On a rock facing south of Matouling, Wang Haitao looked at the artillery observation scope and quietly observed the effect of the artillery bombardment on the Japanese warships. I saw more than 20 high-explosive grenades and bombs streaked across the sky like meteors, heading towards the Japanese warship. The Japanese warships probably did not expect to be shelled from the ground, so they were anchored in the bay.

The accuracy of the heavy artillery regiment against stationary targets was very good, and only three of the 10 high-explosive grenades and shells of the flagship were close misses, and three water columns exploded around the warship, while the other seven shells fell on the cruiser one after another. The armor-piercing ability of high-explosive grenades and shells is not very strong, and it does little damage to the steel deck of the warship, but its shrapnel has set off a metal storm on the upper layer of the warship.

The men on the deck of the warship suffered heavy casualties in the metal storm, and the command station was in shambles as if swept by a hurricane. From the observation glass, Wang Haitao could see that the surviving people on the warship were scurrying around in a panic, and some were also rescuing the wounded. This is true of the flagship, and the situation with the other three destroyers is not much worse. All three destroyers were more or less hit by shells.

The destroyer's ability to resist attack is much worse than that of the cruiser, and Wang Haitao saw in the observation mirror that one of the destroyers had been hit through the deck by a cannonball. The shell must have exploded inside the ship's hull, causing damage that caused the destroyer to tilt a little. All four warships were on fire, and the light of the fire made them clearer targets.

Before the Japanese troops on the warships could react, the second round of shells came again, this time more shells were hit on each warship, and there were basically no more people on the deck of the warship who could move. After the third round of shelling, the three destroyers were unable to resist the attack at first, tilted and capsized in the sea. Only the cruiser had only leaned a little and showed no signs of sinking.

Three destroyers were sunk, and the fifteen heavy guns that attacked them adjusted their muzzles and concentrated their fire on the cruisers. The six escort gunboats stationed around the four warships started in a panic as early as the first round of shelling from the four warships. The cruiser on the surface of the sea finally did not resist the fourth round of the blow of so many heavy guns, and a shell pierced the deck, landed right on the ammunition depot of the warship and exploded.

The detonated ammunition lifted the cruiser out of the water, and then slammed it back, and the warship broke in two, struggled on the surface of the sea, and quickly sank to the bottom. All four capital ships were sunk, and only the six frigate gunboats were scurrying around in a panic. The target of the escort gunboat was too small, and it was difficult for the heavy artillery to hit the target in constant movement, so Wang Haitao ordered to stop firing.

The sinking of four warships at once made the soldiers of the heavy artillery regiment cheer excitedly, and even Tangshan Hu's face showed an excited smile. The shelling on Matouling alarmed the Japanese troops in Qinzhou City, and Major General Itada Jiro was so shocked that even the teacup in his hand fell to the ground after receiving the report. The appearance of heavy artillery positions of the Chinese army on Matouling is too clear what this means, Major General Itada Jiro.

The news that the four warships of the fleet stationed in Qinzhou Bay had been sunk had made Rear Admiral Itada Jiro numb. These four warships are the support of Qinzhou City, not only can support the defenders with artillery fire, but also can respond to the retreat of the defenders when ten thousand fail. Four warships were sunk, that is, the retreat of the Japanese army in Qinzhou City had been completely cut off.

In order to hold the city of Qinzhou, it is necessary to seize the heavy artillery position of the Chinese army at Matouling, but the north gate is about to face an attack by the Chinese army, and the troops in the city are already insufficient, so where can they draw troops out of the city to attack Matouling? Major General Itada Jiro thought for a long time and called the captain of his escort, Yuo Yamamoto Nakasa, over.

Major General Itada Jiro said to Yamamoto Yuo Nakasa with a heavy face: "Yamamoto-kun, I don't need to say much about the danger of the heavy artillery position of the Matouling Army to Qinzhou City, you also understand that in order to hold Qinzhou City, this heavy artillery position must be captured or destroyed. Now I can only give you the strength of an infantry brigade, plus the whole guard, and you will lead the attack on Matouling, hoping that Yamamoto-kun can live up to his trust and capture Matouling. Please!"

Yuo Yamamoto bowed to Major General Jiro Itada and replied, "Hey! My subordinates will live up to the trust of His Excellency the Commander and take down the heavy artillery positions of the Matouling Shina. After saying that, he turned around and went out to gather his troops. After sinking the Japanese warship with artillery fire, Wang Haitao gave Tang Longzai an order for the whole army to attack Qinzhou City. The order was then forwarded by Tang Longzai to the two division commanders, Li Changwu and Tang Hongming.

Li Changwu of the 211th Division had been on the front line of Nansheling for two days, and now he had finally received the order to attack, and Li Changwu immediately ordered the 462nd Brigade to speed up its advance, aiming directly at the west gate of Qinzhou City, and the division headquarters and the 463rd Brigade followed suit. Tang Hongming, on the other hand, was much simpler, the 460th Brigade was already ready to attack, and now it had received an order, first of all, the division's heavy artillery regiment launched an artillery bombardment on the north gate of Qinzhou City.

Dozens of heavy artillery pieces opened fire at the same time, aimed at the Japanese defensive positions outside the north gate. Under the bombardment of dozens of heavy artillery, the Japanese positions outside the north gate, fortifications, bunkers, weapons, and soldiers all flew into the sky in the explosion. The 30-minute artillery bombardment of the heavy artillery regiment caused heavy damage to the Japanese position, and there were few living people left in a squadron of the Japanese army guarding the position.

