Canteen System Assistance Notes

Chapter 607: Pingyang Campaign (4) Thunder

The process of the decisive battle lacked some of the tactical beauty of leaps forward and dark-night maneuvers. Even though the layer-by-layer onion-peeling attack had the power of a hammer hitting iron, it still lacked some agile beauty.

However, Liu Mingzhao was not the type of American commander who only knew how to fight head-on and pile up firepower. After the village stronghold network south of Pingyang was mostly wiped out, he quickly dispatched the other two field divisions in his command, and with the support of local troops, began to circumvent Pingyang's east.

Compared to the west, which was cut off by the Fen River and could only rely on artillery support across the river, Pingyang's east was flatter and had a railway crossing, making transportation more convenient. If they could successfully bypass the rear, they would not only cut off the Japanese army's retreat to the north, but also deploy defenses along the two attack rivers, blocking the support of the remaining 65th Division (formerly the 16th Independent Mixed Division), about one regiment, in Hongdong, thus reducing the pressure on the front-line attacking troops.

Furthermore, attacking Pingyang from the higher ground north of the city, rather than from the commanding south, could avoid the risk of being savaged by the Japanese. In the original Linfen Campaign, the PLA's main offensive was directed north of the city. Through repeated earthwork and tunneling, the PLA ultimately conducted earthwork blasting in the eastern section of the "Wengcheng" wall east of Pingyang, creating several large breaches and allowing them to enter the city, securing victory.

However, these benefits can basically be analyzed by any organization with qualified military capabilities. After Liu Mingzhao made the deployment and our army began to move to the flank, Lieutenant General Shimizu Noriyuki, commander of the Japanese 41st Division, also roughly understood the thoughts of this "God of War" of the Communist Army.

Next, he would definitely attack Cuijiageda Station, the Electric Light Company, and the train station outside the city along the railway to ensure the smooth flow of the detour. These three key points happened to be the core strongholds where the 41st Division was heavily defended!

After a short intermission, the battle continued.

The 63rd and 64th Field Divisions stepped onto the stage as the protagonists of this flanking battle. They were two troops upgraded and reorganized from the local troops of the Taihang base area, one was a Class A unit and the other a Class B unit. The 106th Field Division, which was newly trained in the Guanzhong Plain, served as the reserve of the two units and together formed a tactical force for the flanking attack.

Under the cover of 122mm artillery and 160mm heavy mortars, the attack on Cuijiageda was progressing smoothly. Although the Japanese resistance remained resolute, and the semi-underground shelters were still quite resistant to 75mm mountain guns and 100mm mortars, the Japanese troops, using the battalion-level "four groups and one team" tactical model, were gradually melted by explosives and automatic fire.

However, the attack at Pingyang Railway Station proved somewhat difficult. This was the largest train depot on the southern section of the Tongpu Line. Due to the frequent disruptions to the railway system, a large number of locomotives and carriages were stored there, along with numerous steel-concrete and brick-concrete buildings that could be utilized. Furthermore, the Eighth Route Army, still harboring some hope of utilizing these locomotives, avoided the depot as much as possible, resulting in a slow pace of attack.

However, the assault team also saw many "devil soldiers" in the fortifications, some wearing military uniforms but without weapons, and some holding weapons but without military uniforms. Compared with the outposts in the surrounding villages, in the core of the two strongholds, the soldiers found more children who were forced to help the Japanese army carry artillery shells.

There are more men than women, which may be related to the fact that many riflemen wear oversized uniforms.

Artillery shells were highly dangerous but essential supplies, so they were separated from the gun positions and stored in more secure ammunition depots. Compared to the larger-caliber howitzers, the 70mm rounds were lighter, so even a half-grown girl could carry them. As for why they were forced to do so... the soldiers discovered that the ropes tied between their legs prevented them from extending their strides, forcing them to jog. This naturally eliminated any possibility of escape from the stronghold.

