northernbook Chapter 542: Battle of Jinzhou (6)
Chapter 542: Battle of Jinzhou (6)
Jinzhou Outskirts,
On an open plain,
Heavy trucks carrying large-caliber howitzers stopped one after another, and the artillerymen quickly jumped off the vehicles and began to unload the heavy artillery parts in an orderly manner. They shouted short and powerful slogans and worked together to unload the heavy artillery parts from the vehicles!
The assemblers skillfully put together some accessories of the artillery. Wrenches, screwdrivers and other tools flew quickly in their hands, and the sound of metal collision could be heard one after another.
The ammunition transport team was also busy as boxes of ammunition were carefully moved to designated locations and neatly placed.
The commanders observed the entire deployment process calmly and calmly, and issued clear and decisive instructions through the walkie-talkie from time to time.
The entire position was filled with a tense and serious atmosphere. Everyone was aware of the responsibilities they shouldered and was fully prepared for the upcoming battle.
This time, all three artillery divisions of the East China Field Army Artillery Corps were pulled over!
They brought a total of
39 150mm heavy guns,
438 105mm howitzers!
105% of these American howitzers are standard artillery produced by the Mulan Arsenal.
In addition to the 105mm howitzers and 75mm mountain guns captured by each column,
This time, the East China Field Army prepared more than 1100 artillery pieces to attack Jinzhou!
The commander of the 1st Artillery Division, Da Niu, was holding a walkie-talkie and yelling,
"Xia Qiang! Get all the observation teams in place and start measuring! Use the skills you learned in the training at Jingbo Lake. I want the results in an hour!"
What’s quite interesting about the entire artillery column is that more than half of the officers and technical arms above the battalion level came from the Jingpo Lake training class, which resulted in many people in the artillery column being seniors or juniors to each other!
North of the city,
Ding Shan and others held up binoculars and looked at the water distribution tank heights in front of them. The mission assigned to the 1st Combat Group was to cooperate with the 3th Division of the 7rd Column to attack and annihilate the enemy forces here!
The water distribution pool is a product left over from the puppet Manchukuo period. The entire fortification is made of reinforced concrete. It is only 1 km away from Jinzhou City and built on a high ground. It is a typical enemy that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. In addition, Chiang Kai-shek's army also built 14 bunkers around the water distribution pool, which rely on the main building of the water distribution pool, and there are almost no blind spots in the firepower coverage.
In addition, there were trenches dug by Chiang Kai-shek's army between the bunkers. The bunkers were connected to each other. If one bunker was attacked, the other bunkers could provide support at any time. If one bunker was breached, the enemies inside could immediately move to other bunkers with their weapons and continue to fight against our army.
Start at 9: a.m.
Several green flares flew into the sky.
The battle to attack Jinzhou officially began!
The 24 150mm self-propelled howitzers and 2 10-tube rocket launchers of the armored artillery regiment under Ding Shan immediately launched a fierce artillery attack on the water distribution tank heights!
The whole Jinzhou was surrounded by the rumbling sound of artillery fire. The artillery columns concentrated their fire on targets such as the Big and Small Zijing Mountains, Baiguantun, Beidaying, Songshan, Daling, Hanwangdian Mountain, Nanshan, and the synthetic fuel plant outside Jinzhou!
Two reconnaissance planes also flew over Jinzhou and began to provide guidance and calibration for the artillery units!
An hour later, when the shelling from all sides gradually subsided, the shelling of the water distribution tank on Dingshan's side was still going on fiercely. This time, even the assault guns of the two armored regiments drove to the front of the water distribution tank and joined the shelling!
Ding Shan now has no concept of saving in material consumption. He has only one thought: how to achieve the goal with the least casualties!
The entire bombardment lasted for an hour and a half, and all the positions and fortifications on the surface of the water distribution tank hill were completely destroyed.
Led by the assault guns and armored vehicles of the 1st Battle Group, the 3th Division of the 7rd Column divided into three groups and launched an attack from three directions simultaneously!
Most of the enemy's surface fortifications were destroyed, but there were still a large number of bunkers and hidden firing points. Therefore, when the attacking troops attacked, they were still intercepted by the enemy's firepower!
Fortunately, the assault guns and armored vehicles in front blocked most of the bullets.
