November 28, 1937:

Early in the morning, all the troops in the Jiangyin defense area discovered unusual movements by the Japanese devils.

The Sixth-Sixty-Seventh Regiment of the One Hundred Twelfth Division, stationed in Leijia Village, reported: Japanese reconnaissance squads were sighted, about thirty of them riding warhorses.

A company had already been sent out to drive them away.

The Sixth-Sixty-Eighth Regiment, stationed in the Xia Gang town of Xiagang Port, reported: Japanese cavalry reconnaissance teams were sighted.

Teams had been sent out to drive them away, but the Japanese relied on their fast horses, and the defending troops didn't dare to leave their positions too far.

Just as they drove the Japanese away and returned to their positions, the Japanese scouts came back again.

The Six-Thirteenth Regiment of the One Hundred Third Division reported: Heavy Japanese forces were gathering in front of Shangqi Town.

Xiaoshan Fort also received news: Japanese ships stationed downstream were moving upstream.

The entire Jiangyin defense line was fraught with enemy activity.

Small Japanese reconnaissance detachments were everywhere, probing the defending forces' strengths and weaknesses from several directions.

No matter how they tried to drive away these Japanese reconnaissance cavalry, they were like maggots on a bone or flies drawn to a scent, impossible to get rid of.

At least twenty kilometers away from the fort, in both north and south directions, Japanese artillery observation balloons were rising into the air.

Inside the command posts of the Fifth and Sixth Field Heavy Artillery Brigades, things were extremely busy. Staff officers were compiling detailed intelligence about the fortress defenders' positions discovered by various reconnaissance squads.

They were constantly marking them on sand tables and maps.

At the same time, more staff officers were performing calculations on newly delivered targets.

They were to launch precision strikes on these targets at ten o'clock.

The more intelligence sent from the front, the more detailed it was, the greater their workload became.

But the better the effect of the strikes against the defending forces would be.

Today was a beautiful day, the morning sun rising from the east.

Not a cloud in the sky, it was a good day!

Even on such a beautiful day, everyone felt a sense of oppression.

Even the yarn factories in Jiangyin City were closed today.

The schools were also on holiday.

Everyone felt that a great battle was imminent.

All indications pointed to the Japanese devils wanting to make a big move today.

Commander Liu Xing ordered all units to hold their ground and be on high alert.

Inside the Jiangyin headquarters, various messages and intelligence reports flowed in like water.

There were quite a few staff officers in his Jiangyin Defense Headquarters.

But all they could conclude from the reported intelligence was that the Japanese devils were planning a major operation today.

They would launch attacks from multiple directions.

The main direction of the Japanese attack was still unclear.

Time passed minute by minute, and from the reports coming in from the front:

The Japanese devils' major operation was imminent, perhaps just a minute away.

But they were still biding their time.

Finally, the time reached ten o'clock in the morning:

All the forts in the entire Jiangyin defense area were simultaneously bombarded by Japanese artillery fire.

All forward fortifications were also covered by Japanese artillery fire.

The ships of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, moving along the river, also entered the attack range.

They began bombing the fortresses.

The Six-Thirteenth Regiment, located on the outermost periphery of the Jiangyin defense area, requested artillery support.

Fort A immediately opened fire, but this time the Japanese artillery positions were beyond the range of all the fortress's cannons.

The fortress's artillery fire was completely unable to strike the Japanese artillery.

The two Japanese heavy artillery brigades, from the south and north directions respectively, comprehensively suppressed all the artillery positions of the Jiangyin Fortress.

Commander Xu Kang directed the fortress's artillery fire to return fire at the Japanese ships on the river.

For now, they could only hit what they could reach.

Division Commander Ogisu Rippei saw that the Jiangyin Fortress's artillery fire could not pose a threat to his artillery positions.

He immediately ordered four columns of infantry and cavalry to attack in a probing manner.

The One Hundred Third Regiment immediately attacked Leijia Village, Houzhen, and Nanzha Town, which were defended by the Sixth-Sixty-Seventh Regiment.

The Twenty-Sixth Regiment immediately attacked Leiting Town, and the Sixty-Fifth Regiment attacked Shangqi Town.

The One Hundred Sixteenth Regiment directly attacked Dingshan.

Jiang Zhenghao was a company commander in the Sixth-Thirteenth Regiment of the National Revolutionary Army. In the past few days, he had been stationed in Shangqi Town.

That day, with the support of the brothers in the fort, he had personally witnessed how the Japanese tanks, cavalry, and infantry were blasted back.

