Although the stingy old man is quite stingy, once he makes up his mind, he is still very efficient.
Tang Dao led the new regiment from Qingmuchuan Town, passed through Hanzhong, to Chang'an, and after passing HZ City, there was a hard dirt road all the way. The new regiment 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 distributed first. The average weight carried by each soldier was less than ten kilograms. The physical fitness gained from marching with heavy loads for 20 days in the mountains of Sichuan Province began to show its effect.
Especially when marching on such a flat road, the new regiment's rapid march speed actually reached 150 miles per day, and it was able to maintain a rapid march speed of 75 kilometers for five consecutive days, which made many elite troops look askance.
In Chang'an, the new regiment received ordnance supplies sent from the Yuancheng Arsenal to the train station. Tang Dao immediately ordered the entire army to change their uniforms.
Taking the infantry company as a unit, every 15-man infantry squad is equipped with 11 rifles and 11 riflemen; one light machine gun, two primary and secondary shooters; one grenade, two primary and secondary shooters; three infantry platoons each draw out
An infantry squad, all members of which are not equipped with rifles, forms a machine gun platoon with 3 counterweighted machine guns and 1 mortar;
This is equivalent to an infantry company possessing 66 rifles, 6 light machine guns, 6 grenades, 3 heavy machine guns and a mortar. This firepower is enough to crush a Japanese infantry squadron.
It would be a lie to say that the soldiers were unhappy with such sophisticated equipment, but even though they were happy, they were still a little worried.
Don't forget, they are new recruits. The recruits who have been trained for more than 2 months have only fired 20 rounds of live ammunition at most. The elite soldiers specially prepared by Tang Jili for Tang Dao are not much stronger. They hit eight rings and nine from 150 meters away.
Ring wooden target is a master.
There are 4,500 people. Not to mention advanced gadgets like mortars and grenades, they have never touched light machine guns or heavy machine guns.
No? Then learn it on the spot!
Chang'an is one of the most important nodes on the Longhai Line. In order to wait for Tang Dao, a new regiment, to solve the urgent problem of Tongguan, the commander of the Tenth War Zone tried his best to mobilize two trains and waited at the station three days ago.
Tang Dao.
During the four or five days when the Sichuan Army's new regiments were running wildly on the road, the battle situation in Tongguan became extremely dangerous. The Japanese army not only used thousands of people to cross the river with motorboats and rafts to attack, but also used extremely terrifying heavy artillery to sweep away the fortifications along the river.
.
Yes, the 280MM howitzer Tang Dao mentioned was really moved by the Japanese army to Fenglingdu on the other side of the river.
The various fortifications that the defenders had carefully built for more than half a year were like toys in front of this heavy artillery, and were blown into ashes along with the defenders hidden inside.
In the week since the war started, nearly 1,500 officers and soldiers of the 28th Division of the 46th Army stationed in Tongguan were killed. Most of them were casualties caused by the Japanese 12 150MM heavy artillery and the 280MM heavy artillery that started firing two days ago.
If the battle continues like this, the heavy casualties of the 28th Division will be a minor matter, but the failure to stop the Japanese infantry who are ready to move across the river to establish positions will be a major matter.
Once the Japanese army is allowed to open up positions on the river bank and the Japanese troops continue to pour in, Tongguan will be lost. Even if there are high mountains and deep ditches as barriers, it will be of no use.
Even two days ago, the Tenth Theater Command in Chang'an had launched a retreat plan. Once Tongguan could not be defended, the military and political departments in Chang'an would retreat to Hanzhong.
To put it bluntly, the new regiment led by Tang Dao was purely a dead horse in the 10th war zone. But even if it was a dead horse, the commander of the 10th war zone went to great lengths to specially transfer two
A train was set up in order to bring the dead horse to the front line as soon as possible to see if the Japanese soldiers would suffer from diarrhea after eating the dead horse meat in one bite.
Although taking the train is fast, the Japanese army still has the final say in the sky today, especially the Longhai Line, which is responsible for important transportation tasks. It is often bombed by Japanese planes. In order to prevent being taken over by the Japanese, trains can only operate at night.
Move out.
