At noon on July 23, as nearly ten consecutive days of heavy rain came to an end on the Central Plains battlefield, the atmosphere on the front line of the confrontation between China and Japan quickly became tense.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the hot sun broke through the thick clouds, scorching the earth. Thick water vapor was steaming in the air. Everyone who was exposed to the sun was sweating profusely. Many people with poor health were like this.
Being in a steamer-like environment, he fell ill from heatstroke.
At 2:15 in the afternoon, the Japanese commander, Lieutenant General Zhongshan Dun, commander of the 68th Division, who had already been notified by the meteorological department that the rain would clear today, personally went to the headquarters behind the artillery position to check the operation status so that the troops could launch a surprise attack.
attack.
After receiving the report, the artillery commander Major General Nakano Kahiro, who was inspecting the artillery position's preparations for bombardment, rushed back to the headquarters and exchanged salutes with Nakayama Dun.
Subsequently, Nakano Kahiro reported the bombardment plan to Nakayama Dun.
"Commander Zhongshan, starting from 4:30 in the afternoon, our unit plans to bombard the Japanese positions with high intensity for one and a half hours, destroying the Japanese positions in one fell swoop!"
Major General Kahiro Nakano, whose artillery force had been strengthened to more than 240 artillery pieces of various types, seemed confident: "An hour and a half later, the artillery fire was extended to cover the rear positions of the Japanese army. At the same time, our army deployed on the river bank
Thirty thousand chimneys fired smoke screens and poisonous gas at the same time, completely wiping out the Japanese defenders on the opposite river bank and the Longtoushan and Xiaonanshan positions!"
Since today's wind direction happened to be northerly, Major General Kahiro Nakano had a smile on his face.
"poison gas?"
Lieutenant General Zhongshan Dun said with some hesitation: "I am still hesitant about whether it is appropriate to use this kind of unconventional weapon? Since August 2017, when our army was fighting against the Fifth Army of the Hu Jialin Department of the Anjia Army, we used poison gas and were attacked.
The leader of the Japanese bandits, An Yi, launched a strong counterattack and immediately dispatched planes to drop bombs, gasoline bombs and leaflets on Taiwan, Ryukyu, North Korea and the mainland. This was a serious blow to the morale of the army and the people. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor ordered not to
Poison gas is allowed to be used on *** territory.
"What if because we make an exception, we are severely retaliated by the An family army, which has rapidly expanded its military strength? Who will bear the wrath of His Majesty the Emperor?"
Nakano Kayu was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that Nakayama Dun would actually want to give up on something that had been discussed in advance, so he tried to persuade him:
"Commander, please rest assured that now that the Anjia Army has become estranged from the Nanjing government, it may not necessarily stand up for the Central Army and other local armies. Moreover, after we use the poison gas, we immediately launch an attack and we can eliminate the evidence. As long as we act quickly enough, we will definitely not
Someone caught me! The year before last and last year, poison gas achieved very good results in the battles in Burma and India, and I believe this time will be no exception!"
Having said this, Nakano Kahiro pointed to the other side of the river: "I don't want to belittle myself. If we don't use poison gas bombs and rely only on artillery fire, it will be difficult to destroy the Japanese people's will to resist, and we will suffer huge casualties! From the fifty-seventh
Judging from the feedback from the Fourth Brigade Brigade, the strength of the *** army
Not bad, and the troops are comparable to ours. If we don't take this countermeasure, it will be difficult to get any benefits! Once the casualties of the troops are too large, not only will they not be able to regain Lincheng, they may even be counterattacked by the superior Japanese troops, and the war situation will fall into disarray.
If you are completely passive, you and I will both become sinners of the Yamato nation!"
"All right!"
Zhongshan Dun was obviously unwilling to hinder this sure victory. After speaking, he came to the lookout of the headquarters built in the mountain. He observed it with a telescope for a while. When he saw the strong barriers on the south bank of the Xue River, he finally nodded and put down the telescope.
He raised his wrist and looked at his watch, then ordered Major General Nakano Kahiro:
"Well, in order to better conceal our use of poison gas, the time for launching the artillery bombardment will be postponed by one hour from 4:30 to 5:30. After an hour and a half of artillery preparation, the sky has darkened, and then suddenly we will launch
Poison gas attacks can take down enemy positions in one fell swoop without even realizing it.
