At the junction of Anhui and Henan and Shandong, the volley of hundreds of artillery pieces caused the earth to shake.

In the bunkers and fortifications of Beiyang, the soldiers of the Beiyang Army were nesting inside, holding guns and holding their hats with their hands to endure the baptism and covering of the soil.

Naturally, at this time, the same was true on the side of the National Socialist Army, the difference was only the difference in the weapons held, and the fact that the National Socialist Army was holding a helmet instead of a hat. As for anything else...... It's basically the same mess.

After a period of preparation, the battle between the National Social Army and Beiyang began with an artillery battle. It's just that at the first time, the two sides used hundreds of shells to carry out a baptism of iron and fire on each other, and as for which side fired the cannon first, it is not clear to anyone.

Anyway, since the fight has already begun, it doesn't matter who fired the first shot first. Just like Yan Shao said a few days ago, 'Anyway, the face has been torn, who does it first can do what, the most important thing now is to win, this is the most important thing at the moment!" ’…

However, for the soldiers on both sides who were hiding in bunkers and were worried about it, cordially greeting all the female families of the artillery on the opposite side was almost the only thing on their minds.

In fact, this is already their only thought, as for the rest, I am afraid that it is to fold their hands and pray for the blessing of the gods and bodhisattvas, and never let the cannonballs fall on their heads.

But the heavenly immortals are so busy, they shouldn't have the strength to bless them...

————————————————————

"No," he stood in a reinforced forward command post, looking at his own position that had turned into a sea of fire. Fu Xiuming, who came over in person, frowned. "Can't you suppress the artillery fire on the opposite side?"

"This..."Hearing Fu Xiuming ask, Liu Guangyuan and the others smiled bitterly, and after a while, Liu Guangyuan spoke. Most of our artillery are recruits who have just enlisted for 1 year. Many recruits don't even have half a year to touch the artillery, and it is not easy for them to hit the shells in the predetermined position in such a short time, so that they can knock out the artillery on the opposite side...... I'm afraid it's hard for some strong people..."

The National Social Army is equipped with the latest German artillery, and even has a 105mm 'large' caliber howitzer that the Beiyang Army does not have, which obviously surpasses the Beiyang Army in terms of range and firepower.

However, in actual combat, the artillery of the National Social Army could only be on par with the artillery of the Beiyang Army, or even slightly inferior. The biggest reason for this is that the time for artillerymen to enlist in the army is too short and experience is scarce...

In the past, the only truly regular artillery unit in the Kuomintang Army was an artillery battalion of the former Anhui New Army. After the reconquest, although a large number of artillery pieces were also ordered from Germany. But by the time it was delivered, it was already a matter of how many days had passed since the recovery of the road.

At present, the Kuomintang Army has nine artillery regiments and 648 artillery pieces of various colors, which seems to be very powerful. But the artillery in these artillery regiments. Many people don't even have half a year to touch the artillery, so that they can shoot the shells almost This is already the past to consume and don't know how many shells in the road to practice, want them to knock out the Beiyang artillery, just like Liu Guangyuan said, this is too difficult for them...

Listening to Liu Guangyuan's words, Fu Xiuming shook his head and didn't say anything.

On the side, everyone else sighed.

No way, artillery and infantry are not the same. If you are infantry, you will be ruthless enough for half a year and a year. It can still be practiced more or less. However, artillery and infantry are different, compared with infantry, at least in this era, artillery can indeed be called a technical arm, and it is indeed difficult to train an effective artillery in more than half a year.

In fact, if it weren't for the insufficient range of the Beiyang Army's artillery, I'm afraid that the Nationalist Army would have to be careful of the artillery on the opposite side.

————————————————————

The first battle between the Kuomintang Army and Beiyang began with an artillery battle.

After all, Beiyang has been an army for many years, so it is obviously much stronger than the National Social Army in terms of artillery, and although the equipment of the National Social Army is stronger than that of Beiyang, the quality of the artillery is too poor.

This also made the artillery of the National Socialist Army more than that of Beiyang, but the results were similar, or even slightly inferior.

Naturally, the Nationalist Artillery Army was very unwilling to do so, and the Nationalist Artillery Army had never had the habit of saving ammunition, so the frequency of firing of the Nationalist Artillery Army soon increased a lot. And after discovering this, the Beiyang artillery also counterattacked without showing weakness.

Of course, in this artillery battle, the two sides must have nothing to do, although the equipment of the National Social Army is superior to that of the Beiyang Army, but the quality of the artillery is too poor, and every time they get their senses, the Beiyang artillery has already moved to the next position.

The artillery of Beiyang really wanted to knock out the artillery on the opposite side, but the range of the artillery was not enough, and they could not reach the opposite side at all.

In any case, the most unfortunate ones were the infantry, who were struggling under the cannons of both sides. Because after finding that they couldn't help each other, both sides poured their anger on the infantry opposite.

As a result, just as Fu Xiuming had just seen, the forward positions of both the enemy and us were almost covered by a sea of fire.

