Chapter 213 The power of napalm! "A squadron? It looks like the Japs are serious about this!" Listening to the soldiers' report, Kong Jie glanced at the plane in the sky and muttered to himself. "The Japanese planes have been flying here for so long... Judging from the time, it is estimated that it is almost time for them to retreat." Just as Kong Jie was speaking, the Japanese planes in the sky dived again and attacked the Eighth Route Army troops who were rushing out of the bunker and preparing to go to the position to stop the Japanese from crossing the river. However, this time the Japanese planes did not drop powerful aerial bombs, but only used the machine guns on the planes to attack the Eighth Route Army below. After fighting for so long, the bombs on the Japanese planes had long been dropped, leaving only some machine gun ammunition. If Kasahara Koizumi had not wanted them to hover in the sky to deter the Eighth Route Army and provide intelligence to the Eighth Route Army, these planes would have returned to Taiyuan long ago. When the last plane took off, the Japanese planes formed a formation and began to fly towards Taiyuan. Looking at the Japanese planes flying away, Kong Jie also realized that the Japanese planes had run out of ammunition and the fuel could no longer support them to continue circling. "The Japanese planes have left, it's our turn next!"
"Prepare the conscienceless cannon to fire! Engineers quickly repaired the trebuchets and prepared napalm bombs!" Watching the Japanese planes flying away in the sky, Kong Jie also left the bunker with his men and began to issue various orders. Because of the bombing by the Japanese planes, coupled with the machine gun fire, and the Japanese artillery's continuous shooting to assist the bombing. In order to stop the Japanese engineers from building a pontoon bridge, Kong Jie did not let the grenade launcher shooter retreat with the grenade launcher. Therefore, most of the grenade launchers were destroyed by the Japanese bombs or artillery shells. There are only a few intact grenade launchers left, which are not enough to deal with the Japanese troops crossing the river. But even without the grenade launchers, the New Second Regiment still has a lot of unscrupulous cannons. These heartless cannons have been buried in the ground and have never been fired. "Yes!" After receiving Kong Jie's order, a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers quickly ran to a gently sloping earth slope behind the riverside position. In order to prevent the conscienceless cannon from exploding, it is buried in the soil and compacted with soil, which means that the shooting angle of the conscienceless cannon is fixed. In order to maximize the range of the conscienceless cannon, Kong Jie ordered the soldiers to bury the conscience cannon on the sloping surface of a hillside facing the river. In this way, these unscrupulous cannons buried on the sloping surface of the earth can just hit the river and cover it. However, Kong Jie did not plan to use the conscienceless artillery to hold off the Japanese for long. Although the power of the Unscrupulous Cannon is very great, its firing rate is just like that. If it is fired too fast, it is easy to explode. The explosive pack inside the conscienceless cannon weighs nearly ten kilograms. Excluding some fragments, the explosives weigh about eight kilograms. The explosion of so much explosives in those iron oil drums was like the explosion of a heavy artillery shell. Therefore, the role of the conscienceless cannon is only to slow down the speed of the Japanese attack and buy time for the repair of the catapult.
By the way, let the Japanese think that the Eighth Route Army does not have many weapons to resist, and then send a large force to cross the river. At that time, the power of napalm bombs can be maximized! The number of napalm bombs Kong Jie prepared here is enough to turn the river ahead into a sea of fire! By then, as long as the Japanese cross the river, they will be burned to death! …… "ignition!" At the unscrupulous cannon position on the sloping side of the hill, an Eighth Route Army soldier stacked a round bag of explosives on a round wooden board and stuffed it into the muzzle of the unscrupulous cannon, then warned his companion who was holding a torch behind him. "go!" The Eighth Route Army soldier holding a torch lit the fuse protected by a bamboo tube. When he saw the fuse start to burn, he quickly ran to the back of the hillside with his companions. Although this was the first time this unscrupulous cannon fired. But that doesn't mean it won't explode. There are many cases of conscienceless cannons exploding, even the Vanguard Regiment has experienced this several times. So for safety reasons, the fuses of all unscrupulous cannons must be extended to fifteen seconds. Unless there are special circumstances, once the fuse is lit, the gunner must take cover and make sure the explosive pack is thrown out before coming back to reload. The Eighth Route Army soldiers who were responsible for lighting the fire climbed over the hillside, jumped into the large pit that had been prepared long ago, and covered their ears. About fifty meters away from the unscrupulous artillery position, several soldiers were squatting on the hillside looking at the unscrupulous artillery position. There were several flags placed next to these soldiers. They are the observers responsible for observing the unscrupulous cannons to see whether they have fired the explosive packs. If it failed to fire, they would signal the gunner to abandon the unscrupulous cannon that failed to fire the explosive. Wait until the battle is over and then detonate that heartless cannon. Avoid accidental injury. …… As one explosive pack after another was thrown into the sky, it fell into the Japanese army that was crossing the river. The explosive pack exploded among the Japanese troops crossing the river, and the strong shock wave directly blew the nearby Japanese soldiers into the air. That’s right, it means literally, he was blown away by the explosives wrapped in the bomb. Especially those explosive packs that fall into the river and explode are even more powerful. In addition to the fragments added at the back, the explosive pack basically relies on shock waves to kill the enemy. A large number of explosive packs fell into the river and exploded in the water, which cannot be compressed, and because the shock waves travel faster in water, they travel farther. Therefore, the power of a bomb exploding in water is greater than that exploding in the air.
