readx; However, Feng Guozhang's order was late, although the position of the heavy artillery regiment was several kilometers away from the front line, but for the bomber group in the sky, this distance was no different from a few hundred meters, and as soon as it crossed the position of the two armies on the front line of Taishan Town, the bomber group began to reduce its altitude, and then went straight to the position of the heavy artillery regiment. For this bombing operation www.biquge.info the aviation unit has been preparing for many days, found the position of the enemy's heavy artillery regiment, and has been using reconnaissance planes to keep reconnoitring the target.

At this time, Li Chunyang could already see the heavy artillery position of the Beiyang Army below, dozens of large-caliber artillery pieces were lined up, and they were shelling one after another at this time.

With his fuselage swaying slightly, the bombers in the bomber group split into three groups, and then swooped straight towards the enemy's heavy artillery position. At the same time, the accompanying fighters had already entered the battle one step ahead, and sixteen fighters began to strafe the ground with their airborne machine guns, killing and wounding the enemy's artillery personnel, disrupting the enemy's formation, and preventing the enemy from organizing air defense. Most of the air defense companies composed of light machine guns urgently purchased by the Beiyang Army were deployed to the front-line positions, and they had to be used as ordinary machine guns in peacetime, and only a few light machine guns were allocated in this heavy artillery unit to prevent accidents. However, in the face of the suppression of more than ten fighters and the suppression of the airborne machine guns, and the Beiyang Army of this heavy artillery unit has not experienced air raids and bombing at all, the battalion will be bombed immediately after this bombing, and there can still be prevented from fighting air defense.

In the machine gun fire of the fighters, the bomber group was divided into three teams, Li Chunyang personally led a team to break through from the front, in order to achieve a better bomb delivery effect, plus the visual inspection of the enemy forces on the ground did not have a large scale of anti-aircraft firepower, Li Chunyang took the risk to take the group to further reduce the altitude, as the group of aircraft became lower and lower, the next step, many aerial bombs fell from their fuselage, including 25 kilograms of aerial bombs, but also included the latest research and development of the Fuzhou Arsenal 50 kilograms of aerial bombs.

If these aerial bombs have a large charge, the surface killing and explosion power of soft targets are much greater than those of ground artillery shells, and the explosion range of a 50-kilogram aerial bomb can reach tens of meters, and a aerial bomb falls in front of one of the enemy's artillery pieces, maybe those heavy guns are fine, but the members of the shells must have been hung up.

In the face of heavy artillery positions without anti-aircraft firepower, Li Chunyang's bomber group was completely able to let go of its hands, fly low, aim and then throw, and bomb slowly without hurrying, and this hit rate was incomparable with those conventional bombardments in the future.

More than 20 bombers continue to circle and drop bombs, the bomb delivery speed is not fast, but the hit rate is extremely high, and after these bombers have finished throwing the bombs, the position of the Beiyang Army's heavy artillery regiment below has become a sea of fire, and a bomb dropped by Li Chunyang successfully detonated a pile of ammunition piled up by the Beiyang Army, and the detonation caused by the two heavy guns nearby directly overturned.

After the bomber group of the Nationalist Army threw the last bomb, it was raised and re-formed in a leisurely manner, and then returned to the south, and at this time the heavy artillery position of the Beiyang Army was already a mess, and there were not many heavy artillery directly destroyed by the aerial bombs, but the artillery personnel were killed and wounded, and even the commander of the heavy artillery regiment commanded on the scene was killed, and the entire heavy artillery position fell into chaos.

Feng Guozhang on the front line waited anxiously for half an hour before he got the news from the heavy artillery regiment: "Six heavy artillery pieces were blown up, a large number of artillery officers were killed and wounded, and the artillery regiment has been completely paralyzed. It will take at least a day before it is possible to reorganize and launch a new round of shelling. ”

In fact, the bomber group of the Nationalist Army did not directly destroy many heavy artillery pieces of the Beiyang Army's heavy artillery positions with great success, and what really made the Beiyang Heavy Artillery Regiment suffer heavy losses was the loss of personnel, in the face of sudden air raids, the heavy artillery regiment of the Beiyang Army did not make any preparations in advance, and there was no so-called training content related to the prevention of gaps, so in the face of air raids, it was almost completely chaotic, resulting in heavy casualties.

You must know that artillery is a technical type of troops, and this loss does not mean that it can be replenished. Unlike the infantry units on the front line, which can be replenished by sending people to replenish them after losing soldiers, it is not so easy to restore the combat effectiveness of the artillery for a while after a large number of losses in this artillery.

Feng Guozhang learned that the heavy artillery regiment had suffered heavy losses, although he had a sullen feeling in his heart, but he had no choice but to order the heavy artillery regiment to recover and organize as soon as possible, and at the same time, a company of light machine gun companies from the front-line troops was dispatched to the heavy artillery regiment to prevent the next round of air raids by the Nationalist aircraft.

Although the bomber group of the Nationalist Army was not able to completely destroy the combat effectiveness of the heavy artillery regiment of the Beiyang Army, it also greatly hindered the further action of the heavy artillery regiment, so that the heavy artillery regiment stopped shelling for a whole day.

