At 7:30 in the morning, the battle of the Indian Front's southern route group to attack the two-river defense line at the gateway to Kolkata officially started. The two rivers refer to the Maiton River and the Damodar River, which are the two main rivers in West Bengal. Among them, the Maiton River merges into the East
The Hooghly River is a tributary of the Ganges, while the Damodar River meanders southward and directly connects to the Bay of Bengal.
Between these two rivers, there are Asansol, Raniganj, Durgapur, Badtaman, Nabodvipur, Jinder Nagar, Howrah, Garden Ridge and other East Indian places.
It is a large city and industrial center, and the Jiangxi urban area of Kolkata is also located in this area. It can be said to be the essence of East India.
As early as three days ago, the troops captured the town of Jamdala on the front line of West Bengal. Since they were about to enter the most prosperous area of East India, the Seventh and Ninth Group Armies made careful preparations. In continuous
During many days of reconnaissance, Air Force reconnaissance planes found no Japanese troops gathering in this area. At the same time, satellites also scanned this area several times, but found nothing.
The South Road Cluster, with the Seventh Army and the Ninth Army as the main force, reported to the front army headquarters and the General Staff, and finally confirmed that it would launch a general offensive today, striving to bring this hot land under control within the next half month.
"Rumble one by one..."
The Japanese defenses in the town of Gidrunjin were violently bombarded by our army. Thousands of artillery pieces of various sizes quickly destroyed the front line that the Japanese had built for many days to pieces.
Among them, there are more than 300 large-caliber towed artillery and self-propelled artillery with GNP and above, and the destruction of power is the most obvious. If the heavy artillery shells fall like a heavy rain, they will fall on the Japanese and Japanese soldiers in front of Gidrunjin Town.
On the Japanese and Indian army positions, countless fireballs shot from the ground
Up, a black smoke cloud from the explosion of the artillery shells had not dissipated, and another row of artillery shells fell to the ground. The rising fireball swept up a huge air wave, pushing away the black smoke cloud that had not yet dissipated, and then another row of artillery shells came with a harsh sound.
The roaring sound landed heavily on the enemy's position.
Due to the continuous consumption of rockets, the reserves are insufficient, so they did not participate in the battle this time. More than 6 million mountain artillery, field artillery and terrorist infantry artillery and other small-caliber artillery performed well. You must know the performance of small artillery.
The rate of fire is much faster than that of artillery. In one minute, at least 6,000 bombs fall on the Japanese position. If you add in the thousands of various caliber pursuit guns of the division and regiment artillery units, it will be so powerful.
The situation was even worse. Although the Japanese commanders had been mentally prepared, the intensity of the bombardment in front of them was still beyond their original expectations. In a very short period of time, the Japanese army's carefully built bunkers, fortifications, bunkers and other defensive barriers continued to attack.
The bunker collapsed amidst the sound of artillery fire, the bunker flew into the sky, the trenches were filled, the barbed wire fences and obstacles were blown open, and the minefield covering several kilometers was blown up by the artillery shells, causing a chain reaction-like explosion.
The shelling continued, and densely packed aircraft groups in the sky were already flying over the battlefield. At the same time, two tank divisions were like two sharp knives, attacking the Japanese positions from the left and right wings. When the tanks and armored personnel carriers approached the enemy positions, the artillery behind them
The sound suddenly stopped, and hundreds of tanks roared onto the Japanese position without even stopping for a moment.
Before the Japs and Japanese and Indian soldiers had time to react, attack planes and bombers had already begun to clear out the remaining defense fortifications and firepower points. One after another, aerial bombs weighing more than 500 kilograms fell from the sky at a speed exceeding the speed of sound.
They pounced blankly on those formidable reinforced concrete bunkers and bunkers, blowing these extremely solid fortifications upside down. The soldiers and weapons and equipment inside were reduced to parts and thrown around.
At this time, the rear doors of the armored personnel carriers accompanying the tank attack had been opened. The infantrymen rushed into the trenches where the Japanese and Indian soldiers were holding fast, shouting, and charged forward under the cover of tank guns and high-level dual-purpose machine guns of armored vehicles.
