The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 228 Xu Jin's barrage easily breaks through the enemy's first-line position

As Zhang Chi's orders were passed down to the troops step by step, the atmosphere on the entire battlefield changed dramatically in an instant.

步兵第1、第3、第5和第6师所属的四个榴弹炮团144门M2 105mm榴弹炮，外加炮兵第 103 旅和机动炮兵第 101 旅共72门155mm榴弹炮，108门105mm榴弹炮，共计300多门的100mm以上口径重炮。

The gathering of so many heavy artillery pieces was like the calm before the storm, foreshadowing the coming of a bloody frenzy that would shake the earth.

"Using our artillery position A as the reference point, azimuth 335, distance, enemy pre-set position, grenades, instantaneous fuse, 5 rounds rapid fire, ready!"

The coordinates of the Japanese positions were already well known by heart, but the trained artillery staff still performed some calculations on paper in front of the map, and then reported the first set of shooting parameters.

"Fire!"

Following an order, the artillery commander's "Mountain Cannon" disciples began to bombard the four pre-selected breakthrough points and their depth on the Japanese front line.

On the battlefield, towed artillery and self-propelled artillery fired alternately, and the artillerymen swung their arms around like crazy, stuffing high-explosive grenades into the breech blocks one after another.

Each high-explosive bomb carried destruction and the breath of death as it flew towards the Japanese position.

The burning tails of the shells left trails of smoke and drew arcs of death in the air.

With each launch, the deafening roar made the air on the entire battlefield heavy, as if even the ground was shaking violently.

"Basic firing direction remains unchanged, distance increased by 50, 5 rapid-fire shots, fire!"

As new orders were given, the gun crews turned the handwheel, raised the muzzle, and continued firing.

The artillery fire was like a tide, and the barrage of bullets covered the entire battlefield. The suffocating firepower rolled like a sea of ​​fire.

Whether it was the dense rainforest or the devil's carefully laid out positions, everything was destroyed by the ruthless firepower.

Xu Jin's barrage was so powerful and deadly that for a moment, the battlefield was shaken to its core.

The moment the shells landed, the battlefield was filled with dull noises and violent vibrations.

Rows of artillery shells fell one after another, gradually extending to the rear of the Japanese positions. Wherever the shells passed, the ground seemed to have been plowed, turning up pieces of soil and gravel, as if the gates of hell were quietly opening.

The artillerymen's movements were almost mechanical, the shells were quickly stuffed into the barrel and then fired again with almost no interval.

After the artillery was fired, the thick empty brass shells were ejected from the barrel while emitting hot steam and were piled haphazardly on the ground.

In the distance, the ammunition boxes placed in the bunker were piled with heavy shells. The soldiers, sweating profusely, passed the shells to the gun positions and continued firing.

For this battle, Zhang Chi took out all his family assets and prepared more than 500 rounds of artillery shells for each heavy artillery in advance so that these artillery pieces could fire at will.

However, even so, the Japanese did not surrender easily.

Even amidst the overwhelming barrage of Xu Jin's attacks, there were still some tenacious devils trying to fight back.

After the barrage of bullets passed their position, they pulled up the infantry guns, mountain guns and other light artillery buried underground to continue fighting and resist stubbornly.

Although they were almost suffocated by the heavy bombardment, they still stubbornly looked for opportunities to open fire.

Due to the obstruction of terrain and trees, these lightweight artillery pieces can often fire multiple times from a good shooting concealment point until they have caused considerable casualties to the attacking Anmin Army, and then they will move or be destroyed by the Anmin Army's artillery and tanks.

However, now, after the first generation of RPGs and Type 88 rifles were mass-produced and equipped to the infantry, these Japanese artillery pieces no longer had the opportunity to run rampant.

The two additional 88mm recoilless gun teams assigned to each infantry platoon have a range of nearly 1.5 km and a total weight of more than 30 kilograms, which means that the Anmin Army has weapons similar to the Japanese Type 2 infantry gun at the infantry platoon level, and its mobility is even greater than the latter.

The Type 88 rifle teams, leaping between trenches and bomb craters, could often easily use anti-personnel grenades or high-explosive grenades embedded with 850 steel balls to blow up the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine guns or infantry guns that they thought were safe, and beat the Japanese operating the weapons into a bloody mess.

The first generation of 50mm super-caliber RPG (launching steel tube caliber 50mm, rocket warhead caliber 150mm) shaped like an "iron fist" (pictured in the author's description) made the Anmin Army enter an era where "everyone has a gun."

After adding rocket propulsion capability to the warhead, the range of the Anmin Army's first-generation RPG far exceeded the 30M of Hans Panzerfaust, reaching 150M.

The RPGs, originally intended to be equipped with two per infantry squad, were widely praised after being issued.

Compared to the White Eagle MKII egg-shaped grenade, which has a charge of only 57g of TNT and a throwing distance of less than 100 meters, the first-generation RPG's high-explosive warhead has a charge of 800g of TNT and a longer range, making it the most reliable explosive weapon in the hands of individual infantry soldiers.

Therefore, as long as the soldiers have the ability to carry extra weight, they are willing to carry a "tube" on their backs.

As soon as the full-scale offensive began, the Japanese soldiers on the front line who had just survived Xu Jin's barrage of bullets found themselves in trouble.

The Japanese discovered that as soon as the Anmin Army, which was arranged in an inverted triangle formation and rushed forward, got close to a certain distance, they would immediately find cover and lie down. Then a group of black, round-headed and round-brained things would rush into the Japanese trenches or machine gun bunkers with long tails of smoke.

Crazy explosions, flying steel balls and fragments, countless Japanese soldiers disappeared in the smoke and flames in an instant.

Of course, a full-scale offensive is no longer a small-scale fight like "cold guns and cold cannons". This time, the Japanese have fully witnessed the power of "individual cannons".

The mountain artillery that tried to block the charge of the Anmin Army by direct fire was the focus of attention. As soon as they opened fire, they would be immediately subjected to concentrated fire from the 60mm mortars, Type 88 rifles, and RPGs in the hands of the Anmin Army infantry.

The poor Japanese mountain artillery crew often only had time to let out a few panicked shouts before they were blown to pieces, with flying steel balls and shrapnel hitting their bodies like a rainstorm.

Amidst the explosions, one louder than the other, the mountain artillery crew collectively ascended into the sky to meet their Aunt Amaterasu.

-----

"Three of the four pre-selected breakthrough points have been breached?" Zhang Chi, who was in charge of the central army, was overjoyed after receiving the report from Qi Quan at the front line.

"Okay, then you must immediately deploy the reserve forces, expand the breakthrough point, and split the remaining Japanese troops horizontally and crosswise!"

Three breaches appeared on the nearly 100-kilometer-long front of the salient. As long as infantry were continuously deployed and the Japanese troops still on the front line were attacked horizontally along the breaches, the Japanese defense line could be completely shaken.

However, there were at least 2 Japanese soldiers along the entire front line. Even if they were divided and surrounded, it would take a lot of time to eliminate them one by one because they would often resist to the last soldier. Therefore, Zhang Chi also issued a second order:

"Notify the 11th and 13th Motorized Brigades that it's time for them to move out."