Mortar shells were like rain, constantly hitting the top of Fangshan City, with fire flying and thick smoke billowing.
Zhang Xuan held up the telescope and clearly saw the chaotic scene after the puppet troops at the top of the city were bombarded. He also saw many "puppet troops" being blown away by the shells. Their bodies were smashed directly outside the city, and there was no movement after landing.
"Captain, these puppet troops are too inexperienced..." Chief of Staff Feng Jiashan said with a smile on his face.
"The artillery fired only two rounds of shells, and the puppet troops defending the city collapsed."
"I think one minute of artillery preparation is too long. The artillery can only fire three more rounds of artillery shells before the attacking troops can launch an assault. This way, at least half of the artillery shells can be saved to deal with other Japanese and puppet troops."
Zhang Xuan didn't answer, but the smile on his face meant that he had the same idea as the chief of staff. He thought about the order for a moment: "It's better to be more cautious."
"Since we said ten rounds, it's ten rounds, but these cannonballs can't all hit the city. It would be too wasteful."
"Inform the artillery. After three rounds of artillery fire, they began to extend the artillery fire and fired into the city. They completely destroyed the puppet troops who had just escaped from the city and lost their ability to resist."
"The offensive troops will wait for the artillery to charge out as soon as the artillery fire extends, occupy the city head, and rush into Fangshan."
"Go faster, especially the troops tasked with interleaving."
"Use the fastest speed to separate and surround the collapsed puppet troops in the city, without giving them a chance to gather together."
"In this way, we can use chaos to end the battle with the fastest speed and minimum casualties, without giving the enemy any chance to recover its combat effectiveness and military morale."
…………
In Fangshan City, which is separated by a wall, the "puppet troops" who were evacuating the city seemed to have suddenly changed. The panic expression on their faces was instantly replaced by seriousness, and they followed their respective squad and platoon leaders to retreat into the city in an orderly manner.
Although shells kept falling overhead, taking away the lives of several soldiers.
But the other soldiers who were not attacked continued to do whatever they were supposed to do, without showing any panic expression.
"Yo Xi, everyone enter the position immediately..." The leader of the Japanese team, wearing a puppet company commander's uniform, was very satisfied with the reaction of his subordinates just now, and pointed to the nearby yards to give orders.
Entering the courtyard, the squad leader went straight to the intermediate powerful shooting position.
This is a machine gun position with a shooting hole in the courtyard wall. The black barrel of the gun protrudes from the shooting hole, pointing directly at the street.
If you wait for the Eighth Route Army to gather on the street and suddenly start a robbery, the powerful rate of fire and the bullet penetration ability of the heavy machine gun will definitely kill the Eighth Route Army. It is easy to kill a platoon of the Eighth Route Army.
"Sir... the Eighth Route Army has rushed to the city..." A reminder brought the Japanese team leader back to reality.
Looking through the shooting hole toward the city gate, I saw a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers.
I don’t know what means they used to climb to the top of the city.
After confirming that there are no enemies on top of the city, directly enter the city gate hole in a battle formation, open the city gate, and welcome the main force into the city.
The squad leader observed and ordered: "Yoshi... prepare to fight..."
"But no one can fire in advance and expose the target without firing a heavy machine gun..."
"Our mission is to severely damage the Eighth Route Army's offensive troops and drag them into Fangshan City, not to stop them..."
"Orders must be strictly followed during the battle. Fire when I tell you to fire, and retreat when I tell you to retreat...Do you understand?"
"Hayi..."
As soon as the city gate opened, more than two companies of the Eighth Route Army poured in at a very fast speed.
Soon the streets in front of the Japanese squad leader were filled with Eighth Route Army attacking troops.
"Shooting...dong dong dong..."
The squad leader's firing order and the sound of heavy machine gun fire sounded in the yard at the same time, and the kid equipped with a rifle machine gun nearby pulled the trigger at the same time.
Bullets rained down onto the road from different locations, creating crossfire and mowing down a large number of Eighth Route Army soldiers in the blink of an eye.
The Eighth Route Army, which was rapidly attacking, was obviously caught off guard. It took three seconds of panic before it regained its order. Under the cover of several light machine guns, it quickly retreated backwards and relied on the city wall to engage in exchanges of fire with the Japanese troops in the yard.
Before Zhang Xuan entered the city, he received bad news that the intervening troops had been frustrated in the city.
He frowned, and a bad premonition flashed through his mind.
Then he took off and ran towards the head of Fangshan City.
This place is only two to three hundred meters away from the top of the city. Instead of listening to ambiguous reports from his subordinates, it is better to climb up to the top of the city and see clearly.
At least two rows of corpses of soldiers fell on the street where the Japanese army ambushed them. Zhang Xuan's eyes instantly turned red. He clenched his fists and smashed them on the battlements. He stared at the battalion commander and asked: "The enemies who ambushed you are all hiding."
Where?"
"In the yards on both sides of the street..." the first battalion commander reported with lingering fear on his face.
"This group of Japanese soldiers were equipped with two heavy machine guns, at least four light machine guns, and fifty or sixty rifles. They fired at us from the yard at close range. The soldiers had no place to hide and could only be beaten passively."
Zhang Xuan frowned and asked, "Do you think the two Japs will have such good equipment?"
"A main force company is equipped with four or five light machine guns and two heavy machine guns..."
"The little devils don't have such good equipment, let alone the second devils who are not trusted and respected by the little devils?"
"If they are really the Japanese Japs, do you think they have the guts to put us under their noses before opening fire?"
The first battalion commander hesitated and replied: "But I clearly saw that they were all wearing puppet army uniforms..."
"Did the little devil do it on purpose?"
"Wearing puppet uniforms confuses us and makes us underestimate the enemy. When the troops put down their guard and head forward to attack, they suddenly attack and catch us off guard."
Zhang Xuan did not answer the call, but ordered to the guards around him: "Aren't there enemy corpses on top of the city?"
"Tear off their military uniforms and see what underwear they are wearing, and you will know whether the people stationed in Fangshan are little Japs or puppet troops..."
The kid is in good condition and almost all wears underwear, especially the crotch pants with the Japanese logo...
The puppet soldiers were in poor condition and rarely wore them.
It was impossible for the Japanese and puppet troops to exchange military uniforms, so they also changed their underwear.
So you can tell whether they are little devils or puppet soldiers just by looking at their underwear.
After a while, the guard company commander returned to Zhang Xuan and reported solemnly: "Captain..."
"Checked it out..."
"All the corpses on the city wall are little Japs, not one of them belongs to the puppet army."
Zhang Xuan snorted and replied: "You little devil is so scheming."
"I want to use Fangshan County and a regiment of puppet troops as bait to drag our squad inside Fangshan City."
"Wait for the main force to come back and then gather together to annihilate them. We will be eliminated in Fangshan City."
"What an appetite..."
Chief of Staff Feng Jiashan got angry after hearing this and cursed loudly: "What a cunning little devil, you actually played tricks with us..."
"Captain, I suggest that the troops evacuate Fangshan immediately if there are no casualties and the main Japanese forces have not returned."
