The reason why Zhao Yu asked this was actually because he didn't believe what the puppet army said just now that there were more than 4,000 people in the city, and Dongying County was just a small county by the sea, even during the reign of Han Fuyu, the permanent population was only five or six thousand.

With the continuous improvement of the living standard under Jiang Qiang's rule, the siphon effect became more and more obvious, and the surrounding people began to pour into the defense area under his rule. In addition, in the past six months, Jiang Qiang has deliberately increased the intensity of "digging the foot of the wall", and the ordinary people in Dongying County have already evacuated if they can leave.

Sure enough, as soon as Zhao Yu's voice fell, the puppet soldier replied honestly: "If you go back to the chief, there are actually not many people in the city for a long time, and the total is more than 2,000." The little devils are simply exaggerating like that, so that you don't dare to let go of your hands and feet and do real things with them. Zhao Yu nodded and said, "Very good, it's not too late to make amends!" What is your name? ”

As soon as he heard this, the puppet army suddenly said with joy on his face: "Back to the words of the chief, when the little one is named Wu Pengshi, although he wears this dog skin, I have never done anything hurtful. Zhao Yu nodded and said, "Okay, I remember!" I hope that we will have the opportunity to fight together in the future to kill the little devils. ”

"Okay! Good! Sir, then I'll go and talk back to the little devil! Wu Pengshi bowed and ran away, and now he has finally found a way to live. The brothers continued to reinforce their positions and waited for the next operational order. ”

After Wu Pengshi walked away, Zhao Yu picked it up and shouted at the officers and soldiers around him: "The little devil is determined to fight us to the end, so a tough battle is inevitable, and we must be mentally prepared." ”

"What are you afraid of in a tough battle!" "Yes! If the little devil comes to shoot and doesn't kill, then it's not interesting! "It's just so that let's have a good time today and have a good time."

The officers and soldiers around were not panicked at all, but looked extremely excited, full of anticipation for the upcoming street fighting. "Haha, our cannon is coming, brothers are all working hard! Fast! Ten minutes later, six 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and 10 75-millimeter anti-aircraft guns were pulled to the foot of the city wall, and then everyone worked together to lift the anti-aircraft guns and the 75-mm guns weighing half a ton onto the city wall.

Soon, the guns were set up in the gap above the women's wall, and the barrels were aimed at the reinforced concrete building and houses directly in front of the city. "Yaga! Oh no, report to Your Excellency Shaozuo, the Chinese army has set up artillery on the city wall, and they will soon launch an artillery bombardment! ”

Although there are city walls to block the view, dozens of cannons have been erected on three walls, but such movements cannot completely avoid the eyes and ears of the devils. So it didn't take long for the news to reach Kota Takimura, the captain of the devil brigade. Takimura Akita waved his hand disappreciably and said, "Yaga! At most, it is some small-caliber artillery, which has limited destructive power to our fortifications, so don't worry at all, order the troops to hide! Let them consume the shells as much as they want, I don't believe they can't finish their shells! ”

Although the county seat of Dongying is not large, it is more than 20 square kilometers, and there are hundreds of permanent fortifications transformed by devils in the urban area. If you bombard with small-caliber artillery, even if you bombard tens of thousands of shells, you will not be able to break your bones.

Not to mention the thousands of private houses that can be used as bunkers. In addition, the little devil is short of materials, although the number of artillery is not small, but the shells have always been more carefully calculated, so Takimura Kota preconceived that after a few hours of ammunition consumption, the current stock of shells in the Huaxia Tiger Army will not be too much.

However, what Takimura Kota didn't know was that Jiang Qiang really had no shortage of artillery shells in his hands, and after half a year of reserves, he purchased millions of shells of large and small calibers from the United States, which was enough to continue to consume for several months. What's more, even if it is consumed too quickly, Jiang Qiang can buy a large amount from the Shanghai Military Factory at any time.

