Chapter 1448: Every inch of mountains and rivers, every inch of blood

The fighter bombing ended at five o'clock in the morning.

At seven o'clock in the morning, shortly after dawn, the ground was still blurry and gray everywhere. The 203mm fortress artillery group on the north shore of Hangzhou Bay, which had been silent for four hours, once again aimed at the Jinhui River line and launched a fierce bombardment.

When one huge artillery shell fell, half of the six-meter-wide anti-tank trench collapsed. After four or five rounds, the trench was basically flattened.

Most of the landmines laid by the Japanese army were old-fashioned trigger mines, which would automatically detonate when exposed to the slightest external force. This round of carpet-like bombardment not only blew up all kinds of barbed wire fences, but also the minefields carefully laid out by the Japanese army.

Almost all was lost.

The Japanese fortress group, which was about five hundred meters away from anti-tank trenches, barbed wire fences, and minefields, also withstood severe tests.

Of course, the 203-caliber cannon armor-piercing bullet cannot tear open the top cover of the two-meter-five-meter-thick reinforced concrete fortress, but no matter how thick the skin is, it cannot withstand repeated bombardments!

At first, the Japanese who were hiding in the fortress looked calm and relaxed. Feeling the thick top of the fortress, they were hit by artillery shells. The inside of the fortress was shaking violently and dust was flying, but they were safe and sound. From time to time they said:

The few jokes that poke fun at the Chinese cannonballs are only suitable to tickle people.

However, the little devils soon stopped laughing. The Chinese fortress artillery, as if it was free of charge, continued to spit out 203mm-caliber armor-piercing cannon shells at a rate of one round every two minutes.

The ground bombarded each fortress, one round, two rounds, three rounds...

Finally, the thick turtle shell was completely penetrated after being "explored" by more than ten or even twenty rounds of artillery shells, and the large group of Japs hiding in the fortress were all blown to pieces.

How could the Japanese bully others when they die with their eyes open? When we fight, we just randomly fire a few artillery shells for our own purposes. Such a large-caliber artillery shell costs several hundred yen each. It is such a waste and it is completely prodigal.

Behavior!

However, the commander-in-chief they faced today was An Yi. In order to ensure that the troops were not threatened by Japanese firepower when crossing the river and reduce the casualties of the soldiers, An Yi made up his mind: No matter how high the cost, the Japanese army must be put first.

Knock down all the fortresses in the forward positions before proceeding.

This bombardment lasted until noon, and almost all the fortress groups within 15 kilometers of the east bank of the Jinhui River were completely destroyed. In half a day, nearly 20,000 rounds of 203mm cannon armor-piercing shells were fired at a cost of up to 3 million US dollars.

In the underground enemy headquarters, all the generals, including Ye Cheng and Xia Jian, were frightened and secretly distressed.

An Yi was unmoved. He completely regarded this attack on the strategic Pudong area held by the Japanese army as a comprehensive assessment to test the actual combat capabilities of all Anjiajun troops. Compared with the huge sacrifice of personnel, such a waste was still worth it.

of.

Since the Japanese heavy cannon unit never showed up, at 12:30 noon, the survey ship of the Zhouqiao Army sailed down the Huangpu River and quickly entered the Jinhui River, measuring the speed, depth and width of the river at six locations.

Immediately afterwards, engineers who arrived in advance on 48 steamboats quickly erected fixed steel bars and steel cables along the river section designated by the survey ship.

At the same time, the First and Second Brigades of the Engineer Division quickly dispatched, and two hundred heavy-duty trucks carrying pontoon bridge equipment rushed towards the Jinhui River.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the convoy was divided into six groups and arrived at the Jinhui River. Based on the measurement results, the bridge construction work was started in batches.

Specially made six-ton ​​heavy-duty trucks retreated to the river. As the cables were loosened, the prefabricated pontoon bridge fasteners quickly fell into the water. Under the drag of the vehicle-mounted cables, the fasteners composed of four sections of pontoon equipment automatically

It stretched out and floated on the water. The scene of dozens of cars pouring prefabricated firmware into the river at the same time was a spectacular sight.

The pontoon bridge equipment was composed of a sealed steel box and had huge buoyancy. It naturally floated downstream along the river. However, the steamboat that had been waiting for a long time firmly resisted the equipment. A class of engineers quickly rushed to the equipment and untied it.

Connecting the cables of the heavy trucks, four soldiers stood on the bow and downstream of the current, holding long poles to adjust the course of the bridge equipment. At the same time, other engineers, wearing thick gloves, walked along the river

The steel cable that had just been erected 1.5 meters above the ground was used as a focal point to pull the boat bridge equipment hard and drive towards the other side of the river.

After the equipment arrived on the other side of the river, the engineers on the shore immediately fixed the equipment to the land with steel cables and laid the lower bridge components. At this time, the second boat bridge equipment quickly came up, using the concave and convex parts between the equipment, the two equipment

They were perfectly connected together, and were quickly locked up with chains by the engineers who were waiting for them. At the same time, a steel plate with a lock was placed at the connection point between the two ships. Of course, this alone cannot guarantee that the equipment of the two ships will not be disconnected.

