The soldiers in the Japanese camp were blown to pieces. They had never encountered anyone who could fire artillery with such precision.
The Japanese soldiers in the trenches were screaming in agony after being bombed.
Almost as soon as the firepower in their own position becomes more fierce, they will be bombarded by enemy artillery shells.
Even the furthest explosion from them caused the shell to explode several meters outside the trench.
The Japanese heavy machine guns and light machine guns were all baptized by the artillery squad.
The Japanese squadron leader could only comfort himself. Fortunately, only one heavy machine gun was lost, unlike the loss of a light machine gun.
The remaining heavy machine guns were not released because no suitable positions were found and the heavy machine gun positions were not constructed.
Otherwise, you will lose more weapons and equipment.
This is also a blessing in disguise.
this moment.
The Japanese squadron leader could only comfort himself in this way.
But what surprised the Japanese officer was that although his own artillery had counterattacked, the firepower on the opposite side showed no sign of being suppressed.
How many mortars are there on the opposite side?
Even if there is a problem with one's own accuracy, it is not impossible to miss every shot.
Listening to the explosions in his ears, the Japanese squadron leader had some doubts about his life.
…
Japanese rear position.
Tamaki Ling was closing her eyes to rest, rehearsing the evolution of the night's attack in her mind.
Higashinojima straightened his body and stood beside Tamaki Rei. Because of the failure in the previous battle, he didn't even dare to take a breath.
suddenly.
They heard a violent explosion coming from the front.
Yumuling opened her eyes suddenly, listened to the explosion in her ears for a while, her expression suddenly changed, and she walked out quickly.
Without even using a telescope, he could see that the forward position was ablaze with flames and smoke almost covered half of the position.
In addition to the front position, the left and right wings were also filled with thick smoke.
"What's going on?" Yumuling's face was full of surprise.
What happened?
Higashinojima, who followed closely behind, also looked confused. They were not building a position just now.
Is this the other side's eight-pronged attack?
Looking at the smoke billowing from the forward position, Yu Muling's face turned pale and she cursed: "Baga, Baga Yalu, these damn Chinese people."
This is completely a provocation, Chi Guoguo's provocation, they are clearly teasing the imperial army."
We clearly have such powerful firepower, but we attack while the imperial army is repairing their positions. This is clearly making fun of the imperial army."
Higashinojima had a dark face and stared at the mortars coming from the direction of the opposite position.
I don't know how long it took, but the rumbling sound of artillery gradually stopped, and a man stumbled into the position in front of me to report.
"Your Excellency, Wing Commander, our unit was attacked by the enemy with heavy firepower and suffered heavy losses. The enemy, the enemy has an unknown number of mortars!" the Japanese soldier reported stammeringly.
"Nani, what did you say?" Tamaki Ling's heart sank: "An unknown number of mortars?"
"Hai!" the Japanese soldier paused and said: "When we were bombarded, our troops had already launched a counterattack, but the firepower from the opposite side showed no sign of weakening."
"What's the loss?" Yumuling asked urgently.
He knew that his prediction was wrong, and the 28th Regiment on the opposite side was more difficult to deal with than he thought.
Whether it was the rifles in front that repelled their team's attack, or the so-called unknown number of mortars not long ago.
Tamaki Ling finally understood why such a guy was worth millions.
"Reporting to your Excellency, the commander of the regiment, according to statistics, our unit lost a total of one heavy machine gun, and all light machine gunners were wiped out. 40 people were killed, 35 were slightly injured, and 9 were seriously injured."
Yumuling's heart skipped a beat. This loss almost equaled half of his squadron.
This battle did not go as Tamaki Rei expected at all.
He never expected that the 28th Regiment would launch an artillery bombardment against them while they were building their positions and cause heavy damage to them.
Yumuling took a deep breath and said: "I understand. I will send medical soldiers to treat you immediately. You can go down and rest first."
"Hai!" the Japanese soldier stood up and nodded.
After watching the soldiers leave, Tamaki Ling looked gloomy, looked at Higashinojima and shouted: "Higashino-kun, send another squadron up to take their place.
Collect all the wounded and do not affect the mentality of other imperial troops during the battle."
"Your Excellency, Captain, the enemy this time is unusual." Higashinojima muttered: "Their firepower is completely different from any force we have encountered before."
After a pause, Higashinojima continued: "Especially their commander, he was really able to keep his temper and only now started using mortars."
Yumuling nodded, accepting this statement.
They had discussed the commander of this unit before, and it made no sense to say it again.
