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Chapter 528: Decisive Battle in Jiujiang (1)

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    On August 7, the main force of the Japanese 15th Division, under the cover of a large number of landing craft and gunboats, landed again from Gutang and counterattacked Jiujiang.

    At the same time, a large number of ships moved westward from Madang Fortress and attacked Jiujiang City from the Yangtze River waterway.

    The Japanese army was approaching fiercely. Zhang Fakui, the commander-in-chief of the Second Corps, did not dare to neglect and immediately organized troops to fight against the Japanese army.

    For the battle on land, Zhang Fakui directly mobilized troops from three armies and seven divisions and stationed them on the Gutang line. According to Zhang Fakui's order, even if all these divisions were wiped out, they would never be allowed to retreat even half a step.

    In the battle on the Yangtze River, the navy also spent a lot of money. Since it received a large number of warships, the navy was also generous. Chen Shaokuan was about to return all the remaining warships to Jiujiang to coordinate with the army to defend Jiujiang.

    Surprisingly, apart from the battle at Honghualing on the southern front where Li Guoyao's troops fought in Jiujiang City, the first one to start the battle was not the army, but the navy.

    On the morning of August 8, the Navy sent eight warships including the "Yongji", "Zhongshan" and "Jiangyuan" down the river from Wuhan to transport supplies and ammunition to Jiujiang City. They were discovered by a Japanese reconnaissance plane.

    Subsequently, a large number of Japanese bombers, under the cover of pursuit aircraft, took off from Nanjing Airport and came to intercept.

    At the same time, the main force of the 12th Team of the Japanese Third Fleet also set off from Anqing and headed straight for Jiujiang.

    At ten o'clock in the morning, Japanese fighter planes arrived at the battlefield and found the naval fleet sailing on the Yangtze River. The war broke out immediately.

    As soon as the Japanese fighter planes appeared, the navy realized that trouble was coming and immediately launched a counterattack.

    In order to severely damage the Chinese Navy this time and give a bad breath to the Japanese Navy, the Little Devils directly dispatched 37 bombers and 12 destroyers.

    As soon as the battle began, the Japanese bombers swooped down from the sky crazily and dropped dense aerial bombs on the Chinese fleet. At the same time, the destroyers were not idle either, using their onboard machine guns to continuously shoot at the personnel on the warships.  , all 8 ships suffered heavy injuries.

    The two sides fought from 10 o'clock in the morning to 12 o'clock. The first wave of Japanese fighter planes finally returned due to lack of fuel and bombs. However, before the navy could take a breath, more than 40 enemy planes soon arrived on the battlefield, and the battle continued.  Start.

    The battle lasted until one o'clock in the afternoon when the Jiang Yuan's boiler was hit by a bullet, its speed dropped sharply, and it was besieged by Japanese fighter planes.

    The Jiang Yuan is a shallow-water gunboat that has been in service for more than thirty years. It is considered an outdated warship.

    This battleship has four sister ships of the same class, namely Jiang Yuan, Jiang Heng, Jiang Li, and Jiang Zhen. They were all ordered by the Minister of Nanyang from Kawasaki Shipyard in Japan. They were all completed and put into service in 1909. The cost was  Around 300,000 yen.

    The Jiangyuan ship is 180 feet long, 28 feet wide, with a draft of 7 feet, a displacement of 550 tons, a coal carrying capacity of 113 tons, a fresh water carrying capacity of 15 tons, 2 boilers, 2 reciprocating steam engines, and an imaginary power of 455 horsepower.  950 horsepower, standard speed of 10 knots, maximum speed of 13 knots, and a crew of 85.

    As a shallow-water gunboat, the weapon system of the Jiangyuan is not very strong. It only has one Armstrong 120mm gun, one Armstrong 75mm gun, four Hotchkiss 47mm machine guns, and four Maxim machine guns.

    After the power system was severely damaged, the flexibility of the Jiang Yuan dropped suddenly. This allowed the Little Japanese aviation force to see an opportunity. More than a dozen fighter planes dived and dropped bombs on the Jiang Yuan.

    The Jiangyuan ship was not afraid at all. The officers and soldiers on the ship used all their firepower to confront the enemy, shooting down one enemy plane and damaging two.

    "However, due to a serious lack of flexibility, the stern and port side of the ship were shot one after another, and the steering gear failed to rotate.

    ¡°Then the boiler room was bombed again, and the river water rushed into the cabin violently. The officers and soldiers tried their best to rescue and block the fire, but to no avail.

    Half an hour after the bloody battle, river water poured into the cabin. The water was waist deep, the fire was extinguished, the boiler had no steam, the machinery stopped, and the ship gradually capsized to one side.  ª¥

    At this time, the bow of the ship was hit by another bullet and caught fire. The captain, Major Li Chengyong, who was directing the battle at the bow, was seriously injured and one arm was broken off.

    However, he was seriously injured and could not leave the firing line, so he continued to direct the battle.  Fifteen minutes after the reduction again, Captain Li Chengyong and all the officers and soldiers, together with the warship, sank into the roaring river, sank!

