Cosentz's words made Lord Yuan also confused, but this did not affect the preparation for battle.

Through the efforts of Zhou Fu and other Shandong officials, all the materials needed by Major General Pulev were finally delivered before the start of the war.

Now that the supplies have arrived, what else is there to say about the well-prepared 1st Guards Division, of course, the only thing to do is to take the Japanese army sacrifice flag in Shandong.

So on the day of February 17, the sound of gunfire that had been silent for more than ten days sounded in Shandong again.

However, this time it was replaced by the Italian-Qing coalition army and attacked the Japanese army.

"Fire!"

"Boom, boom!"

On one of the artillery positions, located in the rear, 12 150-mm howitzers of the 1890 type on the positions at the command of the officers let out an angry roar. The shells, which were blessed with propellants, flew over a distance of six or seven thousand meters and landed accurately on the Japanese positions on the top of the hill.

"Crash!"

The power of the 150-mm shell is huge, and the range of 10 meters is extremely lethal, as long as it is swept away, it is basically a terrible human tragedy.

A series of explosions sounded on the Japanese position, and the breastwork, horse rejection, skirmisher tunnels, and other fortifications that could be seen from the ground were all within the range of the attack.

Of course, the Italian army could not rely on only these 12 150mm howitzers, and the 72 guns of various types belonging to the 1st Guards Division also joined the chorus.

Therefore, on the Japanese position, a dense explosion sounded, which made the Japanese officers and soldiers on the defense feel tormented.

But they didn't have to worry, the Japanese counterattack was followed by a counterattack, and the artillery from the Japanese immediately launched a counterattack.

And seeing the counterattack of the enemy's artillery, the Italian artillery was naturally not to be outdone, and it was also colored. So the artillery battle between the two sides began.

In his own headquarters, Major General Pulev, who was the commander of the battle, was using a high-powered telescope to observe the artillery battle.

"The enemy should have no reservations, let the cannon fire and counterattack."

True, Plev still had a hand. It was useless for him to hold a cannon in his hand.

With his order, the Italian Army's newest Model 1894 120mm cannon was revealed.

That's right, this artillery has only been equipped in Italy for a short time, and the army is currently only organized into a regiment for the time being.

And Italy used it in the Far East, not because it wanted to test it in the war.

So with the order of Major General Prev, the 12-door 1894 type 120 mm showed its heroic posture for the first time.

"Fire!"

"Boom, boom!"

"Fire!"

"Boom, boom!"

After marking the position of the enemy, following the order of the artillery officer, the 120-mm cannon opened fire at the Japanese artillery positions at great speed.

That's right, it's extremely fast, in addition to the 120mm cannon can reach a range of 12.4 kilometers, another feature is that the rate of fire is super fast, with a rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute, firing for 3 minutes.

Of course, if you shoot 5 rounds per minute, you can last 4 minutes.

Doesn't it feel like the performance is average, which is not commendable.

However, as long as the age is taken into account, then it is enough to explain the problem.

The rate of fire and range of this cannon far exceed the guns of other countries of the same type, and it is a well-deserved king of 120 mm caliber.

Of course, the two great weapons that make it the best 120mm cannon are also due to the rate of fire and the firing range. One of the most influential barrel lengths for range, this cannon achieves an unprecedented 45 times the barrel length.

In addition, its retractor is also the latest in Italy, and it can be said that in order to create this excellent artillery, the designers have designed it to the limit.

Of course, the excellent performance is also reflected in the weight, its full weight of 1.52 tons can allow it to follow the corps-level troops and become a sharp weapon for suppressing the opponent's artillery.

And the performance of the 120-mm cannon in the first battle was also very good, in just one hour, 12 120-mm cannons had destroyed three Japanese artillery positions. As long as the Japanese artillery positions within the firing range are discovered, they cannot escape the fate of being named by them. It's a weapon that can be used to deal with opponents without any pressure.

This is naturally a manifestation of a great boost in morale on the side of the coalition forces, and as for the Japanese side, it is also a performance with a 120-mm cannon, which makes the Japanese artillery invincible, and does not dare to continue to fight with the coalition forces at all.

The enemy's artillery died down, which naturally suffered the infantry, and a large number of shells fell directly on their heads.

The constant sound of explosions sounded through the Japanese position, making it look as if it had been plowed over, and it also caused many casualties.

The bombardment lasted for a full morning, allowing the two countries to see the wealth of the European armies.

Of course, as Li Zhongtang's right-hand man, Zhou Fu and Lord Zhou naturally watched the whole shelling. In addition to being shocked by the precision of the Italian artillery, he was also distressed by the long shelling.

How much does it cost to have so many shells, at least a few hundred thousand taels of silver this morning. You must know that all the needs of the Italian army need to be paid by the imperial court and Li Zhongtang, but he knows the proportions and does not ask, but the anxiety in his eyes is deepening.

In fact, if you want to change Italy to fight on its own, it is not so luxurious, and the artillery opens the way all the way. Isn't this someone paying, of course, it is natural to be luxurious to fight.

Of course, this also depends on the situation, like this kind of attacking the outer positions, the time cannot be too long, so at noon, when the sun is warmest, Pulev finally gave the order to attack.

"Order the 2nd Regiment to launch an attack on Clean Ridge, and be sure to test the enemy's troop deployment."

Following the order of Major General Preev, nearly 3,000 officers and men of the 2nd Regiment launched an attack on the Japanese positions at the ploughed Clean Ridge.

The Italian officers and soldiers scattered all over the mountains looked dense, but if you look closely, you will find that although these people look dense, they are all scattered, each of them is at least five or six meters apart, and they cooperate in their actions, like a wave rushing towards the Japanese position.

"Woohoo!"

The Japanese positions saw the attacking Italian officers and soldiers and immediately launched a counterattack.

It's just that after the saturated shelling, the gunfire on the positions is not intensive.

It was only after the Italian soldiers had reached a distance of three hundred meters that the gunfire became more intense than before.

Many Japanese soldiers were finally encouraged by the officers to recover from the shelling.

However, this resistance of the Japanese army was not taken seriously by the officers and men of the Second Regiment at all, and when they were conducting war drills, the Maxim machine guns were to be placed in the position. A battlefield like this, which is only defended by rifles, is even more pediatric.

In fact, the Japanese army was not without machine guns, and its Gatling six-barreled machine gun was also equipped. It's just that the intensive shelling just now destroyed all the machine guns arranged in the position, so they can only return fire with rifles.

But how could this little means of resistance be able to defeat the officers and soldiers of the Guards Division, and it didn't take long for a burst of cheers to sound from the front. The officers and men of the 2nd Regiment had already entered the position, and it seemed that the Japanese troops who defended this position would not hold out for long.

At this time, Lord Zhou Fu, who had been silent for a long time, finally came to a sentence.

"Your country's armor soldiers are really sharp!"