"Your Excellency, Wing Commander, I don't think that the enemy has countless mortars." Higashinojima said again: "There must be something weird in this."
"No matter what, we must not fail in this battle. Whether it is the emperor's order or to restore the dignity of the imperial army, we cannot lose this battle!" Tamaki Rei said fiercely.
"I don't care how many mortars there are on the other side, even if they only have one per man, we must defeat them."
Thinking of the losses he suffered at the hands of the 28th Regiment one after another, Higashinoshima suddenly felt a sense of resentment in his heart.
I wish I could capture Ding Wei alive on the spot and see what is different about this Tubal Road.
After a pause, Higashinojima said loudly: "Your Excellency, Captain, please give me a chance to organize a death squad to boost the morale of the warriors!"
"Oh?" Tamaki Ling looked surprised and looked at Higashinojima.
Higashi Yejima paused again: "Your Excellency, Captain, the commander on the opposite side and I are already old enemies. In this battle, either he dies or I die!
So please give me a chance, captain, and I will personally lead my troops to tear apart Tubal Road’s front line and be the first to step into the Eighth Route Army’s defense line, proving that Tubal Road’s defense line is not unbreakable!”
Tamaki Ling looked at Higashinoshima, nodded and said: "Okay, Higashino-kun, you are very brave, I will give you a chance today!"
"Hai!" Higashinojima stood up and nodded: "Thank you for your honor, your Excellency, the captain!"
"If you need any help, just ask. As long as I can do it, I will try my best to satisfy you." Tamaki Ling said.
Higashino Island was silent for a while and said: "I hope that your Excellency, the commander of the wing, will use howitzers to support the Higashino Death Squadron when I lead the death squads to provide support."
"Nani." Tamaki Ling's face was in an uproar. He vaguely guessed Higashinojima's inner thoughts: "Higashino-kun, if this happens, the aftermath of the howitzer will most likely hurt you.
Are you sure you want to use howitzers for fire support?"
The howitzer is their big killer weapon. If it really explodes, it will really mean they don't distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.
After a pause, Tamaki Ling said: "Higashino-kun, otherwise I will wait until night and launch an attack against them. This can also reduce some casualties."
"Your Excellency, Captain, I have made up my mind, please give me the order!" Higashinojima paused with a serious expression.
Seeing Higashi Yejima's resolute attitude, Tamaki Ling nodded and said: "Okay, Higashino-kun, you go down and prepare first. I will support you with artillery fire then!"
"Your Excellency, Captain, please rest assured that I will definitely complete my mission!" Higashinojima said: "If even the howitzers can't destroy them..."
Higashi Yejima's eyes flashed with fierceness: "Then let me see with my own eyes what's weird in the Chinese position across the way!"
"Okay, Higashino-kun, I'm here waiting for news of your triumph!" Tamaki Rei patted Higashino Shimaichi's shoulder.
"If you can lead your troops to defeat the 28th Regiment, we don't have to wait until tonight to launch the attack. We can follow you immediately. When the time comes, if you are at the front, you will be the leader!"
"Hai!" Higashinojima said.
"Higashino-kun, whether we can hold a banquet to celebrate the victory at the 28th regiment's position tonight depends on your death squad!" Tamaki Ling said with a smile.
"Hai!" Higashinojima nodded heavily: "I'll go down and prepare now. Your Excellency, the captain, you are just waiting for our great results!"
Not long after.
Higashinojima immediately organized 300 soldiers to form the vanguard of the death squads.
300 Japanese soldiers took off their shirts and had a white strip of cloth tied around their heads with an aunt's flag painted on it.
After learning that this was a death squad, this group of Japanese soldiers not only had no fear, but were filled with excitement.
Having been brainwashed into fools, they never felt that they were going to die. Instead, they felt a great honor because they were selected into the death squads.
"Warriors, the time has come to serve His Majesty the Emperor!" Higashinojima also took off his officer's uniform, holding a Sankan sword and roaring with a bared teeth.
"Give it to me!" Higashinojima said without any nonsense. He held the command knife and pointed forward vigorously.
These more than three hundred Japanese soldiers were like a group of mad dogs, shouting and swarming towards the village entrance.
Not long after Higashinojima left with his troops, the besieging troops on the left and right wings also sent the same message.
As expected, the three forward positions built outside Zhoujiacun were all bombarded by the enemy and suffered heavy losses.
Information exchange.
Tamaki Ling immediately noticed something was wrong.
There was only one regiment on the opposite side, but it was actually able to attack the imperial army from three directions, and the attacks in all three directions were successful.
