Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 410 This is called artillery support!

The battlefield of Datong City was filled with smoke and fierce fighting was in full swing.

Although the 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army captured the southern city wall.

But the battle did not go smoothly.

A second-line infantry battalion of the Japanese army and a puppet army regiment were stationed in Datong, with a total strength of about 2000 people.

These troops were responsible for protecting Datong and the First Army's 3,000 tons of combat supplies in Datong City.

Under normal circumstances, an elite battalion of the Japanese army could defeat the entire 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

Even a second-line infantry battalion of the Japanese army was difficult for the 358th Regiment to deal with.

After all, although the combat effectiveness and equipment of the 358th Regiment were top-notch in the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, they were far inferior to the New st Regiment and could not be compared with the Japanese army.

The reason why Chu Yunfei dared to attack Datong this time was because he had the firepower of two artillery battalions.

With these two artillery battalions, the 358th Regiment had the confidence to blow up the city wall.

It can not only cause great damage to the enemy, but also provide spiritual deterrence to the devils and puppet troops.

However, as if things weren't bad enough, when the soldiers attacking the city were requesting artillery fire support, the Japanese aviation bombing genius Takeda Isamu returned with his planes!

The Mongolian Army Headquarters handed over the two Nakajima fighters and four Type 96 fighters at Zhangjiakou Airport to Takeda Isamu's command.

Together with the only two reconnaissance planes, two fighters and two bombers left in the 2th Flying Squadron, Takeda Isamu had another 2 aircraft.

The 12 Japanese planes acted separately. The first formation bombed the artillery company of the Eighth Route Army, and the second formation bombed the artillery battalion of the 358th Regiment.

"Xinei!"

Takeda Isamu, flying a Nakajima fighter, led the second formation to dive down recklessly towards the artillery battalion of the 358th Regiment.

There is a large open area around Datong City, and the artillery battalion of the 358th Regiment, which lacks protection and anti-aircraft firepower, is directly exposed to the eyes of the Japanese pilots.

"Da da da…"

Amidst the dense gunfire, the two aircraft machine guns under the wings of Nakajima's fighter plane emitted blue light, and the bullets fired raised a cloud of dirt and sand on the ground.

Several artillerymen from the 358th Regiment were caught off guard and fell in a pool of blood the instant they were hit.

As six planes strafed the sky over the 6th Regiment's artillery battalion, more than a dozen aerial bombs fell simultaneously.

The Japanese pilots knew very well that the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army had no anti-aircraft guns, not even machine guns, and was extremely short of anti-aircraft machine guns.

Therefore, the Japanese pilots flew directly to the low altitude of forty to fifty meters above the artillery battalion of the 358th Regiment and dropped bombs.

At this altitude, the hit rate of aerial bombs is extremely high!
Just one wave of dive bombing wiped out most of the artillery battalion of the 358th Regiment.

On the other side, the Japanese air force stationed at Zhangjiakou Airport also found the artillery company position of the New 1st Regiment.

Because they were afraid of the Eighth Route Army's anti-aircraft firepower, the two Japanese fighter planes first launched a trial attack. After discovering that there was no anti-aircraft firepower, the other planes dared to dive down.

In one wave of bombing, all 12 mountain cannons of the new regiment's mountain artillery company were destroyed.

After bombing the artillery positions, the Japanese planes dived and strafed the attacking Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the southern city wall several times, killing more than a hundred people before returning to Zhangjiakou Airport.

"Made!"

Chu Yunfei held a Czech light machine gun and fired in the direction where the Japanese plane left.

Chu Yunfei stopped shooting only after the bullets in a magazine were used up.

"Duanzao!"

Fang Ligong ran over hurriedly:
"All four mountain guns of the artillery battalion were destroyed, and four 4mm mortars were damaged. The artillery casualties are still being calculated."

358团炮兵营装备的4门75毫米山炮和12门82毫米迫击炮全部都是晋造装备。

"What's the situation at the New 1st Regiment's Mountain Artillery Company?"

Chu Yunfei frowned because the Japanese and puppet troops in Datong City fought desperately, which made his plan of a quick victory fail.

The Japanese air force came to bomb the city, interrupting the siege.

The troops' morale had some problems as they failed to capture Datong City in one go. Now that they were bombed again and the artillery battalion was severely damaged, the morale of the 358th Regiment would be greatly affected.

Fang Ligong reported: "I just saw from the city wall that the mountain artillery company of the New 1st Regiment was also bombed. Dozens of aerial bombs fell on the positions of the Eighth Route Army Mountain Artillery Company. Even if the Eighth Route Army Mountain Artillery Company was not completely wiped out, it must have been severely damaged and lost its combat effectiveness."

