Blood-Red Front

The nighttime bombing had a significant impact on the Rising Army, but it did not delay their advance.

After daybreak, the 14th Brigade continued to advance, and the vanguard also continued to advance from Moling Pass.

On the hilltop position of the 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment of Niutou Mountain, Lin Zhiyuan kept his binoculars up.

"The enemy has appeared," Lin Zhiyuan suddenly said.

"Where?" Ma Daxi also raised his binoculars and looked in the direction Lin Zhiyuan was observing.

However, although both of them used the same 8x scope, Ma Daxi saw nothing.

"The enemy is 3 kilometers away, crossing from the east side of Jingshan in a state of alert. They may be coming from Moling."

Under Lin Zhiyuan's guidance, Ma Daxi finally spotted a patch of moving earthy yellow.

"Sir, everyone says you have sharp eyes. Compared to the color of the ground, the uniforms of the newly promoted soldiers are not conspicuous at all, but you were able to spot them at a glance." Ma Daxi gave a thumbs up.

"Stop talking nonsense, take over the mountain artillery battalion and prepare for shelling."

"Fire now? There don't seem to be many people on the other side."

"There are only a few enemies, but they must have a large force behind them. I plan to make some contact with the newly risen army."

On Lin Zhiyuan's minimap, the vanguard of the newly promoted army had already appeared, but they were also very careful and did not expose themselves easily.

But no matter how the newly promoted soldiers hid, Lin Zhiyuan could see them clearly through the mini-map.

Beside him, Wang Xiaoliu had already taken out the coordinate map of the mountain artillery battalion from his map bag and spread it on the table.

Referring to the miniature map, Lin Zhiyuan drew a circle on the artillery map.

"From this position, no need for test firing, the entire battalion fires a volley."

No veteran of the 6th Regiment could help but admire Lin Zhiyuan's judgment, so Ma Daxi did not hesitate and immediately reported the location to the artillery battalion.

A moment later, Lin Zhiyuan heard the sound of cannons coming from behind.

"Boom!" "Boom!"...

The 1st Battalion of the 11th Rising Regiment, which had just stopped marching, was suddenly attacked.

Twelve shells blasted them into a frenzy, and the mules and horses of the logistics troops were also startled and scattered.

"Baka! Don't panic!" a newly promoted officer shouted.

"Get the horse under control!"

"Prepare for artillery fire!"

The newly promoted soldiers panicked and hid among themselves.

After lying on the ground for a few minutes, the newly promoted soldier breathed a sigh of relief when he found that he was not being shelled again.

However, after taking stock of the casualties, the newly promoted battalion commander was extremely annoyed.

The shelling resulted in over twenty casualties, half of whom were trampled by horses.

Back at headquarters, Okazaki received a report that the vanguard had been shelled, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

The vanguard was less than 4 kilometers away from Niutou Mountain, and Jingshan was right next to it, so it was not surprising that their whereabouts were exposed.

"Let the vanguard build positions according to plan, and send troops from the 11th Regiment to search Jingshan to prevent Xia's ambush troops from threatening our flanks."

"The remaining troops shall proceed according to the established plan."

"Brigade Commander, is the forward command post still located in the Jiulonghu area?" the chief of staff asked.

Okazaki was about to nod, but ultimately decided to play it safe and said, "Let's change it to the east of the Qinhuai River."

"Hi!"

……

The next morning, just as dawn broke, Lin Zhiyuan heard the roar of engines in the air.

"Sir, the priests report they've spotted two enemy reconnaissance planes. Should we open fire?"

Lin Zhiyuan reached out and took the phone. "Can you make the call?"

Reconnaissance aircraft usually take photos from high altitudes, so shooting them down is not easy.

"The enemy has two planes. The air defense battalion can only hit the one on the main peak. They can't reach the other one," Mu Ya said on the other end of the phone.

Niutou Mountain is about 5 kilometers long from north to south. If you include the adjacent General Mountain, it can also reach 5 kilometers wide from east to west. Such a large area cannot be fully covered by an air defense battalion.

The priesthood's air defense range was limited to the area around the main peak, where there were important departments such as artillery positions, command posts, logistics, and hospitals, and the personnel density was relatively high.

"It would be good if we could shoot one down, but we must take good concealment measures and not expose the air defense positions," Lin Zhiyuan instructed.

"Don't worry about that. The Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun has a flash suppressor, making it difficult for aircraft to detect the muzzle flash during the day."

The Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun is arguably the most advanced medium-caliber anti-aircraft gun currently available, and it has no problem shooting down reconnaissance aircraft of the early naval forces.

With Lin Zhiyuan's approval and under Mu Ya's command, all the anti-aircraft guns of the air defense battalion were aimed at the first-launch aircraft responsible for reconnaissance of the main peak.

The newly launched reconnaissance aircraft, which was circling and surveying over Niutou Mountain, was unaware of the danger and continued to take pictures at a leisurely pace.

The next moment, the anti-aircraft guns opened fire simultaneously, and a large number of shells exploded in the air, creating a huge barrage. The newly launched reconnaissance plane, billowing smoke, crashed down.

The sudden turn of events took the novice pilot on the other plane by surprise.

Although they were not within the range of air defense strikes, the pilots still dared not linger and immediately climbed up and retreated.

When passing the 14th Brigade, the scouts directly put the film rolls of photos they had taken into the airdrop bins and threw them down.

A small parachute slowly landed on the position of the 14th Rising Brigade.

……

Looking at the developed photos, Okazaki was somewhat puzzled.

"What kind of defensive position is Xia Jun building? Why are there two, one in front and one behind?"

The various units of the 404th Detachment built many concealed fortifications that the aircraft could not detect, but the frontal defensive positions and large areas of positions on the reverse slope could not be hidden.

However, this was the first time Okazaki had seen such a position, and he was somewhat bewildered for a moment.

"Brigade Commander, should we turn the tables and attack the enemy positions?" the chief of staff analyzed.

Along the way, the 14th Brigade encountered many obstacles. Although they did not cause as much trouble as Lujia Town, the post-war analysis showed that Xia Jun's positions were gradually changing, and the closer they got to Kyoto, the more obvious this change became.

"Niutou Mountain is a mountainous area. How can we build a reverse slope for attacking positions? Our troops can attack from the top of the mountain."

"Reverse slope..." The chief of staff was taken aback; the term triggered his memory.

After a moment of contemplation, the chief of staff suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Brigade Commander, Waterloo!"

"What do you mean?!"

"At the Battle of Waterloo, General Wellington hid his main force behind the mountains, which greatly reduced Napoleon's artillery advantage."

"Xia Jun may be trying to use the reverse slope to reduce the firepower of our artillery."

Upon hearing the name Waterloo, Okazaki didn't seem particularly nervous; instead, he chuckled.

"What a foolish Xia army. The air force will show them what it means for times to change."

"Can a reverse slope really stop direct artillery fire, let alone aerial bombardment? That's ridiculous."

"Pass on my order! The troops shall continue their advance!"

"In addition, transfer a tank squad to reinforce the vanguard battalion and have them destroy the small-scale ambushes by the Xia army along the way as soon as possible."

"Once we advance to the main position at Niutou Mountain, I'll show the Xia army what true firepower do!"

"Hi!"

……