afterglow

Chapter 628 Mechanized Infantry, Ride the Vehicle to Attack! Do you like my French eight-wheeler?

From now on, the next twelve hours of fighting are destined to leave a strong mark in the history of world wars - with both brutality, intensity and innovation.

Theoretically, the 13rd Independent Assault Vehicle Team had 3 Type 10 heavy tanks and Type medium tanks. However, the reliability of the heavy tanks was questionable, and several of them were broken down and were still under repair. In fact, only of them participated in the battle.

They became the sharp steel spears in the direction of the main axis of the Ming army's attack. The three teams of the 38th Division's chariot battalion followed in an inverted T-formation to cover their left and right wings.

A hundred meters behind dozens of tanks, the 1st Battalion of the 112th Armored Infantry Regiment followed closely in more than 50 armored personnel carriers.

In fact, only the first battalion of the mechanized infantry regiment under the Prospecting Division was fully equipped with Type 1 armored personnel carriers, while the second and third battalions were only equipped with open Type 40 general-purpose vehicles.

The highest commander on the front line was Liang Xin, commander of the 112th Regiment. Judging that the enemy's positions in front of him had been destroyed to pieces by the fierce artillery fire, he ordered a resolute attack without hesitation.

"Chariots attack, mechanized infantry units will follow the vehicles and charge!"

This time, the Ming army's front-line commander chose to use tanks to guide the infantry to attack the crumbling US positions.

It is impossible for tanks and armored vehicles to rush forward all at once. Only by alternating and covering each other and stopping to shoot can the advantages of armor, firepower and mobility be maximized. As a result, it actually looks quite leisurely and calm, moving forward, stopping and fighting.

The remaining American troops opened fire desperately, and in an instant, countless light and heavy firepower were poured onto the mighty Ming army's attacking forces.

Several 37mm capped armor-piercing shells flew in rapidly, but there was no chance of penetrating the 80mm thick, steeply angled frontal armor of the Type heavy tank.

"Biang——"

The small armor-piercing bullet hit the tank and bounced off instantly, making a pleasant sound of metal collision.

For the tank soldiers inside the vehicle, it was like hitting a bronze bell with a hammer, and they were inside this bronze bell.

"What a joy to play with that dog-ass anti-tank artillery! Where is it?!"

"Tsk! I haven't seen it yet!"

The Type 2 heavy tank is equipped with quite luxurious sighting and observation equipment. In addition to the commander's tower, the loader also has a curved track periscope, and observation windows are installed on the side of the turret. Its perception capability is first-class.

Even so, it is still quite difficult to discern the surrounding situation on a battlefield filled with flames and smoke.

The commander of a Type 40 medium tank on the left wing of the attack formation was fearless and opened the hatch to look around without fear of bullets. He was the first to identify an anti-tank gun bunker.

The commander then controlled the anti-aircraft machine gun to fire, and several strings of tracer bullets flew away, which was particularly obvious.

Soon several tanks turned their guns and aimed and opened fire. After several rounds of explosions, the bunker was completely silenced.

Unlike the Allied forces in Europe who were equipped with 57mm (QF6 pounds/M1) anti-tank guns as standard, the US military in the Pacific battlefield still preferred the lighter 37mm anti-tank guns. The price was that they could not pose any frontal threat to the Ming army's new medium and heavy tanks.

The 106th Infantry Regiment of the US Army had already been torn to pieces by artillery fire and was now unable to organize an effective resistance, and its firepower gradually became sparse.

Only six minutes later, the Ming army tanks broke into the enemy's position one after another and continued to advance deep into the enemy's territory regardless of the consequences.

Because the commander ordered the attack by vehicle, dozens of armored personnel carriers that followed did not stop until they entered the US military position. The US military's resistance firepower was ten or even nine points weak - relatively weak.

Dense Springfield .30 machine gun bullets and Colt .45 pistol bullets were fired at the Ming army's armored personnel carriers, making a clanging sound, but it was of no use other than giving them courage.

