Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 168 We just stored the shells there in advance

Evening of April 4 – 25:16
Footsteps sounded in the tent. Wang Feng leaned back in his chair and barely opened his eyes. “Have you arranged all the baggage?”

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "They have all been distributed to each column."

Wang Feng asked: "What is the damage situation?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "The Japanese sent out multiple bomber crews throughout the day, bombing the supply line repeatedly, but fortunately we reacted in time and the damage to the baggage was not serious."

"Only some bullets and rifles were lost."

Wang Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

After the battle line was pushed to the outskirts of Dangshan City and a phased victory was achieved, his body could no longer hold on.

After five consecutive days of fighting, the total sleep time was less than 18 hours.

At the same time, you have to use your brain intensively, and even an iron man can't stand it.

Zhao Fangyuan was a little worried: "Sir, why don't you take a rest? I'll keep an eye on the front line."

Wang Feng shook his head and straightened up: "No! We must take over the county as soon as possible. We can't delay any longer!"

"Have you compiled the statistics on the seized supplies?"

Zhao Fangyuan hurriedly said, "The statistics have been completed."

"There are only some basic bullets, 6.5 rounds of mm Arisaka bullets, and Type rifles."

"There is not a single light or heavy machine gun, and there are only a few grenade launchers, and they are all damaged and can no longer be used."

Wang Feng stretched lazily: "This is normal."

"The Japanese army fought and retreated at the same time, and basically did not leave any high-value supplies behind."

"What about chemical weapons? Any clues?"

Zhao Fangyuan looked embarrassed and shook his head: "The Japanese are keeping it a secret very tightly. So far, no substantial evidence has been found that the Japanese army used chemical weapons."

Hearing this, Wang Feng felt a little disappointed.

What he wanted were physical evidence such as poison gas bombs and related military documents.

Although the Japanese army's use of chemical weapons was an open fact, everyone knew it.

However, it is not easy to accuse the Japanese Army in the international community or to make a fuss about the matter.

Only with both witnesses and physical evidence can the Japanese army and the British and American powers shut up completely.

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, given the temperament of the British and American powers, can they really condemn Japan for this matter?"

Wang Feng: "Of course not!"

As he spoke, he picked up the teacup and took a sip of the freshly brewed strong tea to refresh himself.

Zhao Fangyuan was even more confused: "Then why are we collecting this evidence?"

Wang Feng smiled and said, "Have you ever heard of the saying, give someone a taste of their own medicine?"

"We are collecting evidence of the Japanese army's use of chemical weapons not to kneel down and beg for help, hoping that Britain and the United States can put pressure on Japan on this matter."

"It is to prevent those foreigners from interfering in the future when tit-for-tat comes!"

The British and American powers are well known for their "double standards".

Especially the United States!
Wang Feng has been secretly on guard.

Although it was the American black ships that first knocked on Japan's door, during Japan's most humiliating twenty years, the United States was absent from the division and invasion of Japan due to the Civil War.

This led to Japan having a more favorable impression of the United States than the major powers such as Britain, France and Russia.

Moreover, in today's world, appeasement policy is prevalent.

The United States' attitude toward Japan's invasion of China can no longer be described as acquiescence.

If memory serves me correctly, Theodore Roosevelt supported Japan's further aggression against China after it annexed Korea.

Some even believe that the Yellow Sea coast is to Japan what the Caribbean Sea is to the United States.

Later, the Hoover administration claimed that Japan's invasion of China was to "protect overseas Chinese" and tacitly acknowledged the existence of the puppet state of Manchukuo.

Considering past events, no one can guarantee whose side the United States will stand on right now.

Zhao Fangyuan opened his mouth into an O shape, feeling very surprised: "Sir, that's a good idea!"

"Why can the Japs use it but we can't?"

"If you ask me, it would be best to throw the chemical weapons into the devil's hometown, into the bed of the devil's emperor!"

Wang Feng was stunned: "Stop!"

"Just think about this kind of thing in your heart, don't say it in public!"

Why are all my subordinates more hawkish than each other?
I remember when I was the commander of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, everyone was very honest.

Zhao Fangyuan responded: "Yes!"

Wang Feng put down his teacup and said, "Now we have to think of a way to get rid of the Japanese troops in the county as soon as possible."

