afterglow

Chapter 255 Set foot on a foreign land; fierce resistance

The violent explosion caused a power outage in some cabins of the Tongling, but the power is still there, and the emergency power supply equipment is also operating normally.

The damage control team members and other sailors went all out to quickly control the water ingress, and the power failure was restored within a short time.The Tongling now straightened its rudder, and then continued to reverse, slowly backing away from the dangerous mine area ahead.

The fracture was rough and messy, where the hull steel plate was curled and deformed, exposing various pipes and cables, as if it was a lotus root that was broken by force, rather than being cut neatly with a sharp knife.

However, although it looked miserable, there was no risk of sinking, and the casualties were relatively small. A total of four people were missing, one was killed, and seven were seriously injured.

Adhering to the rules of radio silence during wartime, the Tongling used semaphore and light language to report the situation to the fleet.

Several flags were hoisted on the mast, and the signal lights were flashing - there were mines laying ahead, which was highly dangerous. Our ship was seriously injured and was in stable condition.

The fleet stopped advancing, and the mine-sweeping team was dispatched immediately. Four mine-sweeping ships formed an echelon formation and sailed back and forth in a zigzag in the target sea area, shooting at floating mines to detonate them, and using mine-sweeping equipment to clear fixed anchor mines.

The unlucky experience of the destroyer Tongling made the entire fleet realize that the battle has really begun. Now everyone is in danger and may lose their lives inadvertently at any time.

It's just that everyone still doesn't know how the Japanese resistance will be, whether it is light or heavy?
Rumbling explosions continued to be heard in front of them. They were floating mines discovered by minesweepers using machine guns or heavy machine guns.

Because the time left for the Resistance Army is limited, less than [-] hours, and there is still a lack of professional minelayers, the number of mines they laid in the waterway near Kawasaki is limited.

The fine weather also improved the efficiency of clearing the minefields. In just over an hour, four minesweepers quickly cleared hundreds of mines here.

Several dive bombers performing reconnaissance missions also returned one after another and reported what they had seen—there were no visible fortifications near Kawasaki.

Perhaps the fact is that the opponent did not set up a defense line, but it is also possible that they disguised the field fortifications well and successfully deceived the eyes of the pilots.

Although the experience of the Tongling was horrifying, it did not dampen the morale of the officers and soldiers of the Ming army. The state of the Fourth Infantry Division was still quite positive, and it was already preparing to land.

At the same time, in a place slightly north, the main force of the fleet has reached the Tokyo dock area.

The fleet composed of dozens of large and small warships has changed its formation. The main body is two parallel and staggered long snake formations, and the periphery is some destroyers patrolling back and forth. This is to prevent possible torpedo boats or frogmen.

During the European War, an Italian frogman team secretly sneaked into the Austro-Hungarian naval base from underwater. The bold and cautious frogmen created a brilliant record—successfully sank the [-]-ton Unitis battleship.

With the lessons learned from the past, the navies of the great powers naturally pay more attention to research methods to deal with frogman raids, and supplement them in the naval regulations.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not participate in the war, the officials and lords were very happy to prostitute the experience and lessons of other countries.

"...It is expected that the third echelon will be able to go ashore at around five o'clock, and then they only need to hold the beachhead. However, if everything goes well, um... then we will implement the second plan at that time, and go deeper."

After finishing his speech, Zhou Changfeng tapped lightly on the map with his hand, and then looked at the officers with different expressions in front of him.

Everyone immediately clasped their fists together and said loudly, "Design!"

Just after the application time, at 15:12, the landing operation of the Marine Regiment kicked off.

Both the Zhanghe and the Yongping battleships put down fast scout boats on both sides of the stern, a total of four ships, and they carried more than [-] officers and soldiers from the reconnaissance team of the first regiment of the landing battle.

This is a high-speed speedboat used for reconnaissance on the beach before large troops land. The whole body is smooth and round. It is made of aluminum alloy and can carry six to eight soldiers. There are folding aluminum alloy ladders on both sides for passengers to get on and off.

The Navy, as always, did not name this little thing with a year, but directly called it "No. 15 Reconnaissance Boat", with a total length of 350 meters and a displacement of six and a half tons. In order to achieve the purpose of fast reconnaissance and search, it is equipped with a 36 The three-horsepower C-type diesel engine can reach a maximum speed of [-] knots.

Four reconnaissance boats rushed to the beach at high speed, leaving tracks on the calm sea.

The more than twenty officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance team rushed ashore without any attack, and they became the first people in the marine regiment to set foot on foreign land.

