Chapter 2 Breakthrough

The Xiaoshan Fort was at a high point, and the anti-aircraft battery was at the highest.

From this vantage point, one could see black smoke rising from many places, near and far.

These were the burning wreckage of enemy planes that had crashed, and some were the mountain forests set ablaze by them.

The Japanese pilots who had bailed out were searching for hiding places.

Nationalist troops on the ground began to move out to capture those Japanese pilots.

The soldiers of the Special Operations Company looked eagerly at Lin Fan.

They wanted to move too!

Last night, the entire company slept soundly without any activity.

This made the soldiers of the Special Operations Company very unaccustomed.

Lin Fan looked at his direct superior, the Chief of Staff of the Eighty-eighth Division, and then at Xu Kang, the commander of the Jiangyin Fortress.

He rubbed his hands and requested, "Commander Xu! Chief of Staff! What do you think about letting my company go out and capture some prisoners to get them moving?

"These lads get itchy if they don't fight the Japanese for a day.

"They need to be active."

Commander Xu Kang now looked at Lin Fan and his entire Special Operations Company with great satisfaction.

He immediately nodded, "Good! Good! Go! Chief of Staff He, send a squad to guide the Special Operations Company!"

Zhang Boting also smiled and said, "Go! Don't disgrace our Eighty-eighth Division."

Commander Xu Kang heard what he said and didn't argue:

What Eighty-eighth Division? Here, there are only the Jiangyin Fortress defense forces!

He said to Lin Fan, "Company Commander Lin, we are guarding the entire Yangtze River here.

"Every day we hold, the rear is safe for another day."

Lin Fan smiled and said, "I know, that's why I came!"

Commander Xu was overjoyed, "Today I will personally host a banquet to welcome Company Commander Lin."

Why wasn't this banquet yesterday, but today?

Talent is always worth respecting!

If you want others to respect you, you must show your ability!

Zhang Boting coldly said, "The Special Operations Company is under the establishment of my Eighty-eighth Division.

"Now I order: Lin Fan, Company Commander of the Special Operations Company, First Battalion, 542nd Regiment, listen to the order!"

Lin Fan responded loudly, "Here!"

"I order: Lin Fan to lead the Special Operations Company to return to its unit immediately!"

"Yes!"

Commander Xu became angry, "I will find the Generalissimo right now. I don't believe that my dignified Jiangyin Fortress can't get such an important talent.

"Chief of Staff Zhang, do you know, having someone like this here is worth the strength of three divisions.

"Company Commander Lin's artillery skills are superb.

"One person is better than a fully equipped artillery regiment, no, better!

"He alone is more effective than all the anti-aircraft guns of an entire army group combined.

"Since we started fighting, when have you ever heard of shooting down fifty-seven Japanese planes in one battle?"

Zhang Boting said with difficulty, "Brother Xu! General Xu! Commander Xu!

"Calm down!

"Calm down!

"Listen to me!

"At the front lines, our troops are always being bombed by Japanese planes and shelled by their heavy artillery.

"If we had such a good artilleryman, the casualties could be reduced significantly!

"Those are the lives of our brothers!"

Commander Xu sneered, "Do you have such cannons at the front lines?

"The range of your cannons is not enough, so you can only watch helplessly as the Japanese bomb you.

"Here, we not only have these anti-aircraft guns, but also 150mm caliber guns that can fire 22 kilometers.

"Brother Zhang! Think about it, in this place, 22 kilometers can protect the entire Yangtze River channel from being breached by the Japanese.

"This is the gateway to Nanjing, the gateway to the entire Yangtze River!

"The longer we hold, the more people can evacuate to the rear.

"Our factories can also be moved further back."

He spoke with great emotion, and Zhang Boting opened his mouth, but finally didn't continue to speak.

Zhang Boting knew that Lin Fan's artillery skills could indeed be best utilized in a place like Jiangyin Fortress.

The strategic importance of this location was too great, and the Japanese would not give up so easily.

Finally, Zhang Boting revoked the order to return the Special Operations Company to its unit.

Now Lin Fan and the Special Operations Company were settled in Jiangyin Fortress.

Zhang Boting could only look at Lin Fan and his Special Operations Company with regret.

In his heart, he finally believed what Shi Meihua said when he came: this Lin Fan was the most capable fighter he had ever seen.

Not being able to bring such a team back, Zhang Boting's heart ached so much that he couldn't breathe.

