Chapter 203 Strategic Intent 2

The main reason why Zhang Xuewu gave up the outer positions of Nanjing to change to a large area of minelaying is that he needs to concentrate his forces to guard Nanjing Wulong Mountain, Zijin Mountain, Qinhuai River, Yuhuatai, Jiangjun Mountain and other fortresses to make some support, so that the armored forces of his provisional first mechanized division will have the opportunity to continue to implement the key points. In addition, each division in Nanjing has a different artillery group, and there are fire blockade and support from the Yanziji Fort and the 10th Heavy Artillery Regiment, the Zijinshan Artillery, the Yuhuatai Artillery and the two Heavy Artillery Brigades in Jiangbei.

Because of enough manpower, Zhang Xuewu used a large amount of manpower to cooperate with the garrison to demolish and destroy in the city. As long as Zhang Xuewu needed to use it, no matter where it was or what cultural relics and historical sites, he would be demolished for me to raise and widen the embankments along the Qinhuai River and build fire points on the anti-slope. With anti-tank trenches that are six meters wide and six or seven meters deep, these excavated earth and stones are combined with a large number of green bricks and slates, as well as wood to build V-shaped trenches and closed double-closed trenches.

Because the groundwater level in Nanjing is extremely high, water began to seep after digging two meters, so there is not only oozing water in the anti-tank trench, but also a lot of silt. The key is that the Japanese army can't see this anti-tank trench on the other side of the embankment at all. Only when they attack the embankment on the opposite bank will they find it, and on the Qinhuai River. All the bridges were planned to be blown up, and for the location of the pontoon bridge that might be built in Japan, there are artillery groups for secret firepower marking.

Zhang Xuewu's strategy of defending Nanjing actually comes entirely from the historical defense of Stalingrad. It is the Volga River that the Soviet army can continuously transport materials and soldiers in, and the Soviet artillery on the other side of the Volga River is also the top priority to turn the tide, but compared with Stalingrad It is said that there are not many things to compare in the Nanjing Defense War. It can only be said that at the critical moment, it is still necessary for [***] people to block the Japanese with flesh and blood and fight for time with the Great Wall of flesh and blood! At least I need to persevere for two months. At that time, the main force compiled in the rear group will be enveloped, and the Japanese army attacking Nanjing will naturally retreat without a fight.

Moreover, Zhang Xuewu did not think that he could hold on for two months under Nanjing. He said that the army mobilized more than 60 divisions this time. For this reason, all the people of the empire were saving on food and clothing. If there were no materials plundered from North Korea, Taiwan and the Northeast as a guarantee, I'm afraid it was the emperor of Emperor Hirohito. The concubine has to go out for assistance.

I said that I was like a small horse with a big cart. At the beginning, it was rapid and extraordinary, but it lacked endurance. The army basically used pulling the horse as the main means of transportation. There is no need to talk about distance mechanization. Even motorization is far away from Shanxi!

So in terms of strategic power, the Japanese army and the Chinese [***] team are almost equal, so whether it is the Japanese army or the Chinese [***] team, it is very difficult to implement a strategic encirclement of the other party, and it is even more difficult to annihilate the main force of the other party.

On the Yanziji Fort, Zhang Xuewu saw Peng Mengji, the commander of the 10th Artillery Regiment, a very inconspicuous figure, wearing a wet white shirt with almost invisible color, and blood stains on his shoulders?

After inquiry, Zhang Xuewu learned that there was a shore defense cannon removed from the Wusongkou fort in Shanghai, which was about to be installed on the turret of Yanziji's new battery. Zhang Xuewu was shocked when he saw the huge cannon dragged up the side peak of the mountain by ten winches and more than 1,000 people shouting!

The Crepe coastal defense gun made by Krupp in the era of the Second Prussian Empire has a tube of 32 times, a caliber of 280 mm, a total weight of 46 tons in the assembly track, a maximum elevation of 30 degrees, an effective range of 20,000 meters, and an armor-piercing shell weighing 270 kg can penetrate 65 centimeters within 3,000 meters. The thick homogeneous steel plate can fire 1.5 shells per minute at its maximum rate of fire.

This big guy can be called an artifact! The maximum tonnage of the Japanese destroyers entering the main stream of the Yangtze River is not more than 3,000 tons, generally from 1,200 tons to 1,700 tons. The guns are all 150mm guns with double tubes in the front turret, 150mm guns in the rear turret single tubes, and the side port is equipped with 105mm open gun positions or 75mm closed gun positions. The tower is equipped with armor protection.

For such a destroyer, the Crepe coastal defense gun made by Krup is a huge killer, just like hitting a small wooden boat with a catapult. If a thousand tons of Japanese destroyer is like a high-explosive bomb, it is estimated that it will immediately lose most of its combat effectiveness. If it is hit by two or five, the whole ship is estimated to be It was flattened and sank.

The most important thing is that the position of Yanziji is outside the maximum elevation of the naval gun, which means that the military's naval guns cannot hit the Yanziji fort. If it exits the elevation range, it will be within the direct firing range of the fort artillery, and then retreat, it will have its own gun range, so this Kuriby coastal defense gun made by Kryp. The biggest concern is the air defense issue.