Today, his company had discovered Japanese figures moving around in front of the position since morning.

At ten o'clock, his company commander's fortifications were subjected to fierce artillery fire from the Japanese devils.

"Get into the shelters! Get into the shelters!"

Company Commander Jiang Zhenghao urged loudly.

The sight of the Japanese devils being blown to pieces by the fort's cannons a few days ago.

Had reminded Company Commander Jiang Zhenghao, and in the past few days, his company had been digging shelters non-stop, mainly to guard against the Japanese devils' artillery bombardment.

Having witnessed the power of artillery fire, the soldiers of the entire company could appreciate the necessity of building shelters.

Now, only three sentries were left on the company's defense line, and all the other soldiers had entered the shelters.

This was the best way to preserve their strength.

From the start of the Japanese devils' bombardment, the entire company's position felt like the earth was shaking.

And it had been going on for fifteen minutes since ten o'clock.

There was no sign of the artillery bombardment ending.

Jiang Zhenghao was most concerned about the three sentries who were still holding on to the position at this time.

They were the eyes of the entire company.

The three sentries could see each other, and the situation of the three sentries could also be seen from inside the shelters.

However, the Japanese devils' artillery fire was too fierce now, and the smoke was thick, making it very hazy at a distance of less than fifty meters.

Qiu Zhengde's body suddenly trembled, and Jiang Zhenghao, crouching in the shelter, saw a large wet patch suddenly appear on his back.

"Qiu Zhengde!" Jiang Zhenghao immediately wanted to rush out.

He was held down by the first squad leader: "I'll go!"

Squad Leader Qu Xingchao bent over and rushed over quickly.

He reached Qiu Zhengde in a few seconds, turned his body over, and took just one look.

Qiu Zhengde's chest had been ripped open with a palm-sized hole, and his eyes were still open, staring straight ahead.

Qu Xingchao shook his head at the many pairs of eyes that had been watching him, indicating that he could not be saved.

He gently smoothed Qiu Zhengde's eyelids: "Rest in peace, brother! Your brothers will avenge you."

Qu Xingchao looked at the front of the position: there were no Japanese devils within at least two hundred meters in front of the position.

He searched carefully, not reassured: the smoke and dust on the entire position was too thick, which was really affecting his vision.

Qu Xingchao looked at the other two soldiers who were acting as eyes, and they were also trying hard to look ahead of the position.

There was no sign of anything yet.

This made Squad Leader Qu Xingchao feel a little relieved.

When the Japanese devils' artillery fire began, Lin Fan began to prepare to fight back.

From what he had learned, the Japanese devils' artillery positions were set up very far away this time.

They were simply out of reach of the cannons on the fort.

This time, Lin Fan did not apply to take the initiative to attack.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, or that he didn't dare.

It was just because the Japanese devils' formation was so large today.

It was obvious that they wanted to take it all down in one go, wanting to capture the entire fortress today.

Then the army's bombardment would come, and their navy was on the way, and would start working soon.

The Japanese devils' air force was also not lacking.

Sure enough, less than ten minutes after the Japanese army's artillery bombardment began, their naval fleet also appeared on the river.

The Third Fleet organized more than sixty ships this time.

The heavy cruiser "Chokai" was at the forefront.

This was a ship built by Japan during the economic crisis after changing its national development strategy, specifically for combat in the new era.

It could be said that from the moment this cruiser was conceived, its mission was aggression.

This cruiser had a standard displacement of 13,400 tons and was 203.76 meters long.

It was 19.51 meters wide, had a draft of 6.44 meters, and its main engine had 130,000 horsepower.

Its maximum speed was 34.25 knots per hour, and its endurance was 8,500 nautical miles.

It was equipped with ten 203 mm main guns, eight 127 mm secondary guns.

Sixty-six 25 mm guns and four 610 mm torpedo tubes.

There were also two carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft.

The entire "Chokai" heavy cruiser had 2,400 tons of armor, accounting for just over 20% of the ship's structure.

Its side main armor belt was 127 mm thick, the deck's horizontal armor was 46 mm thick, and the main turret's frontal armor was 25 mm thick.

In addition, its ammunition depot and engine room were strengthened with an additional 76 mm of vertical and horizontal armor.

The entire warship had a crew of as many as 892 people.

Now, the two reconnaissance aircraft on the deck of the "Chokai" heavy cruiser had taken off.

It acted as the Third Fleet's meat shield and output, charging at the forefront.

