afterglow

Chapter 592 The collision of iron and blood; Pansy, a great achievement!
The Ming army fighting in the South Asian subcontinent and the Australian continent encountered the M3 Grant medium tank as early as March. However, for the Ming army in the Pacific battlefield, this was the first time they saw a real medium tank of the US military.

Zhou Changfeng pointed out in "Summary of Operations in the South China Sea" that anti-landing operations are not impossible to launch counterattacks.

If we can resolutely and decisively deploy armored and infantry forces to launch a counterattack at the right moment, we can inflict heavy damage on the enemy on the beach.

But the difficulty lies in how to seize the right opportunity. If you choose the wrong time, it will be tantamount to sending yourself to death in vain and wasting limited military forces.

Therefore, in his book he only recommends this strategy, which has both huge risks and huge benefits, to experienced commanders.

The 14th Division had not expected that the U.S. military would launch such a massive counterattack. They generally believed that the cowardly U.S. military would only hide in strong fortifications and exert their firepower, and that apart from having a lot of artillery shells, they would do nothing more than that.

But throughout human history, wars never develop exactly as expected.

The landing troops were already in chaos under the artillery fire, with fragments flying and sand splashing everywhere. The soldiers lay in the bomb craters to seek cover.

The officers' orders were difficult to pass on, and for a while they were unable to organize a large-scale response, so each battalion and team could only fight on its own.

The headquarters of the 40th Infantry Regiment had gone ashore with the second echelon earlier, but due to the sudden attack by US artillery fire, command and control were interrupted before they could be established.

"Hold your ground, don't panic! Please ask the fleet to use the 200 meters in front as a boundary to block the enemy's follow-up forces!"

The regiment commander Wang Jiancheng could only mobilize one team on each side, and everyone was scattered in various bomb craters.

The continuous artillery fire seriously interfered with the quality of radio communications, and the messengers could only shuttle through the hail of bullets to notify each squad one by one.

The mortars of various battalions and teams of the Ming army opened fire one after another, pouring shells on the American infantry who were advancing towards the starting position for the assault.

The soldiers fought back desperately with Type 80 mm recoilless rifles. Several Shermans and Stuarts were hit and grounded, but the remaining dozens of them continued to fire.

The M4 1mm high-explosive bomb fired by the M48A75 Sherman is loaded with 667g of TNT, which is extremely effective against soft targets. One shot can cause blood and flesh to fly within a radius of more than ten meters, posing a great threat.

【Picture】

The Ming army's amphibious tanks that accompanied the first echelon on land were not designed to fight against enemy tanks head-on, but how could they retreat at this critical juncture? They had to fight even though they knew they were no match for the enemy.

More than a dozen Type 1 amphibious tanks fired armor-piercing shells at US tanks with their Type 38 tank guns, and some Shermans and Stuarts were hit.

A few seconds later, dazzling flames shot out from the turret ring!

It is true that armor-piercing shells make it possible for amphibious tanks to destroy enemy tanks, but the fragile armor is simply not suitable for confrontation with armor-piercing shells.

It may not be able to kill others with one blow, but it can destroy others with one blow!
Although Wang Jiancheng's request stated that the limit was 200 meters, the navy did not dare to take such a risk. The three light cruisers received orders to open fire at a distance of 300 meters from the front line.

Hundreds of shells came pouring in from the offshore, creating a terrible wall of fireworks!

Two companies of American infantry were blocked here and forced to retreat to the second line to seek cover.

At this time, the Sherman that Major Michael was riding in was hit by multiple armor-piercing tracer bullets fired from anti-tank guns. The left track was broken and the driver's periscope was damaged, making it unable to move.

He risked opening the hatch and stuck his head out, only to see chaos on the battlefield and terrifyingly intense firepower from both sides.

"You stay here, I'm going to go to other tanks to continue commanding!" Major Michael said as he retreated back into the car, then got out and jumped out of the car.

He switched to another Sherman to continue commanding the battle, and called on the three infantry companies that followed to prepare for a coordinated attack.

The American tank soldiers were extremely brave. Some tank commanders even dared to get out and operate the machine guns on the top of the turret to fire in such circumstances.

The more than 1,000-meter-long battle front was filled with tragic scenes. Hysterical shouts in two languages ​​came one after another, and the criss-crossing tracer bullets seemed to tear the space apart.

Although it was decided to launch an attack in coordination with infantry and tanks, the U.S. officers and soldiers had no actual combat experience, and the three infantry companies performed worse than each other in such a large scene.

After much effort, they finally deployed their battle formation to engage the enemy, and the portable mortars were also deployed.

At this point, the U.S. counterattack force ended the medium-range fire, and about 400 infantrymen and the remaining thirty or so tanks that were able to move launched the attack together.

