afterglow

Chapter 685: Closing Performance; Before Sunrise

The 99th Infantry Division of the US Army defending Christmas Island was a unit that was only formed last year and had no experience. Together with the 452nd Independent Field Artillery Battalion, it has a total of 1.8 people, in addition to some naval service personnel.

The orders received by the commander, Major General Walter, were vague and lacked clear criteria for judgment - defend as much as possible and give up resistance when faced with serious disadvantages.

As several Ming army minesweepers arrived at the designated waters near the north coast of Christmas Island and began mine clearing operations, the Ming army's attack on Christmas Island officially began.

Soon, destroyers, cruisers, and battleships arrived in succession. After about two hours of sporadic artillery calibration and evaluation, a massive effective bombardment was launched. Thousands of shells completely covered the shallow and deep areas of the beach, and billowing smoke and dust spread nearly a hundred meters high.

The natural scenery of Christmas Island is breathtaking. Coral fragments and fine sand form the silvery-white beaches. When the tide goes out, you can see the crystal clear coral reefs surrounding the beaches. The island is lush with trees, and there are banana trees, pineapple trees, coconut trees everywhere. There are also large populations of seabirds.

However, under the devastation of artillery shells and aerial bombs as dense as raindrops, many trees were blown in half and uprooted. The trees that were lucky enough to survive had their leaves torn off by the shock wave of the explosion, leaving them bare.

The lagoon on the east side of Christmas Island is covered with criss-crossing coral reefs like a spider web, making it difficult even for small boats to pass through. Zhou Changfeng dispatched helicopters to set up several observation posts at suitable locations to closely monitor the movements of the enemy in the middle of the island.

【Picture】

The officers and soldiers of the beachhead elite battalion spent two days and one night blasting and clearing the coral reefs near the north shore, opening up an unobstructed passage for the large force to assault and land.

Led by dozens of amphibious tanks from the brigade's floating tank battalion, the 2nd Marine Regiment and the 751st Ocean-going Mixed Brigade simultaneously landed on four designated beaches.

As the sun rose in the east, the sparkling sea was filled with landing craft coming and going, the beach was crowded with people, and from time to time, shells fired by US artillery fell and exploded high columns of water.

The Marine infantry was the first to advance in depth. The first wave of landing troops reported that they had advanced more than 300 meters in half an hour. The resistance they encountered was extremely light, and the biggest obstacle came from the US artillery fire.

The second, third and fourth waves of landing troops went ashore one after another. The headquarters of the 2nd Marine Regiment and the 751st Regiment also arrived one after another and successfully opened the front-line command post.

After ensuring the stability of the landing site, the Ming army landing troops were ordered to advance deep into the territory.

The tank convoy of the 751st Regiment led a reinforced battalion to rush and attack in the southeast direction, frequently firing at any exposed American fire points with tank guns and machine guns. More than 700 people of the unit captured the northern airport and two reserve positions at the cost of four tanks damaged and dozens of casualties.

In the morning, the Ming army's logistics units established several supply stations on the beachhead. Many landing craft switched from transporting troops to transporting ammunition. A large number of mortar shells, grenades, blasting tubes, and flamethrower fuel tanks were continuously delivered to the shore.

By noon, the Ming army had opened nine front-line first aid stations and two field hospitals, and the Yinghuo also used the helicopters it carried to urgently transport more than a dozen critically wounded soldiers.

Although the U.S. military occasionally fired 155mm high-explosive bombs from deep inland areas, causing casualties on the beachhead, the logistical support of the Ming landing force was clearly divided and well-organized, and even if there were losses, operations were quickly restored. By 16:30 that afternoon, nearly landing troops and most of the vehicles had been transferred.

The U.S. military's resistance in the northern part of the island was quite light. Most of the positions were just scattered guard positions. Stuart light tanks were active frequently, but they always fired a few shots from a distance and then fled.

After clearing the northern area, the 13nd Marine Regiment began to advance southward along the central and eastern area of ​​the island. This area is particularly long and narrow, 1.4 km long from north to south and about km wide from east to west. To the east is the sea and to the west are criss-crossing coral reefs.

A large number of torpedo bombers took off from the Ziwei Zuoyuan, Tianshu and Tianji, and dropped their fuel-burning incendiary bombs in a very methodical manner, advancing successively from north to south, turning this narrow strip of land into a sea of ​​fire.

After the raging flames burned away all the vegetation and camouflage on the surface, some bunkers that had not been discovered were exposed. Battleships such as Kaihuang, Longshuo, Yongle, etc. were happy to fire half-salvos, pouring heavy large-caliber shells on any undestroyed fortifications.

The officers and soldiers of the 2nd Marine Regiment encountered a type of bunker they had never seen before - a fully integrated steel structure with a cylindrical shape and a hemispherical cover on top. It was small and sturdy, and could not be destroyed by rocket launchers or recoilless guns.

