Rise From Eight Hundred

Chapter 1411 Hang up the sail! (Please give me a monthly ticket!)

 The Great Patriotic War has lasted for more than ten years. From east to west, from south to north, the land of China has been filled with smoke and flames of war. Blood and sacrifice have become the norm.

However, it is rare to find a location that is qualified to build a dedicated Anti-Japanese War monument after the war.

Located at the intersection of a mountain stream and a river in the upper reaches of Yiling, there is such an 8.15-meter-high monument. It quietly looks at the surging river that continues to flow eastward, reminding future generations not to forget that in this lofty mountains, , countless martyrs once shed their blood here.

 The famous Battle of Shipai is something that anyone who studies the history of China’s Patriotic War cannot ignore.

Tang Dao was naturally very clear. He knew that there were actually two battles to defend Shipai. One was not long after the New Year in 1941. The Japanese army that had occupied Yiling launched an attack here in order to open up the gateway to the mountain city of Peidu, China. They retreated without success; the second time was in May two years later, when the Japanese army assembled two divisions and one brigade to launch a fierce attack here again, resulting in the death of 14,000 Chinese officers and soldiers.

 A battlefield with an area of ​​no more than 3 square kilometers actually killed an entire division of Chinese soldiers. This shows the cruelty of this battle.

You must know that in the Battle of the Five Sacred Mountains, which defeated the will of the American people in a battle on the snowy plains of the future, the entire mountaintop was blown down 2 meters after 43 days of fierce fighting. The Chinese soldiers only lost 11,500 people, of which nearly 5,000 were killed. Far less than this battle.

Tang Dao knew even more that this battle belonged to the glory of the 18th Army in the Third War Zone. It was also after this battle that the Lieutenant General Hu of the 11th Division of the 18th Army who guarded the central axis rose to the top and became the one who could fight with his subordinates. The famous general who competed with the commander of the Tenth Theater.

But the rut of history has turned a corner here. The Four Troops Regiment, which was waiting for news of the transport ship outside the mountain city, received a telegram from the Fifth Theater Headquarters, ordering Tang Dao to lead the Four Troops Regiment to arrive at Shipai Fortress within 20 days at the latest, and join the Fourth Troops Regiment. The 18th Army belonging to the three theaters jointly defended against powerful enemies.

It turned out that after capturing Yiling, the Japanese army still did not stop. The Japanese Eleventh Army active in Hunan Province actually dispatched two divisions to march towards Yiling. This would bring the number of Japanese troops in western Hubei to 170,000. people.

 What do the Japanese want to do? The answer is already there.

Not to mention the big bosses of the Military and Political Department were frightened to death by the Japanese madness, even Tang Dao was also greatly surprised.

I don’t know if it was because the Japanese suffered a setback on the defense line in Hunan Province, or because they suffered huge losses in the last mountain city bombing, so they were greatly stimulated to come up with the routine that was supposed to be two years later in time and space.

The strategic purpose of the Japanese launching the Zaoyi Battle was actually very simple. They just hoped to occupy Yiling and obtain a bridgehead leading to the mountain city, and then use this to conquer the mountain city and completely eliminate China's highest resistance force once and for all.

 But conquering Yiling is only the first step. In order to attack the mountain city, the Yangtze River channel must be kept open, and the Chinese defenders along the Yangtze River must be eliminated.

And the Shipai Fortress stuck on the right bank of Xiling Gorge is a must-take!

The Yangtze River made a 110-degree turn here. Six 190mm-caliber fortress guns were deployed in the fortress. Not to mention transport ships, even cruisers could not withstand a few hits from such big guys.

Of course, the mountains are high and the water is deep here, and there are no roads. If you just want to attack from the front, you don't know how much it will cost. The purpose of the Japanese army investing heavily is to surround it on all sides, carry out a frontal attack and breakthrough, and attack Shipai. Continuous attacks were carried out from behind the two wings of the fortress.

To this end, in addition to the perimeter of the fifth theater defense line in western Hubei, the Japanese army invested more than 60,000 people in the attack. On the battlefield belonging to Shipai Fortress, they also invested two divisions and one brigade, a total of five More than 10,000 people.

The 18th Army has about 30,000 troops. The Japanese army has 50,000 vs. 30,000 troops. It has the upper hand in strength and heavy firepower. The only advantage China has is the terrain. The key to final victory depends on the battle. will.

 But this time, the 11th Army transferred two more divisions to western Hubei, with a total strength of 170,000. The pressure on the Shipai defense line was greater than before.

