The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 132 Artillery fires!
Upon learning of this unexpected situation, Goto Juro quickly called for Harada Jiro. After Harada Jiro learned the news that the Chinese army suddenly rushed out of Yanzhuang, he was also very angry. He did not expect that the Chinese army responded so quickly. After fighting for such a long time, the defenders inside Zhuangzi didn't even make any movement, but now they suddenly rushed out.

The crux of the problem must still be that damn Chinese army commander. Jiro Harada thought of the report sent by the observers who launched the balloon, and he could guess the reasons why the Chinese army rushed out.

"Sir, I think the school-fired balloons must have exposed our army's artillery bombardment intention. Now the artillery bombardment must start immediately, and the cavalry must be dispatched immediately to outflank the enemy's flanks and try to intercept and kill some Chinese troops on the road."

"Okay, let's do that."

Goto Juro immediately gave the order to the artillery position and the second cavalry regiment to attack in advance. He Wei's vigilance once again disrupted the Japanese army's planned deployment.

In the Japanese artillery position, the temporary artillery group commander Kakihara Isao learned that the Chinese troops in Zhuangzi suddenly retreated, and immediately ordered the bombardment to start and made temporary adjustments to the artillery fire plan. With He Wei's twists and turns, the Japanese artillery deployment also followed. It was all chaos. The original plan was that the Japanese army would bombard Yanzhuang with two large-caliber siege cannons, and use the remaining mountain cannons and light howitzers to suppress and fire at the main position of the Sixth Company. But now the Chinese army has rushed out of Zhuangzi. In order to clean up With this group of Chinese troops, Isao Kakihara could only give up the bombardment of the main position of the [-]th company, and instead concentrated all artillery to bomb Yanzhuang.

Under the guidance of the school launch balloon, the gunners of the two Type 150 [-]mm heavy cannons adjusted the shooting elements, and constantly adjusted the pitch handwheel of the artillery. Pack after pack of sandbags were pressed by the gunners on both sides of the cannon. The large open frame in the hoe pit was loaded with huge Type [-] sharp explosive grenades. Then, following the squadron leader's order, a ball of orange appeared from the muzzles of the two large-caliber heavy artillery. of flame.

Boom-boom

After flying nearly 500 meters, the two large-caliber heavy artillery grenades landed and exploded. Thanks to the excellent observation skills of the Japanese military observers, one artillery shell flew over Yanzhuang and exploded in the open space [-] meters behind Yanzhuang. , and another shell actually hit the main gate wall of Yanzhuang without any bias, and a huge sharp explosive grenade hit the wall.

In an instant, there was a violent explosion, and a thick cloud of yellow and black smoke rose from the ground. The huge impact of the sharp blasting grenade directly tore a large gap in the city wall above the main entrance. The words Yanzhuang were written on it. The wooden plaque with large characters was torn to pieces. At this time, the main force of the third battalion had just withdrawn from Yanzhuang, but the heavy machine gun company at the end of the team had not yet left, and the Type 40 sharp blasting grenade equipped with the Type [-] siege gun The killing radius was [-] meters. With two screams, several soldiers from the heavy machine gun company of the [-]rd Battalion and a carriage pulling ammunition were blown into the sky. The mules, horses, soldiers, ammunition, and carriage were blown into the sky. , all were lifted into the air in the explosion.

The soldiers of the third battalion who rushed out looked at this scene in horror. Even the commander of the third battalion, Zhang Yongbin, looked at the plume of smoke and the tragic death of the soldiers with a pale face. They had never been hit by such a large-caliber artillery. After the explosion, he was extremely grateful to He Wei. If He Wei hadn't informed him of the retreat in time, not so many people would have died now.

Boom - The second round of bombardment followed. This time, not only the large-caliber siege guns, but also the Type 75 [-]mm mountain cannon and the Type [-] [-]mm light howitzer also joined in.

Suddenly, Yanzhuang was covered by a dense rain of artillery shells. The residence that the people had built with countless manpower and material resources was completely destroyed by steel artillery shells in just half a minute. A 75mm grenade hit the bomb storage in Zhuangzi. As a result, more than a dozen boxes of long-handled grenades that were not taken away were detonated. The violent explosion of artillery shells and grenades flattened the large houses where ammunition was stored, and thick black smoke rose in the air.

"Stop, stop, all units, count the casualties."

After leading his team to run wildly for two miles, Zhang Yongbin, who was in danger of winning, stopped the entire battalion's march out of breath. Chen Zhen beside him was also exhausted. In desperation, the two of them didn't even ride their horses. Soon, , the march of the third battalion stopped, and each company began to count the number of people. These hundreds of officers and soldiers who had survived the disaster finally got a chance to breathe.

