In the face of the dual threat of the revolutionary army and the Gannan army, Xu Bin decided not to have a major conflict with the Gannan army after comprehensive consideration. And he also firmly believes that as long as Xu Jiajun can become the opponent of the revolutionary army, the governor of Ning, who is worried about the lack of troops, should not Jihua Xu Jiajun seize the territory of several county towns.

Even when the situation in Gannan is dangerous, it is estimated that it is not too difficult to let the Linzhou Mansion out. The current situation is that the combination of the Gannan Army and the Xu Jiajun will benefit both sides, and the division will cause two harms. Therefore, before carrying out this muscle-flexing exercise, Xu Bin hoped to show his strength to the Gannan Army as much as possible, but it was not enough to make the Gannan Army worried.

With these considerations, Xu Bin quickly changed the nature of this live military exercise to the outside world that Baijiazhai did not obey Xu Jiajun's orders and laid down his arms to accept the reorganization. Under the fury of thunder, the leader of the Xu family army decided to show the strength of the Xu family army and let the nearby bandits understand. In Xu Jiajun's territory, there is no possibility of their survival.

It's just this kind of show used to fool the people and win the hearts of the people at the same time, and there is no way to deceive those who really understand the relationship between Xu Bin and Baijiazhai. But after some cover-up, those in power can understand that this live military drill itself is a show of strength. This allows them to consider the relationship with Xu Jiajun next, which can undoubtedly provide a lot of basis for comprehensive consideration.

In order to show the offensive and defensive drills of the regularized troops, the side that served as the defenders this time was the first and second regiments of the Xu Jiajun. On the attacking side, there were the 3rd Regiment and the Recruit Regiment, which was attached to the Artillery Regiment under the command of the officers of the Advisory Regiment. As for the bandits who were still on the mountain, they were staying in the red barracks at the foot of Xiangu Mountain at the moment, watching how the Xu Jiajun attacked the Blue Army troops who had entered Xiangu Mountain in advance to build fortifications.

Looking at the artillery that was pushed onto the artillery position, Xu Bin asked people to signal to the blue army troops in the defensive position on the hill to prepare for anti-artillery. This kind of live-fire bombardment, if the fortifications built are not strong, will still be problematic. In a certain sense, this kind of live-fire exercise is undoubtedly a real battle.

In fact, there is only one focus of this exercise, that is, to let the infantry of the Xu Jiajun feel the effect of the artillery bombardment of an integrated regiment. This has a rare experience in dealing with the artillery regiment of the revolutionary army in the future. Xu Bin, who personally led the staff of the Debang State to inspect the defensive trenches on the mountain.

I know that as long as those soldiers can be panicked and honestly hide in the anti-artillery holes, there will be no problem. Of course, there are no absolutes in the world, and if a seemingly safe anti-artillery hole is hit by several shells in the same position, it will still cause casualties. After all, the artillery regiment did not use empty shells this time, but real live ammunition.

This is also to let the infantry feel the taste of artillery bombardment, and also let these artillerymen, who usually use training shells, feel what it will be like when a real artillery regiment conducts a live-ammunition attack.

As the blue word on the mountain came, when everything was ready, Xu Bin said horizontally: "Let's carry out artillery bombardment!" ”

Martin, who was in charge of the command, knew very well that such an exercise would not only cost a lot of money, but would also cause casualties among the officers and men of the exercise. But as a retired colonel officer of Debangguo, he knows very well that only the most realistic battlefield environment can make these soldiers of the Xu family army who have not experienced the scenes of the war grow up as soon as possible.

Let them understand that in the future they will face a big scene that is as big as today, or even bigger. If they can't even accept the pre-announced drill in front of them, how can they talk about entering real combat?

Martin, who received the order, immediately ordered the artillery battalions to prepare for the shelling and apply the previously set parameters for the shelling. One by one, they were distributed to the officers of the observation positions of the battalions, who reported these parameters to the artillerymen who set the parameters for the artillery attack. As one cannon after another will be adjusted to the corresponding shelling parameter values, the German officer who led the team carefully and responsibly checked it again.

After setting the wrong parameters to the gun, and ordering the corresponding gunner to reset it, after the parameters are correct. The commander of the 1st Battalion of the Artillery Regiment gave the order for the first round of shelling immediately after consulting Martin.

With the ten 105-caliber light howitzers equipped by the first battalion, the swing was pulled out, and ten shells weighing 30 catties roared into the defensive positions of the Blue Army. The roar caused by the cannon startled the officers and soldiers of the Xu family who were watching the battle, as well as the ten Baijiazhai who acted as spectators.

When the ten shells were scattered on the defensive position, there was a continuous explosion sound, and the regiment of soldiers who stayed in the anti-artillery hole felt their ears ringing. The anti-artillery holes made of cement and solid wood also have some scattered earth and rocks falling. This deafening explosion was felt by these Blue Army soldiers for the first time. If they had stayed in the trenches at the moment, one such shell would have been conceivable.