They checked the surrounding environment and thought there was nothing unusual, so they fired two green flares.

At this point, the follow-up landing operation was officially launched.

The Ming Army and Navy have studied and finalized the mode of landing operations. This is also the guideline for the Marine Corps to carry out its main business, and many landing operations are based on it.

And Zhou Changfeng further improved the details on the basis of it, and added many auxiliary concepts of later generations, but these advanced concepts only exist in writing and sand table deduction for the time being, and I am afraid that they will not come in handy until they land in Nanyang in the future.

All in all, when the Ming army carried out landing operations in the confirmed landing areas, it was divided into three tactical steps.

First, use aircraft and high-speed search boats to conduct a thorough investigation of the beach, the arrangement of obstacles, the steep slope of the beach, the distribution of firepower points, etc.

Second, naval warships prepare fire on the beachhead to attack discovered targets.Afterwards, the bombardment continued to cover the landing forces as they docked.When they were less than a mile away from the beachhead, the battleship began to extend its firepower to the rear.

Third, if there is an obstacle in the way, the engineering unit must first dock to destroy it, and skip it if there is no obstacle.Subsequently, the landing troops landed on various landing ships to seize the beachhead.

Battleships, aircraft carriers, and six landing ships have successively put down more than 20 landing craft. This wooden boat is about 12 meters long, propelled by a 40-horsepower diesel engine, with a maximum speed of ten knots and can carry eleven tons. goods.When transporting troops, it can hold about [-] people.

A series of rope nets hung down from both sides of the battleship, and the heavily armed soldiers climbed down through the rope nets one by one, and finally jumped into the landing craft.

Xue Can's first battalion took the lead, and after leaving the fleet, eighteen landing craft also lined up and rushed to the beach at full speed.

Standing on the bridge of the battleship Zhanghe, Zhou Changfeng was holding a binoculars. In his eyes, the tracks left by the landing craft were like a row of snow-white combs.

The landing went smoothly. Landing craft rushed onto the beach one after another, and the springboard in front fell down with a "crash". Crouching or crouching on guard.

In this way, except for a few people who fell and were injured, hundreds of officers and soldiers of the first battalion established a beachhead almost unharmed.

Subsequently, the second echelon also went ashore with ease.

Didn't you say there is a resistance army?How come I haven't even seen a shadow yet?
At 16:46 in the afternoon, the regiment headquarters, anti-aircraft artillery team, engineering team, and amphibious combat team of the third echelon set off.

Zhou Changfeng was also in one of the landing craft. He instinctively believed that the resistance army organized by the Japanese could not be groundless. Since there was no attack during the beach landing process, it is likely that the opponent chose defense in depth?
Rational inference, this is completely reasonable.

There is a huge fleet of the Ming army moored in Tokyo Bay, and if you dare to defend the beachhead, you will seek your own death. In the face of the 400-inch, [-]mm battleship armor-piercing projectiles, even the permanent fortifications made of reinforced concrete are as fragile as building blocks.

Instead of losing troops in vain, it is better to put the Ming army in depth and resist steadily.

In Japan, which lacks strategic depth, if the enemy cannot be wiped out on the beachhead, once a large enemy force lands, it will undoubtedly be defeated.

However, because the brave defending Turkish army was sure from the beginning that this was a doomed war, they had no scruples to give up the defense line on the beach.

Suddenly, a group of flashes burst out on the edge of the beach, followed by the second group and the third group...

A few seconds later, the sound of rumbling explosions reached the ears of the officers and soldiers of the third echelon who were still sailing at sea.

Zhou Changfeng frowned subconsciously, then raised his binoculars.

Because the beach is wetter than the inland land, the explosion did not stir up too much dust, and the smoke dissipated quickly. The three-mountain wave flag of the Marine Corps on the beach was still flying.

According to his experience, it should be a shell fired by a medium mortar.

The few Japanese in heavy industry now only have the ability to process incoming materials.The Tokyo Artillery Factory can manufacture a small amount of 75mm mountain guns by importing British gun tube steel.However, due to the high cost, in recent years they can only focus on the manufacture of mortars that can be completely self-produced. The imitation products are also the French Brand 81mm mortars that are used all over the world.

After a short period of confusion, the beachhead troops who had been hit by more than a dozen shells began to try to fight back. Some people maintained their utmost calm under the shelling, and saw the smoke and faint flames of the enemy's mortars with sharp eyes.

After hasty ranging and coordination, the eight 80mm mortars belonging to the first and second battalions fired back in that general direction.

