In the afternoon of that day, the Kwantung Army suddenly increased its troops toward Shangqiu. After several battles with the Japanese army, the cavalry regiment retreated toward the junction of Shangqiu, Yucheng, and Xiayi.
Not long after, a large number of Japanese troops appeared in front of the 11th Regiment of the 16th Brigade, which was responsible for defending the outer fortifications on the east side of Shangqiu. The Japanese troops were not in a hurry to launch an attack. One main force was responsible for monitoring the movements of the Eighth Route Army on the position, and the rest of the Japanese troops began to set up camp.
At the 16th Brigade Headquarters, Li Yunlong was summarizing information from all parties. In front of him was a sand table with Shangqiu as the center. The terrain, landforms and fortifications were clear and clear.
"Just now a telegram was sent from the Cavalry Regiment. Sun Desheng's troops have arrived at Jiazhai in the northeast of Shangqiu, and Qin Fu's literary troops have arrived in Dahou Township in the southwest of Shangqiu!"
After speaking, Xin Tiebing, chief of staff of the 16th Brigade, planted the two red flags representing the cavalry regiment at their respective locations.
"Brigade Commander, is our current defense strategy too risky? I'm worried..."
Before Xin Tiebing could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Li Yunlong: "The headquarters has no objection, why are you worried?"
"Hey!"
"It's normal to worry!" Li Yunlong changed his tone and went back to save face for Xin Tiebing: "Not to mention the small number of troops we have, even if the entire column is filling up the internal and external defense lines of Shangqiu, the number of troops can only be said to be enough.
use!"
"There is nothing we can do about the dangerous move of the troops. Fortunately, there are brother troops nearby to take care of us. The Japanese army does not dare to encircle us from all sides yet. This is good news!"
At this time, there were six organized infantry regiments in Shangqiu. The 10th, 11th, 12th and independent regiments under the 16th Brigade were Li Yunlong's trump cards. There were also two basic regiments of Dingtao and Chengwu of the Southwest Shandong Military Division.
.
Because he could not figure out the combat effectiveness of the Kwantung Army, Li Yunlong did not dare to make large investments, let alone underestimate the Japanese army, so he placed the 11th Regiment on the front line on the east side, and the 10th Regiment with the most powerful combat effectiveness served as a reserve force on the second line.
Li Yunlong judged that the north of Shangqiu was close to Caoxian County and the Kwantung Army did not dare to attack easily from the north, so he ordered the Dingtao Jigan Regiment to defend the north side, the 12th Regiment of the 16th Brigade with slightly stronger combat effectiveness to defend the south side, and the Chengwu Jigan Regiment to defend the west side.
The independent regiment stayed in the city to serve as the general reserve force. Two thousand young men led by the Shangqiu District Committee who had undergone simple training could be called militia for the time being. They were responsible for maintaining public security in the city, transporting supplies, and transporting the wounded.
However, the defense line outside Shangqiu City extended as much as 12 kilometers outward. Even if each regiment held a front-line position, the troops were too dispersed. Once the Japanese army launched a fierce attack, the defense line would be easily broken through.
In the direction of the Japanese army's position, a Japanese observer rose slowly in an observation balloon to a height of about four to five hundred meters, trying to find out the defensive layout of the Eighth Route Army and at the same time provide azimuth parameters for the next Japanese attack.
In the field of vision of the Japanese observers, the Eighth Route Army's positions were dotted with ravines and numerous bunkers. From time to time, they could see crowds of people somewhere, but they did not find the location of the Eighth Route Army's artillery positions.
"Currently, no Eighth Route Army artillery positions have been found. There are several highlands three to five kilometers away from the current position. They are covered by mountains and forests, so it is impossible to determine whether they are real or not!" Japanese observers contacted the ground troops via radio.
On the other side, the Eighth Route Army also noticed the observation balloon raised from the Japanese position, but did not shoot it down.
