After determining the attack time, Li Yunlong led a new group to the south of the city.
And quickly determined the headquarters, which is a courtyard for ordinary people.
Standing on the roof on a ladder, you can observe the fighting on the city wall with a telescope.
And called the battalion commanders and direct company commanders to the headquarters to hold a combat meeting.
At the meeting, Li Yunlong assigned combat tasks. This time, the Second Battalion served as the vanguard. After the Second Battalion entered the city, the Third Battalion quickly followed up and fought with the enemy in street battles.
This time Zhang Dabiao's first battalion served as a reserve team.
Zhang Dabiao had no objection to this result. In the past, the first battalion was basically the main attacker, and the other two battalions took turns serving as the reserve team.
It was now the turn of the second or third battalion to launch the main attack.
After the meeting, Li Yunlong ordered the cavalry battalion, machine gun company, and heavy machine gun battalion to gather gas masks and use them to support the New Second Regiment and the Independent Regiment.
Then Wang Chengzhu was ordered to assign six mountain artillery pieces to support the New Second Regiment and the Independent Regiment respectively.
And each sent 10 machine guns to protect the mountain cannon, and sent over 20 camouflage nets.
He also instructed the artillerymen to immediately pull back the mountain cannon, machine guns and camouflage nets after blasting open the city wall.
It's not that Li Yunlong is afraid that Ding Wei or Kong Jie will default on their debts. After all, he now has an IOU in his hand. If the two brothers default on their debts, he will be able to take the lawsuit to the headquarters.
It was Li Yunlong who wanted to replicate the genius of Lv Yingjun, the captain of the Sharp Sword Squadron, when he attacked Yangquan.
After the troops enter the city, let the Sword Squadron move in to occupy the commanding heights and call for artillery to cover the Japanese headquarters with artillery fire.
Artillery fire coverage is different from precise shooting such as bombarding city walls. Only by concentrating artillery can it exert its maximum power.
As the order was issued, the cavalry battalion took the lead in finding a path to take a detour toward the west gate. They must not let the Japanese on the tower see it.
Zheng Yu was busy mobilizing the soldiers of the second battalion before the war. His battalion commander took the main attack, and the soldiers of the second battalion were very excited.
Not even one battalion was idle. Zhang Dabiao led the troops and started digging trenches and building fortifications six or seven hundred meters away from the city wall.
Think about defeat before thinking about victory. If the attack does not go smoothly and the Japanese launch a counterattack, then these trench fortifications can have a blocking effect.
Wang Chengzhu's artillery battalion has set up six mountain cannons in hidden places, turning the handles to aim the muzzles at the bunkers and gun towers under the city wall.
The first round of shelling will take out the Japanese defenses outside the city.
The 17 machine guns of the surrounding machine gun battery were in standby, and all of them were camouflaged, always on guard against Japanese aircraft.
Soon, Wang Chengzhu measured the distance with a gun scope, and soldiers from the logistics department pulled up more than 60 camouflage nets.
Moreover, each camouflage net is spaced at least a hundred meters apart and arranged irregularly, while the mountain cannons are placed in a more concealed position.
Even if it is discovered by a Japanese plane, it will still be protected by machine-made anti-aircraft guns.
As time passed, it soon came time to launch an attack.
Wang Chengzhu, the commander of the mountain artillery battalion, shouted loudly: "Ready, release!"
The flag commander immediately lowered the flag in his hand with force.
All artillery positions are ready, and the muzzles are pointed at the bunkers or gun towers outside the Japanese city.
The gunner immediately stepped forward and pulled the match rope.
The cannon body shook violently, and the air waves generated by the fired shells raised a cloud of dust.
Six shells rushed out of the barrel in an instant, arced through the air, and roared towards the Japanese fortifications.
"Boom boom boom!"
Li Yunlong lay on the roof and looked through the binoculars.
Through the field of vision through the telescope, I saw that the Japanese bunkers and gun towers were smashed into rubble by the bombardment.
Beside him, Zhao Gang also held up a telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield.
Zhao Gang said: "Look, Lao Li, the quality of our artillery is getting better and better. We killed almost half of the bunkers and gun towers in the first round of test firing."
"They say that sharpshooters are fed with bullets. I think this sharpshooter is also fed with cannonballs."
"The more shells are fired, the more accurate the cannon will be."
"Of course." Li Yunlong said sarcastically, "Don't even look at whose soldiers they are? Their regimental commanders are so powerful, are the soldiers below them weak soldiers?"
More than 500 meters behind the first battalion's fortifications, the mortars of the three battalions were concentrated.
The mortar positions and mountain artillery positions were not in the same place.
The target of the mortar was the Japanese on the city wall.
As the mountain artillery battalion fired, a muffled sound of "boom, boom, boom" immediately sounded from the mortar position.
With a sharp whistling sound, the mortar shells landed on the heads of the puppet soldiers wearing Japanese uniforms on the city wall.
Accompanied by a series of explosions, some cannonballs fell outside the city and some fell inside the city, but most of the cannonballs landed on the city walls.
Shock waves carrying choking smoke and sharp shrapnel flew freely across the city wall, ruthlessly harvesting lives.
The shrapnel hit the stone wall of the crenel and bounced back, making a sharp metallic trembling sound.
Before the puppet soldiers could take a breath, the second round of mortar shells quickly fell from overhead.
But the puppet troops did not dare to escape. The Japanese gendarmerie formed a supervising team with Type 92 heavy machine guns on the Wengcheng behind. Anyone who dared to escape would be immediately beaten into pieces.
What made the puppet army even more desperate was that after the Eighth Route Army's mountain artillery knocked down the bunkers and gun towers outside the city, they were already bombarding the city wall.
