While the two Japs officers Kyono Shunta and Kuraki Guiguo were chatting happily, they did not expect that their every move would be clearly seen by Zhou Wen who was in an abandoned village less than 1 kilometer away.
Zhou Wen had no choice but to choose this abandoned village, because the little devil had cut down all the vegetation that was higher than a person's waist within a few miles around. Apart from a few earthen walls that had not completely collapsed in this dilapidated village for concealment, no suitable observation point could be found.
And another advantage of this village is that behind the village is the corner at the foot of a mountain. Even if a Japanese patrol comes, the corner will block the view in the distance. As long as it is within 100 meters, Zhou Wen can hear the movement in advance and calmly avoid it. .
Moreover, after the Japanese engineers came to pick up rags and met and greeted the patrol, no one expected that there would be two Chinese scouts hidden here. In the following waves of patrols, the only one who had any interest in this The abandoned village with obstacles is no longer of concern.
This saved Zhou Wen and Zhang Xiaoping a lot of trouble.
At this time, they set up an artillery mirror with a camouflage net behind a broken low wall. From the outside, only two short objective lenses were exposed, and the other parts were completely covered under the low wall, while the objective lens Covered with camouflage cloth, it basically blends in with the surrounding environment and will not be exposed at all unless observed at close range.
After Zhou Wen saw the truck that was driving by and the artillery coated with gun jackets dragged behind the truck, he knew that if nothing unexpected happened, the Japanese heavy artillery would already be the meat of his mouth.
Under the 16-fold magnification distance of the artillery mirror, Zhou Wen could clearly see the appearance and military rank of the two Japanese soldiers. But his attention now is on the positions of those artillery pieces.
Previously, before the Japanese artillery arrived, Zhou Wen judged based on the ring fortifications piled with sandbags that each ring fortification should be the mounting position of an artillery, and used the artillery mirror to measure the distance and angle. The coordinates are marked on the map.
Now, after seeing the artillery pieces being put into position, he carefully observed the caliber and position of each artillery piece, and marked them one by one on the map.
Zhang Xiaoping, on the other hand, stayed at the cemetery behind the village, monitoring the Japanese troops patrolling through the mountains at any time.
The Japanese army's defense and vigilance of this artillery position is relatively strict. The artillery position is surrounded by Japanese infantry or engineer camps. There are two regiments in the front that completely block Lengkou Pass, and behind them are Various units directly under the 6th Division had Japanese cavalry patrolling across the Shah River.
It can be said that more than 20,000 Japanese troops surrounded this place. If Zhou Wen, a master with super high perception, had not used the darkness of night to sneak in, it would have been difficult for Miaohua and Zhao Xiaojin to enter the center of this Japanese troop gathering place. A very difficult thing.
Moreover, on the highway, Japanese trucks kept coming from the direction of Dushan and heading towards Lengkou.
It's just that these trucks are pulling tight tarpaulins, and it's unclear whether they are transporting troops or supplies. But as long as he saw the artillery dragged behind those trucks, Zhou Wen knew that the battle at Lengkou Pass was about to begin. At first glance, these artillery pieces were 75mm field guns, and they should have been setting up artillery positions closer to Lengkou.
Moreover, there are Japanese warning positions on several highlands on the mountains behind the village, completely controlling all the dangerous terrain and observation points within a few kilometers.
This is why Zhou Wen can only take the risk to lurk in this abandoned village close to the Japanese artillery position to observe.
Not long after, the Japanese heavy artillery was already in place, and all of their gun jackets were removed. The barrels coated with grass-green anti-rust paint were raised high, facing the direction of Lengkou Pass.
Zhou Wen quickly identified that there were 10 artillery pieces in total, including 4 150mm caliber and 6 105mm caliber heavy howitzers.
Here we need to explain the difference between howitzers and cannons (field guns).
As important types of artillery, cannons and howitzers have always played a key role.
Because the two cannons are designed for different purposes, there is a big difference in power and range.
The cannon is designed to solve long-distance land targets and carry out devastating strikes. Therefore, the maximum firing angle of the cannon is relatively low, only 45°, which makes the cannon's ballistic trajectory relatively low.
Moreover, the cannon has a long barrel, generally about 40 times the caliber, and the direct aiming accuracy is relatively high. Therefore, the cannon is particularly suitable for direct strikes against long-distance armored tanks or solid fortresses.
The howitzer is designed more to deal with land targets at close range, so the incident angle of the howitzer is larger, reaching 70°, because this is more conducive to hitting close targets, and at the same time greatly improves the power, and the body of the howitzer The tube length is shorter and the ballistic trajectory is more curved, which can achieve rapid strikes against close targets.
In terms of power, the cannon has a greater initial velocity, stronger shell penetration, and a greater degree of destruction to a single target. However, due to the unique properties of the grenade, the howitzer's shells land close to vertical, and the shrapnel and explosives after the shell explode are 360° distribution, so it has a larger range of destructive power.
It is precisely because of the difference in power and range that the application situations of cannons and howitzers are different.
Under normal circumstances, large-caliber cannons are equipped with strategic-level artillery units, while howitzers are direct support firepower for infantry offense and defense, so howitzers are generally assigned to division-level units.
For example, during this period, a German infantry division was equipped with a howitzer regiment as infantry support firepower, with 36 105mm howitzers and 12 150mm howitzers.
Due to a shortage of resources, the Japanese army could not afford the luxury of deploying a large-caliber howitzer regiment in a division, so it used small-caliber artillery in multiple directions.
The artillery wing at the division level only had 6 105mm howitzers. It was not until the full-scale Anti-Japanese War a few years later that several Class A divisions were equipped with 2-4 150mm howitzers.
The artillery brigade at the brigade level does not have a single large-caliber howitzer, and the 75mm field gun equipped is of the nature of a cannon. The only 70mm-caliber 92 infantry gun has the characteristics of both a howitzer and a mortar.
In terms of the number and caliber of artillery, the Japanese army cannot compare with the armies of Western countries. However, it has an overwhelming advantage against the Chinese army, which has only a few small-caliber artillery.
Now, on China's Great Wall defense line, the Japanese army's 10 large-caliber howitzers with a range of 10 kilometers are full-fledged killer weapons. Once covered by these artillery fire, the Chinese army's unprofessional fortifications and positions that lack materials can only be described as barren.
