afterglow

Chapter 602 Chapter Fourteen minutes; how is the progress of victory? Negative!

"It's terrible, it's a mess, if those Chinese start fighting back, we're screwed!"

On the battleship USS Washington, Rear Admiral Alexander Vandegrift said nervously while holding a telescope.

His anxiety was completely correct. The US military, whose beachhead was not stable, would find it difficult to organize an effective resistance.

The situation on Blue 1 and Blue 1 beaches was slightly better, with all members of the 7st Marine Regiment of the st Marine Division already in place, and a battalion of the th Marine Regiment also landed. The regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Herbert, established a temporary command post and began to organize defenses while taking the initiative to attack.

The easternmost Blue Third Beach was a mess. Two battalions of the Army's 124th Regimental Combat Team came ashore one after another, but they were completely mixed up and out of order. The soldiers huddled on the beach and shivered. They barely attacked twice and only blew up one bunker.

Major General Richmond Turner also felt uneasy, and he suddenly felt extremely regretful - if he had known that the army would have such a shocking performance, he would never have agreed to these guys' proactive request!
The concerns of the two US generals were reasonable, and the things they did not want to see were already being prepared in full swing.

At the same time, in the east direction of the central part of Betio Island, hundreds of Ming army infantrymen were carrying rifles, submachine guns and light machine guns and marching through the criss-crossing solid trenches.

In the large half-dug bunker, tanks covered with camouflage nets were started one after another, and the communicators in each vehicle were reporting and speaking one by one to check whether the radio communication was unobstructed.

"Is the tank team ready? Damn it, why don't you hurry up and head to the starting position?"

"Almost there! The commander is checking the communications!"

At this time in the command center, Shangguan Xun picked up the pocket watch and stared at the ticking second hand.

Time passed by minute by minute, and there was less than half a quarter of an hour left before the air force support formation arrived.

He was about to ask if they could see their own plane, but before he could say anything, he heard someone shouting excitedly.

"Fuck! Planes! A large group of planes in the southwest!"

I saw some small black dots appearing in the blue sky in the distance southwest of Betio Island. They were the air force aircraft fleet attacking from Nauru.

At 2:3 on February 15, the counterattack artillery fire started ahead of schedule.

Three howitzers had been destroyed by American artillery fire, and now the Independent Mixed Heavy Firearms Battalion had nine howitzers left to use. The Ming army artillerymen, filled with resentment, pulled the lever, and the first batch of shells flew out of the muzzle.

In "Summary of Nanyang Warfare", Zhou Changfeng emphasized the characteristics and application techniques of various types of artillery. For example, rocket launchers can quickly launch a large number of rockets and have a strong projection capability per unit time, but reloading takes a long time, so the opportunity should be carefully grasped to deal a heavy blow to the enemy at the critical moment.

Therefore, the rocket launchers that the Ming army had hidden in Tarawa were not allowed to fire until now - Shangguan Xun strictly followed the principles mentioned in the booklet and was more pragmatic than some guys who talked to themselves.

In just seven seconds, six seven-barreled rocket launchers poured all their ammunition towards Section B4!

Dozens of rockets, trailing orange-red flames, fell toward the beach in a gentle parabola, like a beautiful but deadly meteor shower.

Rockets cannot withstand high chamber pressure, so their bodies are thin and loaded with explosives. The body of the Type 144 7.7mm rocket is made of thin-walled seamless steel pipes and is loaded with 155kg of explosives. Its power is even greater than that of a mm high-explosive bomb.

The Ming army’s counterattack artillery fire was as fierce as a raging thunderstorm!
With smoke and sand everywhere, shrapnel flying, and waves splashing, the beachhead where the U.S. Army's 124th Regimental Combat Team was located was equivalent to purgatory.

There were so many wounded that their screams and wails merged into a wave of sound, and the rest of the people could not hear the normal commands at all.

Most of the trembling American soldiers could no longer maintain their sanity, their minds were filled with confusion, and they lay prostrate in the bomb craters filled with blood and sand, praying.

"Enemy aircraft are approaching!"

"Are you kidding me? F*ck!"

"Damn it, at one o'clock, in the sky, our planes are dogfighting with them."

The US military landed on the north shore of Betio Island, and Ming army planes from Nauru came from the south.

Dozens of Ming army planes were seen descending at high speed, and more than 20 US carrier-based aircraft rushed to intercept them. The escort fighters in the Ming army fleet also immediately responded.

Immediately, 17 Type 21 J-4s and 24 FF Wildcats entangled together, covering the remaining Type medium bombers as they moved forward steadily.

Nauru and Tarawa are more than 700 kilometers apart, which exceeds the combat radius of the Type 36. Even with auxiliary fuel tanks, it is a bit difficult because air combat maneuvers consume a lot of fuel.

