Chapter 262 The Power of Long-range Heavy Artillery

They didn't expect that there were still several kilometers on the front line in their artillery position. How could shells fall?

The equipment of each army in the Beiyang system is generally similar. The direct army on the opposite side is very clear about the range of 75 mm field guns and mountaineers equipped with a large number of Feng army. Therefore, when building artillery positions, the artillery range of both sides is often calculated, especially the short range of mountain guns, in order to be able to attack the Feng army infantry array. At the same time, in order to avoid being destroyed by the 75mm field artillery of the Feng army, it is necessary to build an artillery position at an appropriate distance.

In the past week, although there have been many artillery directly participating in the two armies, basically provide fire support for the infantry. It is rare to say that the artillery will be directly deployed to the front line and then hit the enemy's artillery positions, because on this battlefield almost plain, everyone's artillery positions are quite There is no cover, and your army's 75mm field guns can strike the artillery positions of the direct army. At the same time, there are also many 75mm field guns of the direct army, which can also hit the artillery positions of your army.

This has led to the absence of a large-scale artillery confrontation between the two sides, but today's situation is a little wrong.

"This is by no means a 75mm shell!" A direct major on the front line had a black face, not to mention that as an old artilleryman, he could hear that the explosion was definitely not the explosion of a 75mm shell, even other junior officers and veterans could hear it.

Distinguishing the caliber and number of enemy guns by the explosion sound of shells on the battlefield is the basic skill of an officer!

"This is not the sound of the 120mm mortar of the Feng army, and the ballistics just now are not like the curved ballistics of the mortars!" The more the direct major thought about it, the more he felt a cold sweat behind his back.

However, before he could speak, a direct captain next to him panicked and said, "This is a heavy gun, at least a 100-centimeter long-range heavy gun!"

seemed to prove his answer. As soon as he finished his words, there were bursts of roaring in the sky. The direct army major looked gray and shouted, "Remove quickly, withdraw quickly!"

However, before his voice was finished, more than a dozen shells fell near the position of the direct overmountain artillery camp, and two shells fell into the middle of the artillery position. Although the explosion did not destroy the artillery, it still caused many casualties, which caused panic in the artillery battalion position, because Ren An experienced artilleryman knows it.

The two rounds of three and two shells must be proof shooting, and this third round is the beginning of large-scale shelling, and in the process of shelling, the other party will definitely continue to correct the ballistics. When the fourth and fifth rounds come, it is estimated that this artillery position will become a real hell on earth. .

At this moment, this artillery position is completely messed up. Some people want to pull up their horses and put on the artillery and retreat, while others run away directly.

And this situation is even more obvious after the fourth and fifth rounds of shelling. With many shots, there are more and more shells falling into the artillery position, and although the explosive power of this 100mm cannonball is not as terrible as the 120mm mortar shell that made the direct army talk, it is far more powerful. 75mm shell, after this shell falls into the artillery position and explodes, a large number of shell fragments will disperse, and then harvest the life of everyone encountered, and a few shells fall near the artillery, directly overturning the artillery to the ground and even causing deformation.

When the sixth and seventh rounds of shelling came, the artillery positions of this direct army were completely scattered. Some of the artillerymen urgently dragged the artillery and retreated, and more people ran back, and the craters in the open space were full of corpses.

Listening to the proofreading report on the balloon, Wei Anpo smiled and then drew a big cross on the map where position No. 1 was written.

"After firing five more shots, stop shooting, check the gun situation, and then prepare for the next round of shelling!"

Through the intensive shelling just now, the mountain-rison artillery camp position of the direct army has basically suffered heavy losses and lost combat effectiveness, and then Wei Anpo has to attack other artillery positions of the direct army.

Half an hour later, Lu Yongxiang looked at the emergency war report, and his face suddenly turned black: "This long-range heavy artillery from Zhao Dongyun got, and there is a large battalion!"

