February 25, 19th year. The first shot of the battle of Shanxi, which attracted worldwide attention, was finally fired on time on the Xinkou front line at the north gate of Taiyuan

However, this war does not seem to have anything to do with Marshal Luo Yaoguo, chief of the General Staff of the National ** Army, when the war started, he was in Zhanjiang, Guangdong. There is a large natural harbor located on the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong, which is also the home port of the Nanyang Fleet under the Navy of the National ** Army. For now, though, the port is a huge construction site, with hills of building materials piled up everywhere, and a few construction workers coming and going, as well as a small number of soldiers in Marine uniforms with rifles on their shoulders, standing motionless at their posts.

A convoy of Buick cars drove along the newly built wide, straight road into the huge military port under construction, and finally stopped at a dockland that had already been built. Luo Yaoguo looked through the car window and saw several painted submarines floating near the shore, shaped like oversized canoes, these submarines looked a little slender, the deck was narrow and flat, equipped with deck guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, the conning tower cabin was located in the middle and back position, and the side was painted with white paint with large Arabic numerals, and he vaguely saw that one of them was painted with "018".

The meaning of Luo Yaoguo's group of Arabic numerals, it represents that this submarine is the eighteenth submarine of the submarine force of the National ** Army Navy, and at present, the National ** Army Navy has a total of 20 such Type 2B submarines.

It is a product that is somewhere between a German submarine of World War II and a submarine of World War I. The displacement is only four hundred tons; The length is about 40 meters, the width is 4 meters, and the height is 8.5 meters; Draft... Eight meters. It is powered by two AN's six-cylinder diesel engines with 680 hp and two twin-power electric engines that together deliver 400 hp. The maximum speed is 12 knots on the surface of the water and 6 knots underwater; The endurance is 3,000 nautical miles above the surface and 40 nautical miles underwater; The maximum depth of the dive is one hundred and fifty meters. The armament is 3 x 533mm torpedo tubes (bow); The standard number of personnel on board is 23 people.

The car door opened, Luo Yaoguo stepped out of the car, stood on the dock and stared at the submarine in front of him. After a long time, he slowly turned around and smiled at a naval colonel who arrived with him, If we start a war with the Japanese now, can your submarine force attack without skipping words.

This naval colonel is none other than Zhang Yiming, who graduated from the first phase of the Navy, and is currently serving as the commander-in-chief of the Navy's submarine force, with 20 such Type 2B submarines in his hands, and is the only armed force in the Kuomintang Navy that can handle it enough. Hearing Luo Yaoguo's question, Zhang Yiming snapped upright, and a trace of madness flashed in his eyes, Assistant Commander, our submarine force can fight at any time If the war starts today, I will personally command a submarine to attack Wu Jungang"

Luo Yaoguo frowned slightly, and glanced at Zhang Yiming, what is the main task of your submarine force? Sneak attack or trade disruption? ”

Zhang Yiming smiled and said that according to the report of the Naval Staff Bureau, the Japanese Kure Harbor was not well defended, especially for submarines, there were many loopholes, and if they were attacked...... I'm still very sure of it. Of course, attacking Japanese merchant ships is our main business, and we will never forget this. ”

Luo Yaoguo nodded, that's fine. Then he looked at Natalie, who was with him, and we went up and had a look. By the way, go out to sea with them to dive. ”

"Okay." Natalie just smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Youshi (Zhang Yiming), are you welcome?" Luo Yaoguo glanced at Zhang Yiming with a smile.

Zhang Yiming respectfully gave a military salute, and then made a solemn gesture, and said with a smile, the assistant commander can come, of course we can't ask for it, please come with me. ”

Approaching the No. 018 submarine, Luo Yaoguo took a closer look. The submarine was cleanly packed, with two submarine officers in black waterproof jackets standing on deck, one of whom was directing the sailors to operate the deck guns and anti-aircraft guns, and the other was holding a large binoculars and looking in the direction of the harbor open sea.

