At night, the river ripples ghostly in the moonlight, and the Qing army's patrol horses sweep past the river bank from time to time, and make the silent night appear a hint of tension. Suddenly, two figures emerged from the river on the shore. I saw them crawl ashore with swift movements, and soon disappeared into the night. This is the scene on the other side of Anqing, where scouts are infested.

On the other side of the Zhenjiang River, about 3 kilometers from the shore. There was a fortress artillery position of the coalition army, although the Qing army changed its guns, but the commanders of the artillery positions were all foreigners, and the Qing soldiers served as gunners. The artillery positions preset by the coalition forces, including the firing of Zhuyuan, are all measured haode, as long as there are ships on the river in front, the one-time artillery fire coverage can basically achieve the purpose of shelling.

In order to prevent our artillery from counterattacking, the artillery positions of the coalition forces were basically far from the shore. Moreover, the coalition forces used 76-mm fortified guns and built strong fortifications. As a result, our infantry artillery was simply helpless, and the artillery fortifications of the fortifications far from the shore of the coalition forces could not only serve the purpose of blocking the river, but also provide artillery support to the troops defending the shore, killing two birds with one stone.

"! Cunning enemy, artillery positions so concealed and strong, no wonder my artillery fire does not work," muttered a scout in the dark. "Now it can be confirmed that the 76-mm fortress guns blocking the Zhenjiang River have a total of 26 guns." The other scout said as he pulled out a notebook from his bosom, and he wanted to accurately mark the position of each cannon.

With the capture of Hubei, the smooth transportation line of the Yangtze River is the first place. At present, the main ships of the Yangtze River Fleet are still blocked on the front line of Wuhan. The waterway of the Yangtze River from Anqing to the Shanghai Delta was blocked by artillery fire from the coalition forces, and the waterway from Anqing to Shanghai was basically cut off from traffic for more than a year, and the water transportation of the Yangtze River suffered a serious blow. Since the beginning of the artillery blockade by the coalition forces, military supplies and trade have been forced to be transported by road, which has increased unimaginable difficulties.

Recently, in order to achieve military objectives, the coalition forces have not even spared small civilian cargo ships, and they have destroyed them all as soon as they are discovered. For this reason, the headquarters ordered Bai Sheng, commander of the West Route Corps, to destroy all blockade artillery fire from Anqing to the other side of the Shanghai Delta Prefecture and completely open up the Yangtze River transportation line. Then the Yangtze River Fleet took over the patrols along the Yangtze River and covered the smooth passage of various ships.

The 76-mm field gun developed by the Shanghai Arsenal was quickly finalized after being tested in actual combat by the Middle Route Corps and slightly modified. First of all, a mobile heavy artillery brigade was formed in the Eastern Route Corps, the purpose of which was to deal with the fortress artillery group blockaded by the coalition forces blocking the river. However, the effect of the artillery counterattack was not great, because the coalition forces built fortifications, the shelling only played the role of scratching the boots, and the coalition forces still effectively blocked the river.

In the headquarters of the Nanjing East Road Corps, all the generals and officers gathered together. "Report to the commander, our Yangtze River Fleet is ready, and this kind of suffocating day can finally raise our eyebrows." Fleet Commander Fan Tao looked happy. Bai Shengdao: "According to the requirements of the headquarters, we have made careful preparations to completely open up the Yangtze River transportation line from Anqing to Shanghai. Some time ago, we tried to break the blockade and carry out a local artillery counterattack, but the effect was very small, and the reason for this was that the coalition artillery positions were far from the shore and built strong fortifications, so that our artillery counterattack was weak. ”

Bai Sheng glanced at the generals and continued: "In response to this situation, the Shanghai Arsenal has developed a new type of armor-piercing bullet, which is specially designed to deal with the fortress fortifications of the coalition forces. After testing our armor-piercing shells, they can completely deal with the fortifications of the coalition forces, and now I would like to ask the deputy commander to introduce the situation of the coalition artillery group and the situation of our large-scale artillery bombardment. ”

Deputy Commander Shang Hu said: "After 10 days of reconnaissance, the coalition forces currently have five major artillery groups to blockade the area, namely Anqing, Wuhu, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, and Jiangyin. In response to this situation, our heavy artillery brigade was divided into 5 squadrons, each squadron was equipped with 15 76mm guns, and all of them used armor-piercing blasting shells. On the basis of the reconnaissance situation, we have formulated a thorough plan, and the five squadrons of heavy artillery will act in unison, and the shelling will begin at 8 o'clock tomorrow. In addition, after the heavy artillery squadron struck first, the Yangtze River Fleet attacked from Anqing and formed two strikes all the way to the east. Completely destroy the artillery blockade positions of the coalition forces. ”

Then Chief of Staff Seinfeld gave a detailed account of the situation of the artillery of the coalition forces on the other side, and Zuihou Bai Sheng announced the battle order, and this large-scale artillery bombardment was named Operation Ghost Slayer. On the same day, Shang Hu and Fan Tao rode horses along the river west. Shang Hu was responsible for directing the artillery bombardment of Anqing and Wuhu, and Fan Tao went to Jiujiang to join the fleet, and the main force of the Yangtze River Fleet was currently gathering in Jiujiang to stand by.