They fired several signal flares into the sky in succession, and the shelling that had been going on until now by the field artillery group in the rear suddenly stopped.

The U.S. military's counterattack was well organized, with troops attacking in three directions, and it looked like it had been practiced in the field before.

They used a tank platoon of four tanks as the basic unit to lead an infantry platoon, with four tanks in a wedge-shaped formation with a total width of 200 yards (182 meters). Each platoon was also 200 yards apart, so that one tank company corresponded to one infantry company.

Looking down from above, the US counterattack forces were like three broad-bladed axes, chopping down the Ming landing forces on the narrow beachhead at the same time, attempting to split the latter into three sections!

A steel beast weighing dozens of tons is rushing towards you with great momentum. The subconscious mind controls the body to escape, but the subjective consciousness has to fight against it. This is the tempering of willpower!
Groups of American tanks and infantry attacked, and the loose Ming army's beachhead position was broken through in a few minutes, and the enemy and our side were mixed together!
Wang Jiancheng immediately ordered a counterattack, determined to fight to the death.

In fact, the two camps that had landed were separated at this time, and it almost became a big melee with each battalion fighting for itself.

Garand rifles, Browning automatic rifles, Thompson submachine guns, and various standard infantry weapons of the Ming army were firing continuously, and all kinds of gunshots echoed across the beach!

Seeing many US tanks rampaging not far away and a recoilless gun on this side suddenly stopped firing, Liu Wu, the standard-bearer of the second team of the first battalion, urged anxiously.

"Eighty-zero, eighty-zero! Strike the iron turtle!"

I only heard a gunner shout back: "Hold on! The shells, the remaining shells are all on the boat and haven't been taken down yet!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Wu turned around and jumped out of the bomb crater, wading through the sea water towards the landing craft that had been destroyed and half-submerged on the beach, and snatched two boxes of shells from it.

He either crawled or rolled, sending the shell into the crater.

This Type 40 recoilless gun fired every shot accurately. With three consecutive shots, it knocked down two Shermans and a Stuart.

Just as they were preparing to move their position, another Sherman tank rotated its turret and pointed it in this direction, firing a sweeping fire. The smoke and dust from the explosion of the high-explosive bombs instantly engulfed the position.

The rest of the officers and soldiers also fought hard and fiercely with the enemy who was close at hand.

Rocket launchers, anti-tank grenades, anti-tank rifle grenades...all kinds of infantry anti-tank weapons that were previously useless due to their short range were now all used up.

The American infantry following the tanks were also firing desperately, trying their best to suppress the endless firepower points of the Ming army. However, they were immediately attacked from all sides and could no longer protect themselves.

After using up all the ammunition they had, the Ming infantry began to use any explosives they had on hand to attack the US tanks at close range. Two infantrymen climbed directly onto a Stuart light tank that was firing crazily. One of them was hit by a bullet from the US military and fell down, while the other forcibly opened the turret hatch and threw a grenade inside!
He leaped forward, rolled on the ground and lay down. Behind him, he heard a dull bang, just like the sound of when he was a kid and playfully put firecrackers upside down into an iron bucket.

The men of the 40th Infantry Regiment's Chemical Defense Platoon were the bravest of the three. They crawled forward until they were only a few steps away from a Stuart tank with its tracks broken.

Then he suddenly jumped up, opened the driver's observation window on the front of the vehicle and fired a few rounds of bullets, then used a flamethrower to spray a ball of flames into the tank, instantly turning the tank into a steel crematorium.

A corporal from the Navy Special Forces Battalion who was hiding in a bomb crater saw a damaged Sherman tank firing and reversing. He immediately grabbed the blasting tube beside him and crouched down to follow.

Each blasting tube weighs ten pounds. The thin-walled steel tube is filled with Type C explosive, a mixture of ammonium picrate and barium nitrate.

The corporal calculated the speed and distance in his head, pulled the fuse of the blasting tube and threw it a few meters behind the tank, then turned over and rolled into the nearest crater.

A few seconds later, there was a loud "boom" and the early cast-body Sherman tank manufactured by the Detroit Arsenal was turned into scrap metal, with gasoline flying all over the sky after being blown up, like a rain of fire...

727 subcontractors across the United States continuously provide the necessary parts for the tanks, and 5238 employees at the Detroit Arsenal are assembling Shermans in batches. 825 vehicles were shipped last month.

There are nine other tank manufacturers like this one in the United States.

The melee on the beach continued, although the organizations on both sides were almost completely disrupted.

The Ming fleet's artillery fire blocked the way to the rear, leaving the US counterattack force with no way to retreat.

The blood of the dead and wounded soldiers seeped into the mud and sand, staining the beach with dark red patterns; debris of landing craft and colorful gasoline splashes floated on the sea.

