afterglow

Chapter 524 Chapter : Mantis blocking the car? Three thousand pigs can do it!
驻防哈雷瓦地区的美军第9师剩下的所有部队，包括第47步兵团、第34炮兵营、第84炮兵营、第15工兵营等等，总兵力约五千人。

重武器因为明军的空袭有所损失，现有10门155㎜榴弹炮、11门105㎜榴弹炮、24辆M2A1半履带车仍可使用。

The 9th Infantry Division can be said to be an old hapless one. When the 39st Marine Brigade fought fiercely on Guadalcanal at the beginning of the year, the th regimental combat team was formed by the division. In the end, almost the entire army was destroyed. Now a small number of The remaining defeated soldiers are still surviving in the jungles of the southeastern part of Guadalcanal, relying on air-dropped supplies.

When the Ming army landed on Kauai in May, the U.S. troops guarding the island were the 60th Infantry Regiment and the 60th Field Artillery Battalion of the division. They were unable to resist the Ming army's massive attack, and retreated steadily. They tried to hold on to the Kaweikini Mountain defense line, but were also wiped out in the end.

Two infantry regiments and two artillery battalions were lost successively. Although the remaining troops of the unlucky 9th Infantry Division appear to be five to six thousand people, they actually contain many division-level service personnel, and their combat strength is It is only equivalent to a strengthening group.

The division commander, Brigadier General Jacob Devers, could only lament that things are unpredictable, and his men were dismantled and destroyed one after another.

Brigadier General Jacobs is a typical academic general who lacks actual combat experience. He has been working hard after graduating from West Point Military Academy and also completed his studies at the Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. After the outbreak of the war last year, the large-scale expansion of the army caused many officers to die on the spot. Jacob was promoted from colonel to brigadier general and served as the commander of the 9th Division.

The funny thing is that the 9th Division has lost half of its troops, but Brigadier General Jacobs, the division commander, has never commanded a battle - he has been staying on Oahu with the division headquarters.

However, as a qualified general, Brigadier General Jacob's theoretical level is still passable. He well summarized the previous series of battles in which the Ming army attacked and the US military defended, and he formulated a complete blocking plan according to local conditions.

It is unrealistic to annihilate the enemy on the beach. Not only is it futile, but it will also suffer heavy losses due to the enemy's sea and air firepower.

The Second Field Heavy Artillery Brigade was only allowed to be transported ashore the next day. The bulky 144mm howitzers and 112mm cannons were very troublesome to transport. They required special crawler tractors and even reinforced the unloading area.

"Report to the commander-in-chief that all the battalions of the fifth regiment have now landed. The regiment headquarters and artillery battalion are still disembarking. It is estimated that it will be completed in two-quarters of an hour."

The so-called "artillery battalion" actually refers to the heavy firearms battalion, which is a unit under the infantry regiment. The Marine Corps is basically the same, including combat artillery team, heavy mortar team, and infantry artillery (wheeled assault gun) team. , air defense team.

Landing craft shuttled non-stop between cargo ships, landing ships and beaches, transporting large quantities of heavy weapons and supplies ashore.

"How is A1 and A2?"

"Okay." Zhou Changfeng was a little surprised and praised him in surprise.

The 3rd Marine Brigade and 5th Regiment were the first to complete the landing due to their small total number of troops.

Every minute, shells fired from the depths of the land fall on the beach and explode. Some are 75mm, some are 105mm, and some are 155mm...

The result they reported was that they attacked a US military officer who was going to the toilet. They originally tried to capture him alive, but the other party resisted fiercely and had no choice but to kill him.

The soldiers have become accustomed to continuing their operations under enemy fire. They are no longer in a panic looking for cover as they were a few hours ago. They are in good order.

In terms of battalion-level firepower, the Ming army is slightly higher than the armies of Western powers. However, because the Ming Army Infantry Division does not include 6-inch (152mm) class howitzers in its establishment, it will be obviously at a disadvantage if it is not assigned to the field heavy artillery brigade for combat.

Looking through the gauze-like drizzle, one can see howitzers being towed by trucks, wheeled assault guns slowly driving onto the beachhead, and personnel and equipment continuously landing on the beachhead in a majestic manner.

Last month, when the Taiwei Zuoyuan fleet made a surprise attack on Oahu, the pilots saw a large number of continuous fortifications on the land and were worried about whether ground troops would suffer from this when they landed on the island in the future.

Just last night, the 3rd Marine Brigade in the north and the 17th Division in the south both sent reconnaissance teams and patrols deep into the area to try to obtain some direct intelligence.

In the evening of that day, the 49th Regiment and the 50th Regiment of the 17th Division were both ashore, and the mountain artillery regiment also began to unload.

At 7:23 in the afternoon on July 14, the pouring rain finally subsided and turned into a light drizzle.

Battalion after battalion of Ming troops successfully landed ashore, and several Type 37 carriers took off from the light aircraft carrier Fomalhaut and hovered in the sky to provide warning.

