It was just that during the bombing, the main Japanese positions in Zhengxiangbai Banner suffered heavy losses. Their main front-line positions in Zhengxiangbai Banner, as well as 80% of the deep positions, were severely damaged. The two regiments responsible for defense were
One-third of the casualties were suffered during the bombing, and most of the artillery positions were basically destroyed.
However, the 26th Division still used the large number of anti-tank artillery reinforced by the North China Front before the war, as well as the artillery groups in several artillery positions that survived the bombing and artillery attacks, and used the parts of the second-line fortification groups that survived the bombing.
The fortifications still put up tenacious resistance.
Although the resistance of the Japanese army was extremely tenacious, all the anti-tank guns at hand of the Japanese army were almost helpless when faced with the slow-moving but thick-skinned Matilda II tanks. They carried explosive bags and carried out meat bomb assaults.
infantry, but could not break through the cover of the anti-alliance infantry.
In addition, the minefields were almost completely destroyed during the bombing. Facing the anti-tank trenches dug by the Japanese army, sufficient preparations were made before the Anti-Japanese War. The wood carried by the engineer tanks was covered by artillery fire.
Next, passages were quickly built, and even in some key areas, T-26 tanks were directly pushed into the anti-tank trenches to open passages for follow-up troops.
All the fortifications suffered heavy losses during the bombing, and the minefields also lost embers during the bombing. Almost all the anti-tank weapons of the Japanese army were almost helpless against the thick-skinned Matilda II tank.
Tank guns are almost useless against this kind of tank. No matter where they hit, they cannot penetrate this kind of tank.
The frustrated Japanese army even used 38-type field guns equipped with high-explosive grenades to fire at close range. However, because they did not have special armor-piercing ammunition, the Japanese-made high-explosive grenades with a small charge were still unable to defeat this enemy.
Any damage caused to a tank by a 75mm grenade will at most only bring the tank to a slight halt.
Even if they occasionally hit the engine of this tank, the Japanese army was horrified to find that their hits only slowed down the tank, but could not stop them from continuing to move. And their various fortification groups, except for those close to the ground,
Outside the firepower point, they were accurately named one by one with artillery at close range.
The British-made Maltida II tank of the Anti-Japanese Alliance ran rampant on the Japanese army's position, leaving the Japanese army helpless. The only shortcoming was the two-pound tank gun. Its power was really limited. Armor-piercing bullets were not of much use at this time. High
There are not many explosive grenades, and ordinary anti-personnel grenades have limited power.
Although the rate of fire of this small-caliber rapid-fire gun is very fast, it is still too weak to deal with the remaining fortifications of the Japanese army. It can only destroy the firepower points of the Japanese field machine guns. For slightly stronger fortifications, you have to count on the rocket launchers of the accompanying infantry.
As well as the newly installed 82mm recoilless cannon of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, and the 76mm field gun at the back to destroy it.
Facing sixty tanks on the front line to cover the attacks of a large number of infantry in a triangular formation, the southern front line, which was seriously damaged during the bombing and was lined with white flags, was the first defensive position of the 26th Division. Four days after the attack started,
An hour later, the entire front line was broken through. The battle continued until dusk, and the Japanese army's second line of defensive positions also collapsed. This iron woman used her tough skin and thick flesh to maximize her power on the battlefield.
Even Chen Hanzhang, who commanded the offensive group on the Western Front, did not expect that the breakthrough would go so smoothly. In four hours, the Japanese army broke through the heavily defended position. Even with the support of tanks that were as thick as iron lumps, he did not expect it at the beginning. Passed.
However, Chen Hanzhang had not thought about this, but Yang Zhen, the planner of the overall combat plan, had already thought of it. Yang Zhen, who knew the power of carpet bombing very well, why on the Western Front, the most important part of the entire campaign, launched the attack at The last and most important reason, in addition to other reasons, was to make all preparations for this carpet bombing.
Without allowing all the Japanese troops to enter the position to prepare for war, this carpet bombing could achieve such great results. A 150-kilogram high-explosive bomb would be far more capable of destroying Japanese fortified areas without permanent fortifications. It is higher than almost all ordinary artillery shells except for those super abnormal ones, such as the fortress gun modified from the captured Japanese 410mm naval gun currently in the resistance alliance.
However, this kind of carpet-type indiscriminate bombing of improvised positions cannot be carried out at night. In the case of contact between the two armies, the bomber group dropping bombs at an altitude of two thousand meters is likely to accidentally damage his own troops, so Yang The earthquake extended the time for the Western Front Group to launch its offensive by several hours, regardless of the objections of others.
But at least for now, this kind of bombing is somewhat wasteful for fortification groups such as fortification areas, and it is also a huge burden for the Anti-Alliance, but the effect is pretty good. However, the burden of this kind of bombing can be It is not something that Anti-Lian can endure too many times.
During the entire battle, thirty-six strategic bombers were dispatched at one go to carry out blanket bombing of Japanese positions only twice. There was no way, the Anti-Japanese Alliance did not have the strength of the Americans to deal with an artillery position. It can be a carpet bombing. If it is used multiple times, the Anti-Union will go bankrupt.
After this battle, although Chen Hanzhang also knew that this carpet bombing was not very cost-effective, it was the headquarters' investment in order to achieve a breakthrough as soon as possible on the Western Front. More than one hundred tons of bombs were of great significance to the current Anti-Japanese War. It can be said to be quite a burden.
But the huge power of this bombing left him still fresh in his mind decades later. The Japanese positions that were bombed into ruins and the Japanese soldiers who were shocked to death in the fortifications still seemed to be in front of him. He has always been a staunch supporter of China's strategic air force.
