"Target, Devil's Mountain Artillery Position."

In the phone line, Iwamori gave the order:

"Fire."

In an area three kilometers behind the first line of positions of the Independent Regiment, five artillery positions, a total of fifty Bofors Mountain guns, burst into flames, and the dense shells drew an arc and smashed into the Devil artillery positions several kilometers away.

Boom Boom Boom ·····

Dense explosions rose from behind the devil's position.

The momentum is quite huge.

But the situation fed back by the artillery forward observation point by telephone, the first round of shelling, did not hit the target at all, and deviated very far.

"Go on."

Hearing the news, Iwamori's tone remained unchanged and ordered each artillery group to calibrate according to the observed data and continue firing.

This is to be expected.

The regiment commander meant to let the novices experience more actual combat and grow up quickly, so the fifty artillery crews participating in the battle this time were all novices, and the veteran gunners were all watching from the sidelines, occasionally pointing out operational errors, and not participating in correction and shelling.

Correct, reload, shoot, correct again, keep shooting...

Round after round of shells streaked across the sky, like meteors, falling in the direction of the devil's position in the distance.

Even if the independent regiment is a new gunner, it has completed the basic artillery training, and has had a lot of live-fire training, and in the actual combat environment, as the shells are taken off, the gunners have gradually matured.

Slowly, the shells became more and more accurate, and the artillery crew fighters became more and more confident.

With the addition of these 50 mountain guns, the battlefield, which was already boiling like an oil pot, heated up again, and the overall situation on the battlefield also changed suddenly.

······

Fifteen kilometers in mid-air from the front-line positions.

Devil artillery observation balloon.

"Is this really the Eighth Route Army?"

The artillery observer who looked down on the whole situation naturally discovered the mountain artillery group that suddenly joined the battlefield in the distance for the first time, and after the first round of fire, he was so frightened that he almost fell from the hanging basket.

As an artillery observer, he has developed an excellent ability to observe and count, and he can roughly figure out the number of cannons on the opposite side for the first time.

About fifty mountain guns.

It's comparable to a half-imperial artillery wing.

And it was an elite divisional artillery wing at the beginning of the war.

With the progress of the war, the empire's troops are insufficient, and the production capacity of weapons is insufficient, and now even if it is an elite division, an artillery wing has only twenty-four guns, of course, plus the artillery of the major brigades, the first division regiment, and the second-line elite division, the total number of artillery pieces of more than 20,000 troops is still more than fifty.

But the Eighth Route Army in front of him also has a huge number, nearly 200 mortars of various calibers.

Artillery firepower far surpassed that of the Imperial Army.

Even if it is a division regiment, that kind of A division regiment that is fully manned, it does not have such powerful artillery firepower! The only advantage of the empire is a little long-range artillery.

And!

It is said that it is only a regiment of the Eighth Route Army in front of you?

Continuing to look down on the battlefield from the balloon and watching the smoke of the explosion falling on the rear position, the devil's heart sank more and more.

Because he found that the enemy's mountain artillery had a very long firing range, with a maximum range of more than nine kilometers, which was farther than the range of the Empire's latest Type 94 mountain artillery, which meant that the Imperial artillery suffered a loss during the artillery battle.

The enemy can hit the Imperial artillery position, but the Imperial artillery cannot hit the enemy.

"What's going on?"

Cold sweat began to drip from the devil's forehead, and his face became more and more gloomy, so nervous that his breathing almost stopped.

But as the observation continued, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, because he found that although there were many cannons on the opposite side, the gunner who controlled the cannons seemed to be very poor, like a novice.

The opponent aimed at the Imperial artillery position, but it had been almost ten rounds, and it still failed to suppress the Imperial artillery position.

"It's fine."

With a sigh of relief, he delivered the news of his observations as he provided the projectile drop to the long-range cannon beneath him.

More ants bite the elephant to death.

The opponent's artillery has a clear advantage in range.

However, the number of long-range firepower to which he belonged was insufficient, the suppressive power was limited, and it was impossible for the artillery to quickly destroy the enemy's artillery, and at most it was to interfere with the shooting, forcing the enemy's artillery to move positions.