    At 1:42 p.m., as the Jiangyuan ship's bow resolutely raised upwards, it immediately sank to the bottom of the river. A huge vortex suddenly formed on the river surface, and gradually disappeared, and everything returned to calm!

    The sinking of the shallow-water battleship Jiang Yuan does not mean the end of the battle, the water battle still continues!

    At 2:10, the gunboat "Yi Sheng" was hit by a fallen Japanese fighter plane and lost power. Immediately afterwards, the gunboat "Yongsheng" was blown up by the enemy.

      Less than half an hour later, another speedboat was seriously injured. At this time, there were only three navy warships left on the battlefield still dealing with the enemy.

    Seeing that all four speedboats were severely damaged, General Chen Jiliang, who was commanding the operation on the "Jiang Xi", felt sad and angry.

    Despite their small tonnage and insufficient firepower, these gunboats are the mainstay of inland river warfare and an important force against the Japanese navy.

    The Chinese Navy is different from the Japanese Navy. China's naval strength is really too weak. Since the outbreak of the Songhu Battle, the Chinese Navy can only use guerrilla tactics to deal with the powerful Japanese fleet. In this regard, these speedboat units have contributed a lot.  .

    Although the speedboat force lacked firepower, their achievements were not small. They even once damaged the flagship "Izumo" of the Japanese Navy's 3rd Fleet.

    In mid-August last year, An Qibang, captain of the speedboat brigade of Jiangyin District Jiang Defense Commander Ouyang Geming, led two high-speed torpedo speedboats, the "Shi Kefa 102" and the "Wen Tianxiang 171", to Shanghai to surprise the "Izumo".

    After receiving the order, the two boats put on a little disguise and set sail at starry night. They set off from the Jiangyin inland river, using only the auxiliary engine, and sailed towards Shanghai in the day and night.

    Unexpectedly, the "Wen 171" boat was delayed for some reason and arrived at Longhua one day late. Only the "Shi 102" boat arrived at Longhua as scheduled.

    Seeing that the other boat had not arrived, Jiang Defense Commander Ouyang Ge, who had arrived early, made a prompt decision and decided to immediately launch a single boat and attack according to the original plan.

    ¡°However, in order to achieve the purpose of a surprise attack, the boat did not contact the land army in advance. Therefore, it was blocked and shot many times along the way. It was blocked by our army¡¯s blockade on the Huangpu River in the Shiliupu area and was forced to return to Longhua.

    On the evening of August 16, the torpedo speedboat "Shi 102" started its auxiliary engine from Longhua as planned and quietly sailed out of the blockade near Shiliupu.  As soon as they crossed the Nanjing Road Bund, they started the two main engines and rushed downstream at full speed, braving enemy ship fire.

    Due to the dazzling lights of ships from various countries on the river, it was still difficult to see the specific position of the enemy ship "Izumo" when they sailed to the river near Lujiazui on the Bund. If the launch of the torpedo was delayed at this time, the torpedo might become ineffective and the fighter plane would be lost to attack the speedboat.  As a last resort, a pair of torpedoes were fired in a predetermined direction.

    Amidst the huge explosion of the torpedo, the "Izumo" ship was damaged in the stern, but the torpedo boat was also damaged and had to rush to run aground outside the Bund Pier of the British Concession in Jiujiang Road.

    Although this attack did not sink the "Izumo" ship, it was the first time that the Chinese Navy took the initiative to attack a Japanese ship.  For several days after that, the Japanese army was so disoriented that they didn't even know where the attack came from.

    After the Battle of Jiangyin, the Chinese Navy's strength was greatly damaged and it had to withdraw into the Yangtze River. Then the main force of the Navy became relatively flexible gunboats. However, they did not expect that four gunboats were lost in today's battle. It is really hateful.

    But there is no way. Whoever makes the overall strength of the Little Devils aviation and navy far exceeds that of China, if they fall behind, they will be beaten. This truth remains unchanged.

    At 2:40 in the afternoon, the "Zhixin" ship was also hit several times by Japanese aircraft, and Captain Li Xixi's right leg was also blown off!

    In the critical moment, the officers and soldiers wanted to carry Li Xixi down for treatment, but Li Xixi firmly refused. He ordered someone to bring a chair on the spot, and used his remaining left foot to support his body on the chair, using up the last strength of his life.  , continue to insist on sitting on the command platform and directing operations.

    Twenty-three people on the "Zhixin" ship, including the second lieutenant, deputy captain Lin Chunxin, chief engineer Yang Xinguang, and gunner Zhou Zhaojie, have died. In addition, 15 people including chief engineer Yang Xinxian have also been seriously injured. Only the officers and soldiers on the ship can be put into combat.  Less than half of the people got off.

    At this time, his right leg had been blown off. Li Xixi, who was leaning on the chair to hold himself up, still ordered to fire even though he was bleeding profusely.

    Fortunately, more than 30 fighter planes from the Chinese Air Force arrived in time for reinforcements, and the Navy also sent 7 warships to support the operation. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Japanese army returned immediately.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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