In the core position of Cuijiageda, the instructor who rushed over, the clerk who could speak Japanese, and the anti-war alliance fighters on the front line found seven or eight little girls huddled in a corner. Seeing several dirty enemy soldiers approaching, everyone screamed in fear and shrank back against the earthen wall behind them. The only older one was trembling, holding a rifle with the safety and bolt not yet in place, and stood in front of the girls.

“Don’t come over here!” Her voice was trembling and she was crying. “Don’t come over here!!!”

"Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!" The young man from the Anti-War Alliance stood at the front. He half-crouched down, making himself shorter than the children. "We are the Eighth Route Army. We are good people. We won't hurt you! Guns! It's dangerous. Put them down quickly!"

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. Look! There's candy here!"

The young man rummaged in his pocket and quickly took out a handful of mints. He tried to make his tone sound gentle: "The Eighth Route Army is different from the Japanese Army.

We will never hurt you!"

The Excellency said, "The power of the candy seemed to temporarily dispel the thick smoke and blood. The leading girl blocked the sisters who were peeking out, struggling to maintain a standoff. She called out a name, not forgetting to use honorifics. It seemed to be a commander who was training them. If the Imperial Army fails, you will come to attack us!"

Alas... the victor can do anything to the loser. As long as they win, they can unleash brutality and bestiality on the civilians of the enemy country. Why do they all think this way? The young man relayed the girl's words, sighing helplessly. Perhaps it's because they did this themselves before, and now they are afraid of such retaliation falling on them?

However, this is not an unhandled scenario.

"This is a complete lie," he declared firmly. "The Chinese Communist Party..."

But before he could finish his words, a resounding roar, so powerful it surpassed the capacity of his eardrums, erupted from the center of the core position. The power of the sound was so devastating that the auditory nerves of the instructor, clerk, anti-war young man, and young girl were instantly plunged into pure silence. And before that, a dense shockwave, like a storm and tsunami, had already struck. The young man from the anti-war alliance had only time to open his arms, trying to block everyone's way.

Finally, with a loud bang, the cool and sweet candy shattered and scattered all over the ground.

At that moment, a thick, grayish-white cloud rose from Pingyang City. Immediately, a second cloud rose. From within the retro-looking black powder flame, a tiny object soared, tracing a high parabola before landing inside the Pingyang Railway Station. The explosion sent a towering column of earth shattering and shattering everything around it, sending it radiating outward.

After a long time, the sound of cannon fire like muffled thunder was heard.

"Those Air Force bastards! Didn't they say the Japanese 'Osaka treasure' was blown up by their precious planes? Why are they still causing trouble for our soldiers now?"

Yang Shijun, commander of the 63rd Division of the Taihang Field Army, slammed the table in anger. The Japanese had just fired two rounds, causing the cumulative casualties of our soldiers attacking Cuijia Gedada and the train station to soar by nearly a hundred. And the culprit behind all this was the two 280mm mortars that had once confronted the Nationalist army at Fenglingdu!

"Damn, these devils, there are some of their own people in the train station..."

These two guns were captured by the Air Force during a deployment over a month ago and were hit by numerous bombs. The Air Force even took photos of the gun carriages overturned and scattered with parts. Who would have thought that the Eighth Route Army would be dealt two severe blows by this Meiji-era antique?

Perhaps the two guns were old, their barrels were large and heavy, and they were made mostly of bronze, so the Japanese 41st Division repaired them themselves after intercepting the artillery! "One staff officer offered a possible explanation, saying, 'There was some oversight in intelligence work...'"

"Never mind any negligence! This cannon fires one round every three minutes!"

Just as Yang Shijun finished speaking, the roar of thunder in the distance once again made his brows twitch. He glanced at the map and shouted, "Send a message to the forward command!"

"Hasn't our big gun arrived? Now is not the time to hide. What are you waiting for? Why don't you hit the enemy back?"

Chapter 608: Battle of Pingyang (5) Clash of the Old Gods

(Update)

The Meiji Type 21 280mm howitzer, commonly known as the "Osaka Baby", is a siege mortar from the late 19th century. By 1942, it was already very outdated.

