"Chief of Staff, I do not agree with the words of the Engineer Wing Commander, we cannot stop now. Now we have gathered a lot of troops of the Eighth Route Army around us. According to the frequency of attacks that have just been attacked. At least one battalion of the Eighth Route Army has gathered around us. If we stop advancing, then the artillery in our hands and the huge amount of war materials in our hands will become a huge decoy for the Eighth Route Army, which lacks these materials. ”

"If that's the case, then along the road, the dirt roads that are waiting for us will gather around us like kittens that smell fishy. And at that time, we will no longer be faced with a battalion of Tsuchihachi, but a regiment, or more" After listening to the conversation of several people, the commander of the field artillery wing, Takeda Shin Daisa, immediately raised his own objections.

After listening to the words of the commander of the field artillery wing, the two wing commanders who had just proposed to hold on to the spot were silent. Even the chief of staff did not know what to do and fell into deep thought. Because everyone knows in their psychology that the reasons of the captain of Takeda are very good and very correct.

"Takeda-kun, since you don't agree to stick to the place, and there are good reasons. Do you have any concrete solutions to the situation that our army is currently facing? The chief of staff asked with a frown.

"Hi, Chief of Staff. I think the biggest problem of our army at the moment is the lack of infantry cover. Therefore, I think we should select soldiers with a certain combat effectiveness in the three wings. Assemble a makeshift infantry and equip them with the best infantry light weapons for vigilance and patrolling around the troops. With the cover of these specialized infantry, I think the surrounding dirt roads should converge a lot. In addition, the patrol range of this infantry should be as wide as possible, so that there will be no hiding place for these dirt roads, let alone launch a sneak attack on our general at close range. Wing Commander of the Field Artillery Wing, Takeda Shin Osa, suggested.

"Yo Xi, Takeda-kun, this is a very good note, we will start to form this temporary infantry now. Based on our current needs, I think we need to organize at least two reinforced squadrons of infantry with a total of 500 people, I don't know if you have any different opinions. The chief of staff nodded in satisfaction and asked the other two wing commanders beside him.

"Hi Chief of Staff, we completely agree with this decision." The two wing commanders hurriedly replied.

"Yo Xi, now the three Wing Captains will return to their respective wings immediately. I hope that for the sake of our entire army to reach Gongcun smoothly, don't be stingy, and come up with your best combat effectiveness soldiers. The chief of staff smiled and nodded, ordering.

"Hey, Chief of Staff" The three wing commanders led the way out.

In this way, in less than half an hour, 500 soldiers were selected. In order to maximize the combat effectiveness of these units, the chief of staff specially removed a large number of light machine guns from the baggage wing and reinforced them to two mixed reinforced squadrons.

With the patrols of two reinforced squadrons, the troops were significantly less frequently attacked by cold guns. However, the troops that had to pass through more than 3,000 men were completely baggage and artillery, and the entire marching column dragged a distance of several kilometers. The two reinforced squadrons of 500 people, although they made the guard battalion of the first division next to it a lot of fear. However, it is simply not possible to cover everything with a small number of patrol troops. Often, as soon as the patrol passed, the fighters quietly approached with their weapons and continued to shoot cold. By the time the patrol troops came over, the soldiers had already achieved good results and quietly retreated.

But even so, the chief of staff of the army was also very pleased. Because in the last hour. Although cold guns were constantly ringing around, the casualties of the soldiers were indeed reduced a lot because of the distance of the attack. What's more, his patrol team also eliminated at least one platoon of Tuba Road in time.

However, he didn't know that just when he was glad about his decision, the three main regiments of the 2nd Division led by the commander of the plateau had already rushed over at night. At this time, the distance between the army and the artillery units was only less than 10 kilometers. In the blink of an eye, more than 3,000 little devils and a large number of weapons and ammunition will be completely surrounded by more than 6,000 main forces of the three divisions.

However, at this time, three infantry wings led by Seishiro Itagaki had nearly 10,000 infantry. Since the division of troops with the artillery led by the chief of staff, the march of the entire unit has been completely exposed to the eyes of the soldiers of the surrounding special operations brigade.

After several hours of rapid marching, the troops, with nearly 10,000 men, finally came within the range of the howitzer battalion that had already been arranged. The special combat team members who had been hiding next to the main force of the Yue army had already reported the latest coordinates of the march route of the Yue army at the first time. By radio, it reached the positions of the howitzer battalion.

"Report to the battalion commander, the special operations brigade of the division headquarters has sent the latest marching coordinates of the army" On the busy artillery battalion position, a communications staff officer. With a copy of the message that had just been deciphered, it was handed to the commander of the howitzer battalion.

"Okay, great, comrades, the special operations brigade has sent us the coordinates of the latest marching route of the army. Now order, all gun positions, immediately turn the gun muzzles, re-set the shelling target, each cannon three rapid fire, ready to open fire" The commander of the artillery battalion took the telegram in his hand and quickly told the gunners who did not have a single cannon the latest coordinates of the army.

