Rise From Eight Hundred

Compared to the self-consolation happiness of the four infantry company commanders who easily earned dozens of kilograms of rice, the happiest person in the independent battalion was the artillery company commander Pang Dahai.

Because Tang Dao was going to equip his artillery company with new equipment.

And it was really a cannon.

Cannon!

Super cannon!

Not only because there was a special artillery test site.

Mainly because of the caliber of the barrel.

Looking at the 800mm cannon barrel buried in the soil and exposed for dozens of centimeters above the ground, Pang Dahai was stunned.

Including Major General Tong who came from dozens of kilometers away with a baggage company. .

At this moment, he finally knew what the hundreds of empty oil drums that Tang Dao asked the 145th Division to help him collect were used for.

Surprisingly, they were not used to build fortifications or to store supplies, but to make cannons.

The 145th Division left the Laoshushan area three days earlier than the Tangdao Independent Battalion. Tangdao selflessly gave a large amount of military rations to the remnants of the 145th Division, and took the initiative to contain the main force of the Japanese Kunisaki Detachment in the mountainous area. Lieutenant General Rao was moved and asked Tangdao what he needed.

After thinking for a long time, Tangdao just asked the 145th Division to leave all the remaining explosive packs, mines and grenades to his troops, and to help him collect some empty gasoline barrels and explosives as much as possible.

The combat mission of the 145th Division, which was decided by Tangdao and Lieutenant General Rao, was to guard the important roads connecting the mountainous area to the plains, to prevent the Japanese 18th Division and other units from bypassing and surrounding the Tangdao troops in the mountains, but in fact this possibility was very small.

The Japanese 18th Division was still dozens of kilometers away. If it wanted to bypass the southern Anhui mountainous area, it would take less time than going directly into the mountainous area to capture the key points all the way.

To put it bluntly, before the Kunisaki Detachment attacked, the 145th Division would basically not have any battles.

Faced with Tang Dao's small request, Lieutenant General Rao of course agreed to it. He not only promised to leave all the explosive packs and grenades to Tang Dao, but also left the only 100 82-caliber mortar shells to Tang Dao.

As for the empty gasoline barrels needed by Tang Dao, Lieutenant General Rao certainly could not let Tang Dao down. On the one hand, he ordered the 100 camel and horse teams of the baggage unit to take a group of seriously injured soldiers to march 16 hours a day and leave the mountain area as quickly as possible. On the other hand, he sent a telegram to the army headquarters, requesting the defenders in Wuhu area to provide empty gasoline barrels and 100,000 kilograms of rice as well as bullets, shells and other supplies.

The record of killing and wounding countless Japanese troops in the blocking battles in Jiepai Village and Laoshushan area not only gave the 145th Division the confidence to ask for supplies, but also made the 23rd Army Group Command more confident, and the tone of asking the Jinling City Defense Command for supplies was also strong enough.

Although the general who was responsible for defending the city was incompetent, he also knew the importance of the 23rd Army defending the outer perimeter of Jinling. Faced with the lion's mouth of the 23rd Army, he had to order the Wuhu defenders to help solve the problem.

The Wuhu defenders were just an infantry brigade. They were asked to provide 100,000 kilograms of rice and various required ammunition. Even if they wanted to provide them, they couldn't! Especially at this time of chaos and repeated retreat of the front line.

This is the life wisdom of Lieutenant General Rao. He certainly knew that his demands were almost unreasonable at this time, and Wuhu couldn't get them even if they sold them.

But the more this happened, the more they could meet some of the needs and do their best.

Sure enough, Wuhu was not able to get much supplies, but within two days, they collected hundreds of empty oil drums, 5,000 kilograms of rice and flour, and 1,000 kilograms of explosives. In order to make up for their insufficient supply of supplies, they even took the initiative to send a baggage team to transport the supplies to the town closest to the Guangde mountain area, so that the 145th Division could receive them as soon as they left the mountain area.

And promised to help transport the wounded and send them to Jiangbei for effective treatment.

This was far more effective than what Lieutenant General Rao wanted.

So, the 145th Division camel and horse team, which traveled at night, spent two days and nights crossing hundreds of kilometers of mountain roads. After receiving the supplies needed by the Tang Dao overnight, they took a shortcut to the location of the Tang Dao unit that was harassing the Japanese army in the mountain area.

