Episode 2 Alerts

The Sixth Strategic Artillery Corps of the Qing Imperial Army was the most elite artillery corps in the entire Qing Army, and the Sixth Artillery Corps, as a strategic force threatening Nanjing, was stationed in Pukou for a long time.

The corps consisted of three heavy howitzer divisions and one anti-aircraft artillery division. With 375 heavy howitzers and 54 anti-aircraft guns, this division is an extremely powerful deterrent force and the most formidable threat to Nanjing. Li Guoliang said last time that this is only its book compilation, and in fact there must be a big shortfall.

The fact that it does not match the books is also a consistent phenomenon of the Qing army. But this time, Li Guoliang took it for granted. As the first sharp sword to threaten the capital of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Sixth Artillery Army has always had the "great attention" and "cordial care" of Emperor Guangwu, and the whole army has always been fully equipped, and every cannon and shell is consistent with the books. In other words, the Sixth Artillery Corps really had 357 heavy howitzers.

However, today is Sunday. The cannon did not rest, the man rested.

Army Commander Sun Fushan took a car yesterday afternoon to spend the weekend at his villa in Langya Mountain, Chuzhou. This Langya Mountain is a good place, not only a scenic spot, but also a strong cultural atmosphere, since ancient times it is a place where literati and ink prostitutes Range Rover. The famous Drunken Man Pavilion is here. Back then, Ouyang repaired an article, which made the lot here very valuable for hundreds of years. Now the hill is full of small cottages, all bought by local officials, officials in the neighborhood, and senior officers of the garrison.

The largest garrison in the vicinity was the Pukou troops. Originally, on weekends, most of the officers ran out of the barracks to have fun, and they were usually only in Pukou. But at the beginning of the year, the Battle of Pukou and Pukou were bombed, and it has not recovered until now. It is said that the officers of the Qing army should be honest and stay in the barracks on the weekend, but no, they have a reason to run farther and simply go to Chuzhou to play. Chuzhou County is more than 50 kilometers away from Pukou Town, and it is the first station of the Tianjin-Pudong Railway to the north. The high-ranking officers of the Qing army took a car, the middle-level officers took a military car, and the lower-level officers "got" a train ticket, and as soon as Saturday came, they rushed to Chuzhou. From Sunday to Sunday, there were basically a small number of lieutenants, a large number of non-commissioned officers, and almost all of the first and second privates.

……

At 4:50 a.m., at the observation post of the antiaircraft artillery division on the top of Shiziling Mountain in Pukou Old Mountain, all the soldiers of a squad were dozing off in the observation fort, and only one private Wang Jinbao was sitting on duty on the top of the pillbox. It is about 10 kilometers away from the river, and it is the ideal observation post. If the weather is good during the day, the view is not too good, and you can see the river with the naked eye all the time. With a telescope, you can see the Purple Mountain all the time.

But now, despite the bright moon, it was still pitch black in the distance, and you couldn't even see the mountain below.

Wang Jinbao sat on a stool, his elbows propped up on waist-high sandbags. On the sandbags was a telephone, as well as a hand-cranked anti-aircraft siren. He shrunk his head in the cool breeze whistling at the top of the mountain, and couldn't help complaining in his heart: ***, the same artillery, the howitzer division behind the mountain can all sleep well, but the anti-aircraft artillery division has to take turns on duty. …… The above vigorously emphasized that Nanming's plane was powerful, and kept rectifying the anti-aircraft artillery division, and now he had to keep one eye open when he was sleeping......

He let out a long yawn, and estimated that the time was almost up, and it was time to go down and look at the squad leader's watch. If it's time, call Li Wangcai to come up and take over, it's time for Lao Tzu to sleep......

Wang Jinbao stood up, opened the entrance to the top of the bunker, and was about to climb down the ladder when he suddenly stopped.

Behind him, a "buzzing" sound was faintly heard.

At first he thought he had misheard, and hesitated for a few seconds at the entrance of the cave to turn around and look. Because I really want to sleep. Hands on the lid.

But the "buzzing" behind him was rapidly getting louder and clearer. Wang Jinbao was a little nervous, knowing that he couldn't ignore it. He closed the lid, stood up, turned around, and held on to the sandbag and looked vigorously at the sky to the south.

But it was dark in the sky, and from time to time a cloud slowly moved under the moon, and there was really nothing to see.

The phone in hand suddenly rang, startling him. He immediately grabbed the earpiece, and another voice inside shouted nervously:

"Hey, Lion Ridge? I'm Damashan! Do you hear the south buzz there? ”

Dama Mountain is another peak of the old mountain, one of the four summit observation posts of the anti-aircraft artillery division.

Wang Jinbao became even more nervous, and immediately said:

"I heard, I heard! Phew, louder again! ”

"Do you think it's an airplane?"

"This ...... Not quite like that! Usually Nanming's plane comes and goes, not with this sound. ”

That's right, in the past, Nanming planes flew over to provoke, and the voices were very clear, and they could clearly distinguish the direction. But now the voice was much deeper, and it seemed as if the whole sky was ringing.

Unless it's ...... Lots of planes. Very, very, very many planes combined, can have this kind of sound.

"I say......" Wang Jinbao said in a trembling voice, "have you asked the sir?" Tell the chief to come up and listen to it......"

The voice on the other end of the phone also trembled:

"I'm afraid it's too late...... The more I listened, the more it looked like an airplane...... Let's pull the alarm......"

Wang Jinbao swallowed dryly and said:

"Okay, pull the alarm......"

After speaking, he put down the phone, put his hand on the air defense siren, grabbed the crank, hesitated, and then gritted his teeth and shook it vigorously.

"Woo——————"

Loud air defense sirens sounded in all directions. At the same time, the same alarm sounded from a hill in the distance. Within seconds, all four hilltop observation posts sounded the air defense alarm.

