October 4, 1936 AD, 2:00 in the morning, day d, h-3 o'clock.
The long-awaited day has finally arrived.
On the 400 kilometers from Anqing to Zhenjiang and 350 kilometers from Wuhan to Xiangfan, a total of 800 kilometers wide offensive front, 2.3 million troops, 50,000 artillery pieces, 3,000 tanks, and 2,800 aircraft have made final preparations. After countless
Check everything and be ready.
Under the bright moon, patches of dark clouds moved at a medium speed. The originally endless tents had been put away. Under the bright moonlight, only countless steel helmets could be seen shaking, reflecting the cold metal light.
The wind on the river was fierce, and the national flags, service flags, and serial number flags of each unit were fluttering in the wind, stretching and rolling. On the armored division's camp, on the command tanks of each battalion, and each company, small triangular flags trembled rapidly in the wind, shouting
The "pop" sound is extremely crisp.
Today is the 19th day of the lunar calendar, but the moon is still round and bright, spreading as much light as possible to the earth.
Although it was dark night, the visibility was very good. The north wind was level 4-5. It was a bit headwind, but not a big problem. It was cloudy, but it would not affect the aircraft operations. It seemed that even God was on the side of the attackers.
The officers and soldiers who participated in the front-line attack had already finished their war meal. At each division's station, the communication troops had also set up all the telephone lines and connected the loudspeakers on the command vehicles at regular intervals.
device.
The officers and soldiers had dinner at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, and were ordered to go to bed at six o'clock to recharge their batteries. Then at one o'clock in the night, that is, an hour ago, the wake-up call sounded one after another in this 800-kilometer long station.
Number.
Now everyone understands what is going to happen. Although the officers and soldiers do not know the scale of this war, they do not know whether what is about to happen is a battle or a war, let alone what the strategic goal of this battle (war) is, but this does not
This did not hinder the excitement, tension, and excitement that filled each of them. They checked their weapons, equipment, and ammunition over and over again without any request from their superiors.
Guns, a basic number of bullets, grenades, rations, kettles, life jackets, gas masks, first aid kits... Such a large amount of equipment is piled at the feet of each soldier, like a hill. However, as long as a password is given, the soldiers will
You can wear this "hill" on your body in the shortest possible time, and be able to march, charge, and fight with it.
On an October night, the mist on the riverside filled the air silently. The shrubs and grass were covered with dew, and the soldiers' equipment was also damp. Although the garrison of hundreds of kilometers was packed with people,
There are more than two million people, but it is still quiet. Apart from countless whispers and "buzzing" and the "clacking" of checking equipment, there is still the silence that originally belonged to the night. It seems that there is nothing after dawn.
It will happen and it will be a normal day again.
…
In Nanjing, in the central command hall of the Purple Mountain Fortress, the telephones were ringing one after another. The staff officers were carrying documents back and forth, almost all at a trot. Everyone seemed to be on a clockwork. From the marshal to the general to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
, everyone has a common strange feeling, and their blood boils when they think about it——
What happened two hours later will forever be recorded in history. And I was participating in it.
Above the giant map on the front wall, there is a large clock driven by alternating current. The second hand rotates at a constant speed. Every 15 minutes, a soft "ding" sound will be emitted, and a soft female voice will be heard on the central broadcasting station above the hall.
will say:
"It is now 2:00 x quarter Nanjing time, and there are still x hours x quarter to go until h hour..."
During the intervals between "announcements on the hour", the latest situation will be broadcast on the central broadcasting station from time to time:
"...The entire 22nd Army is ready and has entered a state of war...The entire 22nd Army is ready and has entered a state of war..."
"...The entire 6th Bombardment Aviation Regiment is ready and entering combat status... The entire 8th Bombardment Aviation Regiment is ready and entering combat status..."
"...The entire 1st Combat Aviation Regiment is ready and entering a combat-ready state...The entire 1st Combat Aviation Regiment is ready and entering a combat-ready state..."
Next to the giant map, on two moving ladders, four female officers with headsets climbed up and down from time to time, using long poles to move the markers on the map and push them to the correct position according to the latest news.
…
The headquarters of each offensive force were moved to the Purple Mountain Fortress for on-site command. As the main force of the offensive, the People's Guard Mobile Team bore the brunt and became the protagonist of the headquarters.