Chu Yunfei's face suddenly turned gloomy. The Japanese bombing and strafing caused heavy losses to both the 358th Regiment and the New st Regiment.

The artillery battalion of the 358th Regiment was severely damaged. At most, he could just submit a report to Commander Yan and request for additional cannons and artillery.

But he borrowed this mountain artillery company from Li Yunlong.

If we destroy the mountain artillery company of the New 1st Regiment, it will be difficult to talk to Li Yunlong when we meet him in the future.

More importantly, the battle to attack Datong would become very difficult without the support of mountain artillery firepower.

Even if he had not received any relevant intelligence, Chu Yunfei knew that the Japanese reinforcements were definitely heading here.

"Commander, are we still going to continue fighting in Datong City?"

Fang Ligong pushed the black round-frame glasses on his nose and asked with a serious expression.

Several staff officers around also looked at Chu Yunfei.

At this moment, there were loud gunshots and explosions in the city. The morale of the Japanese and puppet troops was greatly boosted, and they launched a counterattack, forcing the 358st Battalion of the th Regiment, which had entered the city from the south wall, to retreat step by step.

Chu Yunfei narrowed his eyes and was caught in a dilemma for a moment.

Attack, but we may not be able to capture Datong City, and it will cause heavy casualties to the 358th Regiment.

Let’s retreat, but Chu Yunfei was unwilling to do so.

We lost so many cannons and brothers, but in the end we didn't get anything back. It was a huge loss.

"Commander, the enemy's attack is too fierce, the first battalion can't hold on any longer!"

Qian Bojun ran to report to Chu Yunfei.

Only the 358st Battalion of the th Regiment entered Datong City from the south city wall.

Another three infantry battalions attacked from the other three walls.

However, due to the lack of artillery fire support and cover, the other three infantry battalions could not even reach the edge of the city wall.

At this moment, an observer from the Jinsui Army on the south wall came running over and reported to Chu Yunfei:
"Commander, the mountain artillery company of the new regiment has been spotted in the south!"

"What did you say?" Chu Yunfei thought he had misheard. "Discovered the new mountain artillery company?"

"Yes!" the observer said with certainty, "The new regiment's mountain artillery company!"

"Let's go to the city wall and take a look!" Chu Yunfei immediately went to the city wall with Fang Ligong, Qian Bojun and others, raised the telescope and looked in the direction of the mountain artillery company position of the New 1st Regiment that had just been bombed.

In the field of view of the telescope, at the edge of the woods, we saw the mountain artillery company of the new regiment, with its guns pointing towards Datong City.

"How can this be?"

Fang Ligong exclaimed, his tone filled with horror and disbelief:

"I just saw with my own eyes that the mountain artillery company of the New 1st Regiment was bombed by Japanese planes. How come the mountain artillery of the New 1st Regiment appeared again?"

At the beginning of the war, Chu Yunfei learned that the mountain artillery company sent by Li Yunlong was a new artillery company, so he gave them the task of shelling the airport and Datong Station.

Therefore, after the mountain artillery company of the new regiment successfully and excellently completed the task of shelling the airport and Datong Station, it remained there without moving.

Until it was bombed by Japanese planes.

Sun Ming and several staff officers also showed expressions of disbelief on their faces.

They also saw on the city wall that the mountain artillery company of the new regiment was completely wiped out by the bombing.

"Commander, Chief of Staff, look, someone from the Eighth Route Army is coming!"

Sun Ming said: "It seems to be the artillery observer and their company commander!"

Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong hurriedly raised their binoculars to look, and saw in the field of view of the binoculars several Eighth Route Army soldiers riding Japanese horses running quickly towards the south city wall.

Chu Yunfei said: "No matter what, this is a good thing for us!" About 10 minutes later, Chen Xiushan, the second company commander of the new artillery of the new first regiment, led two artillery observers of the Eighth Route Army and quickly came to the south city wall to meet with Chu Yunfei's regiment headquarters.

"Captain Chen, wasn't your mountain artillery company blown up by the Japanese aerial bombs?"

"How many casualties did you suffer? Oh, and why are the twelve mountain cannons still intact?"

As soon as the two sides met, Fang Ligong couldn't wait to ask Chen Xiushan a series of questions in his mind.

"The Japanese aerial bomb went astray." Chen Xiushan smiled slightly and answered truthfully, "No one in our mountain artillery company was killed or injured."

The Japanese were blowing up inflatable mountain cannons, and the real mountain cannons were hidden in the woods, so Captain Chen was naturally not lying.

"How is this possible?" a staff officer of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army asked in shock.

The rest of the people also had expressions of disbelief.

