Without the threat of the Japanese troops on the left and right, Wang Haitao had already seen the hope of victory, and now he focused his attention on the position of Yumu Mountain. As long as the Japanese army's position on Yumu Mountain is broken through, the whole army crosses Yumu Mountain, and it is a smooth road to Hengyang City, and the decisive battle with the main force of the Japanese Eleventh Army will also be launched in Hengyang City, which will be an excellent opportunity for the 90th Group Army to annihilate the main force of the Eleventh Army.

Although Wang Haitao was convinced of the strength of the 90th Division, he was still worried that the 90th Division would suffer too great losses, because after all, the 90th Division was a unit that started by himself, and the officers and men were all veterans who had followed him for many years. Now that the left and right roads have calmed down, Wang Haitao asked Su Zuxin to move his position forward.

After leaving the 211th Division to rest in place, Wang Haitao led the 210th Division to move in the direction of Yumu Mountain. As soon as he came to the headquarters of the 90th Division, Tang Yikuan greeted him. In the division headquarters of the 90th Division, you can hear the faint sound of artillery coming from the front, Wang Haitao didn't have any nonsense, and directly asked Tang Yikuan how the battle situation was in front of him, Tang Yikuan had learned that the 211th Division and the 210th Division on the left and right flanks had won, so there was a trace of anxiety in his expression.

Tang Yikuan replied: "Report to the commander, Brigade Commander Tang Yiqun in front is leading the 271st Brigade to attack the position of the main peak of the Japanese army on Yumu Mountain. Because of the narrow terrain type, it was difficult to deploy all the troops, and because of the ground type, it was difficult for heavy artillery to effectively support the attacking troops, so the battle was very difficult. Wang Haitao couldn't sit still at the division headquarters when he heard this, and said to Tang Yikuan: "Let's go, I'll go to the front line to see it in person!"

As soon as Wang Haitao left, Tang Yikuan hurriedly asked the 272nd Brigade to assemble, and then went to the position with Wang Haitao. As soon as he arrived at the mountain pass, Wang Haitao found that the road into the mountain was not only steep and curved, but also not wide. Acting with so many troops, it is simply impossible to perform on this kind of mountain road. So he ordered the 272nd Brigade to send a regiment and a regiment of guards around him into the mountain together, while other troops waited for orders at the mountain pass.

After entering the mountain, I walked only three kilometers and saw the artillery positions divided into several places, as well as the tent where the headquarters of the 271st Brigade was located. Approaching the brigade headquarters, Wang Haitao heard Tang Yiqun's roar: "For the people, for the people, tell me how many times your regiment has attacked?

Then I heard Tang Weimin's voice: "Fourth uncle, it's not that our regiment is useless, this hill is indeed too difficult to attack, not to mention the strength of the small Japanese fortifications, and the location is particularly tricky." The artillery fire could not hit, and even the bazooka could not be used. My regiment has lost almost a battalion, and it still can't be attacked. Hearing this, Wang Haitao opened the door and walked into the tent.

Seeing Wang Haitao come in, the people in the tent all stood up and saluted, and after Wang Haitao returned to the military salute, he said with a serious expression: "For the people, take me up to see the situation." Tang Weimin was already a little apprehensive when he saw Wang Haitao coming in, and when he heard Wang Haitao's words, he hurriedly stood up and replied: "Yes, commander." After speaking, he took the lead and walked out of the tent, Wang Haitao also followed him out of the tent, Tang Yiqun couldn't stay in the tent, and hurriedly followed behind Wang Haitao.

Not far from the tent is an open field, which is now a makeshift ambulance station, where wounded soldiers are briefly bandaged before being transported by car to the field hospital behind. Wang Haitao took a look when he passed by, and there were dozens of wounded people in the ambulance, and there were also wounded people being carried from the front one after another. Judging from the number of wounded, Wang Haitao could also see how fierce the battle ahead was.

didn't go far, Wang Haitao could clearly hear the gunfire in front of him, but because of the terrain, he couldn't see the situation in front of him. After walking two kilometers and turning a sharp bend, Wang Haitao saw the offensive position of the 543rd Regiment and the hill that was being attacked. Tang Weimin led Wang Haitao and others into a forward observation post, Wang Haitao walked to the observation hole in a few steps, raised the telescope and looked ahead.

In front of you are two hills connected to each other, the front one is about 500 meters high, and the back one is about 100 meters high. On the hill in front of the 543rd Regiment's attack, the Japanese built a defensive position near the top of the hill. The terrain of this defensive position is very good, and there is a semi-circular cliff in front of the position, with a height of four meters, and the 543rd Regiment is blocked under this cliff.

The cliff is half natural and half artificial, and there are several firing holes in the cliff, and several heavy machine guns are spitting out tongues of fire from the firing holes. Obviously, the cliff has been hollowed out by the Japanese army and has become a semi-natural fortification. The cliff is a rock structure, not to mention that it can't be hit with a mortar, even if the bazooka is pierced and the armor shell can only leave a few traces on the cliff.

While Wang Haitao was observing the situation, the 543rd Regiment launched another attack, and Wang Haitao could clearly see with a telescope in the observation post, a battalion of troops attacking the Japanese position, and at a distance of 100 meters from the cliff, the Japanese army's machine-gun fire point set up on the cliff began to fire, and the dense crossfire condescendingly suppressed the attacking troops behind the rocks.

