readx; At this time, Zhanshutang asked: "General Gao, the Battle of Wuhan has been fought for more than a month, and the progress of the Yue army on both sides of the Yangtze River is not very smooth, what measures do you speculate they will take next?" ”

Gao Fei thought about this question every day, so he immediately put his thoughts and thoughts: "Although the Yue army has invested more than a dozen divisions in Central China and North China, due to the stubborn resistance of [***], the progress made is very small, and if you want to gain the advantage of deciding the surname, you must increase the number of troops on a large scale." However www.biquge.info in order to defend against the Soviet Union, the army deployed most of its elite troops on the Manchurian-Mongolian border, and the troops in other places have reached the point of being overstretched, and it is impossible to do so from its own territory and North Korea. If this development continues, they may not be able to seize Wuhan, and the Battle of Wuhan is likely to become a turning point in the War of Resistance! ”

Zhanshutang thought for a while, and then raised his own question: "Although it is almost like this from the perspective of the entire battlefield, the situation along the Yangtze River is not so optimistic!" Okamura Ninji's 10th Army, with its 101st, 106th, 26th, and 27th divisions, with a total strength of more than 100,000 troops, was difficult to deal with with with the support of strong naval and air forces. Our two divisions plus the Wuhan Garrison Headquarters are only about 80,000 people, and although your troops are strong, it is not easy to repel the Yue army when they are not superior in strength and weapons. ”

Bai Yuehai interjected: "The army has suffered a loss, and it will definitely learn a lesson, and it will not be so easy to sneak attack again!" ”

Gao Fei seemed to lack confidence when he heard their tone, and hurriedly walked to the front of the map, pointed to Jiujiang upstream of Madang and said: "The guiding principle of the Wuhan Battle formulated by the base camp is to resist one by one, consume the living forces of the army, and do not pay attention to the gains and losses of one city and one place, so the deployment of troops is loose at the front and tight at the back. Assuming that Okamura Ninji broke through the resistance of our army, his next target would definitely be Jiujiang, but on the section of dozens of kilometers south of Jiujiang from Ruichang to Fuchikou, Sun Tongxuan's Third Army, Guan Linzheng's 32nd Army, Tang Enbo's 31st Army, and Sun Xiangtang's 12th Army were assembled. Most of these troops participated in the North China Campaign, the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Xuzhou, and can be called the elite of [***]. In the battles of Shanghai and Taierzhuang, he made outstanding achievements and was famous. In addition, there are seven corps under Xue Yue, commander of the First Corps of the Ninth Theater, in the Lushan area, with a total strength of nearly 200,000. The army's strength is not cheap in any case. ”

Bai Yuehai asked puzzledly: "We have known these troop configurations for a long time, but why do we let our two second-rate divisions defend in such an important place as Madang?" If it weren't for the timely arrival of your 26th Division, the Yue Army would have been attacking Jiujiang. ”

"We're actually outcasts in the base camp!" Zhan Shutang was the first to understand, and the indignant words blurted out.

Only then did Bai Yuehai know what was going on, and immediately scolded: "These bastards, they keep saying that they want Lao Tzu to defend the fortress, otherwise they will be severely punished!" Everyone is passionate about defending the country, why should they decide how we will die! ”

Gao Fei immediately regretted it as soon as he said it, and when he saw such a big reaction from the two division commanders, he regretted it even more, and hurriedly comforted: "The base camp definitely didn't mean that, their original plan should have been for you to hold out for a while, buy a little more time for the movement and deployment of the rear troops, and then retreat." They reprimanded you mainly because the time for which the army was delayed was too short, and the troops upstream were caught off guard. ”

Zhanshutang was older than Bai Yuehai, and knew that if he continued to scold like this, not only would it not help, but it would easily leave a bad impression in the heart of his new boss, so he hurriedly stopped Bai Yuehai's scratching with his eyes.

This episode ruined the originally very harmonious atmosphere of conversation in the headquarters, and although both the guest and the host tried their best to restore the atmosphere, the mood of the people could change as they could say, and finally they had to discuss the matter of replenishment and recuperation in a routine manner, and then the meeting ended.

