As the screams of artillery shells rang out, most of the soldiers on guard posts at the top of Cangcheng City hid their bodies deep in the sandbag fortifications which, although simple, were their only refuge.
The soldiers newly added to the 152nd Regiment from the supply camp are said to be new soldiers, but they are not actually "new". In fact, many of them are soldiers from the original 26th Division's replenishment regiment that was cut down, and many of them have been in the army for three or four years.
The "veteran" had much longer military service than the younger ones. It's just that the veteran squad leader was afraid that his little brother wouldn't be able to handle the veteran veterans, so he only sent three soldiers with similar age to him.
But even so, after hearing the whistle of the artillery shells, they quickly hid their bodies, much better than the young deputy squad leader who raised his head and looked into the distance.
Yes, at the moment when all the soldiers were hiding, the young "veteran" did not hide. Instead, he stuck his head out and murmured to himself: "This is a 105 howitzer. The Japanese are test-firing at Cangcheng."
Sure enough, a few seconds later, a cloud of smoke and dust exploded from the field about 500 meters away from the south gate of Cangcheng!
On the banks of the Huangpu River, the young deputy squad leader, who had experienced at least five or six saturation bombardments by the Japanese army, had learned to distinguish the sound of artillery. This was just a test fire, used by the Japanese artillery group to calibrate the firing parameters! The first shell fell in the warehouse
Outside the city, it seems likely that the Japanese artillery will start in Cangcheng and then cover the entire Songjiang City.
The young deputy squad leader's estimate was correct. Several kilometers away that he could not see, the muzzles of 36 field guns, 12 105 howitzers, and 16 mountain guns were all pointing high in the west direction of Songjiang City.
That's because when the Japanese frontline commander in charge of the attack in the west of the city, Commander Tokutaro Sakai of the 11th Infantry Brigade, led the 13th Infantry Regiment to the west of the city, he was surprised to find that the actual situation in the west of Matsue City was much different from what he had imagined.
no the same.
Songjiang City does not mean that what is inside the city wall is the city, but what is outside the city wall is the village and countryside. After hundreds of years of development, the residents of Songjiang, an important town in the south of the Yangtze River, are no longer satisfied with building houses within the city wall. Songjiang City Wall and
Outside the moat, there are also densely packed residential houses and lanes, which are also part of Songjiang City. If you want to attack Songjiang, you must first enter the streets surrounded by residential buildings and march towards Songjiang City.
In fact, this situation is not limited to the West City, but also to the East City and the South City. But what troubled the Japanese Army Major General in the West City direction was that inside this residential house, there was actually a miniature city surrounded by city walls and a small moat.
What's even more terrible is that through reconnaissance, it was found that there were Chinese people in that city.
Not only were there Chinese, but the Chinese also built a complete heavy firepower in the small city with a radius of less than 0.5 kilometers. A reconnaissance team was accidentally covered by firepower because it was too close. Six imperial warriors were shattered on the spot.
Three people were seriously injured. If it were not for the cover of the infantry artillery bombardment, the reconnaissance team almost would not be able to return.
After observing in the telescope for a long time, Hisao Tani issued an order for his artillery group consisting of 16 mountain guns, 36 field guns and 12 105 howitzers to attack Matsue Castle from the west of the city.
In order to strengthen the firepower of the artillery group directly under the division, Hisao Tani temporarily placed the mountain artillery squadrons of the four infantry regiments directly under the command of the 6th Artillery Regiment before marching to Matsue, which means that the infantry regiment captains can now use them.
Artillery, that is, 2 infantry cannons in the hands of each infantry brigade, a total of 6 pieces, as well as 4 infantry cannons, 2 mortars, and 4 combat defense artillery pieces directly under the regiment.
All the remaining howitzers and cannons of the Sixth Division are in the hands of Hisao Tani. The artillery cluster with up to 64 artillery pieces can pour out more than 600 artillery shells in one minute, and can drop more than 3,500 artillery shells on the target in one hour.
, let alone the Asian battlefield, it is definitely a terrifying existence, even in the European battlefield where artillery tactics are pursued, it is not inferior to the ace divisions of European and American countries.
As the shells of howitzers, field guns, and mountain guns exploded hundreds or even tens of meters in front of Cangcheng, the sound of the artillery gradually became sparse.
Tightening the straps of his helmet, the young deputy squad leader also hid his body deep inside the fortification. The storm was about to come, and the wind filled the building. This terrible tranquility foreshadowed that a bigger storm was coming.
Sure enough, after almost five minutes, the endless scream of artillery shells sounded over the entire city of Cangcheng! Moreover, the scream of artillery shells this time was short and sharp, just like screaming directly in your ears! How brave is it?
Smaller ones, not to mention waiting for the cannonball to hit the ground and explode, just hearing the whistle of the cannonball above your head will scare you to the point of peeing.
The young deputy squad leader immediately put his fists under his chest, and at the same time he curled up desperately and clung to the ground. He had already taught several of his companions this tactical move before going to the observation post on the city wall. If he had not been killed by the bomb
But he was shocked to death by the violent vibration of the shell. That was really unjust.
As for closing your eyes tightly, it has nothing to do with tactics, nor is it because you are afraid of being blinded. It is purely to ask for blessings from your ancestors. I have done everything I can to survive this level of shelling.
Coming down depends on luck.
The next moment, the young deputy squad leader's ears, which had been stuffed with cotton, suddenly burst out with a banging sound. The huge sound was like a sharp thorn, instantly piercing his eardrums, causing his head to hurt and suffocate! What if?
If he hadn't plugged his ears in advance, he was sure that he would be deafened.
