Look at the infantry and cavalry fighting for their lives in the firelight!
Look at the subordinates running wildly on the hillside like a flock of frightened quails!
Stars flashed in front of Colonel Takeuchi Unzan's eyes.
If nothing else goes wrong, the infantry brigade under his command has been completely disabled by him, the infantry commander, and half of the cavalry squadron will be taken along with it.
"Baga! Fire back, and order all artillery units to fight back against all Chinese artillery, no, including the infantry's position!" It took a full minute for the Japanese Army Colonel, who was staring at stars in front of his eyes, to calm down and blush.
An ugly face issued military orders.
Takeuchi Yunshan's move was not so much to prevent the Chinese mortars from continuing to attack his infantry and cavalry still on Highland 3, but it would be more accurate to say that it was an indiscriminate retaliation.
The Japanese mountain artillery, howitzers, and infantry artillery opened fire here two minutes later.
Artillery fire exploded on the top of Highlands No. 1 and 2, and artillery shells crossed three highlands, exploding into blossoming shells in the forest hundreds of meters away.
This was also the first time that the sophisticated Japanese used precious artillery shells so aimlessly for unclear coordinates.
In other words, except for the two highlands at No. 1 and No. 2, the rest of the area is basically a blind fight...
But the Kunisaki Detachment has more than 40 artillery pieces, large and small, so they certainly have the qualifications to be so willful.
As the saying goes, the old master was beaten to death with random punches. I'm afraid Takeuchi Yunshan himself didn't expect that the military order he issued out of shame and anger only missed Tang Dao's artillery battery.
In order to better support frontline operations, the artillery company chose an area not in the rear, but at the foot of the mountain less than 500 meters away from three highlands, surrounded by two Sichuan Army infantry companies as escorts.
Because of communications, together with the defensive infantry trenches, the area of the entire artillery position does not exceed 2,000 square meters.
The Japanese army's blind artillery fire exploded in the area closest to the artillery position, even more than ten meters away from the trench. The flying shrapnel almost cut an infantry observation sentry who was caught off guard in half.
That was also the first time there were casualties on the artillery position.
If the barrel of the Japanese artillery was slightly deflected, not to mention the 18-kilogram shells of the 105 howitzer, even the 6.5-kilogram shells of the Type 41 mountain gun could cause a bloody storm on the artillery position.
This is a characteristic of artillery. Artillery positions are stocked with artillery shells. Once they are detonated, it will basically kill everyone.
According to normal circumstances, when artillery fire is very close to them, the most important thing artillerymen should do is to lift the artillery and move quickly to avoid damage to personnel and equipment.
But at this moment, the officers and soldiers of the artillery company who were given death orders had only one thought: kill the Japanese on the hill. As for the rest, we will talk about it later!
"Brothers, reload me and give him a damn." Pang Dahai, who had always been relatively calm, waved his arms and shouted loudly on the battlefield. It can be seen how persistent the artillerymen were at this moment.
The determined artillerymen ignored the crazy counterattacks of the Japanese artillery and persisted in firing shells full of hatred towards the hill stained with the blood of Chinese and Japanese soldiers.
Most of the artillery shell reserves left by the 63rd Army before leaving also contributed to this bombardment.
The artillery company fired a total of 80 mountain artillery shells, 400 mortar shells and 200 machine gun shells during the artillery attack in less than 30 minutes.
The small highland was plowed back and forth at least twice from top to bottom, and then from bottom to top, and the shelling lasted for nearly half an hour.
This was also the most ferocious shelling by the Chinese side in the entire Mouse Mountain Blockade, because the reserve of artillery shells had reached an extremely dangerous situation.
But it was this shelling that also made the Japanese realize the power of Chinese artillery.
It turns out that when the Chinese have artillery, even the most humble mortar can blow them into pieces of meat and become fertilizer for the earth.
Perhaps even Tang Dao and Kunizaki Zheng, the two top commanders of China and Japan, did not expect that the battle for a high ground would eventually turn into an artillery battle.
The Japanese army relied on its large number of artillery to launch an artillery battle that only targeted the possible hiding places of its opponents.
Slopes, foothills, canyons, woods, any location and area where the opponent's infantry may be hidden may be shelled.
The Chinese infantrymen could only hide in the trenches with their heads in their hands and hope that they would not be so unlucky.
The Chinese side, on the other hand, focused on the fixed target of Highland 3 and attacked them wildly, with a tendency to not stop until the soon-to-be-fallen Highland 3 was leveled.
The Chinese and Japanese positions were all filled with the roar of artillery.
When the artillery fire from both sides finally stopped, the Japanese troops withdrew.
The order to retreat was given by Kunizaki himself.
Even though Highland No. 3, which he had devoted all his energy to besiege with various tactics, was right in front of him, even this Japanese Army Major General knew that there was no longer a single Chinese soldier on that small highland. Even if he sent
A small infantry detachment can easily capture it.
But he didn't dare anymore. He was afraid that the crazy Chinese would use this as a trap and wait for his people to go up and bombard them again.
Even if you don't have to look at the mountain tops and hillsides, you can tell that there won't be any more positions there, and the infantrymen who go up there will be nothing more than live targets for artillery shells.
The final result is that he will become the biggest joke of the imperial army in the entire Songhu area, constantly sending people to become the target of Chinese artillery, and the biggest result is just consuming some Chinese artillery shells.
Then let the Chinese reoccupy the high ground. He can turn the Chinese on the high ground into targets for artillery shells.
This is what Kunizaki, who has completely given up on quick tactics, planned to do.
To this end, he has requested a supply of 5,000 rounds of artillery shells from Lieutenant General Ushijima Sadao of the 18th Division.
Since the Chinese are so tenacious, he is here to answer them with enough artillery shells.
No matter how solid the position is, no matter how tenacious the will, it is nothing more than a hard shell, and artillery shells are the factors that break that shell.
Kunizaki's move was vicious enough. He made full use of his own advantages and used his own strengths to counter the other's weaknesses.
However, he misjudged the Chinese soldiers on the opposite side, and even more so the Chinese commander on the opposite side.
Tang Dao, who was emotionally agitated by the death of two infantry companies, was much more ferocious and tenacious than he imagined.
300 people can die, and 3,000 people can die.
But just these 300 people died, which already consumed the Jingan Army's first brigade of 700 to 800 people plus an infantry brigade.
So if 3,000 people died, how many people from Kunizaki Zheng, this originally awesome mixed brigade-type detachment, would survive until the war?
No one can know the answer!
Just like the Sino-Japanese war, although the Japanese are advancing rapidly, in fact, even they themselves do not know how the war will end.
Everything must be fought first to know the outcome.
However, the only thing Kunizaki was certain of was that the first day of this offensive and defensive battle ended with his defeat.
The blood-red sunset slowly sets over the mountains amid the intervals of cannon fire.
But the battle did not stop just because the sun set.
