afterglow

Chapter 591 The effectiveness of the anti-runway bomb; steamed buns are coming!
Over the past year, the U.S. military has gradually improved its air defense system, and both aviation and anti-aircraft artillery units rely heavily on radar for dispatch and command.

I have to admit that this efficiency is very high, but over time, the basic skills have long been abandoned.

How could the American soldiers who were intoxicated with their radar technology advantage never expect that their greatest reliance would become ineffective?
Just like flowers that have been pampered in a greenhouse, they will wilt immediately after the plastic film is removed.

The Ming army's air strike formation was so powerful that it blocked out the sky and the sun, and was extremely swift.

Groups of medium bombers and dive bombers, under the cover of fighter planes, flew over the American military airfields on Lanai, Molokai, and Maui, dropping hundreds of heavy bombs.

Bombs rained down, smoke and dust billowed, and countless explosion points appeared on the ground in an instant!

Many US military planes that were parked beside the runway and had no time to take off were directly bombed to the ground, turning into piles of expensive wreckage.

A 100kg bomb hit and exploded next to an A-12.4 attack aircraft worth $20. The aluminum alloy skin on the side of the fuselage was torn apart in an instant, the glass shattered into pieces, and the three-blade propeller manufactured by Hamilton Company spun into the sky.

The Ming army crew members clapped and cheered loudly, and some of them took up their cameras to capture this magnificent view.

In order to avoid additional losses, the Ming army's dive bombers were more conservative this time and would not easily carry out dive attacks unless necessary. After being equipped with a large number of Oerlikon and Bofors anti-aircraft guns, the air defense capabilities of the US Army and Navy were greatly enhanced, and they could no longer abuse the United States as wantonly as they did last year.

The battles in different directions started earlier or later, but generally they arrived at the same time as planned by the Air Force Command.

The swift and powerful first wave of air strikes lasted about half an hour. A total of 47 US aircraft were destroyed on the ground, and 21 fighter jets that hurriedly took off to fight were also shot down. Anti-aircraft guns and airport facilities also suffered considerable losses.

The Ming Air Force's air strike formation lost only 10 fighters and 3 bombers, setting the lowest combat loss in nearly five months.

The Ming Navy's shore-based aviation forces entered the scene later and were responsible for bombing the U.S. military docks on Maui and the Big Island.

Due to the accountability for some past failed operations and disputes over the credit for air combat results, the Ming Air Force and Naval Aviation Force deployed in Hawaii gradually developed rifts and conflicts.

The Navy has always been brooding over the "May 21 Mo Island Air Battle". At that time, the Navy bomber formation suffered heavy losses due to the mistake of the Air Force escort formation. In the end, the Air Force not only refused to admit its mistake but also turned the tables.

This is just one of many disputes and contradictions.

This has led to both sides paying more attention to the "clear-cut" allocation of tasks - you do yours, I do mine, and we don't interfere with each other to avoid disputes.

After the airstrike, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began routine repairs of the airport runway.

In a nearby half-dug bunker, Caterpillar D-4 bulldozers and International Harvester TD-18 bulldozers had their camouflage nets torn off and drove out with a grunt.

With the help of these engineering machines, the bomb craters created by the Ming army could be filled in a short time, and sometimes the airport operations could be restored within a few hours.

But this time is different from the past.

Thousands of bullets from the first-year aviation-delayed bomb were densely scattered around the airport.

Some people took it lightly, thinking that it was just fragments of a bomb, but it ended up triggering the extremely sensitive fuse of the bullet, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere in the smoke of the explosion.

The U.S. military engineers were facing a powerful enemy and had to abandon the runway filling operation and began to try to remove countless butterfly bombs.

Faced with these terrifying gadgets for the first time, the inexperienced American engineers were at a loss as to what to do. They found that these butterfly bombs were extremely sensitive and would explode at the slightest touch of their fuses. It seemed impossible to eliminate them through conventional means - manually disassembling the fuses.

Therefore, they could only urgently make a long steel pipe pole, use the bulldozer as a mobile shelter, and risk using the long pole to hit the butterfly bomb to detonate it.

Some impatient people tried to shoot with guns, but the effect was very unstable. Sometimes it exploded with one shot, and sometimes it didn't explode after several shots.

What was even more annoying was that these bullets were scattered over a wide area, with some even falling two or three kilometers away from the airport. More than a dozen unsuspecting soldiers were injured in the explosions in various places.

In the first actual combat, the anti-runway bomb, which the Ming Air Force had high hopes for, achieved the expected results, but was satisfactory.

Two of the three airports on Lanai, Molokai, and Maui were completely paralyzed, and the other one had only one runway that was barely usable; the situation on the Big Island was better, and both airports still had the ability to take off and land.