Despite the risk of running out of fuel and crashing into the sea, none of the pilots retreated.

Fighter jets from both sides continued to plunge into the sea, trailing black smoke. The US fleet also opened fire, and black smoke clouds suddenly filled the blue sky.

It was against this backdrop that the bomber formation struggled to maintain stable and level flight.

From the Ming army's position, blue smoke rose up into the sky. They were using smoke canisters to mark their position.

Finally, about twenty bombers flew over Betio Island at low altitude and dropped all the bombs in the bomb bay onto the beach.

Each Yuan-year bomber was equipped with twelve 100kg aerial-killing bombs. The terrifying amount of explosives in the aerial bombs made them comparable to 203mm high-explosive bombs.

From the bombardier's perspective, a series of explosion points of different colors suddenly appeared where the land and water met below - the white ones fell in the water, and the gray-brown ones fell on the land.

Amid the whistling sounds of falling bombs and the roar of explosions, blood and flesh flew everywhere!
The violent vibrations and shock waves almost caused the US officers and soldiers to collapse. Lieutenant Colonel William, commander of the 124th Regimental Combat Team, died on the spot, and the slightly injured chief of staff took over command.

"Okay! Well done!"

"Blow these dogs to death!"

The Ming army soldiers hidden in the starting position of the attack cheered and raised their fists in applause, the flames of the explosion reflected in their pupils.

The general plan of the No. 2 counterattack plan is to use the first battalion as the main force of the counterattack, cooperating with the tank team to implement a bold and resolute coordinated attack; the second battalion dispatched a team as a tactical reserve.

The target of the counterattack was the enemy's army units that looked the weakest. After the attack began, our artillery turned to obstructive and blocking fire on the enemy Marine Corps positions to prevent them from reinforcement.

If the Japanese army's counterattack in history was a reckless and suicidal charge, then the Ming army's counterattack now is a torrent with clear organization and order!

15:15:59, this is the last second before the counterattack.

The American officers and soldiers on the beachhead and the American generals in the fleet saw a scene that made them feel cold and tremble all over.

Several red flares rose into the air in the smoke, so conspicuous.

On the battleship USS Washington, Division Commander Alexander Vandegrift saw this and shouted anxiously, "I need the fleet to provide intercepting fire! Now! Now!"

Immediately afterwards, the sharp sounds of whistles and suonas pierced the sky, like arrows piercing the heart.

More than a dozen mortar smoke bombs fell one after another, and a cloud of spreading smoke appeared in front of the U.S. beachhead. The roar of engines and shouts from that side came into my ears, making me feel that my blood was frozen in an instant.

The Tarawa Ming army adopted the strategy of tank-guided infantry assault. To prevent the tanks from being destroyed by enemy infantry, each tank was equipped with a combat group. These were the previously selected suicide squad members, each of whom wore a 6-style individual protective gear, installed a bulky 3.5mm thick surface carburized hardened steel plate (single piece kg), and held a submachine gun or shotgun.

In the combat log of the Tarawa Defense Command, Shangguan Xun called them "the elite chariot troops."

Of the 14 tanks in the tank team, three were unable to attack for some reason, and 3 were actually involved in the battle.

Liu He, who volunteered to lead the attack, followed closely behind in a Type 40 tracked general-purpose vehicle.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten vehicles rushed out of the smoke at the front of the position one after another!
The U.S. military opened fire at full capacity, and the beachhead was filled with gunfire and shouting.

However, how could rifles, machine guns, mortars, and rocket launchers possibly stop the oncoming tank detachments?

The US fleet on the sea opened fire, and continuous shells fell near the starting position of the attack, but at this time the counterattack force had already approached the beachhead.

The American officers and soldiers saw that the sky was filled with artillery fire rising behind the murderous Ming army's counterattack troops, and they were "fighting with their backs to fire"!
Amid the thunderous shouts of "Long live!", more than ten tanks with dozens of suicide squads charged into the enemy's position and broke through to the sea!

The heavily armored combat crew jumped off the tanks one after another and fired at the enemy who was close at hand. Dozens of people were knocked down by the dense bullets from submachine guns in a single encounter.

After a while, hundreds of infantrymen following the tank attack also arrived.

The chaotic US military positions were immediately shaken and they were unable to organize any effective resistance.

"Sir! We can't hold on! There are too many of them!"

Major Daniel, the chief of staff who took over the command after the commander was killed, was heartbroken but powerless to do anything.

The Ming army tanks rampaged along the beach and the water, firing indiscriminately, and even drove over the top of the foxholes, twisting left and right, burying the enemies below alive with their tracks.

