The Iron and Steel Frenzy of the Republic of China

Chapter Machine Gun Hell III

The power of the Maxim series machine guns has been fully demonstrated in the First Battle of the Somme, and its reputation is well known to the world, while the 71 version of the American Browning once created a record of continuous shooting for 4 minutes

As long as there is water, as long as there are bullets, unless the barrel is scrapped, it will continue to shoot constant fire at a rate of 450-600 rounds per minute

One machine gun in each of the 20 fortresses, under Zhu Bin's order, fired violently in strict accordance with the previously set scale, no matter how bad the front view was. Fire at least 250 rounds forward

There is no concept of saving bullets at all. Twenty tongues of flame sweep across the surface of the fan. The bullets flying at high speed have a range of 1000 meters. Wherever they pass, they are like sharp sickles, tearing up all the crops, plants, stones and soil on the ground. The howling sound of bullet rain hit the Japanese forward a hundred meters away like a wave, and they were caught off guard. Three or forty people were killed or injured on the spot, and the rest fell to the ground without hesitation.

The observation post in front quickly reported the situation to the headquarters, and Sakamoto Masaemon nodded lightly: "As expected, it is the richest Chinese army! It's just that there are twenty heavy machine guns. American machine guns and bullets are expensive. Such a launch speed, even the Imperial Army can’t afford it.”

Chief of Staff Sasaki Kira said playfully: "Yes, fortunately, there is only this small army in the whole of China. Otherwise, it would be really troublesome. Your Excellency, shall we launch a general offensive?"

Masaemon Sakamoto shook his head: "No, the commander of this unit is a cunning guy. They are not only prepared for this. According to intelligence, they have at least one hundred machine guns, and their artillery has not yet moved. Continue to fire. reconnaissance"

"Hi"

The artillery fire continued to bombard, aiming at a row of fortresses scattered all over the place, smashing head and face, dropping at least a thousand rounds of 75 shells intermittently, and a hundred rounds of 150 heavy artillery shells

The corners of Sasaki's mouth twitched as he watched, feeling distressed ah, the cannon fired, the golden ten thousand taels, that's definitely not nonsense.The price of a cannon is at least more than 1 U.S. dollars, a round of 75 shells costs more than ten dollars, and a round of large-caliber shells costs more than 50 U.S. dollars. A thousand rounds is tens of thousands. This is just a serious investigation. The equipment, one thousand rounds of shells for one gun, and one artillery brigade will cost at least four and a half million U.S. dollars

Even Japan can hardly afford such a cost. China...is enough for them to build a division of troops. One cannon and one rifle are gone. They can only hear the sound. Poor countries can't afford it.

In the fortress ahead, Wang Haiqing slapped the dust on his head and said cursingly: "Why is his grandmother's little devil so generous today? He really paid for it! Those bastards in the back are really calm and don't fire yet."

Not only he was cursing, but all the soldiers whose ears were buzzing from the cannonballs were complaining, it's not like we didn't have it, why should we call the little devil so arrogant?

Muttering, the cannon went off but alas, not this way

After more than half an hour of preparation, the six cannons that were transferred to the river finally opened fire. The first six cannons on the bank of the Jia River, twelve 152 cannons, bombarded at full speed towards the two key passes where the Japanese army attacked and crossed the river. Soon after, the third The artillery position provides extended fire support. The roar of a heavy artillery is earth-shattering. A series of violent explosions are heard from more than ten kilometers away. It sounds strange and shocking.

"Order the 13th Regiment to initiate fire reconnaissance on the west side." Masaemon Sakamoto showed a clear expression on his face, and ordered the troops in Qian'an Zhengxi to advance.

Soon, the Japanese skirmish line that was advancing slowly on the other side suddenly accelerated their pace and rushed within a distance of 500 meters in a blink of an eye. The 20 fortresses in front of them burst into fierce machine gun fire, and another 20 heavy machine guns

forty

Masaemon Sakamoto frowned. The opponent was well prepared! Forty heavy machine guns, even burst fire, would consume thousands of rounds of ammunition per minute. How much reserve could they have?

"Continue fire reconnaissance" Facing the cunning enemy, no matter how careful you are, rushing into the opponent's position rashly, it is seriously irresponsible to the lives of the soldiers of the empire Tens of thousands of young lives were sacrificed like senior Xidian

To the east of Qian'an, the Japanese army of the 23rd Wing received an order to accelerate the impact like the previous two units, and drew out 20 heavy machine guns. Fortunately, the artillery fired a large number of smoke bombs to cover the shooting range, otherwise it would not only It's as simple as two or 30 casualties

Sixty heavy machine guns

Masaemon Sakamoto didn't calm down anymore. According to his understanding, the number of heavy machine guns in the squadron of the entire Great Wall defense line is far less dense, which is almost as large as that of a division of the Imperial Army. Not counting light machine guns, which account for a larger percentage

"Could it be that there are 120 light and heavy machine guns on the opposite side?"

