Rise From Eight Hundred

There are many factors that determine victory on the battlefield.

The soldier's desire to win and strong will are undoubtedly the most critical link!

But in addition, the commander's wise decision, sufficient firepower, pre-war preparation, the solidity of fortifications, smooth communication, etc. are all key to victory or defeat.

And this time, the technology that Tang Dao has improved for the entire regiment has nothing to do with firepower or anything else. It is the biggest shortcoming of the Four Lines Regiment since its establishment-communication!

The little butterfly from the future certainly knows the importance of communication to an army!

Communication is a force multiplier, and it also allows precise application, while shortening decision-making time and information transmission.

You can know more quickly where you are being attacked, where someone is weak, and where an advantage is suppressed.

This allows those overwhelmed troops to immediately let others know this fact and request air support, artillery, or more people to assist, if possible. On the other hand, in the worst case, it can also tell you where to "not" submit troops.

A group of infantrymen without the ability to communicate with themselves is isolated, and isolation is one of the factors of defeat on the battlefield.

A famous general once said: Communication and coordination are the difference between a thousand armed thugs and an army.

The main advantage of the army is organization. Without effective coordination, you can't use the firepower you have, and this requires communication.

On a battlefield full of artillery fire, radio communication is much faster, more accurate, and more difficult to interrupt than older methods such as runners, flags, or pigeons.

The German Empire Blitzkrieg that broke out in 1939, in fact, the German tanks were not much stronger than the Gallic Rooster tanks. The reason why they were able to quickly win that war, in Tang Dao's view, was two advantages: speed and communication!

Speed ​​means that the Germans can break the defense before the Gauls react, and communication can coordinate these breakthroughs instead of fighting alone. Even if the front line advances 100 kilometers a day, the highest command will know where its troops have arrived.

Under limited conditions, Tang Dao distributed the radio communications of the Four-Line Regiment to the infantry company-level combat units. Each infantry company had a low-power field radio. Before the war, the communications company needed to assist the infantry companies in setting up wired telephones. Once the telephone lines were cut by artillery fire, they had to risk their lives to connect the wires.

In the three years of the northern battlefield, the number of communications soldiers sacrificed by the entire Four-Line Regiment reached 100, and its combat loss rate was not much lower than that of the front-line troops.

And this communication configuration has actually far surpassed the current Chinese army and even their opponents.

But in Tang Dao's view, this is still not enough, no, it should be far from enough.

In terms of military wireless communications, the Americans have indeed stood at the top of the planet since this era, and even won this global war. Many military strategists believe that if there is no sufficiently developed wireless communication, they may still win this war with their strong industrial strength, but it will never be so fast.

The Japanese have accumulated nearly a hundred years of national strength for three generations, and they were beaten to their knees by the Americans in just over three years.

Therefore, as early as two years ago, Tang Dao persuaded Laura to go to the United States to find a manufacturing company called "Calvin". Even though Laura did not understand why Tang Dao would spend so much effort to acquire a company that manufactures car radios, she still chose to trust Tang Dao because she knew that he would never do anything meaningless.

Laura soon felt that this company was unusual. Even if she increased the stake to 5 million US dollars, the founder of "Calvin" Manufacturing Company still refused to give up the controlling rights. This was a rare thing for the capital crocodiles who used money to hit people in the capital market.

It didn't matter if she couldn't control the company. She could always participate in the shares and make suggestions and cooperate. Laura quickly changed her strategy and changed the acquisition to win-win cooperation.

And under the secret suggestion of Tang Dao, the "conspirator" behind the scenes, she found the Army Department, hoping to provide the army with a wireless communicator that could directly reach the squad.

The Army Department was naturally very interested in this kind of technology and hard work that was offered to them. In mid-1939, it put forward a demand plan, requiring the company and battalion-level radios provided by the "Galvin" company to be powered by batteries, weigh no more than 8 kilograms, be easy to carry, and allow soldiers to carry them on their backs. The transmitter and receiver will use the 0 to 0 MHz FM band, divided into 200 MHz segments to produce a total of 41 channels. An operating distance of 8 kilometers is specified, and appropriate circuit noise elimination is provided to promote clear reception.

For such high technical parameters, Laura, who is behind all this, is not optimistic, but only Tang Dao knows that they can do it.

Because this small company will be called Motorola in the future! Since the United States entered the war, the famous squad-level walkie-talkies SCR-536 and SCR-300 came from this small company with a registered capital of only US$500 and an initial staff of only 5 people.

In early 1940, the Galvin Company tested its first-generation battalion and company-level radio prototypes, with a communication distance of an astonishing 12 kilometers. The infantry radio walkie-talkie, which weighed only 3 kilograms and was used at the squad level, had a communication distance of 1,600 meters.