Suddenly, the efficiency of aircraft attacks dropped sharply.

Jiang Xuan and others were greatly excited and immediately reported the victory to Zhou Changfeng, saying that they would continue to suppress the US military airports. At least in the next few days, the US military did not have the ability to compete for air supremacy on the front line and could only defend their only remaining airport with all their strength.

At the same time, the landing battle on Lanai Island has begun.

Waves and water columns continued to burst out from the beach water in the designated landing area, and dull roars and splashing sounds could be heard from afar.

That was the 61st Independent Special Service Battalion of the Navy, which was of the same nature as the Elite Beach Reconnaissance Battalion under the Marine Brigade.

They were the first to set off before the landing, blasting and clearing the obstacles that the US military had placed on the beach and the water's edge, opening up a smooth landing site for the subsequent large forces.

"Boom-boom-boom-"

The battleships Motosho and Zhenguan fired half-salvos continuously, with large balls of scorching flames spewing out of their muzzles, and the sea water beside the ships was rolled up into waves and spreading ripples.

The multiple rocket launchers carried by several amphibious fire support ships were also unleashing fierce firepower, with hundreds of rockets flying in parabolic trajectories towards the inland of Lanai Island, trailing flames.

A few kilometers away from the coastline, a long line of destroyers engaged with broadsides and fired at the exposed American fortifications on the shallow depths of the beach.

The 130th Battalion of the U.S. Coastal Artillery deployed on Lanai Island also began to fight back, using M1 155mm cannons to crazily fire at the Ming fleet on the sea.

This long-barreled suppression artillery weighing more than ten tons can fire 43kg high-explosive shells at an initial velocity of 853m/s, with amazing power.

【Picture】

Suddenly, towering white water columns burst out beside several Ming army destroyers.

Never fire against coastal defense artillery; this is naval rule.

The reason is very simple, their health bar is the earth.

More than a dozen destroyers decisively released a smoke screen and retreated, waiting for their own planes to deal with those hateful coastal defense guns.

Several carrier-based seaplanes in the sky had been responsible for observation and calibration tasks. The fire from the US coastal defense artillery was extremely conspicuous and was quickly exposed.

The two battleships further away immediately turned their guns, adjusted their firing parameters, and bombarded the target.

Half an hour later, a team of Type 37 shore-based torpedo bombers also arrived.

More than a dozen planes dropped dozens of anti-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs on the suspicious location, and flames shot into the sky. However, the effect of horizontal bombing was not ideal, with much thunder but little rain.

At least the enemy was temporarily suppressed and the beach landing operation could continue.

"How is the clearing of coastal obstacles going?" "Reporting to the commander-in-chief, they have basically been cleared!"

"Okay, it's almost done, let's start!" Zhou Changfeng, holding the telescope, ordered.

"Order!"

Soon after the order was given, 11 landing ships and 2 cargo ships began to lower landing craft from both sides, and the soldiers climbed down by climbing the hanging rope nets.

After completing the formation, the first echelon of landing troops began to move towards the coastline.

Looking down from the sky, the landing craft moved forward in unison, and the trails behind them looked like a long comb.

More than a dozen amphibious tanks from the 10nd Independent Floating Tank Battalion were also mixed in. The tracks paddled in the water and the propellers rotated, driving the tanks to a floating speed of km/h.

These were the Type 1 amphibious tanks, which quickly replaced the aging, tin-can Type 35s.

They have an empty weight of 11.5 tons, a layout with a gearbox and driving wheels in the front, and are equipped with an 80mm short-barreled gun. The hull and the front of the turret are made of 15mm high-angle high-hardness alloy steel (HHA), which is enough to withstand the American .50 large-caliber heavy machine gun.

The Ming army soldiers praised it highly, saying that it was far superior to the old floating chariots.

At 8:03, all four planned landing sites were occupied, and crimson flags were flying on the beachhead.

The generals in the fleet were both excited and nervous, and they hoped that everything would go well.

"Follow the original plan, don't make any mistakes, send the tanks ashore first." Zhou Changfeng reminded.

At this time, the artillery fire of the Ming army fleet had extended deep into the enemy territory. The US troops left their solid shelters and entered the front-line and second-line positions. According to the shooting parameters that had been planned and calculated long ago, they equipped their equipment to launch an artillery attack on the beach.

Because the fortifications were hidden and extremely strong, the damage caused by the Ming army's air strikes and artillery bombardments was minimal.

驻防拉奈岛的是美军第37“七叶果”步兵师，他们来自俄亥俄州，此时仍有31门105㎜榴弹炮和10门155㎜榴弹炮可用，这还不算那些用作岸防炮的155㎜加农炮。

At 8:20, the Ming army that had landed had only advanced two or three hundred meters in depth when the U.S. military's secretly deployed field artillery suddenly launched an attack!
Suddenly, bullets rained down, and countless explosion points appeared on the beachhead.

