In the command car, "Fox of the Fog" Rommel was pointing at the map and saying quickly:
"According to the reconnaissance report, five kilometers away, the end of the column of the Qing army passed under our noses. Now the enemy has completely entered the area we selected. You see, although this area cannot be called perfect, it is
Very suitable for fighting a battle of annihilation."
He drew a circle with his baton:
"Going north from Moling Town, this area of about 25 square kilometers is bounded by Jiangjun Mountain and Niushou Mountain to the west. This mountain range runs north to south and is the barrier to the west of Fuquan. To the east is the Tangshan Mountain Range, which runs southwest-northeast, and is also the barrier to the west of Fuquan.
The barrier on the east side of the circle. To the north is the Outer Qinhuai River. This river is very good. It is almost a hundred meters wide and deep enough. It is just across the north side of the circle. It is a good barrier. On the south side, that is us.
"Now Mr. Xiang has established a headquarters on Yuhuatai, personally commanding the decoy troops to guard the Qinhuai River, trying to attract and hinder the Qing army's elite troops. Chief Li and this staff will lead most of the armored forces to quickly penetrate from the rear of the Qing army.
, chopped up and flattened the Qing army in one fell swoop."
As he spoke, he pressed his hands together hard, pressed his thin lips together tightly, and his big forehead wrinkled into deep lines under the lamp. After speaking, he bowed lightly to Li Gensheng and sat down.
Li Gensheng felt a lot of pressure when facing this new German staff officer. Although he was the commander of the People's Guard Mobile Team, he was only a young officer in his thirties and had not experienced a major war. This was the biggest scene he had ever experienced.
, that is, leading a commando team to perform tasks in Beiqing. But the Lieutenant Colonel Rommel in front of me is in his forties, his face is full of traces of time, and he looks wily and cunning. I heard that he had participated in the European War.
Yes, he has also achieved considerable military exploits, won three medals, and commanded the troops with great ferocity. The entire plan tonight was made by him.
...Fortunately, he is a German. In addition, Li Gensheng used to command a commando, and Rommel's bold and flexible military style also suited him very well.
Li Gensheng nodded, stood up and said:
"The entire plan was formulated by Rommel's staff. It can be said to be very clever and bold. At the same time, it also requires high quality, courage and level of our troops. However, we are the People's Guard and a mobile force. Such requirements
It is also the most basic. It is now 3:35 in the morning. Twenty-five minutes later, we will move eastward, deploy our troops, and complete the encirclement.
"Judging from Mr. Xiang's lure attack in the north, armored forces fighting at night, especially in foggy conditions, can achieve a certain degree of surprise and give the enemy a certain psychological deterrent, but the sight line is too poor and the tank's firepower
The advantage is very limited. Small-scale harassment is okay, but large-scale raids are not. Therefore, we will wait until 5 o'clock to launch the general attack. The main battles will take place during the day."
…
Five hundred meters outside Nanjing's Jubao Gate (later known as the Zhonghua Gate) is the Yuhuatai.
This is a beautiful hill surrounded by pines and cypresses. It is about 100 meters high and 3.5 kilometers long. The top is in the shape of a platform. It is composed of three hills. The donggang is also called Meigang, the middle hill is also called Fengtaigang, and the west hill is also called Meigang.
The post extends to the outside of Ande Gate and has no other name.
When Xiang Xiaoqiang later went to college in Nanjing, he once visited Yuhuatai. After listening to the tour guide's introduction, he knew that Yuhuatai was not only a scenic spot, but also of high military value. It is a commanding height in the south of Nanjing and a must-have for military strategists of all ages.
The place of contention. Mei Yi, the prefect of Yuzhang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, resisted foreign invasion here, and the invasion of Jin soldiers in the Southern Song Dynasty. Yue Fei, the famous anti-Jin general, defeated the Jin soldiers here. After that, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom defended Tianjing, the Revolution of 1911 conquered the Qing soldiers, and the Anti-Japanese War became the "capital city".
