With the orders from commanders at all levels, the battle on the front line has officially entered a fever pitch.
Compared with the artillery, which was slightly disadvantaged, the Japanese infantry were miserable. As early as the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the Eighth Route Army's basic infantry light weapons had crushed the enemy in all directions.
If you insist on saying something is missing, it is that it is missing two big killers, the flamethrower and the grenade launcher.
"Comrades! Charge with me! Take the third line of defense back from the hands of the Japanese! Pave the way for subsequent actions!"
"Force 60, suppress the enemy's firepower! Force 81! Try to destroy the fortifications in front! Get a few more tubes, maybe you can use them if you have a chance!"
"kill!"
Seeing the commanders taking the lead, the soldiers of the two battalions jumped out of the trenches shortly after.
Everyone maintained a skirmish line during the charge, with ten meters to the left and twenty meters to the front and back. The overall formation looked very orderly.
At the same time, the artillery in the rear also changed its target.
The best solution to the roller tactic is to bombard the echelon assembly area behind enemy lines with powerful firepower so that subsequent charges cannot be connected.
However, the transition between offense and defense at this time is our infantry attack. The first priority is to ensure that the friendly forces' charge is not interrupted.
The artillerymen temporarily gave up the action of shelling the second echelon, and instead tried to use 75 Miss and 120 Force to suppress the enemy's mountain and field artillery.
Although the second independent mixed brigade arranged its artillery in a relatively hidden position, experienced comrades still found the general area.
After all, the artillery battery's position was set up on a small high ground to the west of Lijiacun.
The entire front can be seen from there, making it an excellent location for artillery fire.
"Bearing XXX, distance 7300 meters!"
"Fire! Shoot out all the artillery shells! Even if the hit rate is low, you can still make the Japanese artillery throw a rat weapon!"
"The troops will be transferred soon, and the artillery shells will only affect the speed of retreat! When we return to the county seat, the inventory in the warehouse will definitely be enough to replenish all the artillery crews!"
The company commander's idea was very arrogant and reasonable.
It's now 1941, and the various resources of this book are about to be exhausted. Every barrel gun is a treasure that needs to be cherished.
What's more, Tianzhen is the first level of this battle. If the artillery equipment is too seriously damaged, the next battle will not be easy to fight.
After giving the order, eight M1897 75mm cannons and twelve 120-mm cannons opened fire at the same time. The shells divided into two waves and struck in an arc into the distance.
The first to hit the ground was Miss 75's shell, and a series of explosions rose up in the predicted area.
Maybe the power of 75mm is not that interesting, but the explosive rate of fire will definitely not disappoint, and it will directly intimidate and shock the enemy.
Next is the 120-meter artillery shell. Although the range of this weapon has been systematically strengthened, the problem of flight time has not been solved.
However, low initial velocity is not without its benefits. Not having to withstand a lot of pressure means that the charge can be more brutal.
boom! boom! boom!
Dense fireballs appeared in the sky.
This round of bombardment was not only massive, but also very powerful. The bombers were very satisfied.
The damage effect of mortars is inherently stronger than that of howitzers of the same caliber. As a system product with French origin, the Eighth Route Army's 120-pound force is even more powerful than the Japanese's 150-pound gun.
"Keep shooting!"
"If there is no follow-up explosion, it means a miss. Keep hitting me!"
"Today we will teach the Japanese a lesson and let them see how rich people use artillery fire to suppress them!"
This situation is expected, and it is normal to miss.
There are no specific coordinates, and the gun crew has not conducted test firings. Even in the world of health bars and magic thunder, it is difficult to hit in the first round.
Reload and keep shooting.
The accuracy is not enough, so I have to make up the quantity.
Round after round of artillery shells were like meteors, falling towards the general area of the Japanese artillery position in the distance.
The artillerymen in the first division are veterans, and they often conduct live ammunition training on weekdays. As they fired more and more shells, they became more and more proficient with the two new weapons.
······
Five minutes ago, the independent mixed second brigade headquarters.
"well!"
"It seems that the German tactics are very effective. The warriors have broken through three lines of defense in a row."
"As long as the positions in Lijia Village and Luojia Village can be completely occupied before dawn, the enemies on Panshan Mountain will inevitably defeat themselves. Judging from the current progress, the brigade may not be able to reach Julebao within three days."