During this period, only one vehicle was hit by a bazooka rocket, and the Ming army soldiers inside hurriedly abandoned the vehicle and evacuated without waiting for the vehicle to stop.

"We're here! Let's get started, brothers!"

"Ready—open!"

The Ming army armored infantry kicked open the rear hatch of the car and rushed out one after another.

They quickly dispersed and deployed into combat formation to engage the enemy, using automatic rifles and shotguns to mow down the remaining enemies!
The squad leader and a soldier stayed in the vehicle and pushed open the roof cover. The former directed the vehicle while the latter operated the machine gun on the roof to provide support.

"Se Yuanda, oh lai!"

"Horned woman, what a fuss!"

Some individuals dropped their guns and surrendered, while the rest who resisted stubbornly were quickly wiped out.

This was the first time that the U.S. Army in the Pacific theater realized the powerful combat capability of armored infantry. They had no idea how to deal with it and were beaten to a loss.

The three horseshoe-shaped main positions of the 106th Infantry Regiment fell one after another, and the Ming army tanks even rushed to the vicinity of the regiment headquarters, aiming at the shelter and firing fiercely. The regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Baidwin, hurriedly fled in an M3 half-track vehicle. If he had been a minute later, he would have been buried here.

"There seems to be an antenna over there. Could it be the headquarters?"

"Catch the leader first, kill them!"

Soon, the fully armed Ming army infantry rushed into the messy headquarters. There were a lot of maps and documents scattered on the table and the ground...

The Yuannian armored personnel carrier is a fully enclosed tracked armored vehicle developed and manufactured in accordance with Zhou Changfeng's requirements. Some parts of civilian vehicles were used in its design to reduce costs.

Its empty weight is 9.7 tons. The engine and gearbox are arranged in the middle front position, separating the cockpit and the crew compartment. It uses the same 103-horsepower gasoline engine as the Type 12 wheeled assault gun. The front armor thickness is 2 mm. It can carry 10 main and co-pilots and infantrymen, and can float after attaching additional pontoons.

As the first generation of tracked armored vehicles, it has many design flaws. The biggest problem is that the air-cooled engine chosen in pursuit of universality and cost reduction is underpowered, making the whole vehicle less powerful. In addition, the heat dissipation is poor, causing the interior of the vehicle to be as hot as an oven. Perhaps the northern troops will like it, but the southern troops will definitely receive a lot of bad reviews.

The 38th Division performed well. The heavily invested Prospecting Division demonstrated its unparalleled breakthrough capability. The Ming army defeated a U.S. regiment that was defending in a preset position with relatively small losses.

A large part of these losses were caused by the US artillery in the rear during the offensive phase. In fact, the US front-line troops collapsed without achieving much results at all.

"Good! Very good, very good coordination. The 38th Division has solid technical and tactical skills. I will commend them!"

Zhou Changfeng was very excited to see the 38th Division so powerful. This proved that the heavy-armored force organization he designed according to local conditions had passed the preliminary assessment of actual combat with excellent results.

"They are so powerful and unstoppable." Zhao Hanfeng on the side sighed, "This is the effect of one division equaling the expenses of three divisions."

"In this place, fighting depends on whether the troops are elite or not. Let alone three times, even five times is worthwhile." A staff officer said with a smile: "As long as there are no planes to disrupt, we will definitely be able to defeat the enemy smoothly."

Zhou Changfeng walked back to the table with a calm expression, pointed at the map and ordered: "Pass my order, chase and annihilate the retreating enemy forces, gather all the troops in the next half hour, act according to the original plan, maintain the attack and advance posture, and strive to push the front line to the south of Kahului city tonight."

"As ordered!"

The Ming army tried to expand the results of the battle - to divide and surround the defeated enemy and annihilate the 106th Infantry Regiment of the US Army in an organized manner.