Of course, Chen Hanzhang at the moment is more focused on how to make the most of the results of this bombing. After breaking through the first line of defense with a white flag, Chen Hanzhang, who adheres to the principle of taking advantage of your illness to kill you, in the first The last independent tank battalion, which was left in reserve for a while, also immediately went into attack.
Cover the infantry along the channel that the first echelon has opened, and launch an attack on the Japanese army in depth, striving to completely break through the Japanese defense line in Zhengxiangbai Banner in one go, and cut off the ground connection between the 26th Division and the Japanese troops in Guyuan and Zhangbei. , and broke through the Japanese army's deep positions.
However, compared with the relatively smooth progress within the Zhengxiangbai Banner, the attack was launched in the direction of Ulanzhull at the junction of the Zhengxiangbai Banner and the Sunit Right Banner in the north. According to the plan, the Xianghuang Banner was prepared to directly insert the Xianghuang Banner and cut off the Sunit Right Banner from the Zhengxiang Banner. The contact between the Japanese troops and the white flags divided the entire 26th Division into two regiments: the 1st Armored Brigade and the 17th Division. Although they broke through the front-line Japanese defenses.
However, when developing in depth, they were blocked by the Japanese army between the second-line and first-line positions. Although Liu Changshun, who was responsible for commanding this direction, carried out repeated assaults, they were still unable to fight despite the desperate resistance of the Japanese army. After succeeding, the Japanese army fell into a bitter battle between the first and second positions.
The main defense system of the 26th Division of the Japanese Army, in order to connect the Japanese defense lines of Zhenglan Banner and Taipusi Banner to the south, and to cover the Shangdu and Huade lines behind them, was mainly deployed in the territory of Zhengxiangbai Banner, Sunit Within the Right Banner, it is only used as a flank defense line.
In this direction, only Okamura Neiji was later transferred to this direction. An infantry regiment was used as the basis, and two independent infantry brigades just transferred from the mainland were strengthened. Two were made up of British trophies transferred from Southeast Asia. Twenty-five-pound field guns, 3.7-inch mountain guns, and two British 4.5-inch howitzers formed a temporary artillery brigade to provide fire support.
The main task of this detachment is to use the hilly terrain extending southward from the Yinshan Mountains to ensure the flanks of the main defense system of the 26th Division in the Zhengxiangbai Banner, and to monitor possible actions of the Anti-Japanese Alliance that detour to the northern foot of the Yinshan Mountains. Although the strength of this detachment is not large, it is a very important forward guard post to the north of the entire Chadong Japanese defense line.
Moreover, it forms a complete connection with the main defense area of the 26th Division of the Japanese Army in the south. The two defense areas are connected by temporary roads and large minefields. If it is not connected with the main defense area of the 26th Division, Separating the area will cause considerable trouble for subsequent detours.
The attack goal of the 1st Armored Brigade is to use the impact of the tank cluster to quickly break through the junction between the Japanese detachment and the 26th Division, cut off the connection between the two, and then surround the detachment with one force. And the main force penetrated the line of Xianghuang Banner to separate the connection between the Japanese army's first defense system and the depth.
Taking into account the entire defense posture and system of the Japanese army in the Chadong area, as well as the key locations and directions of troop deployment, during the Anti-Union carpet bombing, the Japanese troops in this direction were not the key bombing targets of the Anti-Union bombers. In addition to the cooperation of attack aircraft modified from fighter jets, the offensive of the 1st Armored Brigade mainly relied on ground fire support.
It's just that the Japanese defensive positions in this direction suffered heavy losses under the double attack from the air and the ground. Most of the front-line defenses were destroyed, but the deep defense system was generally intact. The most critical thing was that the Japanese troops in this direction. In addition to the front-line positions, a considerable part of the entire depth defense system's firing range is southward.
Most of the first-line defense fortifications are a combination of ring defenses and bunkers. The real core fortifications are all placed in the deep zone of the second line. The firepower of the first line is mainly light machine guns and Taisho 11-year-old infantry cannons. Heavy machine guns and The firepower of the anti-tank guns was all placed on the second-line positions.
Between the first and second line defensive positions, a large number of plum blossom-shaped firepower points and inverted firepower points were set up. Using terrain modifications and a large number of artificially accumulated anti-tank obstacles, combined with light and dark bunkers, all bunkers were three-dimensional. It shoots at 160 degrees, and uses super-numbered heavy machine guns and rapid-fire cannons to form a separate fire unit. There is at least one machine gun within 20 meters of each rapid-fire cannon to provide fire cover.
In terms of firepower deployment, although the number of artillery is not large, the range of the artillery is sufficient, especially the British 25-pound field gun, which has a maximum range of more than 12,000 meters. Even the Soviet-made M30-1 of the Anti-Alliance The 22 howitzers were inferior. Although the power of the shells was not comparable, the long range brought considerable trouble to the attacking troops of the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
These artillery marked the entire first- and second-line defense zone of the Japanese army as a shooting yardstick. They did not engage in artillery battles with the Anti-Japanese Alliance, but were specifically used to cooperate with machine gun positions to suppress the Anti-Alliance infantry. Communication was set up between the front positions and the rear artillery positions. All lines are underground.
Once there is a problem in a certain direction, firepower is immediately concentrated to intercept firepower at all costs, and the artillery bunkers are not deployed on anti-slope positions in hilly areas that are generally considered reliable, but are basically in front of hilly areas. Within the semi-underground fortifications, and carefully camouflaged, the artillery positions were deployed, and the changes in the terrain were also used quite cleverly.