Zhao Fangyuan thought for a moment and said, "Use heavy artillery?"

"Gather the artillery after dark and bombard him directly!"

Wang Feng: "No! This consumes too much ammunition!"

In terms of scale, Dangshan County is certainly not as large as Xuzhou and Kaifeng, but it is also an ancient city originating from the Qin Dynasty and one of the thirty-six counties.

The buildings in the city are densely packed, and if one wants to flatten them with heavy artillery, the current reserve of artillery shells simply cannot afford it.

Zhao Fangyuan was in a dilemma: "It would be great if I had a batch of ready-made poison gas bombs."

Upon hearing this, Wang Feng became excited.

Ready-made poison gas bombs?

I don’t have it at the moment, but the Japanese do!

Wang Feng: "Good idea! We can use poison gas to kill the Japanese troops in the city."

Zhao Fangyuan reacted immediately: "Detonate the poisonous gas in the city?"

Wang Feng: “That’s right!”

"Dangshan County is not big, but it is crammed with at least 10,000 Japanese soldiers. With such a high density and surrounded by walls, what do you think it looks like?"

Zhao Fangyuan scratched his head, not understanding: "What?"

Wang Feng hammered the table and said in a high voice: "It's like a huge gas chamber! The Japanese soldiers inside are just test subjects!"

Zhao Fangyuan was amazed: "The gas chamber is great!"

"After the Japanese soldiers inhale the poison gas, they will definitely flee outside the city. As long as we set up machine guns and block the city gates, we can take Dangshan without bloodshed!"

"Revenge for the people who died at the hands of the 16th Division!"

As he spoke, he looked up at Wang Feng and said, "Commander! I am willing to lead a small force into the city to find the enemy's chemical weapons storage site!"

The most difficult part of this plan is locking in the target.

As long as this task can be completed, the rest will not be a problem at all.

Wang Feng waved his hand: "Going into the city now is courting death!"

"The streets are full of Japanese soldiers, and there are machine guns at every alley. Forcing your way in now is like walking into a meat grinder!"

I have to say that the Japanese division commander on the opposite side is not very good at macro-strategy, but he is good at deploying street fighting defenses.

Zhao Fangyuan: "But, there are no coordinates. Where should the cannon be fired?"

Wang Feng: "The Japanese have long calculated that we will surround the city. As long as they still want to use chemical weapons, those poison canisters will still be in the city and cannot be moved out!"

"I'll study it first. You contact the artillery corps immediately and ask them to prepare in advance."

He was talking nonsense in a serious manner, but in fact he was ready to switch his consciousness to the bird's-eye view at any time.

Zhao Fangyuan was quite interested. He put his heels together and saluted: "Yes!"

From a bird's-eye view.

Wang Feng searched for chemical weapons bit by bit according to the instructions on the military sign.

He was certain that the poison gas bombs were still in the city.

In fact, it is not difficult to see from the defense situation that the Japs are very likely to want to use chemical weapons in the city.

In the county, the Japanese army blew up many buildings and built three lines of defense, with wide buffer zones between each line. The functions of the three-dimensional map are very comprehensive.

It can not only display the trends of mountains and rivers, contour lines, isotherms, but also high and low air pressure and air convection maps.

By changing the layout of buildings, the Japanese army created a strong narrow tube effect in each buffer zone.

Although the wind was weak, it was enough to prevent the poison gas from spreading to our position.

This shows that the Japanese technical soldiers are quite capable.

This is just the first line of insurance and has little effect, but it can clearly show the tactical intention.

In addition, Wang Feng also discovered that the Japanese soldiers on the first and second lines of defense were equipped with some gas masks.

This thing is not the regular individual equipment of the Japanese army. It is usually kept by the logistics corps and will only be temporarily deployed when needed.

“So scattered?”

Wang Feng marked a few coordinates and began to murmur in his heart.

At the same time, I felt a little scared.

Fortunately, I didn't rush into the city, otherwise I would have suffered a great loss.

The poison gas bombs have been equipped to the front-line artillery and seem ready to be fired at any time.

"It doesn't matter if it's scattered, the poison gas can spread over a wider range!" Wang Feng smiled and kept adjusting the view, trying not to miss any target.

------

4 month 25 day.

21:00 in the evening.

