There is no starlight in the sky above the Yalu River, and the clouds are low and thick, and the night is heavy. On the summer night of the Yalu River, no insects can be heard, only the explosion that tears the eardrums.

The Andong Bridge, which spans the river, is cut in two from the middle, and the dense light points composed of machine guns on both sides of the bridge head shuttle back and forth. In the distance of the bridge, the Japanese assault team crossed the river and braved the dense column of water to advance desperately, and the heavy fanged 12.7 mm heavy machine gun ejected the barrel from the thick mountain rock, and life had become the most worthless thing at this moment, and blood stained the red river.

While the Wehrmacht artillery ravaged the Japanese troops crossing the river, the Japanese artillery groups on the opposite bank were destroying the carefully built fortifications. Clusters of orange fireballs exploded along the river, and the deer firewood, sandbags and positions that had taken a month to build were blown away by artillery shells, and the stumps and severed arms rolled and shattered in the air waves! Fragments of steel screamed and reaped life. The bombing points of the shells were already so dense that it was impossible to distinguish them, especially the Meiji Type 38 150mm heavy gun, which was extremely powerful and terrifying, and could blow up a gap in the position every time.

In order to ensure the success of the river crossing, the Japanese 20th Division took out almost all the artillery force that could be taken out, not only bringing 36 75 field guns equipped by the division, but also 4 150 heavy guns in Seoul, and urgently replenishing 6 Meiji 120-mm cannons from the country. Hidden along the river, hundreds of rowing boats and steamboats are docked on standby, and these small boats are also collected from all over the country, and even ferries from North Korea have arrived.

The situation of forcibly crossing the river is very tricky for any troops, because they did not expect that the Hushan Fortress of Jiulian City would be lost so quickly, so that the Andong Bridge, which was completed with a huge amount of money in 1911, was also quickly blown up, so that now the 20th Division has to use this most primitive method to cross the river.

The back and forth shells painted countless bright spots in the night sky, and in the darkness, the woods at the foot of Mt. Hakuba were densely packed with Japanese troops waiting for orders to set off. At the front of the crowd, Jiro Iiwa, the commander of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army, who had a German mustache and had served as an adjutant in Yama County, held a telescope and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. The major general, who graduated from Lu University and studied in Germany, was deeply influenced by the German army's theory of artillery victory, and seemed to be very satisfied with his artillery group. Only his adjutant was a little anxious: "General." The Hushan Fortress battery is more than 10,000 meters away from us, and our artillery must cross the river before it can hit the target, so even if the inshore artillery is cleared, Captain Murano's squadron may be difficult to block through the heavy artillery, so why not let the gunboats help? ”

"It's not time yet." Daiwa Jiro stopped the staff officer, and pointed his finger at Hushan, which only lit up once in a few minutes in the dark: "So far, the Chinese have only used two forward field artillery positions, and if there is no problem with the intelligence over there, they have been equipped with German-made 10 mm and 15 mm heavy guns with a range of more than 10,000 meters, but so far there has not been such an important position without strong artillery support, doesn't Sakata-kun think it's strange?" ”

Although many people in the army looked down on this mustache who had only risen to the sky by relying on the nepotism of the elders of the county county, they had to admit that he had indeed learned something in Germany, and immediately nodded: "The general taught that these cunning Chinese will play tricks, but unfortunately our reconnaissance balloon will be shot down by planes when it goes to the sky, and we cannot detect the situation over there." ”

"Wouldn't there be a war without a scout balloon?" Daiting Jiro said with a hint of fierceness: "Let Okayama Shaozo take his brigade to set off!" The ferries must be spread out as far as possible, and I need someone to stand up and make sacrifices for the 100-year national fortunes of the Japanese Empire, and all their firepower must be attracted so that the naval guns can be more accurate and effective when they are added. ”

When more than 1,000 infantry of the Okayama Brigade began to board the ship, the command post buried deep at the foot of the Tiger Mountain Fortress was also crowded with people. Feng Guozhang stood at the observation window window like an ageless green pine, carefully checking the movement of the river through the firelight, and twisted his eyebrows from time to time.

