Behind a dirt slope one kilometer away from the stronghold.
Zhang Dabiao raised his telescope and looked towards the stronghold. The beams emitted by the two searchlights were like two huge light rods, sweeping in all directions.
The illumination distance of the searchlight is only about 400 meters, but even with the spotlight, the Japanese sentries can see up to 200 meters, which is considered good.
While observing, Zhang Dabiao asked a soldier next to him: "Xiao Wang, have you noticed anything in the past two days?"
"Report to the battalion commander that except for about 100 Japanese soldiers entering the Lijiagou stronghold, there is no other situation."
"That's good." Zhang Dabiao put down the telescope and said to Wang Chengzhu, "Captain Wang, Commander He, you can set up the cannon."
"Yes!" Wang Chengzhu, commander of the artillery company, and He Jie, commander of the machine gun company, responded in unison, turned around and left.
All seven machine guns of the machine gun company were brought, as were the 60 mortars, 92 infantry guns, and 75mm field guns of the artillery company.
He Jie quickly selected a machine gun position on a flat ground 800 meters away from the stronghold.
The effective range of the Oerlikon cannon is 914 meters, and 800 meters is also the effective range of the Type 92 heavy machine gun. However, the cannon has a protective shield that can effectively block the bullets fired by the Japanese light and heavy machine guns.
"The gun mount, the two gun wheels, and the cradle, hurry, hurry, hurry!"
On the artillery position not far from the machine gun battery, Wang Chengzhu shouted in a low voice.
Behind him, more than twenty soldiers were unloading the mounts, wheels and cradle of field guns and infantry guns from mule carts or mule backs, and installing them at designated locations one by one.
The naked cannon of this Italian field gun weighs 1160kg. Although it has iron wheels, it is very inconvenient to walk on mountain roads. It is disassembled and handed over to mules and horses to carry it.
After arriving at the battlefield, it was reassembled. Although the 92 Infantry Cannon was relatively light, it was also handed over to mules and horses, which greatly saved the soldiers' physical strength.
A dozen or so muscular warriors quickly unloaded the field artillery piece from the mule horse.
Looking at the movements of the field artillery squad, Wang Chengzhu nodded without any trace.
When he selected artillerymen, he almost always chose strong soldiers.
"Gunscope," said the field gun squad leader, "Be careful, whether you can shoot accurately or not depends entirely on it!"
I saw that the artillery soldiers moved quickly and without any sloppiness. Even in the dark, the 75mm field gun was quickly assembled by the soldiers in the dark.
Five minutes later, a 75mm field gun and a 70cm infantry gun stood on the artillery position.
On one side of the position, more than ten 60mm mortars have been set up, with the muzzles pointed directly in the direction of the stronghold, and even the shooting elements have been adjusted.
At the rear of the team, soldiers from the ammunition platoon unloaded various artillery shells from mule carts or mule backs and placed them three meters behind the artillery position.
The main gunners of the infantry artillery squad and the field artillery squad clung to the gun mirror, quickly rotated the cradle, and slowly rotated the elevation angle of the gun barrel to point at the Japanese gun tower.
The searchlights that sweep around the turret provide the gunner with good shooting parameters.
The second gunner behind him brought the shells, and the third gunner took them and stuffed them into the barrel, then closed the gate.
"Report to the battalion commander!"
"Field artillery ready!"
"Infantry artillery ready!"
"Mortar ready!"
"Cannon ready!"
100 meters away from the front of the artillery position, Zhang Dabiao and his soldiers were crawling, covering a large area of darkness. The messenger came up from behind with rifles to report.
Listening to the messenger's report, not only Zhang Dabiao, but also the veterans of the first battalion were speechless.
Just a few months ago, the entire New Regiment only had three mortars. In the past three months, the New Regiment had mortars, machine guns, field artillery and infantry artillery.
There are quite a lot of them, and there are enough artillery shells. This is simply a battle of wealth.
"Okay!" Zhang Dabiao's voice was heavy and powerful, "Give me the order and fire freely."
"Yes!" The ordering soldier touched the back.
After the ordering soldiers left, Zhang Dabiao raised the corner of his mouth and said loudly to the soldiers: "Let's not be anxious yet, we have more than twenty cannons to cover us."
"Let the cannonballs fly for a while!"
Now that the cannon at the back has been set up, it will be fine even if the Japanese find it.
This place is about 700 meters away from the stronghold, and the machine gun bullets have become very scattered, posing little threat to the soldiers.
Zhang Dabiao took out his rifle, loaded the bullet, and put his hand on his head, ready to throw the cap at any time.
In the rear, machine gun company commander He Jie and artillery company commander Wang Chengzhu both received orders to fire freely.
"fire!"
"fire!"
There was no hesitation at that moment, and the order to fire was given almost at the same time with a roar.
The whistling sound of artillery shells flying through the air instantly tore apart the quiet night sky. More than a dozen artillery shells from the first round fell into the Lijiagou stronghold. The metal projectiles with the smell of death streaked through the air and made a horrifying thunder-like explosion.
, the Lijiagou stronghold was immediately shrouded in fireballs and smoke.
Zhang Dabiao and the soldiers lay close to the ground, turning their heads slightly, looking above their heads and then at the stronghold opposite.
The shells fired by various types of artillery guns streaked through the night sky with orange-red trajectories as dense as hail visible to the naked eye.
In order to achieve the suddenness of shooting, the mortars did not conduct test firing in advance, but directly covered the stronghold with artillery fire.
Field artillery and infantry artillery fired accurately at the gun towers.
