At eight o'clock in the evening, Captain Yamaguchi was just about to fall asleep when a rapid alarm sounded in his ears.
"Bang bang bang..." then the sound of knocking on the door reached his ears.
As if on conditioned reflex, Captain Yamaguchi got up from the bed, put on his military uniform and walked out. When he opened the door, he saw his subordinates standing outside with anxious faces.
After seeing Captain Yamaguchi, he reported anxiously: "Captain, the Eighth Route Army hiding in Baipo Valley is coming..."
"There are densely packed troops outside the stronghold, and they also bring mortars and heavy machine guns... There seems to be an infantry cannon..."
There was no fear on Captain Yamaguchi's face, but an expression of expectation.
He has never fought against the Independent Regiment, so he doesn’t know how powerful they are. Coupled with the solid fortifications under his feet, his own trained subordinates and the Imperial Alliance Army... he is more than 80% sure of holding the stronghold and repelling the Eighth Route Army!"
While climbing to the top of the gun tower, he asked: "Are you sure the Eighth Route Army is really equipped with infantry artillery!"
"You can see everything clearly in your humble position, so there is nothing wrong with it!" the second lieutenant replied with determination.
After hearing this answer, Captain Yamaguchi's expectant face finally showed a trace of solemnity, and he analyzed with a frown: "Infantry artillery is an artillery for attacking fortresses. It can destroy our turrets and bunkers at close range and with direct aim!"
"We must take a preemptive strike and shoot down their infantry artillery!"
"Let the artillery be on standby immediately... As soon as the infantry artillery brought by the Eighth Route Army enters the battle, I will counterattack and destroy it!"
"What about the mortars brought by the Eighth Route Army?"! The anxious expression on the second lieutenant's face did not ease in any way. He stared at Captain Yamaguchi and continued to ask.
"We only have two mortars...the other side has three!"
"Once we concentrate our artillery to attack the Eighth Route Army's infantry artillery, the artillery detachment will definitely be exposed to the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire..."
"It only takes two or three rounds of artillery shells, and the artillery unit will be completely lost!"
"Captain, please think again!"
Captain Yamaguchi shook his head and said: "Ignore the mortars brought by the Eighth Route Army!"
"We have gun towers and bunkers... No matter how powerful the mortars are, they can't be destroyed!"
"As long as the troops are hiding in gun towers and bunkers, the mortars equipped by the Eighth Route Army can't do anything to us!"
Kong Jie hid behind a small mound more than 500 meters southeast of the stronghold to observe the enemy's situation.
Generally speaking, when fighting Japanese enemies, you pick up the weak ones first, and then attack the weak enemies first, and then the strong enemies.
In this raid, Kong Jie went out of his way and attacked the strongest stronghold.
The reason is very simple. The Independence Regiment not only wants to win the battle, pull out a few thorns stuck in its throat, and destroy the reputation of the Independence Regiment, but also capture the puppet soldiers in these strongholds and let them be used by me.
If the independent group takes action and takes down the strongest stronghold, it will severely deter the morale and morale of other Japanese and puppet troops. If they attack other strongholds, it will definitely be easier to recruit the puppet troops inside...
"Commander, all the troops participating in the battle have been mobilized, and the light and heavy machine guns have been set up. They are ready to launch an attack at any time!" Shen Quan hurried to Kong Jie to report.
"Still the old way!" Kong Jie put down the telescope and said.
"Launch a tentative attack first, use all light and heavy machine guns, and force out the Japanese artillery troops!"
"First destroy their mortar unit, and then our infantry artillery will take action. We will call out the turrets and bunkers in the stronghold one by one. After the bombing is completed, the infantry will assault, capture the stronghold, and end the battle!"
"Dong dong dong..."
After a while, the three heavy machine guns accompanying the attacking team began firing.
They were set up on three mounds respectively, spitting out long tongues of fire, and the bullets flew in and out towards the stronghold as if they were free of charge.
"Da da da……"
At least twenty light machine guns joined the battle at the same time, and in an instant, the Liuzhuang stronghold was hit with a hail of bullets.
The squad leader standing next to Captain Yamaguchi suddenly panicked. He was frightened by the powerful firepower of the Eighth Route Army.
Three heavy machine guns and more than 20 light machine guns. Many main regiments of the Eighth Route Army are not equipped with so many light and heavy machine guns...
It shows that tonight's opponents are very strong, at least their firepower level has far exceeded that of the stronghold.
He quickly asked Captain Yamaguchi for instructions: "Squadron Commander, the Eighth Route Army's heavy machine gun troops took the initiative to expose their targets. This is an excellent opportunity to kill them!"
"Without the heavy machine guns, the Eighth Route Army's offensive firepower will be reduced by at least 20%!"
"I suggest that the artillery unit join the battle immediately and take the opportunity to destroy the exposed heavy machine guns of the Eighth Route Army!"
Captain Yamaguchi was also frightened by the powerful firepower exposed by his opponent, but he quickly calmed down.
Shaking his head, he answered as calmly as possible: "Before the Eighth Route Army dispatches its infantry artillery, the mortar unit must not participate in the battle!"
"The Eighth Route Army's mortar unit is observing us. The mortar unit will be targeted as soon as it moves. Then we have no chance to destroy the infantry artillery brought by the Eighth Route Army. We can only watch them use infantry artillery to destroy all the turrets and bunkers!"
"Order the troops in the bunker to prepare for battle... This is just a test of firepower by the Eighth Route Army, don't be anxious!"
"We will fight back after their infantry is dispatched!"