"Defense War" has set off a raging war here.
Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that it was his turn to perform today.
When studying the battle plan, his staff all suggested to Xiang Xiaoqiang to establish a command post on Yuhuatai. If a defensive battle was launched in the southern suburbs of Nanjing, Yuhuatai was indeed the most ideal commanding height.
Although he trusts his People's Guard, if this battle really doesn't go well and the defenders on the outer Qinhuai River fail to hold on, Yuhuatai will be the last battlefield outside Nanjing. A few hundred meters behind is the city gate, but
As long as Yuhuatai is not lost, the Qing army will not even think about successfully attacking the city.
It was already four o'clock in the morning, and the defensive positions from Yuhuatai to the Qinhuai River had been deployed. In the distance, sparse explosions were faintly heard from the south of the Qinhuai River. It was the small group of armored troops left behind who were fighting against the Qing Dynasty.
The leading troops of the army were entangled, and the heavy fog delayed their advance, making them confused about their strength. They thought that the main force of the People's Guard was in front of them, and they did not dare to advance rashly.
Now we are waiting for five o'clock, which is the time agreed with the main force in the south. Li Gensheng and Rommel in the south are mainly attacking. Their strength is a machine infantry regiment and a motorized infantry regiment, and they mainly bring self-propelled artillery with smaller caliber.
The largest diameter is 75 mm.
Our side mainly relied on the outer Qinhuai River defense, and its strength was two motorized infantry regiments. The large-caliber towed artillery remained here, including 36 105mm howitzers, 12 150mm howitzers, and some large-caliber
Mortar.
Facing an area of 25 square kilometers, what Xiang Xiaoqiang feels most strongly is the lack of artillery. But there is no way. Currently, there are only ten thousand people of his own in southern Nanjing, which is less than a division. Although tanks and cars are very abundant, but artillery is not enough.
It is still the configuration of an ordinary infantry division.
After discussing with Xiang Xiaoqiang and his staff, everyone agreed that it was impossible to effectively cover the entire encirclement with such a small amount of artillery, especially since the fog was so thick that it was difficult to observe. We could only try to let the artillery play a defensive role, that is, try our best to
Just fight closer to stop the Qing army's offensive. This way you can be more accurate.
Now the entire Nanjing, the entire Purple Mountain Fortress, and Zhu Yourong are all staring at this battle. If the battle below the city fails, then the city wall will have to be defended.
But... with such heavy fog, even the defense line along the Yangtze River cannot be defended. A city wall...
…
Because it was winter, it was still very dark at four o'clock. The high temple on the Yuhuatai was bathed in clouds and mist, and the lush cypress trees all over the mountain exuded oxygen that had been breathed out all night. Combined with the smell of moist earth, it felt very comfortable to inhale it into the lungs.
Xiang Xiaoqiang walked in the courtyard of this temple, stepping on the greasy bluestone slabs under his feet, holding on to the stone railings and looking down. The mist in the night was misty, and he couldn't see a few meters away, and everything he could see was dark in the distance.
of pines and cypresses.
But he knew that just below the fog, on the hillside, there were his own soldiers stationed in foxholes, guarding heavy machine guns and mortars, aiming down the mountain.
Many of the monks in the temple got up early because of the arrival of these soldiers, and they were not in the mood to do morning exercises. They were all looking at this group of soldiers coming in and out. The young monks looked at their equipment and were very curious.
The older monk closed his eyes and chanted the Buddha's name, with a sad expression on his face. It was clear that he couldn't bear to see the pure Buddhism become a headquarters for manipulating killings.
Because of the recent war, Nanjing is close to the battlefield. Many outside monks in the temple have left, leaving many rooms vacant. The abbot gave the best meditation rooms to Xiang Xiaoqiang as his office. Now the officers of the People's Guard are coming in and out,
Holding a map, sand table, radio, and thick black telephones lying on the ground, leading from one meditation room to another, like entangled black snakes, you will trip if you are not careful.