After loading all the ordnance robbed from the stingy old man into the car, the new regiment got a precious half-day of rest but did not rest. Tang Dao negotiated with the deputy chief of staff of the 10th war zone who came to express his condolences, less than five miles away from the train station.
A military control zone was established on a piece of farmland along the road.
Fortunately, the crops have been harvested at this time, and the empty fields only need to drive away irrelevant personnel. The thousands of acres of farmland have become a weapons testing ground for recruits who have never touched light and heavy machine guns and mortars.
Seeing the soldiers of the Sichuan Army's new regiment clumsily spent a long time loading their ammunition belts and firing a shaky barrage in front of them, the major general deputy chief of staff of the 10th Theater District just wanted to cover his forehead in pain.
This dead horse may be more dead than the theater commander imagined, almost rotting. Maybe the Japanese can wipe it out without even an infantry brigade.
Tang Tuanzuo, on the other hand, looked at the poor performance of these new recruits, but he didn't take it seriously. He also asked the brothers in the cannon platoon not to be stingy with ammunition and just shoot.
Not only is he a dead horse, but he is also a prodigal son. Seeing boxes of ammunition being consumed by the new recruits, the major general and deputy chief of staff felt that he was not well. After shooting the precious ammunition, why are you holding a heavy machine gun to hit the Japanese?
What?
"Sir, don't worry. Although our soldiers in the second theater are guests, they won't take the initiative to ask for food from the host's house. We have brought dry food with us!" Tang Tuanzuo seemed to understand the thoughts of the major general's deputy chief of staff.
, giving this person relief with a smile.
I ***, the deputy chief of staff of the major general wanted to kick the smiling face of a certain regiment member at that time. He didn’t want to ask the owner for it, so just don’t say it!
But a certain guest said it so shamelessly.
Moreover, this guest has to work hard for them. If he doesn’t even give him a meal, where will the host’s face go?
As soon as the phone call came through, the commander of the 10th Theater also gritted his teeth and allocated 100,000 rounds of light and heavy machine gun bullets to the new regiment from the already insufficient armory, and also gave him a war participation allowance of 10,000 yuan.
The money was not much, but Tang Tuanzu didn't mind it, so he divided the ten thousand yuan among all the recruits on the spot.
Ordinary infantrymen received two yuan each, squad leaders three yuan, and platoon and company level four yuan. The recruits who received the cash immediately became more excited and fired more bullets.
According to statistics, in this afternoon alone, the Sichuan Army New Regiment fired 300 rounds of artillery shells and nearly 150,000 rounds of various types of ammunition, just like fighting a big battle.
If it weren't for the presence of soldiers and the police advertising on the streets that it was an actual military exercise, the people in Chang'an City thought the Japanese were coming and almost fled Chang'an City without their families.
But in Tang Dao's view, all these expenditures were worth it. At least the recruits in the cannon platoon were familiar with the procedure of firing bullets and shells.
I’ve learned the basic operations, that’s all.
"Sir, I would like to thank you for the hospitality of the 10th War Zone. Before leaving, please tell me something to Commander Jiang. The key to defending Tongguan is not the number of defensive troops invested, but the effectiveness of artillery fire! If you can't counterattack,
The artillery, the Japanese army may organize a more violent offensive after this battle! The battle situation in Central China is limited by national strength, not something that a few heavy artillery can resist!" Tang Dao exchanged words with the deputy chief of staff of the major general before walking into the train carriage.
When I saluted and said goodbye, I gave him this sentence.
This is not Tang Dao's nonsense. In the past, the reason why Tongguan could hold on for eight years without letting the Japanese army cross the river was that bringing in heavy artillery to confront the heavy artillery deployed by the Japanese army was definitely the key.
Yes, China also has heavy artillery, albeit less.
In 1934, China purchased 24 of the world's most advanced 150MM heavy howitzers 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 24 artillery pieces also participated in the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Jinling. However, due to the loss of air superiority, the heavy artillery regiment did not show its due strength, and even retreated after the failure of the Battle of Jinling.
12 artillery pieces, which were still new, were forced to be pushed into the Yangtze River because the roads were destroyed and could not be transported.
But there are still 12 heavy artillery pieces still alive, which became the most ferocious firepower output of the Chinese army at this time.
