The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 436: Elite Japanese troops crushed by artillery fire
In the temporary artillery command post on Banbi Mountain, after receiving He Wei's extremely sudden order to open fire, the commander of the temporary artillery group, Chen Xinsheng, with an extremely ferocious expression, kept shouting into the telephone transmitter leading to various artillery positions: "Open!"

"open!"

The shells fired by 48 artillery pieces of various types, which had already been aimed and prepared for firing, flew for a short time and landed accurately on Ground 201.

With one loud "boom boom boom" after another, a large number of 75mm instantaneous blasting grenades, 150mm delayed blasting grenades and 120mm naval gun armor-piercing grenades fell like raindrops and exploded.

Seeing that the Japanese troops who had captured the high ground had occupied the trench positions left by the defenders, Chen Xinsheng naturally made extremely careful arrangements of the types of ammunition for the artillery in the artillery group.

The 75mm grenade with an instantaneous fuse exploded immediately after hitting the 201 high ground, producing dense shrapnel flying everywhere, sweeping across the Japanese infantry in the trenches and the Japanese infantry artillery squadron and mortar squadron that had set up artillery firing positions behind the trenches.

The 150mm delayed-fuze explosive grenades and 120mm naval gun armor-piercing shells, which had the ability to destroy fortifications, hit the ridge trench fortifications on the top of the high ground. Some hit the bottom of the trenches, penetrated into the soil layer several centimeters thick before exploding, and created large holes in the fortifications.

Some of them used steel alloy bullets to embed into the civil engineering fortifications and machine gun nests built by the officers and soldiers of the 9th Division in the trenches, uprooting the fortifications and machine gun nests as well as the Japanese light and heavy machine gun groups that had just moved in, and blowing them into the sky. One by one they disintegrated in deafening explosions, and broken bricks, tiles, stones and mud rushed into the sky and splashed in all directions.

With the sudden rumbling of artillery fire in a short period of time, the originally extremely quiet Banbi Mountain seemed to be boiling. The muzzle winds produced by the rapidly firing artillery were like a gust of wind blowing across the top of Banbi Mountain. The powerful shock waves generated by the uniformly roaring guns as their bodies recoiled raised clouds of dust, which, together with the smoke from the muzzles and tails of artillery of various calibers, swept up into the sky from the top of Banbi Mountain.

Whether it was the gunners of the two mountain artillery companies of the assault corps artillery battalion, or the gunners of the artillery group formed by the assault corps artillery battalion, the mortar companies of various infantry battalions, the friendly 150mm heavy artillery battalion and the naval artillery team using captured Japanese mountain artillery, or the gunners of the friendly 150mm heavy artillery battalion and the naval artillery team, they all tried their best and scrambled to complete the artillery firing process of shooting, resetting, loading, and then shooting.

Using the Type 94 75mm mountain gun and Type 41 75mm mountain gun captured from the Japanese army, they threw shells captured from the Japanese army at Hill 201. The more special shooting sound of the Soviet-made 76mm mountain gun was mixed with the firing explosion sound of the 75mm mountain gun, and they were also firing at the fastest shooting speed. The gunners operating mountain guns of different calibers and models seemed to be engaged in a competition of firing speed.

The eight 8mm howitzers hidden in the permanent artillery firing fortifications and the 150mm rapid-fire guns of the naval artillery team continued to perform stably, steadily firing heavy large-caliber grenades. Every time a bomb hit the 120 high ground, there was a dull explosion sound like a mountain falling down on one's head.

Artillery pieces of various calibers spewed out angry flames at the same time. Shells covered the sky like a meteor shower, enveloping the top of Hill 201 in a sea of ​​smoke and fire.

When the dense artillery shells landed, the sound was heard and the smoke rushed straight into the sky. The entire mountain of Hill 201 was shaking and swaying violently.

高地上的日军步兵在惨叫声中成片成片的被撕成碎片，放列在201高地顶端战壕后方的两门日军92式步兵炮和12门94式90毫米迫击炮很快就被扫荡一空，轰成了废铁。

The officers and soldiers of the Japanese infantry artillery squad and mortar squadron who operated the artillery suffered heavy casualties. Countless people were shot into bloody pulps along with the artillery they operated by the dense shrapnel.

In the command post on Hill 230, the 9th Division Commander Zheng Zuomin looked at the shocking scene on Hill 201 in front of him, his heart filled with excitement and shock.

The 201 Highland not far away had been completely covered by artillery fire. Dense artillery shells exploded with brilliant sparks and countless billowing flames. Mud and rubble were blown into the air by the violent shock wave and then shot everywhere, making "crackling" sounds far and wide. The air was filled with smoke and shrapnel flew everywhere. The highland was shaking constantly with the sound of explosions.

