Although the number of 150-caliber heavy guns in the direction of the north gate was not much, it was still full of majesty when it came to building bunkers and fortifications on the Japanese positions. The accuracy of the artillery was also good, basically two to three shells could destroy a bunker fortification. And the targets of howitzers and artillery became soldiers in trenches and sandbag fortifications.

The 105-caliber howitzer and artillery regiment of the heavy artillery brigade stopped firing after firing several rounds of shells at the Japanese mortar's position just now, and the 50 grenades and artillery dispersed the target, and when the Japanese were ready to use these small-caliber artillery to return fire, they would give them a fatal blow. In this way, hundreds of artillery pieces ravaged the Japanese position again before stopping.

The south gate and the west gate were also shelled at the same time, but the south gate was a real feint, and although the artillery fire hit the Japanese position very fiercely, it was much worse than the north gate, at least most of the bunker fortifications on the Japanese position were intact. The West Gate was to hide its strength, so the shelling was only aimed at the first line of defense of the Japanese army and the minefields in the open field in front of the position.

The shelling of the North Gate not only made Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sanono tremble, but also made Major General Shozo Hirano restless. Major General Shozo Hirano hurriedly ran up the city wall, and when he saw Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano, he said loudly: "Your Excellency the division commander, the artillery of the people of Shina is too fierce, and there are also large-caliber heavy artillery, and the bunker fortifications on the position have basically been attacked, and I ask for the support of the divisional artillery wing." ”

There is no need for Major General Hirano Shozo to say more, Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi saw the situation on the position clearly, and at this time, Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi was more convinced of his judgment that the Chinese army regarded the North Gate as the main direction of attack. Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi said to Major General Hirano-sōzo: "Hirano-kun, I will immediately report the situation at the North Gate to His Excellency the Commander, and ask His Excellency the Commander to agree to concentrate artillery fire against the Shina army at the North Gate, but before that, Hirano-kun is still required to resolutely hold the position. ”

Major General Hirano Shozo could only brace himself up at this time to deal with the next attack of the Chinese army, and Major General Hirano Shozo had just left the city wall, and Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi also left the city wall and walked towards the headquarters. When I came to the headquarters, I saw that Commander Jun Imamura and the chief of staff, Major General Kiyozaburo Okazaki, were there. After saluting, Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano said loudly: "Your Excellency, the main direction of attack of the Shina army should be the North Gate, and I ask Your Excellency the Commander to mobilize all artillery to support the North Gate direction." ”

Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi's words made Imamura Jun and Okazaki Kiyozaburo both stunned, and Major General Okazaki Kiyosaburo asked: "Sano-kun, the battle has just begun, how can you be sure that the Shina army has taken the north gate as the main direction of attack?" Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi replied with a serious face: "Okazaki-kun, the Shina army has concentrated more than 100 artillery pieces at the north gate, including large-caliber heavy artillery, and the fortifications on the position outside the north gate have been destroyed in many places, and chariot troops were also used during the attack. In the other two directions, although there were many artillery pieces at the south gate, there was no heavy artillery, and there were no chariot units during the attack, and the number of artillery at the west gate was even less, and now there were not even a few cannons or shells on the position. If the North Gate is not the main direction of attack, why would the Chinese army invest in heavy artillery and chariot troops?"

After listening to Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi, Commander Imamura Jun looked thoughtfully at Major General Okazaki Kiyosaburo, Major General Okazaki Kiyosaburo thought for a while, and said to Commander Imamura: "Your Excellency, Commander, the battle has only been fought for a long time, and we must beware of the Chinese army playing tricks to attack the east and west, I still think that the Chinese army will not take the north gate as the main direction of attack." ”

Commander Imamura Jun pondered for a moment and said to Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano, "Sano-kun, what is the situation on the position outside the north gate? Will it still be able to block the attack of the Shina people?" Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi replied: "Report to Your Excellency Commander, since most of the bunker fortifications on the position have been destroyed, the soldiers have suffered heavy casualties, and if there is no artillery support, if the Shina people attack with chariots, the soldiers will have to use their lives to blow up those hateful chariots, and the casualties will be even greater." ”

Commander Imamura Jun thought for a moment and said, "Sano-kun, you first use an artillery brigade to deal with the attack of the Shina army, and then I ask the flying unit to bombard the Shina army, and it is still too early to conclude that the Shina people will take the north gate as the main direction of attack. Commander Imamura's words made Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano angry, but he couldn't say any more, so he could only respond first. Commander Imamura gave him a few more words of encouragement before letting him leave.

After leaving the headquarters, Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano ordered the field artillery brigade assigned to the North Gate to prepare for cannonballing. The field artillery wing of the 36th Division has a total of four artillery teams, one of which is a 105-caliber field artillery brigade, and the other three are all 75-caliber field artillery brigades, but the 75-caliber field artillery brigade assigned to the north gate has a total of 18 75-caliber combat guns.

