Rise From Eight Hundred

Although the stingy old man was stingy enough, once he made up his mind, he was still very efficient.

Tang Dao led the new recruits from Qingmuchuan Town, passed Hanzhong, and arrived at Chang'an. After passing HZ City, the road was a hard soil road. The new recruits lined up in infantry companies and trotted all the way.

Since all heavy weapons were transported by pack horses, only 1,000 rifles and some light machine guns were issued first. The average weight of a soldier was less than ten kilograms. The physical fitness trained by 20 days of carrying weights in the mountainous areas of Sichuan Province began to play a role.

Especially when marching on such a flat road, the new recruits' forced marching speed reached 150 miles per day. The forced marching speed of 75 kilometers for 5 consecutive days made many elite troops look at it sideways.

In Chang'an, the new recruits received the military supplies sent to the railway station by the Yuancheng Arsenal. Tang Dao immediately ordered the whole army to change their equipment.

Taking the infantry company as a unit, each 15-man infantry squad is equipped with 11 rifles and 11 riflemen; one light machine gun, two main and deputy shooters; one grenade launcher, two main and deputy shooters; three infantry platoons each draw out an infantry squad, all members are not equipped with rifles, forming a machine gun platoon, equipped with 3 heavy machine guns and 1 mortar;

This is equivalent to an infantry company with 66 rifles, 6 light machine guns, 6 grenade launchers, 3 heavy machine guns and a mortar. This firepower is enough to crush a Japanese infantry squadron.

The soldiers are holding such sophisticated equipment. It would be a lie to say that they are not happy, but they are still a little worried.

Don't forget, they are new recruits. The new recruits who have been trained for more than two months have only fired 20 live ammunition at most. The elite soldiers specially prepared by Tang Jili for Tang Dao are not much stronger. Hitting an eight-ring or nine-ring wooden target at 150 meters away is a master.

4,500 people don't know how to use advanced gadgets like mortars and grenade launchers, and they haven't even touched light machine guns and heavy machine guns.

Don't know? Then learn on the spot!

Chang'an is one of the most important nodes of the Longhai Line. In order to wait for Tang Dao, the new recruits, to solve the urgent need in Tongguan, the commander of the 10th War Zone tried his best to transfer two trains to the station to wait for Tang Dao three days ago.

During the four or five days when the Sichuan Army's new recruits were running wildly on the road, the situation in Tongguan was extremely dangerous. The Japanese army not only mobilized thousands of people to cross the river with motorboats and rafts to attack, but also used extremely terrifying heavy artillery to sweep and clear the fortifications along the river.

Yes, the 280MM howitzer that Tang Dao mentioned was really moved to Fenglingdu on the other side of the river by the Japanese army.

In front of this heavy artillery, the various fortifications that the defenders had carefully built for more than half a year were like toys, and they were blown to ashes together with the defenders hidden in them.

In the first week of the war, the 28th Division of the 46th Army stationed in Tongguan lost nearly 1,500 officers and soldiers, most of whom were killed or wounded by the Japanese army's 12 150MM heavy artillery and the 280MM heavy artillery that started firing two days ago.

If the war continues like this, the huge casualties of the 28th Division will be a small matter, but the failure to stop the Japanese infantry who are ready to move across the river to establish positions will be a big deal.

Once the Japanese army opens up positions on the river bank and causes the Japanese army's follow-up forces to continue to pour in, Tongguan will be lost, even if there are high mountains and deep trenches as barriers.

Even two days ago, the Tenth War Zone Command in Chang'an had already activated the retreat plan. Once Tongguan could not be defended, the military and political departments of Chang'an would retreat to Hanzhong.

To put it bluntly, the new recruits led by Tang Dao were purely a last-ditch effort by the Tenth War Zone. However, even if it was a dead horse, the commander of the Tenth War Zone had made great efforts to dispatch two trains to pull the dead horse to the front line as soon as possible to see if the Japanese would have diarrhea after eating the dead horse meat.

Although the train was fast, the sky was still controlled by the Japanese army today, especially the Longhai Line, which was responsible for important transportation tasks and was often bombed by Japanese planes. In order to prevent the Japanese from taking it all, the trains could only be dispatched at night.

