October 1, 1930, 2:55 a.m.

There was a dead silence in the command room of the Jinzhou East Battalion, and everyone held their breath, raised their heads, stared at the self-striking clock hanging on the wall with bloodshot eyes, and watched the second hand move one frame at a time. In another five minutes, more than 400 artillery pieces, including 96 150mm and 152mm heavy guns, deployed on the artillery positions on the west bank of the Daling River, would smash the counteroffensive shells on the heads of the invaders

As soon as the 30 minutes of artillery preparation passed, the Eighth Route Army deployed at the northern end of the battle line would be the first to force its way across the Daling River and launch a fierce attack on the Japanese positions on the east bank of the Daling River. After the fierce fighting on the northern and southern fronts entered a white-hot state, the First Route Army, the Sixth Route Army, and the First Brigade of the Armored Cavalry deployed in the center of the battle line will, under the cover of heavy artillery and aircraft, launch a real main attack, and nearly 100,000 Northeast Army Tiger Ben will launch the most decisive attack on the center of the Japanese front with the determination of death, with the determination to die, in order to cut off the Japanese army and then encircle or defeat it

"Commander-in-Chief Zhang arrives" with a loud roll call. There was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the door, and Zhang Xueliang strode into the war room. Although all the commands and plans were made by Guo Songling, the final decision still needed to be made by him, the supreme commander of the Northeast Army.

All the people in the command room stood up and saluted when they saw Zhang Xueliang coming in. Guo Songling, Rong Zhen, Zhu D, Soviet military adviser Cui Kov, and a number of staff officers were all waiting for the attack to be launched.

Zhang Xueliang scanned everyone with a tense face, not for a long time, everyone looked at him with bated breath. The night was still dark, and the occasional sound of strong winds blowing outside made the atmosphere solemn. Zhang Xueliang finally spoke, all the people, the people of the whole country are looking at our old handsome, the spirit in the sky, and also looking at our compatriots in the two provinces of Liaoji who have fallen, and also looking at us, our Northeast Army has been bullied by the Japanese for so many years, and now, the south has risen to become the world's five major military powers, and they are still bullying us, is it tolerable or unbearable, today is the time for our 300,000 officers and soldiers of the Northeast Army to rise up and fight back, I hope that you will work hard and not disappoint the fathers and villagers of the three eastern provinces who have raised us for 20 years."

After saying these generous words, Zhang Xueliang stood in the war room, the corners of his mouth were tight, with tears in his eyes, looking at the solemn officers in the room, he raised his head to the heavenly father...... The time has come to avenge your hatred, and the future fate of the Northeast Army depends on today's fight."

The Northeast Army has already taken out all its forces and has exhausted the last penny of financial resources. The strength accumulated by the father and son over the past 20 years will be brought into full play today, and if this war cannot be won, then the Northeast Army will be slumped and difficult to rise again

"Knock knock" The chiming clock hanging on the wall made three crisp sounds. At 3 a.m. on October 1, the time for a counterattack finally arrived

……

At the foot of the Little Bauhinia Mountain on the west side of the Daling River, the Northeast Army and the G Army were on the heavy artillery cluster position. The artillery group composed of 36 150mm heavy field howitzers, 36 Meiji 38 150mm howitzers, and 24 152mm Soviet-made howitzers shook violently at the same time. Almost at the same time, more than 340 75mm mountain guns belonging to eleven artillery regiments deployed in various places behind the Daling River front also began shelling their respective targets according to the plan.

Looking out from the artillery observation post on the top of Xiaobauhinia Mountain, to the west of the Daling River, in the dark night sky, a burst of orange-red light suddenly flashed. The western sky suddenly lit up like a fire descending from the sky, and then a thunderous sound was formed, and finally even the earth shook violently, and in the terrible scream, hundreds of large and small shells exploded almost simultaneously in all parts of the Japanese defense zone. Orange fireballs that erupted in the night sparkled brightly in various points on the east bank of the Daling River. The shells were so dense that there were no more than a few shells, especially the powerful 150-millimeter first-class cannonballs, which inappropriately slammed the northern end of the Japanese defense line, blew up the Japanese fortifications to a pulp, and the explosion of the shells finally merged into a loud "boom" sound, echoing on the battlefield, and all other sounds were muffled.

