According to the information provided by the reconnaissance detachment earlier, the rest of the Japanese division stationed in the town still has a certain number of artillery units. If these artillery pieces are not solved, when a large force attacks, it will inevitably be hit by Japanese artillery fire.

The so-called 'new soldiers are afraid of artillery, veterans are afraid of machine guns', if he wants to capture the town at the lowest cost, Hu Biao must first solve the artillery in the hands of the Japanese army. Only in this way can the superiority of the 51st Army be brought into full play when the general offensive is launched later.

Although the task force and the prisoner of war camp will still be used as the main attack force, attacking the Japanese army in the town. However, in order to reduce casualties, Hu Biao must also make full use of the 51st Army, which cooperated with the operation, and let it share the offensive pressure.

For Hu Biao and the officers and men of the task force, if everything went well, this should be their last battle in Anhui Province. Whether you fight or not, in fact, it has little to do with Hu Biao. But for the 51st Army, they could not retreat.

If the main force of the 13th Division still stays in the town and does not leave, sooner or later it will launch an attack on Lu'an City, where the 51st Army is stationed. This also means that the Japanese troops stationed in the town are a time bomb for the 51st Army.

And tonight is their chance to defuse this time bomb. If it can successfully defeat the Japanese army in the town, I believe that the 51st Army will not be threatened by the Japanese army in a short period of time, and it will be able to retain more strength.

Seeing that the little devils in the town began to launch artillery counterattacks, Yu Xuezhong, who was staying by Hu Biao's side, also smiled and said: "Brother Hu, you sent troops to launch a feint attack just to lure the little devil artillery to attack, right?" ”

"Definitely! If you want to capture the town, the only way to destroy the little devil's artillery is to destroy it first. If we do not solve these artillery problems, when it comes to the general attack, our attacking troops will only suffer heavy casualties. It's just that the little devil still has a hand! ”

"What's the explanation?"

Hearing what Hu Biao said, Yu Xuezhong naturally asked curiously, and Hu Biao quickly said: "According to what I know, the little devils in the town still have a certain number of heavy artillery in their hands, and they are not using it now!"

At this moment, most of the artillery used by the little devils is infantry guns and a small number of mountain guns. It seems that the commander of the little devils does not want to easily expose their artillery positions. It seems that it is necessary to add another fire! ”

After saying this, Hu Biao called Tian Tiezhu to give an explanation, and a group of artillery on standby, under the cover of the infantry, approached the town again. After setting up the artillery, they quickly launched an artillery bombardment of the Japanese troops in the city.

Xu Sandao and the others, who were suppressed by the artillery fire of the little devils, saw the artillery fire coming from the rear, and also said with a smile: "Order the troops, continue to resist and attack!" Be careful, be sure to spread out your attacks and dig up more individual bunkers! ”

In the course of the attack, many of the officers and men of the task force in charge of the feint attack were secretly digging individual pits. With these individual pits being excavated, the fighters also have a simple defensive bunker.

Fighting against the little devils who defend the town, the combat team members are also safer and more advantageous. If you really want to set up a machine gun in the open field, it is also easy to be hit by little devils, and it will undoubtedly be more convenient to have a bunker hole.

The officers and soldiers of the guard regiment who cooperated with the operation looked at the combat members who were digging holes, and said in surprise: "Do you still bring a shovel with you when you fight?" What's the use of digging such a small pit? ”

"This is a single pit, and it is safer to lie in the pit. Even if the little devil shell falls, as long as it does not fall into the hole, it will not be injured by shrapnel while lying inside. With a single pit, it is equivalent to having a defensive bunker, understand? ”

In fact, every member of the task force is equipped with an engineer shovel. Hu Biao, who came from later generations, knew very well that this kind of sapper shovel seemed to be inpowerful, but it could play a big role on the battlefield.

This is especially true for units such as task forces, which may need to build defenses or ambush fortifications at any time. Carry a sapper shovel with you, and you can dig fortifications anytime and anywhere. In contrast, many anti-war units rarely prepared for this.

Sometimes when you go to the battlefield, you want to dig fortifications or strengthen them temporarily, but you find that you have no equipment at all. It's really unique like a task force to do this. Digging a single soldier pit is a combat skill that the task force must learn!

Seeing the attacking troops outside the town, they actually carried out an artillery counterattack, and many of the little devil artillery who had fired the cannon before were also blown up. And the little devil artillery, who had not moved before, also immediately joined the artillery battle.

According to Hu Biao's previous orders, a small group of three infantry guns and a small team of five mortars were each looking for a temporary artillery position suitable for evacuation. According to the agreed sequence of shelling, positions were quickly shifted after five rounds of shelling.

Turning the artillery battle into a guerrilla war really tired the little devils in the town. The little devil artillery who was in charge of the counterattack, looking at the shells from the east and the west, also knew that it was very difficult to completely annihilate the artillery outside the town.

Yu Xuezhong, who was staying in the rear to watch the battle, watched the confrontation between the artillery of the task force and the little devil artillery, and said with a little curiosity: "Brother Hu, isn't the artillery confrontation and concentrated firepower more powerful?" Why do you still take the artillery apart and use it? ”

"Brother, you've probably heard of guerrilla warfare, right? Infantry can fight guerrilla warfare, why can't artillery? The artillery that was sent out earlier carried very light artillery. Withdrawing after a wave can also effectively reduce casualties.

