Chapter 694: Overture to the Great War

After a few days, there has been no news of Meiling and them, Tang Qiuli couldn't help but be anxious in his heart, in front of Mei Ting and Mei Xue, but he didn't dare to reveal the slightest, what he was afraid of was that they were worried, after receiving a telegram from Qiuquan, he had personally led four special operations detachments to enter the area of Cangerhui, and saw many traces of fighting along the way, he had ordered all special operations units to expand the search area, and there would be news soon.

Qiuquan's telegram reassured Tang Qiuli a lot, at least it showed that Meiling was still alive and had not been annihilated by the Japanese army, sometimes, Tang Qiuli was strange when he thought about it, and released more than 20 companies, just Meiling's company had an accident, as if God intended to worry him, he forced himself to let go of his worries and put his energy into the big war that was about to start.

In this campaign, if the day is not far off when the North China problem will be completely solved, the main force corps of Okamura Ningci will be completely annihilated in Shanxi, and the strength of the Japanese army in North China will be fundamentally changed, and he carefully commanded all the troops, and the seven newly formed field brigades on the bank of the Yellow River based on Sun Zhenbang's corps are being synthesized and organized, and the necessary heavy equipment has also been delivered to the troops one after another.

There was no new news from other aspects, but Yan Xishan sent a telegram, in addition to thanking him for his help and taking him in at the most critical moment, and a lot of words of gratitude that made people numb, there was also a small request, allowing him to recruit 5,000 soldiers in Dingbian to enrich his guard force and lay the foundation for the recovery of Shanxi.

After reading Yan Xishan's telegram, Tang Qiuli couldn't laugh or cry, this Chief Yan is still dreaming of returning to Shanxi to be the emperor of the soil, he wants to cultivate his own private power in Dingbian, and pay for it himself, he came to recruit troops, the idea is good, and the abacus is also a thief, he also knows the dilemma that Yan Xishan is facing, he fled Taiyuan in a panic, and his huge family has not had time to bring out much, and he can feed the current thousands of remnant soldiers, but he is already stretched, and if he wants to recruit soldiers, he can only stretch out his hand to himself with a cheeky face.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Tang Qiuli generously agreed, and did everything according to Yan Xishan's words, and the funds were immediately sent to him, compared with the huge Shanxi, this little money is nothing, and besides, Tang Qiuli is not afraid of Yan Xishan making a name for himself in Dingbian, this is the territory he has been operating for many years, in the hearts and eyes of the people in Dingbian, there is only one Tang Qiuli, and Chairman Jiang is not easy to do, not to mention that he Yan Xishan, let him plant the recruitment flag, and keep that no one will vote under his door to rebuild the Jin army, It's just a dream.

This is a matter on the surface, Tang Qiuli issued a secret order to Shen Jun's investigation department and Gao Chuangshan, director of the Dingbian Secret Service Bureau, to arrange agents and police forces to closely monitor the actions of Yan Xishan's subordinates, if an abnormal situation is found, it must be reported to his own hands, and he must not act without authorization, this Bodhisattva is placed in Dingbian, it is always not a matter, Tang Qiuli is already thinking about finding a good place for Yan Xishan.

The Japanese troops on the opposite side of the Wubao ferry were secretly transferred to the direction of Yongheguan, although they were secretly carried out at night, they could not escape Tang Qiuli's eyes, and the 40,000 Japanese troops who had already arrived at Fenglingdu for a few days were not allowed to launch an order to cross the river to attack Xi'an because of Okamura Ningci's strict order, and they had nothing to do all day, so they simply set up artillery and bombarded the beachhead on the opposite bank.

In the first few days, because it was a newly formed artillery regiment, it was not a well-trained opponent of the Japanese artillery in terms of tactics and tactics, and suffered several small losses, and the top and bottom held their breath, and the matter was reported to Tang Qiu, and he only gave a few instructions: "Looking for an opportunity to annihilate the Japanese artillery and clear the obstacles for the follow-up battle", Sun Zhenbang pondered and understood what the division commander meant.

Then he began to get busy, mobilized artillery from several other secondary defensive areas, and secretly transported the newly equipped large-caliber howitzers from Dingbian to Fenglingdu, and then, found General Jiang Baili, president of the Dingbian Military Academy, and didn't know what deal the two had made in private.

Sun Zhenbang worked hard for two days, and the artillery unit gathered at Fenglingdu actually reached as many as six regiments, including a heavy artillery regiment with a firing range of 15 kilometers and a caliber of 155 millimeters.

The artillery of the independent division on the other side of the river also immediately returned fire, and unlike in the past, the artillery fire that returned fire this time was much more dense and fierce, and the Japanese artillery, which had gained the upper hand for several days, was greatly enraged, and the Chinese artillery, which had been beaten like sheep, dared to challenge the dignity of the artillery of the Imperial Japanese Army.

