Canteen System Assistance Notes

After all, poverty is the material basis, and sometimes it will not completely change with the subjective initiative of the superstructure.

"56 M1 mountain guns, primarily responsible for suppressing Japanese artillery fire, guided by observation posts and observation aircraft; 12 Type 41 guns, used for pre-attack artillery preparation, supervised by artillery reconnaissance officers on Bijia Mountain... and two Type 88 guns, each with only about thirty rounds left..."

By this time, Chen Shukang possessed considerable experience commanding one or several elite regimental units. Unlike the 101st, who specialized in strategic planning at the divisional and even corps levels, his meticulous approach was more akin to Xu Yuanqing, capable of accurately strategizing down to the enemy's marching formations and the soldiers' psychology. His strategic planning, combined with his intricate interlocking arrangements, resembled the ingenuity of Lu Ban's lock-making techniques, required the refinement of his command and combat experience in the Taihang Military Sub-district (historically the Taiyue Military Sub-district) to become the renowned "General Chen" of the Liberation War.

"Where are the 770th and the Cavalry Regiment now?"

"Telegram from twenty minutes ago: They're in Malan Village! Commander, there are only hills over there, and the cavalry can't move fast. 770 should be ahead. Currently, the troops haven't engaged the enemy."

After checking the incoming telegrams, the staff quickly reported their positions. Communication between the various units was now incredibly rapid; if necessary, headquarters could update the positions of each regimental unit every half hour. This speed of information flow gave Chen Shukang some peace of mind, no longer worrying about the troops suddenly going awry and not being able to find out.

He looked at General Peng, who was leaning on the table and staring at the sand table, and continued to study the battle situation.

Chen Shukang, who had never commanded such a large-scale battle before, was poring over every detail he could, striving to prevent even the slightest error in command during the Eighth Route Army's offensive against the Japanese. He was watching the video playing on a "smart display" he had removed from the cafeteria. The screen, connected to a Raspberry Pi 2B, was displaying the reconnaissance photos dropped by the "Texan" yesterday. Over them were various icons drawn with markers by the staff, and a countdown ticked in the upper right corner.

"Countdown to thirty-one minutes! All departments, align your time!"

Radio waves were coming from the forward command post at Wangcunkou. The divisional radio station, in broadcast mode, was broadcasting the "standard time" from a cafeteria in Fushe. Hearing this information...

Commanders at all levels of the army began to take out their watches,

Pocket watches, exam timers and alarm clocks, turn the wheels and press buttons to adjust your time.

"Thirty minutes left!"

----------

It was five o'clock in the morning, and the sky was still dark. The Japanese positions were completely silent. I didn't know if they had become obedient after being beaten back by the standard process of "Night Anti-Boarding Tactics Reference Process ver_1_16" after several night attacks, or if they were planning something else.

According to reconnaissance, the Japanese commander, Wu Ningnan, was a man who recognized danger in a timely manner and abandoned his mission to flee. He first split off a portion of his 23rd Infantry Regiment and occupied Wangjiazhuang Village northeast of Yushe. This not only provided an additional route for his troops to retreat, but also allowed them to flank our siege forces, relieving pressure on their own forces.

At the same time, he also ordered the troops to seize the surrounding commanding heights as early as possible. Although he did not succeed, the intermittent harassment continued all night, preventing our troops from getting a good rest.

Cursing the Japanese for their inaction, our soldiers concluded their brief rest. The village work team mobilized the villagers to prepare a large quantity of yellow rice and date cakes, which they sent over. The kitchen staff minced delicious corn sausage and served it with mixed vegetables, along with Shangdang-style pancakes. They also prepared a pot of scallion soup. After a hearty meal, the soldiers began to move to their respective starting positions.

"Everyone, keep a low profile and stop when you see the comrades ahead. Do you understand?"

"We heard it!" the clumps of grass answered in a low voice.

The Japanese army's long-range artillery had been suppressed, and these grass people could approach the Japanese army arrogantly until they came within 2 kilometers of Yushe City - there was a dry ditch running east-west, which happened to be our army's starting position.

