Not only did Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi not expect that the lethality of this kind of artillery would not be weakened at all seven hundred meters away, but he also did not expect that the rate of fire of this kind of artillery would be so fast. In just three minutes, Within a few seconds, more than thirty rounds of artillery shells fell within the group of tanks.
Although most of the artillery shells missed, the few that hit still caused considerable losses to his Third Tank Regiment, and all types of tanks in his Third Tank Regiment would be damaged as long as they were hit by one. None of them escaped. What made him even more distressed was that the latest model of his third tank regiment, the Type 97 tank equipped with the most powerful 47mm tank gun in the Japanese army, also One was destroyed.
This kind of tank is the latest tank of the Japanese army. It has just been developed and produced. There are not many tanks in the entire Kwantung Army. At present, the tanks equipped by the entire Kwantung Army, except for the Type 95 medium tank and the Type 95 light tank, are mostly Some medium tanks are still equipped with the relatively low-power 57mm short-barreled howitzer Type 97 tanks.
Although the armor thickness and other performance of this 97-modified tank have not changed much, its power has been greatly increased because of the new artillery. And this latest tank of the Japanese army ranks third among all tanks. There are only four vehicles in the regiment, so he lost one all of a sudden this time. He won't feel bad at all.
After being beaten, he did not get angry like ordinary Japanese officers and had to find the place. Instead, he took his tank regiment and simply withdrew to two kilometers away from the defending position. At an absolutely safe distance, as for the original artillery support, it was simply stopped.
After evacuating to a safe area, he remembered that he should ask the Chief of Staff who was still standing on the high hill when he was bombarded if he was still alive at this time. After learning that the Chief of Staff had already After being shattered like the attacking troops before him, although the lieutenant colonel felt that it was a little difficult to deal with after returning, in fact, instead of feeling too sad, he actually felt a little relieved. At least no one was forcing him to attack and there was a large number of counterattacks. Tank and artillery positions.
As early as the first time that he used the excuse that the defenders had large-caliber anti-tank guns during the Linxi Airport battle to refuse Colonel Matsuda Iwa's use of tanks to coordinate the infantry attack, the colonel swore to himself that the defenders in front of him would There were only a few small-caliber mortars. If they had any, they would not sit back and watch the infantry fight without firing a single shot.
But what is the real result? The opponent not only has a large number of small-caliber direct-aimed artillery, but also really has anti-tank artillery. Not only does it have anti-tank artillery, but it also has anti-tank artillery. In the battle of Linxi Airport, the opponent also had anti-tank artillery. A large-caliber anti-tank gun that caused considerable losses.
If we say that during the peripheral battle of Linxi Airport, Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi, who was not on the battlefield at that time, only listened to the report from his subordinates regarding the large-caliber anti-tank guns equipped by the Anti-Japanese Alliance, but this time Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi, for The power of this kind of artillery can be seen with your own eyes.
The range and power of its artillery, especially the extremely fast rate of fire, opened Ikoma Lin's eyes. He did not believe that this was an ordinary field artillery. In his opinion, it could only be a specially developed large-caliber anti-tank artillery. Although I participated in the Battle of Nomonhan, but the large number of 45mm anti-tank artillery equipped by the Soviet army at that time was more than enough to face the thinner Japanese tanks.
Although there were a lot of various 76mm field guns equipped by the Soviet army at that time, most of them were also equipped with armor-piercing projectiles. Especially the F-10 field gun, which was the main field gun of the Soviet army at that time, its anti-tank power was still far away. This type of regiment belongs to the M1927 field gun, but this function of the Soviet field gun was basically not used because it had a sufficient number of anti-tank guns.
In addition, the M1927 field gun was not equipped by the Soviet Army in the Far East at that time. Although this lightweight field gun was not a new equipment in the Soviet army, it was also given priority to equip its European garrisons. For the Soviet Army in the Far East, the main regimental artillery equipment was mortars.
This kind of field artillery has never been used on the Nomonhan battlefield. It was brought over when the Soviet army in the Far East was re-equipped after the war. Therefore, among this kind of Soviet army, the typical regimental artillery is the Japanese tank soldier. The lieutenant colonel didn't know it, so he stubbornly believed that any field artillery or mountain artillery was not so low. The one with such power must be a large-caliber anti-tank artillery.
In Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi's opinion, thanks to him insisting on his own opinion and not obeying the orders of Chief of Staff Matsuda Iwa, if he had listened to him at that time, I am afraid that his 3rd Tank Regiment would still have half of its strength now. Now that Colonel Matsuda Iwa is back in the arms of Amaterasu, and no one is forcing him to send out tanks to charge, he still feels lucky.
Fortunately, I'm glad, but as the highest-ranking officer in the entire Twelve-Tube Front, Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi still has to do some things. Since Colonel Matsuda Iwa has been killed in battle, as the highest-ranking military officer in the entire Twelve-Turn Front, The highest officer, Ikoma Hayashi Nakazu took over the command without hesitation.
Originally it was his turn as a chariot officer to command the infantry to charge, but unfortunately, two lieutenants and three majors were killed along with Colonel Matsuda Iwa. It can be said that the entire twelve All Japanese officers on the front line, except for the most complete third tank regiment, all mid-level officers were killed.
