Obviously, Muto, who was fired by the German long-range artillery fire, was in a difficult situation. However, if the main force of the two German regiments stayed at the current position on the southern line, once Lu Huanyan launched a counterattack on the northern line, the possibility of the opponent continuing to attack or retreat... The probability of retreating is greater than the probability of continuing to counterattack and attack...

"Lu Sang... Please remember what you said just now. I, Muto Shinyi, is definitely not a person who complains easily... But my subordinates suffered too much casualties under the bombardment of German long-range howitzers... Li Shang's armored 3rd Battalion performed very well, but you say that heroes can't stand the wolf in Chinese. I believe you don't want to destroy the two elite Chinese armored battalions under the bombardment of the Germans' 105mm light howitzers... I'm waiting for the moment your cannon fire!" As he said that, he hung up the phone.

"Report to the regiment commander...the telegram from the front command of the Central Route Army of the Alliance, and the general in the court asked if we needed support... He had ordered the two 75mm field artillery battalions of the 15th Federal Infantry Division to come out to the northern suburbs of Kharkov, striving to cover the northern artillery fire shooting across the entire Kharkov old city area..." A communications officer held the telegram report he had just received!

"What did the Japanese have been doing long ago... Didn't the Tanaka Field Artillery Corps set the position forward to the rear of the Beijiao Ring Road in the afternoon? Where are they now? Why do you still have to hurry up from the two artillery battalions of the 15th Infantry Division who arrived later? If I had known that I would have been able to reach the three-way intersection after crossing the river..." Chief of Staff Ren Dadao complained.

"Of course the northern line is important... The general in the court is also singing an empty city plan in the north at this time. Let's be the chief of staff! Call back the commander-in-chief of the frontier. If possible, please send even a battalion of ground troops to attack Kharkov Central Railway Station from the north. It is better than moving the artillery position at this time... Hashimoto's 150mm heavy artillery should be bombarded the entire railway station to ruins!"

Although Lu Huanyan also regretted not asking for the firepower of even an artillery battalion with Erro Ota, he could understand that the General of the Dating Line had only the Sugimoto Regiment of the disabled Kikuchi Brigade and the remaining part of the 13th Federal Infantry Division, which was also seriously injured and injured. If the main direction of the German counterattack was on the North Line, the coalition could only rely on the artillery troops rather than the ground troops...

"Report to the regiment commander... The Mizuno corps was in a hurry again. The corps Major Maeda was injured. There were only more than 300 people left in Nakamura's brigade. The German army surrounded the two wings in front of him. Major Maeda requested a retreat!" A regiment headquarters combat staff shouted nervously!

"Chief of Staff... Take the 2nd and 3rd platoons of the 4th Armored Company to attack, and hold the Germans first, assault west along the main road, and pose as if they were straight into the bridgehead, and buy some time for the cavalry squadron of the Masato Regiment!" Lu Huanyan frowned and simply sent his chief of staff out, while saying to the staff holding the phone, "Order the 1st platoon of the 4th Armored Company to cover Major Maeda's retreat along the main road, attracting the Germans from the wings of the forest to the middle... Order the m81 mortar group of the north and south wings of the three-way intersection to open fire, suppressing the Germans' offensive momentum..."

Although Lu Huanyan placed the Chiaki Zhenggang Regiment and Bivlov's infantry regiment hidden on both sides of the main road east of the Sancha Road, he concentrated the mortars of the m81 battalion configured by these two new forces and placed them in the forest on the front line of the north and south wings of the Sancha Road as support firepower. The mortar grenade of the m81 battalion of the coalition forces weighed 3.6 kilograms and had a range of 2,000 meters, which could well cover the second line of defense that the Nakamura Brigade had originally guarded...

Nakamura Battalion, which belongs to the 7th Infantry Regiment of the Muto Brigade of the Mizuno, originally had a 55-man artillery squad (1 10-man squad, 15-man ammunition squad, and two 15-man artillery squad each equipped with 4 Chinese-made 81mm battalion mortars. However, these 8 m81st battalion mortars were lost under the fierce attack and suppression of German armored train artillery fire in the city. Lu Huanyan put three artillery squads of the three infantry brigades of the Chiaki Masato Regiment, a total of 24 m81st battalion mortars, plus the eight m81st battalion mortars under the jurisdiction of the 51st Biflov Infantry Regiment, which were concentrated on the east side of the north-south forest road...

These 32 m81 mortars constitute a powerful fire support within 2 kilometers of the coalition. Moreover, the m81 mortar position is just outside the range covered by the German armored train artillery fire in Kharkov city... The three machine gun squadrons of the Chiaki Zhenggang Wing are escorting the m81 mortar cluster... Each machine gun squadron is organized into a 14-man squadron, 3 machine gun squadrons, 1 ammunition squadron, each squadron is equipped with 4 Browning 7.62 air-cooled heavy machine guns, one squadron, 12 squadrons, and three machine gun squadrons are 36 Browning 7.62mm air-cooled heavy machine guns...

If the Nakamura brigade of the Mizuno Taifu Army was just a outpost guarding force, then on the 2-kilometer defense line arranged in the forest east of the Sanchao Road intersection, the firepower of 36 Browning heavy machine guns and the firepower of 32 M81 Battalion mortars formed a solid shield defense line... Lu Huanyan did not think that the two infantry battalions of the German army could break through the line of defense he placed. The density of Browning heavy machine guns reached 50 meters per line on this line of defense, and there were as many as 16 m81 mortar groups in a group of two guns...

At this time, Lu Huanyan's plan to set up the mortar position was reflected, but his two 75mm field artillery battalions of the 14th Federal Infantry Division were arranged on the south side of the three-way intersection, but they were a little closer to the west than their mortar position... The long-range artillery ranges of both sides of the warring sides were similar...

The maximum range of the 150mm heavy howitzer on the armored train of Lieutenant Colonel Von Lundsted is 8,500 meters, while the range of the 105mm light field howitzer is 8,400 meters, while the maximum range of the two 75mm Type 38 field artillery battalions of the 14th Federation of Federation Infantry Division is 8,500 meters, which means that the positions of both sides can either not reach the other side or can beat the other side. However, Lu Huanyan still took a little advantage. Because the Kharkov River rushed from north to south, the terrain of the left bank of the river was 5 to 10 meters lower than the right bank. In other words, the terrain of the coalition artillery positions in the forest was about 8 meters higher than the average altitude of the German armored train in Kharkov...
Chapter completed!