"Si**, Yan Wangshan called back, the flight team has taken off!" the combat staff officer said.
Zhou Weihan nodded after hearing this: "Inform the artillery battalion to prepare!"
"Yes!" the combat staff responded and picked up the high-power walkie-talkie: "The command headquarters calls the artillery forward reconnaissance post. The command headquarters calls the artillery forward reconnaissance post. Please reply if you hear it!"
"I am Cui Zheng, please give me instructions!"
The voice of Heavy Artillery Battalion Commander Cui Zheng came through the walkie-talkie.
The combat staff glanced at Zhou Weihan, saw Zhou Weihan nodded, and said directly: "Battal Commander Cui, the Communist Party of China ordered the artillery unit to start shelling in twenty minutes, use artillery fire to drive the Japanese troops to one place, and wait for the flying team to arrive over the battlefield.
After that, red smoke grenades were used for ground guidance..."
"Yes, I understand!" Cui Zheng returned.
In this battle, the Tainan Military Region Heavy Artillery Battalion's twelve 150-caliber howitzers and six 105-caliber cannons were deployed in the north of the city. The American Mountain Artillery Battalion's eighteen 75-caliber mountain cannons, four American 105-caliber howitzers, and two 105-caliber cannons were deployed in the north of the city.
The howitzer company composed of Krupp howitzers and the six 107-caliber heavy mortars belonging to the heavy mortar company were arranged in the south of the city.
In addition to the American mountain artillery battalion, the heavy mortar company accompanying the regiment, and the assault regiment to fight in Dongming territory, a group of heavy artillery arrived in Heze first.
Before the war, Cui Zheng, commander of the heavy artillery battalion, put forward some suggestions to the headquarters based on his actual combat experience in Caoxian County.
When fighting the Japanese army of the 16th Division, 48 artillery pieces were also arranged into two artillery groups. The results were extremely brilliant. However, through actual combat, it was found that the two artillery groups lacked unified command because they were arranged on the east and west sides.
, usually they attack themselves. In the later stage, there were several situations where two groups of artillery hit the same place.
During the artillery bombardment, all the artillerymen had a great time, but in Cui Zheng's opinion, the process was too rough and inconsistent with the Eighth Route Army's habit of careful calculation. If there was unified command, fewer artillery shells could be used to achieve greater effects.
In Zhou Weihan's view, the artillery unit should gradually transform from a wild approach to a regular one in actual combat. Therefore, Cui Zheng's suggestion was adopted on the spot.
Cui Zheng himself was appointed as the temporary commander of the artillery unit in the Heze Defense Battle. Cui Zheng was also extremely bold and moved the headquarters to the forward reconnaissance post in order to better understand the situation on the battlefield.
"Commander, even if the shelling lasts for fifteen minutes, even if we look at the firing rate of five shells per minute, there will still be 3,600 shells. This is such a waste!" the combat staff member sighed.
After hearing this, several other staff officers also agreed.
Zhou Weihan smiled after hearing this: "Our Eighth Route Army has a weak family background and cannot produce artillery shells on a large scale. This is an unchangeable fact. However, we should not be petty in fighting. If we can fire a few more artillery shells, it will cause greater damage to the Japanese army.
Thereby reducing one's own casualties, why not do it!"
In the show of swords, Li Yunlong's second division was ordered by Huaye Yesi to block Chu Yunfei's 89th Division in Zhaozhuang. Finally, the head of the Yesi Division replaced Li Yunlong's division with five tons of artillery shells.
Whether it is the Japanese Army's Type 96 howitzer, Type 92 cannon or 105-caliber howitzer, the weight of its shells is about 30 kilograms, and the weight of American mountain gun shells is about 8 kilograms.
Counting these 3,600 rounds of artillery shells, the total weight is around 70 tons. Not mentioning other types of artillery shells, the heavy artillery battalion has consumed half of the heavy artillery shells purchased from Isamu Terauchi after these two battles.
Despite what Zhou Weihan said, he was actually bleeding in his heart. The shells used by heavy artillery were not the same price as those used by ordinary mountain artillery.
During each transaction, Isamu Terauchi only trades on a small scale of two to three hundred rounds.
On the battlefield, since the battle had just started, the Japanese troops of the 32nd Division who were responsible for the offensive were frustrated in their search for the regiment. The commander of the regiment, Yoshizo Ishibashi, looked a little confused. Knowing that time was short, he immediately called for artillery fire without hesitation.
support.
In the blink of an eye, two mountain artillery battalions and one field artillery battalion of the artillery regiment under the 32nd Division, with a total of 36 artillery pieces located on three artillery positions, all aimed at the 35th Regiment's position.
The position of the 35th Regiment was instantly shrouded in flames, six combat defense guns were within the range of artillery fire, and four combat defense guns were blown up one after another.
