The artillery squad of the Katamura Brigade was quickly deployed, and two 92 infantry guns and six 81mm caliber light mortars were laid out at a distance of 2,000 meters from the Chinese army's defense line, and the artillery was quickly put into position.

Immediately afterwards, the commanders of the artillery waved down the small pennants held high.

The next moment, two 92 infantry guns and six 81mm light mortars trembled at the same time, and then a dazzling red light burst out from the muzzle, and the little devil didn't even have a test shot and directly started a cluster shelling, and in an instant, rows of shells roared forward with a squeaky scream.

In the next moment, a huge explosion immediately bloomed on the defensive position of the Chinese army, and among the rolling flames and air waves, you could faintly see the wood that was lifted into the air, as well as all kinds of firearms, and in an instant, the entire defensive position of the Chinese army was completely enveloped by continuous explosions.

Wan Chongshan held his head in his hands and pouted his buttocks, lying in the trench like an ostrich.

Due to the rush of time, the second battalion did not have time to build complete fortifications, so only the front and rear two main trenches were dug, and even the communication trenches between these two main trenches were not completely dug, let alone the anti-artillery holes, so when the little devils launched a fierce shelling, the officers and men of the second battalion could only pray in the smoke of gunpowder.

Pray that the shells don't fall into the trenches, and that they don't fall into the trenches.

Unfortunately, there were always shells falling into the trenches, so officers and men of the 2nd Battalion were constantly bombed into the sky.

However, the officers and men of the second battalion were not frightened, they were also fought from the Songhu battlefield and the Wuxi battlefield, and almost all of them crawled out of the pile of dead people; at the beginning in Shanghai, they even learned the large-caliber naval guns of the small Japanese navy, which were huge guns with a caliber of more than 300mm.

Compared with the Battle of Songhu, the intensity of the little devil's current artillery bombardment is almost like a child's house, and it is simply wishful thinking to expect this intensity of artillery to defeat the morale of the veterans of the second battalion.

Therefore, even though the entire position was blown into a ball, the second battalion remained immovable.

The devil artillery did not carry many shells, and the fire continued for ten minutes before stopping.

At the end of the shelling, before the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, more than 100 devil soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Squadron of the Katamura Brigade pounced on the middle with bright bayonets, and along with the advance of the more than 100 devil infantry, there was also the heavy machine gun squadron of the Katamura Brigade, and in addition, the 1st and 2nd Infantry Squadrons were making a detour to the left and right flanks.

However, the devil who detoured from the left and right flanks soon ran into a problem.

Because they didn't go far after a detour, they were blocked by a cliff and went around the way, only to find that the cliff had also been extending forward, and they couldn't open it, and they couldn't open the distance between them and the devils in the middle lane, and it was meaningless to detour from the flanks, so the two devils could only turn back.

"Nani, can't go back in the way?" Yoshio Katamura was stupid after receiving the report.

After being stunned for a moment, the righteous man in Katamura roared angrily: "Map, bring the map!" ”

The combat staff officer carrying the map hurriedly took out the map from the map bag and spread it out, and turned on the flashlight, Yoshio Katamura looked at the map for a long time, and was stunned to see where it appeared, not that he couldn't read the map, but that it was too dark, and he really couldn't see the surrounding frame of reference, and without a reference, there was no way to judge the exact direction of the present.

At this time, the adjutant Ogasawara suddenly said, "Captain, we shouldn't be here, right?" ”

After finishing speaking, Ogasawara also pointed to the map, and Yoshio Katamura looked in the direction of the adjutant's finger, and saw the three words "teapot pass", and looking at the shape on the map, it really looked like a teapot.

Looking at the teapot on the picture, the heart of the righteous man in Katamura continued to sink.

Although there is no frame of reference around, Yoshio Katamura has already concluded in his heart that this is the teapot pass.

Because of the limitations of the terrain, the strength of the brigade in Katamura could not be used at all, which meant that he could only put in his troops one squadron after another to attack the mouth of the teapot, which became the most stupid tactic of adding oil, and the Chinese army on the opposite side only needed a small number of troops to hold the exit of the teapot.

Yoshio Katamura turned his gaze to the entrance of the teapot and the long spout again.

The entrance of the teapot is the direction in which the brigade in Katamura came, the width is also limited, and it can accommodate a squadron at most, as for this long spout, it is even narrower, and it is a little reluctant to expand an infantry squad, this is troublesome, and the face of the righteous man in Katamura immediately gloomy, it seems that there is little hope for breaking through!

"Command! The infantry squadrons immediately retreated and went on the defensive! ”

Realizing that there was no hope of breaking through, Yoshio Katamura immediately changed his mind.

