Xiang Xiaoqiang turned to look at the map and said:
"My lords, I think there is a key factor. This key factor is air power. Yes, I have always cared about air power. The current situation is that although our front cannot be said to be very long, we must admit that it is a bit 'fast'.
That is to say, the foundation is not very strong.
In fact, the large areas occupied have not been well digested and cannot be transformed into motivation for further operations. In these newly occupied areas, military stations and supply points along the way have not yet been established. After all, the war has only started for a few days.
, none of us expected to play so fast.
"We have never fought this type of war, and no country in the world has ever fought it. What our officers learned in military schools and what they trained in peacetime exercises is not what it is now... Politically speaking,
Naturally, there is a reason why the Qing army was defeated like a mountain, but as soldiers, we still have to look at the problem from a military perspective. Militarily speaking, how much better are we than the Qing army? We are much better in terms of quality, but in terms of quantity, there are still
In terms of war potential, we are both at an absolute disadvantage.
"Of course, this only refers to the ground forces. Of course, our maritime forces have an absolute advantage in terms of quality and quantity, but their role in the war is limited. In addition to blockade and providing naval bombing, most of the forces
Is it idle... Let's talk about air power.
At present, in this war, the only thing we have an overwhelming advantage in quantity and quality and can play a huge role is air power. You have all seen how our air power helped us in the first few days of the war.
The ground troops destroyed everything and achieved a huge victory."
As he spoke, he glanced at Li Guoliang. Li Guoliang had already been excited and puffed up his chest proudly, but he looked around humbly and lowered his eyes.
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Ming Gong, Tang Gong, gentlemen, the general believes that if we want to continue to achieve such an amazing victory in the next few days, that is, if we encircle the 200,000 Qing troops in the middle section again, there is a certain danger. This
The foundation is unstable due to our rapid advancement, and it is possible that we may be surrounded but unable to capture it, or our flanks may be counterattacked.
"Of course, this also depends on the Qing army's will to fight and the integrity of their troops, that is, their control over the army. Or to put it bluntly, their combat effectiveness. If we surround Qing troops who have no will to fight, no
A pack of wolves but a flock of sheep, so no matter how many sheep there are, what’s the point?
How dangerous is it? And I think our army aviation is the key. Now that the battle line has been lengthened and the combat area has expanded, can they still maintain high-intensity air strikes against the Qing army as they did in the first few days? This is our question
The key to choosing the next strategy... What do you think?"
Zhang Zhao nodded approvingly, then turned to Li Guoliang and said with a smile:
"How about the Air Force side? Tingzhi is right, your side is the key."
Tang Yunsheng followed:
"Commander Li, I'm not asking you to express your determination. You must give your truest assurance. It doesn't matter if you are more cautious or conservative. This is related to the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers."
Li Guoliang took a slow breath and smiled as calmly as possible:
"Two Lords of the General Staff, Mr. Xiang, sirs, I will tell you the real situation of the Army Aviation. At present, the total number of aircraft that the Army Aviation can invest in the Northern Expedition is about 1,000 fighter jets, 650 dive bombers, and 400 level bombers.
These aircraft are only for the Army Air Force, which means they only need to be used in the current southern battlefield. The bombing of the railway lines behind the Qing Dynasty in the north was completed by Hainan Airlines aircraft.
"Currently, our first encirclement area is only about 10,000 square kilometers. Of course, for ground troops, 10,000 square kilometers is a large combat area, but for aviation troops, 10,000 square kilometers is very small.
It is small, with a circumference of only 400 kilometers, and can fly around in one and a half hours. In such a small area, we can maintain a very high density, so that the Qing troops inside can't even lift their heads, and suffer casualties.
The rapid increase can make an entire division lose its structure in a short time."
Xiang Xiaoqiang said with a smile:
"We are fully aware of this. Our ground troops have not yet reached the place, and thousands of Qing troops in front surrendered on their own initiative. It is like cutting through lard with a sharp knife. There is no chance to fight."
Li Guoliang quickly took it and said with a smile:
"I have come to the point, sir. Indeed, our air forces are too concentrated. At this stage, the combat area covered by land aviation is: eastern Anhui, the existing encirclement combat area is 10,000 square kilometers; western and northern Anhui, the combat area
The area is about 30,000 square kilometers; in central and northern Henan, the combat area is about 30,000 square kilometers; in Hanzhong, Guanzhong, and southern Shaanxi, the combat area is about 20,000 square kilometers; in the southern part of Shandong, the combat area is about 20,000 square kilometers.
