the world is at stake

The Far East is not the focus of the British Navy's deployment. Most of the British warships stationed in Singapore and Hong Kong are old.But one former dreadnought battleship, four cruisers, and eight destroyers are already strong enough.

The Chinese Navy at the moment?

The commander is Cheng Biguang.

This guy belongs to the "Xingzhonghui", and took refuge in Shanghai with the few broken ships such as "Haiqi" ​​and "Flying Eagle". dumb.

Faced with this situation, we can only rely on the National Defense Forces to break the enemy's blockade.

The intelligence team sent the movement of the enemy warships to Yangzhou, and then sent back to the imperial capital by the advance team's high-power radio.Wang Xin asked: "Britain and Japan openly interfered and prevented our troops from crossing the river. Will they fight or not?"

Xiao Jinlang personally called back, telling Zhou and Man of the pacification troops, as well as the frontline commanders, "Fight! The great powers only recognize fists and don't recognize reason.

People across the country are watching.If you win, I dare to quarrel with Britain and even break off diplomatic relations; if you lose, I will beg for mercy as a grandson. "

Man Luzuo was heading south with the Anti-Insurgency Headquarters and the second regiment-level combat team, while Zhou Qingfeng was working as a mascot in Nanyuan to boost morale, using a triplane to pretend to be intimidating.

The wording of Lao Xiao's telegram drove all the "Holy Light" officers in the army into a hurry, and they were all focused on driving the great powers out of the Yangtze River waters.

The question is how to fight?

At present, the heavy firepower of the anti-insurgency troops is 75 mm caliber mountain artillery.This kind of artillery is enough to hit Japanese [-]-ton patrol boats, not to mention destroyers and cruisers.

At present, the favorable conditions are that the waterway of the Yangtze River is limited, and the Jiajiang River and the canal are even narrower. British warships will definitely not be able to enter.The only ones who can harass our army are the small Japanese patrol boats.

These patrol boats were originally used by Japan in the Shanghai Concession for customs anti-smuggling and smuggling. There are a lot of them, but the tonnage is relatively small, and the equipment is only machine guns.Preset ambushes, and I can still kill a few of them, preventing them from entering the canal and threatening my troops going south.

At this moment on the river, the captain of the British cruiser 'Adventure', who was ordered to carry out the blockade mission, was also holding the binoculars, staring at the Japanese patrol boat following behind in the bridge.

The British sailors are sending semaphores to the Japanese patrol boats that are coordinating the blockade, asking the latter to divide into two batches and enter the Jiajiang River to block the water channel for the Chinese National Defense Forces to enter Yangzhou.

The first mate of the 'Adventure' leaned over and said with a smile: "Does the Chinese army dare to open fire on these small Japanese boats?"

"I bet they won't." The captain of the 'Adventure' shook his head, "Anyone with a normal mind can understand that Great Britain's interests in the Yangtze River Basin are inviolable. Behind those small Japanese ships is the powerful British navy."

The first officer continued to laugh, "I hope the Chinese can open fire, otherwise we would be bored in the Far East, and we would not have had a memorable battle in our entire service life."

The captain still shook his head, and said arrogantly: "It is too difficult to achieve this life achievement in East Asia. The British Empire has no rivals here."

There was no radio station on the Japanese patrol boats. After receiving the semaphore, five ships were separated and sailed into Jiajiang.The others continued to follow the British warships towards Nanjing. Their task was to repeatedly patrol the river from Yangzhou to Nanjing.

It's just that the 500-ton patrol boat felt uncomfortable entering the Jiajiang River at a distance of [-] meters. The Japanese lieutenant who led the team reminded several ships under his command to keep a little distance to avoid collision and grounding.

Especially don't run aground in such a tributary, it will become a living target.

"But our patrol boats ran fast and withdrew before the Chinese army responded. Even if they wanted to intercept with artillery, they couldn't catch up."

In the cockpit of his frigate, the lieutenant officer observed both sides of the bank with binoculars.He had already made up his mind to go to Yangzhou, fire a few shots at any target and then retreat.

The convenience of warships is good mobility.

In the "First Opium War", the British Navy continued to launch attacks along the southeast coast of China, making the defenders unable to cope and exhausted.

To deal with this style of play, one must have good means of detection and communication, and equip the counter firepower with wheels, otherwise the fortress defense can only be carried out in a rigid manner.

At the moment in Yangzhou City, Wang Xin's dozens of reconnaissance teams and seven or eight short-wave radio stations are constantly sending real-time enemy information to his headquarters.

The direction and speed of the enemy warship's movement, as well as the possible location of the next time period, are marked on the map of the command post.The self-propelled artillery company directly under the regiment headquarters is ready to go to a certain river section for an ambush.