The words of his chief of staff put a smile on Mano Goro's tired old face.
The roller tactics began to bear fruit, which resulted in considerable changes in the troops' breakthrough capabilities.
This is a great thing. As long as the Datong Eighth Route Army's retreat is cut off and the opponent's most critical supplies are cut off, half of the battle will be won.
Although the current number of casualties is somewhat higher than expected, the majority of those killed are cannon fodder such as puppet troops. His five most elite infantry brigades have not been beaten to the point of breaking their muscles and bones.
Just as the two were about to continue discussing the next tactics, a telephone staff member hurried in.
"Brigade commander, there is news from the artillery position."
"The Eighth Route Army's artillery has just conducted several rounds of shelling and seems to have discovered their general location."
"The enemy's artillery force is quite large, and it also has 120mm large-caliber mortars. Major Yamaguchi called to ask whether to counterattack or move."
As soon as these words came out, Mano Goro felt a chill running down his spine.
As a powerful general in the Mongolian army, he certainly knew that the Eighth Route Army was equipped with a large number of French 75mm artillery, but he never expected that the other side would actually come up with something new.
The situation on the battlefield is now gradually out of control, which is very dangerous.
"Nearly ten 75mm French field guns, and a suspected 120mm mortar?"
"Baga, why am I so unlucky? I just attacked a small county, and yet I encountered the Eighth Route Army's new weapons?"
"Hurry up and let the artillery move their positions! We must give priority to ensuring the safety of the independent artillery team. Those thirty-odd mountains and field artillery are our brigade's last trump card. We must rely on them to attack the enemy in subsequent operations."
Now the mountains and field artillery of the Independent Artillery Corps are one of the few remaining assets of Goro Mano.
If he lost all his troops on the first night of the attack, he wouldn't know how to fight the rest of the battle. What's more, the enemy occupies the air superiority, and they may lose a few more doors on the way.
When the commander of his own brigade gave the order, the chief of staff on the side showed a suspicious expression.
"Mano-kun, I have good news and bad news now."
Without waiting for the other party to answer, the old devil continued on by himself:
"The good news is that we seem to be able to avenge the brigade's humiliation, and finally have a chance to avenge the previous brigade commander. The bad news is that the enemy is very powerful, and the next attack will definitely be difficult."
Hearing this, Mano Goro fell into thinking.
It is not difficult to understand what my colleagues said, because the operation of barrel guns is not easy at all and often requires systematic training and a large amount of live ammunition training.
This thing is not like a mortar. If you can hit 60 mortars, you can drill a 120 mm large tube without any instructions.
To be able to train a mature artillery force in a short period of time, this unit must have a profound foundation.
At the junction of the four provinces of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei-Sui, there is only one team that meets the above conditions, and that is the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Division 1 of the Eighth Route Army.
"I see, we are indeed evenly matched opponents."
"It seems that I have another reason to win this battle, and it can also be regarded as an opportunity to be promoted to lieutenant general division commander."
"Give me the order to let the infantry brigade in the position defend as appropriate. If that doesn't work, temporarily let go of the defense line. Now we need to fight steadily and not let the enemy seize any chance of a comeback."
In the Battle of Huangtu Ridge that year, Norihide Abe was bombarded to pieces.
The death of a lieutenant general shocked the entire military. The commander named Yang also became famous overseas with the battle.
If you can kill the other party, your career will definitely reach the top, and even being the commander of the lieutenant general division is not the end. If your commander is killed in battle or makes a big mistake, it is not impossible to take the position of commander of the Mongolian Army.
"Hi!"
······
"Baga! Where's the artillery cover we agreed on?"
"Why is the enemy's firepower so brutal? If we keep fighting like this, we may lose our position!"
"Hurry up and ask Major General Mano for help. We need the support of the 4th Infantry Brigade. Hurry up and let the next level of friendly forces attack alternately."
Under the cover of powerful artillery fire, the offensive of the two battalions was devastating.
Faced with the combination of rifle + submachine gun, the shortcomings of the 38 Gai in terms of firepower are clearly exposed.
With grenades and light and heavy machine guns alone, the Japs were unable to form a powerful firepower point, not to mention that there were dozens of 60-guns accompanying the counterattack team.
Confrontation?
It is already very difficult to keep the front from collapsing.