Some Japanese soldiers were first knocked down by the explosive packs exploding in the air and fell directly into the river. Then the shock waves released by the explosive packs that exploded in the river hit the bodies of the Japanese soldiers lying in the river. The internal organs of the Japanese soldiers lying in the river could not withstand the shock wave of the explosive pack, which was much stronger than that of ordinary artillery shells, and were directly shattered. The Japanese soldiers who were still at the back and had not yet entered the river were frightened by the tragic scene in the river, and quickly retreated, no longer wading across the river. "Open fire, open fire, suppress the Eighth Route Army on the hillside!" Tanaka Fengjian saw the explosion in the river, and also saw the Eighth Route Army soldiers who had re-charged their positions. He ordered the machine gun squadron to open fire and use machine guns to suppress the Eighth Route Army soldiers on the positions along the river. At the same time, let the troops prepare for the charge again. "Don't retreat, don't retreat! The Eighth Route Army's artillery cannot fire for a long time, and they no longer have grenade launchers! All soldiers, prepare to charge! "After the conscienceless cannon appeared on the battlefield, the Eighth Route Army of all parties began to use this cheap, powerful weapon. At first, the Japanese were puzzled as to why the Eighth Route Army had so many heavy artillery. However, during some battles, some Japanese soldiers captured some of the Eighth Route Army's unscrupulous artillery. Based on the research of military workers, they instantly understood what the so-called heavy artillery of the Eighth Route Army was. However, weapons like the Unscrupulous Cannon are difficult to use for offense, have poor accuracy, are highly dangerous, and have a short range. Apart from being powerful and cheap, they have no other advantages. So even though the Japanese knew what the conscienceless cannon was, they only built a batch to observe the weaknesses of the conscienceless cannon and did not use it themselves. So when the strong explosion occurred in the river, Tanaka Fuzama also understood what weapons the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side used. Based on Tanaka Fuzama's experience in dealing with the Eighth Route Army, Tanaka Fuzama knew that if the Eighth Route Army had enough real artillery, they would not use unscrupulous artillery unless it was absolutely necessary. The conscienceless cannon consumes a lot of explosives, is very dangerous, and has a slow rate of fire. If the Eighth Route Army had enough artillery, they would never use the conscienceless cannon at the first opportunity unless it was necessary. But now the Eighth Route Army has begun to use unscrupulous cannons, which means that almost all of the Eighth Route Army’s annoying grenade launchers have been destroyed. Thinking of this, Tanaka Fuzama shouted loudly to the soldiers below who were preparing to wade across the river again. "The Eighth Route Army has begun using their oil barrel cannons. You have all seen what oil barrel cannons are like! The Eighth Route Army's oil barrel cannon could be fired once a minute at most, and had to cease fire after four firings, otherwise it would explode. Warriors, it's time to show your bravery! While the Eighth Route Army's oil barrel cannons are out of service, cross the river and capture the Eighth Route Army's positions!" "Kill him!" Tanaka Fuzama drew his sword, boosted the morale of the troops, then quickly turned around and began to arrange for the troops to charge. "No one is allowed to retreat this time! All infantrymen are divided into three echelons and charge the Eighth Route Army positions!" It is naturally impossible for the troops to charge forward in a swarm. Moreover, the Eighth Route Army’s unscrupulous artillery has not yet finished firing four times. So under the arrangement of Tanaka Fuzama, a team began to wade across the river in a very dispersed manner. Forcing the Eighth Route Army to continue using unscrupulous artillery. Then the two teams continued to cross the river. If the Eighth Route Army's unscrupulous artillery did not continue to fire, then after the second-tier assault team crossed the river, the remaining troops would follow closely and cross the river.
