Even if the summer days are long, there is always an end, Xue Yue in Lan Feng City feels that the danger has arrived, and the same is true of Kenji Dohihara outside Lan Feng City - the Japanese planes above his head are gradually returning, even if the commander of the 2nd Army, Lieutenant General Kazuki Kiyoji, telegraphed that the army aviation will also send planes at night, but at this time, the weather is not good, the clouds are low, if the Chinese armored army wants to pursue him, the army aviation will not be able to stop it at all. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Only by taking Lanfeng at night will he not be annihilated by the chariot troops of China at night, and tomorrow he will be able to escape by relying on the cover of aircraft to capture Chenliukou during the day and relying on the supply line of the Yellow River.

Kenji Dohihara is still thinking carefully even when he is on the run, but Major General Toshima Botaro doesn't think so. He thinks that whatever stands in the way in front of him will be taken, even if he dies with the enemy and serves the country with broken jade.

The two commanders were like this, and the Japanese troops below could also feel that the whole army was likely to be exhausted tonight, and under the stimulation of this crisis, with the support of only two rice balls, the Japanese army arrived at Lanfeng within a few hours. But infantry is not the key, the most important artillery for the siege. Under the strict orders of Tohihara and Toshimabo, the artillery units of the Toshimafang detachment also rushed forward, and in the middle of dusk, the four 45-type 240mm siege howitzers of the field heavy artillery squadron finally raised their muzzles under the operation of the gunners.

"Armor-piercing grenade, delayed tube, charge three, gauge ......" after a series of rapid firing commands, 'Boom!' With a loud bang, in the orange firelight, the whole ground trembled, and a two-hundred-kilogram armor-piercing cannonball burst out of the chamber, and the cannonball rushed into the wall of Lan Feng City, and exploded an entire city brick with a 'boom'.

"What kind of cannon is this?!" Chen Ruihe, the commander of the 36th Division, who was already patrolling the front line, heard the sound of artillery, his heart beat wildly, this was by no means an ordinary heavy artillery, so he couldn't help but ask loudly.

"This ......" Liu Ying, the commander of the 108th Brigade, was also taken aback by the sound of the cannonball, when the cannonball came, he thought it was a train whistling, but he didn't expect it to be a cannonball, after the cannonball landed, it seemed that the entire Kaifeng city was shaking.

"Probably siege artillery!" Chief of Staff Xiang Xianju has also changed color. "Division, you should skip the level and ask the principal for help, the 195th Division is unreliable, and our brigade is afraid that it will not be able to hold Lanfeng."

As Xiang Xianju spoke, a second 240mm shell fell, this one not on the city wall, but inside the city. In the dim sky, I saw the masonry dust stirred up by the explosion of the cannonball flying dozens of meters high.

"Okay, I'll go right away, go right away." There are concerns about offending Gui Yongqing Chen Ruihe, although he is also a Huangpu student, but he is not good at patting horses, and he is not good at forming gangs, and there is no Austrian aid in the army, and promotion depends on his achievements in addition to seniority. But now Lan Feng's situation is critical, and he doesn't care whether he complains behind his back or not, and asks for reinforcements first.

Chen Ruihe made up his mind to confess everything to Chang Kaishen, on the way to the headquarters, the Japanese heavy artillery test firing was completed, together with the mountain artillery, the shells became more and more urgent, this kind of heavy siege artillery can fire one shot a minute, four guns fired together, from the more than 20 minutes he returned to the headquarters from the front line of the city defense, a total of more than 80 shells were fired, each of these shells made the whole city shake.

Chen Ruihe was about to rush into the headquarters, but Li Zhipeng, the commander of the 106th Brigade, ran over with a few people covering his head, he shouted: "Shizao, it's not good!" Master, it's not good......"

Originally, Li Zhipeng was to be dealt with by military law, but when he was available, Chen Ruihe still asked him to take the remnants to assist the 195th Division in defending the city, and now he ran over and yelled that it was not good, Chen Ruihe immediately said angrily: "What the hell is going on? ”

“195… 195th Division...... Run! Li Zhipeng's forehead was full of blood, his breathing was short, and his voice was hoarse.

"I'll kill you!" Chen Ruihe's brain buzzed, he only felt that the world was spinning, he wanted to touch the gun, but his body was about to fall backwards involuntarily, and he staggered several steps before he could barely stand firm under the support of the adjutant. Pulling out the gun fiercely, Chen Ruihe shouted again: "What the hell is going on? Say it! ”

"The 195th Division ran away! Run out of town! Li Zhipeng was not afraid of his gun at all, and he took a few steps forward in front of his gun, "As soon as the devil's heavy artillery hit, they blew up the nest, and they couldn't stop it at all." Master, kill me! Master, kill me! Li Zhipeng's heart was like ashes, he suffered two defeats in one day, and he didn't want to live anymore, if he hadn't come back to report the news, he would have laid off himself.

"You!" Chen Ruihe was just angry, the 106th Brigade was defeated by the Japanese tank cavalry outside the city, he didn't blame Li Zhipeng, otherwise he wouldn't have concealed it for him and allowed him to make meritorious contributions.