The soldiers of the 543rd Regiment were also well-trained, making full use of the rocks on the ground as cover, and moving cautiously forward under the cover of heavy machine guns and mortars behind them. Although some soldiers in the ranks continued to fall from bullets, after 10 minutes, the troops had moved forward by 40 to 50 meters. At such a close distance, sharpshooters in the unit could seal the firing ports on the cliff with their rifles.

Seeing that the machine-gun fire on the cliff was under the blows of the sharpshooters, and the bullets fired intermittently, greatly reducing the threat to the troops, the officer in charge of the command prepared to organize the soldiers to charge. Just as the troops were about to charge, there was a sudden sound of artillery in the Japanese position on the cliff, and then more than a dozen shells flew into the ranks, and the casualties caused by the shells were not large, but the charge was abandoned halfway.

Under the double blow of the Japanese positions and the machine-gun fire points on the cliffs, the 543rd Regiment still failed in its attack. When Wang Haitao put down the binoculars, Tang Weimin's face was very ugly. Wang Haitao said to Tang Weimin: "This position of Little Japan is indeed not easy to fight, and if you want to break through the Japanese position, you can only break his upper and lower forces." The Japanese troops in the cliff were hiding in turtle shells, and it was difficult to solve them for a while, so we would first defeat the Japanese troops in the positions above. ”

When Tang Weimin heard Wang Haitao say this, he asked in surprise: "Commander, do you have a way to deal with the Japanese troops on the position? As long as there are no Japanese troops on the position to make trouble, the Japanese troops in the cliff will be turtles in the urn." Wang Haitao smiled and said: "The Japanese troops on the position have been handed over to me and the guards, and after we destroy the Japanese troops on the position, your regiment will launch an attack on the Japanese position." ”

After Wang Haitao left the regiment headquarters, he asked the guards to gather and act with him. Wang Haitao had just clearly seen the surrounding terrain in the observation post, and the only way to deal with the Japanese troops on the position was to cover them with artillery fire, and it just so happened that in Wang Haitao's storage ring, the 24 Japanese-style 240 mm caliber heavy howitzers and projectiles on Kuitouling were still there, and now they can come in handy.

As for the location of the artillery position, Wang Haitao also looked at the place, not far from the right of the regimental headquarters of the 543rd Regiment, there was a hill with a height of about 400 meters, and the top of the hill was a very ideal artillery position. However, the mountain is steep, and it is very difficult to climb it by manpower, let alone carry heavy artillery. But Wang Haitao did not have this difficulty, he climbed to the top of the mountain with a group of guards.

When he came to the top of the mountain, Wang Haitao chose a place to place the heavy artillery, and the guards all started to level the ground and remove debris. Wang Haitao, on the other hand, stood on the top of the hill and used a telescope to observe the Japanese position. From here to the Japanese position, the straight-line distance is only less than five kilometers, although this hill is a little shorter, but it is basically parallel to the Japanese position, and heavy artillery positions are built here, and the artillery fire is enough to cover the Japanese position.

It took more than an hour for the guard regiment to level out the ground where the heavy artillery needed to be placed, and Wang Haitao began to take out the heavy artillery and ammunition from the storage ring. There are artillery in the heavy fire battalion of the guard regiment, although they are not as professional as the artillery of the heavy artillery brigade, but they are only five kilometers away, and they do not need to be very accurate, so there is no problem in controlling these twenty-four heavy guns.

Another half an hour passed, and the muzzles of the twenty-four heavy guns had been adjusted, Wang Haitao looked at his watch, it was already more than three o'clock in the afternoon, and then turned his head to look at the Tangshan Leopard who was following him, and nodded to the Tangshan Leopard. The order to open the cannon was conveyed by the Tangshan Leopard, and soon a correction shell flew out of the barrel, this shell hit a little too much, and after adjusting the muzzle, the bombardment of the heavy artillery began.

The Japanese position was a vacant field leveled near the top of the hill, which was not large and had no strong fortifications, and was a mortar position closest to the mountain wall. The positions add up to the strength of an infantry brigade. Although the first correction shell landed far from the position, it startled the Japanese army, but it did not attract the attention of the Japanese army, and it was not until the first round of 24 shells fell on their heads that the Japanese army understood.

Only then did I realize that it was too late, and that 17 or 8 of the 24 shells had fallen on the position, and this was not a mortar shell, but a heavy artillery shell weighing more than 180 kilograms, and its tremendous power set off a storm of blood on the Japanese position. The area of the position was limited, and it was difficult for more than 1,000 Japanese troops to find a place to hide from the bombardment on this position, and shells were still flying over.

Out of resentment against the Japanese army, the artillery of the guard regiment fired shells one after another, and after ten minutes passed, each heavy artillery fired dozens of shells, and the smoke and dust of gunpowder had completely covered the Japanese position, and then Wang Haitao ordered to stop the shelling. After the mountain wind blew away the smoke and dust, Wang Haitao and the officers and men of the guard regiment looked at the Japanese position, and there was no longer the original position in their eyes, only overlapping craters and a patch of red.

There was no longer a single active figure on the position, nor a single piece of equipment in good condition, but only a dead silence. At this time, Wang Haitao saw through his telescope that the attack of the 543rd Regiment had begun again. However, this time not only was there no artillery fire, but even the machine-gun fire points on the cliff were not moving. The fighters of the 543rd Regiment rushed to the bottom of the cliff in one breath and began to climb this cliff more than four meters high.