Moreover, Zhou Wen also wants to use these veterans as a basis in the future to create a howitzer platoon, add a transport platoon, and form a heavy artillery company. The four howitzers will be more effective and can even cover a certain range of fire.
You must know that in the Third Battle of Changsha during the All-out Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese army hid four 150mm-caliber German howitzers in the Yuelu Mountain fortifications behind Changsha City, leaving only the muzzles exposed.
Move up, down, left and right.
The fortifications were camouflaged, making it difficult for Japanese reconnaissance planes to detect their fortifications.
The range of the howitzer can cross Changsha City and hit directly to the north of the city where the Japanese army must pass to launch an attack.
When the Japanese army launched an attack, artillery observers would use binoculars to observe the enemy's position. At the same time, the infantrymen on the command building in the north of Changsha City would also notify the artillery troops by phone of what they saw.
As soon as the commander gave the order, the artillery fired. The artillery shells passed directly over the city of Changsha and hit the middle of the Japanese attacking team. The explosion caused the Japanese soldiers to fly with blood and flesh, making the ghosts cry and howl, which greatly guaranteed the victory of the Changsha battle.
It can be seen that four heavy howitzers can play a vital role in a battle involving hundreds of thousands of people.
Although the 105-caliber howitzer is less powerful, under normal circumstances, the mercenary group will not join in the fun of a battle involving hundreds of thousands of people. However, in a battle involving tens of thousands of people, the Japanese artillery will be completely defeated.
Suppression is not difficult.
Therefore, for Zhou Wen, every artillery piece is a valuable resource, and he is reluctant to use it to fight against the Japanese.
At this time, at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain 11 kilometers away, Li Han received Zhou Wen's order conveyed by Xu Dacheng. He must do a good job of camouflaging the artillery positions. If he was discovered by a Japanese aircraft, he would rather fire a few fewer shots.
Also evacuate promptly.
But Li Han was quite confident in his previous disguise arrangements.
As a professional artillery commander, he certainly knew the advantages of the Imp aircraft, so he specially set up the artillery position on the edge of a forest.
The gun position was also dug more than one meter deep, and the top of the gun was covered with a camouflage net like a tent. It was difficult to detect enemy aircraft unless they flew below 100 meters.
Moreover, there is a slope behind each artillery position. If it is discovered, the truck can reverse over. It does not take more than 2 minutes to hook up the tow hook and pull the artillery into the woods.
This artillery position took the Engineer Battalion of the Model Brigade a whole day to build. A road was opened in the woods, and it would take less than ten minutes to drag the two artillery pieces deep into the woods.
Hundreds of engineers and five trucks served these two precious artillery pieces.
This is also the reason why Zhou Wen originally chose to use a 105 mm caliber howitzer, because its weight of less than two tons and its smaller size make it easier to transfer and tow.
If it is a German-made 150mm howitzer, it weighs nearly 6 tons. An ordinary truck cannot drag it on soft soil, let alone a slope.
And in terms of firing rate, the projectile of a 150mm howitzer alone weighs nearly 50 kilograms. With the size of an Asian, one person cannot load it at all, and it requires the combined efforts of several people.
As for the 105mm howitzer, the projectiles are only about 15 kilograms. One person can complete the loading of the projectiles, and the firing speed is faster and more flexible.
Therefore, when Li Han received Zhou Wen's order, he just reported the situation to Meng Yuting at the headquarters by phone, and then issued the order to fire.
In this artillery surprise attack, Li Han had the decision-making power to choose the time to fire. After Zhou Wen and others continued to transmit information about the Japanese positions, Li Han himself judged the time to fire.
In Li Han's view, the Japanese aircraft still don't know that the Chinese army has heavy artillery, because the several large holes that were blasted out of the Japanese 14th Brigade headquarters have been filled in and consolidated, and it is impossible for the little devils to do so in a short time.
Discover.
Therefore, the Japanese planes were heading for the main position at Phoenix Mountain, and they could now fire with confidence.
"fire!"
"fire!"
As the gunner's flag was waved from the two gun emplacements, two deafening cannons suddenly exploded. Two artillery shells erupted at a speed of 469 meters per second, accompanied by flames and green smoke erupting from the muzzles.
Down, flew out of the muzzle, crossed the top of Phoenix Mountain, and flew into the distance.
"Load!" At the command of the gunner who almost broke his throat, the loader quickly stuffed another projectile into the back door of the gun barrel. An artilleryman used a long rammer to forcefully push the projectile into the gun barrel, and then the
The artillerymen then charge the specified amount of charges, while the gunnery commander nervously supervises the artillerymen's operations.
After filling the propellant, one artilleryman closed the breech block, while the other artilleryman tightly held the firing rope, waiting for the order to fire.
Although these artillerymen were a little nervous when controlling the artillery, after all, this was the second actual combat of the howitzer platoon, and unlike the previous battles, this time, they were the protagonists.
However, these artillerymen still completed all the work before launching in an orderly manner. This is the result of strict training in peacetime.
At this time, Li Han did not issue a launch order, but nervously waited for the message from Xu Dacheng.
Generally speaking, the first shelling is a test firing, and the impact point of the shell is used to determine whether the shelling parameters need to be adjusted.
Soon, Xu Dacheng's voice came from his headset: "The artillery shell landed at the rear of the enemy's position. Move forward another 100 meters and adjust a secret position to the left."
Li Han breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. As long as the impact point of the cannonball is not too outrageous, the subsequent adjustments will be very simple.
Soon, the second round of shells fired headed towards the Japanese position with a new round of roar, followed by another round of reloading.
This time, before the artillerymen had finished loading their ammunition, Xu Dacheng's voice sounded in Li Han's headset again.
"Right in the middle of the Japanese position, you can fire 5 rounds of salvos, then deviate 1 secret position to the left and right and fire 5 more rounds of volleys. The scholar asked me to remind you, target the Japanese planes."
Li Han was overjoyed when he heard this and shouted loudly: "Good job, brothers, the second round hit the target, and the next five consecutive rounds of volleys, hurry up and prepare."
Upon hearing the news, a burst of cheers erupted from the artillery position.
They had been preparing for this moment for countless days. Whether it was training or the previous battle to bombard the Japanese 14th Brigade, it was just a small test.
And this time, it’s time to truly test their skills.
They knew that as long as they hit the enemy's artillery position, they could just load up the artillery and shoot from behind.
As a result, the artillerymen became excited, and their hands and feet were a little faster than usual.
So, what is the effect of Li Han's bombardment?
Just now Xu Dacheng only said that the artillery shells landed in the center of the Japanese position, but he did not say whether the Japanese artillery was blown up.
The actual situation is that in the first three rounds of shooting, many Japanese artillerymen were killed, but the Japanese artillery was safe and sound, not even damaged by the bombing. What is going on?