Some optimistic people even made bold claims in the officers' club - they have built an extremely thorough defense line. If the Chinese attack from the front, Haleiwa will become the Somme River of Hawaii!

This is indeed the case. The Haleiwa area has four lines of defense that combine sufficient and strong field fortifications and semi-permanent fortifications. The defense depth is about 13 kilometers. Brigadier General Jacobs believes that he has made sufficient preparations to fight against the invading enemy. Fight a protracted war, a war of attrition.

Some teams returned without success, and some teams had no news at all. However, before dawn, a four-person reconnaissance team returned to the forward position of the 17th Division and brought back two canvas bags.

The efficiency of Beach B and Beach B is much lower. After all, the Army is an army, and it is still difficult to catch up with the professional Marine Corps in grabbing and landing on beaches.

Both bags are US military standard waterproof canvas bags, one holds maps and the other holds notebooks and memos.

Based on a comprehensive analysis of our own reconnaissance results and captured documents, the US military's in-depth defense system in the Haleiwa area can be said to be quite strong, with no flaws at first glance.

Oahu is bounded by the Waianae Ridge to the west and the Koolau Ridge to the east. The relatively gentle wilderness is sandwiched between the two and can be regarded as an intervalley plain.

The U.S. military deployed three lines of defense along the valley plains, with a frontal defense of about five kilometers wide. This width is narrow, so the attacker cannot deploy too many troops, but the defender can concentrate its troops and firepower well.

Zhou Changfeng and other staff members could not think of a better way. They could not find a weak link suitable for breakthrough at the moment, so they could only prepare the offensive step by step, focusing on attacking the weaker flank first.

On the afternoon of July 7, the 24st Regiment of the North Korean Army was transported ashore.

On the evening of July 7, the Ming Army's First Attack Tank Battalion landed on the beach. Half of the battalion was damaged due to a submarine attack during shipping. The battalion headquarters and logistics team lost all their technical equipment, leaving only two teams.

In the early morning of July 7, the entire Second Field Heavy Artillery Brigade of the Ming Dynasty Army was in place and began to deploy at the predetermined location.

Early that morning, the planned troops marched to the front in preparation for the attack.

Like Zhou Changfeng, Zhong Dexin was also skeptical about the combat effectiveness of the Koreans, so he did not let them participate in the frontal attack and was only responsible for covering the flanks of the attacking troops.

The difficulty of this task is actually not low, because from the enemy's perspective, it is difficult for them to distinguish who is attacking and who is feigning attack, so this North Korean force also has to withstand a considerable degree of defensive firepower.

At 15:00 in the afternoon, the battleship Yongping on the sea was the first to open fire, and the thunderous salvo made people's hearts tremble.

Huge artillery shells hit the U.S. military positions heavily, and clouds of gunpowder smoke erupted. Clods of earth and cement fragments of various sizes flew in all directions.

Subsequently, the entire landing fleet opened fire one after another, pouring artillery shells of different calibers on their assigned targets.

Floatplanes belonging to different warships were hovering in the sky. They were observing, guiding, and correcting fire deviations.

"Oh my God, it really exploded into a sea of ​​fire."

"Have fun! Then explode!" "Look! Look at that, this blow is powerful enough."

The army soldiers had never seen the magnitude of the fleet's shelling across the shore, and every one of them looked excited and cheered.

"Get ready to go! All units enter the starting position!" The orderly soldier shouted at the top of his lungs as he rode a motorcycle at high speed.

"You're too close! Did you get kicked in the head? Stay away and don't get close!" An officer was sternly reprimanding.

The soldiers climbed up from the attack starting position, opened their distance, quickly moved forward with rifles and light machine guns, and headed straight for the attack starting position ahead.

A dozen Type 38 heavy tanks weighing nearly 30 tons rumbled over. The commander put his hands on the hatch cover and looked around the surrounding environment.

The US military immediately launched an artillery bombardment in an attempt to disperse and disrupt the Ming army's upcoming offensive.

Seeing that the enemy's artillery position was exposed, several Type 37 shipwrecks that were high above to observe the battle stopped watching the show and dived towards the target in groups of two.

The well-camouflaged artillery positions are difficult to detect. If it weren't for the conspicuous muzzle flash and smoke from their firing, it would be unbelievable that these targets that are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye would be hidden there.

The U.S. bombardment was quickly stopped, but the hundreds of shells that fell during this period still caused a lot of trouble to the Ming army.

The commander of the first battalion of the 50th Regiment of the 17th Division was injured, and the regiment headquarters simply sent the chief of staff to take over the command. Dozens of other officers and soldiers also suffered casualties.

The start of the attack was forced to be postponed by one hour. It was originally scheduled to launch at 15:45, but it took until 16:45 to regroup.

The sky has not cleared up after the rain, and the sky is gray. As two red signal flares were launched into the sky, the attack on the first line of defense of the US military began.

According to the design of the Military Production Bureau of the Ministry of War, the first and second platoons of each convoy of the offensive tank battalion are equipped with heavy tanks, the third platoon is equipped with medium tanks, and the team headquarters has two heavy tanks and two medium tanks. There are a total of 10 heavy tanks and 6 medium tanks.

