At 5 o'clock in the morning, eight strategic artillery groups of the Qing army on the north bank of the Yangtze River were bombed almost simultaneously.
Among the eight artillery corps, the Sixth Artillery Corps has the best quality, training, and discipline. Only the Sixth Artillery Corps sounded the air defense siren when the bombers flew overhead, and only the Sixth Artillery Corps sounded the bombs.
Before it fell, some artillerymen rushed out and tried to fire into the sky.
However, precisely because these eight artillery corps are deployed about ten kilometers north of the Yangtze River, which is close to the river, the distance for early warning is too short. Especially in the dark. In most artillery corps stations,
What woke the Qing soldiers was not the air-raid siren, but the loud noise of bombs. They were all still sleeping under the covers in the barracks, and the cannons on the position were engulfed by dense explosions.
Some barracks that were relatively close to the artillery positions suffered the same fate as the artillery pieces, and were instantly engulfed in shock waves and fire. From the barracks area close to the bombing site, tens of thousands of Qing soldiers rushed out of the barracks area, howling and crawling.
In the barracks, some are naked, some are naked, and some are naked.
They were all naked. As soon as they got out, they fell to the ground, holding their heads tightly, not daring to look up. The barracks area far away from the bombing site was also swarmed with bombs. The Qing soldiers were noisily wearing pants and hooded clothes.
They put on their clothes, put on their helmets, grabbed their rifles, and rushed out of the barracks.
As soon as they went out, they were blinded by the bright light. Flares were falling all over the sky, and everything on the ground was illuminated so that no color could be seen. Only one side was bright and the other was dark. This scene was like the sky.
There were hundreds of welders doing welding at the same time, which was extremely scary.
However, as the roar of planes in the sky gradually faded away, the flares landed one after another and went out.
More terrifying scenes gradually came into view:
The fire in the distance was mixed with thick smoke, soaring into the night sky, lighting up half of the sky. In the darkness, everyone stared blankly at the sea of fire in the distance, with a red light on their faces.
The color has changed again. Just now it was snow white, now it is fiery red.
From time to time, one or two fireballs shot into the sky, followed by an explosion a few seconds later.
Those were the remaining shells that had been burned.
…
This kind of "carpet bombing" was unprecedented in the Beiqing Dynasty and unprecedented in the world. The 10-kilogram small bomb brought the number of bombs carried by a twin-engine horizontal bomber to its peak, and also increased the number of bombs a single aircraft could carry.
The bombing area covered has expanded to the extreme.
After the initial shock, the junior officers of the eight artillery corps went crazy. Everyone was looking for their superiors, and the station became a mess. But officers above the regimental commander were basically impossible to find. They ran away yesterday
Went to Chuzhou to eat, drink and have fun.
Several officers crawled and ran to the office building, trying to make a phone call. However, the office building next to the position had already been blown to pieces, and every window was on fire. The office building far away from the position was on fire.
Buildings, it was pitch black inside, and even the lights couldn't be turned on. In those places where the buildings were not collapsed and the wires were not blown down, I picked up the phone and shook it for a long time, but there was no sound... The phone lines had long been damaged.
The nearby underground tissue was cut off.
Nearly an hour after the initial bombing, the eight artillery corps stations were in complete panic. The platoon leader could not find the company commander, the company commander could not find the battalion commander, and the battalion commander could not find the regiment commander... Someone found the radio,
But the signal corps was not found; someone found the signal corps, but could not find the radio... Finally, the communication corps and the radio came together and sent reports to higher-level military units, but most of them received no response...
Because today is Sunday.
…
Between 5:10 and 5:20, travel to eleven airports within 550-600 kilometers of Beiqing: Dongtai Airport, Baoying Airport, Sihong Airport, Fengyang Airport, Hefei Airport, Lu'an Airport, Xuzhou Airport, Xuchang
The airports, Zhengzhou Airport, Hanzhong Airport, and Xianyang Airport were also bombed almost simultaneously.
To bomb these eleven airports, the Army Air Force dispatched 330 level bombers and 300 dive bombers, a total of 630 aircraft.
No fighter escort was arranged. Because it was impossible to fight in the air in the dark, there was no need to worry about being attacked by Qing fighter jets. When daybreak, the fleet had already returned.
Precisely because there are no fighter jets accompanying them, the bombing radius this time can be much deeper. In addition to the 6 first-tier airports bombed last time, 7 second-tier airports can also be attacked.
In addition, bombers taking off from three airports on the Changshan Islands also bombed Tangshan Airport at h.
A group of bombers taking off from two aircraft carriers on the sea 50 kilometers away from the south side of the Shandong Peninsula also bombed the Dongying Airport on the northeast side of Shandong.
