RPAGF #199 - Send away all the Japanese planes and tanks in good order
#199 - Send away all the Japanese planes and tanks in good order
East of Jiuyuan lies Dongxing.
This is a bottleneck, with continuous mountains to the north and the turbulent Yellow River to the south.
The remaining flat area is less than 2 kilometers.
Jiuyuan's first line of defense is set up here.
Seven zigzagging trenches were dug along the north-south direction, with anti-artillery caves dug into the sidewalls of the trenches.
When the enemy artillery shells land, soldiers can hide inside to effectively reduce the power of the shock wave and defend against air-burst fuses, increasing the chances of survival.
Thanks to the rotary tillers provided by Ren Zhong, they are also very useful for digging trenches on the front lines, greatly accelerating battlefield operations and building seven trenches in a short period.
Heavy firepower such as machine guns, mortars, and G20 anti-aircraft guns are deployed on the position.
Now each platoon also has an RPG rocket launcher team, and 107 rockets are in the mountains and rear areas away from the position, following the cavalry units to prepare for mobile operations at any time.
According to the operation regulations, they will transfer after firing at most two rounds in one place to ensure that they are not caught by the Japanese artillery for counterattacks.
Faced with this attack by a large Japanese force, the front-line positions deployed four main regiments for frontal defense.
The artillery regiment and cavalry regiment, according to different combat areas, serve as the main mobile forces for counter-attacking or reinforcing the position.
The current artillery regiment has been fully mechanized with mules and horses, and can change artillery positions at any time.
Both the 107 rockets and S41 mountain guns have achieved the function of firing and running, and the entire artillery regiment's shells are carried on horses, and they can be transferred at any time.
Only the grasslands have such convenient conditions.
Through flexible and mobile transfers, the artillery has greatly enhanced its survivability.
On the 3rd day, the entire battle kicked off with the Japanese artillery bombardment.
With the Japanese artillery bombardment, our artillery observers quickly discovered the position of a Japanese artillery battalion launching the bombardment.
Three Type 97 fighters suddenly appeared from the mountains and pounced directly over our exposed artillery position.
The Japanese dispatched their air force to prepare to bomb our 107 rocket artillery regiment.
(Japanese Nakajima Type 97 fighter, Ki-27)
However, our army had anticipated the Japanese attempt.
When two Japanese warplanes flew over the 107 rocket artillery position, preparing to lower their altitude to three or four hundred meters and dive towards the ground, preparing to carry out a precise bombing of the 107 rocket artillery position.
On the Japanese Type 97 fighter planes, in addition to two machine guns, they also carried four 25 kg aerial bombs.
For our army, the Japanese had already figured out that there was no ability to resist, so they boldly approached the ground for precise bombing.
But this time, they were about to be given a surprise.
When they lowered their altitude to more than 300 meters, they were horrified to find that the heavy artillery position they originally thought was there was now no heavy artillery at all, but instead, one 20mm anti-aircraft gun after another was erected next to it!
The two Japanese pilots, who were completely unprepared, desperately wanted to pull up their planes and escape, but it was too late.
The tongues of flame spewed out by one G20 anti-aircraft gun after another intertwined in the air, weaving a dense net of bullets that directly engulfed the Japanese fighter plane in the rain of bullets, and soon exploded one in mid-air, and damaged the other.
The Japanese fighter plane that was lucky enough to escape with black smoke hastily pulled up and flew away, and the other Japanese fighter plane in the high altitude was so frightened that it hurriedly dropped its bombs and flew away.
On the ground, Li Biao, the company commander of the anti-aircraft artillery company of the Saibei Military Region, sighed repeatedly as he watched the fleeing Japanese.
It was not easy to set up an ambush to trick the Japanese this time, but he did not expect to only get one victory.
But regret is regret, Li Biao still ordered the troops to directly start transferring positions.
After all, the Japanese were not vegetarians either.
The position exposed this time was also under the cover of Japanese artillery fire.
The Japanese had no experience to judge the specific artillery position of our army before, so they called the air force to bomb it.
The two escaping Japanese warplanes should pass the location information to the Japanese headquarters this time.
Sure enough, less than ten minutes after the transfer, the first batch of shells landed where the anti-aircraft artillery company was staying.
However, at this time, the anti-aircraft artillery company had already flown away.
The G20 anti-aircraft gun is mobile, and like the S41 mountain gun, it uses wheels and can be moved by a horse.
Like other artillery units, the anti-aircraft artillery company is also equipped with horses for the entire company.
When fighting, the ammunition is carried on horses, and the position can be transferred at any time.
These pre-set positions all have mountain roads that can be used by large vehicles, so the transfer is very fast.
Ten minutes is enough for the anti-aircraft artillery company to run a kilometer away.
After the first round of artillery fire, the Japanese not only did not gain any advantage, but also lost an artillery battalion and two warplanes that went to bomb the Jiuyuan artillery position.
Although Shichida Ichiro hid more than ten kilometers away from the front line, avoiding the killing range of the 107 rockets, he soon received information from the front line.