"The key to victory in this battle is to be quick, accurate and ruthless. We must not allow the news of the Imperial Army's use of poisonous gas to leak out, which will in turn trigger the Anjia Army's revenge! Mr. Nakano, I hope that this time the Imperial Army's southern expedition will be successful."
A great victory, the first shot will be fired by you!"
"Hey Yi——"
Nakano Kayu stood at attention and bowed, with a ferocious and stoic look in his eyes.
While the Japanese army was preparing for the artillery attack, the Chinese garrison positions on the other side of the Xue River and on Longtou Mountain and Xiaonan Mountain did not know that the crisis was approaching. They were still methodically preparing stones, giant trees and other materials to prepare for the construction of positions at night.
.
The position that was damaged by Japanese artillery fire in the heavy rain two days ago has now been completely repaired. Only the huge craters on the position that have not been filled up and the water inside prove that this place has suffered extremely violent bombing. In order to prevent the Japanese army from
Another artillery raid was carried out, causing huge casualties to the officers and soldiers. The reinforcement of the position was now carried out at night.
The defensive position of the company led by Gu Zhengtao is at the forefront of the division. The turbulent Xue River is one hundred meters in front. The previous position was built fifty meters away, but it has been washed away by the river and has now become a river beach.
part. The focus of the Japanese artillery attack in the past two days was actually the positions at Longtoushan and Xiaonanshan in the rear. Positions deployed along the river, but the losses were not too great.
Gu Zhengtao was lying beside the trench at the moment, carefully observing the movements of the Japanese positions on the other side. Since the Japanese bombardment the day before yesterday, the forward troops of the 131st Division and the 188th Division were ordered to strengthen enemy observation. At the same time, the troops transferred from the 173rd Division
The troops were deployed as reserves on the slopes of Longtou Mountain and Xiaonan Mountain to support frontline operations at any time.
Gu Zhengtao carefully held the telescope and observed the Japanese positions. He went through them carefully from left to right and still found nothing that needed special attention.
"It's okay. It's getting dark soon. The Japanese probably won't attack again today!"
Gu Zhengtao felt slightly relieved, put down his telescope and murmured to himself. Although one division had just been transferred from Zaozhuang, judging from the intensity of the Japanese artillery fire in the past two days, with the current strength of three divisions, Gu Zhengtao wanted to hold the Xuehe defense line.
I still feel a little unsure.
In fact, Gu Zhengtao despises this tactic of being passively beaten. When he was at Qinzhou Port in 1937, he was still a small squad leader. He trained with Anjiajun and learned literacy from Anjiajun's cultural officer.
Basic common sense of leading troops in war.
The Japanese army came with great momentum. In Gu Zhengtao's view, Xia Wei, as the commander of the group army, should break the main force into pieces in time, move through the mountains and hills of southern Luna, move to the rear of the Japanese army, continuously attack the Japanese army's flanks, and cut off its
Food routes and supplies, when the Japanese army faced off against the main force of the Central Army in the south, they rushed out in one fell swoop to form a strategic encirclement. In this way, it would be difficult to win.
But now, I can only be beaten passively, no matter what I think, I will feel unhappy!
Just when Gu Zhengtao was fuming, three red flares suddenly rose in the sky opposite. Since the sun was still setting in the western sky, you really couldn't see it if you didn't distinguish it carefully, but the unique whistling sound of the flares
, still caught Gu Zhengtao’s attention.
Just when Gu Zhengtao was confused and didn't know what the Japanese army was going to do, the hour and minute hands were already pointing to half past five. The Japanese artillery frontline commander who had been on standby with a microphone heard the screams of artillery commander Nakano Kahiro: "Kill."
Come on! The attack starts now!"
The commander hurriedly put down the microphone and quickly signaled to the signal soldier to start.
As the signal flag waved, the gunners of the thirty-six artillery fires in charge of the school fire pulled the gun ropes fiercely at the same time. With a huge roar, thirty-six flames roared towards the south bank of the Xue River.
"Boom boom——"
Amidst the continuous explosions, thirty-six orange fireballs soared into the sky around the Chinese garrison position. Just when the garrison officers and soldiers were unable to respond and hurriedly evaded, on the Japanese position, six weapons used for school shooting
The black hot air balloon slowly rose into the sky.
The former enemy headquarters of the 1st Trinity Division, located on the mountainside at the junction of Longtou Mountain and Xiaonan Mountain, was strangely directly hit by a missed 120mm grenade in the first round of Japanese test firings.