"Now the situation on Yinfeng's side is very bad. This mountain artillery battalion has lost half of its artillery, and more than half of its artillery. I'm afraid it's not easy to recover its combat effectiveness and participate in the war again!" The major next to him said, "Teacher, do you think we will return to Yinfeng?"

Lu Yongxiang shook his head: "What's the panic? It's just a failure in the artillery battle. The Yinfeng defense line has been built for many days, and the first brigade is an old army. The heavy machine guns I left are also more than 30, and the Feng army opposite is only a division. It is impossible to attack the Yinfeng defense line in a short time. Now I'm still happy. Zhuang's line is important. If the order goes down, our department will continue to go north and can't stay!"

In this era, especially for troops equipped with new tactics and a large number of heavy machine guns, their defense capabilities actually far exceed their offensive capabilities, which is not obvious during the Russo-Japanese War, but the Battle of Tongzhou last year and the Tangshan Campaign that is now being broken out have been fully reflected. This is the point.

Lu Yongxiang first attacked the seventh mixed brigade of the Feng army with more than 20,000 troops of only 5,000 people. In the end, he was not grainless.

Subsequently, Lu Yongxiang also played defensive operations following the example of the Feng army, and in the many counterattacks launched by the Feng army a few days ago, he not only failed to break through the direct defense line, but also suffered a lot of losses.

In addition, in the direction of Huanxizhuang today, the first mixed brigade of the direct army is facing three-sided attack. If this is replaced by the old tactics, the troops without heavy machine guns are estimated to collapse on the first day. Although the first mixed brigade is facing four times the enemy's attack, and the defense line is also shaky, it has not yet run anyway. No, this has been held for a day. If we can hold on the next day and wait for Lu Yongxiang's reinforcements to arrive on the third day, then we can declare that Zhao Dongyun's large-scale counterattack ended in a complete failure.

These examples almost show the same thing, that is, the defense ability of today's army, especially the troops of the Beiyang system, exceeds the offensive ability, the same is true of the Feng army, and the same is true of the direct army.

When Xu Bangjie used heavy artillery to launch a large-scale attack on the First Brigade of the First Division of Yinfeng, Huanxizhuang fought more fiercely. Due to time constraints, Zhao Dongyun had repeatedly asked the front-line troops to strengthen the offensive, and even crossed Meng Enyuan and directly issued a request to Chen Guangyuan of the Third Division to strengthen the offensive. Instructions.

Although this instruction is a verbal instruction and not a formal order, Chen Guangyuan still dares not despise it!

However, this first mixed brigade seemed to be the seventh mixed brigade ten days ago. Under the enemy's superior force offensive, although it seemed dangerous everywhere, the two-sided attack launched by the two divisions of the Feng army failed to gnaw it down.

When the direct army in the direction of Yutian and Baodi was only reinforced, the first army in the north and west of Huanxizhuang felt greater pressure. At this time, Meng Enyuan's first army not only had to undertake the task of attacking the main force of Huanxizhuang, but also had to intercept the tenth enemy reinforcements from Baodi, Yutian and other directions. First Division, 12th Division and other units.

If the seventh mixed brigade of the direct army is facing a three-line attack, but in fact, the troops of the first army are also fighting on the third line, which depends on who can't stand it first.

However, when people, even Wang Yingkai and Zhao Dongyun's eyes were closely at Huanxizhuang, there were great changes in the Yinfeng line in the south of Tangshan.

With Wei Anpo's heavy artillery battalion entering the battlefield, the first day of the battlefield was to destroy a mountain artillery battalion of the direct army through a long-range artillery battle. That night, the artillery battalion once again maneuvered forward two kilometers, and then directly launched a large-scale shelling of a field artillery battalion of the direct army further back.

You should know that at that time, the field artillery battalion of the direct army was five kilometers away from the front line of the infantry. Under normal circumstances, the artillery shells of the Feng army would not hit them at all. If the 75mm field artillery of the Feng army were close to the deployment, it would also be fired by the front line troops of the direct army as soon as possible. Now, then the field artillery battalion of the direct army can launch an anti- shelling operation first.

