Chapter 534 Aircraft Operation Plan

At 6:30 am the next morning, the Guangdong army began to attack Quanzhou.

Two regiments of the 39th Division entered the battle and launched an attack from Jiurishan and Quanzhou official road on the north bank of ***, respectively, heading straight to the northern suburbs of Quanzhou, and the other attacked Jiangnan Town on the western defense line of Quanzhou in Fujian. The artillery firepower line of the Guangdong Army was scattered in fan formations among villages and towns in the northwest to northeastern areas. Not only were there main artillery groups covering the two attacks, but there were also artillery points hidden in high positions that directly attacked the city.

The main artillery group began to bombard the enemy on time, and the shells fell like hail, and large numbers fell on Quanzhou City, and the smoke of gunpowder suddenly spread. The infantry waited for fifteen minutes and asked the artillery to suppress the enemy's aura before starting to charge.

The Fujian Army artillery located near Guogong Mountain in southern Quanzhou received the coordinates from the front line and immediately fired all its might, firing the shells without reservation against the charge line of the Guangdong Army. Their purpose was the same as the Guangdong Army, and they tried to rub off the Guangdong Army's charge spirit in one go, so as to reduce the pressure for the formation and defense war.

Whether inside or outside the city, you can only hear the bombardment of cannons, and you can only see the black smoke floating in the sky after the explosion. Even screams, shouts, crying, and gunshots were suppressed, and at this moment it turned into a mosquito-like buzzing.

The fierce battle lasted until noon. The Guangdong army changed the reserve team twice to support. Three of the artillery cannons caused the artillery barrel to heat up due to continuous fire. The situation of the Fujian army was not necessarily good. The trench on the front line was attacked violently. Under the continuous fire of the Guangdong army's light machine guns and automatic rifles, they could not take any advantage and soon lost the first layer of defense.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Guangdong Army's offensive momentum was finally unable to hold on. The regiment headquarters kept reporting the casualties to the headquarters, either asking for reinforcements or retreating. Mo Qingyu knew that this wave was impossible to conquer Quanzhou, and the pressure on the grassroots soldiers was too great. Although the attack was unfavorable, there were still things that made him grateful, that is, the front-line soldiers did not retreat privately, and still reported the situation in accordance with regular procedures. The headquarters decided that the next step was to fight or retreat. At this point, the Guangdong Army had significantly surpassed the Beiyang Army.

After a brief discussion, Mo Qingyu ordered the northern line to temporarily retreat, and the western line controlled the occupied enemy trenches, and the subsequent troops pushed forward to confront the trenches. By four o'clock, the atmosphere in Quanzhou finally eased. Whether it was the Guangdong army, the Fujian army, or the innocent people inside and outside the city, they cherished this moment of respite.

In the evening, Mo Qingyu led the division officers to the North Line to inspect the military situation. After more than eight hours of combat, the casualties on the North Line were already very serious. After preliminary statistics, when Mo Qingyu was surprised, the casualties on this day alone could almost be compared with the total of the casualties on the previous few days.

At the back of Jiuri Mountain, Mo Qingyu looked at the teams coming and going to transport the wounded, and his heart was just heavy. The injured soldiers kept screaming in pain, their voices were desolate and lingered in the depths of their senses for a long time. The wounded soldiers who could scream were still good, and there were more people who could not even sound, which was really heartbreaking.

"This battle is not easy to fight." He sighed.

"Commander, don't sigh. Even if Quanzhou is a wall of iron, my seventh regiment will be able to open a hole sooner or later." Su Gong, the leader of the seventh regiment who was accompanying the side, said cheeringly.

"It's great that you have such confidence, but everything should be realistic. If the casualties are too great, there will be Putian after Quanzhou and Fuzhou after Putian. What do you think of next?" Mo Qingyu said tepidly.

