Xue Yiping said, "It’s true that the army has not been completed yet. According to the information from the Intelligence Bureau, these two divisions were officially trained after the Spring Festival. The 11th Division was formed a little faster, but it is worth noting that the expansion method of the direct army is different from that of our army. Their recruits are not assigned in the same arrangement, which means that the two divisions have actually recruited different numbers of recruits recently, but these recruits are still in the training period and have not officially formed the army. If the situation is tense, it is possible for Wang Yingkai to mobilize those recruits who have not completed training to form an army."
At the end of last year, the expansion of Fengjun and Zhijun was almost tit for tat. At the end of last year and the beginning of last year, Wang Yingkai was busy supplying personnel and weapons to the First Hunchengbrigade and the Seventh Division. Zhao Dongyun was also busy making plans for the Third Division and the Fifth Brigade. After the beginning of the year, Wang Yingkai made a new plan for the two divisions. Zhao Dongyun also launched the plan for expanding one division first, and then added two plans for the expansion of the last two Hunchengbrigades to deal with Wang Yingkai’s plans for the expansion of the two divisions.
When the scale of these two military expansions is roughly the same, it’s almost the same. Zhao Dongyun’s plan of one division and two mixed brigades here has just begun. Wang Yingkai’s plan of two divisions is naturally not much better. Up to now, Zhao Dongyun’s plan of one division and two mixed brigades has been compiled into two infantry regiments, and Wang Yingjie’s plan of two divisions has also become a brigade.
But the difference between the two is that Zhao Dongyun’s first division and two mixed brigades are not compiled, which means that there is no one frame for personnel and equipment, because a large number of recruits have yet to be trained in the new barracks. However, if the recruits in the new barracks complete their training and then are assigned to the troops and equipped with weapons, they can form combat effectiveness after one or two months of emergency running-in, and the combat effectiveness of the new troops compiled in this way is relatively average, which will not cause a great gap because of the different training abilities of officers in each army.
However, there is no new barracks in the straight army, and all the recruits need to be trained by themselves. They may be able to reach full strength soon, but they often need a lot of training by themselves if they want to form combat effectiveness. What level soldiers can reach after training depends on the personal ability of the chief officers of the army. Some of the chief officers of the army are outstanding in their ability to lead troops, but some officers are mediocre in their quality, so the combat effectiveness of the troops led by different generals in the warlords’ army, including the straight army, Beiyang, is quite different.
"The 11th Division and the 12th Division are not enough. We should consider whether to deal with the 1st Division and the 1st Hunchenglv. These two troops are hard bones, but it is not easy to fight!" Meng Enyuan said, "And we also need to pay attention to the fact that the Seventh Division of Wang Zhanyuan has rushed north. It won’t be long before the Seventh Division can reach the capital. We must defeat the Lu Yongxiang troops before the Seventh Division arrives!"
Chapter two hundred and fifty-six Artillery battle
Fengjun relies on the Beijing-Fengjun Railway to make rapid maneuvers, which can be described as very fast. It is only one day since the official entry on the 12th. One infantry regiment of the vanguard arrived in Tangshan lightly at noon on the 13th, and then arrived in two infantry regiments at night. The next day, the 14th artillery regiment also arrived in Tangshan one after another.
In addition to the infantry and artillery units of the third division, the first cavalry brigade of the third cavalry regiment of the third division entered the army with the first batch. However, the first cavalry brigade did not directly enter Tangshan, but bypassed Tangshan and moved closer to Yutian and Zunhua. The Ministry was not going to participate in the brutal positional warfare in Tangshan. In that case, it was very wave and foolish to treat cavalry as infantry. They attacked Yutian and Zunhua. On the one hand, they intercepted the direct troops in Chengde, and on the other hand, they tried to include and annihilate thousands of direct troops in this area with the fourth mixed brigade in Chengde.
In just two days, Fengjun transported an infantry division and a cavalry brigade with a total strength of more than 20,000 people, thousands of military horses, dozens of artillery pieces, hundreds of mortars and heavy machine guns, and other materials to the Tangshan front line 150 kilometers away by train. Even in the later World War II, this maneuvering speed is extremely amazing.
In addition, the transportation department under the army commander of the three northeastern provinces and the railway department under the Transportation Bureau of the three northeastern provinces almost searched all the railway wagons of the Jingfeng Railway, and even loaned some of the railway wagons of the Middle East Railway Company in various names in advance, and temporarily suspended the civilian transportation industry of the Jingfeng Railway, which almost brought the capacity of the Jingfeng Railway to the extreme. Only in this way can more than 20,000 people be transported to Tangshan in two days with heavy weapons and equipment.
