afterglow

Chapter 373 Are they ghosts? !Transport Captain +1
A series of smoke balls quickly formed, and the billowing gray smoke quickly mixed together.

The density of defensive firepower dropped sharply, and the opportunity was not lost. The Marine tanks and infantry involved in the attack took the time to retreat and retreat to the enemy's outer defense line that they had previously captured to regroup.

Two of the more than 30 tanks accompanying the attack were directly destroyed, and four others were injured and unable to move. The crew members had to abandon the vehicle and flee.

Under the bloody sunset, the two sides entered into a temporary confrontation, firing several mortar shells and strafing shots at each other from time to time.

"Where are the interpreters? Come here quickly. As usual, let them explain their numbers, organization, firepower distribution, reserve team status... I'll ask these few first."

The previously captured Dutch and Indian officers and soldiers were intensively interrogated. The so-called "tactically attaching importance to the enemy" means that even if one's own side attacks with overwhelming force, it must be taken seriously.

The three dejected Dutch officers remained silent at first, or gave incorrect answers, but after receiving a few punches and threats, they immediately relented.

In the frontline headquarters, the gas lamps emitted a yellow light, stretching the shadows of the people inside.

The thoughtful Zhou Changfeng held a blue pencil in his mouth and stared intently at the simple hand-drawn map in front of him.

He turned the red pencil in his hand, took the blue pencil from his mouth, and drew a big circle on the map.

"This is the same situation as the scout unit's investigation. It can't be wrong. Draw a team, give them more portable machine guns, and bring a few rocket launchers. Let's go deep here, penetrate hard, fast, accurate and ruthless!"

"Then, change the main direction of the frontal attack. It's not easy to attack that side. Then prepare double artillery fire and attack the front line positions and headquarters at the same time. The tank troops will not attack. It is inconvenient to cooperate at night. Follow the infantry to support. "

Zhao Hanfeng, who was standing nearby, repeated his instructions, then nodded and said, "Then I will ask Zhu Lizhuo to draw up an artillery plan."

The staff officers in the frontline headquarters immediately became busy performing their duties.

While preparing for the night attack in full swing, the field cooking squads of each battalion and team were also very busy.

They also had to build positions, build mounds of dirt around them, dig foxholes, and be vigilant while cooking.

You said you're just a cook?Cannonball doesn't care that you're just a cook.

Throughout the ages, the Chinese military has not rejected night attacks that can produce miraculous results. However, due to limited organizational capabilities, in order to avoid chaos, the size of the night attack team is generally not too large.

In modern times, scientific researchers at the Military Gezhi Academy have long been concerned about how to improve soldiers' vision and night vision.

It was one of them who accidentally discovered vitamin A. The Military Gezhi Academy of the Ming Dynasty temporarily named this nutrient that is beneficial to the maintenance of visual ability "Jong".

Later, after in-depth research, this fat-soluble organic compound was officially listed as vitamin A separately in the world to distinguish it from the vitamin B family elements.

Targeted and purposeful dietary adjustments have rapidly reduced the number of night blindness in the army - even if it is not possible for ordinary soldiers to eat livestock liver or cod liver oil every day, carrots and even pine needle tea are at least sufficient.

This allowed the Ming army to eliminate objective negative effects during night operations and fight as efficiently as possible.

However, the Metropolitan Governor's Office and the Ministry of War also agree that it is not appropriate to use a large number of troops for offensive operations at night. This is not only useless, but will greatly increase the difficulty of one's own command and control, leading to accidental injuries.

At 11:30 midnight that day, the prepared night attack was carried out on time.

On the front of the entire front, a dozen rounds of 80mm and 112mm flares were suspended above the black screen, like a long string of big light bulbs.

"Boom-boom-boom-boom-"

Because of the limited ammunition they could carry, the mixed regiment of the [-]st Marine Brigade did not dare to waste ammunition. Zhu Lizhuo rigorously calculated the amount of ammunition for the feint attack and tried to fire the least number of shells to achieve a similar effect.

The 18 112-type 6mm howitzers of the 20st Battalion of the Mountain Artillery Regiment of the division fired at intervals, firing one shell per minute at a constant rate. The [-] guns of the [-]st team fired first, the [-]nd team fired again after [-] seconds, and the [-]rd team followed. .

Some 128mm and 80mm mortars also participated in the shelling, but did not fire too many shells.

The noise of the artillery fire at night was much greater than that during the day, with the flames soaring into the sky and the roar deafening. This seemingly sparse artillery fire seemed quite powerful to the Dutch and Indian troops who were bombed.

At the same time, more than 160 officers and soldiers from the second regiment, second battalion and third team arrived at their destination accurately.

