Chapter 254 The General Attack Begins!

Taiyuan, Eastern Group Command Post.

We have said before that Taiyuan is a city built in a basin.

The average height of the main urban area is 785 meters, and the highest point in the east is 920 meters. This means that as long as you stand on the high ground in the east, you can have a panoramic view of the city.

The Eastern Group will certainly make reasonable use of such a special terrain.

The artillerymen set up multiple artillery observation posts on the high ground around the city.

Coupled with the detailed city defense map provided by the Air Force 1st Division, the brigade commander had the confidence to end the battle in thirty hours.

At this time, there were still fifteen minutes before the start of the general offensive. Brigade Commander Chen was standing on the top of the hill, his eyes slowly sweeping across the artillery positions below.

"Old Chen, are you nervous?"

"It's okay, it's not shameful. After all, this is the first time to attack a big city, and other troops may not be as good as us."

"I have informed Fang Ziyi of the Air Force 1st Division and asked him to fire a few more rockets on the section where the 385th Brigade is attacking. Don't worry, hahaha."

After hearing the ridicule of his chief of staff, Brigade Commander Chen rolled his eyes unhappily.

It is true that the Eighth Route Army lacks experience in urban siege warfare, but advanced equipment and sufficient logistical supplies can completely eliminate the only disadvantage.

What's more, for this battle, his good brother has been thinking hard for two weeks. Almost all possible accidents have been taken into account, and multiple response plans have been made.

"Nervous? How could I be nervous? Iwamatsu Yoshio is the one who is unsure!"

"It's just a siege. Our brigade also attacked Yangquan last year. This Taiyuan is just a larger county."

"Pass my order! Get all the artillery ready for battle!"

"Yes!"

Following the order of Brigade Commander Chen, the artillerymen removed the camouflage on their positions.

One by one, the M18 cannons pointed directly at the distant Taiyuan City, waiting for the order from the superiors to start pouring out their anger.

Fifteen minutes later, the perspective returned to the 386th Brigade.

After receiving the reply from the troops at all levels, the brigade commander issued the attack order without hesitation.

Today is a big day, and the brigade commander specially put on his favorite leather jacket. At this time, his eyes were full of passion, and he strode to the phone and shouted:

"The general attack begins!"

"Bombard for ten minutes first! No one is allowed to stop without my order!"

As soon as the voice fell, the roar of artillery sounded from the positions of the entire Southern Group.

This wonderful sound made every comrade who participated in the battle excited.

Of course, the logistics department was excluded.

In order to ensure sufficient firepower, the 129th Division not only took out all the assets it had accumulated for a long time, but also borrowed 200 guns from the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region and the 120th Division.

In this way, only Zhang Wanhe and the injured world were achieved.

In this battle, there were as many as 400 M18 cannons participating in the battle.

In addition to the Western Group defending along the Fen River and the Northern Group mainly engaged in feint attacks, the Eastern and Southern Groups could hit the heads of the Japanese defenders with a maximum of 29.2 tons of shells per minute.

The First Army now has only 31 mountain, field, and howitzers, which is less than one twentieth of the Eighth Route Army.

In order to ensure that the soldiers have sufficient shells, it is also to prevent the TG's fear of insufficient firepower. Throughout May, the Yellow River only allowed the military factories within the system to produce 75 Miss and shells, and even the Hurricane production line was temporarily closed.

The Border Region Military Industry Bureau and the Southeast Shanxi Logistics Department also adjusted their production focus, and all projects had to give way to the supply of artillery shells.

A moment later, the violent storm of artillery shells fell on the fortresses outside Taiyuan City at multiple angles with a whistling sound that tore through the air.

The various artillery regiments did not conduct pre-test firing, and they started with rapid fire coverage. The firing rate of a single gun was more than fifteen rounds per minute, causing smoke and exploding fireballs to rise on the enemy's positions.

The city walls, which had experienced the baptism of war in 1938, groaned in pain under the bombardment of artillery shells.

The artillerymen of the Eighth Route Army are no longer novices in the past. The comrades practiced in battle, and their skills have long become perfect. With the feedback sent back by the observation post, the fortresses were named one by one.

The devils who could not fight back could only wait to die in the weak fortifications.

Such a large-scale artillery bombardment was not an exaggeration by the brigade commander, using anti-aircraft guns to kill mosquitoes.

As early as during the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the war potential of the Eighth Route Army deeply shocked Yoshio Shinozuka.

