Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 135 The Eighth Route Army has 500mm heavy artillery!
"Baka! With the situation so dire, why worry about your composure?"

Hirata Ichiro was furious and slapped the Japanese soldier across the face.

He used to think that this soldier was a fellow villager and relative, that he was honest, kind and simple-minded, so Hirata Ichiro kept him by his side.

But now I realize that this isn't just being naive; it's downright brainless and lacking common sense.

"What exactly happened? How could a small squad of Imperial warriors and over three hundred Imperial collaborators have lost the west side of the city so quickly? Are they just sitting around doing nothing?"

Hirata Ichiro asked urgently, completely ignoring the Japanese soldier who was crying with grievance.

"Reporting to the commander, during the Chinese army's siege of the city, those puppet troops were not putting in any real effort, and the defensive capabilities of the city walls suddenly decreased."

"The Chinese army seized the opportunity and launched a powerful offensive. The brave warriors of the empire fought desperately and suffered heavy losses."

"In the end, those puppet troops actually mutinied on the battlefield, killed the remaining imperial warriors, and blocked the news, allowing the Chinese army to enter the city."

"At least 1,500 Chinese troops have entered the county town, and it can no longer be defended."

The Japanese officer quickly explained the situation to Hirata Ichiro.

When Hirata Ichiro learned that it was those puppet troops he usually looked down upon who had betrayed him at the crucial moment, leading to the fall of the western city, he was furious.

Although he usually looked down on the puppet troops, he sometimes felt that they were still somewhat useful.

It can only be said that Hirata Ichiro overestimated the puppet army.

It's one thing for puppet troops to win battles when things are going well, but it's simply impossible for them to lose their positions when facing overwhelming firepower.

If they really had that kind of courage, those puppet troops would have surrendered to them.

Why follow the Japanese and let yourself and your family be vilified and unable to hold your head high?
"You damned traitor!"

Ichiro Hirata yelled angrily.

The situation was originally fine; all that was needed was for reinforcements to arrive so that the siege of Ping'an County could be lifted.

At the same time, they could take advantage of the opportunity when the main force of the Eighth Route Army was gathered to kill a large number of their troops.

However, this battlefield uprising by the puppet troops unexpectedly created a breach in the heavily fortified county town.

It was no longer possible to rely on strong fortifications to defend the city.

The question now is whether to take advantage of the troops' current combat effectiveness to find the weak points of the Eighth Route Army and break out, or to fight the Eighth Route Army in the streets of the county town and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

Hirata Ichiro fell into deep thought.

In the end, Hirata Ichiro gritted his teeth and decided to continue holding out based on the favorable terrain, while urging reinforcements to arrive as soon as possible.

So, Hirata Ichiro ordered:

"Immediately send the troops in the north and south back to the garrison headquarters and continue to hold their positions using the headquarters' fortifications."

"The garrison on the east side continued to rely on the city walls and surrounding fortifications to contain the Chinese troops."

"Finally, tell them not to trust the puppet troops!"

Hirata Ichiro made a decision immediately, while also reminding troops in other directions not to trust the puppet troops.

He was once bitten by a snake and was afraid of ropes for ten years. He was only tricked by the puppet army once, but it had already given Hirata Ichiro a psychological shadow.

If this crisis can be overcome, Hirata Ichiro decided that he would rather feed the resources given to the puppet army to the dogs than give them to the puppet army in the future.

The garrison command had a large number of strong fortifications that could withstand bombardment from small-caliber artillery.

Even with infantry artillery, they wanted to easily break in.

Hirata Ichiro wanted to take advantage of the fact that he still had troops to gather together and hold out in fortifications until reinforcements arrived.

With his current troop strength, holding out for a day shouldn't be too much of a problem, given all these fortifications!

The same was true in the east of the city, where numerous fortifications were built.

Because the Tianzhu Mountain highlands are located just outside the east side of the city, if you want to attack the county town, you must first capture the Tianzhu Mountain position.

Therefore, in order to strengthen the defense of the county town, the Japanese not only built bunkers on Tianzhu Mountain, but also built bunkers in the east direction of the town.

If the enemy captures the Tianzhushan Heights, they can use artillery to attack the county town from there, and the county town's defenders can strengthen their defenses by relying on fortifications.

This is why, although Hirata Ichiro was angry that the county was in a passive position after learning that the Tianzhushan position had been lost, he was not too panicked.

After the two battalions of soldiers entered the county town, some went to occupy the Japanese's important warehouses and armories, while the rest charged towards the Japanese.

Unfortunately, the Eighth Route Army was poor, and the Independent Detachment also consumed a large amount of weapons and ammunition in this offensive.