However, this thing can still be used.

It had once inflicted great suffering on the Tsarist Russian army during the Russo-Japanese War, and had also bombarded across the Yellow River during the Anti-Japanese War, blasting the Longhai Railway several times. Now, the special heavy artillery regiment trapped in Pingyang used two repaired heavy artillery pieces to once again drop this large and heavy iron shell bomb on the Eighth Route Army.

After all, no matter how backward it is, this thing can still fire a 217 kg grenade 7.8 kilometers away!

Boom!

Hidden behind Pingyang's sturdy city walls, the two "Osaka Treasures" once again belched out thick black powder smoke and fired shells at the train station and Cuijia Geda. Although the city walls were being continuously suppressed by the Communist artillery fire, making it difficult to see through, the Japanese artillery could "blind fire" by relying on pre-determined parameters when bombarding fixed targets!

The most urgent task is to quickly destroy these two "trebuchets" that are currently launching heavy explosives!

A string of complexly encrypted radio waves flew through the air, its highest-priority prefix instantly highlighted at the top of the "Automated Command and Communication System" that connected all artillery units. Immediately, after automatically verifying the message's integrity and identity, the 20OGE core information server immediately converted the message into an artillery firing mission based on a pre-defined template and transmitted it to the staff responsible for artillery fire control.

The bespectacled staff officer took just one look and quickly designated the recipient of the task, and without hesitation, sent the bombardment mission to that special bombardment unit.

"Original target 01 invalidated! Updated target—two enemy heavy mortars, square P10, watch out!"

"Received! The original target, hole number one, is invalid. The new target is two enemy heavy mortars, square P10, visual!"

The frontline signalman quickly recounted the bombardment mission: "This is a target with only an approximate location, no line of sight, but the plume of smoke rising into the sky indicates the target." The combined rangefinder and goniometer team immediately rotated the eyepieces, focusing the field of view in the direction of Pingyang City, and began adjusting the knobs to measure the distance to the billowing smoke.

"Bearing 53-50, distance 10-15!"

"Left 1-35, scale minus 4!"

A massive cannon began to slowly rotate, aided by hydraulics, aiming in the designated direction. Its four massive legs firmly gripped the ground, and pads distributed its massive 14.7-ton weight. Once the cannon was in place, four soldiers, shouting slogans, carried a massive warhead forward and placed it on the mounting rack.

"Grenade, delayed fuse, standard delay!"

The main fuze operator on the side turned the fuze knob to the 10.1" scale, then quickly installed it on the top of the shell. The assistant on the other side put the torque wrench on the fuze and tightened it vigorously. Only after everything was completed did he officially pull out the safety door on the top of the fuze.

"Fuze installed—good!"

The long hydraulic rod moved, aiming the shell on the rack at the barrel. The soldiers who were already ready exerted all their strength to push the bullet into the barrel.

Afterwards, the "standard medicine packs" were packed according to the range and pushed to the

Rank.

"Loading—good!"

The gunner at the controls finally moved. He pressed the pedals, turned the handwheel, and activated the modified hydraulic mechanism, raising the massive gun high until its parameters matched the commander's command. "Aim—good!"

"Shoot—ready!"

The preparations, reminiscent of group gymnastics and a mysterious ritual, finally reached their final stage, and everyone retreated to the safety of their bunkers. The gunner twisted the hairpin, the final "ceremony," several times in his hand and tugged hard, as if preparing to pull the trigger and ring the bell.

"put--!"

The nearly smokeless propellant, triggered by the primer, violently released its chemical energy. However, this explosion was firmly contained by the sturdy barrel, ultimately propelling the massive delayed-action grenade warhead forward. As the rifling ate deeply into the copper belt, the shell began its fatal spiral, ultimately launching from the muzzle in a cloud of invisible, transparent ripples.

Boom!

—The M28 220mm heavy howitzer finally roared back!

