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At the Linfen 21st Division Headquarters, Sanguo Zhifu, who had received the news of the battle in Yan County, was immediately shocked: "What did you say? The 176th Division assembled hundreds of artillery pieces and intensively bombarded Yan County and Shuitou Town?"

The Japanese captain responded: "Yes, half an hour ago, the enemy's armored forces and two main regiments launched an attack on Yan County. Now the battle is in a stalemate, but according to the report from the friendly forces, I am afraid they will not last until tonight!"

Although the Japanese knew that the 176th Division had tanks, they did not know its detailed organization, so they could only call it an armored force.

Mikuni Naofu was stunned for a moment, then he shouted, "Go and inform Lieutenant General Kanda Masatane! No, I'll go find him myself!"

The Japanese transferred the 17th Division, one of the 6 permanent divisions of the Japanese army, from the front line to cooperate with him. The division commander was Lieutenant General Masatane Kanda.

Although the military ordered the 6th Division to cooperate with the 21st Division, in fact the 21st Division was a Type B division. In front of the 6th Division, Mikuni Naofuku's status was lower than Kanda Masatane's.

Moreover, in comparison, the combat effectiveness of the 6th Division is much stronger than that of the 21st Division!

A moment later, at the temporary command post of the 6th Division, Kanda Masatane looked at the hurried Mikuni Naofu and shook his head, but his tone was also filled with worry. After all, he had never seen a Tang army with such strong firepower.

"Mr. Sanguo, I already know what's going on. My troops are ready to fight at any time!"

He did not say how to arrange it. After all, he was in someone else's territory, and the 21st Division was nominally the main force.

Mikuni Naofu didn't dare to really give orders, but asked in a tone of inquiry: "Kanda-kun, my troops have not yet fully recovered from the last Linfen Battle. This battle still depends on you to take charge. My troops will cooperate with you in the battle!"

"Well, there's actually no good plan. After all, there's only one way. The only thing we can do is to use artillery fire to attack Pu County. Combine your division's artillery regiment with my artillery regiment. We also have nearly a hundred artillery pieces, which is enough to slow down the offensive of Yan County!"

.....

The 6th Division is different. The artillery regiment is equipped with 12 120mm cannons, which are much stronger than the 21mm mountain guns of the 75st Division.

Since the 6th Division was transferred to Linfen, its artillery regiment has been deployed more than 20 kilometers outside Pu County to contain the Pu County troops.

At dusk that day, a total of 96 artillery pieces from the two divisions' artillery regiments gathered in Huale Town, east of Pu County, preparing to bombard Pu County overnight!

However, before their positions were fully deployed, several flares fell on several of their artillery positions, illuminating the positions that were originally lit as if it were daytime.

"Oh no, it's an enemy attack, everyone hide!"

The Japanese artillery regiment commander shouted, but he had no idea that their artillery positions had been under the watchful eyes of the artillery reconnaissance company of the 2nd Artillery Regiment, and that the 2nd Artillery Regiment could cover their positions with firepower at any time.

However, the commander of the 2nd Artillery Regiment was patient and wanted to catch a big fish, so he did not open fire.

However, no one expected that in order to put huge pressure on Pu County, the Japanese would actually put two artillery regiments together. The artillery regiment would not miss such a good opportunity.

Immediately, 54 Type 54-1 howitzers opened fire.

Boom boom boom......

The Japanese infantry regiment that arrived later also fell into panic after hearing the dense artillery fire. They could not tell whether it was enemy artillery fire or their own artillery fire.

"What's going on? Judging from the time, the artillery positions haven't been set up yet, so why are they opening fire? Aren't they afraid of being discovered by the enemy?"

Kanda Masatane shouted angrily, thinking that his men were impatient and opened fire.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Japanese signalman came over with a mobile radio on his back: "Report to the division commander, the artillery regiment sent an urgent message!"

"Read!"

"Our unit suffered heavy losses from intensive enemy artillery fire. Request for support!"

