The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 100 Beating My Teammates
In fact, there was no need to send orders. The Japanese artillery assigned to the [-]st Infantry Squadron had been preparing to fire from the moment the machine guns of the [-]th Company rang out. These artillerymen were even more eager to fire than the infantry.

Although they are at the back of the infantry attack queue, the attack forward of the First Squadron has rushed to a position 150 meters away from the main position of the Sixth Company. Even though the attached artillery is at the back of the team, it is still within the shooting range of the light and heavy machine guns. Inside.
And unlike infantry who are flexible and mobile, artillery needs to push the cannon, lift the cannon, and carry heavy ammunition boxes. It is quite inconvenient for both movement and concealment. Therefore, some artillerymen were also hit by the fierce machine gun fire of the Sixth Company. middle.

At the rear of the [-]st Infantry Squadron, the infantry artillery unit and rapid-fire artillery unit assigned to them are nervously preparing for firing. Second Lieutenant Kosaku Yamada, the leader of the artillery squad of the [-]st Infantry Battalion, serves as the other artillery unit from different units. Detachment command responsibilities.

"hurry up."

Hiding behind the [-]nd Infantry Artillery shield, Yamada Kosaku kept urging the artillerymen around him. From time to time, a few stray bullets would rattle the infantry gun's shield. He had been assigned to the front-line infantry for a long time in combat. The [-]nd Infantry Artillery Detachment is obviously better in proficiency and speed in artillery operation technology than the rapid-fire artillery detachment organized at the wing level.

The gunners of the [-]nd Infantry Artillery Detachment had completed all firing preparations at this time, while the gunners of the [-]th Rapid-Fire Artillery Detachment were still struggling to dig simple hoe pits on the ground.

"Quickly test fire and hit the bunker on the far left."

Second Lieutenant Yamada pointed to the bunker on the far left side of the first platoon and gave the firing order to the gunners around him. The ammunition man quickly took out a [-]mm high-explosive grenade from the ammunition box. After the artillery shell was loaded with the prompt tube fuze, the loader took the shell and loaded it into the barrel.

The bearded sergeant commander personally aimed the gun and quickly adjusted the height and horizontal angle of the artillery. Half a minute later, the sergeant commander shouted: "Ready, fire!"

boom

The 50mm grenade was ejected from the barrel and exploded with a loud bang. The sergeant commander immediately raised his telescope and looked at the gray-yellow smoke column rising in the distance. The impact point of the shell was exactly [-] meters directly behind the target bunker. .

The sergeant squad leader withdrew the cartridge case, reloaded and fired, and soon fired another 50mm high-explosive grenade. This high-explosive grenade was exactly the opposite of the previous one and landed 100 meters directly in front of the target bunker. From the perspective of artillery marksmanship, the sergeant squad leader only used two artillery shells to form a [-]-meter fork against the target.

"Load the shells and change the delay fuze"

The sergeant squad leader shouted, after the two shells formed a gap on the target, the next step was to launch a direct attack on the target. After loading, the sergeant squad leader readjusted the shooting elements, taking the front and rear The average of the two shooting parameters was used as the parameter of the shooting. The shells loaded into the infantry cannon bore this time were also replaced with delay fuses used to attack fortifications.

"fire"

boom

There was another cannon blast. Under the expectant eyes of the Japanese gunners, the shell accurately hit the target bunker, and it fell at an almost vertical angle and hit the top of the bunker with a bang. There was a loud noise, and with the explosion of the grenade, in an instant, the bunker that was hit was covered in thick black and yellow smoke and flying sand and dust. The intensive gunfire of the light and heavy machine guns in the bunker was also hit. The moment in the movie stopped abruptly.

"Hit, good shot."

Squad leader Kosaku Yamada shouted excitedly, and the Japanese gunners who were manning the artillery all cheered loudly. Captain Sergeant Cao of the [-]nd Infantry Artillery who fired the gun himself also showed a smile of satisfaction and contentment on his face.

"dash forward!"

Naturally, the Japanese infantry would not miss this good opportunity. The acting commander of the First Infantry Squadron immediately ordered the infantry to charge. A sergeant roared, waved his command knife, and led seven or eight Japanese soldiers who jumped up to launch a charge. charge.

Less than ten seconds after the smile on the face of Captain Cao, who was doing the artillery shooting, a series of bullets were fired from the bunker. The charging Japanese infantry were all knocked to the ground before they could get very far. , after the smoke and dust dissipated, the bunker that was hit still stood there intact. The machine gun fire in the bunker only experienced a brief pause after being hit by the shell, and then quickly returned to its original state.