Many of the officers behind him are former Beiyang officers, and they are very happy to see the old handsome out of the mountain again, with the comprehensive restructuring of the national defense force, although they are trying to integrate, but the Beiyang plot in their hearts cannot be replaced in a short time. Yuan Shikai was paralyzed and couldn't take care of himself, Wang Shizhen completely faded out, Duan Qirui was disgraced by his brother-in-law and had to announce his retirement despite his ambitions, and the sustenance of the Beiyang people and Optimus Prime were only the one in front of him.

After a while, Chen Yushi, whose face was covered with black and ash, stumbled into the command post, and the brigade commander, who was extremely remorseful after seeing the tactics of Sansan, directly put himself on the front line this time, and shouted before he could drink saliva after entering the door: "General, the enemy's artillery fire this time is too fierce, and many brothers are about to be unable to hold on. ”

"The Japanese army has learned well this time, and the cannons are all hidden behind and fire over the mountains, and they can't see the heavy artillery without planes and balloons to reconnoiter it." It was Wu Guangxin who spoke, he was a graduate of the third artillery department of Lu Shi, and was a classmate of Jiang Baili, Zhang Xiaozhun and others, and was the commander of the artillery regiment of the third town of Beiyang before the Northern Expedition. After the unification of the whole country, all the technical arms in Beiyang were retained, and he himself was persuaded by Jiang Baili to stay in office.

Originally, the Ministry of Defense was going to recommend him and more than a dozen other artillery officers to Germany for short-term study this year, but unfortunately they encountered this big war. Although he learned Japanese artillery tactics, the Wehrmacht was deeply influenced by the German army, and the artillery instructors in several military academies in China were also retired German officers, so he gradually began to learn European artillery concepts. Whether it is the Japanese tactics or the German army, artillery counter-artillery is not a big problem on the Liaohe Great Plain in the direction of Haicheng, but both sides of the Yalu River are hills, and field artillery can shell across the mountain, and the probability of counter-artillery is more difficult than rolling dice when the muzzle flame is not visible at night.

When everyone was discussing how to counter-artillery, a voice came from the corner: "The threat of Japanese artillery is not very big, I am worried about the river." ”

This sentence made Feng Guozhang quickly turn around, and everyone quickly looked at it. I saw a young artillery captain holding a telescope, and the strange thing was that instead of looking at the front of the fierce battle, he looked in the direction of the mouth of the Yalu River. Chen Yushi recognized him, his name was Yan Youbing, the battalion commander of the 101st Division Artillery Regiment, and he used a battalion of war hammers 14B 105 cannons with arson shells to take down the Hushan Fortress, which was thought to kill many people at that time.

Feng Guozhang happened to be worried about Jiangkou and asked, "How do you see it?" ”

Yan Youbing saluted Feng Guozhang and said, "After fighting for so long, the Japanese army should already know what we have, so they must know that we have a slight victory in land artillery." The Yalu River is shallow and silted, but the 1,000-ton warships can still go along, so I think the Japanese should take advantage of the naval guns when the land artillery does not have an advantage. The ones that can enter the Yalu River are basically 120 naval guns, and the firing range is far more powerful than the land artillery of the same caliber, and if I were to use the infantry to attract the enemy's firepower. In addition, because the naval artillery has a mast that can be observed, it can suppress the land artillery and force it to cross the river if it is found. ”

"What then? These bitches deliberately sent a small group and a squadron to this side, attracting our firepower and then letting the artillery cover it, I am afraid that we will not be able to hold the riverside in the long run. Chen Yushi was anxious. But Yan Youbing walked to the map without hurrying, pointed and said, "As long as it's not a thick-armored cruiser, we don't have no way." Now we have a total of 78 artillery pieces in our hands, which are divided into 4 forward positions of 75 guns and 70 guns, 1 rapid-fire position of 75 guns, 2 positions of 105 heavy artillery, 1 fortress gun and 150 positions with Hushan as the center. My 12 105 cannons were issued with German-made armor-piercing shells before they came out this time, and a thousand-ton warship within 12,000 meters couldn't stop me, as long as I attracted the gunboat, I could kill it! ”

"If you don't let the 150 heavy artillery battalion fire, with such a big heavy artillery firing, those Japanese dwarfs will definitely not dare to delay, so that his warship should come out."

"150 heavy artillery is the key to protecting Fengcheng and Jiulian City, and there are not many shells, if you use it too early, the Japanese will be prepared for the war that is not conducive to the future."

