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November 1, 15th year of the Republic of China.

The north wind was very strong, and around the position on the north bank of the Anyang River, there was a whistling wind. It was a cold snap from Siberia that made the land of North China gloomy at the beginning of November.

Luo Yaoguo stood quietly in the hastily dug trench, holding a telescope to observe the situation on the other side of the river. The tall and majestic walls of Anyang City are less than a kilometer across the river. The Anyang River is obviously the first barrier of Anyang City, and the direct army dug the first trench along the river, and I don't know how many hidden fire points were ambushed. Fortunately, the Anyang River is very narrow, and the weather is dry and rainless, and the water is shallow, so it can't stop anything at all, but it just plays the role of a trench.

Now the two armies are facing each other across the river, and the closest place to the positions of the two sides is probably less than a thousand meters, which is already completely within the range of snipers. However, looking at the lively scenes of people coming and going on the positions on both sides, it is obvious that there is no "special class" such as snipers. If it had been replaced by the main division of the National Revolutionary Army, I am afraid that the exchange of fire would have started a long time ago, right?

The preliminary tactical maneuvers of the attacking forces were completed, and two infantry brigades were deployed in battalion units. The cavalry brigade went around to the east and south of Anyang, controlled the main passage to Anyang, and provided alert for the main force.

According to Luo Yaoguo and Deng Yanda's plan, nearly 10,000 officers and men of two infantry brigades of the 21st Division of the Central Army, as well as an artillery regiment with 36 Soviet-made mountain guns, would be thrown into the Anyang River defense line directly north of the enemy. Strive to break through the enemy's defense line in the shortest possible time with absolute superiority in forces and superior firepower.

Luo Yaoguo looked down at the table below, it was 7:50 a.m. on November 1, and there were still ten minutes before the artillery preparation began. He turned behind him, and not far away was the artillery position, where thirty-six 76.2mm field guns had already shed their camouflage and revealed their black muzzles. The gunners were already in position and began to shake the barrels, while the ammunition men held a shiny brass-colored shell, waiting for orders.

Looking at the offensive positions on both sides, the soldiers of the brigade were crowded together, looking at each other nervously, the rifles had already been loaded with bright bayonets, and the young faces were a little hideous and twisted at this time. Most of them are still on the battlefield for the first time today, right? And some of it will remain here forever......

……

Deng Shizeng, commander of the artillery regiment of the 21st Division, waved his hand violently and shouted: "Release!" ”

The ammunition men pushed the bullets into the chambers, and the fire ropes pulled one after another, and tongues of fire erupted from each muzzle!

The artillery regiment of the 21st Central Division was deployed less than a kilometer behind the starting position, and the direct firing distance was only about 2,000 meters. Artillery with direct aim is capable of exerting maximum power at this distance, providing the highest accuracy. Even artillery units with a low level of training were able to accurately deliver shells to the enemy's positions.

Deadly shells were fed into the chambers and then erupted, dragging orange-red tailfires as they swirled towards enemy positions. Shells burst out on enemy positions without exception. Suddenly, a column of smoke rose from the opposite side of the Anyang River, sweeping all kinds of debris and smoke into the sky. The columns of smoke rose almost in rows at the same time, and it didn't take long for the entire south bank of the Anyang River to be shrouded in a sea of fire and thick smoke.

The opponent's position was scattered with fragments of bunkers, covered by civil fortifications, and fragments of human bodies could be faintly seen in the sky. At the same time, countless metal fragments burst out from the explosion of the cannonballs under the action of the shock wave, sweeping in, harvesting the lives of the soldiers of the direct army piece by piece. The smell of gunpowder mixed with the stench of burning corpses filled the battlefield, wafting slowly. Choked people out of breath.

The entire shelling lasted only 20 minutes, but more than 2,000 shells were destroyed, accounting for one-tenth of the total ammunition storage of the entire 21st Division. The artillery positions were all piled with shiny copper shells. At 8:20 a.m., the shelling came to an abrupt halt. At this time, the officers who led the charge stood up one after another, drew their command knives and pointed forward, and the infantry behind them suddenly poured out!

