The sky in northern China always gets brighter a little later than in the south.
Especially at 6 a.m. before dawn, the sky is still dark, but in Jingxing County, half of the sky is illuminated by firelight.
Four Type 41 mountain guns from the artillery squadron of the 77th Regiment of the 39th Brigade under the 20th Division and 12 75-caliber field guns from a field artillery brigade assigned to them by the division have already fired at the positions of the 17th Division.
More than 200 shells were poured.
The Japanese army's current method of fighting the Chinese army is very simple and crude. After the artillery bombardment has finished the infantry attack, the artillery bombardment will continue when the infantry attack is blocked. The huge weapons gap between the two armies made the Japanese army almost invincible in the early stages of the war.
Numbers and courage have almost no effect in the face of the artillery fire that lights up half the sky. The 77th Regiment placed only two infantry squadrons of 400 people at the front of the 17th Division, although they faced the 10th Division.
One regiment of the 7th Division had a defense line of more than 2,000 men, but Colonel Li Deng of the 77th Regiment thought it was enough.
In his opinion, let alone a Chinese infantry regiment, it was a division. He and the 77th Regiment under his command had also been defeated in frontal offensive and defensive battles.
Not counting the artillery attached to the division, his 77th Regiment is equipped with 4 75mm mountain guns, 10 70mm infantry guns, and 6 37mm anti-tank rapid-fire guns. These guns are enough to replace the five or six mountain guns equipped with it.
of Chinese Army divisions were sent to hell.
Moreover, his confidence does not just come from the comparison of data. In fact, in the nearly three months of fighting in Pingjin and other places in China, whether it is the 29th Army of China or the so-called Central Army of China, more than fifteen
The Chinese army numbering 10,000 was retreating steadily during the charge and pursuit of more than 50,000 people.
Come to think of it, there will be no exception this time. Looking at the battlefield filled with fire and gunpowder smoke that has been raging for half an hour under our own artillery fire in the distance, the moment the dawn light appeared, Colonel Li Dengxing ordered the infantry to charge.
Military orders.
The two infantry squadrons began to charge along the 2-kilometer-long defense line of the 97th Regiment of the 17th Division. Because of their confidence in the half-hour firepower of their own sixteen mountain guns and field guns, Li Dengxingyi did not even send two wings to attract the Chinese side.
Firepower.
Then, he was punished. Although the 12 75mm mountain guns of the 17th Division's mountain artillery battalion were not deployed to the front line to support them, Liu Tuanzuo did it to increase the 17th Division's defense at Fulule Ridge in Snow Flower Mountain.
Capital, quietly gave them six 82mm mortars.
Six mortars plus the original six of the 17th Division, a total of 12 mortars were organized by Zhao Shoushan into a mortar company and reinforced to the defensive position of Jingxing County. The range of the mortars is only more than 2,000 meters.
Naturally, the 97th Regiment was well hidden by Li Weimin, the leader of the 97th Regiment. The 97th Regiment, which entered Jingxing County three days in advance to dig fortifications, had already dug enough anti-bomb holes to defend against 75mm cannons. As long as the Japanese army did not use 105 howitzers and aircraft.
It's okay to resist an aerial bombing for a day.
Seeing the Japanese infantry begin to charge, Li Weimin, who was at the underground bunker headquarters 600 meters behind the front trench, put down his telescope and sneered: "Order, the mortar company fires five rounds rapidly at the Japanese charging formation, and then immediately moves its position.
All light and heavy machine guns must not be fired or exposed without my order."
"Bang bang..." With the continuous muffled sound, more than ten fireballs instantly bloomed in the Japanese charging queue.
The Japanese troops charging at waist level were only more than 400 meters away from the 97th Regiment's forward position. The ranks of the Japanese troops were very sparse. There was only one Japanese soldier every six or seven meters. This could prevent increased casualties caused by the machine gun fire of the Chinese army that had not been destroyed.
The killing radius of a mortar shell is only five or six meters. In fact, the damage to infantry in such a skirmish line is extremely limited. However, limited damage does not mean that there is no damage.
Even the Japanese infantry with excellent individual qualities immediately lay down to avoid the sound of the familiar Chinese 82-caliber mortar, but the mortar shells flying at a speed of more than 200 meters per second followed and exploded in an instant.
The fireball and the steel fragments flying around were not the main cause of the greatest damage, but the huge shock wave caused by the explosion of the explosive, which you can't hide by lying on the ground.
Otherwise, what's the point of having trenches? Why do we need to defend against artillery holes? When the artillery shells come, everyone falls down collectively. On a battlefield where artillery shells rule the roost, the only way for the infantry to survive is to pray for their faith.
He must open his eyes and not let the cannonball fall within five meters of his side. If it is a cannonball with a larger caliber, then it has to be farther away.
Obviously, in this regard, the Amaterasu that the Japanese army believed in is the same as the Chinese Jade Emperor and the Supreme Laojun. That is, buddy, my magical power is limited, so I can't stop the cannon!
In just 30 seconds, 12 mortars fired 60 shells in one breath. In the telescope of Colonel Li Dengxing, the continuously exploding fireballs threw the bodies of our own infantrymen in khaki military uniforms high into the air, and then again
Falling hard.
There was almost no need to ask about the outcome. The moment they danced and flew up, Li Dengxing knew that these unlucky guys were doomed. In the face of such a shock wave, even steel would twist into a ball.