In addition, the power of the 75-mm flat-firing gun is not small, and even a bank building made of reinforced concrete cannot withstand continuous bombardment regardless of the cost. "Hehe, let's try the power of our artillery first!" After the cannon was set up, Zhao Yu laughed and shouted loudly: "Artillery brothers, aim at me and hit me hard, and bombard that building and those buildings that may hide devils for me." ”

"Order!" "Please rest assured, Company Commander Zhao, watch us smash the little devil's turtle shell!" "Please put on ear protectors, brothers, and you're about to fire!"

The artillerymen began to load the shells, and soon one by one the flat-fire guns let out an earth-shattering roar, and one after another 75-millimeter shells frantically bombarded the high-rise buildings in the county town without paying for money. The 37-mm anti-aircraft guns were static and braking, ready to return fire at the Japanese artillery that appeared.

Boom, rubble flew everywhere, and the Guangrao County Bank Building, which had been bombarded by artillery, kept trembling, and brick and tile fragments fell down like a torrential rain. In a short time, the entire building was blown to pieces, and in many places the cement bricks and tiles were shattered, revealing a twisted and deformed steel structure, which looked like a skeleton that had lost its flesh and blood.

At the same time, the other two directions were attacking the traffic building and the county government building, respectively, and were blown up beyond recognition after a few shots. You don't have to think about these three buildings to know that they must be the core positions of the devils, even if the hostages are held inside, they have to be flattened.

"It's over! The Shandong Group Army has begun shelling! "At this moment, there are at least more than 30 cannons, and if they hit us, it only takes one round for us all to be blown to pieces."

"Then what's the solution, it's a blessing or a curse, it's a curse that can't be avoided!" "Who told us to become the family members of traitors, otherwise we would have gone to Commander Yang a long time ago! Alas! "These inhuman brutes, even if I do ghosts, I won't let them go!"

"Wu Pengshi, didn't you say that a commander of the Huaxia Tiger Army is willing to accept us?" "Alas, others can't help but fire and fight with the devil with their lives, right?" "Say no more! If it really hits us, it will be our fate! ”

Violent explosions continued one after another, and the entire Dongying County was trembling. Such a big movement naturally means that everyone knows what is happening, and the people trapped in the city and the puppet army troops trapped in it are all terrified.

The so-called guns have no eyes, and if the Shandong Group Army extended the shelling to them to carry out indiscriminate coverage and shelling, they would certainly not be spared. There were not many underground air-raid bunkers in Dongying County for the people to hide safely, and the only air-raid bunkers were occupied by the Japanese devils.

These ordinary people, puppet soldiers and their families are completely treated as cannon fodder and are still in various houses in the city, leaving them to fend for themselves. "Yaga! There were so many 75-mm field guns! If our main position is completely destroyed, then it will be difficult for us to have an absolute advantage in street fighting! ”

Takimura Kota hid in an underground bunker in the city, and although he couldn't see what the main positions outside had been blown up, he knew that the other side was not using a small-caliber anti-aircraft gun, but a powerful 75-millimeter gun.

Takimura was a commendable courage, not afraid of the bloody street battles of the Chinese Tiger Army, and coerced innocent people as meat shields to prevent the Chinese Tiger Army from using powerful aerial bombs and heavy artillery. But being smart was mistaken by being smart, but Kota Takimura missed a little, and it was indeed difficult for the heavy artillery outside the city to aim at specific targets and bombard, and it was impossible to enter the city to get close to the bombardment.

But the power of the 75mm cannon can be carried above the city walls, and then it can be condescendingly accurate at any target in the city. And the three reinforced concrete buildings that the devil relied on were not the fortress buildings built by Germany in Berlin, which not only had amazing defensive power but also had powerful enough artillery to counteract.

