Chapter 9 The River

  Welcoming the morning light, passing through the two colors of the Yangtze River and the sea, the train runs along the southern bank of the Yangtze River, passes by the mouth of the Huangpu River and continues westward.

  The captain of the Jiaolong suddenly shouted: "Please look at the starboard side."

  We gazed out together, a long and large warship came speeding towards us, the thunderous whistle and sharp siren sounded one after another to salute the皦rì number.

  "Ning Hai?"

  "Yes, our navy's latest cruiser, the Ning Hai, built in 1932 at Kure Naval Arsenal. Seeing the officers and men on board saluting the flag of Admiral Shi Zhao, Chen Shaokuan returned the salute."

  "The ship is 96.3 meters long, with a beam of 9.6 meters and a draft of 3.96 meters. The displacement is 2526 tons, the speed is 14 knots, and it is equipped with two 140mm main guns in twin turrets, six 76mm high-angle dual-purpose guns, ten 25mm anti-aircraft guns, and two sets of double 533mm torpedo tubes; it can also carry small seaplanes."

  "This little brother is right."

  Both sides swiftly crossed each other at a speed of nearly 30 knots, the majestic twin 140mm main gun turrets, towering bridge and massive smokestacks on Ning Hai flashed by.

  "Is the navy imitating another ship in Jiangnan Shipyard?"

  "That's right, it's Pinghai, launched this month."

  Jiang Baili suddenly asked: "Younger brother, how about continuing last night's topic?"

  "Please instruct me further, sir."

  "Yesterday I mentioned that after our army attacks Shanghai, the Japanese army will inevitably reinforce Shanghai. The question is where will the Japanese army land?"

  "Of course it's Baoshan and the area west of it."

  "What's wrong?"

  "The Huangpu River estuary fortifications and other facilities were dismantled due to the defeat in 1932, which is one reason; The Huangpu River itself formed a significant obstacle, which is the second reason; The Japanese Navy had an absolute advantage, which is the third reason; Our military not only had a weak navy but also lacked air force and even army to confront the Japanese Navy with heavy artillery, which is the fourth reason; The Japanese concession was located in Hongkou on the west bank of the Huangpu River, which is the fifth reason."

  "Not bad! What's the solution?"

  "Bao Shan is the best landing spot, in terms of military strategy, it's impossible to play tricks anymore?"

  "Since both you and I have figured out that Baoshan is the landing point, if our army deploys a large number of troops to fight before the battle, even if the Japanese army can occupy the beachhead with its naval advantage, it will not be able to expand its gains. The landing war can only end in defeat or stalemate; and then the Japanese army can only land again to open up the situation, threatening our army's flank and rear, forcing our army to retreat."

  "If so, there are too many places to land and we can't cope with them one by one."

  Chen Shaokuan interjected: "The electric torpedo boats of the Fuzhou Shipyard can be used for a single strike."

  "The navy has only three things: 6 submarines, 14 new torpedo boats and mines available."

  "If submarines and torpedo boats are motorized, then our army can only use mines to blockade the Yangtze River."

  "From the mouth of the Huangpu River upwards, the Yangtze River is over 30 miles wide, and its entire surface is sealed off with naval mines. How many are needed?"

  "Excluding the shallow waters on both sides, the Zhongyang is approximately between 12,000 to 15,000 meters in length. With an interval of 200 meters per mine and one layer, about 60-75 mines are needed. If there are 10 layers, then 600-750 mines are required. If the interval is reduced to 150 meters per mine, then 800-1000 mines are needed."

  "Is there anything wrong with production, younger brother?"

  "800 units? The torpedo factory is producing at full speed for 4 months."

  "Alright, let's suggest to the Chairman that we first get the naval measurement and mining preparations in order. Before the war, we'll lay mines along the Yangtze River from Baoshan to Nanjing, with 800 mines laid vertically on the main waterway to the south, another 800 horizontally, plus 200 on the north waterway, which will just use up the 2 million yuan given by the Chairman!"

