More than 3,000 officers and men of the four infantry battalions of the Reading Regiment, armed with heavy machine guns, mortars, and mules and horses, and the officers and men of the regiment's companies, crossed the five pontoon bridges on the small river of Puguanmiao from different directions, such as north, northwest, and due west, and completed the task of assembling and rushing 18 kilometers to enter the battlefield in only 3 hours and 20 minutes.

When the officers and men entered the position, they immediately occupied the favorable terrain without stopping, intensively built fortifications and arranged firepower, and made intense preparations before blocking the imaginary enemy position in the low mountains along the lake to the east.

"Report, the position of the third battalion has been constructed."

“…… The positions of the first battalion have been constructed, and the four commanding heights are under control. ”

"The defensive position of the model battalion has been constructed."

"The guard company has entered the predetermined location to complete the lurk."

"The position of the second battalion has been constructed."

"The artillery company's position is completed and it enters a state of imminent battle, and the mortar company completes the observation ...... by entering the predetermined location"

…… On the crane viewing platform in front of the Puguan Temple, more than 60 generals and colonels of the Second Division stood on the platform, all of whom were using binoculars to observe the positions and troop deployments in all directions, near and far.

Liu Zhi put down the binoculars and sighed in a low voice to Xu Tingyao, who was full of relief beside him:

"Brother Yuexiang, you didn't expect it, right? They were a full twenty-five minutes ahead of our estimates, the fortifications of the terrain they chose were impeccable, the choice of mortar positions, and the configuration of cross-fire at the commanding heights were even more unexpected. ”

Xu Tingyao was using a telescope to observe the construction of the preparatory positions of the two engineer companies behind the position, as well as the telephone line erection of the communication company, and after listening to Liu Zhi's words, he put down the telescope and smiled slightly:

"I thought I was too harsh in my estimate, but I didn't expect them to be much lower than I estimated...... Xiao Yi's subordinates are too tacit, especially the model battalion, I saw that Yin Jinan and a few of his assistants only needed a few gestures to understand each other, very efficient, this is not a day or two of practice. ”

An Yi strode up the high platform with two heralds, came to Liu Zhi and reported: "The departments of the Reading Force have been prepared, please give instructions to the chief." ”

"Let's get started." Liu Zhi returned the salute and calmly ordered.

"Yes!" An Yi turned to the herald and ordered loudly: "Herald, the battle begins!" ”

"Yes!"

Twenty seconds later, the peculiar firing sound of mortars rang out, and a blue signal flare was sent high up hundreds of meters to the east, dragging an orange-red smoke and making a sharp whistling sound, and the artillery of each position roared in unison, blowing up the three mountain passes 1.5 kilometers away beyond recognition.

After the smoke of gunfire, the sound of Makqin heavy machine guns and light machine guns rang out, the snow and fog were churning within 800 meters in front of the three-kilometer-long position, patches of trees and grass were blown up by a dense rain of bullets, and only three of the 50 white flags on the preset enemy positions in front of the position were left after two rounds of shelling, and in the blink of an eye they were blown up without a trace by the roaring mortar shells. "Well played! It is very accurate, the accuracy and adjustment speed of the artillery company's fire coverage are very good, and the ingenious combination of light and heavy machine guns with high and low has exerted its exponential power, especially the mortar company, I dare to say that their rapid movement, rapid firing ability and strike effect are second to none in all armies, and it is remarkable that a small mortar company can use it to this extent, and it can be seen that you have worked hard, and these 35 days of intensive training have been fruitful! ”

Xu Tingyao loudly praised An Yi beside her, and a group of generals around her echoed him.

The commanders of the main forces were secretly surprised by the performance of the reading group, and finally understood the reason why Liu Zhi and Xu Tingyao deliberately brought everyone here, in contrast, their main force group had been left far behind by An Yi, a little junior brother with a hippie smile and an easy-going surname.

At the end of the 20-point exercise, the "enemy position" shrouded in gunpowder smoke was in shambles, the 3,000 officers and men of the Reading Force Regiment had assembled and returned one after another, and the engineer companies of the various battalions were skillfully dismantling the pontoon bridges and cleaning their positions; the officers and men were smiling and behaving calmly, and there was no expression of excitement and joy at all, still less a loud and triumphant attitude, just as the usual return to the camp after training was as relaxed and natural.

In just 20 minutes, they saw the rapid and efficient method of building positions, the ingenious and precise combination of infantry and artillery coordination, and also saw too many gaps, and felt embarrassed and ashamed and uneasy.

More importantly, they saw the "model battalion spirit" that they could only envy but could not replicate, and the unique inner temperament of An Yi's department was finally clearly displayed in the sound of guns, the amazing cohesion, strong combat effectiveness, mutual trust between officers and soldiers, and tacit coordination and cooperation between various departments, etc., all let the generals and colonels on the crane platform see clearly, only the guard company directly under the Reading Force Regiment that was ambushed somewhere as a strange soldier has not been seen, and this elite team that has been rumored to be miraculous among the officers and men of the First Army has not yet appeared, The exercise has been successfully concluded, and the generals and colonels cannot help but feel helpless and even jealous.

