At 2:10 p.m., Jianghai Estuary in Jiangbei Province.
Two flat-bottomed iron-hulled ships, converted into offshore transport ships with gasoline engines, docked one after another at the muddy simple dock. A machine gun placed at the bow and stern of the ship pointed vigilantly at the grassy and bushy shore.
, two Japanese squads of more than 50 people, under the command of a lieutenant officer, jumped off two transport ships more than ten meters long, distanced themselves, and cautiously advanced northwestward in a search formation.
Under the rocky hills more than 800 meters ahead, Colonel Zong Xingzhen, the commander of the teaching regiment and captain of the Special Forces Brigade, was half-kneeling in the grass, motionless, observing carefully.
This highland is only one kilometer away from the river bank. The transport ship parked on the bank and the seven Japanese soldiers on guard were clearly visible through the telescope. Another transport ship carrying eight Marines officers and soldiers slowly left the river mouth and walked along the river.
On top, the search was slow. Judging from the behavior and speed of the two groups of enemy troops moving separately, it was obvious that this search team of more than a hundred people were all experienced and well-trained people.
Zong Xingzhen pondered for a while, put down the telescope, retreated to the grass more than three meters below, and whispered to the two company commanders of the teaching regiment:
"Two platoons of the company bypassed the dry stream to the west and went straight to the river. When the ship that went up the river to search for warnings came back, they used snipers and machine guns to deal with it. There were only eleven people on board the ship.
An enemy can be killed in one minute, and then we can find a way to get the boat, drive it to the mouth of the Liuhe River on the other side of the downstream bank, and hand it over to the brothers in the logistics department of the headquarters. They are short of such inland river transport ships."
"yes!"
The detachment leader, whose face was full of ashes, bowed and left after being ordered.
Zong Xingzhen took the fourth company commander's hand and whispered: "Now go to the Engineer Corps to see the regimental commander. When you get there, stay to assist him and ask him to send a platoon of brothers from the Infantry Company of the Engineer Corps to quietly touch
Go to Hekou Pier, their construction site is closest to there
After working for several days in a row, they are more familiar with the terrain than we are. Don't rush into action when you get to the place. Pay attention to hiding. When the gunfire rings from our side, let them clean up the seven Japanese soldiers on the boat and off the boat who are on guard. Immediately
When seizing a ship, you must never let an enemy go."
"yes!"
"The rest of the platoons came with me to ambush around the crash site... By the way, did the little Japanese pilot get over?" Zong Xingzhen asked.
"It's done. I put it next to the half of the plane's wing as a bait. I even hung the parachute on a small tree." They reported in low voices one after another.
Before the Special Forces Brigade returned, Zong Xingzhen could only lead two companies of the teaching regiment to carry out the mission. Although the Tigers of the Special Forces Brigade were more suitable for such an operation, Zong Xingzhen still felt that against a mere hundred or so Japanese troops,
These things from the teaching team
Brothers are enough, because the officers and soldiers of the teaching regiment are the best elites in the entire division. Almost all of them have been tempered by one or two battles, and after careful training, their combat effectiveness is only slightly inferior to that of the special brigade, but they are by no means ordinary opponents.
Can compete with it.
The Japanese troops who formed their formation and searched carefully finally found a parachute flying in the wind on a small tree 300 meters away from the crash site. After an excited report, the enemy lieutenant quickly issued a series of orders, and more than 60 Japanese troops were immediately divided into
The two teams were outflanking the crash site. The Japanese lieutenant led more than 20 people and two light machine guns and cautiously advanced from the center. It took about fifteen minutes to reach the messy crash site out of breath.
Almost all the Japanese officers and soldiers in place saw the pilot who was covered in blood and still groaning in pain. They all rushed forward in excitement. The lieutenant who was more than ten meters away looked at the parachute on the treetop in front, and then looked at the distance.
The pilot who was more than 20 meters above the treetops and the plane wreckage in the distance suddenly changed his face. He raised his gun and shouted: "No, I fell into a trap..."
Before the word "Le" was spoken, a crisp gunshot was heard not far away.
"Pah——"
"Ta da... da da da..."
The lieutenant, who was shot in the middle of his eyebrow, twitched all over, and the pistol raised high fell to the ground. Then he threw himself forward and fell to the ground. After a few twitches, he died. Before the surrounding Japanese officers and soldiers could react, a dense rain of bullets was already flying. In the blink of an eye,
In a short period of time, more than 40 Japanese soldiers were killed.