Stop at the first battle
If the tanks in front of the front line find the firepower of Japanese or Indian soldiers, they will fire immediately and destroy them without hesitation. Occasionally, if there are fish that slip through the net, the rocket launchers and flamethrowers carried by individual soldiers are enough to destroy them.
The stronghold was cleared.
Under the cover of unusually powerful firepower, the infantry crossed trenches and, with the cooperation of automatic rifles, submachine guns, flamethrowers, sniper rifles and grenades from various professional attack teams, all enemies in sight were
Destroyed piece by piece.
This three-dimensional attack from the sky to the ground, from back to front, made the Japanese and Indian soldiers extremely uncomfortable. Soon, batches of death squads fell dead on the charging road. Most of the Japanese and Indian soldiers even
Suicide attacks were not possible. They were enveloped in a dense network of firepower and were wiped out as soon as they broke out of the trenches. Many others were even more desolate. They were burned alive by the flames ejected by the flamethrower. It was terrible to see.
The charging Anjia Army infantry quickly took control of the trenches. In the narrow tunnels and traffic trenches, automatic rifles, submachine guns and shell pistols played a huge role in killing the Japanese who tried to get close to engage in hand-to-hand combat or simply launch self-destruction attacks.
The Japanese and Indian soldiers were swept to the ground like wheat, and the dirty blood stained the ground red.
The engineering troops quickly blew up the anti-tank trenches built by the Japanese army and paved many roads leading to the front line. The densely packed tanks and armored vehicles crossed the obstacles and wildly fired at all the Japanese and Indian soldiers in sight.
Only an hour after the attack was launched, a tank company and two armored infantry companies had already rushed into the town of Gidrunjin. The Leopard 44 tanks were like steamrollers, their wide tracks rolling over the road, making a "metal impact" sound.
There was a "squeaking" sound, and the ground was covered with the crushed flesh and blood of the Japanese and Indian soldiers, as well as the blood and body fluids squeezed out of the internal organs.
, overflowing everywhere, and the stench filled the air. The Japs and Japanese and Indian soldiers in the town fought to the death. They relied on the buildings to desperately stop the Anjia Army's offensive. At the same time, more than 2,000 enemy troops reinforced from the south of the town risked their lives.
With attacks from attack planes and bombers overhead, they launched a fierce attack, trying to outflank the fifteen tanks in front of them and the two companies of infantry that followed the attacking tanks.
A fierce collision broke out immediately. Fifteen Leopard 44 tanks opened fire continuously, fifteen anti-aircraft machine guns and fifteen parallel machine guns spit out tongues of fire continuously. The general machine guns and automatic rifles in the hands of the armored infantrymen also sprayed fire.
There was a dense rain of bullets, intertwined with the firepower of the tanks, and wiped out the Japanese and Indian troops on the way to the charge.
At this time, the Leopard 44 tank gun used high-explosive grenades..." The q.~~ caliber gun barrels fired continuously, and the grenades continued to fall in the middle of the criss-crossing fire network, exploding into balls of fire, destroying those who tried to take advantage of the terrain.
The Japanese and Indian soldiers who advanced in covert attacks were reduced to blood and flesh.
The Japanese commander seemed to be in a hurry and stepped up the counterattack again. At least four to five thousand Japs and Japanese and Indian soldiers rushed towards the tank company and two armored infantry companies in front of them.
The firepower of fighter planes, bombers and ground troops in the air could no longer suppress the Japanese army's madness. The tide of enemies used the obstruction of buildings to launch a death assault on the Anjia officers and soldiers guarding the central area of the town. In this case, the commander
The captain of the three companies fighting the tank company called for artillery reinforcements, and soon rows of dense artillery shells fell into the Japanese and Indian troops, blasting these guys who were almost in a state of madness to nothing.
The Japanese army's desperate counterattacks were getting stronger and stronger, but by this time the main force of our army had cleared the outer positions of the town. Except for one tank regiment and two armored infantry regiments that entered the town as support, the rest of the troops bypassed the town from the outside, attacking from the left and right.
The two wings rushed toward the rear, preparing to outflank the Japanese army.
In order to avoid the fate of the entire army being annihilated, the Japanese commander had to order a retreat, and the entire army retreated to Asansol City, fifteen kilometers south.