Although the vast majority of the generals and colonels were able to see each link in the exercise in their eyes and knew the meaning of each link and the target surname, they all knew in their hearts that it was by no means possible to achieve such a level overnight, and in addition to hard work and hard sweat, the most important and complicated thing was the skill of the generals.

In the evening, the county government hall was full of cups and lamps, and the sumptuous dishes on the table far exceeded the luxury of the Reading Force at any time, and more than 10 battalion-level chief officers of the Reading Force Regiment were scattered among the brothers and soldiers of the nine tables, answering everyone's inquiries, exchanging ideas with each other, and raising their glasses from time to time to drink freely. An Yi accompanied division commander Liu Zhi, chief of staff Xu Tingyao, and the commanders of the three regiments to a table, chatting and laughing with each other, and enjoying themselves.

This dinner was an order specially issued by Xu Tingyao to An Yi after returning from the afternoon exercise, and the brothers of the division headquarters and each regiment immediately echoed loudly when they heard it, saying that they had not encountered the opportunity to kill An Yi for a long time, and An Yi also cherished the rare opportunity to get together with the division commander and the senior brothers, and agreed without thinking about it.

Since there was only an hour before dinner time, and the cooking class of the regiment headquarters did not reserve much good materials, An Yi had to send Huang Yingwu, the instructor of the model battalion, to Xiaoyao Lou in Huxi to ask the chefs for help. Finally, he walked out of the lobby and quietly asked Huang Yingwu, a veteran of the flower bush: Do you need to send more than a dozen pretty girls with both color and art to accompany the wine?

Liu Zhi saw Gu Changfeng walking by with a glass of wine, and immediately beckoned to stop him: "Company Commander Gu, where was your department when the exercise started today?" ”

"Reporting division, our company was behind a hill about four kilometers southeast of enemy lines, and our mission was to strike at the enemy's logistical supply lines, blow up major bridges, road passes, and create chaos in the enemy's rear. However, today was a drill, and the subordinates and brothers just took aim for a while, and when they heard the gunfire stopping, they made a detour back to the camp. Gu Changfeng replied with a smile.

The generals and colonels present were taken aback, thinking that if the fight really broke out, the area would be full of hills, hills and streams, and it would be impossible for the enemy's logistics and guard units to expand the range of their police weapons to a distance of three kilometers.

Liu Zhi nodded and signaled Gu Changfeng to take it easy, turned to An Yi and asked with a low smile: "In these thirty-five days of strong training, you have been testing that special operations theory, right?" ”

"Yes, the current difficulty is that we do not have a light radio station for communication and command, so the effectiveness of this type of combat is greatly reduced. For example, if we have a small radio station with a wireless communication distance of 200 kilometers, we can completely send a group of elite soldiers and strong generals to infiltrate Zhejiang, and use all possible methods to choose the most effective means to kill the commanders of the enemy's various departments that our army will face, or Lu Xiangting, the commander-in-chief of the Zhejiang army in Anhui, or the enemy commanders Zhou Qian, Xia Chao, and others who are guarding Quzhou, or the enemy's headquarters, ammunition depots, major bridge facilities, and so on, so that our army will face much lighter resistance. ”

An Yi, who was quite excited after drinking a few glasses, told his idea truthfully, not noticing the shocked faces and strange eyes of the generals at the table.

Liu Zhi and Xu Tingyao have already seen An Yi's special report from President Jiang, so they are more aware of An Yi's special operations thinking, well aware of its destructive power and deterrent power, and have a deep understanding of the advanced equipment mentioned by An Yi in the report, and have also confirmed through various channels that Britain and the United States have produced light and efficient military radio stations, but their own political axes and armies have not yet been able to obtain them.

However, Liu Zhi and Xu Tingyao didn't know that in addition to having the fierce Gu Changfeng Guard Company, An Yi also secretly established a more powerful special detachment of 36 people, and they didn't know that this detachment had quietly infiltrated the front line of Quzhou and Changshan in Zhejiang as early as a month ago, and secretly carried out almost actual combat training, and the day before yesterday, all of them returned safely and brought back a detailed military map, including the distribution and garrison of the enemy army on the front line of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi border.

So Xu Tingyao and An Yi whispered to everyone at the banquet the significance of special operations, as well as brief questions about personnel selection and training, and An Yi also answered the questions raised by the brothers through today's exercises, including the surprise attack in the Battle of Tingsi Bridge.

In the lively atmosphere, Guo Jun, the head of the sixth regiment, glanced at each other with his regimental deputy, and each saw the surprise and arrogance in each other's eyes, and then looked at the heads and deputies of each regiment who were full of drunk, except for Li Yannian, the fifth regiment leader who was sitting next to An Yi, humbly asked about some key points, most of the people's eyes were quite complicated, and they seemed to have an indescribable charm in them.

(To be continued)