In this way, under the skillful manipulation of the fighters, in less than half a minute, all 12 artillery pieces completed the preparation before firing. A howitzer shell weighing dozens of pounds was pushed into the chamber by the soldiers, waiting for the battalion commander's order.

"Attention to the cannons, three rapid fires, start firing" as the small yellow flags waved down. All the gunners, almost at the same time, pulled the gun rope.

"Boom, boom, boom" A violent roar sounded over the position, and 12 shells, with a huge whistling sound, flew into the sky. The artillerymen, who shot the shells in the chambers and were deafened by the fierce sound of the cannons, did not hesitate at all. In the thick smoke of gunpowder, the rapid clearing of the chamber piled up the hot shell casings beside it. And quickly put a brand new shell into the chamber of the gun, and sit down to prepare for the next shot.

Just after the howitzer battalion had fired a round of shells, 12 shells flew after about ten minutes. Ten kilometers away, a loud whistling sound finally sounded above the heads of the Yue army. However, these little devils do not know that it is a cannonball flying towards them. One by one, they raised their heads and looked at the whistling sky. However, at this moment, 12 black dots appeared in their eyes.

"Baga, it's a shell, it's a shell, it's the Eighth Route Army's artillery bombardment fast, quickly lie down in concealment" The commanders of the army at all levels who found the abnormality roared at the soldiers who were thrown around them in a daze. However, it was too late.

"Boom, boom, boom" 12 deafening explosions exploded in the marching columns of the Japanese army. And it wasn't until the shells exploded that those stunned soldiers reacted, hugged their heads and lay on the ground. Twelve heavy shells, almost instantly, blew 12 large craters in the ranks of the marching troops.

And around the center of the big pit, within a radius of nearly ten meters. As the smoke of the explosion cleared, there was hardly a living soldier to be seen, not even a single intact corpse. Because the soldiers around him were not directly torn to pieces by the flying shrapnel. It was thrown into the sky by the violent air waves, and fell to the ground more than ten meters away, turning into a cold corpse.

And in the center of the crater, within a radius of twenty meters. Although there are a lot of soldiers lying down, when you walk in to observe, you will find that these little devils have basically all been killed. They were not hit by shrapnel from artillery shells, but by the violent air waves and the earth-shattering explosions.

"Baga" Just when these little devils lying on the ground had not yet reacted from the explosion just now, another huge whistling sound reached everyone's ears. Faced with such a powerful cannonball, these soldiers made a wise choice, lying quietly on the ground, praying to Amaterasu that these shells would not fall around them.

However, with another burst of earth-shattering explosions, many people's hopes were shattered.

After two rounds of artillery fire, the commanders of the armed forces at all levels finally reacted from their shock. Commanding loudly to the soldiers beside him, even he hurried to hide in the cornfield next to the road. Immediately, these little devils, who were lying on both sides of the road, stood up one after another and fled to the cornfields on both sides of the road.

By the time the third round of shells from the artillery battalion came, there were no more little devils on either side of the road. However, the huge explosion of the cannonball still wanted the lives of more than a dozen little devils.

"Where did the heavy artillery of the Eighth Route Army of Baga come from. Eight Grids Road, these guns are at least 105 mm heavy howitzers, Eight Grid Tooth Road "After the shelling, all the little devils quickly returned to both sides of the road and began to clean up the bodies of the fallen soldiers. The commander of the division came to a bomb crater nearly one meter deep, surrounded by several wing commanders. He roared loudly at the surrounding officers.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Division Commander. I remember that a month ago, the Reading Division of the Eighth Route Army captured the howitzers of a heavy artillery brigade of our Sakai Brigade in Baoding. If nothing else, these cannons should be the heavy artillery they just captured in Baoding. One of the Wing Captains replied cautiously.

"Bage Yalu, now our heavy artillery is far away in Gong Village, and it is surrounded by the Eighth Route Army, and it is not capable of counterattacking at all, Baga" listened to the explanation of the wing commander, and Itagaki Seishiro cursed for a while.

"Yamada-kun, how about the casualties of the troops" Seishiro Itagaki calmed the anger in his heart and asked a wing leader beside him.

"Hi, Division Commander. According to statistics, a total of 36 shells were fired at our unit just now. Sixteen of these shells hit our marching columns directly, inflicting considerable losses on our troops. Of these, 108 soldiers were crushed, 38 were seriously injured and incapacitated, and about dozens of soldiers were slightly injured. We lost a whole squadron of Imperial soldiers in the fighting force. Captain Yamada replied cautiously.

"Eight grid tooth road. Yamada-kun, immediately send a telegram to Taiyuan. To request aircraft support, be sure to find the artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army and destroy them. Now I order, the troops continue to advance, we cannot give up the opportunity to completely annihilate the main force of the Reading Division for the sake of the casualties of one squadron," Seishiro Itagaki wisely ordered.