However, this limit speed can also be temporary. Fengjun transported more than 20,000 people to the Tangshan front line in two days, but the second wave of large-scale railway transportation will be much slower. The main reason is that the railway is a single-track railway, which can’t be used at the same time, which also causes the train skin to return to Shanhai for the second time after leaving for Tangshan. If the front line troops in Tangshan are still in a state of war, the demand for various war materials will be very heavy. When it is big, it will replenish all kinds of war materials to the front line, which will squeeze the original tense railway transportation, which will also cause the subsequent transportation of the second army led by Zhao Dongyun personally. Many of them can’t be transported to the past 20,000 people at one time as before. Cannons and military horses can be part of one-day transportation.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that the two armies won’t fight directly because Zhao Dong’s cloud relatives didn’t lead the main army to Tangshan!
On the 13th, the 1st Division of Lu Yongxiang and the 1st Hunchenglv suspended their attack on Tangshan and retreated a distance ranging from about three kilometers to five kilometers to build a preliminary defense line. On the same day, although Fengjun was reinforced by two infantry regiments, the strategic focus was still on defending Tangshan Institute, Lu Yongxiang actively retreated and did not attack, and they did not leave the fixed fortifications to play field games with Lu Yongxiang. So on the 13th, it was eerily calm all day, even the artillery battle stopped.
However, this situation did not last long. The next day, on June 14, the third artillery regiment of the third division arrived in Tangshan. Although the number of artillery in charge of the army was not straight, its performance was more advanced, which offset the number disadvantage.
Most of the guns equipped by the direct army are the main models of Japanese artillery, the 31-year-old mountain artillery and the 30-year-old field artillery. The mountain artillery was mainly purchased and equipped from Japan in 1993 and 1994, and then the Beiyang Standing Army Zuozhen and the Beijing Banner Standing Army, that is, after the war broke out in the First Division and the Seventh Division last year, most of the guns purchased by Wang Yingkai from Japan were Japanese. 31-year-old field guns and mountain guns purchased by the army in this batch mainly supplement the equipment of the Seventh Division and the First Huncheng Brigade, but there are also some Japanese-style 30-year-old field guns, mountain guns, 30-year rifles and heavy machine guns, which are newly compiled with the equipment of the Eleventh Division and the Twelfth Division, but the purchase quantity is not large.
To put it simply, the first division, the seventh division and the first Huncheng Brigade of the old troops in the straight army are all equipped with 31-year guns, 30-year rifles and Maxim heavy machine guns, while the newly compiled 11th and 12th divisions are equipped with 30-year wild guns, 30-year mountain guns, 30-year rifles and 30-year heavy machine guns.
Almost two columns of weapons are separated by only a few years, but their performance is very different, especially artillery!
Because the direct army continued to organize artillery along the old Beiyang, it was reduced to 16 artillery battalions, which led to the fact that the artillery units in Tangshan area of the direct army are all four battalions, and even the two types are the same, but the number is different. The number of artillery battalions in the direct army is less than that of the direct army, and the number of artillery battalions in the direct army is less than that of the direct army. Plus, the seventh Huncheng Brigade has lost two artillery battalions before the battle, so the number of artillery units in the direct army is less than that of the direct army.
The direct army has 72 75mm guns with four battalions, while the Fengjun army has 62 75mm guns.
However, in the 15th artillery battle, the Fengjun artillery unit gained an advantage!
There is not a big difference in gun range between the two sides, and when the caliber is the same, so rapid fire is the only factor that distinguishes the outcome.
In the early morning of 15th, thirty-two field guns of Fengjun carried out long-distance shelling on the positions of the straight army, and the opposite straight army was not to be outdone. At this time, because the infantry positions of both sides were separated by two to four kilometers, the range of the mountain guns was short, so they did not participate in this shelling.
Then, despite the fact that there were field guns from both sides in the war, more than 60 field guns added up, and they kept bombing. How many results did they get first? This rumbling gun alone was enough to shock others.
In this artillery battle between the two sides, the front-line infantry on both sides were able to shiver and hide in the front trenches and artillery holes, praying that the shells would not fall to their side.
"After this game, it is burning money. I am afraid that it will cost more than 100,000 yuan to play artillery shells in a day’s artillery battle!" Even a Chun Li, a senior general, looked at the overwhelming artillery battle between the two sides and couldn’t help but sigh a word or two. It is estimated that his own army and the artillery units of the direct army across the street can put their hands and feet on it. If it were changed to several warlords, it is estimated that there would be no shells without two shots!
