"The target is the gap in the city wall in the northeast direction. The scale is 566, the elevation is 29, and the right is 32. Let's go!"
As a member of the Sword Special Forces shouted on the high-power walkie-talkie channel.
On the artillery position five kilometers away from the Taiyuan city wall, as the gunner pulled the string back, the barrels of the two howitzers suddenly shook.
Two balls of orange-red flames and gunpowder smoke suddenly bloomed from the muzzle, which were beautiful for a moment. Accompanied by two blasts of "Boom" and "Boom", scorching air waves swept past, and a cloud of dust rose up around the gun base.
About 10 seconds later, with a sharp whistling sound, the artillery shells fell to the gap in the city wall in the northeast.
Boom boom!
Fireballs and smoke enveloped the place, and shock waves carried shrapnel flying across the air.
Both shells hit the gap, and billowing smoke and dust rose into the air from the gap. The Japanese puppet troops and sandbags who were repairing the gap were instantly torn into pieces.
Moreover, the gap hit by the two shells was slightly larger than before.
"The second gap is also being blocked and repaired by the Japanese and puppet troops."
Zhao Gang promptly reminded me.
"Pass my order to dedicate two howitzers to blast the Japanese and puppet troops who are blocking and repairing the gap. The labor and management will have to see whether the Japanese and puppet troops have more shells or the labor and management has more shells."
Captain Li did not panic at all.
With enough inventory in his pocket, Commander Li also let the artillerymen completely free their hands and feet for shelling, without saving artillery shells.
Therefore, the artillery force's artillery shell reserve is 3 base numbers, each 75mm mountain gun has 300 rounds of shells, and each 105mm howitzer has 240 rounds of shells.
In addition to reimbursement of ammunition, if there is insufficient ammunition during the attack on Taiyuan this time, Li Yunlong can use the radio to call Chen Feng for an airdrop.
Coupled with the logistical support of 20,000 militiamen and civilians, and the spare weapons and ammunition they carry, Li Yunlong does not have to worry about insufficient ammunition at all.
Soon, the Japanese and puppet troops who tried to block and repair the second gap were blown to pieces.
The shelling lasted for almost half an hour, and the special forces members of the Sharp Sword Squadron were very familiar with the shooting elements of each gun position for bombarding the city wall.
Really hit wherever you point.
Seeing that the Japanese and puppet troops who had blocked and repaired the gap were eliminated, Li Yunlong breathed a sigh of relief.
The combination of special forces and artillery made this battle a comfortable one.
Even if the Japanese and puppet troops tried to repair the gap again, the howitzers would send the Japanese and puppet troops to the west. Li Yunlong immediately stopped paying attention to the gap and raised his telescope to look at the sky above Taiyuan.
As time went by, the Japanese balloon rose higher and higher. When it reached more than 2,000 meters above the ground, the Japanese balloon began to move north.
Not long after, the Japanese balloon floated directly over the northern city wall of Taiyuan.
The shrewd Captain Li had already guessed that the Japanese balloons were trying to find the Eighth Route Army's artillery positions, and then directed their fire at the Japanese artillery in the city.
However, as his order was issued, all machine gun positions were ready.
On the frontal battlefield, the Chinese army studied ways to crack the Japanese balloons to guide artillery attacks, but with the firepower of the Chinese army at the time, it was difficult to do this.
The few remaining planes were unlikely to be dispatched to hit a balloon, and were most likely shot down by Japanese planes before they even got close to their target.
At that time, the anti-aircraft artillery that the national army could deploy on a mobile basis had a maximum range of only 2,000 meters.
However, the Oerlikon machine gun in Li Yunlong's hands has very advanced performance. Although the effective range is less than 1,000 meters, when fired at 45 degrees, the maximum range can exceed 4,000 meters.
The accuracy of shooting at high-altitude targets more than 2,000 meters is very poor.
But it's still the same sentence, the accuracy is not enough, the quantity must be made up.
Not long after the Japanese balloon passed over the northern wall of Taiyuan, the artillery positions of various organs opened fire.