However, the power of both 75mm guns and 105mm guns is not very large, and the excavation and construction skills of the Guoshe Army and the Beiyang Army are much more professional than those of the Jiangxi Army in Jiangxi, and there is a week to prepare, so although it looks scary, in fact, unless the shells fall directly into the trenches, it is difficult to hurt the soldiers inside.

The artillery battle between the Nationalist Army and Beiyang lasted for more than three hours, until both sides felt that there was no need to fight.

"Commander, the artillery on the opposite side has stopped..."In the command headquarters, after finding that the artillery fire on the opposite side had stopped, Fu Xiuming's adjutant took two steps forward and whispered in his ear.

"Ah, I see..."You don't need to look at it at all, you just need to listen to it, the explosion on your own position and the shaking of the ground are suddenly gone, and this situation is difficult to ignore. So Fu Xiuming quickly noticed this. "Pass the order, let everyone be careful, I'm afraid the other side is going to attack..."

"Yes!" Nodding. The adjutant quickly ran away.

It's just that to Fu Xiuming's surprise, after the shelling, the Beiyang Army had no intention of launching an offensive, as if their task was just to fight an artillery battle with the National Social Army, which made Fu Xiuming and others a little incomprehensible.

As for the Beiyang side, there is nothing incomprehensible about this.

Everyone knows that there are many machine guns in the Lu Dao National Social Army, more than 3,000 machine guns. If they really fire together, I am afraid that it will take a moment to make the more than 100,000 Beiyang troops lose everything.

Unlike the European side, the Chinese side is still more flexible in its tactics—————— of course. This is also related to the national situation, a large battle in Europe, often hundreds of thousands of artillery, for example, the Allies used 2,189 artillery pieces and 1,160 mortars during the Battle of the Somme. And many of them are large-caliber guns. For example, 150mm or 240mm large-caliber heavy artillery, and even 105mm howitzer, which is only a 'large' caliber heavy gun in China, can only be regarded as standard in many countries in Europe, and when World War I was at its most intense, there were even monsters with a caliber of 3 and 400mm on the European battlefield. But then again, at that time, more than 80 divisions were also used, and counting the Germans on the opposite side was more than 100 divisions...

(At the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, the British and French used 24 divisions, including 13 British.) 11 in France, until the most post-campaign period. Britain and France used 86 divisions, of which Britain used 54, France used 32, which is completely different from the use of several divisions during the Republic of China even if it was a large-scale battle, but people are also industrialized countries, so it is normal, but because of the relationship between machine guns, the positional warfare at that time was too cruel, cough, this seems to be a little inappropriate. ）

If Feng Guozhang had more than 2,000 artillery pieces in his hands, he would definitely plow the opposite position of the Kuomintang Army with artillery fire, just like the most industrious farmer ploughing his own field, but unfortunately he did not.

The troops dispatched from Beiyang this time excluded Zhang Xun's pigtail army, and each of the remaining eight divisions had a fully equipped artillery regiment, which was completely different from the fact that in many places there was not even an artillery company.

Eight divisions, each with 54 guns, means 378 guns.

In comparison, the National Socialist Army has 360 gates.

Three hundred and seventy-eight plus three hundred and sixty is more than 700 artillery pieces, so many artillery pieces together can be called a big battle in Europe, of course, first of all, you deliberately ignore the fact that most of these artillery pieces are 75mm light artillery, especially in Beiyang, where millions ——————of people are basically of this caliber, and thousands of artillery pieces are gathered together, and they will only appear in World War I and World War II, so they will be excluded first.

And Feng Guozhang had more than 300 guns in his hand, nearly 400 guns, which also made the number of artillery pieces he could use at one time reach an unprecedented number. The problem is that these guns are only 75mm in caliber, which is basically useless against stronger fortifications unless they hit them directly.

In other words, unless his artillerymen are all so-called sharpshooters who can accurately hit the target every time, he can only be forced to change his tactics flexibly depending on the situation.

————————————————————

It's definitely not okay to just let people rush forward, that would basically be tantamount to murder.

With his understanding of the power of the 75mm gun, unless the artillerymen under his command are all so-called sharpshooters, even if he bombards all the ammunition stocks in Beiyang, I am afraid that there is nothing he can do with the machine gunners hiding in the fortifications.

Then the only way to do this is to wait until it gets dark, as discussed earlier.

As long as it gets dark, then when the field of vision is reduced to the lowest point, the power of the machine guns of the National Social Army will be reduced by at least half, and Beiyang can also take this opportunity to exert its strength.

"It's a pity, if the more than 300 guns of the artillery are all 150mm heavy guns, I don't have to be so timid..." Seeing that the artillery on the opposite side had also rested, Feng Guozhang sighed and said.

But he also knew how whimsical his words were, more than 300 heavy guns of 150mm caliber? Do not say so many quantities, but field guns of this caliber. There is no army in the country, and if you want to find it, I am afraid that you can only go to places like Qingdao Fortress to find it...

Even Japan, a neighboring country across the sea, has so many 150mm guns in the whole country.

"Just wait until it gets dark. Then let's see how effective the night battle is, if the night battle doesn't work..."Leaning over to Feng Guozhang's side, Jin Yunpeng said softly.