Because the threat from Tongguan was becoming increasingly serious, at the constant request of the commander of the 10th war zone, the big boss personally signed a transfer order to transfer four of the heavy artillery battalions to the Tongguan defense zone.
The four German heavy artillery became a nightmare for the Japanese army on the other side. It was not until this time that the poor little boy discovered the huge gap between himself and Western industry.
They are both 150MM heavy artillery, but the range of the artillery produced by the Japanese military factory is much lower than that of the German artillery. This means that the four Chinese artillery can beat them, but they cannot hit the Chinese artillery.
Although there is no anti-artillery radar in this era, a white gunpowder smoke can be seen when firing a rifle, let alone a large-caliber heavy artillery. The thick smoke can be seen from more than ten miles away on good days.
.
Finally, a 280MM howitzer with a larger caliber was mobilized, but because the Germans did not give the Japanese core technology at all, the Japanese-made artillery was unable to propel a 200-kilogram warhead and could only destroy the fortifications laid by the Chinese army along the river bank.
It would be a dream to hit the opponent's heavy artillery ten kilometers away.
The Japanese army had not thought of using fighter planes to destroy these four heavy artillery pieces by relying on air superiority. However, the high mountains and dense forests on the side of Tongguan made the Japanese aircraft only look at the mountains and sigh. The four heavy artillery pieces were hidden in the caves. Unless someone could
Aerial bombs that can knock down entire mountains can only blow up rocks for fun.
To put it bluntly, with these four 150MM heavy artillery pieces, China completely suppressed the Japanese heavy artillery group, making it impossible to form a complete firepower advantage to cover the infantry's forced crossing of the Yellow River.
In this era, the war situation has undergone new changes. The Japanese army gathered heavy troops and wanted to cross the Yellow River in one fell swoop. Tang Dao led his troops to rush to the rescue. However, this only treated the symptoms but not the root cause. Even if the battle was won, it was just this battle, occupying the battlefield.
The proactive Japanese army may launch new attacks at any time!
Tang Dao knew very well that in order to contain the illusion of the Japanese army, he not only needed to station heavy troops for defense, but also had sharp weapons that could contain the Japanese heavy artillery.
But until now, Commander Chiang was still hesitant, and Tang Dao could only artificially add fuel to the fire.
"Is that really what Tang Dao said?" The Army General sitting in the office suddenly lit up after hearing Tang Dao's departure words conveyed by his subordinates.
"Yes!" the major general's chief of staff replied respectfully.
"This little ammunition is not unfairly given to me by Dayang. Tang Dao's suggestion, which coincides with mine, is worth the price!" The Army General stood up, and his frowning brows finally relaxed.
"Give me a telex to Commander He of the Ministry of Military Affairs and tell him that if we want to protect the Guanzhong Plain, we need 150 heavy artillery fire support. To this end, our tenth theater can establish a military order. If Tongguan is lost with the help of heavy artillery, all members of the tenth theater will
Our colleagues will live and die together in Chang'an!"
"Sir, that's not necessary." The Army Major General took a breath.
Is this commander crazy? Because of Tang Dao's suggestion, he went so far as to risk the lives of more than 20 generals and hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the battle to defend Tongguan.
"You don't understand. This is not because I, Jiang, have lost my mind, but because I have been forced to go to Liangshan. This is the only way." The army general shook his head and sighed.
"Now the Battle of Central China has reached its mid-term. Although the victory at Wanjialing has inspired the soldiers and civilians, there are more than 300,000 Japanese troops participating in the war. Only 20,000 enemy enemies are destroyed, which is not enough to break their muscles and bones. It is enough to maintain a tie.
optimal.
If Jiangcheng, an important town in central China, falls after the war, the Japanese army will inevitably march into South China, and East China, Central China, and South China will all be lost. North China will only be in a corner and struggling to support itself. China is only as big as 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 night sky of the city that was blacked out due to wartime lights. His eyes were as dark as ink. He paused for a while before continuing:
"This is a lesson from the past. Even if I gain the trust of Commander He, I may not be able to keep this good head.
I was still a little hesitant before. After all, our army in Central China has invested nearly one million troops. These few remaining heavy artillery are the important weapons that the officers rely on, and they can even determine the outcome of a battle. But today I got the Tang Dao.