After loading all the weapons robbed from the stingy old man onto the train, the new recruits who had obtained a precious half-day rest time did not rest. Tang Dao negotiated with the deputy chief of staff of the Tenth War Zone who came to visit and set up a military control zone in a piece of farmland less than five miles away from the train station.

Fortunately, the crops had been harvested during this period, and the empty fields only needed to drive away irrelevant personnel. The thousand-acre farmland became a weapon test field for the recruits who had never touched light and heavy machine guns and mortars.

Seeing the soldiers of the Sichuan Army Recruit Corps clumsily spend half a day to load the ammunition belt and shoot at the front, the major general deputy chief of staff of the 10th War Zone just wanted to cover his forehead in pain.

This dead horse may be more dead than the commander of the war zone imagined, and it is almost rotten. Perhaps the Japanese can wipe it out completely without an infantry battalion.

On the other hand, Tang Tuanzuo looked at the poor performance of this group of recruits, but he didn't care. He also asked the new brothers in each machine gun platoon not to be stingy with ammunition and just shoot.

Not only a dead horse, but also a prodigal son. Seeing boxes of ammunition consumed by the recruits, the major general deputy chief of staff felt that he was not good at all. After using up the precious ammunition, you are holding a heavy machine gun to hit the Japanese or what?

"Don't worry, sir. Although the soldiers of the Second War Zone are guests, they won't take the initiative to ask the host for food. We have our own dry food!" Tang Tuanzuo seemed to see what the deputy chief of staff, the major general, was thinking, and smiled to reassure him.

Damn, the deputy chief of staff, the major general, wanted to kick the smiling face of a certain Tuanzuo at that time. If you don't want to ask the host for food, then don't say it!

But a guest said it shamelessly.

And this guest is going to risk his life for them. If he doesn't even give him a bite of food, where will the host put his face?

After a phone call, the commander of the 10th War Zone also gritted his teeth and allocated 100,000 rounds of light and heavy machine gun bullets to the new recruits from the already insufficient armory, and gave them another 10,000 yuan as a war allowance.

The money was not much, but Tang Tuanzuo didn't mind it. He distributed the 10,000 yuan to all the new recruits on the spot.

Ordinary infantrymen received two yuan each, squad leaders received three yuan, and platoon and company level soldiers received four yuan. The new recruits who received the cash were in high spirits and fired more bullets.

According to statistics, in just this afternoon, the Sichuan Army New Recruit Corps fired 300 artillery shells and nearly 150,000 rounds of various bullets, just like fighting a big battle.

If it weren't for soldiers and policemen promoting on the streets that this was a military combat exercise, the people in Chang'an would have thought that the Japanese were coming and almost fled Chang'an with their families.

But in Tang Dao's opinion, all these costs were worth it, at least the new recruits in the machine gun platoon were familiar with the procedures of firing bullets and shells.

They learned the basic operations, that's all.

"Sir, you have accompanied me so tirelessly. I am very grateful for the kindness of the Tenth War Zone. Before I leave, please help convey a message to Commander Jiang that the key to defending Tongguan is not the number of defensive troops, but the advantage of artillery fire! If there is no artillery that can counterattack, the Japanese army may organize a more fierce offensive after this battle! The situation in Central China is limited by national strength, not just a few heavy artillery!" Tang Dao said this to the deputy chief of staff of the major general when he exchanged salutes and said goodbye before entering the train compartment.

This is not Tang Dao's nonsense. In the past, the reason why Tongguan could defend for eight years without letting the Japanese army cross the river was that the heavy artillery deployed by the Japanese army was absolutely the key.

Yes, China also has heavy artillery, although a little less.

In 1934, China purchased 24 150MM heavy howitzers, which were the most advanced in the world at that time, from the German Krupp Arsenal. These 24 heavy artillery pieces alone accounted for 60% of the military expenditure at that time.

One of the two heavy artillery regiments composed of these 24 artillery pieces also participated in the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Nanjing, but due to the loss of air supremacy, the heavy artillery regiment did not show its due strength. Even in the retreat after the defeat of the Battle of Nanjing, because the roads were destroyed and could not be transported, 12 new artillery pieces were forced to be pushed into the Yangtze River.