The 18th Army is already the strongest elite in the Third War Zone. The Fifth War Zone is currently struggling with 100,000 Japanese troops. It is already trying its best to mobilize troops from the Ninth War Zone. It is too late to transfer troops from the Ninth War Zone. The Four Lines Regiment that has just arrived in the mountain city will naturally become the Military and Political Department. And the first choice in the fifth theater.

The military orders were overwhelming. Even though the battle situation was beyond Tang Dao's expectation, Tang Dao readily accepted the military orders.

Although a deadline of 20 days was given, the transportation of a heavy armored regiment of several thousand people cannot be completed overnight. The Ministry of Military Affairs has tried its best to summon all kinds of ships, even ships that can only carry an infantry squad. All medium-sized fishing boats were requisitioned.

The Yangtze River at this time is not the Yangtze River that will be built into China's largest reservoir in the future. In addition to the beautiful scenery, the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River also has surging rivers with turbulent water and dense shoals.

 In addition to dangerous natural factors, there may also be strafing and bombing by Japanese aircraft in the sky.

Tang Dao did not want the officers and soldiers under his command to die on the way to the battlefield instead of on the battlefield against Japan. He drove to the Ministry of Military Affairs in person, met with Minister He again, and asked for high-paying and experienced boatmen, and Ask the air force to dispatch to **** the fleet.

If it were anyone else, Tang Dao, the small regiment leader, might have been kicked out long ago if he made such a request. It would be easy to hire an experienced boatman. It would cost more money at most, but asking the Air Force to use precious fighter planes to **** it, do you think Who are you?

"I can't guarantee that Shipai will be defended, but I can guarantee that the lives of Tang Dao and all the officers and soldiers of our Four Lines Regiment are with Shipai. All the officers and soldiers of our Four Lines Regiment will shed their last drop of blood on the Shipai battlefield. If Tang Dao can come back to see you alive, it must be because the stone tablet is still in the hands of our Chinese soldiers." Tang Dao stood in the big boss's office and made a shocking assurance.

Not only did the colonel in the external secretary's office burst into tears, but Minister He, who had gone through so many trials and hardships in life, had his eyes bright. After looking at Tang Dao up and down for a long time, he finally said in a deep voice: "Okay! I will try my best to do it for you." Of!"

Everyone can make impassioned speeches, but there are not many who are as determined as Tang Dao to risk the fate of the entire regiment!

Moreover, Tang Dao's eyes and voice convinced the powerful general that he would do what he said.

 With Minister He’s commitment and deployment, Tang Dao was notified the next morning that the work of transporting ships and recruiting boatmen would be handled by Lu Kuixian, the general manager of Minsheng Company, and Tang Dao was asked to contact him.

The Air Force, because of Minister He's face, has also agreed to send a flying squadron stationed in Jiulongpo to **** the transport fleet, and has agreed to establish a direct radio station with the Air Force Headquarters, so that they can be notified immediately if they encounter enemy situations. , the fighter aircraft formation on combat duty will also arrive at the battlefield within half an hour.

There is no support from the fame and favor of Tang Dao and Si Xing Regiment. Even after arriving in the mountain city, the designation of Si Xing Regiment is still the infantry brigade in the 10th theater. At most, the Air Force knows that it is a force to reinforce Shipai. That’s all.

Tang Dao met Lu Kuixian, who had just successfully organized the Yiling evacuation, in the shabby office of Minsheng Company that afternoon.

A middle-aged man in a suit was arranging work with his subordinates. When he saw Tang Dao in military uniform striding over under the leadership of his secretary, he hurriedly greeted him.

 “Hello, Manager Lu!” Tang Dao was the first to extend his hand.

This patriotic businessman who used all his company's ships to successfully evacuate tens of thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of tons of supplies at the cost of 16 ships being sunk by the Japanese, 69 ships being damaged, and more than 100 employees sacrificed, is worthy of anyone's respect. Respect.

"Minister He has personally spoken to me on the phone. I will try my best to meet any needs of your army. But before that, I need to know how many personnel and heavy equipment your army needs to transport, so that I can calculate how many ships to use. I hope your army It is understandable that in the previous evacuation, all the crew members of our company's ships were seriously damaged." After shaking hands with Tang Dao politely, without asking Tang Dao's position and name, the man got straight to the point, showing his resolute personality.

