Takeo Honda led the Japanese and puppet troops into the stronghold from a small road.
Among them, there were more than 300 Japanese soldiers and more than 400 puppet soldiers. Originally there were 400 Japanese soldiers, but dozens of them were wiped out under the shelling of the new regiment.
There is still a small team of about 60 people in the stronghold. In addition to the Japanese who were lucky enough to survive the bombardment, the Japanese can barely make up the number of 400.
Moreover, Honda Takeo also brought a temporary artillery squadron, four 70mm Type 92 infantry cannons and four Type 97 81mm mortars.
The artillery squadron directly under the Japanese army is generally equipped with 6 Type 92 infantry cannons, and the artillery squad directly under the brigade is equipped with 2 Type 92 infantry cannons.
However, since the Honda brigade is a county town in the hinterland of the defense base, its artillery firepower is stronger than that of ordinary brigade. In addition to the four Type 92 infantry cannons, there are also four Type 41 mountain cannons. However, Honda Takeo did not use it.
He brought mountain artillery because he felt that four 92 infantry artillery pieces were enough to defeat this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers.
Takeo Honda walked into the cannon building surrounded by a group of Japanese soldiers.
Seeing Takeo Honda arriving in person, Toshio Imai quickly paused and said: "Captain!"
Takeo Honda's face was gloomy, and without saying a word, he slapped Toshio Imai's face from left to right and slapped him twice.
Imai Toshio was stunned by the slap on the spot. He didn't know what he had done wrong, but he did not dare to show any dissatisfaction and even took the initiative to straighten his head after being slapped.
All the Japanese soldiers and puppet troops in the artillery tower remained silent and did not dare to express their anger.
"Baga, didn't you say that the Eighth Route Army only has two mortars?"
Although this is not entirely Imai Toshio's fault, Honda Takeo just wanted to find a face to slap.
Toshio Imai is a very good partner. A slap in the face is more comfortable than a slap on the table.
Imai Toshio immediately said: "The Eighth Route Army set up the mortar position on the anti-slope position, so my sentries cannot see it."
"Baga, you are still quibbling?"
"It was because of your intelligence errors that I lost 4 trucks and dozens of imperial troops!"
Takeo Honda slapped him twice in the face.
"Hi!" Toshio Imai paused quickly and straightened his face.
Takeo Honda asked sharply: "What happened to those Imperial Alliance soldiers who were killed?"
Imai Toshio said: "Report to the captain, I want the Imperial Association Army to rescue the wounded soldiers of the Imperial Army. Unexpectedly, the Eighth Route Army did not save artillery shells and implemented fire coverage on the Imperial Army Army!"
"By the way, the artillerymen of the Eighth Route Army are of high quality and know how to use artillery fire and barrage!"
"Nani?" Takeo Honda said in shock, "Xu Jin barrage?"
Imai Toshio breathed a sigh of relief. I reported such an important situation. The captain will definitely not slap him again, right?
However, before Toshio Imai could relax, Takeo Honda slapped him in the face again.
The unbelievable look in Imai Toshio's eyes flashed away, and he quickly straightened his head and paused. His cheeks on both sides were so painful that he almost lost consciousness and had almost swollen into a pig's head.
Takeo Honda waved his hand slightly: "Imai-kun, please report the current situation of the Eighth Route Army."
"Hi!" Toshio Imai paused before he dared to raise his head, "Captain, there is currently a battalion of the Eighth Route Army in front of the stronghold, with about 400 troops."
"The Eighth Route Army has built civil fortifications and foxholes. Judging from the distribution of the fortifications and foxholes, the commander of the Eighth Route Army opposite is a master."
"Baga, you don't have to say this?" Takeo Honda scolded, "Besides the mortars and the Eighth Route Army with more than 400 people, do you have any other discoveries?"
"Other discoveries..." Toshio Imai said in a daze, "The Eighth Route Army's artillery shells seem to be very sufficient, but other than that, there are no other discoveries for the time being."
"But I suspect that there must be eight roads behind the slope on the opposite side."
"This is not surprising." Honda Takeo waved his hand and said, "Eighth Route Operations usually leave reserve teams."
"Your Excellency, Captain." Toshio Imai said, "This is probably a regiment of the Eighth Route Army. I suggest that you immediately request tactical guidance from the brigade commander."
"idiot!"
"Is this something you, a squad leader, should consider?"
Honda Takeo gave Imai Toshio a hard look, but he still resisted the urge to slap him. After all, it would hurt if he slapped his hands too much.
Imai Toshio looked stern and quickly paused: "Hi!"
Takeo Honda walked quickly to the top of the turret. The view from the shooting hole inside the turret was limited. Only from the top of the turret could the full view of the Eighth Route Position be seen clearly.
After observing twice with binoculars in the turret, Toshio Imai quickly came up to remind: "Captain, be careful, there are eight-way snipers on the opposite side, who can kill the target at a distance of 1,200 meters."
"1,200 meters away?" Takeo Honda's first reaction was disbelief, "How is that possible? Even the best sharpshooters in the empire can't do it..."
Before Honda Takeo could finish speaking, blood suddenly splashed on his face, and he instinctively fell back. When he fell to the ground, he turned around and lay down on the turret.
"Nani?" Takeo Honda turned his head and saw that the chest of the staff officer who followed him had a big hole as big as the mouth of a bowl torn open, and a large part of the uniform was soaked with blood.
It was at this time that Takeo Honda heard gunshots coming from the hilltop opposite.
Takeo Honda's expression changed. Judging from the distance between the shot and the sound of the gunshot, the Eighth Route Army's sharpshooters were indeed 1,200 meters away.
