At this time, Cui Kov and Domen Jiro, who were commanding the Japanese Red Army armored cluster, were not aware that someone was already trying to beat the precious tanks under their command. They were cursing these t28 tanks with unreliable mass.

"Damn it, assassinators have appeared in the GC International factory! Comrade Yuefei should be asked to send someone to investigate and arrest the damn assassinators and shoot them all!" Cui Kefu was standing next to a T28 tank that had thrown an anchor and cursed. Domen Erro did not dare to spread the fire on the head of the GC International factory of the Soviet godfather, and was jumping and scolding several Japanese mechanics who were sweating profusely.

In fact, these t28 tanks are not really a trend of Japanese mechanics. It is really that this t28 tank is a product of design failure. Weak armor, low-power 76.2mm infantry cannon, poor balanced suspension system, and extremely unreliable m5 aviation water-cooled gasoline engine have all made this powerful tank a complete rack. However, the t28 has not yet encountered a real opponent on the battlefield, so the problems in firepower and armor have not been exposed, but the quality of the m5 engine has caused a headache for the Japanese Red Army who use it.

"Hisser Commander, the engine of this tank is seriously worn and has been scrapped. It needs to be replaced with a new engine."

A sad-faced Japanese Red Army officer pointed to the open tank back cover and reported: "The service life of the m5 engine is very short, usually only a few dozen hours..."

"Then let's change it quickly!" Tamen Jiro was angry. After hearing the report, he immediately shouted: "Push this tank to the side of the road, don't affect the marching of the large army!"

"Hayi!" The little officer breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and arranged for the tank repair vehicle to drag the t28 that had been thrown away.

Tamen Erro turned around and smiled bitterly to Cui Kefu, "Comrade Consultant, there are only less than 60 t28s that can be activated now. It is estimated that 40 of them will be able to reach Tongchuan. Fortunately, there are more than 50 t26 tanks that can be activated, and most of the t18s can be used."

Cui Kefu raised his wrist and looked at his watch. It was almost 7 o'clock in the evening. The 70,000 army commanded by him and Erro Domen had not completely passed through the old country. Such a marching speed was not much faster than that of infantry. The reason for this was that in addition to the frequent breakdown of T28 tanks, the coastal road was too narrow. As long as a t28 broke down, the entire army had to stop advancing.

"This won't work," Cui Kefu shook his head and said, "Comrade Duomen, please push all the t28 to the side of the road."

Tamen Erro was stunned and asked, "Don't you need t28 anymore? Will there be any problem in opening up the Sichuan River?"

"No. The most important thing now is speed." Cui Kov didn't seem to take Tongchuan's Korean army seriously at all. The Japanese mecha army had 70,000 people. Even without a tank, the infantry and cannon could defeat Tongchuan City, which had only a small number of Korean troops defended. After the tank repair car dragged away the t28 that had been thrown away in front of him, he and Jiro Tamen returned to his armored command vehicle. After a while, the convoy, which was connected to the head and tail, ran forward again.

...

"Tank! It's our Korean tank! Long live! Long live..."

When 60 A-type tanks painted with Tai Chi patterns drove into Tongchuan City, every North Korean military officer and soldier I encountered along the way couldn't help but cheer. Although this tank weighs only 10.5 tons, it was only equipped with a 37mm cannon and a 6.5mm machine gun, but it was already a giant steel beast for the North Korean cannon fodder soldiers who had never seen any tanks. Seeing so many "titanium monsters" coming to help, the morale that was about to collapse was bulging again.

"Report, the Japanese vanguard has appeared near the outer positions of Tongchuan!" Although a division commander named Li, who was defending Tongchuan, who was a South Korean advancing army, was rank of major general, he still regarded himself as a subordinate in front of Jiang Xianyun, the Chinese colonel. He saluted him respectfully and reported the situation of Tongchuan carefully.