Boom boom boom boom…
Amidst continuous dense muffled sounds, more than 100 machine guns fired at the same time, and tracer ballistics instantly filled the entire sky.
Poor means accurate shooting, rich means firepower coverage.
Li Yunlong looked through the telescope and saw that the Japanese balloon that had just floated diagonally upward was torn into pieces in less than twenty seconds, and the two Japanese observers fell from an altitude of more than 2,000 meters.
Killed on the spot.
…
"idiot!"
At the top of the inner city wall of Taiyuan, Yoshio Shinozuka also saw the scene of two Japanese observers falling from a high altitude, and cursed angrily.
This reminded Yoshio Shinozuka of the scene in which the Japanese army used observation balloons in actual combat during the Battle of Nomonkan but were torn into pieces by Soviet aircraft, and the observers fell from high altitudes.
Although the Eighth Route Army does not have high-performance fighter planes, it does have a large number of machine guns.
The range of this machine gun was far beyond Yoshio Shinozuka's expectations.
It stands to reason that the straight-line height between the observation balloon and the ground is more than 2,000 meters, so the distance between the Eighth Route Army's machine gun positions and the observation balloon should be more than 3,000 meters.
However, the observation balloon was still shot down by the Eighth Route Army's machine gun, which shows that the performance of this machine gun equipped by the Eighth Route Army is very excellent.
It's all that damn Chen Feng.
However, above 2000 meters, although the eight-way machine gun can easily shoot down balloons, it is difficult to shoot down aircraft.
Two Type III liaison aircraft and two reconnaissance aircraft are guiding artillery to attack the Eighth Route Artillery position outside Nancheng District.
There are not many Japanese 75mm mountain guns and field guns in Taiyuan City, only about 20, but there are quite a few mortars and Type 92 infantry guns.
As for the cannons in the forts on the city wall, they are all Shanxi orogen cannons left over from the Jinsui Army.
The Japanese have always looked down upon Jin-made equipment, so they placed these cannons on the city walls.
However, basically the cannons in the fort were destroyed by the first wave of shelling by the Eighth Route Army's artillery.
Yoshio Shinozuka walked along the city wall to the south of the inner city wall and raised his telescope to look.
The two reconnaissance planes had already flown away, leaving only two liaison planes buzzing at high altitude.
More than 20 75mm mountain field guns not far from the south wall of the outer city continued to fire at the Eighth Route Artillery position under the guidance of Type 3 liaison aircraft.
The Eighth Route Artillery fired much fewer shells at the south city wall than before. It seemed that the Eighth Route Artillery position outside the South City had been suppressed.
However...the city walls in the east, west and north directions were still heavily bombarded by artillery fire from eight directions.
Just now, Yoshio Shinozuka saw that the artillery of the Eighth Route Army had blasted three gaps outside the north city wall, and even the engineers who tried to block and repair the gaps suffered heavy damage.
At this time, the number of Japanese artillery in Taiyuan City was still too small, and they could only suppress and destroy the artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army in one direction.
But looking at this situation, by the time the Eighth Route Artillery position outside the south city wall was suppressed or even destroyed, the Eighth Route Artillery from the other three directions had already blasted holes everywhere in the city wall.
"Order, the 32nd Flying Squadron of the Kwantung Army is temporarily resting."
When Yoshio Shinozuka returned to the headquarters, he immediately called for Toshimatsu Kasai and ordered:
"The 83rd Flying Team of the Kwantung Army, the 1st Flying Regiment of the 3rd Flying Group rush to Taiyuan's aid!"
"Hi!" Kasai Toshimatsu was suddenly startled.
In 1939, the Japanese military base camp reorganized the system within the customs, and the aviation force established the 3rd Flying Group.
It has jurisdiction over the 1st and 3rd Flying Regiments and the 21st Independent Flying Group, including 7 reconnaissance squadrons, 4 fighter squadrons, 4 light bomber squadrons, and 3 heavy bomber squadrons, with a total of 183 aircraft.