Immediately, his face was filled with astonishment. If he could hit a target with a rifle at a distance of 400 meters, he was considered a sharpshooter in the Japanese army. Even the best snipers could hit targets at a maximum of 500 meters.
How is this possible at a distance of 1200 meters?
What kind of weapons did the Eighth Route Army use?
Honda Takeo, Imai Toshio and a few Japanese soldiers no longer dared to show their faces and climbed down the stairs from the top of the turret.
Takeo Honda, who returned to the third floor of the turret, immediately gave the order to attack.
"The artillery team immediately fired at the Eighth Route Position."
"Imai-kun, lead your team to launch the first attack on the Eighth Route Army, and I will ask the Imperial Army to cooperate!"
"Hi!" Toshio Imai paused quickly.
…
At the same time, on the hillside opposite the stronghold.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After Zhao Gang took a shot, he quickly changed places with Li Yunlong.
More than half an hour ago, Zhao Gang blew the head of a Japanese sentry. He did not change positions because there were no cannons in the stronghold.
But now the Japanese reinforcements have arrived, and they must have brought artillery, so after firing a shot, they have to change positions quickly.
What snipers fear most is the enemy's artillery fire coverage.
And you still have to respect the Japanese artillery.
After setting up Barrett again, Zhao Gang shook his head and said, "It's a pity that the shot just missed."
He originally wanted to hit the Japs with the telescope, Takeo Honda, but unexpectedly he hit the Japs next to him.
Li Yunlong said angrily: "You just have to be satisfied. One shot at a distance of 1,200 meters. We Lao Li can't even think about it."
Zhao Gang saw the movement of the Japanese in the stronghold through the scope, and said with an expression: "It seems that the Japanese are about to attack the first battalion."
"I saw it." Li Yunlong nodded, "It's within the expectations of labor and management."
"Isn't that right?" Zhao Gang frowned and said, "Why did I only see the Japanese and puppet troops, but not the Japanese artillery?"
The Japanese and puppet troops, numbering several hundred people, were dispatched toward the county town, and there must be Japanese artillery.
Zhao Gang knew very well that Japanese artillery was the greatest threat to soldiers.
"The Japanese must have set up their artillery positions on the reverse slope." Then Zhao Gang saw his own artillery positions and understood instantly.
The Shixia stronghold was built by the Japanese on the hillside of a hill. If the Japanese artillery set up artillery in the stronghold, they would be directly exposed to the range of their own artillery.
The Japanese had to build artillery positions on the reverse slope of the hillside to avoid being bombarded by the new regiment.
In this way, the Japanese artillery can't hit the new regiment's artillery position, and the new regiment's artillery can't hit the Japanese artillery position.
The advantage of locating the artillery position on the reverse slope is that the artillery on the opposite side cannot hit it.
But the shortcomings are also obvious. If we set our position on the positive slope of the mountain, once the enemy approaches the position, our artillery will not be able to provide artillery support.
In other words, even if the artillery position on the anti-sloping surface is a straight-firing artillery, there will still be a certain shooting dead zone.
If a new group launches an attack at this time, as long as the soldiers can get close to the stronghold, the Japanese cannons will be unable to hit them.
However, the New Regiment did not have this problem, because the 1st Battalion's position was placed 400 meters away from the slope by Li Yunlong, and the artillery in the turret could provide fire support at any time.
Li Yunlong also realized this problem. The Japanese artillery was a big hidden danger.
After thinking for a moment, Li Yunlong turned to Huang Erhu and said, "Huzi, go and call Lu Yingjun."
"Yes!" Huang Erhu walked back.
Not long after Huang Erhu left, as Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang expected, a cannonball rose from the reverse slope of the opposite stronghold.
The artillery shell landed in front of the first battalion's position, and with a bang, it raised a mud mist.
Not only Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang, but also the soldiers who had fought with the Japanese many times knew that this was a test firing before the artillery bombardment, providing a reference for accurate firing parameters for subsequent artillery shells.
Ten seconds later, the shell arrived as expected.
Boom boom boom…
Explosions continued to rise on the 1st Battalion's position, and the civil bunkers that had been built not long ago were blown to pieces.
However, the soldiers were relatively scattered, and the casualties caused by these artillery fire were not large.
"Four infantry guns and four mortars, the Japanese are quite willing to give them up," Zhao Gang said.
"Old Zhao, who has a long business career, can actually tell how many cannons the Japanese have." Li Yunlong said with a smile.
"What's this, you'll know if you listen more." Zhao Gang said modestly.
I saw more than 200 puppet troops coming out of the stronghold under artillery fire, followed by a small group of Japanese soldiers.
Li Yunlong said in a disdainful tone: "Damn, there's nothing new, it's still the same old thing."
As soon as the Japanese raised their buttocks, Li Yunlong knew what they were going to do.
Obviously, the Japanese wanted to use puppet troops to test out the firepower of a battalion's machine guns. The Japanese set up grenade launchers at the back and knocked them out one by one. Even if the grenade failed to knock them out, the Japanese artillery observers on the opposite hill could clearly see them.
Then use the infantry cannon to knock out the machine gun fire points.
Amidst the roaring sound of cannons, Lu Yingjun followed Huang Erhu to Li Yunlong's side.
"Captain, Lu Yingjun is reporting to you."
Li Yunlong glanced at Lu Yingjun, pointed to the top of the mountain opposite and said, "Have you seen the top of the mountain behind the stronghold opposite?"
Lu Yingjun raised his telescope and looked. There were continuous artillery shells rising from the top of the mountain, then flying over the stronghold, the road and the lawn, and hitting the 1st Battalion's position.