Zhang Xiaohua and Xue Defeng finally failed to withstand the siege of a group of more than thirty Japanese soldiers. However, because they heard the explosions from the Japanese artillery positions, they fired the glory bombs in their arms with a smile.
The cadets who can carry walkie-talkies and serve as artillery scouts are all the elite scouts of the Second Army. They are not only excellent at work and have excellent fighting style, but most importantly, they are absolutely loyal to the cadet army and have devoted themselves to the cause of anti-Japanese war. preparation,
The artillery battle began,
Noboru Otsuka's 120th Field Artillery Regiment was unable to withstand the saturated bombardment of the 4th Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment. In just five minutes, a total of 48 75mm field guns in the four brigades of the Regiment were completely destroyed. In the past five minutes, 2,000 of the more than 3,000 people in the regiment and the escort infantry group were killed in the flames.
When the 120th Field Artillery Regiment was bombarded by the Fourth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment, the Japanese Heavy Artillery 22nd Regiment and the Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade directly under the 5th Army happened to enter Huangni, Yushan County, about two kilometers away from the creek beach. In the front area, Major General Tian Yuichiro was very decisive and immediately ordered the 22nd Heavy Artillery Regiment to counterattack.
Because the Japanese army used towed artillery, the preparation time was a bit long. Ten minutes later, when the Fourth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment was about to stop bombarding, the 22nd Heavy Artillery Regiment, under the command of the commander of the regiment, Colonel Osuga Oi, fired three test fires. fire cannonballs,
These three rounds of artillery shells seemed to add fire to the boiling pot, and the scale of the artillery battle immediately escalated. Cai Dayong was holding Hua Mai in his hand and was about to order all the artillery vehicles in the regiment to retract their support legs, when he saw the Japanese The artillery began to retaliate. He changed his order and asked the entire regiment to stay on guard. Then he called the brigade commander Shi Zhengguo and reported to him that the Japanese army had indeed hidden an artillery unit.
In Ye Zhao's plan, Cai Dayong's regiment was both a vanguard and a decoy. In fact, Shi Zhengguo was reluctant to use a regiment of heavy artillery troops as bait, and he did not want Cai Dayong's regiment to take on this task. However, for the sake of the overall situation, he could only grit his teeth. After admitting it, after the combat mission was issued, he said to Cai Dayong guiltily: "Old Cai, I'm sorry, I have wronged you."
Cai Dayong was open-minded, and in turn comforted him and said: "You don't have to sacrifice the bait, guest. Don't worry. If the little devil wants to eat four of us, he will have to pay a huge price. He will definitely let him eat it." You can't just walk around." Cai Dayong has a lot of experience in artillery battles. He dispersed his artillery trucks far apart. In this way, because the firing speed of self-propelled artillery is much faster than that of old-fashioned artillery, this leaves Tian Yuichiro and others Osuga Ying and other Japanese commanders made a misjudgment and thought that it was a brigade of artillery that bombarded Otsuka Noboru from the Xuebing Army.
It took Osuka ten minutes to complete the preparations for the artillery attack, and it took thirteen minutes to find the position of the artillery formation of the Fourth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment. At this time, Cai Dayong took the initiative and tried to fire more than ten artillery shells, and he had already pinpointed Osu. Congratulations on the location of your artillery array,
The two sides started firing at a distance of 12 kilometers. The Japanese army had a total of forty-eight heavy artillery pieces, of which thirty-six were 120 mm caliber and twelve were 150 mm caliber. The Xuebing Army's eighteen heavy artillery pieces were all 150 mm caliber. Judging from the numbers alone, the Fourth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment seemed to be at a disadvantage. However, after ten minutes of artillery battle, Cai Dayong became more and more courageous as he fought, but Osuga Ying became more timid and even frightened.
Cai Dayong's side still has ten artillery pieces that can continue to fight, while Osuka Ying's side has less than twenty pieces of artillery left. This is still secondary. What scares the latter is that he can accurately calculate the position and focus. The artillery had fired no less than twenty rounds at one place, but there was a steady stream of shells hitting that place, which made him wonder: Could it be that he was shooting at the enemy's fortress fort?