Someone extended a telescope over the top of the ditch and took a look. After a day of activity yesterday, the Japanese had barely deployed any defensive positions outside the city. The entire wall and gate were silent. Someone was even using a shovel to dig stepping holes in the ditch slope, making it easier to jump in later.

"How long?" someone asked. "How long until we fire?"

Someone rolled up his sleeve and glanced at the colorful little watch. The countdown on it was ticking away: "Three and a half minutes until the artillery fire."

The main attacking force was the 771st Regiment that arrived last night. This regimental unit, which was reorganized from the former 91st Division of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, was lying quietly in the dry ditch cut by the water. It was as quiet as the morning mist, blending into this final tranquility.

A single gun was once a rarity for the Red Army, but now they were waiting for four artillery batteries, a total of 12 guns, to prepare for the bombardment. This was truly a new experience for those men who had experienced the hardships of the western Sichuan plateau.

"With so many guns, I wonder what it will look like when they fire."

The watch on my wrist vibrated; the time had come. In the direction of the rising sun, east and slightly south, there were faint muffled sounds, like the neighing of war horses. The gun crew, having completed a test firing, no longer needed to repeat the test-fire-to-completion firing process. The entire herd, from the start of the movement to the full roar of the horses, took only a dozen seconds.

The 75mm shells flew over the mountain ridge, making a sound that pierced the air, just like the sun leaping into the sky, announcing the beginning of the battle and the beginning of a new day.

Chapter 209: Yushe Offensive (5) A Brief Setback

75mm shells fired from 12 artillery pieces fell and hit the city walls and Wangjiazhuang Village outside the city.

Yushe, a classically styled town, boasts two blue-brick walls, the outer wall measuring only 2500 meters in circumference. Wangjia Village, like Yudu, is a tiny village with only a few households. Like Yudu, Wangjia Village is the kind where a stranger arrives in the morning and everyone knows him by lunchtime. Because of the recent massive Japanese offensive, the residents had already been evacuated. Even if the Eighth Route Army opened fire, they didn't have to worry about anything; they could just build whatever they wanted.

But the 75mm shells were ultimately not good enough. Although the Jin-made 41mm mountain cannon had been refurbished, the quality of the shells themselves was only so-so. A large number of shells landed on the city wall, only causing a pile of stone chips to fall to the ground, and there was no way to completely destroy the city wall itself.

If the firepower was increased and the bombardment continued, the city wall could always be knocked down. However, the Eighth Route Army, who were used to being poor, did not intend to waste artillery shells like this. After a basic firepower of 3 rounds was prepared, the artillery fire stopped, and the soldiers at the starting position set up machine guns. The turtle-fist shooters picked up the tubes, aimed at the most vulnerable city gate and fired siege shells.

Boom! After a loud bang, the wooden city gate exploded and fell down. As expected, the Japanese invaders had piled sandbags and stones behind the gate. It looked like they had demolished many houses in the city. "Damn it, the Japanese are so incompetent! I don't know how many houses they have demolished!"

Xu Shaolin, the battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the 771st Regiment, was at the front line. Seeing this, he angrily waved his hand and shouted, "Everyone, prepare to explode! Provide cover fire!"

A group of nimble young men, from the military district's engineering brigade and experts in handling explosives, tightened their grip on their dynamite packs and blasting tubes. The battalion's firepower units set up their Maxim and Pan machine guns, aiming them at any potential firing points on the city walls and below, guarding against a Japanese attack.

"Go! Go, go, go!"

Smoke bombs made from recycled metal cans were thrown out, spewing out a grayish-white mist. The engineers took a deep breath, held their breath, stepped out of the dry creek, and rushed towards the city.

They carried blasting tubes, wooden poles, explosive packs, and detonators. According to previous experiments in the Taihang District, blasting such a brick wall and creating a collapsing slope suitable for charging would require at least 10 kilograms of TNT equivalent, using a concentrated charge method, and likely requiring multiple detonations.

