At twelve o'clock, at Wusongkou, on the cruiser Kanpur, Commander Maiden looked through the window with disgust at the twelve "flies" circling over his head. From dawn in the morning, these planes continued to appear at the head of his fleet at a frequency of two hours to demonstrate.

The whole fleet of his fleet recognized these planes, they were Soviet Wave 2 trainers. These planes did the same thing every time they came: they first flew over the concessions of various countries, dropped a large number of threatening leaflets, and at the same time used the wind whistles on the planes to intimidate the residents in the concessions, so as to "persuade" the civilians in the concessions to withdraw, demand that the artillery party officials hiding in the concessions come out and surrender, and demand that the concession government hand over the "enemies of the Chinese people" hiding here. In the disdainful words of Grant of the USS Kanpur, "those stupid actions show the weakness of these red monkeys, who are afraid of our British Empire."

After dropping leaflets in the concession area, these flies flying in the sky would fly to the Wusongkou position of the Yangtze River, go around the heads of the British and Japanese Yangtze River fleets for a few minutes, fly over at a low altitude and half-dive, turn on the wind whistle, let out a piercing scream, and then fly away at an altitude of about 500 meters above the ground and fly back to their temporary field airfield in the west of Shanghai. After refueling and resting, they will reappear on the bow of the ship in about two hours, repeating the trick of the previous demonstration, which the "red monkeys" have already repeated three times.

"If only Hongqiao Airport could still be used"

Commander Maiden, who was disturbed by the shrill wind whistle on the Wave 2 training plane, was also extremely resentful of these pig teammates of the Nanjing Nationalist Government. He was even more dissatisfied with the Labour traitors in Downing Street. The Wave 2 trainer aircraft are very slow aircraft, and it is easy to shoot them down, either with an airplane or with an anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on their own ship.

What is hateful is that before the Japanese reinforcements arrived, in order to take into account the overall situation, he just couldn't preemptively open artillery and provoke a war.

Commander Maiden asked the Kampul's fleet, "What is the situation with the Pinghai?" Is there any movement in that boat? ”

Captain Grant replied, "Nothing out of the ordinary, except that the yacht of the suspected spy ship leaned to the side and hoisted a strange long box onto the ship. At that time, Lin Han's main statue was hoisted on the Pinghai in a box. In Captain Grant's opinion, that long box is estimated to be some kind of maintenance tool, and the new ship was launched for testing. It's not surprising that there are many failures. Not to mention the boats made by the yellow monkeys. He paid more attention to the British-flagged yacht than the Pinghai, whose muzzle was facing in the opposite direction, and he strongly suspected that it was a spy ship.

The Pinghai had been docked on the Huangpu River near Wusongkou, only four kilometers from where the nearest British river gunboat was. There is no shelter around him. Every move on board the ship was closely monitored by the British warship.

Captain Grant said, "Their main gun turret." It has been facing the direction of the concession and has not turned to our side. There were only two people on the ship just now, and now the ship is empty. ”

With the tonnage of the Pinghai. To function properly, a minimum of more than two hundred sailors is required. So far, the Pingyuan, which seems to be an empty ship, has simply not been able to form a truly effective combat force.

In the thirties of the twentieth century, the downtown area of Shanghai was much smaller than that of later generations, and there were no high-rise apartment buildings with twenty or thirty floors like later generations, which obscured people's vision tightly and could not see a little farther...... In Shanghai during the Republic of China, except for the landmark buildings in Shiliyangchang, most of the urban buildings were still only two or three floors, and the two-story buildings around the Jiangnan Shipyard were very rare. The British warship in charge of visiting the Jiangnan Shipyard can easily see his every move through the guò mast lookout.

Commander Maiden nodded, looking at the Wave 2 trainer that had already flown away, and the sense of insecurity in his heart became stronger and stronger.

