The beacon of youth

Chapter 5 The battle is coming

With a small force of troops and the cooperation of a large number of militiamen, the Northwest Field Army created the illusion of attacking from all directions, and successfully contained the mobile corps of the Northwest Kuomintang Army. The main force of more than 80 people used the night and terrain as cover , quietly drove to the Ganguyi area, which is only more than [-] miles away from Yan'an, and the strategic intention was clear at a glance.

Under the urging of He Ding's urgent telegrams, the commander-in-chief Hu Zongnan, who was far away in Xi'an, insisted on flying to Yan'an to boost the morale of the defenders, regardless of his personal safety.

It’s really Xiao He’s success, and Xiao He’s failure. Now this place that has given him great honor is once again in crisis. , After polishing off the only dozen or so bullets each soldier in the Northwest Field Army had, he finally occupied Yan'an. I don't know what method he used to hold it this time).

Accompanied by his old classmates, Hu Zongnan, who landed in Yan'an, tried his best and almost spit out lotus flowers. In a word, this place is too sensitive, and people from all walks of life across the country are paying attention, even American friends. Pay attention, Yan'an must be guarded, and the corpses of the Communist army will be scattered all over the city of Yan'an, so that they cannot become sinners of the party-state.

However, this Commander Hu was not courageous after all. He only stayed in Yan'an for a few hours, finished training the senior officers, and then flew back in a hurry by plane, but he left 1000 million French currency when he left. Let the generals of the defenders reward the soldiers who have made great achievements in combat.

Colorful tickets are very good, but you have to use them with your life. What use are these tickets when your life is gone?I didn't dare to say it in front of Chief Hu. After the plane flew away, the officers discussed: "The war is approaching, and money is used to motivate soldiers to work hard. Can such an army last long?"

The main force of the Northwest Field Army divided into several groups in the Ganguyi area, encircling Yan'an from all directions, and the second column circled to the south of the city, while the independent regiment went straight to the south gate of Yan'an, where the natural danger was "Laoshan".

However, unlike in the past, the lineup of the independent regiment was reduced. The howitzer regiment, the absolute main force, did not act together with the regiment, but was transferred to the team directly under the column by Commander Wang.

Gao Xiang's howitzer regiment is the most important strike firepower of the independent regiment. Some people in the regiment don't understand Commander Wang's order. Is the situation clear? Without the support of artillery fire, the casualties in the regiment will definitely be serious. Thank you. The mountain is also a very dangerous place, and artillery fire is indispensable for the support of the troops.

The soldiers' complaints reached the ears of Li Yong, the head of the regiment. Li Yong felt that it was necessary to take this opportunity to explain the traditions of the army.

At the company-level cadre meeting held in the regiment, Li Yong told these grassroots commanders that they should make it clear to their comrades after returning home that our PLA is the people's army and the party's army, which is completely different from the army of the previous warlords. , Every gun and every bullet in the army is the precious property of the party, and the same is true for the independent regiment. This combat collective is not mine, Li Yong, but a part of the big family of the people's army. As long as the superior needs it, let alone a Howitzer Battalion, no matter how many troops are pulled away, it should be done. Don't say weird words or complain. You should focus on how to solve the enemy and difficulties. Think about it, everyone. Most of the troops in our Northwest Field Army It was built on the basis of Boss He's Second Front Army, but now Boss Peng is commanding it differently.Such a thing is unthinkable in the army of the warlords and the Kuomintang, but isn't it very common in our PLA?

The commanders who came to the meeting were very moved by Li Yong's words. Most of these people knew Li Yong's background very well, and knew that their regiment commander was just a deserter in the Kuomintang army more than a year ago. During the period of time, the political awareness of the head of the group was higher than that of some old people.

Political commissar Wang Chengde appreciated Li Yong's words very much. Wang Chengde, who was a political worker, knew that the army would not fight well with resentment, so the team leader's meeting was very timely.

Of course, the instructors and instructors in the army are the main force when doing ideological work. Wang Chengde told these people that ideological education is a fine tradition of our army. Once solved, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome.

Hu Xiaolian and He Cuihua also attended the meeting at the same time. Ordinarily, it is He Cuihua who has senior qualifications. Regardless of her young age, she joined the militia to fight guerrillas when she was a teenager. She is a veteran militia captain. She said to Li Yong These words are completely understandable, and I think they should be. Hu Xiaolian is a little bit worse. Before serving in the army, she was a little daughter-in-law from an ordinary farmer's family. I was quite surprised when I saw this, I didn't expect my little lover to have such a heart, and I still underestimated him a little before.

