afterglow

Chapter 351: Fight head-on; he is very good at internal strife

The Australian soldiers also realized that the situation seemed not quite right - why was it so smooth along the way without any resistance?

Captain Angus also couldn't understand that his side was attacking with armored vehicles. Even if he had to resort to conspiracy, it would be impossible for him not to fire a single shot until now, right?Otherwise, they will definitely be massacred by armored vehicles later.

After entering this small village, the Australian soldiers began to change their search and advance strategy. They instead walked with an infantry squad 20 meters in front of the armored vehicle, and another squad followed behind, covering their own armored vehicles from being approached. and blasted away.

The wooden houses with sloping roofs and stilts that are common in Malaya are somewhat similar to the stilt houses in southwest China, but the difference is that the shape of the roof is different and it does not use tiles, but is covered with woven fabrics such as bamboo and grass.

Quietly enter the village, do not shoot.

The round-toe cowhide field shoes felt awful sticky and slippery when stepped on the wet muddy streets.

When the cautious Australian soldiers slowly advanced more than twenty meters, the firing of those heavy mortars suddenly stopped.

An ominous atmosphere filled the hearts of the officers and soldiers of Company C.

Immediately afterwards, a red signal flare rose into the sky.

The windows and doors of many surrounding houses were pushed open, muzzle flashes several inches long spurted out, and gunfire suddenly erupted.

Several Australian soldiers approached a residential house and were about to open the door. In the blink of an eye, they were shot into pieces by a series of .351 Winchester rifle bullets.

In an instant, the two paths running through the village were filled with gunshots and explosions. The "dong-dong-dong" roar of the two Sany-type anti-aircraft machine guns was the most shocking.

The bullet, which was longer than a Coke can, was pulled into the receiver, and was immediately accelerated by the gunpowder gas and pushed out of the muzzle. The scene of the machine gun bullet containing [-] joules of kinetic energy hitting a human body at a close range of tens of meters was extremely bloody.

Like chopsticks poking through tofu, the bullet continued its momentum after passing through the flesh and blood body, and easily penetrated the weak mild steel plate of the armored vehicle.

The 12.8×96mm tracer bullet dragged a conspicuous light trail into the interior of the armored vehicle. The tracer tube at the tail of the bullet continued to burn, thus igniting the fuel tank.

In just a few seconds, the street entrance turned into a killing area where blood and flesh were everywhere, and flames and black smoke came out of the gaps in the armored vehicles.

A storm of bullets of various calibers gave these overly courageous Australian troops a head-on blow, and their formation was instantly broken up.

The Australian soldiers who were shot and fell to the ground were trampled by others in panic, and others were immediately knocked down by bullets.

Captain Angus staggered and hid behind an armored vehicle that was desperately firing back. He immediately saw a soldier running towards him being torn open by bullets——

When the 12.8mm machine gun bullet penetrated his back, it only opened a hole as wide as two fingers, but when it exited the abdomen, half of his stomach was torn into pieces, and the dark red internal organs fell all over the floor like rotten jam.

The rocket-propelled grenade launched by the rocket launcher hit the side of the armored vehicle and exploded. Angus was knocked down by the flying debris and was covered in mud and water.

The machine gun tower of the armored vehicle that was firing wildly also suddenly went silent, and there was a dull crackling sound like an iron barrel covering a hanging firecracker - this was the bullet induced by the metal jet.

Now, Angus finally understands how ridiculous his idea is - even without anti-tank guns, the Chinese are not afraid of armored vehicles at all!

The frightened soldiers crawled and hid behind any cover they could find, firing back in random directions.

Fortunately, the Australian army's usual training is still up to standard, otherwise they would probably be in a panic now.

A platoon that had not entered the village quickly fired smoke grenades with rifle grenades and 2-inch mortars. The two Vickers heavy machine guns on the periphery also fired wildly without sparing bullets, doing their best to cover the retreat of the ambushed troops.

At this time, four Type [-] medium tanks from a tank platoon ventured through the artillery blockade area.

They were ordered to come and give these unscrupulous enemies a hard blow. After carefully observing and figuring out the falling pattern of the artillery fire, they quickly took advantage of the gap and accelerated past without any damage.

The roar of the engine and the collision of tracks came, and the shocked officers and soldiers of C Company changed their expressions upon hearing this.

The first team of the Second Battalion, which retreated to a small village and successfully ambushed them, also chased them from the flank, intending to pursue the victory.

"boom!"

The tanks stopped and stopped, machine guns and artillery fired continuously. A Vickers heavy machine gun team that was preparing to carry weapons to evacuate was all blown down by flying artillery shells.

The sputtering high-speed fragments even cut open the water-cooling sleeve, and the warm cooling water inside trickled out.

