After giving the order, the wing commander directed the guard to take the lead in moving in a curve.
Although this will take a lot of unnecessary steps and reach Chenjiazhuang later, it can greatly reduce the losses of the troops.
In the first minute or two, four field guns fired two volleys at them. As a result, not a single shell hit the target, and all of them hit behind them.
This scene made the captain even more determined to order what he had just ordered.
But the good times didn't last long. Less than fifty meters further forward, the sound of artillery shells streaking across the sky rang out overhead again.
The commander of the regiment was very confident that these shells were going to hit behind them again.
Without any precaution, he continued to move forward.
The guard captain who was walking aside suddenly changed his expression and quickly pounced on the commander, taking him down with him and shouting at the same time.
"Artillery attack, get down quickly... boom boom boom..."
Before he finished speaking, an explosion rang in his ears.
The commander of the unit was stunned by the explosion, feeling shocked and desperate.
He was moving fast enough, so how could he be targeted by the Eighth Route Army artillery?
Doesn't it take time for them to measure and adjust the shooters?
He couldn't understand.
Little did they know that the Eighth Route Army had no new tactics. It was just that they were equipped with enough mountain artillery and had designated dozens of shooting zones for pocket formations in advance.
Although the Japanese reinforcements moved left and right, with no fixed marching direction, artillery observers could not pinpoint their next position.
But their retreat direction has not changed.
No matter which way we move, the final destination is Chenjiazhuang.
As long as the artillery locks on a certain bombardment area in advance, sooner or later Japanese soldiers will pass by there. If the artillery is fired at that time, a blind cat can kill a few mice.
Although the hit rate is a bit low, with the power of mountain artillery shells, as long as one of the seven or eight shells hits the target, each shell can kill and injure one little Japanese on average, which is enough...
In order to end the battle at the minimum cost, Huang Yu prepared thirty rounds of shells for the Mumen Mountain field artillery, adding up to more than two thousand rounds.
If one artillery shell kills one Japs, the sum of these artillery shells can kill more than 2,000 Japs. A light infantry regiment was directly defeated by 60 to 70% of its strength.
No matter how powerful the more than a thousand Japs left are, they are no match for the three main regiments of the Eighth Route Army.
The Japanese captain didn't know all this.
Watching the guards around me being bombed one after another, I felt very anxious and my mind was running rapidly, thinking of ways to break the situation.
But he didn't even know how the Eighth Route Army used artillery shells to target them, let alone break the situation.
All we can do is make the guards continue to speed up their retreat and run faster, giving the Eighth Route Artillery no chance to lock on to them.
…………
At the position of the third field artillery company of the artillery camp, the soldiers had just finished a round of three rapid fires. They were fighting under a highly tense state of nerves. Even if it only lasted for half a minute, everyone was very tired.
Except for the company commander who was standing by the telephone, all the other gunners were sitting in their combat positions and resting.
"Jingle Bell……"
The phone rang suddenly, and the company commander quickly grabbed the phone: "This is the third field artillery company of the artillery battalion. Each gun has sixteen rounds left. The current shooters are in the ninth artillery fire coverage area..."
"Three rapid fire shots for each gun... run now..." the observer's command quickly sounded from the microphone.
The company commander put down the microphone and ordered to his subordinates: "The shooting target remains unchanged... three rounds of rapid fire, fire immediately..."
…………
Thirty gunners from the second squadron of the Japanese mountain artillery squadron were leading their mules and horses forward quickly.
Artillery shells continued to hit the surrounding area, fire splashed, and a large amount of soil was thrown up. Many soldiers who were moving were blown away.
The tragic scene made every gunner nervous, fearing that the next round of artillery shells from the Eighth Route Army would hit him.
Some people may say that they are equipped with mountain artillery, and the Eighth Route Army also attacks them with mountain artillery. Mountain artillery is against mountain artillery. With their experience, they can definitely overpower the Eighth Route Army. Why not stop and fight back.
Perhaps once they counterattack, the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire will be completely suppressed, and the infantry losses will be greatly reduced.
It's not that they don't want to stop and fight back, it's that they will face death as soon as they stop and have no chance to fight back.
There are Eighth Route Army observers around them watching their every move. As soon as the troops stop, the observers will lock onto the target and draw artillery fire to launch an attack.
The mountain cannon they were equipped with had been dismantled into parts and strapped to the backs of the mules and horses. It only took them a minute or two to assemble it.
In addition, calculating the firing crews, adjusting the artillery, and erecting the artillery... it will definitely take less than five minutes to complete.
After the Eighth Route Army observers zeroed in on them, they planned to shoot each member and call in artillery fire to hit them. It could be done in one minute at most.
By then, the second team's two mountain cannons will be hit by several rounds of shells before they are set up.
If the opponent is ruthless enough and concentrates seven or eight mountain artillery pieces on him, he can destroy the entire mountain artillery team in at most three volleys.
"Hurry up... we need to speed up our march..." the mountain artillery team leader ordered urgently.
He was very lucky, dodging left and right with his men, and had not been bombed even once.
As an excellent gunner, he knows the firing rules of mountain field artillery better than an infantry officer...
Marching in a straight line will never exceed fifty meters, and the continuous turning will make it impossible for observers to judge their own marching trajectory.
"Go left..." Less than half a minute after walking straight, the squad leader's command sounded again.
But at this moment, the scream of artillery shells that he least wanted to hear began to sound, and the sound became louder and louder, heading straight towards them.
"Baga..." The squad leader's expression suddenly changed, he fell to the ground and cried out.
"We were targeted by the Eighth Route Army artillery...immediately spread out and hide, avoiding the artillery...boom, boom, boom..."
Before the word "fire" of artillery fire could be uttered, the explosion sounded in his ears, deafening...
The squad leader turned around with a bitter look on his face.
The two mountain cannons were transported by three mules and horses, and together with the cannonballs, the entire team was equipped with twelve mules and horses.
The shells roared down, and the three mules and horses were directly disemboweled by the shells. They fell to the ground without moving.
Five or six gunners around him were knocked over together, and there were still two who could breathe, wailing and squirming, making it as miserable as you want.
"Escape quickly...get out of here quickly..."
The shooting speed of mountain artillery is slow, and it takes seven or eight seconds at the fastest until the next round of shells hits. As long as the subordinates react quickly, they can move at least twenty or thirty meters. The squad leader quickly got up from the ground and shouted orders.
After saying that, he didn't care what his subordinates' reaction was, he just spread his legs and ran forward.
The soldiers responded quickly, but they still had to lead the mules and horses. Many of the mules and horses were frightened by the gunfire just now and could not lead them away.
There was a slight stalemate between the soldiers and the mules and horses, and seven or eight seconds passed.