He ordered Captain Grant: "Continue to monitor that warship, as long as he shows hostile behavior towards us by turning the turret, you can order the cannon to be fired at the first opportunity, and I will bear the consequences." ”

The British had six warships on the Yangtze River at this time, while the Japanese had five, four of which were multi-class river gunboats, the tonnage of this class of gunboats was very small, only more than 300 tons, and the main guns were two 76 mm/40 times the diameter of the high-level dual-purpose guns, and the firepower was very weak. A large part of the role of the river guns of this era was to serve as mobile consulates on the water, and a large amount of space on the ship was converted into living quarters to accommodate more soldiers. It is different from a purely combat-oriented river gunboat like the Ruijin. As for the fifth river gunboat, the Toba gunboat, which has a tonnage of only 250 tons, and its firepower is about the same as that of the Shiduo class.

Kiyoshi Hasegawa, commander of the Japanese Third Fleet in China, was also aboard the river gunboat Seta. Looking at the Chinese plane buzzing like a fly overhead, Hasegawa Kiyoshi was also very uncomfortable. As early as September last year, after the Red Army attacked and captured Hankou in Hanyang, Japan's domestic iron works completely lost the supply of raw materials to the Hanyang Iron Works. Although the Red Army did not close the Japanese Concession in Hankow, the Red Army, under the guidance of a certain traverser, adopted a non-violent and non-cooperative attitude, calling on the locals to do business with the Japanese -- at the same time suppressing counter-revolutionaries and bad elements in the local towns, and at the same time mobilizing the masses to spy on the Japanese. Under the ubiquitous surveillance of local aunts and aunts and Wang Erxiao, the Japanese espionage activities in the country were almost uprooted. And those businessmen who dared to secretly sell supplies to the Japanese were severely punished afterwards under the watchful eye of the masses.

Within three months, a large number of Japanese living in the Hankou Japanese Concession soon became unable to stay due to the sharp rise in the cost of living, and were forced to flee in large numbers from the Hankou Concession and return to Shanghai. The Japanese government protested sternly to the Red Army, but the Wuhan Red Army Government used the Japanese invasion of Northeast China as an excuse, saying that the Red Army would prohibit business with the Japanese for one day if the Japanese did not withdraw their things.

In this regard, the young Zhuang faction in the Japanese military clamored for a declaration of war on the Red Army, and the more sober-minded people in the top echelons understood that the Northeast had not yet been fully digested and the Soviet Union was still eyeing the Far East. Forcibly suppressed the matter.

Regarding the Hankou Incident, Hasegawa Kiyoshi also regarded the Great Japanese Empire as a great humiliation in China. He watched the scene of the cruiser Kanpur being transferred by Red Army planes not far away, and his mood was resentful and at the same time with a hint of schadenfreude.

The resentment was that the navy of the Imperial Japanese was humiliated by a few flies, and gloated because of the British. In the past two years, the young Zhuang faction in the Japanese military has been trying by all means to provoke trouble in the Shanghai area, but the British have kept a very close eye on Japan because of the Carlyle incident, and even under the suppression of the British and the Americans, the Japanese have even severely limited the number of ships stationed in the Shanghai Navy. Otherwise, when this great change occurred in China, how could the navy of the Great Japanese Empire only have so many broken ships here? It's not all the British-stirring sticks in front of you.

"These damn Chi people, they really know how to pick up trouble! Also, what the hell are those red deer in the army doing? ”

Hasegawa thought indignantly. The Japanese government and the Japanese military have been slow to respond to the sudden changes in South China. The reversal was caused by a series of emergencies in the upper echelons around June. The explosion in Kagoshima caused the military's preparations to intervene in China to ashes, forcing it to take time to restockpile supplies. And the deadliest. But it came from the case of the emperor's entire family that shocked the world. This incident involved the entire energy of the whole of Japan at the most critical time. If it weren't for this, long before the Red Army hit Nanjing. The Japanese Government had already sent a large army to Shanghai, so why did it drag on until the "fall" of Shanghai last night, and the military headquarters woke up like a dream. A group of troops was urgently dispatched to board the ship and rushed to Shanghai.