"If you don't let the four field artillery positions open fire, I don't believe they can hold back."

"Without using heavy artillery, the Japanese are afraid that it will not be so easy to scatter eagles."

When the officers were talking, Feng Guozhang nodded in his heart, in fact, he also guessed that Japan would definitely send warships to support this side. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see the river in the distance, so it was slow to let several other heavy artillery battalions open fire. So after glancing at Yan Youbing with satisfaction, he raised his hand to stop everyone's discussion and asked, "How do you fight?" ”

Others may have been nervous in the face of this veteran general, but Yan Youbing was extremely steady, raised his eyebrows and said: "My opinion is that let go of the Hejiawan line garrisoned by the 39th Brigade and let the Japanese land on the line, and then our artillery will solve the landing of the Japanese army with strong firepower, attract the enemy naval guns to appear and kill them with 105 heavy artillery." ”

"Let go? So what if the Japanese army gained a foothold? ”

"It's not that easy to stand still!" Yan Youbing said with certainty: "The front of Hejiawan of the 39th Brigade is the only open place on this section of the river, and the Japanese army will not rush to the hilly area with infantry before gaining a firepower advantage after landing, so their goal is definitely to take Hejiawan." The depth of Hejiawan is not wide, and there is also a lack of cover, so it is suitable for artillery firepower.

In fact, at the moment our artillery has not been fully developed. Because we use a cast iron shell, the damage is mainly based on pre-engraved fragments, which are blocked by water waves after entering the water, and most of the fragments go into the water. My idea was that instead of wasting shells in vain, it would be better to let some of the Japanese troops ashore. After they get to Hejiawan, let the rapid-fire artillery positions carpet cover them! Unless they are willing to see the infantry ashore die, they must put in naval guns to suppress the rapid-fire guns, so that the position of the warship will be exposed, and I can completely defeat it in a short time! ”

"Carpet covering?" After the restructuring of the Wehrmacht, the European metric system was gradually used, and many new tactical terms appeared, so Feng Guozhang was also a little confused when he heard it.

"Covering artillery bombardment roughly means to carry out an average and intensive shelling of a certain point in a short period of time, destroying the enemy's living forces in large quantities. This kind of artillery tactics requires density and speed, which is difficult to do with the artillery we usually use, but the 16 75 rapid-fire field guns that have just been added can do it. Because of its high speed, large elevation angle, and long distance, this can make up for the lack of quantity. The Japanese army would definitely not have thought that our 75 guns would have been able to hit more than 10,000 meters, and once they fired, they would definitely think that it was a heavy artillery group.

Starting from the slope near the foot of Hejiawan to the river, it is only a kilometer, and the rapid-fire artillery position can be based on 30 meters, and the spacing of each shell is also 30 meters, and the base section can be extended forward at a rate of 10 rounds per minute, and a total of 33 times can cover the entire flat land! Our cast-iron fragmentation high-explosive shells have a killing radius of 15 meters, so they can ensure the killing and wounding of unprotected infantry in the middle of the landing point of 2 shells, so even if there are three or five thousand people, as long as they are covered in the base segment, they will be killed! ”

Yan Youbing said as he drew a grid similar to a Go chessboard, and through his pen, everyone gradually understood what carpet shelling was. To put it bluntly, each cannon advances 30 meters per minute, and according to the minimum speed of 10 rounds per minute, 16 guns need 5,280 shells to complete the 33 base segments, which can kill all the infantry in the covered chess grid.

Although the ammunition consumption is a bit large, in order to fight this battle, Fengcheng has already reserved 300,000 rounds of various shells, and there are more than 50,000 on the side of Jiulian City, which can still afford to consume. So Feng Guozhang nodded in his heart, raised his eyes and asked: "I heard that you have learned artillery skills with German instructors for two years, but this tactic has not been seen at home and abroad, and this coverage extension requires very accurate technology, how sure are you?" ”

Yan Youbing saw that he was already moved, stood up straight and said: "The commander-in-chief said that a good gunner is trained hard, but tactics are played!" We have been learning artillery techniques with German instructors for two full years, and we are fully capable of this precise operation required to cover artillery bombardment, and as for the general, you said that this tactic has never been seen in ancient times, because this tactic was not German at that time, but was invented by the commander-in-chief. Last time we were in Hunan, we had already conducted an experiment, and from the point of view of the effect, except for the waste of shells, it is basically impossible to have any fish in the area covered, and I am completely sure! ”

