On the outskirts of Hakodate, as more and more Japanese troops grew and the Japanese army organized a large number of civilians to help them build fortifications, Hakodate was built into a formidable defensive position by the Japanese in just a few days. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The entire defensive position of Hakodate was 23 kilometers long, consisting of a trench about 2 meters deep and 1.5 meters wide, and the trench was filled with thousands of anti-artillery holes and hundreds of machine-gun positions.

Because the Japanese army lacked the necessary materials, this position was mainly composed of civil structures, and such positions were everywhere in the European theater, as long as the structure was properly arranged, the usability was still very strong.

In addition, the soil excavated from the trench was all piled up on top of the anti-artillery hole, forming a bunker about two meters wide and about one meter three high, and there was a height difference of three meters between the highest and lowest parts of the trench, as long as it was not a direct hit by large-caliber heavy artillery, the defenders in the trench were basically safe.

The importance of Hakodate to Japan is self-evident, and it is not as simple as it appears on the surface that it can hold Hakodate when Hokkaido is completely losing power. First of all, Hakodate's geographical location is destined to be a battleground for soldiers, whether the Japanese army wants to increase troops in Hokkaido, or the Chinese Empire wants to attack Honshu Island from Hokkaido, Hakodate is undoubtedly the best choice.

Although Esashi is able to take on such responsibilities and is not far from Hakodate, Esashi is far inferior to Hakodate in terms of geographical location and port conditions. On the other hand, if you set out from Hakodate as the center, the speed of transporting troops and materials is twice as fast as that in Esashira, and the attack range is wider, so you can choose any place in Japan to land. Esashira, on the other hand, could only land on the west coast.

The Japanese were also aware of the importance of Hakodate, so after the Japanese troops who came to support them landed in Hakodate, their first task was not to fight the enemy, but to make Hakodate a thorny defensive base, no matter what the enemy did in Hokkaido, these troops could not take care of it, they just needed to repair their positions, and then hold here and wait for reinforcements.

The 36th Division of the Japanese Army (Hirosaki), which landed in advance, gathered 50,000 civilians from Hakodate to help them build this defensive line, and then all of them were stationed in the first defensive line and waited for it.

But only one line of defense was too reassuring for this war, so after the first line of defense was completed, the 50,000 civilians were arranged to build a second line of defense about two kilometers in the rear.

The second line of defense is not much different from the first, except that the length is shorter, and the function, shape and so on are all the same. In the plan, the Japanese had to build a total of five defense lines in the rear, starting from the third line of defense, the simple civil structure could no longer meet the needs of the Japanese army, but there was a lack of concrete, so the Japanese plan was to use a large number of masonry to fill it in to enhance the resistance of the position.

The Japanese army believed that under such fortifications, the Chinese would have to pay a very heavy price if they wanted to break through these lines and take Hakodate.

However, the Japanese ignored a problem, that is, the 36th Division hastily received orders to support Hokkaido, and because the Japanese side had limited sea transportation capacity for a time, all the heavy equipment was left on Honshu Island, and for the 36th Division, the heaviest equipment was nothing more than the dozens of Makqin heavy machine guns and nearly 100 mortars, not even a single infantry gun.

This kind of weaponry also caused the Japanese to be beaten passively, and if the Chinese on the opposite side chose to strike at a long distance, they would not have the slightest way.

'......Boom'

A mortar shell fell about ten meters behind the Japanese position, the effect of the mortar shell explosion was inferior to that of heavy artillery or infantry artillery, but after all, it was also a cannon, the shell explosion was still deafening, an orange flame suddenly burst open, the surrounding temperature rose suddenly, and then, there was a burst of burning smell in the air.

It seemed to be raining overhead, but in fact it was tiny black particles of dirt, which changed its color in an instant after the high temperature generated by the explosion of the shell.

In addition to these mud, a few broken shrapnel, broken stones, burning sawdust and other items occasionally fall in the sky, but these things are really not much of a threat to the Japanese army, unless it is a direct hit to the head, but now almost all the Japanese troops are hiding in the anti-artillery holes, and these broken shrapnel, broken stones, etc. are unlikely to hit the heads of the Japanese soldiers.

