At around three o'clock in the morning on January 20, heavy fog spread over the Yangtze River. Even at this time, the sky was stained with ink. Now it was dark and foggy, and it was really hard to see where I was.
On both sides of the Yangtze River, the north bank was pitch black and dead without a trace of light. On the south bank, countless searchlight beams stretched out into the river, moving in vain on the river surface, trying to search for something.
Every ten seconds or so, a batch of flares rise up in the sky, rising to a high altitude, spraying white magnesium light, and falling slowly. When they fall into the river and are extinguished, another batch is immediately fired up, never ending.
A gap appears.
Despite this, visibility only improved slightly.
Nanming has obviously reached the edge of fear. Eighty percent of Nanming's sense of security lies along the defense line of the Yangtze River. This winter we encountered heavy fog that had not been seen in fifty years, and this sense of security was completely lost. In addition, it was exposed by the tabloids.
People all over the country are now panicking about the "His Majesty Dreamed of the Tengu" story that has been exaggerated so much, as if Nanming, which had held on for three hundred years, was about to collapse this year.
During these days of war, Ming submarines and torpedo boats were working hard to lay mines on the river every night, checking old mines and laying new mines. Engineers were also laying mines on the muddy beach under the river embankment every day. The mines that were knocked out by Qing artillery during the day were
They were all made up at night. Even the bomb craters had to be buried with landmines, so that the Qing army had nowhere to hide on the beach. Today, the density of landmines and sea mines has been unprecedentedly high. This can be regarded as adding some confidence to the Nanming defenders.
: Heavy fog affects the aiming of guns, but mines don’t require eyes.
The searchlights could not see far away, so Nanming sent a large number of torpedo boats and submarines to patrol the Yangtze River, trying to detect the enemy as soon as possible. Now, several destroyers on the Yangtze River on both sides have been sunk by the other side's shore artillery after the war. These days, in
These are the "little guys" scurrying on the river, and torpedo boats from both sides often encounter battles at night. However, Beiqing has no submarine force, and surface ships cannot be mobilized, while Nan Mingguang has more than 20 pocket submarines on the Yangtze River, starting a war.
Later, several medium-sized submarines were transferred from the East China Sea Fleet.
Submarines are weak in front of destroyers, but they are 100% strong in front of torpedo boats. Especially the newly transferred medium-sized submarines, which are several hundred tons in size, have a 40mm machine gun and a 20mm machine gun.
There is also a 75mm main gun on the front deck, which is very powerful. In comparison, the torpedo boat, which only has a few dozen tons and a 20mm machine gun, is completely at a disadvantage. When launching torpedoes, the target of the submarine is too small, so it is difficult not to get close.
Hit. If you get close, you are courting death.
Now, the "Qingshuang" submarine of the East China Sea Fleet is cruising on the Nanjing River. In the past, when cruising at night, they were very careful to hide under the water. Now it is foggy and the enemy's shore guns cannot hit it, and there are no guns on the Yangtze River.
It is a destroyer, so it can sail on the water with great arrogance. This has a wider field of vision and a much better reconnaissance effect.
On the command tower, the captain and four observers wore waterproof coats and hung telescopes around their necks, but they only scanned the river with the naked eye. Because of the thick fog, they could only see a dozen meters away, and using telescopes would only affect the field of vision.
On the front deck, the gunner and loader were wearing helmets, life jackets, and safety belts, guarding the 75mm main gun. The two little female soldiers stamped their feet, clapped their hands, touched their ears, and looked at the dense surroundings.
Fog, waves crashing underfoot, and people chatting quietly.
A Jiangnan girl said:
"The Yangtze River is really smooth. There are no waves at all. I can't even see that the seat belts are fastened. The ones in the Yangtze River Fleet are not too comfortable."
Another Sichuan girl said:
"Humph, why are you so comfortable? Across the street is Qinglusa, and they play with their heads every day. I wonder how the Grasshopper sank?"
"Hey, Grasshopper, if I can marry a commander in the end, I would be willing to be sunk once..."
"Shh... don't say that, it's very clever... The Chixiao didn't come back last night. I heard it hit one of my own mines and sank..."