Even if the gunners are inexperienced and rely on numbers, they can suppress the mountain artillery of the Empire.

·····

"Fifty 75-caliber guns."

In Heian County, inside the Japanese army headquarters, Shinji Kosa was taken aback when he got the news.

"So much."

Yamamoto also had a gloomy face.

The two had long expected that the Separate Regiment would have a large number of barreled artillery.

From the very beginning of the design, the mortar was designed to support the infantry in a timely manner, and was not suitable for artillery combat, nor for long-range fire suppression, so the two concluded that the independent regiment had a large number of Bofors mountain guns, and even artillery units equipped with other new artillery.

Moreover, based on their previous experience, the two also made bold and bold predictions.

It's just that when the independent regiment really came out, it was still shocked, and the truth was once again beyond the expectations of the two.

"Yaga."

Shinji Kosa couldn't help but scold.

He recalled carefully just now, his prediction of Li Yunlong was not accurate, and every time, no matter how bold his prediction, Li Yunlong was far beyond his expectations.

"Where did they get so much artillery?"

Shinji Kosa didn't understand.

Mortars are not very demanding, and a few small-caliber infantrymen can go to the battlefield with a little training, even if it is a large-caliber mortar, it does not take much time to train the artillery crew.

But the body tube cannon is different, especially the long-range body tube gun, which requires the forward commander to calibrate the artillery, which has high requirements for artillery, and even requires to understand mathematics and be able to draw, which cannot be trained in a short time.

Even in an empire with a well-trained system, an artillery soldier needs a year of training before it can be barely used.

Where did the army composed of dirt and mud legs called Hanako come from?

In their speculation, Li Yunlong has a tank unit and an anti-aircraft artillery unit, and there should not be many people to form a unit equipped with long-range body cannons.

"Possibly..."

Yamamoto speculated with a gloomy face:

"These artillery units were cobbled together on an improvised basis."

His tone was not confident, for the independent regiment, after being beaten by Li Yunlong many times, Yamamoto did not dare to draw conclusions casually.

Before the two could continue their discussion, a telephone staff officer ran in and delivered a message, still about the front line, also from an artillery observer located at a high altitude.

"Osa Yamamoto, you guessed right."

Shinji Kosa heard the relay of the telephone staff officer, and his tone was pleasantly surprised:

"Although the enemy's artillery units were very large, the actual combat effect was very poor, most of the shells were missed, and the suppression of the artillery positions on the front line of the imperial army was very small."

"Although Li Yunlong's independent regiment has sufficient weapons, it is seriously understaffed and cannot exert its full strength at all."

When Yamamoto heard Shinji Kossa's words, he was not very happy, but sighed.

This good news is only temporary, even if Li Yunlong's excellent artillery is lacking, but even if a cannon is a blind fight, it is also a deterrent, and with the passage of time, the novice artillery will inevitably gradually mature.

Moreover, the opponent's artillery range also has an advantage.

In addition, the reason that makes Yamamoto feel uncomfortable is that compared to Li Yunlong's equipment, there are few people, and today's Imperial Army is the opposite.

There are many people and little equipment.

It's like the dirt road of six years ago.

"Command."

Kosa Shinji didn't notice Yamamoto's demeanor, and he immediately gave the order:

"The long-range cannon brigade, an artillery squadron equipped with Type 94 mountain guns, makes every effort to suppress and destroy enemy artillery units. The rest of the artillery suppressed enemy mortar fire. ”

Kasa Shinji naturally knew that Li Yunlong's Bofors mountain artillery had a long range, reaching 10 kilometers, while some of the mountain artillery of his Ping'an County garrison was a 41-type mountain artillery with a range of only more than 6 kilometers, which was completely insufficient, and only the Type 92 105 long-range cannon and the Type 94 mountain cannon could suppress it.

With Shinji Kosa's order, the front-line devils also responded.

The long-range cannon gave up the shelling of the highway and bridge, and instead suppressed the artillery positions of the independent regiment, and the mountain artillery in the rear was also divided into two, the new Type 94 mountain artillery suppressed the body gun position of the independent regiment, and the remaining Type 41 mountain artillery suppressed the mortars of the independent regiment.