Chen Ruihe didn't want to kill him, but with a 'bang', the gun still rang out unexpectedly, and it was Li Zhipeng who grabbed the trigger and shot himself. In the dense artillery sound of the Japanese army, the sound of this shot was extremely low, and Li Zhipeng, who was shot, fell backwards while trying to grasp something with his right hand, but he didn't catch anything, and fell straight down.

"Brigadier Commander! Brigade!! Li Zhipeng's adjutant didn't expect such an ending, and immediately fell to the ground and shouted.

"Help! Help! Xiang Xianju hurriedly beckoned the hygienist to save people. Then he turned to Chen Ruihe again: "Master, for the sake of today's plan, we can't hold this Lanfeng, as soon as the cannon stops, the Japanese will rush in." ”

"If you can't keep it, you have to keep it, it's a big deal to die here!" Li Zhipeng actually chose to cut himself in this way, and Chen Ruihe also looked down on life and death. When he was making up his mind to defend Lanfeng, Liu Ying of the 108th Brigade also rushed over with people.

"Master, the city can't be defended!" At this time, it was already dark, and Liu Ying shouted 'Shizuo' from a long distance. "The 195th Division has completely collapsed, and the Japanese are about to enter the city, and it will be too late if they don't turn in."

"Whoever turns in will kill whoever comes in!" Chen Ruihe shouted at the top of his voice, and the gun in his hand was raised again. "Give me back to defend it immediately, if the city can't be defended, we will fight in the streets, as long as it is daytime, no! Don't wait for daylight reinforcements to ....... ”

Before Chen Ruihe finished speaking, a heavy artillery shell fell nearby, and with a 'boom', the cadres suddenly staggered. Chen Ruihe ignored Liu Ying, and rushed into the headquarters to call Chang Kaishen, but the telephone line had already been cut off during the artillery fire, and he called the former enemy headquarters again, but the phone was also not connected. The phone calls were different one after another, and Chen Ruihe slumped in the chair, trembling.

Chen Ruihe in Lanfeng City asked for a phone call or couldn't get through, but Zhong Bin of the 106th Division outside Lanfeng City asked for a phone call from the military headquarters of the 27th Army. He picked up the phone and said, "Brother Zhen, it seems that Lan Feng can't hold it, and the rout of the 195th Division has come to my position." ”

Zhong Bin talked about the situation on the phone. Although the 106th Division urgently withdrew to Luowangdian in the afternoon, there was still one regiment left in Sanyi Village, less than six kilometers west of Lanfeng City, which was less than six kilometers away from Luowangdian.

"Just look at your place." Gui Yongqing's voice on the phone was yin and yang, "I have already reported to the principal the news that the Japanese are attacking Lan Fengcheng, and Director Liu's instructions are to ask our army not to move recklessly, so as not to fall into the plan of the Japanese invaders to move away from the mountain." ”

"But the 36th Division can't hold Lanfeng at all! As soon as the devil's siege cannon hits, the mountains and mountains here shake. Zhong Bin can also be regarded as coming out of the 36th Division, and seeing the 36th Division in a desperate situation, he finally couldn't bear it.

"Don't be reckless! Don't be reckless! The principal's instructions must not be tampered with! Gui Yongqing shouted on the phone, and when Zhong Bin was quietly silent on the phone, he defended: "It's not like I can't save you when I die!" The 88th Armored Corps has already gone north to pursue and annihilate the Japanese heavy artillery units, and it will not be able to return for reinforcements in a day or two, and there is no preset position in the plains, who of us can stop the Japanese? We can only rely on the soldiers at hand to hold our positions and guard against the dying counterattack of the Japanese army. Lan Feng is not afraid of losing it, but he is afraid that Chen Liukou will also lose ......"

The sound of siege artillery in the east continued, and under the influence of the sound of artillery, Gui Yongqing's voice on the phone was intermittent, and when he hung up the phone, Zhong Bin let out a long breath. What Gui Yongqing said is not unreasonable, the Japanese army is dying and counterattacking, and its task is to hold the position and wait for the 88th Army to come back, but can Chen Ruihe hold until the 88th Army comes back?

In Chang Kaishen's official residence in Kaifeng City, on the huge map of 1/500,000, the situation of the enemy and our army is clearly marked. The remnants of the 14th Division had already moved south to Lanfeng, apparently planning to attack the city overnight, while the heavy artillery wing north of Heze City had urgently withdrawn north since the afternoon, and it was expected that it would be able to withdraw to Dongkou, the crossing of the Yellow River, at noon tomorrow. At this time, the 88th Army, which had received the order, had already set off for pursuit, and it would probably arrive at Dongkou before dawn tomorrow.

