Demarcating the bombardment area in advance, numbering each bombardment area, and calculating the number of shooters has always been the combat style of the artillery unit of the garrison.
When the Third Battalion was building a blocking position, the artillery staff of the headquarters was not idle. They spent an hour dividing the places where the Japanese reinforcements might stay into ten artillery areas. Each artillery area corresponded to a fixed number and a fixed firing crew.
As long as the commando team determines which area the Japanese troops are staying in, the artillery will know the specific targets to shoot and be ready to fire the artillery in the shortest possible time.
Li Hao's face quickly returned to seriousness, and he looked at the ordering soldiers around him and ordered: "The No. 1 mortar group bombarded the No. 1 target, the No. 2 mortar group bombarded the No. 3 target, and the No. 3 mortar group bombarded the No. 5 target.
The mountain artillery group shelled Target No. 6."
"All artillery fires within one minute and fires rapidly within five minutes..."
Lieutenant Colonel Aoki looked at the shadow of the blocking position not far away, his expression becoming more and more solemn.
The county seat is in danger, and he is blocked here again. If he delays for one more minute, the county seat will be at risk of being lost.
He was very anxious and glanced at the artillery positions behind him from time to time to see if they were ready.
"Report to the commander: The medium mortar squadron is ready to fire!" A messenger ran over and reported.
Lieutenant Colonel Aoki asked solemnly: "Where are the other artillery units? How long will it take?"
"The infantry has all been deployed and can attack at any time. We are just waiting for them."
The messenger thought for a moment and replied: "The small-caliber mortar squadron will take about two minutes."
"The mountain artillery squadron and the infantry artillery team need to build artillery positions, and the speed will be slower. It will take five minutes to fire."
"It's too slow, let them speed up!" Aoki ordered anxiously.
The captain of the infantry group next to him reminded: "Sir, do you want to order the medium mortar squadron to fire first?"
"They are equipped with nine 120mm caliber mortars. The power of the shells is no less than that of mountain artillery. They will definitely be able to kill a large number of Eighth Route Army troops on the position."
Lieutenant Colonel Aoki shook his head and replied: "No, we have to wait for all the artillery to be ready and fire together."
"We are all veterans. We should know that the first round of artillery fire is the most lethal to the enemy. The more artillery fired at the same time, the greater the losses of the Eighth Route Army."
The captain thought for a moment and agreed: "Sir, you are wise!"
Two minutes later, a messenger came over and reported: "Sir, the mortar squadron directly under the brigade is ready for battle."
After another two minutes, Aoki finally received the good news that the mountain artillery squadron was ready for battle.
A pair of eyes quickly shot out two rays of light, staring at the battlefield, and ordered with murderous intent: "All artillerymen will fire at the same time in one minute, and the artillery fire will be launched in three minutes. As soon as the bombardment stops, the attacking troops will rush up, and the enemy's blocking position will be captured quickly."
."
"Woooooooooooo...boom..."
As soon as the order was issued, the scream of artillery shells streaking across the sky rang in my ears, and two seconds later, an explosion came from behind.
"Why did the cannon fire before the time was up?" Lieutenant Colonel Aoki was stunned for a moment and cursed with dissatisfaction.
An artillery staff officer nearby reacted first and quickly reminded: "Sir, the explosion just now was not fired by us, but by the Eighth Route Army firing at us. The shells came from behind the enemy's blocking position."
"Woooooooo..." Before he could finish his words, the scream of cannonballs streaking across the sky sounded again.
The artillery staff officer's shocked face quickly turned pale, and he cried out: "There are artillery shells flying towards us..."
"Everyone spread out and hide to protect the commander..."
"Rumble..."
The flight speed of the artillery shell was too fast, and the violent explosion soon rang in the ears, interrupting the artillery staff's unfinished words.
The moment the fire splashed, many soldiers were blown away together, and then thick black smoke was seen rising from the impact point.
After Lieutenant Colonel Aoki was knocked down by his subordinates, he could hear no other sounds except explosions.
He didn't react until the first round of explosions ended, raised his head and looked around.
The surrounding area was filled with rising black smoke, burning ammunition boxes, bloody corpses, and wounded people screaming in agony.
Aoki's face quickly turned pale, and before he could speak, the artillery staff officer ran over, his face full of horror.
"Sir, there were at least ten mountain cannons firing at us just now. It's too dangerous here. You must leave here immediately."
Aoki was frightened by this number and took a breath. Although he was shocked and panicked, he did not lose his mind.
He quickly issued an order: "Where is our artillery? Counterattack immediately..."
"The troops leave here quickly, everyone retreats back!"
"Woooooooooooo...boom..."
Before the order could be finished, the scream sounded again.
Aoki had just put his head in his hands to prepare for the gunfire, when the explosion rang in his ears.
A cannonball was very close to him, and the powerful shock wave made his ears buzz.
Before he could recover from his dizziness, two guards, one on the left and one on the right, supported him and retreated back.
After running less than ten meters, the voice of the artillery staff sounded again, and he was very anxious.
"We cannot retreat to the rear. The artillery positions have also been shelled. Now we can only move to the two wings."
As soon as he finished speaking, the scream of "wuwuwu..." sounded again, and the artillery staff quickly shouted: "Conceal!"
Dozens of people stopped and walked for five minutes before they broke out of the artillery fire coverage area.
At this time, the Eighth Route Army's artillery strikes just stopped, and with the help of the firelight all over the battlefield, Aoki could have a panoramic view of the battlefield several hundred meters in front of him.
The assembly area where I was just now was full of craters, some more than a meter deep, some half a meter deep, and of different sizes.
Around the crater, there were imperial army corpses and squirming wounded everywhere.
The artillery positions farther away are no exception.
The rows of artillery pieces neatly mounted on the ground were gone, either blown over or reduced to scrap metal.
The gunners squatting beside them were either dead or injured and fell to the ground, and few were standing.
Three to four hundred meters away from the offensive position, two entire infantry squadrons had been blown to pieces.
The artillery staff officer had been following beside him. He also saw this scene and his face turned pale.
Facing the ashen-faced Lieutenant Colonel Aoki, he was speechless: "Sir...just...just now, the Eighth Route Army used at least 80 artillery pieces to attack us!"
"The artillery positions, offensive positions, and assembly areas were all bombed."
"They fired at least two thousand rounds of artillery shells of various calibers."
"Retreat, get out of here..." Lieutenant Colonel Aoki ordered with the last trace of reason.
After hearing the two thousand rounds of artillery shells, Lieutenant Colonel Aoki knew without statistics that the troops suffered heavy casualties.
This is a plain with unobstructed views and no hiding spots.
The troops didn't even have a trench to hide in, they were completely exposed on the surface.
More than two thousand artillery shells were dropped in just five minutes, and the steel and iron bones would be blown to pieces, not to mention the flesh and blood soldiers.
The troops suffered so many casualties, and the Eighth Route Army was equipped with so many artillery pieces. If they continued to reinforce the county town, they would not only be unable to break through the blocking position in front of them, but they would also be trapped here, losing both their wives and their troops.
Lieutenant Colonel Aoki still had some sense in this regard and decisively ordered the troops to retreat, hoping that there would still be a chance to retreat to Zhangjiakou.
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