November 26, 1937, early morning:

Lu Haonan, an observer at the Jiangyin Fortress, routinely visually inspected the airspace around the entire fortress.

His work location was at the highest point of Xiao Mountain, allowing him to observe the airspace in all directions without blind spots.

By visual inspection alone, he spotted a black dot in the sky in the direction of the Xicheng Highway.

Lu Haonan was startled and quickly looked at the black dot through his observation scope.

From the scope, he could clearly see that it was a Japanese artillery observation balloon.

Fifteen kilometers away.

Where there is an artillery observation balloon, there must be an artillery position.

It's just that it couldn't be discovered from Lu Haonan's position.

In fact, he wasn't the only one who saw the Japanese observation balloon. Many infantrymen in the Jiangyin defense area could also see it from their positions.

The officers and soldiers of the 154th Division had come from the front line and were already familiar with this type of observation balloon.

They also knew that with the appearance of such a thing, the ensuing Japanese artillery bombardment would no longer be from the small-caliber Type 92 infantry guns.

Fifteen kilometers. The only guns on the entire fortress that could shoot that far were the German-imported 150mm cannons that had been tinkered with several times.

But now, all four cannons were unusable.

This was awkward: they could only let the Japanese observation balloon take a good look at their side in the sky.

Lin Fan also saw the Japanese artillery observation balloon rising into the air.

He found Commander Xu Kang: "Commander, I'll take the Special Company forward a distance and take it down!"

Commander Xu Kang smiled wryly: "What they have over there is at least a field heavy artillery regiment. Anti-aircraft guns can shoot down their balloons, but they can't destroy their artillery positions.

Anti-aircraft guns are direct-fire weapons. Attacking the Japanese artillery positions requires curved-fire artillery.

If you advance, you might easily be bitten back by the Japanese artillery.

The risk is not proportional to the reward. You don't need to go.

If Company Commander Lin can get our cannons working sooner, we can hit the Japanese artillery positions even from here."

Lin Fan had been waiting for this order for a long time, and immediately saluted: "Yes! Executing immediately."

Commander Xu Kang knew that the destruction caused by the Japanese field heavy artillery bombardment was considerable.

If Lin Fan could really get the four cannons on the battery to fire,

Then they wouldn't be afraid of exchanging fire with the Japanese. After all, they were a fortress, with complete fortifications and shelters.

The Japanese field heavy artillery positions, no matter what, would not have any shelters.

Even if they hastily built some temporary shelters, they would not be able to withstand the bombardment of hundred-jin shells.

He instructed Staff Officer He Hesong: "Take Company Commander Lin to Battery A, Platform One."

After speaking, he personally wrote an order and handed it to Staff Officer He.

Those four cannons were considered the bottom-of-the-barrel weapons of the entire fortress. In fact, they were already the longest-range artillery that the country had at its disposal.

Otherwise, Nanjing would not have ordered the cannons to be dismantled and prepared to be sent to the rear at the first opportunity.

Lin Fan followed Staff Officer He to Battery A, Platform One, and looked at the latest imported advanced weapon in front of him.

Lin Fan felt the newly cast cement on the base and heard the soldiers say: The cement curing period had not yet been reached.

It was temporarily impossible to install the gun body and barrel.

Lin Fan said bluntly: "The Japanese have already come to our doorstep. We can't be so rigid at this time.

Doesn't the entire battery have four of these cannons?

We only need to use one. Assemble the cannon, even if it's only for one day. That would be good.

The other three can continue to follow the procedure, waiting for the curing period to be reached before being activated.

If this one has problems with its base after use, we can recast it."

Lin Fan meant that this cannon had to be fired today no matter what.

He had seen and heard many stories about taking on challenges despite difficulties, and creating conditions when none exist.

Of course, he would not be sticking to the rules at this time.

The officers and soldiers using such an advanced cannon were naturally unwilling to let Lin Fan ruin it like this.

Although they also knew about Lin Fan's achievements in recent days, this cannon was also the apple of the eye of these officers and soldiers.

It could not tolerate the slightest roughness.

Imported goods were the most precious things in the eyes of these officers and soldiers. They had always been using and taking care of them with the utmost care.

They were afraid of bumping or scratching any part of it, affecting the use of the cannon.

Lin Fan knew: German military products were famous for being durable and robust.

Not to mention using it carefully, even if you wanted to intentionally destroy it, you wouldn't be able to find a way. There was no way to destroy it.

The two sides were at a stalemate, and Staff Officer He Hesong didn't know who to listen to.

He had no choice but to call Commander Xu Kang, who asked Lin Fan in detail.