The scene of 48 artillery pieces bombarding the Japanese army, the hot air waves, and the deafening explosions brought Zheng Zuomin not only shock, but also a reminder.

Just now, looking at the large number of Japanese troops attacking Hill 201, Zheng Zuomin became "greedy" for a moment. After all the Japanese troops attacking the hill reached the top of the hill, he decided to notify He Wei to open fire, hoping to attract more Japanese troops to open fire again.

However, He Wei's decisive order to open fire and the fierce artillery bombardment on the high ground quickly pulled Zheng Zuomin out of his hope of annihilating more Japanese troops with artillery fire. After He Wei's actual reminder with artillery fire, Zheng Zuomin realized that he was playing with fire and almost lost a good opportunity because of greed.

So Zheng Zuomin no longer hesitated and shouted: "Detonate the explosives and start firing the mortars!"

The adjutant on one side grabbed the two connected telephone transmitters at the same time in the hot air waves that continued to pour into the observation post and shouted: "Go! Detonate the explosives, and open fire on the mortars!"

The 201 Highland, which was covered by artillery fire and rain of bullets, soon began to tremble more violently. Following Zheng Zuomin's order, the 9th Division's direct engineering battalion used more than a dozen engineer electric-controlled detonators to quickly detonate the explosives buried in the trenches on top of the 201 Highland.

In an instant, countless explosion points shining with yellow-white flames suddenly exploded from the trenches on the top of Hill 201. Some of the explosion points were at the bottom of the trenches, some were on the cliffs of the trenches, and some were in the hidden parts of the trenches.

The huge explosion caused by the 9th Division's pre-buried explosives in the trenches caused a large number of Japanese soldiers to board the homemade planes directly. They were blown away by the shock wave generated by the explosion of the explosives under their feet and torn into pieces by artillery shells.

The combined explosion of intensive artillery fire and explosives also caused several bunkers, machine gun nests, and even large communication trenches in the trenches on top of Hill 201 to collapse, burying many nearby Japanese troops in the earth and rocks.

The 201th Division's mortar group, which was stationed on Hill 230 not far from Hill 9, soon joined the battle.

Boom
Boom
20门民20年式82毫米迫击炮接二连三的发出了爆响声，一颗颗82毫米迫击炮榴弹从230高地的顶端沿着高抛的弹道射出，重重的砸在了201高地顶端的战壕。

These 20 mortars are all the usable mortars currently owned by the four infantry regiments of the 9th Division. Seeing the artillery group on the hill showing their power one after another, the mortar gunners on Hill 230 were not willing to lag behind while shouting with excitement, and they loaded and fired at the fastest speed.

In the position, compared with the thunderous bombardment of the 75mm mountain guns, 150mm howitzers and 120mm naval guns, the explosive power of the 82mm mortar shells seemed much gentler. In the smoke of large-caliber barreled artillery, the explosive effect of the 82mm mortar shells was like a drop in the ocean, completely insignificant, but the killing efficiency of the mortar shells was not bad at all. The height advantage of Hill 230 over Hill 201 and the curved trajectory of the mortars made it easy for the 9 mortar squads of the 20th Division to fire 82mm mortar shells into the trenches at the top of Hill 201.

The 201mm instantaneous fuze mortar grenade exploded accurately in the trench at the top of Hill 82, emitting a large number of shrapnel, which added a considerable killing effect to the fierce bombardment of the half-mountain artillery group and swept down many Japanese soldiers fleeing in the trenches.

The 9th Division's 20 mortar groups fired a large number of ordinary explosive grenades and a small number of 82mm yellow phosphorus bombs at the same time. After the explosion, these mortar shells filled with yellow phosphorus quickly ignited multiple fireballs and thick white poisonous smoke in the trenches at the top of Hill 201.

At this point, all 48 artillery pieces of the Banbi Mountain Artillery Group and the 9th Division's mortars and pre-buried explosives had fired or exploded.

而在高地上的日军第6师团步兵第11旅团步兵第13联队下属的步兵第3大队全部，以及配属该大队的日军第6师团直属工兵第6联队的一个工兵中队，配属给第6师团的独立迫击炮第4大队的一个迫击炮中队将近两千名日军步兵，炮兵，工兵全部陷入了密集弹雨和火海之中。

The Banbishan artillery group and the 9th Division's mortars were frantically spraying shells. On Hill 201, after the shells fell to the ground, continuous "boom boom" explosions rang out. Sharp shrapnel flew everywhere, ruthlessly tearing apart the officers and soldiers of the elite 6th Division of the Japanese Army, which was known for its ferocity.