At the side, a private holding a rocket launcher was knocked down by a bullet. Daniel, furious, jumped out of the temporary command post - which was actually a large crater next to the wreckage of the LVT.

He picked up the bazooka and fired a rocket at an oncoming Type 38 medium tank, setting it on fire.

But then he was hit in the chest by a ball of shotgun pellets and died while kneeling on the wet beach.

The suicide squad member holding a shotgun rolled over to the still-trembling corpse, lay on the ground and fired three shots, killing the remaining enemy soldiers in the temporary command post in the big bomb crater.

He noticed that the body next to him had a canvas briefcase and a map bag slung across its body, and knew at first glance that it was an officer, so he dug out the body's officer ID and put it in his pocket.

The Ming army infantrymen fired wildly with submachine guns and automatic rifles, or chased around with rifles equipped with bayonets.

The distraught American soldiers scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in all directions, with only one thought left in their minds, which was to get as far away from this damn place as possible!
Some people even ran towards the sea in panic, wading through the water to escape, and only dared to look back when the water reached their chests.

The next second, a bloody bayonet was stabbed into his eye socket, and the sharp tip of the knife came out from the back of his head.

The Type 40 tracked general-purpose vehicle that Liu He was riding in also rushed into the US military position with the counterattack troops, but a grenade was thrown in and exploded.

Covered in blood, he rolled out with difficulty. Just then, an American private was trying to escape from the side in panic. He grabbed the leg and threw him to the ground.

The two men wrestled with each other, punching and kicking each other, then each tried to draw a gun, and then tried to stop the other from pulling out the gun.

The unconscious driver regained consciousness and managed to rush over and knock down the enemy soldier, who then shot him down with a pistol against his abdomen.

The angry Liu He drew out his saber and stabbed the enemy soldier in the chest. Liu He drew out the red-red goose-feather saber, and the blood splashed all over his face.

He struggled to stand up, looked around, and shouted, "Kill all those damn chickens and dogs! Chase them, go west!"

The Ming army's offensive at Tarawa was fierce and ruthless, while the performance of the U.S. Army on Blue Beach was lackluster.

2月3日15：32，第124团级战斗队在十四分钟内土崩瓦解。

The Ming army's counterattack force began to turn westward, closely following the defeated remnants of the American army and chasing them towards the Marine positions on Lan Er Beach.

Shangguan Xun closely followed the battle situation and did not send out the reserve troops yet. He only sent a detachment composed of guards from the air force and naval service units with relatively weak combat effectiveness to clean up the battlefield.

The seaplane observer hovering in the sky reported on the radio: "The army troops no longer exist. They have been wiped out by the enemy."

Major General Richmond Turner closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said fiercely: "From today on, I will never let the army participate in beach landing operations again, I swear!"

There was a dead silence in the bridge of the battleship Washington. The British liaison officer was stunned and could only mutter: "This is a bloody massacre. They are like a pack of wolves rushing into a chicken coop..."

The division commander next to him, Vandergrift, was in no mood to sigh about this, because his Marines had already engaged in the battle!

"The Chinese attack is too fierce, the Marines need help!" he shouted to the captain.

"No. The ship's gunfire may accidentally injure your men, and we don't want to go to a military court." The captain flatly refused.

The two quarreled fiercely, but to no avail.

Although the navy disagreed to provide close-range artillery support, it continued to fire at the Ming army's positions, forming a spectacular blocking "wall of fire" that prevented the Ming army from deploying follow-up troops.

Shangguan Xun knew that he could only rely on the counterattack troops themselves.

The officers and soldiers of the Ming army were well aware that the greatest reliance of the US landing force was the fierce firepower of the fleet, and the only way to do so was to get as close to the enemy as possible to prevent it from attacking.

A moment later, the two armies continued to engage in bloody close-range fighting on Lan Er Beach.

In fact, the Ming army's counterattack force did not have an advantage in total numbers, but the thousands of American troops that had landed needed to be evenly distributed across the entire front line, and only a small number of people were in the actual combat area.

The fierce battle lasted until sunset...

The sun was setting in the west, and the red glow dyed half the sky. There were a few fiery clouds floating in the distant sky, but underneath was a sad and beautiful picture.

The eastern side of the northern shore of Betio Island was littered with corpses and the remains of burning tanks, landing craft, and amphibious transport vehicles.

The tide receded, revealing the coral reefs. The beach was littered with shell casings, helmets, rifles, magazines, and canteens, and the bodies of both enemy and friendly soldiers were found at every step.

The landing commander, Major General Turner, received a telegram from Washington asking how the operation was going.

He looked at the beach where the fire was flickering and replied in a cold tone: "The progress of victory is negative."

【Picture】

(End of this chapter)