"Hey, the Chixiao has been transferred to Yanziji... The one that hit the mine was the Ladybug, or the submarine of their Yangtze River Fleet..."
"That's right. The mines are too dense now and the fog is so heavy that even those familiar with them will hit them. Then we..."
"Shh..."
The main gunner waved his hands and listened hard into the thick fog, carefully identifying the direction:
"It seems to be on our side..."
The loader also heard it and hurriedly gestured to the conning tower. The conning tower was closer to the stern engine of the boat, and the noise was not heard yet. The captain saw their actions and quickly gave the order:
"Twin engine stop."
After a while, the propeller was turned off and the surroundings became quiet. Sure enough, the sound of the engine was faintly heard in the thick fog. It was on the right side of the submarine, not too far to the northwest. It was not just one or two, but there were many sounds, and it was loud.
one slice.
"Torpedo boat!"
One person said.
"No," the captain shook his head, biting his lip, his face slowly changing color, "It's a Zodiac!"
The sound became louder and louder, and gradually there were sounds from all directions, almost surrounding the submarine. There seemed to be hundreds of thousands of them. The captain shouted:
"Sail at full speed with full right rudder, prepare for battle! The observer evacuates the bridge, and the gun crew is ready to fire! Send a report immediately, encountering a large number of enemy infantry assault boats!"
Before he finished speaking, the four observers around him got into the hatch cover with a "bang bang".
The harsh noise of the propeller sounded again, dragging up white waves. The steel body of the submarine quickly turned to the right and rushed towards the direction of the sound. The captain was alone on the conning tower, holding on to the railing, searching with all his eyes.
The crew members of the three artillery crews were holding the handles with sweaty hands, and the loading hands were holding the shells and drums. They were all pale, looking at the dark fog around them, wondering what their fate would be.
Even though the noise of the submarine was huge, the sound of the motors of the surrounding assault boats was getting louder and louder. They were so densely packed that one could already hear shouts and curses with northern accents everywhere:
"Grandma, you're a bear, what the hell?"
"Why is the sound so loud? Is it a submarine?"
"It's probably a torpedo boat!"
"I can't see you. Get out of the way. Don't hit me!"
"Lie down, lie down!"
"Shh, don't fucking say anything! You're not seasick anymore, are you?"
…
"Plop-ah-"
As the submarine trembled, the bow of the boat rose up and the bottom of the boat was lifted up. There were screams and the sound of falling into the water. The submarine passed over an assault boat at a speed of 12 knots, leaving a series of flapping cries for help behind it.
Suddenly the loader screamed and stretched out a hand from the water. A Qing soldier who fell into the water grabbed her feet and climbed desperately to the deck. The loader struggled, and the shells in his arms hit the deck with a bang.
, rolled again and fell into the river. She fell down on the deck, grabbed the railing and kicked the Qing soldier desperately. The gunner also came to help.
"Get off!"
The captain on the conning tower shouted, pulled out his revolver, aimed and fired, and the Qing soldier slipped into the water with blood pouring from his mouth.
The fire of the pistol attracted the shooting of the surrounding rifles. The bullets flew by and hit the steel plate of the submarine. The main gunner and loader on the front deck were shot to death immediately. The two bodies were hung by safety belts and dragged on the submarine.
There is blood in the water.
Because the two machine guns were on the gun mount at the rear of the command tower, they were in a higher position and had baffles. Even though sparks were flying, the gun crew was still intact. Without the captain's order, the two machine guns immediately fired back, 20 mm.
The muzzle of the 40mm gun moved around, spitting out huge tongues of flame into the water, and the roar was deafening.
In an instant, there were explosions and screams. The submarine was charging at full speed, flipping over several assault boats. The surrounding water was like a boiling pot, turning into a soup of blood, with both dead and alive, like dumplings.
Same.
In the dense fog, the huge flames of the machine gun naturally became the best target. For a moment, rifle bullets flew like locusts, and the thin steel plate of the control tower was riddled with holes. The captain could only squat behind the steel guardrail.
He shouted into the cabin based on his feelings and commanded the course of the submarine. But on the contrary, the rifle fire on the water also indicated the target for the submarine gun crew. The 40mm cannon turned more cumbersomely and had a slower rate of fire, but the 20mm cannon
It was much more flexible, and it was double-linked. When I saw the muzzle flames there were relatively dense, the machine gun immediately pressed over. Within a few seconds, the assault boat was overturned and people were killed.