Knowing that they were unable to resist, the Australian soldiers suddenly became confused. Captain Angus, who had an injured leg, was carried and hid in a depression. He shouted an order to fire a signal flare for help.

In fact, Company A, which did not join them in the rash attack, had seen the miserable state of these reckless guys, but now they were in a dilemma.

If you go to respond, you may not be able to protect yourself; but if you don't respond, you may be held responsible after the war.

Captain Kleist was extremely anxious, hoping to receive artillery support, but there was no movement.

The rampaging Ming tanks fired at any exposed Australian fire points, first with Vickers heavy machine guns and then with Lewis light machine guns.

Later, the four Type 48 medium tanks did not spare even individual soldiers. The targeted Australian infantry would immediately incur a [-]mm anti-explosive bomb.

The Australian army, which lacked anti-tank weapons, had little room to fight back. They used Enfield rifles to fire grenades at the Ming army tanks, but the Mills grenade was bounced off after hitting the armor, and then exploded in mid-air, without any effect.

The desperate Captain Angus fired at the tank with his revolver, but was knocked down by a series of machine gun bullets not long after, and after two flutters, there was no movement.

The blood flowed and formed a small pool, which soon soaked into the wet mud.

The unscrupulous tank crews seemed to be a little carried away, because they were too aggressive and separated from the accompanying infantry. One of the tanks was broken by an enemy who didn't know where to touch it with a blasting cannon.

However, no matter how brave and fearless they were, they could not prevent defeat, and the order of C Company was soon shattered.

The Australian soldiers who lost their ability to resist effectively dispersed. Some lost their weapons and ran away, while others huddled in the craters and resisted, but few raised their hands and surrendered.

The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty pursued the situation and directly recaptured the positions they had deliberately abandoned before.

"Captain, we can't stop them, what should we do?!"

Only two or three kittens were left among the officers and soldiers of Company C who escaped from Shengtian. Seeing that the situation was not good, Captain Kleist of Company A immediately ordered a retreat.

"Retreat! Now! What the hell are the artillery doing?!"

Our own artillery support has not responded until now. Staying here is tantamount to courting death!

What he didn't know was that his own artillery position was being attacked by a sudden attack from the Ming army's field artillery group.

There is no such thing as counter-battery radar these days, and it is not easy to determine the precise location of the opponent's artillery. Therefore, artillery does not often perform counter-battery missions in actual combat.A reconnaissance team from the 20nd Mobile Brigade successfully penetrated the outer defense line of the Australian [-]th Infantry Brigade and established an observation post deep within the enemy forces.

In this way, the field artillery group of the assault group can attempt to carry out a sudden fire attack on its artillery position.

"Boom boom boom-"

The hail of artillery shells set off a storm of flames on the Australian artillery position in the blink of an eye!

Earth bags, wooden boxes, camouflage nets and other items were lifted into the sky by the shock wave, and the blown truck wheels burned, emitting a pungent smell of burnt rubber.

Most of the twelve QF 4.5-inch howitzers were destroyed, and the artillerymen were almost dead everywhere. Every artillery position was strewn with broken limbs and broken clothes.

Zhou Changfeng originally planned to rest for a day and wait for a large-scale attack the next day, but these Australians came to find trouble themselves, so he had to make changes.

The temporarily adjusted offensive plan was not detailed enough, but Zhou Changfeng believed it was enough.

It can be said that our side launched the attack with overwhelming force. The Australian army with high morale can only cause more trouble. It is absolutely impossible to reverse the situation of the war.

Weapons and troops are superior, so it is better to go all out in one go.

The [-]st Attack Tank Battalion serves as the spearhead of the attack, and the [-]st Battalion of the [-]nd Motorized Infantry Brigade cooperates with it. The two are responsible for the central breakthrough; the [-]st Marine Brigade is directly under the chariot convoy and the [-]nd and [-]rd Battalions of the [-]st Regiment attack to the west.

The amphibious tank battalion of the [-]st Marine Brigade and the other two battalions of the [-]nd Mobile Brigade were kept in reserve, ready to take over the attack at any time.

"But this is a bit radical, isn't it? The remaining ammunition is only enough for one day at most. If the intensity is high, I'm afraid it can only last half a day." Zhu Lizhuo called specifically from the artillery command post to question.

"Don't worry. If the ammunition is exhausted and the situation is not resolved, stop attacking and switch to defense on the spot."

"But... what if the enemy counterattacks? You have to have a back-up for emergencies, right?"

"Have you forgotten those captured guns? If you just stick to it, it will be enough." Zhou Changfeng then added: "Pick a gun group and test-fire as soon as possible to get familiar with it. It doesn't matter if you don't have a firing watch."