These two airports are outside the combat radius of the Army Aviation and belong to the Beijing-Tianjin defense circle that defends Beiqing. They also gather a large number of combat aircraft from the Beiqing Air Force. The density is much higher than those airports in the south. And due to their deep penetration
In the rear, the vigilance of the airports in the Beijing-Tianjin defense circle is generally very poor. Planes are openly parked next to the runway. One by one, they are quite dense. When the "hail" bombs fall, one bomb can often explode.
Destroyed two planes.
Of the 11 Qing military airports in the Army Aviation mission area, six of which had been bombed last time, they were on high alert. Most of the aircraft were parked in the cement hangar, and the anti-aircraft guns also fired in time. But because it was not yet dark,
It was bright, and the planes were all in the hangar, so the Ming army's fleet had no threat from fighter jets except anti-aircraft guns.
In this way, the Ming army's "Swan" bombers and hail bombs were basically useless, and they just repeatedly dropped illumination bombs at high altitudes.
Dive bombers showed off their skills. There were an average of 30 Ospreys in each fleet, and each Osprey carried two 200-kilogram bombs. With the help of flares all over the sky, they took turns to dive down and drop bombs into the hangar. Although it was a concrete hangar, it was not a submarine hole after all.
A permanent fortification like a hangar cannot withstand 200 kilograms of aerial bombs. Each hangar will collapse with just two bombs, burying all the aircraft inside.
The vigilance of the other seven Qing military airports was obviously much worse. It could be said that they were no better than the airports in the rear area. In addition, it was early morning on Sunday, so it could be said that there was no defense. The planes were parked on both sides of the runway until the raindrops began.
Bombs fell like bombs, but the anti-aircraft guns didn't even fire.
…
At 5:30, when the bombing was basically over, in the central command hall of the Purple Mountain Fortress, the approximate results of the battle were calculated based on the radio reports of each aircraft group.
The 11 target airports of Army Aviation destroyed a total of about 350 Qing bombers and about 400 fighter jets. The 2 target airports of Hainan Airlines destroyed a total of 50-80 Qing bombers and about 100 fighter jets. A total of 900 Qing aircraft were destroyed.
Frame left and right.
Its own losses include 6 Swan bombers and 11 Osprey bombers. A total of 17 aircraft.
Compared with the huge results, the losses are simply negligible.
It is worth mentioning that none of the losses of the Ming Army aircraft were due to being shot down by Qing fighter jets. As expected, from the beginning of the air attack to the final return, not a single Qing Army fighter jet took off to intercept. The Ming Army lost 6
The Swan bombers were all shot down by anti-aircraft guns at the airport. The 11 dive bombers still had the same old problem. The challenge of dive bombing at night was too great, even with flares. They all hit the ground.
When the announcer reported the results of the battle in a soft voice, the entire headquarters was filled with joy.
The Qing army only had about 1,800 combat aircraft in total, and now half of them were wiped out in one fell swoop on D-Day. This means that in the next unification war, the burden on the Ming army's aviation will be greatly reduced, and it can better support ground operations.
In Xiang Xiaoqiang's words, as long as the air strikes on d-day and h achieve the intended purpose, half of the war of unification will be won. Although people like Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng now dare not think that "half of the war of unification has been won," they still laugh.
I couldn’t close my mouth from ear to ear.
The most critical moment in the unification war is the first day, and the most critical moment in the first day is the first hour.
Now that the first half of the hour has passed, the next half hour will be even more critical.
…
Just as Ming aircraft bombed eight north bank artillery groups, and more planes flew across the Yangtze River from these eight "air corridors" and went straight to the airport in the hinterland of Beiqing, between these eight "air corridors", the river surface
It was still dark and quiet.
On the offensive front of the right army group, on the 450-kilometer-long river, the 8,000 assault boats participating in the first batch of attacks began to move toward the north bank from five attack positions.
The five breakthrough points across the river were all chosen between cities, and both sides of the river were basically in the wilderness. On the one hand, the Qing army's security was relatively loose in this place, making it easy to break through, and on the other hand, it was also because of air strikes on the Qing army's artillery groups.
, these "middle zones" are far away from the air strikes and are not easily disturbed. No matter which side starts the attack first, it will not affect the other side.
Thousands of assault boats in each place were spread out in a formation, 50 meters apart. There were 10 soldiers on each boat. They were driving the low-speed motor, lowering their bodies as hard as possible, and making as little noise as possible to approach the north bank as quietly as possible.
past.
The river water in the early morning was as dark as ink, and only the areas reflecting the moonlight were dancing with dazzling light.
The moonlight is very bright, which is a good condition for air strikes, but it is very troublesome for the infantry attacking on the river. The other side is still far away, and it is pitch black and nothing can be seen, but the weapons on each assault boat
The soldiers were all exposed to the moonlight, and they could clearly see the approaching assault boat 50 meters away. Every soldier felt like a target. He lowered his head desperately and grabbed the side of the boat with all his strength. Excitement and fear were intertwined in his heart.
We have reached the center of the river, but there is still no movement on the other side. The Qing army still has not discovered the assault boats all over the river and the shiny steel helmets on them.