This time the Japanese army used more than 150 aircraft, the main force of the 3rd Flying Group, in the Central Plains battle.
The 83rd Squadron plus the 1st Flight Regiment have more than 80 aircraft.
It seems that the commander is really anxious and actually transferred all the main aircraft fleet from the Central Plains Battle to reinforce Taiyuan...
Kasai Toshimatsu thought to himself, lowered his head and paused, then turned around and walked quickly to the communication room.
Staring in the direction outside the city, Yoshio Shinozuka's eyes were gloomy.
If Li Yunlong led his troops to attack Taiyuan like this, the battle in the Central Plains would also be greatly affected.
First of all, the supplies required by the front line cannot be transported, and secondly, at least half of the aircraft are used to deal with the Eighth Route Army, so the Japanese offensive at Zhongtiao Mountain will also be greatly affected.
It's all that damn Li Yunlong, who always jumps out to cause trouble at critical moments, just like a shit-stirring stick.
…
It didn't take long.
Two more gaps were opened by artillery groups in the north direction of the city, and a total of 5 gaps were blasted in the northern city wall.
In addition, several gaps were also made by cannonballs in the direction of the east city wall and the west city wall.
Li Yunlong ordered his troops to launch a wave of probing attacks against the city wall.
1.5 kilometers away from the north city wall, more than 50 60mm mortars and Type 92 infantry guns of the new regiment were lined up and ready.
As the commanders of each artillery company received unified orders on the walkie-talkie.
"Launch at full speed, two minutes!"
Following the orders of each company commander, more than 50 guns opened fire at the same time.
After a muffled sound of tom, tom, tom, Zhu Yuan, who had already been calibrated to fire, let the shells fall into the positions of the Japanese and puppet troops outside the city.
Boom boom boom boom boom…
Amidst the continuous rapid explosions, the Japanese and puppet army positions that had been plowed through by mountain artillery and howitzers were instantly shrouded in firelight and gunpowder smoke.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, soldiers from the 1st Battalion and 2 Companies carried weapons and ladders and launched a probing attack towards the city wall.
The main infantry battalion of the new regiment has a four-by-four system. One company has about 300 people, and two companies have 600 people. They have sophisticated weapons and extremely high individual combat qualities.
Soldier No. 600 was divided into 5 teams. Under the leadership of each company platoon leader, they formed a skirmish line formation and attacked the 5 gaps.
Almost at the same time that the soldiers launched their attack from the attack position, the Japanese observers on the city wall discovered the movements of the Eighth Route Infantry.
Under the orders of the Japanese officers, the Japanese and puppet soldiers came out of the bombed-out hiding caves one after another and set up grenades and light and heavy machine guns.
From a distance of 800 meters, the machine gunners of the Japanese and puppet troops began to fire one after another, and dense bullets poured towards the new group of attacking soldiers as if they were free.
There are 1.5 battle division supplies in Taiyuan City, which is enough for the Japanese and puppet troops to fight for two consecutive months.
Although the bullets fired by the light and heavy machine guns at this distance were very scattered, there were still stray bullets hitting the soldiers, and soldiers fell down one after another during the march.
"All artillerymen fire at the enemy's walls immediately!"
In the headquarters, Li Yunlong was always paying attention to the battle situation, and gave orders calmly with his eyes.
The staff immediately conveyed the order via walkie-talkie.
Artillery support must be provided to the attacking infantry. Otherwise, with such intensive firepower, none of the soldiers testing the attack will survive.
As the command was issued, the artillery fire from the forward mortar and infantry artillery positions began to extend, and groups of artillery shells hit the city wall.
The artillery positions a few kilometers behind the headquarters also opened fire under the guidance of the special forces.
More than 70 artillery pieces of various calibers smashed shells against the city wall.
The long-range artillery group and the short-range artillery group began to fire rapidly at the same time. Densely packed artillery shells of different calibers flew through the sky, and dense artillery shells hit the city wall.
The tower had already been hit by two cannonballs before, and it was blown to pieces in an instant after two more cannonballs.