Climbing the wall of the North Gate again, Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano found that the artillery bombardment of the Chinese army was over, and several chariots in the distance were again covering the infantry advancing forward to attack. The position was already a mess, littered with craters and mutilated corpses of soldiers. On the first line of defense, soldiers were entering the position under the reprimand of the officers, many trenches had been blown up, and many soldiers were hiding in bomb craters preparing to counterattack.

The chariot was only 200 meters away from the first line of defense, and the heavy machine guns and on-board artillery on the chariot attacked the defending soldiers with recklessness. The soldiers were also desperately fighting back, but the number of heavy machine guns was significantly less. Just as Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano was about to order the field artillery brigade to open fire, more than a dozen mortars and several Type 92 infantry guns on the position had already opened fire, and the shells whistled and flew towards the Chinese army's chariot ranks.

The shelling wounded a advancing tank and caused many casualties among the attacking Chinese soldiers. Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano couldn't help but shout: "Yo Xi!" But as soon as the smile on his face appeared, he saw a dense cannon sound sounding on the position of the Chinese army, and in the frozen smile of Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano, dozens of cannons and shells flew towards the small cannons that had just fired shells.

As the continuous explosions rang out, Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano saw that all the small cannons were overturned to the ground, and the artillery and some parts flew into the air together, and then fell into fragments and blood rain. In just two minutes, the small cannons that had just fired the shells were gone, and then Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sanono shouted: "Yaga!"

Looking at the chariots and Chinese soldiers who continued to attack, Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano gave the order for the field artillery brigade to open fire. The order was immediately conveyed by the heralds, and the sound of cannons soon rang out somewhere in the city, and shells fell accurately on the heads of the attacking chariots and soldiers. The soldiers who were attacking were veterans of a hundred battles, and when they heard the screams of artillery and shells, they had already scattered and lay down to hide, and the chariots also quickly dispersed to avoid the bombardment of artillery and shells.

Brigade Commander Mu Suzhong, who was commanding on the offensive position, was originally excited because more than a dozen small cannons of the Japanese army were destroyed by the artillery fire of his own counterattack, but at this time he suddenly saw cannons and shells flying out of the city and exploding in the attacking team, and his face changed. Fortunately, the soldiers were experienced and had already scattered and hidden, and the chariots began to use 'S' to avoid artillery and shells, and the casualties caused by this round of Japanese shelling were not large.

At present, Brigade Commander Mu Suzhong has two choices, one is to let the attacking troops withdraw first, and then attack after the Japanese artillery is eliminated, and the other is to let the attacking troops continue to attract Japanese artillery fire, take the opportunity to judge the position of the Japanese artillery positions, and use artillery to destroy the Japanese artillery positions. After a little consideration, Mu Suzhong made a decision. Mu Suzhong grabbed the telephone set placed in the temporary command post and went directly to the artillery command post, and Liu Qingyuan, commander of the 105 th Howitzer and Artillery Regiment of the Heavy Artillery Brigade, which was responsible for directing the artillery, answered the call.

There was no nonsense, Mu Suzhong said directly: "I am Mu Suzhong, how long will it take you to judge the location of the Japanese artillery positions in the city and destroy them?" Liu Qingyuan replied on the other end of the phone: "Report to Brigade Commander Mu, we need five minutes to judge the position of the Japanese artillery position, which can ensure that the Japanese artillery position will be heavily damaged." ”

Mu Suzhong said with a serious face: "Okay, Commander Liu, I'll give you five minutes, and after five minutes, I won't see the Japanese shells flying out of the city." Liu Qingyuan grabbed the phone and replied: "Yes, Brigade Commander Mu, the artillery regiment guarantees to complete the mission!" Mu Suzhong put down the phone, returned to the observation hole again, and raised the telescope to observe the situation on the front line.

The Japanese artillery and shells are still falling in the attacking team, and the explosion of each cannon and bullet will bring casualties to the soldiers. The short five minutes were so difficult for Mu Suzhong, and finally the sound of cannons sounded from behind him, and one after another cannons and bullets flew over his head and flew towards the city.

After a while, explosions were heard in the city, and then smoke rose into the air. As the explosions in the city rang out, the cannons and shells flying out of the city became fewer and fewer until they were gone. At this time, Mu Suzhong breathed a sigh of relief and said to the herald beside him: "Pass my order, and send ten more armored vehicles to cover the three battalions of the 568th Regiment to rush up." The herald replied loudly, "Yes, brigade!" and saluted, turned and ran out of the makeshift command post.

There were no artillery or shells flying out of the city, and only four of the eight armored vehicles that attacked were intact. The four armored vehicles lined up in a horizontal row and continued to advance towards the Japanese positions. The soldiers who had been lying on the ground also jumped up and attacked forward behind the armored body, but nearly 100 officers and soldiers could no longer continue the attack, and they died on foreign land.

As soon as the officers and men on the Japanese position were relieved by the artillery support in the city, they saw countless cannons and shells flying from the opposite side, flying over their heads and towards the city. Then the sound of explosions in the city sank their hearts again. The next side of the last thing to see reappeared, and the Chinese army, which had been bombarded without artillery and shells, continued to attack, and still rushed to the front with a few steel chariots spitting tongues of fire.