On the loudspeaker, the commander's voice shouted:

"Get into formation... Get into formation... Keep moving..."

…

There was a ping-pong-pong on the river, and the observation posts on the border line had already called the headquarters. At this time, the submarine force headquarters also received the telegram from the Qingshuang, and quickly reported it to the Supreme Command in the Purple Mountain Fortress.

The high command immediately made a judgment: the expected Manchu Qing invasion to the south, taking advantage of the fog, had begun!

On the defense line, the red lights in the underground fortifications flashed, and alarms echoed in the reinforced concrete tunnels. Groups of sleeping soldiers got up, quickly put on their helmets, and rushed to their respective posts. Officers wearing big-brimmed hats

Standing in the corridor, waving and shouting:

"Quick! Quick! Run quickly!!..."

Soon, an exciting and steady voice echoed from the loudspeaker:

"Soldiers... Qinglu invaded on a large scale... Behind us is our home, our parents, wives and sisters... We swear to the death not to let Qinglu set foot on the south bank... We are the strongest line of defense, and we train

You are well trained, fight bravely, and are not afraid of sacrifice... Soldiers, the fate of the Ming Empire is in your hands... The time has come to serve the country by killing the enemy and making contributions..."

In the underground passages that stretch for more than ten kilometers, sirens and morale-boosting sounds echo everywhere. An electric pickup truck speeds along the railway tracks in the tunnel, transporting various materials to various fortresses a few kilometers away. One after another

The fire-proof and anti-virus doors were opened one after another, letting it fly through.

A few hundred meters behind the river embankment, a giant artillery fortress stands at an interval.

Underneath the giant steel-and-cement fortress several meters thick, a group of artillerymen were fully dressed, wearing asbestos hoods, gloves, earplugs, and masks. They rushed up from the living area several meters deep underground and entered the fortress.

The giant 280 mm caliber fortress gun stood in the fortress, like a small locomotive, with its black muzzle just a little beyond the firing port of the fortress.

On the underground floor, in the command room, a dozen officers were sitting around a small table, calculating shooting data. An officer wearing a headset received the intelligence and reported the rough data to them. After quick calculations, these officers calculated the shooting data.

The data is input into the fire control computer in another room. The large and small gears in the "computer" rotate a few times, the calculation is completed, and the accurate shooting elements are jumped out. The shooting elements are first reported to the gun crew above through the phone.

The gunner was listening to the microphone by the wall, shouting loudly to shoot Zhu Yuan. The artillerymen beside the cannon quickly shook the large and small handles. The cannon moved forward a few meters on the rails, and the long barrel extended out of the fortress.

Start to lift slowly.

At the lowest level of the entire underground fortification, in the ammunition depot, several soldiers in canvas coats pushed a cart and lifted a shell as big as a liquefied gas cylinder into the elevator. A noncommissioned officer held a phone and accepted the order:

"Yes, the cannonball has entered the elevator! Yes! Lift it up immediately!"

With a gesture, the elevator made a long "Woo---" sound, and the giant cannonball rose from the deep underground to the ground. After a while, the elevator came down again and sent up two more cylindrical powder packets.

In the fort, a small crane clicked, and the iron chain hoisted the cannonball to the position of the cannon breech. The four loaders stabilized the cannonball, and with a combined force push, the giant cannonball slid into the cannon breech. The leader of the loading team roared:

"280 mm high-explosive bomb, loaded correctly——!!!"

Immediately afterwards, a thick gunpowder bag was also sent into the barrel:

"Propulsion drug section 1, loaded correctly——!!!"

"Propellant Section 2, loaded correctly——!!!"

"280mm high-explosive bomb, ready for launch!!!"

…

The gunnery commander was holding a phone, waiting for orders from the commander in chief of the fort. A few meters underground, the commander in chief was holding a phone, waiting for orders from the Eastern Section Defense Line Headquarters.

A few minutes later, a voice shouted:

"Yes, I understand! Send the order and fire immediately!"

"Fire immediately!"

In the fortress, the red light flashed, and the siren sounded sharply before the cannon was fired. The gun crew jumped down from the cannon, retreated a few meters away, turned their backs to the cannon, put down their asbestos hoods, blocked their ears with their hands, and closed their eyes tightly.

A few seconds later, dazzling flames spewed out from the firing port, and a roaring air flow filled the interior of the fortress. The artillerymen's clothes were lifted up, and the ground trembled.

Almost at the same time, depending on the distance, a series of thunderous roars came from the left and right.

Both Nanjing and Pukou can feel the trembling of the earth.

In the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River Defense Line, four 280mm forts, six 210mm forts, and twelve 155mm forts fired in an instant.

