"Knock, knock, knock"

Three shells of 75 mm mountain guns accurately landed on the head of the city, and immediately knocked several battlements of the masonry city wall into the air, broken bricks flew all over the sky, and the tracer bullets of the machine guns exchanged light and shadow one after another, wrapping the city head of the west gate heavily. The splashes of bricks and rubble fell on the steel helmet with a loud sound, and the heavy bricks smashed on the body and immediately broke bones. Under the cover of artillery fire, the army began to approach the city walls, but the defenders were completely overwhelmed.

As the shells hit the city, the brick and wood pavilions and other buildings on it were swept away, and the battlements were flattened one by one. The ancient city walls were no longer able to withstand the onslaught of modern thermal weapons, and the real defense of Mukden City relied on three layers of reinforced concrete forts and dozens of artillery pieces. But Zhang Mingqi only had dozens of infantry in his hands, none of them could open artillery, and he didn't know where the ammunition depot was, even if there were artillery, there were no shells.

Using the cover of artillery fire and machine guns, the Yue army began to attack the city with several ladders, and Zhang Mingqi and his comrades threw grenades like crazy, trying to disperse the Yue army attached to the city wall like ants. But the six grenades per man were quickly exhausted, and they stood at the battlements and fired their rifles downward, but often before a row of bullets was exhausted, the machine guns and rifle bullets of the army had already dropped the city. Dozens of defenders took care of one thing and lost the other, and just overthrew a cloud ladder and killed a few of their own soldiers, and another army from other places attacked the city tower. Soon, the two sides started hand-to-hand combat in the city, and the Hanfeng I rifle surpassed the Golden Hook rifle in terms of lethality and reliability, but it also had its own weakness, that is, the gun body was not long enough, and it was not as good as the Golden Hook Rifle in white-knuckle combat. The army also generally attached great importance to the practice of "sword fighting", and the skill of assassination was much stronger than that of the soldiers of the advance army. At the head of the city, the army and the advance army were huddled together, and the two sides fought flesh and blood. The advance army, who was pierced by the bayonet, grabbed the opponent's gun with his hand, and threw himself into the army and rolled down the city together. Someone simply pulled the grenade on fire and threw itself into the area with the highest concentration of troops.

The sound of gunfire, artillery, and grenade explosions resounded incessantly in the city of Mukden, and blood and severed limbs became the main theme of the night. The smell of blood in the air is so strong that even the cold wind of the autumn night can't blow away. Zhang Ming used his pistol to kill a soldier who rushed towards him, and sighed secretly. The west gate can't be defended, seeing that the army is about to occupy here, more than half of the robes have been killed, and the remaining few are still struggling to support, but they are also besieged by the army, and countless soldiers are rapidly approaching the city wall.

Simon is about to fall!

"Boom, boom" There was a muffled thunderous sound in the distance, and the earth trembled slightly.

Zhang Mingqi looked from the top of the city, and saw countless cavalry marching towards the west gate with torches, and the official road was like a fire dragon of unknown length moving forward.

The main force has finally arrived!

But there was still at least a kilometer away, and there were less than 30 defenders around Zhang Mingqi, and more than a dozen seriously wounded had lost their combat effectiveness.

This kilometer is the distance between life and death!

Zhang Mingqi has no artillery, he said that he has it, Zhang Mingqi has no shells, he also has it, if the west gate is controlled by the army, the dozens of cannons at the head of the city will become a nightmare for the advance army. Zhang Mingqi can imagine what a tragic scene it will be!

"Cover me! Kuroko, raise the torch! Zhang Mingqi bit his lip and roared hysterically.

The remaining defenders held the Japanese in front, forming a weak line of defense with bayonets and the few grenades that remained.

Zhang Mingqi ordered a squad leader to raise a torch, and he used his trembling hands to make a flag in the firelight.

The soldiers of the advance army under the city rushed into the city like crazy, and the explosions of gunfire and grenades and shouts of killing resounded in the sky.

The galloping cavalry was stopped by the Yue army, who had already reached the top of the city, and the bullets fired from the Golden Hook rifle knocked the crowded cavalry off their horses one by one. The cavalry also used war horses as cover to shoot at the head of the city in accordance with the requirements of the "Infantry Codex".

