"The 17th Brigade has lost the first line of defense and is now retreating to the second line of defense!" Shi Yanglin also looked a little tired, as the chief of the operations department, his workload was actually more than that of any officer serving in the high command.

The post of chief of the combat chief is a typical low-power position, but the rank of a small major general is to oversee the operational plan of the entire Feng army, and if it is placed in other countries and armies, the chief of the combat department must at least have the rank of lieutenant general or even the rank of general.

However, Zhao Dongyun set the rank of the chief of the operations department at the level of a major general, and naturally had his considerations, that is, for the balance and restriction of power.

The combat department is originally extremely powerful, if its commander is a military 'general boss' like Meng Enyuan or a core lieutenant general like Gu Lanyu, then the power and influence of the combat department will be greater, and there will even be a power conflict with the staff at that time.

The balance of power, presumably, is something that must be a priority for a supreme ruler, which is why this special institution has been created.

And Shi Yanglin's leadership of this institution with the rank of major general is a typical lowly authority, and he can directly give combat orders to military bigwigs like Meng Enyuan.

And in this process, Shi Yanglin was also under extremely heavy pressure, and he had to be cautious and cautious in any combat orders he issued.

Especially after the battle plan for crossing the river, Zhao Dongyun stayed in the military intelligence conference room and checked the front report at any time, which made Shi Yanglin feel even heavier pressure.

"Can the Fourth Army guarantee the logistical supply of the 17th Brigade?" Zhao Dongyun put down the report in his hand, then sat down, and asked while looking at the sand table on the table.

Shi Yanglin said: "The ships on the side of the Fourth Army are still very nervous at present, and some larger ships have been transferred to erect pontoon bridges, and can only use small and medium-sized ships to transport supplies, which is quite difficult at present!" ”

"However, the Fourth Army has urgently renovated some bamboo rafts and newly built wooden boats, and it is expected that the amount of supplies transported to the 17th Brigade today will be increased by about 20 percent!"

Zhao Dongyun did not continue to ask, because he himself was very familiar with the situation on the front line, and knew that the Fourth Army had prepared many ships in advance in order to prepare for crossing the river, but due to the short time and the need for secrecy, the ships that could be obtained were relatively limited, and this situation could not be changed in a short period of time.

Whether the Fourth Army can cross the river smoothly and whether the entire Jiangnan strategy can be carried out smoothly depends on the table of the 17th Brigade.

At this time, Zhao Dongyun said: "In my name, send a telegram to Pan Luanqing, saying that I am waiting in Beijing to award him a medal in person!" ”

"After this war, all meritorious officers and men of the 17th Brigade will be given priority for promotion!"

Zhao Dongyun knows very well what the front-line troops need at such a critical moment, and that is to motivate!

If you want others to fight hard for themselves, you have to pay the corresponding price, some people like power, then give them officials, some people want fame and fortune, then give them the opportunity to live forever, some people are dedicated to the country, then give them the hope of seeing the rise of the country and the nation.

People will always have some expectations in life, and as a ruler, all you have to do is to give them these expectations and give different things to each different person.

After Pan Luanqing, who was in Hezhou, received this telegram from Zhao Dongyun, he already saw that he would go further in the near future and climb to the position of the commander of the first division.

However, behind this hope, there is also a heavy pressure.

If this battle is won, he ensured that the Fourth Army would cross the river smoothly, then the future career would be flat, but if it was defeated, it would cause the Fourth Army to be unable to cross the river, and then lead to the failure of the entire Jiangnan strategy.

"What is the situation of the 33rd Regiment now? And to the east, haven't you found any trace of the enemy's 4th Division? Pan Luanqing let go of the distracting thoughts in his heart, and then put his mind back on the current battle situation.

"At present, the situation of the 33rd Regiment is not very good, last night's first battle suffered heavy losses, more than 300 casualties before and after, and the consumption of ammunition is also extremely strict. In the eastern direction, we have not found any trace of the enemy's 4th Division, but we have found an unknown number of the enemy's regiment, according to the information reported by the reconnaissance cavalry, it may be a provincial regiment of the Anhui army. However, in the information reported by the Military Intelligence Department, it has been shown that at least one brigade of the enemy's Fourth Division has left Nanjing, and the movement of this division is currently unknown, but it is very likely that it is coming towards us! ”

Xiong Zhiqing, chief of staff of the 17th Brigade next to him, said: "At present, the situation of our brigade is still relatively bad, the 33rd Regiment in front has reported, the enemy has been reorganized not far away, and it is expected that it will not be long before the enemy army will launch a new round of attack!" ”

Pan Luanqing took his eyes back from the map, and then said: "Send a letter to Fang Qingkun again, just say that there are no reinforcements, but I will try to transfer ammunition to him, but the 33rd Regiment must hold on the second line of defense for at least 36 hours, and before tomorrow evening, I need the 33rd Regiment to be firmly nailed to the second line of defense!" ”

Meng Enyuan and even Zhao Dongyun put pressure on Pan Luanqing, and naturally Pan Luanqing had to put pressure on Fang Qingkun.

It's just that although Zhao Dongyun, Meng Enyuan, and even Pan Luanqing and others above also know that the current situation is very difficult, and the 17th Brigade is fighting very hard, they have not experienced the front line in person, and they do not know how dangerous the situation faced by the 33rd Regiment is.

