"Your Excellency, something is wrong! For some reason, the artillery fire of the Chinese army on the other side suddenly became stronger, and our forward positions and artillery positions were bombarded with heavy artillery fire, and all units suffered heavy casualties! The situation is critical! "In Jinan City, Major General Umemura Takema, chief of staff of the 10th Division of the Japanese Army, ran into the division headquarters in a hurry and reported to the division commander Sasaki.

"Nani?" Sasaki sat up in shock when he heard this, and said with a face full of disbelief: "Just now, didn't the artillery wing say that it had suppressed the artillery fire of the Shina Army and was extending the strike range?" How did the situation turn around so quickly? What the hell is going on? ”

Plum Village Zhuma's face was full of mourning, and he said sadly: "Your Excellency General, it is reported that the cunning Chinese Army has brought in air defense units, and used intensive anti-aircraft fire to first destroy the observation balloons of the imperial artillery, and then gathered a large number of heavy artillery troops, and carried out a retaliatory fierce artillery attack on the position of the imperial army!" ”

"Heavy artillery troops?" Sasaki to the smell of the voice changed.

"That's right, according to the front report, the shells that fell on our positions were at least fired from artillery with a caliber of more than 100 mm, and the power was greater than the previous howitzers. The real showdown is about to begin! Plum Village Bamboo Horse said with a very anxious face.

"Is the decisive battle coming?" Sasaki's face suddenly became a little hideous, and he shouted: "Then order all the imperial warriors to prepare for the Jade Shatter battle, and if the defense line is broken, then all officers above the rank of second lieutenant, including me, must be seppuku to apologize to His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

"However, Your Excellency General, the current artillery fire of the Chinese people is too fierce, and if it continues like this, it will only cause serious consequences of the loss of the elite troops of the Imperial Army.

Wait until the artillery fire of the Chinese army stops, ready to cross the river, the imperial army will return to the forward position to give it a fatal blow, although the situation is now grim, but the restoration is far from the point of the jade broken operation, we must use tactics flexibly, in order to be able to block the Chinese army south to Shandong for a longer time! "Umemura Zhuma still showed the qualities that a senior staff officer should have, and gave rare and correct advice.

After listening to his suggestion, Sasaki still forced himself to calm down, and nodded happily: "Well, I lost my temper just now, Umemura-kun, or your suggestion is feasible, so let's do it, and retreat the artillery wing to a safe place, without seeking to carry out artillery fire on the positions of the Shina Army on the opposite bank."

It is only necessary to put even half of the Yellow River within the coverage of the imperial artillery. Then transfer our chariot troops and cavalry out of the city, and if necessary, put them all into battle to contain the offensive of the Chinese army! ”

"Hay, Your Excellency the General is wise!" Plum Village Bamboo Horse bowed his head suddenly, and did not forget to flatter.

However, neither Umemura Takema nor Sasaki Toichi thought of one thing, that is, the Dragon's Tooth Column is too rich now, and since the Heavy Artillery Brigade is here, they have never planned to stop the shelling until they have achieved their goal of building bridges.

Even if all the shells are exhausted, they will soon be able to get a steady stream of replenishment, unless all the howitzers are scrapped, which will delay some time, and before these howitzers are scrapped, the sappers of the third division will definitely be able to complete the task of erecting the pontoon bridge.

There is another point, which the devils didn't need to think of, that is, the effective range of the 105mm German howitzer, which is enough to cover the range of five to ten kilometers on the south bank, and with such a long range, even if the devil artillery wing retreats five kilometers, it may be shelled again.

If they retreat to ten kilometers away, they will almost retreat to Jinan City, and with those 75mm caliber mountain artillery and field artillery of the devils, they will not be able to hit so far, and the shells are likely to fall on the heads of the infantry who retreated with them.

On the side of Qihe County, the tank armored brigade was also led by Liu Jianhua and Zhou Ming and others, and finally arrived, Wu Ming, Zhao Youde, Ma Yunlong and others walked out of the headquarters at the same time to welcome Liu Jianhua and Zhou Ming who came into the city by car.

Everyone met and exchanged pleasantries, and after that, Liu Jianhua couldn't wait to ask: "Master Wu, how is your first battle?" When will our tank armored brigade be ready to fight? ”

Wu Ming said: "Jianhua, please be calm, the heavy artillery brigade has just joined the battle, and the situation has begun to tilt in our favor." ”

Just as Wu Ming's voice fell, a signal soldier suddenly ran out of the division headquarters, saluted him and reported: "Division commander, report from the front, they have successfully suppressed the Japanese army on the other side, and the engineers and baggage troops can be dispatched." ”

Wu Ming was overjoyed after hearing this, and said to Liu Jianhua and the others: "Look, now the opportunity has come!" After saying this, he turned his head to Zhao Youde, the deputy division commander beside him, and said, "Deputy division commander Zhao!" ”

Zhao Youde hurriedly stepped forward and responded: "Yes! ”

"Immediately order the baggage regiment and the engineer battalion to quickly dispatch, and order them to erect the pontoon bridge for me within an hour, after the pontoon bridge is erected, the tank regiment will be the leader, and the battalions of the first regiment will coordinate to immediately launch a formal attack on the opposite bank, and strive to break through the devil's riverside defense line in one fell swoop, and the troops will come to the city of Jinan!" Wu Ming ordered in a deep voice.

"Yes!" Zhao Youde suddenly agreed, turned around and returned to the division headquarters with the signal soldier, and personally conveyed the order.

Only then did Wu Ming say to Liu Jianhua and the others: "Jianhua, your tank armored brigade has worked hard all the way, so let's rest in Qihe County first, and wait to see a good show!" ”

Liu Jianhua didn't shirk either, nodded happily and said: "Okay, just listen to your arrangement, Commander Wu, we have already helped you bring back the tanks of your tank regiment, and now they are being handed over, and it will depend on you next." ”

Wu Ming smiled happily and bowed his head, and then beckoned Liu Jianhua and the others to enter the division headquarters to rest.

In this way, under the cover of the strong artillery fire of the heavy artillery brigade, the sappers and baggage soldiers quickly dispatched and began to erect pontoon bridges, and some baggage soldiers of the heavy artillery brigade were also dispatched to assist.

After all, the heavy artillery brigade has also experienced a lot of places with Qiao You's southern expedition to the north, and there are not a few people who need to build bridges, so they naturally have a group of experienced heavy engineers.

The incessant shelling of two 105mm howitzer regiments plus a 75mm howitzer regiment can make the Japanese puppet army on the other side suffer enough, especially the puppet army who was forced to stay at the forefront as cannon fodder and vigilance by the devils, they couldn't even raise their heads, and their ears were filled with the earth-shattering explosion, and they almost became deaf.