The total area is only about 110,000 square kilometers.
"Within these 110,000 square kilometers, there are only a few point-like targets that need to be attacked by multiple aircraft. Large areas can be passed by patrol fighter jets. The current situation is that our aircraft are a bit wasteful, and the concentrated combat points are too large.
Few. We are planning to encircle them.
The Qing army in the middle section is actually within our combat range. What we have to do now is to classify this area as a key combat range and increase the intensity of air strikes. In this way, our aircraft can enter the most efficient
configuration status, rather than being so centralized."
Tang Yunsheng asked:
"If the Qing army in the northern part of the Dabie Mountains is included in the key attack range, will it weaken the attack on the Qing army in the eastern encirclement?"
Li Guoliang smiled and said:
"Your Majesty the General Staff, you can rest assured. Tactical bombing is no better than strategic bombing. It does not mean that the longer the bombing, the more the better. There is a saturation level, that is, the locations that need to be bombed are always changing and the area is constantly shrinking. Sir Xiang just gave an example.
Cutting butter quickly with a quick knife, the last general will give you an example. Tactical bombing is like mincing meat. Put a large piece of meat there, and the first few dozen cuts will be the most effective. You can watch a large piece of whole meat quickly turn into
small pieces
. But later on, as the pieces of meat become smaller and smaller, we feel that even if we chop them hundreds more times, the change will not be much... This is the feeling. Looking at it now, the people in the encirclement
Half of the Qing army has become minced meat, one third has become small pieces of meat, and the other third is still relatively large, but there is no need to spend hundreds of times making hundreds of cuts. We should use our strength
Another big piece of new meat was cut, and that piece of meat is still intact."
When Li Guoliang said the second half, everyone in the circle laughed. Everyone understood what he meant. Although this metaphor is vulgar and a bit bloody, it is very appropriate.
On the night of the 7th, the Supreme Command of the Ming Army made a decision not to annihilate the 300,000 Qing troops in the eastern encirclement for the time being, but to realize the rendezvous of the left and right army groups in central Henan as soon as possible and import the 200,000 Qing military uniforms from southern Henan.
bag.
…
Great Plains!
The vast plains as far as the eye can see!
The legendary North China Plain finally faced the mechanized troops of the Ming Army.
This is not the kind of plains with water networks and hills everywhere in the south of the Wuyue River, nor is it the plains like Jianghan, Sichuan, and Xiangfan surrounded by mountains, but the real great plains. The kind that drives a tank and rushes for three days and three nights.
A great plain that will not be blocked by a mountain or a river.
The left army group, which had just emerged from the mountains, felt very refreshed.
The right army group, which had just emerged from the water network zone, also felt very happy.
They all now understand what real "advancement" means.
From the morning of the 8th, the two army groups drove towards each other on the Great Plains. They were composed of the 1st People's Guard Division (Armored Division), the 2nd People's Guard Division (Armored Division), and the 5th People's Guard Division (Armored Division).
The 8th Guards Division (Mechanized Division) and the 9th People's Guard Division (Mechanized Division) were in the lead. More than two thousand tanks and armored vehicles formed a battle formation, galloping in the fields. All the roads behind, including rural dirt roads, were motorized infantry divisions.
Endless military vehicles and towed artillery as far as the eye can see.
Overhead, there are groups of bombers roaring past. Higher up, there are fighter jets as small as black dots. They all take off from the Xiangfan Plain Battlefield Airport and Sihong Airport. In addition to ready-made airports like Sihong Airport, more
The fighter jets took off from the battlefield airfield pushed out by bulldozers on the newly captured land.
…
The permanent Qing troops pressing on the Yangtze River defense line in Nanming were divided into three categories.
The first type is stationed opposite the eastern section of the defense line. This type is the strongest and is always ready to cross the river and invade south.
The second type is the Qing army stationed in the Xiangfan Plain. Because Xiangfan is a gap between the Dabie Mountains and the Daba Mountains, it is relatively easy to invade Nanming, Wuhan and the Jingzhou Plain. This type of Qing army is slightly inferior.
, but they are also among the more elite troops in the Han army.
The third category is the Qing army stationed on the north side of the Dabie Mountains. The Qing army in this area is also very large, but it is not to fight through the Dabie Mountains, but to attack either end of the east and west ends, so as to attack the shortcomings on that side.