He did not see an orange-red flame with black smoke explode on the city wall less than 40 meters away from him. Obviously, he and his companions were not very lucky, but the two or three meters wide
The city wall was hit by the first round of artillery fire from the Japanese army. Fortunately, the explosion point was more than 35 meters. The huge air wave raged on the city wall but did not destroy the sandbag fortifications where he was hiding. If it was closer to 15 meters,
, the heavy sandbag fortifications were probably completely blown away by the air waves.
Almost at the same time, the city wall under him also shook violently! It was as if the whole person was a small boat in the huge waves of the sea. The whole person had a strong feeling of vomiting, which was a strong shock to the internal organs.
As a result, if his posture was not correct enough, he might not be vomiting but vomiting blood.
Immediately afterwards, continuous huge explosions sounded from the surroundings, but the young deputy squad leader could not hear it because his ears had been temporarily deafened by the first explosion just now.
The only thing he felt was the violent shaking from the city wall below him, reminding him that the Japanese artillery fire was still continuing.
At this moment, the young deputy squad leader was not worried about whether he would be hit by a cannon and turned into fly ash. Instead, he was more worried about whether the city wall would collapse because it could not withstand the bombardment. It would not be him and a few others who would die.
As companions, there will also be an infantry battalion responsible for the defense of the entire Cangcheng, plus the 2nd Infantry Company of the Independent Regiment Police Reconnaissance Battalion, with more than 500 people.
Without the protection of the city wall, all firepower points were not allowed to be exposed to the open air and allowed to be ravaged by various Japanese artillery pieces.
.......
It seemed as if there was no end to the cannonballs fired by the little Japanese, one after another, one after another. In a daze, he didn't know how long it had been. In the feeling of this young soldier, it seemed that only a moment had passed.
It seems like a hundred years have passed...
Until he felt that the trembling of the city wall beneath him was no longer as violent as before, and the sound of cannons seemed to be very close and yet very far away.
The air was filled with the burning and extremely choking smell of gunpowder smoke.
Somewhat dazedly, I stood up and opened my eyes.
Wherever you enter your eyes, you are filled with thick smoke, which not only blocks your vision, but the pungent smell is so choking that you can hardly breathe!
After a long while, the smoke that shrouded the city finally slowly dispersed. The young deputy squad leader finally managed to see clearly the scene within fifty meters around him. Forty meters away, a huge gap had been blown open in a section of the city wall, which was so strong.
The rammed earth that stood proudly like stone after hundreds of years of wind and rain was extremely fragile in the face of the power of the 105 howitzer. The collapsed loess and blue bricks formed a huge gentle slope inside and outside the city wall!
The autumn wind from the south of the Yangtze River blew over, further blowing away the gunpowder smoke. Looking around with some dull eyes, the green tiles and white walls of the Jiangnan buildings that once had a garden style in Cangcheng were destroyed by the terrible artillery fire. The small bridges and flowing water were no longer visible.
Only masses of darkness and ruins were left.
The situation outside Cangcheng City was not much better. Many houses were reduced to rubble, and many houses were set on fire and emitting black smoke. In fact, the Japanese artillery fire did not stop, but after ravaging the houses outside the city wall,
, the artillery fire extended to the interior of Songjiang City, groups of terrifying fireballs soared into the sky within the city wall, and the rumbling explosions could still be heard clearly.
But it was too late for the young deputy squad leader to feel sad that this beautiful small town in the south of the Yangtze River was groaning under the raging Japanese artillery fire. At this time, the smoke covering the top of the city had become very light, and he could see far away.
About a thousand meters away, groups of Japanese infantry were looming in formation, and several tanks were coming toward Cangcheng, billowing thick smoke. The Japanese couldn't wait to launch an attack, and their artillery fire was still fierce.
When shooting, without any time to hesitate, the young deputy squad leader raised the rifle he had been holding in his arms, pointed in the direction of the distant Japanese, and pulled the trigger!
Of course it was not a shooting, but a warning. However, based on the principle of no waste, the young deputy squad leader subconsciously pointed the gun in the direction of the Japanese army, just in case the bullet fell and killed one of them!
"Bang!" A crisp Hanyang gunshot sounded immediately from the top of the city.
After firing a shot, the young deputy squad leader jumped out of the fortification and ran along the passage of the city wall to the fighting position of his infantry company.
"The Japs are coming soon, brothers, follow me back to the position." The young deputy squad leader shouted loudly as he ran.
As vigilant sentries, their mission has been completed. Now, the battle is about to begin, and they should return to their own positions.
However, no one responded.
The young deputy squad leader had only taken two steps before he instinctively stopped.
"You son of a bitch, are you all deaf? Shapi, Wu Mazi, Lao Dan..." The young deputy squad leader cursed loudly and called out one name after another, but no one responded.
His face was filled with sadness at first, and then he suddenly realized. He took out the cotton from his ears and continued to roll the names hopefully. "I almost forgot that I plugged my ears, Shapi, Wu Mazi, Lao Dan..."
Except for the crackling sound of burning wood at the top of the city and the rumble of cannons in the distance, there was still no answer.
The young deputy squad leader burst into tears, turning his face, which had been darkened by gunpowder smoke, into a big painted face. Although these three soldiers had just joined his infantry squad, he only knew their names.
But, they are robes. They must rely on each other in the future battles.
Now, it's gone.
"Your celestial beings, don't pretend to be dead for me, come out for me."
A few minutes later, until Yang Songlin rushed over with an infantry company, the young soldiers were still digging frantically in the rubble on top of the city, trying to dig out their long-lost robes. Their hands were already