Suddenly, shells flew across the battlefield, and explosions occurred one after another.

······

"The quality of the little devil's artillery is really not blown."

At the rear of the position, listening to the news on the phone, Yan Sheng sighed with emotion.

As the devil artillery launched a counterattack, the first artillery company immediately felt the huge pressure, and at the same time felt the huge gap between the artillery groups of the two sides.

I fought on my side for almost half an hour, and only interfered with the devil's artillery fire a little, reducing the devil's artillery firepower. And the devil forced the first artillery company and two artillery crews to move their positions in ten minutes.

There were even losses.

One of the Bofors mountain artillery positions was hit by a 105 grenade, but fortunately it did not directly hit the gun emplacements and ammunition storage points, and the losses were not large.

The reason for this result is not only the unskilled novice artillery crew.

Although the new artillery group is inexperienced, it is only inexperienced, and with the old gunners on the side to teach them by hand, it is not difficult to complete the aiming, and the gap is nothing more than a matter of proficiency and efficiency.

There were also problems with artillery front-line observation posts.

Facing the enemy's artillery for the first time, the front-line observers of the 1st Artillery Company were inexperienced, and even from the commanding heights, they could not accurately know the artillery positions of the devils. The exchange of information with the rear artillery group was also not sufficiently proficient, and many problems arose.

There are no artillery observation balloons on his own side.

There were also problems with the arrangement of the artillery positions, which gave too much consideration to the firing range and did not take into account the safety of the big artillery during the artillery battle, resulting in the entire artillery position being completely exposed to the devil's field of vision.

The shift of positions was carried out many times and was very fast, but the recalibration dragged on and it took a long time before it could be fired again, and at this time the devil artillery had already been transferred, which greatly delayed the fighters.

On the other hand, the devil.

The artillery also chose a very tricky position, hiding behind a mountain, unable to look directly, difficult to find, and difficult to hit.

The observation balloon in the air is condescending, looking down on the entire position, and can quickly observe the entire battlefield, and the artillery crew is also well-trained, and the front and rear cooperate tacitly, quickly complete the calibration and accurately hit the target.

The position was shifted quickly, and it was possible to quickly open fire again.

The devil artillery, which has been on the battlefield for a long time and has relatively small losses, does have something.

"Hmph, I learned."

Hanging up the phone, the corners of Iwamori's mouth hooked.

Although the equipment is good, the artillery of the independent regiment is still very immature, and the gap between them and the devil artillery is very large, and there are still many places to learn, but there is a good 'master' of the little devil.

After this artillery battle, the next artillery company will be reborn.

Anyway, the regiment commander said that the purpose of this battle was to fight a big battle, find out the shortcomings of the troops, and then improve them.

······

As the artillery battle between the two sides entered a white heat, the front-line troops also began to contact.

Compared with the superior artillery, the devil infantry on the front line can be described as miserable.

After most of the mountain artillery and long-range cannons suppressed the first company of the independent regimental artillery, the remaining dozen or so old Type 41 mountain guns, less than ten Type 92 infantry guns, could not fight against the twelve 120 mortars and thirty-six 82 mortars of the two battalions.

The firing range of the 120 mortar is only a few hundred meters different from that of the 41 mountain artillery, and the former is much more powerful, highly mobile, and has a fast rate of fire. 82 forced to chase after the 92 infantry artillery fire.

Not to mention the fact that there are more than a hundred 60 small steel cannons.

Under the cover of powerful artillery fire, the attacking two battalions were devastated, crushed the devil's brigade that wanted to occupy the road and expand a forward salient, and also ran over the devils all the way.

But just when the two battalions occupied the Devil's forward position and approached the front of the Devil's No. 4 position, the situation suddenly changed.

Boom Boom...

Mortar shells suddenly rose from behind the fourth line of positions of the devils and landed in the formation of the two battalions in the charge.

It was a Japanese Type 97 90-mm mortar that opened fire.

The devils are rarely armed with mortars, but not without them.

After teaching life with mortars in China, the little devil quickly developed the 97-type 90mm mortar, because of the obstruction of the old antique officers in the military industry, it was said that it was contrary to the goal pursued by the Imperial Army: to obtain the maximum results with the lowest ammunition consumption.

