The moment the explosion sounded, Major Fujino, who was lying on the bed, seemed to have a conditioned reflex. He sat up from the bed and shouted to the door!
"Where did the explosion come from? Why is it so loud!"
As soon as I put on my military coat, the lieutenant on duty rushed over with a nervous look on his face!
"Sir, the explosion came from Stronghold No. 1. We are contacting Stronghold No. 1 to ask what happened?"
The adjutant also ran over and reminded him with hesitation!
"Sir, could it be that the garrison took the initiative to attack us?"
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Major Fujino rejected the idea!
"It's impossible. There is a battalion of the Eighth Route Army opposite us. If they attack us with a battalion, they are asking for death. The Eighth Route Army is not that stupid!"
"Find out immediately what happened with the explosion just now!"
"Although it is impossible for the Eighth Route Army to take the initiative to attack us at this time, it is still very possible for some small troops to come over and attack us!"
After saying that, Major Fujino hurried to the headquarters!
"Rumble..."
As soon as I walked to the door, another series of violent explosions came over!
The calm expression on Major Fujino's face disappeared and he slowly became anxious!
The explosion was not far from here, and it came from three directions at the same time. Considering the location of the troops stationed, even a fool could guess what was going on!
"Sir, there are explosions coming from stronghold No. 23!" the lieutenant on duty rushed over and reported!
The adjutant couldn't help but remind him again: "Sir, apart from the garrison attacking us, I can't think of any other reason to explain these explosions!"
Major Fujino was also hesitating and began to doubt his own judgment!
But it only lasted a few seconds before it was replaced firmly, and I still stuck to my original judgment!
"Impossible. There is only one battalion of the garrison on the opposite side, and there are no heavy weapons. Why should they attack our gun towers and machine gun bunkers!"
"If they are really stupid enough to attack us without heavy weapons support, then I don't mind eating them here tonight!"
"Contact three strongholds immediately and ask what's going on!"
Several officers were so anxious that they were sweating profusely and operating the telephones in front of them over and over again!
But no matter how hard they tried, there was no response from the other end of the phone!
The second lieutenant who was the first to contact Stronghold No. 1 finally gave up and ran to Fujino, reporting with a guilty look on his face: "Sir, our call to Stronghold No. 1 was connected, but no one answered the call!"
Major Fujino was confused and increasingly doubted the judgment he thought he was very sure of!
If the explosion just now was really an attack by the garrison, and the explosion was so loud, its power would definitely not be too small!
Coupled with the fact that the call was connected but no one answered, a bold idea quickly flashed through his mind!
"Are all the garrison troops in the stronghold dead?"
"impossible!"
Fujino rejected this idea as soon as it came up!
He kept an eye on his subordinates and ordered: "Keep fighting! There are more than a hundred Imperial Army and Imperial Alliance troops in the stronghold. Even if they are attacked by the garrison, it is impossible for everyone to die suddenly!"
A minute later, Major Fujino had to face a fact that was hard for him to accept!
The three peripheral strongholds he had worked so hard to build were all lost in the explosion!
At this time, a captain guarding the gun tower suddenly rushed in!
"Sir, the three outer strongholds are finished!"
"I only saw a lot of fireballs rising from the stronghold, almost as high as the gun tower, and then the gunfire in the gun tower stopped!"
"I have been fighting for so long in a humble position, and I have never encountered such a situation!"
"The turrets and bunker are all intact, but the gunfire inside has stopped. It must be that our soldiers hiding in the turret and bunker have suffered some fatal blow!"
"You don't even have a chance to dodge, and you lose your combat effectiveness immediately!"
Not only had the captain never encountered such a strange battle, but Fujino had never encountered it either!
The first subconscious reaction is not to believe it!
Pick up the telescope on the table and rush outside the headquarters, then climb up to the turret closest to the headquarters!
Less than two kilometers away, there were three more strongholds and many bonfires that had not been extinguished. Major Fujino could see clearly with his binoculars!
The turrets and bunkers are all intact!
But the sound of gunfire on the battlefield has completely stopped!
Figures kept appearing in his line of sight!
Although he couldn't see clearly, Fujino was sure that they were definitely not his subordinates!
Then there is only one possibility left, the stronghold has been occupied by the garrison!
"Bageya Road, who can tell me what is going on? Could it be that the garrison is equipped with heavy weapons that we don't know about? A few shots can make more than a hundred people in a stronghold lose their combat effectiveness!"
Zhang of the Mountain Artillery Squadron replied bravely: "Sir, if the explosion just now was an artillery shell explosion, judging from the sound of the explosion, the caliber of the artillery shell must be more than 100 millimeters!"
"Even in the empire, only dedicated heavy artillery brigades and a few field divisions are equipped with such large-caliber heavy artillery!"