Captain Chen said, "Captain Chu, the straight-line distance from Zhangjiakou to Datong is 150 kilometers. The time it takes for a Japanese plane to overhaul, release its aerial bombs, and refuel is about 30 minutes. The round trip from Zhangjiakou to Datong takes about an hour and a half."

"It's been 20 minutes since the Japanese planes left. We still have one hour and ten minutes to enter Datong City."

Chu Yunfei asked, "Captain Chen, what do you want to do?"

Mountain artillery has a slow marching speed. Even if the Eighth Route Army pulled the mountain artillery company over and aimed directly at the city wall, they would still be bombed when the Japanese planes arrived, suffering heavy damage or even annihilation.

Without anti-aircraft firepower, the Japanese planes attacking ground artillery was like adults attacking children.

Chen Xiushan said: "Use the artillery decapitation tactic to eliminate the Japanese headquarters in Datong City."

Chu Yunfei's expression changed, and he said, "Captain Chen, please start your performance."

Under the astonished gazes of Chu Yunfei, Fang Ligong, Sun Ming and a group of staff officers, Chen Xiushan quickly climbed up the south city wall with an artillery observer and a telegraph operator, and took out the radio and map barrel they carried with them.

Captain Chen took out a precise map with a table from the map barrel, while the telegraph operator took out the radio, turned it on, and put on headphones.

Fang Ligong and Sun Ming did not believe that the Eighth Route Army could successfully kill the Japanese commander by using artillery decapitation tactics.

Because precision artillery fire requires test firing, at least two preliminary test firings and adjustment of firing parameters are required to accurately hit the target.

The time for the first two test firings was enough for the Japanese in the gendarmerie headquarters to escape.

at this time.

Fierce fighting was going on in the city. The Japanese puppet army and the 358st Battalion of the th Regiment were fighting for every street. But it was obvious that the offensive of the Japanese puppet army was more powerful. Qian Bojun personally stepped forward to supervise the battle, and the st Battalion did not collapse.

But the situation of the 358th Regiment is still not optimistic.

Soon, Chen Xiushan used a ruler and other tools to calculate the shooting parameters and took the headphones from the telegraph operator.

"I am Chenzhuang, calling Zhouzhuang. I am Chenzhuang, calling Zhouzhuang."

"Ruler...up...left..."

Captain Chen reported a series of firing parameters, waited a moment, and then roared out an order:
"All company, 10 high-explosive rounds, rapid fire, fire!"

When he uttered the last word "放", his whole body shook.

After a while, Chu Yunfei, Fang Ligong and others heard a sharp whistling sound, which came from far away and flew over the south city wall towards the Japanese gendarmerie headquarters in the city.

Fang Ligong disagreed. Although he was not an artilleryman, he had attended a regular military academy and knew much more about mountain artillery than ordinary soldiers.

Without any prior test firing, it was considered very good if one shell could hit the Japanese gendarmerie headquarters. It would be strange if these 1 guns could hit the target if they all fired rapidly without any prior test firing.

This is not just artillery coverage, but requires precise artillery fire!
"Boom boom boom..."

The first round of shells exploded.

"this…"

After seeing the impact points clearly, Fang Ligong was stunned. He saw that most of the shells in the first round fell inside the Japanese gendarmerie headquarters. Even the shells that did not hit the gendarmerie headquarters fell very close to it, knocking the Japanese around the gendarmerie headquarters to the ground.

Chu Yunfei, Sun Ming and others were also a little bit unbelievable. There was no prior test firing, and the target was hit in the first round of artillery coverage. You call this a new artillery company?
Before the Japanese at the gendarmerie headquarters could figure out the situation, the second round of shells had already fallen. It was only about three seconds after the first round of shells fell, and the Japanese had no time to react.

The breech of the Bofors 75mm mountain gun equipped by the new regiment is a semi-automatic crank latch and a horizontal sliding wedge-type gun door. After the shell is loaded, the gun door automatically closes immediately, and automatically opens after firing, and the shell is ejected from the barrel.

The biggest advantage of this design is that the standard firing rate is 8 rounds per minute, and the rapid firing rate of elite artillery can reach 25 rounds per minute. Even the new artillerymen of a new regiment can reach 20 rounds per minute under rapid firing after high-intensity training.

In rapid-fire conditions, each gun can fire a shell every three seconds on average, a firing rate that is almost catching up with 60mm and 82mm mortars.

这款博福斯75毫米山炮最大射程达到9150米。日本的41式75毫米山炮只有6000多米，最新式的94式75毫米山炮为8300米，差距明显。

The Bofors mountain gun had no other problems except that it was a little heavy, but it was no pressure for the new regiment equipped with big mules.

If it were any other mountain artillery unit, it would take half a minute to complete the preliminary test firing of the first shell.