It must be admitted that Katamura's impromptu disposition is still very correct, and under the premise that he has been lured into a desperate situation by the Chinese, it is foolish to rashly invest troops in a hopeless breakthrough, and the result will only be to waste valuable troops in a breakthrough battle that is destined to be unsuccessful.

Therefore, the wisest thing to do is to shrink the forces and turn to the defense.

Although there is no terrain available for use in the teapot pass, the terrain is still quite open, and if the brigade in the village shrinks into a group, it can still hold on for a long time, at least until reinforcements arrive, not to mention, they and the Terrans are famous groundhogs, even if it is open land, they can also build a fortress!

As soon as Katamura Yoshio gave the order, the 3rd Infantry Squadron, which was attacking continuously towards the exit of the teapot pass, immediately retreated, and then worked with the other two infantry squadrons and the heavy machine gun squadron to repair the fortifications, but whether to ask the detachment headquarters for help, Katamura Yoshio was still a little hesitant, because he suddenly found that there was still a chance to turn defeat into victory.

When the Japanese army turns to the defensive, the Chinese army is very likely to turn to the offensive, because as soon as the morning dawns, the main force of the Japanese air force and the detachment will arrive, and at that time, the Chinese army will have no chance at all, so the Chinese army will definitely switch from defense to attack, so that the opportunity for their village brigade will come.

Defend first, and then fight back, maybe it will be possible to turn defeat into victory!

Therefore, Katamura Yoshio did not immediately ask the detachment headquarters for help, because if he asked the headquarters for help, he would have confirmed a series of mistakes in command before, but if he did not ask the headquarters for help, then after the battle was over, after the Dameishan Independent Regiment was resolved, he could say that the previous mistakes were bullying the enemy.

Until now, Yoshio Katamura is still fantasizing about a big victory.

(Dividing Line)

To the right of the teapot pass, diagonally upwards along the long spout, is a piece of high ground.

At this moment, on the high ground, the cavalry battalion of iron and steel was waiting quietly, and more than 300 people were riding, and they were silent in the night.

Last time in the Huai River, Xu Rui collected the remnants of the infantry in addition to the infantry, there are also many wounded or lost cavalry, after these cavalry veterans recovered, Xu Rui immediately added them to the cavalry battalion of Tiegang, and now the cavalry battalion of Tiegang has four cavalry companies and more than 300 horsemen!

Of course, war horses are a big problem.

There is no shortage of horses in the independent regiment, and many of them have been captured from the devils before.

The problem is that not all horses can be used as war horses.

In other words, if you want to train an ordinary horse into a war horse, it takes at least three months to stay up, and for more than three months, the cavalry must eat and sleep with his war horse, and then go out at the same time.

Therefore, the newly formed cavalry company cannot be regarded as a real cavalry company, at best it is a dragoon company, the so-called dragoons, as loud as they sound, are actually mounted infantry, marching and riding horses in peacetime, and dismounting and fighting on foot in wartime, they can't charge on horseback like real cavalry, it's not that people can't do it, but horses can't do it.

But then again, the cavalry battalion is in line with international standards.

Because in today's world, it has become an international practice for cavalry units to be equipped with a certain number of mounted infantry.

For example, the cavalry wing of the Japanese field division, in addition to two cavalry squadrons, also has a mounted infantry squadron, plus a mounted machine gun squadron.

The cavalry battalion of iron and steel is now in line with the international trend.

Looking down from the high ground, the view is very good, and you can see every move of the little devils in the col.

Seeing that the devil turned from attack to defense and began to build fortifications in the open mountain pass, Tie Xiaogang, the guard of Tie Gang, said: "I didn't expect this little devil to be stupid, and he actually didn't attack." ”

Tiegang said: "Of course the little devil is not stupid, otherwise, what would we become?" ”

Indeed, if the little devils are fools, then what have become of them? Isn't it even as good as a fool?

Tie Xiaogang said: "Battalion commander, or let's fight now, otherwise when the devils build fortifications, let's fight again, but it won't be so easy." ”

"What's the hurry?" Tie Gang shook his head and said, "This teapot is full of sandstone, if you want to build fortifications, it's not easy, didn't you see that the second battalion of the second battalion was busy working for most of the day and dug two trenches less than one meter?" So let's not be in a hurry, wait for the little devils to dig there for an hour first, and then rush when they are almost tired. ”

"yes." Tie Xiaogang scratched his head and said, "Battalion commander, you are really cunning. ”

Tiegang said: "What do you mean by cunning? It's called resourcefulness! Can you kid talk? ”

"Yes, yes, resourceful." Tie Xiaogang said, "Battalion commander, you are really resourceful. ”

"You kid, take the two brothers to the front to watch, don't let the little devil touch it." Tie Gang sent Tie Xiaogang away, turned back and shouted, "It's all there, get off the horse and rest!" ”