The artillery company, under the command of company commander Du Xingdong, fired shells that flew out of their chambers and exploded at the barbed wire fence in front of the stronghold.

The first round of five shells carried a sharp whistling, breaking the silence of the night, and suddenly roaring and flying towards the enemy position, Commander Du ordered the artillery fire to be extended and shelled the Japanese artillery positions on both sides of the front of the stronghold.

The artillery positions deployed on both sides of the bungalows in the main position were suddenly hit by heavy artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army, and under the shelling of dozens of shells, several Japanese mortars were blown up.

In the first battalion of infantry Zhang Ting, under the cover of artillery fire, Duan Zhiquan, the commander of the first company, shouted to the hidden soldiers: "Soldiers, with the help of artillery cover, attack immediately." ”

Under the cover of dense artillery fire and light and heavy weapon fire, the soldiers of the company suddenly jumped out of the concealed position and launched the first frontal attack on the Japanese stronghold.

The little devil who was awakened by the artillery fire and the fierce gunfire, this Japanese army unit with very high military quality, did not panic and become a pot of porridge, but under the orderly supervision of commanders at all levels, quickly dressed up, rushed out of the house with guns, and lined up to obey the command.

The squadron leader of the Japanese army who held the stronghold of Yuanshan did not feel much nervous about the sudden sneak attack, because since the Eighth Route Army launched the Zhengtai Road General Attack and implemented the Hundred Regiment Campaign, the Yuanshan stronghold was often raided by the local anti-Japanese forces of the Eighth Route Army.

At this time, Squadron Leader Yamamoto Lang, according to the attack launched by the Eighth Route Army on the periphery, observed for five minutes, and ordered all artillery towers, bunkers, artillery, heavy machine guns, and other positions in the stronghold to immediately enter the battle and increase firepower to counterattack the attacking Eighth Route Army.

Order a small group of Japanese soldiers and a platoon army in the bungalow to run into the single bunker, use the appropriate density of bunkers, and launch the most fierce fire counterattack.

Under the cover of artillery fire, a company of fighters quickly approached the barbed wire fence around the frontal stronghold, threw out grenades and grenades, blew up a passage, broke through two barbed wire, and assaulted the outer trench.

The single bunker of the enemy puppet army, which was deployed at the outermost edge of the stronghold, used the cover to launch a frantic fire block against the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who attacked the outer trench, and for a time the enemy and us engaged in a fierce battle in the outer trench.

The left and right flanks coordinated with the second and third companies of the first company to attack frontally, and launched timely attacks on the enemy's stronghold from three sides.

According to the firepower deployment of the only regiment of the Eighth Route Army, the commander of the Japanese squadron, Yamamotoro, constantly adjusted the strength of different positions and the intensity of firepower strikes, and blocked the breakthrough opened by the first company.

After repeated attacks, the first battalion suffered heavy casualties in the fierce battle with the enemy because the follow-up troops were unable to penetrate the enemy's position under the enemy's powerful firepower, and advanced in depth.

The battle lasted until 5 o'clock in the morning of the 23rd, when Lei Jian saw that the attack was blocked, he immediately and decisively ordered the troops to stop the attack, withdraw from the battle, surround the enemy stronghold, and form an internal and external confrontation with the enemy.

Lei Jian summoned the commanders of each battalion and the commanders of the special companies under the regiment to readjust the attack plan according to the enemy's position and firepower deployment at the Yuanshan stronghold.

In the early morning of the next day, the 1st battalion and 1st company of the frontal assault were reorganized into assault companies as the main attack, with the 1st company assisting, and the 2nd and 3rd companies continued to contain the enemy's stronghold fire from both flanks, covered the frontal attacking troops, smoothly broke into the outer trenches, destroyed the enemy's frontal single bunkers, advanced in depth, and blew up the five bunkers of the second line of defense.

After more than four hours of fierce fighting, the assault company, with the assistance of one battalion and one company, finally crossed the outer trench from the breach point, broke through the enemy's third barbed wire, and bravely killed the Japanese puppet army's single bunker in the first line of defense.

After more than 20 minutes of brave killing, he occupied the single bunker of the enemy's first line of defense, lay down in the bunker, and hit the little devils in the bunker of the second line of defense.

The Japanese troops in the bunker did not take the Eighth Route Army that broke through the barbed wire, crossed the trench, and occupied the single bunker in their eyes, and the fierce little devils, with the advantage that the bunker was easy to defend and difficult to attack, manipulated all kinds of light and heavy weapons, and launched the most powerful firepower counterattack against the assault company and the battalion and the company that launched an attack on the bunker.

