In the summer and autumn of 1936, the Artillery School received twenty-four thirty-two-fold howitzers and formed the 10th Artillery Regiment, the most modern heavy artillery regiment in China at that time.

The 10th Artillery Regiment has three battalions, each battalion has two companies, each equipped with four howitzers with thirty-two times of fifteen. Each cannon is pulled by a Shezer off-road truck, and each cannon also has the same type of truck to transport shells.

The National Government attaches great importance to this most modern force. All its officers are graduates from the artillery department or artillery school of the Whampoa Military Academy. Most of the soldiers are young students who are over 18 years old and are healthy, and have high school or junior high school or above in Henan Province.

The 10th Artillery Regiment had more than 2,000 people, including heavy trucks, observation vehicles, ammunition transport vehicles, tankers, reconnaissance vehicles, jeep three-wheeled motorcycles, and two-wheeled motorcycles. It is a veritable mechanized force.

The 10th Artillery Regiment lost eight cannons during the retreat in the Battle of Shanghai in the August 13th. After adjustment by the military headquarters, each company maintained two cannons. Therefore, four cannons of the 1st Battalion of the 10th Artillery Regiment came to the battlefield of the Xuzhou battle.

The 1st Battalion of the 7th Artillery Regiment, who came with the 10th Artillery Regiment, was equipped with eight Swedish 75mm caliber and a maximum range of 9,150 meters.

The Bofos mountain cannon was manufactured by the Bofos Factory in Sweden, which is a subsidiary of the German Krupp arms industry. The cannon was actually designed by Germany. The Bofos mountain cannon is reasonably designed, easy to operate, exquisitely constructed, flexible to decompose and easy to transport. It was deeply loved by the Chinese army during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

The arrival of these two artillery battalions helped Zheng Dongguo, who was in a fire, a great help. Zheng Dongguo ordered the artillery to fire at the Japanese army immediately.

Since the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Japanese army has been suppressing the national army with artillery fire. The officers and soldiers of the national army often used their flesh and blood to fight against steel. This time, the Japanese army thought they still had the advantage of firepower, so the storm formation was very dense. The National Army's cannons fired suddenly and violently, and the unprepared Japanese army suffered a devastating blow. Their storm formation was beaten to pieces, with heavy casualties, and eventually they were defeated.

The artillery fire of the National Army was so fierce and precise that the Japanese army on the other side thought that they had encountered a large army, and this army was the absolute main force. The Japanese army did not dare to use their bodies to fight against steel, so they transferred artillery troops from behind, and the two armies fought artillery battles across the river until the end of the day.

The range of the thirty-two times howitzer is more than 15,000 meters, and the range of the Japanese cannon cannot reach it. The Bofos Mountain cannon is easy to transfer positions due to its light weight. In particular, it has a special design, that is, the height and directional fire brakes can maintain the original accuracy during movement, so the position can be changed quickly in combat without affecting accuracy.

This sudden artillery attack caused a great loss to the Japanese army. Later, it was unable to repel the opponent in the artillery battle. The Japanese commander had to give up the plan to attack Xuzhou along the straight line. They moved the main force eastward and attacked Taierzhuang along the Zaotai branch line.

On March 23, the Cavalry Company of the 93rd Brigade of the 31st Division of the Second Army searched to the vicinity of Lugou, eight kilometers south of Yi County. At this moment, a cavalry unit and tank with the Japanese vanguard of about 300 people also searched here.

The two armies suddenly encountered each other, and the first shot on the Taierzhuang front was fired.

ps: Mid-Autumn Festival, the author uploaded two chapters. I wish all readers good health and a happy holiday!
Chapter completed!