"Company commander, the Japanese seem to have figured out our purpose." The instructor frowned and reminded.
"Not only did they not come out to destroy the trenches, the security was tighter than before, and the vigilance was also heightened. In such a large stronghold, there was not even a single Japanese puppet soldier showing his head. We had no chance of making a cold shot."
The company commander responded confidently: "Don't worry, we still have backup options."
"They can endure digging trenches, but they will definitely not be able to endure it when I use the backup plan prepared by the regimental commander for us."
"Since the little Japs won't come out, then we will continue to dig trenches, sending two soldiers to each trench at a time, and continue digging toward the stronghold, changing people every hour."
"For the soldiers who are not on the wheel, except for the guard posts, everyone else will rest."
"Try to use another two days and two nights to dig the trenches to a hundred meters outside the stronghold, and then connect them in a circle to block the trenches to ensure that the soldiers can move freely and safely inside."
On the top of the stronghold's turret, looking at the blockade ditch that was already close at hand outside the stronghold, the commander looked solemn.
The firing frequency of flares has been accelerated from once every half hour to once every fifteen minutes.
At any time, one-third of the troops in the stronghold are on standby.
The Eighth Route Army's offensive positions were too close to the strongholds, and a quick assault could reach the bunker in half a minute at most.
If there are fewer defensive troops and the Eighth Route Army launches a surprise attack, the bunker does not fire enough firepower. It is easy for the Eighth Route Army to slip into the bunker and use explosives to destroy the bunker.
Not only that, the cautious commander also ordered the troops to dig out the stronghold during the night and lay many mines outside.
Steel wire mesh was also hung around the bunker, and empty cans were densely covered with it.
If someone makes a sneak attack, they will definitely hit the mines and cans, alerting the troops in the stronghold to prepare for battle.
After a series of arrangements, the defense of the stronghold can be said to be airtight and unbreakable.
Unless they voluntarily give up their stronghold, it is impossible for the Eighth Route Army to attack, even if their attack distance is only a hundred meters.
But since it got dark tonight, a bad premonition appeared in the commander's mind.
Soldiers' sixth sense, especially their ability to detect danger, is several times higher than that of ordinary people.
The commander is no exception. I always feel that something big will happen tonight.
After dinner, I stayed on the roof of the artillery tower, staring at the Eighth Route Army's offensive positions, trying to get some clues.
It was too quiet outside the stronghold. Anyone with any military experience knows that the quieter the battlefield, the more abnormal the situation is, which means that the opponent must be brewing some bigger conspiracy.
The commander frowned deeper and deeper, searching outside the stronghold over and over again, but found nothing.
"boom……"
An explosion from behind startled him. When he turned around, he saw a ball of flames erupting from the Eighth Route Army position outside the stronghold in the direction of the stronghold. A black shadow the size of a disk rolled towards the stronghold. The speed was very slow and could be seen with the naked eye.
See clearly.
"It's a flying thunder cannon. The artillery will counterattack immediately and destroy their artillery position..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a fireball shot up in the middle of the bunker group behind him. The flames splashed in all directions, and thick smoke mixed with the inside rose into the sky.
Immediately afterwards, the explosion sound of "rumbling..." reached the ears, and the earth shook.
The commander stood on the top of the turret, at least a hundred meters away from the bullet impact point, and still felt the hot air wave generated by the explosion rushing towards him.
His solemn face soon showed an expression of sudden realization, and he cried out: "I understand."
"The Eighth Route Army advanced its offensive position to a position 100 meters away from the stronghold. In addition to shortening the attack distance, it could also deploy flying thunder cannons and throw explosive packets towards the stronghold."
"Although the reinforced concrete bunker is very strong, if the explosive package thrown by the Eighth Route Army is large enough and hits the bunker, even if the bunker is not destroyed, the soldiers inside will be killed and injured by the shock wave and lose their combat effectiveness."
At this point, the commander's face became more solemn, and he shouted anxiously: "Why haven't the artillery fired yet? To resolve this crisis, we must either destroy the blockade ditch outside, drive the Eighth Route Army to the original offensive position, and let the flying thunder cannons
We can’t reach our stronghold.”
"Either destroy their torpedo cannons so that they can't throw explosive packets into our stronghold."
"The first method will definitely not work. If the troops break out of the stronghold, it will give the Eighth Route Army the opportunity to continue to consume us."
"And even if we destroy this blockade trench, they can dig a new blockade trench to force us to continue sending troops and continue to consume us."
"So we can only find ways to destroy the thunder cannons so that the explosive packets cannot hit our stronghold."
“Boom…”
The sound of mortar firing finally started, not far from the gun tower, and the commander could clearly see the flames and smoke ejected from the muzzle.
"Boom boom boom..."
Four artillery shells hit the thunder cannon position and exploded, with splashing firelight, filled with gunpowder smoke, and flying soil... quickly covering the place.
The commander breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as the thunder cannon has not moved there, it will definitely be destroyed.
Before I could be happy, the "Boom..." explosion sounded again, and it was in another direction of the stronghold.
The commander turned around and saw the same scene, and then heard an earth-shaking explosion sound inside the stronghold, with fireballs and black smoke rising into the sky...
"There are also thunder cannons to the north of the stronghold. The artillery will turn around and counterattack immediately..." The commander frowned again and ordered anxiously.
The artillery squad is destined to be the most tired unit tonight.
I hurriedly turned the mortar and fired the first round of shells. The sound of shelling from the flying thunder cannon rang again, east of the stronghold.
The artillery squad leader reacted quickly. Without waiting for the commander to give orders, he directly asked his subordinates to fire two rounds of artillery shells and then turn around to bombard the newly exposed flying mine cannon.
Outside the stronghold, the company commander was very excited.
The battle is developing according to the route he envisioned.
It took at least a minute for the Japanese army to shift the direction of the mortar, lock the shelling target, and finally fire.
This time is enough for the artillerymen under his command to carry the thunder cannon and move it 40 to 50 meters.
Therefore, the Japanese counterattack had no effect, and the six flying thunder cannons were intact.
All activities were carried out in the blockade ditch, and explosive packages were thrown towards the stronghold one after another.
"Company Commander, we have locked down the Japs artillery position. They have been fighting for so long and they have not moved their position." The mortar platoon leader came over and reported with expectation.
"The old rule is, each gun fires three times rapidly, and then move away after the attack. Kill as many Japanese as you want." The company commander ordered decisively.
On the stronghold's turret, the commander's face became increasingly serious.
The artillery squad had fired dozens of rounds, but the torpedo cannons equipped by the Eighth Route Army did not seem to be affected and continued to fire one after another.
Just as he was about to fire, the second mortar platoon opened fire.
Several fireballs instantly exploded from the artillery position not far away. In the splashing firelight, the commander clearly saw that several soldiers were blown away!