There was also a special guest at the headquarters, Lieutenant Commander Otto von Spee of the German Navy.The major came from the German naval base in Qingdao to watch the upcoming war as a military observer.

When Wang Xin ordered the self-propelled artillery to attack, Major Spey volunteered, hoping to follow the self-propelled artillery company and see for himself how the artillery mounted on wheels launched an attack.

Considering the current 'friendly' relationship between China and Germany, Major Spee's request was granted.But before he set off, Wang Xin specifically asked, "Who is Maximilian von Spee?"

The major was also a little surprised, and replied, "That's my father."

"Wow...give my regards to Your Excellency the General." Wang Xin said.

Major Spey was a little confused, so he nodded in agreement and set off with the self-propelled artillery company.

Although the belt-driven truck is too backward and its mobility is greatly reduced on broken dirt roads, its overall advantage in carrying artillery is refreshing.

The current time is fourteen o'clock in the afternoon.

More than a dozen Japanese spies arrived in Yangzhou before the war.After Wang Xin's troops arrived, they tried many times to enter the camp to spy on them in the form of salesmen.

After being shot to death several people in a row, the Japanese spies could only squat on the road near the camp instead.They soon saw trucks loaded from the canal speeding out, but couldn't catch up.

Sitting in the cab of the truck, Spey could see farmers on their way, vendors carrying burdens, and women with children appearing on both sides of the road from time to time.

These people all showed surprised expressions as they dodged, and then they were left behind.

"Germany also needs trucks. A large number of trucks are not only used to transport soldiers, but also to transport combat equipment." Major Spee's thinking diverged, "It would be great if trucks could have the same armor and firepower as warships. .”

Outside Yangzhou City is mostly farmland, and the roads are narrow and potholed.

Thanks to the machine repair soldiers, none of the fifteen trucks of the self-propelled artillery company broke down halfway.They successfully arrived at Liaojiagou in the southeast of Yangzhou.

Jiajiang makes a [-]-degree turn here, and all ships have to slow down here.

Along the river are large fields and wild grass.In the gloomy weather, the wind and tide pushed down the blades of grass and rustled.

After the artillery company arrived, the deputy company commander personally led the team to set up an artillery observation post near the shore.The company commander commanded the six guns to open a distance of 50 meters, measure the distance and direction, and arrange the position.

Communication soldiers with telephone wires on their backs were running back and forth, arranging magnet telephones between the observation post and the position.In just 15 minutes, an artillery position 600 meters away from the river bend turned from noisy to quiet.

The company commander reported to his superiors on the radio that the battery was ready.

A large number of farmers by the river bend were terrified and curious. They found that these big soldiers who drove here were not here to grab things, but ran out to watch like silly spores.

The guards of the company took up guns to drive the civilians away from the battlefield, but the effect was very limited.At most, some women and children were driven out, and there were always some who were brave and not afraid of death.

Major Spey looked at his pocket watch. The minutes indicated fourteen forty-seven in the afternoon.It took less than an hour from the scouts to determine the enemy's situation to the commander's combat order and then to the artillery being in place.

"Quick response." The major praised secretly.He really wanted to see the artillery observation post on the front line, but he also wanted to know how the self-propelled artillery company worked.

Before the major could make a decision, the company's magnet phone rang.

The deputy company commander of the artillery observation post sent a message, "Five Japanese patrol boats have appeared, and their queue length is more than 400 meters. They will slow down and pass Liaojiagou in about 3 minutes."

The six self-propelled artillery put down their hoe and firmly fixed on the position.Each cannon is connected to the company headquarters by a hand-cranked telephone, under the unified command of the company commander, and the muzzle has been adjusted to the corresponding position.

All the gun crews held their breath and waited for the firing of shells.

The political commissar from the regiment headquarters is doing the final ideological work, asking the soldiers to be calm, brave and good at fighting—to fight the Eastern devils first today, and to fight the Western devils tomorrow, so as to express our anger for our Chinese men.

Chapter 28 Ambush

In the Liaojiagou section of the Jiajiang River, the 300-degree bend is only [-] meters wide.Considering that the river section is silted up all the year round and lacks dredging, the river area that can really sail safely has to be reduced by half.

This information was thoroughly familiarized by the spies of Little Japan before the Sino-Japanese War, and it was even clearer than the river management department of the Chinese Water Transport Governor.

Takeda Zhongzuo, who led the team into Jiajiang, was very careful, worrying that the waterway would run aground.He ordered a small patrol boat of fifty or sixty tons to explore the way ahead, and four larger ones followed.

In order to pass the sharp turn of the river, the small frigate was slowing down.

Nakazuo Takeda signaled his subordinates to signal to the rear and slow down together.The speed of the five Japanese ships with plaster flags was not fast, but this time it was reduced to five or six knots.