The Type 3 assault guns began to clear these bunkers one by one, so the pace of their attack was relatively slow. After more than three hours, they finally advanced to the highest point, in front of the water distribution tank factory!
This is actually the place where tap water is supplied to the entire Jinzhou!
When Zhao Yuan, the commander of the 20st Battalion of the 1th Regiment, led his troops to the front, he saw that many parts of the four-story reinforced concrete factory building had collapsed due to the bombardment.
There were a few large characters written in white on one wall.
"The distribution pool is the second Verdun!"
He couldn't help but spit.
These defenders are so blindly confident!
As the terrain here is high and there is a big drop from the ground below, assault guns and armored vehicles can no longer drive up.
Zhao Yuan led his troops into a trench outside.
After the soldiers threw out a row of grenades,
As the charge horn sounded,
The soldiers immediately jumped out of the trenches like little tigers and rushed towards the factory area.
Bullets flew in like raindrops, and the density was extremely high. In just a few minutes, nearly a hundred soldiers fell!
Zhao Yuan picked up the telescope and looked through. Wow,
There are actually several semi-sunken bunkers in the factory area! Each bunker has two firing holes, which can be used for cross-cover shooting!
Moreover, these bunkers look very solid and should be very thick on top. You can clearly see the craters left by the explosion of 150mm artillery shells!
The key is to rush to the bunker and pass through an open area more than 100 meters long!
Zhao Yuan looked at the No. 3 assault gun below the high ground and couldn't help but sigh. If the No. 3 assault gun could be driven up, it could at least block the firing hole!
At this moment, the correspondent following behind said,
"The leader has given orders!"
As he said that, he handed over the microphone of the walkie-talkie!
The walkie-talkies supplied by Mulan Special Zone have now been distributed to infantry battalion-level and artillery company-level units. Due to their convenient and fast communication, they are also deeply loved by frontline officers and soldiers!
In the microphone, the regiment commander briefly asked about the situation and immediately asked Zhao Yuan to wait for reinforcements.
At this point,
Suddenly, hundreds of enemy soldiers rushed out of the factory and launched a counterattack towards Zhao Yuan and his men’s trenches!
Fortunately, Zhao Yuan called for artillery support in time using a walkie-talkie. The artillery beat the enemy hard and drove them back.
Zhao Yuan was also somewhat puzzled.
Even after being bombarded by large-caliber artillery for such a long time, so many people were still able to escape. There must be a secret passage under the water distribution tank where they can hide!
Not long after, a group of people suddenly came from behind. Zhao Yuan turned around and saw dozens of soldiers from the 1st combat group also rushing over!
It turned out that the commander of the 1st Armored Regiment, Tang Junping, heard the situation reported by Zhao Yuan on the walkie-talkie and quickly sent reinforcements!
After listening to Zhao Yuan’s introduction of the situation, the leading officer immediately turned around and gave a few instructions!
Then, they concentrated more than ten machine guns, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers to suppress the firepower of the bunker.
Two soldiers quickly jumped out of the trench, carrying bulging backpacks on their backs.
Unfortunately, I didn't run more than a few dozen meters.
Two soldiers were hit by bullets.
In an instant, a huge flame soared into the sky, mercilessly engulfing the two warriors. In the raging fire, the two could be seen twisting and rolling on the ground in pain!
Black smoke from the fire also rose from the sky, blocking a lot of vision!
Then another soldier jumped out of the trench. With the cover of black smoke and his flexible movement, he finally approached the first bunker. He reached into his bag and took out a Molotov cocktail. After lighting it with a lighter, he threw it directly into the firing hole of the first bunker!
In an instant, a ball of hot and violent flame suddenly burst out, like a prehistoric beast breaking free from its restraints, madly devouring everything in the bunker.
Speaking of fire attack, this is Ding Shan's strong point. They have done this kind of thing many times in the past when following Yin Xinjun.
Especially when dealing with this kind of fortress, the most effective method is fire attack!
The soldiers threw Molotov cocktails into the bunker one by one. They could see black smoke coming out of the ruins of the building behind, which clearly showed that there was a passage connecting them!
In the ruins, there were occasional sounds of machine gun resistance, but they were becoming increasingly sparse. The soldiers used rocket launchers and Molotov cocktails to continuously clear every building, and a raging fire broke out on the entire high ground!
The battle lasted until about seven in the evening.
The water distribution tank heights finally fell into the hands of the East China Field Army!