Although the radio communication distance and effect would be reduced in mountainous areas and dense forests due to terrain factors, this had already greatly exceeded the requirements of the US Army Department.

Therefore, in mid-1940, the U.S. Department of the Army placed a huge order with this company. As a shareholder of this company, Laura naturally helped Tang Dao order 1,500 squad walkie-talkies and 200 battalion and company walkie-talkies. grade radios and other ancillary equipment.

Hurrying slowly, we finally arrived at the headquarters of Rockefeller Far East Company in the mountain city in mid-December, near the end of the year.

But this time, Tang Dao didn't pay a penny, and even made a fortune.

Because some people within the Rockefeller Company were not optimistic about the company, they gave up 15% of the shares to the Chinese company when they participated in the shares. This made the Rockefeller Group's shareholding only 12%, which was less than Shareholdings in Chinese companies.

Since the Army Department has an order of 30,000 units and has paid 50% of the funds in advance, this small company’s profit this year is as high as one million U.S. dollars. As the major shareholder’s dividend, Chinese Company Nine can receive nearly 200,000 U.S. dollars. , not only could this be used to pay for the goods, but he even made a profit of nearly one hundred thousand dollars.

Moreover, Tang Dao knew that this was only the first batch of orders. With the outbreak of the Pacific War, not only would the U.S. military continue to place more orders, but it would also pay for a group of scumbag allies.

Both models of radio communication equipment start with an order of 100,000 yuan! The technicians at Calvin Company are just geeks, not stupid. After possessing this patent, the post-war gadget that the Chinese will call "Big Brother" in the future will be sold all over the world.

Of course, the reality in front of us is that the Four Elements Group has finally completely realized the most basic 'digitization' of Tang Dao's needs, even if it is analog digitization.

For front-line infantry, each infantry squad will have three walkie-talkies named "Hummingbirds". One is carried by the infantry squad leader, one is carried by the mortar operator, and one is carried by the deputy squad leader or precision shooter.

The infantry platoon headquarters has two units, one carried by the platoon communications trooper and one carried by the medical trooper, which is equivalent to having one as a backup machine.

To the company headquarters, it is equipped with two individual walkie-talkies, a radio capable of sending telegraphs and voice calls, and a field radio originally equipped.

To this end, the communications company deliberately dispatched two additional communications soldiers to each front-line infantry company headquarters to avoid increasing the company headquarters' load due to the SCR-300, which weighs 15 kilograms.

At the battalion headquarters, an individual walkie-talkie and two SCR-300 radios were added, plus two communication soldiers who had undergone brief training.

It is not the four infantry battalions that are equipped with individual wireless walkie-talkies, but the reconnaissance company and the mountain infantry company, which basically reaches the density of a three-person team.

If necessary, any fire team can request troop support and artillery support within a straight line distance of 1,600 meters from one's own main force.

If the Four Lines Regiment is compared to a person, then the scouts scattered outside the position are like human nerve endings, which can coordinate the overall movements of the Four Lines Regiment at any time.

Long Yan, who had already boarded the ship, used a walkie-talkie to talk to his brother-in-law Shen Laoliu who was still hiding in the woods on the shore, and his eyes turned red with excitement.

The current platoon leader is no longer the copycat man who showed off his hair to protect his heart. Saying goodbye to his comrades again and again has already matured him into a mature young man.

In the past two years, the green hair on his lips has turned into a beard. Although he occasionally looks a little out of place, due to his performance on the battlefield, even veterans with five or six years of military experience will be surprised when they see him. Be the first to stand at attention and salute.

But the moment he heard his brother-in-law's voice, Long Yan, who was already mature enough, was still as excited as a child who got his favorite toy, and almost shed tears.

He knows very well what this means, which means that no matter which group of comrades is trapped, the comrades not far away will get the news as soon as possible and rush to support immediately. Even if people cannot arrive in a short time, 60 The forced artillery shells will also provide fire support based on the coordinates provided by the comrades.

What a pity it is to be too late!

He only listened to the story of his company commander Gu Xishui and Yao Meier once, and he knew why the company commander always looked in the direction of the martyrs' cemetery and why there was so much melancholy in his eyes.

I know you are in danger, but I don’t know where you are; I know you are about to leave, but my legs only have the strength to travel less than 30 yards per hour; when I arrive, I only see your gray eyes looking into the distance!

I know you have never complained about me, but I can never forget it in my life. It was the injury you left me!

But now, with this good thing, brother, you just need to tell me where you are!