They were all attacked by intensive artillery fire, and the light and heavy weapons in the position were damaged to varying degrees.
Tamaki Ling suddenly felt a little worried about the death squad's action.
Thinking of this, Tamaki Ling did not hesitate and decisively sent a message to the Starry Sky Alliance and the Yeyue Alliance, hoping that they could coordinate the attack from both wings.
If the enemy's firepower can be weakened from both wings, it can also provide conditions for Higashinojima to attack.
The captains who were originally guarding the two wings did not want to make unnecessary sacrifices because of the heavy losses. They just wanted to wait until night to launch the attack again.
However, Tamaki Ling directly persuaded the two armies on both sides to assist her in attacking at the expense of the two of them taking 80% of the military industry and herself taking 20%.
Even with the chicken-feather arrows given by Isamu Hiragakuo, in the end Tamaki Rei could only rely on military industry and other alliances to assist in the attack.
Then, Yumuling suddenly thought that she was followed by a group of puppet soldiers.
These were not his own soldiers, so Yumuling naturally didn't feel any distress when using them, and directly ordered the remaining puppet troops to rush forward.
The puppet soldiers who thought they had escaped disaster were even more frightened and trembling after learning that they were going to die.
However, due to the majesty of the Japanese, this group of puppet soldiers had no intention of resisting and hurriedly chased after the Dongye Death Squadron.
Tamaki Ling held a telescope in her hand and looked at the 28th Regiment's position.
The position was completely empty, with not a single person in sight. Tamaki Ling guessed that they must have hid in the trenches again.
Seeing that the Higashino Death Squadron and the hundreds of puppet troops were getting closer and closer to the 28th Regiment's position, Tamaki Ling did not hesitate at all and immediately launched a ferocious artillery bombardment towards the 28th Regiment's position.
In addition to two Type 92 infantry guns, there was also a Type 96 150mm howitzer. The three heavy artillery immediately launched a fierce bombardment on the 28th regiment.
With the addition of the 150mm howitzer, the power of the Japanese bombardment immediately increased a lot.
After the howitzer landed on the 2nd Battalion's position and exploded, a large ball of dazzling flames instantly appeared, the temperature also rose rapidly in an instant, and the trenches built were immediately blown to pieces.
Fortunately, they had already dug the cave before. Even with the addition of howitzers, it would be difficult to change the current battlefield situation.
The final effect of adding the howitzer is to make the ground shake more frequently and cause more dust to fall.
Moreover, the trenches built by Ding Wei and others were not straight lines, but curved. In addition, there were sandbags outside the trenches to resist the damage caused by the explosion shock wave.
The Japanese bombardment sounded huge, but it did not cause many casualties. The soldiers had long been accustomed to the Japanese bombardment and were waiting for the end of the bombardment.
"Captain, this is quite a commotion. It sounds like there are also howitzers." Lu Fang said.
Ding Wei snorted coldly and said: "Howitzer, this is a good thing. Let's keep it with the Japanese first. Sooner or later, this thing will have to be named Ding with me."
But before he finished speaking, news came from the left and right flank positions that they had also been shelled by the Japanese.
The little devil seemed to be crazy and launched a bombardment against them, not knowing what to do.
Ding Wei vaguely felt that something was wrong. The little Japs were not stupid. How could he not know that his shelling just now was just to provoke them deliberately and simply drain their energy.
Before Ding Wei could think about it, another soldier ran into the command post: "Commander, the Japs, and the puppet troops braved artillery fire and launched an attack on our position."
"What did you say?" Ding Wei walked out quickly, lay down at the observation port, and looked out.
The battlefield before you.
The puppet soldiers were walking at the front. Through the telescope, Ding Wei could clearly see the frightened expressions on the faces of these puppet soldiers.
They had drawn out several lines of skirmishers and were charging forward under artillery fire. Occasionally, artillery shells fell near them, knocking away many puppet troops.
Seeing this, the surrounding puppet soldiers turned around and wanted to run back, but were driven forward by the Japanese soldiers behind them.
Once the puppet soldiers in front dare to turn back, the Japanese soldiers behind will shoot them mercilessly.
And those little devils took off their shirts one by one, braved the gunfire with their bayonets pointed out, and strode forward, as if the sound of gunfire around them had nothing to do with them.
"Captain, what do they want to do?" Lu Fang was a little surprised: "My own people are blowing up our own people?"
Looking at the aunt flag on the Japanese soldier's head, Ding Wei suddenly understood.