The reason for this situation is, on the one hand, because the artillery of the Xuebing Army is thick and well-trained, and on the other hand, it is related to the position chosen by Cai Dayong. Cai Dayong chose the mountainous area adjacent to Qinfeng Township, in which there are Several stone ponds dug by local villagers were used to store water for watering vegetables. These stone ponds were just big enough to drive a self-propelled howitzer into. After the self-propelled artillery drove in, the Japanese artillery shells would not be fired unless it hit directly from above. It will be blocked by the stone wall of the stone pond, and the self-propelled artillery using the stone pond as a cover will transform into a fortress cannon.
The Fourth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment and the 22nd Heavy Artillery Regiment exchanged fire for ten minutes without a clear winner. Osuka Ying became more and more frightened as they fought. He quickly asked the commander of the independent heavy artillery brigade, Tian Yuichiro, for help. Naturally, Tian Yuichiro was duty-bound. Let the Fifth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment under his command assist in the battle. On the side of the Xuebing Army, Shi Zhengguo felt that there was an advantage to be taken and let the Fifth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment participate in the battle. The Fifth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment and the Sixth Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment were already ready for bombardment. Only after the order from the country was conveyed, Sapphire, the commander of the fifth regiment, gave the order, and the eighteen heavy artillery pieces of the fifth regiment opened fire at the same time. In three consecutive rounds, half of Osuka Ying's remaining dozen or so cannons were blown up.
The position of the fifth regiment was about three thousand meters away from the fourth regiment. As soon as they opened fire, Osuka Ying and Tian Yuichiro were shocked. Oh dear, there is an artillery unit hidden in the Xuebing Army. Tian Yuichiro quickly ordered the 5th Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment. The team postponed the attack, but it was a step too late. He saw that the 5th Regiment had exposed its target, and immediately asked them to change the artillery target and attack the newly exposed enemy artillery.
Once the Xuebing Army's self-propelled artillery fired, the shells were numerous and dense. Tian Yuichiro was worried that the 5th Regiment would be defeated, so he asked the 6th Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment to join the battle.
Shi Zhengguo was shocked by the sudden appearance of a heavy artillery regiment in the Japanese army. He was hesitating whether to use the Sixth Regiment, the last strength he had, when a staff officer under Cai Dayong reported to him sadly: "Brigadier, Commander Cai is honored. He was furious, and immediately gave an order to Zhang Qilian, the commander of the Sixth Regiment: "Old Zhang, if you see the newly emerged Japanese artillery, give it a good beating. It's brave, it's glorious to be brave."
Zhang Qilian was ordering his subordinates to adjust the design of various elements at this time. When he heard this, he was silent for a few seconds and said: "Master, I will avenge Instructor Cai." Then, he changed the channel and shouted in the microphone: "Brothers, I want to tell you some unfortunate news. Commander Cai died. Brothers, remember who taught you how to drill artillery. Once you are a teacher, you will always be a father. Brothers, avenge Instructor Cai."
As we all know, the Second Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade has been able to develop to its current size. Cai Dayong deserves the greatest credit. As the company commander of the first self-propelled artillery company of the Second Army, he was also the platoon commander and company commander of the Second Brigade and even other artillery regiments. , battalion commander, regiment commander, most of them were taught by him step by step, and if it weren't for the fact that he had made mistakes on major issues of right and wrong, the position of commander of the Second Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade would definitely be his now.
Cai Dayong had a special status in the hearts of the artillerymen who studied in the Second Army. Therefore, once the cadets in the Sixth Regiment learned that he had been killed by the Japanese, they were all filled with indignation, their eyes were bloodshot, and they shouted "I'm throwing away his mother!" Gritting his teeth with tears in his eyes, he moved quickly, and in a matter of minutes, he made adjustments to shoot at Zhu Yuan. Then he roared and stepped on the launch pedal, venting his anger with cannonballs.