The headquarters built with long giant logs collapsed suddenly. Division Commander Lin Cixi and more than a dozen division staff members who were observing the movements of the Japanese troops inside were all crushed under the rubble.
The guards were shocked and frightened, with tears in their eyes, howling loudly, and frantically moving away the burning wood, and finally found the unconscious Major General Lin Cixi under a corpse.
It turned out that at the moment when the grenade landed on the top of the headquarters and exploded, a staff officer next to Lin Cixi jumped on him and used his own body to bear the impact of the falling wood for Lin Cixi!
Because Lin Cixi was seriously injured, he was quickly sent to the rear on a stretcher for rescue. The command of the unit was taken over by the deputy division commander.
On the Japanese observation balloon, six artillery school shooters carefully observed the impact point of the artillery shells. A series of data was transmitted through the phone connected to the artillery position. Soon, the thirty-six artillery pieces after correcting the firing angle,
The second round of volleys was launched, and thirty-six gorgeous fireworks with the kiss of death curled up from the garrison position on the south bank of the Xue River.
Several rounds of grenades fell into the trenches. They exploded loudly, mixed with incessant screams, and lumps of sand, stone, and soil flew up one after another. The fragile flesh and blood body was swept into the air, and then turned into a burst of mud mixed with blood mist.
Stones rained down one after another.
Using these thirty-six artillery pieces as the benchmark, multiple artillery pieces of various calibers from all the Japanese army's artillery units were fired at full speed.
Balls of flames spurted out from the muzzle, and flew toward the Chinese defenders' positions like meteors in the air!
In an instant, the entire Xuehe position was trembling horribly. Thunder-like explosions could be heard continuously. Everywhere was shrouded in thick smoke and fire. The entire ground was plunged into a sea of fire, and raging air waves rolled everywhere.
Pieces of bombs roared to the ground
, balls of orange flames rose up on the ground, the fireworks spread out with air waves, raging shrapnel flew in all directions, swallowing up all targets within the killing range, yellow fire soared into the sky, and the sky was illuminated a miserable red
, which one is more vivid compared with the colorful clouds on the western horizon.
"Boom boom——"
In the continuous explosions, waves of invisible sound waves were like hammers, hitting the officers and soldiers in the trenches. Many officers and soldiers in the center of the explosion suddenly had bloodshot eyes, dizziness, and their bodies
They were even knocked back into the traffic trench by the violent and raging invisible sound waves, and were pressed hard against the bottom of the ditch. Some officers and soldiers even started to bleed from their faces, eyes, and ears!
Countless grenades, some of them fell into the trenches accurately, and violent explosions followed. The officers and soldiers around the explosion points were torn into pieces without even having time to scream, and some officers and soldiers were directly killed.
The grenade hit and was blown into a shower of blood and minced meat flying in all directions.
The position was littered with gun parts, scattered pieces of flesh and blood, and charred corpses.
Gu Zhengtao was lying in the trench, his mouth wide open, looking up in despair. The already dark sky was now illuminated by the bullet marks in the air that shone with blazing flames.
Fortunately, the focus of the Japanese bombardment was on the Longtoushan and Xiaonanshan positions in the back. The forward positions were relatively safe. The recruits who had been shelled in the previous two days also began to learn to control their inner fears with their will.
At this time, the Longtoushan and Xiaonanshan positions had almost become a purgatory on earth. Wherever the dense grenades hit, there was a sea of rolling fire. Not many trees were ignited by the fire. The violent explosion made the entire land emit a terrifying sound.
Trembling, the trees fell down in the explosion and were burned into charred wood in the soaring fire.
Entire trenches collapsed in front of the brutal shock wave. Firepower points built with huge stones, under the terrifying power of the 240mm caliber grenade explosion, were like castles made of sand, instantly transformed.
For ruins.
The Longtoushan and Xiaonanshan positions, with almost all the fortifications destroyed, are still undergoing large-scale bombing by the Japanese army!
The 120mm, 150mm and 240mm grenades, with their sharp whistling sounds, plowed this battered mountainous area two to three hundred meters above sea level over and over again.
Countless corpses, countless pieces of human limbs, together with gravel and soil, flew into the sky and turned into flesh and blood all over the sky.
"Order the artillery regiments of all divisions to counterattack immediately!"