At the mobilization meeting before the war, Li Yong shouted in front of the soldiers of the whole regiment with a loudspeaker made of iron sheet: "Comrades, the Kuomintang has occupied our Yan'an for more than a year. Today our People's Liberation Army has fought back. Let the Kuomintang defenders and Laoshan tremble under our feet, march on, heroes."

That night, when the watch hand pointed to eight o'clock, it was completely dark, and all the artillery fire of the Northwest Field Army began to bombard Yan'an City and the surrounding designated targets at the same time.

The dark red trajectory reflected half of the sky red, and groups of shells flew over with howling sounds, followed by uninterrupted explosions, bunkers, mines, wire, and everything were blown to pieces by the artillery fire, and The Kuomintang soldiers defending these strongholds also flew into the sky with these bricks and tiles.

Bombing is still bombing, row after row of shells keeps hitting the past, thick smoke and flames completely cover the target being bombed.

The soldiers looked so cool. What is artillery fire? This is artillery fire. I didn't expect my troops to have such powerful artillery fire. I was always bombed by the enemy before. This time it's our turn to shake.

The excited soldiers couldn't hold back their joy, and some of them jumped out of the trenches in front of them, dancing and cheering on the ground.

The commanders hurriedly jumped out of the position and dragged and kicked these soldiers in. Some commanders with a bad temper even cursed: "You guys, don't you die? Those are shells. Didn’t you just steam steamed buns in your house, wouldn’t it be useless to let your own cannonballs kill you?”

The current Northwest Field Army is not as poor as it was a year ago. Not only is there enough food to eat, but the soldiers also decide how much ammunition they want to carry, as long as they can carry it. The difference between the ten bullets is too big, not only the weapons and ammunition are sufficient, but also a lot of large-caliber howitzers are equipped, especially the second column at the southernmost end, which is extremely fierce.

Before the battle started, Commander Wang gathered all the artillery of the entire column and appointed Gao Xiang of the Independent Regiment to take command. Not only did some people in the headquarters not understand this order, but even Gao Xiang himself thought that a higher-level commander should be sent. To command the artillery fire of the whole column as a unified command, his level is really low.

Commander Wang didn't listen to that, he called Gao Xiang over, pointed to his nose and shouted: "What kind of senior commander, our column officers are so much older than you, but they can handle artillery better than you." How many people understand? We are fighting a war now, not children playing house, if we don’t do it well, we will kill many people. Cannonballs don’t care about officials, officials or small ones. Whoever understands them will listen to them. I see you The boy is good, don't tell me you dare not do it, answer me louder, do you have the guts?"

Commander Wang gives people the impression that he is rude on the surface and speaks like a big boss. In fact, that is not the case. Commander Wang, who has fought for many years, has a very fine mind. Commanding artillery fire is a meticulous job. It can't be done well, and there is really no artillery commander in the entire second column who can be better than the independent regiment. At this time, there is no distinction between high officials and small officials. The ranks are all nonsense. Whoever has the real ability will win , Commander Wang was deeply impressed by the artillery unit of the independent regiment in several battles.

This time, if we want to gather the artillery of the entire column to fight, we need a commander who knows artillery well. The artillery battalion commander of the independent regiment may not be high-ranking, but he commands the largest number of artillery in the entire column. It shows that the commander of the independent regiment is qualified for this position, so Commander Wang directly called Gao Xiang's name. This is the result of Commander Wang's many observations and considerations, not a whim.

This guy Gao Xiang is a soldier from the Eighth Route Army. He crawled out of the blood and rolled out of the dead. He doesn't know what it means to be courageous when fighting. He is the most unbearable. Seeing the commander ask him Do you have the guts to be the artillery commander? Immediately he raised his chest and replied loudly: "Report to the commander, I have been a soldier for so many years, and I still don't know what it means to be afraid. I will be the artillery commander and resolutely complete it Task."

Commander Wang nodded in satisfaction: "Well, good boy, this is my Wang Huzi's soldier. I will hand over the artillery of the entire column to you. You have the final say on how to do it. I and the people in the headquarters have different opinions." To join your command, there is only one requirement, use your artillery fire to smash all obstacles on our way forward, and let our soldiers march forward on the enemy's corpse."

Gao Xiang replied loudly: "Smash all obstacles on our way forward with artillery fire, let our soldiers march on the enemy's corpses, understand Comrade Commander."