He didn't want to stay in Jiangyin Fortress for another minute.

No matter how Commander Xu Kang tried to persuade him to stay, Zhang Boting insisted on leaving immediately.

"My troops need me!" This reason was so powerful that Commander Xu couldn't object.

When the battle report of Jiangyin Fortress shooting down fifty-seven Japanese planes in one fell swoop was sent to the Presidential Palace in Nanjing,

It was precisely when Chiang Kai-shek was facing difficulties with the entire situation in Shanghai:

He was unwilling!

He didn't understand!

He was unwilling to accept the current result!

He clearly had a good hand, and the battle in Shanghai was something he had prepared for for several years, and he had some confidence before starting the war.

But the result was like this.

Today was November 6, 1937, and originally today was the day for the Nine-Power Treaty conference.

Due to various reasons, it was delayed until the 9th.

Upon receiving the battle report from Jiangyin Fortress, Chiang Kai-shek's mind became active again.

Ignoring everyone's opposition, he issued a new order: all troops on the Shanghai front must hold their ground.

They must hold for at least three days.

When this order was issued, all the commanders on the Songhu front were stunned.

The previous order had told everyone to retreat to the Wufu defense line to hold.

The army had already begun to move.

Suddenly, another order came, telling everyone to hold.

Changing orders from morning to evening!

Nothing could be more extreme!

It is the duty of a soldier to obey orders!

Regardless of whether the commanders on the front lines understood or not, they could only execute the order first.

It was just that many of the positions that had been abandoned after the army's retreat had already been occupied by the Japanese, and now it was impossible to recapture them.

The defense of the entire line became even more difficult.

Jiangyin Fortress shooting down more than fifty Japanese planes in ten minutes was an unprecedented humiliation for the Japanese Third Fleet.

The loss of more than half of the planes of the entire First Air Fleet was something that Vice Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura, commander of the Third Fleet, could not tolerate.

He had to wash away his own humiliation: Vice Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura ordered:

The "Kaga" and "Hosho" aircraft carriers belonging to the First Air Fleet, as well as the First Expeditionary Fleet, should immediately attack Jiangyin Fortress.

The First Expeditionary Fleet was commanded by Rear Admiral Shiozawa and consisted of two light cruisers, one coastal defense ship, five destroyers, and twelve gunboats.

The naval force dispatched this time accounted for one-third of the naval strength of the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Army.

After losing fifty-seven bombers, the warplanes of the First Air Fleet that had just escaped back in shock

Received the order again: "Prepare to continue the attack!"

But this time, the planes would not be the first to attack.

The Japanese Navy's First Expeditionary Fleet, together with all the warships of the two aircraft carrier fleets, totaled twenty-seven ships of various sizes.

The navy would of course use warships as the vanguard, and planes would only be the icing on the cake.

Upon receiving the order, the Japanese Navy's First Expeditionary Fleet and the entire expeditionary force

Immediately summoned all of their naval landing forces still ashore to return to their units.

Major Yuma Fujiwara was training his newly formed unit at Jiangwan Airport.

Suddenly, he discovered that all of the naval landing forces at the entire Jiangwan Airport were ready to set off.

After a little inquiry, he heard that Jiangyin Fortress had actually shot down more than fifty imperial planes with only anti-aircraft guns.

A strong desire for battle suddenly surged in his heart.

This fortress had been an obstacle to the empire's advance for three months.

He wanted to participate in the war!

The reason was simple: the entire Fujiwara Special Forces was the naval landing force.

So Major Yuma Fujiwara led his five hundred soldiers and boarded the aircraft carrier "Hosho."

This was not because the "Hosho" was friendly, but because due to the recent air battle,

There was only one plane left on the entire aircraft carrier, providing enough space and transport capacity to carry their five hundred men.

When this temporarily formed aircraft carrier mixed fleet received the order and rushed to the front of Jiangyin Fortress, it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon.

When the Nationalist observers along the Yangtze River discovered that the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet was sailing upstream,

They had already passed the news back.

Along the way, information about this aircraft carrier fleet was constantly transmitted to Jiangyin Fortress.

From the direction of the fleet's advance, anyone could guess their destination.

It was the Jiangyin Fortress, which locked the Japanese Navy's entry into the Yangtze River.

The observers of Jiangyin Fortress had long received the news of the large-scale attack by the Japanese Navy.