There are also several telephone lines across the courtyard, leading down the mountain. The ones to the south lead to the outer positions on the Qinhuai River, and the ones to the north lead to Nanjing City, connected to the telephone system in the city, and all the way to the Purple Mountain Fortress
Here, the Supreme Command and the Queen can know the battle situation here in time, and Xiang Xiaoqiang can also know the battle situation on the riverside battlefield and even the entire Yangtze River defense line at the first time.
Zen Master Fayun, the abbot of Gaozuo Temple, is accompanying Xiang Xiaoqiang, introducing him to Yuhuatai like a tour guide.
The old abbot is over sixty years old. He has kind eyebrows and kind eyes, a broad body and a fat body. His long snow-white eyebrows and bright red cassock show his status as an eminent monk. The Yuhuatai is close to the city gate and has always been a famous place for dignitaries and upper-class people in Nanjing to burn incense and have fun.
The abbot of the Gaozuo Temple has also been trained. Whenever there are distinguished guests visiting and the monks are not up to standard, the old abbot will personally act as a tour guide. Xiang Xiaoqiang feels that he is more experienced than the red tour guides at Yuhuatai in later generations.
Master Fayun touched the rosary and said slowly:
"Ever since Taibo came to this area in 1147 BC to teach rites and teach farming, Yuhuatai has a history of more than 3,000 years. Since 472 BC, when King Gou Jian of Yue built the 'Yue City', the Yuhuatai area has become the best place to climb mountains in the south of the Yangtze River.
Earth. During the Three Kingdoms period, the hillock was also called Shizigang, Agate Hill and Jubao Mountain because of the colorful stones all over it.
"Since the sixth year of Liang Tianjian in the Southern Dynasty, Master Yunguang of this temple often set up an altar on Shizigang to preach. His speeches were vivid and wonderful, which moved the Buddha. Flowers fell from the sky like rain, hence the name Yuhuatai. In this dynasty, 'Yuhuatai'
The saying "has become one of the eighteen scenic spots in Jinling. There are two clear springs in the temple, named Yongning Spring. The water is clear and the drink is sweet. After the Southern Song Dynasty poet Lu You tasted the spring water, he called it the "Second Spring in the South of the Yangtze River". Today,
Although the water from the two springs has dried up, its ancient reputation still remains."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Master, there are still many Yuhua stones in Yuhuatai, right?"
Master Fayun smiled and said:
"Haha, there are, there are, but tourists of all ages have been looking for them. Although there are still some rain flower stones on the mountain, they are all of low quality, and high-quality products are very rare. Speaking of rain flower stones, our temple has preserved some of them, and they are all of them.
They are carefully selected by monks of all ages. They are all exquisite and exquisite. They are all of high quality. Haha, I am interested in Sir Xiang. When Sir Xiang defeats the Qing captives and wins the battle, I will make the final decision and select a set of the most exquisite ones to give to Sir Xiang.
"
Haha, it turns out there are souvenirs included. Xiang Xiaoqiang quickly put his hands together and said with a smile:
"Thank you, Master Abbot, for your kindness.
Walking into the main hall, Xiang Xiaoqiang looked up at the smiling Buddha with his eyes closed. He, who had never believed in Buddhism, solemnly knelt on the futon in the center of the hall and worshiped three times seriously. The monk next to him quickly chanted, "Ding -
—" The sound of the alms bowl was sounded.
Xiang Xiaoqiang’s original impression of Yuhuatai was just a red tourist attraction in later generations. Every year, the school organized party activists to visit and listen to party classes. Even in this era of another time and space, it was also a gloomy execution ground for executing prisoners. But in this
Time and space, in this time and space where Chinese civilization has been completely inherited, Yuhuatai has finally swept away the haze of "murderous execution ground" and "ideological base", restored its true character as a cultural attraction in the south of the Yangtze River, and once again become a place exuding culture and bookishness.