But the entire mountain artillery company of the new regiment fired 10 rounds rapidly, and in just about half a minute, all 120 rounds of artillery shells were used up.

Most of the shells fell on the gendarmerie headquarters in Datong City, turning the Japanese gendarmerie's brick and stone buildings into complete ruins, with broken limbs everywhere.

The command center of the Japanese puppet army in Datong City was destroyed within half a minute.

This scene stunned Chu Yunfei, Fang Ligong and other officers of the 358th Regiment.

"Great!"

Fang Ligong, who had always looked down on the Eighth Route Army, had to admit at this time that this new regiment's mountain artillery company was the most powerful artillery unit he had ever seen, without a doubt, even the most elite artillery of the Japanese army could not compare to it.

A few days ago, Fang Ligong heard from Chu Yunfei that the New 358st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army was capable of eliminating the th Regiment within a few hours.

At that time, Fang Ligong was a little disdainful, thinking that his regimental commander had overestimated the New 1st Regiment. Did he really think that the ace regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army belonged to Ni Nie?

However, after half a minute of shelling today, Fang Ligong completely changed his mind.

Our regiment commander still overestimated the 358th Regiment. If the New 358st Regiment wanted to deal with the th Regiment, it would not take several hours.

Half an hour is enough. Li Yunlong can directly order the American 105 howitzers to launch a bombardment and decapitation tactic on the headquarters of the 358th Regiment, making it impossible for them to react at all.

Once Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong were killed in the explosion, the battalions below would lose their command and would be completely defeated by the New 1st Regiment in one encounter.

If the new artillery company of the New 105st Regiment is so powerful, then Li Yunlong’s mm howitzer battalion is even more terrifying.

"It's really awesome!"

Sun Ming nodded in agreement, and he had a new perspective on the Eighth Route Army.

However, the fighting in the city was still going on. Although the counterattacking Japanese and puppet troops heard the sound of artillery fire, they did not know that the gendarmerie headquarters had been blown up, and they continued to counterattack the first battalion, and their offensive seemed fierce.

Captain Chen continued to call Zhouzhuang:
"Ruler xxx, up xx, left xx."

"First Platoon, First Squad, Second Squad, two high-explosive rounds, rapid fire, fire!"

After a while, two artillery shells, with sharp whistling sounds, landed accurately on the attacking formations of the Japanese and puppet troops on the street, knocking over a dozen Japanese and puppet soldiers to the ground, and destroying one of the Japanese light machine guns.

The attacking Japanese and puppet troops were stunned. Weren’t the Jin army’s artillery blown up by planes?

Qian Bojun, the battalion commander of the 358th Regiment who was defending, and the soldiers were stunned. Weren’t their own artillery battalion and the Eighth Route Army mountain artillery company bombed by the Japanese planes?

While both sides were stunned, two more 75mm high-explosive projectiles fell into the attack formation of the Japanese and puppet troops, taking away several Japanese and puppet soldiers, injuring more than a dozen people, and destroying a Type heavy machine gun.

"We have artillery support, brothers, kill them!" Qian Bojun was also a veteran of the battlefield, and he immediately led a battalion of soldiers to counterattack.

Afterwards, Captain Chen of the mountain artillery continued to guide the bombardment, and one shell after another accurately fell into the formations of the Japanese and puppet troops on the street, blowing the Japanese and puppet soldiers to pieces. With the support of artillery fire, Qian Bojun led the first battalion to successfully capture the central street of Datong City.

Captain Chen said to Chu Yunfei, "Captain Chu, order your troops to attack the east city wall."

"Okay." Chu Yunfei nodded. "Pass my order. The first and second battalions will attack the enemy on the east wall."

When the Second Battalion of the 358th Regiment attacked the east city wall, Company Commander Chen continued to guide the artillery fire, and the shells landed accurately on the east city wall, destroying the machine gun fire points and artillery of the Japanese and puppet troops on the wall.

The mountain artillery company was used in many ways by Captain Chen. They could almost shoot wherever they pointed. Although they couldn't hit the target every time, their hit rate was extremely high!

Although the Second Company of the New Mountain Artillery Battalion of the New First Regiment is a company of new recruits, the company commander, deputy company commander, instructor, as well as the platoon leaders and squad leaders of each mountain artillery are all elite gunners. They not only have a lot of live-fire training experience, but also have rich actual combat experience. This set of precision shooting coordination is perfect.

With the fire support of the mountain artillery company, the 358th Regiment successfully captured the four city walls and drove the Japanese and puppet troops into a small area.

"This is called artillery support."

The battle was nearing its end. Chu Yunfei sighed with emotion as he watched the Eighth Route Army's mountain artillery company quickly hide through the telescope.

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