The cannonballs hit the wall of the city wall and exploded, like shaking a mountain. The entire wall was shaking, and the tiles on the tower above the city wall fluttered and fell down.
The city wall of Shouyang County was built in the Song Dynasty. The entire city wall is navy blue, 6 to 9 meters high, and 6 to 10 meters wide at the top. The bricks and stones are bridged with glutinous rice juice, lime and other substances, which are as solid as gold. The wall is made of stone as the foundation. It was built with rammed earth and bricks on the outside. Glutinous rice juice mixed with lime was used to bridge the gaps between the city wall bricks.
The crenellations and shooting holes on the top of the city wall show the tactical characteristics of the Cold Weapon Age.
However, the ancient city walls were built to protect against cold weapons. They would not be able to withstand hot weapons, especially cannons.
Less than 10 minutes after the six mountain cannons fired at the city wall, the south wall collapsed, forming a gap more than ten meters wide.
At this time, the Second Battalion of the New Regiment, led by Zheng Yu, entered the attack position.
Zheng Yu saw the gap in the wall being blasted by the mountain cannon, and immediately issued an attack order without hesitation.
Accompanied by the exciting and rapid charging horn.
The soldiers of the second battalion carried ladders and rushed towards the city wall like a tide.
"Kill, kill, kill!"
"Come on, fuck that stupid little devil to death!"
"kill!"
At the same time as they charged, overwhelming shouts of killing also rang out.
The murderous intent immediately spread from the soldiers of the second battalion.
Shouyang City has four gates, namely Binyang Gate in the east, Dinghu Gate in the west, Fei Gate in the Nantong and Huaimen in the Beijing, all of which have gate-protecting urns.
The new regiment was attacking Nantong Feimen. The Japanese military police set up heavy machine guns on the top and bottom of the Wengcheng wall.
Just waiting for a new group of soldiers to pour in from the gap, the city opened fire together.
But fortunately, the new group had prepared dozens of ladders in advance. Some ladders were not long enough, so two ladders were spliced together.
As soon as the soldiers of the second battalion climbed up the ladder to the gap, the Japanese heavy machine guns above and below the city opened fire violently at the gap.
Machine gun bullets hit the gap, flying sand and rocks, making the attacking troops unable to lift their heads.
But dozens of ladders behind them had been set up on the city wall, and the soldiers climbed up the city on the ladders.
Because there were puppet troops wearing Japanese clothes on the city wall, they had long been beaten to the point of losing the courage to resist under the powerful artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army.
Because the Japanese soldiers threw the puppet soldiers on the city wall to die, the puppet soldiers had already cursed the Japanese soldiers countless times, and they were even less likely to sacrifice their lives for the puppet soldiers at this time.
The puppet soldiers only fired a few symbolic shots into the air, and then gave up resistance.
"Grandpa Eighth Road!"
"We are Chinese, don't shoot!"
I saw the first commando soldier of the Second Battalion of the New Regiment ascending the city wall, and more soldiers swarmed up from behind.
The puppet soldiers raised their guns above their heads and squatted on the city wall.
But the voices of the puppet soldiers were drowned out by the intensive gunfire.
Because the puppet soldiers were still wearing Japanese uniforms at this time, they were caught off guard and were shot dead by soldiers from the second battalion.
When the Japanese machine gunners on the barbican heard the sound of gunfire, they immediately turned their guns and shot in this direction.
The soldiers of the second battalion ignored these surrendering "japs" and immediately fought back with their guns raised.
The dense submachine gun bullets swept over and quickly suppressed the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun.
The pressure on the soldiers who rushed through the gap was immediately reduced by more than half.
One hand was holding the ladder, and the other hand was holding a submachine gun to shoot at the enemy's fire points.
Taking advantage of the Japanese firepower being suppressed, the commandos stepped on the ladders and swarmed up into the urn city.
Neither the barbican nor the city wall were the focus of the Japanese defense, so they encountered little resistance and were quickly captured by the Second Battalion.
At the new regiment headquarters, Zhao Gang frowned slightly when he saw this scene through the telescope, with a look of worry on his face.
"Old Li, didn't the Second Battalion's attack go too smoothly?"
"From launching the attack to occupying the city wall, there was basically no resistance and no Japanese counterattack."
"The enemy's machine gun firepower seems to have become a display. It seems that many Japanese have surrendered?"
"I'm worried that there's some fraud involved. I think it's better to suspend the attack and let the second battalion hold the city wall first."
"Then let the Sword Squadron climb the city wall, call the artillery to kill the Japanese headquarters, and then attack?"
However, Li Yunlong always kept his eyes calm and his expression did not fluctuate at all. He said without any doubt: "No, let the second and third battalions continue to attack."
After fighting with the Japanese for so many years, Li Yunlong had never seen the Japanese collapse at the first touch and then surrender.
The Japs on the tower were most likely puppet soldiers in disguise. Zheng Yu, among the three battalion commanders of the main infantry battalion, was the most thoughtful. He could not have thought of this.
It was based on this consideration that Li Yunlong did not stop the attack.
At this time, on the east city wall and the north city wall, the soldiers of the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment climbed onto the city walls without encountering any obstacles.
Second Battalion Commander Zheng Yu obtained information about the exchange of military uniforms between the Japanese and the puppet soldiers from the puppet army's account.
He immediately ordered the soldiers of the second battalion to attack the city and kill the Japanese and puppet troops whenever they saw them.
They also specifically ordered the communications troops to wait for the third battalion commander on the city wall. After the third battalion entered the city, they would inform the third battalion commander Chen Dugu of this information.
