The artillery shells fired by the Japanese army hit the guerrilla brigade's blocking position like rain. Soon the high ground on the roadside was covered by artillery fire, and there was smoke everywhere, making it impossible to see even one's fingers.
This was the decisive battlefield chosen by Zhang Xuan for the Japanese and puppet troops.
Because the total number of Japanese and puppet troops on the road was still nearly 3,000, he decided to kill some more Japanese and puppet troops before the decisive battle.
The blocking formation in front of us is the easiest way to consume the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops.
"Captain, the Japanese and puppet troops have begun to attack..." Chief of Staff Feng Jiashan stood beside him and reminded.
Zhang Xuan held up the telescope and observed while ordering: "Let several mortar platoons be divided into two, and half of the mortars aim at the Japanese artillery position. It is best to kill them. If you can't kill them, you must find a way to hold them back and let them go."
There is no way to continue attacking our troops."
"The other half of the mortars were aimed at the Japanese machine gun positions, leaving the Japanese attacking troops without fire support."
"The first battalion immediately entered the position, waited for the enemy to rush in, and used grenades and light and heavy machine guns to greet them. Then the entire army broke out of the position and launched a counterattack against the Japanese and puppet troops, trying to kill their attacking troops."
"This is more than 400 days of puppet troops..."
"Kill them off and reduce the casualties caused by the artillery. The total strength of the Japanese and puppet troops will be sharply reduced to less than 2,000 people, and the next battle will be easy to fight."
The Japanese chief of staff was very confident about his next attack.
Judging from the firepower forced out by the probing attack, there was at most one company of the Eighth Route Army on the high ground ahead.
He sent a battalion of the Imperial Army and an infantry squadron to launch an assault. The Imperial Army blocked bullets in front and consumed the ammunition of the Eighth Route Army. More than a hundred Imperial troops followed behind to launch a surprise attack. It was absolutely easy to capture the blocking position.
If it weren't for the fact that the terrain was rugged and unsuitable for armored vehicles and tanks to launch attacks, he would have simply sent the tank squadron on board, which would have ended the battle more quickly.
Seeing that the attacking troops were unstoppable, they fought all the way to 70 to 80 meters in front of the formation without encountering any resistance. Major Hase, who had seized the main attack task, felt as if he had eaten candied fruit, and said with excitement: "Chief of Staff..."
"The Eighth Route Army defending the high ground must have been severely damaged by the artillery fire just now and lost its combat effectiveness. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to wait until the attacking troops were right in front of their eyes without firing..."
"We will definitely win this attack..."
Major Miyata did not answer, but he was not optimistic about this attack.
If the guerrilla brigade is so easy to fight, a single artillery fire can severely damage them, and a full infantry regiment stationed in Fangshan will not be wiped out.
The four infantry regiments brought by the chief of staff from Peiping would not lose two large regiments before facing them face to face.
Therefore, the Eighth Route Army defending the highlands will never lose its combat effectiveness due to a round of artillery fire.
The reason why they did not shoot at the attacking troops must be that they were brewing a new conspiracy that no one knew about.
But he would never say such words that would damage the morale of the troops, otherwise Major Hase would say that he had grown up in other people's ambitions and destroyed his own prestige.
Just as Major Hase became more and more excited as he talked, as if the victory was certain, the sound of exploding shells that had been heard along the way reached everyone's ears again.
Major Miyata looked over at the sound, and saw at least twenty plumes of black smoke rising from the artillery position. The gunner who had been squatting next to the mortar was also blown up in large pieces, and several mortars were blown into parts.
I don't know if I can still use it.
Before they could react from the shock, a large amount of black smoke rose up from the heavy machine gun position that was firing directly in front. The two heavy machine gun teams were covered by artillery fire, and their lives were uncertain. The dull sound of heavy machine gun fire also stopped suddenly because of the shelling.
.
The heavy machine guns that were not hit by the shells stopped firing at the same time. The machine gunner seemed to be frightened and began to move while lifting the heavy machine gun.
As for covering the attacking troops, nothing is more important than their own lives. Faced with the shells that may hit their heads at any time, they have long forgotten about it.
The artillery squadron and the heavy machine gun squadron are the only two units that can provide fire support to the attacking troops.
If something unexpected happens to them and the attacking troops are counterattacked by the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield, there will not even be any supporting troops to respond.
Major Miyata's face suddenly turned pale, and he immediately shouted to the chief of staff: "Sir..."
"The attacking troops are in danger..."
"Let them retreat quickly...it will be too late if it's too late, hurry up..."
The chief of staff also realized something was wrong from the sudden artillery counterattack, and quickly ordered: "Hurry up and give the order to the attacking troops... turn around and retreat immediately..."
Major Hase was still immersed in the joy of his troops capturing the Eighth Route Army's positions, completely unaware that the attacking troops had become a piece of meat on the Eighth Route Army's lips.
When he heard the chief of staff's order to retreat, he wanted to struggle again and quickly reminded: "But they will rush to the high ground quickly and seize the Eighth Route Army's blocking position..."
"It would be a shame to retreat now..."
"chief of staff……"
"If we don't hold on for another minute...it only takes one minute for them to rush to the Eighth Route Army position!"
Hearing this, the chief of staff also hesitated.
Major Miyata became anxious and said quickly: "Sir..."
"The Eighth Route Army is equipped with many more mortars than we are. Why didn't they just fire back and wait for the offensive troops to launch their attack?"
"Kill out our heavy machine gun squadron and mortar squadron immediately, and put the attacking troops into a dangerous situation of being isolated and helpless..."
"This is obviously an attempt to eat our attacking troops..."
"Withdraw..."
"It will be too late if we don't withdraw..."
"Boom, boom, boom...dong, dong, dong..."
When Major Miyata was about to continue to persuade him, the sound of intense firefights suddenly came from the frontal battlefield.
Hundreds of grenades flew out from the blocking position, densely packed, as if they had eyes, and steadily hit the attacking troops.
Although grenades are not as powerful as mortars, they are more powerful than mortars.
Hundreds of grenades exploded together in just two or three seconds, and the flying shell fragments were like a storm, instantly covering the one or two hundred puppet troops rushing at the front of the attacking force.
Bullets fired from light and heavy machine guns followed closely and hit the Japanese and puppet attacking troops.
The puppet troops in front were attacked by hundreds of grenades, and some were killed or injured and fell in a pool of blood. The little Japanese hiding behind were exposed to light and heavy machine guns.
A hail of bullets flew in front of them, knocking down a large number of them in an instant, especially the heavy machine gun bullets.
The strong penetrating power allowed them to easily pass through the first little devil's body, and then get into the second little devil's body...
Major Miyata was stunned and shouted with despair: "It's too late..."
"Now I want them to retreat even if they can't come back..."
The chief of staff's face also turned pale at this moment, and he regretted very much why he didn't listen to Major Miyamoto's advice just now.