At the same time, there was already chaos in the headquarters of the 29th Division of Zhenjiang City.
Several warships suddenly appeared on the river, completely cutting off the 6th Division's retreat.
When the Zhijun troops stationed on the riverside saw this, their morale was even more chaotic, and the ferries also ran away one after another.
"Teacher, something bad has happened."
The adjutant came to Qi Lu in horror, "We just lost contact with Luo Feng's Zhiliu Division. Do you think Commander Luo and the others did not escape from Liyang..."
"Ha! Ha! Ha!, God is going to kill me!" Qi Lu's face turned pale when she heard this, and her heart was ashen.
"Why is this happening? In just one day, all our two divisions and four brigades were destroyed. Even 50,000 pigs must have been captured by Lu Yongxiang for several days!"
Seeing that Qi Lu was getting angry, the adjutant also took the time to finish the attack, "Master, those warships on the river claimed to be the Anhui Army and blocked the retreat of our 29th Division. They just used a flag to tell us to surrender quickly. Don't do it." Making meaningless resistance..."
"ah!"
"Damn Lu Yongxiang wants to use warships to force me to surrender. This is a wishful thinking. Even if I, Qi Lu, die together, I will fight to the death to bite off a layer of his skin!"
Qi Lu's face turned red and her ears were red. She roared heartbreakingly and incompetently, and overturned the table to the ground.
"Move the mountain artillery battalion to the riverside, aim at the warships on the river, and hit me hard!"
Seeing that Qi Lu had completely lost her mind, the adjutant was ready to issue an order and run away.
"This is the commander. I'm going to give the order to have the mountain artillery battalion sink the warships on the river."
…
"These guys are really interesting. They want to attack us with direct fire from mountain cannons. Isn't this looking for death?"
In the command room of the destroyer Mujiao, Deng Shichang put down his telescope with disbelief on his face.
Even though I'm just three destroyers, you can't despise me like this!
Not only did the 29th Division dig up artillery positions on the riverside openly, but they also transported more than a dozen 75mm mountain cannons. Didn't this treat Deng Shichang as a blind man?
Deng Shichang would not get used to the Zhizhi Army's stubborn resistance and self-destruction.
"The enemy troops on the riverside have made strange movements and want to attack us with mountain cannons. Immediately notify the two ships Kanglong and Cangrong to cooperate with us in destroying the mountain cannon positions on the riverside."
"Then according to the defense plan sent by the commander-in-chief, the enemy positions in the city will be shelled."
"Yes, Captain!"
Not long after, the three Fletcher destroyers turned their turrets and aimed at the artillery positions of the Central Army.
15 single-barreled Mk12 127mm naval guns, 9 twin 40mm Bofors cannons, and 15 single-barreled 20mm Oerlikon cannons were at full firepower.
"Boom!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Hundreds of artillery shells of various types, trailing long tail flames, hit the feet of the Zhizhi army accurately.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The artillery position of the Zhili Army suddenly burst into flames and filled with smoke. Before most of the soldiers could react, they were turned into flesh and blood in the cannon fire.
Immediately afterwards, the 15 single-barreled Mk12 127mm naval guns adjusted their muzzles and continued to cover the Zhili troops in Zhenjiang City with artillery fire according to the defense map.
Within 6 minutes, thousands of 127mm artillery shells were poured into the Zhili Army positions in the city, completely blowing Zhenjiang City into ruins.
Don't think the author is bragging. The Mk12 naval gun uses a semi-automatic breech block. The recoil after firing will reset the firing pin and eject the cartridge case.
The rate of fire of this gun can reach 15 to 22 rounds/minute. It is rumored that under the operation of a skilled loader, it can even shoot a high rate of fire of 25 rounds/minute.
However, due to the large number of buildings in Zhenjiang City and the fact that the 29th Division was scattered in various places.
Under the command of Qi Lu, relatively standard anti-gun fortifications were built, which greatly reduced the damage of naval guns and only killed about 3,000 people of the 29th Division.
"Something bad has happened, Master!"
Yu Boheng, deputy commander of the 29th Division, rushed into the dilapidated headquarters in a hurry.
"Master, the warship parked on the river just now suddenly opened fire. The brothers in the division's artillery battalion were still digging for positions and had no time to react. Together with more than a dozen mountain cannons, they were all destroyed by the warship's fire."
"In addition, our positions in Zhenjiang City were also severely attacked. Several main regiments..."
"That's enough, stop talking!"
The ferocious shelling just now affected even the 29th Division headquarters.
"Have someone report the casualties to me as soon as possible. I really did a stupid thing!"
Qi Lu was certainly not a fool, and he suddenly regretted his reckless move just now.
How can anyone use mountain cannons to attack warships? The damage and range of naval cannons can overwhelm land cannons.