Hasegawa Kiyoshi received a telegram from the military that the domestic troop was sent in a very hurry, and many supplies were hurriedly transferred to the ship before they could be prepared. The military demanded that they maintain a complete port in Shanghai so that reinforcements could be unloaded and landed.

Fortunately, because of this, Hasegawa Kiyoshi, who is a young man in the navy, for the sake of the overall situation, rarely did not "go alone", and insisted on pinching his nose and enduring the humiliation of the "Shina fly" buzzing on his head like a British.

Looking at the "Shina Fly" in the distance, Hasegawa Kiyoshi thought indignantly in his heart.

"In two days, both the Fengxiang and the Chicheng will be here, and then"

“…… Dangdang ......"

When the bell struck twelve o'clock in the Shanghai Customs Building and spread throughout the concession, a group of foreigners, mainly Japanese, British, and Americans, as well as a small number of French and Italians, were gathering in the luxurious conference room of the Ministry of Industry of the Public Concession in the mood of copying, and held a lengthy meeting.

In the morning that had just passed, their negotiations with the Red Army besieging the concession had rightfully failed.

"On the 16th, after the Japanese reinforcements arrive in Shanghai, we will turn our faces and kill all you red elements!"

"When our cannons are ready, we will fire at your brother-in-law at two o'clock this afternoon!" Beat you foreign devils who are rampant in China, and all go into the Yangtze River to feed the fish! ”

Both sides of the conversation had similar thoughts in their minds to each other. They who have no sincerity in negotiating and their opponents who also have no sincerity in negotiating only regard negotiations as a stage to confuse their opponents.

It is clear that the Red Army, which has set a time to turn the other hand earlier than its opponents, has clearly taken a huge advantage in this matter.

Compared with the Red Army officers and men who were united in their hearts, these foreigners in the concession had to act with each other after they finished acting at the negotiation table with the Red Army, and after returning to their own territory.

The Nationalist government in Nanking collapsed with incredible speed, and the management of the Shanghai Public Concession, the de facto supreme authority in Shanghai, and many of the foreign directors were now in a terrible situation.

Their headache is not only the threat of the Red Army in front of them, but also the fact that they are luring the Japanese into Shanghai, and after "driving the tiger and devouring the wolf", the Red Army is driven away, will the Japanese who were "invited" to come in obediently leave and return the territory?

British General Director Arnold squinted his eyes at the Japanese directors and consuls on the side, and at the same time looked at the American directors and American consuls who were yawning incessantly, as well as at the French directors with sad faces.

As for Yu Qiaqing, the Chinese director who was supposed to be here, he didn't show up here.

"Poor fellow. He was betrayed by traitors in the Nationalist Government in Nanking last night, and was ensnared and captured, and now he has fallen into the hands of the Red Bandits. ”

Arnold bowed a tearful of sympathy for the friend, coughed twice, and began to preside over the noon meeting.

The topic of discussion was nothing more than how to properly allocate the garrison forces in the concession and how to guard the important traffic intersections, government offices, and bank vaults in the public concession to prevent people from taking advantage of the opportunity to rob and cause chaos. Originally, there were 6,000 garrisons in the concession, but due to the pit people of the "pig teammates" last night, the troops of more than 1,000 people became a lone army and were divided and surrounded by red bandits. But the remaining 5,000 people is also a significant number. And the fastest action was when the Red Army hit the edge of Shanghai. In one day, thousands of "armed expatriates" were conjured up like a trick, and this organizational ability also surprised the British, and they were even more vigilant -- you Japanese must have been prepared for a long time.

Chief Director Arnold exchanged glances with the British consul. On the other hand, he was grinding with the Japanese representatives. The point of contention between the two sides was nothing more than the battle a few days later. The scope of action of the Japanese army and the garrison of the concession. and the division of the territory of Shanghai after the victory in the war. The bottom line for the British was that it was either "Japanese reinforcements", marines in the concession, or armed expatriates. Under no circumstances were they allowed to cross the Suzhou Creek and enter the southern and western districts of the public concession. During this period, he also skillfully made blank promises to the French and American representatives, in a vain attempt to pull them onto his own thief ship and join forces to suppress the Japanese.