Tang Tuanzuo estimated that the combat effectiveness of the entire regiment would be increased by at least 10%, but in the eyes of the grassroots officers and soldiers of the Sixings Regiment, it was more than 10%, and it was simply a life-saving weapon.

In critical moments, they can even contact the company commander directly and request fire support from the company headquarters' 82nd force or even the battalion's artillery 80mm mortar.

Of course, when the communication equipment was distributed, Tang Dao also compiled a communication regulations manual overnight, which strictly stipulated that under those circumstances, the infantry team could directly contact the company headquarters without bypassing the platoon leader. Under normal combat conditions, each platoon should still contact the company headquarters. Fire support and distribution are weighed by the company headquarters.

Otherwise, assuming that an infantry squad has three walkie-talkies, and a company has dozens of walkie-talkies, and all of them contact the company headquarters when a war breaks out, then the company commander can just answer the phone wherever he wants.

However, this is also the first time that the Four Elements Group has entered the era of wireless communication. Many advantages and disadvantages will be tested in battle.

The Battle of Shipai is the examination room for the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Regiment who have taken the lead in wireless communications in this era!

The result was unexpected, the first battle to test the communication system that the Four Lines Regiment had just upgraded was actually from the air.

Lu Kuixian and his Minsheng Company were already extremely efficient. With the large number of personnel, horses, and supplies in the Four Lines Regiment, and the need to conduct personnel audits internally, and the influence of multiple factors such as military confidentiality externally, the entire fleet took only three days and nights to assemble and set off.

This was enough for the Four Lines Regiment to arrive at the Shipai Fortress area twice as early as the 20-day deadline required by the war zone.

Although the Japanese army's intentions were obvious, its forces were still gathering. Every day the Four Lines Regiment arrived earlier, it had one more day to build fortifications, which was naturally beneficial and harmless.

Lu Kuixian did not say goodbye to Tang Dao. As the general manager, he also boarded the leading 500-ton iron-hulled ship on the day the fleet set off.

In his original words: This is a battle. The employees of my company are soldiers, and I, the general manager, am the supreme commander. How can the soldiers go to the front line while I, the commander, sit in the back and wait for news?

This not only has the spirit of a generation of private entrepreneurs, but also the heroism of the Chinese people who are determined to serve the country. Tang Dao did not persuade him anymore, but accompanied him to board the No. 1 boat.

Lu Kuixian was not a soldier, but he also knew that the leading boat was the most dangerous. If he were the enemy, he would also attack the leading boat first to force the fleet to slow down to facilitate the subsequent attack.

Just as he was about to persuade him, he saw Tang Dao's calm eyes sweeping across the wide river. He couldn't help but smile knowingly and said no more.

He, the general manager, wanted to motivate his employees with practical actions, so how could Tang Dao, the supreme commander, not think so?

Even if I have to die, it's me, the biggest one, who will die first! This is the answer that the middle-aged and young people quietly gave to the thousands of people on the boat.

The boatmen were nervous, not because they were afraid of water. This big river was where they made a living. They didn't know how many times they had to go back and forth in a year. What they were afraid of was the Japanese planes. However, the bodies of more than a hundred colleagues who were shot to death by Japanese machine gun bullets in the great retreat that ended just a few days ago were still warm. As ordinary people, how could they not be afraid?

The officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment, who had been tested by war for a long time, were actually nervous. They were not afraid of Japanese planes and bombs, but water.

In such a big river, in winter, if the ship was blown up by Japanese planes, only one in a hundred people on the ship could reach the shore alive.

They might not be so afraid of death, but they were unwilling to die before reaching the battlefield.

Commander Tang once again stabilized the morale of the army at this critical moment.

Although the day when the huge transport fleet set out was indeed a foggy day as expected by the old boatman, the reduction of the threat from the air caused the fleet to slow down to avoid hitting the reefs in the dangerous shoal.

This also caused the fleet that could reach the Shipai Fortress Ferry within 3 days by going downstream to be delayed for at least half a day.

It was this half-day delay that gave the Japanese army an opportunity.

At 10 a.m. on January 8, 1941, a soldier in the mast lookout frantically rang the bronze bell.

Several black dots flew in the distant sky one after another, and soon, the dull roar of aircraft engines could be heard.

Four Zero fighters were approaching the fleet at high speed along the turbulent river at an altitude of less than 800 meters.

The air force fighters that had agreed to escort had just passed over the fleet not long ago, and should be returning at this time.

Obviously, this was a carefully designed ambush plan. The Japanese army should have known that China would have reinforcements arriving in Shipai by shipping, and they had seized the gap very accurately, which obviously mobilized high-level spies.

However, they should not know the number of the reinforcements, otherwise, they would not have dispatched 40 fighters instead of 4.