The Yellow River crossing on the other side of the Fengling Ferry was blown up by the dense shells of the Japanese army, and the smoke and dust were everywhere, the fire was shining, and the shelling lasted for more than an hour.

As soon as the sound of the artillery stopped, the smoke of gunpowder had not yet been dispersed by the spring breeze, and the satisfied Japanese artillerymen leisurely wiped the stinky sweat on their faces, and on the other side of the river, there was a loud noise on the earthquake, and the faces of the Japanese artillerymen suddenly turned pale with a "swish".

The Japanese artillery commander shouted hoarsely, the Japanese artillery hurriedly pushed the artillery, a scream tearing the air came from far and near, the air was filled with the howl of death, the black shells fell from the sky, and smashed on the various artillery positions of the Japanese army, the ground shook the mountains, the billowing smoke and dust rose into the air, the explosion points were connected together, and the number could not be distinguished, and the Japanese artillery positions were shrouded in gunsmoke.

I don't know what the results of this artillery battle were, but from that day on, the Japanese troops on the other side never fired a shell from the river, just after the artillery battle, Sun Zhenbang hurriedly climbed up the hill, he was anxious to see the results of his carefully planned artillery bombardment, and saw from the telescope that on the Japanese artillery positions covered by artillery fire, the loess turned out, the huge craters, the curved barrels, the scattered gun bodies, the east and west gun wheels were scattered everywhere, and there were trees with wisps of smoke, Sun Zhenbang grinned, judging by his experience, The artillery of the little devils is finished.

When Tang Qiuli saw the report, he instructed "Very good, closely monitor the actions of the Japanese troops on the other side, and make preparations for crossing the river to attack" Okamura Ninji learned that all the artillery of the troops in the direction of Fenglingdu had been ruined by the trickery of the Chinese, and he was so angry that he scolded the Japanese commander in the telegram, and there was no way, so he had to go from the troops in the direction of Wubao. Two wings of artillery were transferred to supplement the direction of Fenglingdu, although the artillery in his hand was not very abundant.

The artillery of the independent division who took advantage of it was very much hoping to have another enjoyable time, but the artillery of the little devil became more honest than a rabbit, no matter how they called the formation, they just didn't show their heads, so they had to give up, the Japanese artillery was honest, the infantry was not idle, and most of the troops were left behind, facing the troops of the independent division across the river at Fenglingdu, waiting for an opportunity to cross the river to attack Xi'an.

The rest of the troops, began to occupy the Ruicheng, Yongji, Yuncheng area in the south of Jin, expanding the occupation area, the Japanese army wantonly burned, killed, raped and plundered, everywhere they went, the villages and towns became ruins, the unarmed people became the object of the Japanese soldiers to vent their anger, the people in this area can suffer, the soldiers across the Yellow River, saw the fireworks everywhere in Jinnan, knew that the little devil was harming the people again, so angry that they gritted their teeth, eager to kill the river immediately.

Meiling, who was seriously wounded, did not know what was happening now, there was no necessary medical conditions, his injuries did not improve, he could only lie on a stretcher, carried by people to march, according to the advice of his comrades-in-arms, immediately approached the bank of the Yellow River, took a shortcut back to Dingbian, Meiling's injuries could not be delayed any longer, and the march in the mountains for several days did not encounter the Japanese army, nor did they encounter other troops, everyone then knew that they had been too far away from the main force, and basically left the original combat area.

In the evening, the troops camped in a valley, Luliang Mountain in May, although the spring was melted during the day, at night, the cold mountain wind blew people cold, fortunately found a cave, only barely to avoid the cold mountain wind, the soldiers rested around a few bonfires, everyone was worried, worried about Meiling's injury, Meiling woke up from a coma, his ears were the burning sound of the bonfire "crackling", he felt dry mouth, his body burned badly, and he couldn't help but moan lowly.

The voice was slight, did not alarm the other comrades-in-arms, Meiling looked at the entrance of the cave, in the deep night sky, the stars kept blinking indifferent eyes, he didn't know if he could return to Dingbian, back to his parents, the east bank of the Yellow River, full of Japanese troops, several major ferries, but also the key defense area of the Japanese army, these comrades-in-arms with themselves, the possibility of crossing the river is extremely small, until now, Meiling's heart is full of attachment to life, fear of death.

Thinking of these, Meiling silently shed tears, after all, he is only an eighteen-year-old child, no need to be harsh, he has experienced the test of war for the first time in his life, when the blood in his heart cools down, the attachment to life, the longing for the future years, will naturally hover in his heart, and he will be more aware of the preciousness of life.

Meiling, who was disturbed, suddenly heard a dense but extremely slight footsteps, he turned his head in the direction of the sound, his heart tightened, his hair stood up, and under the dim starlight, a group of Japanese soldiers appeared on the surrounding hillside, he didn't have time to shout, he picked up the submachine gun that he always put by his side, pulled the trigger, the gunfire broke the silence of the night, and a sudden encounter began.

(To be continued)