Such a strongly protected warship stood on the Yangtze River.

The sixteen 203 mm main guns and eight 127 mm secondary guns fired at the Jiangyin Fortress at the same time.

Behind it, more Japanese naval warships were bombarding the various forts of the Jiangyin Fortress.

Today, the Third Fleet, commanded by Commander-in-Chief Hasegawa Kiyoshi, had sixty 203 mm naval guns bombarding the Jiangyin Fortress.

In addition, at least one hundred 100 mm or larger naval guns were providing support.

Such intense artillery fire had made it impossible for most of the artillery on the entire fort to operate normally.

Some artillery pieces had just been pushed out of their pits, braving the artillery fire, when they were hit by shells falling from the sky.

Even so, the counterattack from the various forts of the entire fortress never stopped.

Lin Fan operated this 88 mm anti-aircraft gun of the special forces company that could strike the Japanese naval ships on the river.

This time, he leveled the anti-aircraft gun again.

He used it as a fortress gun, just as the gun that sticks out gets shot.

The same was true for artillery. Like many cannons on the fort, Lin Fan's first shot was aimed at the "Chokai" heavy cruiser.

Who told it to charge at the front, showing off like that?

Lin Fan's first shot accurately hit the "Chokai"'s side below the waterline.

But it didn't seem to have any effect.

Things underwater were not clear.

Lin Fan's second shot was deliberately aimed at the side above the waterline. This time, Lin Fan saw that the shell hit the heavy cruiser.

It didn't penetrate the armor at all, just dented it.

This made Lin Fan feel helpless.

Now, the Japanese devils' "Chokai" heavy cruiser was 7,300 meters away from Lin Fan.

The armor-piercing shells with the best armor-piercing effect in his hand could only penetrate 110 mm of armor at a distance of 2,000 meters.

The "Chokai" heavy cruiser's side armor was as thick as 127 mm.

More importantly, the armor-piercing thickness would be greatly reduced at a distance of 7,300 meters.

Now Lin Fan could no longer strike the hull of this cruiser.

He could only carry out pinpoint eliminations of the guns on this cruiser.

Lin Fan's third shot hit a Japanese gun, and the position of the gun exploded instantly.

Kutaramoku Takuma was just a small artillery squad leader, and his squad had only nine people in total.

Kutaramoku Takuma had always been proud of his profession.

Because he was an artillery squad leader on the Imperial "Chokai" heavy cruiser.

Even more because of the advanced nature of this "Chokai" heavy cruiser: a speed of 35.5 knots per hour was equivalent to running wildly on land at 66 kilometers per hour.

Not to mention the ten 240 mm cannons on this warship.

One of these ten cannons was operated by Kutaramoku Takuma with his men.

Since coming to the waters of this former suzerain state of the empire two months ago.

The number of shells that Squad Leader Kutaramoku Takuma had dropped on this land had exceeded 300.

Today, the entire fleet was ordered to open up the waterway to the capital of the suzerain state.

The entire ship had been prepared early in the morning.

Now was the time for Kutaramoku Takuma to perform.

From the moment the order to fire was given, Squad Leader Kutaramoku Takuma's squad had fired seven shells.

The eighth shell was also being loaded.

During the time since his gun had opened fire, the defending forces' artillery fire had also landed on the deck and hit the warship.

These shells could not break through the armor on the side of the warship, nor could they break through the armor on the deck.

At most, it would just make the warship shake gently.

Such shaking had long been accustomed to by everyone on the entire warship.

Floating on the sea, who can not drift?

Just as Squad Leader Kutaramoku Takuma was carefully urging Mizuyoshi Noguchi to carefully send the trolley to the base of the cannon.

Amidst the many loud noises generated when the shells were fired, Squad Leader Kutaramoku Takuma heard the sound of shells whistling and rushing over.

This sound was different from the sound fired from his side, sharper, without the booming sound of those shells when they were just fired.

Squad Leader Kutaramoku Takuma did not care about these shell attacks:

The armor in front of the artillery, which was as thick as 25 millimeters, would block everything.

Then, the eyes of Squad Leader Kutaramoku Takuma suddenly lit up.

It was as if a sun rose from inside the armor, and the protective armor of this gun was like glass hit by a stone.

It shattered instantly!

These armor fragments, mixed with the fragments generated when the shell exploded, filled the entire gun emplacement.

Not only that, but it was unknown which fragment hit the fuse located in front of the shell.

As a result, this shell, weighing a full 260 pounds, exploded on the gun emplacement.

