Blood-Red Front

Four newly launched tanks rumbled in a single file, followed by an infantry company providing support.

The newly promoted tank squad leader peeked out from outside the tank, constantly scanning suspicious areas with his binoculars.

Suddenly, a cannon shot rang out from the trees to the side.

With a loud "boom!", an armor-piercing shell struck the left side armor of the lead tank, bringing it to a stop.

"Baka! Woods on the left! Fire smoke grenades!" the newly promoted squad leader shouted. "Charge into the enemy head-on! Cover the infantry's clearing!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than another mortar shell landed on the ground.

"boom!"

Seeing the explosion a hundred meters in front of the tank, the newly promoted infantry company commander's expression changed drastically.

"Test firing!"

"Everyone, get off the road and into the farmland. Take cover!"

The other three shovel tanks also realized something was wrong, turned around, and followed the infantry into the farmland.

However, to their surprise, the ground that was fine when the infantry walked over it suddenly exploded when the tanks ran over it.

With a loud "boom!", a tank burst into flames, and novice tank crewmen scrambled out, screaming and howling.

"It's an anti-tank mine!"

"Baka! This is an ambush set by the enemy!"

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"

The tank was revved to its limit, and a lot of mud was kicked up by the tracks.

However, in the next second, a continuous stream of shells began to fall.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

The rapid-fire of the six 100mm mortars resulted in 60 rounds being fired in just half a minute.

A 100mm mortar shell weighs 8 kilograms and is more powerful than a 105mm howitzer shell.

A mortar company, firing rapidly in a short period of time, produced the effect of an entire howitzer regiment.

The entire area was engulfed by the explosion.

When the shelling stopped, all of the Rising Army's tanks were destroyed, and fewer than 30 Rising Army infantrymen who had followed the tanks retreated.

……

At the 14th Brigade headquarters, Okazaki angrily slammed the battle report on the table.

"Baka yarou! Where did the enemy get so many heavy artillery pieces?!"

This morning, the 9th Division of the newly promoted army encountered the Xia army in Chunhua Town, and they were also bombarded by heavy artillery.

The 10th Army Headquarters had just warned the 14th Brigade when the 14th Brigade was bombarded by heavy artillery.

"Brigade commander, it should be a mortar, and its range shouldn't be very long," the chief of staff analyzed.

"When the 11th Regiment was shelled on the east side of Jingshan, it was still 4 kilometers away from the front line of Niutou Mountain, and at that time the Xia army was using Bofors mountain guns."

"Therefore, I judge that the effective range of the enemy's mortars should be between 3 and 4 kilometers."

"3-4 kilometers is enough to have a fatal impact on our offensive!" Okazaki said in a deep voice.

"Xia Jun has pushed the minefield outwards by two kilometers. As long as we clear the mines, they will definitely shell it!"

"Indeed." The chief of staff nodded. "The enemy's minefield is very large. If we want to bypass it completely, we'll have to detour a large area to the east."

"There's absolutely no way to take a detour!" Okazaki drew a line on the map.

"Xia Jun's defensive position consists of several hills. Jishan and Jingshan are relatively low and are not connected to General Mountain as a whole, so Xia Jun did not defend this area."

"But judging from the photos taken by the reconnaissance plane, the enemy has already set up positions on General Mountain and Niutou Mountain."

"If we choose to bypass this minefield, we can only launch an attack from the direction of Guotang, where we will be attacked from both Niutou Mountain and Jiangjun Mountain."

The minefield that Lin Zhiyuan pushed outwards was like a fishbone, precisely lodged in Chu Shengjun's throat.

If the newly promoted army wants to attack Niutou Mountain, they must first clear the mines.

Looking at the map, Okazaki pondered for a moment, then punched the map.

"Order the engineering mine-clearing squad to support the 11th Regiment, and the mountain artillery regiment to move forward, with one shrine maiden accompanying them, to prepare for counter-artillery operations and take out the Xia army's artillery first."

"Hi!"

……

Inside the 404th Detachment command post, the telephone suddenly rang.

"Sir, a call from the front lines."

Lin Zhiyuan stepped forward. "I am Lin Zhiyuan."