The Japanese lacked heavy firepower, and the Chinese likewise lacked heavy firepower, but slightly better than the Japanese, they had a large number of machine guns and a large number of mortars.

The establishment of a division of the Japanese army corresponds to the establishment of a division of the Chinese Empire, but with the same establishment, the firepower intensity of a division of the Chinese Empire has been able to compete with the firepower of a Japanese army.

Modern warfare, to put it bluntly, is a competition of firepower between the two sides, and Japan does not have an advantage in this regard, not only that, but they also do not occupy any advantage in terms of supply.

Although the enemy had to advance the position between 1,200 and 1,400 meters in front of the position when firing mortar shells, this distance was already within the range of the Japanese heavy machine guns.

However, at this time, the Japanese army did not have the intention of firing, because of the problem of logistics and supply, so the machine gunners of the 36th Division could only hide in the anti-artillery holes under them like ordinary infantry, and unless the enemy's infantry rushed up, they would not waste these ammunition.

As for the Japanese army's passive artillery, they will be killed, anyway, the other side also has no artillery, and if they only rely on mortars, unless they can directly send shells into the trenches with a width of one meter and five wide, only in this way can they have lethality to the Japanese troops in the nearby anti-artillery holes, otherwise it can only be a waste of ammunition.

And just watching the other side waste ammunition, the Japanese are still happy to see it.

In the distance of the 371st Division, Huang Jianbin was holding a telescope and looking at the blurred battlefield a few kilometers away, frowning tightly.

The effect of the attack was very poor, and the mortars were not a problem, but it was not an easy task to accurately send shells into the trenches, and there was no active Japanese figure in the position, but he was sure that the Japanese would definitely stay in the trenches and wait for them to pass.

The Japanese were very smart, and they were already short of supplies, so in this thankless early harassment battle, they did not make their voices heard, but simply hid in the trenches and waited for the infantry to attack, and then began to counterattack.

It's a very bad tactic and a lot of frustration, but it's a good one. Before the artillery arrived, Huang Jianbin did not have any way to solve this problem, and he was unable to knock out the Japanese army's firepower point, and the troops had no way to rashly launch an attack.

This battle was a war of attrition, trying to consume the living forces of the Japanese army as much as possible, but it was not consumed even by themselves, and now that the initiative of the war was also in their hands, there was no need to order a full-scale attack for the sake of a little face.

"Order the 356th Regiment to speed up the progress, and within two hours, the baggage regiment must be in place." Huang Jianbin put down the binoculars, and then instructed the staff officer beside him: "Just hang and fight slowly in front, and the infantry don't have to rush first." ”

Originally, the 371st Division had artillery, that is, each battalion had a 75-mm infantry gun, but because of the limited transportation capacity when crossing the sea and landing, the infantry guns of each battalion were lost in the rear.

This heavy artillery battalion and the artillery of the 371st Division followed behind the baggage regiment, which not only carried the combat materials of the 371st Division, but also carried a large number of artillery combat materials.

Mortars could not effectively kill Japanese troops, which sounds a little ridiculous, because mortars were born to deal with the enemy behind the bunker and in the trenches. But there is one point, the distance is too far, the line of sight is not clear, if it is at a distance of three or four hundred meters, it is guaranteed that within three shells can accurately hit the trench, but 12 to 1,400 meters, this is almost the limit range of the mortar, at this distance, the mortar itself is not very easy to control.

Hundreds of mortars sent shells into the Japanese positions every now and then, and occasionally a few lucky shells fell directly into the Japanese trenches, and those unlucky Japanese soldiers could only say goodbye, who let them be so unlucky?

However, the 371st Division, which bombarded for an hour and a half and fired almost thousands of shells, still had no intention of attacking, which also made the 36th Division depressed. Is it to test the cannon to see if it is broken?

At 9:15 a.m., the late baggage team finally arrived at the front line, the 371st Division urgently distributed combat materials, and the heavy artillery battalion and the 371st Division artillery were all concentrated, and under the command of the heavy artillery battalion, they quickly went to the predetermined artillery position to arrange their positions.

Because the Japanese army on the opposite side did not have heavy firepower, the selection of artillery positions did not need to be so strict and harsh, and they casually found a place with a good field of vision and a suitable distance, and began to build a position.