The short two days passed quickly, and An Yi's model camp once again rushed to produce 150 long ladders and 60 sets of one-meter-wide and seven-meter-long portable bridges that can be folded in one direction.
Since all connectors, fasteners and other accessories have been exhausted, the preparation work of all officers and soldiers is coming to an end. Hundreds of brothers in the engineer battalion finally got a chance to stop work and rest on the afternoon of September 4th.
At three o'clock in the morning on September 5th, in addition to the 22 Huotou Army soldiers who stayed at the camp to look after the wounded and protect their property and horses, the more than 500 brothers in Anyi Camp all had 528 brothers with guns on their backs and full armor.
Armed, lying uneasily behind the six thousand brothers of the Fourth Regiment and the Sixth Regiment, as the reserve team of the two main siege regiments, ready to be dispatched at any time - Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek decisively sent his direct troops to the main battlefield of the attack.
Even the engineer soldiers of the "Model Battalion", which is well-known throughout the army, were sent to the front line of the battlefield. The officers and soldiers of the entire army shared the same hatred of the enemy and were heroic. They launched an invincible and fierce attack against the stubborn enemy with an indomitable revolutionary spirit.
Under the gloomy night, An Yi, who once again put his rifle and sword on his back, led all the brothers to crawl behind the ruins 2.1 kilometers away from Zhongxiao Gate. He looked ahead through the curling mist, trying to see clearly.
Slowly sneaking, Chen inherited the advancing speed of the brothers from the Fourth Regiment and Hui Dongsheng's Sixth Regiment, thinking about the "death squads" led by the deputy commanders of these two regiments, thinking about the shell guns and rifles on the four hundred brave and tenacious brothers who regarded death as home.
Are the grenades enough? The forty they carried were tried and perfected by more than 500 brothers from the engineering battalion. Can the long ladder be perfected to erect the enemy's city wall? I even thought about whether these 500 brothers would have the opportunity to spend their money.
The shell gun, and then threw the six grenades on it?
Lu Xiong, the leader of the platoon, climbed up quickly from behind An Yi and whispered in An Yi's ear: "Before the war, the commander who successfully climbed into the city announced that he would be rewarded with two hundred yuan. The one hundred soldiers rule is really stingy. We haven't done it yet."
There are many rewards in my camp, but the reward of 30,000 silver for the first division to reach the top of the city is quite attractive. Battalion Commander, do you think our division can receive this huge reward?"
An Yi shook his head and replied in a low voice: "It's probably difficult. Have you forgotten the Huang Qixiang Regiment and Ye Ting Independent Regiment of the Fourth Army? No matter in terms of combat strength or numbers, we can't compare with them, and they are very experienced in attacking the city twice.
, this is our first time, how can we compare? Thirty thousand yuan is a lot, but the lives of our brothers are more precious, so you have to pay more attention to protecting the brothers of the second and third companies around you, more than half of them have no
I have been on the battlefield, and I am not very familiar with the more than 100 veteran brothers who have just joined each company. If we rush forward, it will be difficult to take care of them. At that time, we will have to rely on you brothers in the first company to stabilize us, do you understand?"
"As you command!"
Lu Xiong, who was usually awesome and coaxing, quietly returned to his place and passed An Yi's words to the brothers around him, asking them to pass them on one by one.
The beard on the other side of An Yi heard clearly and understood in his heart. He knew that An Yi's desperate plan was not adopted by his second division tonight, so An Yi said it with such certainty.
At this time, Huzi didn't know whether he was happy or worried. He really wanted to see An Yi's strategy implemented, but he didn't want An Yi's strategy to be implemented. There was a contradiction between happiness and worry.
However, although the Second Division did not implement An Yi's strategy, another elite division resolutely adopted it and did better than An Yi and Hu Hu had imagined - more than 600 brothers from the Fourth Army's artillery regiment were in one regiment of the 12th Division.
With the cooperation of the brothers, the 40 European-made large-diameter field guns prepared in advance and wrapped with thick linen on their wheels were pushed forward one foot at a time. Thousands of brothers from Huang Qixiang's regiment and Ye Ting's independent regiment slowly carried long ladders and planks.
Slowly following up from both wings, the heavy field artillery occasionally made short and sharp scratching sounds as they advanced, making the surrounding officers and soldiers extremely worried. They were afraid that one misfortune would be discovered by the enemy troops on the city wall, thus ruining this painstakingly prepared raid.
.
This bold strategy of using field artillery to approach and direct fire to destroy the enemy's defenses to the maximum extent was the result of two days of hard thinking by An Yi, and he suddenly realized it from the whimsical arguments among his subordinates during the sand table deduction.
To put it bluntly, this strange plan is a gamble. The bet is to trade living lives and expensive artillery for a city. The bet is the paralysis and pride of defending the enemy after easily defeating the opponent twice.
An Yi's idea at the time was that each division would concentrate its field artillery, use the darkest period before dawn to quietly approach the enemy's city about 300 meters away and launch an attack suddenly, and use the powerful destructive power and strike surface of the artillery to attack the enemy within two minutes.