In early 1940, the Eighth Route Army dispatched working groups to receive "weighted scrap" from the Soviet Union at the Xinjiang port. These supplies, for which freight was charged only by weight, naturally came from the various light and heavy weapons captured by the Soviet Army from Poland. The Eighth Route Army sorted out many pistols, rifles, machine guns, and a small number of artillery pieces.

In May 1940, when the working group was preparing to withdraw, the Soviet train brought in seven things they didn't want - the Skoda M28 220mm heavy howitzers captured from Poland - in the original history, these seven artillery pieces were thrown into the Soviet warehouse until the Germans captured them again, and even used them to bomb the Sevastopol fortress.

Despite its significantly smaller caliber and a shell weight of only 128 kilograms, this Polish gift boasted a range of 14.2 kilometers and considerable field maneuverability, allowing it to be fired without the need for concrete emplacements like the "Osaka Baby." Consequently, during this campaign, the Eighth Route Army on the southern front deployed two modified M28 heavy howitzers, intended for destructive fire against the core fortifications of Pingyang City.

But just like all anti-aircraft guns are very effective in sweeping when leveled, these two 220mm heavy hammers are naturally also very effective in performing anti-artillery missions!

The dedicated artillery observer on the front lines raised his antenna and launched a Yaozhen-2 reconnaissance aircraft, flying toward the smoke-filled Pingyang City. In 480p FPV, the two "Osaka Baby" guns, hidden in their semi-buried positions, had just fired three rounds each when two faster-moving heavy explosive shells landed nearby, sending columns of earth soaring into the sky.

"Long-range projectile!" The operator, wearing FPV goggles, clutched the remote control and loudly announced the impact point of the projectile. "The shooting direction remains unchanged, minus two!" "The shooting direction remains unchanged, minus two!"

Japanese artillerymen, knocked to the ground by the blast, struggled to their feet. Dizzily, they flapped their clothes, shook their heads to shake off the dust, appearing somewhat bewildered and grotesque. Officers, swords slung across their shoulders, roared something, others shouted, some ran back to their positions, others desperately scrambled for their lives towards distant dugouts. From the perspective of the drone's camera, over 500 meters in the air and hundreds of meters away, they resembled a swarm of ants, circling in circles.

Soon, two shells from the second round of firing streaked through the sky, entered the field of vision from the right side of the screen, and smashed into the bewildered "Osaka Baby" position. But the next second, a fireball far exceeding the power of the shells exploded instantly, and in the blink of an eye, accompanied by

A blast wave exceeding the speed of sound, and a huge cloud appeared in Pingyang City.

It seemed to absorb all surrounding sound waves, silently spinning and rising like a blooming dahlia, entwined with gray, white, black, and orange embers and flames. In just a dozen seconds, this flower of destruction, resembling an old god, completed its life journey from germination, growth, to bloom, announcing its arrival with a thunderous bang like a bolt from the blue!

Boom!!!

"Wow--Wow! Ugh... cough cough cough!"

The operator's body jerked, startled by the massive explosion. Amidst the dizzying FPV view, he frantically maneuvered the drone back to a stable position. Fortunately, before the aircraft collided with the ground, the precious reconnaissance aircraft finally regained its flight attitude and began its rapid return.

"Target explosion, repeat, enemy heavy mortar target explosion, confirmed destruction, confirmed destruction!"

In fact, such a report is no longer necessary. In Pingyang City, the magnificent explosion of the Japanese 280mm shells and propellant can be clearly seen for more than ten kilometers around.

This secondary explosion was like a starting gun that announced the start of the general offensive, driving

The battle entered the final offensive phase.

"The general attack begins!"

Chapter 609: Pingyang Campaign (6) Heavy General Offensive

Compared with the 72 days that the entire battle lasted in the original time and space, it took 71 days to clear the fortifications, dig tunnels, and carry out blasting on the periphery. Due to the support of many factors, the Eighth Route Army in this time and space had a stronger ability to attack, and finally made all preparations in nearly 10 days.