Many soldiers were slumped on the ground and gasping for air. For a while, the sounds of curses, shouts, celebrations, and the sound of people neighing and horses hooting were heard one after another in the ranks of the third battalion. Many soldiers were congratulating themselves on their good luck. He was not at the end of the line, so he could survive and not be devoured by artillery fire like his comrades who were at the end of the line.

Suddenly, a rumbling roar came from the west of the third battalion. For a moment, the ground seemed to tremble. Chen Zhen realized something was wrong and hurriedly raised his binoculars. It turned out that the roar was the hooves of a large number of cavalry running fast. After trampling on the earth, Chen Zhen hurriedly turned his telescope and looked to the west. He saw a large black mass of Japanese cavalry suddenly appearing on the flat plain, and they were rapidly advancing here under the guidance of the sun flag.

Just when the Japanese army launched an artillery bombardment, the Second Cavalry Regiment also took advantage of this moment to dispatch. In order to outflank the enemy and try to annihilate the defenders in Yanzhuang on the plain, the Second Cavalry Regiment mobilized all its mobile forces.

A cavalry squadron of more than 200 people, a cavalry heavy machine gun squad, and nearly [-] fat and strong Japanese horses. The fierce Japanese cavalry, carrying Type [-] cavalry rifles and waving Type [-] sabers, roared and charged. Coming over, the cavalrymen of the heavy machine gun squad followed behind, dragging two Taisho three-year cavalry heavy machine guns.

"It's the cavalry, the cavalry is coming."

Chen Zhen said, and the soldiers of the third battalion also saw the smoke and dust brought up by the horses' hooves. The Japanese cavalry could not be counted as many, there were only more than 300 people in full force, but the momentum was huge.

Many soldiers of the Third Battalion looked at the getting closer and closer black line on the distant horizon and felt a sense of fear in their hearts. Although the cavalry gradually withdrew from the stage of history with the emergence of heavy machine guns and rapid-fire cannons, in the Chinese military The technology is still very useful on the battlefield with backward technology. Looking at the Japanese cavalry getting closer and closer, swept by the wind and dust, Zhang Yongbin stabilized the troops first, and then asked Chen Zhen: "Old Chen, you are the highest commander now. Officer, what should I do, please get a charter."

Chen Zhen gritted his teeth and said: "There are hundreds of people on the plain now. It's useless to run. Let's fire a signal bomb in the sky to send a signal to the main position. That kid He Wei has many ways to fight. There is no other way out now." , we can only point at him. In addition, we put the heavy machine gun in front and all the brothers are ready to shoot. At worst, if we fight with them, we will die with a few backers."

Chen Zhen had no choice, and Zhang Yongbin also knew the truth. It was impossible for a two-legged person to outrun a four-legged one, let alone the third battalion carrying so much baggage.

If they run away and are charged by the Japanese cavalry, the soldiers of this battalion will really die. It is better to use firepower to fight. So, the third battalion took action, and the three soldiers in front took action. The infantry company immediately retreated, allowing the heavy machine gun company at the rear to push up. The heavy machine gun company pushed up to the middle position. Six Jinling-made Type 27 heavy machine guns were lined up, advancing hand in hand with the heavy machine gun company. The entire infantry company also lay down, placing the light machine guns of each squad on the front line.Twenty-seven Czech light machine guns and six Type [-] heavy machine guns from three infantry companies were lined up to form a temporary fire line. Two Jinling-made [-] mortars from the battalion's mortar platoon were also set up. When they got up, an infantry battalion opened up its formation and was ready to meet the Japanese cavalry brigade.

"All of them, get bayonet!"

Chen Zhen shouted, and the National Army riflemen of the third battalion took out bayonets from their waists and put them on their guns. Looking at the rifles with bayonets in the hands of the soldiers behind him, Chen Zhen calmed down a little and turned his eyes to the sixth company. position.

"He Wei, it all depends on you."

In the command post of the Sixth Company, He Wei lived up to Chen Zhen's expectations. He had already thought about how to deal with this group of Japanese cavalry that suddenly appeared. The Japanese cavalry moved very secretly, directly from the flank of He Wei's position. Interspersed over, he wanted to penetrate through the gap between the main position of the Sixth Company and Yanzhuang and deal with the Third Battalion. How could He Wei give him this chance? A card was played.

"Captain Cao, I leave this cavalry to you."

"Don't worry, brother."

The last card in He Wei's hand was artillery. He opened the phone to the artillery position. In just two sentences, without further words, He Wei hung up the phone. He had hidden the artillery for so long. Of course, It's not Bai Zang's. With just one word, the artillery commander knew what to do.

Hum, the Japanese horses are stronger than the Mongolian horses of our national army, right?The cavalry are awesome, right?After a while, I wanted to see who was more powerful, the artillery or the cavalry. After hanging up the phone, He Wei looked at the menacing Japanese cavalry with his binoculars and thought so.