"Sir, the enemy has made another move. The observation post reports that the Rising Army seems to have deployed engineers, but they have also fired smoke bombs to obscure the view."

"Should we fire the shells?" Ma Daxi asked.

"Let me see." Lin Zhiyuan walked to the observation hole, and the staff officer also brought over the telephone.

The command post was only 1.6 kilometers from the front line at this time, and the minefield, which was 2 kilometers from the front line, was located at the edge of the minimap.

Raise your binoculars, and the minimap will refresh immediately.

However, Lin Zhiyuan did not find any red dots near the smoke bomb, which means there were no enemies here.

"What do you mean? Just playing around? Or are you trying to fish for us?"

After a moment's thought, Lin Zhiyuan decided to remain unchanged in the face of all changes.

"Ma Daxi, don't worry about them for now, but keep a close eye on the enemy's movements and report any developments immediately."

"clear."

……

At the newly risen military artillery position, watching the smoke gradually dissipate, the newly risen priestess stopped her ritual.

"The enemy didn't fall for it, what should we do now?" the newly ascended priestess asked.

If Xia Jun doesn't fire, she can't use the ballistic trajectory to make a counter-intuition.

"The enemy is very cunning," said the newly promoted colonel standing nearby.

"Let's hit them one more time and see if they can't hold back."

The newly ascended priestess nodded and began the ritual again.

Puffs of white smoke once again enveloped the minefield.

However, this time there was still no movement.

When the smoke cleared again, the engineering mine-clearing team couldn't wait any longer and sent out a small squad with mine detectors to clear the mines.

Inside the 404th Detachment command post, Lin Zhiyuan spoke into the phone: "Do you see those mine-clearing soldiers on the other side?"

"I saw it."

The person who answered the phone was the forward artillery observation post of the 6th Regiment's artillery and mortar company.

"Three rapid shots, take them down."

"Yes."

After hanging up the phone, the observer immediately reported the coordinates.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

The newly recruited engineers who were clearing mines were blown apart by artillery shells.

A dozen minutes later, more white smoke appeared in the minefield.

This time, however, Lin Zhiyuan picked up the phone.

"Coordinates 1623, 2285, mortar barrage."

Smoke grenades can obscure the observation post's view, but they can't hide the minimap, so Lin Zhiyuan knows exactly where the enemy is.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

The newly promoted engineers, who had intended to use the smoke grenade cover to clear mines, took off once again.

However, Lin Zhiyuan's smile did not last long. Just two minutes later, the 6th Regiment's position was bombarded by artillery fire.

"What's going on?" Lin Zhiyuan immediately called out to the 1st Battalion of the 6th Regiment.

"Sir, the mortar company has been hit by artillery fire," Ma Daxi reported.

"However, the mortars were all on the reverse slope and hidden inside the fortifications, so they were not damaged. Only a dozen or so reinforcements who were responsible for transporting supplies were killed; they were on the ground."

"Damn it!" Lin Zhiyuan roared, "What's wrong with the mortar company commander?! Why didn't they use the communication trenches?!"

"Have them immediately move to reserve positions to avoid initial bombing!"

"yes!"

Even after hanging up the phone, Lin Zhiyuan was still furious.

In order to dig out the position on Niutou Mountain, Lin Zhiyuan provided the soldiers with plenty of oil and food, and they ate more than a hundred fat pigs. As a result, the constructed position was not used.

Guan Jianchu said from the side, "Sir, the most important thing now is not to hold those below accountable. The fact that they were able to retaliate so quickly means that there is a newly ascended priestess."

"This time, because we were on the reverse slope, we escaped by chance. Once the Chu Sheng Army's howitzers join in, they won't be able to hide anymore."

The Type 94 mountain guns equipped by the newly promoted Army Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment were fixed-charge artillery pieces with relatively flat trajectories, making them unable to hit reverse slopes.

However, the 105mm and 150mm howitzers with initial liftoff are different; they are all separate-charged and can strike positions behind mountains at high elevation angles.

"Yeah, we need to find a way to get rid of this newly ascended priestess," Lin Zhiyuan muttered.

However, he hadn't come up with a solution yet.

……