The Japanese soldiers hid in the trenches and in the anti-artillery bunkers, unconsciously opening their mouths and covering their ears, enduring the huge shaking and the roar of the explosion of shells that pierced people's hearts. Everyone trembled violently with the vibration of the explosion, as if their hearts were ready for the last judgment to which they belonged. The smoke filled their airways and lungs, making it difficult to breathe. Although they are infantry with the most rigorous training, the vast majority of them have not experienced real artillery bombardment, even if they participated in the Battle of Jinan in 28 years, they did not expect that the Northeast Army and the Chinese GCD actually have such a powerful artillery In fact, many of the cannons that are firing fiercely at the Japanese army are products of the Japanese military industry, and even many artillery pieces are trained by Japanese instructors

However, these Northeast Army artillery teachers were not slow to react, and almost immediately began to counterattack, nearly 200 75mm mountain artillery and 105mm and 150mm heavy artillery of the Eighth and Ninth Divisions began to spit tongues of fire, exploding on the squadron position west of the Daling River. The Japanese army, the Northeast Army, and the G Army had been facing each other on both sides of the Daling River for nearly ten days, and both sides were frantically digging trenches and fortifications to build starting positions. In the same way, the respective artillery observers had already determined the coordinates, and at this time, as long as the shells were fired at the fastest speed according to the prior plan, the two Daling rivers at this time became a world of shrapnel flying horizontally. Orange-red and dark red firelight flew across the wide river at a very fast speed, and the reflection of the river water seemed to be thousands of flowing blood light

Lieutenant General Miyoshi Ichi, commander of the 8th Division of the Japanese Army, stood in a shelter on the high ground on the east bank of the Daling River and watched the artillery battle outside with an artillery team from the observation port of the inner eight characters. Although the artillery fire of the squadron was fierce, the troops who were not worried about Miyoshi and Ichichi suffered heavy losses. Because just last night, the Kwantung Army Command had already sent him a warning that the squadron was going to launch an attack today, and the 20 years of hard work in Manchuria by the Japanese Empire were indeed not in vain. At this time, in the forward positions that were heavily shelled, there were only a small number of infantry left, and the main force had already moved to the relative safety of the second and third lines of defense to avoid shelling. He now only observes the focus of the enemy's artillery bombardment, so as to judge the focus of their attack. In order to make the most reasonable use of the few reserves in his hands. Now his biggest headache is the weakness of his troops, and the defense line to defend is too long. The 27,000-strong Eighth Division was responsible for defending a 25-kilometer-long defensive line, and the squadron on the opposite side of the line was as many as 150,000 men

Almost all of the heavy artillery fire was concentrated in the trench defense zone on the first line of Sunjiayu, Pigeon Cave, and Xiaowang's shack, and the 15-centimeter heavy artillery blasted terrible gaps in the position. Through the rising fireballs, he could see that the deer at the front of the position were lifted into the sky layer by layer, and the cannonballs were like a large rolling curtain, gradually pushing the barrage of death forward. Everywhere I passed, the machine-gun fire points of the civil fortifications were all like papier-mâché, and they were wiped out of this world at once...... If the Japanese infantry was still deployed here in large numbers at this time, it is estimated that there would have been heavy losses at this time, and the rest of the place was a dense flash of small flashes, which seemed to be at most a dense fire of some 75mm mountain guns and mortars. Obviously, the focus of the shelling is from Sun Jiayu to Xiao Wang's shack... He exhaled lightly for a few kilometers of defense line, turned around and shouted loudly in the ears of the staff officers who followed closely to inform the artillery, concentrate firepower, and block the surface of the Daling River from Sunjiayu to the line of Xiaowang's shack."

