Several mortar shells fell from the sky and hit the artillery position before his eyes.
Several gunners were blown away in the flying fire, and a mortar was blown over.
Several artillery shells also fell from the heavy machine gun position not far away. Although no heavy machine gun was blown up, several gunners were knocked over.
"Sir, there are four mortars attacking the heavy machine gun position. Four mortars are attacking the artillery position. The Eighth Route Army guarding the mountain pass is equipped with at least eight mortars. Our artillery is definitely no match!" shouted a captain next to him.
When dividing the troops, the garrison regiment will equip each independent battalion with two mountain field guns or infantry guns, two large-caliber mortars, three ordinary mortars, and three heavy machine guns.
Ordinary mortars and heavy machine guns belong to three infantry companies and serve as the foundation of the company's fire platoon.
During the six months of activities behind enemy lines, each company made considerable progress.
Some main force companies have brought their fire platoon to full strength through capture, equipped with two mortars and two heavy machine guns.
Some main force companies develop better and directly expand the fire platoon into a heavy machine gun platoon and a mortar platoon.
After the troops were assembled and reorganized, each main company of the Laiyuan Independent Battalion was equipped with two mortars and two heavy machine guns to form a fully equipped firepower platoon.
In order to get rid of the ammunition brought by the baggage train, Zhao Wen also became ruthless and took out all the assets of the independent battalion.
Nakamura reacted quickly and shouted with his mouth open: "The heavy machine gun team and mortar team will move immediately."
"The offensive troops continue to attack the mountain pass. We have the advantage of strength, and we can kill them even with bayonets."
"Da da da……"
As soon as the order was issued, the sound of gunfire rang out at the mountain pass.
Major Nakamura's eyes immediately widened, showing a shocked expression.
After being suppressed by mortars and heavy machine guns, at least ten tongues of flame suddenly appeared in the mountain pass that once again fell into darkness, several of which were fired by heavy machine guns.
The troops attacking the mountain pass were like ripe wheat.
Regardless of the Imperial Army or the Imperial Alliance Army, wherever the bullets hit, they were all mopped down piece by piece.
The assault force's offensive was stopped on the spot and stopped seventy or eighty meters away from the mountain pass. No matter how hard they tried, they could not move forward any further, and their casualties continued to increase.
"Retreat, the Eighth Route Army's firepower is too fierce, and it is impossible for infantry alone to rush through." Major Nakamura ordered hurriedly.
The messenger rushed to give the order.
As soon as the person moved, a series of dull explosions rang out, startling Nakamura.
A few seconds later, eight huge fireballs more than ten meters high shot up from the center of the attacking troops.
Rolling thick smoke rose into the sky surrounded by fireballs, forming thick black smoke pillars pointing straight into the sky.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of an earth-shaking explosion came.
Nakamura was several hundred meters away from the battlefield, and the violent explosions still made his ears buzz.
You can imagine how miserable the subordinates who were dozens or even ten meters away from the impact point were.
His face instantly turned pale, and he shouted out loud: "It's a flying thunder cannon. The Yamaguchi Eighth Route Army is also equipped with flying thunder cannons."
Seeing that the messenger was also stunned with fright, he stood still and immediately shouted: "If you don't go and give the order, the attacking troops will retreat now. If not, everyone will die on the battlefield!"
Ten minutes later, a captain rushed over with a disgraced face.
"Sir, it's so tragic. One of my infantry squadrons only withdrew an infantry squad, and the others were all dead!"
"The Eighth Route Army was so cunning. They deliberately stopped us 70 to 80 meters away so that the explosive packets fired by their thunder cannons could hit right in the middle of the attacking troops."
"The explosive bag is filled with at least forty kilograms of black powder, and it explodes into a large piece."
"Just eight explosive charges killed nearly 200 of us."
"Including the casualties caused by the light and heavy machine gun interception, we lost a total of more than 260 people!"
"Bagya Road!" Major Nakamura couldn't hold back, clenched his fists and cursed loudly.
The squadron leader of the escort force did not forget his mission. When he saw that the road to Laiyuan City was cut off, he became anxious at the time. Regardless of whether Nakamura was angry or not, he immediately asked: "Sir, what should we do next?"
"If we don't enter Laiyuan City quickly, the Eighth Route Army will definitely use other methods to continue attacking us!"
"Shut up!" Nakamura interrupted directly, without giving him a chance to continue.
"Do you think I don't know these problems? But the Eighth Route Army at Yamaguchi is equipped with more mortars and heavy machine guns than we are. We only have the advantage in strength, and in front of the flying thunder artillery, our strength advantage is undoubtedly suicidal. How to break through the mountain pass?
Do you want me to kill all the troops I brought out of the city?"
After scolding him, Nakamura turned around and started giving orders without giving him a chance to argue or explain.
"The troops suspended their offensive, formed a circular defense line with the baggage train as the center, and strengthened their alert."
"I want to have a phone call with Laiyuan City. If we want to break through the mountain pass in front of us, we must have Laiyuan City provide us with artillery support. Otherwise, even with all our troops, we won't be able to break through."
At the Japanese military headquarters in Laiyuan City, the colonel has been waiting for news in the war room.
"Sir, the responding troops were blocked by the Eighth Route Army at a mountain pass three kilometers outside the city and were unable to pass." The communications staff officer suddenly ran in and reported nervously.
"They organized troops to attack once, but the Eighth Route Army deployed a large number of mortars, heavy machine guns, and thunder cannons at the mountain pass. The responding troops were equipped with too few heavy weapons and were no match for them. Not only did they fail to capture the mountain pass, they also lost nearly three soldiers.
Hundreds of people."
"How could this happen?" Colonel strode to the sand table and found the mountain pass mentioned in the telegram.
First, his brows were furrowed, and the frown became deeper and deeper. After a few seconds, a shocked expression of sudden realization appeared on his face, and he shouted with regret.
"No, we missed one thing before sending troops."
"The Eighth Route Army has insufficient troops. It is indeed impossible to severely damage or kill our supporting troops in more than two hours. But they can gather the main force to stop them and prevent them from returning to Laiyuan City."
"The terrain of the mountain pass is very suitable for blocking operations. The supporting troops lack heavy weapons and are definitely no match for a forced charge."
A major next to him immediately called for battle: "Sir, the artillery is in the city. Give me an infantry squadron and an artillery squadron. I will lead them out of Laiyuan City, cooperate with the supporting troops to attack the Eighth Route Army guarding the mountain pass, annihilate them all, and win the battle."
Yamaguchi.”
The major, who had always opposed the garrison's march out of Laiyuan City, immediately retorted: "Sir, I don't agree to send troops."
"Now the troops have no aircraft cover. We don't know whether the Eighth Route Army has deployed pocket formations outside the city. If we are fooled again, the losses will be huge."
The major who insisted on sending troops retorted: "Nakamura made it very clear in the telegram that the Eighth Route Army stationed at the mountain pass is equipped with eight mortars, at least four heavy machine guns, and eight torpedo cannons."
"Judging from the firepower configuration, the main force of the Eighth Route Army is at the mountain pass."
"They have limited troops. It is impossible for them to have troops to arrange pocket formations for us."