It’s not just the Jiuguan front line that is cheering.
The noise on the Niangziguan front line was even greater.
Because it was sent by two infantry brigades of the Third Army, plus three infantry regiments of the 129th Division, totaling more than 10,000 people.
An infantry brigade that was once claimed by the Japanese army to be able to defeat a brigade of the Chinese army, and was almost fully staffed, was first blocked by the 771st Regiment on both sides of the mountain road and could not advance even an inch. It did not even wait for the third army to pursue them.
When the brigade arrived at the battlefield, Zhang Ruhao, who had already learned that the Japanese troops on the Jiuguan front line had entered the mountains and were being blocked by the First Infantry Battalion of the Independent Regiment, quickly ordered that all the howitzer guns be directed at the Japanese artillery brigade.
A total of ten 105 howitzers! Although the blocking troops in front have been notified, when the overwhelming sound of shell explosions came from more than 300 meters away, many officers and soldiers who did not block their ears in time still had to fight with him for a long time.
You have to shout to be heard clearly.
The 771st Regiment, which had never experienced such an exaggerated bombardment, was directly facing the bombardment of the 105 howitzer for the first time, especially when ten howitzers fired a salvo and ten huge fireballs soared into the sky over the Japanese position, 300 meters away.
The positions on the outer mountains seemed to be trembling.
At that moment, there seemed to be no other sound between heaven and earth, only the "rumbling" explosion.
In addition, the wind-like air waves rolled up sand, gravel and debris to the position 300 meters away, forcing the stunned red warriors to hide themselves in temporary bunkers.
It's so exciting. Compared with such a cannon, the 75 mountain cannon that their old opponents were proud of in the past is just a small cannon.
The red soldiers hundreds of meters away were like this, but what about the Japanese positions located in the center of the artillery bombardment?
It's like hell.
If it is a field battle between two sides, the Japanese army will usually build field trenches. But the worst thing is that they have to attack and rescue the brigade headquarters that no longer exists.
Naturally, there is no need to build trenches and fortifications when attacking. Therefore, they do not have any trenches or artillery holes, except for the bunkers formed by some natural rocks. When they are fighting in the field, they are completely incapable of facing the overwhelming artillery fire.
It's like a naked, weak girl facing a group of strong men who have been in prison for more than ten years.
Completely ravaged, without the ability to resist, even escape is a luxury.
It was not the climax of the bombardment that the eight field guns also started to assist. The six Bofors Mountain Cannons of the Zhao Ergou Artillery Battalion, which was following the main force of the 17th Division, also joined in immediately after hearing the news. That is China
A feast for all artillery units of the army.
If it were not for the fact that the remaining six mountain guns of the 17th Division Artillery Battalion were too close to reach the battlefield 8 kilometers away, then this bombardment would have set a record for Chinese artillery on the eastern Shanxi front. Even so, participating in this
The artillery bombarded by the infantry brigade also reached ten 105 howitzers, eight field guns, and six Bofors Mountain guns. The total number was as high as 24, which was equivalent to the heavy firepower of half an artillery regiment of the 20th Division.
That was the artillery fire that once lowered the hills of Jiuguan by fifteen centimeters!
Zhang Ruhao also knew that this was not only the last battle at Niangziguan, but also the last battle in the entire Shandong for at least two months, so he did not plan to save artillery shells, but was going to be as luxurious as Liu Tuanzuo for the first time.
He fired one and ordered all artillerymen to empty the cannonballs they carried.
This battle was a relief for Zhao Ergou, who had been frustrated for a week. The artillery battalion's six mountain artillery pieces, which had been suppressed by the Japanese howitzers for a few rounds, had to run away because they had been prepared for it, and there were three jumping guns.
The transport truck carried 360 rounds of artillery shells this time, with an average of 60 rounds per gun and 3 bases. They insisted on not sparing a single round, and all of them were empty.
Especially on the howitzer position, in the late autumn in the north where the temperature is only 10 degrees Celsius, the soldiers of the independent regiment who temporarily serve as ammunition carriers are almost all naked, but all of them are sweating profusely. They need to go back and forth between the artillery storage point and the cannon.
While transporting artillery shells, the gunners were already going crazy, almost allowing every gun to reach its maximum rate of fire.
At this moment, the artillery squad leader who was directing the artillery bombardment still had a ferocious look on his face. He disliked the improvised ammunition handmen for not being able to transport the shells quickly enough. Even the lieutenant company commander who took off his military uniform and acted as a temporary coolie scolded him as a "softie".
I was so stimulated that the lieutenant company commander gave an order. The more than 100 people of the blue army company under his command, except the necessary guards, and all the other communication corps and medical soldiers joined the artillery transport queue. Your artillery is now the master, I will not argue with you.
, let's see if it can hold you to death. If you have the ability to empty the ammunition depot stored by the little devil, I can empty it anyway.
The infantry and artillery were competing with each other, one was moving with all his strength, the other was fighting with all his strength.
Zhao Ergou only brought 360 rounds of artillery shells and he already felt like a figure. What is the ammunition reserve of the 26th Artillery Regiment? The 18.5 kilogram 105 howitzer alone has 1,000 rounds stored, and there are more than 4,000 rounds.
