Volume 2: Famous all over the world Chapter 24: Fierce Battle
On the afternoon of November 1st, with the arrival of Wang Yujia's troops and Yuan Shikai personally stationed at Wusheng Pass to supervise the battle, the Weidian front was completely opened.
Amidst the explosions and smoke, one mountain field gun after another was quickly pushed into the position. The Second Artillery Battalion, which had rushed from Hankou, finally arrived at the most critical moment. The arrival of 18 75-gun Krupp field guns greatly enhanced the defense of Weidian Town.
When the cannons were pushed into the positions that had been dug long ago, hired laborers came in a long stream from the banks of the Huanshui River carrying shells. Boxes of shells were opened, fuses were installed, and then the first round of salvos was fired at a rapid speed.
Cai Demou and Jiang Tai are schoolmates. They went to Japan together to study artillery. After returning, he went to the Second Battalion. Before the uprising, he was the team officer of the right flag of the Second Battalion. After the two armies merged, Jiang Tai immediately recommended him to lead the elite Second Artillery Battalion, and he did not disappoint the recommendation. Not only did he lead everyone in hard training for several days, but after receiving the order this time, he set out overnight to arrive here to cooperate with the infantry to defend the position.
"Standard 3500! Left deviation 3 degrees... Fire!"
Amid Cai Demou's shouts, the Second Artillery Battalion, which had determined the coordinates, began to fire at full speed. The same recoil artillery as the Beiyang's kept roaring, creating a wall of fire 3,500 meters in front of Weidian Town.
This time, they brought all new-style shells made in Hanyang and filled with German yellow explosives. The power of the shells after landing was much greater than that of black powder. Balls of flames rose from the Beiyang soldiers, and metal fragments swept across like a hurricane, constantly harvesting lives. The arrival of the Second Artillery Battalion made the Weidian front line breathe a sigh of relief. The Third Artillery Battalion, which was stationed here before, was also aroused to see their partners so fierce. 10 five-in-one seven-guns and 6 captured seven-in-one five-guns also aimed at Beiyang and fired fiercely. In just five minutes, the two artillery battalions poured 300 shells to the front line, making Beiyang, which believed that its infantry and artillery combination was the best in the country, taste the pain of their enemies for the first time.
"Fuck his grandma!"
"Cannons! Blow up those barricades on the road! Cavalry, get ready!"
Wang Yujia and Li Chun on the opposite side were shocked to see that Weidian Town actually had such strong firepower hidden, but this time, General Feng had already issued a death order that Weidian Town must be captured within two days. Moreover, Gong Bao had already arrived at Wusheng Pass to personally supervise the battle. Now that there was no strong pass blocking them, they had an advantage in weapons and soldiers. If they failed to capture it, they might not be able to keep their official hats, so they gritted their teeth and took out their precious cavalry.
The key to a cavalry assault is to ensure that there are no obstacles ahead. Due to the lack of barbed wire, Yang Qiu asked the Second Division to prepare a lot of simple stakes and pile them in front of the position. These things became the biggest obstacle in the eyes of the cavalry. So the two Beiyang artillery battalions that received the order immediately gave up bombarding the position and directed all their firepower to the stakes and obstacles that were scattered hundreds of meters in front of the position.
The positions that had been bombarded repeatedly were already covered with a layer of loose soil, and dead bodies and body parts were everywhere. Chu Nan and his comrades were suffering and were about to give up, but he didn't expect that the Beiyang artillery would stop firing. When he shook off the dust on his head and quietly got up, he saw that the barricades and obstacles were blown to pieces. He immediately understood what the Beiyang was going to do, and he was so scared that he shouted, "Everyone, get up! Get ready... The rifle range is 300 meters, the enemy cavalry is coming!"
"You little bastard! Go inform the machine gun bunker that I need support here, otherwise I won't be able to stop the cavalry..."
Thousands of soldiers from the two battalions in the position immediately climbed to the edge of the trench and adjusted the rifle sights to a distance of 300 meters as ordered. The bolts clicked and bullets were pushed into the barrels one by one. All eyes were focused on the small sight on the muzzle.
After a while, the Beiyang artillery shells began to spread to the two wings for tactical shielding, and a black thin line appeared under the central horizon. The thin line was getting faster and faster, accompanied by shouts and rumbling hooves. Yang Qiu in the bunker behind also saw this scene, and his brows were locked. It was the first time he saw such a cavalry charge. He knew that it was difficult to stop the cavalry with only the barbed wire because of the lack of barbed wire, even with machine guns. After all, many positions in World War II could not withstand the impact of cavalry, so he immediately told He Xi to prepare to dispatch the Second Division's death squad, and also asked the guard company machine gunners to help prevent the cavalry from breaking through the defense line continuously.
This time Wang Yujia was determined. He pulled out all four cavalry battalions of him and Li Chun in one breath, and arranged two infantry battalions behind them. At the same time, he sent out five machine gun teams from both sides, preparing to suppress the machine gun bunkers built with thick sandbags and logs on the Weidian defense line.
Inside the machine gun bunker, boxes of bullets were all opened, canvas belts were connected continuously, and when the cavalry gradually became clear, the terrible Maxim heavy machine gun finally fired the first round of bullets. Dadada... the terrible sound of popping beans rang out from both sides of the position. Compared with the Beiyang machine gun team on the opposite side, although the training was insufficient, the tactical application was better, because all the machine gunners had personally listened to Yang Qiu's explanation of machine gun tactics, so when using it, they would not line up in the middle and sweep all the way like the Beiyang, but were all deployed on both wings, and then fired obliquely to cover.