The defeated soldiers who retreated from the old city had arrived in Tongchuan one after another in the afternoon, with about 1,200 people. The news that the Japanese armored troops were heading north through the old city was brought by them. However, now the one that appeared outside Tongchuan was a Japanese cavalry unit, probably the vanguard of the Japanese armored troops.

As for Tongchuan's city defense, it is still quite solid. This small city is located in a relatively open valley. The coastal highway on the east coast of Korea passes through the small city. The South Korean army arranged defense lines at the intersection in the south of Tongchuan City. A regiment was placed on each hilltop on both sides of the highway. There was a regiment in Tongchuan City, and another artillery battalion was also placed in the city. It was equipped with 6 Chinese-made 105mm howitzers and 12 75mm mountain guns, but it was not equipped with anti-tank guns, and only a small number of Type 27 anti-tank guns. In addition, anti-tank mines were buried on the highway. There was an anti-tank trench in the south of Tongchuan City, which was more than five meters wide and more than three meters deep. Some anti-tank fire points and anti-cannon fortifications were built behind the trench. Although it looked quite solid, it still had to be a big question whether it could withstand the test of Japanese artillery fire.

In addition, this afternoon, Tongchuan City was bombarded by Japanese naval guns. However, due to the distance and lack of accurate calibration, no losses were caused. Only a large-caliber shell landed in the west of Tongchuan City, blew up a large broken wall and killed more than a dozen people.

"Deploy all 12 45mm anti-tank guns to the anti-tank firepower point." After Jiang Xianyun figured out the general situation, he issued an order to a battalion commander of the Anti-tank Rangers. Then he called the captain of the Korean Armored Corps and ordered: "Let's attack first and drive away the Japanese cavalry, so that they know that we have tanks here and will definitely send t28 and t26 tanks to fight us. If the t26 comes, we will knock them off with type A tanks. If we encounter t28, we will lead them to the muzzle of the 45mm anti-tank gun."

There was no suspense in the battle between tanks and cavalry. These Japanese cavalry had been mixed with the First Tank Division for many years, and of course they knew the power of the tanks and resisted a little. After discovering the number of Korean tanks, they left dozens of corpses and fled back to report the news.

"What? Dozens of South Korean tanks were found in Tongchuan?"

When the cavalry report was received, the main force of the Japanese mecha army commanded by Cui Kov and Domen Erro were about 20 kilometers away from Tongchuan, of which the First Tank Division, which was at the forefront of the team, was only about 15 kilometers away from Tongchuan.

"Do you know what type of tank it is?" asked Tamen Jiro.

A breathless cavalry officer replied: "It is a type A tank, at least 20."

"In the intelligence, the South Korean army has an armored corps equipped with Type A tanks assisted by the Chinese." Cui Kov then asked: "In addition to these tanks, how many defenders are there in Tongchuan? How are the defense situation?"

"The South Korean army deployed about two regiments of defenders on the mountains on both sides of the road leading to Tongchuan City, so the rest is unclear."

Cui Kefu nodded. He asked Duomen: "I guess there is a division's strength, so let the First Tank Division, the First ** Tank Regiment and the First Cavalry Group solve them."

"Do you want to call the warships at sea to provide fire support?" Duomen asked.

Cui Kefu said: "No need, we must fight and decide quickly. After conquering Tongchuan, we will advance to Yuanshan as soon as possible."

Although the order stated that a quick battle was necessary, it was not so fast to transform a marching force into an offensive state. In particular, the Japanese armored forces lacked a very important mechanized self-propelled artillery, and the T28 tank equipped with 76.2mm caliber cannons was temporarily "abandoned". Therefore, after arriving at the outskirts of Tongchuan, the First Tank Division and the First Cavalry Group took another two or three hours to set up twelve Soviet-made 122 howitzers, twenty-four Japanese-made 75mm cavalry cannons, and eighteen 120mm heavy mortars.