Asansol is located on the north bank of the Damodar River. It is a transportation hub for railways, highways and water transport. Before the Japanese invasion, the city's population was as high as 500,000. Because of the large coalfield of Raniganj to the southeast, it developed into an industrial and mining city at the beginning of this century.
It is adjacent to copper, iron, lead, zinc and other mining areas. In the early 1930s, the Tata Group built a
There are two large steel plants, one metallurgical plant and one aluminum smelting plant. In addition, there are large machinery plants controlled by British capital, paper mills, cable factories, automobile manufacturing plants, pharmaceutical plants, chemical plants, etc., together with Lanigan in the southeast.
The two cities of Jaipur and Durgapur together form the most famous industrial base in East India.
However, the Japanese commander obviously did not think about how tragic it would be to retreat when the opponent has the speed advantage of tanks and armored vehicles, and at the same time there are fighter planes in the sky to attack and harass.
The fleeing Japanese soldiers and Japanese and Indian soldiers were overtaken by tanks and armored vehicles in hot pursuit, separated and surrounded, and quickly annihilated. As of three o'clock in the afternoon, the forward of the offensive force had successfully entered the city of Asansol, led by Jide.
The Japs and Japanese and Indian soldiers who retreated south from Lunjin Town were all wiped out in the pursuit.
After the war, it was confirmed that the Japanese army was holding an independent infantry brigade here, plus two Indian army divisions, with a total of 30,000 people, which was consistent with the expected results. However, this force was obviously not enough to ensure the width and thickness of the defense.
Under the attack of the integrated air and land, failure is inevitable.
The Air Force once again conducted a reconnaissance of Asansol's defense system. The Japanese commander seemed to be very afraid that the town of Gidrunjin had fallen so quickly, and once again strengthened the defense of the outer positions of the city. At the same time, the buildings and factories in the city were
Buildings and new barricades were deployed, seemingly preparing to use street fighting to prevent the Anjiajun's attack.
According to repeated confirmations by reconnaissance aircraft during this period, the current factory areas of Asansol, Raniganj, and Durgapur have not changed significantly from before. Analysis by the intelligence department believes that Japanese engineers are now only dismantling coastal cities.
The machinery and equipment of those factories and enterprises were already busy without even touching the ground. Before the factories and enterprises in the Damodel River area had time to take action, our army was already approaching the city.
However, precisely because most of the factories and enterprises in Asansol City have not yet been demolished, it is easier to deploy defensive positions in the dense steel jungle, and the front army headquarters has sufficient psychological preparation for this.
At seven o'clock in the evening, Asansol's Japanese troops were not given much preparation time. The southern front group waited for the rear artillery troops to arrive and immediately launched an siege operation.
First of all, there was still the artillery bombardment. Countless meteors and fire showers rushed towards the Japanese position. The ground shook violently as if a strong earthquake had occurred. Fireballs of various sizes rose into the sky, all over the entire Asansol City.
Shrouded in black smoke.
Amidst the dense explosions, a row of artillery shells just landed with a roar, and then another row of artillery shells flew towards the Japanese position with a piercing scream.
The high-intensity shelling lasted for half an hour. Nearly a thousand tons of steel fell on the Japanese outer positions in Asansol City. The strong defense lines were destroyed and torn to pieces.
After preparations for artillery fire, the Leopard 44 tanks and half-track armored fighting vehicles once again made a soul-stirring roar of "rumbling" and fiercely rushed towards the Japanese position, followed closely by the armored personnel carriers, and behind them were
Infantrymen who launch an assault in a skirmish line.
At this time, the sky had completely darkened. During the high-speed sprint, all the vehicles turned on their lights, and the searchlights of the air defense troops were also turned on to the brightest. The bright direct light made the Japanese and Indian soldiers dizzy.
tremble with fear.
The Leopard 44 tanks and armored fighting vehicles roared and continued to advance..." The NPC tank guns sprayed, constantly sending enemy firepower points that were busy firing out of fear into the sky. The charging infantry were not attacked because their backs were to the light.
Impact, they were accompanied by tanks and armored vehicles advancing rapidly.