Fang Qingkun's bloodshot eyes looked at Pan Luanqing's battle order, although his face showed a resolute look: "Please report back to the brigade, just say that my 33rd Regiment will resolutely carry out the order, and will never take a step back before tomorrow evening!" ”

However, he said so, but in his heart he was full of worries.

As the commander of the 33rd Regiment and the actual commander of the front line, Fang Qingkun knew better than his subordinate officers and soldiers, Pan Luanqing, Meng Enyuan and others how difficult the current situation was.

Since the 33rd Regiment crossed the river yesterday, it can be said that the casualties have been very large, and at present more than 300 people have been killed or wounded, and the casualty rate has reached nearly 15 percent.

Fortunately, this is a defensive battle, which can barely continue to be supported, and if it is replaced by an offensive battle, according to the current situation of the 33rd Regiment, it will not be able to launch a large-scale offensive at all.

Just as he was worried and thinking about how to continue to hold on for the next thirty-six hours, suddenly several explosions were heard outside.

As soon as he heard this explosion, Fang Qingkun knew that it was the artillery unit of the Anhui Army in the west that opened fire!

As the sound of explosions became more and more intensive, Fang Qingkun also knew that a new round of enemy attacks had begun today.

He strode out of the temporary headquarters, then directly climbed onto a wooden temporary platform, picked up the binoculars and looked into the distance, in the binoculars, there were already many Anhui soldiers in blue military uniforms, they scattered, bent over and trotted over.

The direction they were going was the position of the second battalion.

The starting position of the Anhui army was only about 800 meters away from the defense line of the second battalion, and when the Anhui army rushed to more than 500 meters, the soldiers of the Anhui army began to run and charge under the urging of the officers.

At the same time, the mortars in the Feng army also began to fire intermittently, limited by the lack of shells, the commander of the mortar group could only fire a few shells, but at this time, there were also whistling sounds in the sky behind.

Fang Qingkun was overjoyed when he heard this voice: Our artillery has finally opened fire!

Since the night before yesterday, the artillery units of the Feng army have begun to deploy artillery positions on the riverside, but due to the limitations of the terrain and other factors, it was not until yesterday evening that a small number of artillery pieces were initially in place, and after a sleepless night passed, the artillery units of the Feng army were finally all in place this morning.

Although it is separated by a Yangtze River, the distance is very long, but fortunately, the range of the 75-mm field guns equipped by the Feng army is about 8,000 meters, and at the maximum range, it can barely support the 33rd Regiment on the front line.

Therefore, when the Anhui army launched an attack, the artillery officer sent by the artillery unit to the 33rd Regiment had already passed the shooting Zhuyuan to the artillery unit on the north bank urgently, so that the artillery unit of the Feng army was able to launch artillery support in time.

Unlike the mortar unit of the 17th Brigade on the south bank, which lacked shells, the artillery units of the Feng army on the north bank did not have the problem of a shortage of shells.

In order to prepare for the battle across the river, the Quartermaster Department transported a large number of shells and bullets on the front line of Hezhou.

Strictly speaking, the Fourth Army was well supplied with all kinds of artillery shells, which was sufficient to support the Fourth Army to carry out several high-intensity operations and maintain the continuous operation of the division for more than two months.

The problem was that after crossing the Yangtze River, the Fourth Army hoarded ammunition on the north bank and transported it across the river on a large scale, so that the 17th Brigade was extremely short of ammunition.

As far as the artillery units on the north bank are concerned, there is no shortage of artillery shells, and since last night the artillery units have begun to fire a small amount of artillery to harass the night attack of the Liangjiang Seventh Division.

The dense and continuous artillery covering fire made the Anhui soldiers who were on the way to the charge continue to fall!

However, this did not stop the Anhui army from attacking.

Lei Zhenchun watched his subordinates continue to suffer casualties, although his heart was also painful, but he still continued to give the order to attack: "Let the 27th Regiment also go up, today we must take the enemy position on the opposite side in one go!" ”

Lei Zhenchun knew very well that now the two sides were fighting for one time, and he would drive the Feng army down the Yangtze River within three days, while the Feng army on the opposite side would hold the beachhead for three days, and then cover the successful erection of the pontoon bridge.

These three days are the critical moments that will determine the life and death of both parties!

However, now that three days have passed, I have led the troops to launch a counteroffensive from yesterday to the present, although I have conquered a position of the Feng army, but the Feng army on the opposite side is still firmly guarding the beachhead, and it is very difficult to conquer the beachhead of the Feng army in the next two days.

Because he also knew that the first batch of troops who could be sent out by the Feng army to cross the river must be the elite troops in the Feng army, and although his Seventh Division was also formed according to the standards of the old Beiyang, the equipment and personnel were quite good, but in the end they still lacked war experience, and the middle and high-level officers were okay, basically the officers of the Seventh Division were all drawn from various units of the Feng Army, but the vast majority of soldiers and grassroots officers had not participated in actual combat.

Although the personnel and equipment level of the 7th Division are not inferior to those of the 4th Division and the 2nd Mixed Brigade, the overall combat effectiveness is still inferior to that of the 4th Division or the 2nd Mixed Brigade.

This also led to the fact that it was difficult for the Seventh Division to carry out difficult tactical moves, but since it was impossible to implement such a difficult tactic as a roundabout attack, Lei Zhenchun simply used the simplest, most direct, and at the same time the most grasped method, which was to use his own strength advantage to directly launch a frontal attack.

He didn't believe it, he couldn't take the seven or eight thousand people in his hands at present, and he couldn't take a regiment of Fengjun.