The shooting parameters of the field artillery had already been adjusted by Wang Chengzhu, and they only waited for Li Yunlong's order.
After receiving Li Yunlong's order, Wang Chengzhu rushed back and shouted: "Armor-piercing bullet!"
A tall and round gunner immediately picked up a 6.4kg armor-piercing projectile from the shell box.
Wang Chengzhu took the cannonball and stuffed it into the barrel, then closed the gate, stepped back and held the match rope in his hand.
"Zhuzi, fire!" Li Yunlong's rough voice rang in Wang Chengzhu's ears again.
Wang Chengzhu pulled the match rope back without hesitation, and a muffled sound came from the muzzle. The barrel of the cannon suddenly shook, and a cloud of dust rose up around it.
The shells rushed out of the barrel in an instant, arced across the night sky, and hit the outside of the Japanese stronghold.
The entire field gun weighs more than 2,300 kilograms. It was disassembled, transported by mules and manpower, and then reassembled. Its effective range is 8.5 kilometers.
The artillery position was about 1 kilometer away from the stronghold, and the Japanese searchlights could only shoot up to 400 meters away, while the attacking troops of the first battalion had already reached a position 500 meters away.
As the shells rushed out of the barrel, both Li Yunlong and Wang Chengzhu, as well as the soldiers, stared closely at the stronghold on the opposite side.
Through the field of view of the telescope, Li Yunlong saw a large fire and dust mist rising from the outside of the stronghold. After about two seconds, the explosion sound came.
After the explosion, Li Yunlong looked closely and saw that the stronghold's wall had been blown open with a huge V-shaped gap.
"Pillar, you fucking knocked it crooked!" Li Yunlong cursed, "The turret is on the right!"
"Test firing..." Wang Chengzhu explained to Li Yunlong while readjusting the shooting parameters, "Captain, this round is a test firing."
Li Yunlong: "Hurry up and fuck his mother again!"
Suddenly, the searchlight at the opposite stronghold went out, and the Japanese realized that their searchlight provided parameters for the Eighth Route Artillery.
But Wang Chengzhu still had a way, and he was heard shouting in the darkness: "Fire two illumination bombs!"
After a while, only two muffled sounds were heard from the artillery battery position, and two illumination bombs trailed pale tail flames and shot into the sky above the Huting stronghold.
Among the 4,800 mortar shells provided by Chen Feng to the New Regiment, there were fully 400 illumination shells and 400 smoke grenades.
As the flares rose, the sky above the Huting stronghold was suddenly illuminated like daylight.
Wang Chengzhu took advantage of this opportunity to quickly readjust the shooting parameters and reload an armor-piercing bullet into the barrel.
If the gun fails to hit again, the only option is to advance the gun 500 meters and aim directly with the gun scope.
Before the flare was extinguished, Wang Chengzhu pulled the match, and another armor-piercing bullet rushed out of the gun barrel in an instant.
I saw a huge fire and dust mist rising from the turret ten meters to the right of the previous impact point. The turret collapsed in a violent explosion, and rubble flew.
As the dust mist was quickly blown away by the wind, Li Yunlong raised his telescope and saw that the entire turret was blown up in half.
Li Yunlong grinned slightly when he saw this scene: "Well done, Zhuzi, don't save the shells, keep firing, and blow up the little devil's bunker too!"
Immediately afterwards, two more illumination bombs soared into the sky, providing Wang Chengzhu with a field of vision to illuminate the night sky.
Wang Chengzhu took advantage of the vision provided to quickly adjust the shooting parameters, and a moment later another armor-piercing projectile was fired.
The Japanese bunkers were torn apart like paper lakes by armor-piercing shells, and the shells entered the bunkers and exploded.
Boom - Violent explosions of flames and smoke erupted from the bunker's shooting hole. The Japanese and puppet soldiers inside were killed instantly, and the firepower point at the shooting hole instantly went silent.
There was only a Japanese bunker left on the front, with flames still spitting out from the firing holes, and machine guns roaring wildly.
However, since they were more than 500 meters away, the Japanese did not know where the Eighth Route Army soldiers were, so they could only shoot aimlessly.
It seemed that the clicking sound of machine gun fire could bring a sense of security, but as one gun tower and one bunker were destroyed, the remaining Japanese and traitors in the bunker panicked.
"Report to the squadron leader!" A Japanese sergeant hurriedly ran into the main gun building and said to Taro Tanaka, "The front gun building and a bunker have been destroyed by the Eighth Route Army!"
"Nani?" Upon hearing this, Taro Tanaka's face suddenly became extremely ugly.
Although he heard the sound of artillery, he also knew that it was at least as powerful as a 75mm field gun or mountain cannon.
But I never expected that the Eighth Route Army would kill a gun tower and a bunker with just a few shots.
Damn the Eighth Route Army, in addition to mortars, they also used mountain artillery.
With this level of equipment, it would be a killing blow to use it to attack the Huting stronghold!
The few brick blockhouses and less than 400 people in the Huting stronghold are not even enough to fill the gaps in the Eighth Route Army.
Thinking of this, Taro Tanaka felt chills, and the Huting stronghold may be in trouble today.
While he was stunned, there was another violent explosion outside. Taro Tanaka quickly looked out through the shooting hole.
I saw the last bunker on the front exploded like ashes under the eight-pronged bombardment, rubble flew, and dust and mist rose rapidly.
Taro Tanaka couldn't sit still anymore, walked quickly to the phone, grabbed the phone, and at the same time shook the handle with the speed of his hand that had been single for thirty years.
"Moxi Moxi?"
"Moxi Moxi?"
"Moxi Moxi?"
Taro Tanaka called three times in a row, each sound louder than the last, but he still didn't get any response.
"Squadron Captain!" the Japanese Army Cao guessed, "Maybe the Eighth Route Army cut off the phone line!"
"Baga!" Tanaka Taro angrily threw the phone to the ground. The phone, which was already weak, instantly broke into several pieces.
"Order the soldiers to hold on!" Taro Tanaka looked at the sergeant with a sinister look, "Major Okazaki is already on the way to help!"
"Hi!" The Japanese army officer suddenly nodded and walked out quickly.
At this time, the Huting stronghold had lost its frontal firepower.
The first battalion commander, Zhang Dabiao, had long been impatient. The moment he received the order to attack, he suddenly stood up and slammed the military cap on his head to the ground.
The next moment, Zhang Dabiao's long howl rose into the sky: "Comrades, come with me!"
"kill--"
The shouts of killing rang out, and the soldiers of the assault company, holding submachine guns, surged towards the stronghold like a tide.
Behind the assault company was the second company of the first battalion.
"Cover by artillery fire!" Wang Chengzhu shouted to the artillerymen from the artillery battery position in the rear.
There is a distance of 500 meters between the first battalion and the stronghold, and it takes two to three minutes to run at full speed. This also requires facing the enemy's firepower and passing through the trenches blocking the stronghold.
There were barbed wire fences on both sides of the trench, and only a lifting bridge could pass through. The trench was not filled with water, but it was filled with mines and bamboo guns.