The Japanese and Indian soldiers who had adapted to the darkness were miserable. They could not see anything and could only shoot randomly. However, this behavior obviously brought disaster to them. Almost every fire-belching fortification was destroyed.
Wherever there were flashes of fire, they were hit by overwhelming artillery shells. Those fortifications were blown into the sky one by one, or were buried underground by the collapsed soil.
Finally, the armored personnel carrier rushed to the enemy's trench. Like officers and soldiers unleashing tigers, they first threw dense grenades into the enemy's trench. After a few seconds, countless black smoke clouds exploded on the Japanese position. The flamethrowers held
The nozzle sprayed out fire dragons one after another, burning the positions held by the Japanese and Indian troops into a sea of fire.
"kill!"
Amid the deafening shouts of killing, the infantrymen of the Anjia Army jumped into the trenches regardless of their own safety and started a fierce close combat with the Japanese and Indian soldiers. The enemies armed with Type 38 rifles or Lee-Enfield rifles were like hunters shooting when hunting.
They were like killing prey. Before they could react, they were all shot to death in the trench by dense bullets sprayed from automatic weapons.
The officers and soldiers of the 7th and 9th Groups of the Indian Front of the Anjia Army simply did not allow the Japanese to take advantage of their hand-to-hand combat. Under continuous fire from automatic rifles, submachine guns and box cannons, the enemies fell down in rows, as if they were queuing up to be shot.
It was extremely enjoyable.
The first to be defeated were the indigenous mobs who were only issued individual weapons or grenades. These indigenous people who had to bravely fight on the front line because their families were detained were, after all, civilians without formal training. They had witnessed what had happened before.
A fierce offensive that they had never seen before, the idea of trying to save their families through their own efforts suddenly collapsed. They cried loudly, turned around and ran away, not caring about the dark muzzles of the supervising team behind them.
The number of indigenous mobs was too great. Although the permanent population of Asansol City had dropped rapidly to one hundred thousand after the great plague the year before last, the Japanese army captured a large number of villagers from the villages on the south bank of the Damodel River during this period.
, so there are now nearly 200,000 indigenous people in the city, of which nearly 70,000 to 80,000 young men have been sent to the front line to resist.
In the first round of shelling, nearly half of the indigenous mob who were not good at avoiding were wiped out. Now facing a new blow, they could no longer suppress the fear in their hearts and fled swarm towards the rear city.
Although several armed mobs were shot dead by the Japanese military supervisory team, the remaining natives still stubbornly broke through the Japanese defense lines and fled into the city.
The Anjia army infantry who followed the armed natives had their morale boosted and took advantage of the situation to cover up the killing. The Japanese and Japanese troops who were beaten to pieces by the mob could not resist and finally retreated into the city.
The Japanese and Indian troops who were left behind were quickly eliminated. A few cunning guys pretended to be dead. They lay in the trenches and waited for the Anjia army infantry and tanks to rush over.
It caused a certain amount of damage. Two tanks had their tracks blown off, and another tank had its tracks blown off.
A fire broke out in the rear of a tank, but it was quickly extinguished by the spray of foam from the fire extinguisher. In addition, there were Japanese and Indian troops hiding in the dark and firing cold shots, causing dozens of casualties to our army's officers and soldiers, but these people usually did not have time to open their second fire.
He was beaten to a bloody gourd by the other Anjia officers and soldiers who were overwhelmingly attacking him.
At midnight, the battle extended to Asansol City.
The Japanese and Indian troops used the familiar terrain to hide in buildings and shoot outside. The indigenous mobs were once again organized to act as death squads and used the darkness to launch suicide attacks. This time, there was no distinction between men, women, old and young. These indigenous people accepted
The only mission is to hold cluster grenades or explosive packs and die together with the Anjia officers and soldiers who invade the streets. The penalty for disobeying orders is to be shot on the spot.
The battle was extremely cruel. The Japanese army concealed anti-aircraft guns originally used for air defense into buildings, and then flattened them to serve as anti-tank weapons. Due to the shooting angle, the Japanese army could often fire, but our long-range artillery fire could hardly destroy the Japanese anti-tank bunkers.