Suddenly, the ammunition feeder of the 20mm cannon fell on his back. A few seconds later, there was a fire interruption. The gunner went to move the drum himself, and was shot to death as soon as he left the baffle. Only a heavy 40mm cannon was left.
Single tree support.
"Okay, okay," the captain patted the deck under his feet and shouted through the cabin door, "Full left rudder, return at full speed!"
The submarine's propeller roared and turned over the white waves. The speed increased to 14 knots. It turned around and headed towards the south shore. It soon left the slow assault boat behind. The 40mm cannon was still "bang bang bang" far away behind it.
The two living girls were convulsed with tongues of fire, with tears streaming down their faces, and they were still firing like crazy.
…
After a short and fierce battle, a piece of floating corpses and several overturned assault boats were left on this small piece of water. The Qing soldiers who were not dead in the water struggled to climb onto other assault boats, and overturned a few more assault boats.
The other people refused to let them get on, and hit their arms with rifle butts, and many people drowned in a short time. The water was filled with mist, and there were floating corpses, which was extremely strange.
However, this was only a small part of the long attack line of the Qing army. Only in the Nanjing section, on the river for more than ten kilometers, tens of thousands of assault boats were divided into rows and headed towards the south bank.
Suddenly, a fire flashed in the darkness in front, a high column of water rose, and then a muffled sound came.
Immediately afterwards, such muffled sounds came one after another, water columns rose and fell one after another in the heavy fog, and the fragments and residual limbs of the assault boat were thrown into the air and fell again.
The Qing army's assault boat group entered the mine array.
Nanming's mines on the Yangtze River are specially made. They are not large iron balls with a diameter of one or two meters like sea mines. These mines are very small, only as big as a basketball, and can be deployed very densely. They are designed to deal with torpedo boats and assault boats.
Small target. This small boat with eight people from the Qing army will be lifted into the sky once it hits.
Nanming's Yangtze River minefields were only deployed on its own half, and reconnaissance cruises were carried out to the Beiqing half. Several narrow channels were left in the minefield for the entry and exit of its own ships. The captain of each ship was insured
Inside the cabinet, there is a mine configuration map for its own defense section, indicating where the minefield is and where the waterway is. This is the same as the code book, which is very confidential. To keep it secret, Nanming will send minelayers to change it from time to time.
Channels will also issue new mine maps to captains. However, this kind of thing is easy to make mistakes, and accidents of mines hitting mines by our own ships occasionally occur. Especially recently, the density of mines has greatly increased, and several mines hitting accidents have also occurred.
rise.
But these costs are worth it. Now, the first barrier of the Yangtze River defense line is functioning.
The Qing army in the assault boat almost watched the boat in front of them being blown to pieces, and they no longer dared to step forward to die. Some operators turned off the engine and stopped, and some turned around and drove back. For a moment, the first
The assault boats of the first line were in a mess, mixed with the assault boats of the second and third lines following closely behind. The formations were chaotic, they collided with each other, and some even knocked over. The shouts and curses were mixed together, making it a mess.
On the loudspeaker, the commander's voice shouted:
"Get into formation... Get into formation... Keep moving..."
…
There was a ping-pong-pong on the river, and the observation posts on the border line had already called the headquarters. At this time, the submarine force headquarters also received the telegram from the Qingshuang, and quickly reported it to the Supreme Command in the Purple Mountain Fortress.
The high command immediately made a judgment: the expected Manchu Qing invasion to the south, taking advantage of the fog, had begun!
On the defense line, the red lights in the underground fortifications flashed, and alarms echoed in the reinforced concrete tunnels. Groups of sleeping soldiers got up, quickly put on their helmets, and rushed to their respective posts. Officers wearing big-brimmed hats
Standing in the corridor, waving and shouting:
"Quick! Quick! Run quickly!!..."
