On Dachao Mountain, the third battalion commander Lei Zhengyang was sweating profusely. All the enemy troops had entered the valley.
However, Lu Xiaojia had ordered that the attack order should be based on the howitzer test firing and artillery bombardment. Lei Zhengyang couldn't help but ask the artillery observer on the side:
"Brothers artillerymen, the enemy has basically entered the ambush circle now. Where is your test cannon!"
The artillery observer turned his head and replied: "Sir, the artillery position is more than ten miles away from here, and it will take time for the artillery shells to fly over."
In the Trumpet Valley below, Jin Tianxiong's eyelids suddenly twitched, and he couldn't help feeling a little scared.
Even Ma Mengjiang's expression became serious. This so-called valley was too quiet, something was wrong!
But now that more than 30,000 people have entered the valley, it is impossible to withdraw.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, there was a dull roar in the sky, and Ma Mengjiang's pupils dilated, feeling that something was wrong!
"No, this is..."
"Boom!"
Before he finished speaking, an M44 155mm grenade fell from the sky and hit directly at the feet of Ma Mengjiang and the others. The shell exploded and released a dazzling fire.
The bodies of several people were torn apart, and the hot air waves were like a volcanic eruption. The aftermath was mixed with shrapnel and quickly flew in all directions.
The remaining five 155mm grenades were also randomly and accurately dropped on the Zhili army.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The power of the 155mm howitzer is very terrifying, and it can be said that no grass can grow after one shot. The fragmentation radius is about 50 meters, and can reach as far as 250 meters. The explosion radius of 30 meters is an unquestionable death zone, and can easily tear people into pieces.
After the explosion, six large craters with a diameter of about 5 meters and a depth of about 1.8 meters were created directly in the valley.
These six test-fired cannons directly blew up the Zhizhi army in the valley and turned them upside down, causing the formation to be chaotic.
…
On the howitzer position seven kilometers away, the commander passed the forward artillery observation post. At this moment, he also obtained new coordinates and quickly corrected the elements.
"Attention to the height and position of each gun, aiming hand! Reduce the ruler by 002, and the reference point is 004 to the right!"
"Attention all gun loaders and chargers! Fire five rounds quickly and prepare to load!"
"Prepare ~ release!"
This time the movement was even greater, with a total of 60 155mm howitzers firing from six positions of the artillery regiment.
The sound of the cannon resounded throughout the world, and the powerful recoil was transmitted to the ground through the stationary hoe, causing dust to fly.
…
In Trumpet Valley, the few test rounds just fired were all successful, killing hundreds of direct troops.
Mainly, the Zhijun army was on the march just now and the formation was very dense. Now the formation is directly dispersed.
The teaching regiment soldiers who had ambushed on both sides of the valley in advance were also aiming at their respective targets at this moment.
"Da da da!"
"Ka! Ka! Ka!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Thousands of automatic weapons fired in short bursts, pouring ammunition at the Zhizhi army in the valley from a high position, and a storm of death instantly enveloped the valley.
Especially the MG42 machine gun. The hail of bullets sprayed out almost covered the entire valley. Many people were hit by several bullets on the spot, and their flesh and blood were everywhere.
The Zhili army was completely stunned by this sudden attack, but some of the surviving officers still refused to give up and tried to command the troops to fight back.
"Hold on, brothers, we are ambushed. Hurry up and mount your cannons and heavy machine guns to fight back!"
However, before these stubborn officers could finish their words, the next second they were shot in two by several M2 heavy machine guns on the mountain with special care.
The remaining people were so frightened that they could only shrink back behind the rocks and point at the country at the top of their lungs.
"Brothers, hold on, Commander Qi will come to reinforce us, and everyone will be rewarded after the war!"
Don't tell me, the regular warlord troops of this period were probably dazzled by gold and silver, and there were really some people who were not afraid of death.
Relying on a few bunkers such as gravel in the valley, prepare to set up a crane gun and try to fight back.
Not only that, there were also people trying to drag those Type 31 75mm mountain guns.
Of course, the teaching group's mortars couldn't be tolerated, and a few rounds of OF843 120mm explosive shells were fired.
Let them return to the original factory settings along with those mountain-breaking cannons and machine guns.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Brothers, get down quickly! There's another shelling!"
As soon as the gray-faced officer finished speaking, 60 hot 155mm grenades scattered and fell in the valley like a goddess scattering flowers.
Dozens of earth-shaking explosions caused the ground to tremble violently.
Dozens of black storm flowers composed of smoke and dust, reaching a height of twenty meters, bloomed in the valley.
Countless shrapnel, soil, pieces of meat, branches, and broken limbs were scattered in the air.
The soldiers of the teaching regiment who were ambushing on the mountain ridge could feel the heat wave sweeping through the valley hundreds of meters away, which was also mixed with the smell of gunpowder smoke, blood, and earth...
For a while, some soldiers were even stunned, mainly because the valley was filled with smoke and dust. Many people could not find the shooting target at all and could only choose to shoot blindly.
In fact, in this ambush, the artillery really played a role, and the light and heavy machine guns could only serve as auxiliary.