For the first time, the officers, who were also nestled in the anti-artillery holes with the soldiers, also felt for the first time how important artillery is in determining the victory or defeat of a battle. The officers who used to think that as long as the trenches were almost dug and could hide people, now they understand that there are no strong anti-artillery fortifications. Encountering artillery bombardment of this scale, the fate that awaits them is self-evident.

At the end of the shelling of the 1st Battalion, the 75-caliber mountain guns equipped by the 2nd Battalion were also fired out side by side with 10 shells stuffed into the barrels. Looking at a mountain gun that is light in weight and has a relatively close range, it also has a fire speed that howitzers do not have. The officers, who thought they were very good equipped with a few mortars, really understood what it meant to be in artillery.

Next, the four main artillery battalions of the artillery regiment demonstrated 77 caliber field guns and 60 caliber rapid-fire guns. These cannons have their own advantages and disadvantages on the battlefield. However, there are no cases where the opponent has such a gun and does not have the ability to counterattack.

Then as long as there is no shortage of shells for the opponent, under the auxiliary attack of such artillery. As the defending side, apart from holding the position, the rest of the infantry weapons really mean nothing to them. This made the officers at all levels of the Xu Jiajun who participated in watching the artillery regiment's artillery drill realize for the first time that the artillery unit would appear on the battlefield once it was on a large scale. The odds of victory and defeat on the battlefield far exceeded their expectations.

In the same way, as the side of the Blue Army that withstood the shelling, after feeling several rounds of shelling by the artillery regiment. At the end of each shelling, they were led by their respective officers to inspect the trenches they had previously built. When I saw that the trenches had been shelled and blown up in pieces. Everyone knows that if it were wartime, the soldiers who stayed in these gaps would definitely be more than lucky.

After a total of three rounds of shelling, the two main regiments staying in the defensive position, from officers to soldiers, all had solemn expressions. At this moment, they really realized why Xu Bin kept emphasizing the quality of trench construction when explaining the offensive and defensive warfare, which directly determined whether their lives could be maintained until Zuihou.

It really makes sense!

Their previous rifle-to-rifle engagements were simply not enough to see in front of such a regular army with artillery units. Unless they choose to fight guerrilla warfare with the other side, they will lose a lot of money if they are only defending, without complete fortifications.

After three rounds of shelling, the two finally understood why Xu Bin did not hesitate to consume so many artillery stocks and insisted on asking for such a live exercise. It turned out that the purpose was to let these officers and soldiers under their command experience what kind of scene it would be like after the artillery bombardment.

It is believed that after this kind of exercise, the officers and men under their command who are somewhat proud should not dare to cut corners as before when building trenches and fortifications. After all, this is the key to whether they can survive on the battlefield.

After the three rounds of artillery bombardment were over, Xu Bin ordered the third regiment to engage in an offensive battle with the new regiment to seize the mountain. Let these soldiers feel what it feels like to charge under the rain of bullets. Of course, the places where the defenders shoot are areas where no one has passed. However, this scene of gunfire still made the officers and men of the regiments who rushed to the mountain. For the first time, the recruits, in particular, felt that life and death were in an instant on a battlefield of this scale.

The 3rd Regiment that rushed up the hill followed the new regiment and exchanged opponents with the 1st Regiment and the 2nd Regiment. Let the veterans of the third regiment match the recruits of the new regiment, and in the rebuilding of the Haode fortifications, they also felt the feeling of a round of shelling. At the same time, let the two main regiments staying at the bottom of the mountain see what the firing scene of the artillery into formation looks like.

Let them see all this with their own eyes, and it will be helpful for them to encounter such a situation in the future. After all, artillery is not omnipotent, as long as it can reach their attacking positions. Most of these artillery pieces had no defensive weapons, and they could only be slaughtered when the enemy approached.

In short, the exercise did not cause a single soldier casualties, except for the consumption of several base ammunition reserves. The rest are some lightly wounded and injured by the stones, and the fortifications that will be built at a great cost, some of which are damaged by the shelling, and need to be rebuilt at a new cost. There really is no other loss!

However, after this live exercise, Xu Jiajun truly understood what a regular army is. If the troops do not understand anti-artillery, once they are put into battle on the battlefield, defeat is inevitable.

It's just that compared to others who have to learn how to dodge shelling at the cost of blood, there is Xu Bin, the leader who is not short of money but lacks people for the time being, and wasted so many shells out of his own pocket to give them a vivid lesson in anti-artillery. In the future, when they encounter the same situation, they can also reduce their losses as much as possible, and reduce the fear in their hearts as much as possible.

After all, when the shelling was over and came out to inspect the defensive positions, these officers were also in accordance with Xu Bin's previous orders. The drill was conducted on how to quickly retreat into the anti-artillery hole and quickly come out of the anti-artillery hole to carry out defensive offensive and defensive drills after the artillery fire began to extend under actual combat conditions.

In short, after a drill, everyone gained a lot, but looking at Xu Bin, who had consumed hundreds of thousands of Longyang shells, he felt a little stomachache! Damn, it's not a cannonball, it's all TMD's hard-earned money!