In comparison, personnel transfer is much more convenient than combat defense artillery. When the artillery shells pierced the sky, the soldiers of the 35th Regiment quickly moved towards the combat defense artillery.
"Bombardment, hurry up, take shelter in the shell holes!"
In the artillery forward reconnaissance post, Cui Zheng was using the artillery scope to observe the situation of the Japanese troops on the opposite side. Several artillery shells exploded nearby, and the falling loess made Cui Zheng disgraced.
"Battal Commander, why don't you let our artillery counterattack? It's too embarrassing to just be bombed without fighting back. In my opinion, with the current level of shelling by the little devil, comrades of the 35th Regiment
I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for even fifteen minutes, and then I'll have to go up and collect the bodies for them!" said an observer on the side.
"You can talk about Communists behind your back? So what if we are carrying out artillery countermeasures now? The Japanese army in front of us is an entire artillery regiment. 36 artillery pieces are arranged in three positions. Even if we can calculate the Japanese artillery
location, blowing up the Japanese artillery positions, but losing the opportunity to annihilate the Japanese infantry!"
"When fighting, there must be sacrifices. Now it's our comrades from the 35th Regiment. Maybe it will be our turn in the future!" Cui Zheng turned around and said with a stern face.
In fact, Cui Zheng did not object to the order for the artillery troops to stand still, but he believed that the flying team should set off from Tainan earlier, which could also reduce the casualties of the 35th and 40th regiments.
"Perhaps the Communist Party members have their own considerations!" Cui Zheng thought to himself.
The Japanese army had tanks to assist them, while the Eighth Route Army was threatened by anti-tank artillery. Originally, the 35th Regiment was able to fight back and forth with the Japanese search unit. Unexpectedly, the little devils did not follow martial ethics, and they were covered by artillery fire.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Fortunately, the commanders and soldiers of the 35th Regiment were mentally prepared in advance. After the artillery fire coverage stopped, they immediately came out of the artillery hole, nearly five hundred of them.
The Japs were already approaching the position, and six tanks were mixed in with the crowd of Japs, suppressing the formation with firepower.
The soldiers of the 35th Regiment began to fight back again. The firepower network composed of more than 40 light machine guns enveloped the more than 500 Japs in front of them. The Japs fell to the ground like cutting wheat.
Taking advantage of the Japs' panic, the remaining two anti-tank guns blew up two Japanese tanks again. The soldiers in the trench suddenly felt that the Japs' fire suppression was weakening.
"Okay, good fight!"
"Kill the little devil's tank!" The soldiers felt as if they were exhaled and began to cheer one after another.
However, the good times did not last long. The remaining four tanks of the Little Japs immediately rotated their turrets, and smoke emitted from the tank guns, immediately covering the location of the two anti-tank guns.
Blinking his eyes, the little devil who had just been repulsed rushed forward again with arrogance, but after taking just a few steps, he actually retreated backwards.
Upon seeing this, the commander of the 35th Regiment immediately understood that the Japs were going to start shelling again, so he took off his hat and wiped it on his face that was so blackened by the smoke, then threw it on the ground and shouted: "Comrades, absolutely
We can't let the little Japs step across our regiment's position so easily, fix their bayonets and blow the charge horn!"
The bugler on the side heard the regimental commander's order, put the general's trumpet to his mouth, the bugle sounded, and the commander of the 35th regiment, holding a light machine gun, rushed out at the lead.
The little devil didn't expect that the Eighth Route Army would dare to take the initiative and was caught off guard by the 35th Regiment. The two sides became entangled in an instant.
After the recent battle, the 35th Regiment's combat attrition increased sharply. Except for the heavy machine gun company still remaining on the position, there were only more than 700 people, and the Japanese side had less than 400 people.
With more than 40 light machine gunners equipped, the 35th Regiment had an advantage in the hand-to-hand combat.
From the Japanese military headquarters, Takaki Sakai led a group of Japs officers to observe the battle ahead.
"Sir, this group of Eighth Route Army troops is indeed unusual. They are actually equipped with anti-war artillery and are well-trained. The large-scale bombardment does not seem to have had a serious effect on them. The commander's timing on the battlefield was also quite timely!" Adjutant
said.
"I don't think so. In fact, the shelling is too short. If the shelling is continued, the group of rats on the opposite side will be buried alive in the soil!" Taizo Tsuchida of the 212th Wing retorted.
At this moment, an officer from the command headquarters came to Sakai Takahiro and reported: "Sir, the artillery regiment is asking, the search regiment is entangled with the Eighth Route Army, whether to continue the shelling according to the order!"
"Inform the artillery regiment to bombard the second position of the Eighth Route Army!" Sakai Takahi said.
"Gentlemen, right now we don't have the fighter planes that the Imperial Army needs. The Eighth Route Army in the first position took the initiative to attack and got entangled with the search wing. Although they had the advantage, they seemed unable to escape at this time. I ordered the 211th Wing and the 212th Wing to each
Send an infantry brigade under the cover of artillery fire to encircle and annihilate the group of Eighth Route Army in front of you!"