"Commander, I think the Fujian army has no advantage in its current military strength. It is better to transfer the Zhangzhou division to the front line. Even if the Zhangzhou division is not good at fighting, it will not hurt. At least it can bring more pressure to the Fujian army in terms of momentum." Su Gong suggested.

Mo Qingyu thought for a while, and he felt that Su Gong’s suggestion made some sense, but he still had to make a long-term plan.

"Old Su, it's really possible to do so. However, the Zhangzhou Division has just been reorganized and its morale is not stable. Moreover, our 39th Division is now taking a coastal route, and there are still enemy activities in the inland, so the Zhangzhou Division needs to support it on the flanks. When the time is ripe, you can adopt your meaning." He explained slowly.

"Everything is followed by the commander. What should we do next? Let's fight tonight?" Su Gong asked.

"I'll go to the artillery to find out the situation first. If there is any action tonight, I will notify you separately." Mo Qingyu said.

After the inspection and condolences on the northern line, Mo Qingyu and others came to the artillery command center and listened to the artillery report.

Cai Tingkai, acting battalion commander of the Zhangzhou Division Artillery Battalion, told Mo Qingyu a big problem. The artillery firepower during the day is not bad, because the cannons equipped with excellent caliber and performance, and their range and power are stronger than those of the Fujian army. However, the Fujian army's Quanzhou defense line is complex in depth, and there are firepower points hidden in the city and behind the forests. The visual distance of artillery observers is limited, so many shells are blindly fooled when starting the attack.

After listening to Cai Tingkai's words, Mo Qingyu asked seriously: "What suggestions do you have?"

Cai Tingkai seemed a little embarrassed when he took office. He tried his best to remain calm and said, "I participated in the battles in Wuzhou and Hezhou in the past year. At that time, our artillery soldiers also carried out dark artillery shelling, relying on the intelligence agency agents sneaking into the enemy's stronghold and sending signals to guide the artillery shooting. Perhaps this method is feasible."

Mo Qingyu's first idea was to use the special mission company again, but he thought it was too risky to do so. If he was infiltrated before the war, he would have a chance. Now that the war has broken out, the Fujian army has turned the entire Quanzhou into a military area. It is not only difficult to sneak in, but even if he successfully sneaks in, it is easy to be discovered by several people from other provinces.

"I understand what you mean," he nodded slowly and said thoughtfully, "The eyes of the artillery are very important. I remember that there are reconnaissance balloons in Guangzhou. I knew that this time they should be transferred to use. These reconnaissance balloons have always been used in recruit training, and it has not been put into actual combat. I will arrange a telegram to Guangzhou. No matter what, it will be useless to transfer the balloons, sooner or later."

Cai Tingkai nodded, but didn't say much.

"The infantry rest tonight, your artillery fires two shells into Quanzhou every two hours. You must not let the Fujian army think that they have defended Quanzhou." Mo Qingyu said again.

"Yes." Cai Tingkai answered with his chest.

The next day was the 17th. In the early morning, the General Staff Headquarters of the Guangzhou Governor's Office received a regular report from Fujian.

After dawn, He Fuguang sent a servant to send the sorted report to Wu Shaoting's office.

Since the start of the Fujian War, Wu Shaoting has gotten up very early every day. Although he was not on the front line, as the supreme leader of the Guangdong Army and the head of the Guangdong Military Government, he must take responsibility for every soldier on the front line, so he always pays attention to the progress of the war situation in Fujian. When he finished reading this report, Song Jiaoren happened to come to inform another thing.

"Shocking, the pilots of the first phase of Luzhou Aviation School officially passed the graduation assessment yesterday. Major Bacon began to work on the training plan for the second batch of pilots. He specifically asked me to ask when the second phase of the students can start classes." Walking into the office gate, Song Jiaoren said directly.

Although the training of Luzhou Aviation School is the same as that of the Whampoa Military Academy, the assessment work before recruiting flight cadets is very strict, and the Guangdong military government also needs to control the number of pilots. It is impossible to recruit too many pilots than aircraft.

