President Peng's attack also started with heavy artillery. The ferocious artillery shells were fired from eight artillery positions, flew over a distance of six or seven kilometers, and hit Xinyang City hard, hitting the defenders' positions and hitting the heads of the Northeastern Army soldiers.
The targets of the bombing were first concentrated on the artillery positions of the Northeastern Army. The Northeastern Army's artillery was not incompetent, and they quickly fought back.
However, because the Northeastern Army not only has a small number of artillery, small guns, and short range, their counterattacks have no effect at all. The only function is to make it easier for the Red Army to judge the effect of artillery: the Northeastern Army's counterattacks are getting weaker and weaker, and naturally This shows that the Red Army's artillery bombing effect is very effective.
A few minutes later, the Northeast Army's artillery counterattack stopped. Even if a few artillery fires survived, the frightened artillerymen did not dare to fire any more, otherwise they would only attract more artillery shells.
The cessation of the Northeast Army's artillery fire does not mean that the Red Army's artillery fire has weakened. It only allows the Red Army's artillery to shift its target.
The targets of artillery strikes began to turn to the trenches, fortifications and their assembly areas of the Northeastern Army. Almost every military camp suffered several rounds of artillery raids. The only way for the soldiers staying in the military camp to save their lives was to escape from the military camp and run as far as they could. .
After bombing the military camps, positions, and fortifications, the Red Army's artillery fire began to plow open those wide streets, especially the streets where bunkers were built, almost all of which were lifted up by the dense artillery shells. Even if there are only a few sandbags piled up in those machine gun bunkers, they will be blown to pieces by artillery shells. The machine guns and bullets in the bunkers will be blown into parts, or exploded into scrap steel and scrap copper
Miao Zhengliu, commander of the 57th Group Army of the Northeast Army, was quite mentally prepared for the firepower of the Red Army. However, this intensity of bombing still stunned him. He was surprised not only by the ferocity of the Red Army's artillery fire, but also by the fierceness of the Red Army's artillery fire. I lamented that the Red Army was so damn prodigal. How can there be such a bombing? Isn't this a waste of money? Does a small machine gun bunker need to be bombed like this? The cost of one artillery shell is not much less than the cost of a machine gun. Can it be used to drop four or five artillery shells at once? Is there any need to tear those sandbags into pieces and then make a deep crater there?
As the bombardment lasted longer, Miao Zhengliu became increasingly weak, and his inner confidence disappeared little by little.
It can be said that when he saw the shells hitting the streets one after another, and his ears were filled with the piercing screams of the shells flying across the sky, Miao Zhengliu was frightened and his confidence in his heart dropped. It was originally thought that the huge number of troops in the 57th Group Army would be enough to suffocate the Red Army. It had long since ceased to exist with the bombardment of artillery shells. What he was thinking about now was how to break out and whether his tens of thousands of troops could protect him and rush out.
He didn¡¯t know that it was the Second and Third Armies of the Red Army that surrounded Xinyang this time, and that the artillery fire from the two armies was concentrated. What he didn¡¯t know was that President Peng and Guo Zhuocheng wanted to give the Northeast Army a disincentive. The purpose is to let everyone in the Northeast Army know that the Red Army is invincible. It would be easy for the Red Army to destroy them.
¡°Both President Peng, Guo Zhuocheng and their generals knew that this artillery bombardment was too excessive. The waste is also huge. It can be said that one-third or even half of the artillery shells are not necessary to be fired at all, if it is just to attack Xinyang.
But they knew better that it was necessary to waste so many shells, which could instill fear in the hearts of the Northeastern Army and frighten the Northeastern Army out of fear. As long as they could deal with the 57th Group Army faster and more cleanly. Then it will be easier for the Red Army to attack the Northeastern Army, the Northwest Army, and the Jin Army, and it can cause the morale of its troops to collapse more quickly. It can also speed up the capture of Nanjing.
In this way, the waste now can save future artillery shells in the future, and can achieve greater results in the future.
Seeing so many artillery shells falling, and seeing the Red Army bombing for so long without stopping, Army Commander Miao Zhengliu was truly frightened, and his officers and soldiers were even more trembling.
They feel as if it is the end of the world and are in constant panic. Before the shelling, they believed that the more partners around them, the safer they were. They believed that as long as they had more troops, they would be able to resist the Red Army's attack and hold on longer. However, after the shelling, especially after seeing The more officers and soldiers gathered in the place, the more shelling they suffered, and they realized that they were wrong. More companions brought not safety but death. The officers and soldiers who had been gathered together began to disperse involuntarily. Many soldiers began to separate from the large unit, intentionally or unintentionally. Looking for a place to hide alone.
Little did they know that this feeling of fear would not diminish because the number of people around them was small. When the number of people was small, they felt another kind of fear, that is, when the Red Army's artillery fire decreased and launched a charge, they would hide here alone. Wouldn't it be easier to be beaten to death?