Also enduring the sound of artillery shells exploding and violently oscillating were the officers and men of the Eighth Route Army, the elite main force of the Central G, especially the 22nd Division commanded by Comrade Wang Erzhuo. They were tasked with forcibly crossing the Daling River, establishing bridgeheads, erecting pontoon bridges, clearing deer barricades, seizing the first trench of the Japanese army, and opening the way for the follow-up attacking troops. An artillery bombardment of this magnitude had never been imagined before. The soldiers were leaning against the walls of the trenches, holding their rifles, nervously looking at the look of the commander who led the team. From time to time, Japanese artillery shells flew, and when they fell in the trenches, there was a fire and blood, and then there were heart-rending screams, and the ambulances were now the busiest personnel in the entire position, constantly shuttling between the trenches, and the bloody wounded were constantly carried off the position on stretchers and sent to the field hospital in the rear.

The barrage of shells gradually extended forward, and within 30 minutes, more than 4,000 rounds of 150-mm and 152-mm heavy artillery shells, as well as tens of thousands of 75-mm shells and mortar shells, were smashed. Such an artillery density is already the limit of the strength of the Central G and Northeast Army. The sound of charging trumpets rang out in the trenches, and the officers straightened up, drew their pistols, and waited for the final order to charge.

Three red flares rose into the sky from behind and then slowly fell. Countless young officers armed with GC ideals jumped out of the trenches at this moment, raised their arms and shouted comrades, for the sake of New China, rush with me" Then I saw waves of yellow people pouring out of the trenches and rushing towards the east bank of the Daling River. The offensive of the infantry has already begun

The assault mobilized all 12 infantry battalions of the 22nd Division, six of which were diversionary attacks, and the six infantry battalions of the 43rd Brigade were the main attacking forces, and hundreds of heavy machine guns were carried to the river beach on the east bank of the Daling River, each of which was firing frantically at the opposite bank to suppress the Japanese firepower. Hundreds of wooden platoons had long been lined up on the shore, and the soldiers, under the command of the officers, boarded the platoons one after another, and then paddled with the sapper shovels, sticks, rifles, and even arms they carried with them. The Japanese army's reaction was very fast, and in a blink of an eye, the shells whistled in, blowing up a sky-high water injection on the water surface of the Daling River, and from time to time there were wooden platoons filled with officers and soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who were directly hit, taking advantage of the opportunity for the Eighth Route Army to cross the river, the firepower points on the defensive positions of the Japanese troops on the opposite side also began to shoot frantically, more than a dozen heavy machine guns formed a cross fire, plus sporadic but accurate Type 38 rifle fire, the crowd crowded on the wooden platoon was knocked down row by row, and more people shouted like crazy and paddled desperately, However, this small river, which is more than 100 meters wide, seems to have become an impassable moat, and the shooting range here is open, which is convenient for the Japanese army to develop its firepower, and this first wave of impact has simply turned this place into a slaughterhouse

Looking out of the binoculars in the hands of Wang Erzhuo, member of the Central Committee of the Central Committee and commander of the 22nd Division of the Central Army, the front was already bloody. The high ground where he was located was only a few hundred meters away from the west bank of the Daling River, and only one or two kilometers away from the forward position set up by the Japanese army on the east bank of the Daling River. But at this moment, he would rather not see the elite he brought out single-handedly, under the double strangulation of the Japanese army's almost impermeable artillery fire and machine gun fire, he suffered heavy casualties, and the entire Daling River was almost dyed red, and the corpses of heroes were floating on the water

Fortunately, after paying heavy casualties, he finally crossed the Daling River, which had been dyed red. But the Japanese shells continued to explode in their ranks. It seemed that the artillery fire everywhere was concentrated, and the shells came densely and quickly, and with each roar, fragments of human bodies rose into the air, and the infantry quickly dispersed, lying on the ground and desperately digging fortifications. There was no way out for them to hold on here, where they were to build a bridgehead, build pontoon bridges for the sappers and cross the river for the follow-up troops, no matter how heavy the casualties

……

In the war room of the East Battalion in Jinzhou, there was a noisy sound of bells, and the shouts of staff officers running in and out, loudly reporting the battle situation, but most of them were not good news Zhang Xueliang sat in the middle of the war room, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, and from time to time he turned his eyes to Guo Songling, the teacher who was standing in front of the map platform.