They found the joint between the Dutch and Indian army positions and began to try to infiltrate.

The soldiers of the Ming Army did not dare to take a breath, because there were enemy foxholes and trenches dozens of meters away, and they could even hear the enemy soldiers inside talking.

They cut in quietly like an invisible sharp blade, successfully penetrated through the battle line, and came to the rear of the Dutch-Indian army's position.

"Boss, their cannon should be over there. Why don't we take out that place first?"

Facing the suggestion of a platoon leader, the captain leading the team picked up binoculars and observed carefully for a while, and said confidently: "What's the order? Come together, you will lead your platoon to raid the artillery position, and the others will prepare Well, let’s turn their lair upside down.”

Why do you worry so much when you stab someone in the back unexpectedly?Doing both at the same time makes you so confident!

More than a hundred Ming soldiers were divided into two groups. More than 40 people went straight to the artillery position of the Dutch and Indian Army, while the others continued to move towards the headquarters.

When the sun set, the Ming army noticed the enemy's headquarters in front of them, but at that time they were just suspicious and could not make a conclusion.

However, after observations from many directions, the wires and radio antennas exposed by the artillery shock wave proved that this was indeed a headquarters, but it was not known whether it was its regiment headquarters.

"Oh, Lieutenant, there's something unusual over there."

"Maybe a scared rabbit."

More than a hundred Ming troops infiltrating here accidentally ran into a military police squad that was rushing to the front line to maintain battlefield discipline, and had to open fire in advance.

"Da da da—da da——"

Intensive gunfire rang out, at least ten automatic weapons were firing at once, and hundreds of bullets were poured out in a matter of seconds.

A dozen poor Dutch gendarmes didn't even react, they were thrown to the ground screaming.

They were uniformly knocked down by bullets, and collapsed on the ground, struggling and howling in pain, but they soon lost their life.

"Exposed, act fast!"

"Shhhhhhhhh-"

Three red flares shot up into the night sky, which was illuminated by artillery fire, and were clearly visible.

The team headquarters and heavy firearms platoon were deployed on the spot, and the two 64mm mortars and two heavy machine guns they carried were quickly deployed by the soldiers, forming a small circular fire support point.

Two infantry platoons, led by the deputy captain, launched an attack and rushed straight to the target 500 meters away.

Before the shocked Dutch and Indian officers and soldiers could react, they saw that the densely packed Ming army was approaching a distance of several hundred meters.

“Jesus, are they ghosts?!”

"Bang!" The mortar shells screamed and hit, and a series of eight rounds of 64mm explosive bombs devastated the already panicked Dutch and Indian troops.

"Chinese infantry is approaching! Sir! Sir!"

"How did they get past the defense line? What's the situation in area D?"

"There are too many of them, maybe three hundred? Five hundred?"

Due to the limited range of fire, only one of the two Type [-] heavy machine guns can provide fire support, but it is enough.

The dense machine gun bullets mixed with tracer bullets sent the soil flying, shredded and ignited the tent cloth and wood, and suppressed the frightened enemy troops until they could not raise their heads.

After rushing to close range, the Ming army had an advantage. The more than 80 officers and soldiers of these two platoons were equipped with more than thirty Type [-] automatic guns or Type [-] submachine guns.

The Dutch military police who had been "lined up and shot" at the first encounter were equipped with several Thompson submachine guns, but now they were also in the hands of these Ming troops.

Launch an attack in a sparse formation, throw grenades when they get close to about 30 meters, then alternately cover and advance, turn over the bunker and shoot wildly.

"Deng deng deng-"

"Ta-da-ta-da-"

9.6mm pistol bullets, .45ACP pistol bullets, and .351 Winchester rifle bullets came like water. The enemy soldiers who were blown to pieces by the grenades were shot to death before they could recover.

"Brothers, follow me!"

"Fuck, kill!!!"

A series of smooth movements completely stunned the Dutch officers and soldiers. How could they withstand the wolf-like Marine infantry?
After a brief resistance, the headquarters company of the 5th Infantry Regiment collapsed.Many people threw away their guns on the spot and knelt down with their heads in their hands to surrender, while the rest also dispersed.

When the menacing Ming army soldiers rushed into the headquarters, a Dutch captain and staff member who was determined to fight to the end was beaten into a sieve by more than a dozen bullets as soon as he pulled out his pistol, and his blood spattered on the map on the table next to him.

Several officers nearby were frightened and raised their hands in fear, trembling.

The commander of the 5th regiment luckily escaped because he was hit by fragments during a previous shelling, but he persisted until the Ming army suspended the attack, and is still being treated in a field hospital.

At about the same time, an artillery company assigned to the 5th Regiment was also defeated.