Half a minute later, more than sixty Eighth Route Army troops appeared in Captain Yamaguchi's field of vision, forming a skirmish line, holding guns, and slowly approaching the stronghold!
"Open fire on all bunkers and kill the Eighth Route Army's attacking troops. We must not let them get close to the stronghold!" Captain Yamaguchi suddenly ordered.
Four bunkers built around the turrets joined the battle at the same time, with a total of eight shooting holes. Each shooting hole was equipped with a light machine gun, which opened fire on the attacking troops...
The attacking troops quickly fell down. No one knew whether they were shot or lying down on their own initiative.
But in this case, the attacking troops would be unable to continue their forward assault.
Kong Jie's brows wrinkled into a big "Sichuan" at some point. He looked and analyzed: "The little devil has learned to be smart!"
"The feint attack troops dispatched so many light and heavy machine guns but they couldn't force out their mortars... It seems that our trump card is still too light!"
"Let the artillery platoon deploy one mortar to join the battle, and the remaining two mortars are on standby, ready to counterattack at any time and destroy the Japanese mortar detachment."
"Rumble..."
The explosion soon sounded in the stronghold, and the splashing fire instantly illuminated the surroundings. A puppet soldier fell to the ground... The squad leader guarding Captain Yamaguchi became even more panicked, and suggested again: "Captain... the Eighth Route Army artillery has joined the battle.
...I propose that the artillery unit join the battle immediately and kill the opponent!"
"Confused..."
Captain Yamaguchi cursed unceremoniously!
"Didn't you see that the other side only dispatched one mortar?"
"There are two mortars and infantry guns left on standby. As soon as our mortars are exposed, they will be attacked by their remaining two mortars!"
"Even if the mortar troops of both sides are killed together, their remaining infantry artillery can still name our bunkers and gun towers one by one..."
"We have lost our only mortar. As long as the opponent sets up their infantry artillery three to four hundred meters away, we can't do anything to them. We can only watch the stronghold being razed to the ground and the garrison at the stronghold being buried in the rubble!"
"Keep the mortar team on standby..."
"They are prepared for the infantry artillery brought by the Eighth Route Army!"
"Kill the opponent's mortars, and we won't be afraid even if our mortar unit is killed by the opponent!"
Kong Jie’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper…
The Japs in the stronghold are so cunning that they even dispatched mortars themselves, but their mortar unit has not made any movement yet.
Just when he was struggling whether to let the infantry artillery join the battle and force the Japanese mortars out, Huang Yu suddenly spoke!
"Captain, the Japanese artillery unit is clearly waiting for the infantry artillery to fire and wants to destroy the infantry artillery that poses the greatest threat to them!" Huang Yu suddenly interrupted.
It's not that Kong Jie didn't take this into consideration, it's just that the risk was too great.
After thinking for a moment, he replied: "There are many bunkers in the stronghold, and infantry artillery is our biggest weapon in taking over the stronghold!"
"If it is destroyed in the battle that forces the Japanese mortar unit to fire, we will not be able to capture the stronghold and lose an infantry gun in vain, which will be a huge loss!"
Huang Yu replied: "Commander, as long as we defend well, we will definitely be able to minimize the chance of damage to the infantry artillery!"
"Keep talking!" Kong Jie heard that there was something wrong in Huang Yu's words and hurriedly responded.
"Pile more sandbag bunkers on the gun positions to form square grids, and then dig some individual bunkers inside the bunkers."
"Unless the artillery shells fired by the Japanese directly hit the infantry artillery and individual soldier bunkers, the fragments caused by the explosion of the artillery shells will be blocked by the sandbag bunkers and will not hurt the gunners and infantry artillery hiding in the bunkers."
Kong Jie suddenly realized: "I understand what you mean..."
"Inform Chen Quan to stop the attack..."
"Xiao Huang, go and set up the artillery positions yourself, and be sure to protect the infantry artillery!"
Huang Yu answered confidently: "Regiment commander, don't worry, infantry artillery is much stronger than mortars... Even if a mortar really hits next to him, it will be difficult to destroy!"
"We will be using direct-aiming shooting for a while. I will make a few more marching quilts to cover the cannon body, and then drizzle it with water. It is equivalent to putting a whole suit of clothes on the cannon. It will not affect the shooting, but also protect the cannon body...
On the top of the gun tower, when he saw the Eighth Route Army suddenly stop attacking, Captain Yamaguchi felt proud: "You saw it!"
"The Eighth Route Army also knows that our mortar detachment is waiting for their infantry artillery, but infantry artillery is the trump card for conquering strongholds... In order to protect the infantry artillery from being destroyed by us, we can only stop the attack and find another way to attack the stronghold."
The panic expression on the second lieutenant's face immediately disappeared. He looked at the squadron leader with admiration and said: "The captain is wise!"
"There are bunkers everywhere around the stronghold. No matter which direction the Eighth Route Army launches an attack, they will be attacked by several bunkers at the same time. The central gun tower can also provide them with fire cover... In addition to using infantry artillery to destroy bunkers from a long distance, the Eighth Route Army has absolutely no way to destroy bunkers.
Another way is to get close to the bunker and break into the stronghold!"
Captain Yamaguchi nodded: "You are right!"
"As long as the mortar unit adheres to its principles and does not fire unless it sees the opponent's infantry artillery, the Eighth Route Army will not be able to do anything to us!"
"But we must also be prepared for the Eighth Route Army to attack us..."
"From now on, the flares cannot be interrupted. If you see a suspicious target, use machine guns to shoot it and use grenades to explode it!"
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
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