The remaining Japanese troops who hurriedly lay down had no time to fire, and swarms of grenades flew from three directions. After the violent explosion, before the smoke cleared, more than a hundred officers and soldiers of the training regiment had already rushed out, holding guns against the remaining Japanese troops.
The others quickly rushed forward, grabbed the struggling Japanese soldiers, took off their belts and trousers, and quickly tied them up.
Zong Xingzhen looked at the Japanese lieutenant with his eyes wide open and refused to die, and secretly exclaimed that it was dangerous. Someone could analyze the abnormality of the situation from some clues. It was really beyond his expectation. Fortunately, the enemy found it late.
After a while, coupled with the timely and fierce strikes of the instructors, officers and soldiers, the mission was finally completed without any danger.
At this time, fierce gunshots rang out on the dock. Zong Xingzhen checked the direction of the wind, put down a big stone in his heart, and continued to scan the battlefield. He came over one after another with his head drooped, reporting that some kid didn't pay attention when he dropped the bomb. The Japanese pilot
His brain is gone.
Zong Xingzhen shook his head and did not criticize anyone. He ordered the first company deputy to lead a platoon of brothers to rush to the river to help. He then ordered his brothers to escort all the surviving Japanese soldiers, who were thirteen prisoners, back to the division headquarters in the west. The others stayed to clean the battlefield.
, and took away all the clothes, shoes and hats from the Japanese corpses, leaving the corpses for disposal by the brothers of the Engineer Corps.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese Marine Corps headquarters received a report that the two teams that went upstream to search for the crashed pilot had not returned, and there is still no news. Two gunboats set off from the Changxing Island Pier to search, but no sightings were seen along the way.
The shadows of the two small transport ships and the search team found no signs of fighting along the river.
The Marine Corps headquarters did not dare to neglect and immediately reported this abnormal situation to the Japanese Army Headquarters in Shanghai. Commander Nomura was not in the mood to care about such a trivial matter. Ishikawa Koichi, who had been promoted to the deputy section chief of the operations section of the headquarters, immediately came over after hearing the news.
In front of me, I asked carefully, and then rushed to the map to measure and calculate carefully.
"What did Ishikawa-kun find?" Colonel Tanaka asked in a low voice.
Ishikawa frowned and pointed to the Da'an Town area in the north of the Yangtze River: "This place is only a few kilometers away from Chongming Island. Regardless of whether our military ships are traveling up the waters from the south or the north, they must pass through this section of the river mouth to the west of Chongming Island. If I am not wrong in my inference,
If so, it is very likely that An Yi has once again deployed heavy troops and even artillery positions to attack my warships and troop transports at any time. The matter is very difficult!"
Tanaka was taken aback and studied the map carefully. After a while, he said solemnly: "If this is really the case, then the Liuhe landing operation in our next plan will be attacked from the north and south at the same time, lacking sufficient protection! There is also the artillery that the navy is planning.
The retaliatory action of bombarding Zhenjiang and other places, if there is no infantry support and warning on the shore, will only become a living target for the enemy's attacks along the coast. The situation is very bad! How can An Yi see so far when he takes one step and three steps?
"
Ishikawa smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Didn't you see An Yi's remarks published in the Shanghai newspaper? He called our powerful naval ships drifting coffins, and the Chinese Air Force successfully blew up the Qiuyun in a sneak attack.
The action also sounded the alarm to us. An Yi is not the kind of person who speaks freely. His words often contain hidden tips and are endlessly memorable. Therefore
, I suggested to Tanaka-kun that this important information should be submitted to the general in the form of a report immediately. In addition... Tanaka-kun, please look here. If An Yi's army has been hiding in the Da'an Town area on the north coast, the vast Chongming Island will also be
With their small combat troops, if the enemy's small combat troops are active on Chongming Island, it will bring a lot of trouble to our army's war."
"A small combat force? Are you talking about the special forces in the Chinese army? Is it difficult to deal with it?" Tanaka asked puzzledly.
Ishikawa nodded solemnly: "The Chinese army usually has a special agent company composed of elite officers and soldiers at the division level, usually with a number of about 130 people. However, the divisions under An Yi's command are special agent battalions with as many as 500 officers and soldiers, which is quite a lot.
For half of the main force of our army.
