The Japanese's artillery fire extended back, like plowing the ground. The smoke from the rumbling secondary defense explosions made a mess in the forward position. Several gray-headed soldiers shouted and hurriedly removed the soldiers buried in the collapsed trenches.
The battalion commander dug it out of the soil.
"Bah, bah——"
The battalion commander, who was almost buried in the mud and suffocated to death, turned around and spat out a mouth full of mud. His hat was blown off and fell to an unknown place, revealing a freshly shaved green head.
"The battalion commander is okay, the battalion commander is okay." Seeing that the battalion commander who was dug out was still alive, the brothers all shouted excitedly.
He shook his head to clear his chaotic mind, looked at the dusty brothers around him, and then turned to look around. In the diffuse smoke, brothers were lying there in various directions.
His life and death are unknown.
"Batalion Commander, the Japanese are coming, let's retreat quickly."
Seeing their battalion commander looking around, seemingly not understanding the situation, one of the brothers couldn't wait to speak.
Before they exchanged fire with the Japs, the Japs rained down a barrage of artillery shells. Most of the two companies deployed at the front were killed or wounded, and they were no longer able to fight the Japs.
The reason why these veterans didn't run away and wanted to dig out the battalion commander before leaving was because they didn't want to be accused of deserting. After all, running on their own without permission and running behind with the battalion commander are two different concepts.
"Fuck you, pick up the gun and get ready to fight!" the battalion commander of the third regiment kicked the veteran who was speaking, Youzi, and stood up with a curse.
"Battal Commander, we can't win, everyone is dead..." Another veteran, Youzi, saw that the battalion commander was about to fight, thinking that he had not yet recovered from the bombing, so he hurriedly added.
"Damn it, I'm still alive, who said we're all dead! Get back to your positions quickly. If anyone dares to be a deserter, don't blame me for not recognizing anyone with the gun in my hand!"
The battalion commander, who used to get together to drink together whenever they had nothing to do, seemed to have gone crazy. At this moment, he completely lost his usual warmth, and instead looked ferocious.
"I followed six troops, and was kicked and beaten six times by the little devils. Tens of thousands of my brothers died. I've had enough! I don't want to run away anymore!" The battalion commander raised his shell gun in his hand and shouted: "
Ready to fight!"
Seeing their battalion commander shouting and kicking some people up from the ground, several veteran Youzi who wanted to run back to save their lives looked at each other, helplessly turned their guns, turned around and rushed to the side of the trench wall, shooting
The gun was set up.
They really wanted to save their lives, but now they couldn't evacuate at all. If the battalion commander didn't evacuate, whoever dared to evacuate might just turn around and someone would shoot someone behind them. They didn't want to die in an unknown situation.
The gray-faced commander of the first battalion trotted on the smoke-filled battlefield, shouting loudly: "Anyone who can still breathe, prepare for me to fight, and those who retreat without mercy will be killed without mercy!"
Those brothers who were stunned by the explosion or buried in the soil gradually recovered, found their weapons again, and lay down along the collapsed trench.
Before the Japanese bombardment, the entire trench was crowded with people, but now there were only a few living people in almost a long stretch of the trench. However, the battalion commander did not say to withdraw, so they did not dare to withdraw and could only hold on.
The Japanese were fully confident in taking down Gaoyou. They did not pounce on the explosive spots like they did in every bloody battle in the past.
These troops formed by the Japs' replacement soldiers are not as courageous and powerful as the veteran Japs. They are just a group of recruits who have just come off the training ground. However, compared to the Chinese officers and soldiers, they have trained for a long enough time and the weapons they use
Better equipment.
The first offensive echelon of the Japanese led a sparse skirmisher line, and the width of the skirmisher line actually reached more than 300 meters. The second offensive wave of Japanese soldiers was more than 20 meters away, followed closely by the third wave of Japanese soldiers.
Three waves...
The Japanese's offensive echelon is like a wave. This offensive formation not only prevents people from being killed by artillery fire due to being too dense, but also maintains sufficient impact.