After receiving the urgent report, Lieutenant General Qin Lianfang, commander of the 84th Army, immediately bypassed the division-level commanders and directly issued a counterattack order to the artillery regiments of the three divisions deployed on the front line!
The officers and soldiers of the three artillery regiments who received the order quickly launched a counterattack, ordering seventy-two 75mm mountain guns from the Xufu Military Factory, and fired revenge shells towards the north bank of the Xue River. Unfortunately, this 75mm
The accurate range of the mountain artillery was only more than 4,000 meters, and it was impossible to hit the Japanese artillery positions that were 5,000 meters away.
The six Japanese artillery school shooters on the observation balloon soon discovered the counterattack artillery position of the Chinese defenders. Under their guidance, the Japanese army concentrated 36 150mm howitzers and 12 200mm howitzers.
The 40mm heavy howitzer launched a bombardment at the Chinese artillery that dared to fight back.
As they could only be passively attacked, the artillery positions of the artillery regiments of the three divisions suffered huge losses. In desperation, the remaining thirty-six artillery pieces and artillery units were urgently transferred, but the Japanese army's artillery fire, which had lasted for almost an hour and a half, failed.
Still going on.
At this time, the Longtoushan and Xiaonanshan positions were completely destroyed, the troops defending each front were reduced to ten, and the entire Xuehe defense line was on the verge of collapse.
The sound of artillery gradually stopped. At the Japanese Artillery Command, Major General Kahiro Nakano was observing the effects of the bombardment with a telescope. He nodded with satisfaction and said "Yo Xi". At this time, the staff officer said there was a phone call. He perked up and immediately returned to the phone.
, the voice of the frontline commander came from the microphone.
"Report to Commander, the chimney is ready, please give the order!"
Major General Kahiro Nakano did not answer immediately, and looked inquiringly at a lieutenant colonel who looked polite with a pair of glasses.
"Commander, the current climate conditions are completely in line with the conditions for use!" This lieutenant general from the Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department of the 11th Japanese Army gave Nakano the answer he wanted most.
"Let's get started!"
Nakano Kahiro spoke into the phone and gave the order heavily, and then he called Nakayama Dun, who was sitting at the rear, to report the news.
Following the order from the frontline artillery commander, 30,000 smoke tubes were deployed on the Japanese frontline positions and began to emit smoke screens at the same time. Clouds of black smoke rose into the sky, forming a fog more than ten kilometers wide in mid-air.
wall.
Since the wind direction at this time was northerly, this huge black wall of fog slowly followed the wind and drifted towards the south bank of the Xue River.
"Attention, the little devil is about to attack!"
"Everyone must obey the order and shoot!"
Following the orders from officers at all levels in the forward position, the highly nervous soldiers pointed their guns at the Xue River.
After issuing the combat order, Gu Zhengtao immediately began to inspect the position. He saw the officers and soldiers unscrewing the caps of the grenades in the wooden boxes one by one, placing them in convenient positions, and carefully checking the weapons in their hands. He felt a little relieved.
.
Returning to his position, Gu Zhengtao discovered the black smoke floating from the north of the Xue River. He was surprised. His ears stood up and he listened carefully to determine whether the Japanese army used the smoke screen to launch a river-crossing operation. He held the Zhongzheng II tightly.
The hands holding the semi-automatic rifle were covered in cold sweat.
As night fell, Gu Zhengtao and all the officers and soldiers did not notice that this huge black wall of fog was mixed with light yellow and brown!
The huge black wall of fog drifted slowly but firmly across the Xue River, slowly shrouding the beachhead on the south bank and the Longtoushan and Xiaonanshan positions behind it in black mist.
With eyes wide open, the officers and soldiers deployed on the front line focused their attention on the river. If there was any sign of trouble, they would shoot immediately.
Not long after, every officer and soldier on the position began to feel a faint itchiness in their throats and a feeling of wanting to cough. Their eyes also began to feel sore, and many soldiers began to shed tears involuntarily.
It was not until it became increasingly difficult to breathe that the officers and soldiers who at first thought they were alone in trouble discovered that there seemed to be something else in the smoke floating in the air, a strong and uneasy feeling on the battlefield.
Spread!
Strange! What is there in this black mist? Could it be...
Gu Zhengtao, who had a bad feeling, couldn't help the urge to cough and the increasingly strong feeling of suffocation. He finally understood what was going on. He used all his strength and shouted loudly, "It's poisonous gas. The little devil used it."