Compared with Duan Wang and the others, Feng Guozhang has a much higher tactical vision and pays more attention to artillery tactics, so after Yan Youbing explained just now, he actually had already made a decision, seeing that this young man was full of confidence and liked it, he simply picked up the phone: "The 39th Brigade lets go of Hejiawan, and you will command the artillery!" I'm carrying around with questions. ”

"Yes!" Yan Youbing was also very excited, before he commanded only one artillery battalion, but now there are more than 2 artillery regiments. But he also knew the pressure, and immediately lay on the table and worked out an artillery plan with his colleagues, and then conveyed it to the various positions through field phone calls to prepare. The lines and numbers on the planner made Feng Guozhang and all the old Beiyang deeply touched. It is said that if you want to learn artillery well, you must first learn mathematics, which is really very reasonable, and from this detail, you can also see why Yang Qiu has been building a science university all over the country in recent years, but he does not like liberal arts.

After Yan Youbing organized the plan, Chen Yushi immediately ordered the 39th Brigade to take the lead in letting go of the Hejiawan line, pretending to be completely destroyed and gradually moving. This subtle change was immediately seized by the experienced Japanese troops, and not long after the departure of the Okayama brigade, Otwa Jiro again sent a brigade to storm Hejiawan.

However, he did not expect that his troops would be hit with a loud command.

"Ready."

In the dark night, a slogan made 16 imitation French Schneider "Miss 75" slowly raise the barrels, these rapid-fire guns heavier than the Warhammer 14A Type 105 howitzer are not the standard equipment of the Wehrmacht, and the operators are all temporary transfers, after two years of training by retired German officers, the artillery students of the National Defense University.

"Rush up and occupy the hillside on the left."

With the help of dozens of steamboats and assault boats, the Japanese officers and men of the two brigades quickly rushed to Hejiawan, and the troops began to disperse rapidly in all directions. This scene made the officers of the 20th Division extremely excited, and just as they were about to give the order for the follow-up main force to board the ship, a row of shells fell on the hillside near Hejiawan. The shells were not dense, and there was no such continuous falling power as just now, so it did not make the Japanese commandos nervous, but a bad feeling suddenly rose in the heart of Daiwa Jiro, who had specialized in artillery in Germany.

The shells fell in a row after a while, again not dense but much more accurate, and if you were careful, you could see that the explosion points were arranged very neatly, almost in a straight line. The artillery scouts lying on the top of the hill kept correcting their trajectory over the phone, and when the fourth round of test firing ended, countless fire clusters were suddenly released from the entire Hejiawan beachhead.

At that moment, all those who saw it widened their eyes and opened their mouths wide!

The ultimate rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute, the ability to shell at large elevation angles, and the range far exceeding the range of field guns of the same caliber in various countries at this time made Miss 75 and the German K16 become two legends in World War I. If Germany had not generously not wanted this batch of artillery, and the current artillery was insufficient, he would not have used it to equip the troops. Although they were worried that the consumption rate had been strictly suppressed at 10 pieces per minute, everyone still felt that the sky over Hejiawan suddenly lit up, as if thousands of lanterns had been stuffed into it, directly plunging all the surrounding belligerents into darkness.

The trainee artillerymen, who had just been urgently transferred from the National Defense University, showed their vigor to feed, and several gunners simply stripped off their clothes, and as for the transporters who were transporting shells back and forth, they were only stripped of their trousers.

The complete blind firing outside the line-of-sight made the artillerymen have to rely on the field telephone and the command of the artillery squad leader every minute, the squad leader pinched his pocket watch, and immediately shouted as soon as the second hand went around, and the deputy gunner shook the wheel handle according to the number on the dial to lower some of the muzzles, again and again. In order to see clearly, Yan Youbing also simply rushed to the high place of the fortress, holding a telescope in one hand and a phone in the other.

Mechanical cold, German efficiency!

Under his direct command, the young men behind him, who had received two years of rigorous training from German instructors, and each of whom had been more or less whipped a few times, burst out with all their enthusiasm, and the German instructors who learned of the results of the battle were excited to rush to the teaching office to ask for a raise, because he said that he had trained a group of great young men with great military achievements.