Zhang Xuewu was the first to take off his coat and directly joined the team of pulling the rope. A kind of generals beside him were stunned slightly. This 225 garrison commander! Don't think about it before doing anything. Your first lieutenant general garrison commanders go up, and the name here belongs to you. Who still stands?

Is this mother here for inspection? Or are you selling hard work? With the participation of a large group of generals, the officers and soldiers went from shock to excitement and burst out with greater strength than before. More than 40 tons of Krupp's Crepe coastal defense gun, even after the final barrel after dismantling, it was more than 11 tons, but with concerted efforts, it was quickly transported to the top of the mountain to wait for the steel arm in place.

Zhang Xuewu walked cordially among the soldiers and asked how he was eating. Did he get the ten yuan of the installation fee? Zhang Xuewu, some grass-roots officers, asked more questions. For example, do you have any opinion on the position he is holding? Do you have any suggestions for tactical arrangements?

Many grassroots officers saw so many stars appear together for the first time. The generals of one or two stars on the bright yellow collar put a lot of pressure on these young officers, but many people still said their suggestions. Zhang Xuewu immediately ordered everyone to record them all, because Zhang Xuewu always believed Feng, only those who are at the forefront know what is the most real.

A small company commander under the 41st Division saw that Zhang Xuewu was very talkative, so he boldly said, "Sir, I have a 500-meter front of defense, leaking on all sides! At least one battalion should be arranged here in a trapezoidal system, and I think the two levels of companies and battalions should have the power to demand the fire support of the division-level artillery regiment.

Zhang Xuewu asked the name of the bold little company commander, and then asked the adjutant to write it down. As a guiding principle, the front company and battalion are the key to gunfire control, while the brigade and division level are responsible for the deployment of firepower composition and confirmation to avoid fire duplication. Or wasteful.

When inspecting Zijinshan Fortress and Yuhuatai Fortress in the afternoon, Zhang Xuewu also participated in the excavation of fortifications and anti-tank ditches. Both ends of the streets in Nanjing City began to clean up some buildings blocking the shooting boundary and build street forts. No matter whether the people in the city want to evacuate or not, they can demolish whatever they need. A large number of mines were planted under the city walls, and fire passages were set up marked one by one.

In Qinhuai, Confucius Temple, Shuangtang and other places with dense buildings, the buildings will be cleaned up, and the buildings will be strengthened and fixed. The light and low firepower points are well equipped, and the ammunition supply reserves are sufficient. In addition, Zhang Xuewu will set up his headquarters in the Central Bank of the Drum Tower. It can be said that there are many strong buildings in Nanjing. Buildings, these buildings can serve as fixed fire points. If heavy artillery is not suitable for long-term bombardment, these fixed points are difficult to be completely destroyed and broken.

For some fixed points, Zhang Xuewu's most traditional earth-laying defense is to pile up the soil layer to the same height after the wall or building, and then use the solid soil layer to resist the Japanese army's gunfire and direct fire, and build high and low three-layer shooting fire fortifications with wood, using The three-dimensional crossfire dealt a heavy blow to the attacking troops of the Japanese army.

Zhang Xuewu estimated that he only had a week at most, because he gave up the battle for the positions on the periphery of Nanjing. It was not that Zhang Xuewu wanted to give up the battle for the positions on the periphery of Nanjing, but because his troops were really limited. Once the established troops were put into the repeated competition and consumption of the outside line, the situation It will definitely affect the overall defense of Nanjing City, and the troops in the outer battle lack the necessary artillery cover, and their casualties will be very amazing.

After the two main defense lines set up by Zhang Xuewu in Nanjing City, Zhang Xuewu took Wulong Mountain, Qixia Mountain, Zijin Mountain, Yuhuatai and other strategic strongholds as the point, with firepower and multiple positions for defense, and also prepared sufficient reserves and counterattack troops. Zhang Xuewu's intention was very simple. It is to use the so-called gap between the fortresses to lure the Japanese army to attack, and then use heavy artillery fire to divide the front and rear echelons of the enemy, and use the method of short attack in front of the armored forces to consume a large amount of the living strength of the Japanese army. The first thing to destroy is my arrogance.

In Zhang Xuewu's view, it is difficult for the topography of Nanjing to have relatively successful tactics to use. For example, in the Zhongshan Mausoleum area, Chiang Kai-shek repeatedly warned Zhang Xuewu not to hit the idea of Zhongshan Mausoleum. Zhang Xuewu still stripped the wall of the Zhongshan Mausoleum and dug a large number of pits on the mountains. Due to time constraints, Zhang Xue Wu mobilized more than 5,000 coal miners in Gao'an and other places to quickly excavate the tunnel by squeezing and blasting, cooperating with the surface position. In fact, this is a small replica of Shangganling. The main position of the first and second peaks of Zijin Mountain is combined with the tunnel position supported by logs, and the heavy artillery of Shangyanziji and Jiangbei's Heavy artillery group.

(to be continued)