There were a lot of wooden fishing boats on the river. Seeing these flamboyant oriental boats, they all rowed and evaded quickly.The artillery observation posts of the National Defense Forces ambushing on the river bank opened their eyes wide, sweating in their palms.

Since 1840, China has been passively beaten and bullied by foreigners. This is the first time that China has turned to ambush foreigners.Although this Japanese devil is a fake foreigner, he is also a group of foreigners.

Can it be done?What are the consequences?No one knows.

On the wired telephone, the deputy company commander of the observation post kept reporting the movement of enemy ships on the river.In the field more than 500 meters away, the company commander held two microphones, and while listening to the report from the observation post, he was preparing to give orders to the six artillery pieces.

The first small patrol boat passed by, the second hundred-ton large boat passed by, the third...the fourth...all the patrol boats passed the center line of the river very accurately.

When the third Japanese patrol boat was about to pass, the company commander heard the message in the left-hand microphone, and immediately shouted into the right-hand microphone: "There are all companies, 550 meters away from the Liaojiagou River Bend, test-fire once in a while. "

The whole company has three platoons, each with two gun carriages.Start with car number one and fire at three-second intervals. The 75mm mountain artillery roared, and the sound of the artillery shook, which scared the people around to watch the excitement.

Two seconds after the firing, the shells landed on the river in Liaojiagou, and jets of water shot up into the sky one after another around the third Japanese patrol boat.

According to the order of landing, the observation post will send back the calibration information through the phone, so that each artillery that shoots indirectly can fine-tune the muzzle position.The first five rounds could only be regarded as near misses, but the sixth round hit the big luck.

The total weight of the 75mm mountain cannon's grenade is only five kilograms, and the warhead weighs only two kilograms, and the internal charge has to be halved.Its power is very small in artillery.

But the [-]-[-]-ton patrol boat was made of wood, and was smashed through the hull by a two-kilogram grenade warhead and exploded inside the boat.The shock wave opened a dark hole in the pilot's cab, and the captain inside was killed on the spot.

The sound of the cannon sounded, and Takeda Nakazuo, who was in command in front, was already shocked.He came out of the cockpit where he was, and watched his men being beaten.

After the grenade exploded, it formed a smoky orange flame, and the water column formed by the first five rounds either vacated or fell, which just became its beautiful foil.

It was simply luck that the test shot hit the target directly.

The deputy company commander of the observation post stared carefully with the binoculars for a few seconds, and cheered happily through the wired phone: "Car No. [-] has done a great job and hit the target."

The company commander was even more ecstatic, and shouted to the whole company: "Three quick shots."

The six gun carriages finished loading one by one, and the gun bores were cleared and locked.According to the calibration information provided by the observation post, all gunners began to operate mechanically.

Fire, extract, reload.

Within ten seconds, a series of splashes rose from the curve of the river, and the third Japanese patrol boat suffered a large number of near misses. The hull was washed over and over again by the river water, and two more shells hit it.

Since the No. [-] boat was turning, no one came to control the rudder after the cab lost control.The boat was beaten helplessly and ran aground in shallow water.

There were two small breech-loading cannons on board, but no one was manipulating them.Instead, a few Japanese marines ran out screaming and jumped straight into the icy river.

"Baga!" Takeda Nakazuo in the front was shocked and angry. He had already confirmed that his side was ambushed, and probably knew that the opponent was on the west bank of the river, not too far away from him.

The five patrol boats are all wooden hulls, and their firepower is weaker than that of a 75mm mountain gun. They only have machine guns and small-caliber one-pounder guns.It's okay for them to bully the fishing boats, but staying where they are and confronting the shore is absolutely dead.

"Speed ​​up and leave this bend in the river." Takeda Nakazuo ordered to the flag bearer, but when he looked back at the two patrol boats behind the team, he knew that his own situation was extremely bad.

The No. [-] boat was hit and ran aground, and the four boats in front and behind were cut in two.If you want to accelerate forward, the two boats behind have to keep up with the shells.If they turned around and escaped, all four boats had to slow down and circle around in place.

If they run away from each other, the counterattack firepower will be halved, and it is easy to be defeated individually.

After the bombardment started, the people on both sides of the river not only did not escape, but ran out to watch the fun as if they encountered something strange.When it was found that the Dongyang patrol boat with the plaster flag was beaten and smoked and ran aground, there were countless cheers.

The Japanese No. [-] boat received an order from Takeda Zhongzuo and accelerated forward.The two small breech-loading cannons on the boat were aimed at the approximate direction of the shore artillery, and they were firing desperately, aimlessly emboldened.