While the smoke of artillery fire was still permeating the enemy's position, the attacking troops of the 21st Division rushed towards the Anyang River. At this time, the shallow Anyang River can be crossed, so there are no tools for crossing the river. The attacking units of the 21st Division were apparently well-trained, and their charges were not rushed in waves, but in formations. More than a dozen Soviet-made M1910 heavy machine guns were dragged to the flanks of the attacking troops, firing from the side for fire support. The junior officers wearing gold-brimmed hats who led the charge rushed to the front of the queue with Western-style command knives.

Luo Yaoguo entered a shelter that had just been set up at this time, and continued to observe the battle on the front line with a telescope. I shook my head in my heart while looking at it. The way this army fights seems to be stuck in the style of the pre-World War I, and there is no improvement. There was basically no coordination between artillery and infantry, and mortars didn't know what they were doing. Why not suppress the machine-gun positions of enemy troops? And what are those junior officers in beautiful military uniforms doing with shiny Western swords? Chopping people? Or attract the fire of enemy snipers? Fortunately, the opponent's level is not very high, if it were replaced by any of the 20th divisions [***], this battle would have been a fiasco, right?

Machine gun fire from the enemy positions was fired together, and bullets rained down on the attacking troops of the 21st Division, cutting down the charging officers and men like wheat. Fortunately, however, the stormtrooping formation was relatively scattered, and the officers and men who rushed behind were also quite clever, and immediately lay down and kept moving forward with the help of terrain features. At the same time, they also fired back, and the dense and accurate rain of bullets stirred up small columns of smoke on several machine gun positions of the opponent, and the enemy machine gunners were constantly knocked down, but there were also people who kept replenishing them. For a time, the attacking troops were also suppressed on the beach of the Anyang River, unable to move.

……

Shaanxi County was originally Shaanzhou, and the state was abolished in the second year of the Republic of China. The county seat of Shaanxi County is bordered by the Yellow River in the south and the Yellow River in the north, and lies on the road that Feng Yuxiang's national army must pass through to the east. It is the first natural barrier to defend Luoyang, and Wu Peifu, who has lived in Henan for a long time, naturally knows the important surname of Shaanxi County, so he chose to deploy heavy troops here to make it an important stronghold to block the national army.

Defending Shaanxi County was Peng Shouxin, the former commander of the 15th Division. The five divisions owned by Wu Peifu were given the number of five divisions of the Central Army after the "Three Alliances", while Peng Shouxin's 15th division was given the number of the first division. This division has always been the only strong force in the direct army that is second only to the third division, and it is also Wu Peifu's descendant unit. Now this elite of the direct army, which is good at fighting defensive battles, has once again been sent by Wu Peifu to the forefront of resisting Feng Yuxiang.

After Peng Shouxin's first division arrived in Shaanxi County, it began to build a position on the slopes of Lijiawa Mountain in the south of Shaanxi County. According to Peng Shouxin's defense plan, the two infantry brigades of the 1st Division would be deployed on the Lijiawa Heights and the county seat of Shaanxi County respectively to form a corner situation. Relying on the city wall of the county town and the heights of Lijiawa, it gives the greatest damage to the invading enemy.

Like the Anyang River front, which was full of artillery fire, Feng Yuxiang's Nationalist Army's offensive also began with artillery bombardment. Feng Yuxiang's Nationalist Army now has 18 Min-13 75mm mountain guns, which were gifted to the Nationalist Army by GCD during the Yenching Revolution last year. However, due to the defection of the Nationalist Army, the GCD and the Soviet Union never gave them any weapons and equipment after that, and they did not even replenish the shells. And Feng Yuxiang, who has never had much money, naturally won't buy it, so the shelling on the battlefield in Shaanxi County is very perfunctory. After casually firing a few shots, the Nationalist Army brigade carrying ladders rushed up to the city wall of the county seat of Shaanxi County.