If all the 75 field artillery shells were to be fired, it would take at least a whole morning.
Of course, there are enough cannonballs and the artillerymen are crazy enough, but the cannons still have to rest after all.
Forty minutes of uninterrupted bombardment, 24 guns fired at least more than 1,500 rounds of artillery shells at the Japanese positions. The terrible artillery fire even Cun Xingqi, who was leading the troops forward, had to order his soldiers to stay at a distance from the raging artillery fire.
The Japanese army's position was 2 miles away, and as they got closer, he was afraid of being accidentally injured by the crazy artillery fire from crazy friendly forces.
However, no one blamed the artillerymen for being crazy. They even hoped that they could be a little more crazy.
Because only those who have experienced the horrific bombardment know what heartbreaking helplessness is.
But this time, it was the Japanese army's turn. Seeing them howling under the artillery fire, the infantrymen felt an indescribable joy in their hearts.
And, sadness.
Because they remembered their brothers.
Once under the Japanese artillery fire, they watched with tears as their comrades walked into the smoke one by one, and then disappeared one by one. Then, some people walked in without hesitation and disappeared again.
Is it sadness? No, when they go to the battlefield, they are no longer afraid of death. Death is the fate of every soldier. They are just helpless. Many of the brothers who died in battle did not even fire a shot and became the artillery fire of the Japanese army.
Victims. They will not have any military exploits, and even their death records will only have a brief sentence: died in Japanese shelling.
People who were originally unknown died in obscurity again. In fact, the horrific artillery fire wiped their bodies from this planet, leaving no trace at all. No one can remember them except themselves.
It was not until three minutes after the artillery fire gradually stopped that the two brigade commanders, Future General and Cun Xingqi, dared to order the troops to advance in attack formation towards the Japanese position, and in a cautious manner. What if there was still a gunner who was not satisfied and fired another shot?
?Or, what should the die-hard little Japs do if they still resist? This is the last battle, and no one wants to die at this point in time.
Everyone can't wait to celebrate the victory.
Yes, from the generals to the soldiers, they were all sure at this moment that they would win the final victory. No one could survive such crazy artillery fire.
Yes, they are right, no one can survive in such a purgatory, no matter he is Chinese or Japanese. No matter he is a Saint or Iron Man, if he is located in a shell with a core temperature of thousands of degrees when it explodes.
The killing range is 30 meters, and the result is that it will be turned into a piece of barbecue or crushed. If the shell explodes 30 meters away, even if you lie on the ground, your internal organs will be shattered into pieces.
If it is 50 meters away, congratulations, this shell may not kill you, but you may be in the center of another shell.
Because the impact points of artillery shells were too dense, the area occupied by the Japanese infantry brigade was only a valley 600 meters long and 400 meters wide at most, but more than 1,500 artillery shells fell in an area of 24,000 square meters.
Chinese soldiers have experienced such density of artillery shells at Niangzi Pass and Jiuguan Pass. The general painfully and helplessly put the platoons and companies into position and watched them disappear with his own eyes.
However, that is still the case when there are trenches and anti-cannon holes!
As for the Japanese soldiers, they just lay down in the field, hiding behind rocks, and even hiding behind a tree out of despair.
The result can be imagined.
The two infantry regiments approached the Japanese army's already charred and almost completely bombed-out position one after another. There was no resistance. Except for the sound of footsteps, the entire position was strangely calm.
There were body parts scattered everywhere, and there was a hungry aroma of barbecued meat.
More than one soldier couldn't help but sniff, trying to confirm the source of the barbecue. When he realized that it smelled like barbecue, even veterans couldn't help but turn pale. Many recruits even immediately
Vomited.
It’s not that there were no live people. Searching the Japanese army positions, after all, there were dozens of Japanese soldiers who were huddled in the bomb craters and survived by chance. Except for a few who fired in resistance and were quickly killed, most of the others seemed to be stunned.
, even if some silent Chinese soldiers came around, they did not say a word, lying or sitting in the crater with blank eyes.
Obviously, the courage and arrogance of their Imperial Japanese Army were blown away by this crazy round of bombardment.
Faced with such Japanese troops, the future general could only order them all to be tied up as prisoners and held in custody. He could eliminate all enemies who dared to resist, but in the end he could not take action against such people who had completely lost their will to resist and were like puppets being slaughtered by others.
.
War destroys human nature, but it also rebuilds it.
After all, the Chinese nation is different from the Japanese nation.
When the two armies met in victory, Dark Gray and Dark Blue stood side by side. The two brigade commanders shook hands and greeted each other. Thousands of officers and soldiers from both armies stood in the mountains and valleys, and raised their guns at the same time. It was about the same time as at Jiuguan.
, cheering "Victory!"
In this battle, almost no weapons were captured, and most of the weapons were turned into parts together with the Japanese army.
But who would care?
At this moment, everyone is tasting the sweetness of victory.
On the front line of Niangziguan, the 39th Infantry Brigade was basically wiped out. Those who could escape were just a few stragglers.