At this moment, everyone saw a man in a grass-green camouflage uniform in the firelight, holding two small flags in his hands.

"Shoot me!"

Zhang Mingqi played a flag that shocked everyone, and Gu Nanshan shouted with tears in his eyes: "Fire at the city!" ”

"Deputy Commander, no, there are still our brothers up there!" A battalion commander grabbed Gu Mazi's reins and cried.

"Deputy Commander, I'll rush over with my brothers and bring them back!" A staff officer roared hoarsely Gu Mazi's eyes were split, and a whip was whipped into the battalion commander's face, roaring: "Obey the order!" ”

A tear that was not angry, but it flowed out silently, down his cheek and fell on the muddy black earth after the heavy rain.

"Yes!"

Mortars of 60 mm to 120 mm caliber were quickly erected, and the gun commander stood at 45 degrees in front of the right side of the mortar, facing the position of the West Gate Tower, and suppressed his grief and said: "Stop! Shoot the left front with a cannon! ”

The first gunner received the order and repeated: "Stop! Shoot the left front with a cannon! Then he lowered the bottom sheet and stepped it into the muddy black soil with his feet, then unfolded the bipod and swung it in the general direction of the target; The second gunner lowered the gun body, mounted the crane on the bottom sheet, and locked it; ”

"Good level!"

"Good level!"

"Target, the tower ahead; Shooting angle???? Charge No. 1, two rounds!"

"Ready, put!"

The artilleryman filled the shell into the muzzle with tears in his eyes.

"Tong, Tong, Tong"

The mortar vented the anger of revenge like the city wall of the West Gate, the shells of the light mortars sprinkled an iron rain from the sky, killing the soldiers above without difficulty, and the shells of the heavy mortars fell, the city bricks were shattered, and the debris splashed exploded the ant-like Yue himself into pieces of flesh and blood.

After firing two rounds of shells at the city walls, the mortars began to fire again, and the shells flew over the walls into the city, howling the ghosts and wolves that were advancing towards the west gate. Under the cover of mortars, the cavalry rushed into the city along the official road with their horses and whips, and when they reached the city gate, the grenadiers used grenadiers to provide cover for the cavalry, cutting the array of the army into two sections. The cavalry shuttled repeatedly within a distance of 400 meters, using rifles and sabers to kill and wound a large number of stunned soldiers.

The superiority of the advance army did not last long, after all, the combat effectiveness of the Hiroshima division was not comparable to that of the local garrison of the Kawamoto brigade, after surviving the initial panic, the mountain artillery of the army began to exert its might, the cavalry that had just rushed into the city was blown up on their backs, and the infantry of the army looked for all available cover and attacked the cavalry with rifles.

The purpose of the two sides is completely the same, to seize the head of the West Gate, and whoever occupies the head of the city first and controls the fort will have the absolute initiative.

The cavalry of the advance army, desperately charging to provide cover for the follow-up troops so that they could quickly occupy the city, repeatedly charged along the narrow road, like moths to the fire of the machine guns and mountain artillery. The army also frantically charged in the direction of the city, and was killed by rifles, sabers, grenadiers, and mortars. A street less than two kilometers long was covered in a river of blood, and the mutilated corpses left little to rest.

The soldiers on both sides finally collided, and the machine guns of the Japanese army did not dare to fire, and the sound of sabers and bayonets, the explosion of grenades, and the muffled curses of both sides filled the streets with the smell of death.

Gu Nanshan, who was outside the city, ordered the cavalry to rush into the city at all costs and quickly seize the west gate, and at the same time ordered mortars to shoot at the head of the city. Light mortars of 60 to 90 mm bombarded the city incessantly, while heavy mortars of 120 mm extended their fire into the city to stop the reinforcements.

I don't know how many shells were repeatedly bombarded by the city, and at first there were military rifles returning fire, but gradually there was no movement. After some of the cavalry reached the west gate, they quickly climbed the city wall. The horror above is chilling. Hardly a single body was intact, and not a single rifle was intact. The soldiers of the advance army were entangled with the soldiers, the bayonets were deeply embedded in each other's bodies, and a soldier of the advance army had a bullet piercing a hole in the lower abdomen, and when he died, he also bit the throat of a soldier with his teeth, and his mouth was covered with red and black blood.