The boys' forgetfulness brought a terrible memory record to the Japanese army.

Starting from the foot of the mountain, rows of cannonballs formed a terrible wall of fire, and what was even more terrifying was that this wall of fire was still advancing towards the river at a speed of 30 meters per minute! Squeeze those already disorganized Japanese infantry who were hit by a sudden artillery fire.

The Japanese infantrymen who had just come ashore had not yet experienced the joy and had to lie on the grass to suffer the suffering, but soon they found that it was useless to lie down, the wall of fire was constantly squeezing from the foot of the mountain, and the screaming and swirling fragments scattered in all directions, almost tearing the entire space apart! Even if you are not hit by fragments, it does not mean that you are safe and sound, after 10 75 shells fall on the same point in one minute, you can form a continuous shock wave, directly shocking any creature within a radius of 15 meters out of the concussion, and directly shattering the liver and gallbladder at the near point.

Can't escape! Can't hide! The only way to run to the river behind!

As the Japanese infantry spread their feet and fled backwards, the four forward field positions a few moments after the ceasefire joined the chorus, this time smashing all the shells at the ships, even the mortars that had not fired. Looking from the direction of the white horse, Hejiawan in the night could no longer see anything except the shining fireball, and only with the telescope could you find the soldiers running around like headless flies in the artillery fire, and then being torn apart by the squeezed shells!

Artillery is the guts of the infantry! It's the soul of the infantry! The riverbank position, which was bombed just now, was already boiling! Every soldier of the Wehrmacht who saw this scene clapped their hands and applauded, and the fierce temperament even raised their heads directly to the sky and roared, and the confidence that had just been blown up by the enemy quickly dissipated was instantly returned to the top with the support of the more powerful artillery behind them.

Joyfully! Carpet cover haha, what a cannonball carpet! The old man Feng in the command post slapped his thigh, and he couldn't wait to remove the kid who was standing on the top of the fortress and go up to supervise the battle.

The enthusiastic and hot "Miss France" used speed and tactics to completely drown out the Japanese commandos who had seen the covering artillery bombardment tactics for the first time.

On the other side of the river, there was silence, and all the Japanese soldiers who saw this scene had a chill down their backs, and the chill instantly crept over their bodies like electricity, and they could not imagine what would happen if they faced this kind of shelling. The faces of Jiro Otwa and the officers were even more pale, because they didn't know the existence of Miss 75, and they thought that the opponent had concentrated at least 20 or more heavy guns, and he was eager to regain the disadvantage and destroy the opponent's artillery, so he did not hesitate to let the two gunboats that were in the darkness in the distance come to support.

But when the roaring fireball rose from the darkness, and the two gunboats that were regarded as killer weapons finally came out of the darkness, not to mention Yan Youbing, even Feng Guozhang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Angle 010, armor-piercing bullets are fired rapidly!"

The 105th Cannon Battalion, which had been on standby in the dark for a long time, saw the gunboat and directly stuffed it with armor-piercing shells imported from Germany, and the cannon itself, which was almost flat, was transplanted from the ship's guns to land, so it was able to fire armor-piercing shells only after modifying the amount of propellant.

In the fierce flickering of 12 fireballs, before the 2 gunboats could understand what was going on, fireballs rose on the deck.

After 30 minutes, there was no upright thing in the entire Hejiawan tidal flat, and it was later calculated that more than 1,300 Japanese commandos were directly killed in the carpet shelling tactics, and the rest also jumped into the river to escape, and finally only 17 people returned to the other side of the bank, and the rest were all missing.

In addition to the destruction of the assault infantry, the artillery group under the command of Yan Youbing also destroyed two gunboats that came to support and sank more than 60 ships of various types, which directly led to the complete blockage of the Yalu River Sinuiju and Andong waterways, so that even if the Japanese army crossed the river at a huge cost, it never received support from the river, and after the serious losses of the boats crossing the river, the Japanese 20th Division could not launch a large-scale river crossing operation within 10 days.

The manic and violent carpet shelling tactics, with the cooperation of multiple artillery positions in clusters, exerted a terrifying power under the series of a telephone line, and also made those soldiers who watched this artillery battle thoroughly understand the demeanor of the god of the battlefield.