Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 271 is just a small scene.

"Nani?"

"The Eighth Route Army mobilized the firepower of a heavy artillery regiment?"

At the Japanese First Army Headquarters in Taiyuan, Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly stood up after listening to the communications staff read the telegram from Shigeharu Yanagishita requesting tactical guidance.

His face was full of doubt and horror.

The Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong actually took out a heavy artillery regiment.

How can this be?

This means that the Eighth Route Army deployed at least 36 artillery pieces with a caliber of 105 mm or above!
Such artillery firepower was only equipped in the Japanese army by the field heavy artillery regiment under the field heavy artillery brigade. Even the First Army did not have such powerful firepower!
Instinctively, Yoshio Shinozuka couldn't help but feel his anus tighten. The Eighth Route Army had the firepower of a field artillery regiment, which was very bad for the First Army.

"Mutaguchi-kun, what do you think?"

Taking a deep breath, Yoshio Shinozuka looked at the Chief of Staff Mutaguchi Ren'ya beside him and asked in a deep voice.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya's face was solemn: "Commander, we must destroy the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery at all costs, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous. It poses a huge threat to our First Army!"

Shinozuka Yoshio nodded and looked at the communications officer. "Orders! The 6th Flying Squadron will immediately abandon its original bombing mission and proceed to destroy the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery. Have the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade relay the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery's location!"

"Hi Yi!"

The communications staff officer straightened his body, bowed his head, turned around and quickly conveyed the order.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya's expression was gloomy. "Commander, it seems that the Soviet Union has provided heavy artillery to the Eighth Route Army, but the Locust Army knows nothing about it."

Shinozuka Yoshio narrowed his eyes and said, "Go call Lieutenant Colonel Mizuno, the intelligence officer!"

Just a few minutes after the call was made, Lieutenant Colonel Mizuno Kiyoshi, the armless intelligence staff officer, walked in, his legs snapped together with a crisp sound, and he bowed his head.

"General, His Excellency the Chief of Staff!"

Shinozuka Yoshio had a blank expression on his face and pointed to the telegram on the table: "Mizuno-kun, this is the telegram just sent from the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade. Take a look at it first."

"Hi Yi!"

Mizuno Kiyoshi picked up the telegram and read it, his expression changed slightly.

"Mizuno-kun, didn't your intelligence department receive any information about the Eighth Route Army possessing a heavy artillery unit?"

Yoshio Shinozuka asked coldly, looking extremely dissatisfied.

"Private Marseilles, General!"

Mizuno Kiyoshi immediately bowed his head and apologized:
"The Eighth Route Army's Jinzhong Military Region has implemented a counter-blockade against the Locust Army. All the spies and agents I sent to the Jinzhong Military Region have received no news."

"but…"

Shinozuka Yoshio: "But what?"

Mizuno Kiyoshi: "The heavy artillery used by the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield was most likely the same type of artillery used to bombard the Taiyuan Airport."

When talking about the bombardment of Taiyuan Airport and this cannon, Mizuno Kiyoshi's face became visibly gloomy.

On that occasion, the Eighth Route Army bombarded the Taiyuan Airport with heavy artillery, not only killing the deputy chief of staff of the North China Front Army and the chief of staff of the First Army, but also blowing off his left arm.

The shelling of Taiyuan Airport left Mizuno Kiyoshi with painful memories that could never be erased, like a brand.

According to intelligence, it was Li Yunlong who was behind the shelling of Taiyuan Airport. Mizuno Kiyoshi secretly vowed to get rid of Li Yunlong and avenge the dead locust soldiers and his own left arm!

Mizuno Kiyoshi continued, "Normally, heavy artillery with a caliber of 105mm or larger needs to be towed by cars. But when the Eighth Route Army bombarded Taiyuan last time... the artillery positions on Crouching Tiger Mountain had no roads, so the Eighth Route Army didn't use 105mm howitzers, but mortars with a caliber of about 120mm. This was also confirmed by the deserters of the Locust Association captured by the Special High Section!"

"Commander," Mutaguchi Renye nodded. "I think what Mizuno-kun says makes a lot of sense. It seems the Soviet Union has donated more than a few heavy mortars to the Eighth Route Army, at least enough for a heavy artillery regiment. From what we know so far, these cannons are very powerful and highly maneuverable, making them well-suited to the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla warfare. However, their range is rather average."

Shinozuka Yoshio nodded: "Immediately notify the aviation unit. The Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery firepower is 120mm heavy mortars. Order the aviation unit to find and destroy it!"

"Hi Yi!"

Mutaguchi Renya immediately went to the phone, called the airport, conveyed the order and said:
"The target of your 6th Flying Squadron's operation this time is the Eighth Route Army heavy artillery unit that bombarded Taiyuan Airport last time. You know what to do."

Lieutenant Colonel Junji Amano, captain of the 6th Air Squadron, replied on the phone:

"Please rest assured, Chief of Staff and General Shinozuka, after discovering the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery positions, the 6th Fighter Squadron will destroy the Eighth Route Army's artillery positions, even if it means a suicide attack!"

The last time Li Yunlong led his troops to bombard Taiyuan Airport, Junji Amano luckily escaped with his life, but 21 pilots under his command were killed and another ten pilots were seriously injured.

It can be said that Junji Amano and the Eighth Route Army heavy artillery unit in Jinzhong had an irreconcilable feud.

Then Shinozuka Yoshio looked at Mizuno Kiyoshi and asked in a deep voice, "Mizuno-kun, how is the investigation going regarding the Eighth Route Army's aid units and channels?"

Mizuno Kiyoshi bowed his head and said, "Report to the General, the investigation is still ongoing!"

