lerbook Chapter 28 The Flattened Anti-Cut Cannon
Chapter 28 The Flattened Anti-Cut Cannon
It's 11 p.m.
Yangzhou, the Military Governor's Office of Jiangsu Province.
Well, it originally belonged to Jiangning, but now, although Chen Zijun has not occupied Jiangning, the Chen family army's advance is at most a hundred miles away from the city wall of Jiangning. I ask you, does Qi Xiucai, the military governor of Jiangsu Province, still dare to work in the former Liangjiang Governor's Office, now the Jiangsu Provincial Military Governor's Office?
He dares not!
Therefore, he moved the government office to Yangzhou, and felt very aggrieved.
Qi Yingcai smashed the teacup on the table to pieces.
A shard of porcelain splashed onto Zhou Qinian's face, leaving a bloody mark. Zhou Qinian knelt on the ground, trembling, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
"waste!"
Qi Yingcai stood up from the armchair and kicked over the mahogany tea table in front of him.
"I sent eight assassins! Eight! Ding Baoshan led the team himself! You're telling me, not a single one came back alive?"
Zhou Qinian kowtowed repeatedly.
"Commander-in-Chief... Chen's army's guards and attendants used silenced submachine guns... Our men fell before they even got a chance to touch their guns... Commander Ding, Commander Ding was shot dead by Chen Zijun in front of four hundred men..."
Snapped!
Qi Yingcai's slap knocked Zhou Qinian to the ground.
"You still have the nerve to come back?!"
Zhou Qinian covered his face, his voice trembling.
"Chen Zijun said... that I should bring back a message. He said... he's keeping Governor Qi's head safe for now."
The entire Governor's Mansion hall was silent for two seconds.
Qi Yingcai's face turned a deep purplish-red, and he clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked.
"Good! Good! Good!"
He said "good" three times in a row, each word squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Chen Zijun, you think I'm afraid of you?!"
He turned around abruptly and shouted at the door.
"Someone! Get me a call from the Bengbu military camp!"
Three minutes later, the call to Bengbu Daying was connected.
"My dear nephew Jialiang! Ding Baoshan is dead! The Paramount Massacre is known throughout Shanghai! I can't wait any longer!"
Zhang Jialiang's lazy voice came through the microphone.
"What's the rush? You've heard about what happened at Luoyan Valley, haven't you... My two cavalry brigades, six thousand elite troops, were all wiped out in twenty minutes."
"So you mean—"
"Let's test the waters. Chen Zijun has quite a few trump cards up his sleeve. Don't act rashly unless you're absolutely certain. We tadpoles can't afford to suffer any losses."
Zhang Jialiang's heart ached too.
He was indeed a young marshal, but his father, Zhang Xinmin, was the commander-in-chief of the Fengtian clique. Many of his generals were his sworn brothers, and he had a lot of power and military independence. Those two brigades of cavalry were his own troops!
Thinking of this, his voice turned cold.
"Send your fleet to patrol the river. Chen Zijun is formidable on the ground, and also on the sea? Your two British frigates are no match for his landlubbers. As for the independent fleet in Shanghai, I'll have someone communicate with them to ensure they remain relatively independent and not get involved in this matter, but don't escalate things too much..."
"In this way, you will conduct a waterborne anti-banditry exercise in the waters between Jiangyin and Ma'anshan, and under the guise of an exercise, you will launch a bombardment demonstration against Chen Jiajun's river defense positions."
"But don't concern yourself with the river downstream from Jiangyin. The independent fleet in Shanghai will remain relatively independent and won't participate in this matter, but don't make a big fuss..."
Qi Yingcai's eyes narrowed. His proudest possessions were the two Yangtze River frigates, "Jianglong" and "Jianghu," which he had bought from the British at great expense. Each frigate had a displacement of 800 tons and a full-load displacement of 1,200 tons. They were armed with two 4-inch main guns, four secondary guns, and eight Vickers machine guns, making them invincible on the Yangtze River.
More importantly, the driver was British.
The navy of the British Empire, on which the sun never sets, is invincible. What does it have to fear?
"Fine! I'll show Chen Zijun that a warlord without a navy is nothing but a joke on the Yangtze River!"
Meanwhile, in Shanghai, on the second floor of the headquarters.
Chen Zijun leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed. The system panel in front of him glowed with a ghostly blue light in his mind.
`` `
[Unlimited Pay-to-Win System - Day 397]
Current fund pool: £4,701,836
(Net sales of sulfonamides on the first day +£430,000)
Real-time deposit rate: +1 pound/second (basic)
+Estimated daily average of £100,000 (ongoing orders for sulfonamides)
Newly unlocked weapon hint:
Flak18/36 88mm anti-aircraft gun (dual-purpose for direct fire and anti-aircraft)
Price per door: £8,500
One battalion (12 guns): £102,000 (including 5000 armor-piercing rounds)
Description: 88mm caliber, effective range 14km, armor-piercing capability.