However, the heavy artillery battalion of the Feng army had a range of more than 10,000 meters, and it was also a mobile deployment at night. When the field artillery camp of the direct army was hit at dawn the next day, the first reaction of the battalion officers of the direct army was to observe the ballistics and then fire to counterattack, but looked at the shells. He was desperate after the explosive power and calculated the ballistics and the enemy's position.

Because at this time, Feng's heavy artillery battalion was still 800 meters away, completely exceeding the range of the 75mm field gun in his hand.

In the case of not being able to fight back, the battalion was also forced to retreat like the previous mountain artillery battalion. Although the retreat situation was better, only three artillery and dozens of artillery were lost, but the retreat of the battalion also means that the first brigade of the direct army on the front line of Yinfeng had lost its direct and powerful artillery. Assistance.

Although it failed to eliminate many enemy troops, it forced the enemy's artillery troops to retreat, which was also a great result.

As soon as he learned that the field artillery battalion of the direct army had begun to retreat, leaving only a few mountaineers that participated in yesterday, Xu Bangjie realized that his opportunity had come.

The defensive operations of this era are coordinated by artillery, machine guns, trenches and infantry. It is almost a link. Only when the artillery fires suppress the enemy's charge, long-range preparation, etc., can the heavy machine guns suppress the enemy at a maximum distance of 500 meters, and the subsequent infantry can hide in the trenches. Pick up the remaining soldiers who charged.

And when the enemy side loses artillery, even heavy machine guns and trenches can resist the enemy's attack.

You can imagine that when the enemy is gradually approaching from the distance, and the shells above your head are still exploding, forcing you to hide in the cannon hole. When the enemy's artillery extends to the rear, the enemy is probably already in front of you.

More importantly, the Feng army is also equipped with a large number of mortars, especially the 60mm mortar, which is almost the nemesis of heavy machine guns. In the previous operation, due to the fierce artillery fire of the direct army, it was difficult to bring the mortars close to the deployment and find a suitable firing position. Now the artillery of the direct army no longer threatens the mortar troops of the Feng army.

The mortar groups of the 9th Division of the Feng army, especially the 80mm mortar group, swaggered directly in the open space to fire. The target of their bombing was not the infantry position of the direct army, but the heavy machine gun position of the direct army.

And the smaller 60mm mortar reached a distance of only 400 to 500 meters, and then cleared the heavy machine guns of the direct army.

Xu Bangjie never thought that he could capture the Yinfeng front line alone. His offensive on the Yinfeng front line was just a containment attack. The task from yesterday to now was to put huge pressure on the first brigade on the opposite side, and then forced Lu Yongxiang to personally lead the second brigade to return to the Yinfeng front line, so as to be happy. Xizhuang creates more favorable combat conditions.

In the plan formulated by the battle, the breakthrough point was Fengdengwu and Huanxizhuang, and finally went south to Yinfeng to surround Lu Yongxiang's first division.

However, Xu Bangjie did not expect that the attack of his troops would be far more smooth than expected with the support of the independent heavy artillery battalion and the third independent mortar battalion.

With the support of more than 60 guns, more than 30 120 mm heavy mortars and more than 100 80 and 60 mm mortars, the Ninth Division first killed the artillery troops supporting the first brigade of the direct army, and then cleared a large number of heavy machine guns of the Feng army through mortars.

When he learned that the artillery fire and heavy machine guns of the opposite Feng army had been lost, Xu Bangjie's last reserve without hesitation, that is, the 39th Regiment of the 19th Brigade, and then ordered the whole division to charge.

This is the first 10,000-scale charge since the start of the war between the two armies. On the six-kilometer-wide front, facing the tens of thousands of troops rushed up, the direct army could still resist at the beginning, but they could not stop the full front charge of the Feng army after losing a large number of heavy machine guns. When the soldiers of the 9th Division When he threw grenades near the trenches of the direct army and rushed up with a rifle with a bayonet.

The first brigade completely collapsed!