How come the Chinese still have so many mortars? The explosion of dozens of shells caused at least dozens of casualties. This was the result of the Chinese defense line being very wide and the charge line being scattered. If it was a charge formation,
If it were a little denser, just this artillery attack... Colonel Li Dengxing could tell with his butt that an infantry squadron would probably not have to go to the battlefield again.
"Baga! Order the infantry to stop charging. The artillery squadron and the 8th Field Artillery Battalion continue the bombardment for half an hour. Order the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Squadron of Lieutenant Colonel Toba's 1st Infantry Battalion to move to the left and right flanks of the Chinese. No orders can be made without my order.
Launching an charge without authorization." Senior Lieutenant Li Dengxing was indeed an experienced soldier, and he immediately realized the mistake he had made.
The Chinese army on the opposite position is not that vulnerable. They must have built trenches and anti-gun holes that can withstand artillery fire in the past few days. The firepower of a dozen mortars is not something that the average Chinese army can equip. If they want to lay down
The defensive position in front of us, and we don't want to increase casualties, is not as easy as imagined.
However, for Li Deng Xingyi, there was not much frustration. It was just a setback in a small charge. When it got daylight and his own bombers came to help, the Chinese on the position knew what the gap was.
The battle in Jingxing County is in full swing, and a Japanese infantry regiment is firmly blocked from the county seat. The 102nd Regiment of the 17th Division on Snowflake Mountain is working hard to reinforce its fortifications like the defenders of Jiuguan. But the enemy is only ten miles away.
The fire all over the county town already showed the power of the Japanese artillery fire. The fortifications piled on the rocks with sacks were nothing but trophies of the Japanese artillery fire in front of the artillery fire.
If you want to survive, you have to dig, dig on rocks as hard as iron, dig out the rocks, and hide yourself. More than 2,000 officers and soldiers from regiment leader Zhang Shijun on down all understand that the brothers of the 97th Regiment in Jingxing County are using their lives to survive.
In exchange for the time they spent building fortifications, every rock they dug up was stained with the blood of their brothers.
Snowflake Mountain will be the second line of defense for the entire 17th Division. Here, they can die in battle, but they must leave enough little Japs alive. Otherwise, parents will cry dry and not be reconciled.
A man from Sanqin, even if he dies, he still has to drag someone on his back.
The 102nd Regiment did not have as many explosives as the independent regiment had stored. They could only use the pickaxes and shovels that Liu Lang transferred to them from the theater headquarters and other armies through personal relationships to dig among the rocks, even with Zhao Shoushan's permission.
He did not hesitate to use the few explosive bags in his inventory for blasting operations.
Explosive packs can kill Japanese invaders, but the prerequisite is that the person who can use the explosive packs must survive first.
This was the most important suggestion that Liu Lang put forward to Lieutenant General Zhao after discussing with Zhao Shoushan, the commander of the 17th Division. Without complete fortifications, courage alone could not reduce the casualties of soldiers in the face of the crazy Japanese artillery fire.
Chinese soldiers can die in battle, but they cannot die silently. In the past, the 17th Division, which only used sacks of sand and gravel to build fortifications, killed more than 2,000 people in the Snow Flower Mountain alone.
Liu Lang's three anti-aircraft artillery platoons supporting the 17th Division have already been ambushing in a position on the two wings of Snow Flower Mountain and the back of Snow Flower Mountain. Each anti-aircraft artillery position is 2 kilometers apart, with a radius of 5 meters above Snow Flower Mountain.
Kilometers of sky are within their range.
It is said to be an anti-aircraft gun platoon. In fact, the number is even close to that of a company. Each 20mm machine gun is equipped with four main and secondary gunners plus observers, and more than 10 ammunition handlers. Four machine guns have as many people as a platoon. And then
In addition to six anti-aircraft machine guns, each machine gun is equipped with two shooters and four ammunition handlers. In these three anti-aircraft positions alone, Liu Lang supported nearly half of the battalion of 300 people.
If a Japanese bomber enters the 2,000-meter airspace and is in the center of three anti-aircraft gun positions, then not to mention the propeller aircraft with a speed of less than 450 kilometers per hour, even the first-generation jet aircraft with a speed of more than 800 kilometers per hour in the future will also be
Twelve 20mm machine guns with a rate of fire exceeding 100 rounds per minute and a total of more than 18 "Hitler Chainsaw" anti-aircraft machine guns with a rate of fire exceeding 1,000 rounds per minute turned into a burning Firebird.
The 20mm twin-mounted cannon is not only the most outstanding anti-aircraft artillery in the Chinese theater, but it is also widely equipped across the world. In the early days of World War II, the Americans equipped their destroyers like hedgehogs with a hundred
The door is used for air defense, so you can know how powerful this small cannon can effectively shoot up to 2,300 meters. Although the Chinese army only imported 200 of them, the war broke out.
If China is given another year to import 2,000 bombs, Japanese pilots will have a headache. If bombs are dropped at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, the hit rate will not exceed 10%.
The first large-scale battle between the Chinese army and the Japanese invaders has been launched by the 17th Division in Jingxing County, an important junction between Hebei and Eastern Shanxi.
At Jiuguan, located more than ten kilometers behind the first line of defense, the independent regiment, which had already fired its first shot against the Japanese invaders, was catching a few small fish that were still trying to escape in the net.