fuchikou, Banbishan, or Tianjia Town, we all need to cross the Yangtze River back and forth, if there is no helicopter, we have no boats, and there are Japanese troops on the river, how can we cross this river. If the helicopter formation had stayed, the situation would no longer be like this, and we would no longer be afraid of this river. ”

Xu Da frowned and said, "According to Commander Sun's meaning, when the troops are transported to Wharf Town, our helicopter formation will return. I really didn't take into account that the terrain here is so complicated, so let's ask Commander Sun again, can you let the helicopter formation stay for a while for a while, and wait for the battle of Tianjiazhen to finish before going back. ”

Han Xing smiled and said, "That's what it means, if Commander Sun doesn't agree, I'll say it again." If he really doesn't agree, then I'm going to have to do it......"

Zhang Weihan said to Han Xing: "You gave Commander Sun a hard one, what kind of hard?" ”

Han Xing said: "The brine points to the tofu, and one thing drops one thing." Do I have my own way of dealing with him? ”

"How?" Zhang Weihan is breaking the casserole and asking in the end.

Han Xing just wanted to use Lei Qing to blackmail Commander Sun, but he couldn't say this to Zhang Weihan, his mouth opened and he didn't say it.

Xu Da immediately went to the side and took out his mobile phone, went to report to Commander Sun, stayed for a while, and came back and said happily: "Commander Sun agreed, let the helicopter formation temporarily cooperate with the action of the Southern Expeditionary Army, and then return to the base after the military mission is completed." ”

Han Xing shouted happily: "Okay! All right! Our odds are 30 percent higher. ”

Zhang Weihan was also very excited, and high-fived Han Xing and said: "We are heavenly soldiers, and we don't need an airport anymore." ”

Xu Da also came to high-five happily and said: "I'm also happy, this means that I have more planes and more choices." ”

In addition to being happy, the three of them discussed how to strengthen their own protection like the Qiangzhi-8 helicopter. Han Xing said: "Is it not that each helicopter is equipped with two Type 89 12.7 mm heavy machine guns, so that although there is no need to directly participate in air combat, it will have a striking force to deal with devils on land, especially the enemy's tanks." ”

Zhang Weihan immediately supported: "I agree, in this way, against the infantry and tanks of the little devils, we will have a big killing weapon." ”

The three of them discussed how to fight the Japanese Third Fleet on the river. Han Xing said to Xu Da: "Japan's Third Fleet is extraordinary, there are dozens of large and small warships alone, and there are hundreds of heavy artillery pieces alone. ”

Xu laughed and said: "But now it's different, with the air force of our Southern Expeditionary Army, they can't be so rampant." Then they discussed the specific battle plan.

In terms of arrangement, the three decided to put a regiment on a small high ground, because a regiment of mortars and heavy machine guns was the most. The 2nd and 3rd regiments were placed on the forward positions in front of the small high ground, which was regarded as a marine or infantry unit to deal with the little devils, and the 1st and 2nd battalions directly under it were counted as reserves and placed behind the small high ground.

On September 14, shortly after dawn, the wind was blowing on the river surface for several kilometers, the sun was warm, the blue waves were rippling, and the waves were not alarming, and the Japanese Third Fleet was marching violently in the direction of Wharf Town.

What was the Japanese Third Fleet?

In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army formed the so-called Chinese side fleet, which included three sub-fleets.

Vice Admiral Toyoda's 4th Fleet, based in Qingdao and operating mainly along the coasts of North and Northeast China (Vice Admiral Toyoda was also later commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet);

The 3rd Fleet of Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa, based in Shanghai, fought in Central China, especially on the Yangtze River.

In addition, there is the 5th Fleet of Vice Admiral Koichi Shiozawa, based in Guangzhou, in South China.

The 3rd Fleet is different from both fleets in that its area of operation is Central China, which is far more complex than North and South China.

Its main task was twofold: one was to effectively support the landing operations on the Yellow Sea and help the Japanese army seize a large city like Shanghai.

The other is more special, the ability to fight along the Yangtze River, and the control of the Yangtze River.

Because the Yangtze River is the mother river that crosses the core area of China, once the Yangtze River is controlled, almost all of the core area of Central China is controlled, and China is cut into two from south to north.

So the 3rd Fleet also made a corresponding division of labor, and he also subordinated two fleets: the 10th and 11th fleets.

Among them, the 10th Brigade was mainly used to provide air and coastal fire support to the Japanese forces attacking Shanghai and other coastal cities. So the 10th Sentai included the Izumo heavy cruisers, as well as the cruisers Tatsuda and Tenryu, all of which had heavy guns, such as the Izumo with 4 203 mm guns and 14 150 mm guns, which could effectively provide artillery support.