After killing the No. [-] boat, six gun carriages corrected the muzzles, and focused their fire on the No. [-] boat, which was also passing through the [-]-degree bend.But the boat slammed and accelerated too fast, and rushed to the shallows of the river by itself, unable to move on the spot.

Takeda Nakazuo, who was fleeing ahead, screamed angrily, losing a ship for nothing.

To make matters worse, the No. [-] boat at the end determined that the bend in the river was a trap. Seeing that its two companion ships were both stranded, it judged that the river channel was blocked, so it turned around and ran away.

I don't know if this kind of operation should be said to be too clever or too stupid.Anyway, when it started to turn around, all the six mountain guns that were originally on the No. [-] boat turned to the No. [-] boat.

After all, the ship that ran aground could not escape, so it is better to fight the one that can escape.

Takeda Nakazuo watched his men circling in place, and watched it being surrounded by rounds of artillery fire and water jets.He didn't know whether to burst into tears or curse.

Because soldiers on the No. [-] boat kept running out of the cabin to operate the artillery on the fore and aft decks, like wild boars, grunting and screaming, and were constantly killed by shrapnel from near-miss bombs, sweeping into the river bend, blood Dip dyed.

There were only a dozen or 20 people on a patrol boat, and the full-time gunners died quickly.The hull of the boat was leaking from a near-miss bomb, and the waterline seemed to have broken the steering glass of the cab, but there were several large holes below the waterline.

The No. 2 patrol boat, which was more than [-] meters long and nearly [-] tons, took [-] minutes to complete the deceleration turn and restarted to accelerate and escape.In the process, it was never directly hit by the shell.

But with such good luck, boat No. 2 was slowly sinking while driving. Within [-] minutes, its deck was level with the river.After a while, the cab was flooded, and in half a minute, only the plaster flag on the mast was left floating on the water.

The Japanese sailors in the boat were stubborn, and no one escaped from the boat until it finally sank under the Jiajiang River.Even the artillery observation post on the west bank praised the enemy for being stupid and tenacious, and then directed the artillery fire to the No. [-] boat, which became a living target.

Takeda Nakazuo beat his chest angrily at this moment.His No. [-] boat and the remaining No. [-] boat crossed the [-]-degree bend in Liaojiagou. The pressure of the steam engine was maintained at the highest level, accelerated to [-] knots, and ran a few hundred meters away from the ambush circle.

But this did not change the plight of the Japanese patrol boat team. After all, the river course was in front of them, and the Japanese army could not go ashore. If they continued to move forward, they would only go deeper and deeper into the Jiajiang River.

What lies ahead is still unknown.

Spread out the river map, in front of Liaojiagou is Shaobo Lake in the upper reaches of Yangzhou.The remaining two Japanese patrol boats either took a detour and entered the narrower Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, or they had to turn around and break into the shore artillery positions.

There was no radio on Takeda Nakazuo's boat, and the British would not know of his attack, let alone come to rescue him.He could only continue driving forward in a daze, without the courage to turn around and break through.

On the position of the self-propelled artillery company, hundreds of officers and soldiers are cheering their own "huge" victory.The results of the three patrol boats are precious to China at the moment, and the price paid by the whole company is only more than 100 shells.

Major Spee of Germany was even more encouraged. He ran back and forth on the ground, shouting excitedly in German, "The combination of radio, truck, and artillery is exactly what Germany needs. This way of fighting will change warfare."

The artillery company commander used the radio to report the battle situation, and after a while he loudly ordered on the field phone, "The first row and the second row are stationed on the spot, and the third row starts the truck and follows me."

Major Spey asked with an interpreter, "What else are you going to do?"

"The superior ordered us to take advantage of our mobility to pursue the escaped two Japanese patrol boats, and not allow them to get close to the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal." The artillery company commander shouted, and the third platoon immediately gathered the trucks to hoe, and completed the transfer within 5 minutes together with an ammunition vehicle. Prepare.

Major Spey shouted: "Yes, yes, this is the maneuverability of quick strikes and quick retreats. The artillery vehicles can maneuver back and forth in multiple positions to avoid being covered by enemy counter fire. This is what European artillery has been pursuing. The goal."

It was almost [-] o'clock in the afternoon, and two self-propelled artillery vehicles with ammunition vehicles set off quickly, chasing Takeda Nakazuo who had fled along the field dirt road by the river bank.

A gun carriage broke down, its chassis drive belt severed by the bad road.Only the company commander continued to move forward with the remaining gun carriage.

As the gun cart was advancing, Takeda Nakazuo, who was fleeing for his life, found the self-propelled gun cart appearing and disappearing on the bank of the river.He thought it was just an ordinary military truck, but he quickly recognized the artillery loaded on the carriage through the binoculars.

Sogas!

No wonder I was attacked. It turned out that the Chinese mounted artillery on trucks for rapid maneuvering.