Draw the sword and cure the fear of insufficient firepower

The commander of the 9th Brigade, Ozawa Toru, and the two geishas have finished their sparring session.

Ozawa Toru was very intoxicated. He walked out of the tent while tidying up his clothes.

"Yoshi~"

“It’s really fun…”

Ozawa Toru muttered to himself with a look of unsatisfied feeling.

"Report to His Excellency the Brigade Commander!"

"The bombardment has ended. The warriors only need to charge to capture the outer positions of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army!"

"Please give the order, Commander!"

The captain of the Koju League, Koju Kishiro, trotted up to Ozawa Toru.

"Clap!"

The leather boots made a deafening noise.

He straightened up and reported.

"Yoshi!"

"Order the troops to charge!"

Osawa Tetsu ordered complacently.

Under the powerful offensive of the locust army, Yi County was within reach.

As long as Yi County is captured by the locust army, the Matsui League will capture Rongcheng.

General Shinozuka's battle plan is half completed!

The day of my promotion is not far away...

……

Rongcheng.

The Matsui Regiment had been hiding in the woods outside the city for two days.

The commander of the regiment, Jiro Matsui, was observing the movements of the Jinsui Army in Rongcheng.

While listening to the sound of artillery fire from the direction of Yi County.

"Report to the wing commander!"

"The brigade commander's bombardment has been going on for an hour and a half. Should we carry out the attack on Rongcheng as planned?"

Matsui Jiro's staff officer Kamejima reported.

"Yoshi!"

"The plan remains unchanged. The 72nd Division of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army doesn't know we're coming yet. Let's give them a little surprise!"

"The brigade commander specially dispatched two heavy artillery pieces this time."

"We must not betray the trust of the brigade commander. Tell the artillery squadron to start shelling!"

The commander of the corps, Jiro Matsui, gave the order without even turning his head.

In his opinion, the strength of his regiment was enough to chase after the five divisions of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. At this time, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army in Rongcheng was just a small dish.

"Hai!"

"The locust army will win!"

Turtle Island Staff Officer bowed and replied.

This time, Yoshio Shinozuka spent a lot of money and allocated five Type 5 96mm field howitzers to the 150th Brigade.

Ozawa Toru transferred two more guns to the Matsui Regiment, attempting to force Rongcheng to surrender with powerful artillery fire.

Type 96 150mm field howitzer, combat weight 4140 kg, muzzle velocity 540 meters per second, maximum range meters.

It was light in weight and highly maneuverable, making it very suitable for the Chinese battlefield where road conditions were poor at the time.

At that time, this gun was touted by Xiao Ri as the most perfect 150mm howitzer in Asia.

But this was only because Asian countries at that time were basically unable to produce cannons, let alone 150mm cannons.

The Type 96 150mm field howitzer of the day could only bully the Chinese army at that time.

Compared with the 150mm howitzers in Europe, it is not even close.

At this time, Rongcheng was garrisoned by the 72nd and 69th Divisions of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

Originally, there was only the 72nd Division in Rongcheng. Later, the commander of the 17th Division, Song Xiong, reported to the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army Headquarters that the Matsui Regiment of the th Brigade had disappeared.

The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army Headquarters realized that the Japanese might attack Rongcheng, and immediately dispatched the 69th Division to jointly defend the city.

"Haha, Brother Wang, I hope you are doing well. We haven't seen each other since we met in Taiyuan last time. I missed you so much!"

"This time the commander-in-chief sent you, my brother, to help me defend Rong City. Thank you so much, my brother!"

The commander of the 72nd Division, Ge Wenhong, held the hand of the commander of the 69th Division, Wang Yuanshan, and spoke affectionately.

"Haha, yes, Brother Ge! We haven't seen each other for several years. I miss you so much!"

"I have inspected the position. Brother Ge's Rongcheng is as solid as a rock."

"Brother Ge's three lines of defense have winding trenches that stretch for dozens of kilometers, and various fortifications and bunkers have also been built."