This was undoubtedly a very dangerous situation, but the area directly below the city wall was generally a blind spot for the Japanese. The danger lay in the distance in front of the city wall. But...why were the Japanese so quiet this morning? Xu Shaolin, lying by the ditch, holding up his binoculars, felt inexplicably uneasy.

Just now, when the artillery fire was being prepared, it was like this, and now that the engineers have advanced, it is also like this...

Just when our soldiers were only 50 meters away from the city wall, a row of Japanese helmets suddenly appeared from the top of the wall! Instead of opening fire, they pulled out grenades, knocked them against the wall, and threw them down. At the same time, bricks on the "horse face" of the wall were pushed down, revealing the black holes of machine guns.

"Damn it! Mortar! Take down that firing point!"

The superior position allowed the Japanese to unleash their full potential, and their sudden opening fire at 50 meters caught the soldiers completely off guard. Grenade explosions dispersed the smokescreen, and the crossfire from the machine guns inflicted heavy casualties on our first wave of demolition specialists.

The mortars in the rear immediately responded, unleashing a barrage of fire on the enemy's machine gun positions. However, the 60mm and 82mm shells landed on the low-lying bunkers on the city walls, only causing a pause before the fire returned to normal. Apparently, they had, like our troops on Bijia Mountain, built shelters over the machine gun positions, providing ample protection against 82mm mortar fire. Fortunately, taking advantage of this brief gap in firepower, DP and Maxim fired fiercely, suppressing the enemy's counterattack and saving the severely damaged assault team.

At this moment, the sound of Japanese artillery fire was heard again in the city. This time, it was the previously silent infantry artillery. The Type 92, with its high elevation angle, was hidden under the reverse slope of the city wall. It began to use the wall's cover to fire back at the automatic fire from our front line!

The battle returned to the stage of artillery battle. The Jin-made Type 41 mountain artillery resumed firing and began to counterattack the Japanese troops firing in the city; and a small number of 6 M1 mountain guns were continuing to suppress the remaining division artillery that opened fire suddenly under the command of the observation post and the artillery observer. To be honest, after abandoning the accuracy of the artillery fire and simply wanting to cause trouble for us, the remaining .75 mountain guns were extremely difficult to deal with. The two artillery companies organized several counter-artillery offensives in succession, but only reduced the number of mountain artillery held by the Japanese to 6, and they were still unable to free up their hands to assist the siege troops.

"How did the artillery battalion fire? This base number of artillery shells has more than the entire Red Army on the Long March!"

News of the battle situation at the front came in, and the staff officer was furious when he heard about it. "Why are there still so many devils on the city wall? How is it possible that there are still so many devils?" "What are you so excited about? Are you the only one with a loud voice?"

Chen Shukang stopped the overly excited staff officer, "The efficiency of artillery attacks on prepared urban targets isn't as good as attacking field targets. This is something we didn't anticipate. Now, we need to find a way to solve the problem, not just shirk responsibility!"

His smile faded for once. "For a city siege, it seems we can't be stingy with ammunition. How much ammunition do we have left?"

"Report, there are two bases of ammunition for the Japanese 75mm mountain gun. The American M1 mountain gun ammunition can only be transported from the border areas, and there is about one and a half bases." "Wait a moment."

General Peng, who was sitting nearby drinking tea, suddenly spoke up. He picked up Chen Shukang's question and asked the staff officer, "Where are those two Type 88 rifles belonging to Mr. Yan that we fished out of the river?"

"Um, General Peng, that thing is huge and heavy, and they don't have any shells. We spent a lot of time bargaining with the Death Column and only managed to get about twenty rounds of ammunition for each gun. It's now with the cadet corps; they just arrived yesterday."

Comrade Chen Shukang is right. Our small water-tube artillery is not very effective against targets like cities and city walls. This is also normal. General Peng stood up and walked behind Chen Shukang. "But, can artillery only be used for artillery preparation and counter-artillery? Are we too conservative in its use? After firing the artillery, we charge again. If we can't charge, we fire the artillery again.