The sky gradually brightened, Zhu D walked into the war room with a black face, and the 22nd Division had successfully crossed the Daling River, but the 43rd Brigade suffered heavy casualties when crossing the river, and was killed and wounded by the intensive artillery fire of the Japanese army. Machine guns were also dense on the Japanese positions on the other side of the Daling River, and the previous shelling did not seem to have had much effect. As a result, more than half of the casualties of the 43rd Brigade were ...... Only less than three battalions of men successfully crossed the river, and some foxholes were dug there, but it was still very dangerous, and if the Japanese launched a powerful counterattack, it was estimated that it would collapse......

In today's attack, although the Eighth Route Army of the Central G did not attack the main attack, it was the leading position, and it was also the first time that the army of the Central G attacked the enemy position defended by the modern and dense firepower, and no one in the whole army thought that it would suffer such heavy losses, and only the first round of attacks suffered more than 3,000 casualties under the intensive fire of the Japanese army, and no real breakthrough was achieved. The resistance of the Japanese army remained stubborn. It was only to seize a narrow beachhead on the west bank of the Daling River, where more than 1,000 people were stationed, waiting for follow-up troops to join.

Zhang Xueliang listened to Zhu D's heartbroken report with a calm face, his face turned blue and white for a while, was he not frightened or anxious? At this time, the Sixth Route Army, to which his Northeast Army belonged, could also launch the same forcible crossing operation at the southern end of the Japanese position. I thought that this time there was an overwhelming advantage in firepower and troops, and I could easily win the victory. But I didn't expect that the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was so strong, with two divisions and more than 50,000 people at most, it blocked the offensive of the 300,000 army, and he muttered to Commander-in-Chief Dao Zhu, this time it was really hard for your army, and now ...... Can the troops still persist in fighting without skipping words.

Zhu D nodded and said that he could still hold on, Comrade Peng D Huai had just hit. It means that after the follow-up troops cross the river, they can launch an attack. Strive to attract more enemy reinforcements to the northern flank, so as to win more possibilities for a breakthrough in the center of friendly forces. ”

Guo Songling turned around, looked at Zhu D with an excited face, and suddenly snapped upright, and saluted Zhu D respectfully, Brother Yu This time, thanks to your Eighth Route Army, the burden of the first battle, if this battle can be won, the first merit is definitely your Eighth Route Army"

Zhu D smiled bitterly Brother Mao Chen, we GCD now lead the central government, and it is our bounden duty to defend the country from foreign invasion."

Guo Songling nodded, and just wanted to say something, Rong Zhen, deputy chief of staff of the Northeast Army, rushed in from the outside, good news for the commander-in-chief, the Sixth Route Army also successfully crossed the Daling River on the southern flank, and now that the north and south lines of the Japanese army are all in an emergency, then the central government must be empty."

Everyone in the room felt as if a stone had fallen to the ground, and this bitter battle seemed to have seen a glimmer of hope for victory by now.

"Okay" Zhang Xueliang slapped the table suddenly, and stood up suddenly, his originally miserable face turned red, Teacher, our centralized power can be dispatched, right? There are not a lot of words, but also let the little devils taste the power of our tanks and planes"

Guo Songling also nodded heavily, his face was extremely heavy, as if he was making an extremely difficult decision to send an order to Wan Fulin, Liang Zhongjia, and Wang Yizhe, ordering the First Route Army, the Fifth Route Army, and the Armored Cavalry Brigade to dispatch and pass orders to the Air Force, asking them to immediately dispatch to bomb the middle of the Japanese Daling River defense line."

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