With Fuyuan Machinery Factory, Fengjun’s artillery shells were fully supplemented, and Wang Yingkai was at least the central government and took over most of Beiyang’s resources in Yuan Shikai’s era, especially a large number of materials in Baoding, Shandong and Jingshi. You know, in Yuan Shikai’s era a few years ago, Beiyang Army prepared a large number of artillery shells to bomb other consumable war materials, and most of these materials were accepted by Wang Yingkai.
Moreover, Wang Yingkai not only took over the Beiyang small treasury and other assets, but also took over the former Qing Dynasty Department, the Qing Bank and the capital’s wanton property looting, and got a lot of money. Wang Yingkai spent most of this money on the purchase of armaments to expand his army. He not only imported a large number of rifles and artillery from Japan, but also imported a large number of artillery shells and shells from Japan, which was not short-lived.
While Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen and Wu Fengling are a lot short of ammunition they were able to take with them when they were in the south, and the consumption of the South War was not small. Although Duan Qirui now controls the Jiangnan area, he can search for a lot of money to raise the army in the future. Now he also controls the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, but this money can not be searched in a day or two. Even if he has money, he can not get a lot of ammunition in a day or two. These are all needed.
At present, China can afford large-scale shelling and shoot out thousands of shells in one day. The two armies, Fengjun and Zhijun, rely not on how big or rich the territory they occupy, but on the fact that they have a large amount of ammunition in advance.
On the 15th, it was a large-scale shelling by both armies. However, on the 16th, with the third division stationed in Tangshan, Meng Enyuan tried to attack westward, and his subordinate troops attacked westward gradually. Although the speed was slow, they also dug trenches to a distance of 1000 meters or even 500 meters from both sides.
The close distance between the infantry of both sides means that the artillery units of both sides can also move further ahead, and the two mountain artillery battalions of the Third Division and the Seventh Hunchenglv are also near to deploy three or four kilometers away to launch shelling on the direct positions.
The other side of the straight army was similar. When the Fengjun infantry troops approached, they also entered the range of the straight army over the mountain artillery, so the mountain artillery troops from both sides also joined the artillery battle
On the afternoon of the 17th, the scale of the artillery battle between the two sides further increased. Together, more than 100 guns were fired at the infantry positions of both sides with widths ranging from several hundred meters to one thousand meters.
The proximity of distance not only allows the artillery with a range of five or six kilometers to participate in the war, but also allows Fengjun to join the artillery battle with a large number of 10 mm and 120 mm mortars, which also gives Fengjun more shelling advantages. If it is not for letting the 10 mm and 120 mm mortars in the army fire, Meng Enyuan will not let the infantry move closer to the strong fortifications.
"Teachers can’t fight like this. The artillery fire on the opposite side is really too fierce. I’m afraid the infantry brothers in front will not last long!" A lieutenant colonel in the headquarters of the first division was worried and said to Lu Yongxiang, "If the field guns and mountain guns are all right, but the mortars from the other side are really too threatening, especially those 120 mm mortars, our anti-gun holes can’t hold up!"
Although the 120 mm mortar has many shortcomings, such as short range and poor accuracy, the power is not said. Even if the shell fragments don’t hit, the shock wave alone is enough to make the enemy feel bad. Many soldiers in the direct army were shocked by the shock wave and died directly.
Lu Yongxiang also looked worried. When he first attacked Tangshan, he had great confidence that even if he conquered Tangshan in a short time, it would not be a problem to stop the enemy in Tangshan. This was also the main reason why he built a defense line around Tangshan.
However, it seems that the opposing Fengjun army is not only weak in defense, but also has almost twice as much offensive ability as itself, which is very difficult to fight.
When Lu Yongxiang was worried, Zhao Dongyun was already leading a large number of generals to board his special train to Tangshan.
Chapter two hundred and fifty-seven Counteroffensive
On the evening of June 10th, Zhao Dongyun led a large group of senior generals to Tangshan by special train, accompanied by the Ninth Infantry Division of the Second Army.
The next day, on June 19th, the Fifth Huncheng Brigade also successfully reached the periphery of Tangshan.
On the 20th, the 10th Division and 2nd Cavalry Brigade, the last main force of Fengjun, also arrived in Tangshan one after another.
After a long day of maneuvering, Fengjun finally maneuvered three infantry divisions, one hunchenglv and two cavalry divisions from Shanhai, 150 kilometers away, to Tangshan. If the former ministries went to Shanhai, then they actually left the original station from the ministries. This large-scale military mobilization lasted for nearly a month.