What worries Chang Kaishen and others now is that if the enemy's heavy artillery unit blows up the artillery and retreats lightly, the 88th Army will run in vain. The 8th Independent Field Artillery Wing had twenty-four 150mm and above guns, and the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Wing also had at least eighteen 150mm howitzers. The twenty-four howitzers ordered by the government in Germany that year, each with 1,000 shells, cost a total of 9 million marks[note 55], and if even one wing of field heavy artillery could be captured, the number of heavy artillery could be doubled.

The Battle of Xuzhou was followed by the Battle of Wuhan, and both China and Japan were well aware of this. If the enemy's two wings of field heavy artillery can be captured before the battle, then the entire battle supreme command will be more certain -- judging from the statistics of the casualties of the Japanese troops in the Taierzhuang Battle by the supreme command (in fact, at the request of Du Yuming of the 88th Army), the number of casualties in artillery fire is greater than the number of casualties in gunfire, which indirectly proves a corollary: that is, only artillery fire can effectively kill the enemy in a field battle.

Country. The artillery of the army was already uneven, artillery shells were even more scarce, and they were suppressed by Japanese artillery and aircraft during the battle. Taier Zhuangguo. The army learned a lesson, built a solid permanent artillery position in the area south of Taierzhuang, and bombarded the Japanese troops who invaded the village through the canal with 150mm heavy guns, causing a lot of casualties to the Japanese troops.

Artillery is the king of war, but now there are less than 1,000 artillery pieces of 75mm and above in China [Note 56], and ammunition is also extremely scarce - when purchasing artillery, it is generally 1,000 shells per gun, and after 1,000 shells, it is likely that there will be no shells to fight.

1,000 shells of domestic warlords are capable of fighting, and a battle is a great deal of dozens of shells, but now fighting with the Japanese, a battle is 2,000 shells. Even if the army finished 1,000 rounds in one go, it was still pressed by Japanese artillery fire. Moreover, artillery shells were extremely expensive, and the total consumption of mountain howitzer shells in the eight-year War of Resistance was less than 4 million rounds [Note 57], which was less than one-tenth of the artillery shells consumed in the Battle of Verdun in World War I, and even less comparable to that of the Soviet Union and Germany, which consumed 450 million rounds of large-caliber artillery shells at every turn in the entire World War II.

The Supreme Command was not unaware of the role of artillery, but due to the scarcity of foreign exchange and the barter trade with Germany was at the level of tens of millions of marks a year, the twenty-four 150mm field howitzers were still bought with gritted teeth. Now that I see that the two heavy artillery wings of the Japanese are in front of me, how can there be any reason not to eat them? From the perspective of the long-term war of resistance, the capture of the heavy artillery of these two wings is much more important than the elimination of the 14th division of the Japanese army, so at this time, including Chang Kaishen, they are all staring at the north of Heze. As for Lanfeng in the south of Heze, this is really not the focus of attention.

"Chairman, the 106th Division called and said......" Liu Fei looked at Chang Kaishen who was staring at the map, and had to tell him an unfavorable news: "It is said that the 195th Division in Lanfeng City may have fled!" ”

"Escape?!" Chang Kaishen withdrew his gaze from the map, "Who is the commander of the 195th Division?" ”

"It's Peng Jinzhi." Liu Fei replied. "Chairman, if the 195th Division breaks and escapes, then with the 36th Division, this Lan Feng ......"

"Even if there is only one division of the 36th Division, we must also seal Lan!" Chang Kaishen was a little unhappy. "Lanfeng has already built fortifications, even a division of the 36th Division should be defended, don't want them to hold for a long time, two days is enough."

"Chairman of the committee, I heard a news from my humble position, and I heard a news ......" Liu Fei wanted to speak and stopped, but people looked at Chang Kaishen.

"Well, you say." Chang Kaishen took a sip of water like a crystal, he hadn't closed his eyes much for two days, and now he was waiting for the 88th Army to capture the Japanese heavy artillery, and as soon as the heavy artillery was captured, he went to sleep.

"It is said that last night in response to the assault of the 88th Army, the 36th Division sent a brigade out of the city, but in the afternoon it encountered the tanks and cavalry of the Japanese Invaders, and then ...... "This is also reported by Zhong Bin of the 106th Division, after all, he is a person from the 36th Division, and the regiment of the 106th Division in Sanyi Village also collected some of the routs of the 36th Division, he just reacted truthfully, and it was not a small report." It is estimated that there is only one ...... of the 36th Division guarding the city of Lanfeng."

"Niang Xipi!" Chang Kaishen's temples and muscles flared up, and he said angrily: "Who let the 36th Division out of the city?!" ”

Chang Kaishen asked, but no one answered, he thought of something as soon as he turned his mind, and said, "Call Gui Yongqing immediately and ask him what's going on?" ”

"Chairman, the key now is to hold Lanfeng, once Lanfeng is lost, the Japanese will be able to use Lanfeng as a base to capture Chen Liukou; Besides, if they cowered in Lanfeng City, even if the 88th Army returned to help, it would be impossible to eat them in one go, and Du Guangting was the most troublesome street fight. Liu Fei didn't care how angry Chang Kaishen was, he only reminded him that Lan Feng must not be lost. (To be continued.) )