Colonel Watanabe quickly calmed down and ordered to the adjutant next to him as he moved: "The artillery brigade is directly under the heavy mortar squadron. Each infantry brigade is directly under the mortar squadron and the infantry artillery squad. Counterattack immediately."
"I have an order before setting up camp. All artillerymen must set up their guns in advance so that they can join the battle at any time if they are attacked."
"I'll give them ten minutes to kill all the artillery attacking us."
Persisting in confronting the enemy with caution, strengthening vigilance, and making arrangements in advance, the benefits of these measures will soon be revealed.
In less than half a minute, there was a roar from the artillery position halfway up the mountain. Amidst the harsh screams, several fireballs quickly rose from the Eighth Route Army artillery position two kilometers away, and thick smoke also rose slowly.
"Sir, the mountain artillery brigade has started firing!" the adjutant shouted excitedly.
The panic in his heart disappeared instantly. It was obviously the mountain artillery brigade that gave him a lot of confidence.
"The reaction speed of the mountain artillery brigade is very fast!" Colonel Watanabe also showed a smile on his face.
But I didn't feel happy for long before an accident happened.
A series of explosions suddenly sounded at the mountainside artillery position, and fireballs and black smoke rose into the sky from there at the same time.
"Sir, it's a heavy mortar. The Eighth Route Army attacking us is equipped with heavy mortars. The mountain artillery position they fired just now was targeted by them." The artillery staff responded quickly and reminded anxiously.
The smile on Colonel Watanabe's face disappeared, and he slowly became serious, analyzing in a deep voice.
"This is a tactic commonly used by the garrison. They used it when they attacked the Yamamoto Regiment."
"Divide the artillery into several positions, join the battle one after another, watch our artillery one on one, and finally eliminate it. It seems that the garrison has a big plot tonight."
"However, I have already prepared for this. Our artillery is also divided into several positions, so we can counterattack tit for tat."
"We don't need to worry about this matter. I believe the artillery battalion commander can solve this problem by himself."
"The troops were ordered to strengthen their vigilance. The garrison regiment used mountain artillery and heavy mortars. The infantry will certainly not remain indifferent."
The sound of artillery became louder and louder, and more and more artillery joined the battle, firing out the shells as fast as they could.
Ten minutes passed and there was still no end in sight.
"Woooooooooooo...boom..."
Suddenly, an even more piercing scream reached Colonel Watanabe's ears, overcoming all the explosions on the battlefield. A few seconds later, an explosion like the earth was shaking came, making his ears buzz and the ground beneath his feet.
He also trembled.
Colonel Watanabe's expression suddenly changed, and he immediately realized something was wrong from this series of unusual explosions.
The artillery staff reacted the fastest. His face turned pale on the spot and he shouted: "It's a heavy artillery."
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army attacking us is equipped with heavy artillery."
"Woooooooooooo...boom..."
The second round of unusual screams and explosions came quickly. The artillery staff member's face became even paler, and he was very sure of his judgment just now and continued to shout.
"Sir, I must be humble: the one firing now is a 105mm heavy artillery!"
"Independent Mountain Artillery Battalion!"
Colonel Watanabe reacted quickly and immediately thought of the friendly forces that had been completely destroyed.
Then he frowned and said to himself in denial: "That's not right!"
"The telegram reported to us by the brigade commander made it very clear that all the mountain cannons lost by the heavy artillery brigade were destroyed by aviation. How could the garrison regiment equip heavy artillery that even the imperial army rarely equipped? This is impossible!"
The artillery staff officer replied with certainty: "Sir, I am very sure of my judgment just now and dare to use the honor of the military as a guarantee."
"What is firing is a 105 mm caliber heavy artillery. Whether it is a mountain cannon or a howitzer, I can only confirm it after seeing it."
"Could it be that the aviation force and the brigade commander made a mistake?" the deputy commander whispered.
"What did you say?" Colonel Watanabe asked, staring at his deputy, his face extremely gloomy.
The deputy commander replied bravely: "Sir, I have a humble guess: Could it be that the aviation force made a mistake?"
Colonel Watanabe hesitated. He didn't want to question his commander's judgment and order, but the facts were there and he couldn't help but disbelieve them.
Apart from the artillery lost by the heavy artillery brigade, he could not imagine that the garrison could obtain heavy artillery through other means.
"Baga, who is there?" the guard captain suddenly shouted.
The guards reacted quickly, and on the spot more than a dozen rifles were aimed in the direction from which the sound came.
"Sir, it's over..."
A dark figure stumbled over, his military uniform was in tatters and blackened by gunpowder smoke, and he shouted as he ran.
"It's the captain of the artillery brigade, bring him over immediately!" the guard captain quickly reacted.
Colonel Watanabe also reacted and looked at his subordinates running over with a stunned look on his face. He almost thought he had made a mistake.
He quickly replied: "Bagel Yalu, what's going on? Why are you, a captain of an artillery brigade, in such a mess? Where are your troops? Why don't you direct them on the battlefield?"
"thump……"
As soon as the guard let go and retreated, the captain knelt on the ground and reported with pain on his face.
"It's over...it's all over..."
"Sir, the artillery brigade is finished, and so is the heavy mortar squadron!"
