Dozens of explosive packets fell from the sky and smashed into the Caoziling defense line, causing splashes of fire and black smoke rising into the sky, dozens of meters high.
Thick gunpowder smoke and rolled up dust, driven by air waves, quickly swept through the entire position like a storm.
The captain stared at the battlefield with his eyes wide open, still unable to see the situation above.
His face became more solemn, and he shouted out loud: "The artillery will fire back immediately. First destroy the flying thunder cannons in front of the formation. They are too great a threat to us. Don't worry about the other artillery in the garrison."
There were too many torpedo cannons, and every time one explosive charge was fired, an artillery position was moved. Although the Japanese army's artillery counterattack was very fierce, and the defensive regiment's offensive position was filled with smoke, the losses from the torpedo cannons were not great, and every minute was still
Two or three explosive packets smashed into the Japanese position.
At the enemy headquarters in front of the garrison, Li Hao also had a serious look on his face.
Staring at the battlefield, he ordered: "Tell Yuan Qingfeng to seize the opportunity with the heavy artillery in his hand and kill a few more of the Japs' mountain cannons."
"The sooner the Japanese artillery unit is eaten, the smaller the casualties will be in subsequent battles."
"Tell the three battalion commanders that the thunder cannons have almost exploded. It's their turn. The troops will launch an attack in five minutes."
"We will kill at least three hundred little devils tonight."
The artillery shells from both sides came and went, exploding like crazy, and the battlefield was full of rumbling cannons.
Suddenly, a group of Eighth Route Army figures came into view of the Japanese captain under the firelight.
More than a dozen people, armed with guns, were arranged in groups of three, arranged in a zigzag pattern, and were very alert to attack forward.
Then the three attack groups were distributed in a zigzag pattern to form a larger attack formation. The machine gunner walked among the three attack groups holding the machine gun, lying down at any time to provide fire cover for the riflemen around him...
Their assault speed was very fast, but they advanced and retreated in an orderly manner. They broke out of the smoke and rushed towards the Caoziling defense line.
Immediately afterwards, the second Eighth Route Army in the same formation came out of the offensive position.
And then the third one…
In less than half a second, more than a hundred Eighth Route Army figures appeared on the battlefield.
The offensive formation they formed was like sharp knives piercing the Caoziling defense line.
This is the army trained by Li Hao by copying the three-by-three tactics of later generations.
There are many heavy machine guns behind the attacking troops. As long as there is a Japanese counterattack on the Caoziling defense line, they will fire immediately to provide fire cover for the attacking troops.
Of course, the real protagonists of this battle are not them.
It is the mortar group and the torpedo group on standby in the offensive position.
In addition to the heavy artillery and mountain field artillery that were firing, the remaining thirty-two thunder cannons, eighteen light mortars, and six heavy mortars in the regiment were all on standby with their muzzles raised, aiming at the Caoziling defense line.
Under the cover of gunpowder smoke, the Japanese captain couldn't see this scene even if he wanted to.
Seeing the Eighth Route Army advancing closer and closer, he immediately ordered: "All troops enter the position and resolutely block the Eighth Route Army's attacking troops and do not allow them to get close to our defense line."
A large number of little Japs immediately emerged from the dozens of anti-gun caves built against the mountain.
Holding the light machine gun, holding the rifle, and carrying the heavy machine gun, they rushed into the position.
The position that was empty just now became lively in an instant, with heads and gun barrels of little devils sticking out everywhere.
"Da da da……"
The light and heavy machine guns were the first to fire. Under the cover of darkness, the flames from the muzzles were particularly dazzling, clearly exposing them to the garrison.
The heavy machine guns mounted behind the attacking troops followed suit and fired at the exposed heavy machine guns of the Japanese troops, covering the attacking troops and assuming a posture of storming the Caoziling defense line.
"Quick, adjust the shooting angle immediately. One cannon will target one machine gun, three rapid fire rounds from the mortar, and one explosive package from the mine cannon. When you see the signal flare, fire at the same time. After the fire is over, retreat from the traffic trench." Several artillery platoons.
While inspecting the artillery positions, the commander shouted orders, fearing that someone might not hear clearly.
"Woooooooo...boom..." The three signal bombs flew into the sky in a beautiful arc and exploded at the same time, flashing three white lights in the air.
All the gunners saw it.
The mortar gunner quickly released the mortar shell in his hand.
Under the action of gravity, the cannonball slid into the barrel and hit the firing pin...
The gunner of the thunder cannon quickly ignited the gunpowder fuse protruding from the tail of the gasoline barrel, and then rolled sideways into the individual bunker next to him. He covered his ears and opened his mouth to prevent himself from being accidentally injured when the thunder cannon fired.
"Boom boom boom..."
The artillery position instantly rang out a series of gunshots, some loud and some small. The sound was messy, but very dense.
A few seconds later, black smoke began to rise into the sky amidst the splashing firelight from the Japanese defense line at Caoziling.
In the blink of an eye, the entire position was enveloped in fire and smoke!
On the other hand, the attacking troops of the Eighth Route Army, under the cover of heavy machine guns behind them, all lay on the ground, holding their heads to avoid the artillery fire from behind.
The whole movement was smooth and uniform. It was obvious that he knew that there would be such a round of artillery fire when he attacked and had rehearsed it in advance.
The Japanese captain's face was livid, and he gritted his teeth and cursed: "Baghe Yalu, this is a conspiracy, we have been fooled."
"Use feints to attract our soldiers hiding in the artillery holes, and then use artillery to blast them, consuming a large number of our troops who have entered the position..."
"The artillery unit sent out half of its artillery to attack the Eighth Route Army's attacking troops. I will retaliate in kind..."
"The remaining half of the artillery continues to bombard the artillery unit of the garrison."
"If we don't destroy them, the pressure on us to defend Caoziling's defense line will increase."
The second attack on Datong by the Jinsui Army was definitely a protracted battle and could not be fought in one day, so Li Hao had plenty of time to fight the Japanese at the Cao Ziling position.
Today is only the first night, so I can't bite off more than I can chew.
By the time the Japanese concentrated artillery fire and began to counterattack, the sound of artillery fire from the garrison's offensive position had stopped, as if the shelling had never happened.
The attacking force of more than a hundred people also began to retreat under the cover of darkness.
Although the artillery shells of the Japanese counterattack continued to rain down, because the attacking troops were too scattered, their damage was very limited.
The Japanese captain's dream of retaliating with tooth was shattered because the garrison retreated on its own initiative.
At five o'clock in the morning, the battlefield became completely quiet, without even a single gunshot.
The deputy captain walked into the headquarters with his head lowered, not daring to look at the captain or speak.
The captain could only speak first, stared at his deputy and asked: "How many people did we lose in the battle just now?"
"Sir, a total of 429 troops died in the battle, 135 of whom were artillerymen."
"Ninety-five people were seriously injured and disabled, including 21 artillerymen."
"Six artillery pieces were lost, including two mountain guns, one infantry gun, and three mortars..."
"In addition, three bunkers were completely blown up, and one bunker was severely damaged... Four heavy machine guns, 8 light machine guns, and nearly 200 rifles were lost!"
"Pah..." The captain clenched his fist and slammed it on the table in front of him.
His whole body was enveloped in anger, and he didn't even notice that his hands were bleeding due to too much force.