Soon, an exciting and steady voice echoed from the loudspeaker:
"Soldiers... Qinglu invaded on a large scale... Behind us is our home, our parents, wives and sisters... We swear to the death not to let Qinglu set foot on the south bank... We are the strongest line of defense, and we train
You are well trained, fight bravely, and are not afraid of sacrifice... Soldiers, the fate of the Ming Empire is in your hands... The time has come to serve the country by killing the enemy and making contributions..."
In the underground passages that stretch for more than ten kilometers, sirens and morale-boosting sounds echo everywhere. An electric pickup truck speeds along the railway tracks in the tunnel, transporting various materials to various fortresses a few kilometers away. One after another
The fire-proof and anti-virus doors were opened one after another, letting it fly through.
A few hundred meters behind the river embankment, a giant artillery fortress stands at an interval.
Underneath the giant steel-and-cement fortress several meters thick, a group of artillerymen were fully dressed, wearing asbestos hoods, gloves, earplugs, and masks. They rushed up from the living area several meters deep underground and entered the fortress.
The giant 280 mm caliber fortress gun stood in the fortress, like a small locomotive, with its black muzzle just a little beyond the firing port of the fortress.
On the underground floor, in the command room, a dozen officers were sitting around a small table, calculating shooting data. An officer wearing a headset received the intelligence and reported the rough data to them. After quick calculations, these officers calculated the shooting data.
The data is input into the fire control computer in another room. The large and small gears in the "computer" rotate a few times, the calculation is completed, and the accurate shooting elements are jumped out. The shooting elements are first reported to the gun crew above through the phone.
The gunner was listening to the microphone by the wall, shouting loudly to shoot Zhu Yuan. The artillerymen beside the cannon quickly shook the large and small handles. The cannon moved forward a few meters on the rails, and the long barrel extended out of the fortress.
Start to lift slowly.
At the lowest level of the entire underground fortification, in the ammunition depot, several soldiers in canvas coats pushed a cart and lifted a shell as big as a liquefied gas cylinder into the elevator. A noncommissioned officer held a phone and accepted the order:
"Yes, the cannonball has entered the elevator! Yes! Lift it up immediately!"
With a gesture, the elevator made a long "Woo---" sound, and the giant cannonball rose from the deep underground to the ground. After a while, the elevator came down again and sent up two more cylindrical powder packets.
In the fort, a small crane clicked, and the iron chain hoisted the cannonball to the position of the cannon breech. The four loaders stabilized the cannonball, and with a combined force push, the giant cannonball slid into the cannon breech. The leader of the loading team roared:
"280 mm high-explosive bomb, loaded correctly——!!!"
Immediately afterwards, a thick gunpowder bag was also sent into the barrel:
"Propulsion drug section 1, loaded correctly——!!!"
"Propellant Section 2, loaded correctly——!!!"
"280mm high-explosive bomb, ready for launch!!!"
…
The gunnery commander was holding a phone, waiting for orders from the commander in chief of the fort. A few meters underground, the commander in chief was holding a phone, waiting for orders from the Eastern Section Defense Line Headquarters.
A few minutes later, a voice shouted:
"Yes, I understand! Send the order and fire immediately!"
"Fire immediately!"
In the fortress, the red light flashed, and the siren sounded sharply before the cannon was fired. The gun crew jumped down from the cannon, retreated a few meters away, turned their backs to the cannon, put down their asbestos hoods, blocked their ears with their hands, and closed their eyes tightly.
A few seconds later, dazzling flames spewed out from the firing port, and a roaring air flow filled the interior of the fortress. The artillerymen's clothes were lifted up, and the ground trembled.
Almost at the same time, depending on the distance, a series of thunderous roars came from the left and right.
Both Nanjing and Pukou can feel the trembling of the earth.
In the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River Defense Line, four 280mm forts, six 210mm forts, and twelve 155mm forts fired in an instant.
…
At the Pukou Pier, there was a huge crowd of Qing soldiers, noisily boarding the ship. The officers of each battalion, company, and platoon held the metal loudspeaker to gather the team to prevent them from getting separated in the heavy fog. Even so, the wharf was still noisy.
Because there are muddy beaches on both sides of Pukou Pier, it is impossible to transport troops onto the ship, so all the assault boats attacking Nanjing are here to load troops in batches, and then go to the river to spread out into a broad front, and then rush towards the south bank. The first one just now
The attack wave had already set off by boat. It sounded like a battle on the river, and now it encountered a mine. However, this was all expected. Although the dock was crowded, it was not very panic.