The Fifth War Zone gave Tang Dao a deadline of 20 days, and the Ministry of Military Affairs also gave him a stipulated deadline. Knowing that military orders are so important, the general manager may not have time to be polite to a colonel-level deputy chief officer.

Tang Dao frowned slightly. Although he knew that what this person said was correct, the personnel and equipment were military secrets. Once leaked, the Japanese would definitely know what kind of army this was through analysis, even if they had not guessed him. It is the Four Elements Group, and they will definitely take more precautions against it. While still thinking about how to answer him, he saw this famous patriotic businessman in the history of the Republic of China suddenly staring straight at him. After a while, he waved the secretary to exit the office and closed the door, and then hesitantly asked: "Are you Commander Tang?"

"General Manager Lu knows me?" Tang Dao's mind was racing and he didn't deny it.

"Haha! It is indeed Captain Tang. Lu was a little impatient just now and did not recognize the honor of Captain Tang. Please don't blame me." Lu Kuixian's face was full of smiles.

"But I remember that it was the first time I met General Manager Lu." Tang Dao couldn't think of any place where he had interacted with this person.

"This is the first time that Captain Tang and I have met, but if it weren't for you, Captain Tang, my little brother would never be able to return to his hometown. My mother has always told me that if I have the chance to see you one day, I will definitely I want to thank you for her," Lu Kuixian said with a smile.

It turned out that Lu Kuixian's hometown was in the mountainous city of Hechuan County. Lu Kuixian joined the Tongmenghui in his early years and was determined to save the country through revolution. However, as the revolutions failed one after another, warlords fought in Sichuan again. He felt that propaganda and education alone could not save China, so he had to 'save the country through industry'. 'abandoned school and went into business', started with a borrowed 8,000 yuan. After 12 years of development, by the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, it had become China's largest national shipping company, with 46 ships, a total tonnage of tens of thousands of tons, and more than 4,000 employees.

If it weren’t for a shipping company of this size, it might not have been possible to complete the Yiling evacuation comparable to ‘Dunkirk’.

After pain and hardship, Lu Kui first embarked on another path of his own choice to save the country. Under his influence, his third brother was also determined to save the country. However, his brother, who was more than ten years younger than him, chose his own path. road.

 He chose to join the army and when the Anti-Japanese War began, he was the company commander of a certain company of the 26th Division of the 43rd Army.

"Company Commander Lu is actually a member of the Lu family?" Tang Dao almost knew who he was without Lu Kui saying his third brother's name first.

That was the company commander in the body of Tang Dao. He fought bravely. On that day, the 26th Division and the Japanese army fought a **** battle in Dachang Town. The company commander surnamed Lu was on the same frontline with the entire company. He fought with dozens of weapons for three days without taking a single step back. Later, a position was besieged by the Japanese army in order to counterattack. Tang Dao, who was already a sergeant squad leader, led two infantry squads to break out of the siege and rescued him and sent him to the rear ambulance team for treatment.

But later Tang Dao was injured by heavy Japanese artillery fire and was sent to a field hospital where he was eventually abandoned in the ruins. The two never saw each other again.

But even Tang Dao didn't expect that the company commander who fought bravely and regarded death as home would have such a wealthy family background and a famous eldest brother.

If you think Lu Kuixian is just a big businessman, then you have obviously underestimated him. You must know that in the 1930s, this man served as the director of the Department of Construction and the deputy minister of the Ministry of Communications of Sichuan Province. Later, because of this, This was the only such retreat in the world and he was awarded the Jade Medal.

"Yes! My little brother was seriously injured for about a year before returning home to visit relatives. During this period, I talked about Captain Tang's life-saving grace countless times. My mother felt sorry for my little brother the most. She feels deeply for you. Whenever there is news about you, , all treasured. No, I really don’t recognize you. However, you are much more handsome in person than in the photo. No wonder my little brother said that you are not a thing in the pool, and you will soar into the sky one day!” Lu Kuixian looked at the young Tang Dao with great emotion.

Since the two of them have such a connection, they naturally talk much more casually than before.

“Brother Lu, please understand me. I hope that the equipment and the number of personnel will be kept secret as much as possible. If the Japanese army knows about it, my brothers will have to pay an unknown price for it.” Tang Dao also expressed his concerns straight to the point.