The prisoners confessed that this was a prefabricated mobile bunker nicknamed "Hermit Crab", which was manufactured by a steel company in the United States and was cast in one piece. The surrounding armor was 4 inches (102 mm) thick, the top cover was 1 inch (25.4 mm) thick, and the total weight was about 3.2 tons. It could accommodate 2 people, and the entrance and exit was the top hatch. This bunker was built in the mainland and shipped by sea. All it took was digging a pit where it was needed, and then using a truck to drag it over and half bury it.

Because the Ming army was equipped with a large number of infantry weapons such as rocket launchers and recoilless guns, which greatly enhanced their ability to capture and attack points, and civil fortifications could not withstand them, a US Army engineer major came up with this idea, and the product of his creativity was these prefabricated small bunkers.

Zhou Changfeng discovered that although the enemy defending the island had no experience and low morale, their defense line was well-arranged and much more sophisticated and complete than at the beginning of the war, which was a world of difference.

Each infantry company's defense consists of five parts:
First, there were minefields composed of dense mines and numerous concertina wires; then, there were groups of machine gun bunkers that supported each other; anti-tank positions were arranged on the left and right wings of the bunkers to attack the Ming army tanks; mortars were deployed in the rear to provide indirect fire support; and several teams equipped with submachine guns, automatic carbines, and shotguns were prepared to be ready to counterattack at any time.

In a narrow strip of land more than one kilometer wide, there are three such company-level positions connected to each other on the left and right, forming a complete battalion-level defense line.

The narrow strip of land is more than ten kilometers long, and there are a total of eight such battalion-level defense lines from north to south!
When attacking the US military's defense line here, the Ming army, which had been tempered over the years, had an almost impeccable level of coordination among its various arms.

Battleships, planes, tanks, artillery, infantry, and engineers cooperated with each other to eliminate the enemy's firepower points and obstacles one by one, advancing southward step by step.

The northern airport had been restored after repairs by the engineering corps, and dozens of Type 2 interceptors belonging to the Air Force flew over 2,000 kilometers to transfer to the airport and began to provide close support. The distance was so close that the people at the forefront could turn around and see the planes taking off from the airport runway.

After two days of fierce fighting, the Second Marine Regiment captured two lines of defense in succession. During this period, the Ming army's carrier-based and shore-based aircraft launched a total of 820 sorties, and the ground forces suffered a total of 574 casualties, including 166 killed or wounded.

Obviously, Zhou Changfeng did not want to continue to break through in this way, so he planned a second landing, using the battle reserve - the 429th Infantry Regiment to land at Vasquez Bay in the southwest of Christmas Island to open up a new battlefield.

Since the US military focused its defenses on the central and eastern regions of Christmas Island, it originally planned to use the fortified areas there to carry out a long-term resistance.

However, as Clausewitz said, no battle in the war could go exactly as planned. As thousands of Ming troops suddenly landed in Vasquez Bay, the US military had to divide its troops to strengthen its defense in the southwest, and the situation took a turn for the worse.

The 99th Regiment is a standard wartime conscripted unit under the 1rd Division, which has been stationed at Majuro Atoll for a long time. Like the 104th Infantry Division of the US Army, it is well-trained but lacks actual combat experience. The only actual combat experience of the rd Division was last year's battle with the st Raider Battalion of the US Marine Corps, which raided Bikini Atoll by submarine, killing enemies.

At first, the attack of the 429th Regiment was mediocre and progressed slowly. Zhou Changfeng was worried that the US troops, which had the advantage in manpower, would launch a counterattack, but it was obviously unnecessary. Instead, the 429th Regiment became more and more courageous and unstoppable.

Because the news of the armistice negotiations between the two sides was public, the officers and soldiers of both sides lost their fighting spirit after the initial fierce battle, and the American soldiers trapped on the isolated island were demoralized, so the number of captured enemies in the process of the Ming army's advancement increased. Commander Major General Walter hoped that the artillery unit would surrender after all the shells were used up, which would be more decent and appropriate. However, due to the continuous attacks of the Ming army's aircraft, the artillery could not fire at will, and it would take a long time for the more than 200,000 shells in stock to be used up.

On the fourteenth day of the battle, Major General Walter ordered a surrender request to be sent to the Pacific Theater Command.

"The soldiers were very disappointed with the perfunctory support from the navy. The surrender leaflets dropped by the enemy greatly affected morale, and many people easily gave in and surrendered. Unfortunately, we can no longer organize defense and are ready to stop resistance tomorrow morning."

On May 5, more than 9 U.S. troops on Christmas Island gave up resistance despite their complete organizational structure, with a total of 1.7 casualties and 1430 deaths.

明军地面部队总伤亡1299人，阵亡376人，损失坦克31辆；舰艇部队受圣诞岛美军岸基航空兵和岸防炮之攻击损失2艘登陆舰、2艘扫雷舰、1艘护卫舰，总伤亡315人，阵亡170人。

Based on his personal experience, Zhou Changfeng felt that this was the easiest island-taking operation since the outbreak of the war. Although there were unexpected situations, overall the omissions and mistakes were small, and the enemy's morale was very low.