  "Houfu, aren't you going to spend the night?"

  "Hahaha!"

  The train continued on its way.

  "Minister Chen, actually for the 1800 naval mines, I only prepared to receive 11-12 million yuan from you. However, I suggest that you use the remaining Chairman's naval warfare funds along the river, such as near Jiangyin, Zhenjiang, Nanjing and other nearby river areas; near Jiangyin, it is also possible to sink ships to form a barrier line."

  "As the first line of defense on the Yangtze River is entirely composed of naval mines, the fleet can retreat to the second line of water mine arrays and defend the river together with the fortress."

  "Zhenjiang is the third line of defense, Nanjing is the last line of defense; each line should be prepared and deployed with mines in advance."

  "Where is the Thunderbolt Squadron scheduled to be deployed?"

  "What does my younger brother think?"

  "Chongming Island. Make secret preparations beforehand, and launch a full-scale surprise attack at night during wartime."

  "Good! And the submarine?"

  "4 Type II submarines should be deployed in advance to hide in Hangzhou Bay, ready for Mr. Bai's predicted second wave of landing by the Japanese army. 2 Type III will counterattack the Japanese mainland as mentioned below, Tokyo Bay!"

  "Alright! The Navy is settled then!"

  As night fell, we saw the Jiangyin Fortress in the twilight colors, with its majestic artillery emplacements standing tall along the Yangtze River.

  Minister Chen gazed at the Jiangyin Fortress in the distance and said, "During the Battle of Jiangyin Fortress, the Western powers used leftover cannons that were already considered new; most were still from the late Qing dynasty. With such large cannons, if we were to engage in battle with the Japanese army, we would definitely not be able to hold out. The Jiangyin Fortress is the most important fortress on the Yangtze River and was once the capital. It absolutely cannot be easily taken."

  Chiang Baili said: "In addition to the naval mine blockade on the river, the fleet will be protected behind the minefield and work with the fortress guns to drive away the enemy's minesweepers. Moreover, it is necessary to strengthen the high-altitude anti-aircraft artillery group to prevent the enemy from launching air raids. Otherwise, relying solely on the 8 88mm high-altitude anti-aircraft guns and a small number of light high-altitude anti-aircraft guns will definitely not be able to withstand the continuous air raids by the enemy's aircraft."

  "Didn't the commander say to use the old naval vessels as a barrier by sinking them? The four major warships have more than 40 large-caliber guns above 100mm, and Jiangyin and Zhenjiang can both be deployed with strengthened fortress firepower."

  "What I'm worried about is the battle on land, the Japanese Navy won't advance alone along the river, when they reach the Yangtze River it means our army has already lost in Shanghai and Suzhou! With a defeated army defending the Yangtze River to Wuxi line is extremely difficult, now the construction of the Xuzhou-Changzhou line, the most important national defense project, still lacks investment."

  "I think we can suspend work on other defense lines and concentrate all our efforts on building the Xicheng Line, and then repair the remaining lines after its completion."

  The warship accelerated and sailed past Jiangyin, continuing to advance towards Nanjing. I also fell asleep in the slow habit of sleeping on the ship.

  I was awakened by the sound of the shore at dawn.

  "Is this Xi Xia Mountain? Why are we stopping the boat when we haven't reached Nanjing yet?" I asked, seeing the launch being lowered and looking at the scenic spot from my past life.

  "I won't tie you up, get ashore and follow me to a place. Hou Fu still needs to go to Nanjing to pick up the officials to Shanghai for the launching ceremony of Pinghai."

  Before long, the small boat brought us ashore at Xi Xia Shan, where a sedan chair was waiting to take us south.

  Approaching Tangshan Town, the car turned right and entered the mountainous area. After passing through two checkpoints in a row, I saw a neatly arranged group of cannons.

  "Type 38 field gun?"

  "Right, 6th Field Artillery Battalion of the Army."