Second Lieutenant Kosaku Yamada cursed and ordered the [-]nd Infantry Artillery Detachment to continue firing. The [-]th Rapid-fire Artillery Detachment, which was already ready to fire, also joined the battle. The livid-faced Captain of the [-]nd Infantry Artillery Detachment, Sergeant Cao, used his excellent shooting skills. He fired continuously, firing four rounds of [-]mm delayed high-explosive grenades, three of which hit directly, but the destructive effect after hitting was exactly the same as the first hit bomb, with no actual destructive effect at all. Not even as good as the first time. At least when the bunker was hit for the first time, there was a brief pause in the machine gun fire in the bunker. However, after the explosion of several subsequent hits, there was not even the slightest pause in the machine gun fire in the bunker.

咚

咚

Next to the [-]nd Infantry Artillery Detachment, the [-] Rapid-Fire Cannons were also firing continuously. Unfortunately, their shooting effect was even worse. The [-] Rapid-Fire Cannons actually faced the same dilemma as the Japanese light and heavy machine guns.

The Type 37 [-]mm rapid-fire gun itself is a flat-firing artillery. It is mainly used for anti-tank and machine gun fire points on the surface of the strike position. Using this artillery to shoot the shooting ports of the sixth company bunker that are either particularly low or particularly high is better than using light and heavy machine guns. Blocking the bunker's firing port was even more difficult.

Except for the shell casings of [-] explosive shells left all over the ground, the [-] rapid-fire cannon did not cause any actual damage to the bunker of the [-]th company. The armor-piercing projectile could not cause structural damage to the bunker at all. Therefore, the gunners of the Japanese Army's [-]th Rapid-Fire Artillery Unit all chose explosive bombs. The only effective way to attack the bunker with explosive bombs was to shoot at the bunker's firing port, and use the shrapnel generated when the grenade exploded to kill the machine gunners in the bunker. However, due to the tricky angle of the bunker's nozzle, it was impossible to hit the target. I could only use explosive shells one after another to shoot at the outer layer of the bunker. A [-] blasting grenade hit it, in addition to removing a layer of floating soil from the outer layer of the bunker. In addition, it cannot cause any actual killing effect.

Second Lieutenant Kosaku Yamada, who was directing the artillery fire, saw that the Type [-] Infantry Cannon and the Type [-] Rapid-Fire Cannon hit one after another, but the actual destructive effect was the same as scratching an itch. After swearing a few words, Kosaku Yamada immediately stopped the Type [-] that was shooting. Infantry Artillery Detachment. "Stop shooting, stop shooting, and quickly put on shrapnel shells with instant fuzes. The Chinese bunkers are very strong. They are definitely not ordinary civil structure bunkers. Use shrapnel. Don't hit the bunker directly. Shoot in front of the bunker. Use shrapnel. Steel balls kill enemy shooters hiding in bunkers, hurry up."

Seeing that direct bombardment with artillery shells was hopeless, Yamada changed his tactics. The [-] Infantry Cannon was equipped with shrapnel shells containing small steel balls, which were generally used to deal with infantry group charges. Once the shell exploded, a large number of steel balls were preloaded in the shell. They will scatter and fly away, killing and injuring infantry in large numbers.

Yamada could only do this as a helpless move at this time, hoping that after the shrapnel exploded near the bunker, some steel balls would be able to hit the bunker's shooting port, thereby killing and injuring the shooters in the bunker.

"Quickly change the shrapnel."

The Japanese gunners fumbled and took out the shrapnel from the ammunition box, installed the quick-fire signal tube, and opened fire again.

"Fire!"

This time, it was Lieutenant Yamada Kosaku who pulled the match himself.

But at the moment when the shells just flew out of the artillery, something happened on the battlefield that stunned the Japanese gunners. First, the sound of artillery suddenly rang out from the Chinese army's position, and then several mortar shells were fired, including Two of them landed among the Japanese infantry, and one exploded more than thirty meters directly in front of the infantry artillery unit's firing position.

The mortar shell that exploded at this distance would naturally not affect the Japanese artillery behind the infantry, but the position where the mortar shell exploded happened to be directly opposite the flight trajectory of the shrapnel shell just fired by the [-]nd Infantry Cannon.

Due to technical problems, the explosion effect of the [-] mortar shells equipped by the Chinese army is very similar to that of shrapnel. While killing many Japanese infantry, it also sent a lot of pig iron shell fragments into the air. The high-speed flying [-] infantry cannon The shrapnel inevitably collided with the fragments and air waves of the [-] mortar shell.