"Baka!" Shinozuka Yoshio shouted angrily, "It's been several months and they're still investigating. What are you doing in the intelligence department?"

If the other person wasn't a disabled person, Yoshio Shinozuka really wanted to slap him twice.

Mizuno Kiyoshi's expression was bitter: "Hi Yi..."

……

Just when Yoshio Shinozuka was losing his temper.

Fierce fighting continues in the northwest of the Jinzhong base area.

重迫击炮营对独立混成第3旅团第7大队阵地进行了连续10分钟的炮火覆盖，发射了超过1000发120毫米炮弹。

On average, each Japanese soldier received one artillery shell. This dense bombardment directly hit the Japanese 7th Infantry Battalion hard, causing heavy casualties. After the bombardment stopped, the entire 7th Infantry Battalion's position had become a tragic scene:

The densely packed craters of huge artillery shells were filled with broken limbs and arms, the earth was charred black, the entire battlefield was filled with smoke and dust, the air was filled with the smell of death, and the wails of the wounded Japanese soldiers rose one after another...

"Is anyone still alive?"

A Japanese soldier clutched his Type 38 rifle and shouted sadly.

He was number 13 of an infantry unit when they entered the position, but after the bombardment, he was the only one left alive.

"I'm alive…"

A sergeant responded from a distance, and the Japanese soldiers judged from the sound that the other party was either stunned by the explosion or injured.

"The enemy is coming!"

There were screams of surprise from the devils nearby.

"Fight back, fire, fire..."

No one knew where the captain was or whether he was still alive. A surviving Japanese squad leader took over the command and shouted orders behind the smoke.

"Da da da…"

"Boom boom boom..."

The sounds of machine gunfire and explosions rang out one after another.

"Xinei!"

The Japanese soldier fearlessly launched a counterattack with his rifle in hand, and met an Eighth Route Army soldier head-on. As he was shooting, the opponent fired a volley of bullets at him. The Japanese soldier fell to the ground as if he had been electrocuted, with blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

As the Japanese soldier lay dying, he thought of the cherry blossoms in his hometown and her in the sunset...

After the artillery fire, only more than 7 Japanese soldiers were left alive on the position of the 100th Infantry Battalion, but these soldiers were scattered everywhere.

As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the soldiers of the first battalion rushed up with guns in hand. In just two or three minutes, they wiped out the remaining enemies and captured the hilltop of the 7th Infantry Battalion.

……

"Brigade Commander, the 7th Infantry Battalion, all of us have been killed..."

At the brigade headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Tatsuo Yamazaki uttered these words with difficulty.

Yanagishita Shigeharu's face looked grim. In the field of view of his artillery telescope, a red flag of the Eighth Route Army was planted on the hilltop of the 7th Infantry Battalion.

At this time, the infantry artillery and mortar positions were being moved and retaliatory bombardments were no longer possible.

The Eighth Route Army occupied the main peak position. If the artillery positions were not moved, they would be exposed to the Eighth Route Army's artillery range.

Regarding the battle of the 7th Infantry Battalion, Yanagishita Shigeharu admitted that there was an element of gambling involved.

He wanted to bet that the Eighth Route Army had no shells in its gun barrels, that the Eighth Route Army did not have many shells, and that after a few rounds of artillery fire, the Eighth Route Army would order its infantry to attack.

Clearly, he made the wrong bet.

The price of the wrong bet was the annihilation of the 7th Infantry Battalion.

At this moment, Yamazaki Tatsuo took the telegram from the radio operator, read it, and reported to Yanagishita Shigeharu:
"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, Lieutenant General Shinozuka, Commander of the First Army, just sent a telegram stating that the heavy artillery used by the Eighth Route Army is 120mm mortars. Headquarters will soon dispatch the 6th Flying Squadron to destroy the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery units. I have been ordered to report the approximate location of the Eighth Route Army's artillery positions!"

Yanagishita Shigeharu said with a gloomy face: "Report the approximate location of the Eighth Route Army artillery positions to the headquarters immediately!"

The reason why the Eighth Route Army was able to destroy the 7th Infantry Battalion was entirely due to their heavy artillery units.

As long as the air force destroys the heavy artillery of the Eighth Route Army, what else can the Eighth Route Army use to fight my 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade?
"Hi Yi!"

Yamazaki Tatsuo suddenly lowered his head and called an artillery staff officer to point out the approximate location of the Eighth Route Army's heavy mortar position on the map.

……

The Eighth Route Army Jinzhong Front Headquarters.

"Old Li, this offensive was a brilliant one. Your first battalion completely wiped out an entire Japanese infantry battalion."

Looking at the red flag of the 1st Battalion of the New 1st Regiment planted on the main peak position of the Japanese, Ding Wei spoke to Li Yunlong with a look of shock on his face.

"It's just the annihilation of a Japanese infantry battalion. It's just a small scene, haha..."

Li Yunlong was rather modest in his words, but he looked very satisfied.

"The Japanese planes are coming. Order the heavy artillery reinforcement battalion to take cover and move out after the Japanese planes leave."

Li Yunlong gave orders loudly.

Ding Wei said to the deputy regiment commander, "Pass on my order. Pull out all the heavy mortars we made ourselves, as well as the captured rubber tires and fake wooden figures, and place them on the heavy artillery positions."

"Old Ding, you're making progress!" Li Yunlong said, "Can your New Third Regiment manufacture heavy mortars?"

Ding Wei raised his lips and said, "I ordered the carpenters at the base to build this one-to-one based on a 120mm mortar. Maybe it can trick the Japanese air force and make them waste some of their aerial bombs."

"Haha." Li Yunlong was immediately happy, his expression satisfied. "Old Ding, you are worthy of being our Li's military advisor."

Ding Wei: "..."

(End of this chapter)