"Brother Zhang, I'm waiting for you to be ready to wear it, I count it every day, and now I'm finally looking forward to you!" Cao Kun was very enthusiastic about Zhang Xun's arrival.

You must know that Zhang Xun came to Zhenjiang this time, but he brought two infantry regiments and the main force of the artillery regiment, in addition to the one left on the north bank of the Yangtze River, Zhang Xun's eighth division was transferred by Feng Guozhang to stay in Nanjing. However, these two regiments of infantry and an artillery regiment were able to greatly relieve the pressure on Cao Kun's third division.

Zhang Xun was also smiling and polite: "Brother Cao, you are tired, brother and I are also working all night, thinking about helping Brother Cao earlier!" ”

Although Zhang Xun doesn't have much interest in Feng Guozhang, he doesn't have a good impression of Cao Kun, but he can't talk about dislike it. Zhang Xun he was not a descendant general of the Beiyang system, after Xinhai, Yuan Shikai just saw that the Jiang Defense Army he brought could fight, and the pressure on Jiangsu's side was too great, so he was given the number of the Eighth Division, and the new army of Jiangsu's Jiangbei battalion was merged into the Eighth Division, to put it bluntly, it was a miscellaneous army, although the usual military salary Lao Yuan also gave, but more relied on Zhang Xun himself to loot, and even the weapons and equipment were obtained by himself running up and down, compared with Cao Kun's third division, the treatment gap is not ordinarily large.

It is precisely because it is a miscellaneous card that many generals in the Beiyang system look down on him, and he Zhang Xun doesn't care, you look down on me, I still look down on you, isn't it just because the old man is favored, Lao Tzu can still pull out an eighth division without his help.

So Zhang Xun doesn't have any feelings for Cao Kun, he can't say that he doesn't dislike it, but he doesn't have a good impression either, well, it's an ordinary relationship.

After the two exchanged politeness, Zhang Xun said: "How is the fight during this time, I see that there are a lot more national troops on the other side than some time ago!" ”

Speaking of this, Cao Kun became depressed again: "Who said no, we are reinforcements, but the national army over there also has reinforcements, a large number of military columns have arrived every day in the past few days, and a large number of recruits have been replenished, and the first division of the national army that was disabled by me before recovered in a few days!" ”

Zhang Xun was puzzled: "Recruit? Even if there are more people, it shouldn't be useful! ”

Cao Kun shook his head and said: "The National Army is different from us, we all recruit recruits by ourselves and train them ourselves, and this recruit is not used at all for two or three months after he arrives in the army, but the recruits replenished by their National Army are all trained in advance!" ”

Zhang Xun really didn't know about this: "This national army is very strange!" ”

"Who says it's not, the recruitment and training of recruits over there is carried out by their staff department, and they will be concentrated in the recruit camp for training for three months before they are replenished to the troops, which is much more convenient than us!" Cao Kun sometimes envied Li Jimin and Shen Gang on the other side, because the two of them didn't have to worry about running out of troops, and they were constantly sending trained recruits to the back of the fight, and as for themselves, hundreds of casualties had to be distressed for a while, and it was impossible to replenish them in a short time. Therefore, Cao Kun's third division is fighting less and less, and after fighting in the past half a month and launching several large-scale offensives, Cao Kun's third division has suffered at least nearly 2,000 casualties.

However, Zhang Xun was thinking: This method is so good, I just don't know how Chen Jingyun controls the troops, don't the generals under him think about recruiting troops and cultivating their own lineage. However, if this method is changed to the Beiyang side, it will definitely not work, if Yuan Shikai can train tens of thousands of recruits, he will definitely directly set up new troops instead of directly supplementing the divisions below, and now the Beiyang Army, whether it is Cao Kun's third division or Zhang Xun's eighth division, recruits its own soldiers and trains it itself.

"But now that Brother Zhang is here, this matter is much easier, if you and I work together, we will launch a large-scale offensive together, and take it down directly in one go!" Cao Kun also makes sense to say this, so it is better to directly take Zhenjiang after suffering some casualties in one go.

Zhang Xun also nodded and said: "That's the truth, I'll go back and prepare later, and in the past two days, we will directly take Zhenjiang in one go." ”

Cao Kun said: "Okay, by the way, let your artillery regiment be careful and hidden, and don't fire easily until it is critical!" ”

Zhang Xun looked puzzled: "How do you say this?" ”

"You know the planes of the National Army!" Cao Kun said: "You have to guard against their planes!" ”

Zhang Xun did not have much intuitive feeling about the Nationalist planes, and although his own crossing of the river was discovered by the Nationalist planes and led to failure, he believed that the biggest obstacle was Sa Zhenbing's naval fleet, not the toy-like planes.

