In five minutes, the Japanese garrison in the south of the city received a total of 150 heavy artillery shells.
More than a hundred barracks connected together have been turned into rubble, and none of them is intact. At least two hundred little Japanese were buried inside and have not come out.
The worst part is the ammunition depot.
The explosive ammunition not only leveled the house to the ground, but also blasted a large crater five meters deep in the middle of the house.
All around were burning ammunition boxes and wooden structures supporting houses.
The camp assembly area was dotted with dozens of bomb craters, surrounded by motionless corpses.
I glanced over and saw a dense crowd. Some people were holding rifles, some were holding the handles of light machine guns, and some were not even wearing military uniforms. They were holding rifles in one hand and holding their armed belts with the other...
The captain was lucky not to be killed.
Looking at the tragic scene in front of him, his eyes seemed to be able to spit out fire and turned red.
The left hand holding the command knife and the right hand that had already made a fist were trembling with exposed veins due to anger.
"Sir, the losses have been calculated: there are 519 people left in the entire brigade who can continue to fight, 398 of the remaining soldiers were killed in the battle, and 159 were seriously injured and lost their combat effectiveness." The deputy captain of the brigade came over and reported with his head lowered.
"In addition, our telephone contact with the brigade headquarters was interrupted, and the radio station at the brigade headquarters was also blown up."
"During the shelling just now, the sound of gunfire was also heard from the brigade headquarters. They must have also been shelled."
"I have sent someone to contact the brigade headquarters. News should come back soon."
The captain gritted his teeth and replied: "We don't have time to wait any longer."
"If the Eighth Route Army covers us with artillery fire again, the losses of the troops will increase. I don't want the troops to not even see the shadow of the enemy and be killed by artillery fire again for no reason."
"Order all the soldiers who can still move to disperse into the city defense fortifications, and all the wounded to enter the fortifications. Although they cannot fight, they can reload bullets for the fighting soldiers."
Outside Laiyuan City, the second and third battalions of the garrison, the special agent battalion, and the independent battalion were already approaching one kilometer away from the city wall and were on standby.
They are still waiting for news on whether to attack Laiyuan City or not.
The four artillery positions of the heavy artillery battalion also adjusted their artillery according to the new shooters. The black barrels pointed directly into the sky and aimed at the four walls of Laiyuan City.
The shells are also ready and can be fired at any time.
At this moment, they are also waiting for news.
At the enemy headquarters in front of the garrison, Li Hao stared at the Laiyuan city defense map with a focused look on his face.
Whether the troops want to continue the attack or not, all he needs to do is give an order.
But Li Hao didn't speak.
He was also anxious, but the situation in the city had not yet been reported, and the result of the sudden artillery attack was still unknown, so it was useless to be anxious.
If the results of the battle do not meet expectations and the troops launch an attack rashly, not only will they not be able to capture Laiyuan City, but they will also end up losing troops and generals, and the gain will not be worth the loss.
"Captain, there is news from the observation post." The chief of staff rushed in like a wind, with a smile on his face.
"In the sudden artillery attack just now, all four artillery positions hit their targets. There were loud explosions from the south and east of the city. It should be that the ammunition depot was hit, and the ammunition stored in it was detonated by us."
"The other two camps were also blown into a sea of flames, and all the houses were razed to the ground. Although the specific casualty figures of the Japanese and puppet troops are not available, judging from the effects of the shelling, their casualties are definitely not small."
"As well as the Japanese brigade headquarters, all the houses were razed to the ground by artillery fire."
"Even if the leader of the Little Japanese Brigade is not killed, if he wants to re-establish contact with the troops and restore the command system, it will definitely not be possible within an hour."
Li Hao no longer hesitated and directly ordered with a murderous look on his face: "Chief of Staff, send a signal to all attacking troops to start attacking the city and capture Laiyuan City before dawn."
"The heavy artillery battalion should not save artillery shells. As long as the attacking troops are in need, they must provide reinforcements at any cost."
"The thunder artillery platoon that cooperates with each battalion's attack must have enough explosive packs. Don't be polite when you encounter little devils during the attack. Just use the thunder bombardment to capture Laiyuan City at the minimum cost."
"As for the houses in Laiyuan City, if they are blown up, they will be blown up."
"As long as we can defeat the Japs, we can rebuild Laiyuan City."
"Woooooooooooo...boom..."
The sound of artillery that had stopped for ten minutes started again, and soon enveloped the entire battlefield.
It didn't take long before the four city walls were enveloped by artillery fire.
There were more than five hundred puppet troops on each city wall, and dozens of Japanese soldiers were behind to supervise the battle. The black muzzles of the guns were pointed directly at their backs. As long as anyone dared to turn around and retreat, these rifle machine guns would definitely shoot fatal bullets at them.
The way back was blocked, and they could only hide behind the battlements and tremble, praying that the cannonballs falling from the sky would not hit them.
"Rumble..."
In less than five minutes, a gap was blown open in the south of the city.
The Seventh Company of the Heavy Artillery Battalion, which was shelling the Japanese brigade headquarters, decisively joined the battle and stared at the gap in the city wall.
In less than two minutes, the gap that was more than ten meters long had expanded to more than thirty meters.
The collapsed masonry and soil of the city wall were also piled up into a gentle slope outside the city, making it easier for the attacking troops to reach the gap and break through the city wall.
Under the cover of artillery fire, the third battalion had already approached a position 500 meters outside the city.
Seeing the gap appear, Huang Sheng decisively chose where to break, frowned and began to issue orders.
"Inform the artillery unit to extend the artillery fire in two minutes and concentrate all mortars to cover the gap and prevent the enemy from attacking the gap."
"The first company attacked first as the main offensive force, and the second and third battalions covered and occupied the gap, and then launched an assault on the city walls on both sides of the gap. They first killed the remaining puppet troops on the top of the city, occupied the city fortifications, and then entered the city."
The combat effectiveness of the puppet army is not very good to begin with.
Usually, relying on the support of the Japanese and the cover of Japanese aircraft and heavy artillery, it was okay to fight some smooth battles.
Encountering such a tough battle and being bombarded with heavy artillery by the Eighth Route Army, it would be great if they didn't collapse on the spot. They couldn't even think of resisting at all.
Of course, the brigade commander did not expect how many Eighth Route Army troops they could destroy.
The reason why they were allowed to guard the city head was for one purpose: to serve as cannon fodder for the imperial army in the city, to delay the attacking troops of the garrison, and to buy time for the imperial army to garrison street fighting fortifications.
Facing the Eighth Route Army attacking the city, they did not resist and simply surrendered.
In less than half an hour, the gunfire in the south of the city stopped.
Nearly two hundred puppet soldiers became prisoners of the garrison. They walked down the city with their heads lowered and shoulders hunched.
Huang Sheng stood at the top of the city, looking at the quiet and scary Laiyuan City in front of him. He knew that the remaining Japs were ready for battle and were hiding in a corner of the street waiting for the Eighth Route Army to appear and deliver a fatal attack to his attacking troops.
The second update is delivered today! Please subscribe! Please vote for me! Please subscribe!