  The sedan passed through the artillery camp and continued to climb, a few miles later, a large group of soldiers came into view, waving engineer shovels and other tools to dig various fortifications.

  I got off the sedan and asked: "Are you rehearsing?"

  Jiang Baili smiled silently, leading me to a small hill where camping utensils were already laid out. The hot breakfast was steaming, giving me a familiar feeling. I looked around and suddenly realized: "Is this imitating my construction site in Xizhou?!"

  "Exactly!" Jiang Baili took a look at his watch and replied: "Younger brother, you're absolutely right! Not only did they imitate, but the General Staff also added codes. Moreover, at noon, Lu Da came to inspect, and this afternoon, we'll be subjected to live-fire coverage by all the big guns, including the rì-style field artillery group you saw. Finally, the General Staff, Artillery Inspectorate, Engineer Inspectorate, and others will come to inspect the effectiveness of our fortifications. Now let's have breakfast first, and then, in order to preserve these fortifications, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?"

  "General mobilization drill for attack and defense?"

  "Of course."

  "All guns?"

  "Of course."

  "including German 15 cm sFH 13 howitzers?"

  "Of course."

  "You're really ruthless!"

  "Haha!"

  At the beginning of the war, I vowed not to use the lives and blood of hundreds of thousands of soldiers to learn how to defend ourselves. I hastily finished my sumptuous breakfast and entered into substantive construction command with the arriving engineering troops officers. The trenches continued to deepen, the artillery caves were completed one after another, and various gun emplacements took shape. After struggling until nearly noon, looking at the gradually complete array of positions, I was about to go find Chiang Baili when another group of soldiers arrived, shining brightly!

  "Let me introduce him, this is General Yang Jie, the Education Commissioner of the Army University."

  "Mr. Geng Guang." I bowed and paid respects.

  "As expected, you're young and promising!"

  "I don't dare, you and General Baili are both renowned scholars in the Central Plains, it's my good fortune to have both of your evaluations."

  "Come on, everyone! Let's go take a look at Zi'an's new-style stronghold!"

  The first line is a flat trench as an advance position, all the excavated soil is removed, not a single thread or hair is exposed above the ground. The wavy trenches have 100 individual anti-artillery caves dug on the "enemy" side according to plan, with more than one meter of soil covering the top; there are inclined planes for light machine guns and rifle shooting positions on the trench, which helps to cover machine gunners and riflemen.

  The second line is the main position on the hillside, also a wavy trench. Unlike the flat ground, a large amount of soil was dug in front of the trench, forming a vertical surface 150-200 cm high. The excavated soil was then covered and compacted on top of the enemy-facing side of the trench; rifle and light machine gun positions also had beveled surfaces and raised compacted earth on both sides for cover. Heavy machine gun positions were all deeply dug, with multiple layers of wooden frames on top, covered with nearly a meter of compacted soil. The direction of the "enemy" in the trenches was also heavily fortified with anti-artillery caves, different from the first line, there were multi-person anti-artillery caves, convenient for heavy machine gun teams and light artillery teams to take cover as a whole.

  The third line is the reserve position, set up on the ridge of a small hill, with the same structure as the second line trench, but without heavy machine gun earthwork shelters, and has hidden artillery observation post shelters.

  There were several diagonal communication trenches between each of the three lines of trenches.

  On the reverse slope of the hill various mortar emplacements and firing positions were ready, but the sappers were still digging.

  "What else are they digging?"

  "If time permits, in addition to the artillery emplacements and leveling of firing positions, communication lines should also be deeply buried; there are also shelters for reserve troops."

  "How much more time is needed?"

  "If it's just for testing the work effect, only half an hour is needed."

  "Alright, let's continue." Yang Jie turned around and said: "Ludan's instructors and students, everyone disperse and carefully examine the various fortifications. After the artillery fire is finished, we will make a comparison. Take notes, analyze, and we will discuss next week."