At this time, Zhang Yiming had already jumped onto the submarine, and he walked quickly to the officer who was looking around with a telescope and said something to him. Then I saw that the people on the deck of the submarine had put down their work and were busy in a horizontal line, and two sailors had their landing pads ready. Immediately afterwards, Zhang Yiming turned around and shouted at Luo Yaoguo and Natalie that the Navy Submarine Fleet Boat 018 is ready, and Chief Luo is welcome to board the ship for inspection.

This was the first time in Luo Yaoguo's life that he had boarded a submarine, and it was also a combat submarine belonging to the Chinese Navy in 1930. The interior of the submarine is not full of oil as expected, but it is very neat and clean, except for the roar of the diesel engine that has just been started is very noisy. However, the narrowness of the space in the boat is exactly the same as imagined, there is only one space for one person to walk in the compartment, if someone comes head-on, both of them must lean sideways against the bulkhead to cross, if you meet a comrade like Natalie with a big ** on his chest, it will be even more troublesome.

At this time, the engines and engines on the boat began to roar louder and louder, and the degree of jolting and shaking began to intensify. Obviously, the submarine has already begun to sail, but Luo Yaoguo, who is in the inner cabin, can't feel whether the submarine has been submerged in the water, or is in a floating state, nor is it fast or slow. However, he can feel from the skillful movements and tacit cooperation of the crew that the navy of the Nationalist ** Army has learned a little after being trained by the Germans for several years, and with such an elite submarine force, even if the surface ships of the navy are not fully formed, the Chinese navy will have considerable combat effectiveness, especially for an island country like Japan, which is heavily dependent on overseas resources and markets......

……

Shanxi, Xinkou.

Feng Yuxiang, Minister of the Army of the Central Government in Beijing and Commander-in-Chief of the Third Army of the Army, sat on the Mazha with a golden sword. There are more than a dozen sturdy and sturdy ...... around him At first glance, the guards who were eating small stoves pressed their hands on the shell guns at their waists, and looked around vigilantly.

Feng Yuxiang clutched a six-fold military telescope made by Zeiss China in his hand, staring at a hill called Caijiagang about 4,000 meters away. It was now being bombarded by shells, but the shelling was not very dense, except for sporadic black-blue smoke. If this scene of shelling is seen by the officers of the National ** Army who fought in the Battle of Shandong, they will definitely laugh off their big teeth, but this is also a matter of no way, although the Baotou Heavy Industry Base has been able to produce its own shells, but the fuses, copper plates, explosives, and primers must be "imported", and this foreign exchange is quite nervous...... Save if you can.

At the same time as the fight was made, the blue-gray figures had already formed a stormtrooping formation in front of the position. Today's main attack is the troops of Deng Xihou of the 16th Route Army, Huang Yin's 46th Division, the foundation of the Sichuan Army, who once fought Chen Mingren in the Battle of Cangxi in Sichuan. However, at present, it has been reborn and has become the elite of the Central Army with extremely strong combat effectiveness. This wave of Huang Yin threw in a whole brigade of nearly 3,000 infantry at once, forming several waves of blue-gray human lines, slowly approaching the position of the Third Brigade of the Second Division of the Jin Army on the Caijiagang Heights.

However, the defense of the Jin army is also very orderly, and the defender is Fu Zuoyi, who is famous for the defense of Zhuozhou in another time and space. For nearly a month, his troops worked day and night to build positions and fortifications. Chiang Kai-shek also generously brought the Jin army a lot of reinforced concrete barbed wire mines...... Now they have given the Jin army a lot of brains to use in the defensive positions. The sparse bombardment just now naturally did not destroy the Jin army's fortifications and the obstacles in front of the position.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