, the target can only be destroyed through flat cannon fire.
At the same time, the Japanese army also deployed a large number of field artillery and cannons in the buildings in Asansol City, using the flat fire of these artillery fires to deal with the tanks and armored fighting vehicles groups of the Anjia Army participating in street fighting.
During the long-term battle with the Anjia Army, the Japanese army fully learned from past experiences and lessons and did not deploy these artillery with strong anti-tank capabilities outside the city to prevent attacks by the Anjia Army's superior artillery group and air force. Now these weapons are used in
In the street fighting, the Japanese army expected to perform better.
At this time, neither Liao Minlin, commander of the 7th Army, nor Zhou Dingcheng, commander of the 9th Army, expected the Japanese army's machinations. The two tank divisions each sent a tank regiment and an armored infantry regiment to participate in street fighting, acting as swarms of tanks.
When the Japanese army and armored vehicles were passing through the streets of Asansol City, the anti-aircraft guns, field guns and cannons deployed by the Japanese army in various buildings suddenly spit out fireballs.
Except for the 10,000 np field guns which need to pay attention to their angles in order to penetrate the armor of the Leopard 44 tank, the rest are g~~~,, blade.~~cannons and 10,000.~~,毯~~~~,,power.~
~ Anti-aircraft guns all have huge destructive power against Leopard 44 tanks, and thin-skinned armored vehicles are even more accurate in hitting them.
Even the armor of the Tiger IV tanks equipped by the independent heavy tank regiment directly under the group army was insufficient to defend against cannons with a caliber exceeding 100 g. Therefore, in just the first round of shelling, sixteen tanks were hit and burned, and the following tanks were hit and burned.
Twenty-two armored fighting vehicles were immediately turned into fireballs.
"Hang Yiyi..."
If the artillery shells like meteors are fired straight from a high place or from a certain bunker, tanks and armored vehicles are constantly hit, and violent explosions are heard one after another, which makes the Anjia Army who are following the tanks and armored vehicles attacking.
The infantryman's liver and gallbladder were split for a moment.
Among them, a Leopard 44 tank was penetrated by two anti-aircraft guns and hit the ammunition depot directly. Then a violent explosion occurred inside the tank, killing all five crew members. Another tank was hit by
The tank was hit by a .~~ caliber cannon and the tank was blown over and fell to the side of the road. After the tank crew successfully evacuated, a violent explosion occurred.
Many Japs were hiding in the dark. When the tank's self-contained fire extinguishing device failed to extinguish the fire and the tank crews had to jump out of the turret, they encountered the precise shooting of these Japs. Many tank crews died heroically on the tanks.
However, when the battle has reached this point, there is no retreat, and the enemy's shooting has also exposed its position. The Leopard 44 tank's toothed NPC cannon continuously sprays fireballs, hitting the Japanese soldiers who have just fired the shells.
Anti-aircraft guns and cannon destroyed.
At the same time, the officers and soldiers manipulating the 7-paper recoilless rifle can launch artillery bombardments at bunkers with extremely tricky shooting angles at any time based on the information provided by the observers. The direct fire range is tens of meters, and the armor-piercing thickness can reach 3 milliliters.
Armored extended-range ammunition silenced every firepower point of the Japanese army.
In the sky, overwhelming bombers, following the guidance of ground troops, razed buildings to the ground. Attack aircraft flew from low altitude, braving the dense air defense firepower of the Japanese and Indian troops, and tenaciously fired at the enemy's anti-tank artillery.
rocket launcher
Fire dragons, like locusts that filled the sky, shot in through the window of a building. The building where the Japanese army hid anti-aircraft guns and cannons quickly erupted into huge flames. With the violent explosions, sharp shrapnel shattered the enemy's weapons.
The artillery was instantly torn into pieces!
What makes people feel puzzling is that from beginning to end, the Japanese Army and Navy Air Force did not show up, allowing the Anjiajun Air Force to splash tons and tons of steel on the Japanese army!
Seeing the fierce battle ahead, the anti-aircraft artillery brigade, tank destroyer brigade, and Spitfire tank regiment assigned to the group army also entered the battle one after another. The tank destroyer brigade equipped with No. 4 assault guns and Type 4 tank destroyers followed the second wave of siege.