Xiang Xiaoqiang, the senior officers of the mobile team, and the main generals of other offensive forces gathered together on a giant sand table in the center of the hall. Each person had a telephone and a dense schedule. The generals followed the schedule.
According to the above arrangements, you can command your troops at any time.
On the sand table, there are several thick black arrows in an arc shape, pointing straight to the north of the Yangtze River. On the big arrows, there are small tank models. The black arrows represent armored forces. On both sides and behind the black arrows are
More blue arrows with small models of military vehicles on them. This represents the Motorized Infantry Division.
There was a "ding——" in the sky above the hall, and everyone looked up at the electric clock. The announcer's voice rang again:
"It is now 2 o'clock Nanjing time, and there are still two hours left until h hour..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the timetable in his hand, grabbed the phone, and said:
"Connect to the Jinling Broadcasting Company... I am Xiang Xiaoqiang, commander of the People's Guard. It is h-2 time, and I order the pre-attack signal to be broadcast to the territory of Beiqing. Repeat, I order the pre-attack signal to be broadcast to the territory of Beiqing."
…
The radio silence that lasted for 18 hours was broken. A solitary radio wave was sent from the transmitting tower of Nanjing Broadcasting Building.
In the long dark night of Beiqing, there are still many radios on at this moment, and the channel is still tuned to the AM program of Jinling Broadcasting Company. Although there has been no signal for more than ten hours, the owners of those radios still keep this channel.
Go up, stay alert, and stay by the radio.
Suddenly, the "hissing" noise disappeared, and a clear male voice appeared:
"This is the AM program of Jinling Radio Station. We are broadcasting to the people in the occupied areas. A special message is broadcast below..."
All the members of the underground organization who were standing by the radio suddenly cheered up, held their breath, and listened with open ears.
The announcer read without emotion:
"Please listen: the night gave me black eyes, but I use them to find the light...
"I repeat: the night gave me black eyes, but I use them to find light...
"I repeat: the night gave me black eyes, but I use them to find light..."
…
No more doubts!
All the soldiers of the underground organization jumped up, and their blood boiled instantly. Without waiting for the second sentence, they rushed to the place where the weapons and explosives were hidden, and armed themselves in an instant. Then they kissed themselves goodbye.
The wife and children opened the door of their home with tears and rushed into the boundless darkness.
I finally heard the verse I had been waiting for for many days! For so many days, this verse had been chanted repeatedly in the hearts of the underground organization’s backbones, and they had already become familiar with it. Just yesterday, they conveyed the meaning of this code to everyone.
branch members.
Although they don’t know the name of this poem from later generations, they all understand the meaning of this poem, which is: liberation!
…
Soon, explosions were heard one after another in a long area hundreds of kilometers north of the Yangtze River defense line.
Telephone poles were blown down one by one. Transformers and distribution boxes in the open air were blown up. Electrical equipment was spraying sparks like fireworks at a festival. Telephone wire poles
They were also blown down one by one. On the railway, at intervals, a black figure squatted on the ground, struggling to turn the spike wrench, and soon dragged away a rail...
In the towns and brothels near the Qing army's garrison, clear gunshots could be heard from time to time, followed by women's screams...
Today is the weekend, and those officers who came to have fun last night and slept in brothels were killed one after another in Wenrou Township.
The fighters of the underground organization have been looking forward to this day for a long time. Even though the moment they rushed out of the house with weapons, many people knew that they would not live until tomorrow morning and would not see the day they had been waiting for.
, but they still went out without hesitation.
The three hours before dawn on October 4, 1936 would become the three hours in which they lost the most lives.
What guided them was such a simple sentence:
The night gave me black eyes, but I used them to look for light.
…
In Beijing, the sticky pole headquarters accurately captured the first radio wave that had disappeared for a long time.
Accompanying the broadcast, there is also a clear code call sign in Morse code. Both of them are like a man possessed, turning over and over again, constantly broadcasting the same sentence.
The duty officer at the sticky pole and the right deputy commander looked at this very "literary" poem on the message paper and pinched his chin hard. He felt that his head was a bit big and he was not sure what to do. He hesitated, not knowing whether to do it or not.
