The devil has seen this style of play and knows that the Eighth Route Army wants to dig an offensive position outside the coal mine, and use the offensive position as the starting point to attack the coal mine and shorten the offensive distance.

The Japanese army would not wait foolishly for the opponent to repair the offensive position, and in less than a minute, a dull sound of artillery could be heard from inside the coal mine.

Eight mortar shells smashed into the middle of the attacking troops, and several fighters were blown over with the flying fire, and the mound of earth in front of them was also leveled in the explosion.

The fighters who were hiding behind were immediately exposed.

The devils in the turret kept an eye on the battlefield and shot at them when they saw a figure coming out......

"Our artillery will immediately counterattack and take out the devil artillery unit." Li Hao stared at the battlefield order.

Half a minute later, all the mortars equipped with the Hunyuan Independent Battalion were fired.

The numerical superiority allowed them to knock out half of the devil's mortars as soon as they struck, and the rest of the mortars did not dare to carry them hard, so they could only wander around the coal mine, and from time to time they fired a few shells to threaten and harass the attacking troops.

At the Japanese garrison headquarters, Commander Shaozo was awakened as soon as the gun rang out.

As soon as the front foot entered the command room, the herald followed in with the back foot: "Sir, the enemy's offensive is very fierce, and there are more mortars equipped than us. ”

"Just now, the artillery team was attacked by enemy artillery fire, and more than half of it was lost, and there was no way to continue to support the infantry in the battle."

Shao Zuo didn't expect the Eighth Route Army attacking the coal mine to be so strong, so he reacted after a moment and hurriedly ordered.

"Go back and tell your captain that the artillery is temporarily out of battle standby."

"Since it is not an opponent of the enemy, the few remaining artillery pieces must be saved for a critical moment."

After saying that, he waved his hand and motioned for the herald to leave.

Then he looked at the captain of the mine protection team who arrived first and asked, "Kimura-kun, have you figured out how many people are in the Eighth Route Army that attacked us!" Whether we can withstand their attack or not, we need to ask Datong City for tactical guidance. ”

Before retiring from the army, Nakamura was an infantry captain with the rank of junior and experienced in command.

Because most of the mine protection team is composed of retired veterans and samurai, in order to suppress this group of unruly members, the devil invited a retired officer like Nakamura back to give full play to his residual heat.

They did live up to high expectations, a group of retired veterans and samurai formed a mine protection team, which was trained to be as effective as the regular army, and the only problem was that there were too few heavy weapons.

Seeing that Shaozo asked himself in an inquiring tone, he didn't stand tall because he was an active officer, Kimura was very satisfied with his attitude, and thought for a while to answer.

"Judging by the sound of gunfire: the opposing side is a reinforced battalion, armed with a squadron of mortars."

"But now that the battle has just begun, I don't know if they're hiding their strength."

"Now the enemy is digging trenches outside the coal mine and building offensive positions."

"Judging from this posture, they should want to take the coal mine tonight."

"Boom ......" two explosions that were more violent than mortar shells entered the command room.

Kimura's face was obviously a little more solemn than just now, and he looked at Shao Zuo and continued to analyze: "It's mountain artillery, and the enemy attacking us is equipped with mountain artillery. ”

"If they have enough ammunition and enough time, they will be named one by one for the gun towers and bunkers around the mine."

"I still underestimate the determination of the other side, they not only want to take the coal mine, but also want to end the battle quickly."

Shao Zuo was also frightened by the sudden sound of artillery, and nodded in agreement: "Kimura-kun, you are right, the enemy must have seen that I have too few garrisons here, so he plans to use mountain artillery to end the battle quickly." ”

"But they also underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army and the Mine Protection Team."

"Without the turret, we still have the bunker, the bunker has been destroyed, and there are still hidden fire points."

"Even if there are hundreds of imperial troops and mine guards, they can take advantage of the favorable terrain to hold them back, slow down their attack, and hold out until reinforcements come over."

"Kimura-kun, the mine protection team is the main force for us to defend the coal mine, and you have more combat experience than me, I hope you can command all the troops in the mine to stand on the front line and wait for reinforcements."

"I'll send a telegram to Datong City right now, asking for support."

On the battlefield, every ten minutes or so, a turret or a bunker is destroyed by mountain artillery.

The attacking troops took advantage of the situation to cover the past and occupy the turrets and bunkers that had been blown to waste.

The devil is not a vegetarian, and he is especially desperate to fight.

As long as they can still move, they are all hidden in the ruins, some people are holding rifles, some are holding grenades, and they will fight for their lives after the Eighth Route Army rushes nearby......

When the enemy and us were engaged in a fierce battle around the coal mine, the Japanese army headquarters in Datong gradually became lively.

The brigade commander was short-tempered, and when he walked in, he stared at the chief of staff and asked, "Is there any latest news from the Dongshan Coal Mine?" ”

"Hey!" The chief of staff hastened to answer.

"The connection between the command and the Dongshan Coal Mine has not been interrupted."

"Report of the coal mine garrison: The enemy attacking them has a reinforced battalion, and the preliminary judgment is that the Eighth Route Army operating in the territory of Datong is equipped with a large number of mortars and mountain artillery."

"Now the enemy is using mountain artillery to name the gun towers and bunkers around the coal mine, and the coal mine garrison has suffered heavy casualties, especially the artillery, which lost more than half of it as soon as the battle began, and has now withdrawn from the battle."

"The biggest problem now is that they have no countermeasures in the face of enemy artillery attacks, and they can only be passively bombed."

The brigade commander's face was very ugly, he forcibly suppressed the anger that was surging up in his heart, clenched his fists and snorted coldly: "The enemy is prepared, and he wants to destroy this coal mine quickly." ”

"But they overestimate themselves too much, and they underestimate us too much."

"The coal mine is so close to Datong, if they are allowed to conquer the coal mine from under our noses, the Datong garrison will have no face."

After speaking, the brigade commander looked at the chief of staff and asked, "Which unit is the closest to the east gate?" ”

How many garrisons are there in Datong City, where are they stationed, and what is the equipment...... These things have long been reflected in the heart of the chief of staff.

After listening to the question of the brigade commander, the chief of staff's mind was like a movie, and the situation of the garrison in the east of the city instantly appeared in front of his eyes.

Without the slightest hesitation, he blurted out in the eyes of the brigade commander: "The Third Infantry Brigade, the Third Mountain Artillery Squadron." ”

The brigade commander also reacted quickly, and immediately ordered: "The third brigade will leave one infantry squadron, and the others will all be ready to send troops." ”

"The 3rd Mountain Artillery Squadron is dispatched together."

"The automobile squadron dispatched all its vehicles to the garrison of the 3rd Brigade and the Mountain Artillery Squadron to send reinforcements to the battlefield as quickly as possible."

Three kilometers from Dongshan Coal Mine to Datong City is the plain.

In order to prevent the Eighth Route Army from using the sorghum and corn fields next to the highway to attack the imperial army and engage in guerrilla warfare, the Japanese specially stipulated that the land within 500 meters on both sides of the highway could not grow grain.

Over the course of two years, all of these fertile fields were covered with half-meter-high wild grass and bushes.

The three battalions of the garrison regiment, the troops brought by Wang Xin from Yi County, the reinforcements of the Huaiyuan Independent Regiment, and the reinforcements of the Laishui Independent Regiment, a total of more than 3,000 people were ambushed here, covered in thatch, lying on the ground motionless.

Light and heavy machine guns and mortars were also tightly covered with thatch.

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