Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

On the battlefield.

Most of the soldiers had never experienced the kind of combat they were seeing now. In their minds, combat was like shooting, and when the charge sounded, they would rush down and engage the Japs in hand-to-hand combat.

Later, after following Lin Qiang, I realized that it was possible to win a war without charging, and that artillery could be used.

Now, the battlefield is filled with white smoke, and it is completely unknown what the Japanese are up to.

At first, some soldiers thought that it was a poison gas bomb released by the Japanese, even Lin Qiang thought so. But when they thought about it, they realized that the smoke was closer to the Japanese and that the Japanese could not be so stupid as to poison themselves.

Company Commander Hu Zi looked at the smoke covering the entire mountain and asked over the intercom, "Battalion Commander, what's going on with the Japs? They're using smoke to confuse us instead of artillery bombardment?"

Lin Qiang did not answer immediately, but asked someone to bring the captured Okamoto up.

Pointing at the white smoke filling the battlefield, Lin Qiang asked with a smile, "Tell me, what drama are you guys performing?"

In Okamoto's eyes, Lin Qiang's kind smile was no different from that of a devil. He was so scared that he dared not hide anything and immediately explained all the details of the progress of the battle.

It turned out to be the case.

After listening to this, Lin Qiang suddenly realized that Zhang Zizai's words did not include a detailed battle plan. This should be a plan that the Japanese came up with later.

After obtaining accurate information, Lin Qiang whispered a few words in the monk's ear, and then the monk took Okamoto out of the command post.

Lin Qiang informed all the companies of the intelligence he had just learned through the intercom: "Attention, all companies, the Japanese artillery shells will soon fall on you. Everyone, enter the cat ear cave to prevent artillery shells."

Voices echoed through the intercom, but Qiangzi, who was in charge of the frontline, asked, "Battalion Commander, what if the Japanese seize the opportunity to attack us if we retreat? Wouldn't that mean we'll lose our frontline position?"

Lin Qiang responded angrily: "If the frontline position is lost, we can always take it back. How many bombings can your Second Company withstand with just a few people?"

"Stop talking nonsense and follow orders."

"Yes!"

Of course, Lin Qiang would not really hand over the frontline position to the Japanese, at least he would not let them occupy it easily.

Half of the howitzers and artillery on the positions were mobilized to aim at the front-line positions. Once the Japanese appeared, they would be directly covered with artillery fire, and then the bombing would be extended to one kilometer.

Because the Xiaowangzhuang position was located upwind, the effectiveness of the Japanese smoke bombs became increasingly worse, and they were basically blown away by the howling north wind before they could even take shape.

As the Japanese advanced little by little, the effect of the smoke bombs became less and less, and gradually, the Japanese artillery appeared in the sight of the telescope.

"Aim at the devil's artillery, four rounds rapid fire!"

Lin Qiang gave the order to fire without hesitation, and the howitzer roared towards the Japanese artillery the next second.

However, the Japanese were well prepared for this. The few artillery pieces on display were just bait. They were waiting for Lin Qiang to open fire.

Just as our artillery shells were falling, the Japanese heavy artillery group that was actually hidden began to counterattack, and dense artillery shells poured towards our positions.

"Everyone take cover and enter the cat ear cave!"

Lin Qiang yelled into the intercom.

The soldiers quickly hid in the bunker. In just a moment, the ground was covered with dirt and rocks, and the sound of explosions resounded through the sky.

The shelling finally stopped after a while. Lin Qiang shook off the dust on his body and picked up the telescope to observe the movements of the Japanese.

The Japanese soldiers took advantage of the smoke and dust after the bombardment to grope their way forward to the front line.

Lin Qiang sneered and shouted into the intercom: "Howitzers, prepare to cover the frontline positions and extended areas as planned."

At this time, the Japs were still secretly rejoicing that their artillery bombardment had successfully suppressed our firepower, completely unaware that danger was about to come.

Following Lin Qiang's order, our howitzers fired at once.

The shell landed accurately in the middle of the Japanese army and exploded. Flames shot up into the sky and the Japanese soldiers screamed in pain.

But the Japanese commander still did not give up and drove the remaining troops to continue the charge.

The heavy artillery behind the Japanese army was still providing fire cover. Lin Qiang divided the independent battalion's artillery into two parts and temporarily did not carry out a covering attack on the Japanese artillery.

In addition, the soldiers were firing cannons in the cat ear caves, so no casualties would be caused in a short period of time.

Therefore, the primary goal was to concentrate artillery fire to attack the Japanese who rushed to the front line, so that they would no longer dare to have any attempts on the front line.

The howitzers were extended according to Lin Qiang's plan, and all the Japanese troops within one kilometer were bombed, causing countless casualties in an instant.

Seeing the tragic situation at the front line, the Japanese commander became furious and ordered another charge regardless of the losses.

Lin Qiang remained calm, as all this was part of his plan.

"Prepare the mortars and blow up their follow-up troops."

The mortar operator adjusted the angle, and shells flew towards the Japanese follow-up troops. The Japanese did not expect this trick and were thrown into chaos by the explosion.

The Japanese troops who attempted to occupy the front-line positions retreated quickly until they were out of the one-kilometer bombing zone and were safe.

Lin Qiang quickly ordered all howitzers to aim at the Japanese heavy artillery positions and launch a devastating attack.

At this time, the Japanese also launched artillery fire. Their target was no longer the Xiaowangzhuang position, but they attempted to bomb the howitzers behind the position.

Unfortunately, the range of the Japanese heavy artillery was not enough, and the shells only landed about 300 meters in front of the command post of the Xiaowangzhuang position, and could not even pose a threat to the command post.

However, the independent battalion's howitzers not only have a long range and great power, but are also in a commanding position, so their range is naturally far beyond the Japanese artillery.

Moreover, after adjustments by the master gunner, the actual range of the 105mm caliber howitzer is about two kilometers longer.

As Lin Qiang's order was given, the howitzer bombarded the Japanese heavy artillery position.

Amidst the huge explosion, the Japanese heavy artillery positions were engulfed in flames, many gun barrels were blown crooked, and there were heavy casualties among the personnel.

After putting down the telescope, Harahira Koizumi stood there for a long time without coming to his senses. He couldn't believe that all this was true.

Why was the originally flawless plan so easily broken in front of Lin Qiang, like a child playing house?

Reluctant, helpless, and bitter.

A series of emotions filled Harahira Koizumi's heart, and his eyes gradually changed from determination at the beginning to confusion, helplessness, and now fear.

Strictly speaking, the battle lasted about a week, during which the Japanese deployed more than 70,000 combatants, three brigades of troops, and the support of aircraft and tanks.

The scale of this battle is enough to sweep across any city-level area.

However, after a lot of fighting, they were unable to capture even a small independent battalion.

In fact, it is not only related to the strong combat effectiveness of the independent battalion, but also has a lot to do with the geographical environment on the battlefield.

There was an open area in front of the independent battalion's position. Even if the Japanese broke through the howitzer bombardment and rushed to the front of the position, there were still light and heavy machine guns waiting for them.

The mortars and infantry guns had been waiting for a long time, but without any cover, the Japanese were unable to launch an effective counterattack.

In addition, the terrain was narrow, and the Japanese could rush in a team of several thousand people at once, which made it seem very crowded.

The army of tens of thousands of people was unable to launch an operation, and could not attack from the front or the side.

Such a battle made Harahira Koizumi feel desperate, and he saw no hope of victory.