Shang Hu and Fan Tao went hand in hand, running for several hours in a row, the speed of the war horse slowed down, and the war horse was tired of galloping for a long time, so let the war horse rest. "I said brother, the fight in the west is in full swing, I'm afraid you guys are in a hurry!" Fan Tao opened the chatterbox. "It's a lie to say that there is no hurry, but the headquarters has not issued an attack on Jihua, and we have no choice but to wait patiently." Shang Hu is reluctant to talk about sensitive topics.

"Maybe the headquarters ordered the opening of the transportation line Jihua to prepare for the next big attack?" Fan Tao analyzed. "I hope so, but there is no sign of the expansion of the army at the headquarters, and it is impossible for the hundreds of thousands of people of the Eastern Route Corps to launch an attack alone. According to military intelligence, Western countries are constantly increasing their troops, and the larger the scale of the war, the more it will be fought, and the headquarters will definitely need to consider it holistically, as for when to launch an attack, it is not up to you and me to decide, let's do the things in front of us well! Arriving at Anqing, Fan Tao continued westward, and Shang Hu went to the 1st Heavy Artillery Squadron.

At dawn the next day, after a few hours of napping, Shang Hu came to the artillery position. At this time, the cannons in the row took off their camouflage and raised their muzzles, and the muzzles of the black holes pointed obliquely at the sky, as if they were quietly waiting for a roar. Shang Hu's figure appeared in the artillery position, and the leader of the heavy artillery squadron immediately ran forward: "Report to the deputy commander, the leader of the first heavy artillery squadron is here to greet you, our department is ready, please give instructions to the deputy commander!" ”

Shang Hu took out his pocket watch and glanced at it and said, "Very good, there is still an hour and a half before the shelling, you accompany me to inspect the artillery position." "Coming to a cannon, the soldier stood up and saluted. Shang Hu checked that in the open shell box, the shell warhead was obviously longer and sharper, and the front of the warhead was black. "Deputy commander, this is an armor-piercing warhead, which is specially tailored by the arsenal for the fortress fortifications of the opposing coalition forces." The squadron leader explained.

"Excellent! It's up to you to get the shelling! "After a round of sightseeing, I entered the artillery position headquarters." Deputy commander, you better go down, the front is dangerous after all. "The squadron leader was a little apprehensive when he saw that Shang Hu had no intention of leaving." So you don't have confidence in shelling, as long as you fight well, I'll be safe. Shang Hu said decisively. Report to the deputy commander, I have just received news that Commander Fan led the fleet to about 10 kilometers west of Anqing and stand by. "A subordinate came in to report.

"Order all artillery to get ready!" Shang Hu decisively gave the order, along with the password, the loader first began to busy, the artillery commander began to report the direction and coordinates, and the aiming man began to operate the artillery. "Report, gun position 1 is ready!" "Report! Gun emplacement No. 5 was ・・・・・・ ready. ”

At this time, Jiangbei was about 2 kilometers from the shore, and the artillery group of the coalition forces also took off its camouflage and entered combat readiness. Instead of engaging in an artillery battle with the Northern Expeditionary Army, they learned that the Yangtze River Fleet of the Northern Expeditionary Army was about to arrive in Anqing to prepare for an artillery blockade. In order to understand the situation on the river, the artillery of the coalition forces set up a flag language soldier every 1 kilometer to understand the situation on the river surface by using the flag language. If the commander of the coalition artillery had known that our artillery had set up positions, he would have opened fire long ago.

A foreigner artillery commander was in the fortifications of the fortress, holding a telescope in his hand, and issued instructions, and the Qing artillery in the fortress was nervously busy. Suddenly, there was a whistle in the sky, a cannonball hitting the ground in front of it, followed by a dull explosion that tore the earth apart. Before the foreigner commander could see what was going on, dozens of shells fell on the fortifications.

I saw a cannonball, burrowing into a fortress gate, and then there was a loud bang, and the fortress was blown away. The foreign commander was shocked, this shell was so terrifying that he didn't know for a moment whether to run out or stay in the bunker. Just when he hesitated, he was hit by a shell, and in an instant the command post became a ruin, and the foreign commander also became a "ruin". With continuous precision strikes, the Qing artillery blew up the battalion and fled outside the fortress one after another.

After half an hour of precise shelling, the artillery positions of the coalition forces were reduced to a sea of fire and covered in a large cloud of smoke. As soon as the shelling stopped, Fan Tao led the fleet down the line, and all the naval guns ravaged the artillery positions of the coalition forces2. Half an hour after the shelling, the fleet again advanced down the river in the direction of Wuhu. After the fleet left, Shang Hu ordered the artillery group to cover the ・・・・・ with artillery fire for another 10 minutes.

On the same day, Anqing, Wuhu, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, and Jiangyin, the five allied Jiangfang fortresses were devastated. Coupled with the two naval artillery ravages of the Yangtze River Fleet, it can be said that the fortress artillery positions of the coalition forces have almost become a ruin. That night, our scouts crossed the river to check the shelling and obtained first-hand information, which confirmed that 90 percent of the artillery of the allied fortress had been destroyed, and the precision strike was a great success. During the day the next day, our army carried out three more artillery covers, and the fortress artillery of the coalition forces was completely exhausted.

The commander of the coalition army, McMahon, was shocked when he received the Northern Expeditionary Army's use of heavy artillery and new armor-piercing shells to destroy all the fortress artillery from Anqing to Jiangyin, and he was so shocked that he did not catch his breath for a long time. After a long time, McMahon sighed and had to order the cancellation of the artillery blockade along the Yangtze River.