The rumbling sounds of explosions and the screams of the Japanese soldiers were intertwined. The exploding bombs splashed thick smoke, flames and fire on the high ground. Shrapnel whizzed around with brilliant sparks and white smoke. The air was filled with the harsh and sharp sounds of different shells passing through.

The Japanese army's guns, mortars, and infantry guns were shattered by the exploding shrapnel and violent air waves. Iron fragments flew everywhere. A large number of Japanese soldiers were either killed by shrapnel and knocked to the ground, or were directly blasted to pieces, instantly turning into a meat paste mixed with blood and mud. The top of the high ground almost became a purgatory on earth.

However, for the Chinese army officers and soldiers who suffered from the ravages of Japanese artillery fire, the scenes taking place on Hill 201 were undoubtedly wonderful scenery, and the screams of the Japanese army and the deafening sound of artillery fire were undoubtedly the most beautiful music.

Soon, cheers from officers and soldiers of the 230th Division were heard from several high grounds closer to Hill 201, led by Hill 9. Soon, wave after wave of cheers rang out.

From the high ground guarded by the 9th Division to the high ground guarded by the 57th Division in the distance, the officers and soldiers' heartfelt cheers rang out like thunder.

In the past few days, countless officers and soldiers of the 9th and 57th Divisions have been killed by the Japanese artillery fire. Now that the officers and soldiers see the power of their own artillery fire, they feel very happy.

At this time, the commander of the 201th Infantry Brigade of the 6th Division, Katsuji Imamura, and the commander of the 11th Infantry Regiment, Shoichi Yasuda, who were watching the battle at the command post below Hill 13, were heartbroken.

As soon as the order to retreat was given to the troops on the high ground, the Chinese army's artillery fire came over. These two events, as well as the artillery fire from the high ground, seemed to be mocking the two commanders of the Japanese Army's top elite division.

Suddenly, a blood-soaked Japanese lieutenant ran into the command post in a hurry. He staggered to Imamura Katsuji, bowed, and said in a mournful voice, "Sir, the Chinese artillery fire was too fierce. We did not send your order to retreat. When we were advancing to the top of the hill, we were hit by two artillery grenades fired by the Chinese army. Only I returned with six officers and soldiers. The others all died!"

The lieutenant obviously brought another piece of bad news. Several officers and a dozen soldiers who had just sent out the messenger were almost all killed by stray bullets fired by Chinese artillery before they could even climb up Hill 201!

"Bag! Bag!"

Katsuji Imamura couldn't bear it any longer and could only curse.

The situation he was facing now was extremely embarrassing. Faced with the Japanese troops who were being bombarded on the high ground, he was unable to convey the retreat order to them, let alone provide them with effective fire support.

The main firepower currently suppressing the Japanese troops on the high ground was the Chinese artillery on the hill, but he had no effective means to counter the Chinese artillery on the hill, so he could only "look on and sigh."

However, Katsuji Imamura did not need to worry about the problem of the retreat order not being conveyed. Even the elite and fierce officers and soldiers of the Japanese 6th Division could not withstand the bombardment of 48 mountain cannons, howitzers, naval guns and 20 mortars on the high ground like living targets.

After losing all the heavy weapons and supporting weapons they carried, including Type 92 heavy machine guns, Type 92 infantry guns, Type 94 mortars, and more than half of their officers and soldiers were killed or wounded, the Japanese troops on the high ground took the initiative to begin retreating.

The Japanese army, which had been showing off its might just now, collapsed in an instant. Nearly two thousand Japanese troops who had just captured and occupied Hill 201 did not engage in any battle or contact with the Chinese army's infantry. Just like that, they were directly defeated by the Chinese army, whose firepower was always inferior to theirs, with simple artillery bombardment!
On Hill 201, which was surrounded by thick smoke and glittering flames, streams of yellow figures and people emerged, managed to break out amid the brilliant artillery fire on the hill, and madly rushed down from the front of Hill 201 along the route they had come from during the attack.

However, even though they collapsed completely and began to retreat, the Japanese troops on the high ground still demonstrated the elite strength of the 6th Division. Although they had collapsed and retreated, they did not disperse like a group of ducks running around, but instead rushed towards the bottom of the high ground in groups of three, five, or dozens of people under the command of non-commissioned officers and officers.

Retreat is not an easy task.

Fires flickered frequently near the top of Hill 201. Amid the rumbling of artillery fire, shells from half of the mountain artillery group blew away pieces of flesh and bodies among the Japanese soldiers who had just climbed out of the trenches at the top of Hill 201.

The one-sided battle was extremely brutal!

(End of this chapter)