The combat effectiveness of these combat units carrying mortars and automatic weapons is so amazing that the top brass of the Chinese military call them special operations forces. There are very few people who understand the formation, training, combat methods, and political education of this special unit. Some local armies even
I didn't know that such elite troops existed at all, and so far, only two divisions of the 24th Army under An Yi's command, the Hu Jialin Independent Division, the Central Army's Hu Zongnan First Division and Huang Jie's Second Division have such capable small units.
unit combat unit.
However, setting up such a force is too extravagant. It requires very high basic quality and training of officers and soldiers. Usually, the cost of setting up and training a battalion of this kind of force is equivalent to that of a brigade of regular troops, and it also requires a group of troops.
Very professional instructors provide guidance, so few Chinese armies can be formed."
Tanaka nodded with relief: "Understood! I will report it to the general immediately. If this hidden danger is not eliminated, it will indeed be a serious danger to our army!"
Ishikawa stopped Colonel Tanaka who was about to leave: "Tanaka-san, although the terrain of Chongming Island is relatively flat, it is densely wooded, overgrown with weeds, and reed trees stretch as far as the eye can see. It covers an area of nearly a thousand square kilometers. How many troops are needed to sweep it away?"
The area facing Wusong, Liuhe, and Changxing docks is more than 60 kilometers long. The enemy's elite troops can set up large- and small-caliber mortars along this 60-kilometer coast to attack our ships and landing troops by surprise.
even
Attack our anchored warships in the direction of Changxing Island and destroy the emergency airport our army is repairing on the southeast corner of Chongming Island. Even if we can completely control Chongming Island, the enemy forces can calmly withdraw to Tuxing, Yongfeng, Huangcang, and Puji in the north of the Yangtze River.
On the front line, we will continue to attack and harass our army. At present, the cabinet has made a lot of accusations against our military department. It hopes that we can divert international attention through the battle in Shanghai and win opportunities for the establishment of Manchukuo. Therefore, it is difficult to agree to our initiative to expand
War zone.
Nowadays, it is very difficult for us to open up the Shanghai battlefield. If we open up the battlefield on the Jiangbei front line, we need at least two to three additional divisions from the country. Under this very difficult situation, Tanaka-kun believes that General Nomura still has such a capability.
Determination and courage?”
Tanaka stood there and his face changed drastically. After a long time, he shook his head and sighed, and said helplessly: "Ishikawa-kun is wise! Although you and I cannot control the current situation, we should do our best. I will summarize your and my opinions and report them.
, As for the general’s decision, that is the general’s rights and obligations. We only need to put forward our own opinions and go all out to fight the key battle tonight. What is the next step... we can only leave it to fate..."
At the same time, the headquarters of the 19th Route Army in Zhenru Town was full of joy and laughter. Jiangsu Provincial Chairman Gu Zhutong led his civil and military officials to deliver 100 tons of grain to the 19th Route Army and gave them to An Yi's 300 slaughtered big dogs.
Fat pig to show respect and support for the soldiers of the 19th Route Army and the soldiers of An Yi's divisions.
After the generals met and exchanged greetings, they sat together to drink tea and chat for more than half an hour. Seeing that it was not early, Gu Zhutong apologized to the busy Jiang Guangding, Cai Tingkai and others, and used it as an excuse to visit An Yi's headquarters.
, holding An Yi's hand, walked side by side towards the woods.
"Sir, why don't you follow the example of the people around Shanghai, who beat gongs and drums when they were delivered, and then put big red flowers on three hundred big fat pigs?" An Yi asked cheerfully.
Gu Zhutong rolled his eyes at An Yi: "Where do I have that free time... You don't know how much energy I spent on these three hundred big fat pigs. I got them with great difficulty by asking my grandfather to worship my grandma. If it weren't for the hands and feet of my brothers,
Mali, I can’t send it to you today.”
"The dignified Chairman of Jiangsu Province, a high-ranking official, would actually have a headache over a mere three hundred pigs. Who would believe it?" An Yi looked at Gu Zhutong in great surprise.
Gu Zhutong shook his head repeatedly: "Do you think I am you? You are the richest in the world, and you have many generals and commanders under your command. Naturally, everything can be done for you with just one sentence. Sigh... Speaking of which, I still envy your dozens of people in southern Sichuan.
The county, although it is a little poor now, has a bright future, brother, you keep your word there, respond to every call, and live a comfortable life!"
