Blood-Red Front

Gu Zhizhen led the team and worked all night.

Early the next morning, more than thirty helicopters flew over Niutou Mountain.

The moment the roar of the planes was heard, the chusheng mountain guns fired smoke grenades at the positions of the 1st Battalion of the 6th Regiment.

The moment the smoke rose, Lin Zhiyuan, who had been observing, noticed the situation.

"The newly promoted army is signaling to the aircraft to have the mountain artillery battalion fire smoke bombs at the fake positions, and fire a couple more."

The operations staff officer standing nearby quickly relayed the order.

Soon, smoke rose from the fake position as well, and the smoke was even thicker.

In the air, the newly launched pilot, who was observing the ground situation, saw two smoke points not far away and was somewhat puzzled.

"What's wrong with the artillery? Did they fire the wrong shot?"

"That's possible. After all, the straight-line distance between the two hills is no more than 200 meters, so it's normal for the shot to be off-target."

"Alright, now we can only wait and see what the officer says."

Meanwhile, the bombers leading the way had already begun to change course, heading towards the mountaintop billowing with thick smoke.

The newly launched large bombers all carried radios, but these radios did not have the ability to communicate directly over long distances; they could only send Morse code telegrams.

The process of sending, translating, receiving, and translating telegrams takes a lot of time, and the army aviation colonel in charge clearly wasn't in the mood for it.

The officer had already selected the target, and the other planes, without saying a word, all rushed over.

Looking at the hilltop covered by the violent explosion, the soldiers of the 404th Detachment were all smiles, while the newly promoted soldiers who were cheering were all petrified.

They kept rubbing their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Witnessing all this, Okazaki was so angry that he cursed, "Baka yarou! Were those pilots blind? Could that hill be an enemy position?"

Okazaki also saw smoke rising from the hilltop where the planes had bombed, but anyone with a basic understanding of combat command knew that the location was too small to accommodate a large force and could never become a main battle position.

"Brigade Commander, the bombers have already dropped their bombs. Even if they reload and return, it will take more than two hours. The most important thing now is to prevent the fighters from dropping all their bombs as well."

"Baka!" Okazaki cursed again. "Tell the 41st Squadron to launch an immediate attack and use tracer rounds to guide the fighters to their positions."

"Hi!"

At this moment, Inayoshi was also shouting and cursing at the planes in the sky.

After anticipating fire support all morning, it was thrown into the wrong place. Anyone would be on the verge of collapse.

No matter how much you curse, the deed is done, and no one can change the facts.

The soldiers of the 41st Regiment launched another attack amidst curses and swears.

The fighter jets circling overhead realized that the infantry's attack was not in the same direction as their bombing target, and immediately realized that they had bombed the wrong place.

However, they acted as if nothing had happened, and after slightly adjusting their course, they smoothly changed the direction of the winding mountain.

Seeing the newly launched aircraft constantly diving to drop bombs and strafing, Ma Daxi shouted, "Raise the anti-aircraft machine guns! Aim at the diving planes and blast those bastards!"

Lin Zhiyuan had anticipated the difficulty of today's battle, so he added four 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns to the front line.

The DShK anti-aircraft gun has wheels and a shield, which makes it easy to move and can also stop bullets. When reinforced to the front line, it can be used for both anti-aircraft and direct fire.

The newly launched fighter jet, unaware that it had been targeted, continued to fire indiscriminately.

When another plane prepared to dive, the four anti-aircraft machine guns that had been waiting opened fire simultaneously.

The newly promoted pilot heard a few clanging sounds and his face changed drastically. However, before he could react, a bullet that pierced the cockpit window ripped him in two.

The plane then plunged headfirst into the ground.

Upon seeing a plane shot down and explode, the remaining aircraft became more vigilant and shifted their primary target to anti-aircraft machine guns.

However, what made the initial takeoff aircraft somewhat embarrassed was that their nose machine gun was 7.7 mm, while the anti-aircraft machine gun was 12.7 mm, and the difference in power was not small.

Most importantly, 7.7mm bullets cannot penetrate the shield of the DShK anti-aircraft machine gun.

Although the first-launch aircraft had a maneuver advantage, it gained no advantage whatsoever in the exchange of fire with the DShK anti-aircraft machine guns.

After engaging in several rounds of fire with the anti-aircraft machine gun, he realized he couldn't defeat the launch plane, which was also smoking from the fire, and decisively left the battlefield under the pretext of running out of ammunition.

The plane flapped its wings and flew away, leaving the infantry behind as targets for anti-aircraft machine guns.

After switching back to direct fire, the newly promoted infantry, who had been on the offensive, were pinned down and unable to raise their heads.

The bunkers that could previously withstand 7.92mm machine gun bullets could no longer stop 12.7mm bullets; even a rock would be shattered into pieces.

The 41st Regiment launched a fierce attack for two hours, but not only did they not advance an inch, their forward positions were also pushed back more than 200 meters.

This caused the morale of the soldiers in the 41st Regiment to plummet.

Throughout the rest of the day, the 41st Regiment never launched another attack as fearless as the one the day before.

Behind them, watching the 41st Regiment's attacks weaken, Okazaki's expression grew increasingly grim.

The chief of staff said from the side, "Brigade commander, this Niutou Mountain is another meat grinder."

Gang Qi said with a gloomy face, "Although I am reluctant to admit it, Lin Zhiyuan is indeed a master of defensive warfare, and he also has a powerful background. His troops have the best weapons in the entire Xia army."

"Brigade Commander, I'm afraid we can't continue fighting like this. Every step forward will cost us a lot of lives," the chief of staff said.

The newly promoted army has never treated its soldiers as human beings, but it is also unwilling to waste them so casually.

"Not fight? How can we take Niutou Mountain if we don't fight?" Gang Qi sneered.

Without capturing Niutou Mountain, the 14th Brigade would be unable to attack Yushan and Daxiamen as originally planned, and thus would be unable to encircle the capital of Xia Kingdom from the west.

"Brigade Commander, the 18th Division has captured Wuhu and is now encircling the area to the east. In just two days, they will be able to reach the Niutou Mountain area from the west."

"With the 18th Division, whether or not we take Niutou Mountain will not affect the formation of the encirclement. It's just a matter of whether it's a large encirclement or a small encirclement."

"Baka!" Okachi slammed his fist on the table. "We're an elite garrison force, and a reinforced brigade couldn't even take down an entire division! It's utterly shameful!"

"Brigade Commander, it's not that we can't take it, but before the 18th Division arrives, even if we break through Xia's position, they will probably run away from the direction of Shibaihu. Only after the 18th Division arrives will we have a real chance to annihilate the 404th Detachment."

After listening to the chief of staff's analysis, Okazaki also felt that it made sense.

If the 404th Detachment escaped like it did in Lujia Town, he really wouldn't be able to catch them. After all, the 14th Brigade's mission was to encircle Kyoto, not to pursue the enemy.

"Although we cannot launch a full-scale attack now, we cannot allow the Xia army to relax."

"Send the engineering corps forward and launch an earthwork offensive to shorten the distance to the enemy positions as much as possible. Once the 18th Division arrives, I will annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop!"

"Hi!"

……