They had been closely monitoring the Yangtze River, but when they actually saw the scale of the Japanese fleet, they were still shocked. Da Feng Novel

The Japanese had dispatched their strongest lineup this time. Did they want to break through from the Yangtze River first?

This time, the "Hosho" aircraft carrier was really determined. Its commander, Rear Admiral Ren Nakamiya, had been having a very bad time these past few days.

First, some of his previous planes were destroyed at Jiangwan Airport.

Then, the entire landing force under his command was wiped out.

Today, it was the turn of the carrier-based aircraft on his aircraft carrier to be completely wiped out.

The "Hosho" aircraft carrier was the world's first aircraft carrier, and could only carry a total of fourteen carrier-based aircraft.

Now there were only four of these fourteen planes left. One was the one that had flown out to perform a mission this morning and returned, and the other three planes had always been kept in the hangar as backup planes.

Now all three backup planes were also pushed onto the deck.

Although there were still many planes in the entire fleet, the other planes were not carried on his aircraft carrier.

Upon receiving the order from Commander Vice Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura, Rear Admiral Ren Nakamiya immediately began to take action.

He contacted Rear Admiral Daisuke Kajiwara, commander of the "Kaga" aircraft carrier, and set off for the front lines together.

Now, the First Air Fleet, mainly composed of these two aircraft carrier fleets, still had fifty-three planes left.

Among them, there were thirty-three fighters and twenty attack aircraft.

These planes had now all been transferred to land, waiting to take off from the land airport after the fleet, mainly composed of the two aircraft carriers, arrived at the battlefield.

When they were less than thirty kilometers away from Jiangyin Fortress, Rear Admiral Daisuke Kajiwara ordered: fighters and attack planes to take off.

The shipborne guns on the two aircraft carriers were not as good as the "Furutaka" heavy cruiser in their fleet.

This was a batch of fairly advanced cruisers in Japan:

Launched at Nagasaki Shipyard on March 31, 1926.

After the refitting, the displacement was 9,000 tons, the length was 185.7 meters, the width was 15.8 meters, and the draft was 5.71 meters.

The power was fully 100,000 horsepower, and the maximum sailing speed was 34.6 nautical miles per hour, which was comparable to a land speed of 60 kilometers per hour.

The endurance was 11,000 kilometers.

The reason why Rear Admiral Daisuke Kajiwara sent the "Furutaka" cruiser to the front was of course because he valued its 203mm main guns, of which it was equipped with six.

In addition, there were four 120mm secondary guns and eight 25mm guns.

Machine guns, torpedo launchers, and aircraft were all equipped.

But its planes had now also been ordered to transfer to land.

So the "Furutaka" cruiser led the two light cruisers "Tatsuta" and "Kitakami" and several destroyers and gunboats to attack.

The "Tatsuta" was also equipped with four 140mm flame guns and one 76mm gun. Although this firepower was not comparable to the "Furutaka," it was still quite powerful.

In addition, the smaller ships that cooperated in the attack were also equipped with various calibers of artillery.

Now they were going upstream along the Yangtze River. After passing Nantong and Tianshenggang, and turning a corner, they would be able to see Jiangyin Fortress.

Commander Lieutenant Commander Kaiho Kosada of the "Furutaka" cruiser stood on the bridge, staring straight ahead.

He calmly watched as the two banks of the river constantly moved backward.

Lieutenant Commander Kaiho Kosada was a little excited: ever since he was ordered to bring the fleet to Shanghai in October,

He had been supporting the army on the banks of the Huangpu River for a month, but he had not gained any credit.

All the credit had been seized by the army.

Today was the first time his warship was acting as the vanguard in a battle.

He had to show the might of the navy!

This was not just his idea!

Lieutenant General Xu Kang on Jiangyin Fortress was also thinking the same thing: today he had to show the might of the Nationalist army.

In the morning, Lin Fan's scene of shooting down planes had stimulated all the officers and soldiers on Jiangyin Fortress.

They had been fighting hard here for three months, and tens of thousands of people had not shot down as many planes as one person in ten minutes.

Was this something to be happy about?

Or something to be sad about?

All of the Japanese pilots who had bailed out had been found.

It was just that the Special Operations Company had only brought back two corpses. The other teams had found thirteen wounded and twenty-three intact ones.

Some of the wounded had sprained their ankles or suffered abrasions when landing incorrectly, and only three had been wounded by the wreckage of other planes in the air.