In the blink of an eye, the third round of shelling also arrived quickly.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Under the cover of artillery fire, the Zhijun army in the valley was in purgatory, in a state where the sky was not responding and the earth was not working. There was no place to hide.
One unlucky guy was even blown into two pieces, and his upper body flew directly over ten meters high.
The organs in the torso were flying in the air, and the broken body was hanging directly on the treetops several meters high.
Broken limbs, broken arms, brains, ears, large intestines, and blood can be seen everywhere in the valley.
The psychological defense and morale of the remaining direct army soldiers had long been defeated, and they dropped their weapons one after another.
"Boom!"
The continuous bombardment made these soldiers run away with their heads in their hands, and many of them fled towards the mouth of the valley with feces and urine, trying to escape from this eighteenth level of hell.
Seeing that the heat was coming, Dragon Emblem, who was watching the battle in Hutou Ridge, also quickly issued an order.
"Stop the bombardment, dispatch armored troops, and kill the stubborn resisters without mercy!"
The morale of the Zhizhi army in the valley has now been completely defeated, and it is time to mop up the troops.
At the exit of Trumpet Valley, the engines of dozens of M5A1 light tanks roared. They were already ready to go. Under the cover of many infantry, they began to move into the valley.
Several tanks had large loudspeakers hung on them, and the tank commander used the loudspeaker to persuade them to surrender.
"Our army treats prisoners preferentially, surrenders its guns but does not kill them, and must not resist stubbornly and seek death. It should put down its weapons and surrender with its head in hands."
These dozens of huge iron bumpers suddenly drove out, frightening the thousands of soldiers of the Direct Army who fled towards the valley, and they all froze in place for a while.
After all, tanks have only been around for a few years, and it's still 1923. There are no Chinese warlords who have such a thing.
Seeing these guys froze in place, the machine gunners in the leading tanks directly controlled the M1919A4 coaxial machine gun to shoot at their feet.
"Da da da!"
"Don't you understand the human language? If you want to survive, put down your weapons and put your head in your hands."
Only then did the remnants of the bombed army, which were pitch black and in ragged clothes, react.
Those who had weapons threw their weapons on the ground and joined the others in holding their heads in their hands.
After all, working for the warlords, there are not many die-hard fans, most of them just make ends meet.
Besides, most of the officers are dead now, so there is no need to continue to hold on.
The next step was very simple, cleaning the battlefield to collect prisoners, and finally found that there were quite a few remaining Zhizhi troops, and hundreds of soldiers beside the tanks were not enough.
Dragon Emblem can only mobilize some soldiers on both sides of the valley to go down and clean the battlefield together.
Half an hour later, two jeeps arrived, followed closely by several construction vehicles.
The air was filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder smoke, and the Trumpet Valley had been plowed. Shell craters were everywhere, with pieces of meat, stumps, and bloody soil everywhere.
Lu Xiaojia frowned and gave the task to Zou Jiekai, the person in charge of the engineering battalion, on the spot.
"Battle Commander Zou, please immediately let the bulldozers collect all these corpses and body parts into the crater and bury them, otherwise the plague virus will easily spread."
"We have to go to Yixing through this valley later. See if we can use this time to repair the shell craters on the road. Otherwise, the convoy will have to take a detour to Yixing later."
"Yes, Master!"
After receiving the order, several construction vehicles began to emit billowing black smoke and became busy in the valley.
Several officers including Long Huazhai also walked towards Lu Xiaojia, saluted and gave a battle briefing.
"Reporting to the division commander, in this battle, our department seized tens of thousands of rifles of various types, 17 Type 38 and Taisho 3-year-old heavy machine guns, two Type 31 75mm mountain guns, and countless ammunition of various types. About 12,000 enemy people were killed. , captured about 22,000 people, and we slightly injured 7 people, most of whom were unlucky and were injured by our stray bullets."
Lu Xiaojia was quite relieved to hear that there were only so many casualties, and she also thought it was reasonable.
After all, in this ambush battle, the rear artillery fired a full 600 rounds of 155mm artillery shells.
Coupled with the continuous attacks from mortars and light and heavy machine guns deployed on both sides of the valley, these direct troops were probably blown into pieces by the shelling.
What's more, if an army like this without establishing faith is not forced to the end, it will usually suffer more than 20% casualties, and its morale will completely collapse.
However, the 155mm grenade is too powerful, and the shrapnel can kill up to 300 meters, which leads to accidental injuries to our soldiers.
"Okay, Commander Long, now escort these prisoners to the temporary concentration camp in Changxing County and let the garrison brigade temporarily take custody of them."
"For some seriously injured prisoners, just give them a quickie. As for the slightly injured prisoners, let the rear medical team give them a simple treatment."
After Dragon Emblem left, Lu Xiaojia lowered his head and glanced at his watch. It was 11:20 am.
This time passed so fast, and it was lunch time in the blink of an eye. As the saying goes, people are like iron rice and steel. If you don't eat one meal, you will be hungry.
Lu Xiaojia also quickly ordered a small number of soldiers to be responsible for security work, while the remaining soldiers rested in place and solved the lunch problem by eating individual soldier rations.
