Ouyang Yun did not learn about the battle that took place on the other side of Jiujiang until the night of the third day. By that time, the first phase of the Battle of Madang had already ended.
At three o'clock in the morning the next day after Ye Zhao and the others were attacked, the Japanese offensive was launched on time.
It was exactly the same as the time obtained in the interception of the telegram, which made Ouyang Yun's anxious mood relax a little. For the time being, he put aside his worries about the 36th Study Brigade and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the battle that had already started. During the Battle of Madang,
The first thing the Japanese army entered into the battle was naturally the artillery. The artillery of two entire brigades and nearly thirty large gunboats fired artillery shells crazily at the front line of Cotton Boat Island and the fort of Madang Fortress. In just ten minutes, The frontline positions in Shengzhou Village and Zhoutou Village on Mianchuan Island were bombarded by nearly a thousand artillery shells. Twenty minutes later, all the exposed fortifications in the two places were destroyed, and the number of casualties exceeded two battalions.
The fortress command post where Ouyang Yun was located was about five kilometers away from both places. The command post was located in the mountain. Ouyang Yun and a group of army headquarters officers listened to the deafening explosion, and many of them had expressions on their faces. A look of horror,
"The little devil has spent a lot of money this time." Ouyang Yun said, his face more serious than ever before.
The original idea of letting the main force advance northward and leaving only the Three Overseas Chinese Division to hold on was to give the Japanese ample temptation, and then use the strong defense of the fortress to defeat the Japanese army. Before this, Ouyang Yun had never doubted this strategy. Correctness, and now, when the first casualty figures were sent from various frontline commanders, he felt sincerely frightened,
Judging from numbers alone, the casualties of the two battalions were not large, but because the base number was only four brigades and one regiment, he had to worry about whether he could withstand this round of onslaught by the Japs.
As for the Madang Fortress, the majesty of the Japanese Yangtze River Fleet only lasted for a quarter of an hour.
In order to cooperate with Okamura Neiji's battle plan, Kamakura Sukejijun also spent all his capital this time. In addition to the dozen or so gunboats undergoing maintenance in Zhenjiang, the Yangtze River Fleet also sent out other gunboats. Among them, there were two large gunboats. More than ten or more than twenty gunboats are equipped with naval guns with a minimum caliber of 140 mm. The range of such a large gun with such a caliber is more than 20 kilometers, and they are used to bombard Ma Dang at Tiaozihao, which is only nine kilometers away from the Madang Fortress. As a fort, it can be said that the accuracy will be higher and the efficiency that can be exerted will be doubled. In Kamakura Jiejijun's plan, he will first conduct a round of saturation bombardment on the Madang fort at Tiaozihao, and then divide the troops into two groups. , among which the main force continued to approach the Madang Fortress and suppressed the Madang Fort with artillery fire on the water in the Hezihao area. The squadron would directly load the Marines of the two brigades of the fleet and a regiment of Japanese troops provided by Gangcun. Land at Xiaqian Bay, and then cooperate with the infantry to fight all the way up from Xiaqian Bay, directly threatening the fortress from the east. The main fleet moves around the water surface of Hezihao, which can not only put the maximum pressure on Madang Fort, but also take into account Xiaqian Bay. It can be said that the landing infantry accomplished multiple things with one stone and took care of all aspects.
The plan was perfect, but Kamakura Jie Erjun underestimated the wisdom of Ouyang Yun and the staff of the Xuebing Army.
After the Japanese Second Air Corps in Anqing was destroyed by a sneak attack, the Japanese Yangtze River Fleet became the only nightmare for the Xuebing Army's tank troops. Because of the existence of the Yangtze River Fleet, the tank troops and Jiangbei troops have not dared to stray too far from the river in recent times. What he was afraid of was being attacked by artillery fire from the Yangtze River Fleet. Kamakura Jie Erchun didn't know that as early as his first artillery attack on Madang Fortress, Ouyang Yun had already been thinking about the Yangtze River Fleet, and the reason why he had been Holding back is just waiting for the opportunity,
Now, the opportunity is finally ripe,
At the concealed artillery position of the Qianjiawan Cadet Army, when fireballs continued to rise on the Yangtze River one kilometer away, Zhang Tianquan squeezed the messenger with his right hand and calmly ordered: "Last order, the target is directly ahead, one thousand meters away. Everyone is ready to fire."
"Received on the 1st, completed."
"Preparations for No. 2 are complete."
…
This was the first time for Zhang Tianquan to command an artillery unit of this size. He thought that if he failed to inflict heavy damage on the Japanese army in the first round of artillery strikes, there would be fierce retaliatory artillery fire. His palms became sweaty unconsciously and his brows tightened.
At the same time, on the riverbank south of Tiaozihao, in a patch of reeds, only two hundred meters away from the northernmost small gunboats of the Japanese army, Shi Zhengguo calmly ordered: "Brothers, start."
"Let's go." A group of twenty-eight people were divided into five groups. They towed five torpedoes and held a crude respirator made of thick reeds in their mouths. They dived into the water and began to attack a few Japanese soldiers floating on the river. A large gunboat swam away,
The few small gunboats closest to them were scanning the surrounding water with searchlights at this moment. However, they never expected that there were already people lurking here before they arrived, so most of the places they illuminated were within five to six hundred meters. Meters away, there were some places where reeds grew more vigorously. They didn't realize that, in fact, right under their noses, twenty-eight daring trainees were dragging five large gunboat-specific killing weapons towards their main gunboat. near,
Time passed bit by bit, and in the hearts of the people in charge, every second at this moment seemed as long as a month. They followed the red light that flashed in the water in front of them, avoiding the small gunboats and swam towards the middle of the river. Thirteen minutes later, Shi Zhengguo emerged from the water again and took a look. The next moment, he slapped the water with his right hand and called the others out.
The position they are currently in is between two gunboats. Among them, there are three large gunboats drifting within sight of them directly in front of them, and to their left and right and behind them, there are more than a dozen small gunboats. "Right there Here, the targets are the two ships directly ahead and to the left. Take aim and let the others retreat." Shi Zhengguo said and swam to the left of a torpedo.
According to the pre-war arrangement, two people will be left to be responsible for starting each torpedo, and the others will retreat first. One reason why two people are left is that they can adjust the depth stabilizer and prepare for starting at the same time, so as to save time. Another reason I am afraid that if the enemy discovers me, having one more person will give me more protection.
Twenty-eight people have been getting along with each other in the past few days, even if they don't have feelings, they still have feelings. They are all elites in the student army. Their previous combat positions were more important. Naturally, they understand that at this time, executing orders immediately is the only way. However, as soon as they thought that the chance of survival of those who stayed behind was almost zero, the students who were about to retreat first still felt hot in their eyes, and they couldn't help but want to say "I will stay too".
"Quick." Shi Zhengguo glared at them fiercely and shouted in a low voice: "Execute the order."
Under his stern gaze, the eighteen students who were about to retreat made a "take care" gesture, and then resolutely dived into the water.
"Boom." The two target gunboats continued to fire shells. Shi Zhengguo gritted his teeth and looked at the student soldier opposite. The latter nodded and indicated that the depth stopper was adjusted. He took a deep breath. Then he unscrewed the valve of the gas tank.