Cao Kun continued: "Their planes have been spinning over our heads every day lately, and they know as soon as our artillery fires, and then it won't be long before the shelling of the Nationalist Army or Navy comes, for which we have lost seven or eight guns!" ”

Zhang Xun also thought thoughtfully: "This is a bit troublesome, if the artillery restrictions are too great, without artillery support, we have to forcibly attack the opponent's position, I am afraid that we will suffer a lot of casualties." ”

"There's no way around it, so I'll have to act when the time comes!" Cao Kun said that, but he heard a dull explosion.

Cao Kun's headquarters was not far from the front line, and he could often hear the explosion of the Nationalist artillery shelling the positions of the Beiyang Army.

Cao Kun, who has been in the military for many years, is extremely familiar with the explosions of artillery of various calibers, especially the 75-mm field artillery and mountain artillery, which are smaller 57-millimeter and 60-millimeter rapid-fire mountain guns. After so many days of fighting with the Nationalist Army, he also had some understanding of the short-barreled small artillery equipped in the Nationalist Army, and Cao Kun's Third Division also captured several Mortars of the Nationalist Army some time ago.

In addition, he is also very familiar with all kinds of large-caliber naval guns on the navy, and after being shelled by the navy for so many days in Zhenjiang, he has a very deep memory of the navy's large-caliber guns, especially the eight-inch guns on the Haiqi are even more powerful.

However, the explosion he heard today was anything he had heard before, judging from the sound of the explosion, it was not a small and medium-caliber artillery of 75 millimeters or less, nor a large-caliber cannon of the navy.

In his doubts, he hurriedly came out of the headquarters, and then climbed a small high platform and took out his binoculars to look at the explosions that kept coming from the positions of his troops not far away, and after a while, he put down the binoculars with a gloomy face.

At this time, Zhang Xun on the side also said with a suspicious face: "Judging from the ballistics and explosive power, it should be a 100 mm or 100 and 5 mm howitzer!" ”

"When did the National Army become equipped with so many four-inch howitzers?" Zhang Xun was very puzzled, judging from the information obtained from various channels at present, the artillery equipped by the Nationalist Army on the opposite side should be 75 mm field artillery and mountain artillery, and then there are those small cannons, why did so many large-caliber artillery pieces suddenly appear?

Zhang Xun was puzzled, and Cao Kun didn't know, but he could guess it after thinking about it a little: "It should be the reading howitzer regiment of the National Army that has arrived in Zhenjiang, and I heard earlier that the National Army has an artillery regiment equipped with large-caliber howitzers, but I haven't seen it before, and now it seems that it should be true!" ”

Zhang Xun's face was gloomy and he counted his voice carefully, and said after a while: "There are at least twenty or more one hundred and five mm howitzers!" ”

"I'm afraid it's harder to fight!" Cao Kun sighed, originally because of the reconnaissance of the Nationalist Army's aircraft, the artillery of the Beiyang Army could not be used, and the Beiyang Army has always been at a disadvantage in the artillery bombardment of both sides, and now the Nationalist Army has transferred a large-caliber howitzer regiment, which has widened the gap in artillery.

"Alas, no, listen!" At this time, Zhang Xun pointed to a puff of smoke and dust in the distance and said: "Such an explosion is definitely not the effect that a four-inch cannon can cause, at least it is also the effect of a five-inch cannon!" ”

Cao Kun's face became a little pale after observing for a while: "It's indeed a five-inch cannon, damn it, when did the National Army have this five-inch caliber howitzer shell!" ”

The previous four-inch howitzer was still within his estimate, although he was a little surprised, but he was not very surprised, but it didn't take long to see the national army using five-inch caliber artillery to shell, which made Cao Kun a little unacceptable.

"What the hell is the money that the national army has gotten, even if it is equipped with a four-inch gun, it is also equipped with a five-inch gun!" Zhang Xun looked at the smoke and dust of the explosion that continued to come from the distance, and his face was full of worry like Cao Kun.

This battle seems to be not easy.

When Cao Kun and Zhang Xun were in a bad mood and worried about the war, Shen Gang and a group of senior generals such as Li Jimin in Zhenjiang watched the shelling effect of the Reading Howitzer Regiment.

"Okay, that's how it should be, as long as we give full play to the advantages of artillery, then it will be much easier to hold!" Shen Gang looked at such a fierce shelling, and his smile gradually widened.

"This one hundred and five howitzers work well, but I think a heavy mortar of one hundred and twenty mm is even better!" Li Jimin can be said to be quite drooling over the 120-mm heavy mortars that are carrying out continuous shelling.

Although the range of this thing is not far, the weight is not light, and the accuracy is terrible, but it is powerful enough, not to mention the 80 mortars and 75 guns equipped with each division of the 120 mm caliber charge, and even the 105 howitzers are far inferior. It can be said that in terms of power alone, it is currently the most powerful artillery of the National Army.