To consolidate it, the engineers wore buoyant inflatable vests, quickly jumped into the river, and used prefabricated materials to firmly fix the two pontoon equipment.

A piece of equipment, fully extended, with a length and width of four meters and a river surface of 100 meters, used twenty-five pieces of equipment to perfectly connect the two banks, and the entire process took less than an hour.

As six steel pontoon bridges appeared out of thin air on the Jinhui River, the officers and soldiers of the six regiments of the 87th Brigade and the 88th Brigade of the 30th Division of the 26th Army were divided into six groups, quickly crossed the Jinhui River, and attacked the Japanese troops in Pudong.

position.

Along the way, the troops advanced unimpeded. The army on the north route fought all the way to Xiasha Town, the army on the middle route fought on Xuanqiao Town, and the army on the south route fought on Fengcheng Town before encountering resistance from the Japanese army.

Although most of the permanent fortifications of the Japanese army have been destroyed by our long-range artillery fire, there are still many fish that have slipped through the net. After all, the farther the artillery fire covers, the more accuracy becomes a problem. Some places will inevitably receive a few more shots, and some places will receive less.

Take a few shots, such as the Japanese troops currently facing the 264th Regiment of the 88th Brigade in the front-line position of Fengcheng Town.

The Japanese army's five large fortress groups in a line used the shooting holes of their carefully constructed fortresses to continuously fire at the 264th Regiment with machine guns and cannons hidden in the fortresses.

The rocket launchers used in combat were somewhat powerless against the Japanese fortress.

This was mainly because the Japanese army's fortress walls were too thick, and the rocket launcher's range of more than 300 meters was not as good as that of its opponents, which caused considerable casualties to the troops. After receiving the urgent report from the front line, An Yi immediately instructed Ye Cheng and the New Second Army

The Zhang Cunpu Tank Regiment of the 103rd Division was dispatched urgently to provide the strongest support to the front line.

The First Tank Regiment commanded by Zhang Cunpu was divided into six groups and quickly crossed the Jinhui River.

As the tanks and armored vehicles crossed the river one after another, the officers and soldiers of the engineering unit hid on both sides of the equipment, paying careful attention to the joints of the equipment, ready to respond to various possible dangers. Fortunately, from beginning to end, the pontoon bridge looked like a perfect

Overall, no issues whatsoever.

The troops composed of tanks and armored vehicles marched straight in. One of the battalions soon arrived about a kilometer in front of the Fengcheng town position. The officers and soldiers of the 264th Regiment gave out loud cheers, obviously full of confidence in the arrival of friendly mechanized troops.

.

The first battalion has two tank companies, one machine-rifle company and one machine gun company. Each tank company has ten tanks. Major An Yixian of the first battalion ordered all units to stop. The first company first sent two tanks to test the Japanese artillery fire.

strength.

Although the thickness of the front armor and side armor of the J1 tank reaches 43.8 mm, and the Sanqi anti-aircraft artillery does not hinder it at all, there is no guarantee that the Japanese army is equipped with heavy firepower such as the German 88 series anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft guns with a caliber exceeding 70 mm.

It is enough to tear the armor of the J1 tank. If it encounters a cannon with a caliber of 50mm or above equipped with armor-piercing projectiles, the J1 tank will also be in trouble.

In order to avoid unnecessary losses, it is still necessary to test the firepower of the Japanese army.

After the two tanks continuously climbed over several anti-tank trenches that had been flattened by heavy artillery, they could already see the Japanese fortress about 400 meters away. From this distance, the 50mm kwk39 l/60 smoothbore gun was used to shoot directly, and the effect was excellent, so they chose to stop.

He planned to rely on his own firepower to aim at the shooting holes of the Japanese army's fortress and conduct precise bursts of fire to break through the weakest link of the Japanese army and attack the opponent.

But before the two tanks could show off, the Japanese artillery had already launched an attack. A 75mm caliber grenade accurately hit the tank on the right. Shrapnel flew everywhere, which made the battalion behind them observe with binoculars.

Major Chang'an Yixian was worried for a while.

The tank on the left didn't know what happened to its comrades. In anger, it opened fire directly. The shells flew out smoothly and directly hit the muzzle of the fortress that was spitting out tongues of flame. A burst of thick smoke rose up and it suddenly became silent.

At this time, the tank on the left passed through the lookout and observed the situation of his comrades. He saw that the tank on the right was unscathed after being hit by a 75mm grenade fired directly by the Japanese. After a slight adjustment, it opened fire.

The shell hit a firing hole again, and there was a burst of fire and a violent explosion. It seemed that the blind cat encountered the dead mouse and detonated the ammunition stored by the Japanese in the fortress.

After discovering that the Japanese artillery fire posed no threat to them, the two tanks immediately put into gear and roared forward.

About one platoon of infantry from the 264th Regiment followed closely behind the tanks, paying attention to the coordination of infantry and tanks to prevent suicide attacks by the Japanese infantry.

Two J1 tanks fought against the fortifications composed of five bunkers, more than ten cannons from both sides, and the two general-purpose machine guns of the tanks, all trying to suppress the opponent. This made the Anjia Army infantry who covered the tanks' advance feel extremely uncomfortable.

