The huge explosion blasted a large crater four to five meters wide in the ground. Seeing that a small group of Japanese soldiers who had assembled there disappeared instantly, Nakagawa Jiro was almost blind.
He knew at a glance that this was definitely a large-caliber heavy artillery exceeding 150 mm. In the Japanese army, only the mountain artillery regiments of the standing field divisions and even the heavy artillery brigades were equipped with such heavy artillery. Ordinary troops were even worried about it.
No qualifications.
"Why...why do the Chinese have such large-caliber heavy artillery? Is this still the poor and cowardly Chinese army?" Like all the Japanese who fought against the Liantai militia for the first time, Nakagawa Jiro exclaimed almost in anger.
.
At this moment, just below Qixia Pass, a group of twelve huge steel monsters were lined up.
The thick and long barrel points straight into the sky, and the huge body is like a tiger squatting on the ground. This is the new toy that Geng Changshun, commander of the 1st Artillery Battalion, got, the American M40 155 self-propelled howitzer.
This self-propelled gun also has a weird nickname: Tom Long Legs.
There is a Chinese proverb, there is only the wrong name, but there is no wrong nickname.
The same goes for this artillery. The reason why the M40 self-propelled artillery has this nickname is because this artillery has power and a range of up to 23.5 kilometers that other artillery of the same caliber cannot match in this era.
On the other hand, Japan, which they call the most perfect howitzer, the Type 96 150mm field howitzer, has a maximum range of only 11.9 kilometers, which is half shorter than the Long-Legged Tom.
Not to mention the power, when a 43.1 kilogram shell falls on the ground, it will create a large crater of four to five meters. Without trenches and other protection, almost no human or animal can be found within the explosion range of tens of meters.
When he saw the first explosion point, Nakagawa Jiro closed his eyes in despair. He knew that his second squadron... was finished...
Nakagawa Jiro's judgment was correct. After the first artillery shell fell, the second artillery shell also fell more than 200 meters in front of the Second Battalion's position. The smoke that rose instantly swallowed up the three Japanese soldiers.
Then came the second one, the third one...
After three consecutive rounds of shelling, the sound of artillery suddenly stopped, and the overwhelming loud noise suddenly disappeared. For a moment, the entire field seemed to suddenly become clear. If the front of the position was not still shrouded in thick smoke, Nakagawa Jiro almost thought that the bombing just now was
Field illusion.
The position in front of the second battalion was completely covered by artillery fire, and the second squadron that had just launched an aggressive attack had disappeared.
The 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion was located at the protrusion directly in front of the position, and was naturally the closest to the Japanese army. In the previous battle, the Japanese army was less than 200 meters away from their position, so the soldiers of the 1st Company were the ones who could best feel the power of the shelling just now.
Although it was more than a hundred meters away from the explosion point and the soldiers had built simple fortifications, the power of the 155 howitzer was too great, and many fortifications were still collapsed by the huge explosion shock wave.
"Hurry... dig them out quickly, don't bury them for too long and suffocate." A sergeant was leading several soldiers to dig through the floating soil with their hands, with an anxious look in their eyes.
Several soldiers also dug with their hands without saying a word, and soon dug out the three soldiers buried in the soil.
One of the soldiers who was dug out was stunned for a while, glanced at the people around him, spit out a few mouthfuls of dirt, hugged the sergeant and started crying.
"Squad leader... I thought... I just thought I was going to die and never see you again!"
There was silence for a while, then burst of laughter suddenly broke out.
The squad leader also couldn't laugh or cry, and broke away from his hands, "I'm not a girl, why are you hugging me, get out!"
"That's right, little Shandong...you haven't married yet, right? You can't cry like this. No woman will like you like this." The comrades around him started joking.
"That's right, I heard that all of your Shandong girls have a bold personality. No girl with your temperament is willing to marry you."
"That's not right... We are in Shanxi now. It's not certain that a blind girl will fall in love with him."
"Okay, shut the fuck up." The squad leader glared, "Are you very idle? What the fuck are you digging for? A cannonball more than a hundred meters away can collapse it.
, if you are seen by the company commander, you will all be punished by running ten kilometers after you return. Now hurry up and dig the fortifications again for me!"
After the squad leader spoke, the soldiers no longer dared to behave like monsters. One by one, they took out their engineering shovels from their backs and began to dig their positions again.
While working, Xiao Shandong asked the squad leader next to him: "Squad leader, what kind of cannon was fired just now? It was too powerful. I just saw that the explosion point was more than a hundred meters away from us. Why is it so far away?"
It knocked down all our fortifications from afar."
"You guys still have the nerve to ask." The squad leader put a foot on your butt, little Shandong, "Look at what kind of fortifications you idiots have dug. Even an explosion from such a distance can collapse. I usually
How did I teach you?"
Little Shandong, who was kicked, looked aggrieved and did not dare to speak, so he could only dig the fortifications honestly.
After the squad leader kicked him, he felt a lot calmer and explained: "I don't know much about this. I only know that after the expansion, our artillery battalion was divided into two. The equipment of the second artillery battalion is still the original 105
Howitzer.
However, the first artillery battalion is very powerful. It’s so awesome. It’s equipped with a 155-caliber self-propelled artillery. Do you know what a self-propelled artillery is? It’s the kind that can move on its own without being pulled by a truck.
The artillery barrel is so thick that it can fit your whole body into it. As for its power, you saw it just now."
"My dear." Little Shandong exclaimed, "Our group is so powerful, we can even get such a big cannon."
"That is."
The squad leader of Xiao Shandong is from Liantai. Hearing this, he said proudly: "I have told you before that our group is a famous landowner in Liantai. Our family owns thousands of acres of fields and dozens of shops.
There is too much money to spend.
It's just that Mr. Gao was beaten to death by the Japanese Japs a few days ago. In anger, the group members spent their own money to establish our militia, specifically to cause trouble for the Japs. You are lucky to be able to join our militia.
, as long as you work hard for a few years, the military salary you receive will be enough for you to go home, buy a few acres of land, marry a wife, and live a good life."
"That's true."
Xiao Shandong grinned when he heard this. He is now a private soldier, and his monthly military pay is two oceans. In the second year, he will be a private, and then it will be three oceans. In the third year, he will be a first-class soldier. Then
That's four oceans.
Calculating it this way, as long as you work hard for a few years and have enough money to go back to your hometown in Shandong and marry a wife, it will not be a dream...