"Hi, Your Excellency Division Commander" Soon, after collecting the remains of the soldiers killed in the battle, the army resumed its previous marching column again and began to continue marching.

However, what made Seishiro Itagaki unexpected. At this time, the electronic detachment of the division's headquarters, which had made great contributions in the Battle of Baoding, was marching simultaneously with the Chinese army under the protection of a battalion of soldiers. In order to prevent the Fifth Division of the Chinese Army from requesting aircraft support from Taiyuan, the three high-power radios of the electronic detachment were activated almost simultaneously. The powerful radio signal enveloped almost the entire marching column of the Japanese army.

A few minutes later, just when the army thought that the shelling would not continue. Another whistling sound reached everyone's ears. But this time, the little devil didn't hesitate. Hearing the whistling of shells, they quickly drilled into the cornfields on both sides of the road without waiting for the orders of their respective commanders. Just when the shells landed, there were still neat marching columns, and at this time there were only a few people who were slow to react. However, the sheer power of the shells, in any case, caused at least a dozen casualties very easily.

However, this situation was soon seen by the fighters of the special operations brigade. Seeing these little devils, they scattered into the cornfield next to them. In order to better eliminate these Japanese troops, the soldiers did not care about the losses of the common people, and sent new artillery coordinates to the heavy artillery battalion.

Finally, a shell with corrected coordinates fell to the ground again with a loud whistling sound. However, the place where the explosion occurred at this time was not on both sides of the road, but in a cornfield where countless little devils were hidden. With the sound of explosions, countless soldiers who hid in the cornfield and thought they were very safe were thrown into the sky. By the time they landed, they had become a limp corpse.

"Report to the division commander, in the shelling just now, our army killed 54 soldiers and seriously wounded 12" "Report to the division commander, in the shelling just now, our army killed 39 soldiers and seriously wounded 15

"Your Excellency the commander of the reporting division, in the shelling just now, 68 soldiers of our army were killed"

"Baga, enough of our planes, why haven't our planes found the enemy's artillery positions yet, why?" Finally, after the fourth shelling of the troops, the division commander Seishiro Itagaki finally became angry with the wing commander who reported the losses in front of him. There was a burst of scolding at the captain of Yamada, who reported the loss.

"Hey, division commander, we have sent all the telegrams for help. However, no return calls were received from Taiyuan. Yamada-kun replied cautiously.

"Eight grid tooth road, how can this be. How can this be like thisYamada-kun, if we don't have the support of the plane, we will always be exposed to the enemy's artillery fire. If we continue like this, when we reach Gong Village, how many soldiers will be left in our entire division to fight," Itagaki Seishiro asked rhetorically with an angry face.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Division Commander. In less than half an hour, we lost more than 300 Imperial soldiers in two squadrons. If we can't get the support of aircraft, destroy the enemy's artillery positions. At the current rate of loss, by the time we reach Gong Village, we will lose at least more than one wing. ”

"Baga's cunning Eighth Route Army princes, now our Fifth Division has fallen into a dilemma, let's think about it together, think of a suitable tactic, and lead our Fifth Division out of the current predicament" After listening to Captain Yamada's report, the division commander Itagaki Seishiro was frustrated for a while, and threw a look of help to the other two wing captains next to him.

"Hi, Division Commander. I think there must be a very important reason why the artillery of the Eighth Route Army can hit the first hit every time, that is, there are enemy artillery observers around us," Listening to the words of the division commander, the commander of the 21st Wing, Hideosa Awainohara, reminded.

"Yo Xi, we must have enemy artillery watchers around us. Otherwise, their artillery fire would not have been so accurate. Su Fanjun, do you have any good ideas, say it, and let's discuss it together. Listening to the words of the captain of the Awai wing, the division commander Itagaki Seishiro nodded, with a trace of excitement in his eyes, and asked eagerly.

"Hi, Division Commander. In my opinion, the easiest way to solve the threat of enemy artillery is to make the enemy's artillery blind. And the best way to make them blind is to eliminate the artillery observers of the Eighth Route Army around us. As long as the artillery of the Eighth Route Army has no shelling coordinates, then their artillery will become an ornament. The captain of the Su Fan Co-Captain hurriedly explained.

"Yo Xi, Su Fan-kun, this is really a good way, if this can really be done, then we are no longer afraid of the threat of enemy artillery. Yo Xi, Awai-kun, now I order, draw at least one brigade from your wing, conduct a carpet search of the woodland around the main force, and be sure to find and eliminate the enemy's artillery observers" Listening to the wing commander's explanation, the eyes of the division commander Itagaki Seishiro regained his usual confidence and pride again, and ordered to the commander of the Wing Oni in front of him.

(To be continued)