Yun Tangshan, the main force of Fengjun, naturally does not defend the main force, but will undoubtedly choose to launch an active attack
"According to the information from the Intelligence Bureau, the news obtained by the frontline troops’ investigation has now confirmed that the first division of the straight army, the first Huncheng Brigade, the eleventh division and the first brigade of the Zhili Provincial Army have assembled in Tangshan, and there are still three enemy troops with undetermined numbers. At present, the Intelligence Bureau is investigating and describing three detailed numbers, but according to our war department, it is very likely that the total strength of the straight army of the 11th and 12th divisions is about 40,000." The Yang De War Conference explained the latest war situation.
"The direct troops were deployed in Yinfeng and Huanxizhuang, especially in the southern line of Tangshan, which is the main line along the Jingfeng Railway, while the other lines are relatively few. As far as investigation is concerned, the enemy troops in the northwest of Tangshan have not deployed a regiment in the direction of Yutian, while the first cavalry brigade of our army in the north has had small-scale contact with the direct cavalry in Xinglong area a few days ago. At present, the direct troops in Chengde area are still fighting with my fourth mixed brigade."
"At present, our army has assembled two mortar battalions, namely, the third division, the ninth division, the tenth division, the fifth Huncheng brigade, the seventh Huncheng brigade, the second cavalry brigade and the heavy artillery battalion, in terms of strength and equipment, our army has a relatively large advantage, so many colleagues have fought to recognize that it is time for Tangshan to launch a general attack!"
Yang De, the director of the war department, sat at the first place on the left, Meng Enyuan’s mouth. "We launched a counterattack a few days ago, but the fighting capacity of the direct army opposite, especially the First Division and the First Hunchenglv, is still relatively strong. We have resisted our army’s large-scale counterattack twice in a row, and we can also know that the direct army’s frontal defense capability is still quite difficult in these two wars. If we want to launch a general attack, I suggest that we can’t take a frontal breakthrough, otherwise even if we win, I’m afraid it will be a disastrous victory!"
In the past days, the two armies in Zhifeng have been at war with each other many times. The second day was the direct attack, and then the third, fourth and fifth days were quiet confrontation, mainly for large-scale artillery battles. After the sixth and seventh days, Fengjun gradually got more reinforcements, it tried to counterattack, but the counterattack effect was very unsatisfactory.
19th just arrived in Tangshan and replaced the 19th Brigade of the 9th Division of the 7th Huncheng Brigade Defence Line with three artillery battalions to support a large-scale attack on the enemy forces in Yinfeng area, that is, the 1st Division under Lu Yongxiang’s hand. However, after a fierce battle in the afternoon, the 19th Brigade successfully captured several positions, but its own casualties were as high as 500, which finally led to the failure of a day. At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Zhao Dongyun personally ordered the 19th Brigade to stop the attack. Because of this storm, the 19th Brigade would be crippled in two days!
In addition, two days ago, the Third Division and the Seventh Huncheng Brigade also tried to launch several small and medium-sized counterattacks. It has been proved that their defensive ability is good, but others’ direct troops are not bad. Dozens of machine guns are thrown at the front, and even if they are well trained, they will have to pay a lot of casualties if they want to storm, and this kind of casualties will be borne by the law, whether they are direct troops or direct troops
Straight army and Bong army are both typical warlord troops. Their tolerance for casualty rate is relatively poor, and there is another key reason. The reason is that both Wang Yingjie and Zhao Dongyun have trained these tens of thousands of troops, but it is not easy to say that these troops are their painstaking efforts. Hundreds of casualties are enough to make them feel sad.
Otherwise, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen in the Southern War will not be heavily involved in the new training of the provincial army, not because of how good the fighting capacity of the provincial army is, but because Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen regard these provincial troops as cannon fodder, which will only be put into the main force at a critical moment, that is, the fourth and sixth divisions of the Central Army corps. On weekdays, these main forces will not be pulled out to fight a war of attrition, otherwise it will be enough for them to feel distressed if hundreds of people are killed or injured casually.
Now, Zhao Dongyun is the main force on the ground in Tangshan, because he has patrol troops with similar provincial nature, but these patrol troops have to stay outside to deploy bulletproof places, and it’s not very difficult to get them, because these provincial troops and patrol troops are facing the Beiyang elite base, that is, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen collapsed in World War I, but the south made the provincial army, which is because the level of the southern federal troops opposite is even worse.
However, who is the opposite Wang Yingkai? He has a lot of old Beiyang troops, and those newly compiled troops are also the main forces. Although Wang Yingkai, a provincial army, has several brigades, no one takes them seriously
In this direct war, whether it is the provincial army or the patrol police, this kind of cannon fodder is whether it can really decide the outcome or the main forces of both sides
When the investment was the elite main force, more than 500 people were killed and injured in this tentative brigade attack, which was enough for Zhao Dongyun to personally stop the attack of the 19th brigade.