At that time, the main force of the First Army was still confronting the Guosu defenders near Zhongtiao Mountain. He was afraid that his headquarters would be besieged in his dreams.

What if the three major bases of the Eighth Route Army launched a surprise attack with 105 regiments. If the other side did not count the losses, the troops in Taiyuan alone might not be able to hold on.

The threat of death made the First Army very active in repairing the turtle shell.

This old devil began to forcibly recruit civilians in September last year and strengthened the defense of Taiyuan City, covering the entire city with a thick layer of armor.

Under his operation, Taiyuan City built a huge group of fortifications around the city. These brick and stone fortresses, one every thirty meters inside and outside the city wall, totaling more than four hundred.

There are also foxholes and shelters between the fortifications, and they are connected by communication trenches and roads.

In order to be on the safe side, the devils also arranged a large number of mines and barbed wire on the periphery.

The entire city only had eight checkpoints for daytime traffic. At night, all traffic except military traffic was cut off, and the city was heavily guarded.

After Yoshio Iwamatsu took office, he expanded 27 reinforced concrete fortresses in key locations, further strengthening the overall defense strength.

Facing a large city with 11,000 troops and abundant supplies. If the 129th Division was still at the level of attacking artillery towers before 1939, Taiyuan could almost be defended indefinitely.

If the First Army was allowed to hold on firmly, it is hard to say whether the North China Front Army could turn the tables, but the time for the recovery of Shanxi Province would most likely be delayed.

It's a pity that Yoshio Shinozuka seriously misjudged the speed of the Eighth Route Army's equipment iteration.

Those seemingly solid fortifications were built entirely according to the firepower standards of the 129th Division during the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

They can certainly defend against the Type 92 infantry gun and 81mm mortar, but they can only give up when facing the M18 cannon.

The only thing that can be used is the reinforced concrete fortress built during Yoshio Iwamatsu's period.

What's more, our army is no longer what it used to be. In this battle, we can not only send a large number of artillery, but also mobilize a large number of aircraft and engineers to participate in the offensive battle.

If mortars and previously captured Type 92 infantry guns are included, the 129th Division has a total of 970 artillery pieces of various types concentrated in a breakthrough width of 1,500 meters.

Watching the fortresses collapse in the artillery, the brigade commander even laughed like Li Yunlong.

"Notify the First Air Division and let Captain Wang Hai set out in five minutes to help the infantry clean up the battlefield."

"Especially those reinforced concrete fortresses, they are not so easy to be pulled out by artillery. But the bombs are different, no one can withstand the 227 kg big guys."

"Let the soldiers also prepare to fight with the First Air Division and the artillery!"

"Yes!"

······

In Taiyuan City, the headquarters of the First Army of the North China Front.

Listening to the earth-shaking explosions outside the city, both the devils and the people trembled, fearing that a shell would fall on their heads.

Although Iwamatsu Yoshio had heard of the existence of the Eighth Route Army artillery group a long time ago, there is still a big difference between hearsay and seeing it with his own eyes.

"Boom!"

Just as the old Japanese soldier was still carefully observing the battlefield, a huge explosion came from the left rear.

Looking back, his headquarters had disappeared. The enemy's artillery seemed to have opened their eyes in the sky, accurately sending shells to a fixed area.

Even if a few of them deviated from the trajectory, there was no accidental injury to civilians.

After all, no people from the Republic of China dared to approach within a kilometer radius. Fortunately, the other party seemed to be afraid and stopped shelling after destroying the iconic building.

A moment later, screams and cries for help brought Iwamatsu Yoshio back to reality.

At this time, he was full of fear. If it weren't for better observation of the battlefield, he would have moved to the roof of a building with higher terrain. The previous shot would definitely send him to see the locusts.

Looking at those French cannons, plowing his carefully prepared defensive positions over and over again, the old Japanese soldier still showed an exaggerated expression of disbelief.

Now he even began to doubt his previous ambitions. Facing such an intense attack, can the First Army really hold on for a month?

"Mr. Lieutenant General, except for the west side, all the fortifications around the city have been disconnected from the headquarters."

"According to the forecast of the Operations Staff, if the Eighth Route Army can maintain the current intensity of the bombardment, we will lose more than 80% of the fortifications in five minutes."

"Do you think we need the warriors to prepare for street fighting and destroy the equipment and finished products of major factories?"

As soon as these words came out, Iwamatsu Yoshio's face turned completely black.

