Rise From Eight Hundred Chapter 224

Chapter 224 Songjiang First Battle

The Huangpu River in the early morning.

This is the most important water system in the south of the Yangtze River.

The prosperity of the past will no longer be seen.

The fishing boats and cargo ships that once came and went frequently have long since disappeared.

On the wide river surface, there are only slowly rising mist and undercurrents blocked by white mist.

Three black shadows appeared in the fog.

From far to near, you can see that it is no ordinary ship. The high muzzle on the bow proves their identity, warship!

A warship flying the sun flag.

Or to be more precise, it was a gunboat rather than a warship.

Three gunboats belonging to the 11th Squadron of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet.

However, don't think that gunboats are just scumbag boats. The reason why the Japanese Navy is equipped with more than a dozen gunboats even though it has aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers, destroyers, minelayers and other large ships is because it takes into account the inland rivers in China. combat needs.

Because of the shallow draft in China's inland rivers, the freeboard of these gunboats is very low, so they are commonly known as "clog boats". Therefore, the Japanese Navy's inland river gunboat fleet is also named the "clog fleet". Its hull structure is large, its endurance is long, and Because there are many places in China's inland rivers with fast currents, the engine power is large enough to maintain a high speed of more than 10 knots even when the flow is countercurrent.

These three Tobclass gunboats, which came from the intersection of the Huangpu River and the Yangtze River, are the best among the inland river gunboats equipped by the Japanese Navy.

The design blueprint of the Tobclass gunboat is basically copied from similar ships of the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, but the Japanese have developed it and made it have a larger size and a more powerful engine set.

The ship has a total length of 54.86 meters, a width of 8.23 meters, a normal displacement of 250 tons, and a draft of 0.79 meters.

The power system is two ship-based coal-fired boilers pushing two reciprocating engines for three-shaft drive, with an output of 1,400 horsepower and a top speed of 15 knots.

The weapon system is configured with an 80mm 28-caliber artillery and six 6.5mm machine guns, with a crew of more than 60 people. The commander on the ship is also a major officer.

Such a gunboat can maneuver at will in the center of the river and strike with artillery fire at enemies within 3,000 meters on both sides of the river. Throughout the Great Patriotic War, this kind of gunboat has been the main force of Japanese ships controlling large inland rivers such as the Yangtze River in China.

Even in the future, after the Japanese army was forced to surrender, these gunboats abandoned by the Japanese army continued to be in service with the Chinese army until the end of the war for more than ten years.

Such a big guy, not to mention three ships, even one is intimidating.

Otherwise, Yanagawa Heisuke would have knelt down when he knew that he was about to kneel down, and the navy would have sent out three "small" gunboats, and they would not have been able to hang banners with the words "Navy Horse Land" all over the world!

The Japanese Navy Vice Admiral was actually very considerate. The reason why he did not send out a thousand-ton destroyer was mainly because he was not familiar with the waterways of the Huangpu River. After all, if a fully loaded destroyer with a draft of three and a few meters ran aground, it would be difficult to rescue him. A troublesome thing.

It's just that the Japanese army underestimated the Chinese, just as the Chinese did not expect the Japanese to be so stingy.

Three 'big guys' gradually emerged from the mist. Tang Dao, who was hiding in a woods 300 meters away from the river, was also slightly stunned.

This is quite different from what he imagined, that the Japanese army should send a fleet at least led by light destroyers!

Three small gunboats, wasn't it in vain that he spent most of the night persuading two lieutenant generals, and leading six cavalry companies and an artillery battalion to find an ambush site?

In order to impress the Japanese, Tang Dao persuaded Lieutenant General Wu to allow him to bring four 37mm rapid-fire cannons, ten 150mm large-caliber mortars, and six Oerlikon 20mm single-barreled machine guns. .

Furthermore, he decided to personally serve as the commander of the "Big Stick" plan.

The two lieutenant generals probably also wanted to see how the world-famous Si Xing Battalion Commander was conducting in the field, and there was not even a symbolic obstruction, so they agreed.

This is how it is in the army. You can tell whether it is a mule or a horse by pulling it out. No matter how sharp your words are, you can only do it if you have work under your hands. In the Battle of the Four Elements, with an excellent geographical location and a brave enough heart, tactics actually took a back seat.

Of course, Lieutenant General Wu has no intention of testing Tang Dao. Isn't this a military training moment?

He hoped to give the Japanese army a show of strength first as Tang Dao said, and directly gave Tang Dao the highest command authority. Six cavalry companies and a deployed mixed artillery battalion all had to obey his orders.

The result, that's it?

“What a fool, why is Yanagawa Heisuke so arrogant at all? Are you just fooling people with this scrap of metal?” Tang Dao frowned and muttered to himself.

He remembered that in the past, the Japanese proudly dispatched two light destroyers and five or six gunboats. Otherwise, the theater headquarters, which received a request from the 67th Army to bomb enemy ships, would not have requested the Air Force, which suffered heavy losses, to come to assist. .