In the artillery command post, the artillery battalion commander Cao Huiguo hung up the phone and connected the phone to the two subordinate artillery companies to convey the battle order to shoot the Japanese cavalry. In the artillery position, two Bofors Mountain cannons After receiving the order to fire on the Japanese army, they immediately started taking action. The gunners, who had been gearing up for a long time, lifted off the camouflage net and branches covering the artillery and pushed the artillery into the firing position.

Thanks to the long-term battle preparations, an omnidirectional 360-degree shooting fortification was built on the shooting position of each mountain gun. Soon, the gunners of the eight combat artillery squads adjusted according to the direction of the Japanese cavalry attack. The artillery fire was directed at the Japanese cavalry assault column, while the observers of the two artillery batteries used steering wheels and scissor-shaped artillery mirrors.

A few days ago, the observers and calculations of this artillery battalion had completed the artillery geodesic operations near the main position of the [-]th company. Therefore, the observation and calculation of various shooting parameters were quickly completed. The battalion's subordinates Among the [-]th and [-]th artillery companies, the [-]th artillery company that was the first to move was a step ahead. The second lieutenant observer at the company headquarters reported the calculated shooting parameters to the two subordinate combat artillery platoons through the phone. Then, there was a loud sound. The combat firing command sounded on the position of the fourth artillery company.

"No. [-] charge, grenade, fire the signal tube... wait for order to fire one round."

At this time, on the firing positions of each artillery squad, the gunners with clear division of labor will take out the shell warheads and brass cartridges of the Bofors Mountain Cannon, start to install the gunpowder packs and fuses according to the shooting distance, and then place the shell warheads and brass cartridges After the barrels were pushed into the breech of the artillery one after another, with the sound of the semi-automatic cross-clamp breech closing and the sound of the gun squad leader's reply command, the four Bofors Mountain Cannons were fully ready to fire.

After the fourth artillery battery was prepared, the fifth artillery battery followed closely behind and was also ready to fire. The black muzzles of the eight completed Bofors 75mm mountain guns invariably pointed at the same area. The artillery squad responsible for firing The squad leader pulled the match rope of the artillery, just waiting for the company commander's firing order, while the observers of the two artillery companies closely followed the Japanese cavalry through the scissor-shaped artillery mirror. ． ． ． ． ．
"Onboard, kill!"

The Japanese cavalry launched an assault with howling cries. A squadron of cavalry formed four horizontal lines in small groups, riding their horses forward quickly. The rows of waving sabers in their hands also glowed under the sunlight. A blinding white light appeared. At this time, after continuous assaults, the forward of the Japanese cavalry squadron was less than two kilometers away from the third battalion. These Japanese cavalry had not participated in a battle since they arrived at Xinkou, so they were very energetic. Looking at the Chinese troops on the open ground in front is like looking at meat waiting to be cut on a cutting board.

The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer. In the position of the third battalion that could not be called a position at all, the soldiers looked at the Japanese cavalry rushing towards them through the dirt. They were all sweating nervously. Some of them had weapons in their hands. The rifle was shaking constantly, and the canvas belt of the Type [-] heavy machine gun was shaking with the ground. Zhang Yongbin, the commander of the [-]rd Battalion, held the shell gun in his hand tightly, thinking about how to prevent the Japanese saber from piercing his body. , how many backers can he pull on?

Chen Zhen on the side was also sweating profusely, and he had only one thought in his mind - why doesn't He Wei think of a solution?
Soon, his expectations will become reality.

When the distance between the third battalion and the Japanese cavalry was less than 75 kilometers, in the rear artillery position, the commander of the fourth artillery company suddenly shouted on the phone to open the phone. Then, four artillery staff sergeants pulled the four-door The Bofors [-]mm mountain gun pulled the match rope, and orange flames burst out from the muzzles of the four artillery guns. A few seconds later, the commander of the fifth artillery company also issued an opening command, and four more Bofors guns were fired. The mountain cannon opened fire.

Eight explosive points exploded in the charging queue of the Japanese cavalry. The Qiwushan artillery shells that used instant-fire signal tubes exploded with a bright light. The brown soil flew away, people screamed and horses neighed, and groups of Japanese cavalry were blown away. , cut down by dense shrapnel.

The horses were wailing, the cavalry were screaming, and clouds of blood mist erupted in the Japanese cavalry's impact queue. Only a few dozen seconds had passed since the first round of shelling, and the two artillery batteries started a new round of salvo fire. Sixteen shells before and after all landed accurately in the Japanese cavalry's charging formation. More than half of the more than 300 cavalrymen were killed or injured in less than 2 minutes.

The 60-meter-high killing radius of the Bofors Mountain artillery shells can ensure that every Japanese cavalry can enjoy imported fragments from Sweden. In the face of modern high-power firearms, this overly traditional cavalry assault tactics looks like that pale and weak.

(End of this chapter)