Call to wake up the deputy chief Zuo. Under normal circumstances, this situation should be reported to the highest officer of the stick office. But now the highest officer of the stick office is the emperor's youngest son, just a six-year-old brother...
Normally, things in the stick office are decided by the two deputy chiefs on the left and right. However, the two deputy chiefs are almost political enemies. This is also intentional by Guangwu. Ordinarily, after Nanming's radio was silent for more than ten hours, suddenly
resumed broadcasting, but only repeated such a strange
Although he didn't know what this meant, a deep sense of ominousness had already enveloped his heart. The right deputy commander wanted to call the left deputy commander's house to wake him up and discuss it with him, but he
I was afraid that nothing would happen in the end, that I would make a false alarm and be laughed at by him.
Wake up the emperor?
This thought only flashed in my mind for a moment, and passed without even leaving a trace... To wake up the emperor with such a cry, it was a mistake.
…
3:50 a.m., Central Command Hall, Nanjing Purple Mountain Fortress.
A powerful command:
"stand at attention----"
Suddenly the entire hall fell silent, and all the officers stood up and faced the entrance.
Queen Zhu Yourong walked in.
Although everyone knew that His Majesty would come at this time and had been mentally prepared, they could not help but feel excited at this moment. Everyone said in unison according to the trained rhythm:
"See Your Majesty!"
Zhu Yourong also suppressed the excitement in her chest, smiled as peacefully as possible, waved her hand, and without saying anything else, she followed Zhang Zhao who greeted her and walked into a broadcast room behind the senior generals.
The technical officer adjusted the microphone for her and placed it on the microphone stand. Zhu Yourong stood in front of the microphone stand, took the speech, cleared his throat, looked at the technical officer opposite, and waited for his gesture.
…
On the 800-kilometer-long offensive front, the loudspeakers of each command vehicle were connected to transmission lines. All pre-war speeches were transmitted by wire. They were first sent to each troop station along the telephone line, and then received individually by each vehicle.
In the command car.
At exactly 4:00 in the morning, the voice of Her Majesty the Queen echoed over all the military stations:
"Soldiers of the Ming Empire!..."
Soon, waves of cheers sounded from all positions. From Zhenjiang to Anqing, from Wuhan to Xiangfan, along the offensive front of several hundred kilometers, accompanied by non-stop cheers, the morale of the 2.2 million officers and soldiers rose to
The highest peak.
This time, he was no longer bullied by the Qing captives and had to fight back. He was no longer worried about the safety of his home and the lives of his family after crossing the river and fighting the Qing captives when he came back.
This time, the Qinglu problem will be solved once and for all.
This time, we will move north to the Central Plains and regain our homeland.
This time, every corporal, every first-class soldier, every second-class soldier, like the general and marshal, will become people who make history.
…
In the central command hall of Purple Mountain Fortress, the hands of the big electric clock have already pointed to 4:59, and the second hand is finishing the last few ticks.
There was silence in the vast hall. All the generals were holding the phone receivers and staring at the clock face.
The entire hall echoed with the quiet voice of the CCTV lady:
Zhu Yourong decisively pressed a red button at the last second.
"bite----"
A crisp ringtone rang through the hall, and the entire hall suddenly became noisy. Countless voices commanded the phone:
"start!"
"take off!"
"action!"
"attack!"
"go ahead!"
"start!"
…
At 5:00 a.m. on October 4, 1936 AD, the Unification War began.
The sky was roaring, deafening. Countless bombers took off in formation, formed up, and then flew towards their designated targets.
On the front of the attack of the right army group, countless assault boats were pushed into the water by the soldiers, then got on them, started the motors, formed a formation on the river, and headed towards the north bank.
On the front of the attack of the left army group, countless tanks were launched. The mine clearing tanks drove at the front, and the engines roared all over the mountains and plains behind, one after another, and they drove forward one after another.
The commanders stood proudly in the turret, with their upper bodies exposed, and waved their right arms forward majestically, leading the brothers behind them and starting to move forward.
The largest and densest torrent of steel in the history of human warfare is now advancing with unstoppable momentum amidst the thunderous roar.
At this moment, the earth is shaking and the sky is shaking.