More than twenty corpses of Dutch and Indian artillerymen fell on the artillery position, and six 6mm Bofors mountain guns were captured intact.

"Yes, yes, this must be recorded. What do you think, Supervisor, a miracle or a first?"

Zhou Changfeng admired all this in the artillery mirror, and felt that this scene was refreshing.

Yao Liangchuan, who was next to him, was still holding the telescope, "It's indeed good, but it is extremely difficult to evaluate the extraordinary merits. This cannot be spread too widely, otherwise how can we bear the word 'miracle'?"

Satisfied, Zhou Changfeng stood up in front of the artillery mirror and stretched, "Let's attack in general, hurry up, we should go to 'receive supplies'."

The enemy in front of them was in chaos. Four infantry teams and dozens of tanks, which had been prepared for a long time, launched an overwhelming attack.

After five rapid fires, the Marine infantry all over the entire front climbed up from their respective attack starting positions, shouted and launched the attack!
The engines of the Type [-] medium tanks also roared loudly, like impatient war horses snoring.

Some people chanted the slogan "Enter Tangning'an and take whatever supplies you want", so that many officers and soldiers stepped onto the messy enemy position with smiles.

The 2th Infantry Regiment of the Dutch-Indian 5nd Infantry Division fell apart and fled all over the mountains and plains.

Although the Dutch did not think that they were completely wiped out because the regiment commander escaped, but... can the breakout be considered a success if only the commander's defeated troops were left?

The mixed regiment of the [-]st Marine Brigade did not bother to search for those defeated soldiers, but concentrated on "receiving supplies."

There are countless military supplies stored in fourteen small warehouses and five large warehouses, ranging from aspirin to red wine, from hand grenades to artillery shells.

According to Zhou's order, each team can only send two squads to collect supplies to prevent order from being disrupted.

The soldiers stuffed the big pocket next to the collar of their field uniforms to the fullest, taking as much as they could with their left and right hands. Many of them took too much and dropped it as they walked.

After a simple equalization, the entire army rested for six hours to regain energy for tomorrow's attack.

Zhou Changfeng naturally resists the use of drugs to forcibly boost the energy of his subordinates. His bottom line is caffeine, and the rest will not be considered.

He believed that with proper command, similar propulsion efficiency could be achieved even without using those gadgets.

However, this places higher requirements on the commander's level - he must not only crush the enemy force quickly and swiftly, but also properly arrange his rest time.

And this is exactly what he is very proud of.

Because the advancement efficiency of the mixed regiment of the 5st Marine Brigade was too high, and the collapse speed of the [-]th Dutch and Indian Regiment was also unusual, the BDA coalition headquarters in Bandung did not wake up from a dream until the next morning.

The next day, April [-]th.

The weather was good, with a few clouds sticking to the blue sky like marshmallows. This was a more suitable day for aviation troops to dispatch.

At 9:47 a.m. that day, nine B-9 bombers took off from Mauspati Airport in Molifen and carried out an air attack on Tangninggan, which had just changed hands overnight.

More than 50 aerial bombs destroyed several warehouses and damaged some supplies, but the results achieved were limited to this.

The mixed group had already embarked on the journey again three hours ago, heading southeast towards Zilaza.

The [-]st Marine Brigade, which was steadily following up, didn't care at all - it was all Dutch stuff anyway, so if it exploded, it would explode. If you want to feel distressed, the Dutch would feel even more distressed.

Realizing that the Ming army was trying to cut Java Island in two, John Greer Dill was greatly worried and immediately ordered the main force of the Dutch 2nd Infantry Division to move to the defense and intercept the [-]st Marine Brigade with all their strength.

However, the response of the coalition forces was too slow, and the marching dispatch efficiency of the loose and inefficient Dutch and Indian Army was also unreliable.

At dusk that day, the advance detachment of the mixed regiment was only 21 kilometers away from Zilaza, and the port city could be set off soon.

Due to the undulating terrain here, the march of the tank troops has become a big problem. Breakdowns occur endlessly. Almost every half hour, a tank will report a minor or major failure.

"Shorten the formation, the front and back are too long."

In order to prevent the troops from being disconnected and making mistakes, Zhou Changfeng ordered the advance team to stop advancing and wait for the night before heading south.

Interestingly, the Dutch also made great efforts this time and succeeded in an impossible task - transporting 39 Vickers MkE and Marmon Harnington CTLS-4 through the mining narrow-gauge railway. The tanks were transported to Daheng overnight.

The next morning, after a short rest, this armored force, together with the 2th Regiment of the Dutch 4nd Division, launched a counterattack against the mixed regiment of the [-]st Marine Brigade.

(End of this chapter)