Seeing that the effect of the artillery bombardment was good, Wei Bin, commander of the 460th Brigade, ordered the infantry to attack. In the previous battle, it was the 461st Brigade that was fighting all the time, and the 460th Brigade had been recuperating for so long that it could no longer hold back. As soon as Wei Bin gave the order to attack, the 871st Regiment, which took the lead, immediately sent out two battalions of troops, and with the cooperation of four heavy tanks, launched a surprise attack on the Japanese position.

The Japanese were guarding the north gate with an infantry squadron on the outskirts of the city, and two infantry squadrons and a machine-gun squadron on the city walls. An infantry squadron outside the city suffered casualties in the shelling, while the Chinese army attacked under the cover of tanks, all in the eyes of the Japanese captain Inoue Shuto Nakasa, who was in charge of the command on the city walls.

The Chinese army was getting closer and closer to the front of the position, but there was very little firepower to counterattack on the position, which made Inoue Shuto Nakasa anxious. While Inoue Shuto Nakasa ordered the heavy machine guns on the city walls to support the positions outside the castle with fire, he called Major General Jiro Itada and asked for artillery support. Major General Jiro Itada also had the last artillery unit in the city, a mountain artillery brigade.

The 18 new 105-caliber mountain guns of this mountain artillery brigade are already the last killer weapon of Major General Jiro Itada, and they will not be used easily, especially when there are still heavy artillery positions of the Chinese army on Matouling, let alone be easily exposed. Therefore, Major General Jiro Itada did not order the artillery to be fired, but only asked Iyama Shuto Nakasa to resolutely defend the north gate.

Inoue Shuren Nakasa had no choice but to order the four Type 92 infantry guns and twelve mortars of the brigade on the city wall to fire at the tanks that rushed up. However, the shells of these small guns did not help the heavy tanks at all, and only caused damage in the infantry that followed the tanks. Not long after these small cannons were fired, they attracted a counterattack from artillery fire because their positions were exposed.

First of all, the artillery battalion of the 871st Regiment, which was ready to support the infantry attack, immediately launched an artillery bombardment on the city wall, and the 12 field guns and 18 heavy mortars of the artillery battalion destroyed two Type 92 infantry guns and four mortars in one round of artillery fire, and also caused the Japanese troops on the city wall to fall one piece. Then four tanks raised their guns and joined the counterattack.

Under the counterattack of the 871st Regiment, the Japanese small artillery on the city wall was quickly lost, and even the heavy machine gun fire points were blown up in several places. Having lost the fire support on the city wall, the Japanese troops on the positions outside the city basically did not hold back for long before they were killed and wounded, and the two battalions of the 871st Regiment attacked the position in one attack. Inoue Shuto Nakasa watched the Chinese army attack the position outside the city, and a feeling of powerlessness swelled in his heart.

Having taken the position outside the city with ease, the 871st Regiment then launched an attack on the city wall. However, the city wall is different from the outside of the city, and it is impossible to climb the city wall without the city gate open. Wei Bin also saw this, and after reporting to Tang Hongming, Tang Hongming ordered the heavy artillery regiment to bombard the city walls of Qinzhou City with heavy artillery. In order to prevent accidental injury, the two infantry battalions of the 871st Regiment retreated a few hundred meters.

Seeing that the Chinese army began to retreat, Inoue Shuto Nakasa, who had not been happy for a while, waited for the covering shelling of the Chinese army. Countless heavy artillery shells continued to fall on the inside and outside of the city wall and on the city wall, and the violent explosion made the city wall tremble in the sound of the explosion, and the Japanese soldiers on the city wall lay close behind various bunkers, praying that the shells would not fall near them.

The heavy artillery bombarded the city wall for more than half an hour, until one of the walls could not withstand it and collapsed nearly 50 meters in a section, and the shelling stopped. The bombardment for more than half an hour killed and wounded nearly half of the Japanese troops on the city wall, and the rest were almost desperate. When the shelling stopped, most of the surviving Japanese troops failed to react in time, and a reserve in the city made it to the gap in the city wall.

The officers and men of the 871st Regiment outside the city were also shocked by the scene of the shelling, and when the city wall fell, the officers and soldiers who were waiting for this opportunity rushed up to the gap with shouts. But just as they were approaching the gap, the Japanese troops rushed in and filled the gap. The Japanese troops blocked the gap, set up light and heavy machine guns, and flew like a rain of bullets towards the charging soldiers.

Caught off guard, the soldiers who rushed in front were swept to the ground in pieces, and the soldiers behind saw that the situation was not right, and they looked for cover to avoid the strafing of the Japanese machine guns, and the soldiers who could not find cover also lay on the ground. At this time, the four heavy tanks played a role, ignoring the strafing of the Japanese machine guns at the gap, not only the top, but also desperately suppressed the Japanese fire point with the heavy machine guns on board.

With the fire suppression of four heavy tanks, the attacking infantry breathed a sigh of relief, and they hid behind the tanks one after another, striking at the Japanese troops in the gap. Just as the two sides were firing at each other, the remaining Japanese troops on the city wall finally came to their senses, and under the command of Inoue Shuto Nakasa, they condescended to hold back the attacking Chinese army.