The V-shaped twelve-cylinder gasoline engine roared, driving the tank forward steadily, leaving track marks on the soft mud.

Relying on such powerful weapons, the morale of the Ming army soldiers who accompanied the attack was high, and they vowed to crush all enemies who stood in their way.

More than a thousand infantrymen and dozens of tanks coordinated the attack and swaggered towards the US military position. The US troops holding the position suddenly opened fire, and 81mm mortar shells and 37mm armor-piercing shells were greeted instantly.

The Type 38 heavy tank was born earlier, and its design is full of the style of inter-war tanks, but it does meet the needs of the Army - it can withstand attacks from small-caliber anti-tank guns and can provide powerful direct firepower for infantry units. Aim fire assist.

The armor-piercing tracer bullet fired by the M3 anti-tank gun smashed into pieces on the 64mm rolled homogeneous steel armor on the front of the heavy tank body!
Those with a smaller incident angle will slide away and fly away, leaving an obvious fold line light mark.

The accompanying infantrymen were not feeling well. The roaring falling mortar shells killed many people, and the enemy's heavy machine guns were also spraying bullets. The dense machine gun shells clanked against the tanks, or passed through the gaps between them. Yes, it's scary.

The 80mm tank gun of the Type heavy tank fired continuously, bombarding any exposed US firepower points, and then continued to move forward slowly.

The battle lasted for more than an hour. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 50th Regiment successfully captured the US left-wing position and tore apart a corner of the first line of defense.

But the next battle became more difficult and gradually turned into a tug-of-war.

All kinds of firepower came from the left, left front, and front. Every time the Ming army moved forward, they had to pay a lot of casualties.

Heavy tanks could not be destroyed from the front. The US military used jeeps to tow anti-tank guns to move their positions and try to attack from the side, destroying many vehicles in one fell swoop.

The main vehicle of the first battalion and second team of the assault tank was also destroyed. After losing control, it rushed forward uncontrollably for dozens of meters before stopping.

Because it was a commander's vehicle, the tank numbered 1-2-1 contained deployment maps and important documents. To prevent it from falling into enemy hands, the nd Battalion of the th Regiment sent a squad to try to destroy it.

As a result, they were discovered by the US military and were suppressed by firepower. A few people crawled back under the cover of smoke bombs, but the rest waited until dark before retreating.

In the second half of the night, the Ming army sent out another detachment, but they ran into an American patrol team that also came to find out what was going on. The battle broke out to the surprise of both sides.

The close-range encounter at night was short and intense. The US military chose to retreat after suffering more than ten casualties. After the Ming army's infantry detachment processed the important information, it was also bombarded by multiple mortar shells. The area of ​​less than 100 meters was strewn with corpses from both sides.

Because the road was blown up and there was heavy rain, the U.S. reinforcements were very slow. The 501st Airborne Regiment arrived at night, and the 703rd Tank Battalion did not arrive until late at night.

As soon as the reinforcements arrived, Brigadier General Jacob, who was greatly emboldened, began to plan a counterattack, trying to push back the attacking enemy in one fell swoop and try to annihilate one part of the enemy.

In the solid headquarters, he pointed at the map, put his hands on his hips and said, "They have occupied areas A2 to A3. This protrusion may be a good opportunity. We should try bravely."

At 7:26 the next day, July 6, more than 15 US tanks and more than paratroopers set off from their own positions and launched a counterattack against the st Regiment of the North Korean Army facing them.

The regiment's position fell within a quarter of an hour. U.S. tanks appeared near the regiment headquarters at 6:41 and fired fiercely at the headquarters.

The North Korean army sent a reserve unit to launch a messy and failed counterattack, but was beaten to death by M2 medium tanks and US paratroopers. Then the regiment began to rout uncontrollably.

The only thing worthy of praise was that an anti-tank artillery position insisted on destroying two US tanks. It was not until US paratroopers rushed over that these North Korean anti-tank artillery soldiers escaped.

The defeat of the 21st Regiment of the North Korean Army immediately triggered a crisis - the flanks and rear of the Ming Army's offensive troops were thus exposed to the US military!

Zhong Dexin was shocked when he heard the news. Who would have thought that these decent-looking Koreans only lasted less than half an hour?

"Send the order, send the order, the 51st Regiment immediately reinforces and drives the enemy back! The artillery regiment conducts obstructive fire on the front of our salient and builds two blocking lines on the left."

"As ordered!"

Zhou Changfeng, who was on board the Lu Xun, found that his right eyelid had jumped several times since he woke up this morning. He became a little vigilant when he learned that the US military had launched a counterattack, and asked Fomalhaut to launch several additional carrier-based aircraft at any time. Be prepared to provide support.

As a result, not long after this, the entire regiment was defeated?
He put the half-eaten can on the table and complained: "What a fool, it's like playing the piano randomly, even three thousand pigs can delay it for half an hour! Send them away, it's a waste of my precious transportation capacity!"

【Situation Map】

(End of this chapter)