Age of Rebirth

In the Liaoxi Corridor area, the Dalinghe Battlefield, the attack on the Kwantung Army's defensive positions, the fierce artillery fire and aerial bombardment, made Major General Battelle, the armored commander of the Independent Division who was used to the big scenes in the European battlefield, amazed. The cooperation and intensity of the air-to-air firepower, even if it is a head-to-head confrontation with two or three German armies, it will not lose a bit, and even gain the upper hand!

Battelle was proud and excited, he was very excited that his brother had the current powerful strength, and he was a member of it. At this moment, Feng Jiwu's order came, and the radio soldier's report interrupted his imagination, "Say! "Battelle quickly pulled his mind back to reality, and said simply.

"Commander Feng ordered that the bombing is over, and the armored soldiers will attack immediately!" The radio soldiers were even more concise.

Battelle immediately issued an order in the communication channel of the tank formation: "Attention all brigades, all tanks should be activated immediately, approach the embankment on the south bank of the Daling River, clear out the remnants of the enemy, and cover the pontoon bridge for the pontoon troops!"

The roar suddenly sounded, all the tanks stepped up the accelerator, the engine roared, the tanks rushed out suddenly, a layer of smoke rose, more than 1000 tanks came out together, the earth shook, and the tracks rolled over the mud and gravel And the sound of "Crack!" on the already quiet battlefield showed another kind of loud noise that shook people's hearts. The huge steel monster drove up the embankment of different heights on the south bank of the Daling River.

The shelling passed, and the bombing was over. General Umezu Yoshijiro's estimate was very accurate. The defense system of the Ninth Army extending along the north bank of the Daling River was almost completely destroyed.Even most of the underground fortifications collapsed, burying the lives of the miscellaneous people.There were even more soldiers of the Kwantung Army, whose orifices were bleeding from the shock wave, and fell limply in the crumbling underground fortifications.

Adding up the front and back, the one-hour bombardment and four to 10-minute aerial bombardment brought heavy casualties to the Ninth Army, and more than half of the troops in the front line were reduced.However, the mind is full of Bushido spirit, even in the Imperial Army sequence.The soldiers of the Kwantung Army who also think they are superior, are determined to dedicate their lives to His Majesty the Emperor and the Japanese Empire, and take death seriously are the few remaining.A powerful force that must fight to the end.

certainly.This determination to fight to the death and not to retreat also comes from the order of the superiors. If you fight to the death, you will die. Your soul can enter the Yasukuni Shrine, and you will die if you retreat.The surviving Kwantung Army soldiers climbed out of the dilapidated underground fortifications.Drilling out of the ruins of broken bricks and tiles, shaking his dizzy head, with dust and wounds all over his body, he desperately built temporary fortifications on the ruins.

At this moment, the surviving units of the Ninth Army of the Kwantung Army are poorly equipped. Mortars and Type [-] heavy machine guns have become the most powerful weapons. On the ruins on the north bank of the Daling River, there was a burst of excavation by engineers shoveling the soil The sound became a strange sight on the battlefield at night!

When the more than 1000 tanks commanded by Battelle, like a steel monster, rushed up the embankment on the south bank of the Daling River, the soldiers of the Kwantung Army who were working hard were naturally alarmed, and they exclaimed, "Look! That's a Chinese man ready to shoot!" There are more experienced veterans, who are busy putting grenades on themselves, which are the sharp weapons of Yamato warriors, turning themselves into bombs and blowing up the tanks of the independent division!

The tanks lined up, squatting on the embankment of the Daling River, but they were surprisingly silent, the engines roared in a low voice, and the turrets did not fire shells, but in the faint night, those steel monsters brought the Kanto The coercion of the soldiers of the army is still lingering. They don't know what these independent division tanks will do across the Daling River, which is hundreds of meters wide.

Battelle sat on the tank commander's seat, with his eyes closed, and calmly ordered in the communication channel of the armored formation: "Attention all vehicles, listen to my order, turn on the headlights together, pay attention to the tank guns and clear out the surviving fire points of the Japanese army." Break through the swarm and get ready to cross the pontoon at any time! The commanders of each formation began to report on the preparations of their formation!"

In the earphones, the reports of the commanders of the tank brigades kept coming, "Report to the commander, the first formation of the third tank brigade is ready!" "Report to the commander, the fifth formation of the first tank brigade is ready!"" Report to the commander! The first formation of the second tank brigade is ready!  …”

Battelle listened to the reports of the brigade commanders calmly, and silently calculated in his heart. After the last brigade commander finished his report, Battelle opened the infantry communication channel, "Attention infantry commanders accompanying the attack, light artillery fire is ready!" Then, he shouted suddenly: "Turn on the light!"

