Chapter 470: The Japanese Army Suspects It's Their Own People

The headquarters of the Japanese Army's Shanyuan Dashan!

Shanyuan Dashan received information transmitted by a spy at Madang Fortress that Li Yunhang, the Army Commander of the 16th Army, had transferred unit officers to hold a training class.

Now that Li Yunhang's vigilance had been completely let down, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack; the Imperial Army had best launch the attack at dawn!

A cold sneer appeared at the corner of Shanyuan Dashan's mouth: "Order!"

"Tomorrow at dawn, launch an all-out attack and take Madang Fortress in one fell swoop."

"Hai!" Shanyuan Dashan's Adjutant nodded.

"Everyone pay attention, crouch down... incoming artillery..."

"Brothers, prepare for battle; the Japanese Army is about to attack soon."

However, the accuracy was far from that of the Army artillery, and since Xiangshan was already higher than Changshan, and the Japanese Army's artillery position was set up on the reverse slope, the difficulty of the shelling was even greater.

After this battle, the Japanese Army also began to re-examine Madang Fortress.

Bao Zhangyi shouted; he wanted to know right now, what was the situation over at Jin Baoshan's end?

"Report..." A Communications Soldier came to Bao Zhangyi's side: "Battalion Commander, the phone line is dead; I have already sent people to repair it!"

Madang Fortress was built by the National Government at great expense, and those hired were all European military attachés and designers; the funds for this fortress were almost entirely implemented, no one dared to mess around, and the fortress had only just been completed.

This line of defense was much stronger than the previous National Defense Works in the Songhu Region; at least regarding the overall construction, no one dared to cut corners. After the entire fortress was completed, the Japanese Army had once organized a fleet, preparing to take it by storm!

However, after the Japanese Navy's 11th Squadron arrived at Madang Fortress, it suffered a powerful strike from the Chinese firepower, and the entire 11th Squadron left behind countless corpses and fled in a panic.

After a period of time, a group of scouts returned and reported to Bao Zhangyi: "Battalion Commander, the Xiangkou Position has completely fallen."

After hanging up the phone, Bao Zhangyi received several soldiers who had escaped from the Xiangshan Position.

"Damn it..." Bao Zhangyi roared; it must have been at dawn that the Japanese Army launched a full-scale attack, and the communications must have been cut by the Japanese Army.

Unable to contact friendly forces, he hoped the River Defense Fortress Command would immediately coordinate the overall situation!

After speaking, Bao Zhangyi pulled out his Telescope to observe the entire river surface; although it was not yet completely bright, relying only on the faint light, Bao Zhangyi still discovered some abnormalities on the river.

Bao Zhangyi's position was Changshan, and Xiangshan was higher than Changshan; the Japanese Army's artillery fire was from a commanding height, which possessed a natural advantage.

"Boom—!!"

With the phone line dead, Bao Zhangyi had no choice but to report via radio to the Wuhan River Defense Fortress Command that Madang Fortress had been attacked by the Japanese Army, multiple positions had fallen, and at the same time, the telephone lines had been cut by the Japanese Army.

After the Japanese Army opened fire, the Navy position at Changshan also had an artillery position; the artillery position at Changshan also knew that they must destroy the artillery position at Xiangshan, otherwise, it would pose a great threat to Changshan.

This fortress really could not be underestimated; if a storming attack wouldn't work, then they would only have to re-plan.

After a brief exchange, Bao Zhangyi learned that the Japanese Army began landing at four o'clock in the morning, and there were also Japanese spies hiding in the streets of Xiangshan; the two sides cooperated tacitly to attack the garrison troops.

"Incoming artillery!"

"Communications Soldier... call Jin Baoshan immediately!"

The Navy officers and men at the Changshan artillery position began to shell Xiangshan. However, the effect of this shelling was not very good.

Bao Zhangyi shouted, and he himself crouched down inside the trench.

This battle also allowed many Republic of China generals to see the power of Madang Fortress; it was simply a case of one man holding the pass, ten thousand unable to open it, guarding the throat of the Yangtze River. If the Japanese warships wanted to attack along the Yangtze River, it was simply like an egg hitting a rock.