It is possible to bombard the city with artillery from multiple places, and then regardless of success or failure, all the artillery and auxiliary troops will drop their artillery and retreat. The main attacking troops ambushing on both sides of the artillery will attack as a whole before the last three artillery shells are fired. The concealed artillery array will be placed behind the city wall.
The three-hundred-meter attack distance is exactly equivalent to the time it takes for three artillery shells to be fired. If the main attacking troops have the courage to risk their lives and risk their lives, it is entirely possible to seize this fleeting one or two-minute opportunity.
Successfully boarded the city.
If the action is discovered by the defending enemy in advance, it will bring disaster to the approaching artillery units, and the main attacking troops on both wings will also suffer heavy losses.
If the enemy's communication facilities are complete and respond quickly, and powerful artillery fire is mobilized for coverage, not only the expensive artillery and the thousands of artillerymen that are difficult to train will be in danger of being wiped out, but the following assault troops will also have to withstand the intensive artillery fire on the city walls within a kilometer distance.
Covered by machine gun fire and superior artillery fire in the city, the disastrous consequences of the failure were clear at a glance. The minimal losses also caused the attacking side that paid a heavy price to have no morale for a long time and was unable to recover!
Moreover, the implementation requirements of this strategy are quite high. There must be tacit cooperation between infantry and artillery, as well as accurate grasp of short-term opportunities. Otherwise, one bad move may kill one's own siege vanguard.
After such a risky plan was brought to Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek by Liu She and Hu Shusen, it was immediately made public at the military meeting that night, which immediately frightened the helpless civil and military officials in the hall. Even Bai Chongxi, the Deputy Chief of General Staff, was frightened.
The general was also confused by this audacious plan, and he could not make a choice. Only Commander Zhang Fakui of the 12th Division of the Fourth Army, who was well-known throughout the army for his bravery and tenacity, stood up and cheered loudly, and asked who the person who proposed the plan was.
who?
Commander-in-Chief Chiang just vaguely said "a student leading troops at the grassroots level" and put it off, so this brave adventure of the Iron Army was born, and it also received warm praise and sincere admiration from generals from all walks of life - as long as the Fourth Army
The successful use of this risky tactic will greatly reduce the heavy pressure on the siege forces! As long as the Fourth Army breaks through a line and the enemy defends the city, it must go all out to reinforce the gap, thereby allowing the attacking forces in other directions to gain greater
The opportunity to successfully climb the city may even bring unexpected benefits.
What is gratifying is that after more than half an hour of hard work, the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Army, who possess the most determined revolutionary spirit, perseverance and bravery, finally successfully pushed forty direct-firing field guns lined up to the left of Tongxiang Gate.
On the predetermined position on the side.
This place is about 350 meters away from the city wall. It is in the blind spot of the Sheshan artillery array defending the enemy city. The artillery position of the defenders on the Wangchu platform is also out of reach. In addition to guarding against the enemy's heavy machine gun strikes, there is no need to
Too distracting.
"Snapped--"
A gunshot heralded the beginning of the general attack, and forty artillery pieces showed huge destructive power at close range.
After a round of volleys, bricks and stones flew across the 200-meter area on the city wall in front, and gunpowder smoke billowed. Dozens of battlements were flattened in an instant. The defenders who were huddled on the machine gun position at the head of the city were all stunned before they even opened their eyes.
Thousands of defenders jumped up and screamed under the sudden and violent blow, running wildly in all directions. The main attacking troops under the city set up light and heavy machine guns and fired fiercely at the top of the wall, knocking down the defenders who had fled in panic.
The artillery brothers of the Fourth Army have unleashed their unprecedented potential. Almost every gun can fire seven shells in just two minutes. When the eighth shell enters the chamber, thousands of people on both sides of the artillery array are stunned.
The brothers had already jumped up and rushed forward amidst the thunderous shouts of "Long live the revolution".
Bridge boards were quickly erected one after another, and long ladders that were carried under the city wall were quickly erected amidst sporadic resistance. Deeply encouraged, the confident revolutionary officers and soldiers quickly climbed up the ladders one after another. Ye Ting Independent Regiment and
The vanguard of Huang Qixiang's 36th Regiment's "Suicide Squad" boarded the smoke-filled city wall almost at the same time, and started a brutal close-quarters battle with the defenders who quickly rushed to the city's rescue.
Hundreds of artillerymen who successfully fired eleven artillery shells, with the strong cooperation of thousands of auxiliary officers and soldiers, did not drop a single artillery piece but quickly evacuated the position with all their strength.
As the first burst of artillery rumbled, all the siege soldiers of the Seventh Army who were lurking in place, the remaining regiments of the Fourth Army, and the two main regiments of the Second Division immediately launched a fierce attack. The three sides of Wuchang City were rained with bullets.
Blazing fires, gunshots, explosions, and shouts resounded over Wuchang.
The two main regiments of the Second Division outside Zhongxiao Gate had already been ambushing at the impact position. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, they quickly laid folding bridges to pass through the trench, rushed to the bottom of the city and set up more than ten long ladders to climb the city. The two hundred "death squads" of the Fourth Regiment
Undaunted by the crazy attack of the defending enemy, they swarmed up and finally succeeded in scaling the city at the cost of destroying seven long ladders and causing more than a hundred casualties.
