While the three of them were talking, the shelling continued.
Li Yunlong and others could see more than a dozen huge clouds of black smoke and deathly fire rising from the Japanese army's temporary position. The rapidly expanding smoke clouds reached hundreds of meters into the sky, and corpses were blown up in the smoke.
The wreckage was thrown hundreds of meters away, and the temporary foxholes and fortifications built by the Japanese army that were hit by the shells also collapsed.
Listening to the low and harsh whistle of the shells passing over their heads, the three of them had different expressions.
Both Li Yunlong and Kong Jie were veterans of the Red Army who had climbed snow-capped mountains and crossed grasslands. They had fought old battles with the Kuomintang and the Japanese. Even Zhao Gang, the political commissar, was used to fighting.
But this was the first time they had seen such level of shelling.
"His grandma, this thing is too powerful." As if to cover up the shock in his heart, Kong Jie cursed, "I used to fight with Lao Jiang and now with Little Japan. It's not like I haven't seen them having sex before. Why do I look at them?"
Why are the cannons of this militia so evil?"
Li Yunlong pondered without saying anything. He turned around and waved to a soldier and second lieutenant not far away who were carrying a radio on their backs.
This second lieutenant and the radio station were temporarily assigned to the Independent Regiment by Gao Hongming and stayed with Li Yunlong in order to facilitate communication between the two parties.
The second lieutenant ran over and said loudly: "Hello, three officers, what are your orders?"
Li Yunlong grinned and said: "Second Lieutenant Zhu, right? Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Sir, please tell me. As long as I can answer it, I won't hide it."
Li Yunlong asked: "How many artillery pieces do your regiment have? What models are they?"
The second lieutenant hesitated for a moment before saying: "Our regiment has a total of two artillery battalions. The one currently covering the Japanese army with artillery fire is the 1st Artillery Battalion, which uses the American M40 155-caliber self-propelled cannon."
"Oh...then what's going on with your Second Artillery Battalion?"
"Our Second Artillery Battalion is equipped with American-made M1 105 howitzers, but they are not deployed here."
"Look...look...you are really rich." Li Yunlong clicked his tongue in surprise.
Zhao Gang asked again: "How long will it take for you to prepare this artillery fire?"
"Generally speaking, it takes ten to fifteen minutes, depending on the situation. If it is not enough, the forward troops can apply to the commander to extend the bombardment time. Generally speaking, it cannot exceed half an hour."
"Half an hour of artillery preparation...my dear..."
The three of them looked at each other, already a little speechless.
Whenever the Eighth Route Army had a few artillery shells, they were hidden and tucked away like lifeblood. It was good to have a dozen or so artillery fire preparations. Half an hour of artillery fire preparation was something they simply did not dare to think about.
"Sir, do you have anything else to ask?"
"No, Lieutenant Zhu, please go down first." Li Yunlong politely sent Lieutenant Zhu off.
After the second lieutenant left, Kong Jie couldn't help but said: "Old Li, we have known each other for more than ten years. Today I have to praise you. You are right to come to Ping'an County this time. You can meet such a rich man."
, even if I don’t catch anything today, it’s still worth it.”
Being praised by Kong Jie, Li Yunlong was so happy that he couldn't see his teeth. His big head kept shaking, and he pretended to be humble: "Old Kong, you are so grateful. We are just lucky. We are lucky enough to meet Brother Gao.
This is called good people being rewarded."
"Pfft..."
Kong Jie and Zhao Gang couldn't help laughing. Li Yunlong's face was still as thick-skinned as ever.
"Okay, let's get down to business now."
After laughing, Li Yunlong also said seriously: "When we cooperate with the Liantai Militia this time, we must show the prestige of our independent group, so as not to be underestimated.
When we divided the work just now, we had agreed that once the artillery fire preparations stopped, our independent group would be responsible for outflanking from the right, and the Liantai militia group would be responsible for outflanking from the left. Both sides would eat up the devils together.
After all, the Japs' reinforcements will arrive at any time, so we don't have much time left. We must end the battle today.
So this is my plan, Lao Kong, you personally go down to command the first battalion. Although Zhang Dabiao is a good fighter, he sometimes uses too much force. I can rest assured that you are watching from the side."
"No problem, I'll go right away." Kong Jie didn't waste any words and went down without saying a word.
After Zhang Dabiao left, Li Yunlong said to Zhao Gang again: "Old Zhao, when the fight breaks out later, you can take the guard company and the supply line and follow the troops to clean the battlefield. You must do it carefully and don't leave anything behind.
