At the Japanese military headquarters, Colonel Takahashi paced back and forth in the tent anxiously, glancing at his watch from time to time.
"Sir, the troops stationed in the south and west of the city have called back." The chief of staff walked in hurriedly, his face very solemn.
"The Eighth Route Army attacking them is equipped with cavalry. If they break through rashly, they will definitely be attacked by cavalry, and the casualties of the troops will be even greater."
"So it's better to break out than to defend on the spot."
"But the Eighth Route Army attacking them was well equipped, including mortars, mountain cannons, and large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns. The troops suffered heavy casualties and could hold out for at most two hours."
Colonel Takahashi frowned and retorted: "No, two hours is too short."
"It will take four hours at the fastest for reinforcements to arrive. Tell them that I will send reinforcements over now and hold the position for four hours, and then I will hold off the Eighth Route Army that is attacking them."
After saying that, Colonel Takahashi began to issue orders: "The troops stationed in the east of the city will set off now to reinforce the south of the city."
"The chariot squadron, as well as the reinforced squadron that has just been assembled, will set off immediately to reinforce the garrison in the west of the city."
"The remaining troops in the north of the city have strengthened their vigilance to prevent sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Army."
"Also tell them that from now on, they can call for heavy artillery support at any time."
At the enemy headquarters of the Xiaolizhuang garrison, good news was delivered to Li Hao one after another.
"Commander, the little Japs in the east of the city are moving. We need to march urgently to reinforce the south of the city." A communications soldier rushed in and reported.
"The third company of the cavalry battalion, the third company of the mobile battalion, and the third company of the air defense battalion are trying their best to intercept."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Wei's correspondent from the reconnaissance company rushed in.
"Commander, the company commander asked me to report that the Japanese tank squadron and the newly assembled reinforced squadron have begun operations to reinforce the west of the city. The troops are deploying according to the original plan and dragging them to death on the way to the reinforcements."
"Very good!"
Li Hao shouted happily, with a smile on his face.
"Order the heavy artillery battalion to start taking action in five minutes."
"The cavalry battalion and the guard battalion are all ready for battle."
"I'm going to kill all the Takahashi United tonight."
The Japanese heavy artillery position, with twelve large-caliber artillery pieces all holding their heads high, their black muzzles pointing straight into the sky, arranged in three rows in front and back, looks particularly powerful.
There are more than a dozen gunners squatting next to each artillery piece. Some are responsible for loading the gun, some are responsible for cleaning the barrel, and some are responsible for transporting the shells.
The most powerful gunner crouched at the position closest to the artillery, adjusting the firing angle of the artillery at any time according to the firing crews informed by the commander.
"Squadron 1 is ready, 3,850 meters away, due south, with twenty rounds per gun, ready to fire!" the communications officer of the command headquarters shouted at the top of his lungs.
The four artillery pieces in the front row immediately moved into action.
Under the control of the gunner, the muzzle slowly lowered.
The ammunition handlers also reacted very quickly. They worked in teams of two, holding a shell with the fuse ready, ready to push it into the barrel at any time.
"Cannon No. 1 is ready!" a gunner stood up and shouted.
"Test firing one shell from the No. 1 gun, fire..." the squadron leader next to him ordered decisively.
The gunner quickly waved the flag indicating the firing of the gun.
"Rumble..." The cannon sounded, and thick and pungent white smoke quickly poured out from the muzzle and quickly filled the surrounding area.
In the blink of an eye, the gun position was enveloped in white smoke.
"Woooooooooooo...boom..."
After several seconds, the sound of the explosion of the artillery shell came.
The squadron commander kept a close eye on the command post, wanting to know if there was anything wrong with the test firing just now.
"The distance increases by one hundred meters, but the direction remains unchanged." A staff officer from the brigade headquarters shouted.
The squadron leader followed up and shouted: "The firing range of all artillery is increased by one hundred meters, the direction remains unchanged, each gun fires twenty rounds at a very high speed, fire..."
"Rumble..."
There was an explosion, but it was not the sound of shelling from the four artillery pieces under his command, but the sound of artillery shells exploding at the chosen location more than a hundred meters away.
"It's a shelling, and it's a heavy artillery attack. We're being targeted." The squadron leader looked shocked and shouted.
The captain was obviously aware of the danger and ordered decisively.
"The First Squadron continues to reinforce the infantry operations."
"The No. 2 and No. 3 Squadrons will counterattack immediately, find the enemy's heavy artillery positions and kill them."
The captain obviously underestimated the strength of the heavy artillery battalion of the garrison.
Simply looking at the combat quality of the artillery, the artillerymen in the heavy artillery battalion of the garrison are indeed not as good as the Japs.
But one thing cannot be ignored, that is, the heavy artillery battalion has been here for almost two days.
In addition to establishing artillery positions, they also did one more thing.
They found all the places around Laiyuan where heavy artillery positions could be established in advance, marked them on the map, and repeatedly calculated the specific shooting numbers of the heavy artillery battalions hitting these places.
After receiving Li Hao's order to fire, the twelve artillery pieces of the heavy artillery battalion locked onto the Japanese heavy artillery position in just half a minute.
In order to prevent accidents and wastage of shells, we conducted the test firing just now.
If Li Hao were here, he would definitely bypass the test fire and fire the twelve artillery pieces together, covering the Japanese heavy artillery position with the most intense artillery fire, without giving them a chance to counterattack or move the artillery.
Of course, test firing is no problem.
Heavy artillery is not mortar. If you want to move them safely, even if the Japanese are well-trained, it will take at least five minutes. It is enough for the heavy artillery battalion to test fire first, and then cover it with artillery fire, completely killing this heavy artillery brigade.
"Boom boom boom..."
The four heavy artillery pieces of a squadron soon roared, and four shells flew towards the south of the city with a screaming sound.
The Japanese gunners reacted very quickly, and the smoke surrounding them had no impact on them.
As soon as the shells were fired, they rushed to the cannon.
The gunner opened the breech and ejected the still steaming shell casing.
Another gunner took a tool to clean the barrel. After finishing, two ammunition handlers rushed over with a new shell...
"Fire..." the gunner shouted, waving his command flag.
"Rumble..."
The sound of artillery and explosions sounded together at the artillery position, and one of the artillery shells hit right near them.
Just as a dozen gunners were about to rush to the cannon and prepare to fire the third shell, a wave of hot air swept towards them.
Then it was easily thrown into the sky like a paper toy, and finally hit the ground, either dead or injured.
The captain of the heavy artillery brigade not far away witnessed this scene with his own eyes.
The whole person was confused on the spot.
When we reacted, the heavy artillery position was already in a mess.
Two heavy cannons were blown crooked, and more than 30% of the gunners fell to the ground, either dead or injured.
"Bageya Road, didn't you say that the heavy artillery battalion of the garrison had no artillery shells? Then where did these artillery shells come from?" The captain shouted with eyes wide open and a look of disbelief on his face.
"Sir, should we continue to fight back or move away?" the adjutant reminded in a low voice.
"Of course we want to fight back?" the captain shouted without hesitation.
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