The Qing army quickly increased its strength over time. This type of Qing army was considered a second- or third-rate army.
The fourth category is to be stationed in the western section of the Yangtze River defense line, on the north side of Daba Mountain and the Hengduan Mountains. Because the mountains in the western section of the defense line are hundreds of kilometers wide, often with mountains and canyons above them, and raging torrents below the abyss, even a chain bridge.
No. Don't talk about the army, even if you let it
If a person climbs over empty-handed, it is luck not to fall to death. No matter where the Ming and Qing armies try to fight, it is impossible. Therefore, the Qing army here is the weakest in terms of strength and quality. Basically,
There was only one outpost for a long time, and there were several old, weak, sick and disabled people stationed in the outpost.
…
In an environment of vast plains, facing more than 2,000 tanks and armored vehicles of the Ming army, and thousands of bombers and fighter jets roaring down from the sky, the second-rate Han army in front of them had almost no ability to resist, and was defeated like a mountain. All the way on the great plains
The defeat lasted more than 200 kilometers. By noon on the 9th, in just one whole day and one morning, the Ming army's two offensives had completed their respective advances of more than 100 kilometers and met at Fuyang County in northwest Anhui.
More than 200,000 Qing troops were surrounded in the northern part of the Dabie Mountains, in a narrow area more than 200 kilometers long and less than 30 kilometers wide, and divided into three sections.
It can also be said that all the Qing troops south of the Huaihe River were pocketed, totaling about 500,000.
The first large-scale annihilation battle of the Unification War began.
The Ming army moved non-stop, encircling them at noon on the 9th, and launching a general offensive in the afternoon. And they continued day and night, from afternoon to night, to early morning, to the morning of the 10th, morning, noon... During the day, the dive bombers used "surgical" precision
Bombing, cooperate with 20,000
With the rapid advance of 1,000 artillery pieces, 1,000 tanks, and 1,500 armored vehicles, from Gaoyou Lake and Hongze Lake in the east to the northwest corner of Dabie Mountain in the west, the long and narrow battlefield was divided into five large pieces, and then another
Gradually divided into dozens of small pieces...
At night, there was a large area bombing by horizontal bombers.
Especially at night, the Qing troops in the encirclement felt unprecedented terror. First, the entire black sky roared, then there were dazzling flares all over the sky, and then there were overwhelming explosions on the ground...
Under such dense "hail bombs", hiding in trenches and foxholes seems to be of little use. Small bombs will continue to fall in, and one will kill several people...
The Qing army north of the Dabie Mountains had originally received orders to attack the invading Ming army from the east and west. In the past few days, they had been marching slowly on the roads. The roads were crowded with carriages, equipment, and endless people.
The marching column. Although they were also bombed before the 9th, they were all
It was a harassment in nature, designed to slow down the march. It was just a matter of temporary shelter when the planes came. But after the 9th, the bombing suddenly became "crazy", and the planes in the sky no longer appeared in waves of two or three.
, but it was a large fleet when it arrived, killing dozens or hundreds of people at a time.
After the planes left, in addition to craters and corpses, there were countless flying leaflets.
Even the soldiers of the Qing army who could not read a word now understood it clearly. The Ming army now made it clear that they wanted to be completely annihilated. From the afternoon of the 9th, no division commander of the Qing army in the encirclement could control his troops.
The troops below abandoned their carriages and heavy equipment on the road and ran to nearby villages and towns to take shelter. They guessed that the Ming army would not bomb these residential areas. In fact, the Ming army did not bomb the residential areas.
Although this could not eliminate the Qing army, it completely disrupted the organization of the Qing army and scattered them in hundreds of towns and thousands of villages. Both officers and soldiers knew that it was dangerous to be exposed in the wild, so they hid in residential areas.
It is absolutely safe. And under such non-stop attacks, this separation of structures is irreversible. Once the army is dispersed, it is impossible to concentrate it back to its original state.
Basically, every literate Qing army member had a copy of the Ming army's leaflet in his pocket. Even the illiterate Qing army members had it spread throughout the country.
"They coerce civilians and will be shot if caught by the Ming army!"
"What does it mean to coerce civilians?"
"Just act rogue during the war and infiltrate among the common people!"
"Ah, then this can be considered as coercing civilians?"