It’s poisonous!”
Unfortunately, it was too late. When the first cough sounded in the black mist, coughs continued to be heard on the battlefield. More and more officers and soldiers were coughing and opening their mouths desperately to think more.
Breathing some fresh air, I found that the air seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, so I started to cover my throat and gasp for breath!
One, two, three or four in a row, more and more officers and soldiers fell in the trench, rolling in pain and wailing.
The lungs of the officers and soldiers seemed to be about to explode. Breathing became increasingly difficult. Most of them wanted to cut their tracheas. Their brains began to slow down due to lack of oxygen, their eyes gradually closed, and then they gradually lost consciousness.
....
At eight o'clock on the night of the 23rd, the vanguard troops of the Japanese 57th Brigade, about four brigades, all put on gas masks and began to forcibly cross the Xue River.
In addition, Japanese engineers also wore gas masks and built pontoons and other river crossing facilities.
By 11:30 that night, an independent tank group assigned to the 68th Division had successfully crossed the Xue River. Nearly 40,000 Japanese troops and 20,000 puppet troops broke through the Longtoushan and Xiaonanshan positions, and
They broke through the defense of the 173rd Division, which had hurriedly built a defensive line to resist, and marched towards Lincheng 14 kilometers away.
At this time, the 74th and 90th armies of the 26th Army of the Central Army Yu Jishi, who had high hopes from Xia Wei, commander of the 41st Army, were still slowly advancing towards Lincheng, and their forwards were still stranded.
Weishanhu Village is fifteen kilometers south of Lincheng, and Hanzhuang is less than thirty kilometers away from Lincheng. The Central Army spent two days and two nights and only traveled fifteen kilometers, which is really incredible.
...
Also on this night, thousands of miles away, Nanhua Xinjing Railway Station was bustling with people coming and going.
The arriving trains slowly stopped at different platforms. As the doors opened, a continuous flow of people poured out. Next to the departing train under the platform, ticket inspectors were carefully checking train tickets and instructing passengers which car and which seat.
, although the work was busy, no one showed any impatience and kept serving with a smile.
An Yi and Lin's twin sisters, both dressed in casual clothes, shook hands and said goodbye to Hu Jialin, who also came to see him off in casual clothes. Beside the four of them, Shen Fengdao, Lin Yaodong, An Yi's bodyguards and guards from the Central Security Bureau, all wearing
Wearing all kinds of clothes to hide one's identity, one is consciously or unconsciously observing the surrounding situation.
An Yi put down his clenched hand and said to his adopted brother Hu Jialin:
"Brother Hu, this time I took a train to Guangzhou in disguise. Firstly, I went deep into the people to understand what the people were thinking so that I could find and solve problems in time. Secondly, I accompanied Xiaotong and Xiaoran to let them see the things happening in various parts of the north.
Customs and customs, try the special snacks along the way, three things, I also want to check the situation of our mainland transportation lines.
"What I have seen before is all written and formal things. Wherever we go, we are surrounded by people. We have considered everything below, but we have not been exposed to the real situation. I hope that what I heard during this trip will be what I saw.
Yes, it’s the same as what the officials below reported to me, then I’ll be relieved!”
Hu Jialin nodded: "Don't worry, I'm here to watch, there won't be any chaos! But you're not in Xinjing, what if there's an emergency?"
"No problem!"
An Yi said with a smile: "Now that our rules and regulations have been established, each department performs its own duties. I only play a coordinating role, and they still carry out the specific work. Is there any truth that cannot be separated for a moment? Moreover, Nowadays, several key battlefields around the world are evenly matched and cannot threaten us for a while!
"Besides, even if something happens, the intelligence department knows where I am and can send a plane to pick me up at any time. There will be no mistakes!"
At this time, the announcement on the platform began to urge people to get on the train. An Yi clasped his fists and bowed to Hu Jialin, and then walked towards the train holding Lin Xiaotong and Lin Xiaoran in each hand.
Behind An Yi, Shen Fengdao and Lin Yaodong were following closely like two ordinary bodyguards. Further away, thirty-six iron guards and seventy-two security personnel entered each carriage of the train. Don't bother An Yi to observe the public sentiment. On the other hand, when the situation is critical, provide emergency reinforcements to avoid being wiped out by everyone.
At this time, An Yi did not know that the situation on the battlefield in the Central Plains had undergone tremendous changes.
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