Once the first offensive echelon is blocked, the new force of the second echelon can quickly follow up to increase its firepower, and at the same time, each echelon can also alternate cover.
Since this group of soldiers were all supplementary soldiers for the Japanese, and most of the officers were temporarily transferred from the security forces in various places, the officers and soldiers were not familiar with each other.
Rather than saying that the attack on Gaoyou was an offensive operation, it would be better to say that it was an actual combat exercise by Japanese commander Taro Sano, who was training with Gaoyou's squadron.
The Japanese soldiers also strictly followed the provisions of the infantry drill code, including artillery bombardment and alternating infantry charges.
Because these supplementary troops had just been transferred from China and had no actual combat experience, they carried out various orders in a rigid manner and slowly approached the positions of Chinese officers and soldiers.
If it were the troops of those notorious Japanese field divisions, they would never wait for the bombardment to end before launching an infantry attack.
Most of the time, they stepped on the explosive spot and rushed forward before the bombardment stopped. Often, before the Chinese officers and soldiers could react from the bombardment, they had already rushed into the position and stabbed their bayonets into the bodies of the Chinese officers and soldiers.
Undoubtedly, the fighting style of those old Japs is more fierce, and the current batch of Japs' replacement soldiers appear to be much more immature, but they also have to pay the price for this.
"Damn, I want the artillery battalion's phone number! Let them teach the little devil a lesson!"
After waiting for a long time and seeing that the Japanese were still four hundred meters away, the first battalion commander became impatient and shouted towards the half-hidden forward command post behind.
Soon, the call from the forward position came to the artillery battalion position. This time, deputy commander-in-chief Li Changjiang brought one of the only three artillery battalions of the Sulu Guerrilla Corps. The position was at the back.
Although the artillery battalion is equipped with several 75mm mountain cannons, artillery shells are expensive, and one shell is enough to cover the food expenses of several brothers for half a month.
Therefore, the artillerymen of the Sulu Guerrilla Corps were just pretending most of the time, with no real chance to fight, because the guerrillas were not rich either, and artillery shells cost money.
After receiving the call from the front line, the artillery battalion commander did not dare to make the decision without authorization, and called the deputy commander-in-chief Li Changjiang for advice.
As soon as the Japanese came up, they bombarded them with artillery, which gave the Sulu Guerrilla Corps a disincentive. Now deputy commander-in-chief Li Changjiang is also feeling angry.
"Hit! Let the little devils also have a taste of shelling!" Deputy Commander-in-Chief Li Changjiang also ordered the shelling in an angry tone.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
With the nod from Deputy Commander-in-Chief Li Changjiang, the artillery battalion commander no longer scrimped on the price of the shells, and started firing. Balls of red light spurted out from the barrel, hitting the Japanese with the breath of death.
The Japs had already reached a position two hundred meters from the forward position without haste. Their machine gun crew was lying down on the spot, preparing to cover the infantry for a pig charge. Suddenly, there was a sound of breaking through the air, and hail-like shells fell down.
"Rumble--"
Smoke and dust rose up in the flames of the explosion, and the earth trembled. The shells fell on the Japanese attacking group, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere, and the screams continued.
One of the shells hit the Japanese soldiers directly, and with a bang, half of the Japanese soldiers were blown away, as if they were haunted in broad daylight.
"Boom!"
A Japanese tank was also hit by a shell. The 75mm caliber shell directly blew a hole in the Japanese tank.
With a bang, the ammunition was detonated, and the Japanese tank turned into a burning fireball. Red-hot iron blocks and minced meat were thrown everywhere. More than a dozen Japanese soldiers who were following the tank were also burned into flames.
The man was rolling on the ground in pain.
Although the Japs have a well-established industrial system, they are short of resources and need to plunder iron ore from China. Because compared to heavy tanks such as the German Tiger, the Japs' tanks are like paper toys.
The thin protective steel plate could be penetrated even by heavy machine guns at close range, let alone bombardment by artillery shells. Seeing that the situation was not going well, the other four tanks hurriedly turned around and started running.