100mm homogeneous armor, historical evaluation - "the all-powerful cannon".
`` `
This is?
Anti-all artillery?
Chen Zijun's lips curled up slightly.
It's an 88mm gun.
The eternal totem of the military enthusiast community in the past life.
We can take on any hard target – tanks, planes, bunkers, warships.
And it has one particularly bizarre use: direct fire.
The cannon barrel was laid flat, a military court-martial, but laying the cannon barrel flat was really cool.
Direct fire at a surface target, an 800-ton frigate? One armor-piercing round and it's like opening a can.
The door was pushed open.
Shen Li strode in, clutching a stack of telegrams in his hand. His face was grim.
"Young Marshal! Urgent report from Jiangyin: Qi Yingcai's 'Jianglong' and 'Jianghu' have passed Zhenjiang and are heading at full speed towards our Jiangyin-Ma'anshan route!"
Chen Zijun opened his eyes.
"speed?"
"Twelve sections. Arrived at the outskirts of Jiangyin around 3 a.m.
Shen Li slammed the telegram on the table. "They're coming in all high and mighty under the guise of a 'waterborne bandit suppression exercise'."
More than a dozen warlords, large and small, along the river were watching. Yang Shouyi of Wuhu withdrew his river defenses overnight, and Mazda of Hexian directly opened a supply dock to Qi Yingcai's lead boat.
Chen Zijun stood up and walked to the huge map of the Yangtze River system on the wall.
"As expected."
He said calmly, "A warlord without a navy is a cripple on the Yangtze River. Qi Yingcai's two gunboats, once they're on the river, will force all the opportunists on half the Yangtze to kneel."
"Young Marshal!"
Shen Li slammed his fist on the table. "Let me lead a battalion to blow up the ship! We'll swim there and strap on the explosives, I'll do it! We can't let that dog Qi Yingcai swagger around our doorstep!"
Chen Zijun turned around and glanced at him.
"Blow up the ship? Use human lives to do that?"
Shen Li was taken aback.
"You think you're a water ghost?"
Chen Zijun sneered. "Qi Yingcai is just waiting for you to charge up there. There are over a dozen cannons and eight heavy machine guns on the two boats combined. You'll be riddled with bullets by the time you get halfway there."
He sat back down in his chair and closed his eyes.
The light from the system panel flickered in my mind.
"No need to kill people. Use cannons."
Shen Li frowned.
"Our 75mm infantry guns don't have enough range; they can't reach the middle of the river. The 105mm howitzers have just been blueprinted but haven't been built yet..."
"Who said we needed to use these?"
Chen Zijun opened his eyes. There was a light in his eyes that Shen Li recognized all too well. Every time that light appeared, it meant the young marshal was about to spend a fortune again.
"I just got a good thing, a German 88mm anti-aircraft gun, Flak 18."
"Anti-aircraft guns?"
Shen Li was stunned. "Masturbation?"
"Masturbation is its side job."
Chen Zijun stood up and walked to the map, emphasizing the two banks of the Jiangyin waterway with his finger.
"Level the cannon and fire directly. At 800 meters, no, even at 1800 meters, one armor-piercing shell can penetrate 100 millimeters of steel plate. Qi Yingcai's two dilapidated ships have at most 30 millimeters of side armor."
Shen Li gasped.
"One shot, one hole?"
"One shot, one through."
Chen Zijun said coldly, "Twelve cannons firing simultaneously, three rounds of barrage—how many seconds do you think his 800-ton tin cans can withstand that?"
Shen Li's breathing became rapid.
"Young Marshal, twelve gates? One battalion?"
"One battalion. 5,000 armor-piercing rounds. A total of £102,000."
Chen Zijun pressed confirm on the system panel, "The money from the first day's sales of sulfonamides is just enough."
Ding!
A crisp notification sound from the system echoed in my mind.
`` `
Purchase Confirmation
Product: 12 Flak 18/36 88mm anti-aircraft guns (including gun mount and sights)
Ammunition: 5000 88mm armor-piercing rounds
Total price: £102,000
Delivery method: Physical redemption (delivered to the designated location within 24 hours)
Funds balance: £4,599,836
`` `
"All twelve 88mm mortars must be in place by 5 a.m. tomorrow." Chen Zijun walked to the table and spread out a topographic map of both banks of the Jiangyin section.
"Here. Here. And here."
His fingers quickly marked six points.
"Three positions on the south bank and three positions on the north bank. Each position has two guns, with crossfire covering the entire waterway. The gun positions are covered with sandbags and camouflage nets, and piled with straw bales and wooden crates to disguise them as cargo yards at the dock."
Shen Li quickly took notes.
Who will command the artillery?
"Yang Yanzhao is good at fighting, and Zang Shu is good at generals, but when it comes to cunning ambushes and commanding artillery, only Yang Shu is truly capable!"