Now, the village strongholds outside the city have been cleared, the defensive railway has been destroyed, Cuijia Geda and the railway station have been controlled by the Eighth Route Army, and the flanking troops have also broken through to the north of the city, relying on two rivers to cut off the possible reinforcement route of the Japanese 65th Division (formerly the 16th Independent Mixed Division) to the 41st Division.

Meanwhile, the Japanese 280mm "Osaka Baby" rifles, Type 4 150mm howitzers, and Type 94 75mm howitzers throughout Pingyang were destroyed by counter-artillery fire. The only remaining artillery pieces were likely grenade launchers and a small number of 70mm indirect fire cannons. But honestly, after more than six months of repairs, even with its wings clipped and claws plucked, Pingyang City still had the strength to fight despite the Japanese army's efforts.

Compared to Yan Laoxi's earthwork fortifications, the main structure of Pingyang City, under the command of Lieutenant General Shimizu Nori of the 41st Division, took on a slightly more Sino-German style. He shaved off a layer of the moat bank connecting to the Fen River, creating a gentle slope leading directly to the city walls. The Japanese had completely cleared out all the buildings and trees on this slope. In the event of a Chinese assault, once they had crossed the moat, the Japanese troops within the fortifications surrounding the city could easily fire on our soldiers, who were unable to charge from the slope and lacked cover.

However, the terrain north of the city prevented the Japanese from constructing such a "shooting slope." Instead, they used the reinforced concrete plant of the Pingyang Electric Light Company, the city's power plant, as their core position, constructing a strong position. This position, nestled beneath the reverse slope of the Pingyang city wall, was impervious to southern artillery fire, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. In other words, before the Communists could capture it, the Japanese could still use these fortifications to inflict sufficient casualties on the Eighth Route Army, effectively reducing its offensive momentum.

After all, the Japanese army was not the Nationalist army. Even though they were shrouded in the shadow of fear and despair, it was impossible for them to surrender like the 14th Cavalry Regiment of the Mongolian Army due to inertia. Even a mouse caught by a cat will bite back, and an angry rabbit will kick at people!

Therefore, the first step of the general offensive is artillery preparation.

During the Battle of Mengxi, the assault on Lucheng had once broken the record for the total amount of firepower directed at the enemy by the Chinese army per unit time. But now, this record has been broken again by the record holder.

Under the coordination of the automated command and communication system, the Eighth Route Army on the southern front concentrated all available large-caliber artillery. More than 230 155 and 122 guns raised their barrels or lowered their gun bodies and opened fire on the Pingyang East Gate section, which was only a hundred meters long.

The shorter-barreled M1917 15mm guns were deployed at a distance where they could be fired visually. Armor-piercing grenades with delayed fuses began to carry out standard destructive fire on the city walls and firing slopes. The larger number of MBO0 12mm guns formed a dense fire blockade area, completely submerging the junction of Pingyang main body and Dongguan in artillery fire. The D1-155mm Schneider howitzer with the longest range was on standby at all times, suppressing the possible desperate counterattack of the Japanese army based on the data observed by the artillery.

As for Skoda's 220mm gun, it could steadily and comfortably detonate any seemingly solid support point at a rate of one round every three minutes outside the range of the Japanese army's firepower.

The ancient Pingyang city walls were almost completely submerged in the pomegranate blossoms. Even the brick-clad rammed earth walls, which were over ten meters thick, could not withstand such a dense barrage of fire!

In a blink of an eye, the shooting slope of the East Gate section was riddled with bullet craters that could be used as forward bunkers, and the city wall of the East Gate section collapsed in many places. At the same time, under the cover of artillery fire, the Eighth Route Army's tanks had already approached the banks of the moat with engineers and assault teams.

The commandos leaped into the moat, still covered in ice, and laid the rubber boats, blue mooring buckets, and wooden plank bridges they carried on their shoulders across the ten-meter-long river channel. Armored bulldozers and armored trucks flattened the remaining Japanese fortifications and barbed wire, unloaded the bundles of firewood they carried into the ditch, and deployed a 15-meter-long folding assault bridge.

