Seeing his captain's expression as if he was kidding me, the chief of staff scratched his head, feeling that he too had a question mark on his forehead.
Just when the two of them were staring at each other speechless, a slightly dull whistling sound roared through the air.
Then they heard a huge explosion in the distance, and the huge shock wave even made the ground beneath their feet tremble slightly. They could even hear a scream accompanied by screams not far away.
Aikawa Eijiro's face changed: "No... this is... this is a 100 mm caliber heavy artillery. Where did the 200th Division get the heavy artillery?"
For Japan, which is short of resources, artillery with a caliber of more than 100 mm is considered a heavy artillery. Only troops at the level of the artillery regiment can possess it. Troops at the level of the infantry regiment are not eligible to possess it.
Even the Japanese army, which is known as the number one in Asia, is like this, let alone the Chinese army, which is countless times weaker than Japan.
According to research, during the entire Anti-Japanese War, the number of 75mm-caliber artillery pieces of the Chinese army was only more than 400, and the number of artillery pieces with a caliber of over 100 was even less. The millions of soldiers could not even get together a hundred heavy artillery pieces.
On weekdays, the national army values these artillery pieces more than their lives and is reluctant to use them.
Although the 200th Division is the elite of the national army, it is impossible to be equipped with 100-caliber artillery. No wonder Eijiro Aikawa couldn't figure it out.
"Quick...send someone out immediately to investigate and find out what it is..."
"Woooo...boom, boom, boom..."
Before Eijiro Aikawa finished speaking, whistling sounds sounded one after another, and then one shell after another exploded not far ahead.
Although it could not affect the headquarters, they were experienced enough to know that the scale of this round of shelling was at least no less than that of an artillery brigade just by hearing the explosion.
"Your Excellency, Captain!"
A staff officer hurried in and said loudly.
"Reconnaissance balloon, the Chinese have raised a reconnaissance balloon behind their position!"
"Scout balloon?"
The two looked at each other and their expressions immediately changed.
"Quick... hurry out and take a look."
The two hurriedly left the headquarters and came to a wooden ladder at the foot of the house. Eijiro Aikawa quickly climbed up to the roof, raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the explosion.
More than a thousand meters ahead, I saw artillery shells falling one after another into the Japanese offensive formation.
Although the Japanese army adopted a dispersed formation and there were many buildings around it, to be honest, given the level of economic development in Myanmar, Tonggu is a city in name only, but in fact it is only a few hundred households.
Moreover, most of the buildings are mainly made of civil structures. This thing can barely protect against rifle bullets or grenade launchers, but it is not enough against the powerful 100-caliber artillery shells.
Eijiro Aikawa saw through the telescope that after the shells fell on the ground one after another, each explosion would blast piles of bricks and rubble into the air, with the remains of many Japanese soldiers mixed in between.
Aikawa Eijiro is an experienced officer. After seeing this, he said to his staff without thinking: "Quick...immediately order Takehiro Kusumoto to withdraw the Third Brigade immediately. If we continue to fight like this, it won't be long before the Third Brigade will be wiped out."
!”
"Hi!"
The quality of the soldiers of the 56th Division was indeed good. After the order was issued, the three brigades that were still attacking under artillery fire immediately began to retreat alternately.
From the telescope, I saw the soldiers of the Third Battalion carrying down the bodies of injured soldiers and even dead soldiers with neat movements. Even Aikawa Eijiro, who was a little distressed by the casualties just now, showed a satisfied expression on his face.
"Yoshi... Kusumoto-kun's commanding ability is quite good."
The chief of staff did not forget to come over and flatter him: "Yes, Captain Kusumoto is both your fellow countryman and your junior student at the Imperial Army University. He has also received your respectful teachings, so he is naturally better than others."
A smile just appeared on the corner of Aikawa Eijiro's mouth, but it was immediately replaced by shock and anger, "Baga...those Chinese people launched a counterattack."
"Nani?"
The chief of staff was also shocked. He quickly raised his binoculars and looked forward. He saw silhouettes of soldiers emerging from the opposite position, chasing the Japanese army in the direction of retreat.
The actions of the defenders caught the Japanese army off guard. No one expected that the defenders, who had just been beaten out of breath by their offensive, would dare to jump out of their positions and fight back. Did they take the courage of a leopard? They actually dared to escape from the artillery fire.
Covering an unauthorized attack?
"No... Look, Your Excellency, Wing Commander, those people are not from the 200 Division. The military uniforms they wear are different from those of the 200 Division?"
Eijiro Aikawa also saw at this time, a man wearing an iron-gray military uniform launched a counterattack towards the Japanese troops who were retreating alternately.
Moreover, the tactical movements and weapons in the hands of these soldiers are also very different from those of the national army.
These soldiers wearing German military uniforms and M35 steel helmets used machine guns as fire support points for rework, and their formations were also very scattered.
Although everyone knows that dispersed formations can indeed greatly reduce casualties, due to the rate of fire of the bolt-action rifles commonly equipped in countries around the world, if the formation is too dispersed, the firepower will inevitably be dispersed, which will be detrimental to the situation.
It is easy for the enemy to concentrate their forces and defeat them one by one.
But this army was different. Eijiro Aikawa was surprised to find that their soldiers were equipped with a large number of submachine guns. He made a rough calculation and found that almost every three soldiers were equipped with one submachine gun.
Moreover, that unit fought in a very organized manner. They formed a team of three people, with the soldier holding a submachine gun in front and the two soldiers holding rifles on both sides. This formed a stable three-pointed star, no matter whether the Japanese army followed
They can handle attacks from any direction with ease.
Moreover, each triangle formation also cooperates with each other to support each other, and any side can be quickly reinforced when attacked.
As soon as the two sides exchanged blows, the unprepared Third Brigade was caught off guard by the other side and was unable to retreat for a while.
"No, the third brigade is in danger!"
Eijiro Aikawa's face became particularly ugly, and he immediately said to the chief of staff: "Immediately order the artillery squadron to support the Third Battalion with artillery fire, and the Third Battalion must be withdrawn."
"Boom...boom..."
A 70mm high-explosive shell fired by a Type 92 infantry gun hit a half-remaining earthen house. The violent explosion caused the last half of the earthen wall to collapse, killing two people who were leaning against the wall and shooting.
The soldiers were pinned down.
"Prince Long, hurry up and save people!"
When Wang Jiyong, commander of the first company not far away, saw it, he quickly ordered a squad leader not far away to rescue people, while he himself picked up the walkie-talkie.
"Observation post? I am Wang Jiyong, commander of the first company. There are little Japanese 92 infantry artillery in front of me. Find them immediately! Kill them!"