You also know that Brother Gao has a lot of money, and he will definitely look down on the little devil's foreign style, but our independent group is different, who made us poor, don't you think so?"
Zhao Gang really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. After all, everyone was thinking about how to work together to annihilate the enemies on the opposite side.
It's great for you, you've actually started preparing to clean up the battlefield. Is this what friendly forces should do?
However, Zhao Gang can also understand Li Yunlong's approach. As he said, who made the independent group poor?
Seeing Zhao Gang nodding silently, Li Yunlong immediately felt relieved.
After these few months of getting along, his understanding of Zhao Gang has deepened.
Although Zhao Gang is a bit like other political commissars on weekdays, he will definitely do what he promises once he does it, and he is a careful person, so there is no problem in leaving this kind of thing to him.
"boom……"
Continuous artillery shells fell into the temporary positions constructed by the Japanese army in just a few hours, and the violent explosion shock waves reduced the already dilapidated foxholes and shallow trenches to rubble.
Mud and smoke were raging in the trenches along with steel fragments. The steel fragments were harvesting the lives of Japanese soldiers in the trenches. The shock wave shattered the internal organs of Japanese soldiers at close range. The air was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder and thick smoke. Countless Japanese soldiers were stabbed.
The smoke in my nose made me cough loudly.
Many Japanese soldiers who had experienced such violent artillery fire for the first time were already frightened. They huddled in the foxholes with their heads in their hands. They were shaking, coughing, crying, and roaring with all their strength, as if this would be enough.
Let them roar out of fear, the whole earth was shaking violently, and the flying dust and body fragments made the soldiers scream in horror. At this moment, those men who were grinning and stabbed to death with bayonets could no longer be found.
The Japanese Imperial Army captured prisoners and unarmed civilians, and their bodies and minds were already occupied by fear.
Fifteen minutes passed quickly.
The originally violent bombardment came to an abrupt end, and for a moment the world seemed to have returned to its previous tranquility. However, at this time, the Japanese army's crude trenches had been completely destroyed. Only the frightened Japanese soldiers could be heard in the overturned trenches.
There were roars and heart-rending screams from a large number of wounded soldiers.
"Cowards! Cowards! Bastards! Are you still a warrior of the Japanese Empire? Look at you, even a woman is braver than you! The Chinese are about to attack, pick up your rifles, mount your bayonets, and use the Chinese
Drive them back! Let them see the bravery of the soldiers of the Japanese Empire."
The few surviving Japanese officers brandished their sabers and kicked the shivering soldiers hiding in the collapsed trenches, pulled them up by their collars, pushed them to the edge of the collapsed trenches, and asked them to aim forward.
At this time, the Japanese position was no longer a position, but a bloody hell, with charred craters, soil overturned by shells, collapsed foxholes, burning trees, broken weapons, scattered ammunition boxes and blown-up shells.
The infantry gun parts here have completely turned into a hell-like situation.
At this moment, a sharp and passionate bugle sound suddenly sounded from the front. If you listen carefully, you can tell that there are actually two types of bugles.
But no matter what kind of bugle it is, they all express the same meaning, that is, charge!
"Comrades... rush..."
With the sound of the charge horn, the starting position of the independent regiment began to boil. First, the soldiers of the first battalion jumped up and rushed out of the trench. The Type 92 heavy machine gun covering the charge spit out tongues of fire at the Japanese position.
In order to suppress possible counterattacks by the Japanese soldiers, the three infantry companies that jumped out of the trenches and more than 500 infantrymen pressed toward the Japanese positions like three sharp knives.
The same is true on the left. Under the passionate bugles, more than a dozen Panzer IV tanks and Lynx reconnaissance tanks began to roar, slowly but surely rolling towards the Japanese position. Behind them were more than 600 tanks.
A soldier from the second battalion.
Although the artillery battalion has stopped attacking, the 81 mm and 60 mm mortars belonging to the infantry battalion are not idle. As an infantry squad weapon, now is the time for them to show their capabilities.
So the soldiers of the militia group and the fast-moving independent group who jumped out of the starting position to follow the tank charge could still see the billowing smoke and rising fireballs on the Japanese position. The violent explosions and shock waves impacted the eardrums of the soldiers, and the strong
The smell of gunpowder was blown by the north wind and still irritated their mouths, noses, chests and lungs.
