The captain felt that tonight's attack was unusual.
The heavy artillery unit of the garrison, which had been firing sporadically for several days, fired a salvo of eight artillery pieces.
Mountain artillery, field artillery, and large-caliber mortars were all firing artillery shells at the blocking position as if artillery shells were free of charge.
Soon, this bad premonition was confirmed. A lieutenant rushed in with a nervous look on his face. When he saw the major, he hurriedly reported.
"Sir, my humble position is the artillery position liaison officer. The artillery position was attacked by the enemy. The guard troops suffered heavy losses and can no longer hold the position. Please support?"
The captain's face instantly darkened, and he cursed loudly: "Bageya Road, the garrison regiment wants to capture Caoziling tonight. There are not enough troops on the defense line. Where are the extra troops to reinforce them."
"And the artillery fire on the defense line is so fierce. If the troops come out of the artillery holes and go to reinforce the artillery positions under the artillery fire, it is no different from being bombed to death."
"Order the artillery unit to deploy all ammunition carriers to support the guard units, and be sure to protect the artillery positions."
"Also, the artillery support from the artillery positions cannot be stopped, otherwise the artillery troops of the garrison can attack our positions unscrupulously."
The advantage in strength and firepower lies with the independent company and the special agent company.
In addition, they launched a sudden attack, catching the Japanese by surprise. When the artillery unit received the order and prepared to organize ammunition hand to reinforce the guard unit, the two companies had already broken through the interception and entered the artillery position.
After all, the ammo men who rushed towards me were not real infantry, and many of them were not even equipped with rifles. They rushed to the battlefield holding pistols with a range of only thirty meters.
"All machine guns are firing, rifles have bayonets in their hands, kill them in the shortest time and seize the artillery positions." shouted the secret agent company commander.
Holding the crooked handle that had just been seized from the Japanese army, he fired at the three Japanese soldiers at the front.
In less than two seconds, all the remaining bullets in the magazine were used up. All three Japs fell to the ground. Each of them had at least one bloody hole in their chest.
Loading bullets into the crooked handle was too troublesome, and the company commander had no intention of loading it anymore. It would take too much time, and the Japanese charging towards him would definitely not give him this chance.
Just throw the machine gun to the ground, pull out the box gun, turn on the safety, and continue to attack the artillery position.
The garrison's artillery attack on the Caoziling position continued. Under the light of the fire, the captain saw that several bunkers were destroyed by continuous attacks from heavy artillery and thunder cannons.
These bunkers are the last trump card for defending Cao Ziling. If the losses are too great and the garrison regiment dispatches chariots to attack, the position will be in danger. Thinking of this, the captain's frown deepened.
It rained continuously all night, and just as the captain was praying in his heart that the heavy artillery shells of the garrison regiment would be used up quickly and the shelling would stop, the explosions on the garrison regiment's offensive position suddenly stopped, and the splashing firelight also disappeared.
"Bageya Road, why did our artillery counterattack stop?"
"The defense regiment's thunder cannons are all set up on the offensive position. Without artillery fire to suppress the shooting, they can attack our blocking position unscrupulously. The number of explosive packets smashed into the blocking position will be at least twice as many."
Just when his subordinates looked confused and didn't know how to answer, the artillery liaison officer who had just left not long ago rushed in again.
At this time, the artillery liaison officer was not only nervous but also despairing from the bottom of his heart.
He rushed all the way to the captain and reported with pain on his face: "Sir, the artillery is finished."
"At least 380 Route Army troops rushed into the artillery positions and massacred our artillerymen..."
The captain's face instantly turned pale.
Although there are five to six hundred gunners and ammunition carriers in the artillery position, their combat effectiveness is too poor, and most of the soldiers are not equipped with self-defense weapons.
Facing the wolf-like Eighth Route Army, we are definitely no match!
The leader of the reinforcements, the Major, knew very well the importance of artillery for the imperial army to defend Caoziling, and immediately suggested: "Sir, if the artillery is lost, the Caoziling position will not only lose artillery support, but also allow the Eighth Route Army to destroy our fortifications with artillery fire.
We will also be attacked from the front and back by the Eighth Route Army, and we will definitely not be able to defend it."
"I will lead two squadrons and kill them immediately. Even if we cannot recapture the artillery position, we will destroy the Eighth Route Army there to ensure the safety of our backs."
The captain subconsciously refused.
The troops were all hiding in the artillery-proof holes of their positions, and the artillery shells fired by the garrison were dense. The troops rushed out of the artillery-proof holes under the artillery fire, and then rushed out of the artillery fire coverage area. They must have suffered heavy casualties.
If two squadrons are deployed, it would be a blessing among misfortunes if one squadron can make it out of the battlefield alive.
But he had to consider the major's analysis.
More than 300 Eighth Route Army troops appeared behind the position. If they were allowed to successfully control the artillery position, they would definitely attack the defense line from behind.
At that time, the headquarters will bear the brunt and be killed by them first.
Then there is the Caoziling position.
The bunkers on the defense line were all designed and built for the Eighth Route Army on the front, and all the shooting holes faced the garrison offensive positions.
Hundreds of Eighth Route Army troops attacked from behind the bunker, and the bunker defenders were definitely unable to defend themselves. They could only watch helplessly as they approached the bunker, and then used explosive packets to destroy the bunker. By then, the Caoziling defense line would be lost even faster.
The captain was frightened by this idea, and cold sweat continued to flow from his forehead.
No longer hesitating, he decisively ordered: "I will give you two squadrons and one battalion of the Imperial Association Army."
"Be sure to recapture the artillery position and kill the hundreds of Eighth Route Army troops who attacked the artillery position."
On the Caoziling defense line, the two Japanese squadron leaders and the puppet battalion commander who received the order to attack were immediately confused. They thought they had heard wrongly and asked the headquarters to repeat the order several times before they believed it.
The artillery fire outside was too fierce, and many of them were explosive packets from heavy artillery shells and thunder cannons that exploded into large areas.
Now when attacking, if a heavy artillery shell or an explosive pack hits the team, half of the infantry team will be gone in an instant.
So from the bottom of their hearts they don't want their troops to go out and die at this time.
But the military orders were overwhelming, and no matter how unwilling they were, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and issue the order to attack.
"Rumble..."
Dozens of soldiers had just rushed out of the shell-proof hole when an explosive pack hit the hole and exploded.
The squadron leader who happened to reach the entrance of the cave was startled and saw with his own eyes a ball of fire splashing out from a distance of more than ten meters.
Five or six soldiers had no time to react and were directly blown into the sky.
The soldiers further away were not blown away, but they fell motionless in the trenches, looking very dangerous.
The captain stared closely at the battlefield. He also saw this scene, with anger all over his face.
He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.
Ten minutes later, the attacking troops gradually gathered around the headquarters.
Two infantry squadrons, exactly one squadron survived.
One battalion of the Imperial Alliance Army rushed out, less than one company, and the rest were either killed by the bombing, or pretended that they had not received the order and continued to hide in the anti-cannon holes.
The captain was crying without tears and had thoughts of murder.
But for the sake of the overall situation, he could only force himself to calm down and ordered with murderous intent: "Reinforce the artillery position immediately, kill the Eighth Route Army there, and avenge the death of the imperial army on the battlefield..."