There was a bomb in the observation fort below. The soldiers of a squad shouted loudly, wearing steel helmets while shouting and scolding, and hulala all lay on the observation window and looked out. The squad leader climbed up from the ladder, lifted the top cover, and shouted:

"Wang Jinbao! What's going on?! Are there air strikes? ”

Without waiting for Wang Jinbao to answer, he scolded first:

"How can there be an air raid in the middle of the night! …… If it's a false alarm, I won't kill you! ”

As he spoke, he jumped up and grabbed his binoculars and looked into the night sky to the south. But nothing could be seen in the dark.

"What's going on!" He turned his face to Wang Jinbao and yelled, "What the hell did your mother see!" ”

Wang Jinbao shook the handle with difficulty, panting and said:

"Airplane...... Plane...... The sound is loud! That's a lot! ”

But the sirens around him were deafening, completely muffling out all the sounds that came from afar. The squad leader tried his best to see, but he couldn't see anything, and he tried hard to listen, but he couldn't hear anything other than the air defense siren.

"How many planes can you ...... How many ...... planes can be Damn, if it's a false alarm, I'll not kill you. ”

The squad leader was also scared in his heart, but he still scolded fiercely, as if he could remove the air raid curse in this way.

The phone rang again, and the squad leader grabbed the receiver and immediately said loudly:

"Hey, ah, yes! Yes, sir! Be...... It was an air raid, and one of our brothers said he heard the sound of an airplane, and said it sounded like a lot! …… Ahhh......h Advance warning? No, no, it's an air raid siren! Be! Be! ”

He put down the phone and slapped Wang Jinbao's head:

"Shake your ball! Light knows how to shake! The battalion commander asked if it was a pre-warning or an air raid siren! ”

An advance warning is a "forecast" issued when an air raid is about to occur, and it is sounded for 36 seconds, stopped for 24 seconds, and repeated for 3 minutes. An air raid siren is an air raid that is about to be attacked, or when it has already been hit by an air raid, and this one is to sound for 6 seconds and stop for 6 seconds, and the rhythm is even more urgent.

But now Wang Jinbao was nervous, grabbed the siren and shook it endlessly, and it completely became an advance alarm. And the other three hills, one is also shaken into an advance alarm, and two are shaken into an air raid alarm, exactly two to two.

"Ahh

Wang Jinbao reacted and quickly let go.

The handle was still spinning with inertia, and the alarm chirped from high to low, and finally stopped. The surroundings were quiet.

In the distance, only the sirens of the other three mountains could be heard, and there was a clearer sound......

Roar. A deafening roar.

The whole sky was roaring, and it was right overhead.

Several soldiers tilted their heads in horror as they watched a large black shadow pass under the moon, followed by another ......

As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, more planes came into view in the night dome.

…… More than a dozen in waves, wave after wave, there are hundreds of them......

After a few seconds, the minions entered a state of detachment, looking up at the spectacle they had never seen before.

They were almost in a trance, and no one spoke.

"I say!" A soldier lightly touched his companion and said loudly, "Let's report!" Here...... Here...... It's none of our business! ”

"Yes......" another soldier muttered to himself, "...... It's none of our business anymore......"

……

Farther to the north, sirens sounded one after another. This is from the position of the anti-aircraft artillery division behind the mountain.

A squad of Qing soldiers at the observation post climbed to the top of the pillbox to watch. Everyone was holding on to the sandbags and looking into the distance. However, just now they were all looking south, and now they are all looking north.

Because they all guessed what was going to happen next.

Sure enough, in the distance below the mountain to the north, pillars of light pointed to the sky one after another, waving slowly, trying their best to find enemy planes in the night sky.

Almost at the same time, several long strings of flares suddenly appeared in the sky, numbering hundreds, slowly and leisurely, spraying a bright light and falling down. From the top of the old mountain, it is very beautiful, like fireflies.

The land in a radius of several kilometers to the north is now like daylight.

Countless trees, low barracks, roads, railways, sentry posts, towers, chimneys, water towers...... The most important thing is that the cannons that are still covered with cannon clothing, everything is exposed.

The Qing soldiers on the observation post on the top of the mountain all grabbed their binoculars and looked at it. Now, with the help of high-powered telescopes, not only the cannons, but even the barbed wire with a few knots on the barbed wire can be seen clearly.

On the howitzer position, those soldiers were like little ants, holding on their pants, frantically rushing out of the barracks, several in groups, around the cannon to untie their armor.

The anti-aircraft artillery positions reacted quickly, because the anti-aircraft artillery was usually "naked" and on standby, and there was no need to remove the gun jackets. Half of the anti-aircraft gun crews were already in place, and the barrels were rapidly rising upwards and adjusting the angles.

But it was too late.

Before a few Qing soldiers at the observation post could react, a dense line of fire flashed from the artillery position in the distance, followed by thick smoke and fireballs.

This was followed by another row...... This was followed by another row......

Row after row, mountains and seas.

The sound of the explosion was also heard at this time. It's not very loud, but it's very dense, like firecrackers set off during the New Year, you can't hear the difference between one and the other, and it's all mixed together.

This...... That's too dense, isn't it......

The Qing soldiers on the top of the mountain were dumbfounded, and before anyone could open their mouths to let out an exclamation, the artillery position under the mountain was already full of smoke and flames.

……

"I don't know if their infantry is still coming."

After watching it for a long time, Wang Jinbao suddenly said.

"Looks like you have to come over."

Another soldier said.

"Ah...... I haven't been home in over a year. I don't know how the old lady is. ”

The third soldier suddenly came out with such an inexplicable sentence.

However, several soldiers understood and all expressed the same feelings.