This is the first time that Liu Cheng has not appeared on the front line.

When Zhang Haipeng's two divisions were still thirty miles away from Phoenix Mountain, Liu Chengcheng had already gotten the news.

Two divisions, totaling more than 10,000 people.

It was a battle in which the combined strength of both sides exceeded 15,000 men.

Although he had made full preparations before, Liu Cheng was still a little worried.

If it was five hundred against one thousand or one thousand five, Liu Cheng wouldn't even think about it, just hit it directly.

But five thousand against ten thousand, it is not at all possible that a few charges can be over.

It can be seen from the opponent's marching army that they have made corresponding combat arrangements.

The two divisions, one on the left and one on the right, spaced about a kilometer apart, advanced at the same time.

When there were still about fifteen miles away from Phoenix Mountain, the formation of the two divisions began to disperse, obviously wanting to extend the front.

This was something that Lin Guozhong and Zhou Zuopeng had already discussed, and their strength was twice as large as Liu Cheng's, so the use of this tactic of elongating the front could effectively disperse the opponent's defensive forces, which was very suitable in the initial tentative attack.

The scouts of the cavalry company came back one after another to report the distance, but Liu Cheng never said a word.

The effective range of the mountain artillery was only a little more than six kilometers, so before Lin and Erren's troops did not enter the firing range, Liu Cheng could only choose to wait.

In a battle of this magnitude, the role of the Scout is particularly important.

If the specific position of the enemy's artillery cannot be determined, the independent battalion will easily be attacked by the enemy's artillery fire and will suffer huge casualties.

The purpose of Lin Guozhong and Zhou Zuopeng to pull the battle line apart was to effectively evade the other side's reconnaissance and cover the position of the artillery.

When the distance between the two sides was reduced to about seven kilometers, Lin and Erren ordered the troops to stop their advance and prepare to destroy the first line of defense of the independent battalion by artillery first.

Seeing that the two of them had not launched an attack for a long time, Liu Lang, who had come with a special mission, suddenly couldn't sit still.

He immediately went to the command post of the forward position to find Lin Guozhong and Zhou Zuopeng, and directly asked why the attack was delayed.

For this fat Liu who became the head of the regiment by nepotism, Lin Guozhong and Zhou Zuopeng have no good impression, and they usually ignore him.

But not this time, because Liu Fatzi came with the "Shang Fang Sword" given by Zhang Haipeng.

In ancient times, this was the Overseer.

Regardless of the rank of the official, Lin and the two people can't be too rude to him.

Facing Liu Lang's questioning, Lin Guozhong restrained his inner disgust and said as calmly as possible:

"Commander Liu, at present, it is not possible to determine the position and firepower configuration of the opponent's artillery, and rashly launching an attack is likely to cause unnecessary casualties on our side;

I just discussed it with Division Commander Zhou, and we plan to let the artillery shell the opponent's position first to test the opponent's reaction; If the enemy's artillery fire is weaker than ours, then launch a full-scale attack. ”

Although Liu Lang relies on himself to be Jia Ba's brother-in-law, he is a little arrogant on weekdays, but he is not a straw bale waste.

He knew that Lin Guozhong was right to do this, but he finally had such an opportunity to "talk to Lin and Erren on an equal footing", so he naturally had to make good use of it.

Otherwise, when I see these two division commanders again after I go back, he is still the fat man Liu who is not looked at by others.

Liu Lang pretended to look down at the combat map, picked up a pencil and drew a circle on it:

"This is the northern slope of Phoenix Mountain, the terrain is gentle, and the opponent's artillery should be in this position; Before coming, the commander explained to me that if this team was to eat the team of Zhao Yuzhi's regiment, then they had at least one 75-mm mountain cannon in their hands;

However, your two divisions have a total of twelve identical mountain artillery, do you still need to worry about the opponent's artillery fire returning fire?

In my opinion, the twelve guns can be divided into four groups, and at the same time cover the enemy's position, even if the opponent also returns fire, they will not be able to accurately determine the direction of our artillery fire. ”

Before Lin Guozhong could speak, Zhou Zuopeng next to him suddenly spoke first:

"Liu Lang, are you giving combat orders to our two division commanders?"

Zhou Zuopeng's personality is more anxious than Lin Guozhong's, and he has always looked down on Jia Ba, who can only slap his beard, so naturally he will not have a good impression of Liu Lang.

If Liu Lang hadn't had Zhang Haipeng's order this time, Zhou Zuopeng would have asked the guards to drive him out.

After listening to Zhou Zuopeng's words, Liu Lang pretended to be frightened and said in a panic voice:

"No, no, no, the two division commanders misunderstood, Liu just took the commander's order to assist the two division commanders, and he would never dare to offend, let alone overstep his bounds......"

Zhou Zuopeng squeezed out a cold snort from his nose, stretched out a finger and tapped heavily on the map the circle that Liu Lang had just drawn, and said in a stiff tone:

"You also know that it is the northern slope of Phoenix Mountain? The altitude of Phoenix Mountain is 660 meters, and the current straight-line distance from the foot of the southern slope is 6.5 kilometers, barely reaching the maximum range of artillery attacks;

If you want to cover the southern slope with artillery fire, then the artillery must advance at least another 1.5 km, and in order to cover the artillery, the large forces will have to advance by two km;

In case the enemy did not place the artillery position on the northern slope, but at the foot of the southern slope, then I would have entered the range of the opponent's artillery fire!

Do you know how many casualties that would take you? Are you responsible for this or will I and Senior Commander Lin bear it?! ”

Liu Lang didn't think of this, but just wanted to find a sense of existence in front of the two teachers who were high up on weekdays.

However, at this time, he couldn't give in, otherwise, the "Shang Fang Sword" in his hand would be invalidated in advance.

Thinking like this, Liu Lang stalked his neck, and there was a hint of ridicule in his tone:

"Then according to Master Zhou's meaning, let's just wait here? I hope that Division Commander Zhou can clearly know one thing: the other side has formed a position to defend the situation, and it is difficult for our scouts to find out the opponent's battle sequence and troop deployment, but it is very easy for the other side to find out our battle arrangement! ”

Zhou Zuopeng was choked by Liu Lang's words, and he was speechless for a while.

Indeed, what Liu Lang said was not wrong at all, from the time they reached about thirty miles near Phoenix Mountain, they had been repeatedly detected by the other party's cavalry.

Although seven or eight people had been killed, the opposing scouts still appeared nearby from time to time.

If this stalemate continues for a long time, sooner or later the artillery positions of Lin and Erren's headquarters will be exposed, and once they are destroyed, they will lose most of their advantage.

And at this time, the independent battalion was ready to take the lead in firing artillery......