Lieutenant General Sakamoto was taken aback by his own judgment. Could it be that such a number is more ferocious than an army facing the Great Wall, but is it true that all the machine guns of the enemy army are concentrated on the opposite side?In that case, things will be a bit difficult

In addition, the fortress on the opposite side seems to be very strong! After so long of shelling and reconnaissance, no one was found to be blown up. These guys really spent their money.

However, do you want to block the advance of the imperial army with such a fortress?So naive to see how much ammo you have to expend

"Stop shelling and order the front wing to launch further fire reconnaissance"

Must force out all the bottom lines of the opponent Even if they face each other head-on according to their plan, the victory will be controlled by the side with deeper calculations

The bombardment of the Japanese heavy artillery stopped suddenly, and only a small number of infantry artillery were left to bombard the fortifications piecemeal, aiming more and more accurately, while the Japanese infantry from three sides stood up again amidst sharp whistles, and launched a second attack

Zhu Bin saw it clearly, and ordered coldly: "The No. C machine gun team fires."

60 general-purpose machine guns "chug chug" were added to the blockade with burst fire. The rhythmic bullets were mixed in the continuous chain of fire from the [-] machine guns in front, which was particularly abrupt. The slight muzzle fireworks were clearly seen by the observation post in front of the Japanese army. Chu

120 light and heavy machine guns fired, and a steel storm blew up on the three sides of the front at least five kilometers in total. The Japanese army's charge collapsed immediately. After advancing less than 100 meters, hundreds of people were killed or injured, and they fell to the ground and continued to hide.

"One... 120 machine guns!" Chief of Staff Sasaki stuttered with his eyes widened.

This kind of firepower, the intensity of which has not been encountered for several months, really deserves to be the focus of the base camp. Doesn't this kind of firepower consume hundreds of thousands of bullets in an hour?Enough for a battle

Sakamoto Masaemon snorted coldly and said: "They really concentrated all the machine guns here and ordered the 45th Regiment to intensify their attack. If possible, they will try their best to break through the river crossing."

He is not so stupid to let everyone rush in one place. Winning the entire battle is the most important thing. As for whether to break through from the front or flank from the side, that is a matter of tactics

The attacking force of the Japanese army from You Gaotaizi and Ninja Kou suddenly exploded. More than 3000 people from the entire regiment, with the assistance of the infantry brigade, launched a fierce attack on the defenders of the 32nd Army regiments, which had almost no machine guns and cannons.

Although there was a heavy artillery assisted, the firing speed of the large-caliber artillery was too slow to stop the Japanese army's onslaught. Calls for help kept reaching the headquarters. I couldn't hold back my anger, and secretly regretted that I shouldn't have listened to Zhu Bin's tricks. If the line of defense was flawed, he would be blamed.

When the call came to the front line, Zhu Bin smiled and comforted him: "Commander, don't worry, the Japanese army will never be able to fight, and I will send all the heavy artillery to support it."

All the heavy artillery Shang Zhen was overjoyed. If all 36 152 cannons supported the past, forming a continuous echelon of firepower, the Japanese army would suffer huge casualties, and the defense there would be much easier.

"But, what are you going to do here? Isn't this going to reveal the details to the devil?"

Zhu Bin said confidently: "I want them to see clearly, otherwise how could they be willing to devote all their troops to attack?"

Shang Zhen felt a headache. He was a little uncomfortable with the twists and turns. He thought that Zhu Bin was following Zeng Guofan's example of "strengthening the stronghold and fighting a dull battle" and resisting the Japanese army's attack. But now it seems that the variables are real. There are too many Japanese soldiers who are cunning and unwilling to act, and Zhu Bin also has a bunch of coping methods.

Immediately afterwards, the remaining three heavy artillery positions, which had been silent all the time, all went into a frenzy. A total of 36 heavy artillery pieces continuously smashed shells at the attack point of the Japanese army at the maximum range, and immediately contained the offensive of the 45th Regiment on the spot.

The killing radius of the 152 cannon is as high as 30 meters. Basically, everything in a section must be cleared in one round. It is useless to lie on the ground. The entire area north of the Luan River with a width of [-] kilometers is a field, and there are two attack points. The terrain is relatively flat, but there are high mountains on the opposite side. The Japanese army will inevitably have to repeat the difficulty of attacking the front line of the Great Wall. What's more, it took more than half a month for the special forces to repair a bunch of fortifications

"He really hid the cannon. Fortunately, he listened to the warning from the navy, otherwise it would be very annoying."