At this time, several landing craft that had lagged behind in the third echelon arrived late and rushed onto the beach one after another.

More than a dozen amphibious tanks that fought to the end have all been destroyed, and five Type 40 medium tanks finally arrived at this critical moment!
They are the 102nd Independent Tank Battalion.

The tanks drove onto the beach and fired continuously at targets that were only tens of meters away and no more than a hundred meters away.

The Type 36 tank gun has a 80-caliber gun and fires 350×500㎜ capped blunt-nosed armor-piercing explosive shells. It can penetrate vertically placed 76㎜ rolled nickel-manganese armor steel plates at a distance of m. Moreover, due to its blunt-nosed design, it has good straightening capabilities, which can offset the effects of tilted armor.

"Good armor-piercing bullet!"

"Enemy tank, one hundred meters!"

The shell flew out of the muzzle and easily penetrated the side of a Sherman that didn't react in time.

The shell penetrated the armor and exploded inside the tank, and the bursting fragments instantly killed all the crew members!

The American tanks came to their senses and began to fight back. Half of them had been wiped out by the Ming army infantry, but there were still more than a dozen of them, three times as many as the five Ming army tanks that appeared.

An atypical armor-piercing confrontation broke out on this battlefield. After all, who would have thought that the tanks of both sides would fire at each other at such close range when designing it?

"Boom!"

An armor-piercing bullet hit the front of the tank Major Michael was riding in. It did not ricochet, but it shattered into pieces, with sparks flying!
Seeing that the target could not be penetrated, the commander shouted: "Special armor-piercing shells, reload!"

The loader took out a tungsten carbide hard-core armor-piercing bullet from the water-jacketed ammunition rack, clenched his fist and pushed it into the barrel, and the breech block closed immediately.

"Special armor-piercing bullets, good!"

There was no need to pay attention to the falling of the shells at such a close distance. The gunner aimed the lower tip of the V-shaped reticle of the sight at the white five-pointed star on the front of the Sherman tank and pulled the firing lever.

The hard-core armor-piercing bullet flew out of the muzzle and hit the bull's eye!

The projectile body deformed instantly, but the tungsten carbide core in the middle continued to move forward and penetrated the rolled armor steel. The core shattered during the penetration process, and a large amount of hot debris flew everywhere!
【Picture】

The Ming Army regulations stipulate that even if it is confirmed that an enemy tank has been hit, if the target is not on fire, then three more rounds of fire must be fired. If a fire occurs during this period, the additional fire can be abandoned.

The Type 40 medium tank could certainly deal with Sherman and Stuart, but its own armor was unreliable at such a close distance.

After half a quarter of an hour of fighting, only one car was still able to move.

But the US military's counterattack had failed, and the 130th Coastal Defense Artillery Battalion began to maneuver and change firing positions, firing and running.

Without the threat of coastal defense artillery, the Pansy anti-aircraft cruiser was the first to turn back, venturing to approach to a distance of less than a kilometer to provide direct fire support for the landing troops.

They were skilled and brave, not afraid of accidentally injuring friendly forces, and fired at the enemy who was still moving.

The terrifying twin-mounted 131.2mm dual-purpose anti-aircraft guns fired 15kg of anti-aircraft fragmentation shells at a rate of 4.2 rounds per minute per gun, saving the situation in no time.

The Pansy even quickly completed the calculation of all the shooting parameters, and fired anti-aircraft fragmentation shells equipped with time fuses at 100m, 200m, and 300m behind the US military's location. The shells exploded in the air like raindrops, and countless high-speed fragments were evenly distributed, instantly setting off a bloody storm!
The frustrated US counterattack force was releasing a smoke screen to retreat, but it suffered a devastating disaster and left countless corpses along the way.

"That's wonderful! That's wonderful!"

"What ship is that? The Pansy? A single ship turned the tide, this must be a great achievement!"

"Long live the Navy!"

The officers who were watching the battle had originally frowned and clenched their fists, but when they saw this scene, they couldn't help but cheer.

Zhou Changfeng closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. The incident that just happened made him sweat.

He then ordered: "The fourth echelon should hurry to land, the fleet should maintain obstructive fire at shallow depths, and reserve one or two cruisers to stand by silently. Once the enemy's coastal defense artillery opens fire, call over to suppress it."

"As ordered!"

There were two major surprises in this battle. One was that the U.S. military dared to take the initiative and launch a high-risk anti-landing counterattack, contrary to its usual practice. Perhaps they were also blinded by last year's Battle of Molokai.

Another unexpected thing is that the M4 Sherman appeared here. I thought there were only M3 Grant at most. If it was the latter, then those Type medium tanks would be enough.

It seems that the armor-piercing shell confrontation in the Pacific battlefield also needs to be updated and upgraded.

(End of this chapter)