Blood-Red Front

"Boom!" "Boom!"...

At the start of the battle, Lin Zhiyuan didn't waste any words and immediately pushed all the artillery in his hands to the front line to ensure that the entire Moling city area could be covered.

This was actually a very dangerous situation, since the 8th Artillery Regiment was equipped with 150mm howitzers produced in Manchuria in earlier years, which had a relatively short range. Once their position was exposed, the Type 41 mountain guns of the newly established regiment could launch a counterattack.

However, Lin Zhiyuan has confirmed that the 14th Brigade does not have any anti-artillery shrine maidens at this time. In addition, it is nighttime, and the initial reconnaissance aircraft cannot conduct reconnaissance. Although the artillery is slightly forward, the danger is not very high.

When the initial army attacked, the heavy artillery and mountain guns were positioned relatively far back, and they were not shown on Lin Zhiyuan's minimap.

However, after the Chu Sheng Army contracted its defensive line, their entire layout was exposed to Lin Zhiyuan, who naturally did not hold back.

After the newly promoted army's artillery positions were divided up, the mortar companies, cannon companies, mountain artillery battalions, and heavy artillery battalions of each regiment gradually began their attacks.

Fires suddenly broke out in Moling City.

When they were first hit by artillery fire, Okazaki was not very nervous.

He already knew that the Xia army had heavy artillery, and that exchanging artillery fire before the battle was an inevitable procedure.

"The enemy should launch an attack after the shelling. Have the mountain artillery regiment and heavy howitzer regiment prepare to fire at any time," Okazaki ordered.

"The outer defenses of Moling are extremely important; we must not allow the Xia army to take them out easily."

"Hi!"

After the chief of staff stood at attention, he picked up the phone to contact the heavy artillery regiment. He would also contact the mountain artillery regiment later and planned to call each artillery company to give instructions.

However, after making the call and hearing the report from the heavy artillery regiment, the chief of staff's expression changed.

"Commander, the situation is bad!" Chief of Staff Okioka reported.

"The heavy artillery wing reports that three of their companies have suffered devastating damage!"

Upon hearing the chief of staff's words, Okazaki could no longer sit still and took two steps to the table.

"I'm Okazaki! What's going on with you guys?!"

The heavy artillery regiment of the newly promoted army, like the heavy artillery regiment of the Xia army, was also equipped with 24 cannons and 6 artillery companies.

With three of them gone, it's equivalent to half the regiment being wiped out.

"Brigade Commander, the enemy seems to know where our artillery is positioned and is firing in sequence!"

"Another company has been shelled!!"

The heavy artillery regiment commander was extremely anxious. He wanted to move the artillery, but 150mm heavy artillery was not something that could be easily moved like infantry guns. Moving artillery weighing several tons was a very complicated process.

Hearing the voice on the phone, Okazaki could hardly believe it. "This is impossible! How could the artillery positions have been exposed!"

The frontline infantry artillery and heavy machine guns were within the enemy's field of vision, so it was not impossible for them to be attacked. However, the heavy artillery regiment was hidden in the city and had been dispersed and camouflaged. How could the enemy possibly find it?

"Brigade Commander, it's absolutely true! The company that was just shelled has lost contact!"

Just as Okazaki was at a loss, the phone next to him rang.

The chief of staff answered the phone, then exclaimed in shock, "Brigade Commander, the mountain artillery regiment has also been attacked; four of its nine companies have been destroyed!"

"Get them to move immediately!" Okazaki shouted. "Move all artillery pieces as far as possible!"

The chief of staff shouted into the phone, "The brigade commander orders you to immediately relocate! Take cover!"

After the chief of staff hung up the phone, Okazaki ordered, "Immediately contact all infantry battalions and inquire whether their infantry guns have been attacked, as well as their heavy machine gun positions."

"Hi!"

However, things developed in a way that completely exceeded Okazaki's expectations.

The battle had barely begun when not only the heavy artillery regiment and the mountain artillery regiment were shelled, but also the mountain artillery company of the 11th Regiment and the infantry artillery platoons of each infantry battalion were shelled.

Some frontline troops even reported that their grenade launcher squads were also wiped out by 60mm mortars.

All of Xia Jun's artillery shells, large and small, were searching for their own targets.

Gang Qi paced anxiously in the command post, while Lin Zhiyuan kept drawing circles on the map in the forward command post of Xia Jun's assault combat group.

The artillery staff officer beside him kept sending out the coordinates to the different artillery groups, categorizing them by type.

This move left Qiu Yu'an, who was standing to the side, completely dumbfounded.

"Brother Zhiyuan, do you have intelligence support?"

"No." Lin Zhiyuan didn't even look up.

"So what are all those circles you drew for?"

Qiu Yu'an couldn't see what was happening inside Moling City, so he naturally didn't know that the artillery of the Chusheng Army was being chased and attacked. He could only see Lin Zhiyuan drawing circles on the map.

"Brother Yu'an, when commanding a battle, you must put yourself in the other person's shoes."

Lin Zhiyuan straightened up, intending to let the artillery fire first.

"If you were a newly promoted brigade commander, how would you allocate your artillery and infantry?"

"If you were a newly promoted forward infantry battalion commander, how would you configure your heavy machine gun?"

Qiu Yu'an's eyes widened as he stared at Lin Zhiyuan, who was spouting nonsense with a straight face.

"These are all choices you made by putting yourself in someone else's shoes? You even put yourself in someone else's shoes up to the level of a newly promoted battalion commander?"

The map is covered with tiny circles, which means it's not just about two artillery regiments.

"The basic combat unit of the Xia Army is the regiment, while the basic combat unit of the newly promoted army is the battalion. Therefore, we must consider the selection of the newly promoted battalion commander." Lin Zhiyuan said with certainty.

The infantry guns and heavy machine guns of the newly promoted army had been distributed to the infantry battalions, and the infantry battalions also had their own transport companies, so the infantry battalions of the newly promoted army had independent combat capabilities.

Apart from Lin Zhiyuan's 404th Detachment, Xia Jun's 82mm mortars, heavy machine guns, and logistics were all directly commanded by the regimental headquarters.

"Incredible, truly incredible." Qiu Yu'an gave a thumbs up, full of admiration.

It's normal to put yourself in someone else's shoes, but it's somewhat puzzling to think that a division-level commander would switch places with a battalion-level commander.

Of course, this doesn't mean Qiu Yu'an couldn't command an infantry battalion; after all, he rose through the ranks from platoon leader to commander.

However, a division commander has to consider many issues, and even with the assistance of the staff, it is difficult for him to have the mind to think about how the enemy's infantry battalion's firepower should be deployed.

The fact that Lin Zhiyuan could do this shows that his mind is far beyond that of ordinary people.

"Brother Zhiyuan, when do you plan to launch the general offensive?" Qiu Yu'an asked.

"No rush. Let the soldiers rest more. Tonight, we'll bombard and gradually take out the outposts around Moling. We can launch a general offensive on Moling tomorrow."

The 404th Detachment and the 5th Division fought all night last night and marched all day today. In addition, it is raining. Letting the main force rest for one night will make it better to launch an attack tomorrow.

The Xia army's artillery bombardment continued throughout the entire night.

……