At 1:30 am on June 9, the Japanese army began to bombard, first carrying out 5-minute emergency shooting at the frontier positions of the South Korean army, then 15-minute constant-speed shooting at Tongchuan City, and finally 10-minute artillery attacks on possible Korean tank assembly sites. After the bombardment was over, the first offensive and defensive battle between tanks and tanks finally began in this time and space!

On the narrow front, only a dozen meters wide, two T26 tanks covered hundreds of Japanese infantry and started the first wave of charge. At the same time, more Japanese infantry rushed to the hillsides on both sides of the highway and began to attack the two regiments of Korean troops entrenched there.

"Hisser Colonel! Come on, the Japanese devils are coming up! There are two T26s in front and infantry behind, and no t28 is found."

Jiang Xianyun, who was hiding in the bunker outside Tongchuan City, heard excited shouts from the radio station, no t28! That's the case? Before he could think too much, he gave an order to a tank company heading in front and said, "Don't be busy firing first, put the enemy closer and attack, let one row attack, and the rest remain unmoved."

The Korean armored soldiers followed China's organization. One platoon had four tanks, one company had four platoons, and two company units, and there were fourteen tanks under the full squad. However, the company deployed by Jiang Xianyun at the front blocked intersection, a tank broke down during the march, and two more were lost in the shelling just now. Now only eleven A-type tanks can be activated, one of which has three or two A-type tanks.

"Clang rumble..."

After a series of metal impacts and explosions, the two Japanese t26s did not even react and were penetrated by 37mm armor-piercing bombs. One of them was directly exploded and turned into a part state. It was estimated that the shells exploded inside the vehicle body and the ammunition of the t26 was exploded.

"Bombing the infantry, don't let the Japanese infantry escape!" Seeing the flames of the explosion of the t26 tank, Jiang Xianyun excitedly grabbed the microphone and issued a loud order. All eleven tanks in a company were aimed at the Japanese soldiers behind the t26 tank with 37mm cannons. A high-explosive bomb hit them and immediately exploded their bodies.

"Fire the gun! Fire! Fire!"

Seeing that his first wave of offensive was easily crushed by his opponent, Yoshida, the commander of the First Tank Division, was furious and quickly ordered the firing.

Fifty-four Japanese cannons and heavy mortars fired again. But what Yoshida and his Soviet military adviser Vrasov did not expect was that as soon as the Japanese artillery bombarded, the Korean artillery counterattacks came. The 105mm and 75mm shells fell down like raindrops. Several 122mm howitzers and artillery soldiers were blown into pieces!

"No, you can't defeat Tongchuan like this, Comrade Yoshida. Let the infantry division come up." Vlasov is worthy of being a long-standing Soviet general. In just the first battle, he knew that it would be difficult to defeat Tongchuan with the Japanese tank division and cavalry group.

"The terrain of Tongchuan is too narrow, and the tank division cannot be spread out, and our infantry is too few. Including the cavalry of the First Cavalry Group, there are only more than 5,000 cavalrymen, and the opponent's Korean infantry division has at least 10,000. It's better to transfer the infantry division to solve the battle."

"Baga! The First Tank Division is a waste, Yoshida Yoshida is a fool! A tank division cannot even defeat a small Tongchuan! What's the use of such a force?"

After receiving a report from Yoshida Yoshida requested "tactical guidance", Tamen Jiro suddenly became furious. No wonder. The tank troops, which were regarded as killer weapons by the Japanese Red Army before the war, did disappoint after the war. First of all, the large T28 tanks broke down, which seriously slowed down the marching speed. The tank troops, which claimed to be mechanized, actually climbed much faster than the infantry. Now even the attack power of the tank troops was also problematic. A tank division and a cavalry division were helpless in front of the defense line of an infantry division. What is the use of such a tank division? It would be better to form a few more infantry divisions! It seems that the Chinese army's practice of dispersing tanks among infantry divisions is not unreasonable.

