"Captain, the fight is about to begin!" Hong Linfeng rushed into the war room like a storm and reported excitedly.
Then he handed Li Hao the telegram just sent by the commando: "At eight o'clock in the evening, the Shanxi-Sui Army first launched an attack on the east stronghold of Datong City."
"Under the cover of a mountain artillery battalion, an infantry regiment ended the battle in only half an hour, wiping out more than 200 days of puppet troops."
"Then the main force divided into four groups to surround Datong City, digging trenches while attacking."
Li Hao's eyes immediately became hot: "It has finally begun. As long as they start fighting, our chance will come."
"Chief of Staff, is the Hunyuan Independent Battalion movement in place?"
Hong Linfeng pointed to five points on the map and answered: "The four main companies are lurking at these four points respectively. The troops directly under the battalion are stationed here and can reinforce the four main companies at any time."
Li Hao nodded and replied: "Send a telegram to He Jun. The troops are on hold. Without my order, no one can be exposed in advance."
After thinking for a moment, he continued to ask: "Where is the main force of the group?"
"Three main battalions, a heavy artillery battalion, an air defense battalion, and a tank company, are all lurking around Cao Ziling." Hong Linfeng continued to report like a treasure trove.
"The cavalry battalion was ordered to detour behind Cao Ziling and also lurk in the woods in company units."
Speaking of this, Hong Linfeng's eyes became more and more intense. He stared at Li Hao and asked: "Captain, can we start taking action?"
"That's it." Li Hao confirmed.
"The Japanese and puppet troops in Datong City will be nervous only if we start attacking now. In order to prevent our garrison from entering Datong, we can only continuously send troops to reinforce Cao Ziling, creating a large number of opportunities for us to kill them."
"Boom boom boom..."
At the artillery position five kilometers away from Caoziling, eight heavy artillery pieces roared simultaneously.
A few seconds later, eight huge fireballs erupted from the Japanese position in Caoziling. Black smoke rose into the sky surrounded by flames. Mud, logs, and corpses of soldiers were flying everywhere with the splashing firelight. After almost two seconds,
Only then did violent explosions sound on the battlefield.
The battlefield that was quiet just now suddenly became lively.
Countless Eighth Route Army troops emerged from their hiding spots, armed with guns, and approached the Caoziling position. They were digging trenches and building machine gun positions. It was very lively.
"Counterattack, the artillery will counterattack immediately. Seize the opportunity and kill the exposed heavy artillery unit of the garrison." At the Japanese position in Caoziling, the captain of the battalion, who was instantly awakened, shouted with his eyes shining.
"Hi!" A second lieutenant rushed out of the tent where the headquarters was located.
A few minutes later, artillery fire began to sound from behind the position.
"Sir, the heavy artillery squadron has begun a counterattack..." the second lieutenant who had just left ran back and reported.
"Mountain artillery squadrons, field artillery squadrons, mortar squadrons, and infantry artillery squads are all ready for battle and ready to join the battle at any time."
As soon as he finished speaking, a lieutenant rushed in and reported nervously: "Sir, the Eighth Route Army has begun to attack..."
"The Eighth Route Army is all in front of the position, covering the mountains and plains, everywhere..."
"They are digging trenches in front of our position and establishing offensive positions."
The captain had completely calmed down. Not only was he not nervous, but he was looking forward to it. He ordered with excitement on his face: "You're here just in time."
"Order the artillery to fire immediately and kill all the Eighth Route Army in front of the position. They cannot be allowed to build offensive positions and deploy flying thunder cannons."
"The time is too short. The permanent fortifications we built with steel bars and cement have not yet completely dried. Not only can they not withstand heavy artillery blasts, but even the large number of thunder cannons they equip may not be able to withstand them."
After saying that, the captain walked out of the war room and climbed to a high ground nearby.
This is the commanding height of the entire Caoziling position. Standing on it, you can overlook the entire battlefield from a high position.
"Boom boom boom..."
A dozen or so fireballs soared from the ground, and in the splashing firelight, the figure of the Eighth Route Army came clearly into the field of vision of the battalion leader.
The more he watched, the more excited he became, and he shouted loudly: "Keep firing and blow back all the Eighth Route Army in front of the formation. If you don't retreat, blow them all up."
"Boom boom boom..."
The explosion sounded again, but this time the sound came from the artillery position behind him.
Then I saw several plumes of black smoke rising in the splashing firelight.
Many artillery pieces were blown up on the spot, flying everywhere like toys.
There was also an artillery piece, which looked like paper and was blown straight away. It was impossible to tell that it weighed several hundred kilograms.
"It's heavy artillery..." the artillery staff officer exclaimed.
"The artillery position was attacked by the heavy artillery of the garrison. They also hid a lot of heavy artillery but it was useless."
"Boom boom boom..."
The explosion sounded again, coming from the Caoziling defense line.
Although the sound is not as violent as heavy artillery, it is very dense.
The splashing fire was like bamboo shoots springing up after a rain, constantly rising from the position, lifting up a large amount of soil and logs to reinforce the fortifications. At a glance, it was clear that this was the result of a large number of mortars firing together.
The good mood on the captain's face suddenly disappeared.
His face became more and more solemn, and he ordered with a stern face: "The artillery troops will move immediately, and then fire freely to cover the infantry operations."
"All front-line troops have entered the position and are prepared for artillery defense. We must defend the position and we must not let the garrison regiment cross the Caoziling defense line!"
"Last point, send a telegram to the division headquarters now. We are under heavy attack from the garrison. Our division will block them at the Caoziling position at all costs to prevent them from affecting the main force of the division and the Shanxi-Sui Army.
battle."
At the enemy headquarters in front of the garrison, Li Hao held up his binoculars and stared at the battlefield motionless.
The battle has been going on for several hours. The offensive position has been repaired. Dozens of flying thunder cannons have all entered the position, and the thick barrels are pointed directly at the Japanese position.
Two soldiers squatted next to each thunder cannon, and several disc-sized explosive packets were placed farther away, ready to fire.
Apart from sporadic explosions, there was no other movement in the Japanese blocking position.
"Start the attack. Tell the three battalion commanders to launch the attack according to the combat plan. No troops can underestimate the enemy and rush in." Li Hao suddenly spoke and ordered with a serious look on his face.
"For this battle, I specially ordered the arsenal to concentrate on producing special explosive packs for thunder cannons. Now we have more than 600 in reserve, which is enough for the Japanese and puppet troops on Caoziling Mountain to drink a pot, so we don't need to sacrifice the soldiers' lives.
Fight with the Japanese for your life."
Soon, a series of explosions came from the offensive position.
Dozens of flames were sprayed into the sky by gasoline barrels like fireworks.
Disc-sized explosive packets rolled in the sky and flew towards the Japanese position at Caoziling...
On the high ground, the Japanese captain looked livid.
What he was most worried about happened: the garrison did not launch a direct attack on Cao Ziling, but created opportunities for their flying thunder cannons to use the black powder they could produce in large quantities to deal with the ground that was not completely dry.
Reinforced concrete construction.
Once those fortifications are destroyed, the troops will be exposed to artillery fire and fight against the garrison, and they will definitely suffer heavy casualties.