After receiving the order from Zhu Qinglan, one artillery piece after another was pushed into the artillery position that had just been dug. It was also at this time that a hot air balloon specially designed to correct the point of impact of artillery was also raised into the sky.

"Artillery correction balloons? It is said that the equipment of the National Social Army is the best in China, and now it seems that this is indeed the case..."Zhang Jiarui saw the hot air balloon rising from the position of the National Social Army and said to Wang Zhensheng.

Looking at the very eye-catching hot air balloon, Wang Zhensheng also nodded.

"Yes, I didn't expect the National Social Army to even have hot air balloons, but I don't know if they have planes?"

On the eve of the Second Revolution, Yuan Shikai once purchased 12 French "Gaudelon" aircraft, so he was not very unfamiliar with the aircraft Zhang Jiarui and Wang Zhensheng.

In fact, Yan Guang also has such a thing, not only did he buy the same French "Gaudelon" planes as Yuan Shikai, but the number was far more than the 12 that Yuan Shikai bought. It's just that there are not many pilots in the National Army now, and there is no airport on the battlefield in Hubei at all, and if you build an airport temporarily (although you can also use wild land), it is too difficult to make a transfer from Sichuan, and land transportation is also difficult, if you just do artillery correction, it is the same with hot air balloons, so Yan Guang can only invalidate the idea of the Air Force participating in the war.

Of course, when Zhu Qinglan and Yang Shan take Badong and the plane can be transported to Badong County by cargo ship, perhaps the "Gao Delong" plane purchased by Yan Guang will be useful. After all, if it is used for aerial reconnaissance, the aircraft is definitely a hundred times better than the hot air balloon, and maybe the harsh light can also allow these planes to throw strapped grenades as bombers...

"Division Commander Ma, it seems that the National Social Army wants to shell Badong County, should we go down and hide first?"

Zhang Jiarui and they are still on the city wall of Badong County, in case a shell does not grow and hits the city wall and kills all of them, or simply blows up the city wall under their feet, then the Beiyang Army and the Hubei Army below are not leaderless. Therefore, after seeing the artillery correction balloon raised by the National Social Army, knowing that the National Social Army was likely to use artillery, Zhang Jiarui hurriedly said to Ma Bangde and Wang Zhensheng on the side.

Hearing Zhang Jiarui say this, Ma Bangde and Wang Zhensheng also felt that what he said was very reasonable, after all, if any shell exploded on the city wall, it would really be a cup, not to mention that this possibility is not small.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Jiarui and the others, who had walked down the city wall surrounded by their own soldiers, stepped into a very hidden and solid command post outside the city.

Maybe it was a coincidence, but as soon as they walked in, a roar of artillery rang out outside the command post.

"Holy..."

Holding their military hats, Zhang Jiarui and the others only felt as if the sky was falling apart, but fortunately, the shelling seemed to have stopped after only one round.

Knocking off the dust that had just fallen from the roof of the command post, Zhang Jiarui smiled bitterly and said to Ma Bangde and Wang Zhen.

"What a lot of firepower..."

"yes..."

Wang Zhensheng also nodded, but then Ma Bangde said strangely.

"But it's a little strange, why did the people of the National Socialist Army stop after only one shelling? Could it be that they are running low on ammunition? ”

Hearing Ma Bangde say this, Zhang Jiarui and Wang Zhensheng both looked at this somewhat shriveled little old man with incredulous eyes, and they were a little embarrassed to make this little old man...

"What, did I just say the wrong thing?"

Hearing Ma Bangde say this, looking at his innocent expression, Zhang Jiarui and Wang Zhensheng didn't know what to say, and finally paused for more than ten seconds before Zhang Jiarui opened his mouth to explain.

"The one floating in the sky now is an artillery calibration balloon, and the artillery of the National Socialist Army will stop, just to wait for the person on the balloon to tell them the location of the impact point of the round of shelling just now, so that they can correct the artillery."

"That's right, I believe that if the artillery of the National Socialist Army is not needed, it will be opened again."

Speaking of this, Wang Zhensheng and Zhang Jiarui glanced at each other, very curious about how this Ma Bond got into the position of division commander.

Of course, they don't know that Ma Bond is not from a professional class, and the position of division commander can only be obtained by "special means", of course, this is also related to the fact that Ma Bond's division is just a miscellaneous brand, and it is a militia division in Hubei at best, otherwise Li Yuanhong would not let him be the division commander.

Just when Zhang Jiarui and Wang Zhensheng were still surprised that Ma Bond didn't even have this bit of common sense, there was a sudden roar outside the command post, and it was obvious that the artillery of the Kuomintang Army outside had completed the correction with the help of the correction balloon.

Zhang Jiarui's command post is very hidden and strong, and he is not afraid that the artillery of the National Social Army will notice this, so as long as he is not very unlucky to be hit by 120 caliber shells, there is no problem with ordinary stray bullets. It's just that although they have no problems, the soldiers of the Beiyang Army and the Hubei Army in the trench fortifications outside have fallen into bad luck... And perhaps this correction was accurate, so the shelling had been going on for more than a minute, but the shelling outside had not stopped.