Wu Shaoting put down the Fujian battle report in his hand, nodded thoughtfully, and asked first: "Are all 53 students in the first period qualified to graduate?"

Song Jiaoren said: "Except for one person who had an accident during flight training, he had already dropped out of school early."

Wu Shaoting sighed happily: "It's great to have such a high pass rate in the first phase. I will implement the second phase as soon as possible, and I will discuss with you in advance with the fisherman Bear. If you have a conclusion, I will naturally tell Major Bacon and the others."

Song Jiaoren nodded and said, "Okay."

Wu Shaoting then said: "Fisherman, since the pilot is ready, it must be useful. I plan to send a plane to the Fujian battlefield to perform missions, and Fujian also needs such support."

Song Jiaoren thought for a while, then said, "But there is no airport in Fujian."

As the dean of Luzhou Aviation School, he certainly knew the flight radius of fighter jets in this era. The plane had to land and refuel when it took off from Luzhou to Meizhou. If he wanted to perform a mission in the Fujian War, he would inevitably need a flight base responsible for supporting the aircraft's range. What he was worried about was that time was in a hurry and there was no way to build such an aircraft base.

Wu Shaoting smiled relaxedly and said, "Fisherman, you are so considerate, so there will naturally be these."

He did not intend to discuss his plan with Song Jiaoren in detail. After all, Song Jiaoren is not an expert in military affairs, and he can do his part. Aircraft in this era is not like large aircraft in the 21st century. Even if there is a small stone on the land, it may cause the tragedy of plane destruction and death. In World War I, the planes could take off and land in a slightly flat place, and farms, fields, and wastelands were all available.

As long as people are sent to Zhangzhou, Tong'an, Xiamen and other places to survey such terrain, then dispatch engineering and logistics troops to rectify and prepare for a little, and build barracks and fuel reserves.

He also talked with Song Jiaoren about some matters within the National People's Progressive Council. He learned that the work of establishing party representative organizations in various counties and armies has almost been completed. He is now preparing for the party and government construction of large-scale private chambers of commerce, official enterprises and education units. He believes that it will take up to two months to end all construction plans.

Song Jiaoren had just said goodbye and left. Wu Shaoting was about to find an adjutant Deng Keng to instruct the mission of the Fujian flight base, but Deng Keng arrived in a hurry at this time.

"Shi Yuan is here just right. I'm planning to find you if I have something to do." Wu Shaoting said impatiently. His mind is now full of putting new types of troops into the battlefield practice, otherwise it would be in vain if he spent so much manpower, material resources and financial resources.

"Ting Shuai, I have something to look for you. Then you should talk about it first." Deng Keng said.

Wu Shaoting then explained his plans in detail, let Deng Keng and the German Flight Advisory Group be responsible for this matter, and as soon as possible, they should arrange a flight base first, and then send planes to support Quanzhou's operations.

Deng Keng nodded vigorously and answered seriously: "I understand, don't worry, Tingshuai, I will start carrying out this task in the afternoon, and I must give you messages within three days."

Wu Shaoting said "Yes". Although three days were not the most ideal efficiency for him, he was not too entangled. He pondered and said slowly: "It's great, the faster the better. Also, what's the matter with me?"

Deng Keng immediately said: "That's right. Sir Andre from the German Consulate has important things to talk to you. The visit post I just received may arrive in an hour."

Wu Shaoting rarely saw Sir Andre coming to meet without his reply. It can be seen that Andre really has an important matter this time. He was speculating in his mind whether the situation in Europe suddenly deteriorated. Andre got the news in advance and told him specifically? The thing he paid the most attention to Europeans now is the First World War. Sometimes he even complained that the Chinese Revolution could happen in advance, why was there no movement in the First World War?

"I understand. Since it's an important matter, it's okay to meet him at first sight. I happened to be planning to ask him for the third futures payment for the light machine gun order." He said with a relaxed look on his face.
Chapter completed!