We must replenish our supplies from the Japanese.

Eleven o'clock in the morning.

After two hours of fighting, the situation had become clear to the troops who entered the city. Important warehouses in the county town had been captured, and the remaining Japanese troops continued to put up a stubborn resistance, relying on the strong fortifications of the garrison command headquarters and the fortifications in the east of the city.

The Japanese soldiers numbered less than three hundred in total; they couldn't cause much of a stir.

However, the soldiers of the Third and Fifth Battalions also paid a heavy price.

Urban warfare is the type of combat that best bridges the gap in weaponry and the quality of soldiers.

Even if you are a well-trained veteran, you can't grow a hundred eyes to observe all the complexities of the place.

In some inconspicuous places, a single shot fired from the muzzle could take down an elite soldier.

Urban warfare can be considered the most challenging combat mode for soldiers' fighting spirit.

However, despite the difficult battle, the soldiers of the Third and Fifth Battalions still completed their mission admirably.

They successfully annihilated the scattered Japanese soldiers and drove them all to the remaining two locations.

"Quickly, bring up all our flying thunder cannons and let the Japanese devils have a good taste."

Yang Dong watched as the Japanese soldiers stubbornly resisted from their fortified positions and shouted loudly.

Unlike during a siege, the view outside the county town was wide open, so there weren't many opportunities to use the flying thunder cannon.

The range of the flying thunder cannon is limited. If it is set up in front of the Japanese, the Japanese heavy machine guns and grenade launchers will hit it with ease.

However, once they reached the county town, the Japanese soldiers were no longer able to see the buildings, and the Flying Thunder Cannons were able to play a greater role when facing fortified positions.

As Yang Dong gave the order, three reinforced flying thunder cannons were pushed up.

After improvements made by the arsenal, the rate of barrel explosion of this flying thunder cannon was greatly reduced, and its range was increased to a maximum of 250 meters.

The shape of the explosive charge has also been optimized, significantly improving its precision.

It can be said that, apart from its range being inferior to that of traditional artillery that relies on chamber pressure to fire shells, its power and accuracy have been greatly improved.

It's worth noting that the maximum propellant charge of a 155mm howitzer is only ten kilograms, and the maximum propellant charge of a 203mm heavy artillery piece is only 21.5 kilograms.

The improved flying thunder cannon can fire explosive packages with a charge of over 25 kilograms, which is equivalent to that of a 203mm heavy artillery.

In extreme cases, it can even increase to 100 kilograms!
This technique was used during the Liberation War when attacking Huang Wei's army corps.

However, the maximum firing weight of the three flying thunder cannons in the Third Battalion is 30 kilograms, which is not enough to fire 100 kilograms.

It's not that the technology can't do it, it's that there's no need for it.

Given the Japanese fortifications in Shanxi Province, under what circumstances would they need to use a 100-kilogram explosive charge to launch a flying thunder cannon?

After the flying thunder cannons were set up, Yang Dong gave the order to fire at the Japanese fortifications.

What would happen if three explosive charges, each weighing 30 kilograms, fell simultaneously into the Japanese fortifications?
The soldiers responsible for launching the flying thunder cannons knew this best.

Three loud explosions and mushroom-shaped fireballs were heard, and the Japanese soldiers' supposedly fortified position collapsed instantly.

Even those buildings that weren't destroyed were killed by the shockwave from the explosion of the explosive charge.

After just one round of Flying Thunder Cannon attacks, only 87 of the 170 remaining Japanese soldiers in the Japanese garrison headquarters were still standing.

The rest were either killed instantly by the explosion or were blasted to death by the massive shockwave, bleeding from all seven orifices and lying on the ground vomiting blood and convulsing.

Deep inside the garrison headquarters, Hirata Ichiro was terrified by the power of the Flying Thunder Cannon.

"This is definitely a heavy artillery piece! Absolutely!"

Hirata Ichiro couldn't believe that the Eighth Route Army actually possessed such powerful artillery.

His heavily fortified positions couldn't withstand even a single volley of fire.

A large crater appeared on the ground, big enough for a person to stand on.

This is definitely the power of a heavy artillery piece; its explosive power exceeds that of a 155mm howitzer!

"Baka! When did the Eighth Route Army get such powerful heavy artillery?"

Hirata Ichiro knew that he had no way out.

Faced with such powerful artillery, the garrison command's fortifications were as fragile as paper.

It was simply impossible for them to withstand the Eighth Route Army's offensive.

In order to avoid being captured, Hirata Ichiro looked at his pistol.

After a fierce internal struggle, he raised his pistol and aimed it at his temple.

P.S.: We won the revival match, so readers can rest assured and continue reading.

(End of this chapter)