"Let's not count it! Anyway, when the Ming army comes, we will surrender directly, so maybe it won't count!"
"Didn't the Ming army say that only officers should be shot?"
"Who did you listen to? All the officers and soldiers were killed!"
…
Qing army officers hiding in some counties often gathered in small groups, carefully adjusting the radios in their rooms, while listening with fear to the Ming army planes flying above their heads, and to the distant
of bombs and gunfire.
A soft female voice came from the radio, with a glutinous Jiangnan flavor:
"Brothers of the Qing army, come over... You have no other way out... For the soldiers who lay down their weapons, Ming Dynasty guarantees your life safety, ensures you have good treatment, and your injuries will be properly treated...
Indeed, the brothers who have already surrendered all said that the food eaten in the Ming Army prisoner-of-war camps was better than that in the original military camps... For officers, as long as they receive timely
Lead your brothers to lay down their weapons and stop resisting. Ming Dynasty will recognize your vested interests, that is to say, your titles will be retained. Your existing property, regardless of whether the source is legal or not, as long as it was not directly robbed during this war.
, we will all respect you...regardless of officers and soldiers, Ming Dynasty will accept you as new citizens and enjoy the same treatment as citizens of Ming Dynasty..."
A group of middle and lower-level officers of the Qing army of similar ranks were guarding a radio and discussing:
"They said they recognized our vested interests, which means that the soft goods in our suitcases will still be ours after being voted in?"
"What, you want to join the Ming Army?"
"What? What's wrong with me? You fucking don't want to? Who doesn't want to and who is abnormal."
"Fuck! You're fucked..."
"Forget it, forget it, we are all brothers..."
"Damn, what you say is better than what you sing! You're bluffing!"
"Tsk, tsk, this little lady's voice is quite seductive..."
"Miss Nanming, don't tell me, it's great to have two..."
"It's easy to handle. Let's vote for it. With the wealth in the box, who can't marry a few openly? We need money and people, and they are all from the military academy. They are also literate and have both civil and military skills..."
"I don't know if what I'm saying is true... I'm afraid that if I actually hand over the gun and throw him in, my face will change. I'll find an excuse. Once the property is taken away, you won't have anything to say."
"Tch, I am Nan Ming, do you think you are our imperial court? Talking like farts?"
"Anyway, the crows in the world are as black as the world, and the courts in the world are as cheap... No matter how good the court is, it is composed of officials. How many good officials are there? I don't think as much as you do. I just want to save my life and give me someone to eat.
Just an errand..."
"Normally black? Why is it that in ordinary darkness, we are running desperately to other people's places? Why don't we see people over there trying their best to run towards us?"
…
At this time, Nan Ming's propaganda broadcast ended and the segment began to be replayed. An officer smacked his lips and reached out to change the channel.
An impassioned male voice came from the loudspeaker:
"This is the Qing Radio Station!... At present, our invincible army of the Qing Dynasty has achieved a major victory in the south! Nanming's small-scale harassment of our border has suffered a shameful failure! At present, the momentum of our Qing army
Like Hong, we are gaining victories on all fronts!!!... In the past few days, rumors have been circulating frequently throughout the Qing Dynasty, such as the strength of the Nanming army and the speed of its attack... and other ridiculous claims.
The soldiers at the front of the Qing Dynasty were already beaten to pieces by the victory report!
"The clowns of Nanming who fabricated these rumors in an attempt to shake the morale of our Qing people have now seen the failure of their rumors and are feeling disgraced and in panic all day long... As for the new rumors that have just appeared, such as how many people are in our Qing army?
Being surrounded and will be eliminated soon, etc., are not worth refuting... We advise the Southern Ming conspirators who fabricated these rumors not to waste any more time..."
"What the fuck!!!"
An officer slammed the radio, silencing the sound. He cursed:
"Damn it, forget about bragging at ordinary times, but you are still bragging at this moment! Damn it! The lives of brothers are not as valuable as the face of the court! Guys, you have heard it, we are working for our lives, we are such a disgusting bunch
Something!"
"Tch, I already knew that."
"Vote to Ming Dynasty. Vote to Ming Dynasty! At least Ming Dynasty is not so disgusting. Do you still have any hesitation?"
"Vote to Ming Dynasty."
"Vote to Ming Dynasty."
"Yes, before we get called, let's get our brothers to go there... When the time comes, we will bring our brothers to vote. I heard there will be rewards..."