Amidst the dense explosions, the charging soldiers could not hear the orders of the non-commissioned officers and officers at all. They just listened to the company and platoon commander's whistle as they did during training, and followed the officers closest to them, even with them.
They couldn't even hear the roars they made. There was only one thought in everyone's ears, which was to rush to the Japanese, pierce their chests with bayonets, and pick out their intestines.
What Gao Hongming and Li Yunlong didn't know was that during this general offensive, soldiers from the militia and the independent regiment were also secretly engaged in a contest.
Everyone knew that they were fighting in cooperation with friendly forces, and together they wanted to annihilate the Japanese forces on the opposite side.
Now the total number of Japanese troops on the opposite side is less than five or six hundred, and our own side has five or six times the number of the opponent. It also has heavy weapons such as tanks and heavy artillery. This is a battle that is destined to win. The only difference is
It’s just the length of time.
The question now is to see who can win in this battle and who can dominate the other party.
This kind of competition actually began to take shape as early as when soldiers from both sides learned that they would cooperate with friendly forces in combat.
After all, in the eyes of the soldiers of the Liantai Militia, they were about to annihilate all the Japanese troops on the opposite side. If the Eighth Route Army came over and attacked them, wouldn't this be peach picking?
In the eyes of the soldiers of the Independent Regiment, the Liantai County militia was really bad. Kong Zi had an absolute advantage in firepower and troop strength, but was afraid of excessive casualties and was too timid to annihilate all the enemies for so long.
Since you can't do it, let us do it.
As a result, without Gao Hongming and Li Yunlong knowing it, both sides unleashed a stronger fighting force than usual.
Before the gunpowder smoke could disperse from the Japanese positions that had just recovered from the shelling, those Japanese soldiers who were lucky enough to escape from the iron fire hell and were still in shock before they could even poke their heads out, they heard the sound of something approaching.
A surge of killing cries.
Immediately, soldiers from the Independent Regiment like a tide came over from the right wing. Under the screams, black dots like raindrops fell from the sky. Hundreds of hand grenades made in the border area were fired at a distance by soldiers from the First Battalion of the Independent Regiment.
The grenades were thrown one after another from a distance of more than 30 meters from the Japanese army's position. The grenades exploded continuously on the Japanese army's battered position, hitting and covering the heads of the Japanese soldiers who were already stunned by the bombardment.
"kill!"
An independent regiment soldier who was the first to rush into the Japanese position held a rifle and stabbed a bright bayonet into the chest of the Japanese soldier who had no time to react. Then his comrades behind him also rushed over. They either stabbed with bayonets or stabbed them with bayonets.
He pulled the trigger and sent a famous Japanese soldier whose hands were stained with the blood of the Chinese people to hell.
Little Shandong, who was almost buried alive by his family's artillery just now, was also in the charge on the left wing. His gray-green military uniform had been dyed gray-black by gunpowder smoke, and his face and body were covered with his own blood, and some who didn't know he was still Japanese.
, at this time, he was like a devil slain from hell.
When he rushed to a big tree that had been blown down by an artillery shell, he saw a group of Japanese troops retreating in front of him on the left. In the smoke, these Japanese soldiers in khaki uniforms looked like gophers.
"Behind the slope at eleven o'clock... grenade!"
Xiao Shandong shouted loudly, and at the same time he pulled off the M24 grenade stuck in his waist, unscrewed the safety cover, pulled the string, and immediately threw it behind the slope in the direction of 11 o'clock. Following Xiao Shandong's shouts, more than a dozen people
A grenade was thrown over, and the explosion suddenly resounded in the communication trench.
Several non-commissioned officers armed with submachine guns also rushed over with MP40 submachine guns and fired at the target indiscriminately. The Japanese soldiers who were caught off guard under the dense rain of bullets fell in pieces amidst the screams.
"Ha ha……"
Little Shandong laughed heartily. He followed his parents to flee from Shandong and came to Liantai County three years ago.
A family of five lived in a shack in the county town, living a life without a meal. The two younger siblings were often starved to the point of crying.
A few days ago, I heard that the Liantai Militia was recruiting soldiers, and that both the military salary and the accommodation allowance were quite generous. He, who was already quite tall, had the idea of becoming a soldier.
After joining the militia, little Shandong, who was originally skinny due to not having enough to eat all year round, was like a mouse dropped into a rice vat. With sufficient nutrition, his figure became as burly as an inflated ball.