Although the head of the city at the west gate was shattered by the cannons, and the battlements were almost flattened by the artillery fire of both sides, the reinforced concrete forts were intact, and the 75-millimeter mountain guns of the Yue army and the mortars of the advance army were almost powerless against these semi-permanent ministers.

The artillerymen who rushed to the head of the city shouted at the robe beside him: "What about the cannonballs, I want cannonballs?" ”

"Where are the shells? We only have mortar shells, mountain artillery and field artillery are in the hands of the artillery regiments behind, and they haven't come here yet! ”

"These guys in the artillery regiment are slower than a turtle crawling!" The artilleryman scolded in annoyance.

"Don't stand stupidly, go find it for Lao Tzu, I don't believe there is no ammunition depot here!" The artillery company commander looked at dozens of cannons but could not use them, and the depression in his heart could not be expressed.

Dozens of artillerymen under the protection of the infantry, divided into the west gate near the city pass to find, Fengtian Guancheng, it is not an exaggeration to call it a city, the city pass large and small hiding holes, ammunition depots, grain depots, underground passages, is simply a labyrinth, if there is no one to guide the living, I am afraid that a day will not be able to find the way out.

Artillery and infantry slammed into the city like dizzy ducks, smashed open the doors of one room after another, and searched for more than ten minutes without seeing the shadow of the ammunition depot. The mountain artillery of the Yue army fired shells at the city tower continuously, and the soldiers of the advance army who had already reached the top of the city suffered heavy casualties. Several mortars and machine guns that were carried up to the city were also dumbfounded by the artillery fire of the Japanese army. Without a solid artillery bunker, mortar and mountain artillery fire at each other, you will definitely suffer, and machine guns are even less of an opponent!

"Company commander, there are people here!" One of the soldiers exclaimed.

The artillery company commander saw what seemed to be a fire behind a window, kicked at the dilapidated wooden door, flashed behind the door quickly, and then shouted inside: "Don't move, all lie down!" ”

"Don't shoot, we're all Chinese." There was a crying voice from inside.

The infantry smashed the window lattice with the butt of his gun, stuck the muzzle of his gun in, and then shouted in unison: "Don't move!" ”

The commander of the artillery company rushed in with a pistol that had been fired with ten rounds of pistols, and found that in a huge hiding hole, more than 200 people were lying face down on the ground, wearing the uniforms of the shabby patrol battalion.

"Bastard, it's like this outside, and you're hiding in a turtle shell?" The company commander scolded angrily.

These people don't fight, they don't surrender, they don't run, what is this not waiting for death? Typical ostrich thinking, I don't know how numb a person has to be to do such a stupid thing? And not one or two, but more than two hundred!

"As a soldier, you can't defend your family and country, do you want to have a fart?" The company commander gritted his teeth.

A cavalry company of Zhang Mingqi in the vanguard team has all been killed, and the soldiers of the advance army are like knives, looking at these patrol battalions lying on the ground trembling, they can't wait to slaughter them all!

"Sir, spare your life, spare your life!" The soldiers of the patrol battalion kowtowed like pounding garlic and cried like snot.

"Where is the ammunition depot?" The artillery company commander asked with a suppressed fire.

"Just across the fortress cannon, I'll take you there, sir, spare your life!" A man who looked like a small boss replied in a trembling voice.

"Is there artillery? It's the artilleryman's for Lao Tzu to stand up! The company commander continued.

Yu Xiaobao's artillery regiment has not yet arrived at the west gate, and the artillery that arrived in the early stage will only use mortars and mountain artillery, while the forts at the head of Fengtian City are basically heavy artillery, as well as two 180 mm caliber fortress guns, which will not be used by the artillery of these advance troops.

The soldiers of the patrol battalion looked at each other, as if they were gourds with sawed mouths, and none of them spoke.

"Kill all these useless guys!" The commander of the artillery company said fiercely.

"Sir, we are all artillerymen, all artillery!"

When they heard that they were going to be shot, these people shouted in unison.

"All artillery?"