The artillery of the defenders also began to fire. There is a battalion of twelve 75mm mountain guns assigned to the third brigade of the Jin army defending the Caijiagang Heights, and the artillery shells seem to be quite sufficient, uh, can there be enough with Chiang Kai-shek, the captain of the transport brigade? There is almost a "small power" with an annual output of 1.5 million tons of steel supporting it. The densely fired artillery shells exploded on the yellow earth, and columns of smoke suddenly rose from the wave-like formation of the Central Army's charge, and the scattered metal fragments and the violent shock wave swept through together, bringing up patches of blood mist. However, the charging Central Army did not stop, but let out a roar, quickened its pace and began to rush. At the same time, more than 20 machine guns and more than a dozen mortars that had moved to the foot of Caijiagang Mountain also began to drop ammunition at the positions of the Jin troops on the hill. Strings of fire chains swept across the defenders' forward positions, so that the Jin army could barely raise their heads, and mortar shells continued to explode around them, and the entire position became a purgatory of blood and fire.

The defenders' machine guns also began to fire, and the fire became more intense, and dozens of tongues of fire made a windy sound, knocking down the attacking Central Army like wheat harvesting. However, the offensive formation of the Central Army was very spread, and as soon as the people in front were defeated, the soldiers behind each found the terrain and crawled down. Taking advantage of the terrain, they slowly squirmed forward, and when they crawled within the effective range of their rifles, the rifles of both sides began to fire again.

The military quality of the Jin army did not seem to be weaker than that of the Third Army commanded by Feng Yuxiang, and the defense was particularly tenacious, and the firepower was superior. Therefore, this battle of Xinkou fell into a stalemate from the beginning, but it slowly consumed the lives and financial resources of both sides until one of them could not withstand it...... The units of the Third Army launched a fierce attack on the central defense line of the Jin army, fighting from six or seven o'clock in the morning until dusk was approaching, but still did not make any breakthrough, and only gained more than 1,000 casualties.

Feng Yuxiang put down the binoculars and spit out a mouthful of spit, these Shanxi vinegar jars are really capable of guarding, if you want to play like this, our Third Army will be ......" Speaking of this, Feng Yuxiang suddenly had a spirit, looked around, and saw that Zhang Guotao was not around, so he sighed softly.

In the rear of the Jin army front, Wu Peifu, who was still wearing a long robe, also looked at the battlefield in front of him with contempt. He had been standing on this hill all day today, watching the slowly bleeding battlefield from afar.

"Yushuai, it looks like I've held it today." Yan Xishan's official dialect with a slight Wutai accent sounded in Wu Peifu's ears. Wu Peifu looked back and saw that Yan Xishan was already standing behind him from time to time, holding a telescope looking around and observing the battlefield.

Wu Peifu smiled deeply According to their style of play, Brother Baichuan's Jin army has no problem defending the first half of the year, and it seems that Feng Yuxiang has not made much progress over the years. ”

Yan Xishan frowned, shook his head and said There is no problem here, but ...... What about the east side? There is a genuine G Army, and its combat effectiveness is by no means comparable to Feng Yuxiang's troops. ”

Wu Peifu tightened the corners of his mouth, and paced on the hillside with his hands behind his back, We are not strong enough, so we can only put it in the east first...... Fortunately, they haven't made a move yet. Let Xu Cichen (Xu Yongchang) pay attention to the opponent's surprise attack, as long as it is put on the table, the 20,000 people of the Third Division and the Seventh Brigade can always carry it for ten days and half a month. At that time, the northern front should also be able to repel Feng Yuxiang. ”

"Then will the Central G let Feng Yuxiang make a feint on the northern front to attract us, and then storm the eastern front?" Yan Xishan's brows furrowed tightly, as if he was quite worried.

Wu Peifu smiled coldly and asked his descendants to desperately consume and eat meat for miscellaneous brands? Hehe...... Who in our troubled world would be so righteous? If the lineage is exhausted, Feng Yuxiang's miscellaneous brand will grow...... Maybe I'll be a defective general again. ”