During this time, the Beiyang Army, which had lost heavy artillery support, had to suspend the intensity of the attack, so that the guard division in the direction of Taishan Town gained a precious respite.

Feng Guozhang's prediction was not wrong, after the bomber group of the Nationalist Army returned from completing the bombing mission, because of the rich results and the time was still there, the commander of the aviation unit, Wu Shizhong, decided to launch a second air raid immediately afterward, so in the evening, the bomber group flew over Nanjing again, this time the bomber group was smaller than the last time, only 30 planes, although the results of this time were not as big as the last time, but still achieved a lot of battles, blowing up at least one heavy artillery of the enemy.

The next day, Wu Shizhong, who had tasted the sweetness, once again mobilized most of the planes of the Nationalist Army in southern Jiangsu and organized more than 50 planes to launch an air attack on the position of the Beiyang Army's heavy artillery regiment over Nanjing at about 7 o'clock in the morning. As a last resort, Li Chunyang, who led the team, had no choice but to order the group to change the bombing target to other Beiyang Army units, but with little success, and instead a bomber was shot down by the Beiyang Army with light machine guns.

The aviation unit of the Nationalist Army effectively suppressed the heavy artillery units of the Beiyang Army, and relieved the huge pressure on the guard division defending Taishan Town, after all, without the shelling of the dozens of heavy artillery pieces of the Beiyang Army, the pressure on the defense line of Taishan Town would be less.

However, despite this, the guard division of Taishan Town was still at an absolute disadvantage in strength, and Feng Guozhang did not stop the pace of attack because the heavy artillery troops could not support for a while, and even launched a larger-scale offensive after a day of pause, and the guard division that had been fighting hard for many days retreated again and again, and the guard division could not complete the fortification of Taishan Town without sufficient troops and ammunition supply, and the defense line of Taishan Town, which had been once pinned on by Lin Chengkun and many staff officers of the Shanghai Command, was already crumbling after only three days. Then they can all run.

In addition, Feng Guozhang saw that Taishan Town could not be taken for a long time, and at the same time, Cao Kun's side was about to be destroyed, and Cao Kun had even sent a report to Yuan Shikai, saying that the whole army would run out of ammunition and food within two days without support. For this reason, Feng Guozhang also had to postpone the attack on Taishan Town, sent an infantry regiment to bypass Taishan Town, and continued south to the river, and at the same time risked moving the heavy artillery regiment forward to prepare to attack the Nationalist Navy on the river.

On December 4, the heavy artillery regiment of the Beiyang Army, which had ventured forward, launched a large-scale artillery bombardment of the Nationalist Navy ships on the river, and then the Nationalist Navy counterattacked, and the two sides engaged in an artillery battle that lasted two and a half hours in the morning. The naval ships bombarded the Beiyang army's heavy artillery on the river, but it was originally out of a disadvantageous situation, and it was not yet possible to maneuver, so Cheng Biguang obtained permission to temporarily retreat after urgently consulting the Shanghai Command. As a result, Cheng Biguang temporarily retreated five kilometers downstream with his naval vessels, so as to avoid being hit by the heavy artillery of the Beiyang Army, and several warships that were seriously injured also began to return to the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai for repairs. For a time, there were only three gunboats and one cruiser of the Nationalist Navy near the Nanjing River, and the number of troops was seriously insufficient. Cheng Biguang has already asked the Navy Department for support, requesting that the rest of the capital ships under the Nationalist Army be dispatched to Nanjing, otherwise the Yangtze River will not be blocked.

After the naval forces of the Nationalist Army retreated slightly, Feng Guozhang got in touch with Cao Kun on the opposite side, and that night Feng Guozhang used some small boats collected along the river to send Cao Kun on the other side of the river some urgently needed ammunition, especially bullets and shells. And preparations for the erection of pontoon bridges began.

In the face of Feng Guozhang's division strategy, Shen Gang sent several telegrams to ask Lin Chengkun of Taishan Town to launch a diversion attack, and on December 5, Lin Chengkun launched a counteroffensive with the 42nd Regiment of the Fourth Division as the main force, trying to contain the Beiyang Army, but the counteroffensive was suppressed by the Beiyang Army from the beginning and did not achieve the predetermined combat goal. In addition, the aviation unit also sent dozens of planes to support, intending to attack the Beiyang Army's heavy artillery regiment in front of it, but Feng Guozhang is now obedient, completely abandoning the air defense of the front-line troops, but assigned his air defense battalion to the heavy artillery regiment, this time Li Chunyang also tried to reduce the altitude for precision bombing like last time, when he was hit by the fire organized by the air defense battalion of the Beiyang Army, the loss of aircraft was as high as four, and the follow-up bombers did not dare to lower the altitude, so they could only throw the bombs high. The results were extremely limited.

On December 6, despite the many threats, the Beiyang Army erected a pontoon bridge over the Yangtze River, and Feng Guozhang transported a large amount of supplies to Cao Kun through the pontoon bridge.