"We are the artillery company defending the city, and the whole company is here! O sir, we are useful, useful! ”

The artillery company commander said to the infantry behind him: "Look at them, if you dare to escape, shoot them immediately!" Everybody follow me to carry the shells! ”

The door of the ammunition depot was locked, and the leader of the patrol battalion could not remember where the key had been lost, and after the artillery company commander cursed, he blew open the rusty iron lock with a grenade. Suddenly, a damp and moldy smell came to my nose. The company commander did not care about scolding, and ordered the soldiers of these patrol battalions to carry the shells.

Heavy shells were carried to carts and delivered from the lifting shafts to the various batteries, and the artillery of the patrol battalion was escorted with bayonets by the infantry of the advance corps to the various gun emplacements. The reinforced concrete fort is the safest place in the entire city pass, and the shells of the mountain artillery of the army fall on it, at most it is a small pit, and it is impossible to cause major damage at all.

"Boom!"

A 105-millimeter howitzer was fired, and houses in the distance were blown into the sky, and the sound of huge explosions and fires were clear two or three miles away.

"Bastard, where are you going?" The artillery company commander scolded angrily.

The artilleryman of the patrol battalion trembled and said: "Sir, I have learned to shoot artillery, but I have never really fired artillery, and the commander usually does not allow us to use live ammunition." ”

The artillery company commander reluctantly said to the artillery of the advance army: "Leave one person for each artillery to report the shooting and command them to open fire." ”

An artilleryman of the advance army was embarrassed: "Company commander, this place is next to a civilian house, and it is easy to accidentally injure civilians when correcting artillery." ”

The company commander said with a cold face: "Bomb this area to the ground, I'd rather be injured by mistake than let Xiao Yueben run away!" ”

"Company commander??"

"Execute the order!"

"Yes!"

The artillery of the advance army uses a quadrant to observe the distance of the target, and according to the distance of the cannon and the angle between the cannon eye, it calculates the corresponding gauge and direction and other shooting starting elements, and adds ballistic conditions, such as: charge number, medicine temperature, air temperature, air pressure, wind direction, wind speed, latitude, earth rotation, etc. to calculate the corresponding correction amount, and then through a series of complex calculations, the resulting shooting yuan is issued to the artillery of the patrol battalion who have not fired a few shots.

"Boom!"

The three forts on the west gate opened fire at the same time, the huge air wave blew everything that was not fixed into the air, the soldiers all opened their mouths to relieve the stimulation of the eardrum by the sound of the cannon, and dozens of guns of large and small calibers on the three forts overwhelmingly smashed the shells at the army, especially the mountain artillery position of the Yueben was taken care of, where the shells were repeatedly plowed several times. Although the artillery of the patrol battalion is extremely poor, it can still understand the ruler. Under the command of the artillery of the advance army, they loaded a heavy shell into the muzzle and then pulled the arquebus.

The quality of the shells imported from Germany and Britain is really not covered, and they can still be used after being put in a humid environment for more than two years, and the roar of the Krupp and Armstrong cannons is deafening, and the two kilometers near the west gate have become a sea of fire.

Morita Osa looked at this hellish scene in horror, explosions were everywhere, every house was burning, and the soldiers at the center of the explosion suddenly turned into gas, and those who were a little farther away were also swept to the ground by the air wave, and then burned alive by the raging fire. Chinese buildings are all brick and wood structures, which can easily catch fire, and the wind in Mukden in late autumn is harder than a knife, and the fire spreads by the wind. This scene reminded him of the battle of the siege of the 203rd Heights in the Russian War. Rows and rows of troops rushed to the Russian line of defense built with machines, artillery, and power grids, and then they were knocked down like wheat, and then they were in a row again, and the cycle repeated.

In that battle, even the son of the commander Nogi Noshinori was killed by Russian artillery, and it took tens of thousands of corpses for the army to cross the death heights??? However, Morita Osa is not a Nogi general, and he does not have so many soldiers as consumables.

The soldiers of Morita's brigade attacked the west gate in the face of overwhelming artillery fire, but the courage of this battle seemed so insignificant in the face of steel, and the Chinese soldiers smashed tons of shells in an area of two kilometers, and several surrounding streets had been flattened by the shelling. The army survived the rubble and fire.

Fengtian Ximen is already a purgatory on earth!

(To be continued)