Kanda Masatane was shocked and could not help but shout, "How is it possible? The artillery regiment of my division is distributed in several positions in the form of battalions, and they are transferred from time to time. There are also patrol teams that patrol the 5-kilometer radius 24 hours a day. How could the enemy know the location of my artillery positions!

I ask you, which artillery battalion was attacked?"

Japanese soldier: "Reporting to the division commander, including the 21st Division Artillery Regiment that just arrived, a total of 8 artillery battalions' artillery positions were attacked by enemy artillery fire at the same time, all of which were large-caliber artillery!"

Kanda Masatane didn't know what expression to use to express his shock. If he didn't trust his men, he would have suspected that the signalman had made a mistake.

By the end of 940 in the Tang calendar, the number of Fuso's troops stationed in Goryeo and Tang had exceeded 200 million. If all of them were counted in divisions, there would be almost 100 of them.

Among these divisions, less than half have fully staffed artillery regiments, and among the artillery regiments belonging to the divisions, there are only about 120 Type A divisions that have 10mm caliber cannons, and the number is even decreasing.

But what Kanda Masatane didn't know was that the artillery scouts of the 176th Division were equipped with advanced observation equipment, which could accurately observe its artillery positions from a long distance.

They also have the Xiao Bayi radio with a real-time communication range of over 20 kilometers and the 15 walkie-talkie with a communication range of 702 kilometers. The scouts can avoid the Japanese patrols at a long distance and then report the target's geographical location to the artillery regiment in real time.

In theory, the deployment of the Kanda Masatane Artillery Regiment was very good. While dispersing their positions, they also moved them from time to time, making it difficult for the enemy to find their position.

However, the consistent operations of the 176th Division were beyond his imagination. The equipment was not even of the same era. How could the Japanese have imagined that?

"Quick, call the frontline units and order the cavalry and infantry regiments to launch a general attack on Pu County. Be sure to attract the enemy's artillery so that the artillery regiment has a chance to withdraw!"

Kanda Masatane panicked and began to use the lives of his infantrymen in exchange for the preservation of his artillery. He had no choice.

The 6th Division is one of the strongest divisions in the Fuso Army. The most important reason is its advantage in weapons and artillery. If the artillery regiment is wiped out, the division's combat effectiveness will be reduced by at least one third.

It was already dark at this time, which was very unfavorable for attacking the city. After all, sieges depend on human lives, not to mention the unclear visibility at night.

The 1st Battalion of the 5st Independent Regiment is the main force of the -kilometer front-line defense positions outside Pu County. The trenches are not the traditional backward straight positions of the Tang Army, but the segmented stepped positions revised under the guidance of Xu Le. They can achieve all-round shooting while keeping the distance between squads and platoons to avoid being covered by the enemy's cluster artillery fire.

Because they were closest to the Japanese, the sound of the artillery explosions they heard was the loudest.

The company commander took a long puff of his cigarette and said, "Battalion Commander, do you think the division headquarters has something against our regiment? Last time, all the regiments had combat missions, but we were the only ones guarding here. Even now, even the 2nd Artillery Regiment is fighting hard, but our regiment is just sitting here in the cold wind!"

The battalion commander snatched the cigarette while the other party was not paying attention, then took a deep puff and sucked the remaining half of the cigarette directly into the mouthpiece.

"You know nothing. You should know what's behind Pu County. It's our division headquarters. The safety of the young marshal and the commander of the headquarters is entrusted to us. The responsibility on our shoulders is only heavier than those regiments. You kid, pay attention. Now is a critical moment. We can't let the devils take advantage of us!"

Then, he stretched out his hand and said, "Take it out. Don't think I don't know that you have someone in the logistics department. I saw you took two packs of cigarettes. Give me one!"

The company commander took out a freshly opened pack of cigarettes from his arms with a distressed look and was about to hand it over, but suddenly took it back, turned around, picked up the telescope and looked towards the opposite position.

He was using the Type 88 telescope, which had night vision and infrared capabilities. Although the effect was not very good, it was enough to give him a rough idea of ​​things several hundred meters away at night.

"Oh no, the devils are attacking!"