However, the Japanese deputies clearly saw through his trick and constantly "argued with reason" at the meeting hall to seek the distribution of benefits for Japan after its victory in the war.

The American consul smiled and echoed the British and Japanese, but his face was calm and clear, and I looked like the moon was shining on the river. He has just received instructions from Washington that the U.S. government has asked him to do all his best to protect the American diaspora in the sudden changes in China and not to get too involved in this troubled waters.

As for the group of people who had fled to the Shanghai Concession by the Nanjing Nationalist Government for refuge, after learning that the Shanghai garrison and its two major secret agencies had joined forces to discuss defecting to the Communist Party and wantonly arrested them as a letter of surrender to the Red Army, some of these people, including Chairman Song Ziwen and Song Commissariat, were so frightened that they squeezed into the hands of the last armed force, the Zhongshan warship, and left the Huangpu River this morning and fled to Japan for "political refuge." The other part, with the help of the Americans, squeezed into an American passenger liner and fled to Hong Kong at the same time. The ones who are still in the Shanghai Concession are all middle- and lower-level unlucky officials who are not qualified to get tickets without a backstage, but the number is not much.

The representatives of Britain, the United States, Japan, and France were having a discussion of evil intentions and fantasies about obscenity in the building of the Ministry of Industry in Shanghai, and the clock had unconsciously reached a point.

At one o'clock, Lin Han and Li Huamei also completed the transformation of the six main guns of the Pinghai, left the Pinghai, and drove to the upper Yangtze River upstream of Baoshan Wharf, where Li Huamei's main body, the Ruijin, was parked, twenty kilometers away from the Jiangnan Shipyard and only eighteen kilometers away from the British Yangtze River Fleet. He was accompanied by the captured gunboat Jiujiang and two small 100-ton gunboats that had rebelled in Jiangyin. When firing at two o'clock, Li Huamei's Red Army's Yangtze River Fleet would also attack at the same time.

At this time, dozens of Soviet-made 76.2-mm field guns were quietly pushed to the position on both sides of the Huangpu River near the Yangtze River to hide, and their task was mainly to deal with those river gunboats of about 300 tons on the Yangtze River. Due to the light weight and easy maneuverability of the gun, it can be propelled by manpower.

As for the artillery positions that are clearly exposed on both sides of the Huangpu River and along the Yangtze River, they are nothing more than a cover to attract the attention of foreign fleets. Some of the guns that were brought in were fake guns camouflaged with wood and wheels, and their purpose was to attract artillery fire from the British and Japanese fleets when the artillery battle began. Lin Han, who came from later generations, was very aware of the importance of camouflaged units such as camouflaged artillery positions, and passed on this set of experience to the Red Army at an early age.

In the vicinity of the concession, on the confrontation line between the two sides, the Red Army, which had been in confrontation with various countries for most of the day, took the initiative to retreat 100 meters, which made the garrisons of various countries gently loosen their mouths. But they didn't know that when the punch was withdrawn and then punched out, it was the most painful and ruthless to hit people.

In the hour after 12 o'clock, more than 40 people dressed in workers' uniforms boarded the Pinghai one after another in the dock where the Pinghai was located, holding tools

The clock in the customs building has gradually moved to the 1:50 mark.

In the sky of Shanghai, there was a buzzing call of "flies" again.

Only this time, the sound is much louder than the previous three.

The foreigner delegates, who were in a meeting, were so annoyed by the buzzing that they couldn't hold the meeting, and one by one they came to the window and looked at the sky.

Whether it is the British, the Japanese, or the Americans, their faces change the moment they look at the sky.

The planes that appeared in the sky were not the twelve they expected. Rather, it is a large fleet of aircraft, the total number of which used to be about fifty aircraft.

The American leader counted them, and there were four flight formations, each with twelve planes, and he recognized them all, which were the Hawker II fighters sold by the US government to China!

This time, they're no longer flying over to drop flyers! (To be continued......)

PS: I'm too tired, update it first, and proofread it tomorrow