This time, it finally blew up the entire gun emplacement.

The artillery battle between the enemy and ourselves had reached the present, and the National Revolutionary Army finally caused damage to the Japanese devils' warship on the river for the first time.

All the officers and soldiers on the forts were greatly encouraged when they saw the fire rising from the "Chokai" heavy cruiser.

Lin Fan found a way to cripple it. Next, he began to clear the gun emplacements on the entire cruiser in a targeted manner.

The gun emplacement where Squad Leader Kutaramoku Takuma was located was completely blown open, and the entire cannon, along with the gun emplacement, fell into the lower layer.

A black hole appeared here.

Sergeant Nada Yuma, who was next to Squad Leader Kutaramoku Takuma's gun emplacement, listened to the clanging sound of steel fragments hitting the outside of the armor of his main gun.

He could not help but close his eyes and quietly wait for the call of Amaterasu Omikami.

Then, his whole body felt a violent vibration. The clanging sound that he had just heard was drowned out by the "rumbling" sound of the shell exploding, and he could not hear anything.

Next, the armor that could still hold on finally cracked in some places.

Pieces of fragments broke through the armor and began to wreak havoc on the gun emplacement.

Squad Leader Nada Yuma was undoubtedly lucky, and the people on his gun emplacement were also lucky. Only three unlucky ghosts in the nine-man combat team died.

Squad Leader Nada Yuma simply ordered the three corpses to be dragged to the side and continued to prepare to fire.

When Lin Fan shot down the third main gun on this cruiser.

The air raid siren sounded on the fortress.

Enemy planes appeared again in the distance.

The calm voice of the observer came out: Enemy planes are 15,000 meters away.

Fourteen thousand meters!

Lin Fan, who had just caused damage to the Japanese devils' cruiser, had already begun to adjust the position of the gun when he heard the air raid siren, preparing to intercept the Japanese devils' planes.

At this time, the officers and soldiers on the fortress did not notice that the artillery bombardment on the infantry fortifications in the entire Jiangyin defense area had ended in the distance.

The Japanese devils' infantry began to attack.

Qu Xingchao, the squad leader of the company defending Shangqi Town, clearly felt that the density of the Japanese devils' artillery bombardment had decreased.

Company Commander Jiang Zhenghao also observed this situation in the shelter.

While the enemy's artillery bombardment still had aftershocks, he had already led his men to the front trench.

He urged loudly: "Quick! Machine guns get into position quickly, restore the damaged fortifications.

Prepare for battle."

They saw that the Japanese devils' infantry was less than 100 meters away from the position.

Artillery bombardment! Infantry charge!

This was the Japanese devils' standard tactic.

Today, the Japanese devils' artillery was afraid of being bombarded by the fortress guns on the fortress.

Therefore, they retreated a little far, so these infantrymen of the Japanese devils were afraid of being accidentally injured, and the safe distance was a little far.

After most of Jiang Zhenghao's company had entered their positions, the vanguard of the Japanese devils also charged within 50 meters.

Company Commander Jiang Zhenghao gave an order: "Fire!"

Hundreds of guns in the entire company fired at the same time.

Among the more than 100 Japanese devils in the first company of the first battalion of the 65th Regiment of the Japanese devils who were charging.

Several were immediately shot and fell down.

The rest of the Japanese devils were frightened and immediately lay on the ground.

Company Commander Tsukiki Shin'ei immediately ordered: "Grenade launchers, machine guns suppress.

Quick! Quick!"

Narumiya Yamato, as a machine gun shooter, immediately lay on the ground and began to shoot at the machine gun that suddenly appeared in front.

Tsukiki Shin'ei calmly crawled on the ground, looking at the National Revolutionary Army opposite.

He ordered: "Return fire freely!"

Jiang Zhenghao and his team had been transferred from the Northeast all the way to Jiangyin.

They were well-trained, and the military training of the entire company was regular. The soldiers had long training hours and sufficient training volume.

Their marksmanship was very good. As soon as the two sides exchanged fire, the Japanese devils of Tsukiki Shin'ei's company began to suffer casualties.

Soon, more than 20 Japanese devils were headshot.

Tsukiki Shin'ei's company was not to be outdone. These Japanese devils were also well-trained.

Jiang Zhenghao's company also suffered more than a dozen casualties.

This was still the case when their company was in the trenches and occupied the favorable terrain.

Such casualties made Company Commander Jiang a little overwhelmed.

He immediately asked the communications soldier to request artillery support from the regimental commander.