Furious, Shichida Ichiro drew his sword and hacked off a corner of the command post table, but that didn't solve anything.
Shichida Ichiro finally realized how difficult his opponent was.
Although he still didn't know what kind of artillery his opponent had, he was sure of one thing: their artillery had very strong mobility, and now they also had anti-aircraft firepower.
This shattered Shichida Ichiro's attempt at an integrated air-ground offensive. Now, for Shichida Ichiro, only one path remained.
To bring up the tank regiment, his trump card, and launch a devastating attack on the enemy's position!
Soon, the Japanese devils' tank regiment rumbled to the front line. Seeing that the enemy didn't even have anti-tank trenches, Colonel Fukuda Mineo, driving a Type 97 tank, sneered and shouted coldly into the tank's public channel:
“Totsugeki! (Charge!)”
The problems that the infantry and artillery fools couldn't solve will now be ended by our tank regiment!
More than 50 Japanese tanks formed eight staggered rows and launched an attack across the battlefield of several hundred meters.
Behind them, an entire battalion of Japanese infantry followed the charge!
Watching the Japanese devils charge over,
the soldiers of the Saibei Military Region on the position stood as firm as rocks.
In the first and second trenches were the elite veteran soldiers of the 717th Regiment of the Border Region's 359th Brigade.
Although none of them had ever seen such a large-scale Japanese tank charge, they had long received anti-tank training, so they were not flustered at all.
Especially after discovering that the Japanese artillery fire had been silenced after only a short round, these veteran soldiers lying in the anti-artillery洞(dong) returned to their battle positions as soon as the shelling stopped.
Seeing the Japanese tanks enter the marked line position of about 500 meters, the RPG rocket launchers in the trenches aimed at the Japanese tanks and began a volley!
Excluding one person who missed due to shaky hands, all the other eight RPGs hit their targets. Even though they were only using ordinary armor-piercing rounds, the RPGs with an armor-piercing depth of over 200 mm were not something that the Japanese devils' third-rate tanks with thin skin and large fillings could resist.
Leading the charge was the Japanese Type 97 medium tank. The Japanese were accustomed to using this tank to break through the defense line, followed by the Type 95 light tanks to carry out machine-gun strafing, opening a passage for the subsequent infantry.
This tactic had been tried and tested on the China battlefield and was almost always successful, deeply ingrained in Colonel Fukuda Mineo's bones.
However, this time, the first to explode was the Type 97 tank driven by Fukuda Mineo, who was at the forefront!
An armor-piercing round pierced the front of Fukuda Mineo's tank and exploded directly inside, instantly blowing the Japanese colonel to pieces!
As expected, the Japanese tanks are all trash!
An RPG rocket launcher soldier who had received Ren Zhong's training spat and cursed, "Damn Japanese devils, I'll let you be arrogant!"
Next to him, his partner squatted nervously, reloading for him.
The Japanese tank soldiers, with their brains overstimulated, did not give up even after the first row of tanks was destroyed. Instead, they increased their horsepower and charged towards the trenches even faster!
In the distance, the Japanese front-line support Type 92 infantry guns and Type 41 mountain guns also began shelling.
This caused some trouble for our army's front line, but these were nothing.
The RPG rocket launcher soldiers in the second trench launched a new wave of attacks, blowing up the Japanese tanks that rushed to the front again!
Before the Japanese devils could recover, the RPG rocket launcher gunners in the first trench, who had scored a hit, reloaded their rounds and aimed at the Japanese tanks more calmly, starting the second wave of fire!
This time, no one missed, and they wiped out all the Japanese third-row tanks in one fell swoop!
Immediately afterward, the machine guns on the position and the G20 autocannons prepared for air defense were all leveled and began to fire together. Streams of fire continuously pounced on the Japanese devils behind the tanks, sending these Japanese devils with overstimulated brains back to their hometowns.
At the same time, the company-affiliated mortar teams also began to counterattack the Japanese infantry guns, and the regimental 107 rockets were also searching for the Japanese mountain gun positions to fire back. The battlefield was suddenly filled with smoke and entered a white-hot stage.
However, this was not the result that Shichida Ichiro wanted. Hearing that the tank regiment on the front line had lost more than half of its numbers, this Japanese devil almost vomited blood!
But what was even worse than he imagined was that the 107 rocket artillery corps, which had moved its position, found its position again and launched another round of saturation strikes against the charging Japanese devils and the subsequent Japanese artillery positions!
An infantry battalion charging at the front was instantly almost unable to stand in the shelling, and the fearless tank regiment was completely wiped out by the RPG rocket launchers before it could charge within 200 meters of the trenches.
As for the Type 95s behind them, they were blown up one after another by the anti-aircraft autocannons!
The 20mm anti-aircraft guns, when leveled, were truly a disaster for the Japanese devils' thin-skinned bean tanks! In less than ten minutes, the entire Japanese tank regiment was completely sent away!
Not only that, but an infantry battalion following behind it, as well as an infantry regiment further behind, were almost completely annihilated in the new round of 107 rocket artillery barrage!
Third update