As the tanks advanced, two types of 10,000-ton cannons aimed at the Japanese army's firepower and launched a fierce shelling. Wherever the shells hit, countless limbs and arms were broken off.
The anti-aircraft artillery brigade is equipped with island~~~~ self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. Hundreds of anti-aircraft guns are arranged behind the tank destroyer brigade. Dark red bullet marks are fired from time to time towards a building that is spitting out flames.
A huge fire dragon emerged, explosions were heard, and immediately thick smoke billowed and flames shot into the sky. The high rate of fire and accurate hit rate of the anti-aircraft guns killed a large number of Japanese soldiers and the effective forces of the Burmese and Indian troops.
Pursuing artillery of various calibers and terrorist...infantry artillery were pushed to the front, and the artillerymen braved the hail of bullets to directly aim at the enemy's fire points and fortifications and fire accurately!
Many armed indigenous mobs who were shouting and charging had not yet rushed to the tanks and armored vehicles. The fire-breathing tanks sprayed out a string of fire dragons, hitting all the targets. The firemen screamed with their teeth and claws, lighting up the earth red.
The Anjia officers and soldiers who were attacking fell one after another. An endless stream of officers and soldiers stepped on Pao Ze's corpse in the night and continued to charge. Many streets that were only one or two hundred meters were full of casualties.
Anjia soldiers and officers, the land of Asansol City, the gateway to Bangladesh, is dyed red with the blood of martyrs.
In a sense, the cruelty of this battle has reached the level of the cruelty of the street battles in the historical Stalingrad defense battle. Since entering East India, the blood shed in the offensive and defensive battles of this important industrial city is greater than that of all previous battles.
The battles add up to more.
The battle lasted from night to day. The thousands of artillery pieces owned by the two armies had fired more than half a million rounds, almost consuming all the ammunition stored on the front line. The barrels were hot and the artillery positions were steaming.
Just like being in a steamer, the artillery officers and soldiers took off their shirts and loaded artillery shells with their breasts exposed. As the firing rope was pulled, round after round of artillery shells flew out like a mountain, destroying the threatening targets.
When two forward regiments inserted themselves into the factory area and city center of Asansol City at 5 pm on the 13th, the battle became intense.
At this time, the two armies had already deployed six tank regiments, six armored regiments and eight infantry regiments into the city. In order to completely penetrate the Japanese defense line, the independent heavy tank regiments belonging to the two armies also entered the battle.
The officers and soldiers carried forward the spirit of continuous combat. Tanks, heavy artillery, infantry artillery and pursuit artillery formed a powerful firepower network. Countless combat groups continued to spread from the factory area and the city center to the two wings, with tanks and armored vehicles as firepower support.
Click and attack one building after another.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the Ninth Army captured four senior Japanese staff officers in an underground bunker in the factory area. After interrogation, emergency intelligence was reported to the Army Headquarters.
It was not until this time that Liao Minlin and Zhou Dingcheng knew that Asansol City actually hid the Japanese Army's 31st and 33rd main divisions with 25,000 people, and 4 independent infantry brigades with 40,000 people.
, two independent garrison units of 5,000 people and two independent field heavy artillery regiments. The Japanese and Indian troops also have six divisions, with a total strength of up to 200,000.
The intention of the Japanese army was to first use the arrogance strategy to paralyze the commanders of the Anjia Army, then use street fighting to destroy all the tanks and armored vehicles of our attacking troops, and then rely on their superior strength to delay the Anjia Army behind the fortified city.
Now, the Japanese 15th Division and three independent infantry brigades are leading five Japanese divisions from Bokaro Steel City, which is hiding in the northeastern foothills of the Jodanagpur Plateau, and are hiding day and night to attack Ji.
Jamdala, north of the town of Delengin, and then took advantage of the situation to recapture the town of Gidelengin and took the retreat route of the seventh and ninth armies.
At the same time, the Japanese 29th Division and four independent infantry brigades in Durgapur are quietly advancing northwest along the railway, and will enter the battle at dawn tomorrow at the latest in order to achieve the surprise of the attack.