But just when the two battalions of the Lao San Regiment occupied the forward position and prepared to launch a general attack on the third line of defense, the Japanese reinforcements finally arrived on the battlefield.
Boom boom boom.
Shells suddenly soared from the rear of the defense line and landed near the soldiers' positions.
What fired was the Type 97 90mm mortar, which is a light support weapon for the Japanese infantry and is generally equipped with subordinate troops of field divisions/brigades.
It is a magic weapon for dealing with machine gun positions and trenches. If necessary, it can also be used with mountain and field artillery for battlefield suppression.
With fresh troops and artillery support, the Japanese in the third line of defense gradually stabilized their formation and began to counterattack with the help of the remaining bunkers and fortifications to delay the Eighth Route Army's attack as much as possible.
Faced with the sudden shelling and the crossfire caused by the Japanese's machine gun fortifications, the battalion commander commanding the front line immediately ordered the troops to stop the attack.
"Old Xu! Use your cannon to help me with another round."
"The stupid little devils have come to reinforce us, and there are more than a thousand enemies directly in front of us."
With the upgrade of weapons and equipment, the current Eighth Route Army has changed its overall combat style.
In the past, when attacking, the soldiers had to charge against Japanese artillery fire and machine guns. In order to reduce casualties, everyone had to flank as much as possible.
Now?
If a strong attack encounters obstacles, call for artillery support.
The superiors have purchased so many new portable communicators and radios for the troops. These are not just decorations. If there is an emergency, just call the artillery as soon as possible.
If artillery can't solve the problem, call the air force. Anyway, there are airports in various military locations throughout Shanxi.
At the speed of the close support aircraft, the mission can be achieved within half an hour. It is just a matter of how many sorties are dispatched.
If you are poor, you will be interspersed with tactics, if you are rich, you will be bombarded by me.
It's best to cover with firepower, and sophisticated tactics should be left to opponents with equal firepower. Japs? Not worthy yet!
"receive!"
"Give me some time, we have just moved to the reserve position."
In order to prevent the Japanese artillery counterattack, the artillery company decisively moved its position at the end of the first round of general attack.
Three minutes later, the artillery located in the rear opened fire again.
Different from the blind shooting during the artillery war, the artillery fire this time was very precise, and the shells went straight to the third line of defense as if they had eyes.
After all, it was a position built by their own hands in the first division. Wherever there were bunkers and civil fortifications, the artillerymen were all clear. They just had to launch bombardments according to the elements prepared in advance.
Dense artillery shells fell, and various fortifications within the defense line were destroyed one by one.
The 120mm mortar is absolutely supermodel-level when it comes to clearing positions. In the entire Republic of China and even in Asia, there are no temporary defenses that can withstand the attack of initiation.
"Come on, it should be almost cleaned up."
"We still have a base of shells, please feel free to contact us if necessary."
After hearing the words of the artillery company commander, the first battalion commander carefully observed the battlefield with the tubular periscope in his hand.
Compared with the darkness of our own position, the Japs' side was ablaze with flames and filled with familiar people. You could vaguely see a few lucky ones covered in fire running around.
It's early winter now, and cotton-padded clothes will definitely stay cooked if burned.
"Come on! Commandos rush with me."
"Everyone, remember, don't be tempted to fight for a while! Don't pursue the enemy after driving them away."
"Damn it, I really wish I could equip that kind of portable rocket launcher earlier. Then I wouldn't even have to call for artillery."
"yes!"
When the two battalions of the Third Regiment began to attack, the Japanese had already launched a retreat version of the Liao brand French roller.
After all, when the firepower is at a disadvantage and the troops are not very dominant, it is very foolish to defend in a dilapidated position.
What's more, the order to retreat was given personally by his own major general. How long will it take if he doesn't retreat now?
Twenty minutes later, the soldiers retook the third line of defense, and the infantry of the independent mixed second brigade also withdrew to the second line of defense.
"Ten minutes later, everyone will withdraw from the battlefield as originally planned! Keep your eyes sharp and report the enemy as soon as you see them!"
"You have to do a complete show! Lay mines in the trenches before leaving! Don't waste the grenades that can't be taken away. Pull out the strings and pile them together and tie them with trip ropes to leave a breakfast for the Japanese."
"yes!"
Sleep, sleep, typos will be corrected when you wake up
(End of chapter)