When the two oblique fires finally converged in the center of the battlefield, a terrible storm of bullets formed. Dozens of Beiyang cavalrymen who were charging in front of them were pierced by 79mm bullets before they even had time to shout. One horse after another fell down. Bullets poured out from the small firing holes in the two machine gun bunkers like a summer rainstorm. The loaders fed box after box of bullets. Seeing that the cavalry were constantly being ravaged by the machine guns, the Beiyang machine gun team finally made a detour and aimed their guns at the machine gun bunkers.
In an instant, the thick sandbags on the two machine gun bunkers were broken, and bullets even penetrated from the firing holes and observation holes. Blood and flesh flew everywhere in the bunker, and people kept falling down. In order to protect themselves, the machine gunners had to aim their guns at the Beiyang machine gun team, trying to use the advantage of their thick flesh to get rid of the terrible machine guns first.
The shells were still falling, but compared with machine guns, the damage they caused to the cavalry was much less. After a while, these Beiyang cavalry reached 300 meters. When they raised their Charliman lances one after another, Chu Nan immediately waved his arms.
The crisp sound of gunfire formed a dense line. Although not as dense as that of machine guns, many cavalrymen were still hit and fell off their horses.
"Ruler...200 meters!"
“150 meters!”
"100 metres……"
Even though they could not compare with the elite Cossack cavalry, the well-trained Beiyang cavalry was still very fast. Although Chu Nan kept reminding the soldiers of the distance and asked them to pay attention to the changes in the scale, many people still did not have time to change the scale on the bolt. As the distance got closer, the hit rate dropped a lot.
"careful……"
As Chu Nan shouted for the last time, a Beiyang cavalryman had already passed over his head with a sharp saber. In an emergency, he suddenly used the butt of his rifle to block the saber's swing. But there were not many people who could react as quickly as him, especially many new recruits had their necks chopped off by the cavalrymen who rushed into the position before they were ready.
"Squad leader! "
When several soldiers saw that their squad leader's neck was cut, they forgot the difference between bayonets and sabers, and rushed out of the trenches with red eyes and stabbed with their rifles. At the same time that several bayonets stabbed a cavalryman at the same time, the cavalrymen next to them had already passed by them, and the sharp tips of the swords immediately cut their bodies.
As the cavalry continued to pass over the trenches, two infantry battalions following closely behind also arrived, taking advantage of the chaos to rush towards the position.
This scene deeply stimulated everyone's eyes. Huang Keqiang and Song Jiaoren who had just arrived could not help shaking. Miao Yuan who thought she was an expert in Kung Fu realized for the first time that war and fighting in the underworld were two completely different things. As for Miao Luo...all she could see was the figure standing in the artillery bunker, seemingly oblivious to the bloody scene in front of him.
"The reserve teams of each battalion enter the positions! Wave the flags and tell Chu Nan and the others to lie down in the positions and not to look up! The number three, four and six machine gun bunkers on the second line of defense open fire at full speed... ...Suicide Squad! Charge." As He Xi gave the order in a hurry, the three machine gun bunkers on the flanks and rear quickly opened fire, forming a second line of dense bullet rain defense. At this time, Jin Zhaolong also led the suicide squad to meet the cavalry with terrible impact force.
The suicide squad nowadays is not the unit in the parallel world who would rush into the enemy with explosives and fight to the death. After transporting a large number of grenades, Yang Qiu immediately armed the suicide squad into a special grenadiers team. Each person was equipped with four long-handled grenades. When they saw the cavalry coming, they immediately dispersed and lay down together, then pulled out the grenades and threw them wildly in all directions. Anyway, according to Yang Qiu, the word "explosion" is all there is!
This group of desperate "grenadiers" used the full power of grenades. Wherever there were horses, there would definitely be one or even several grenades flying. After the rumbling explosions, these cavalrymen who broke through the first line had no time to be happy before they were baptized by countless fragments. The horses were either directly hit by the explosion or ran around in pain because of the fragments. Immediately afterwards, the light machine gunners on the second line of defense began to fire in bursts. Since the death squad was ordered to lie on the ground and throw grenades, Chu Nan and others in the front also lay down and squatted in the trenches, so the machine guns could safely and boldly fire continuously. Even though there was no Maxim's power, the more than a dozen Madsens deployed by the Second Division here and the machine guns of the guard company opened fire together, forming a bullet barrier, which completely disintegrated the remaining momentum of the cavalry's impact. With heavy losses, the Beiyang cavalry finally stopped at the second line of defense.
While the cavalry was retreating first, two Beiyang infantry battalions took the opportunity to rush to Chu Nan's position. In an instant, the soldiers were strangled again, blood and flesh splattered, and bayonets flashed. In order to stabilize the position as soon as possible, Zhang Tingfu even led a regiment of the Third Brigade and the reserve troops of each battalion to charge forward.
Seeing that the small bomb that appeared in Wusheng Pass some time ago reappeared and blew their cavalry into pieces, and there were a large number of light machine guns to support the second line of defense behind them, Wang Yujia and Li Chun were so angry that they slammed the stone pillar in front of them. In addition, the opponent's reserve troops were also on the move. Not wanting to lose two more infantry battalions in vain, they had to order a retreat.
The soldiers on the front line finally breathed a sigh of relief after the cavalry retreated quickly. But before everyone could clean up the battlefield, shells that seemed to have eyes began to fall.
Yang Qiu had just walked up to Huang Keqiang and Song Jiaoren and hadn't said anything when he heard a violent explosion behind him, which made him shake his head and smile bitterly. This time, Mr. Feng was really driven crazy by himself. It was obvious that he was ready to take over Weidian Town by force regardless of casualties.