At the same time, the Battle of Christmas Island was the culmination of the Ming army's amphibious warfare. Looking around the world, it is difficult to find a better example of coordinated operations of various arms in this war.

As the battle ended, the Maui negotiations were still going on in dispute and with little progress. The only consensus reached was that the United States recognized the new regime in the Philippines.

The carefully prepared atomic bomb was not used and was transported in vain. On the day the Battle of Christmas Island ended, the cabinet unanimously decided to resume the nuclear attack plan on Canberra.

The Yongyuan battlecruiser was assigned to carry out the transport mission without any warship escorting it, because the short-legged destroyer would only be a burden.

When the Yongyuan rushed from Majuro Atoll to Townsville, the 350th Meteorological Monitoring Team also moved to Charters Towers.

Charters Towers is located southwest of Townsville. It was a base of the Royal Australian Air Force before the war. It has since been an important aviation base of the Ming Army's Australian Corps, called Tiancheng Airport.

The base's engineering corps was ordered to build a special warehouse, install ventilation and monitoring equipment to ensure constant temperature and humidity, and erect a double layer of barbed wire around it.

The soldiers at Tiancheng Air Force Base had never seen such a strange unit, equipped with only six aircraft, but with separate ground crew units and military police units?

These hundreds of people lived in tents around the newly built warehouse. The armed gendarmes kept a close eye on all comers. A bright red warning sign was hung outside the camp - anyone who trespassed would be killed regardless of dissuasion.

Experienced veterans and mechanics noticed something strange: these six Type Z heavy bombers were different from the standard models. They used strangely large bomb hooks, which were even larger than the bomb hooks for 2500 kg giant bombs.

A commissioner flew from the mainland to Tiancheng Air Force Base and handed over a top-secret order signed and sealed by the Grand Commander, the Minister of War, and the Prime Minister - after agreement, permission was given to carry out the operation of dropping a nuclear bomb on Canberra.

Although the Ming Air Force only purchased two types of heavy bombers totaling about 100 aircraft, the First Heavy Bomber Squadron deployed in Australia still organized bombings of Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra from time to time. The scale of the bombing was dwarfed by the strategic bombing of Germany by Britain and the United States, but it did play a certain role.

With the US-Australia coalition air force depleted, Ming army bombers are now rarely intercepted by enemy aircraft.

On the evening of May 5, the commissioner finally informed the 19th Meteorological Monitoring Team of the truth. He called all crew members together to play a 20-second video clip of the nuclear test, and then drew a mushroom cloud on the blackboard with chalk.

He said: "The bomb is extremely powerful, and the blast may damage the aircraft. The post-bomb evasive maneuvers you practiced before were for this purpose, but the risk is still not small. Anyone quit?"

The pilots suddenly realized that it was no wonder that this team had been practicing dropping bombs at extremely high altitudes and diving to accelerate away since its establishment.

No one was willing to give up. In fact, most people were so excited after learning the truth that they tossed and turned and couldn't sleep.

The next day, a green mysterious bomb weighing 4.7 tons was pushed out of the warehouse and loaded into the bomb bay of QZ350-6. This atomic bomb had no name except for the numerical number, but everyone agreed to call it "watermelon".

Three Type Yuan (Z) heavy bombers took off one after another. The standard model had a maximum bomb load of 5.5 tons, but in that case it had to carry less fuel and its range was greatly reduced. The Type Yuan (Z) of the 5000th Squadron had been specially modified and could still reach a range of km when fully loaded, which made it quite difficult for the aircraft to take off.

Everyone stared at it nervously, only to see the plane lift off almost to the end of the runway, and slowly fly southwards...

More than forty minutes later, a reconnaissance Golden Eagle flying from Brisbane to Canberra sent back a message reporting that the weather over Canberra was clear and almost cloudless.

"God helps me! This is destined." Pilot Captain Xiao Bi Zhang said easily.

"Time to install the detonator. Be careful." The navigator picked up a pencil and checked a box on the checklist.

Major Ren Rui is a specially assigned expert from the Hongshabao base. He replaced a self-defense machine gunner and was responsible for installing the detonator for the atomic bomb and operating the machine gun part-time when necessary.

He walked into the narrow bomb bay in the severe cold at high altitude. His heavy cold-proof clothing made his movements particularly clumsy, but he still completed the installation of two detonators and the replacement of the fuse circuit breaker within a quarter of an hour.

Eight Type 38-E twin-engine heavy fighters escorted the formation, but no enemy aircraft were spotted until they reached the sky over Canberra.

Ren Rui noticed that a yellow indicator light was on on the atomic bomb indicator panel, which indicated that the temperature of the electrical equipment was too low and was not in the proper state.

He shouted, "There's a problem! It's too cold! We need to fly lower!"

[I asked an artist to draw this before...]

(End of this chapter)