Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 624 is about heavy howitzers!

On the hilltop, there were five sniper teams, each consisting of two people: a spotter and a shooter.

Originally, the Japanese sniper team consisted of one person, but after training by the special forces sent by Yamamoto Ichiki, they all became two people.

The observers used Zeiss binoculars, which had a much better field of view than the Japanese binoculars and also had some night vision capabilities.

The shooter used a Type 97 sniper rifle, equipped with a 2.5x magnification scope and a monopod made of thick iron wire.

The advantages of this sniper rifle are its high accuracy and the almost invisible muzzle flash during firing. At night, the flames emitted by the Type 97 sniper rifle cannot be seen, and during the day, no white smoke or dust can be seen from its muzzle.

However, this does not mean that Japanese snipers were invincible. Japanese snipers often did not change their shooting positions and would rigidly stick to the same position until they were killed.

Furthermore, thanks to Yamamoto Ichiki's tactical improvements, the attack efficiency of two-person sniper teams on the Japanese front lines was greatly enhanced.

A Japanese bunker with two Type 2 heavy machine guns, plus five Japanese sniper teams, directly suppressed the Third Company of the Eighth Battalion, leaving them trapped halfway up the mountain.

On the mountaintop, a Japanese sniper position.

"Damn it, the Eighth Route Army has all gone into hiding."

"Observer Saburo Nagai said in a low voice."

"As a sniper, you must remain calm and wait for the enemy to reveal a weakness."

"The marksman, Warrant Officer Miike Akira, said coldly."

"Hi."

"Nagai Saburo said in a low voice."

Akira Miike was a veteran of the 10th Division who was re-enlisted after his discharge and became a deputy squad leader in the 110th Division.

Compared to young men like Saburo Nagai, who were brainwashed by the Bushido spirit, retired veterans like Akira Miike actually didn't want to go to the battlefield.

The reason is simple: after retiring, he got married and had children.

Having experienced the comforts of a warm home with a wife and children, who would want to go to the battlefield and die?
However, things didn't go as planned. Not only was he a good marksman, but he also had the ability to lead troops. His name appeared in every one of the twelve volumes of military books.

A few days ago, members of Yamamoto's special forces came to the 110th Division to provide guidance on training.

Five sniper teams were selected and trained by the 5th Infantry Battalion. Miike Akira was appointed as the sniper team leader because of his excellent marksmanship and his position as deputy squad leader. Including the two of them, there were a total of five sniper teams under his command.

In just a few minutes, these five sniper teams successfully killed more than a dozen Eighth Route Army soldiers.

However, the Eighth Route Army discovered their approximate location and quickly sought cover to hide.

At first, the Eighth Route Army set up machine guns and rocket launchers to fire in their direction, but after several more were sniped, they now dare not even show their heads.

"Damn it! If only there were artillery units right now, it would be great to fire a barrage at the Eighth Route Army's hiding place!"

Saburo Nagai kept talking.

Lieutenant Commander Miike Akira: "Shut up!"

"Yes, sir." Nagai Saburo chuckled and then added, "The Eighth Route Army will definitely retreat soon, so we must shoot down five more of them, otherwise the other sniper teams will steal all the credit..."

At this point, Nagai Saburo quickly shut his mouth, seeing Miike Akira pull out the Nambu Type 14 pistol.

Just then, a faint, sharp whistling sound rang out in the sky, growing louder as it approached.

"The Eighth Route Army has begun shelling!"

Both Japanese soldiers' expressions hardened.

But they weren't too scared, because they felt that the Eighth Route Army's shells weren't aimed at them.

However, it backfired.

The next second, Warrant Officer Miike Akira's expression changed drastically. As a veteran and elite soldier who had been through countless battles, he was naturally able to predict the approximate point of impact of the shell.

"Boom!"

A shell landed near another sniper team, creating a massive explosion that sent dirt, rocks, and shrapnel flying hundreds of meters away. The entire hilltop shook and trembled violently.

After the explosion, a large crater was left at the point of impact, and the sniper team had vanished without a trace.

“This is a heavy howitzer with a caliber of over 200 mm!” Saburo Nagai’s expression changed drastically, and he immediately shook his head and said, “But it must have missed.”

In his view, a heavy howitzer of this caliber could not possibly be used to shell snipers.

If the Japanese Type 4 and 5 240mm howitzers were used to target Eighth Route Army snipers, the Japanese commander who issued the order would certainly have been executed.

Both Japanese soldiers believed that the Eighth Route Army was shelling the bunker below the mountain, but had likely missed.

Therefore, neither of the two Japanese soldiers had any intention of moving their sniping positions.

But the next second, the two Japanese soldiers' expressions changed drastically again, because a sharp whistling sound rang out in the sky again, and this time the whistling sound was loud and continuous, obviously more than one shell.

The point of impact is their location.

"Nani?"

The expressions on the two Japanese soldiers' faces changed drastically.

……

On top of another mountain.

Commander Yoshitaro Hayashi and Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Yamauchi were also observing the battle situation.

"Brigade Commander, it seems that Colonel Yamamoto's new tactics are indeed effective," Lieutenant Colonel Yamauchi said.

“That’s right.” Hayashi Yoshitaro nodded. “Yamamoto-kun’s new tactics are indeed useful, but Yamamoto Ichiki is too arrogant.”

"Furthermore, his sniper tactics theory is only useful; it's completely ineffective in special operations."

"In large-scale operations like this, it is impossible to change the course of the battle with a small elite force of only a few dozen or a hundred people."

“What the brigade commander says is quite right,” Lieutenant Colonel Yamauchi said. “However, I think we can change our tactics.”

"You mean," Lin Fangtaro's expression shifted, "to assemble a large number of sniper teams, ambush them on the hilltops of Niangziguan Fortress, and use sniper tactics to eliminate the Eighth Route Army's manpower and machine gunners?"

"Your Excellency the Brigade Commander is wise." Lieutenant Colonel Yamauchi nodded and said, "That's right! Although our 108th Brigade doesn't have a large number of Type 97 sniper rifles, we have quite a few sharpshooters. They are all veterans and elites who were re-enlisted after retiring from the 10th Division. They can hit any target within 300 meters and have a high hit rate at 400 meters. In terms of marksmanship, even the Eighth Route Army can't compare to the elite veterans of the Loess Army."

"Then let's issue the orders and make arrangements later," Major General Lin Fang nodded.

Just then, a huge explosion came from the opposite hilltop, and the two old Japanese soldiers raised their binoculars to look.

"It's a heavy howitzer!"

The two old Japanese soldiers' expressions changed; the Eighth Route Army's heavy howitzers hadn't fired for two days.

They thought the Eighth Route Army's heavy howitzers had run out of ammunition.

"It seems the Eighth Route Army is shelling our snipers with heavy howitzers."

Lieutenant Colonel Yamauchi felt a chill run down his spine.

Then, a dozen heavy artillery shells and dozens of ordinary artillery shells rained down, directly covering the area where the sniper was located.

"idiot."

"Is it really necessary to use more than a dozen heavy howitzer shells and dozens of 150mm high-explosive shells to deal with just a few snipers?"

Major General Yoshitaro Hayashi let out an angry roar.

After a barrage of artillery fire, the area where the five sniper teams were located was completely destroyed.

No need to look, all five sniper teams are definitely wiped out, not even a single intact part can be found.

"Brigade Commander," Lieutenant Colonel Yamauchi asked in a low voice, his face grim, "are we still going to form a large number of sniper teams to carry out sniping tactics against the Eighth Route Army?"

(End of this chapter)