"I wonder how the Japs' damn Matsui Regiment can tackle the tough bone of Rongcheng!"

"This time the commander-in-chief asked Brother Ge to be the commander-in-chief of Rongcheng. I still have to rely on Brother Ge..."

When the two of them were praising each other.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

There was a huge explosion, and even the floor was shaking.

"Fuck, where's the gun?!"

The commander of the 72nd Division, Ge Wenhong, cursed.

"Report...report to the commander?"

"The devils... it's the devils' artillery fire!"

"They have heavy artillery!"

"Our walls have been blown open!"

"The brothers have suffered heavy casualties, Master..."

"Our guns can't reach them, Commander..."

At this time, a front-line staff officer crawled into the command center, crying and shouting.

"what?!"

"It seems that the Matsui United has really come to Rongcheng!"

"Order the troops to hide and wait until the enemy's shelling ends before counterattacking!"

The commander of the 72nd Division, Ge Wenhong, ordered.

"Brother Wang, quickly send your 69th Division to reinforce us!"

"Once Rongcheng is destroyed, Yang County will be exposed to the enemy's iron hoof!"

"Yang County is the rear base built by the commander-in-chief. There are a lot of supplies for our Shanxi-Suiyuan Army stored there, and there are also two arsenals. We can't afford to lose it!"

"If the Japanese take over Yang County again, our Jinsui Army headquarters will be in danger. The commander-in-chief is there..."

The commander of the 72nd Division, Ge Wenhong, immediately figured out the interests involved.

He had long known that the Japanese would not gather a large number of troops just to capture Yi County.

Now it seems that the devil has great ambitions...

"Okay, brother, I will immediately order the 69th Division to join the battle!"

"Brother Ge, send a telegram to the headquarters immediately and report the situation here and the analysis just now to the commander-in-chief!"

"Request support!"

The commander of the 69th Division, Wang Yuanshan, said anxiously.

Jiro Matsui was holding a telescope and observing the situation in Rongcheng.

One artillery shell after another exploded on the Jinsui Army's positions in Rongcheng.

Fire shot into the sky.

At this time, nearly 72 troops of the 3000nd Division in Rongcheng had been killed by artillery fire.

Jiro Matsui looked very proud.

"Yoshi!"

"The Chinese army is indeed vulnerable. The locust army has only been bombarding for less than an hour, and their defense line is about to collapse."

"It seems that it will be easy to capture Rongcheng..."

"It's just that Your Excellency the Commander still needs Rongcheng as bait for the time being, otherwise... we can capture Rongcheng in one fell swoop!"

"Order the troops to prepare for the attack, and extend the artillery fire into the city!"

"Our warriors must, under the cover of artillery fire, completely defeat and annihilate the enemy!"

Jiro Matsui said proudly to the staff officer Kamejima beside him.

"Hai!"

"The locust army will win!"

Staff Officer Kamejima bowed.

At this time, the artillery battalion raised the muzzle of the gun several degrees, and the artillery fire began to extend deep into Rongcheng.

The 150mm field howitzer is extremely powerful.

One shot can create a crater several meters across.

The soldiers of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army lay in bunkers and trenches, suffering so much from the bombing that they could not even lift their heads.

The shock wave of the artillery shells directly killed all the soldiers in several bunkers.

"Made!"

"The devils are really crazy this time!"

"They actually bombarded us with heavy artillery!"

"Hiding in this grave is so depressing!"

The front-line commander was hiding in the bunker, cursing.

The Japanese artillery battalion's mortars and the infantry regiment's heavy machine gun positions had been built under the cover of artillery fire very close to the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army's defense line.

"Warriors!"

"attack!"

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

Jiro Matsui stepped on a stone, pulled out the command knife at his waist, chopped forward and shouted loudly.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

"attack!"

"attack!"

The Japanese soldiers shouted, raised their guns, and rushed towards the outer defense positions of Rongcheng.