The precise and terrifying artillery fire flooded an area more than 1,000 meters long and more than 100 meters deep. High-speed fragments flew indiscriminately. The officers and soldiers of the 14th Division were suppressed on the beach, suffering heavy casualties.

The situation at this moment instantly brought back painful memories for the veterans - the same thing happened on Molokai last year!

The new recruits were at a loss and at a loss. Although they had seen big scenes in the exercises at the Qiongya Joint Training Camp before they were recruited, but...but then and now are nothing compared to them!
At this time, the third echelon, transporting an infantry battalion and two tank convoys, had approached the beach.

Seeing the terrible situation that the landing site was almost engulfed by artillery fire, they stopped advancing and the leading officer asked whether to continue advancing, wait, or retreat.

"Report!" A captain communications staff saluted and said, "The third echelon is asking, the beach is under heavy fire, and we are now on standby. Should we continue to land or retreat?"

Zhou Changfeng frowned upon hearing this and said calmly: "Continue to land on the island. No matter what, send the chariot ashore."

"Yes!" The captain turned and trotted away.

"The commander of the third echelon will be dismissed and fined after the battle." Zhou Changfeng turned to the other officers present and said, "Whether it's advancing or retreating, it's better than doing nothing and waiting there. This is specifically emphasized in the "Summary of Nanyang Operations"."

His book "Summary of the South China Sea Campaign" is now an important experience guide, which elaborates in detail the unique features of the Pacific battlefield and is very comprehensive.

Many aspects are involved, including infantry-artillery coordination, infantry-tank coordination, air-ground coordination, land-sea coordination, medical and health matters, logistics organization methods, fortification construction techniques, beach landing methods, etc.

It also provides explanations and interpretations using a large number of battle examples, and comes with many photos and simple sketches - most of these simple sketches were drawn by Xia Xiaoshi.

This book received unanimous approval from the top military leaders. The Military Training Department and the Military Science Department of the Ministry of War printed and distributed it, promoted it to the army, navy and air force, and listed it as a must-read for officers. The Grand Marshal's Office also specially selected important passages, excerpted them and expanded them in detail.

So, if you don't carefully read the book of experience condensed by blood and fire, how can you be a front-line commander?

At 8:41, under the continuous artillery fire, the landing troops could not move forward and could only huddle in the bomb craters and wait for orders.

The third echelon was about a quarter of an hour late. Dozens of landing craft came ashore one after another and began to unload the infantry and tanks on board amid the oncoming shock waves, blasts and fragments.

At 8:44, the U.S. coastal defense artillery, which had been silent for a while, opened fire again. Apparently, they moved to other backup launching positions.

More than a dozen 155mm high-explosive bombs fell down, and water columns stood up.

"boom!"

The starboard side of the Yining destroyer was hit by a shell, and a twin-mounted anti-aircraft gun instantly turned into scrap metal. The sailors here were either dead or injured!

Just as a dozen destroyers retreated again, everyone observed an unexpected scene through the telescope.

There is something strange happening among the US troops in the shallow and deep areas. Not only are there human figures moving around, but there also seem to be tanks?
At the same time, on the second-line position of the US military opposite the Lanai Island landing site...

Five companies of the 147th Infantry Regiment have completed assembly, and more than 723 "new tanks" of the rd Independent Tank Battalion are also ready to go.

Major Michael, the commander of the tank battalion, instructed on the radio: "Their naval guns dare not fire. We must be brave and calm. We must grasp the distance and keep a distance of 100 yards from the enemy."

There was a chorus of responses over the radio.

The U.S. troops on Lanai believed they had seized the opportunity and immediately launched a counterattack, intending to inflict heavy damage on the landing Ming army in one fell swoop.

反击兵力为五个步兵连约八百人，以及34辆M4A1谢尔曼中型坦克和13辆M3A1斯图亚特轻型坦克。

Because the battlefield was limited in width, Major Michael did not deploy all of his tanks at once.

At 8:50, the Ming army noticed unusual movements in the depths ahead.

Amid the rumbling of cannons, there seems to be a faint roar of engines?

Several seaplanes hovering in the sky had seen it all - a large number of US tanks had thrown off their camouflage nets and driven out of their half-dug bunkers!
"What? A lot of tanks? Dozens of tanks and a lot of infantry?"

In a bomb crater on the beachhead, the liaison officer lying on the ground, holding a microphone in one hand, asked in confusion.

A few minutes later, through the diffuse smoke and dust, the Ming army soldiers on the front line saw the enemy rushing towards them in a mighty force!
Those green tanks were something I had never seen before, tall, mighty and extremely round.

【Picture】

(End of this chapter)