"Xiangshan... Xiangshan..." Bao Zhangyi muttered in his heart: "The direction of the shelling comes from Xiangshan; the Japanese Army has established an artillery position at Xiangshan."

At this moment, after Xie Zhegang, the Commander of the River Defense Fortress Command, received Bao Zhangyi's report, he was completely stunned!

The flank position had fallen; this was the first thought in Bao Zhangyi's mind. Damn it, these little Japanese devils came too fast; a whole Battalion of men, how could they not have made a single sound before being completely wiped out by the Japanese Army.

After receiving the order, the Mortar gunners at the position began to shell the river surface; after a burst of "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" shelling sounds, the mist on the river was dispersed a little.

Seeing some people in yellow military uniforms appearing vaguely on the river, Bao Zhangyi's gaze tightened, and he shouted: "Mortar!"

Thus, Japanese spies began to operate around Madang Fortress; Li Yunhang wanting to hold a training class was simply a pie falling from the sky.

"Aim for me, fire five rounds to test the effect."

One could see Japanese warships hiding in the Yangtze River, the ships full of Japanese officers and soldiers; at the same time, on the flank position, a Battalion of Chinese garrison troops had long since disappeared, and a group of Japanese soldiers were lying in the Chinese trenches.

Bao Zhangyi also reported to Xie Zhegang about Li Yunhang holding a training class and transferring grassroots officers for training.

The scouts were sent out; Bao Zhangyi hoped they could bring him good news!

At dawn the next day, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, sparse gunfire came from the river; as soon as the gunfire rang out, Bao Zhangyi woke up!

Bao Zhangyi rolled out of bed and rushed out of his room: "Where is the shooting? Where is the shooting?"

Because all the grassroots officers of Xiangshan had gone to attend the training class, the unit had no officers to command it, and the soldiers could not organize effective resistance at all; under the Japanese Army's powerful firepower, the entire Battalion of soldiers at the Xiangshan position was almost completely wiped out!

Just as Bao Zhangyi finished cursing, a sharp sound of airflow suddenly came from the sky; as a naval officer, he was very familiar with it—this was the sound of large-caliber artillery.

"Damn it..." Bao Zhangyi raged: "That bastard Li Yunhang, this man should be executed by firing squad."

"Send out scouts!" Bao Zhangyi closed his eyes, then opened them abruptly: "Scout the situation in the surroundings for me."

"The place where the shots rang out is a bit far from us, but what is certain is that at the location where the gunfire rang out, the commanders at the positions had all been transferred to attend the training class."

While running, Bao Zhangyi kept shouting, and the sentry soldiers hurriedly replied: "Captain!"

"On the position, as well as on the streets of Xiangkou, it is full of Japanese soldiers; there are both Army and Navy Marine Corps."

If it weren't for the Japanese spies carefully examining Li Yunhang's resume and learning that this person was a legitimate member of the Republic of China Army with no connection to the Japanese Army at all, they would have almost suspected that this Li Yunhang was a high-level spy planted inside the enemy by the Japanese Army's Special Higher Police.

After a bout of earth-shaking tremors, Bao Zhangyi saw his position being bombarded by ten large-caliber artillery pieces of the Japanese Army; not far from his side, a shell crater appeared, and Bao Zhangyi immediately jumped in and crouched down.

After learning this news, Xie Zhegang was so angry that he cursed "bastard" over the phone, then told Bao Zhangyi to hold the position and that he would immediately send reinforcements.

Subsequently, the follow-up scouts also returned and reported the situation they had scouted; in short, the situation at the several positions of Madang Fortress was currently very bad.

Upon hearing this, Bao Zhangyi cursed loudly: "Damn it... that bastard Li Yunhang should be sent to a Military Tribunal."

Because the garrison on the Changshan position was the Navy, the artillery technique of the naval units was still practiced as Direct Aiming; this was like fixing a Bayonet to a cannon, although after the naval units went ashore, they also began to practice Indirect Aiming.

The first round of shelling by the Navy artillerymen was almost like herding sheep; they didn't hit the Japanese Army's artillery position at Xiangshan at all.

"Sigh..." At the Changshan artillery position, the Navy artillery commander saw that the first round of shelling had missed and slammed his fist onto the ground in anger.

(End of this chapter)