Repeatedly - our Eighth Route Army, has this become just a matter of following the script?

Have you read Xuan Ke's doctrine?

"General Peng means..."

"Technical weapons are merely a means to achieve combat objectives. We are not some old woman with bound feet who can't walk, nor are we some sophistry scholars who only know how to talk nonsense."

General Peng clenched his fist, pulled it back, and fired again. "We haven't done much artillery preparation before, and we lack experience in how many shells to fire at a city and how to attack it. If we say that using artillery to blow up the city walls and capture the county town is one way...

"Then using cannons with bayonets and direct fire to destroy the enemy's strongholds is also a method?"

"Don't worry about the loss of technical weapons! The General Front Committee sent me here not to act like a mother-in-law and give orders, but to be a good logistics officer, so that you, a guy who is eating blueberries for the first time, will not have to worry about it!" General Peng's tone relaxed, revealing his strict confidence. "The situation now is different from before. How many artillery pieces have we damaged this time, and how many shells have we fired?

As long as we kill the devils, we can send them to the border areas!"

Chapter 210: Attacking Yushe (6) Approaching and attacking

The Shanxi-made 8mm field gun, originating from a failed Weimar German field gun design, bears little resemblance to the "German 8mm gun" that shone so brilliantly in World War II. Disappointed, it passed through the hands of some eccentric arms donors before arriving at the Laoxi factory in Shanxi Province. From there, it was meticulously crafted by Laoxi's ironworks, then, after a battle failure, was pushed into a river by the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army—ultimately, retrieved from the river by our army.

By the time the 129th Division Artillery Cadet Corps and the Sixth Branch of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University saw the two guns, they were already covered in rust, their sights were missing, and the accessories on the guns were completely white, like snow. In total, our army only found dozens of artillery shells. These two guns could only be used for teaching purposes to familiarize the artillerymen with the operation of the guns.

Today, however, the two guns finally came into play. The artillery, along with the lead vehicle, weighed two tons. Soldiers from the student corps and the 772nd Regiment brought four horses and used the "winch" function of the hybrid truck. With a combination of human, animal, and mechanical power, it took a long time to get it to the position on Bijia Mountain.

"Battalion Commander! Phone call!"

"Who's calling? I won't answer it. Can't you see I'm busy now?"

Xu Shaolin was sulking. In that short time, the 1st Battalion of the 771st Regiment attempted another breakthrough point, but again, progress was limited. The Japanese on the opposing wall were like mantises, leaving only a single observation post in a sheltered area that could withstand mortar fire. The majority of their forces remained hidden behind the walls, waiting to attack as our troops advanced. The 1st Battalion attempted a "fake extension of artillery fire," which indeed blew away many Japanese soldiers. However, when the assault team approached again, the machine guns appeared again, blocking the soldiers' advance and occasionally firing a few rounds of artillery shells at our troops to disrupt their advance.

At present, apart from continuous artillery bombardment, the only method that seems feasible is the "earthwork approach" devised by the engineers - the soldiers are working hard to dig communication trenches under the city to avoid the Japanese army's counterattack fire, in order to shorten the distance to the city wall and launch an attack in one go.

But the digging speed was too slow... Xu Shaolin looked at his watch, sweating anxiously. What if the Japanese invaders escaped after dragging on like this? "It's a call from the front command, from the Bijiashan position!"

The telegraph operator didn't dare retreat. No matter who was on the other end of the line or this side, they were not easy to deal with. If he didn't answer the call and missed the opportunity to fight, it would be a serious sin. "It's...it's General Peng on the other end of the line..." "Ah? General Peng?"

Xu Shaolin hurriedly picked up the phone: "Report to General Peng! The 1st Battalion of the 771st Regiment is attacking the southeastern section of the enemy's wall. Yes! The enemy is very cunning. We are digging tunnels to get closer... Yes... Yes..." The voice on the other end of the line muttered. Xu Shaolin frowned, but quickly raised his brows. "Really? Okay! Got it! I will complete the mission!"