Fang Liqiang, the commander of the assault company, saw that the attack was blocked, and he shouted violently: "Grenades and grenades, the bomb throwers of the company will be concentrated on the devil's bunker, and we must destroy these five bunkers that block the advance in depth." ”

One by one, grenades and grenades flew out of the position for a while, falling on the five bunker groups like raindrops, and the smoke of gunpowder from the explosion enveloped the bunker, Fang Liqiang waved his gun and shouted: "Rush——。 ”

Taking advantage of the smoke of gunpowder, the soldiers of the assault company and the first company rushed forward bravely.

Zhang Ting, commander of the 1st battalion, saw that the assault company and the 1st company were rushing towards the enemy's five bunkers, and he ordered the 1st battalion to quickly follow up and support the assault company and the 1st company rushing in front with firepower, so as to consolidate the position and expand the results of the battle.

Suddenly, a dense stream of bullets erupted from the five bunkers, and the fighters who rushed ahead were shot and fell in pools of blood.

Battalion Commander Zhang Ting, who was following closely, saw that the enemy's five bunkers were not only not destroyed, but the fire was even more intense, and he shouted to Fang Liqiang, the commander of the assault company, and Duan Zhiquan, the commander of the first company: "Order the troops to stop the attack and lie on the ground and retreat quickly." ”

The attack was blocked, and Zhang Ting, who had retreated, quickly ran into the command post of the Yuanshan Village Regiment, and Lei Jian slashed his head and asked, "Battalion Commander Zhang, how is the battle situation on the front line?" ”

"Report to Regiment Commander Lei, the assault company and the first battalion and one company broke through three barbed wire and outer trenches, occupied the Japanese single bunker, and dropped bombs on the five bunkers of the second line of defense, the troops took advantage of the smoke of the explosion to launch an attack, but they were hit by the fan fire of the five bunkers and could not move forward, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties, I ordered to withdraw from the position and wait for a new combat order."

"Battalion Commander Zhang, how could you, your battalion and assault company, fight the battle like this? Captain Lei was still praising you just now, look at you, you don't give face at all, and as soon as you finished speaking, you retreated. Political Commissar Ma Mingshan said solemnly.

"Report to Regiment Commander Lei and Political Commissar Ma, the enemy's firepower is too fierce, especially the fire deployment of the five bunkers, and it is found that our troops are attacking, and the five bunkers form a fan strike fire network, which poses a great threat to the attacking fighters, and only by knocking out these five bunkers and advancing in depth can we reduce casualties." Zhang Ting blushed and reported.

Lei Jian had been listening, and when he heard it now, he only asked: "Battalion Commander Zhang's meaning is to ask for help from the artillery to open artillery, destroy the enemy bunker and then launch an attack, and advance in depth, is that what he means?" ”

Zhang Ting nodded embarrassedly, and said quickly: "Commander Lei, if there is difficulty in artillery reinforcement, then I will lead a battalion to continue to attack the enemy's stronghold, and as long as there is still a soldier in my battalion who has not fallen, I will continue to attack the enemy." ”

"You're kidding, aren't you? Zhang Ting, let me tell you, every soldier is raised by his parents, parents hand over their sons to the troops, we, as commanders, should protect the lives of soldiers to the greatest extent, let me tell you, artillery shells are insufficient, and mortar bombardment of strong bunkers is like grenades blowing up tanks, do you think it is feasible? ”

Zhang Ting didn't wait for Lei Jian to finish speaking, saluted and turned around and ran, and quickly ran to the door and said: "Please rest assured, the head of the regiment, my battalion will definitely gnaw this hard bone." ”

"You come back to me."

Zhang Ting, who had just stepped out of the threshold, heard the thunder sword shouting behind him, and forced himself to pause and turn his head and ask, "Captain Lei, is there anything else?" ”

"You come back to me, look at you, you can't stand it after saying a few words? I can tell you that when a commander encounters difficulties and dangers in the course of a battle, the most taboo thing for a commander is not to be calm and blindly command, because this will not only bury the lives of the soldiers of the troops, but will also bring greater difficulties to the subsequent battles because of recklessness.

Calm down first, drink saliva, use your brain, there are always more ways than difficulties, what do you say, Camp Commander Zhang? Lei Jian said at the end, and his tone softened significantly.

In view of the problems existing in the battle, we put forward a lot of offensive plans for the deployment and firepower of the Japanese army in the Yuanshan stronghold, Lei Jian concluded: "The only regiment has blind spots in the early reconnaissance, and in addition to the artillery tower bunkers that can be observed, there are also some hidden firepower positions in the Yuanshan stronghold.

I observed for a while at the front line, and the bunkers that the enemy had set up in the second line of defense of the stronghold were not just five, but ....... ”

(End of chapter)