However, shells fell like raindrops, and the American artillery carried out blocking and obstructing fire like crazy, seriously interfering with the actions of the Ming army's offensive forces.

The density of the falling bombs was beyond imagination, so much so that three tanks and armored vehicles were actually directly hit and destroyed, becoming an example of a low-probability event.

Constrained by the suppression of artillery fire, Liang Xin was forced to order the abandonment of pursuit and to disperse and seek cover.

Several seaplanes and small liaison planes took off, braving the occasional 20mm high-explosive bombs and 12.7mm tracer bullets to conduct observations. The Ming pilots and artillery scouts were courageous, confirming the specific location of the US artillery positions and guiding the artillery fire to suppress them.

The two field artillery battalions of the 112th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade immediately began to carry out anti-artillery tasks, with mm cannons in groups of six launching long-range rapid attacks on several marked positions.

As a series of bomb points emerged, the continuous artillery fire of the US military was temporarily curbed, during which time two planes were shot down by ground anti-aircraft fire.

For the purpose of deterrence, the battleship Motosho fired a half-volley at a marked artillery position. More than a dozen 352mm high-explosive bombs exploded, sending up columns of smoke that rose straight into the sky.

It was already daybreak, and the planes from both sides appeared in the sky over Maui on time.

明美两军航空兵为了争夺制空权拼的头破血流，因为明军部署了两个队约百架Bf-109G2缓解燃眉之急，驾驶P-51A和F4U-1的美军飞行员比从前更感压力。尽管Bf-109G2相对于二者仍无优势，但确实要难对付不少。

As the fierce fight went on, the bombers of both sides also appeared on the scene almost at the same time in tacit understanding.

So an extremely strange scene appeared here - the fighter planes of both sides were fighting fiercely, while the bombers were at peace, each flying to their own targets to drop bombs.

Occasionally, a small number of fighter jets would leave the air combat and go to intercept the enemy's bombers, but due to the lack of organized interception operations, the attacks in groups of two or three could easily be driven away or even shot down by the bomber formation's self-defense firepower.

On the ground, many officers and soldiers were seen holding optical rangefinders pointing towards the sky, and the barrels of the self-propelled anti-aircraft guns near them were pointing obliquely at the target, spewing flames.

The anti-aircraft artillery battalion of the 38th Division, the anti-aircraft artillery battalion of the 1st Marine Brigade, the 223rd Independent Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion of the Air Force, and other air defense forces opened fire without reservation in an attempt to interfere with the US air strikes to the greatest extent possible.

Hundreds and thousands of 20.8mm and 38.4mm tracer incendiary bombs and high-explosive bombs were fired into the blue sky, and the fire lines were woven into a blazing anti-aircraft fire network.

The downed B-25 Mitchell and A-20 Boston turned into fireballs, trailing long black smoke and falling towards the Haleakala volcano, or plunged into the sea.

Most of the medium bombers managed to empty their bomb bays despite the fire, but they did not have time to stabilize and accurately aim, and their bombing altitude was higher than expected.

Hundreds of aerial bombs fell on the 38th Division like hail, and densely packed explosion points suddenly appeared on the ground. Looking down from the sky, it looked like a furry gray-black carpet covering the earth.

The tanks and personnel are fine. They can largely withstand the power of air strikes if they are well concealed, but the fragile technical equipment is not the same.

Dozens of trucks, tractor trailers and tanker trucks were blown up, turning into scattered wreckage, and some vehicles were engulfed in flames.

Cleaning up the mess was extremely time-consuming. The wreckage of the vehicles had to be cleared away to avoid blocking traffic, while also carefully identifying the unexploded bombs.

The cunning U.S. Army Aviation would mix in the dropping of some bombs with time fuses, with delays of five minutes, half an hour, one hour, etc., in order to delay the actions of the enemy ground forces to the maximum extent.

If conditions permit, the Ming army will use tanks to fire to detonate these dangerous things, but time is often not so abundant and tanks cannot appear out of thin air.

