afterglow

Chapter 374 Chapter [-]: Crushing Counterattack; Ending

4月11日早晨7：47，芝拉扎西北24㎞处的一片原野之上被磅礴的噪音所充斥。

The roar of the gasoline engine and the sound of the steel touching the running tracks were mixed together, drowning out the shouts of the Dutch officers.

39 light tanks, 9 amphibious tanks, 12 armored vehicles, dozens of armored vehicles painted with red, white and blue concentric circles and nearly a thousand infantry left the offensive starting position.

Under the repeated urging of the BDA coalition headquarters, the 2th Regiment of the 4nd Infantry Division of the Royal Netherlands-Indian Army cooperated with the 1st Armored Brigade of the Netherlands-India, and some hastily launched a counterattack against the mixed regiment of the [-]st Marine Brigade.

The latter made rapid progress in just two days. Not only was the team a little loose, but the energy was also much lower than before.

Facing so many enemy armored vehicles that suddenly appeared, the Ming army's position was as precarious as a sandbag blocking the flood.

"The enemy tank is [-] meters away. Please pay attention to the firing range of each gun!"

"Seven hundred meters!"

"Six hundred meters, prepare, release!"

The 48mm anti-tank gun of the combat artillery team of the heavy firearms battalion of the regiment opened fire at the rapidly approaching enemy tanks. The gun barrel quickly recoiled on the cradle and then slowly returned to its original position.

The field regulations stipulated by the Ministry of War strictly prohibit the deployment of anti-tank guns alone, because there is a huge blind spot and insufficient strike efficiency. At least two anti-tank guns should be arranged on the left and right to look after each other.

The 48mm armor-piercing explosive shell flew out of the muzzle at a muzzle velocity of about 650m/s and hit the front of the Vickers MkE tank. The weak armor of only 13mm was pierced like an egg shell.

"Bang!" The shell exploded inside, making a low roar.

The destroyed tank used its inertia to rush forward for more than ten meters before stopping. Wisps of black smoke came out of each hole and gathered into a large stream straight into the sky.

Compared with the few anti-tank guns, the Dutch and Indian troops put into battle too many armored vehicles. If you look at it, the entire front is almost full of tanks, armored vehicles, and infantry.

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"Damn it, Xiehu is here, how did these guys come? Did the aerial reconnaissance miss it? Dozens of tanks were mobilized overnight?"

In the temporary headquarters, Xie Wancheng was baffled and cursed.

This situation would be reasonable in plains or coastal areas, but there is a mountain road dozens of kilometers long between Zilaza and Bandung. There is no standard railway, only a one-way mining narrow-gauge railway.

Zhao Hanfeng also found it puzzling, "It's indeed bizarre. The Deshi narrow gauge can transport people and minerals, but it's impossible to transport super over-the-road things like tanks."

The "Decker narrow gauge" he refers to refers to the Deckerville gauge, which is a 600mm narrow gauge with a width less than half of the standard gauge.

"Shut up! It's useless to talk about this now." Zhou Changfeng pointed the telescope in his hand in another direction and rolled the knob to adjust the focus. "Send the order! Launch obstructive fire on the enemy's accompanying infantry. Fire quickly. Don't skimp on ammunition."

Do your subordinates still have time to complain?In Zhou Changfeng's view, their calmness was actually a sign of lack of vigilance.

The previous series of battles had gone so smoothly that everyone was inevitably a little arrogant and underestimating the enemy deep in their hearts. Perhaps they themselves were not aware of it.

Following the order given by someone from Zhou, all the artillery that could provide support began to adjust and shoot at Zhu Yuan.

The sweaty artillerymen were shirtless, stuffing shells into the barrels, closing the latch and firing, and poured ammunition at the enemy's attacking troops at the maximum firing speed.

Along with the fire, countless high-speed fragments bloomed, which caused a bloody storm among the Dutch and Indian soldiers. The hot fragments penetrated deeply into the body and spurted out bright red blood.

The intensive bombardment took effect immediately, and the Dutch and Indian troops, who could barely maintain infantry-tank coordination, were suddenly in disarray.

Lying down, running away, struggling, dying.

The armored vehicles were equally confused, as they lacked on-board radios, making it difficult to communicate efficiently in real time.

Normally, each vehicle should follow the command vehicle. However, the smoke and dust raised by the shelling seriously affected the field of vision of the tank crews, and the commander did not dare to lean out and use semaphores to communicate in this situation.

As a result, some cars continued to impact, some stopped, and some stopped and were at a loss.

The Bu-tank coordination was out of sync, and the typical paper tiger offensive suddenly lost its power.

Although about twenty tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed during the impact, and many vehicles parked and waited, nearly thirty vehicles still rushed into the Ming army's position.