The sudden bombardment of another pile of heavy artillery made Lieutenant General Sakamoto sweat on his forehead. He and the entire Kwantung Army generals always thought that the guys in the navy were making excuses for their failure, saying that the other party used freighters to pull several How could such a thing be possible when ten heavy artillery pieces sank the "Ball Mill"?The combination of freighters and army heavy artillery is ridiculous

But in the cold-mouthed battle, the appearance of a heavy artillery and the collapse of the mixed 1th brigade proved that it was by no means a joke. other tricks

This is also the reason why Sakamoto Masaemon has been reluctant to drive the army to attack for a long time.

The 12 fighter planes that had been raging in the Qian'an sky quickly discovered the bursts of fireworks when the heavy artillery was fired, found the artillery position hidden under the camouflage net, and swooped down without saying a word.

Around the artillery positions on the west bank of the river, the anti-aircraft firepower horses also covered with camouflage nets were fully fired. The heavy machine guns and the double-mounted 20 machine guns suddenly fired, blowing up three Japanese planes on the spot, and the rest dodged from left to right and hurried towards They swept the ground, but they didn't even hurt the opponent. They never imagined that these artillery positions were all sunken deep into the ground, surrounded by high and thick walls, and the shells were all inside the covered fortress. Hiding, unless they are hit directly with aerial bombs, otherwise they want to use their tattered 7.7 heavy machine guns to blow up, there is no door

It's a pity that the Japanese fighters didn't know this. They thought they were all like their own. The cannons were spread out on the ground, the shells and propellant were piled up, and the artillerymen were tossing and sweating with shirtless arms... They never saw that each 152 Next to the cannon, the person in charge of loading is pushing a small cart, pushes the shell over and raises it to the rear of the gun with a step, and the other pushes the propellant into the barrel with force. The speed is much faster unless it hits them just right. the probability is too low

But the local anti-aircraft firepower is not deployed. Facing the carefully designed anti-aircraft firepower, it is not easy for the slow-moving fighters to dodge. After several dives and strafing shots, the cannons are still firing, and two more planes fall down. But at this juncture, After successfully killing ten Japanese fighter planes [-] kilometers away, four returning fighter planes arrived, and the short-term air superiority disappeared immediately.

Sakamoto Masaemon's face began to darken. He couldn't kill the opponent's heavy artillery. He was always so annoying that he couldn't break through. It had a huge impact on the entire battle situation and political planning. The hateful thing was that the opponent's limit was still not pushed out.

The bullets in the machine gun fortress have not stopped erupting for an hour. Roughly speaking, there are at least 40 to [-] rounds. After another hour, the opponent will have to change the barrel?The bullets will also run out of the heavy machine gun, but it needs water to cool it

Not only him, but all the Japanese generals and officers below felt a toothache. After an hour of attack, they fired 40 to [-] rounds. How much property can be tossed like this?If it launches a fierce attack, the damage will be terrible

"Wait a little longer," Lieutenant General Sakamoto gritted his teeth, "Order the 45th Regiment to keep attacking and oppressing, and not let their heavy artillery get a gap."

The heinously sparse Japanese army skirmished back and forth between 1000 meters and 300 meters and tossed for another full hour. The firing speed of the machine guns in all the fortresses began to weaken significantly in the afternoon... After many minutes, there was almost no continuous fire. The strafing shots were all replaced by burst shots, "chug chug, chug chug", as if they had all turned into light machine guns.

"Hey, their bullets should be consumed almost."

Tossed nearly a million rounds of ammunition! In terms of weight and packaging, the ammunition chain costs [-] tons. The price is much cheaper than shells, but it’s only when you ship it.

A machine gun prepares [-] rounds of ammunition, not too little

China and Japan are poor at heart, and most of the bullets in war are single-shot rifles. It is rare enough to consume 100 million rounds of bullets in such a luxurious two hours. Lieutenant General Sakamoto thinks that it is almost the same.

"assault"

The order for the third attack sounded on the front line, and tens of millions of Japanese troops once again roared "full race" and charged with guns

The heavy machine guns in the fort broke out briefly for a few minutes, and then resumed burst firing. Even though the Japanese army rushed to within 200 meters, they resolutely kept the rhythm

But at the same time, there was a roar of "Tongtongtong" in the county town two kilometers behind, and 24 75-foot guns fired in unison, firing two to three thousand rounds of bullets without stopping, knocking down all the Japanese troops at the front of the position. On the ground, the fierce explosion "rumbling" covered the front of the entire trench, and a large number of rough deer villages and broken trees that I had arranged were blown to pieces.

Masaemon Sakamoto frowned, and whispered with flickering eyes: "Have you finally taken out the remaining cannons? Continue to attack."

Thousands of Japanese soldiers in the vanguard jumped up and rushed to [-] meters with sparse shells. The rate of fire of the machine guns was still not fast, but inside the fortress, semi-automatic rifles rang out continuously with "bang bang" and the shooting was accurate and fast. Let the gap effect deliberately increased by the Japanese army disappear, and the distance of tens of meters before and after can allow the infantry to shoot and kill calmly. In a short time, more than a hundred people were killed and injured