Chapter 288: Hell Missile Turns The Tide Of Battle
Kumamoto Division Commander’s prediction was not wrong.
After the Eighth Route Army occupied the high ground on both the left and right sides, they did not continue the attack and were indeed digging dirt pits.
This hilltop originally had intact trenches.
The digging of these dirt pits could be directly omitted.
The Hell Missiles were taken out from the wooden crates and directly placed on the compacted soil in the trench.
At most, they needed to pad it a bit when aiming.
Casually shoveling soil from the edge of the trench to pad it saved much more effort than digging.
When the Japanese Artillery Group stopped firing, each Hell Missile had already completed aiming.
As the Japanese Artillery Group slowly turned their cannon muzzles, the Eighth Route Army side had already ordered the lighting of the Hell Missiles’ fuses.
The Japanese Artillery Group’s cannon muzzles had only turned halfway when the Hell Missiles’ fuses burned out.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
……
One by one, the Hell Missiles immediately flew out from the high ground.
This scene left every soldier of the Eighth Route Army troops stunned.
Although they had known on the way here that these were Hell Missiles produced by the Border Region Arsenal, which did not need a cannon barrel and could be fired just by lighting them.
Now.
Seeing the Hell Missiles really fly out on their own, the soldiers’ expressions were all moved.
The scene was deathly silent, although no one spoke, their hearts were all boiling over at this moment:
“Our Border Region Arsenal really produced cannonballs that can fly on their own!!”
“The Hell Missile really flew out on its own, which means our artillery no longer needs to be constrained by cannon barrels.”
“Our Border Region Arsenal is truly amazing.”
“The experts at the Border Region Arsenal are truly incredible.”
……
Shifting the view back to the Direct Line Troops side, they were bombed into a daze by the Japanese Invaders’ cannonballs.
Seeing no way to heaven and no door to earth, the Direct Line officers had expressions like dead parents: “It’s over, it’s over, we’re all done for today, the Japanese Invaders are determined to wipe us out.”
The Direct Line soldiers were also extremely unwilling one by one:
“Damn it, I haven’t even killed a single Japanese Invader, am I going to die here today?”
“Too unwilling, the Japanese Invaders’ artillery fire is too fierce, we have no chance at all.”
“Yeah, even if we wanted to take a couple more Japanese Invaders down with us, it’s impossible now.”
“This battle is fought so miserably, we lose again and again, lose again and again.”
……
Then, just as the officers and soldiers up and down the Direct Line had extremely low morale, the Japanese Invaders’ artillery fire suddenly stopped.
This immediately left all the officers and soldiers up and down the Direct Line dumbfounded:
“What’s going on, the Japanese Invaders’ artillery fire stopped right at the critical moment?”
“Could it be that the Japanese Invaders’ ammunition ran out?”
“Impossible, how could artillery fire stop so suddenly? It must not be that the ammunition ran out; there must be something wrong with the Japanese Artillery Position.”
“But there’s no sound of any attack coming from the Japanese Artillery Position right now. Even if Eighth Route Army troops were attacking the Japanese Invaders, they haven’t reached the Japanese Artillery Position.”
“Who cares why the little Japanese Invaders stopped firing? Since the bombardment is gone, this is our chance to break out.”
“Yeah, the breakout opportunity has come, hurry and charge out, charge, run.”
……
These Direct Line officers and soldiers immediately seized the time to break out and charge.
But soon they all came to a hard stop one by one, as if summoned by something, their gazes turned to the high ground on the left and right sides of the Japanese Invaders that had already been occupied by the Eighth Route Army.
The Direct Line officers and soldiers witnessed a scene they would never forget in their lifetime.
They saw one by one cannonballs trailing smoke from their tails flying out from the high ground.
The direction they were flying was the Japanese Heavy Artillery Cluster Position.
Instantly, the Direct Line officers and soldiers were dumbfounded one by one:
“What kind of cannonball is this, trailing long smoke from behind? We’ve never seen this kind of cannonball before.”
“Did the Eighth Route Army come up with some thing?”
“Good grief, these cannonballs are flying toward the Japanese Invaders’ heavy artillery position; this is the Eighth Route Army attacking the Japanese Artillery Group.”
“No wonder the Eighth Route Army occupied the high ground on both sides and didn’t continue attacking; they must be setting up their artillery position. We thought they were leaving us to die, but it turns out we misunderstood.”
“If the Japanese Artillery Group is taken out, the Japanese Invaders’ artillery fire advantage is gone, and their airplanes have left too. Isn’t this a rare counterattack opportunity for us?”
“Yeah, the counterattack opportunity has arrived.”
……
Finally, let’s talk about the Japanese Artillery Group side.
Originally, the artillerymen were methodically fiercely bombarding the Direct Line Army according to plan.
But halfway through the bombardment, the Division Commander issued an emergency order to immediately stop firing on the Direct Line Army and instead bombard the high ground on both left and right sides.
This left the artillerymen very puzzled.
Stopping the bombardment of the Direct Line Army halfway, wasn’t that giving them a chance to come back from the dead?
What’s more.
The high ground on both left and right sides had already been occupied by the Eighth Route Army, but they hadn’t continued charging out.
In other words, the Eighth Route Army was staying on the reverse slope.