After Zhanshutang and Bai Yuehai's figures disappeared into the rain curtain, Gao Fei slapped his face hard, warning himself that he would never be so direct in the future!

At the critical moment when the Battle of Wuhan was in full swing, the international situation had undergone a fundamental change, and China's situation had become more difficult.

Under the threat of withdrawing from the international agreement, he persuaded the German Führer Hitler to issue orders to stop arms supplies to China and withdraw German advisers. In the more than a year after the outbreak of the all-out war of resistance, Germany imported war materials into China in the form of barter, worth more than 80 million marks, ranking first in the number of [***] firearms imported by various countries. Fortunately, the pro-China faction has always had the upper hand on the German side and in the Foreign Ministry, and they have strongly resisted Hitler's ban.

Under pressure from the military and the Foreign Office, Goering gave instructions to Colonel Thomas, head of the Defense Economics Division of the Ministry of Defence, to continue trade with China in the current way. Nevertheless, the departure of German advisers and the change in German policy toward China have dealt a heavy mental blow to the Chinese political axe and the Chinese people.

Hitler's behavior of falling into the well and taking a salary from the bottom of the kettle aroused strong resentment among the German advisory group, because most of them had worked in China for a long time and had already formed a deep friendship with the Chinese [***] circles. Therefore, General Falkenhausen, the head of the advisory group, took the lead in proposing to the German political axe that he was willing to stay in his personal name and continue to serve China's war of resistance. However, Hitler's attitude was very tough, warning Falkenhausen and others that if they did not obey the order to leave China by the end of June, their families at home would be severely punished!

Most of the members of the German Advisory Group were forced to leave China at the end of June to return to China, but five advisers resolutely decided to abandon everything they had in Germany and insist on staying in China to help the Chinese people fight against the Yukou. At the same time, all the German advisers who returned to China assured Chiang Kai-shek before leaving that they would never betray China's interests and divulge China's military secrets to him.

The performance of the German advisers brought some comfort to the grieving Chinese

The rain finally stopped after more than ten days, the sky was blue again, the sun was still so bright, the air was filled with the smell of green grass, and the mountains and forests in the distance struggled to stretch their green branches and absorb the heat of the sun. The war-torn hillside was washed away by the rain, revealing the green slabs below, and the tender green grass grew tenaciously upwards from the middle of the dense craters.

Goofy's gaze was firmly attracted by the clumps of grass on the hillside, and the anger gradually subsided, and the angry flames disappeared from his eyes, replaced by confident eyes!

After more than 20 days of rest and replenishment, the Third Fleet, which had been silent for a while, began to haunt the lower reaches of the Xiangshan position, and after more than 20 days of rest and replenishment, the army had regained its combat strength and was accumulating strength to prepare for another offensive.

Immediately after the rainy weather was over, Goofy ordered his troops to build fortifications with all their might, and to turn Madang Fortress into a strong fortress in the shortest possible time. First of all, a dozen barbed wire fences were laid in succession on the outermost side of the position, and traps and mines were laid in the gaps between the barbed wires; Three trenches three meters deep surrounded the position, and shelters of reinforced concrete structures were set up every 25 meters, and bunkers were set up every 50 meters, in which large quantities of food and ammunition were stored; The main positions of Zangshanji, Xiangshan, Changshan and Madang are connected by two communication trenches two meters wide and two meters deep, which can transport materials and personnel at any time, and make the four positions a solid whole.

The Xiangshan position was defended by a battalion of the 26th Division, the main force of the 16th Division was deployed at Zangshanji, the 60th Division was guarded by an infantry battalion at Changshan, two infantry battalions and an artillery regiment were guarded by Madang, and the division headquarters was stationed on the other side of Taibai Lake. The New Second Division, as the general reserve, was stationed in Pengze County together with the group army headquarters, and the heavy artillery brigade and antiaircraft artillery brigade were arranged in Changling, which was located behind the side of the Tibetan Mountain.

The 53rd Division and the 167th Division had recovered after more than 20 days of rest and replenishment, so they took the initiative to go to the headquarters of the group army to ask for orders.