"If I remember correctly, no imperial army within a hundred kilometers of Lingqiu as the center is equipped with such a large-caliber artillery!"
"The defense team can't grab it even if they want to!"
"So the explosion just now was definitely not caused by artillery shells!"
At this time, a few words quickly popped up in Major Fujino's mind: "Car bomb!"
Since the explosion was not caused by artillery shells, given the level of equipment of the Eighth Route Army, the only possibility was explosive packets!
As long as the charge is large enough, even if the explosive package explodes outside the turret and does not destroy the turret, the powerful shock wave can still kill the soldiers hiding in the turret, or stun them and lose their combat effectiveness!
Think again of the battle scene just now.
As soon as the explosion sounded, the gunfire weakened and finally stopped completely, which was almost consistent with the situation after the car bomb exploded!
Major Fujino is even more confident in his judgment!
He raised his eyebrows and stared at the adjutant next to him, his eyes were as red as if he could breathe fire!
Then he asked with a serious face: "Since it is impossible for the garrison to be equipped with heavy artillery, then only explosive bags can produce such a big explosion!"
"Didn't you promise me that trenches have been built around our stronghold, and it is absolutely impossible for the garrison to send explosive packages into our stronghold through cars?"
"Then tell me, besides cars, how else can the Eighth Route Army send explosive packets weighing dozens of kilograms into strongholds and explode them inside the strongholds!"
The adjutant frowned and racked his brains but couldn't think of an explanation!
He answered bravely: "I don't even know how the garrison sent explosives into the stronghold even though I'm a low-ranking official!"
"But I dare to risk my life to guarantee that except for the suspension bridge at the entrance and exit of the stronghold, there is no place where cars can pass!"
"The trench is two meters wide, and all the excavated soil is piled close to the stronghold to form a wall. Even if their car is equipped with wings, it cannot fly over it!"
Major Fujino was silent!
In addition to the car bombs that the garrison had already used, he could not think of any other way to deliver explosive packages into the stronghold under the eyes of the garrison!
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army is coming towards us!"
The exclamations from his subordinates brought Major Fujino back to reality!
Quickly raise your telescope and look at the battlefield!
As time passed by, Major Fujino’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper!
It’s not that I’m afraid, or that I’m worried that I won’t be able to defend this place, but that I’m confused!
The Eighth Route Army that came over from three strongholds was at most one company, and it did not carry a single siege artillery, and it also had no cars!
For such a unit, if it were half an hour ago, Major Fujino could definitely say with confidence that any stronghold on the periphery could block their attack and cause them huge casualties!
But the results were completely different, completely beyond my scope of knowledge!
Not only did they capture the stronghold, but they also divided their troops into three groups and captured three strongholds at the same time!
Not satisfied with this, continue to kill yourself!
Do they want to take the blame for themselves, just with the strength of the battalion in front of them?
The confusion on Major Fujino's face was slowly replaced by anger!
Even if the garrison has a new method of delivering explosive packets, if it only dispatches one battalion to deal with itself, then it is too underestimated!
Even if he lost three peripheral strongholds, he only lost three reinforcement teams!
There are still nearly a thousand troops at hand, and more than 80% of them are imperial troops with strong combat effectiveness!
As for heavy firepower, let alone it. In total, there are three mountain cannons, six mortars, and six heavy machine guns!
With such a firepower configuration, coupled with the machine gun bunkers and towering gun towers surrounding the stronghold, even if the Eighth Route Army kills a brigade, as long as there are no siege artillery, I will be confident to defend it!
"Bage Ya Road, the garrison is too arrogant!"
"No matter what new method they come up with to deliver explosives, I will let them end up here tonight and sink into the sand!"
"Order the troops to prepare for battle. I will annihilate all the garrison regiments coming over and avenge the imperial troops who died in the outer strongholds!"
"Artillery, prepare to fire!"
"Once you discover that the Eighth Route Army has heavy weapons hidden in it, fire immediately to destroy them!"
"Also, just move the headquarters here. I want to personally direct this battle from a high position. Take a good look at what the new method of delivering explosive packets is by the garrison, and what new tactics they have come up with!
"
The adjutant hesitated and reminded: "Sir, do you want to report the situation of our being attacked to the military headquarters?"
Major Fujino shook his head and refused: "What kind of retribution is there for me?"
"Do you want to report to the military headquarters that the Eighth Route Army garrison successfully captured three of our outer strongholds and is attacking our central stronghold, requesting reinforcements?"
"You don't think it's embarrassing, but I do?"
"Wait a minute, the battle is over, we will wipe out all the attacking troops of the garrison, and then directly report the victory to the military headquarters!"
The adjutant immediately complimented: "Sir, you are wise! If we lose the three outer strongholds in this way, we can use them as combat deployments. I will make arrangements now to transfer the headquarters here!"