"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The explosions at the mouth of the Jinlong Gorge continued one after another, and the violent explosions filled the area around the small narrow canyon mouth area with smoke and dust.

Yoshio Shinozuka dispatched the artillery of the two artillery brigades, and some large-caliber heavy artillery to bombard them continuously, so that the soldiers of Shen Qun's headquarters of the new 1st Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, which were guarding the mouth of the Jinlong Gorge, were covered by the overwhelming rain of shells.

However, under the command of the battalion commander Shen Qun, the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, who stubbornly defended the mouth of the Jinlong Gorge, relied on several wings built of ash and the low reinforced concrete pillboxes in front of them to carry out powerful firepower, and stubbornly blocked the Japanese infantry covering the attack under heavy artillery fire.

Fortunately, all the obstacles that could block the sight of the shooting in the hundreds of meters in front of the mouth of the Jinlongxia Gorge, including the raised mounds, big trees, and some hidden and concealed soil pits, were all bulldozed by the new regiment before the main force of Yoshio Shinozuka arrived at the mouth of the Jinlongxia Gorge in the Hengshan base area.

The good line of sight made it possible for even the Japanese infantry covered by the heavy bombardment of several artillery brigades to be beaten all over the field by the defensive fire of the new group of valley valley valley in the process of charging, and many fierce charges were repulsed by the strong fire of the valley defenders.

It's just that at this time, Shen Qun, the commander of the second battalion of the new 1st Regiment, was standing at the observation port of the bunker behind the valley mouth and saw with a telescope that the Japanese troops attacking on the opposite side were not afraid of death, and had charged at least five times, and each attack was at least two squadrons of five or six hundred troops.

It seems that Yoshio Shinozuka was hit by Taniguchi's defensive firepower.

"Commissar, why are you here? It's dangerous here, Yoshio Shinozuka's artillery group can have large-caliber heavy artillery, one of which is at least 120 mm caliber! If you hit here, if something happens to you, the regiment commander won't be able to skin me alive! ”

Just when Shen Qun was observing the fierce battle situation in the bunker of the second battalion headquarters, he didn't know when Zhao Gang was standing next to him, and he was so frightened that he said loudly.

Zhao Gang took the telescope at this time and looked at the attacking Japanese troops on the opposite side through the observation port of the second battalion headquarters for a while, and then smiled and said to the second battalion commander Shen Qun: "Old Shen, your battalion headquarters bunker is at least covered with several layers of rail sleepers, even if the old devil Yoshio Shinozuka accidentally hits here with heavy artillery, your battalion headquarters can withstand it!" Rest assured! I'll take a look at the current situation of your second battalion! Let's talk about it! ”。

Seeing that Zhao Gang didn't care at all, after thinking about it, what Zhao Gang said seemed to be right, Shen Qun no longer persuaded Zhao Gang to leave here.

"Political commissar, Yoshio Shinozuka, this old devil, keeps attacking, and every time he attacks, he invests at least two squadrons to an infantry brigade or so to storm the blocking position at my valley mouth. The little devil attack is still the same routine, first artillery bombardment, and then the infantry step on the shell explosion point to rush forward. Blocked and repulsed by our fire, he retreated, but within five minutes the old devil sent his troops to attack again. The artillery fire is still so fierce! ”

Grabbing the military kettle on the table next to him and taking a sip of water, Shen Qun continued to say to Zhao Gang: "According to our observations, the artillery covered by Shinozuka Yoshio every time the artillery fire is at least about the strength of the two artillery brigades. At least eight or nine 75-mm mountain guns and several heavy guns of about 100 mm. Damn, just bullied us and didn't have too many infantry artillery to fight back. Political commissar, isn't there the 88-millimeter German-made Krupp anti-aircraft gun left by the regiment commander on Cuiping Peak Mountain! Take it out and support us! ”。

"That cannon is going to be used at the end, you first use the Type 92 infantry cannon of the little devil captured before to stare at, isn't there more than ten of them! Fight back fiercely, resist first! The regiment commander has already captured Liao County, and is marching north along the western source of Qingzhang, preparing to storm Yuci and attack Taiyuan! When the time comes, our stress will be much easier. "Let's go

Zhao Gang waved his hand and shook his head and said, although the German-made 88mm anti-aircraft gun can be fired horizontally, but there are not many shells, so it is necessary to save some use, until the last moment, this is one of the few heavy artillery in the base, at least for the new regiment.