Bai Yuehai was full of praise after seeing the Xiangshan position, thinking that it was impossible for the enemy to take advantage of such fortifications, and pestered Gao Fei to ask to take over the 26th Division. In the end, Gao Fei had no choice but to agree to come down and let the White Moon Sea Department be stationed in the Xiangshan and Zangshan Rock positions. To be on the safe side, the position of the 26th Division was only slightly set back by five kilometers, ready for support.

More than 20 ships of the Third Fleet reappeared in the waters of Xiangkou in the lower reaches of Xiangshan, and the first one was still a light cruiser. The Yue army apparently learned the lesson of the Madang fiasco, lined up the battleships in a long column on the river beyond the range of the defenders' artillery, and then all advanced in an S shape, firing a salvo with the naval guns on the side, and each time hundreds of shells fell on the Xiangshan position, because the ships were always in a state of movement, making it difficult for the opponent's artillery to aim.

Bai Yuehai lay on the observation hole in the shelter, closely monitoring the enemy's movements with a telescope. When he saw the fleet advancing and retreating from time to time on the river, changing positions, the corners of his mouth involuntarily showed a sneer: After receiving the weapons and equipment presented by the first Gao Fei, the strength of the troops has greatly increased, and the brothers are all high-spirited, energetic, and ready to fight, hoping to fight with the army as soon as possible and wash away the shame on their bodies! Now the little devils are sending them to the door without their own strength, and they can't let them get out of the way anymore no matter what!

Bai Yuehai used a telephone to inform the troops hidden in the tunnels and bunkers to wait for the enemy's army to start attacking before entering the position, so as to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, because the warships were out of range of the heavy artillery brigade and could not suppress and shoot at them, and a rash attack would be tantamount to death. Despite this, Bai Yuehai was still very confident in holding the Xiangshan position: he had never seen such a perfect and strong fortification since he joined the army, even stronger than the fortress built by the Admiralty! Bai Yuehai even thought that if the Yue army wanted to take it, it would have to pay the price of at least one brigade!

Seeing that the opposing artillery did not react, the fleet immediately continued the shelling very calmly. In order to clear the way for the attacking troops to advance, the naval guns first aimed at the barbed wire fence and trenches on the periphery of the position. Dense shells kept falling, and the smoke and dust immediately obscured the sunlight, and the sky over the position turned into a gray patch. Barbed wire and fixed piles were blown to pieces, and debris continued to fly in the sky; The trenches and traps caved in piece by piece, leaving only huge craters.

After more than 10 minutes of shelling, dozens of fighters flew in from the east and headed straight for the Xiangshan position. Suddenly, from the dense jungle below, a fire dragon burst out of the dense jungle and pounced on the group of planes that were about to dive. More than 100 antiaircraft guns opened fire at the same time, weaving an impermeable fire net in mid-air, layered and criss-crossed, completely covering the airspace several thousand meters square above the position. The two planes were shot in succession, exploding into a dazzling fireball in the air, and the wreckage of the planes scattered like flowers scattered by a goddess, like fireworks set off on a festival. The rest of the planes hurriedly pulled up, then turned around, temporarily let go of the Xiangshan position, and attacked the opponent's air defense position with all their might. Immediately afterward, bombs flew in the sky, machine guns fired, and skyrocketing fires and thick smoke ignited in the dense forest; On the ground, anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns kept spewing deadly flames, and the air defense units fought back resolutely, never allowing enemy planes to approach the Xiangshan position. After just over 20 minutes, the battle between the sword and the shield came to an end, the enemy planes fled the battlefield after losing seven bombers, and the air defense units of the 19th Route Army finally relied on their own strength to firmly control the airspace of the battlefield.

Despite the lack of air support, the warship artillery still had an overwhelming advantage, and continued to shell for half an hour, until it was sure that the surface fortifications of the Xiangshan position had been completely cleared, and then changed the target and opened fire on the heavy artillery positions hidden behind the mountain to suppress the artillery fire of the defenders.

