At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese completed the artillery preparations before the attack.
"Your Excellency Captain, the attack is ready."
Soon, the reports of the Japanese attack tactics units on the front were summarized and given to Commander Yamaguchi Akamatsu.
Commander Yamaguchi Akamatsu looked at the ruins of Huaiyin, his eyes filled with fierce murderous intent.
This time, he wanted to wipe out the remnants of the Northern Jiangsu guerrillas in the city in one fell swoop, retake Huaiyin, and restore the military might of the Imperial Japanese Army.
"Let's begin." Commander Yamaguchi Akamatsu gave the order to attack.
"Hai!"
The Japs' operational staff nodded to the flagman next to him, and the flagman immediately waved the small flag in his hand to convey Commander Yamaguchi Akamatsu's attack order.
The four 75mm mountain cannons placed in the fields outside Huaiyin City had been calibrated to shoot at Zhu Yuan. After seeing the flags of the flag soldiers, they immediately took action and the shells slid into the barrels of the cannons.
Following the Japanese artillery commander's strange scream, the four 75mm mountain cannons suddenly released a ball of red light, and the shells flew out with a roar. The huge recoil when fired made the steel plates on the ground deep.
Deeply embedded in the soil.
"Boom! Boom!"
Soon, the cannonballs hit the city with a terrifying aura like piercing gold and cracking rocks, making a deafening roar, and the earth shook suddenly.
Four scorching mushroom clouds suddenly rose into the air, and the blast of air swept radially in all directions, and all the rubble and windows were shattered in an instant.
The brothers behind the first-line bunker were enveloped in billowing smoke. Hot fragments mixed with gravel fell like rain, and their bodies were covered with a thick layer of dust.
The brothers' ears were temporarily deafened by the roaring explosion, and they could not hear anything. The smoke blocked their sight, and their eyes were dim. They were knocked off balance by the shock wave of the air wave, and fell down.
land.
When the brothers didn't feel any tremors, they dusted off the thick dust and turned around to see that several houses behind them had completely disappeared and were directly leveled by the shells. This made the brothers look horrified.
.
"You damn little devils, they are bombing us indiscriminately."
Yang Ling and the others lurked in the street behind them. They saw several houses disappearing from sight in the smoke and dust rising in front, and they were cursing fiercely.
"Little Japs are just two-legged beasts. There is nothing they can't do." Faced with the indiscriminate bombardment of the Japs, some people were not surprised.
"Let the brothers spread out more. It looks like the little devil is going to risk his life this time."
Seeing that the Japanese were bombarded by several 75mm mountain cannons as soon as they came up, Yang Ling's expression became solemn.
After completing the first shooting, the Japanese quickly adjusted the shooting parameters under the guidance of the artillery observers. Only five minutes later, the mountain artillery roared again.
This time, the Japanese soldiers let go of the fight completely. One by one, the shells with a destructive aura launched a fierce bombardment at Huaiyin, and mushroom clouds rolled and rose.
Some of the brothers who were ambushing in the ruins were unlucky enough to be hit by Japanese artillery shells. They were all blown to pieces, with flesh and blood flying everywhere, and they didn't even have time to scream.
Although the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps is already quite strong in combat compared to other Chinese corps, it is also equipped with all types of 38-type rifles, grenade launchers, machine guns and other weapons.
However, in terms of heavy weapons, they were more than one level behind the Japs. Facing the Japs' mountain artillery bombardment, they did not even have the strength to resist and could only bear it silently.
"We must blow up these cannons when we turn back. They pose too great a threat to us."
Faced with the hot and choking waves of anger, Yang Ling was a little frustrated.
The Japanese bombardment caused smoke and dust to billow in the city. Most places were shrouded in thick gunpowder smoke, and the line of sight was greatly obstructed.
The Japs from the Yamaguchi Brigade launched an assault on Huaiyin. They thought they could easily win it, but after a day of fighting, they were still in a stalemate, and a lot of people were lost. The fierce bombardment is now out of revenge.
The Japanese bombardment was so fierce that many buildings in the city were blown to pieces like fragile tofu.
Fortunately, most of the people in the fighting area fled, otherwise the shelling would have caused many casualties.
The brothers who were caught in the explosion could hear nothing and see nothing. When they woke up from the chaotic state, their surroundings were almost flattened.
Looking around, there are only some isolated broken walls and leaning columns, which look crumbling.
Although the Japanese Brigade temporarily allocated four mountain cannons to the Yamaguchi Brigade to assist in the battle, they only had a basic number of shells, so they did not dare to waste too much. When they saw that they were almost done, they stopped the bombardment.
After the bombardment, nearly five hundred Japanese soldiers were divided into several attack echelons. Following the commander's saber guidance, they opened up skirmish lines and began to advance toward the ruins.
"The devils are coming!"
When the gray-headed brothers who looked like mud monkeys were busy digging out the brothers who were buried by the collapsed buildings in the ruins, they saw many shadowy figures approaching in the smoke of gunpowder in the distance.
"Send the wounded to the back, and the rest are ready to fight!"
The platoon leader who was responsible for luring the Japanese at the front had a gash on his cheek from flying tiles during the shelling. It was now mixed with dust and looked slimy, and his expression could no longer be seen clearly.
Several brothers carried the injured brother on their backs and ran back. The other brothers grabbed their guns one after another and looked for cover on the spot. Soon, more than thirty rifle muzzles were aimed at them from different directions.
Devil.
The Japanese soldiers searched and advanced through the ruins with bayonets in hand. Their battle line was very wide and divided into several attacking echelons, about two hundred meters apart.
Once the front is suppressed, the rear echelon can quickly flank or move forward to support. If the front cannot block it, the rear echelon can quickly build a defense line on the spot to stabilize the position.
It can be said that this Japanese attack formation is tried and tested. Looking at this Japanese attack formation, the platoon leader ambushing in the ruins sneered. No matter how smart the Japanese are, they are destined to fail in these ruins.
And return.
"beat!"
Seeing that the first echelon of the Japs had entered the firing range, the platoon leader gave the order to attack while shouting orders.
"Bang bang bang..."
More than thirty rifles were fired, and suddenly there was a dull sound of gunfire. The Japanese who were hunched over and alternately covering the advancing Japanese just stood up from behind the blasted ruins and were about to rush behind a rotten wall.
, the bullets plopped into their bodies, bursting out clouds of blood mist. Under the impact of the bullets, these devils fell to the ruins in various postures.
"ah--"
There were also Japanese soldiers who were not hit in the vital part, dragging their bloody legs, screaming and trying to crawl back behind the bunker.
But soon more bullets flew towards the Japanese soldiers who were still squirming on the ground, streams of blood flew out, and the Japanese soldiers died completely.
When the Japs behind heard the gunshot, they almost reflexively lay down and fired back at the place where the gunshot was fired. For a moment, bullets flew across the ruins, causing smoke and dust to fly everywhere. From time to time, someone was hit by a bullet.
Fall to the ground.
"Machine gun suppression!"
"Grenade bombardment of their fire support points!"
"The first detachment, the second detachment are ready to attack!"
The Japanese commander was no idiot. He actually encountered resistance under such a fierce bombardment. He was stunned for only a few seconds before issuing a series of effective counterattack orders.