An Yi smiled: "There are so many weird things these days! Brother, you didn't want to be the lieutenant general of the First Army, and then you were transferred to your side to control the guard army, and by the way, you exercised the power of the nine admirals, but you are still not satisfied
, resigning from such an important position again
I am willing to go to the wealthy Jiangsu Province to be the provincial chairman with sole power. Now I have just become the governor, but I am complaining a lot. I am even envious of my little brother’s poverty-stricken wilderness. This is too... Could it be that I want to be the leader of the country?
Chairman, can’t you do it?”
Gu Zhutong gave An Yi a kick: "Are you gloating about misfortune? You don't open your eyes to see the changes in the current situation... I left the guard before the principal resigned in December last year and hurried to Jiangsu to serve as the chairman of this province.
Originally I was counting on returning to my hometown (Gu Zhutong was from Andong (now Lianshui), Jiangsu Province) with great success.
Who would have known that it would be so difficult to be the provincial chairman when he took office? Let’s not talk about poverty or wealth. Just talk about the inextricable connections between Jiangsu’s chaebols, many famous families and central ministries. I, the provincial chairman, would be considered a loser.
Nowadays, there are orders and prohibitions, and all the ambitions suddenly turned into ice. It’s so painful!
I think back then, it was so fun to lead all the divisions under my command to attack wherever I wanted, but now I am helpless against a group of senior celebrities who have no access to anything and are always working against the odds, and my lungs are almost exploding with anger!"
"No way, with my talent, and the high position of provincial chairman, I'll forgive you for the harsh words. Facing a land of plenty of wealth and wealth, I can just close my eyes and plunder tens of millions.
Isn’t it because my brother changed his gender and suddenly started fasting and chanting Buddha’s name?” An Yi asked puzzledly.
Gu Zhutong sighed again: "I have been trying to find ways to increase income, develop people's livelihood and increase tax sources in order to achieve some results. Who would have thought that just after I came up with a set of methods, the Japanese came to call. You said this...
…The war is raging, people’s hearts are floating, and shops are closed
The harvest in the fields has been lost, and the once prosperous markets are now withered, and life is at risk. Who is still doing business with you, and how can you come to collect taxes? I haven't been the provincial chairman for two months, so I haven't received any benefits.
Instead, it made things a lot more cumbersome.
Ten days ago, the principal issued an order, asking me to collect 100,000 tons of grain for war preparations no matter what. I lowered myself three times and my legs were running thin, so I barely managed to collect 40,000 tons. I still have 60,000 tons that I don’t know where to rob.
That's fine. Fortunately, brother, you transported tens of thousands of tons of grain and various materials from Nanchang, and let the 19th Route Army and three of your subordinates
My brothers and sisters are well fed and clothed, otherwise I will be scolded by all walks of life. Even if the principal is not angry, he will have doubts about my ability in his heart. Tell me, will I feel better? If you
If you are willing, I will change places with you right away. I will come to Shanghai to direct the war, and you will be the provincial chairman who has been offended."
An Yi sighed and stopped: "Actually, I can understand the instructor's difficulties. After years of war, Jiangsu is no longer a wealthy place, especially in northern Jiangsu. The floods have displaced millions of people and their lives are like a year.
The rich and famous families all stick together to protect themselves and turn a blind eye to this. It’s strange that you would feel better in this situation!
Listen to what I have to say, brother, I’ll be back soon after having fun. With my prestige in the military and the contacts I’ve accumulated over the years, becoming a military and political deputy minister or a group army commander seems like fun. Why do I have to go somewhere?
Are you going to suffer such a crime? Don’t look at it, Chief Liu Jingfu seems to be so majestic, he is both the camp director and the provincial chairman, but he
Because of a mere million in taxes, Finance Minister Song almost forced him to hang himself. What’s the use of being such a provincial chairman? In the next few years or even ten or twenty years, the war will not stop. Rather than wait for the filth here
Is it better to just go back to the army and stand alone and enjoy grudges instead of wasting your years in the officialdom and being criticized everywhere, don't you think?"
Gu Zhutong nodded, holding An Yi's shoulders and continued walking: "To be honest, I regret it now. After this battle is over and I fulfill my responsibilities as the logistics minister, I will find a way to be transferred back to the army. Alas... yes
Now, how is the war going? If you want me to help you, just ask, as long as I can do it."
An Yi said gratefully: "The war is coming. If not tonight, it will be tomorrow. I really need your help, brother. Suzhou Airport is the airport where my aviation team is stationed. If I can take care of it, I will try my best to take care of it. Especially fuel, which is in short supply.
!”
"Okay! I'll go take a look when I get back tomorrow. If you have any requests, just ask them..."