"The garrison is equipped with more mountain artillery than us, and the number of heavy mortars is about the same as ours, but they are also equipped with heavy artillery..."
"They are all 105 mm caliber, and they are very powerful. If a shell hits it, an artillery position will be gone, and the artillery will be blown into scrap metal."
"All twelve mountain guns of the artillery brigade were destroyed, no one was spared, and all the gunners were killed!"
"Only one gun from the heavy mortar squadron was transferred, and all the others were destroyed..."
"The mortar squadron equipped with the infantry brigade also suffered heavy losses."
Colonel Watanabe stared with big eyes and almost collapsed to the ground in shock at the news.
As a battlefield veteran, Watanabe knew very well the fundamental reason why the Imperial Army was able to compete on the Chinese battlefield.
The imperial army is one of the most powerful in combat.
But in his eyes, the real key is that the imperial army is well equipped: there are planes in the sky, warships in the water, and cannons and tanks on the ground.
Without these advantages, it would have taken at least twice as long for the imperial army to achieve its current results on the battlefield.
It's night now, and it's impossible for planes to reinforce us.
Now that the cannons are gone, the imperial army's equipment advantage over the garrison is gone, and it is even at a disadvantage.
As for the combat effectiveness, the Imperial Army's combat effectiveness was one-on-one. Neither the Eighth Route Army nor the Eighth Route Army was a match for the Imperial Army.
But they have artillery, and they are heavy artillery. No matter how powerful the imperial army is, they are still made of flesh and blood, and they can never be a match for heavy artillery.
In this situation, Colonel Watanabe's first reaction was to suffer.
Then he forced himself to calm down: "Without artillery support, the troops will definitely be suppressed by the garrison's artillery fire."
"If the garrison takes the opportunity to launch an attack, we will definitely suffer heavy casualties."
"Boom boom boom..."
A series of close-range explosions suddenly sounded at the top of the mountain, interrupting Watanabe's words.
In the blink of an eye, the high ground on the top of the mountain was shrouded in artillery fire, and fireballs and black smoke were rising everywhere, very densely.
"Sir, the artillery must have been defeated, so the garrison changed its target and continued to attack our infantry, trying to blow up all our infantry." The artillery battalion captain stood up and shouted.
The artillery staff officer then added: "Sir, there are mountain artillery, heavy mortars and heavy artillery that are firing. There are at least thirty of them."
"Especially the heavy artillery and heavy mortars, they are very powerful. I humbly request my commander to move them immediately."
After speaking, the artillery staff officer winked at the guard captain.
Nothing should happen to Colonel Watanabe. This is the duty of the guard captain.
Without waiting for Watanabe to speak, he glanced at the subordinates around him and ordered: "What are you doing standing still? Protect the commander immediately and move to the foot of the mountain."
"With such fierce artillery fire, the Eighth Route Army will definitely expand the range of the artillery attack little by little after blasting the top of the mountain. It is too close to the top of the mountain and is very dangerous."
"Go away, I can walk by myself..." Colonel Watanabe shook off the guard who was trying to help him.
Frowning, he ordered in a deep voice: "The garrison group assembled so many weapons and blew up the artillery and then our infantry. They obviously want to eat us up. We must not let their plot succeed."
"Order the troops to prepare for artillery defense, the defense line troops to strengthen their vigilance, and the defense regiment to prepare for a sneak attack on us."
"If there is an attack by the Eighth Route Army, each infantry brigade and infantry squadron must rely on favorable terrain to repel their attack and defend here."
"Communications staff officer, send a telegram to the brigade headquarters immediately to request reinforcements."
The coverage area of the artillery fire is getting wider and wider, and subordinates are constantly being blown away under his watch.
What Watanabe was most worried about happened: in the face of heavy artillery, no matter how powerful the food under his command was, they could only be massacred.
His face was full of heartache, and he was so anxious that he had no choice but to pray in his mind that the bombardment would end soon.
After ten minutes of suffering, the explosion finally stopped.
Looking around, the high ground on the hilltop where the troops were guarding had been covered by a thick layer of floating soil, and there were craters several meters deep everywhere.
The corpses of his subordinates fell in various postures around the crater, and the wounded were also lying on the ground, letting out bursts of heart-rending screams.!
“Boom, boom, boom… da da da…”
Colonel Watanabe looked at the tragic scene in front of him. Before he could recover from the shock, the explosion sounded again.
The power was no less powerful than the heavy artillery fired just now, and it made my ears buzz.
What also reached my ears was the sound of a large number of light and heavy machine gun fire.
"The Eighth Route Army has begun to attack. The troops that can still move should prepare for battle immediately." Colonel Watanabe shouted immediately before he could feel heartbroken.
“Rumble… da da da…”
As soon as he finished speaking, the same explosions and gunshots rang out from all four directions on the high ground, very densely.
"Sir, the garrison has begun an attack. They have dispatched a large number of mortars, torpedoes, and heavy machine guns. The troops have suffered heavy casualties. Please ask for support." The messenger rushed over and reported with a look of fear on his face.
"We must defend despite heavy casualties. If we really can't defend, we will all die here." Colonel Watanabe forced himself to calm down and ordered firmly.