"Swipe!" Very abruptly, on the south bank of the Daling River, thousands of bright tank lights suddenly lit up. If in the dark night, suddenly pierced out like lightsabers, they would instantly block the defense of the Kwantung Army on the north bank of the Daling River. The broken bricks and tiles on the ground of the position were as bright as daylight. The glare of the light made the Kwantung Army soldiers staring at the tanks of the Independent Division with wide eyes suddenly see nothing but whiteness in front of them. White light filled the pupils!

The soldiers of the Kwantung Army who entered the ruined ground position were immediately exposed to the bright lights. Then, the mortars and light infantry artillery that approached the river bank began to pour shells one by one onto the Kwantung Army. On the battlefield, flames were shining, and the sound of explosions once again filled the night sky.

Then, the tank shells with low ballistics roared and joined the ranks of the shelling. Any soldier of the Kwantung Army, a little spark from the muzzle of the gun during the counterattack, would attract several shells. Lieutenant General Gu Cang, commander of the Ninth Army of the Kwantung Army, requested to retreat to the second line of defense. After the request was flatly rejected by General Umezu Yoshijiro, the commander-in-chief, General Yoshijiro Umezu ordered the remaining troops of all divisions and brigades to enter Ground positions, carry out a desperate counterattack!

Lieutenant General Watanabe, the commander of the No.18 Division, was one step ahead of the commander of the army, Lieutenant General Gu Cang. Before the order from the military headquarters, the soldiers of the No.18 Division had already entered the position Said that the remaining soldiers of the Ninth Army of the Kwantung Army defending along the Daling River were all on the ground positions that were blown to pieces, and Battelle's creative style of play became a lore, a battle. massacre.

Small-caliber shells flew in the night, whistling across the Daling River, and fell on the soldiers of the Kwantung Army exposed to the light. It was no less than the huge explosion when the heavy artillery shelled, echoing the night sky, and there was less than ten minutes of silence. After a few minutes, the battlefield became noisy again.

According to the offensive coordination plan, when more than 1000 armored tanks turned on their lights and the artillery fire began to attack, they waited in full force for the vehicles of the pontoon bridge, and quickly rushed down the embankment and onto the river beach. On the water surface, when the pontoon bridge was erected by the pontoon troops, the bullets from the opposite bank were sparse and negligible.

Zheng Yong, the artillery commander of the Independent Division, seemed to have nothing to do after the artillery units under his command had completed their missions, circling back and forth in the headquarters with unsatisfactory intentions. When he heard the loud sound of the artillery this time, he immediately rushed outside the headquarters. What caught my eye was the battlefield on the north bank of the Daling River illuminated by the lights of more than 1000 tanks. I, Old Zheng, will definitely not be able to figure it out! Good!" Like a child, Zheng Yong laughed heartily and jumped to his feet to applaud!

Also sighing, there are also Major General Feng Jiwu, the commander of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps who has been observing the battlefield situation, and Colonel Zhang Hansheng, the chief of staff, "The chief of staff, the style of play used by Commander Battelle of the armored forces is unprecedented, and can be listed It is a classic tactic for armored clusters to attack at night. When the enemy is completely exposed, it uses artillery fire to kill again. It is like fighting in broad daylight. It is a wonderful idea! It is worthy of drinking foreign ink in Germany, and the European battlefield Come on, the prestige of playing!" Feng Jiwu said in admiration.

After sighing, Feng Jiwu said to Zhang Hansheng: "Chief of Staff, I can be sure that if we break through the Kwantung Army's Daling River defense line, the casualties we will pay are almost negligible!"

Zhang Hansheng agreed with the commander, and analyzed from the perspective of the chief of staff: "Commander Battelle's tactics need to meet several conditions at the same time. First, the Kwantung Army lacks anti-tank weapons. After the destruction, there is no weapon that can threaten my armored group. Third, the surviving Kwantung Army soldiers have entered the ground position and are ready to counterattack our infantry attack. All three conditions are indispensable, otherwise, the current effect will not be achieved!"

Feng Jiwu laughed and said: "The chief of staff has experience, but without these conditions, Commander Battelle would not have adopted such a tactic! You see, he is only in his twenties, and his level of command and combat experience is no less than For any of us! This younger brother of our teacher will have amazing achievements in the future!"

The joint artillery strikes of tank guns, mortars and light infantry guns, the Kwantung Army's Daling River defense line, which has experienced a triple blow, has basically become a no-man's land at the planned breakthrough point. The Kwantung Army soldiers on the ground are all dead.

The pontoon bridge, like a dragon stretching straight to the opposite bank on the turbulent surface of the Daling River, extends to the north bank at a speed visible to the naked eye. Using tools to fix the sections of the pontoon bridge, the training for more than a year has shown results. Sparse stray bullets fly aimlessly in the night sky, drawing dark red ballistic trajectories, but they have not affected at all. The speed at which the bridge is erected.

The first pontoon bridge finally arrived at the beach on the north bank of the Daling River with a bang. At the same time as the report, Battelle issued an order: "First Armored Assault Group, start crossing the river!"

(to be continued) (to be continued...)