September 1, the twenty-seventh year of the Republic of China
"Whizzing……"
"Boom boom..."
Pillars of black smoke surged into the sky.
Wang Gantian, commander of the 55th Army, stood at the door of the artillery cave and stared into the distance. He was fifty years old this year, and his round face had become thin and dusty. His face was covered with gunpowder and oil.
He hadn't shaved or washed his face for several days, and his face was covered with long stubble. He looked at the sky full of smoke, with a look of anxiety on his face.
The Fifty-fifth Army was originally affiliated with the Northeastern Army. Later, after Marshal Zhang was imprisoned, the Northeastern Army had to follow Chairman Chiang. Fortunately, they were lucky. Under the instruction of Chairman Chiang, the Ministry of Military Affairs gave them three divisions as usual.
The total number of the entire army is more than 30,000.
Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone took good care of them and assigned them to the rear area of Xiaogan. He never thought that the Japanese army would attack from Hefei all the way to Xiaogan. Wang Gantian had no choice but to bite the bullet and attack because of his duty to guard the map.
Already.
Originally, he thought that with the 30,000 troops in hand, he could sustain it for about a week, but after fighting for less than four days, they couldn't stand it anymore. The Japanese army relied on aircraft and heavy artillery to devour his position inch by inch.
In just a few days, his troops suffered 20,000 casualties. If Xiaogan hadn't been involved in the life and death of millions of troops in Wuhan, he would have run away with oil on his feet.
A burst of heavy footsteps came from behind, and the voice of Chief of Staff Wang Zengsheng came over: "Military seat, the 156th Division is here to report. The Japanese army has dispatched two regiments and is attacking them with the cooperation of heavy artillery. They
We have suffered heavy casualties and are now requesting reinforcements."
Wang Gantian said without looking back: "Tell Xu Dapao that there are no reinforcements, not even one. Either I will go to reinforce him personally, or he will withstand it on his own!"
Wang Zengsheng said with some uneasiness: "Military commander, why don't we send a supplementary regiment for reinforcements? The 156th Division is really having a hard time fighting."
Wang Gantian refused without thinking: "No, the supplementary regiment is already the last reserve force in our hands. We must not send it out unless it is absolutely necessary. I think as long as we persist today, the reinforcements should be able to arrive."
"Reinforcements?" Wang Zengsheng smiled bitterly. Yesterday, they received a telegram from the theater headquarters. The telegram told them that the 300 Division stationed in Suizhou would arrive in Xiaogan to support them soon, and asked them to wait patiently for reinforcements.
After receiving the telegram, Wang Gantian, Wang Zengsheng and others did not have high expectations for it. Their army of more than 30,000 people could not last for more than a few days, and the 300 divisions only had more than 10,000 people for a day. How could they withstand it?
How long will it take? But at this moment, not to mention a division, even an extra regiment of troops would be good.
About two hours later, Wang Zengsheng came to report again, "The flank positions of the 155th Division have been lost. Commander Zhao has led the troops directly under the division headquarters to engage in firefights with the Japanese army!"
Wang Gantian trembled, slowly closed his eyes, and said softly: "Hey, order the supplementary regiment to dispatch immediately to support the 155th Division, and tell Mr. Zhao that the position there must not be lost!"
"yes!"
After Wang Zengsheng took the order and left, Wang Gantian looked at the smoke-filled positions in front of him and felt sad. Now he no longer had a reserve team in his hand. Looking at the gray sky, he sighed softly: "
God, are you really not going to give our 55th Army a way to survive?"
After standing for a long time, Wang Gantian walked with heavy steps towards the headquarters set up in the bomb-proof cave.
As soon as I entered the headquarters, I heard a loud and noisy sound coming from inside.
"Didi dididi..."
"Hey, hey, hey... I'm the army headquarters. Why is the situation of the 156th Division in danger? I tell you that no matter how critical it is, you must withstand it. Our reinforcements will be here soon. Do you hear me?"
"Hey, hey...what, position 358 is lost, whoever loses it can get it back again, or I will shoot you!"
More than a dozen staff officers in the headquarters were in a mess like headless flies. Chief of Staff Wang Zengsheng was shouting at someone with a microphone. This sight made Wang Gantian even more troubled.
At this time, a radio operator standing in front of the radio station saw the green light of an uncommon channel turn on. He quickly picked it up: "Hey, hey, I am the 55th Army. Where are you? Where are you?"
At this time, a slow but determined voice came from the small speaker next to the radio: "Fifty-fifth Army, Fifty-fifth Army, I am Su Rui, commander of the 300th Division. We are on the way to Xiaogan now. You
Is the commander here? I want to speak to your commander!"
Although the sound of the small speaker was not loud, it was like a thunder that passed through the headquarters. Everyone's movements froze at the small sound. Wang Gantian quickly ran over and grabbed the microphone and shouted loudly.
He shouted: "Commander Su? I am Wang Gantian, commander of the 55th Army. I am Wang Gantian. Where is your army now? Where is your army now? The Japanese army is in a hurry to attack our army's positions. Our army has more positions."
