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The Japanese never expected that the troops at Meidongshan would break through the defense line and attack Linfen at such a fast speed. So even though the two infantry regiments gathered urgently, when they just left the city gate, the five most important towns outside Linfen, including Chakou, had been occupied by the 5th and 666th Regiments.

Linfen is different from Pu County. The former is located in the Linfen Basin, with plains and open areas covering 30 kilometers from east to west, not to mention the north and south.

Under such terrain, the 702 walkie-talkie perfectly demonstrated its advantages, and the distortion rate was very low when running through Linfen from east to west.

Combined with the L6 mortars with a range of nearly 16 kilometers, the mountain artillery battalion captured several positions with almost zero casualties without firing a single shot!

The Japs had lost their artillery regiment and were left with only a few guns belonging to the regiment. They were no match for the Japanese in terms of range or power, not to mention numbers.

Helplessly, the Japs could only adjust their troops and start the battle for the position with an infantry charge!

Due to the blurred vision at night, the artillery observers and infantry squad members were unable to confirm the enemy's exact coordinates. However, the mortar soldiers had already prepared tracer bullets and flares, and they calibrated after each firing, destroying several waves of enemy attacks in a short period of time.

The Japanese suffered heavy losses and simply stopped attacking. They started guarding the city walls, purchased temporary fortifications outside the city walls of Linfen, and sent troops to try to block the Fen River, thereby cutting off the retreat of the 666th and 667th Regiments!

However, the Japanese miscalculated again. They did not know that the 176th Division also had Hongyan CQ261 heavy trucks. Not to mention that you do not have the ability to blockade it, even if you do, each regiment has 40 fully loaded trucks of supplies, which are enough to support the troops' extravagance for 10 days.

If you use it sparingly, you can easily last a month.

Most of the ammunition was loaded in more than 100 Unimog trucks, and the Hongyan trucks were only loaded with emergency reserve ammunition and daily necessities needed for the troops' march.

For example, various homemade dried meats, fresh vegetables, cotton-padded clothes and quilts, tents, etc.!

People in the kitchen can even chat while cooking next to the car!

"Oh, the Japanese are scared and are hiding in the city and dare not come out! Communicator, tell the mountain artillery battalion to pull the muzzle down to the lowest point and aim at the Japanese outside the enemy city wall to cover the firepower. I want to prevent them from even building temporary fortifications!

Oh, and don’t forget to fire a few shots at the city walls occasionally. You have to do your job well!”

Liu Quanhua fought more fiercely than anyone else. Now that the Japs were no longer charging, his own troops could not really rush up to attack the city. Moreover, even if they wanted to attack the city, the mountain artillery was not powerful enough.

Linfen is an important city with high and thick walls. It is not like some small counties where even intensive bombardment from mountain artillery can make a hole in it.

The combat effectiveness of the two regiments under his command was so strong that the time it took to break through several Japanese fortifications was twice as fast as expected, so that now the various units have surrounded Linfen in a short time, and then have nothing to do.

Although the Japanese military is strong, only a very small number of their troops can achieve semi-mechanization, that is, outdated trucks and mules and horses. Although their mobility is far superior to that of the Tang Dynasty army, it is not at the same level as the current 176th Division.

Therefore, the fastest support from the Japanese will not arrive until after dawn!

Someone once said that the truth in this world lies only in the range of artillery.

The initial velocity of the No. 3 charge shell of the Bofors mountain gun is 400 meters per second. When the elevation and depression angles are around 45 degrees, the maximum range can reach 9 kilometers, but this is not when the artillery is most powerful.

The most terrifying thing is to control the shooting angle between 20 and 30 degrees and fire in a nearly flat manner. That is terrifying. Although the caliber is only 75 mm, if armor-piercing shells are used, it can be used as an anti-tank gun.

Liu Quanhua was bored and wanted to fight but couldn't, which made him very conflicted.

However, this artillery fire must be carried out to let the Japanese know that the main force of the 176th Division has arrived, so that the Japanese can send more support troops.

Since the 176th Division entered Shanxi Province, from the first feint attack on Yuxiang where the troops were split into small pieces and infiltrated behind enemy lines, to the several battles against Zhaozhuang and the Battle of Meidongshan, the troops have attracted a certain amount of hatred from the devils. Adding all of this together, the devils will definitely take this opportunity to "take revenge".

Considering the importance of Linfen, the Japanese will definitely take vigorous action.

...

Soon, Liu Quanhua's order was passed to various troops, and the artillery battalion was divided into artillery companies to follow the infantry battalions or companies to fight.

A few minutes later, the artillery companies mainly located in five important fortifications such as Gaohedian opened fire at the same time. Because they were using tracer bullets, and the mortars fired flares from time to time, the area around Linfen became as bright as day, and all the actions of the Japanese were exposed to the eyes of the 5th Brigade.

Boom boom boom...

Countless shells fell within 3 kilometers outside the city wall, and a few shells hit the city wall, leaving traces of gunpowder explosion.

"Your Excellency, the brigade commander, we have confirmed the enemy's artillery fire. It is most likely the Tang army on Meidong Mountain. The artillery fire is too fierce. We can't resist it. Please withdraw to the city and rely on the city wall for defense!"

Katsumi Okamura shouted into the phone. He was facing the three main firepower points of the 176th Division, and the pressure was much greater than that of Yasuhei Maruoka outside the south wall of Linfen.

Based on the density of the artillery shells, he had already guessed that the 176th Division had about 30 guns, and the South Gate should have about the same number, so he quickly confirmed the identity of the 176th Division.

The artillery fire had been going on for nearly half an hour. Although the intensity was high only in the first few minutes and slowed down a lot afterwards, his men had already lost more than a thousand men. He used his body to block the artillery fire, which clearly showed that he was not that smart!

Akiyama Okisaburo's words came from the other end of the phone: "I already know, Maruoka-kun has also told me the same request, you stay behind the gate of the city with heavy firepower, and the rest of you retreat back to the city.

I have informed General Yoshio Shinozuka of the situation here. The general takes it very seriously and has already dispatched support. Taihara's troops have also been dispatched and are coming by train to support us. As long as we can hold out until tomorrow noon, all difficulties will be resolved.

Remember, you must hold on!"

After he finished speaking, the phone was hung up.

Okamura Katsumi was helpless and could only curse a few times. He also knew that the brigade commander had no other choice. Apart from defending the city walls and waiting for support, any other actions would be useless. As long as they moved, the losses would increase infinitely.

"Order the troops, except for the artillery squadron and the machine gun squadron that will defend the city gate, all others will retreat to the city wall and open fire. We must stop the enemy from attacking the city!"