The two [-]-type fighter jets hovering in the air on standby lowered their altitude, hovered over the heads of the beachhead troops while shaking their wings left and right, signaling the mortars to stop returning fire, lest the parabolic trajectory overlap with the plane's route and cause a big joke.

Afterwards, the two fighter planes swooped down and fired at the enemy mortar positions that had just been exposed.

A string of 7.36mm machine gun bullets stirred up clouds of dust in the field, and the dropped 50kg aerial bomb exploded, destroying one of the mortar firing bunkers.

When Zhou Changfeng stepped onto the beach from the landing craft, he couldn't help feeling mixed feelings for a moment.

Now I set foot on the land of Japan as a soldier, and the city of Tokyo is within easy reach.

It's not about glory, it can only be said that some obsessions have been slightly relieved.

This plane of Japan is completely unqualified as an opponent. Indeed, if he completely abandons his previous identity, he should be as calm as the other thousands of Ming soldiers.

I'm afraid there is nothing to be proud of even planting the Sun and Moon Flag in Batavia. I want to make everyone's hearts fluctuate?At least the Sun and Moon flag must be planted in Canberra.

The shelling of the Resistance Army caused certain casualties to the First Marine Regiment, with three dead and nineteen injured.

The well-trained officers and soldiers reacted quickly after being shelled, so apart from being caught off guard by the first shell, everyone lay down in time to find cover. The subsequent dozen shells did not have much effect, only blowing up a ship. landing craft.

"The first battalion is ordered to advance two miles to the northwest; the second battalion to advance two miles to the northeast, and then build a line of defense; the heavy force battalion and the mountain artillery battalion will be deployed on the spot after landing; the battle team guarantees that a platoon can support it at any time."

"Yes." Xie Wancheng repeated his order aloud, "The two battalions respectively advanced two miles to the northwest and northeast to build a defense line, the artillery deployed on the spot, and the chariot wheels stood by alternately."

"By the way, remind all ministries to beware of enemy night attacks."

"Order."

The two battalions quickly moved into action, and the heavily armed soldiers turned into an open formation to guard against shelling, and under the leadership of several vanguard groups, they tightened up in depth.

The enemy army seemed to have disappeared without a trace. There was no abnormality for two quarters of an hour. The previous bombardment seemed to be a dream.

The situation faced by the First Marine Regiment cannot represent other Ming troops, because everyone can vaguely hear subtle movements from the southwest.

It was Kawasaki City where the Fourth Division landed, about ten kilometers away in a straight line, and some earth-shattering sounds came across a long distance.

At this moment, the [-]th Infantry Division has been fighting fiercely with the Resistance Army for a full hour.

The 11th Regiment has all gone into battle, and the [-]rd Battalion of the No. [-] Regiment is also in place for reinforcements. Their opponent is the Matsumoto Detachment that is bravely defending the Turkish Army.

As the commander of the [-]rd Battalion of the [-]th Regiment, in He Cheng's view, as long as he broke through the crumbling defense line of the enemy in front of him, their will to resist could be completely disintegrated, and Tokyo was almost at his fingertips afterwards.

However, to his surprise, and to the surprise of all the soldiers of the Ming army, the resistance army's fighting will was very firm, and they almost refused to give up an inch of ground.

In order to show their status as civilian volunteers, the brave Turkic Army did not wear military uniforms, but a variety of ordinary clothes, and only tied cloth strips of various colors on their arms to distinguish them.

The sunset was as red as blood, and the fields in the evening were swept by a storm of steel and explosives.

The mortars, infantry guns, and anti-aircraft guns belonging to the infantry regiment kept firing, and the empty shell shells piled up into hills, and the naval guns carried by the Ming destroyers and light cruisers on the sea were also roaring.

Countless shells smashed on the enemy's positions like hailstones, and the positions built by the resistance army all night were filled with smoke, dust and debris, which was so spectacular that it was beyond words.

The booming cannons are used as the background sound, and the Ming army's shouts, whistles, and suonas are intertwined into a unique ensemble.

"Damn it! It's not easy to fight from the front, so we have to try from the flanks. Send the order down, and the third team is going to turn around!" He Cheng was injured by a 6.5×50mm rifle bullet in his left arm, but blood was still oozing after bandaging.

"Yes!"

The fighting started at 15:57 in the afternoon and did not stop until the sun had fully set.

However, the fierce battle for more than two hours had little effect-two battalions of the Tenth Regiment advanced 300 meters, with more than 11 casualties; one battalion of the No.200 Regiment advanced 110 meters, with more than [-] casualties.

(End of this chapter)