The reverse slope was a dead angle for the artillery group’s firing; it couldn’t be hit at all. Why did the Division Commander issue such an absurd order at the critical moment?
The ammunition was already limited; shouldn’t all this limited ammunition be used on the Direct Line Army? Bombing the high ground on both sides wasn’t wasting ammunition?
However, although the artillerymen were puzzled in their hearts.
They immediately and swiftly carried out Kumamoto Division Commander’s order.
And as their cannon muzzles had only turned halfway, they saw strange cannonballs flying from the high ground on both left and right sides.
Those strange cannonballs trailed long smoke in the air; they had never seen anything like it before.
Of course.
Although the artillerymen had never seen it, their scalps all uniformly exploded.
They had never seen this thing, but they all realized its danger.
Many Japanese Invaders artillerymen didn’t think twice and immediately turned and ran.
But it was too late.
One by one, the Hell Missiles fell down, and the artillery position instantly bloomed everywhere.
Cannons were flipped by the explosions, artillerymen were flung by the blast waves, ammunition boxes were hit and immediately detonated.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
……
Huge detonations rang out, and big fireballs bloomed one after another on the artillery position.
Every big fireball’s bloom was accompanied by strong ground vibrations, like repeated dense earthquakes.
The shockwaves destructively diffused outward, sweeping fallen leaves in the autumn wind, leaving everything in their path a mess.
After the shockwaves passed, the artillery position no longer existed; the ground was full of huge detonation shell craters, deformed cannons everywhere, limbs everywhere… oh no, not limbs.
Many corpses were instantly vaporized, leaving only some unrecognizable brownish substances mixed with the soil on the ground.
Looking at the huge billowing smoke rising above the artillery position, Kumamoto Division Commander and his Japanese Traitors were all stunned, as if in another world!
Of course, it wasn’t just the Japanese Traitors who were dumbfounded.
The Direct Line Army and Eighth Route Army on both sides were equally stunned.
Everyone stared at the smoke rising in the sky, all like they had been fixed in place, completely motionless.
……
“Baka, damn it!” Kumamoto Division Commander reacted and cursed loudly, his face deathly pale.
Right now, the artillery position was gone, the Direct Line Army was no longer suppressed, and they would definitely counterattack at the opportunity.
Plus the Eighth Route Army’s joint attack, his side’s advantage instantly turned into disadvantage.
And this was just the immediate influence.
More importantly, this was a new type of artillery produced by the Eighth Route Army that didn’t need a cannon barrel and could be fired from a dirt pit.
Its range and power were comparable to medium artillery, meaning the Eighth Route Army now had medium artillery strike capability.
They had shoulder-mounted cannons for light artillery, Hell Cannons for heavy artillery.
Now the Eighth Route Army had produced medium artillery too; these farmer soldiers would be even harder to deal with than before.
The rear security war would probably completely sink into a quagmire.
Jin District as the so-called Empire Strategic Rear would only become empty talk and a joke.
“So Kitano Colonel wasn’t making it up, he wasn’t making it up, this is real, this is real, the Eighth Route Army really produced artillery that doesn’t need a cannon barrel to fire.” The staff officer muttered to himself, his eyes losing their luster.
The other Japanese Invaders exploded one by one:
“Baka, I must be dreaming, this must be a dream.”
“The artillery position is gone just like that; this is simply a dream.”
“Just one salvo of cannonballs, and our situation was immediately reversed; too exaggerated.”
“What kind of cannonball is this, where did it come from? We’ve never seen it before.”
……
“Regimental Commander, hahaha, Regimental Commander, the Eighth Route Army took out the Japanese Artillery Position, hahaha.” The reacting Direct Line 217 Regiment officers and soldiers instantly got pumped like they were on chicken blood, shouting and yelling madly.
They originally thought the troops were in a desperate situation with no way out.
Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, the Eighth Route Army’s move destroyed the Japanese Artillery Position and immediately created a chance for them to turn defeat into victory!
Right, this was a chance to turn defeat into victory, not just break out along the momentum.
The Japanese Invaders’ most terrifying things were airplanes and big guns.
Now the airplanes were gone, the big guns were gone; the little Japanese Invaders had lost their two sharpest teeth—what claws could he bare now!
“A miracle, this is simply a miracle.” Feng Zhihui’s eyes recovered from their dazed state, his face full of shock.
“Regimental Commander, while the Japanese Invaders’ claws are gone, let’s hurry and charge out to take them down.” The officers and soldiers shouted to Feng Zhihui.
“Brothers, charge! The time to earn merit has come!” Feng Zhihui didn’t hesitate either.
The Japanese Invaders’ airplanes and big guns were gone, their logistics and supplies were gone too; now for us, this was a tailwind battle delivered by heaven.
Winning merit in a tailwind battle was capital for promotion.
Under Feng Zhihui’s lead, Direct Line 217 Regiment immediately launched a countercharge against the Japanese Invaders’ side.
And the other Direct Line Troops followed suit, quickly reacting and counterattacking toward the Japanese Invaders’ side:
“From desperation to survival, brothers, charge!”
“Kill! We can keep killing Japanese Invaders, keep serving the country!”
“Damn little Japanese Invaders, this grandpa will send you to reincarnate.”
……
