Colonel Aoki frowned quickly, but he did not get angry. He calmly asked: "How many people have we lost? Are the casualties of the garrison heavy?"
"Sir, we have lost two infantry squads! The casualties of the garrison are not yet known!"
After listening to the report, Aoki fell into deep thought!
It took a long time before he spoke: "I think I figured it out!"
"We want to weaken the heavy firepower of the garrison through street fighting, consume a large number of the garrison's offensive troops, and force them to retreat!"
“The garrison, in turn, plans to consume a lot of us through street fighting!
"Under normal circumstances, the garrison attacks and we defend. When fighting in the streets, the enemy is in the light and we are in the dark. The situation is very favorable to us, just like the battle last night!"
"But the garrison was too cunning. Not only did they see our advantage in street fighting, but they also found a way to crack it and retaliate in kind, giving us a tit-for-tat attack!"
"The troops attacked from the yard next to the street. As a result, the garrison group that was originally in the light is now in the dark and attacks us anytime and anywhere, making us defenseless!"
The adjutant also understood, suddenly realized and shouted: "There is one more thing!"
"Lingqiu City is too big, and we don't know where the garrison will attack from. In addition to the two groups of attacking troops that have been exposed, we don't know if they have any other troops lurking, ready to give us a fatal attack at any time!"
"In order to prevent this from happening, we can only disperse our troops to every corner of Lingqiu City to prevent every possible accident!"
"However, our opponents can concentrate their superior troops and firepower to launch a fierce attack on us at one point!"
"This means that on the local battlefield, facing the new style of play of the garrison, we do not have any advantage!"
After saying that, the adjutant stared at Colonel Aoki and asked solemnly: "Sir, the battlefield situation is changing too fast! We must break the new tactics of the garrison immediately, otherwise the troops will definitely suffer heavy casualties!
Aoki did not answer directly, but faced the adjutant's gaze and asked: "How is the training of the heavy mortar squadron?"
"The combat effectiveness has been formed and is ready to fight at any time!" the adjutant replied quickly!
Thinking of the twelve 120 mm caliber heavy mortars delivered by the military in the afternoon, the solemn expression on his face suddenly looked much better, and his worries were reduced a lot!
Although I haven't seen the power of those mortars in detail, the thick muzzle, long barrel, and a shell weighing more than ten kilograms all reveal its powerful power!
After thinking for a while, he continued to report: "Although the military headquarters only sent equipment and ammunition, there was not a single gunner!"
"But we have. Although the artillery unit suffered a devastating blow at the beginning of the war, the gunners survived a lot, and they can all use mortars proficiently!"
"After a short adaptive training, I organized them into four heavy mortar squads according to the order, each squad is equipped with three heavy mortars!"
"very good!"
The solemn expression on Colonel Aoki's face disappeared at that time, and all the frowns on his face relaxed!
Then he replied: "I originally thought that in the middle of the night, when the defense regiment's offensive was defeated by us and morale was low, I would use these twelve heavy mortars to launch a counterattack against the defense regiment and drive them out of Lingqiu City. Finally, I would
Let the remaining cavalry of the escort force go out, catch them by surprise, and severely injure them!"
"Now it seems that our counterattack will be advanced!"
"Order, the reserve team will set off immediately and split into two to reinforce the two battlefields!"
"The first heavy mortar team reinforces the eastern battlefield!"
"The second team is reinforcing the battlefield to the west, and the third and fourth teams are on standby!"
"After the first and second teams fire, the artillery equipped by the garrison will definitely counterattack!"
"I ask them to find the artillery position of the garrison regiment as soon as possible, destroy it, and kill the artillery unit that poses the greatest threat to us!"
"Once the Eighth Route Army's offensive troops retreat, the reserve team, the troops closest to the battlefield, will immediately counterattack and drive the garrison out of Lingqiu City!"
"The cavalry brigade is on standby. As soon as the garrison regiment leaves the city, they will immediately rush out, raid the garrison regiment's offensive position, and retreat after attacking. The infantry will be at the top of the city to support them!"
"In this battle, we must make good use of the heavy mortars we just obtained, and only take advantage and not suffer any losses!"
"It's best if you can kill the attacking troops of the garrison. If you can't kill them, you can just inflict heavy damage!"
Li Zhiyong led the troops to charge more and more vigorously!
By now, they have assaulted nearly 200 meters towards the center of the city!
Successfully killed two Japanese squads with less than one platoon casualties!
He plans to keep up his efforts and fight all the way to the Japanese garrison headquarters!
"Keep moving forward, be sure to strengthen your vigilance..." Li Zhiyong squatted on the ground and ordered with a wave of his hand!
Then he stood up from the ground, held the box cannon, bent down, and attacked forward very carefully!
"Woooooooo..."
Suddenly, the scream of artillery shells streaking across the sky came!
Li Zhiyong's first reaction was that a cannonball was flying towards him!
The troops are all exposed in the open streets. Once they are attacked, there will be no place for everyone to hide!
His face turned pale instantly and he shouted loudly: "It's a shelling, everyone spread out and take cover!"
After saying that, Li Zhiyong threw himself in the corner, holding his head, motionless!
"Rumble..."
The explosion soon sounded behind me, and the sound came like thunder, making my ears buzz!
The hot air waves passed through his back tiredly. Although the time was short, Li Zhiyong still had a burning sensation as if he had been roasted by fire and burned. It was very painful!
His face, which was already pale, turned even paler now. After reacting from the shock, he shouted: "This is definitely not an ordinary mortar shell. The explosion sound is louder than an ordinary mortar, and the power of the shock wave is also greater!"
"We will count the casualties immediately. The troops need to be dispersed. The power of the artillery shells is too great. The shock wave can kill people!"
"We have been targeted by the Japanese, and there will definitely be a second and third round of shells coming!"
"Boom boom boom..."
In the next minute, Li Zhiyong felt as if he was going through hell, which was painful and unbearable!
A group of three shells not only hit the street, but the yards and houses on both sides of the street were all targets for shelling!
When the bombardment ended, there was no movement at all, as if the second company was all dead, and there was silence!
"Da da da……"
Three tongues of fire suddenly emerged from the darkness, and Li Zhiyong could vaguely see some Japanese figures!
Under the cover of the machine gun, holding the gun, they rushed towards me in a battle formation, very fast!
"Japanese are coming. Fight back. If there are any who can still move, fight back immediately!" Li Zhiyong ordered hurriedly!
"Da da da……"
A machine gun not far away opened fire very quickly. Under the light of fire erupting from the muzzle, Li Zhiyong immediately recognized the subordinate who was manipulating the machine gun!
He's his platoon leader, not his machine gunner!
Look next to the machine gun.
The machine gunner and assistant shooter had all fallen into a pool of blood, motionless!
The heavy machine gun position behind him was even worse. One machine gun had been dismembered into parts by artillery shells, and another one fell to the ground. I don’t know if it can still be used!
A dozen machine gunners staggered to the ground, not even a single breather!
The heavy machine gun is gone, and there is only one light machine gun left. There is no way it can stop the Japanese counterattack!
If you continue to defend here, the second company will only have one result, the entire army will be destroyed!
Before departure, the regiment commander gave an order. Once danger is encountered, the troops must retreat immediately and must not fight forcefully!
Thinking of this, although Li Zhiyong was filled with unwillingness and heartache, he still gritted his teeth and shouted: "Machine gun cover, retreat immediately if you can still move!"