Chen Zijun said, "Tell him to go in person. He's fought tough battles, and this is the first time the 88mm gun has been used; we can't afford any mistakes."
"clear!"
Shen Li turned to leave.
"Wait a moment."
Chen Zijun called out to him.
"Tell Uncle Yang not to fire first. Let Qi Yingcai's ship have its moment of triumph. Wait until the 'Jianglong' begins its second round of demonstrative firing before taking action."
Shen Li turned around, somewhat puzzled.
Why?
"because."
Chen Zijun sat back down in his chair and picked up his enamel mug.
"I want everyone along the Yangtze River to see that Qi Yingcai fired the first shot. Then, I'll show them how Qi Yingcai's gunboat sank."
The steam rising from the teacup reflected the dim yellow light from the streetlights outside the window.
"He fired the first shot, and he's also the one who sank the ship. That's called a closed loop."
4:30 a.m.
The waters around Jiangyin are shrouded in thick fog.
The searchlights on the "Jianglong" frigate pierced the fog, their beams sweeping across the murky river surface.
Captain Liu Shijie stood on the bridge, holding a half-full glass of red wine in his left hand.
Qi Yingcai poached a retired lieutenant from the British Navy for £30,000, but out of consideration for face, he gave him a Chinese name, Liu Shijie, as if having a Chinese name meant that the navy and the warships belonged to China and to her, Qi Yingcai.
"Reporting, Captain! We have entered the Chen family army's Jiangyin defense zone!"
Liu Shijie swirled his wine glass.
"Chen's army? A bunch of landlubbers. Their thickest cannons are only 75mm. Hitting the middle of the river? Probably not."
He tilted his head back and downed the red wine in one gulp, then casually tossed the glass into the river.
"All ships, issue a command! Begin the exercise! Two salvos from the main guns, target—Chen's army's positions on the riverbank! Let these peasants know that in war, whoever has the strongest cannon gets to call the shots!"
Boom! Boom!
Both four-inch main guns fired simultaneously.
Orange-red flames tore through the pre-dawn fog as shells whistled and crashed against the riverbank.
An abandoned wooden house on the mudflats was blown to pieces, sending debris and mud flying into the air. The firelight on the shore illuminated half the sky.
"Hahaha!" Liu Shijie laughed loudly. "See that? That's a British-made cannon!"
Two hundred meters behind, the "Jianghu" also began firing. The six secondary guns fired alternately, and the shells plowed out lines of fire along the riverbank.
Sporadic gunshots could be heard from the shore.
Several rifle bullets clanged and clattered against the side armor of the "Jianglong", scattering a few sparks.
Liu Shijie didn't even bother to hide.
"A rifle? Using a rifle to shoot down a warship?" He shook his head. "You really are a landlubber."
The booming sound of cannons on the river could be heard for dozens of miles.
The warlord outposts along both banks of the river were all lit up. Telescopes were pointed at the river.
Everyone is watching.
Let's see what Chen Zijun does.
Six o'clock in the morning.
The fog on the river grew thicker.
After the first round of firing, the "Jianglong" arrogantly circled the channel and is now slowly returning to its firing position, preparing for a second round of demonstration.
Liu Shijie took out a cigar, lit it, and leaned against the bridge railing.
"Notify 'Jianghu' to target Chen's army's river defense bunkers for the second round of attacks. This time, we'll make those landlubbers—"
He didn't finish his sentence.
A very faint sound came from the mist.
The sound of metal clashing against metal. It was like something being pushed into the chamber.
Click. Click. Click.
Twelve tones. Six tones on the south bank. Six tones on the north bank.
neat and tidy.
Liu Shijie dropped his cigar.
In the fog, the "straw stacks" and "wooden crates" on both banks collapsed one after another like butterflies shedding their shells.
Twelve long, straight gun barrels protruded from under the camouflage netting.
Each one was pressed extremely flat.
It's not facing upwards.
It faces the river.
Aim directly.
Liu Shijie's pupils contracted sharply. Having served in the navy for eight years, he recognized the distinctive gun mount and shield at a glance.
"That's... an anti-aircraft gun? No... the barrel's horizontal? Horizontal firing?! They're going to use an anti-aircraft gun to shoot down the warship?!"
On the riverbank, Zang Keping stood next to the gun emplacement in the very center.
The morning breeze ruffled the hem of his military overcoat.
He held a red command flag in his right hand and an unlit cigarette between his left.
The muzzles of the twelve 88mm Flak 18 anti-aircraft guns gleamed with a cold metallic luster in the mist.
The crosshairs of every gun were locked firmly on the gray side of the "Jianglong".
Yang Yanzhao put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it with a match.
Take a deep breath.
Then, raise the command flag high above your head.
All the gunners held their breath.
"Fire!"
The red flag fell fiercely.