…

At the Pukou Pier, there was a huge crowd of Qing soldiers, noisily boarding the ship. The officers of each battalion, company, and platoon held the metal loudspeaker to gather the team to prevent them from getting separated in the heavy fog. Even so, the wharf was still noisy.

Because there are muddy beaches on both sides of Pukou Pier, it is impossible to transport troops onto the ship, so all the assault boats attacking Nanjing are here to load troops in batches, and then go to the river to spread out into a broad front, and then rush towards the south bank. The first one just now

The attack wave had already set off by boat. It sounded like a battle on the river, and now it encountered a mine. However, this was all expected. Although the dock was crowded, it was not very panic.

Suddenly, a semicircular light flashed on the south bank, and then dense thunder sounded. All the Qing soldiers looked at the sky above the south in shock, and the air seemed to be torn apart.

A few seconds later…

A heavy artillery shell roared down, and the circular fire shock wave instantly drew a bright circle. Within a few dozen meters, everything flew into the sky, including clods of soil, stones, big trees, people, and trucks, all followed by black

The earth rose to the sky.

In the blink of an eye, several more artillery shells fell in the surrounding areas, causing mountains to collapse and the ground to shake.

…

This is just the landing place for the 155mm artillery shells. The really terrible thing happened behind Fenghuang Mountain a few kilometers away. The Qing army's heavy artillery positions near Tangquan Town and Yongning Town were the targets of the Ming army's giant artillery. These 210 and 280 mm cannons

The huge cannonball fell behind the mountain, and the fire was shining like an earthquake.

However, because the Qing army's artillery positions were not fixed in coordinates like Pukou Pier, the Ming army did not know the exact location and only fired a volley in the general direction, mainly for the purpose of deterrence and suppression.

Ten minutes later, the Ming army's shelling stopped.

At least ten shells hit the dock area, most of them hitting the surrounding area.

But just a dozen or so heavy artillery shells left Pukou Pier littered with corpses, and several cars were thrown far away, burning. The Qing troops crowded here suffered heavy casualties, and there were screams and wails.

It took a long time before the surviving Qing soldiers raised their heads one after another. After confirming that they were safe and sound, they began to push and retreat in a chaotic manner. Many Qing soldiers who had suffered a mental breakdown roared and tried desperately to escape in all directions, as if they were escaping from the dock.

There is help.

The military police and officers shouted and fired warning shots, but to no avail. Thousands of Qing soldiers pushed them down and trampled on each other. Many people shouted:

"Brothers, the officials want us to die, so run!"

"Run..."

"run……"

Two machine guns outside the pier rang out, spraying flames on the fleeing people, and a large area of ​​the crowd fell down like mowing grass.

The escape was quickly suppressed, and large numbers of Qing troops continued to be forced at gunpoint by military police and officers to board assault boats.

At the station behind the pier, there was a long blast, a train stopped breathing heavily, dozens of carriages opened, and countless Qing soldiers jumped down and poured into the pier to join the attacking team.

The assault boats on the river were already densely packed again.

Those killed by artillery shells, those killed by machine gun suppression, and the number of soldiers killed by mines were several hundred, but they were just a drop in the bucket in the face of the endless stream of troops assembled by the Qing army.

…

In Beijing, Emperor Guangwu read the telegram, gently threw it on the table, looked at a circle of generals looking at each other, and said nonchalantly:

"I didn't expect the Ming Army to be able to hit such accurate targets in foggy weather... But they were just hitting fixed targets. I didn't expect the Ming Army's mines to be so dense, but no matter how dense they were, it would only be a few hundred meters away. It would take people to fill a path.

, we were prepared from the beginning... We are not afraid of thousands and tens of thousands of people dying. We are willing to die... Haha, with this heavy fog at the bottom, Nanming is doomed this time. I went to Nanjing

The Forbidden City celebrates the Spring Festival, the plan remains unchanged.”

…

On the Yangtze River, the sky was already bright, but the fog was still thick and the visibility was very low. The assault boats were noisy, and the front and back waves mixed together and collided with each other. Suddenly, a loudspeaker behind them shouted:

"Get out of the way, everyone, get out of the way!"

Following the shouting, there was a sound of steam that was different from the motor of an assault boat. Gradually, a figure appeared in the fog. It was a small steam wheel used to transport coal. There was a chimney above its head, and sparks were sprayed in the black smoke.

The ship now has a very high hull and is not loaded with coal. The cabin is filled with empty oil barrels, and the sides and front of the ship are also full of empty oil barrels. There is no one in the ship, and the rudder has been tied with iron chains.

died.
Chapter completed!