Today, under the Yuhua Terrace, there are the arrogant Qing troops in front and Nanjing behind. Xiang Xiaoqiang knelt on the futon and made a wish to the Buddha that he must protect the Yuhua Terrace, protect Nanjing, protect the remaining half of the south of the Yangtze River, and protect this place.
It is the only remaining wealthy, democratic and civilized land in China.
Because only by experiencing "nothing" can we truly understand the value of "having".
Xiang Xiaoqiang stood up and smiled at the abbot:
"When you finish this battle, you should be offering sesame oil money."
Master Fayun immediately put his hands together, bowed and said:
"Amitabha……"
Xiang Xiaoqiang then smiled and said:
"It's not that I don't want to give it now, haha, it's just that the war is coming, and I really don't know what the fate of this mountain, this city, this land, and myself will be...well, what if...what if...if...
...If so, then they all belong to Qinglu, hehe."
Master Fayun put his hands together again and loudly announced the Buddha's name:
"Amitabha, Buddha bless me. I firmly believe that I will definitely receive the sesame oil money from Mr. Xiang."
At other times, it would have been quite funny when an abbot said this. But now Master Fayun said it very contagiously, and Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded firmly:
"Well, I believe it too, it will definitely happen."
At this time, the abbot turned around and took a rice paper book, opened it and held it in front of Xiang Xiaoqiang. The monk next to him held up a pen and ink. The abbot smiled and said:
"Please, sir."
Hey, what are you doing, merit book?
Didn't we agree to keep it on credit first and pay it back later? What I just said was very nice: "I firmly believe..." Now we have to keep accounts?
Seeing his confusion, the abbot smiled and said:
"It's your first time here, Sir. This is the guest guest book of this temple. The distinguished guests who come to our temple always like to leave a few words. Haha, Sir, don't you want to leave a few words?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang took it and flipped through the pages. This book was also old. It was antique and the paper had a long-lasting color, but it was well preserved. It looked like there were many inscriptions from the predecessors, most of them were high-ranking officials, ministers, relatives of the emperor, etc.
The earliest deposits were made decades ago.
Most of the messages are poems or a few sentences in classical Chinese:
What about "There are four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, and there are so many towers in the mist and rain", "The scenery in the southeast is the city of Sanwu", "I made a statue of my deceased wife Li, and I hope that the person who is destined to be..." and so on.
A few of them are carefully protected with translucent tissue paper. You can see through the tissue paper that these are the inscriptions of several emperors.
The latest one is a poem by Zhu Yourong:
"People sing about wine at a young age, and flowers dance in the spring of the Tang Dynasty. I hope it will last forever, and things will be new every year."
It can be seen that the deposit is from "the first year of Yifu", or two years ago, which is the first year after she ascended the throne.
...I hope it will last forever, and things will be new every year...
Xiang Xiaoqiang put the book on the table, raised his head, and stared outside the hall. The rumbling sound of cannons in the distance was still heard sporadically.
The abbot was startled, thinking that he did not dare to leave a message behind the emperor today, so he said with a smile:
"My lord, there is no need to..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly said:
"I'm not used to using a brush."
Then he took out his pen, bent down, and scrawled the next line of large characters on the pad:
"On January 21, 1936, we came here to defend Yuhuatai. - People's Guard, Xiang Xiaoqiang"
…
Three kilometers south of Yuhuatai is the Outer Qinhuai River position. Five kilometers south of the position, Ha Feng'a chose a place and established a division headquarters, where he prepared to command the elite Eight Banners Division of the Qing Dynasty and the legendary Nanming Division.
The elite-People's Guards clash.
In front of the division headquarters, soldiers were quickly digging trenches and building field fortifications. The machine gun crews were assembling Maxim heavy machine guns and filling water tanks. The communications troops had already set up field telephones, with thick black telephone wires stretching far ahead.
disappear into the darkness.
The servicemen around him had set up a field tent, set up a folding drafting table inside, and put up a lantern. Several staff officers were marking various detailed numbers on the military map based on the data sent back by the map team ahead.
