On the 23rd, the Ming army began simultaneous air attacks on the two Yellow River bridges in Jinan and Zhengzhou.
The Jinan Yellow River Bridge probably suffered heavy losses due to its long range and proximity to the Beijing-Tianjin defense circle. Therefore, the Ming fleet only bombed it once that day. After being besieged by Qing fighter jets, the entire fleet returned.
Unfortunately, the Zhengzhou Yellow River Bridge is within the combat range of the Ming Army's land-based aircraft, and it is too close to the Ming Army's control area. The Ming Army has absolute air superiority. Therefore, the bombing of the Zhengzhou Yellow River Bridge has not stopped.
Another wave of bombings came in. Zhengzhou originally had a group-level airport.
, but suffered heavy losses in the bombing in the early morning of D-Day, and the remaining aircraft were retreated and evacuated by Guangwu after the Ming army invaded Henan. But now the Ming army aircraft are aiming at the Yellow River Bridge, and they must save it if they attack it. Guangwu
As a last resort, he gritted his teeth and mobilized the evacuated fighter jets for air combat.
Relying on their dual advantages of quality and quantity, Ming aircraft continued to consume Qing aircraft while dropping bombs on the bridge.
Bridges, like railways, are thin and long, making it difficult to drop accurately in the air. In addition, Ming dive bombers had to constantly dodge Qing fighter jets and anti-aircraft fire, so most of the bombs were dropped far away.
The bridge is relatively far away, so there are very few near-misses.
The Ming army only came with one squadron of dive bombers at a time. The bombs were dropped quickly, and then they returned, and another squadron would come later. This lasted for a whole morning.
Zhengzhou Corps - The Thirteenth Group Army of the Qing Army is now under the command of deputy commander Chen Wangwu. The former commander of the group army was a Manchu. He suffered from alcohol poisoning and stomach bleeding at the banquet the night before D-Day. He drank to death. It happened to be the next day.
In the morning the Ming army attacked, the deputy commander
Chen Wangwu reported him "martyrdom for his country", claiming that he was assassinated by Nanming agents and died of his injuries. Because the Nanming underground organization really carried out assassinations on the eve of D-Day, and many garrison officers were assassinated, so this
The lie really got through to the top.
But in the military, everyone knows what's going on. Generally, whoever dies, whether it's from illness or drinking, or from a woman's belly, as long as the connections are in place, they can usually report "assassinated and martyred for their country"
", and put the blame on the Nanming agent. In addition to gaining a good reputation, he can also have a title ratified, a wife, children, children, etc.
Therefore, since the beginning of the war, deputy commander Chen Wangwu has been in charge of the affairs of the entire army. Beijing has never sent a successor commander, but it has not promoted him to commander. The position is still called "acting commander."
Chen Wangwu was very slippery. When the Ming army had just taken Fangcheng and entered the Henan Plain, he knew something was wrong. He first asked people to install explosives and wires under the Yellow River Bridge. He thought that no matter what the battle situation was, he would
If you can't win, you must first be prepared to blow up the bridge. If the battle fails and you are forced to retreat, you can quickly withdraw across the Yellow River, and then blow up the bridge to block the Ming army on the south bank of the Yellow River.
He is different from those uncles in Beijing. He just guards the Yellow River Bridge. He knows that such a big thing cannot be blown up easily. It takes time and is no more troublesome than digging a trench. He has to drive a truck to pull the explosives up in advance.
Then, the engineers were lowered from the bridge using ropes, and a small hole was dug in each concrete pier, and then a small amount of explosives was inserted. Then the people were pulled up to the bridge deck and detonated.
In this way, a hole is blasted in each bridge pier, and a large amount of explosives can be loaded. At this time, the engineers can be put down again, and then the explosive box can be hung up and placed in the appropriate position of the bridge pier, and the entire box of explosives can be stuffed into the hole created by the explosion.
.Then set up the detonator and hold the wire handler
The soldiers pulled up and connected the detonating wires of each bridge pier together, and then everyone could evacuate the bridge. After the last person of the Zhengzhou Corps evacuated to the north of the Yellow River, the engineers on the bridge could retreat while placing the detonating wires, and finally leave
Bridge, retreat to a safe distance and detonate.
In this way, the whole process of bombing the bridge is completed. At least in this way, the bombing can be more thorough and the entire bridge can be blown up. The German-made bridge is strong. Otherwise, if only a short section is blown up in the middle, the Ming army will be destroyed in a short period of time.
Can be repaired.
…
However, after such a long period of time, the Ming army did not launch a large-scale attack in the direction of Zhengzhou, but instead mobilized its forces to annihilate the Qing army on the north side of the Dabie Mountains and the south side of the Huaihe River. His mind became vivid again, and he felt that the main direction of the Ming army's attack should not be on his side.