Cui Koff also looked depressed. The Soviet Red Army's killer weapon, the deep assault tactic, seems to have encountered an opponent now! Obviously, what really blocked the Japanese Red Army mecha army was not Tongchuan's dangerous terrain, but the multi-level defense system of the South Korean army. The real power of the tank cluster does not lie in the combat effectiveness of the tank itself, but in the ability to eliminate the enemy in movement. Especially after breaking through the enemy's defense line, using the tank's maneuverability and assault ability to defeat, divide and surround the panicked enemy. This is the real way for the tank cluster to fight.

But this time, the multi-level defense system of the South Korean army effectively avoided the chaos after the first line of defense was broken. In addition, the infantry division with a small number of tanks can use favorable terrain to curb the impact of the Red Army tank division. That is to say, using the multi-level defense system and then using the armored grenade division with a hunter tank battalion and a self-propelled artillery battalion as the core of defense, China and Germany can completely curb the assault of the Soviet Red Army tank army!

Considering the poor quality of the T28 tank, it seems that the Soviet Red Army did not defeat the strength of a military power like China and Germany in one fell swoop...

Thinking of this, Cui Kefu couldn't help but sigh. Seeing his gloomy face, Erro Domen hurriedly comforted: "Comrade Consultant, don't worry, now the Tank Division is just a small blow, and there is no loss. I want to transfer two regiments from the Second Division to help. I will definitely be able to defeat Tongchuan by the latest tomorrow morning, and such a breakthrough speed is not too slow."

The Japanese army was indeed dissatisfied with the speed of breakthrough. Just as the Japanese mecha army was temporarily frustrated in Tongchuan, the entire 38th line of defense of the Korean army was trembling under the Japanese artillery fire and iron hooves! Hundreds of thousands of fully armed infantry rushed towards the Korean army's positions like floods under the cover of 3,000 cannons.

The sound of cannons, shouts of killing, explosions, gunpowder smoke, firelight, and red flags formed a spectacular battlefield symphony and picture scroll. The gunpowder smoke had not yet dissipated, and the violent Japanese Red Army slapped the Korean military defense line like a tide.

The broken Tai Chi flag was covered with smoke and blood. On the position, the soldiers of the Korean and Japanese armies were fighting with all their might. One side had no way out and sent a final roar for the survival of the nation and the country. The other side held high the banner of liberating mankind, putting a layer of justice on their invasion and expansion.

The sound of artillery outside the city can be clearly heard in Pingshan City where the North Korean army's front enemy command is located. The first line of defense of the North Korean army has been completely broken by the Japanese army, and the troops are retreating step by step. The atmosphere inside the Pingshan command is unprecedentedly tense, and no one dares to speak loudly in the combat room. Li Fanshi and Jin Yuanfeng nervously discussed the people, trying to find a plan to delay the Japanese attack, but after discussing for a long time, they were at a loss. The Japanese offensive was fierce, and the North Korean army was insufficient. It seems that the collapse of the entire 38th Line defense system is only a matter of time!

Peng Dhuai didn't care about the collapse of the North Korean army on the entire 38th line, and his attention was still focused on the Tongchuan Motoyama area on the eastern line.

"General Tieji," Peng Dhuai called Li Fanshi's name. The deputy chief of staff of the Korean army, who graduated from the Central Military Academy and the Army University of China, immediately looked up at Peng Dhuai, who said: "Did you find out that the focus of the Japanese attack was actually the east and west routes. The east route was their mecha army attacking Yuanshan along the coastal highway, and the west route was their infantry, advancing towards Pyongyang along the narrow plain on the west coast. And the entire middle route, the Japanese army's offensive was not fierce. Because there was no passage for the army to quickly go north, the Japanese army's purpose was to make a quick decision."

"That's true!" Li Fanshi nodded. He had already discovered this situation, but he didn't know how to use it.

Peng Dhuai continued: "If the Japanese army on the Eastern Front occupied Yuanshan and the Japanese army on the Western Front were blocked from Pingshan and Shariyuan, would the Japanese army on the Eastern Front be alone to surround the retreat of Pyongyang to the west?" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!