"Be more agile with your hands and feet."

A corporal hooked the towing cable onto the hook at the rear of the off-road vehicle, and then handed the other end of the hook to the short soldier next to him.

The latter rushed over in two steps, hooked the steel cable buckle onto the tail wing of the bomb, and then quickly dug the soil next to the bomb with a shovel, otherwise the off-road vehicle might not be able to tow away the bomb buried deep in the ground.

In this way, the off-road vehicle pulled out the 500-pound bomb at full speed, dragged it all the way to the distance, and made it fall into a bomb crater...

The ground battle continued, and the reorganized 38th Division advanced towards the city of Kahului.

The resistance of the US troops along the way was scattered and weak. It was obvious that the results of the deep breakthrough were quite brilliant. The US troops did not expect that the Ming army would smash the main front-line positions so quickly.

At the artillery position of the 106th Infantry Regiment under the anti-aircraft camouflage net, six 105mm howitzers were seized intact by the Ming army. The cans of food next to them had just been opened and only a few bites were taken. There were also several wheel tracks nearby, which showed that the US artillery retreated in a hurry at the time.

"Report the situation. As of 11 o'clock, we have not encountered strong resistance along the way and our unit is advancing unimpeded. We expect to launch a tactical deployment in the southern suburbs of Calgary at 1 o'clock in the afternoon." Liang Xin ordered.

The 38th Division's troops were heading straight for Kahului, and some claimed that they could see the roofs of houses in the city from the top of the tank.

At 11:12 noon, a unit of the division's mechanized scout battalion spotted a group of US tanks approaching near a hill 3.5 km south of Kahului city.

"Good fellow, get ready to give these bastards a hammer."

"But our scouting work is done."

"Why are you so cowardly? Let's do it together. Don't you want the credit that's delivered to your door?"

Two Panhard 201 heavy armored vehicles were parked next to the bushes on the reverse slope. Both were painted in the Ming Army's standard tree-shade camouflage pattern, and the vehicles were also covered with camouflage nets filled with branches and leaves.

Seven Stuart light tanks were seen passing through a checkpoint, and American tank soldiers leaned out of the vehicle and greeted several military police.

The checkpoint consisted of a few hastily constructed makeshift shelters made of sandbags and foxholes, and a roadblock was placed in the middle of the road.

"The Chinese are advancing along the highway. They will arrive this afternoon. How exactly does the headquarters intend to respond?" A military policeman handed back his ID.

The tank soldier took it and put it away, then he said jokingly, "Maybe it depends on you guys?"

"How ridiculous that we are..."

"Bang! Boom—"

The sound of metal colliding suddenly broke out, and the sound of artillery fire from afar arrived a second late.

Suddenly, a small hole appeared on the side of the Stuart car, and a red-hot molten circle surrounded the hole.

"Be careful! Enemy attack!"

"Damn it!"

As the American soldiers shouted, black smoke was already coming out of the Stuart. Several panicked military police discovered that flames like fireworks were spewing from the turret ring and the hatch!
Over the next full minute, armor-piercing tracer bullets kept flying in, and the three Stuarts were set on fire one after another.

Following the trace of the tracer bullet, the U.S. military finally discovered the attacker and turned to face the enemy and began to fight back.

The Ming army's reconnaissance team was not afraid at all. They also faced the enemy head-on with armored vehicles and openly engaged in a firefight with the tanks.

"boom!"

A 37mm armor-piercing shell accurately hit one of the Ming army armored vehicles, but it had no effect. The capped armor-piercing shell ricocheted immediately after hitting the 201mm thick, high-angle armor on the front of the Panhard 60 vehicle.

"What the hell?!"

"Sergeant! I can't believe it! Our shells are bouncing off us!"

Do you like my French eight wheel?
[The design of this thing is really weird. I can only say that the French have unique ideas. ]

(End of this chapter)