Dozens of brave warriors who feared death shouted and rushed towards the rolling enemy group. Grenades exploded in the crowd. The warriors who were too late to shoot rushed towards the enemy group with sizzling and smoking grenades. On top of the city
There were bursts of fire, blood splashed, and a large number of officers and soldiers who followed quickly climbed up the long ladder. The generals supervising the battle below the city were thrilling and excited. The same situation occurred on the city wall captured by the soldiers of Ye Ting's independent regiment and Huang Qixiang's regiment.
An Yi led his brothers to fly forward in accordance with the regulations, closely following the two main groups. As the forward speed became slower and slower, he finally stopped and fell down.
An Yi's biggest worry finally became a reality: the thundering roar from the Seventh Army's offensive direction gradually disappeared, replaced by the familiar and intensive sound of heavy machine gunfire, and the sound of large-caliber naval gun shells piercing the air with a shrill roar that cut through the night sky.
There were also faint howls and cries of lamentation; the same was true from the direction of Binyang Gate where the regiments of the Fourth Army were attacking. Half of the sky was dyed red with pillars of fire, indicating another disastrous defeat of the attack on Binyang Gate.
As the enemy defenders in the city continued to provide rapid reinforcements, more than 200 brothers from the Second Division, Fourth Regiment, and Sixth Regiment who successfully climbed to the city were tragically slaughtered. The brothers from the Sixth Regiment on the right wing were the first to disappear among the dark enemies on the city wall, buckets of
The vegetable oil and gasoline immediately rolled down and were instantly ignited. The miles-long city was burned with crackling noises, bright as day, and fiercely burning iron oil barrels rose into the sky amidst the deafening explosions, tumbling into the air.
, the roaring flames fell from the sky like a curtain of rain, forming a violent fire dragon more than a hundred meters wide and a thousand meters long. Hundreds of officers and soldiers howled and struggled in the purgatory-like fire, and the gunfire of the defending enemy rang out.
A dense rain of bullets was fired, and the brothers who escaped from the trench were beaten to death.
"Leader——"
The more than 1,600 brothers of the Fourth Regiment who were lying on the ground and had no time to attack shouted in unison, but were unable to do anything. They watched the regiment leader Chen Chengi and dozens of officers and soldiers move quickly among the corpses, and fired tenaciously at the city.
Unable to break through the flaming trenches blocked by bullets.
Under the merciless crossfire of two heavy machine guns on the left and right of the city, the surviving brothers fell down one by one and could not get up again. More than a hundred of them on the city turned defeat into victory. The arrogant defenders were pushing a heavy oil drum.
In an attempt to burn the last piece of land without fire where Chen Chengyi and more than 200 brothers were.
The exclamation woke up An Yi, who was shaking all over in the face of the tragic situation. Extreme self-blame and pain burned and swelled in his young chest.
An Yi, with a red face, stared at Chen Chengi, who was looming in the firelight. He stood up suddenly and rushed forward. He quickly passed over the more than a thousand brothers who were lying on the ground and rushed to the trench 500 meters away. He said repeatedly while charging.
"It's not my fault," he finally uttered a beast-like wail. Under the horrified gaze of hundreds of pairs of eyes, he ran quickly, unhooked the rifle from his back, and braved the oncoming hail of bullets.
Rushing close to the city trench, he suddenly knelt on his knees and used the inertia to slide quickly on the hot sandy ground. During the movement, he raised his rifle and accurately reached the area where there was no fire curtain to obstruct his sight. He then mechanically buckled the oil drum that was about to roll off the city wall.
Move the trigger.
With a loud "boom", the hot oil drum was accurately hit by An Yi's shot, and a violent explosion occurred. The flames shot up into the sky and quickly ignited everything within a hundred meters of the city.
The impact caused by the explosion sent more than ten nearby defenders into the sky, and the entire city was a sea of fire. More than a hundred defenders and the machine gun position fifty meters away on the right turned into fireballs of various sizes.
An Yi, who succeeded in one blow, turned his gun and stood up, moved two steps, aimed at the machine gunner on the left side of the city 150 meters away through the flame gap and fired again. The machine gunner on the city was hit by a shot.
Before dying, An Yi subconsciously fired a string of bullets. An Yi only felt numbness in his left shoulder, and then was pushed back by a huge force. His head hit the ground hard, and he fainted immediately.
Huzi, Lu Xiong and other brothers who arrived quickly grabbed An Yi's limbs and clothes, and tried their best to escape to the rear amid the hail of bullets that were chasing him.
Seeing this opportunity, Chen Chengcheng shouted loudly and led groups of officers and soldiers under the blazing fire to rush across the crumbling plank bridge above the trench. In the end, more than 170 brothers of the Fourth Regiment were lucky enough to escape death.
The devil's claw rushed into the woods one mile behind with his body covered in gunpowder smoke and scars.
The enemy's dense artillery shells flew in, and in a blink of an eye, the area with a radius of one kilometer outside the Zhongxiao Gate exploded into flames. The fire splashed everywhere, and the dust, smoke and scorched earth aroused covered the sky and the sun...