Therefore, under the shelling at any cost, these three reinforced concrete buildings were quickly blown to pieces, leaving only an empty shelf and becoming crumbling. "Ready! Fire! ”

Then a few more shots went down, and the three reinforced concrete buildings were finally overwhelmed and collapsed, turning into piles of rubble. "Haha, well done!" "If these three nails are pulled out, our biggest threat will be gone!" "It's good to have a cannon!"

Zhao Yu and the others saw it beautifully, although there were still countless fortifications in the city, but these three absolute commanding heights were pulled out, which undoubtedly pulled out the three front teeth of the devil.

"Mom! Today is a fun day. Suspend shelling from all gun emplacements, take a break! A few more shots, and this will blow up! "After more than a dozen shells in a row, the barrels of the guns became red, and the first batch of shells was consumed, so we had to suspend the shelling and replenish the shells while cooling the barrels!

A phone call passed, and within a few minutes, a transport truck loaded with shells arrived at the city walls. "Hey, hey, brothers well done! The shells are here again! "Brothers, hard work! I'm tired of you running back and forth! ”

After a few pleasantries, the artillery and infantry above the city wall began to load, and in a short time 100 shells were loaded onto the city wall, distributed around ten 75-mm flat-fire guns.

"The first platoon and the second platoon are ready to follow the tank troops into the city to annihilate the remnants of the enemy, and the third platoon stays on the city wall for fire cover.

After everything was ready again, Zhao Yu issued a new combat order for the regimental headquarters. "Howler! Follow me in a row! "Follow me in the second row!" After receiving the order, the two platoon commanders took more than a hundred brothers down the city wall, walked behind 6 heavy tanks, and stood in formation.

"Brothers, be careful! Shoot immediately if you notice anything unusual! "Don't walk in the middle of the walk when you enter the city!" "Focus, stay in formation, and stay close behind the tank!"

"Today's recruits who go to the battlefield for the first time must not be in a hurry, let alone be too nervous, just treat it as a practical combat drill in peacetime!"

The platoon commander and squad leader began to emphasize the precautions, while the recruits looked solemn and looked at the messy county road in front of them and the houses on both sides.

When the infantry was ready, the six tanks were activated, and the massive steel bodies creaked forward under the drive of the tracks. "Let's go!" "Everyone, be careful!"

The tanks began to advance, and the infantry naturally had to follow into the city, advancing cautiously along the potholed main road of the county. "Yaga! The Chinese army is starting to enter the city! All immediately put into position! "We must let all these Chinese soldiers come and go!"

Although the sound of the tank's motor and crushing was not loud, it was particularly clear in the dead silence of Guangrao County, and the devil soldiers hiding in houses on both sides of the street entered the firing position one after another.

Bang bang bang! Da-da-da-da!

As soon as they advanced a few dozen meters forward, twenty or thirty firing holes erupted from the houses on both sides of the street, and bullets formed a network of crossfire. More than two dozen fighters were caught off guard by bullets, and the simple helmets and combat uniforms were extremely strong in defense, and most of the fighters were only slightly injured.

"Fuck it!" "Kill!" "Fire!"

As soon as the firing points hidden in various places were exposed, the main tank guns, heavy machine guns, rifles, and the battle defense guns on the city walls roared angrily.

In the fierce gunfire of the incomparably fierce gunfire, dozens of devil firepower points that were full of firepower just now were instantly dumbfounded, and the wooden door panels and brick walls were either punched out of countless holes or blown apart.

Several houses were directly blown up and collapsed, as for how many people died of the little devil, there is no way to know now, but the effect is immediate. "The wounded stay, the others move on!"

When the smoke cleared, nothing unusual was seen, and the troops continued to advance forward! Boom! Crunch, the Tiger heavy tank at the head of the platoon advanced more than 30 meters away, and suddenly detonated an anti-tank mine, and the huge explosion force made the steel body of dozens of tons suddenly shake, and the tank track was directly blown off. "Ahh

The infantry who followed behind the tank was hit by a lot of shock, although they were not hit by shrapnel, their heads were buzzing, and their internal organs were constantly churning.