At that time, it was only equipped in small batches.

With the erosion of the war situation, coupled with the high cost of barrel guns and the lack of production, recently, this kind of mortar began to be equipped with locust troops on a large scale.

Yoshimoto sent a batch to Ping'an County as soon as possible.

With the cover of mortars, the retreating devils also smoothly entered the fourth line of position groups, and with the help of the strong bunkers that had been built long ago, they blocked the attacking independent regiment troops.

In the face of the sudden mortar fire and the cross-machine gun fire composed of machine gun forts in the No. 4 position group of the devils, Xu Husheng, the commander of a company commanded by the front, immediately ordered the troops to stop the attack and move to concealment.

"82 mortars, suppress the mortars of the devils, 120 force destroy the machine gun fortress of the devils."

Xu Husheng shouted loudly.

The situation is different, now there is no need to charge against the artillery fire and machine guns of the devils, and there is no need to go through the trouble of thinking about how to flank and intersperse, and when encountering obstacles, directly call for artillery fire to solve them.

Boom Boom...

Behind the two battalion formations, battalion mortars opened fire.

Dense mortar shells of various calibers fell on the devil's position, and bursts of gunpowder smoke rose up, but after a burst of intensive shelling, Xu Husheng found that the effect of the shelling was not large, and only a part of the foxholes and trenches were destroyed, so it can be said that the effect was not effective.

In the distance, various firing points were still there.

"Little devil, this is a quasi-white."

Xu Husheng saw the fame at a glance.

"Company commander, you can't hit it, you can't hit it, you can't get a mortar."

The machine-gun fortress of the fourth line built by the little devils is very strong, and the top floor is a multi-story civil structure, and the location is also very tricky, built against a slope or earth wall.

Commandos on the front line report:

"To shoot fire, we have to push the Type 92 up."

"Direct-fire artillery."

Xu Husheng was stunned.

Although the regiment had already sent most of the Type 92 infantry guns to the headquarters, a new artillery was about to be equipped recently, and a battalion reconnaissance company was trying to find out what it could do.

He's seen it.

This thing, the shells are very advanced, and the damage to the pillbox is much stronger than that of the Type 92 infantry gun.

"Interesting."

Glancing at the machine gun bunkers in the distance, Xu Husheng sighed, and looked forward to the recoilless guns that were about to be equipped, as a battalion and a company, his troops would be the first to turn next door.

With a wave of his hand, he retreated with two battalions:

"Withdraw."

According to the predetermined plan, it was time to retreat at this time.

However, unexpectedly, it was originally planned that the troops would be blocked by the half-buried fortress of the devil's fourth main position, but unexpectedly, they were actually stopped here.

At this time, the confrontation between the artillery units of the two sides had already been decided.

The devil artillery is really powerful.

Four Type 92 105 long-range cannons, plus 18 Type 95 mountain guns, combined with the devil's high-altitude observation balloons, fired a company of 50 Bofors mountain guns that had no temper and could only keep shifting positions.

·····

"Yo Si."

Ping'an County.

Hearing the news of the retreat of the independent regiment, Yamamoto breathed a sigh of relief, and Shinji Kosa was even more overjoyed, and directly called out hello.

"Hmph."

Then Jia Zuo also snorted coldly:

"The quality of the artillery of the independent regiment is even worse than we expected."

According to the report of the long-range cannon unit, the artillery of the independent regiment was very inexperienced, unresponsive, chaotic, and worse than expected, like a novice who had just come into contact with artillery.

"It seems."

Yamamoto also nodded:

"Our opponents, although they have sufficient soldiers, are very lacking in technical troops."

····

At the same time.

"Good."

Li Yunlong of Gecun also received a report from the front and was also very satisfied.

The 1st and 2nd battalions conducted a real offensive.

The troop losses were small, but the gains were great, and a lot of problems were discovered that had not been detected before.

The artillery was also full of gains.

The 100 new artillery crews formed a month ago also conducted a six-hour actual battle, and they made rapid progress and were reborn, and the training efficiency will be greatly increased in the future.

Moreover, after this actual battle, a large number of deficiencies in the artillery unit were also discovered, and targeted improvements could be made.