Chapter 636: Extending the Artillery Fire

Wuhan.

A young Private First Class brandished a brand‑new Thompson submachine gun, stepping on the still‑warm ground.

He shouted at his comrades beside him, "Brothers! We've been suppressed for years! Today we have new guns and artillery, and air cover; we no longer have to die filling the trenches! Follow the artillery fire, retake Wuhan, drive the devils away!"

The veteran beside him gripped his M1 Garand rifle, eyes blazing, and replied loudly, "All or nothing! The Jianghan homeland will be reclaimed today! If we don't retake Wuhan, we will not retreat!"

Shouts, the sounds of the charge, and gunfire intertwined, shaking the mountains and rivers.

Under Hu Lian, the 11th Division served as the absolute main force, leading the charge and undertaking the core mission of a frontal breakthrough to seize Wuhan's main city.

The division, fully equipped with American equipment, the most battle‑hardened and strongest, formed the spearhead of the 200,000‑strong army, advancing like a hot knife through bamboo, fiercely crushing the Japanese Army's shattered outer defensive line.

Following closely was the 10th Army commanded by Li Yutang; the entire force surged forward in coordination, solidifying the main line, plugging the advance gap, compressing the Japanese defensive space layer by layer, and forming an encirclement together with the 11th Division.

Just as the Huaxia army pressed forward on all fronts, about to break through the outer line completely, the desperate Japanese forces launched a frenzied, dying counterattack.

Although A Naganuma had long known the situation was lost, the remaining Japanese senior NCOs and junior officers still obeyed orders, stubbornly holding out behind the surviving fortifications.

From the bomb‑ravaged trenches, half‑collapsed bunkers, and roadside underground shelters, a large number of Japanese remnants suddenly surged out, organized by squad, wielding Type 38 rifles and crooked‑handle light machine guns, using Grenade Launchers to launch a dense counter‑assault against the charging Nationalist infantry.

The garrison of Wuhan consisted of the Japanese elite Class A Division, mostly veterans; even when a single regiment was detached, its combat power remained.

After years of the war of aggression, veteran troops of the Japanese 3rd and 6th Divisions excelled at positional attrition and anti‑charge tactics.

They used terrain dead‑angles and ruin cover to evade rifle fire, exploiting the gaps created by our charge formation to sprint forward and launch close‑range assaults.

Attempting to disrupt our charge rhythm with close‑quarters combat, they forced a makeshift blocking line onto the shattered defenses.

The frontline infantry assault units were briefly stalled, the advance slowed sharply, and the battlefield instantly entered a fierce stalemate.

Seeing the infantry charge stall, Hu Lian's expression in the forward command post remained unchanged; he had already anticipated the Japanese desperate counter‑tactic.

He coldly issued the fire‑suppression order: "Relay to the Heavy Artillery Division! All units take positions, target the Japanese depth positions, anti‑charge assembly points, and bunker clusters! Let the 155 mm heavy howitzers blanket the area, leaving no blind spot!"

This heavy artillery division, personally assembled by Jiang Anguo and equipped with top‑grade American gear, now finally displayed its true decisive edge.

For a full year they lay low in intensive training, rigorously practicing heavy‑gun calibration, rapid fire, area bombardment, and depth‑suppression tactics, honing methods specifically against Wuhan's dense fortifications and urban cluster defenses.

Dozens of 155 mm heavy howitzers had already completed emplacement, camouflage, ballistic calibration, and parameter setting in advance; their barrels rose high, steadily locking onto every remaining Japanese defensive zone.

"All units, prepare—fire!"

At the artillery commander's order, deafening cannon blasts roared, the earth shuddered violently, and rolling shockwaves swept across the four directions.

Each 155 mm high‑explosive shell, weighing a hundred jin, screamed through the air, trailing long fiery tails before slamming into the enemy lines.

Unlike the limited damage of ordinary field guns, the 155 mm heavy artillery possessed crushing, roll‑over destructive power.

Upon impact, meters‑high plumes of earth and fire erupted, the shockwave sweeping the entire position, hurling debris, rebar, broken wood, and Japanese corpses alike.

The hastily built Japanese temporary blocking positions were instantly pulverized, the remaining bunkers smashed flat, and the densely packed Japanese squads had no time to dodge, collapsing en masse under the artillery barrage.

Even Japanese troops hidden behind thick ruin walls or in underground trenches could not escape the shock; eardrums burst, organs were damaged, rendering them completely combat‑ineffective.

After a rapid volley, the Japanese counter‑line that had just steadied shattered, all remaining firing points went silent, unable to mount any effective counterattack.

On the artillery position, watching the all‑covering crushing results, a artillery squad leader gripped his sighting glass and exclaimed, "We used to block the enemy's fire with flesh and blood; now our 155 mm heavy guns sweep the ground, and finally the devils taste the crush of our fire!"

The loader beside him worked nonstop, rapidly loading shells and re‑aiming, responding in a deep voice, "The heavy guns supplied from the rear give us real confidence! Today the heavy artillery paves the way, pushes Wuhan flat, and completely extinguishes the Japanese hundred‑year blaze!"

Before, we were stingy with mortar shells, reluctant to fire them; now with the 155 mm howitzers, we use the shells to the fullest.

We use them recklessly; the shells are heavy, yet the artillerymen, even with trembling hands, keep loading them.

When the heavy artillery sweep ended, the Japanese defensive line was riddled with holes and casualties, the remaining troops utterly terrified, their morale collapsed.

Hu Lian seized the opportunity, again ordering a full‑line assault: "Extend the artillery fire! Command the front lines, advance all infantry! Give the enemy no time to regroup; strike while hot, break through the outer ring, and push straight toward Wuhan's city district!"

With heavy fire support, the Nationalist troops' morale surged again, charging forward swiftly on the lingering warmth of the artillery.

M1 Garand rifles fired crisply in rapid succession, their semi‑automatic fire continuously suppressing exposed Japanese troops.

Thompson submachine guns sprayed at close range, mowing down the remaining stubborn enemies.

The firepower advantage of American equipment was fully displayed in close‑quarter street and ruin fighting, and compared with the Japanese single‑shot rifles and inefficient machine guns, it delivered a comprehensive, dimension‑reducing fire strike.

The remaining Japanese still refused to give up, relying on the peripheral city blocks, buildings, and street barricades to launch a second desperate counter‑attack.

They used the narrow alleys to set up machine guns, plant landmines, and position snipers, hoping to delay through urban street fighting and count on reinforcements from the headquarters.

But they were unaware that the Japanese headquarters had been completely stripped of troops, the Nanyang front was tightening, Central China had been wholly abandoned, and the so‑called reinforcements were a phantom from start to finish.

Facing the Japanese street‑fight defense, our tactics switched again.

Infantry squads alternated covering fire and clearing streets segment by segment, engineers rapidly cleared mines and obstacles, then the 155 mm heavy artillery, guided by the forward infantry, precisely targeted stubborn urban strongpoints for pinpoint elimination.

For the Japanese‑held building bunkers and core district positions, we no longer launched reckless infantry assaults; instead, heavy artillery bombarded them flat, using absolute firepower to reduce casualties and crush the enemy.

Every street, every ruin, every building was cleared first by heavy artillery, then finished by infantry, advancing steadily and taking every inch.