Suddenly, a semicircular light flashed on the south bank, and then dense thunder sounded. All the Qing soldiers looked at the sky above the south in shock, and the air seemed to be torn apart.
A few seconds later…
A heavy artillery shell roared down, and the circular fire shock wave instantly drew a bright circle. Within a few dozen meters, everything flew into the sky, including clods of soil, stones, big trees, people, and trucks, all followed by black
The earth rose to the sky.
In the blink of an eye, several more artillery shells fell in the surrounding areas, causing mountains to collapse and the ground to shake.
…
This is just the landing place for the 155mm artillery shells. The really terrible thing happened behind Fenghuang Mountain a few kilometers away. The Qing army's heavy artillery positions near Tangquan Town and Yongning Town were the targets of the Ming army's giant artillery. These 210 and 280 mm cannons
The huge cannonball fell behind the mountain, and the fire was shining like an earthquake.
However, because the Qing army's artillery positions were not fixed in coordinates like Pukou Pier, the Ming army did not know the exact location and only fired a volley in the general direction, mainly for the purpose of deterrence and suppression.
Ten minutes later, the Ming army's shelling stopped.
At least ten shells hit the dock area, most of them hitting the surrounding area.
But just a dozen or so heavy artillery shells left Pukou Pier littered with corpses, and several cars were thrown far away, burning. The Qing troops crowded here suffered heavy casualties, and there were screams and wails.
It took a long time before the surviving Qing soldiers raised their heads one after another. After confirming that they were safe and sound, they began to push and retreat in a chaotic manner. Many Qing soldiers who had suffered a mental breakdown roared and tried desperately to escape in all directions, as if they were escaping from the dock.
There is help.
The military police and officers shouted and fired warning shots, but to no avail. Thousands of Qing soldiers pushed them down and trampled on each other. Many people shouted:
"Brothers, the officials want us to die, so run!"
"Run..."
"run……"
Two machine guns outside the pier rang out, spraying flames on the fleeing people, and a large area of the crowd fell down like mowing grass.
The escape was quickly suppressed, and large numbers of Qing troops continued to be forced at gunpoint by military police and officers to board assault boats.
At the station behind the pier, there was a long blast, a train stopped breathing heavily, dozens of carriages opened, and countless Qing soldiers jumped down and poured into the pier to join the attacking team.
The assault boats on the river were already densely packed again.
Those killed by artillery shells, those killed by machine gun suppression, and the number of soldiers killed by mines were several hundred, but they were just a drop in the bucket in the face of the endless stream of troops assembled by the Qing army.
…
In Beijing, Emperor Guangwu read the telegram, gently threw it on the table, looked at a circle of generals looking at each other, and said nonchalantly:
"I didn't expect the Ming Army to be able to hit such accurate targets in foggy weather... But they were just hitting fixed targets. I didn't expect the Ming Army's mines to be so dense, but no matter how dense they were, it would only be a few hundred meters away. It would take people to fill a path.
, we were prepared from the beginning... We are not afraid of thousands and tens of thousands of people dying. We are willing to die... Haha, with this heavy fog at the bottom, Nanming is doomed this time. I went to Nanjing
The Forbidden City celebrates the Spring Festival, the plan remains unchanged.”
…
On the Yangtze River, the sky was already bright, but the fog was still thick and the visibility was very low. The assault boats were noisy, and the front and back waves mixed together and collided with each other. Suddenly, a loudspeaker behind them shouted:
"Get out of the way, everyone, get out of the way!"
Following the shouting, there was a sound of steam that was different from the motor of an assault boat. Gradually, a figure appeared in the fog. It was a small steam wheel used to transport coal. There was a chimney above its head, and sparks were sprayed in the black smoke.
The ship now has a very high hull and is not loaded with coal. The cabin is filled with empty oil barrels, and the sides and front of the ship are also full of empty oil barrels. There is no one in the ship, and the rudder has been tied with iron chains.
died.
The Qing soldiers suddenly became excited, and the assault boat moved out of the way, allowing the small steamer to rush toward the mine array "burst, burst, burst".