Reminder, Fang suddenly realized that the situation in Central China has basically been finalized, but Tongguan must not be lost again!"
"Then sir, do you think Tang Dao's trip can change the situation of the war?" The Army Major General finally came to his senses at this time.
"Before Tang Dao said this, I only regarded it as a strategy to delay the Japanese offensive. Even if it can only last for two days, I can gather three more security groups to support it." The Army General narrowed his eyes slightly.
"But now, I have discovered that Tang Dao is worthy of his illustrious military exploits. Not to mention his many changes in battlefield tactics, but his understanding of the overall situation and his vision are extremely clever and sophisticated.
What surprised me was not that this boy said this, but that he was only in his early twenties, which put me, a veteran even older than him, to shame!
Maybe there really is such a thing as a genius in this world!”
The Army Major General was stunned for a moment.
This evaluation is really not low. You must know that this man is one of the so-called "Five Tiger Generals" under the boss. He was famous as the "Flying General" in the warlords' melee.
But what frightened the Army Major General even more was the appointment that followed.
"In the name of the theater headquarters, the Tongguan Defense Theater was established, and Fan Songpu, commander of the 46th Army, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the defense area, Dong Zhao, commander of the 28th Division stationed in Tongguan, as chief of staff, and Tang Dao, commander of the new regiment of the Sichuan Army rushing to the rescue, as
Deputy Chief of Staff!"
Not to mention that the Tenth War Zone was all confused because of this letter of appointment. The stingy old man in the Second War Zone also rubbed his scalp that had not much hair left and murmured to himself: "I am a good person, are you trying to poach me?"
The corner of the second theater? It must be resolutely not allowed!"
Currently in Tongguan, in addition to two army lieutenant generals, there are also two major generals and brigade commanders. If you pick any one of them, they are more senior than Tang Dao. As a result, Tang Dao was put into the decision-making level.
It would be fine if Tang Dao had brought elite soldiers like the Si Xing Regiment. After all, they were a group of strong men who had defeated a mixed brigade of the Japanese army. But with a bunch of new recruits, Tang Dao could still be entrusted with such an important task.
Everyone would probably mutter about it!
Not to mention the stingy old man who has always been known for being stingy.
The stingy old man acted immediately and sent the letter of appointment as deputy director of the Jinan Administrative Office, which had been suppressed for a long time, to the Four-Hand Group!
Tang Dao looked at the two new official positions in the telegram and almost cursed.
Good guys, you old guys are addicted to wholesale empty titles, aren't you! The deputy chief of staff and the deputy director, one belongs to someone else's territory, and the other doesn't even have a territory at all and is just messing around!
"Military pay, how much is the salary?" Tang Dao's call back to the two commanders really faced life head-on.
The two army generals were collectively speechless.
After decades of military service, what kind of people have I not seen? But I have never met anyone who starts talking about money.
Don’t talk about money, let’s talk about love and life with you! Tang Tuanzuo has never been used to this kind of boss. He refused to make a big deal out of the workplace, so Tang Tuanzuo decided to start with me.
"Sir, can I, the deputy commander, also receive military pay at the rank of lieutenant colonel?" Lu Sanjiang was deeply inspired and asked weakly.
"Have you seen that position?" Tang Tuanzuo, who had finished complaining, glanced sideways at his future commander of the reconnaissance company and pointed at the door of the carriage.
It's cool there and you can stay there! Long Yan understood in an instant. While laughing, he was extremely glad that he didn't take the lead. He had just imagined whether the battalion commander of the supply battalion should be paid at the level of a major.
Of course, apart from these senior officials who didn't quite understand the confused letter of appointment of the general commander of the 10th Theater Command, what was even more confused were the two army lieutenant generals on the Tongguan front line.
'Where did this special guy come from? How did he get the title of leader of the Anti-Japanese Heroes? The Japanese he faced were a bunch of idiots whose IQs were not as good as pigs! Why didn't our brother let such idiots get away from him?
Where did they meet?'
This should be the first impression of the two army lieutenant generals when they saw the 'Deputy Chief of Staff' who had just arrived and started talking nonsense.
Guaiguai: Did the pig offend you? Why did you use me as a backdrop when you saw Tie Hanhan!
This chapter has been completed!