The quick-fire fuses of artillery shells are extremely sensitive. A shell equipped with a quick-fire fuse will detonate directly if it hits a leaf or a pebble, not to mention shrapnel, let alone the high-speed flying August [-]nd mortar. The artillery shell shrapnel, so the artillery shell fired by the [-]nd Infantry Artillery Unit that was supposed to explode on the Chinese army position exploded as soon as it was fired.

The moment the shrapnel exploded, a large number of prefabricated steel balls exploded. These steel balls exploded everywhere and were scattered in the air waves. There is no doubt that the Japanese infantry lying down and shooting below the position where the shell exploded in the air was The biggest victims of this bombing were at least 20 Japanese soldiers who were directly hit by steel balls and died. A dozen Japanese infantrymen were seriously injured. Some had their arms broken, and some were hit everywhere. trunk.

The Japanese troops who were lying on the ground and shooting were all focused on dealing with the firepower of the [-]th company's bunker machine guns. They never expected that there would be such a disaster in mid-air from our own artillery. After the explosion, the [-]st Infantry Squadron's There was a tragic scene in the attack queue. There were injured soldiers covering their wounds and wailing for help. There were frightened recruits shouting for veterans and companions. Some even turned around and cursed at the artillerymen behind the infantry, and even raised their rifles and said: pose to fire at the artillery.

Just a few of the Chinese Army's [-] mortar shells and the [-] infantry artillery shrapnel that exploded destroyed the combat effectiveness of almost a squadron of the first infantry squadron in just a few seconds.

"Asshole, are the cannons of the brigade blind? If you don't attack the enemy, you will attack the imperial army."

"Baga, Baga, you should commit seppuku. You are the sinners of the empire."

"Help, help, medics, come and save me, my hand is about to be broken."

"Doctor, doctor, come and help."

Second Lieutenant Kosaku Yamada and the gunners either looked pale or frightened, looking at the tragic situation of the infantry in front with livid faces. In the coordinated operations of infantry and artillery, highly sensitive prompt-fire tube shells were used, and explosions were common. In the previous mountain attack operations on the west line of Xinkou, artillery shells equipped with prompt-fire tubes often exploded because they hit leaves or trees and other plants. However, this was in complex terrain, and the explosion occurred. The shells that exploded were all explosive grenades, but the ones that exploded today were shrapnel shells.

The initiator of this explosion, the officers and soldiers of the [-]nd Mortar Platoon behind the Sixth Company's position, were also stunned. Sergeant Xu, who was acting as the platoon, had been searching for the target after receiving He Wei's free fire order, forcing him to The officers and soldiers of the artillery platoon were greatly boosted in morale after receiving encouragement from He Wei. Sergeant Xu, the acting platoon leader, also received He Wei's promise to recommend him as an officer. The officers and soldiers of this platoon all wanted to have a good fight on the battlefield. Show it to He Wei.

Therefore, Sergeant Xu did not rush to order the two [-] mortars in the platoon to fire. Instead, he first looked for valuable targets. In this way, the Japanese infantry artillery that fired at the sixth company bunker was just like this. The second mortar platoon was targeted. The first round of shelling by the [-]nd mortar platoon actually did not intend to hit the Japanese infantry, but was directed at the Japanese infantry artillery. Unfortunately, due to the [-]nd mortar's own The accuracy was not enough, and all the mortar shells hitting the Japanese infantry artillery missed. However, they accidentally detonated the shrapnel shells fired by the Japanese infantry artillery.

In the mortar position, the officers and soldiers of the [-]nd Mortar Platoon were also dumbfounded. It was the first time they discovered that the shells they fired were so powerful. Sergeant Xu was also the same. He looked at it with his binoculars in stunned silence. Looking at the tragic sight of the Japanese troops wailing in the distance, with his technical knowledge, he did not know the specific reason for the explosion. He only knew that after he ordered the fire, the Japanese troops were bombed into this ghostly appearance.

At the same time, Sergeant Xu thought of He Wei's promise, and secretly thought in his heart that the shocking power of this shot would be enough for Chief He to recommend him to be promoted to an officer, right?

"Brother Xu, how come our [-] mortar shells are so powerful this time? They have never been fired like this before." A corporal approached Sergeant Xu and asked.

Sergeant Xu didn't know the reason why he died in the bombing, and he didn't want to lose face in front of the brothers around him, so he waved his hands without looking back and shouted: "Brothers, stop looking, Platoon Leader He told us to shoot freely , keep beating me, beat me hard!"

(End of this chapter)