But there are still 12 heavy artillery pieces still alive, becoming the most ferocious firepower output of the Chinese army at this time.

Because the threat from Tongguan was getting heavier, the commander of the 10th War Zone kept asking for it, so the big guy personally signed a transfer order to transfer 4 guns from one of the heavy artillery battalions to the Tongguan defense zone.

The 4 German heavy artillery became the nightmare of the Japanese army on the other side. It was not until this time that the poor little life found out the huge gap between itself and Western industry.

Although they were both 150MM heavy artillery, the range of the artillery produced by the Japanese military factory was much lower than that of the German one, which led to the Chinese four artillery being able to beat them up, but they could not hit the Chinese artillery.

Although there was no anti-artillery radar in this era, a rifle shot would produce a cloud of white gunpowder, not to mention large-caliber heavy artillery. The thick smoke could be seen from more than ten miles away when the weather was good.

It was not easy to transfer the larger caliber 280MM howitzer, but because the Germans did not give the Japanese the core technology, the Japanese-made artillery was unable to push the 200-kilogram warhead, and could only destroy the fortifications deployed by the Chinese army along the river bank. It was a dream to want to hit the opponent's heavy artillery ten kilometers away.

The Japanese army had thought about using fighter planes to destroy the four heavy guns with air superiority, but the high mountains and dense forests on the side of Tongguan made the Japanese planes only sigh in despair. The four heavy guns were hidden in the caves. Unless there were bombs that could blow down the entire mountain, they could only blow up rocks.

To put it bluntly, with these four 150MM heavy guns, the Chinese side completely suppressed the Japanese heavy artillery group, making it impossible for them to form a complete firepower advantage to cover the infantry to cross the Yellow River.

In this era, the war situation has changed. The Japanese army gathered heavy troops to cross the Yellow River in one fell swoop. Tang Dao led his army to help, but this was only a temporary solution. Even if this battle was won, it was just this battle. The Japanese army, which took the initiative on the battlefield, could launch a new attack at any time!

Tang Dao knew that in order to curb the Japanese army's fantasy, it was not only necessary to station heavy troops for defense, but also to have a weapon that could curb the Japanese heavy artillery.

Until this time, Commander Jiang was still hesitant, and Tang Dao could only add fuel to the fire artificially.

"Did Tang Dao really say that?" The Army General, who was sitting in the office, suddenly brightened up when he heard Tang Dao's words before leaving from his subordinates.

"Yes!" The Major General Chief of Staff replied respectfully.

"It's worth giving this little bit of ammunition and money. Just based on Tang Dao's suggestion that coincides with mine, it's worth the price!" The Army General stood up, and his frown finally relaxed.

"Send me a telegram to Chief He of the Military and Political Department, and tell him that if he wants to protect the Guanzhong Plain, he must get 150 heavy artillery fire support. For this, my 10th War Zone can issue a military order. If Tongguan is lost with the help of heavy artillery, all colleagues in the 10th War Zone will live and die together in Chang'an!"

"Sir, there's no need to do that," the Army Major General took a breath.

Is this commander crazy? He actually played such a big game because of Tang Dao's suggestion, and bet the lives of more than 20 generals and hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the war zone on the defense of Tongguan.

"You don't understand. This is not that I, Jiang, have gone crazy, but I have been forced to do something. This is the only way." The Army General shook his head and sighed.

"Now the Central China Campaign has reached the middle stage. Although there is the victory of Wanjialing, which has inspired the hearts of the army and the people, there are more than 300,000 Japanese troops participating in the war. Only 20,000 enemies are not enough to hurt them. Maintaining a draw is the best.

If Jiangcheng, an important town in Central China, falls after the war, the Japanese army will inevitably advance into South China. East China, Central China, and South China will all be lost. North China is now just struggling to support itself in a corner. The vast China will only have the northwest and southwest.

Tongguan is related to the safety of the northwest and even the southwest. If it is lost at this time..."

The Army General took a look at the dark city night sky due to the wartime blackout, and his eyes were already deep. Rumo paused for a long time before continuing:

"The lesson from the past is still there. Even if I have the trust of Commander He, I am afraid I can't keep this good head.