Even if the commander of the 11th Army, Commander Isamu Yokoyama, was a fool, he would know how cost-effective it was to exchange dozens of fighters for a four-line regiment.

"All gun positions, remove the gun covers, first-level alert! When Japanese planes enter the range, each company and platoon can decide the shooting area independently!" Cheng Tieshou, who was sitting in cabin No. 1 with Tang Dao, put down the telescope, picked up the walkie-talkie, and issued an order.

"Company 1 received it!"

"Company 2 received it!"

"Company 3 received it!"

The three company commanders of the air defense battalion replied from the walkie-talkie.

Lu Kuixian, who was standing by, was confused. What the hell was this? How could he make a phone call? The helmsman of China's largest shipping company was sure that there was absolutely no telephone line between the ships.

"Manager Lu, sir, you should go to the bunker to hide! The Japanese aircraft-mounted machine guns are no joke." Cheng Tieshou didn't have time to explain the new communication tool in his hand to Lu Kuixian, and directly issued an expulsion order to the two.

Although it cannot protect against airplane bombs, the officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment are good at protecting against bullets. Ordinary soldiers built a half-meter-high bulletproof area in the cabin with wooden boards and sandbags, and also built a temporary shelter on the ship with 10mm thick steel plates.

"Brother Lu, whether we can be safe this time depends entirely on Captain Cheng. Since he has spoken, we'd better obey his orders." Tang Dao smiled slightly, took Lu Kuixian's hand and walked towards the shelter.

Tang Dao had seen a lot of gunfire and rain of bullets, so he would not take a few Japanese planes seriously, but Lu Kuixian was an important person, and he couldn't let him have any accidents here.

Each gun position was basically equipped with a walkie-talkie, and there were different frequencies between squads, platoons, and companies. The orders were quickly issued layer by layer. In less than 30 seconds, each gun position had clearly identified the area it needed to shoot.

How much more efficient than before?

The anti-aircraft artillerymen of the Four-line Regiment, who had countless air defense experiences, now understood the importance of collective cooperation. Unless they had to, they rarely used a 20mm machine gun to fight against Japanese planes like Cheng Tieshou did in the past.

The anti-aircraft gunners were now shooting at one area, with several or even more anti-aircraft machine guns forming a barrage in the airspace. Once the Japanese planes flew in, they would be shot into sieves by bullets and shrapnel.

When the Japanese planes were about 2,000 meters away from the fleet, they were ready to start dropping bombs.

After blowing up several ships in front, the remaining ships that had to slow down would become their prey.

This is probably the first reaction of any naval pilot after seeing a huge merchant fleet.

The bombs carried by the four fighters can even easily destroy a 2,000-ton destroyer.

However, the white mushrooms blooming in the airspace around them really scared the Japanese planes.

What the hell? How could there be anti-aircraft guns here?

During the emergency evasion, several 500-pound bombs were thrown out.

The ships of the Chinese fleet are actually small boats. The targets are not big. Even if they are thrown seriously, they may not be able to hit them, let alone this kind of blind base bully.

The sky-high water column only more than 50 meters away from Ship No. 1 made the relatively large hull shake violently, and Cheng Tieshou's big black face was slightly pale.

If this big guy hits the ship, more than 300 people on their ship will become martyrs, or the kind of cenotaph.

The frightened Japanese planes did not give up after all. While raising their altitude to avoid anti-aircraft guns, they did not choose to change their route. They still wanted to fly over the fleet at high speed, trying to observe the situation and decide on the next tactic.

They probably didn't expect that this fleet, which was connected end to end for more than 3,500 meters, was now like a porcupine with its thorns spread out. Not to mention their combat power similar to that of the "African Second Brother", even if it was a lion, if it wanted to eat our flesh, it would have to stab you with holes.

The four Japanese planes crashed into the layers of bullets that had been coordinated by walkie-talkies at a speed of more than 380 kilometers.

There were 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, 20mm machine guns, 7mm heavy machine guns, and even MG42 machine guns.

The gunfire that instantly resounded across the river was deafening, and the smoke from the muzzles of various calibers was like a layer of mist rising on the river.

The four smart little guys that could have dominated the Pacific Ocean were actually defeated on this famous river in China.

Apart from dropping 4 bombs, they didn't fire a single shot. Before they even reached the end of the fleet, they were like birds with broken wings. Two of them crashed into the mountains on both sides, and two of them plunged directly into the surging river.

Splashing the faces of the anti-aircraft gunners on the ship with water!

What a good ice! A machine gunner came down from the shooting position, cursing.

So pretentious, a shivering boatman hiding behind a bunker was stunned!