Qiu Shengcai, the tank platoon commander in the middle, hurriedly picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted, "Hey! Feed! Number 143, are you all okay? What about the casualties? After waiting for a while, a reply came from the other end of the intercom: "Ahem, cough, cough!" Report to the platoon commander, we are fine, two people are injured and bleeding, but it is fine! We can still fight, it's just that the tank tracks are blown off and we lose our mobility! ”

"It's good that people are okay! You stand on guard, and I'll notify the sappers to come and repair the tracks! Qiu Shengcai's heart was slightly relieved, and then ordered: "No. 144 continue to move forward, everyone be careful!" "Although I know that there are most of the anti-tank mines ahead, there is no way, I can't put the sappers in front to clear the mines as live targets, right?

But fortunately, the devil's anti-tank mine is not powerful enough to blow up the thick-skinned Tiger heavy tank, which can only make it temporarily incapacitated. "Nani, the new anti-tank mines can't blow up their tanks? If the Empire's anti-tank weapons are not improved as soon as possible, we will definitely suffer a big loss in the future! In a dark castle in the distance, the little devil squadron leader Qing Pu instantly saw clearly, the explosion just now was very powerful, but the effect was indeed very limited, and he couldn't help but be extremely disappointed.

After a while, Qingpu said viciously again: "The heavy machine gun is ready, and it will be aimed at the Huaxia infantry in one moment, give me a hard blow, and let them go to see the king of Hades."

Creaking and crunching, the Tiger tank continued to advance with the brick fragments, and more than 20 infantry in the back armed with assault rifles aimed at a barricade in front and the surrounding buildings that might hide Japanese troops. Overtaking the Pershing tank No. 143 lying on its stomach, the No. 144 tank advanced more than 30 meters forward, and a barricade five or six meters long and more than one meter high blocked the way.

"Fire! Fuck it! Without the slightest hesitation, the commander of tank 144 pressed the fire control switch, and the main gun of the 90mm tank roared. There was a bang, and the barricade made of sandbags was instantly blasted into a large hole, and it collapsed under the powerful shock wave.

Another cannon shot followed, and the barricade was largely leveled, leaving only a patch of sand mixed with sack fragments and some sandbags that had fallen to the ground. And throughout the whole process, neither the little devil attacked behind the barricade, nor did the devil's body be found.

Presumably, the Japanese devils saw the heavy tanks that were leading the way and knew that they could not be destroyed with existing anti-tank weapons, so they had to evacuate this barricade in advance. "These little devils are really slippery!" The two shells flattened the barricades, and the No. 144 tank soon advanced to an intersection, at which time the battalion commander Zhao Yu, who was above the city wall, ordered through the walkie-talkie:

"The troops stop advancing, and clear the left and right blocks first!" "Howler! All gun emplacements are available, so let's get a few shots first! "Because bombers and artillery bombardment cannot completely destroy every building in the city, urban street fighting must be fought in tandem.

The well-defended tanks were the forward force, the infantry vehicles were behind, and the infantry gradually advanced on the flanks, clearing the enemy building by building, and advancing block by block.

Although this is slow, it is the most effective and best way, not only to effectively clear the enemy, but also to greatly reduce your own casualties. At this time, the troops had already penetrated more than 500 meters into the block, and there was no need to continue to rush forward, because it was easy to fall into the ambush circle and crossfire network of the Japanese army if they continued to advance.

The main guns of the six tanks turned their muzzles and opened fire on some of the brick houses on either side. These brick and timber structures could not withstand the Pershing guns, and each shot would penetrate several houses and collapse a large part of the building.

After a few rounds of shelling, a large area in the field of vision was reduced to ruins and razed to the ground, and everywhere there was smoke and flying dust.

"Search forward!" "If you find anything out of the ordinary, fire immediately!" When the shelling was over, the five tanks began to fire their bows left and right, crushing the rubble and advancing towards the ruins and houses ahead. More than 100 officers and soldiers followed behind the tank, stepping on the smoke of bricks and wood chips.