It was expected that the front line would lose contact. After all, the enemy's artillery fire was so fierce that the telephone lines would be blown off no matter how deep they were buried.

What really made him angry was Hanaya Masaru in front of him.

As the chief of staff of the First Army, he was thinking about burning his boats just five minutes after the battle began. With his twenty-three years of experience in the army, he really had never seen such a weird senior commander.

If the words just now were said in front of the soldiers, I don't know how much morale would be lost.

But now there is no time to complain about the pig teammates. If the artillery of the Eighth Route Army cannot be countered in time, the next battle will not be fought. It would be better to commit suicide directly, at least without being tortured.

After glaring at Hanatani Masaru, Iwamatsu Yoshio ordered:

"Raise the observation balloon and look for the artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army. Remember to remind our artillery to move positions after each counterattack. The enemy must have detection methods, so be careful in everything."

"Let the remaining fighters and dive bombers attack, they know what they should do."

"Now is not the time to prepare for street fighting, we still have hope of holding on!"

"Hey!"

After the stupid chief of staff left, Iwamatsu Yoshio sighed helplessly. In previous wars, artillery observation balloons were the killer of the First Army.

The enemy's field troops had neither medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns, let alone fighters.

On the battlefield where air supremacy is controlled, there is no danger at all to use observation balloons, and our artillery can really hit wherever they point.

But now, the former killer has become a disposable consumable.

Wusu Airport was lost first, and the enemy's air force can attack at any time. The only remaining observation balloon will probably only last about ten minutes.

As for the remaining fighters and dive bombers, Iwamatsu Yoshio didn't feel bad at all.

Rather than being found by the enemy's observation posts, they were destroyed by artillery shells or bombs in the makeshift hangar.

It would be better to let the members of the Army Aviation launch a suicide attack to destroy several artillery positions before the opponent's air force enters the field.

"I hope Lieutenant General Gan Shigetaro and General Okamura Yasuji can help. Our First Army is really at the end of its rope."

"Pass my order and let Jia Gui, that rubbish, come out to patrol! Don't let the suspicious elements in the city make small moves, and strengthen the defense of major factories!"

······

In the city, Wenying Park.

This is the oldest park in Taiyuan. After 1938, the devils renamed it Xinmin Park. They destroyed many buildings and facilities in the park to make room for training new recruits.

At this time, nine devils in flight suits stood in front of a temporary remodeled apron. They each held a bowl of sake and were discussing tactics.

This attack was destined to be a one-way trip. This field airport could barely take off. But even the most skilled people could not guarantee a smooth landing.

"Gentlemen, I believe everyone already knows. Taiyuan is in danger, and North China is about to be out of the control of the brother country."

"Although we cannot influence the war situation, we can at least buy some time for Lieutenant General Iwamatsu Yoshio. Our mission in this battle is to destroy the artillery unit of the Eighth Route Army!"

"Drink the wine in your hand! Prepare to attack!"

As soon as these words came out, eight members of the Army Aviation wearing ointment flag scarves drank the sake in the bowl. Then they threw the bowl hard on the ground, their eyes full of fanaticism.

Ice + wine, boundless magic power.

While the ground crew was preparing the aircraft, the last major of the Army Aviation of the First Army began to tell a story.

"In 1934 and 1941, the evil Yuan Dynasty launched an invasion war against us."

"Fortunately, with the blessing of the Godly Heavenly Locust, a divine wind was raised on the sea to repel the Yuan army, which saved our country from the fate of being destroyed."

"Now, everyone is the wind of His Majesty the Heavenly Locust! I require one person, one plane, and one bomb to destroy at least five artillery positions! Do you understand?"

"Hi! Long live His Majesty the Heavenly Locust! Long live the great Japanese brother country!"

Amid the cheers of the Army Aviation, dozens of ground crews pushed three Type 97 fighters and six Type 97 single-light aircraft out of the hangar.

These nine are the last planes of the First Army. It was thanks to Iwamatsu Yoshio that he had a trick up his sleeve and abandoned the airport to dismantle the planes in advance. Otherwise, not even one could be assembled.

In the expectant eyes of the ground crew, the nine planes took off one after another in a Showa-style manner and flew towards the artillery positions of the Southern Group.

"Your plane is the last bomb. We can't return and can only perish with the enemy!"

I originally wanted to get more shells and bomb for half an hour.

But after calculating the weight, Miss 75 is too expensive. It's almost catching up with the European battlefield.