If we fall, the situation is extremely urgent. I hope your troops will quickly come to me, come to me!"
The other party's voice became louder: "Sir Wang, our unit is still eighty miles away from Xiaogan. It is expected that the leading troops will arrive at Xiaogan in three hours. Can your unit hold on for another three hours?"
Wang Gantian smiled bitterly, "Commander Su, I won't hide it from you now. The Japanese army is bombarding our positions with planes and heavy artillery. Our positions are in danger everywhere. I don't know if we can hold on for another three hours. I can only
It depends on God’s arrangement.”
The voice from the small speaker was silent for a while before it came out again: "What about the forty minutes? Can you hold on for another forty minutes?"
"Forty minutes?" Wang Gantian smiled bitterly: "Of course forty minutes is no problem, could it be..."
Everyone in the command room was also surprised. Didn't the other party just say that it was still ninety miles away from Xiaogan? How could they get here in forty minutes? Did they fly here?
Suri's voice came over again: "In forty minutes, air support will arrive immediately! Now I will tell you the radio frequency of the air support. You will use this frequency to contact them later. Do you understand?"
Wang Gantian hurriedly put down the microphone and shouted: "Quick...quick, write it down quickly!"
"Very good, the channel for air support is XXXX. Repeat, the channel for air support is XXXX. Okay, the call is over. I wish you good luck!"
Soon, the sound disappeared, and a rustling sound came from the loudspeaker and a group of stunned staff officers nearby.
A major staff officer held a pen and paper in his hand and said: "Air support? When will a mere division-level unit be able to provide us with air support? Are they kidding?"
Regardless of whether Wang Gantian and the staff of the 55th Army figured it out or not, the Japanese army was still attacking fiercely, and more than a dozen Japanese planes were flying up and down in front of the 156th Division's position, one after another.
The bombs fell from the bellies of these Japanese planes to the positions of the 156th Division. Clouds of black smoke and violent explosions continued to rise. One by one, Chinese soldiers fell down in the explosion.
Xu Guangsheng, commander of the 156th Division, was lying in a low bomb crater, holding a telescope and looking at the Japanese planes in the sky. His teeth were clenching. These Japanese planes had caused huge damage to them in the past two days. Their casualties were
Half of them are caused by these aircraft.
"You bastards, you're not done yet." Xu Guangsheng turned around and shouted to a staff officer: "Commander Zhou, order the troops to immediately use light machine guns to organize air shooting. Even if they can't shoot down these birdmen, they have to scare them to make them
You know we are not vegetarians either."
"Master, you absolutely must not do this!"
Staff Officer Zhou on the side was frightened and quickly stopped him: "Master, if we organize anti-aircraft shooting without authorization, it will lead to more violent bombing by the Japanese army. Haven't we learned enough lessons in the past two days?"
"Then what do you think we should do!" Xu Guangsheng became angry and shouted: "Look, our brothers are seriously injured and their positions are almost flattened by their bombing. If this continues, there is no need for the Japanese to attack. We
All the brothers were killed!"
In the end, after Xu Guangsheng lost his temper, the matter of shooting in the air was ignored, because the Japanese army still had several bombers circling in the sky. These fighter planes were responsible for clearing the ground firepower. In the past few days, Xu Guangsheng also organized
They fired several times into the air, but not surprisingly, they were suppressed by Japanese planes with more intense bombings.
Seeing the continuous bombing by Japanese planes in the sky, Xu Guangsheng felt unspeakable regret in his heart, but at the other end of their position, the new commander of the Japanese 16th Division, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, was looking ahead with a smile.
The smoke billowing from the Chinese battlefield made me feel satisfied.
Unlike many army generals who generally advocate infantry charges and bayonet kills, this lieutenant general with an artillery background has always advocated artillery doctrine. He believes that steel is what matters in war, and whoever has more steel will have the advantage.
It is quite similar to the American view.
Fujie Keisuke nodded with satisfaction: "Yoshi, if we go this way, the positions in China will soon collapse, and the imperial warriors will be able to occupy their positions this afternoon at the latest."
"Your Excellency the General is right. With the help of the Imperial Air Warriors, the Chinese people have long been unable to fight back. This is all the credit of Your Excellency the General. Compared with Yoshio Shinozuka who is still fighting hard with the 155th China Division
In the 10th Division commanded by the general, the gap between the two sides is clear at a glance." Seeing Fujie Keisuke's high interest, his subordinates hurriedly stepped forward to flatter him.
To be honest, these flattery words had no technical content, but they touched the itch in Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke's heart. The smile on Fujie Keisuke's face became even brighter after hearing this.
Just when Fujie Keisuke wanted to say a few words of humility, a staff officer shouted in a horrified voice: "General, look at it, what is that?"
Fujie Keisuke looked up and saw several silver figures flying from the southwest. They quickly flew to the side of his own fighter planes. Fires flashed past, and two Japanese planes immediately turned to the ground.
fell down...
PS: Thank you for the reward from Ai Wei Rumeng Zizi! (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)