After considering for a while, he finally made up his mind: "Do as Company Commander Lin says."

With an order, the officers and soldiers began to get busy.

At this time, the Japanese artillery had already begun to fire in this direction.

Uekawauchi Seiro, the commander of the 15th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, was not in a hurry today.

These days, their team had been constantly transferred back and forth by various divisions.

Each time, they had not failed the expectations of those divisions. Where they appeared with this heavy artillery regiment,

there was no position that could not be taken down.

The Jiangyin Fortress was the most important fortress built by the Nanjing government on the Yangtze River.

Here, it bore the important task of guarding the entire entrance to the Yangtze River.

Therefore, all the cement and steel used in the construction of the entire fortress were imported from Germany.

The construction of the entire fortress was also designed and carried out under the guidance of German advisors.

Today, Uekawauchi Seiro was going to strip off the hard shell of this fortress.

Commander Uekawauchi Seiro had also heard about the failure of the 13th Division here yesterday.

Now he was not in a hurry. He told his artillery to prepare for a day of bombardment.

Division Commander Oginome Ryohei was anxious, but he also knew that he could not afford to fail this time.

Therefore, he did not urge the heavy artillery regiment, but gave the heavy artillery regiment a suggestion: try to destroy the fortress's batteries.

All the artillery of the entire field heavy artillery regiment was firing.

The 5th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade had thirty-six Type 7 150mm cannons and twenty Type 90 240mm cannons.

This time, Brigade Commander Uekawauchi Seiro had brought all the cannons of the entire brigade.

The thirty-six Type 7 150mm cannons had a caliber of 149.1mm, a barrel length of 5,963mm, a firing line height of 1,415mm, and a total length of 9,090mm.

The gun body weighed 3,550 kg, and the total weight in firing position was 10,422 kg.

The elevation range was -6 to +35 degrees, the projectile weight was eighty *jin* (approximately 96 pounds), the projectile muzzle velocity was 875 meters per second, and the maximum range was 22 kilometers.

Such a cannon had a long range and great power, capable of striking the entire Jiangyin southern Yangtze River defense area.

The performance of the Type 90 240mm heavy cannon was even more exaggerated:

It was originally manufactured as a fortress gun, precisely because it was too cumbersome.

Later, it was mounted on warships.

It was also the standard configuration of the army's field heavy artillery regiment.

The caliber was 240mm, the barrel length was 12,823mm, and the total weight of the gun was 55 tons.

The gun's elevation angle was 0 to +45 degrees, the projectile weight was 330 *jin* (approximately 396 pounds), and the projectile muzzle velocity was 1,050 meters per second.

The maximum range was 52 kilometers using high-explosive shells and 50 kilometers using armor-piercing high-explosive shells.

Such artillery was still being installed. When the installation was complete, the entire Jiangyin Fortress would surely be taken down in one fell swoop.

The fortress was under heavy artillery bombardment from the Japanese army, and the installation work at Battery A, Platform One was also being accelerated.

Lin Fan had been observing from the observation platform where Lu Haonan worked for half an hour.

The installation of a 150mm cannon could not be completed by one person.

The officers and soldiers of Battery A, Platform One, would not allow him, an outsider, to interfere.

Lin Fan also wanted to stand at a high place to determine the location of the Japanese artillery positions.

One thing was certain: the Japanese artillery positions must be near their observation balloon.

Now Lin Fan had to determine the specific location of their artillery positions.

Commander Xu Kang had just ordered: after the cannon was assembled, Lin Fan would be responsible for aiming, and the officers and soldiers of Battery A, Platform One would be responsible for firing.

None of the artillery officers and soldiers on the entire fortress were not convinced of this Company Commander Lin's accuracy in firing cannons.

Therefore, even though Lin Fan had never fired such a cannon, the officers and soldiers of Battery A, Platform One, did not object.

An hour later, Lin Fan confirmed that the Japanese artillery position currently firing was 500 meters to the left of their observation balloon.

Judging from the Japanese army's firing speed and density, there were at least twenty cannons.

What a feast!

Lin Fan walked down the observation platform with a satisfied smile on his face.

Lu Haonan looked at this Company Commander Lin in confusion. He was looking at the Japanese balloon alone, and a flower could actually bloom on his face.

He also immediately looked through the observation scope. There were three people on the Japanese observation balloon.

They were constantly busy in the balloon basket.

What was so funny about this?

Lu Haonan was puzzled!

He withdrew his gaze from the distance and looked at the entire fortress at this time, which was filled with smoke.