"Hi!" a group of little Japanese officers responded.
"Commanders, the little devils on both sides have dispatched two more Japanese troops with a number of about a thousand people!" A staff officer from the command headquarters stood in front of the city wall. He had an extremely accurate grasp of the situation on the battlefield and was always communicating through the walkie-talkie.
Report the battle situation to Zhou Weihan.
"Okay, I understand!" Zhou Weihan replied.
"It seems that the Japanese commander this time is a difficult opponent!" the deputy chief of staff's voice suddenly came.
Zhou Weihan stood up and said, "Chief of Staff, why are you here?"
The deputy chief of general staff waved his hand and motioned for everyone at the headquarters to sit down: "I know that the 35th Regiment is fighting extremely fiercely right now, how can I possibly sit still!"
"The Japanese commanders we faced this time were different from the little devils in the past. The little devils in the past were always arrogant and did not take our Eighth Route Army seriously. But this time the Japanese army was as steady as a bastard and was not anxious at all.
Gong has come forward!"
Regarding this situation, Zhou Weihan felt mixed feelings. Fortunately, the Japanese army did not dispatch the entire army, and the 35th and 40th regiments still had the opportunity to retain their strength and withdraw to Heze City.
This battle of the Eighth Route Army to defend Heze was the first battle to defend the city, and they lacked experience from top to bottom. However, judging from the two defense battles of Jinling and Taiyuan, the battle of the peripheral defense forces will be extremely fierce.
But, in the final analysis, in a word, someone has to sacrifice for this.
Before the war, the 37th Regiment and the 38th Regiment blocked the attack east of Heze in order to slow down the march of the Japanese army. At that time, Heze had only the 35th Regiment and the 40th Regiment suitable for setting up defenses outside the city.
Zhou Weihan explained the cruelty of the battle to the cadres of the two regiments in advance. The 35th Regiment and the 40th Regiment would be used as bait to attract the main force of the Japanese army. After that, the two regiments conducted pre-war mobilization. All the commanders and soldiers embarked on the mission with the intention of sacrifice.
Entered the position.
What Zhou Weihan was worried about was that the Japanese troops were now too dispersed. The offensive troops were in one group, and the two regiments of the rear troops and the artillery were successively divided into three groups.
Even after the flying team arrived, under the attack of dual ground and air firepower, there was a group outside, and three assault groups quickly surrounded them from both sides. It was difficult to complete the victory in one battle. It was too difficult to completely wipe out the Japanese troops of the 32nd Division.
"The 35th Regiment has done well enough, but the Japanese army is too stable and has never pushed the main force up!" Zhou Weihan said in a deep voice.
"Perhaps the temptation for the Japanese army to show off is not enough, we should add more!" said the deputy chief of general staff, patting Zhou Weihan on the shoulder.
Zhou Weihan, the deputy chief of general staff, certainly understood what he meant: "Notify the 40th Regiment, all members of the group, press on me!"
The order quickly reached the ears of the commander of the 40th Regiment through the walkie-talkie. At this moment, the Japanese artillery regiment was covering the front of the 40th Regiment's position with artillery fire.
"Commander, if you rush forward now, wouldn't you risk your death? The kid's bombardment has never stopped!"
The dozen or so people in the air-raid shelter all turned their attention to the regiment leader. A smile appeared on the face of the 40th regiment leader: "Comrades, after entering the position, I didn't think about going back alive. If the people around me died, then I would die."
On the way to charge!"
"The Communists have no choice but to let our regiment press forward and draw the main force of the Japanese army over!"
"You guys, please immediately notify each company along the tunnel. In three minutes, you will blow the charge horn and launch an attack!"
Not long after, amid the continuous explosions, the sound of the Charge was still loud and clear.
More than a thousand soldiers of the 35th Regiment jumped out of the air raid shelters with weapons in hand, jumped over the trenches, braved intensive artillery fire, and rushed towards the ongoing battlefield.
The shouts of killing quickly attracted the attention of the Japanese army. After learning about this situation, Sakai Takaki was puzzled: "Nani, why did the Eighth Route Army launch a suicide charge? Don't they know that this is suicidal?
"
"Sir, no matter what, this is a good opportunity to completely wipe out the Eighth Route Army troops outside the city. Even if it is a trap, so what? Even if the Eighth Route Army reinforcements are ambushing around, it seems that the Eighth Route Army does not have large-scale artillery.
We must win!" The adjutant changed his previous cautious attitude.
"Yusi, when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, the Imperial Army has never lost!" Sakai Takaki also felt deeply that it was difficult to find fighter planes. He once again ordered the 211th Regiment and the 212th Regiment to press forward. At the same time, the artillery department began to move forward, preparing to target the artillery bombardment.