Soon, amidst the relentless artillery fire, several vehicle-powered assault bridges and more than a dozen pontoon bridges appeared across the moat. At the other end of the bridge, armored combat engineers once again led the charge. Several soldiers, armed only with pistols, crouched in the freshly blasted craters and began setting up what looked like a square insulated box.

Although their movements were skilled, it was clearly their first time operating in such a real combat environment, and they made numerous mistakes. Fortunately, the intense suppressive fire provided them with ample margin for error. Finally, everything was ready, and the leading soldier signaled completion.

"Breakthrough Rocket—Ready!

"emission!"

"emission!"

The small solid-charge rocket let out a sharp whistling sound and broke free from the launch box that also served as a guide rail, pulling a whole string of silk-wrapped blasting cords behind it. A few seconds after the blasting cords were deployed and the tail drag parachute opened, the electric ignition device triggered the multiple detonating cords on the blasting cord almost simultaneously, blasting an orange fire dragon on the shooting slope cleared by the Japanese army.

Boom—bang!

On the hundred-meter shooting slope, the few mines that had escaped the net were eliminated by the overpressure caused by the explosives. Wherever the explosion reached, the remaining barbed wire, chevaux de frise, and deer entanglements were completely destroyed—over a dozen attack routes were opened. "Extend the artillery fire! Prepare to attack!"

The wall of fire from the barreled artillery began to roll back, then gradually paused. After the mortars resumed their attack on the fortifications that had just begun firing, the commandos and combat engineers finally launched their attack. Meanwhile, the Valentine tanks, which had been trailing behind without much success, finally roared across the rutted bridge and, under the cover and guidance of the infantry, began to roll through the most dangerous firing zone.

The remaining Japanese firepower points finally began to spew flames. Although sparse, surviving under such firepower was a miracle in itself. Because the Communist army's attack direction was clearly south of the city, the remaining Japanese troops in the Dongguan area began to run out of the tunnels, preparing to come to reinforce.

It’s a pity that the Eighth Route Army soldiers who were guiding the tanks to advance quickly along the craters were always the terminators of miracle moments and lucky stars.

Although the 40mm high-explosive shells are slightly insufficient, continuous shooting can always completely bury a machine gun group; the second-generation turtle fist with extended-range rockets and the time-tested 82 Wuhou can also send the Japanese soldiers who think they are the chosen ones to the ninth level to visit relatives and friends.

After breaking through the last fortifications under the city, the Eighth Route Army's assault columns began to separate to both sides, quickly attacking the remaining enemy troops; the combat engineers who had been on the front line climbed to the top of the city wall and began to guide the engineers to repair the collapsed parts of the city wall that collapsed due to artillery fire, and build it into an impact slope for subsequent troops to advance.

Fierce fighting also broke out on the city walls. The Eighth Route Army needed to occupy the section of the city wall connecting Dongguan and Pingyang City to gain a panoramic view of the entire city area, and use direct fire or guided artillery fire from a high position to suppress the organized resistance of the remaining Japanese troops in the city. The Japanese army naturally knew this, so they naturally had to fight to the death to reinforce their troops on the city walls and counterattack to drive the Eighth Route Army down.

Flames, bullets, and shrapnel flew across the city walls, and the battle entered a fierce stage as soon as it began. Although the Eighth Route Army had dense firepower and skilled tactics, facing the continuous counterattacks of the Japanese army, it was difficult to determine the superiority for a while.

However, at this moment, an ominous buzzing sound came from the sky.

This sound wasn't like the frequent air superiority fighters or reconnaissance and observation trainer aircraft of the recent period. Instead, it was a deeper, more muffled rumble. These were two rare four-engine heavy bombers, slowly approaching from the west of the battlefield, like star actors who wouldn't appear until the final act of a ballet, with elegant and noble steps and a patrolling escort.

Finally, the sound reached its destination.