The Lijiagou stronghold suddenly fell into panic. Japanese soldiers and puppet soldiers were running around in the stronghold. Many Japanese soldiers and puppet soldiers were directly killed by artillery shells.
A flare was fired from the stronghold, illuminating the surrounding area for a kilometer like daylight.
"Taijun, Taijun, there are people everywhere outside!"
"It's completely dark, and there are a lot of cannons!"
"Looking at this situation, I am afraid that a division from the Eighth Route Army has arrived. Please quickly ask for help from the county seat, Taijun!"
In the main battery building in Lijiagou, the puppet company commander, who was wearing a yellow leather military uniform and carrying a rifle holster slung across his body, used the flares to see the dark area of the Eighth Route Army outside. He was so frightened that he dropped his binoculars and crawled towards the enemy.
The second lieutenant came forward.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In the perception of the puppet company commander, not to mention the Eighth Route Army regiment, even the Eighth Route Army brigade does not have such powerful artillery fire.
"Baga! Why are you panicking?" the Japanese second lieutenant scolded and shouted to the machine gunner, "Shoot, shoot!"
When the assistant shooter pressed the bullet plate on the Type 92 heavy machine gun, the main shooter immediately pushed the bullet into the chamber, and then pressed the firing iron. The heavy machine gun immediately trembled and fired randomly towards the outside, as if this heavy machine gun
Sound can embolden courage.
At the same time, the light and heavy machine guns in the small turrets and bunkers that formed an angle with the big turret also screamed wildly, spitting out long tongues of flame.
The Japanese second lieutenant seemed calm, but in reality he was panicking.
boom……
A 70mm artillery shell hit the cannon building and exploded. Although the gun did not penetrate the five-story cannon building made of fire bricks, it blasted a basin-sized hole in the outer wall of the cannon building.
The whole gun building was shaken for a while. The Japanese second lieutenant and the puppet company commander who were standing inside collapsed on the ground. The explosion of the artillery shell hitting the gun building was like a drum beating in the ears, making everyone in the gun building
The minds of the Japanese and puppet soldiers were buzzing.
The Japanese second lieutenant stood up hurriedly, walked to the phone, picked up the phone and quickly turned the handle.
Then he put it to his ear: "Moxi moxi, moxi moxi!"
The Japanese second lieutenant looked happy: "Please help me pick up the Liao County Gendarmerie immediately!"
After a while, the call was connected. Kato Jiro spoke very fast and in a panic-stricken voice: "This is the Lijiagou stronghold. I am Kato Jiro. This place has been attacked by the Eighth Route Army. Please support me immediately. Please support me immediately!"
"Nani? How many people are coming from the Eighth Route Army? What equipment do they have?"
"The Eighth Route Army has about one regiment, carrying a large number of mortars and infantry artillery!"
Just after hanging up the phone, Kato Jiro immediately shook the handle again and waved to the Yushe County Military Police, using the same words as before.
The puppet company commander knew some Japanese. When he saw Kato Jiro hanging up the phone, he quickly asked in a tearful tone: "Taijun, there is clearly a brigade coming from the Eighth Route Army, why did you only say one regiment?"
Kato Jiro cursed quietly in broken Chinese.
"Baga, you idiot!"
"There are four to five thousand people in each brigade of the Eighth Route Army. Do the county gendarmerie dare to come to help?"
"Hey, Taijun is wise, Taijun is wise!" The puppet company commander thought the same thing, rolled his eyes, and said quickly.
"I will go down now and let my brothers kill the Eighth Route Army. When the county reinforcements arrive, we will definitely wipe out all the Eighth Route Army!"
He kept flattering and expressing his opinions, but what he was thinking in his heart was to run away immediately if the battle situation went bad. It was important to save his life.
The Lijiagou stronghold was built on the edge of a highway cliff. Although it could effectively defend against enemies from both front and rear, it also cut off one's retreat. However, this did not stop the puppet troops, who were desperate for survival, from hiding secretly on the edge of the cliff.
Once you have the rope in place, immediately apply oil on the soles of your feet as soon as you notice something is wrong.
There are more than thirty puppet troops in the artillery building, all stationed on the second floor.
After saying that, the puppet company commander walked to the second floor. Because he was so panicked, he even fell down when going down the stairs.
Seeing the panic of the puppet company commander, a sergeant next to him approached Kato Jiro and said: "Squad captain, at this critical moment, these guys from the Imperial Alliance Army may not be reliable, do you want them?"
As the Japanese soldier spoke, he made a gesture of wiping his neck.
Kato Jiro's eyes flashed sternly and he nodded slightly: "Katsumura-kun, take two soldiers to see the Imperial Alliance Army. If they dare to act abnormally, they will be executed immediately!"
"Hi!" The Japanese sergeant ordered two soldiers and hurried toward the second floor with his rifle in hand.
boom--
An infantry artillery shell hit the outer wall of the cannon tower again. The tower shook violently and three Japanese soldiers fell down the stairs.
"Report to the squad leader!" The sentry on the roof of the turret hurriedly ran down and reported, "The small turret has been destroyed by the cannon!"
"Nani?" Kato Jiro said urgently, and quickly moved to the shooting hole, preparing to observe the situation of the small turret.
Suddenly, the head of the Japanese machine gunner who was operating the Type 92 heavy machine gun exploded without warning. It really exploded. The whole head was gone. It was so red and white that it sprayed all over Kato Jiro's face. The headless body was uncontrollable.
Falling to the ground, the Japanese deputy shooter was frightened and turned pale when he saw this scene.
Kato Jiro turned around and saw bullet holes as thick as a bowl on the inner wall of the turret. His eyes suddenly widened with horror on his face.