Lieutenant General Kato was in a particularly bad mood for several days in a row.

Especially last night, the sound of gunfire, shell explosions, from eight o'clock in the evening until six o'clock in the morning, did not stop in between.

If it weren't for the fact that the headquarters was in a dead end of artillery firing, Lieutenant General Kato was even worried that he would never wake up if he fell asleep.

At seven o'clock in the morning, just after breakfast, the chief of staff came in with a solemn face.

"How many casualties did the troops suffer last night, and how far are we from Linfen City!" Every morning the chief of staff's routine report was the worst time for the head of the Kato Division.

Therefore, when he saw the chief of staff coming in, the face of the commander of the Kato division sank.

"Division commander, the casualties of the troops last night were a bit large!"

"In addition to the sneak attack method a few days ago, the Eighth Route Army also used mountain artillery and infantry artillery last night!"

"In just one night, we lost 296 killed, 121 seriously wounded and incapacitated, and more than 400 direct losses!"

"Smack......

A cup on the table in front of him was instantly smashed by Lieutenant General Kato.

Then he stared at the chief of staff with a pair of big eyes and asked rhetorically, "How many people?" You say it again~"

The chief of staff replied stubbornly: "The direct loss of 418 people, including a captain of the Shaozuo Brigade, was killed on the spot after being hit by a shell!" ”

Kato stared at the chief of staff and continued to ask: "With so many losses in people, how many Eighth Route Army have we eliminated?" ”

"I don't know!" The chief of staff shook his head and replied, his head was so low that he couldn't see his face!

"Yaga!" Kato was furious and scolded: "In other words, the Eighth Route Army, which attacked us last night, may not have suffered a single casualty, but it caused us more than 400 casualties...... Are they all pigs? Are all the guns in your hands burning sticks? Why don't you fight back~"

"The Eighth Route Army has artillery, and we also have artillery, not only mortars, mountain artillery, but also field artillery, large-caliber mountain artillery, heavy artillery. The artillery is also a bunch of stupid pigs, where did the arrogance they have fought with the Jin Sui army! ”

The reason why the troops suffered losses was clear to the division commanders in front of them.

But at this moment, the chief of staff did not have the courage to stand up and explain. Stand in front of him with his head bowed and say nothing.

After Kato, who had been scolding for almost five minutes, finally stopped, the chief of staff seized the opportunity to continue to report: "Division commander, we are only less than forty kilometers away from Linfen City, and we should be able to kill Linfen tomorrow afternoon!" ”

Commander Kato quickly regained his composure, and then asked, "How is the situation in Linfen City now!" ”

"According to intelligence, the Eighth Route Army has evacuated all the people in Linfen City. Today's Linfen City has become an empty city! ”

"I knew it was going to be like this!" Kato replied in a tone that he had already guessed.

"The Eighth Route Army here is too cunning to have the courage to confront the imperial army. The villages and towns we encountered along the way were all empty, and not a single grain could be found, even though Linfen City was an important town, and it was no exception. The Eighth Route Army did not have the courage to fight a head-to-head battle with the Imperial Army on the frontal battlefield! ”

"The troops will set off immediately, and strive to garrison us in Linfen City tomorrow night!"

"With the protection of the walls of Linfen City, I believe that our casualties will be much smaller tomorrow night."

"Also, after the troops occupy Linfen City, don't forget the deal between us and the Jin Sui army!"

After sending many imperial troops to join the road construction army, the Japanese army traveled more than 20 kilometers in a day.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese troops rushed to the temporary camping site this evening.

The division headquarters occupies the village next to the road, and the guard unit and an infantry wing are scattered around!

The other infantry, artillery, and the Imperial Allied Army camped along the road in turn, one camp after another stretching for nearly five kilometers.

At eight o'clock in the evening, gunshots rang out on time outside the station, which upset Kato.

"Woo woo woo ......"

Suddenly, a very piercing scream of breaking the air came, which lasted for a long time before a violent explosion sounded not far away.

Kato, who had just laid down, sat up from the marching bed with a rub.

As a veteran of the battlefield, distinguishing the caliber of artillery by the sound of artillery is the most basic quality.

The piercing screech made him realize that the cannonball he had just smashed was no ordinary cannonball.

"Sir, it's a heavy artillery, a large-caliber mountain artillery!" The artillery staff rushed in with shock.

"Just now, the Eighth Route Army used nine large-caliber heavy guns to shell the front Tsuda Wing station, and the artillery position was at least eight kilometers away from us. We don't have artillery to fight back unless we use heavy artillery! ”

The power of large-caliber mountain artillery Kato has seen it more than once, and on the battlefield in the southwest of Jin, he relied on these heavy artillery to match.

With a large number of trenches and bunkers to protect it, a heavy artillery shell smashed over it could reimburse the strength of a company of the Jin Sui army. Now there are no trench bunkers in the Tsuda Wing station, and the Eighth Route Army smashed nine heavy artillery shells at one time. Kato did not dare to imagine how many casualties the Tsuda United team would have suffered when they were hit by the shells.

While his face suddenly turned pale, he hurriedly ordered: "Then what are you still doing in a daze!" Contact the Heavy Artillery Wing and counterattack immediately~"

"Woo woo woo~"

No sooner had the command been uttered than a familiar and piercing screech was heard.

This time it fell to the artillerymen, and their faces turned white.

It wasn't until the explosion sounded a kilometer away that he reacted: "Impossible! How could the Eighth Route Army have so many heavy artillery, I must have thought wrong! ”

"What is impossible, the second round of shells of the Eighth Route Army has been smashed. Do you want to see the Imperial Army soldiers killed by all these heavy artillery and then counterattack? Seeing that the communications staff officer was stunned and did not move, he looked stupid, and scolded angrily.

"No, sir, the shell just now can't be the second round of shells fired from the artillery position of the Eighth Route Army just now!" After confirming it in his heart, the artillery staff officer hastened to answer.

"The rate of fire of heavy artillery is very slow, and it is impossible for even the best gunners of the Imperial Army to fire two rounds of shells in such a short time, let alone the Eighth Route Army, which is rarely equipped with heavy artillery!"

"Judging from the humble position, the Eighth Route Army also has a heavy artillery position, on which there are also nine heavy artillery!"

"If the heavy artillery unit of the imperial army wants to kill them in a short time, it must use all the heavy artillery and use the numerical superiority to suppress them!"

"Also, the current station of the heavy artillery unit is also outside the range of the heavy artillery, and if they want to counterattack, they must move forward two kilometers in order to ensure the hit rate!"

"Then you don't give the order yet!" Lieutenant General Kato also panicked.

He couldn't believe that the Eighth Route Army, which couldn't even make a rifle, was equipped with heavy artillery, and there were as many as eighteen guns!

Hurriedly ordered: "Tell the commander of the heavy artillery wing that I don't want the process, just the result." Within an hour, destroy these two heavy artillery positions for me! ”

"Chief of Staff, order all troops to disperse at once. The Eighth Route Army has heavy artillery, and the more concentrated the troops, the greater our casualties! ”

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