I was still a little hesitant before. After all, our army in Central China has already invested nearly one million troops. These few remaining heavy artillery are the heavy weapons that the commanders rely on, and they can even determine the victory or defeat of a battle. But today, Tang Dao reminded me, and I suddenly realized it. The situation in Central China has basically been determined, but Tongguan must not be lost again!"

"Does the commander think that Tang Dao's trip can change the situation of the war?" The major general of the army finally came to his senses at this time.

"Before Tang Dao said this, I just regarded it as a way to delay the Japanese offensive. Even if it can only hold on for two days, I can gather three more security groups to support it." The army general narrowed his eyes slightly.

"But now, I realize that this boy Tang Dao is worthy of his legendary military exploits. His battlefield tactics are varied, but his vision and perspective of the general situation are extremely wise and experienced.

What surprised me was not that he said this, but that he was only in his early twenties, which made me, an old soldier with more military experience than him, ashamed!

Maybe there is such a thing as genius in this world!"

The major general was stunned for a moment.

This evaluation is really high. You know, this guy is one of the so-called "Five Tiger Generals" under the big boss, and he was famous for a time as the "Flying General" in the warlord melee.

But what shocked the major general was the appointment that followed.

"In the name of the theater command, the Tongguan defense theater is established, and the commander of the 46th Army, Fan Songpu, is appointed as the commander-in-chief of the defense theater, the commander of the 28th Division stationed in Tongguan, Dong Zhao, is appointed as the chief of staff, and the commander of the Sichuan Army's new recruits regiment, Tang Dao, is appointed as the deputy chief of staff!"

Not to mention that the Tenth Theater was collectively confused by this letter of appointment, the stingy old man far away in the Second Theater also rubbed his scalp, which had not much hair, and muttered to himself: "Damn it, are you trying to dig into my Second Theater? It must be resolutely not allowed!"

Currently in Tongguan, in addition to two lieutenant generals of the army, there are two major generals and brigadiers. Any one of them is more senior than Tang Dao, but Tang Dao was put into the decision-making level.

If Tang Dao brought elite soldiers like the Four Lines Regiment, it would be fine. After all, they were a group of strong men who had dealt with a mixed brigade of the Japanese army. But with a bunch of recruits, Tang Dao could still be entrusted with such an important task. Anyone would probably be confused!

Not to mention the stingy old man who is known for being stingy.

The stingy old man took action immediately and sent the letter of appointment for the deputy director of the Ji'nan Administrative Office, which had been suppressed for a long time, to the Sihang Group!

Tang Dao looked at the two new official positions in the telegram and almost cursed.

Good fellow, you old guys are addicted to wholesale empty titles, right! What deputy chief of staff and deputy director, one is someone else's territory, and the other doesn't even have a territory, what's the point!

"How much is the military pay and salary?" Tang Dao's reply to the two commanders was really facing life.

The two army generals were collectively speechless.

In decades of military career, what kind of people have I not seen? But I have never met such a person who talks about money as soon as he opens his mouth.

Let's not talk about money, talk about love and life with you! Tang Tuanzuo has never been accustomed to such a boss. He refuses to draw big cakes to rectify the workplace. Tang Tuanzuo decided to start with me.

"Sir, can I, the deputy commander, also be paid at the level of lieutenant colonel?" Lü Sanjiang was deeply inspired and asked weakly.

"Did you see that position?" After complaining, Tang Tuanzuo glanced at his future reconnaissance company commander and pointed to the door of the carriage.

Go there to cool off! Long Yan understood instantly, and while laughing, he was also very glad that he didn't come forward first. He just imagined whether the commander of the baggage battalion should be paid at the level of major.

Of course, in addition to these senior officials who didn't quite understand the confusing commission of the commander of the general of the 10th War Zone, the two lieutenant generals of the army on the front line of Tongguan were even more confused.

'Where did this special good come from? How did he get the title of anti-Japanese hero commander? The Japanese he faced were a group of idiots with IQs lower than pigs! Why didn't we meet such idiots? '

This should be the first impression of the two lieutenant generals of the army when they saw the 'deputy chief of staff' who started talking and speaking as soon as he arrived.

Guaiguai: Did the pig offend you? Why do you use me as a background whenever you see Tiehanhan?