"Listen up, be bold and careful! Be bold and careful!"

"The chariot's field of vision is very narrow, almost like a blind man. Follow the training techniques!"

Because the range of infantry anti-tank weapons is too short and difficult to be effective at a distance, Marine infantry must restrain their physiological instinctive fear and wait patiently for enemy tanks to approach.

Facing the moving steel chariot, it is impossible to say that you are not nervous. Even experienced veterans will involuntarily speed up their heartbeats.

"beat!"

In an instant, countless firepower hit these reckless Dutch and Indian armored vehicles from all directions.

14.4㎜ tungsten core armor-piercing incendiary bombs fired by combat anti-guns, 64㎜ hollow-charge rocket-propelled grenades launched by rocket launchers, hollow-charge rifle grenades fired by rifles with blank rounds, hard-thrown hollow-charge anti-tank grenades, two Explosive canisters tied side by side...

The officers and soldiers of the [-]st Marine Brigade fought bravely against these reckless enemy armored vehicles. The sounds of killing shouts, explosions, and machine gun fire filled the entire battlefield.

The hot metal jet easily penetrates the fragile steel plate, killing the members inside, incendiary ammunition or gasoline.

Realizing that the Ming army was not deterred by its own powerful attack, the members of a Vickers MkE tank woke up from a dream. The commander shouted desperately: "Retreat! Reverse! Reverse!"

The tank was firing desperately while reversing. A Ming soldier who rushed diagonally from the front was knocked down by a bullet, and the other two were injured by the 47mm high-explosive bomb and fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a rocket hit its turret, but because the angle of incidence was too small, the mechanical bottom fuse did not work, so the rocket slipped away from the armor.

But immediately another rifle grenade fell with a conspicuous parabolic trajectory. Its speed was very slow and could be seen by the naked eye.

"boom!"

The soft iron medicine cover turned into a molten metal jet and penetrated the turret. The commander inside immediately became "heartbroken" and died on the spot.

The unabated jet hit the bottom of another shell, igniting its propellant.

When the soldiers of the Ming Army saw the retreating tank, they suddenly made a whirring sound, and countless bright yellow flames sprayed from the seams of the turret seat to the surroundings!
The tank crews among them enjoyed the preferential treatment of fully automatic cremation and burial in expensive metal coffins.The purchase price of a Vickers MkE tank is close to [-] pounds, which is equivalent to [-] US dollars.

"No need to pursue anymore, count the casualties and interrogate the prisoners." Seeing that the enemy's offensive had collapsed, Zhou Changfeng breathed a sigh of relief.

The war situation is changing rapidly. Relaxing your vigilance and being arrogant and underestimating the enemy is asking for death. Even the Dutch and Indian troops, who are extremely stretched, actually organized such a powerful counterattack.

"The enemy also counterattacked hastily and was unable to follow up." Zhao Hanfeng said.

The armored forces suffered heavy losses, with only a dozen of them successfully withdrawing. The battlefield was dotted with dozens of burning expensive bonfires.

The advantage that the Dutch 4th Infantry Regiment relied on was lost in one breath. Now they dare not move anymore and can only huddle on their own positions.

The tank unit attached to the mixed regiment of the [-]st Marine Brigade was belatedly arriving at this time - the high salt content, high temperature, high humidity, bad climate and long-distance marching in the Nanyang region caused endless mechanical failures of the tanks, and there were tanks all the time. Under repair.

This sudden battle once again proved that infantry units with sufficient morale and sophisticated weapons can also cause great trouble to armored units, and may even be able to repel the opponent on their own.

Weapons only theory and spiritualism are both very one-sided and extreme, and the two have always been complementary to each other.

A large number of equipment for a series of hollow-charge anti-tank weapons also played a role in boosting morale——

When soldiers understand that they have weapons in their hands that can cause fatal attacks on enemy tanks at a relatively long distance, the impact of confidence and courage will be greater than fear.

"Report, the preliminary count is over." A major staff officer clasped his fists and reported: "Destroyed 31 enemy tanks and ten armored vehicles. Killed more than 120 people, captured [-] enemy soldiers, and eight officers and assistants."

Xie Wancheng also added: "This army came by train overnight, the fourth regiment of the Dutch and Indian Second Division. His grandmother's, the Dutch were really hard-working, and they used a narrow-gauge ore-carrying railway. They shipped it.”

"Power on, see if the Air Force or Navy are free to come over, and give them a blast. We don't have time to deal with them, so hurry up and set off in an hour. We'll call into Zilaza for dinner today!"

"Order!"

The Dutch 4th Infantry Regiment, which came to intercept from the side, had no morale at all. Even if they wanted to attack again, they would have to think twice when looking at the tank wreckage scattered across the field.