: The Japanese army's small and medium-caliber howitzers basically pose no threat to J1 tanks. Moreover, howitzers are different from cannons and are not suitable for direct fire. It is difficult for one of ten shells to hit. Even if you get a lucky hit, you can still be considered a person of great character.

It broke out, but unfortunately it did not cause much damage to the tank. On the contrary, the infantry hiding behind the tank was covered by a hail of artillery shells, causing considerable damage.

However, it was not just the infantry soldiers of the Anjia Army who complained, but also the Japanese in the fortress group.

The Japanese suddenly discovered that their equipped Type 92 direct-fire infantry cannon, Meiji Type 94 75mm mountain cannon, Meiji 38-year-old 105mm field gun, Type 94 37mm rapid-fire cannon, and Taisho 11-year-old 37mm flat-firing infantry sniper cannon were simply unable to deal with the Anjiajun.

I was confused about the new type of tank and didn’t know what to do.

Upon seeing this, An Yi immediately ordered the remaining eight tanks of the tank company to join the attack. At the same time, through the walkie-talkie, he requested the 264th Regiment to send infantry for coordinated operations.

The eight tanks quickly caught up with the two tanks in front, and together they joined in suppressing the firepower of the Japanese fortress.

However, after more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, the weaknesses of this J1 tank were fully exposed - although the thick armor was not afraid of Japanese artillery bombardment, the armor-piercing projectiles fired by the 50mm kwk39 l/60 smoothbore cannon could not penetrate the Japanese thick armor.

A two-meter reinforced concrete protective wall.

Among the five Japanese fortress groups, the middle one is the largest and is divided into upper and lower floors. There are eight shooting holes arranged in total. Two of the shooting holes were directly hit and it was pitch black. However, there are still six shooting holes that are constantly spraying out.

Spit out tongues of fire to suppress the Anjiajun infantry following.

The thick wall had withstood the bombardment of countless artillery shells. Apart from leaving large holes on the outside of the fortress, it did not penetrate the Japanese defense.

In desperation, all the J1 tanks stared at the firing holes of the Japanese fortress and bombarded them. Although it took several rounds to hit one, it was still much more effective than hitting the walls of the fortress.

The tank crews of the Anjia Army had already made up their minds. The purpose of this battle was to cover the friendly infantry to rush forward and let the infantry deal with the Japanese in the fortress.

However, everyone underestimated the difficulties encountered by the Japanese army.

The fighter plane bombing that lasted all night, as well as the artillery fire coverage all morning, coupled with the artillery fire from the tanks in front, were not without any effect.

Originally guarding this group of bunkers were two squadrons of Japanese troops. After continuous saturation shelling and aerial bombing, the open-air semi-permanent fortifications outside the fortress were basically cleared. Even the Japanese hiding in the fortress were attacked from all directions.

The terrible shrapnel shooting everywhere killed a lot of people, and now under the suppression of the continuous and dense artillery fire of the tanks and general-purpose machine guns, it was impossible to break out, not to mention the already weakened nerves of the Japanese soldiers who were still suffering from constant shooting holes.

The heavy frustration caused by being hit by artillery shells and suffering numerous casualties.

Although the two-meter-thick reinforced concrete barrier can effectively block the armor-piercing projectiles fired by the 50mm kwk39 l/60 smoothbore cannon, it cannot stop the torrent of steel rolling in from the tanks. The Japanese in the fortress watched the tanks one after another.

He easily crossed what was originally an anti-tank trench and rushed towards him.

A tank rushed to a distance of about fifty meters from the central bunker. The gunner once again stuffed an armor-piercing high-explosive round into the chamber. The gun barrel was directly aimed at the opponent's cannon launch port. Through the gun sight, the gunner even

You can clearly see the Japanese artillerymen inside the fortress who are sweating profusely and loading ammunition.

"boom--"

The tank body suddenly shook, and the muzzle of the Japanese fortress was filled with smoke, with faint flames coming out of the middle. It turned out that the shells passed directly through the narrow space of less than half a meter in diameter at the muzzle, shot into the interior of the fortress, and exploded suddenly.

As we drove forward, we heard screams from the Japanese troops one after another. It was estimated that there were heavy casualties.

At this time, the infantry behind had already approached the fortress. The doom of the Japanese army had finally come. The bold and careful rocket launcher aimed at the shooting hole of the Japanese fortress at close range and accurately fired one rocket after another into the interior of the fortress.

Explosions were heard one after another. The soldiers responsible for the demolition mission rushed to the rear of the Japanese fortress and used high-explosive packages and cluster grenades to send the Japanese inside to meet their Amaterasu.

After an hour of arduous fighting and at the cost of 85 dead soldiers, the 264th Regiment and the 1st Tank Company finally succeeded in taking over this fortress area. The number of Japanese killed in battle far exceeded imagination.

Due to the continuous shelling and bombing, the Japanese troops in many fortresses were blown to pieces. The specific number cannot be counted, but the number of people who can only be pieced together in human form is as high as 1,226. In addition, there are blood and minced meat.
Chapter completed!