Because of the excessive speed of advancement, the artillery unit belonging to the assault group had actually almost exhausted the three base number of artillery shells it carried when setting off from Kota Bharu.

However, when they captured Kuantan before, the 9th British-Indian Division that fled in a panic did not even have time to completely destroy the large amount of supplies hoarded locally, resulting in many supplies and equipment falling into the hands of the Ming army without being destroyed.

13门QF18磅野战炮、6门QF4.5英寸榴弹炮、177辆奥斯汀卡车，还有超过40000加仑的汽油。

In addition, there are various medicines and food supplies. The Ming army soldiers collected countless supplies from warehouses and supply depots in the city and suburbs - cigarettes, biscuits, canned beef, rum, black tea, aspirin, Quinine and so on piled up.

Without the timely replenishment of these supplies, the assault group would never have been able to move south quickly for days and nights, and would have been delayed for at least two days waiting for its own supplies.

The Air Force also benefited a lot from this. The British and Indian troops only had time to burn down an oil storage station before retreating in Kuantan, and more than 100 barrels of precious No. 1000 aviation gasoline were seized from the local air force base.

The Ming Air Force stipulates the use of No. 87 gasoline when transitioning, the use of No. 94 gasoline during ordinary combat operations, and the addition of No. 100 gasoline is only allowed during critical operations.

Now, No. 20, the fourth team of the Sixth Destroyer Detachment stationed at Kuantan Airport can squander these high-quality fuel unscrupulously.

皇家空军第232中队在今天早上蒙受了史无前例的巨大挫败——14架飓风MkII遭遇了10架三六式乙型，结果被击落5架、击伤6架，仅击落对方2架。

One of the downed Hurricane fighters made an emergency landing in the wilderness. The marching No. 30 Eighth Division sent scouts to capture the pilot and hoisted the aircraft onto a heavy truck and transported it back to Kuantan Airport.

After inspection by a mechanic, although the aircraft had several mechanical structural damages, it was generally in good condition and had restoration and research value.

Therefore, the Air Force immediately organized manpower to try to repair it. This was also the first time that the Ming Dynasty captured a British fighter jet for research.

After learning that the Australian 20th Infantry Brigade's counterattack attempt ended in disastrous failure, Major General Ingram, commander of the British-Indian 9th Division, immediately called to inquire.

It was said to be an inquiry, but in fact it was mixed with some schadenfreude, because Cecil, the commander of the Australian 7th Division, confidently mocked his command as "very negative and lacking in courage and enterprising spirit" two days ago.

negative?Haha, are you willing to give it a try?
Sure enough, the 20th Brigade's counterattack failed directly, losing an entire infantry company and more than half of a Royal Artillery regiment (battalion).

At the same time, because the Western Front was in danger, there were endless disputes among generals and departments at all levels.

While the British command system in the defense of Malaya was making a fuss, at 16:30 that afternoon, after simple and hasty preparations, the artillery units of the assault group began to launch violent shelling on the marked Australian military fortifications and firepower points.

The Air Force Liaison Team directed two 128mm heavy mortars to fire colored smoke bombs deep into the enemy's position. A stream of red smoke balls lined up in the Australian defense line.

A fleet of 23 Type 11 light bombers and 200 Type [-] dive bombers arrived as scheduled and dropped more than [-] aerial bombs.

The smoke from the previous bombardment has not yet dissipated, and now so many aircraft bombs have been dropped.The ground shook for a moment, and the defense line of the Australian 20th Infantry Brigade seemed to be torn to pieces.

The dive bomber roared towards the ground at high speed and pulled up at a very low altitude. The 250kg armor-piercing explosive bomb it dropped almost blew up the civil fortifications.

The thunderous rumblings made the Ming army soldiers in the offensive starting position extremely excited, and the performances of their own fighter planes made them applaud from time to time.

"Let's go, let's go!"

"Hold your gun and don't drop anything!"

"Carry more grenades and less anything else."

The fleet left leisurely, and the officers greeted each unit to proceed to the attack starting position one after another.

At this time, the Ming army's field artillery group also began the most rapid attack shooting, in order to inflict maximum damage and shock on the enemy before its own infantry launched an attack.

26 Type 9 heavy tanks and 40 Type 1000 medium tanks started from the second-line position and gradually expanded into a line of formation, with a distance of [-] meters on the left and right, and an attack front width of [-] meters.

When the artillery fire gradually stopped, the sharp whistle sounded immediately afterwards.

"Beep beep beep—"

"Wan Sheng—"

In the blink of an eye, countless gray-green figures emerged from the depressions, bomb craters, and foxholes in the wilderness, rushing towards the dilapidated and crumbling Australian defense line!

A group of tanks followed behind, advancing slowly like a row of unshakable steel forts.

　An Easter egg chapter with an RPG icon has been uploaded.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)