The mixed regiment of the [-]st Marine Brigade continued to move forward and quickly penetrated in the direction of Zilaza.

Later, 14 Type [-] light bombers from the Sixth Light Bombing Detachment of the Air Force flew here. Mu Yu, who has now been promoted to chief officer, was very playful today and went into battle in person.

He first flew in the plane, and when he reached the target, he changed to the bombardier's position and controlled the bombsight to aim at the target on the ground.

"Oh, I wonder how Zhou Kexing's progress is."

He muttered to himself, and then watched the aerial bombs falling swayingly, getting smaller and smaller, and finally burst into flashes of light and large clouds of gray smoke on the ground.

Hundreds of aerial bombs made the 4th Dutch Indian Regiment on the ground even more chaotic and in a mess. Even some frightened Javanese soldiers began to desert in twos and threes, running away when no one was paying attention.

When the [-]-strong mixed regiment led by Zhou Changfeng began to fight with the defenders on the outskirts of Zhilazha, the West Road landing force had also made a breakthrough.

What came ashore from Serang was the Eighth Infantry Division of the Army, as well as some tank units and field heavy artillery units. With the support of strong land, sea and air firepower, they established a firm foothold and broke through multiple lines of defense.

The 1st Infantry of the Royal Dutch Army had its name, but its defense system was lackluster. After one day and one night, it was completely defeated. Hundreds of corpses were left, and discarded guns, artillery, and ammunition were scattered all over the mountains and plains.

They hurriedly retreated toward Batavia, but were bombed by the Ming Air Force and Naval Aviation during the retreat, almost losing their combat effectiveness.

The Ming Army on the West Road followed closely behind, and their troops were directed towards this one of the most prosperous cities in the Southeast Asian region.

At 4:11 pm on April 15, on the outskirts of Zilaza.

The main force of the mixed regiment of the [-]st Marine Brigade has arrived. In fact, a few hours ago, the reconnaissance unit engaged in a battle with the nearby Dutch-Indian patrol, but the other party only hurriedly fired at each other and then retreated hastily.

Zhou Changfeng and his party came to a hill. He leaned against a tree and looked at the dilapidated scene of Zilaza.

The Ming Dynasty Air Force and Naval Air Force would come here to "visit" almost every day in the past days, and almost all exposed military targets have been wiped off the face of the earth.

"The Dutch probably don't have the heart to fight anymore. Let's try to scare them, and prepare for the attack. The first battalion will stay behind and guard against the northwest, the second battalion will attack from the front, and the third battalion will go back to the east to attack the port area." Zhou Changfeng said. instructed.

Several officers from the regiment volunteered to be negotiators, and even civilian personnel were eager to try.

The person who finally went to negotiate was a staff major from the Second Regiment of the First Marine Brigade, accompanied by an interpreter.

"I am here to urge you to lay down your weapons and surrender under the orders of the chief officer of this department. Don't do useless things. If you remain stubborn, you will definitely not end well."

Along the way, the major thought about long speeches, but when he actually met with the garrison commander, he felt that the more he talked, the less deterrent he became.

Facing the plain tone and contemptuous eyes of the Ming envoy, Colonel Rembrandt's only trace of dissatisfaction quickly dissipated without a trace.

He was struggling with how to have the best of both worlds - to preserve his personal honor and surrender.

"Sir, we will seriously consider it. After all, no one wants to carry out meaningless resistance, but Dutch soldiers will only consider surrender under the worst conditions, and a majority of officers must agree."

Colonel Rembrandt hoped that someone would take over the conversation for him and take the lead in proposing surrender. However, everyone else present was not stupid either. They all remained silent and pretended to be dumbfounded.

However, the envoy would not care so much. He continued to press, "If you still want to resist, that's fine. Anyway, you will be annihilated sooner or later. At that time, the prisoners here will also be detained for an extended period of atonement, maybe... ten years." "

Stay in a prisoner of war camp for ten years and then be released back home?
The Dutch officers could not help but show their teeth. Just thinking about the long time and the changed scene was scary.

After more than ten minutes of game and negotiation, Colonel Rembrandt resigned helplessly and became the biggest loser.

He announced that in accordance with the instructions of the Ming Army envoy, the Zhilazha garrison would immediately disarm and surrender unconditionally.

Zhou Changfeng estimated that it would take half a day to a day to attack Zilaza. "Enter Zilaza and have dinner" was just a slogan.

However, it is obvious that the Dutch officers also have their own small calculations, and few are willing to spend all their money in this hopeless war.

That night, Zhou Changfeng, who looked relaxed, took the sword from Colonel Rembrandt and sighed softly: "It's finally over."

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(End of this chapter)