Even though they knew it was impossible, every soldier was praying, hoping to stay in peace until they landed ashore.
…
On the river between Nanjing and Zhenjiang, it is relatively close to Nanjing. Among the five breakthrough points, this section is considered to have the highest defense level of the Qing army.
The silence was first broken here.
A flare was first fired from the opposite side, and in an instant the area hundreds of meters above the river was illuminated. Dozens of assault boats were exposed.
A few seconds later, a machine gun flame appeared on the north bank. The jumping line of fire formed an arc and was continuously thrown into the river, creating countless splashes between the assault boats. Immediately, several more machine guns opened fire. What followed was a burst of fire.
The door searchlight was turned on, and the beam of light swept across the river.
The river surface suddenly boiled, and tens of thousands of soldiers shouted and turned their engines to high speed. At the same time, the Woodpecker machine gun on the bow of the boat also fired back.
More than a thousand lines of fire flew from the assault boat to the north shore, and the searchlight was knocked out in an instant. More searchlights were turned on, but they were all knocked out as soon as they were turned on.
The Qing army soon stopped turning on searchlights and instead fired more flares into the sky. The magnesium light and the moonlight made the entire river look like daylight.
More and more machine guns on the north bank opened fire, and the Ming army on the river suddenly became bloody and bloody in the assault boats. Now the Ming army also experienced the same feeling as the Qing army at the beginning of the year.
On the Yangtze River defense line on the south bank, artillery fire was also fired at this time. Countless artillery shells roared towards the Qing army positions on the north bank, and hundreds of smoke bombs also fell on the river, spraying white smoke, and soon formed a smoke screen.
With the fire support and smoke screen cover from the south bank, the casualties of the Ming army on the river suddenly dropped. However, in the smoke screen, the assault boats could not maintain their formation, and in addition, they all turned the throttle to the maximum, and the Ming army
The speed of the Qing army's assault boats was much faster than that of the Qing army. Some of them deflected for a while, some collided with each other, and some even overturned the entire boat and fell into the water...
But the greatest advantage of the Ming army was its suddenness and its powerful artillery support along the deep Yangtze River defense line.
The biggest disadvantage of the Qing army is that it has been deployed in an offensive posture for a long time. It does not have as strong a river defense as the Ming army's Yangtze River defense line, and it does not even have mines. The Qing army's river defense has very few permanent concrete fortifications and large
Most of them are field fortifications made of sandbags, and most of these fortifications are machine gun forts.
The Northern Qing Dynasty never thought that the Ming army would take the initiative to attack itself, and did not arrange artillery positions on the front line along the river. Most of the artillery positions of the Qing army were deployed more than ten kilometers away along the river, all for the purpose of bombarding the south bank defense line and cities.
To cooperate with the Qing army's southern invasion. And this way
The artillery positions are mainly the eight strategic artillery groups. Normally they can cover the entire south bank, including the area between the artillery groups. But now, they have been swept by the "hail" and become
Burning scrap metal.
Five minutes later, the first assault boat docked on the north bank. The five remaining soldiers on the boat shouted and jumped off the boat, paddling their legs in the mud, and tried their best to rush towards the river embankment. However, they were immediately shot down one by one by machine guns.
, with blood spurting from his chest, he fell into the puddle.
However, the assault boats of the Ming army rushed ashore one after another. Soon, on this section of the river beach, the two machine guns of the Qing army were no longer dealing with 5 Ming troops, but 50, 100, 500
indivual……
More and more Ming troops roared and jumped off the boats, and grenades were thrown densely onto the river embankment. The Qing infantrymen who were lying on the river embankment and opened fire were blown to pieces.
At the same time, accompanied by the scream of "swish-swish-", fire dragons flew from the river beach to the river embankment. Flamethrower soldiers also came ashore.
On the river embankment, the machine gun fortresses piled with sandbags were "attacked" by fire dragons one after another. The Qing soldiers inside rushed out covered with fire, screaming and rolling on the ground...
At 5:10, after a brief battle of ten minutes, the Qing army's Jiang defense was torn open by the Ming army for about 20 kilometers in the section between Nanjing and Zhenjiang.
In fact, this can no longer be called a "kou". The total distance between Nanjing and Zhenjiang is only more than 50 kilometers. It should be said that it is like being blasted with a shotgun to open a big hole in the chest.
…
The south bank stopped firing smoke bombs, and soon this section of the river became clear. The subsequent assault boat troops lined up in neat formation and moved towards the north bank in an orderly manner.
Boat after boat of Ming troops jumped off the assault boats, waded in knee-deep water, held guns and carried heavy equipment, and marched to the shore. This section of the river beach was basically safe, except for sporadic gunfire.
There is no more fighting.
The soldiers of the Ming army panted heavily and looked around as they walked. This was the first time in their lives that they set foot on the land on the north bank.
It's not so dark now, and you can see how far away you are,
The east has turned dark blue, and it's almost dawn.