Hearing Jin Yunpeng say this, Feng Guozhang frowned slightly and didn't say anything more.

If the night battle does not get the desired effect, I am afraid that it will be really filled with human lives, but in that case. Can Beiyang really afford this kind of war?

On the other side, seeing that Beiyang stopped after a burst of cannons, Fu Xiuming and the others also frowned. It was in their expectation. After the artillery battle, Beiyang should directly wave the army to pounce.

At that time, the National Social Army will be able to give full play to its superiority in firepower.

With more than 3,000 machine guns, as long as Beiyang's reaction speed is a little slower, the troops sent by Beiyang can directly hit the bones of the troops. Even if Beiyang reacted later. The comparison of forces between the two sides can be regarded as equal.

But now it seems...

"Those old antiques from Beiyang. It looks smarter than we thought..."Glancing at the opposite position, Liu Guangyuan sighed softly, and then looked at Fu Xiuming on the side. "What now? Will we wait for them to move on or will we do it first? ”

"It's better to wait...", opened his mouth, and just when Fu Xiuming wanted to answer, Bai Runshan, who had been standing aside, said softly. Since Beiyang is here to crusade against us this time, they will definitely strike first, otherwise how can it be called a crusade? If we take action now, I'm afraid the casualties won't be small..."

Since the Battle of Cihu River. The warlords of the whole country have seen the importance of machine guns, not to mention the Beiyang Army, which had personally used machine guns during the Yangxia Defense War?

So before this event. Beiyang has already purchased hundreds of Makqin heavy machine guns from the British. Although this number cannot be compared with the more than 3,000 units of the National Social Army, if the National Social Army really launches an active offensive, then the casualties of the National Social Army may not be small...

The Nationalist Army was originally less powerful than the other side, and now it has to give up its own advantages to fight with others, even if Bai Runshan has not received any formal military education, he feels that it is against the way of the soldiers...

Hearing Bai Runshan say this, Fu Xiuming, who was about to speak, closed his mouth.

Liu Guangyuan on the side also felt that it made sense, so he didn't continue to ask.

Time passed little by little, and after the artillery battle, there was a strange tranquility on the battlefield. This tranquility was felt strange not only by the warring parties, but even by the major newspapers that came along to get some hot stories.

Gradually, it began to get dark.

When it gets dark, some flares are fired from the positions of the Kuomintang Army from time to time, so that the officers and men in charge of the guard can see more or less the situation on the battlefield.

This is also a lesson learned after summarizing the Battle of Cihu River, the night attack launched by Bai Wenwei almost caused the Nationalist Army to suffer a big loss. Now that they have learned a lesson, Fu Xiuming and they will naturally remember it honestly.

However, for Beiyang, who is preparing for a night attack, this point is a little troublesome.

"Let the people below remember the time, frequency and interval of flare firing, and I'll go and rest first..."Looking up at the flare rising from the opposite position, Feng Guozhang said.

He is not worried at all, the combined strength of the two sides is almost 200,000 people, the battle line is very long, plus the flares can only last for a short time, if you want to maintain the brightness of the entire front all the time, even if there are more flares on the opposite side, it is impossible, so as long as you calm down and wait patiently, you will always find loopholes...

By one or two o'clock in the morning, when Feng Guozhang woke up under the call of the attendant, the attendant had already handed over a detailed record sheet.

According to the records on the form, although the National Army often used flares to maintain the lighting of the battlefield, there was always a gap in between. As long as this gap is grasped, Beiyang can completely take advantage of its unpreparedness to launch a night attack.

"Actually, if you can wait a few more days, and wait until the vigilance of the other side is reduced before launching an offensive, I'm afraid the effect will be much better..."Taking the coat handed over by the attendant, Feng Guozhang muttered softly. It's a pity, who called our current identity a crusading army, as a crusading army of the central government, if it doesn't do it all the time, it will be very disadvantageous in terms of public opinion, and the authority of the government will also be..."

Shaking his head, Feng Guozhang shook the thought out of his mind, and then looked at the attendant standing aside. "Order down, the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 11th divisions urgently assemble, pay attention to the movement, don't let the opponent on the opposite side find out..."

"Yes!"

At one or two o'clock in the morning, according to the habits of the Chinese people, it was the time to fall asleep, and it was also for this reason that when the order was transmitted, almost all the officers and men in Beiyang were asleep.

Ten people would be annoyed by being woken up at such a time, but the obedience to the orders still made them obey the orders of the commanders and prepare very quietly.

About half an hour later, more than 30,000 men from the four divisions had been assembled.

If someone can look down on the position of the Beiyang Army from a high altitude at this time, they will find that countless bayonets are pointing at the sky, and the little silver light is like the waves on the surface of the lake...

"Remember for me, if you don't want to die, you will slow down my movements for a while, if anyone dares to speak, even if he doesn't die in the hands of those bastards on the other side, I will strangle him to death with my own hands when I come back..."

Standing in front of the soldiers who had already assembled, an officer said in a low voice.

Because of the military order, those soldiers didn't dare to answer at all, but just nodded their heads in understanding.

At this moment, the flares that were supposed to light up the sky in the distance suddenly went out... (To be continued......)