The remaining thirty or so direct-firing artillery pieces of Sato's division joined the battle at the same time, and various artillery shells flew toward the blocking position screaming as if they were free...
The two-meter-high mounds on the position bore the brunt of the blast, and in an instant, six or seven mounds were covered by artillery fire...
"Rumble..."
A heavy artillery shell hit the mound...
Fires shot into the sky and thick smoke billowed. The mound of soil more than three meters high was instantly blown away by one meter, but the bunker protruding from the ground was still intact.
I saw that there were piles of boulders weighing hundreds of kilograms under the one meter thick soil layer.
The soil layer consumed most of the power of the artillery shell, and the remaining power was not as powerful as a mortar shell. Apart from blowing off a corner of the boulder, it did not cause any other damage.
"Rumble..."
A field artillery shell fell from the sky and struck next to the mound.
In the splashing fire, countless pieces of soil were blown up into the sky, and then rained down around the impact point.
The bunker that had just exposed the boulder was once again covered with a layer of soil...
"Boom boom..."
Two more artillery shells hit the surrounding mound one after another, and the soil raised by the explosion of the artillery shells fell on the bunker again...
Of course, there are also cases where two consecutive shells hit the bunker at the same time, but they only shattered the boulder hit by the shells...
There are two layers of staggered steel rails under the boulder.
They are more indestructible unless a few more shells hit this spot at the same time, but the chance is too low.
In the half-hour long artillery preparation, it would be great if three or four rail bunkers were destroyed...
Of course, Lieutenant General Sato does not rely on the artillery behind him...
"Weng buzz..."
While waiting anxiously, three batches of planes finally arrived on the battlefield and appeared in Sato's field of vision.
This was his confidence in destroying the blocking position of the Independent Regiment.
The three planes took turns diving and bombing...
After a while, more than a dozen mounds on the blocking position were covered in flames...
Lieutenant General Sato suffered enough losses at the hands of the Independent Regiment. Knowing that in addition to bunkers there were a large number of anti-gun holes, he did not stop there. The second batch of three planes launched an attack on the blocking position as soon as they arrived on the battlefield...
Throw incendiary bombs wherever there is no fire.
The entire artillery fire coverage and aerial strikes lasted for a full forty minutes before stopping. It took another ten minutes before the fire on the blocking position began to extinguish.
More than 300 puppet troops and more than 300 Japanese soldiers quickly rushed out of the offensive position.
The heavy machine guns and mortars responsible for providing fire cover joined the battle at the same time, firing desperately at the blocking position...
As soon as the Japanese attack formation appeared at the enemy headquarters in front of the Independent Regiment, Kong Jie frowned: "That old Japanese soldier Sato has become smart. He knows how to let the puppet troops serve as cannon fodder at the front to reduce his own casualties!"
"As a result, our mission of further damaging Sato's division here may not be completed!"
"However, fighting this way can further reduce our casualties. It has advantages and disadvantages. It depends on which aspect you look at this problem!"
"Order...all the troops hiding in the bomb-proof caves not to move for the time being, and just send some observation posts out to guard!"
"The light and heavy machine guns in the bunker concentrated their fire on the puppet troops in front of the attacking troops, preventing them from getting within a hundred meters of the front of the formation!"
"Mortars, thunder cannons, grenades, attack the little devils behind the puppet troops from a long distance!"
"If each attack can kill more than a hundred Japanese and severely injure the puppet troops in front, then we will also make a profit!"
Nine heavy machine guns and nine light machine guns fired at the same time. The dense rain of bullets was like a death reaper, harvesting the puppet troops within the range.
In the blink of an eye, more than half a company of more than 300 puppet troops were killed.
The Japs behind were not affected at all. With their rifles loaded with bayonets, they forced the puppet troops to continue their assault. From time to time, they shot and killed one or two puppet troops who ran too slowly, killing chickens to serve as a warning to monkeys...
Confused by the Japanese power, no matter how frightened the puppet soldiers were, they could only press forward...
"Rumble..."
Several explosions suddenly sounded in the blocking position, and several flames spurted out of the ground at the same time...
Twelve explosive packets the size of millstones rolled and flew into the sky, heading straight for the little Japanese behind the puppet army.
The shooting distance of less than two hundred meters allowed the flying thunder cannon to hit with extremely high accuracy. A total of ten explosive packets hit the Japanese attacking troops, and several explosive packets exploded in the air. Even if the little Japanese within the killing range lay on the ground, they could not escape the fatal blow. one strike……
In the blink of an eye, the Japanese offensive troops were blown out of ten no-man's land...
But this long-range attack, which can bypass the puppet troops and hit the Japanese directly, has just begun.
The counterattack speed of the Japanese mortar squadron was very fast. Within half a minute of the launch of the thunder cannon, more than twenty mortar shells had already hit the thunder cannon position.
But the thunder artillery platoon was already prepared.
They set up the torpedo cannon next to the gun-proof hole, and after completing the shooting, they carried the explosive package and hid in the gun-proof hole again.
Although the Japanese counterattack shells came very quickly, they all exploded and no results were achieved.
"Boom boom boom..."
Two mortar companies scattered in the blocking position gradually joined the battle.
They resolutely pursued the combat policy of retreating after hitting, and did not give the Japanese mortar troops any chance to target them.
Lieutenant General Sato was going crazy...
Let the puppet troops line up in front of the attacking troops to serve as cannon fodder, not only to reduce their own casualties, but also to use them as bait to force the independent regiments to surface positions and create opportunities for artillery to raid and block the positions.
As a result, this plan was broken again by the independent group.
There are more than 300 puppet troops, which may seem like a large number of people, but their combat effectiveness is less than 30% of the same number of imperial troops.
The independent regiment only deployed some light and heavy machine guns to block them in the attack path, causing heavy losses.
If the attacking troops cannot get close to the blocking position, the Eighth Route Army defending the position will always hide in the artillery holes and cannot come out. The artillery troops behind them will have no room to use, and they will not be able to kill and injure them in large numbers through artillery raids.
"Division commander..." The chief of staff also realized that Lieutenant General Sato's combat plan was bankrupt and immediately reminded him.
"How about replacing the puppet troops!"
"They are so useless. Apart from dying in vain, not a single Eighth Route Army soldier was forced out!"
"On the contrary, our attacking troops behind were attacked continuously by the independent regiment's torpedo cannons and mortars, causing heavy losses..."
"If we continue to fight like this, our losses will be much greater than those of the independent group. The losses outweigh the gains!"
Lieutenant General Sato stared at the battlefield without saying anything. He knew that more than half of the more than 300 puppet troops in the front row had suffered casualties before making a decision: "Let all the attacking troops withdraw..."
"Artillery, aviation, bomb the independent regiment's blocking position again!"
"The First Squadron of the Chariot Brigade will immediately reinforce the front line... The terrain here is gentler than Duanjiabao, which is very suitable for tank assaults... We almost forgot about this trump card!"