He put down the phone and shouted, "Communicator! Quick! Take the guard platoon and pick up the comrades from the front command. They've brought us something!"

It was already noon, and the pleasant morning sun had turned into a fierce, direct scorching sun. Our army's offensive against the enemy had temporarily stopped. Except for the soldiers who were still digging tunnels, the positions of both sides fell into a strange state of silence.

If this had been a historical scenario, the battle would likely have turned into a siege of Yi County: three days of continuous earthwork to approach the city walls, then dig holes, fill them with explosives, and detonate them simultaneously to destroy the enemy's defenses. However, if this had been the case, the 223rd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division in the city would have likely fled long ago, helped by reinforcements.

"Which is the enemy's bunker?"

Several heads, wrapped in straw, peeked out from the dry ditch. The soldiers of the 771st Regiment quickly welcomed the "comrades from the front command." There were three of them. One carried a large box with an antenna and wore headphones like a telegraph operator; the other carried a bag of mortar shells, probably containing about ten rounds of ammunition. Neither of them was familiar. But when someone's eyes fell on the third, narrowed-eyed figure, an expression of shock, even admiration, would reveal itself.

The person who came was Zhao Zhangcheng, the artillery director of the 129th Division!

"Director Zhao, there's this side, this side, and a little further away there's another one over there. There are three in total." Someone pointed him out. "Two are on the horse face, and one is at the bend of the city wall." "Okay."

Director Zhao gave a thumbs-up, winked, and then turned back toward Bijia Mountain. He squatted down, surveyed the 60mm mortars on the emplacement, and nodded to his assistant. The gunner of the 60mm mortar hurriedly made way for the legendary "King of Artillery" and assisted him. He directed the others to fetch three guns, lined them up before him, and personally adjusted them, removing the tripod from one and holding it manually.

"Prepare to load. Target 001, bunker, orange smoke bomb, instantaneous fuse, charge 2, scale 425, reference direction 0-15 to the right, single shot ready."

Director Zhao's tone was calm and light, like an old oil seller picking up a colander. His movements were like shooting a bow at a target, effortless and controlled. He watched as the artillery soldiers helped to cover the painted smoke bomb with a white powder bag, fixed the fuse, and handed it to him. He turned to the communications team and gave an order:

"Reporting position. 1st Battalion, 771st Regiment, position direction, orange smoke screen, enemy bunkers, grenades, instantaneous fuses, 2-round salvo ready."

"Leifeng Pagoda, attention! This is Fahai. Baseline fire direction No. 2, enemy bunkers. Pay attention to the orange smoke screen indicator. Grenades, instantaneous fuses, ready for a two-round salvo!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Zhangcheng loosened his fingers, and the smoke screen shell with an orange ring was swallowed into the barrel, just like a key in a lock, a sword back into its sheath, with a smooth and tight fit; then, with a crisp "ping" sound, the gas produced by the burning powder bag pushed the ammunition out, and it drew a curved trajectory in the air and delivered a precise sword towards the shelter on the top of the city.

The smoke bomb didn't explode, but it quickly spread a dense orange cloud over the shelter. Then, two fireballs, much faster than mortar shells, flew screaming down from Beacon Hill, their trajectory unusually low and precise, landing precisely on the shelter. The orange cloud seemed to be grasped by a giant hand, then violently exploded! Bricks, sandbags, machine gun parts, and even wreckage flew everywhere, scattering the smoke screen like a tangerine cat with its fur ripped to pieces.

"Reporting, direction of the 1st Battalion, 771st Regiment, blue smoke, enemy machine gun emplacements, grenades, instantaneous fuses, two salvos ready."

As if familiar with this scene, Director Zhao had already released his next smoke bomb. This time, a blue smoke screen rose from another sheltered area on the city wall. Ten seconds later, the same scene was repeated. Another round from the 88mm field gun struck. Although one round missed, the remaining round still sent the firepower point that had troubled our troops for a long time into the sky.

What are you waiting for? Charge!