The Japanese puppet troops and light and heavy machine guns were thrown high, and the city wall was completely shrouded in firelight and gunpowder smoke.
Although there were still Japs and puppet troops shooting under artillery fire, the density of bullets was much smaller, and the soldiers immediately ran wildly towards the Japs' positions.
If you want to capture the city wall, you must first deal with the enemy positions outside the city.
The turrets and bunkers outside the city have basically been smashed to pieces by the precise artillery fire directed by the Sword Squadron.
However, there are still many enemies left in the trenches and other fortifications built by the Japanese and puppet troops.
Artillery fire was suppressing the city wall, and the puppet troops in the trenches and foxholes, under the supervision of the Japanese, got out of the trenches one after another, set up their guns and fired at the Eighth Route Army.
However, the soldiers of the new regiment fired continuously while running, and the Japanese and puppet army's offensive was beaten to dust under the dense rain of bullets.
There was no charge horn, no charge cry. Soon, the soldiers rushed to the front of the Japanese and puppet fortifications, and a batch of grenades were released from their hands.
After a burst of rapid explosions, the soldiers jumped into the trench with rifles and submachine guns.
The remaining Japanese soldiers tried to launch a counterattack, but were quickly beaten into pieces.
There were relatively few Japanese outside the city, and most of them were puppet soldiers who were used as cannon fodder. As the Japanese were all killed, the puppet soldiers either pretended to be dead or surrendered.
After occupying the Japanese fortifications outside the city, the soldiers took a short rest and then continued to attack the city wall.
After approaching the city wall, each artillery group stopped shelling one after another. If they fired again, they would accidentally injure their own people.
Without the suppression of artillery fire, the Japanese and puppet soldiers on the city wall opened fire wildly with light and heavy machine guns, and dense bullets poured down.
After approaching the city, dense grenades and hand grenades were thrown down, and the new group of soldiers continued to fall. The battle was extremely fierce, and there were heavy casualties for a while.
The firepower of the Japanese and puppet troops was too strong, and the soldiers could not get close to the city wall, so they had to temporarily retreat to the fortifications dug by the Japanese and puppet troops outside the city.
"This Taiyuan City is really difficult to defeat."
Zhao Gang put down his telescope and said in a solemn tone: "Let's attack the county town. After such an artillery bombardment, the city wall can be occupied by a wave of infantry attacks."
Li Yunlong snorted coldly with both eyes: "If it were so easy to fight, it wouldn't be Taiyuan, and the headquarters of the Japanese First Army wouldn't be located here."
"Now what?"
"You said that fueling tactics is a taboo for military strategists. What's next?"
Zhao Gang frowned and spoke solemnly.
"Consultant Wang, ask the other attack groups how the attacks are going."
Li Yunlong did not answer, but looked at Chief of Staff Wang Dehou.
"Yes!" Wang Dehou immediately picked up the high-power walkie-talkie and asked.
While the new group was testing the attack, the three attack groups were also attacking the city wall in their own attack directions.
Two minutes later, Wang Dehou put down his high-power walkie-talkie and reported to Li Yunlong: "The three attack groups are similar to us. They all occupied the positions of the Japanese and puppet troops outside the city and encountered setbacks when attacking the city wall."
Li Yunlong frowned slightly when he heard this.
You can see some tricks from the test attack. If you continue to send troops to attack the city wall, it is just to fuel the tactics.
Without casualties of hundreds or even thousands, I'm afraid we can't even touch the city walls. If we capture the four walls like this, we'll probably lose thousands of people.
While I was thinking about it, there was a buzzing sound in the sky.
The house leaked, but it rained all night, and the Japanese plane arrived again!
Li Yunlong hurriedly raised his telescope and looked at the sky south of Taiyuan City. After a while, dense enemy planes emerged from the clouds and flew towards Taiyuan at a low altitude.
…
(I'm really sorry. I have been locked down for more than half a month. I stay up late every day to grab food online. I am physically and mentally exhausted. But fortunately, I have finally stocked up on enough food for half a month. I can finally go to bed early today and return to normal from tomorrow.