Artillery is a presence that cannot be ignored in modern wars. It can not only cause great damage to infantry, but also threaten armored troops. The strength of the Hebei, Shandong, and Yu columns was inevitably exposed in the battle with the former Japanese army. The Japanese army had to
Defend.
This time the Kwantung Army deployed three organic artillery units: 12 105-caliber howitzers, 12 75-caliber field guns equipped by the tank teaching brigade, 36 mountain field guns of the 57th Division Artillery Regiment, and nearly
48 mountain field guns of the Artillery Regiment of the Guards Division.
Excluding the two artillery brigades equipped by the two partial divisions, there are a total of 84 artillery pieces of 75 caliber or above gathered on the Shangqiu front line, as well as infantry artillery, mortars, rapid-fire artillery and other levels of formations.
When it comes to the use of artillery, it is actually simple and crude. As long as the enemy's artillery is killed, the remaining infantry will be meat on the chopping board, waiting to be beaten.
But there are only two ways to kill the enemy's artillery, either by taking them by surprise and taking one move first, or by simply replacing them with one another.
"Ten minutes later, all units started bombarding the predetermined targets on time!"
After receiving the order, the three artillery positions of the Japanese army began to prepare and revised the shooting elements based on the azimuth parameters provided by the ground observers.
"position......"
“Distance 7.4 km”
"Three test shots, fire!"
On the position of the chariot teaching brigade, all artillery positions were prepared. As the flag soldiers waved the plaster flags in their hands, a muffled sound of "boom, boom, boom" suddenly came from the position.
Driven by the propellant, the artillery shell soared into the sky. The shell immediately rushed out of the barrel and drew an arc in the sky. The target location was exactly the highland dense forest where the Eighth Route Army artillery troops reported by the observer were hiding.
As the explosion sounded, large masses of fire and thick smoke suddenly rose from several highlands. Within ten seconds, large Japanese artillery fire once again enveloped the intended target.
"Good guy, the Kwantung Army's devils are really rich and powerful. They made such a big noise when they came up. Fortunately, the high ground was just a cover-up for the devils!" The person who spoke was Qin Yuezhong, the commander of the 11th Regiment.
This time the 16th Brigade is equipped with two American mountain artillery battalions, with a total of 36 mountain artillery pieces. This is Li Yunlong's treasure.
Li Yunlong had long been on guard against the Japs' attack, so he did not deploy his artillery on high ground. Instead, he deployed his artillery in the tunnels of the ground positions, camouflaging them so that no one could tell the difference.
While the commanders and fighters of the 16th Brigade were stationed in Shangqiu, they paid no attention to anything else but specifically widened and strengthened the Japanese defenses. The tunnels extending in all directions were enough for a truck to pass.
There are also special anti-gun holes around each artillery position. If it is too late to move, the artillerymen will drag the artillery into the anti-gun holes nearby.
"Yo Xi!" Yamashita Fengwen, who was at the headquarters, was extremely satisfied with the current bombardment effect.
"The artillery of the Empire of Japan is technically capable of crushing the Eighth Route Army. Even if it fails to severely damage the Eighth Route Army's artillery this time, it still has no place to hide!"
Yamashita Fengfumi changed the Japanese army's previous tactics and did not let the artillery bombard the Eighth Route Army positions. Instead, he asked the Japanese artillery not to be stingy with artillery shells, but to rely on the advantages of the number of artillery and the sufficient supply of artillery shells to continuously cover the possible hiding places of the Eighth Route Army artillery.
This move indeed achieved a head start. At the same time, dozens of tanks in the first echelon of the tank brigade launched a charge accompanied by a large number of infantry.
At this time, various Eighth Route Army artillery observation posts were bombarded by Japanese artillery fire and successfully obtained the general direction of the Japanese artillery positions.
Li Yunlong had been paying attention to the trends on the battlefield. When he saw the Japanese artillery taking the initiative to reveal its position, he ordered: "Order the artillery battalion to launch a counterattack immediately!"