If the Eighth Route Army's unscrupulous artillery is still firing when the second echelon crosses the river, then the remaining troops will have to wait until the Eighth Route Army's unscrupulous artillery has finished firing a round before crossing the river together. After the consumption of the first and second echelons as well as the troops that had just crossed the river, the Eighth Route Army's unscrupulousness would definitely be exhausted. The third echelon will be able to cross the river safely, launch a charge at the Eighth Route Army's riverside positions, and finally capture the Eighth Route Army's riverside positions in one go! Under the arrangement of Tanaka Fuzama, the remaining Japanese soldiers lined up together and prepared to wade across the river. The first group of Japanese soldiers took off their backpacks and outer clothes, took out a piece of white cloth from their bodies and tied it on their foreheads, ready to charge. The first group of Japanese soldiers knew that they were going to attract the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire, and they immediately prepared for death. "Kill him!" "Sky Locust, onboard!" The first group of Japanese soldiers shouted "Heavenly Locusts" and "May God bless you", then stepped into the river with their weapons and began to charge towards the positions along the river. The Eighth Route Army did not disappoint the Japanese. Explosive packs were thrown into the river, directly forcing the charging Japanese to retreat. Afterwards, with the Japanese's perseverance, the second wave of charge began. …… "ignition!" After the Japanese third echelon began its charge, the engineering company of the New Second Regiment, which had received the signal long ago, placed homemade napalm bombs filled with gasoline, rubber particles and some miscellaneous mixtures on the catapult of the catapult. Under the order of the commander of the engineering company, the soldiers holding torches quickly ignited the linen cloth soaked in gasoline wrapped around the earthen jar. The earthen jars instantly turned into fireballs. Under the high temperature burning, the air above the earthen jar began to distort slightly. "put!" An Eighth Route Army soldier took an axe and smashed it hard on the wooden wedge that fixed the catapult. The lever arms of nearly twenty simple counterweight catapults dropped rapidly under the weight of the sandbags. The earthen jars placed on one side of the catapult were thrown out one after another. Under the command of the commander of the engineering company, several soldiers quickly pulled the lever down again, used sand to put out the flames of the gasoline-stained parabolic projectile, and then replaced it with a new earthenware jar. The trebuchet is not a conscienceless cannon. It needs to cool down after firing only a few shots. As long as the soldier operating the trebuchet still has strength, he can keep firing. The greater his strength, the faster the trebuchet's firing rate will be! Burning earthenware jars flew into the sky. Then he fell into the formation of the Japanese troops who were charging. Some earthenware jars exploded in the air and turned directly into fire dragons rushing towards the Japanese. Some clay pots fell into the river. The strong impact and the flames burning on the surface of the pots made it impossible for the pots to withstand it, and they exploded directly on the river surface. The gasoline, rubber particles and some miscellaneous mixture in the jar burned directly on the surface of the river.
Some Japanese soldiers were directly hit by the earthenware jars, and the fuel in the jars carried the flames that directly covered these Japanese soldiers. The burning temperature of the fuel made of gasoline, rubber particles and some other mixtures is not something that the Japanese uniforms can withstand. If it's just gasoline, as long as there's not much, you can try to put it out by rolling it around. At most one burn. However, once the napalm bomb Qin Yangming made was contaminated by the fuel inside, it would immediately burn through the Japanese soldiers' clothes and stick to their bodies. Unless the Japs cut off the piece of meat, the flames would continue to burn until the fuel was exhausted or the Japs' bones were burned through. Not only that, these fuels also contain a large amount of toxins. Once they burn through the skin, the toxicity in the fuel will enter the body through the blood vessels. Even if only the arm was burned, unless it was amputated in time, the only thing left was to wait for death! Some Japanese soldiers tried to hide in the river to put out the fire. However, these special fuels contain some special metals, which react directly with water after entering the water. There is even some white phosphorus wrapped in wax balls in the fuel! Even if the flame was extinguished, once the Japanese hit it, the wax ball would break, revealing the white phosphorus inside. At this moment, the temperature around had already reached the standard for white phosphorus to spontaneously ignite under the baking of the flames. For a moment, this section of the river was filled with flames, black smoke from incendiary bombs, and the wailing of the Japanese devils. Tanaka Fuzama, who was behind, was shocked when he saw the fire burning in front of him. "What kind of weapon is this? A Molotov cocktail?! Why are these flames able to burn on water? ! " (End of this chapter)