The communications soldier on the side shook the phone handle a few times and picked up the receiver:
"Hey, hello, I'm the division headquarters, I'm the division headquarters, this is a test, can you hear me clearly? Okay, no problem..."
Hafenga went over, took the microphone himself and asked:
"I am the division commander, how is the situation ahead?"
The sound of "ding! ding!" came from the microphone, and the soldiers inside shouted:
"Master, the tanks of the Ming Army are fighting fiercely, but they always hide behind the fog and don't rush up. They always rely on their wheels to be faster than our legs and follow us in circles. We have suffered a lot of casualties.
not enough……"
"How is the damage done to the Ming army?"
"Back to the division seat, our anti-tank battalion has achieved great results. We have destroyed eighteen Ming army vehicles and two armored vehicles, and killed and wounded more than eighty Ming army soldiers!"
Hafeng'a's eyebrows wrinkled more and more, and he asked:
"Why are they all military vehicles? Where are the tanks? Didn't they destroy their tanks?"
The frontline soldiers shouted:
"Go back to the teacher's seat, no! The people circling us in front are basically military vehicles, armored vehicles, and tanks. They all seem to be hiding behind the armored vehicles. They just listen to them driving back and forth. The old "dang dang" gunners don't come out to rush.
!”
"What about the quantity? How much is the approximate quantity?"
"It sounds like there are a lot of noises. There is the sound of engines behind the woods, and they are firing machine guns at us as they drive!"
Ha Feng'a slowly put down the microphone. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Since the Ming army had so many tanks, why didn't they use them to charge and hide behind the woods? Why did they charge ahead with military vehicles that were not capable of off-roading?
Why are there so few armored vehicles?
Could it be that heavily armored troops were deployed in the front, but they deliberately showed weakness to lure our troops to go deeper? ... No, the soldiers at the front said that the sound of engines could be clearly heard behind the woods. If it was an ambush, how could it be so obvious? ...
He lightly knocked on his forehead twice, slapped the table, and said:
"Order the anti-tank battalion to withdraw. The mountain artillery battalion moves up to me and fires two rounds behind the woods. Then the infantry rushes in force. Don't think about the tanks. Take the woods for me! I want to see what's behind there.
What!"
The communications soldier quickly shook the handle and grabbed the microphone to convey the order...
…
Five kilometers away to the north, in the temporary trenches in front of the Eight Banners Division's anti-tank battalion, the Qing army's heavy machine guns kept firing into the thick fog. From time to time, huge vehicles roared past in the thick fog, and bullets occasionally hit them, splashing.
Sparks.
Then the small anti-tank guns in the Qing army's trenches would immediately aim in that direction and fire "right", but most of them would miss. Big guys that appeared and disappeared in the thick fog would also use machine guns to shoot at the Qing army's trenches.
But he just didn't rush forward.
“Dang!—Boom!!!”
There was an explosion in the darkness, and then a fireball exploded, and another "big guy" was hit. In the firelight, the outline could be seen clearly. It was not a tank or an armored vehicle, but a Ming army truck.
The cockpit door opened, and one Ming soldier rolled down with his back on fire. He rolled over twice and was killed by bullets. Another Ming soldier jumped down, ran away quickly, and disappeared into the fog.
In the trench, a Qing company commander observed the fireball with a telescope - yes, it was still a truck. There was also a machine gun barrel sticking out of the windshield.
A machine gun is installed on the truck, this configuration...
So far, many Ming army trucks have been destroyed, but only two armored vehicles have been hit, and no tanks have been seen.
At this time, the orderly soldier crawled over, rolled into the trench, and conveyed the order from the division headquarters, asking their anti-tank company to withdraw to the rear first.
Of course, this order made the brothers very happy. They all carried machine guns and pushed small cannons back. They saw the infantry of the first regiment carrying rifles with bayonets, waiting to go up. Going back further, a
The Menmen mountain cannon has been pushed up, and those boys are placing the cannonballs.
This is about to rush...Aren't we going to clear out the tanks?