The situation was the same as yesterday morning. Yesterday, it was bombarded by the naval guns on the Japanese navy destroyers.

Today, it was bombed by the Japanese army's heavy artillery regiment. No matter who was bombing, it was the same.

There was one advantage today: there were no Japanese planes in the sky.

All the officers and soldiers on the entire fortress, except for a sentry left behind,

were hiding in the shelters. Thick rocks and reinforced concrete protected all the officers and soldiers.

Sometimes, they could still feel the ground shaking, but such shaking would not affect the protective ability of the entire shelter.

After all, it was designed to withstand naval gun bombardment.

It was just that the surface of the entire fortress had been riddled with holes by the Japanese artillery fire, a scene of devastation.

Lin Fan returned to Battery A, Platform One with satisfaction. He had already calculated the distance in his mind.

He was just waiting for the artillery to be assembled before firing.

Today, the Japanese infantry had learned their lesson from yesterday and did not launch an attack while the artillery was attacking.

Brigade Commander Uekawauchi Seiro watched with satisfaction as his soldiers methodically installed the 240mm heavy cannons.

On the other side, the 150mm cannons were also firing unhurriedly.

He knew that the fortress on the opposite side was very different from the places they had attacked in the past.

After all, this fortress had already withstood the bombardment of naval guns.

The power of naval guns was no less than the power of his heavy artillery.

It was only stronger. Even the naval guns had not been able to drive the soldiers on the fortress away.

Of course, his regiment's attack, which had just begun, might not be effective immediately.

However, Brigade Commander Uekawauchi Seiro firmly believed that as long as all his cannons were assembled, the fortress on the opposite side would definitely not be able to withstand it.

After two hours of intense work, the officers and soldiers of Battery A, Platform One, finally assembled the cannon.

Lin Fan did not immediately order people to load shells and fire.

Instead, together with the artillery company commander of Battery A, Platform One, he carefully inspected all the parts of the cannon.

He confirmed that all the installation fully met the standards before he began to adjust the direction and elevation of the cannon.

Lin Fan left the cannon and watched from a distance as the officers and soldiers of Battery A, Platform One, carried a shell between them and sent it into the breech.

An order: "Fire!"

The deafening roar made Lin Fan, who was prepared, feel the vibration in the air.

Company Commander Lin, who was in charge of commanding the cannon, ordered: "Clean the breech and prepare for the next shot."

They could not see the shooting effect now, and could only blind-fire like this.

Four minutes later, another hundred-*jin* (approximately 120 pound) shell left the barrel.

This time, like last time, the entire position shook after the shell was fired.

However, there was something different this time compared to last time.

The officers and soldiers of Battery A, Platform One, could not feel it.

Lu Haonan, who was standing at a high place, discovered that just now, all of the Japanese artillery fire was bombarding the Xiao Mountain, Dong Mountain, West Mountain, and Huang Mountain batteries of the entire fortress.

Now, the bombardment of three batteries had stopped, and only the Xiao Mountain battery was withstanding all the Japanese artillery fire.

It seemed that the Japanese observers had discovered the counterattack of Battery A, Platform One, on Xiao Mountain.

Lu Haonan immediately reported the observed intelligence.

The officers and soldiers of Battery A, Platform One, who received the intelligence, could not care about anything at this time.

After this cannon fired two shells, the entire base was visually inspected, and no abnormalities were found.

Continue!

Lin Fan carefully adjusted the position, only moving it a little bit.

He adjusted it every two shells.

Company Commander Lin also checked the base of the cannon after every shell fired.

This Company Commander Lin was not Lin Fan. His name was Lin Xiaoxiao.

Now the two sides were cooperating better and better.

But it was still unknown if it was effective.

An hour later, Battery A, Platform One, had fired thirteen shells.

At this time, Staff Officer He Hesong rushed in excitedly: "The Japanese artillery fire has stopped."

Company Commander Lin asked: "Do we need to stop firing now?"

Lin Fan said with a smile: "This shows that we have hit the Japanese where it hurts.

Strike the drowning dog!

Continue to hit them!"

This time, Lin Fan slightly raised the firing angle again.

Now, he didn't know what the situation was fifteen kilometers away. He could only rely on his memories of when he had gone there for training.

He estimated where he would set up the artillery position if he were them.

In recent days, he had been constantly leading the soldiers of the Special Forces Detachment to train in the entire Jiangyin defense area and its surroundings.

In the area where the Japanese artillery observation balloon was, he had noted which locations were the most suitable for setting up large-scale artillery positions.

Lin Fan had paid attention to observing those locations at that time.

Today, he was attacking the pre-set artillery positions in his mind.