Fortunately, the Makqin machine guns that Zhang Jiarui and they arranged outside had been changed to other hidden positions after the fortifications were fully completed, so although those positions were also the focus of the artillery of the National Social Army, the only 12 Makqin machine guns of the Padang defenders, except for a few that were too unlucky, were almost no major problems.

At this time, looking at the pillars of dust raised on the outer fortifications of Badong, Zhu Qinglan said to Wang Yixian on the side.

"Lao Wang, notify the artillery regiment below and let them continue the shelling for half an hour and then stop."

"Understood."

After speaking, Wang Yixian stepped aside and motioned for an officer to go to the artillery regiment to convey the order.

Just when Wang Yixian was delivering the order to the officer, Zhu Qinglan was facing the commander of the Fifth Infantry Regiment.

"You take your troops to the bank of the river to find a suitable place to build a wharf, if you encounter the enemy, you will clean it up along the way, and when the wharf is built, leave a battalion of troops there to guard it, and you yourself will bring people back."

"Yes."

With his legs together, the commander of the 5th Infantry Regiment turned and left the command post.

After Wang Yixian came back, Zhu Qinglan said to him again.

"Is the radio set up?"

This Wang Yixian really didn't know, but fortunately, an officer on the side had just returned from the communication office, so he hurriedly interjected on the side.

"Commander, the wireless telegraph has been set up over there at the liaison office."

"Okay, send electricity to the Yucheng side, and when the temporary wharf by the river is repaired, let the Yucheng side use the boat to transport ammunition over..."

Zhu Qinglan also knew that the temporary wharf he built was definitely not as good as the one in Badong County, but there was no way, who called the wharf in Badong County was still in the hands of the Beiyang Army and the Hubei Army, and his Second Army was very dependent on the source of ammunition, if there was enough ammunition supply, he could bomb the entire Badong County, including the defenders, into ruins, but if there was not enough ammunition...

The artillery is dumb, the machine gun is dumb, relying on the Mauser G98 rifle alone, although his second division is also an old unit from the New Army, but he is still a little weak-minded compared to the Beiyang Army. What's more, the vast majority of China's warlords have learned this kind of thing now, and if it weren't for the super firepower brought by artillery and machine guns, Zhu Qinglan really didn't know what advantages he had.

Fortunately, Badong County is adjacent to the Yangtze River, and the Sichuan-Han Railway is also half completed. In this way, ammunition supplies could be transported by cargo ships via the Yangtze River, and the army's forces could be transported by rail.

"Fortunately, Badong, Yichang and Wuhan are all on the Yangtze River, otherwise I really don't know what to do..."

"yes..."

Thinking about the current dependence of the National Social Army on ammunition, Wang Yixian couldn't help but nodded.

While Zhu Qinglan was talking with Wang Yixian, the artillery regiment's shelling of the outskirts of Badong County had been going on for more than 10 minutes.

During the more than ten minutes of shelling, 72 large and small caliber guns caused at least nearly 1,000 casualties, and many times a shell fell into the trench, and the entire squad or even the entire platoon of soldiers were reimbursed.

This is also related to the fact that there are many non-standard fortifications in the trenches, many trenches are simply a small pit, at most only one person can squat down to avoid bullets, but it is no wonder that there have been more than 70 artillery shelling on the Chinese battlefield at present, and the Hubei soldiers who were responsible for the excavation of the fortifications were naturally passive and slacking off.

I didn't know that there would be such a good result, it was completely thanks to the blessing of the Hubei soldiers who were in charge of the construction of the fortifications on the other side, holding binoculars in their hands, Zhu Qinglan and Wang Yixian always felt that the results on the other side seemed to be a little good.

"Lao Wang, do you want to let the people of the infantry regiment rush up now?"

Originally, Zhu Qinglan also wanted his subordinates to take a rest, after all, after the long journey, even he, the army commander who had been riding a horse, felt a little tired, not to mention the soldiers below?

But now, it seems that the effect of the shelling just now is too good, which also makes Zhu Qinglan feel that maybe as long as he rushes now, he can take down the outlying positions in Badong County.

Looking at the limb wreckage that appeared from time to time in the dust pillar on the opposite position, Wang Yixian also felt a little moved, but then shook his head and said.

"After a long march, the soldiers below are more or less exhausted, not to mention that according to the intelligence of the Military Intelligence Bureau, there are more than 10,000 Beiyang Army and Hubei Army in the opposite city of Badong County, even if we rush forward now, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve any results, so it is better to wait for the two divisions behind to catch up..."

Hearing Wang Yixian say this, Zhu Qinglan also nodded.

"In that case, let's let the brothers below rest for a day first, and then launch an offensive tomorrow." As he spoke, Zhu Qinglan looked at the director of the communications office who had just walked in. "You send someone to contact the two divisions behind you and see when they will arrive."

"Yes!"

While Zhu Qinglan was talking, there seemed to be some problems with the defenders of Badong County on the outlying positions of Badong County.

It seems that some people, against the shelling that just lasted more than half an hour ... Frightened...

(To be continued)