Their injuries were critical.

Lin Fan looked at these three wounded soldiers being rescued by the medical soldiers of Jiangyin Fortress.

A painful expression appeared on his face.

Staff Officer He Hesong was a little puzzled, "Company Commander Lin, why are you making this expression when they are injured?"

Wu Xiaobao interjected, "The company commander is lamenting the waste of alcohol for disinfection, cotton for wiping, gauze, and those medicines."

The painful expression on Lin Fan's face did not change, he just nodded.

Zhao Long stepped down and said, "Don't even mention the wounded, even those Japanese who are not injured.

"It's a waste to feed them every day."

Staff Officer He Hesong suddenly understood: why the Special Operations Company had only brought back corpses just now.

Like leader, like men. Thinking of Lin Fan waiting until the leading enemy plane was almost upon him before opening fire when facing the enemy planes today.

Wasn't the purpose just to shoot down more enemy planes?

The battle in the morning only lasted for ten minutes, and then it was over.

The shock caused by these ten minutes of battle did not stir up much of a wave.

The Japanese Tenth Army had already landed tens of thousands of troops in Hangzhou Bay and had already occupied Songyin Town.

This news truly attracted the attention of the entire world.

The Nationalist army, slowly recovering from the chaos, also began to respond.

They ordered the 62nd Division of Pudong, the 45th Brigade, and the 79th Division stationed in Fengjing to attack the Japanese troops who had landed at Jinshanwei from three sides.

At the same time, they ordered the 11th Reserve Division to urgently rush to aid from the Sujia Railway.

Now that the Japanese had completely gained a foothold in Hangzhou Bay, the Nationalist army was no longer able to drive them back into the sea.

Today, the situation on the entire Songhu front was constantly changing, and the battle that took place at Jiangyin Fortress was completely ignored.

As long as Jiangyin Fortress was still there, it was not a big deal!

The Special Operations Company was assigned an anti-aircraft gun on the Xiaoshan Fort of Jiangyin Fortress.

At the same time, with Commander Xu Kang's nod, Lin Fan was allowed to assist in aiming the 203mm cannon on the fort.

After lunch, the Special Operations Company stayed on the fort for training.

More than a hundred people served one anti-aircraft gun. Lin Fan was training his troops to install towing wheels on this gun.

He knew that the gun could be towed away once the wheels were installed.

The first time they installed four tires, the entire company spent half an hour.

Lin Fan had only one requirement: the transition from towing state to combat state had to be completed in five minutes.

Similarly: the transition from combat state to towing state also had to be completed in five minutes.

This training method, which was very common in later generations, caused a great sensation on Xiaoshan Fort.

There was no enemy attack for the time being, and the original soldiers of the 334th Brigade of the 112th Division stationed at Xiaoshan Fort all came to see the spectacle.

The 112th Division was originally the Northeast Army, with Lieutenant General Huo Shouyi as the division commander, Major General Wang Zhaozhi as the deputy division commander, and Colonel Li Lanchi as the chief of staff.

Including the soldiers of this division, most of them were from the Northeast, and the combat effectiveness and combat qualities of the entire unit were quite good.

Brigade Commander Ma Wanzhen of the 334th Brigade asked Lin Fan in confusion, "Company Commander Lin! What is the significance of training soldiers like this?"

Lin Fan smiled and said, "This 88mm anti-aircraft gun can be used for both high and low-angle fire.

"The Japanese warships can only come from upstream. I want the soldiers to practice.

"If we have the opportunity, we can drag this gun to the river and ambush them, giving the Japanese a hard time.

"Anyway, this gun is mobile, it's not a fortress gun, it can't be moved."

Lin Fan's words immediately reminded Brigade Commander Ma: that's right! This gun can be moved.

In fact, Brigade Commander Ma also realized from Lin Fan's letting all the soldiers move like this: soldiers need to train more!

They not only practiced assembling and disassembling the artillery, but also exercised their physical strength.

Brigade Commander Ma, who had this realization, immediately took action.

He ordered all the artillerymen of the entire fortress to take action.

He was not a reckless person. Lin Fan had one gun being trained over here.

Xiaoshan Fort would only have one gun left for training.

The other two 88mm anti-aircraft guns were to be used for duty.

Similarly: the 150mm cannon on the fort also began two-state conversion training.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, the observer discovered that Japanese warships had appeared on the river.