At this time, a new round of controversy broke out in the commanders of both the Nationalist Army and the Beiyang Army.

"Now that the 7th Division and the 2nd Brigade have opened up the supply line, as long as the ammunition supply is smooth, it is completely possible for the 3rd, 5th, and 8th Divisions to hold the southern city of Nanjing!" He Zonglian, commander of the First Division of the Beiyang Army, said: "As long as we hold the bridgehead of Nancheng, the army can move south here at any time. However, if once retreated, it would be easier said than done to cross the river again in the future, and the Yangtze River moat would not be so easy to break through. ”

"Hmph, it's easy to say, although the navy of the national army has temporarily retreated now, they have urgently transferred additional naval ships from Jiangyin and other places, and as soon as these main naval forces arrive, the Yangtze River will be re-blocked, how to transport supplies at that time?" Duan Qirui retorted unceremoniously: "I know you want to talk about the heavy artillery regiment, but now that Taishan Town has not been taken, and it is also facing the threat of the National Army aircraft, the heavy artillery regiment has lost more than ten artillery pieces in just three or five days, how many days can the heavy artillery regiment last according to this?" ”

Speaking of this, Duan Qirui turned to Yuan Shikai and said: "President, everyone understands the important surname of Nanjing, but the nearly 30,000 on the south bank of the Yangtze River is the foundation of our Beiyang, and now it is not easy to open up the channel to allow them to withdraw, if the time is lost in the past few days, as soon as the main naval force of the National Army arrives, it will be impossible for Cao Kun to retreat!" ”

Yuan Shikai kept listening to them arguing and didn't speak, he naturally knew the important surnames of Nancheng in Nanjing, and he understood the important surnames of the tens of thousands of people under Cao Kun's hands. But he also had to think about other issues, such as what to do in the face of this increasingly large national army. Whether this hastily withdrawn words will have an impact on his own prestige and the ruling foundation of the Beiyang political axe must be considered one by one.

After being silent for a long time, Yuan Shikai spoke: "What did Hua Fu say?" ”

Duan Qirui said: "Hua Fu has called back, and he also advocates withdrawing the troops first. Now Taishan Town has not yet fallen, the Seventh Division and the Second Brigade on the front line have not enough troops to take Taishan Town, and the enemy Lin Chengkun Department in Taishan Town is sending troops to counterattack, and if it is not done well, it will repeat the situation half a month ago. So he also thought about withdrawing the troops across the shore first, and if there were tens of thousands of help from Cao Kun's subordinates, the national army in Taishan Town would be unable to fly. Although the southern city of Nanjing was lost, if the guard division of the national army could be surrounded and annihilated, it would also be able to severely damage the momentum of the national army. ”

Yuan Shikai said again: "Is this retreat feasible, will it encounter a situation of half-crossing and attacking?" ”

"On the president's side, Hua Fu and Cao Kun on the front line are fully prepared, the pontoon bridge has been erected, and if you act quickly, one day and one night will be enough time to completely evacuate!" Duan Qirui stood with Feng Guozhang and Cao Kun in the war in southern Jiangsu this time.

Although he Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang are opponents, both of them rely on the Beiyang Army, if the mountain of the Beiyang Army falls, the two of them will not be better there, it doesn't matter if Nanjing is lost or not, as long as the army is preserved.

Yuan Shikai looked at the others, and seeing that the others didn't speak, he immediately said: "Since this is the case, then the War Department will call Huafu and ask him to bring back more than 20,000 people on the south bank!" ”

While Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui were planning to withdraw Cao Kun's troops, there was also a debate about the retreat in the Shanghai Command.

"Now it is meaningless for the guard division to continue to hold on to Taishan Town, the original guard division stuck to the north bank of Nanjing in order to prevent Feng Guozhang from opening up the supply line to Cao Kun's department, and then Feng Guozhang has now divided his troops, although my guard division is still holding on to Taishan Town, but Feng Guozhang still opened up the supply line, and the guard division does not have enough strength to carry out counterattack operations. In this way, what is the point of the guard division continuing to hold on to Taishan Town at the risk of annihilation? Chen Yi's words didn't have too many moments, and his tone was very calm, but what he said sounded cold.

Liang Xunqin said: "I don't agree, now the guard division is sticking to Taishan Town, not only containing Feng Guozhang's tens of thousands of troops, but more importantly, if the guard division retreats, the Beiyang Army will have no worries at all, and will be able to fully support Cao Kun's department in Nancheng, when the success and heavy price paid by our army in the battle of Nancheng will be in vain, and even the unfavorable situation for our army at the beginning of the war in southern Jiangsu will be repeated, no matter what, our army must take Nancheng, and our army will take Nancheng, It is necessary to prevent Feng Guozhang's troops from reinforcing Cao Kun's troops, and the diversion of the guard division is indispensable! ”

Later, Chen Yi and Liang Xunqin argued other arguments one after another, and even Yuan Fang was inevitably contained. In the face of this choice, the staff could not come up with a unified plan, and in the end, it could only be sent to Chen Jingyun for Chen Jingyun to choose.

Do you retreat or do you want to hold on?

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