Seeing this, Shen Qun knew that Zhao Gang disagreed, but there was no way, "Political commissar, although the reinforced concrete bunker fortifications we built at Gukou are strong, they have blocked the many onslaughts of the little devils. But the bunkers have been covered and bombarded by Yoshio Shinozuka with a lot of artillery fire, and I'm afraid that a few bunkers won't be able to withstand it for long! What to do? ”

"You take the second battalion to hold the valley mouth position for at least another hour, and if the casualties are too heavy after an hour, you will abandon the valley mouth according to the situation, and retreat layer by layer to the trestle road hundreds of meters between the valley mouth position and the two commanding heights of Cuiping Peak and Tianfeng Ridge. I have ordered the 3rd Battalion and the 4th Battalion to build blocking fortifications on a plank road of several hundred meters. The plank road is narrow, and the hundreds of meters of plank road blocking can at least block the attack of Shinozuka Yoshio's troops for about an hour or two. ”

Shen Qun heard this: "Understood, political commissar!" I carry out the order! ”。

"Okay, then give me a hard beating, and tell all the fighters in your department not to skimp on ammunition. The regiment commander has defeated the little devils' various units many times before, and the large amount of grain, grass and ammunition has been captured, which is enough for us to use for several months! Zhao Gang got up from the stool and said to Shen Qun.

"Yes, commissar, you're done! Guaranteed to extinguish Yoshio Shinozuka's prestige! ”

Zhao Gang nodded, and then hurried back to Hutou Mountain in the rear to sit in the town to coordinate and command, deploy materials, and command all departments to step up the time to build layers of blocking fortifications, so as not to get the mouth of the Jinlong Gorge If it can't be defended, there are several important places behind, and the commanding heights are the battlefield, and they must be prepared in advance.

And not long after Zhao Gang left, the fierce battle at the mouth of the Jinlong Gorge was still going on, and the artillery bombardment was fierce.

The 20,000 Japanese infantry gathered were at least as many artillery pieces as nearly one field artillery wing.

As soon as these artillery pieces arrived at the Jinlong Gorge, they were concentrated and used under the orders of Yoshio Shinozuka, and they bombarded the blocking position of the new 1st Regiment and 2nd Battalion Shen Qun at the mouth of the canyon on a large scale. And it continued, the devil infantry charged and retreated, and its artillery fire still did not stop.

The six or seven hundred Japanese troops who were like a tide and a half were once again repelled by the firepower of the soldiers in the Taniguchi position under Shen Qun's headquarters, and the corners of Shinozuka Yoshio's mouth twitched on the battlefield.

"Bagaya Road, garbage, it's all garbage! A small position of the Eighth Route Army in Taniguchi, with only one battalion of men and horses on the left and right, couldn't rush through! Eight Ga Ya Road! Yoshio Shinozuka threw down the binoculars in his hand and scolded at the retreating Japanese infantry in front.

At this time, Major General Yusuke Dohi, who temporarily served as the chief of staff of Yoshio Shinozuka during the war, went up to persuade him: "Your Excellency, the mouth of the Jinlong Gorge is the first line of defense in the Hengshan base area of the new regiment, and the mouth of the canyon is narrow, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The other side also built reinforced concrete pillbox fortifications along the two flanks of the canyon valley, covered with railroad sleepers, etc., which were solid and thick, and it would not be a problem to resist the bombardment of large-caliber heavy artillery for at least an hour. In a hurry, it is understandable that it is difficult to overcome. ’。