There is another purpose for this, that is, to prevent the artillery counterattack of the little devils. In terms of the combat level of artillery, the artillery we have trained is definitely inferior to the artillery of the little devils. I don't want to admit it, but it's true!

Sending the artillery out is more of a distraction from the little devils in the town, so that the little devils will expose more artillery positions. My mountain artillery and heavy artillery have not been used, but they are ready to give the little devil a fatal blow.

If I fire first, the little devil's heavy artillery will soon launch a counterattack. In order to prevent this from happening, I had to let the imps expose the heavy artillery positions first, and then cover them with artillery fire as quickly as possible. ”

As Hu Biao said, the artillery trained by the national army is much stronger than that of ordinary anti-Japanese war troops. However, in terms of professionalism and actual combat experience, it is still inferior to the professional artillery of the Japanese divisions and regiments, even the task force.

If Hu Biao used mountain artillery and heavy artillery as soon as he came up, the artillery units of the Japanese division and regiment that were holding the town would inevitably launch a thunderous counterattack. Without the help of artillery, it is almost impossible to attack a heavily defended town.

What was supposed to be an offensive and defensive drama in which the infantry sang the leading role soon turned into an artillery battle between the enemy and us. Compared with the Japanese troops in the town, most of the artillery positions were fixed, and the artillery of the task force that attacked and harassed outside the town changed the shelling position from time to time.

Many of the fortifications built by the Japanese army outside the town became the primary targets of the artillery of the task force. The Japanese artillery in the town, faced with the call for help from the defending troops, had to adjust the direction and angle of some artillery.

Ogizhou Libing, who stayed at the headquarters and learned of this situation, sighed slightly: "Yaga! These Chinese troops are very cunning, using this artillery attack tactic to constantly consume our shells. Their commander, that's amazing! ”

"General, can you let the peripheral troops withdraw to the second-line positions and abandon some of the peripheral defensive positions. In this way, our artillery squadron will be able to suppress the attacking artillery of the Chinese army and let the mountain artillery preserve its strength! ”

A staff officer who stayed by Ogisu's side quickly gave his own advice. As a result, Ogizhou Libing still shook his head and said, "No! It's still early days, and we can't just abandon our outer blocking positions, because that would become very dangerous.

If we abandon our outlying positions, the Chinese army will continue to shrink our living space. This town is not very large, and if we shrink the defensive circle, we will only suffer more casualties in the face of the artillery attack of the Chinese army. ”

As soon as Ogishu Libing said this, a brigade commander immediately said: "General, just fight with the Chinese army." They came from afar, believing that there should not be many shells in stockpile. Most of the artillery they use is the same as ours.

As the attacking side, they will definitely need to consume more shells than we do. With the ammunition we currently have in stockpile, there shouldn't be much of a problem for the time being. When the Chinese army finishes fighting the shells they carry, they will have to engage in a positional offensive and defensive battle with us! ”

This kind of lose-lose and desperate style of play, although a bit helpless, is still more feasible. In view of this situation, the Japanese army immediately adjusted the speed of the artillery counterattack, and carried out artillery battles with the attacking artillery outside the city.

Hu Biao, who was in charge of the command, saw that the mountain artillery unit of the little devil in the city had been basically locked. Then he said: "Pillar, notify the first team of mountain artillery, give me a hard beating!" Mountain Artillery Team 2, continue to be on standby! Don't attack without my orders! ”

"Yes, detachment leader!"

The mountain artillery team, the heavy artillery team, and Hu Biao were all divided into two artillery positions and deployed. This is also to prevent the Japanese army from being hit by the artillery of the little devils when they counterattack. Now that the little devil mountain cannon has started, Hu Biao will naturally not be idle.

After the calculation and analysis of the scouts, the first mountain artillery team has adjusted the corresponding shelling angle. If nothing else, these shells will fall accurately on the mountain artillery positions of the little devils. This can also be regarded as a kind of artillery tactics that strikes backward!

The little devils in the town, seeing the sound of artillery fire coming from outside the town again, looked at the shells that went straight to the mountain artillery position, and many little devils lying in the defensive position couldn't help but worry: "Baga! The Chinese army also has mountain artillery! ”

In the eyes of many little devils, it is relatively common for the anti-Japanese war troops to be equipped with mortars. As for the Type 92 infantry guns, most of them were captured from the battlefield. And the seven-five-caliber mountain artillery is rarely seen in the anti-Japanese war troops.

Unexpectedly, the troops attacking the town tonight were actually equipped with mountain artillery. Listening to this movement, it is at least the movement of more than six mountain cannons. When the shells landed and exploded, the Japanese mountain artillery positions in the town soon became a mess.

The attacking artillery, which had been suppressed by the Japanese mountain artillery, intensified the artillery bombardment when the Japanese mountain artillery units were unable to counterattack. Constantly urge the Japanese army to build defensive positions outside the town, and clear the way for the follow-up offensive troops to charge!