……

The enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Central Committee of China G was also discussing the battle report just received at this time, the conference room in the West Flower Hall was full of smoke, Zhou Elai did not speak, and his face was quite gloomy, Mao ZD sat on a rattan chair, smoking a cigarette heavily, and it could be seen that his mood was also a little depressed. The battle on the Xinkou front was more difficult than expected, the combat effectiveness of the Jin army seemed to have improved compared with three years ago, and the transformation of the Third Army did not seem to have achieved the desired results. The secret telegram sent by Zhang Guotao reported the words and deeds of many old officers who were dissatisfied with their treatment...... There are even complaints from Feng Yuxiang himself

There was a rush of footsteps outside the door, and then the door was gently pushed open, and it was Gu Shunzhang, the head of the Central Special Branch, who came in. Zhou Elai and Mao ZD turned their slightly nervous eyes on him at the same time, they, at the moment, what really decided the victory or defeat of Shanxi was not the battle report from the Xinkou front, but the information about the Kuomintang sent by Gu Shunzhang.

According to news from Wuhan, Luo Yaoguo, chief of the general staff of the Kuomintang army, has been inspecting the navy in Zhanjiang for the past two days, and it is said that their navy has a military exercise, and he will stay there to observe the exercise, and he may not return to Wuhan until mid-March. Chiang Kai-shek was preparing to visit Europe, and he and Hu Hanmin accepted invitations from Britain, France, Italy, and Germany for a month-long state visit. He will leave on March 1 and return to China in April. In addition, there is also information from Henan and Shandong that the six divisions of the Kuomintang army stationed there have no signs of assembly, and everything seems to be normal. ”

Zhou Elai and Mao ZD looked at each other and smiled, the atmosphere in the conference room was a little relaxed, Zhou Elai nodded slightly, and said with a smile...... The Kuomintang reactionaries are not in a hurry to reinforce Yan Xishan in Shanxi, perhaps they have not yet negotiated a price with each other, or maybe the Kuomintang wants Yan Xishan and us to consume each other's strength, right? No less words"

Mao ZD snuffed out the cigarette butt in his hand, took out another cigarette and lit it, and smiled deeply, I think the Kuomintang reactionaries don't have a good impression of Yan Xishan himself, right? There are not many words, and they have no mercy on the local powerful faction over the years. Maybe...... They don't mind splitting Shanxi equally with us, do you think it's possible for us to make a similar deal with them? ”

Perhaps because the proposal to abandon the Zhili Plains was unanimously opposed by the Politburo and Soviet advisers, Mao seemed less interested in a confrontation with the Kuomintang, and instead sought the possibility of a temporary compromise. For example, if the Kuomintang can agree, then the battle of Shanxi will almost be won without a fight.

"Deuce...... Shanxi? Zhou Elai shook his head slowly, and he was afraid that it would be difficult at the moment. We and Yan Xishan consume each other, and the Kuomintang naturally can't ask for it, and they are willing to share Shanxi with us equally? Unless we defeat Yan Xishan's main force, their army may be able to march into Jinnan at that time. ”

"So it's possible to reach an agreement, right?" Mao ZD's tone was relatively slow, and his eyes wandered in the conference room, since the Kuomintang reactionaries wanted us to consume with Yan Xishan, it was possible that they would agree to share Shanxi with us equally...... Then we should find a way to get in touch with them first and try to reach an agreement. It would be good to press the hearts of the Kuomintang reactionaries first, and wait until we have eliminated Yan Xishan, and then decide whether or not to fulfill the agreement according to the situation. In short, we must now avoid a two-front battle, or even a three-front battle, and concentrate our forces on defeating Yan Xishan first, and then talk about other things. ”

Speaking of which, the Politburo members in the conference room have already understood Mao ZD's strategy. Reaching an agreement with the Kuomintang to carve up Shanxi was just a delaying tactic, as long as the Kuomintang could be stabilized, it would only be a matter of time before Yan Xishan was taken. As for whether the agreement will be fulfilled at that time, it depends on the circumstances at that time.

"Clever plan" Zhou Elai clapped his hands and laughed loudly Comrade Mao ZD really deserves to be Zhuge Liang of our party, with this clever plan, we will definitely be able to temporarily stabilize the right wing of the Kuomintang and win precious for the final victory in the battle of Shanxi. ”

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