At the moment, he could only ask his father, Qi Xieyuan, to ask for help from the provincial governors directly under his control. As for how much interests would be damaged, Qi Lu tremblingly dialed the phone.
"Father... the 9th Zhi Division and the 6th Zhi Division are... completely finished. The Anhui Army still has warships and has blocked the Zhenjiang River. Now my 29th Division has no choice but to find another way to survive the desperate situation. I request you to directly Give up Zhenjiang City..."
Qi Xieyuan on the other end of the phone heard this and yelled like a roaring lion, "Damn it, I gave all my direct descendants to you, but you squandered them all. I should have shot you against the wall back then..."
This sounded like Qi Lu's face was full of dark thoughts. Didn't you insist on attacking from Yixing in the first place, and now that something went wrong, you just blamed the labor and management?
However, Qi Lu thought so in her heart and did not dare to say it, "Father, now is not the time for you and me to shirk our responsibilities. You must lose face now and tell Cai Chenxun, Ma Lianjia, Sun Chuanfang... and Wu Peifu and Cao Kun of Pingjing as soon as possible. Call for help, only by calling on old buddies like you can we turn defeat into victory."
…
The father and son discussed for a while, then hung up the phone. Qi Lu stood up and took a brief glance.
"Deputy Commander Yu, later you will send a signal to the enemy warships on the river, saying that we are willing to surrender unconditionally and asking them to stop the bombardment."
"Master, what do you mean by this? Do you really want us to surrender unconditionally to the 29th Division?" Yu Boheng was a little confused, while Qi Lu snorted coldly.
"Humph, you want me to surrender. Lu Yongxiang is just wishful thinking. This time we are just pretending to surrender to let the enemy relax their vigilance. We can take advantage of tonight to secretly attack Chen Cang."
"Deputy Commander Yu, you go and assemble the troops immediately, throw away some useless things, and try to lighten the soldiers' load. We will wait for the 29th Division. In the dead of night, the whole division will leave Zhenjiang and move up the river to 80 kilometers away. Go to Jinling City."
…
In Liyang City, where there was little smoke, Lu Xiaojia sat alone in the canvas tent. After checking the list of loot in his hand, he couldn't help laughing with joy.
"Stain! stain! stain!"
"2.03 million silver dollars, 85 large yellow croakers, 634 small yellow croakers... Don't tell me, although these Zhijun troops are not good at fighting, they are good at making money."
You must know that in this turbulent era, the barrel of a gun is the only way to go.
No matter how big a landowner, country squire or rich man you are, or how much money you have in your hands, when you meet someone with military power, you can only become a lamb to be slaughtered.
Including many powerful officials, in front of the big warlords, they can only be "toys"
After all, even the political power of China is now in the hands of these Beiyang warlords.
You, the officials of all provinces, are not the mascots in the hands of the provincial governor.
While Lu Xiaojia was lost in thought, the translator hurriedly pushed open the tent.
"Report, Master, there is new news!"
"It's already dark, what news can there be?"
Lu Xiaojia muttered, put down the list in her hand, and took the telegram with a puzzled expression.
"Hey, this old Deng is very capable!"
Deng Shichang said in the telegram that the 29th Zhizhi Division would surrender directly and unconditionally, and asked Lu Xiaojia to send troops to Zhenjiang City tomorrow to accept the surrender of the 29th Zhizhi Division.
"These guys have the foresight to save me from wasting artillery shells and killing people indiscriminately."
Lu Xiaojia didn't think much about this. He could only say that the commander of the 29th Division was a smart man.
After all, he is a discerning person and can see how unstoppable Lu Xiaojia is. Even if they don't surrender now, he can beat them into surrender tomorrow.
"Okay, I already know the situation. You should go down and rest quickly."
"Yes, Master!"
After the translator left, Lu Xiaojia opened the system and spent another 500,000 silver dollars to purchase 5 sets of Rakshasa Kingdom's N2P-41 heavy-duty pontoon system.
A pontoon bridge, also known as a pontoon bridge, refers to a bridge that uses boats or pontoons instead of piers to float on the water.
This heavy-duty boat bridge has a load capacity of 30 to 60 tons and can be used for medium-sized tanks, armored vehicles, and other corresponding crawler and wheeled trucks.
[System, you can send this batch of pontoon equipment to Zhenjiang City for free tomorrow. 】
[Ding, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The host needs to pay a transportation fee of 10,000 silver dollars. 】
The picture shows the ISU152 self-propelled artillery passing the N2P-41 heavy boat bridge
Lu Xiaojia had nothing to do with the system's money-grubbing character.
After all, there is no one living on the Yangtze River now. It is not like in later generations. Bridges have been built everywhere, and heavy equipment cannot fly directly over it.