At the same time, if necessary, the 10th Sentai will receive strong reinforcements. During the Battle of Songhu, the 10th Sentai was supported by as many as four Japanese aircraft carriers, including the Kaga heavy aircraft carrier, the Fengxiang, the Longxiang escort carrier, and the Shenwei seaplane aircraft carrier support, mainly for air supremacy in the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou area. Because at that time, the Japanese army did not have an airfield in Shanghai.

In the Battle of Songhu, the carrier-based aircraft of the 3rd Fleet played a huge role, and the heavy artillery of the navy also caused great casualties to the Nationalist army.

Compared to the 10th Sentai with heavy ships with strong sea and air supremacy, the other Sentai 11 Sentai is completely different.

Compared with the 10th Sentai Team, the 11th Sentai seems to be inconspicuous at all, his large ships have a displacement of only about 1,000 tons, and there are small warships of 200 or 300 tons, compared to the flagship Izumo with a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons and a draft of more than 7 meters in the 10th Sentai Squadron, the warships of the 11th Sentai are simply small.

In fact, this does not mean that the 11th Sentai warships are poor, and the Japanese army did not equip him with good warships, but because his main combat area is the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River is a strange river, and in many basins of the Yangtze River, the river surface is wide and the water flow is gentle. At the time of the battle in Nanjing, the warships had already sailed into the Wuxi River, and because the Yangtze River was so wide, some Japanese soldiers who had never seen a big river even thought that they had not entered the Yangtze River, but were still on the sea.

But the Yangtze River also has many shoals and so-called dry periods, during which many basins of the Yangtze River are less than 2 meters deep, such as the Izumo, which has an 8-meter draft.

The waters of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River are even more exaggerated, the Three Gorges channel west of the important town of Yichang is narrow, the bends are complex, the beach is turbulent, and the dangers are numerous, and some places only allow one boat to pass through Guò. Even during the flood season, the Three Gorges waterway can often only accommodate civilian ships of less than 1,500 tons, and as for warships, the draft is deeper than that of civilian ships, and they can often be used for less than 1,000 tons.

Therefore, it is not that the Japanese army does not have large warships to use, but it cannot use heavy warships with large tonnage and deep draft in the Yangtze River, and can only use river gunboats with a draft of less than 3 meters or even less than 2 meters.

The powerful combined fleet of the Japanese army is an all-water ocean-going warship. In order to invade China and control the Yangtze River, the Japanese army spent half a century and specially built an elite fleet, that is, the 3rd Fleet and the 11th Fleet, which is the so-called Yangtze River Fleet.

In 1908, the Japanese army formally established the so-called 3rd Fleet, which was simply a product of the invasion of China. The fleet was not stationed in Japan at all, but in Central and South China in China, and consisted of a total of seven warships, including the Fushimi and Sumida.

The establishment of the 3rd Fleet marked the official extension of the Japanese army's magic grip to the Yangtze River in China. In 1909 they built an improved version of the Fushimi Toba medium river gunboat, which rose to 15 knots, and the main guns became two 76 mm guns, with a draft of 0.8 meters and a displacement of 215 tons.

These medium gunboats had limited firepower and could not destroy strong ground fortifications, and the Japanese believed that they still needed larger tonnage ships equipped with relatively large caliber guns.

Therefore, in 1911, they built a large inland river warship with a tonnage of 1,000 tons, the main gun was increased to 120 mm, and the power and range of the ship's guns were greatly increased, at the cost of the draft of the whole ship also reached 2.3 meters, and it could fight on the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Yichang, but it could not effectively pass through the shoals of the Three Gorges. After the appearance of the second generation of river gunboats in 1911, the third generation of river gunboats was also born quickly, and his representative work was the large river gunboat Atakaku.

The Ataka has a displacement of 1,200 tons, but it has a speed of up to 16 knots, a cruising range of up to 2,500 nautical miles (several round trips from Japan to Shanghai), and a draft of 2.3 meters. The main guns were 2 120 mm guns, 2 76 mm anti-aircraft guns, 6 machine guns, and the crew of the warship was 120 people.

The Ataka was officially commissioned in 1923, and at that time, the Ataka was the world's first-class inland river warship.

At the same time as the construction of the Ataka, the Japanese army also built four new river gunboats with a smaller tonnage, which were also second-generation modifications. These warships have made great improvements in technology, starting to use heavy fuel oil as fuel instead of coal in order to increase their speed and cruising capabilities.