Before he could do anything, he was anxiously preparing to blow up the bridge. If he asked anyone to report it secretly, he would be charged with "fearing the enemy like a tiger and preparing to abandon the defense."
So, he quietly asked people to remove all the explosives under the bridge, covered them tightly, and transported them back by truck.
Later, the Ming army launched a limited offensive on the left, captured Xuchang, and pushed into the Zhengzhou defensive circle. Chen Wangwu was afraid again, and quickly ordered the engineers to sneak onto the bridge, loaded up the explosives, connected the wires, and was ready to withdraw to the north bank at any time, and then explode
bridge.
But something terrible happened. Someone in the capital spread the news. At the emperor's military meeting again, Long Yan was furious and angrily scolded a staff officer who advocated blowing up the bridge. Chen Wangwu was so frightened that he led his engineers to the bridge in person overnight.
I felt relieved after watching the engineers remove all the explosives and put away all the wires.
Chen Wangwu piled all the explosives in the bridgehead fortifications and did not take them back to the city. He was more thoughtful. Although it is said that the emperor "angrily scolded" someone who wanted to blow up the bridge at the military meeting, it was probably to maintain morale. Now
How long has the war started?
Oh my god, the Ming army was forced to put "blow up the bridge" on the agenda. Then no one on the south bank of the Yellow River was willing to fight properly. They would all think of evacuating to the north bank and blowing up the bridge. Next is
War is peace, that's Beijing's business.
Having said that, if there is another great victory like the Battle of Jianghuai, and the Ming army has another victory, then the Qing army will really consider withdrawing to the north bank and blowing up the bridge. At that time, even if the emperor is reluctant, he will order the bridge to be blown up.
Chen Wangwu especially felt that he was in danger here. His troops were weak and had no air superiority at all. Their numbers, firepower, and mobility were far inferior to that of the Ming army. Once the Ming army planned to take Zhengzhou, it would definitely launch a lightning-fast early morning attack.
He couldn't guarantee that his army would not surrender like Jianghuai did. Maybe the Ming army attacked in the early morning, and the tanks drove into Zhengzhou City at noon. At that time, they would risk bombing and shelling, and then transport explosives to the bridge, but
It's too late.
But on the 23rd today, something terrible happened. The Ming army did not attack on land, but sent planes to bomb. The target was actually the Yellow River Bridge!
In other words, the Ming army did not intend to cross the Yellow River, and they did not intend to let their regiments cross the Yellow River! They planned to block the only way for their northward retreat and annihilate more than 200,000 of their regiments on the south bank of the Yellow River!
It seems that the Ming army is really preparing to attack in Xuzhou. Before the attack, they plan to completely clear the west side first...
Chen Wangwu was frightened, and quickly ordered people to go to the bridge, take out the explosives from the bridgehead, and transport them back to the city. This is no joke. This kind of double-decker railway and highway bridge is very strong, and it may not be able to survive a real bomb.
It was blown off. But the explosives were piled in the basement of the bridgehead, and the foundation of the bridgehead was built on the Yellow River embankment, and the basement sank into the embankment body.
With such a truckload of explosives piled in the basement, if the bridgehead is hit by a bomb and the entire bridgehead explodes, even the embankment may burst, causing the Yellow River to burst... In that case, whether you withdraw to Beijing or surrender to Nanjing,
Cutting off this head a hundred times is not enough.
…
On the 23rd, the Ming Army bombarded the One Day Bridge without even throwing a single bomb on the bridge. It frightened the entire Thirteenth Group Army of the Qing Army into panic. From the acting commander Chen Wangwu to the soldiers below, everyone was worried.
I’m worried, I don’t know what my future will be like. Especially the soldiers below.
What kind of junior officers, everyone is thinking: Can they evacuate to the north bank before the bridge is blown up? Or will they be ordered to hold their position and die in the end? It is still relatively lucky that the acting commander Chen can be like Mr. Hui of the Fangcheng Army.
, order the entire army to surrender? That way, there is no need to shed blood, and you can defect to Nanming...
In the early morning of the 24th, without warning, the second phase of the blitzkrieg began.
The Ming army concentrated 210 dive bombers, 108 level bombers, 3,000 large-caliber artillery pieces, 500 light tanks, 700 armored vehicles, and 100,000 motorized infantry in cars.
Chang's troops were divided into two groups, heading northeast to attack Kaifeng, and heading northwest to attack Luoyang. The two forearms formed a pincer-shaped offensive, sandwiching the largest part of the Thirteenth Group Army: the main force in Zhengzhou. The fierceness of the offensive was unprecedented.