Combat engineers grabbed their explosives, leaped from their firing positions, and charged toward the still-smoky city walls. Firepower points, large and small, roared again, unleashing a barrage of suppressive artillery fire on the firing positions atop the city walls. The terrified Japanese, having lost their observation points, blindly returned fire at our likely positions. Further afield, the M1 mountain guns, tasked with counter-battery operations, countered the fire from these firing positions and pressed back into the city.

Amidst the shouts and cries of killing, Director Zhao stood firm as a pine or cypress. He took the last mortar shell and stuffed it into the barrel of the gun he was holding.

"Reporting, direction of the 1st Battalion, 771st Regiment, green smoke screen, enemy bunkers, grenades, instantaneous fuses, two salvos ready."

Chapter 211: The Attack on Yushe (Final) - The First Test of the Heavy Hammer

"Detonate!"

"Detonate——!"

Under the action of electric current, the shaped charge blew a big hole in the city wall on the attacking side of Yushe; then, the inline explosives were stuffed into the blasted pit. The Eighth Route Army engineers, fearing that the equivalent was not enough, once again set off an earth-shaking explosion.

boom!

The "solid" city wall of Yushe was blown down!

Flying bricks and stones smashed into the ground, creating a cloud of dirt. When the smoke cleared, the blue brick wall, once several stories high, had suddenly shrunk. Debris poured down from the collapsed wall, creating a slope large enough for anyone to climb—and there were three such breaches in the front wall of Yushe.

At this time, part of the enemy troops in Wangjiazhuang Village had been entangled and surrounded by the newly formed 11th Brigade, which had been holding back its strength, and was unable to come to support.

In short, Yushe had become an isolated point at this time, just like a walnut, which had lost its shell sufficient to defend itself due to the dual attack of close artillery support and engineer blasting.

The resounding charge horn sounded again. This organized charge order was like a soul-piercing artillery bombardment, enough to boost the morale of all our soldiers and destroy the courage of all those who dared to resist!

"Extend the fire, base direction unchanged, change distance three turns, forward two, forward three! Grenades, No. 5 charge, instantaneous delay fuses, half each, five rounds each, rapid fire!"

Under the low and straight trajectory of the mountain artillery, the music of the mortars roared, and flames rose around the short city walls of Yushe. Following their footsteps was a sparse stream of gray-green soldiers, as if in a fast-forward movie - they automatically divided into several groups and rushed towards the collapsed city walls, the designated ladder erection points, and the city gates that were filled with bricks and stones and then blown open again.

"Come on!"

The city was filled with the smell of fresh gunpowder and blood, with a large amount of debris and collapsed houses. As a small city, Yushe could become a strong defensive point.

There is only one in Yushe Middle School. According to the intelligence gathered before the war, the enemy

The command center must be in this place, and the devils who are resisting stubbornly will definitely hide here and wait for help.

To counter this close-quarters street fighting and the enemy's barricade firepower, nearly every member of the 771st Regiment, tasked with the main assault on the city, carried double the number of grenades and reinforced the use of turtle fists in every squad. Sure enough, as soon as they turned the corner of the narrow cobblestone street, fire from Type 99 rifles and Type 92 heavy machine guns arrived as expected.

"Hide! Turtle Fist, kill him!"

Before the soldiers at the front could react, a chain of fire erupted from the city walls, already occupied by our troops, suppressing the firing point. The Turtle Fist shooter in the team quickly seized the opportunity, found a blind spot in the fire, and hefted the Turtle Fist iron rod onto his shoulder. Meanwhile, the loader inserted the pre-loaded bullet into the barrel and patted the shooter's helmet.

"Loaded!"

Bang!

The Laval nozzle raised a cloud of dust, and a short, thick, super-caliber bullet flew up from behind the bunker and landed in front of the machine gun bunker in full view of everyone - it was a little close, but the half-kilogram charge had a very good bite. The bunker made of sandbags and miscellaneous wooden furniture collapsed like a building block that was pushed, and the two machine guns went silent in an instant.