"Staying in a crowded place is afraid of attracting more artillery fire and being killed by artillery fire. Staying in a place with few people is afraid of"When the Red Army attacked, they died easily because they had no companions to cover each other. Therefore, they did not know what to do, and fear always lingered in their minds.
At this moment, different rumors began to spread among the officers and soldiers: Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army was no worse than the Northeast Army, but the Central Army was easily defeated by the Red Army. Xue Yue's army only lasted for tens of minutes before collapsing. , most of the troops surrendered, and the Red Army treated them very favorably; the tax police corps, with more than 30,000 troops, was surrounded by the Red Army in less than half an hour. After they surrendered, they all joined the Red Army and were given allowances. Compared with The Central Army's food was better and its weapons were better than those of the Central Army. Many of the officers who surrendered were still serving as officers in the Red Army;
"The Northeast Army and the Red Army had no enmity before. The Northeast Army had never attacked the Central Soviet Area in Jiangxi, nor had it massacred the Red Army. We had no grievances, and we would certainly not be mistreated if we surrendered. If you can't win anyway, it's best to surrender. Zhang Xueliang is a runaway general who gave away the vast land in the Northeast to the Japanese. It is not worth our lives. It is impossible to recover the Northeast by following him. Only by following the Red Army can we defeat the Japanese invaders and return to our hometown. Dear fellow countrymen
This rumor spreads like a plague among middle and lower-level officers and lower-level officers and soldiers. Except for a few people who can persist and think they can withstand the Red Army's attack, most people believe in their hearts that the Red Army is invincible. , and I agree from the bottom of my heart that following Zhang Xueliang it is impossible to lead everyone back to the Northeast, and it is impossible to drive away the Japanese devils:
In the past, the Northeastern Army was so powerful, and they fought in their hometown, but they were driven away by the Japanese like a duck. They did not dare to fire a shot. Now, the Northeastern Army has left their hometown and is a guest army in a different place. He was several levels worse than before. How could he fight back? If he had such courage, he wouldn't have run away.
There is no hope of returning to his hometown to meet his parents and brothers and sisters. Although it is not yet certain whether the Red Army can defeat the Japanese, it is at least much more reliable than Zhang Xueliang, and it can defeat Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army. The Red Army may really be able to return to their hometown to see their parents.
It has to be said that before the Red Army started its attack, the morale of the 57th Group Army began to collapse. Many officers and soldiers began to wait for the Red Army to come to take over. Many soldiers were ready to surrender.
However, the Red Army did not launch an attack immediately, and even the artillery fire was weaker than initially. This made Miao Zhengliu in Xinyang City nervous and lucky. He immediately ordered his troops to build city fortifications immediately, repair the collapsed trenches and fortifications, and at the same time transport troops to the fortifications.
Although he also knew that these soldiers were scared out of their wits and would become even more timid after letting them see the corpses and broken limbs in the collapsed fortifications, he really had no choice. As the supreme commander, as the The cronies promoted by Zhang Xueliang cannot just give up. In any case, Zhang Xueliang is now the vice president with one person less than ten thousand people, and the highest armed commander in the country. He can just get promoted and make a fortune. At present, as long as this battle is barely passable, don't you have greater military power immediately?
Of course, he no longer foolishly thought that his own army could stop the Red Army. From the moment the Red Army's artillery shells fell in Xinyang City, he never stopped asking Zhang Xueliang for help or asking for help. When his superiors sent reinforcements, he never stopped asking the surrounding troops to move closer to him.
He didn¡¯t know that the commanders of the Red Army, General Peng and Guo Zhuocheng, just wanted him, Miao Zhengliu, to ask for help from their superiors, and that more Northeastern Army, Northwest Army, and Jin Army would come. Their tactic was to simply "encircle the point for reinforcements"!
Both Mr. Peng and Guo Zhuocheng knew that neither Yan Xishan nor Zhang Xueliang could abandon the 57th Group Army. This was not only due to the large number of troops in this army, including six or seven troops, but more importantly, the strategic location of Xinyang was too great. It's important. As a coup, their hometown is not in Nanjing. At this time, they have not been recognized by the generation of wealthy businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It is impossible for them to get supplies from other places. Their supply sources are still Henan, Hebei, and Hebei. In Shanxi, Shaanxi, Beijing, Tianjin and other places, the Nanjing they occupied not only could not supply them with food, but instead required them to supplement it with food from other places.
Once the Red Army really cuts off the connection between Nanjing and Henan, Hebei and other places, it will cut off their food routes and their weapons and ammunition supplies, and they will become a rootless people. Fish in water will sooner or later be eaten by others, and may even fight among themselves and kill each other.
Therefore, even if Miao Zhengliu sends a telegram with less "enthusiasm", Yan Xishan, Zhang Xueliang and others will do their best to save this army.
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