According to past experience, the tactics of the Yue army were to bombard with group artillery, followed by a group charge, so when Bai Yuehai saw dozens of motorboats speeding out of the fleet through the telescope, he immediately ordered the defenders of Xiangshan to enter the position.

The soldiers, who had been waiting in the tunnels and bunkers for a long time, immediately rushed out and quickly ran to their positions, and as the shovels were constantly waved, they quickly built improvised fortifications, and a machine gun was lifted out, and the magazines and canvas cartridges were loaded up, and the muzzles of the black holes pointed down the mountain; The artillerymen pushed one cannon after another to the gun emplacement, and the heavy shells were pushed into the chambers, the muzzles of the guns pointed diagonally in the direction of the army. When they were ready, hundreds of pairs of eyes simultaneously focused on the Yue army that had just landed.

About two brigades of troops landed at Xiangkou and quickly advanced towards Xiangshan, and it is strange that the enemy did not attack immediately, but built fortifications at the foot of the mountain, and then dozens of mortars were erected, and after the crackling sound, dozens of shells fell near the trenches. The shells did not explode after they landed, but billowing yellow smoke rose from them, spreading close to the ground, and at the same time, the troops at the foot of the hill had all put on gas masks and assembled behind the fortifications, ready to attack.

"Gas!" Bai Yuehai reacted immediately. Although he had heard about the use of poison gas by the army, he never took it seriously, firstly, because the quartermaster department could not provide gas masks, and secondly, the army did not seem to use it very often, and now watching his subordinates struggling painfully in the poison gas, he felt a pang of colic in his heart, but he could not do anything.

The first sound of a violent cough was heard in the trenches, and the soldiers began to feel a pain in their throats as if they had been burned by fire, and then their eyes stinged, and tears and snot flowed down their noses, and then the skin exposed to the air began to itch and fester, and from time to time someone fell to the ground, rolling incessantly, and fingers clawed at their throats and chests until they suffocated to death. The screams and moans immediately filled the Xiangshan position, and a few soldiers who did not inhale the poisonous gas hurriedly ran to the tunnel, and then blocked the exit, and the position fell into a situation of no one to defend.

Bai Yuehai could no longer bear to have his subordinates slaughtered like this, and was ready to desperately order the main force to attack from Zangshan Rock and rescue the defenders of Xiangshan. At this moment, the phone rang, and he hurriedly picked up the microphone.

"Division Commander Bai, I'm Gao Fei, the army is attacking with poison gas, your troops don't have gas masks, don't attack rashly, I have ordered the 26th Division to go to reinforcements, please Xiangshan defenders must hold on!" After learning that the army was preparing for a large-scale attack, Gao Fei transferred the headquarters to Changling to facilitate the command of the troops.

Bai Yuehai was filled with grief at this time, and asked in a deep voice: "The brothers don't have gas masks, how can they insist?" ”

Goofy replied: "All enter the tunnel, and when the reinforcements arrive, we will join forces and recapture the position!" ”

Bai Yuehai said: "It's only like this, I just don't know how many brothers will survive!" ”

At this time, Gao Fei's heart was full of self-blame and grief, and he didn't know what to say, so he had to comfort Bai Yuehai casually, and then ended the call.

Horsepower shrank his head back from the small hole he had hastily dug out, then took a tentative breath and dared to open his eyes only when he found that there was no more pungent smell in the air. What caught my eye was a terrible picture: the trenches were full of corpses, all the faces of the corpses were scratched, the wounds were still bubbling with yellow blood, some even scratched their uniforms, their broken nails were stuck deep in their throats, and their eyes turned bloody.

Ma Li participated in the Battle of Songhu and learned about the poisonous gas of the army, but fortunately, it suddenly rained at that time, so he did not die on the battlefield, so he also learned how to deal with it from the officers. After seeing the poisonous gas, he loudly reminded his comrades-in-arms around him, wrapped his face in a towel dipped in his urine, then put his head on the ground, quickly dug a small hole, and stuffed his head into it without moving, so as to save his life.

Despite having seen such a scene once, Ma Li could not remain indifferent to the departure of his comrades, and he wiped his tears as he flipped through the corpses around him one by one, hoping to find a survivor!

(To be continued)