The 127mm main guns on the bows of the two Fubuki-class destroyers were really terrifying. With one shot, a house and the people inside were turned into powder. The 67th Army, which went into a defensive battle without any preparation, could not stand by and watch. Thirty thousand people were consumed in the artillery battle, and two infantry brigades were forced to go into the field to fight with the Japanese army. As a result, two major general brigade commanders were killed on the spot, and the two infantry brigades lost more than two-thirds. Why did Mao come with three small gunboats now? What made Tang Dao temporarily depressed was not that he failed to catch the so-called big fish, but that the current battlefield situation seemed to be deviating from the original historical trajectory.

Tang Dao was talking to himself depressedly, but the two majors beside him, who were also observing the river with telescopes, made each other look at him in confusion at his words.

This man just proposed to use cavalry and artillery to attack the Japanese naval ambush on the river bank. There is always no shortage of brave men in the army.

But where does this scrap of copper and iron come from? Didn't you see it was a gunboat? The high-rise 80mm cannon is much more powerful than the 75mm mountain cannon. The more than 50-meter-long hull is covered with steel plates. Our mortars and machine guns don't talk about whether they can hit others accurately, they just hit them. Going up, how effective it will be depends on the actual combat effect.

The 67th Army had fought a battle with the Japanese in North China, but that was on land. It was the first time that they used cannons to hit warships that were running extremely fast in the middle of the river like they were doing now.

The cavalry major and artillery major who accompanied Tang Dao to observe the battlefield looked at the three gunboats cruising in the river with great power, and they didn't feel confident at all.

In the end, Tang Dao was good, and he directly disliked the warships sent by the Japanese for not being strong enough.

If the military chief of staff hadn't specially introduced Tang Dao to several of their school officers before coming here, they would have felt that Tang Dao was a rookie.

But no matter what they think, and no matter whether the three Japanese gunboats are powerful enough, the "big stick" that Tang Dao has prepared for a long time has already been raised high, and there is no reason to put it down again.

"Ten minutes later, all the artillery in the artillery battalion attacked the Japanese ships according to the previously formulated battle plan; in the cavalry battalion, except for one cavalry company left to guard the eight-kilometer perimeter, the remaining five cavalry companies were arranged according to the previous arrangements. Is there any problem with establishing a blocking position at the selected location to prevent the Japanese infantry from landing?" Tang Dao ordered as he watched the Japanese gunboat formation becoming slower and slower, seemingly looking for a landing site.

“No problem!” the artillery major nodded and accepted the order.

The main attackers were the artillery. Naturally, their position was the first to be selected, located behind the hills. According to Deputy Director Tang, it was a natural anti-slope fortification.

The artillery major didn't quite understand what anti-slope fortification was, but he knew that no matter how powerful the Japanese naval guns were, it was really not easy to hit behind the hills, unless they could turn the cannons into mortars and attack them behind the hills. Shells were falling from the sky.

“That's okay for me, that's right.” The cavalry major hesitated slightly.

"If you have any questions, just ask, Commander Gong, you have wasted thirty seconds." Tang Dao frowned.

Further implementation will undoubtedly reduce efficiency. As a commander, he must curb this momentum.

“That's it, Commander Tang, do you have a specific time to stop the enemy? Otherwise, when the Japanese fighter planes come, no one here will be able to leave.”

The battalion commander, the cavalry major, was obviously a little suffocated. He simply called Tang Dao Si Xing Battalion's official position, which meant that they were all battalion commanders, so you don't have to be so condescending.

"Japanese plane?" Tang Dao didn't seem to hear the major cavalry battalion commander's careful thoughts. He looked at the mist still rising in the river and said with a faint smile. "I'm sure they won't come for at least an hour and a half. However, since Battalion Commander Gong is worried, I will give you time. Within an hour, regardless of the outcome of the battle, we will pack up and leave."

"yes!"

Although I don't understand how Tang Dao calculated the one and a half hour time, since Tang Dao gave him a time limit, it at least gave him face as the commander of the cavalry battalion of the special agent regiment directly under the 67th Army Military Headquarters.

The cavalry major stopped competing.

Tang Dao is certainly not just making random time calculations.

The Japanese Navy's aircraft carrier is still on the sea 90 kilometers away from Songjiang. When it receives a request for help, it will fly here. At the speed of a propeller fighter, it will take 15 minutes to fly.

Furthermore, why are the Japanese gunboats so shameless? As soon as the war started, he requested reinforcements from his own fleet headquarters. He didn't want his face to be swollen when he returned! It would probably take at least half an hour for them to call for help after their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen.

Of course, more importantly, it is now seven o'clock in the morning. There is heavy fog on the river and the sky is extremely gloomy. Is it possible that the sea is calm and the sky is clear? When Japan's Hainan Airlines had all-weather pilots!

Tang Dao remembered that during the Jinshanwei Landing Battle and the later stage of the Songjiang Battle, Japanese navy fighter planes arrived at around 10 o'clock to participate in the battle. This already showed that the weather in the early mornings these days was not suitable for aircraft to take off.

As for the Army Airlines, haha, let's not mention that their airport is further away. Based on the coordination ability of the Japanese army, navy and army, once they coordinate and communicate well, they will probably have lunch!

“Boom!” A 37mm rapid-fire cannon hidden in the hilly woods fired.

The first battle of the Songjiang Defense War officially started.

But it's not in Songjiang City, but on the banks of the Huangpu River.

(End of this chapter)

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