The best way to survive in urban street battles is not to wander around, follow the covering troops, act less alone, find more cover, and help your teammates more, your teammates are alive, and the better your chances of survival, the more you are in the hinterland of the city.

"Hey, hey! Finally seeing the results! "These little devils are hiding in the house and trying to sneak up on us, this idea is so naïve!" "The mantis arm blocking the car can only be a dead end!" "Playing tricks in our Shandong Group Army, it's a little tender!"

As soon as they stepped on the ruins and walked a few meters away, the soldiers found several corpses of devils and scattered stumps and broken arms in the ruins.

The scene was bloody and violent, but all the fighters furrowed their brows without the slightest discomfort, and a few young warriors laughed and talked about it. "Shut up if you don't want to die! If you find something suspicious, replace your gun immediately! "Bang! Bang! Bang! The squad leader Mao Wenyi immediately scolded loudly, and then did not hesitate to pull the trigger and shoot a few shots at the corpses of several devils lying in the ruins.

"Silence! Focus! "Yes!" Bang! Bang! Bang! With this model, those smug recruits just now suddenly became extremely solemn, no longer smiling, and when they saw something abnormal, they pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The infantry continued to advance under the cover of the tanks, and although the ground was bumpy, the Tiger tanks were like no one, rampage and constantly crushing the ruins and houses. "Shoot! Tao times change! ”

After the troops advanced forward for dozens of meters, they finally encountered hard stubble and encountered several devil fire points, and the little devils who had no way to retreat frantically output firepower. Anti-tank guns, light and heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, 38 big covers, grenades, and all kinds of weapons did not cost money to greet the Huaxia Tiger Army. The clanging bell attracted a lot of fire to the Pershing tanks in front, and the infantry that followed behind also suffered firepower.

"Fire!" "Hit hard!" "Kill!" "Die, little devil!"

When it was suddenly attacked, the Shandong Group Army panicked and did not panic, and in a short time it returned fire with powerful firepower, the main tank guns let out a roar, and the heavy machine guns and assault rifles fired out a metal storm one after another.

The situation is similar in the direction of the south gate and the north gate, and the neighborhood closest to the city gate is being cleared, first using tank guns to turn houses into ruins, and then splitting up to go deeper into the city to clear out the remnants of the enemy.

At the same time, follow-up troops followed into the city, medical teams searched for wounded soldiers, engineering teams repaired blown chains, and front-line combat units were engaged in battle.

"Baga Ya Road! The street fighting skills of this Chinese army are so clever that it will not be easy for us to hold out until dark in this way! We still underestimate each other's combat effectiveness! ”

Bad news kept coming, and the face of Kota Takimura, the captain of the devil brigade, became extremely ugly, and he had originally made up his mind to burn the jade, but now he found that the script did not follow what he wrote.

The devil staff sighed: "Yes! And with the current style of play, we can't afford to inflict more casualties on them. Mainly because we don't have enough heavy equipment! "Immediately send a telegram to His Excellency the Brigade Commander, tell us about the current situation, and ask for tactical guidance!" Taking a deep breath, Kota Takimura made a difficult decision, for him he was not afraid of dying in battle, because in his opinion, it was his long-cherished wish and honor to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor.

However, Takimura Kota was unwilling to die a humiliating death by a large defeat to the Huaxia army, so he asked for a strategic retreat with the last glimmer of hope. The devil staff shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it's too late, we are already ready to shoot, except for desperate resistance and fighting to the last soldier, there is no second way to go!" ”

Takimura Kota naturally knew the current situation, but the strong desire to survive drove him to make a final struggle and said: "Even so, we should report the situation to His Excellency the Brigade Commander, and leave the rest to the Brigade Commander to decide!" Otherwise, our sacrifice will be meaningless. ”