"I understand that I will arrange this myself and will not rely on anyone else. No one except me will know the number of people and total tonnage transported by my fleet this time. In addition, when the heavy equipment is put on the ship, it will be arranged At night, except for people I absolutely trust, no one will be present. After boarding the ship, all heavy equipment will be covered with canvas. Even if you want to spy, you will not know what kind of equipment it is." After listening to Tang Dao's request, Lu Kui asked Tang Dao first. Knife makes a guarantee.

Tang Dao knew that this would undoubtedly increase his workload, and his gratitude could not be expressed in words. He could only express his gratitude with a solemn military salute before leaving.

With Lu Kuixian’s help, Minsheng Company, which had just suffered heavy losses, spent all its wealth this time.

Even the ships that had not yet had time to be repaired were put into transportation. In less than 3 days, 43 ships of various sizes were gathered on the river, including 4 iron-hulled ships capable of carrying 500 tons of cargo, 12 200-ton merchant ships, and 150-ton merchant ships. There are 6 boats in the tonnage class, 12 boats in the 30-ton to 50-ton class, and the rest are larger fishing boats below 30 tons collected from the private sector.

The carrying capacity this time was far beyond the shipping boss's surprise. Originally, he was thinking of an infantry regiment with only two to three thousand men, several thousand guns, and a few cannons. But he knew that the Four Lines Regiment not only had more than 5,000 people, but also those There are dozens of artillery pieces of all kinds.

Especially the 40mm anti-aircraft guns that are mounted on the bow and stern of the large iron-hulled ship for anti-aircraft purposes. Each gun weighs two tons. Just to transport such a big thing, two iron-hulled ships are needed.

Notwithstanding the artillery, there were also jeeps and tanks. General Manager Lu, who personally went to the port to supervise the boarding of the ship in the dark, was stunned when he saw the tanks rumbling onto the ship with black smoke coming from the rear.

At that moment, he knew that his younger brother said that Tang Dao would soar into the sky not because of any life-saving grace, but because of his sincerity. Based on these equipment and Tang Dao's achievements in leading the Four Elements Group over the years, he firmly believed it. , this time the Japanese will be bumped into the cliff in Shipai.

 It took another three days before all the personnel, horses and equipment of the fourth group were loaded on the ship.

The reason why it took so long was, firstly, to keep it secret. All heavy equipment would not arrive at the port for shipment until after sunset. Secondly, it was to wait for the opportunity. Based on astronomical observations, the old shipman predicted that there would be heavy fog in three days. The weather, although it had an impact on the ship, was insignificant in terms of possible air attacks.

 The fog on the river is the best protection for the fleet.

However, Tang Dao still has an old habit and will never trust his life in the hands of others. The four large iron-hulled ships are basically loaded with heavy equipment such as anti-aircraft anti-aircraft guns, mountain guns, and tanks. The bow of each iron-hulled ship Two anti-aircraft guns were placed on the stern and the stern of the ship. Some redundant buildings in the middle of the ship were directly demolished and anti-aircraft guns were also placed.

While sailing, the 12 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns were all in wartime condition. As long as the canvas covering them was pulled off, the high, black muzzles of the guns would be exposed.

Two ships at the head and two at the tail, protecting the entire fleet in the middle!

Not to mention, on those 200-ton merchant ships, the 20mm machine guns and quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns were also selected by the officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft machine gun squad. All infantry squads with MG42 were also ordered to use them when necessary. Machine guns are thrown into anti-air combat.

The first thing the soldiers did after boarding the ship was to vacate anti-air combat positions for the machine guns in their squads, while they carried sandbags to build a temporary bunker for themselves.

However, it is not just for blocking bullets, it is also used for shooting.

What about the rifles? Thousands of rifles were shooting in the air at the same time. Maybe that bullet could hit the Japanese planes flying at low altitude and strafing the fleet with machine guns!

I would rather die on the battlefield than bleed and die in vain! This is also a tradition of the Four Elements Group.

Whenever a Japanese aircraft attacks, the entire fleet will turn into a porcupine covered with thorns, but the thorns are all made of metal bullets. If they are hit, they will be injured or killed!

There are more than 500 boatmen involved in the transportation of 43 ships. All of them have been checked by the captain who was responsible for Tang Dao's safety when he last came to the mountain city.

 Complete such a huge workload in less than 4 days, which almost made the person vomit blood from exhaustion, but because Tang Dao was very considerate in sending a large yellow croaker, he still worked overtime to finish it.

 In this week, Tang Dao, with the assistance of Laura, completed another technological upgrade for the entire group.

 Before the war, the combat effectiveness of the Four Lines Group was once again increased by at least 10%!