Among the remaining officers, the highest rank is only an infantry captain, so Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi did not show the slightest courtesy and directly took over the command from that captain. He might as well have snatched it from him. It seems that you cannot let an infantry captain who has no understanding of tank tactics command your third tank regiment.
And for him, since the current main assault force of the Twelve Tut front line has been changed from infantry to his own third tank regiment, it is natural for him to take over the command. The most important thing is that he does not want to use the remaining Those few infantrymen continue to be wasted in vain.
Because he knows that his infantry will throw all the infantry into the melee that is still taking place in front of the garrison position. Whether it is a tank battle or a tank attack on the defensive position, it requires the coordination of the infantry. The enemy has a small caliber that can shoot directly. There are too many artillery pieces, and without the cooperation of infantry to clear out the enemy's small-caliber artillery, their third tank regiment is still very dangerous.
What Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi did was a bit unreasonable. He was not an officer of the 23rd Division at all. This command was taken with some reluctance. However, the Japanese army has always been known for its strong obedience. In addition, where is his military rank? , so no one dares to make any sense.
After taking the command unceremoniously, the first thing Ikoma Lin did was to withdraw the last squadron in front. As for the remnants of the two squadrons that had been mixed with the defenders, he simply ignored them. Although the two squadrons are still struggling to their death, let alone being unable to withdraw, even if they try their best to withdraw, only a few people are left.
Although he has taken over the command, it does not mean that he will make the same mistake as Colonel Matsuda Iwa who just went to Xitian. He will not go back to that conspicuous high hill that is destined to become a living target even if he is killed. Fortunately, as an armored soldier, the most important thing he lacks is something that allows him to observe the battle situation from a high place.
In order to better observe the surrounding battle situation, Ikoma Lin asked his subordinates to drive over one of the only two Japanese tanks in his regiment. He stood on the turret and raised his telescope to spit out a line at Twelve Looking at it, of course, his current position is 1,500 meters away from the high hill and the front line, and he has retreated another 200 meters.
Looking at the remnants of the two squadrons that were no longer able to be withdrawn, Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi frowned. After a moment of hesitation, he turned his head and said to his subordinates: "Concentrate all Type 97 tanks and concentrate their firepower on Ten." The two armies in the melee on the 2nd Tutu and the front line are engaged in covering fire. Remember, all grenades are used. In addition, the rear artillery is notified to fire a volley in the direction of the 12th Tutu."
Hearing the words of Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi, the staff officer who conveyed the order was startled: "Your Excellency, Wing Commander, there are still our people fighting over there. If you fire a volley and cover fire, you can destroy the enemy." The defenders, but aren’t all our people going to die too?”
"Your Majesty Lieutenant Colonel, although we are now assigned to fight with the 23rd Division, we are not members of the 23rd Division after all. If we do this, how will we explain it to Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji when we go back? Doing this will certainly give the enemy a It will cause heavy casualties, but the entire 23rd Division will probably hate us to the core, which is not a good thing for us."
Putting down the telescope in his hand, Lieutenant Colonel Ikoma Hayashi shook his head and said: "The two squadrons in front now have very few people left, and they are too entangled with the defenders. Since we can't fight, we can't retreat." , then it is better to let them be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor and add some winning factors to our victory."
"As for the 23rd Division's hatred of us, if we lose this battle, I'm afraid there will never be another 23rd Division in the future, so we don't have to care too much about the 23rd Division, and Do you think Colonel Matsuda Iwa is not prepared to do this?"
"If he hadn't had this idea, he wouldn't have risked the defender's artillery counterattack by moving the twelve artillery positions so close. There was no need to take such a big risk. Now that Colonel Matsuda Iwa has ascended to heaven and is committed to In the arms of Amaterasu, although we cannot directly cooperate with the infantry to break through the enemy's front-line positions, we can still help him fulfill Colonel Matsuda Iwa's last wish of annihilating the twelve front-line defenders."
"Go ahead. If you don't clean up the defenders' infantry, I won't be too relieved when fighting enemy tanks. I will leave behind a group of enemy tanks equipped with small-caliber direct-aiming artillery. In addition, I will order each tank squadron to fight against enemy tanks." When the enemy's front-line positions are covered by firepower, they change into combat formations and be ready for battle at all times."
"Each vehicle is only allowed to fire twelve rounds of grenades when implementing fire coverage. Keep as much ammunition as possible, especially armor-piercing rounds, for me. Anyone who fires an armor-piercing round will commit hara-kiri to His Majesty the Emperor. I apologize, because I feel that their tank troops should not be far from us now, and I can even conclude that they may appear on the battlefield at any time now."
"Now for us, in addition to being prepared to meet the enemy tank troops at any time, the most important thing is to withdraw the still intact infantry squadron. Without the cover of the infantry, we can rely solely on our tank wing It is very difficult to deal with the Chinese armed forces supported by infantry."
"In addition, you send a report to Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji, saying that the reserve team of the Anti-Japanese Alliance has appeared in the direction of Twelve Tu. If he still wants to implement his plan, then it is best to start taking action now, otherwise, I I can’t guarantee whether he will have a chance to implement it if it continues to be delayed.”