To show his importance, Major General Tong personally led the 145th Division Guard Company to escort, and finally met the main force of the Tang Dao in the afternoon of that day.

At that time, Tang Dao and several of his subordinates were roasting potatoes by the campfire. At that time, Major General Tong, who was responsible for transporting supplies, and the officers and soldiers of the transport team of the 145th Division of the Sichuan Army were all sleeping soundly in the station one kilometer away.

In the first two days, they rushed to save time and ran hundreds of kilometers in two days and two nights. After receiving the supplies, in order to reduce the possibility of encountering Japanese infantry, they marched on the rugged mountain road for two days and one night. Even an iron man could not bear it.

After resting for a few hours, Major General Tong, who had recovered, heard that Tang Dao was going to test his secret new weapon, and of course he came to observe it out of curiosity.

Then, like Pang Dahai, he was stunned by the large-caliber cannon in front of him.

It turned out that the oil barrel he had sent with great difficulty was Tang Dao's so-called new weapon.

But can this thing really be used?

The so-called artillery test site is just a valley with a width of more than 200 meters.

There is such a large open space in the mountains, which is rare. The rice fields cultivated by the mountain people have been harvested, leaving only empty fields. I just don’t know whether green rice seedlings can grow here next year.

No one can answer this.

The war destroyed not only the town, but everyone was struggling in this chaos.

As a soldier, looking at this area that can be used as a grain-producing area, it is inevitable to sigh.

However, the 'artillery' is not in the valley, but on the ridge.

Tang Dao had obviously ordered people to make preparations. A gasoline barrel with a small hole dug out was placed on a mound. Most of the lower half of the barrel was buried in the soil and was lifted high by the mound. The mouth of the raised oil barrel is facing the mountain at a 45-degree angle.

The home-made cannons that will shine on the battlefield in the next ten years, in this era, are presented in such a "shameful" appearance in front of a group of Chinese soldiers with rich battlefield experience.

Tang Dao obviously attached great importance to this so-called experiment. The guard platoon and Cheng Tieshou's fire support company served as a warning force, with a warning range of 500 meters.

In addition to the guest-level general Major General Tong, there were Tang Dao and three other chief officers of the independent battalion, as well as Pang Dahai and Cheng Tietsou, the two company commanders responsible for long-range firepower.

"Commander Tang, what are you trying to do! Use a gasoline barrel as a cannon? That's not okay! It will blow up the barrel. You have to do it." Major General Tong has experienced battles for a long time. Of course, he can see through the purpose of Tang Dao at a glance. He immediately shook his head in denial.

This is still based on Tang Dao's brilliant victory in the battle at Mouse Mountain. Otherwise, this big man from western Sichuan would definitely give Tang Dao's behavior a "promiscuous" definition.

"Hey, Chief Tong, an old man in my hometown said that practice is the only criterion for testing truth. You haven't seen the experimental results yet, how do you know it won't work?" Tang Dao said with a chuckle.

The person who once wrote an important part in the history of China is also from Sichuan. Of course, there is no psychological burden for piracy of Tang Dao. He must be from his hometown.

Is Commander Tang’s hometown always so awesome? Where did such philosophical words come from? No wonder the commander is so powerful! It turns out that this is the basis.

The two company commanders looked at each other and sighed in their hearts.

"Okay, I'm going to say this to you, but I have to see how you turn empty gasoline barrels into cannons. Otherwise, you, Battalion Commander Tang, will be sorry for me, the Major General Brigade Commander, and I will be the captain of the transportation brigade for you." Major General Tong. He was not a stickler for the past. Hearing what Tang Dao said was reasonable, he did not insist on his own opinion at the moment. He walked up to the gasoline barrel placed on the mound and observed carefully.

But looking left and right, I couldn't see any flowers. Gasoline barrels...gasoline barrels.

Just because Mr. Lu casually wrote "There are two trees in front of my house, one is a jujube tree and the other is a jujube tree" can lead to thoughts about the bright future.

Does my narrow knowledge limit my imagination? The Army Major General's heart was undoubtedly messy at this moment.

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