The mortar squadron's counterattack was very timely.
Less than two minutes after the regimental commander issued the order, a violent explosion sounded near the station.
He raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw that a location about one kilometer away from the station was enveloped by a fireball exploded by an artillery shell.
If these fireballs really rose from the Eighth Route Army artillery positions, with the number of shells fired by the mortar squadron, the Eighth Route Artillery would have lost its combat effectiveness even if the entire army was not wiped out.
Putting down the telescope, he was very satisfied and ordered to his subordinates: "The Eighth Route Artillery has been killed by the mortar squadron..."
"Let the soldiers take the time to rest and replenish their strength. After dawn, we will continue to search for the Eighth Route Army and eliminate them."
The regimental commander returned to the tent at the same time, lay down on the cot and began to sleep.
Just as he closed his eyes, the sound of close-range shell explosions reached his ears again.
The co-captain was shocked, and a puzzled expression flashed across his face.
The Eighth Route Artillery had obviously been killed by the mortar squadron, so why were there still artillery shells flying into the station?
Faced with this accident, the commander of the regiment also became angry and rushed out of the tent. He cursed in annoyance: "Bagh Ya Road...why are there still mortars attacking our station..."
The chief of staff of the wing was also confused. He shook his head and replied: "I don't know even if I am in a humble position..."
"According to the analysis of the artillery staff, the newly-appeared Eighth Route Army artillery is not on the artillery position where the mortar squadron just counterattacked... It should be another artillery force of the Eighth Route Army..."
The captain was convinced.
He has great confidence in the combat effectiveness of his artillery squadron.
They had just set up twelve mortars to counterattack three Eighth Route Army mortars. They had a four-fold numerical advantage and could kill the Eighth Route Army's newly exposed artillery force with their eyes closed.
Since the artillery unit just now has been killed, the artillery unit that appears now must be new.
Immediately ordered: "Let the mortar squadron continue to counterattack and kill them..."
"If there are eight artillery groups attacking us from a distance next, the mortar squadron does not need to ask for instructions or orders. It can directly lock on them and kill them..."
An hour later, the artillery shells fired by the Eighth Route Artillery at the garrison had not stopped yet.
The captain gradually realized something was wrong.
If I remember correctly, this is already the fifth artillery unit that emerged from the Eighth Route Army.
The first four artillery units were all counterattacked by the mortar squadron, and there was no movement.
As a result, after less than twenty minutes of rest and before everyone could close their eyes, a new round of artillery fire started again.
The Eighth Route Army he was chasing only had a few hundred people, and no matter how well-equipped he was, he couldn't have a mortar that couldn't be exploded...
Of course, even if they capture a large number of mortars and artillery shells during the battle, the number of gunners is still limited.
If all the previous four Eighth Route Army artillery units suffered devastating blows, assuming one mortar is equipped with six or seven gunners and ammunition handlers, it would be equivalent to the mortar squadron having killed nearly a hundred Eighth Route Army gunners.
Looking at the newly exposed Eighth Route Artillery in front of us, the Eighth Route Army's artillery loss must have exceeded a hundred people...
How is this possible when an Eighth Route Army of hundreds of men is equipped with more than a hundred gunners?
Even among the well-trained elites of the Kwantung Army, gunners are a very scarce unit. It would be good to have fifty or sixty gunners in a fully-equipped infantry brigade.
In the blink of an eye, more than half an hour passed.
I thought it was an exaggeration to have five mortar platoons in the Eighth Route Army with hundreds of people.
As a result, after the artillery squadron "annihilated" the fifth mortar platoon of the Eighth Route Army, it was recorded that two more mortar platoons appeared in more than half an hour.
The artillery squadron was attacking the seventh mortar platoon that had just been exposed by the Eighth Route Army.
At this time, as long as the commander of the regiment was not stupid, he would know that there was something wrong with the Eighth Route Army artillery that had been sneak-attacking him.
No matter how well-equipped the Eighth Route Army is and how powerful its combat effectiveness is, it is impossible for a team of several hundred people to be equipped with more than twenty mortars.
"Captain...could it be that the mortar squadron failed to kill the Eighth Route Artillery..."
Out of trust in the artillery, the artillery staff immediately retorted: "It's impossible..."
"The artillery squadron is equipped with twelve mortars, and the Eighth Route Artillery only has three mortars for each firing. We have a four-fold numerical advantage and can definitely kill them easily..."
The commander of the regiment did not answer and ordered directly to the door: "Call the mortar squadron commander here immediately. No one has more say in this matter than him..."
The mortar squadron leader quickly ran to the regiment leader. After hearing the chief of staff's concerns, he did not immediately refute like the artillery staff officer did. Instead, he frowned and fell into deep thought, because he was also concerned about the Eighth Route Army artillery units around the station that were unable to bomb.
I had some doubts, and I always felt that this artillery attack was not as simple as I thought, and there must be a conspiracy that I didn't know about behind it.
After thinking for half a minute, he replied: "Report to your Excellency, the Captain..."
"It's not impossible for the Chief of Staff to be worried..."
"Every time we locked the Eighth Route Army's artillery positions and prepared to launch artillery counterattacks, the Eighth Route Army's artillery had stopped firing."
"As long as they move fast enough, they can move a hundred meters away before we fire and avoid our artillery counterattack."
Having said this, the squadron leader seemed to have thought of something. He suddenly patted his head and said with a look of realization: "No... we have really been fooled."
"Your Excellency, Captain..."
"There was a question I couldn't figure out before... now I understand."
"The Eighth Route Artillery fired five rounds of artillery shells at the station every time... and stopped firing as soon as the five-round artillery attack ended."
"But at that time our artillery squadron was not ready to counterattack."
"If the Eighth Route Army seizes the time, it can fire eight rounds of artillery shells at the artillery position before we launch artillery counterattack. If the rate of fire is fast enough, it is not bad to fire nine rounds of artillery shells."
"The reason why the Eighth Route Army only fired five rounds of artillery shells at our station must be to give them enough time to move their artillery positions..."
"If this is the case, then there are at most two Eighth Route Artillery units operating around us..."
"Artillery shells were continuously fired at the station during the movement. Our mortar squadron was unable to lock them down even if they wanted to counterattack, so they had to be passively bombed."
The captain's face immediately became serious.
Then he frowned and replied: "This is a method of combat that we have never encountered before..."
"Immediately call the several battalion captains and mortar squadron commanders to the wing headquarters to brainstorm ways to break the situation..."
"Otherwise, our troops may be attacked by long-range artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army at any time, and they will not even be able to do something as simple as sleep."
"If the troops don't get enough rest, they won't have enough energy to hunt down the Eighth Route Army and encircle and suppress them tomorrow."
"A faster speed will definitely not allow them to achieve their goal of tiring us out through sneak attacks with artillery fire."