The artillery is ready.

Ordinary artillery shells are not missiles and cannot be precisely guided.

Even if there are accurate shooting coordinates, the final landing point of the shell may deviate by several meters or even dozens of meters due to various reasons.

The poison gas bombs are scattered and not piled up in a continuous area.

The slightest gap may lead to the failure of the operation.

The Japs are not stupid. If a shell lands nearby, they will definitely move the chemical weapons as soon as possible.

The same target can only be launched once, and there is rarely a second chance.

As the saying goes, what you lack in accuracy, you make up for in quantity. In addition to the more than 20 heavy artillery pieces of the artillery column, artillery battalions from each column also participated in the attack.

Zheng Zhenzhong looked down at the time and said, "It's OK!"

The flag bearer received the message and immediately raised the signal flag in his hand: "First artillery group, take your positions!"

"three!"

"two!"

"one!"

"put!"

"boom--!"

The deafening roar of artillery fire echoed throughout the wilderness. Three Type 105 mm howitzers opened fire. The huge recoil caused the gun body to shake, raising billowing dust.

"Second artillery group, take your positions!"

Another flag bearer blew a whistle and took the starting baton.

------

Inside the city.

The Japanese soldiers, who were well-rested and waiting for the opportunity, hid behind the bunker. Just as they were drowsy, a muffled sound came from their ears.

"Nani? What's that sound?"

"It's the Chinese army firing! Get ready for battle!"

There were few trees on the field. More than 105 howitzers of 75mm and above and mm field guns opened fire almost at the same time, and the sound was easily transmitted into the city.

"idiot!"

"Defense! Defense!"

The Japanese soldiers reacted quickly and entered combat status as soon as the artillery fire sounded.

The sound of explosions came into my ears, one after another, endlessly.

"General attack!"

"The Chinese have launched a general offensive!"

The Japanese officer shouted hastily. He could not think of any other reason for such a large-scale bombardment except a general attack.

If you look down from a high altitude, you will find that the entire Dangshan County is now mostly covered by the flames and smoke produced by the explosion.

Wang Feng picked up the phone and said, "Don't stop the shelling! Keep firing!"

It is not easy to make a poison gas bomb explode.

What he can think of, Japanese engineers can also think of.

The principle of poison gas bombs is very simple. In order to ensure safety, most poison gases are solid at room temperature and will not spread toxicity.

The gunpowder is ignited the moment the shell hits the ground, the warhead heats up rapidly, and the solid poison gas vaporizes under high temperature and evaporates.

This results in a very small amount of gunpowder actually loaded in the entire projectile, except for the propellant at the bottom.

Multiple rounds of bombardment are necessary to increase the efficiency of the sympathetic detonation.

From a bird's-eye view.

Wang Feng operated the system panel and rendered the poisonous gas in color to distinguish it from the original smoke.

Zoom in.

Clouds of green smoke were rising from several positions.

The Japanese soldiers, realizing something was wrong, began to riot and scrambled to grab gas masks.

"idiot!"

"That's mine! Give it to me now!"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The Japanese soldier who inhaled the red agent coughed violently, and in just ten seconds he was unable to speak, twisting and struggling on the ground.

Seeing this scene, Wang Feng's mouth corners slightly raised.

This is the effect you want!

The Japanese army's logistical preparations were not particularly sufficient, and not enough gas masks were available for each person.

After observing several positions in succession, Wang Feng made a bold guess.

A Type A division with a full strength of 8000 people was actually equipped with only 9000 to sets of gas masks.

More and more Japanese soldiers were poisoned and fell to the ground, struggling in pain, their faces red from coughing, as if their internal organs were about to burst out in the next second.

"Eight"

"Cough-cough-!"

Some Japanese soldiers couldn't stand the pain in their throats, so they put their hands in their throats and scratched them.

There is no point in doing this, it will only bring out a pool of unknown semi-turbid liquid.

The shelling continued.

The rapid-fire artillery showed its advantage, and Wang Feng was no longer stingy. He pulled all the shells to the position, hoping to defeat the 16th Division in one fell swoop.

Within the viewing angle.

The Japanese field artillery regiment reacted and wanted to fight back, but it was pitch dark and their means of measurement were limited.

I can only stand by and worry.

(End of this chapter)