Facing the rolling torrent of tanks, the anti-artillery of the April 7th Battle that had high hopes failed again. The Japanese infantry's defenses collapsed instantly and began to retreat backwards regardless of casualties.
The Japanese soldiers who climbed out of the bunker became the prey of the parallel and directional machine guns of the Anjia Army tanks, as well as the 20mm cannons of the Type II and Type III armored fighting vehicles accompanying the tank attack, and the 12.7mm high-level dual-purpose machine guns of the armored personnel carriers.
Over the hollow where Tiegang and Zheng Heng were hiding, bullets whizzed past. The two of them lay on the bottom of the pit and did not dare to move. Otherwise, it would be unjust to be beaten to death by their own people.
At this moment, in the depths of the dense forest, trees were being knocked down one after another, and gun barrels suddenly popped out. Almost in an instant, the long barrel of the tank with a ferocious face shook, and the muzzle suddenly appeared.
White smoke rises.
"boom--"
The front shield of the Leopard II tank that rushed forward made a loud noise. This time there was no more luck. The front shield of the tank that was hit was instantly opened by a shell, and with the fireworks
Soaring into the sky, the tank continued to move forward due to inertia. It rushed four to five meters before being stopped by a huge rock.
As the tank body filled with smoke, the top cover was quickly opened from the inside. Five tank soldiers escaped in a hurry, jumped to the ground and ran seven or eight meters away. The ammunition inside the Leopard II tank exploded. Amidst the violent explosion,
The tank fell apart instantly and was quickly surrounded by burning flames. The five tank soldiers were hit by the huge air wave and fell to the ground.
"No, it's a Type IV tank equipped by the Japanese elite tank regiment!"
Standing on the turret of a Tiger I tank at the center and rear of the advancing Anjiajun tank army, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Yuan, commander of the 36th Tank Regiment of the 8th Tank Division of the Third Group Army, holding a telescope to observe the battle, saw that one of his own tanks had been shot.
, taking a closer look at the appearance of the enemy tanks, he suddenly became excited and cursed: "What tricks did the Ninth Division Reconnaissance Battalion do? They don't even know what type of Japanese tanks they are..."
The Type IV tank is the new trump card of the Japanese tank force. Its main weapon is the Type IV 75mm anti-aircraft gun with a projectile muzzle velocity of 860 meters/second, which is much higher than the 820 meters/second projectile velocity of the German 88mm anti-aircraft gun, which determines the power of the artillery.
The factors are chamber pressure, muzzle velocity, projectile weight, caliber and projectile charge.
Generally speaking, the higher the muzzle velocity of the projectile, the stronger the armor-piercing ability. Therefore, the Anjiajun intelligence department unanimously determined that the Japanese Type 4 75mm anti-aircraft gun was much more powerful than the 88mm anti-aircraft gun equipped by the German army. It could easily penetrate one kilometer away.
It penetrated forged alloy armor with a thickness of 100 mm, which shows its huge damage to tanks.
This is also an important reason why the Japanese mechanized troops equipped with Type IV tanks are galloping across the North American battlefield and are not at a disadvantage against the United States, which has acquired Nanhua tank manufacturing technology.
Now the two sides suddenly encountered each other. And the number of tanks on the other side was unknown. It was undoubtedly a major test for the Thirty-sixth Tank Regiment.
However, Mao Yuan did not panic. He spoke loudly into the microphone on the tank helmet:
"Attention to all, this is the Japanese Type IV medium tank! The front armor of its body and turret is 75 mm, and the side armor is 35 mm. Our 55 times diameter 105 mm cannon can shoot 1,000 at an incident angle of 30 degrees.
It can break through 200mm of armor at 1000 meters. It can break through 163mm of armor at 2000 meters. There is no pressure against Japanese tanks! Now I give the order: free fire!"
Amid Mao Yuan's orders, Anjiajun's tanks aimed at the Type IV tanks that were fighting bravely to take the lead and exposed their full figures, and opened fire one after another.
"boom--"
White smoke came out of the black muzzle, and the front armor of the Type IV tank that fired first was hit. At a distance of 500 meters, its front armor could not resist the blow from the 105mm cannon shell, and the front armor exploded.
A large hole was quickly torn open in the middle, and the 75mm Type 4 anti-aircraft gun twisted directly into the sky.
"here you go!"
Mao Yuan praised and continued to order: "The first battalion, the second battalion, and the third battalion are careful to keep a distance from each other, and gradually spread out into a fan-shaped offensive to deal with the enemy! Directly under the tank company, the first company, the second company, and the third company, follow me to carry out a central assault! We
We are glorious tank crews, go forward and tear them apart completely!"
The two sides are getting closer and closer!
Although the Japanese Type 4 tanks were powerful, they were hiding in the woods and needed to constantly adjust their formations before they could rush out to fight. This created an unfavorable situation in which they would rush out to fight individually. However, the Anjiajun tanks that came in a fan shape were very difficult to fight.
He quickly gained the upper hand.
An Ruiguang, the major battalion commander of the 9th Motorized Infantry Division Reconnaissance Battalion, who was following the action of the tank regiment, could not help but let out a sigh of relief when he saw the Japanese Type IV tanks. If he had not decisively chosen to retreat, he would have blindly held the armored personnel carriers and jeeps in his hands.
By the time they get into battle, the entire army will probably be wiped out by now.
In this era, infantry guided weapons are still being researched and explored. Tanks, especially tanks with advanced performance, can only be solved by tanks with similar performance.
On the radio, An Ruiguang ordered the officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion to keep a distance from their own tanks. On the battlefield where tanks collided hard face to face, these armored personnel carriers and jeeps could not help at all. They could only abandon the armored personnel carriers and jeeps at a certain distance.
, engage in foot combat.
The sound of tank shelling continued, and both sides did not take a step back. The Japanese tank army rushed out of the woods, roaring angrily like a wounded beast.
The tanks of the Anjia Army did not show any weakness and rushed forward desperately to cover the weakly defended armored fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. For the first time in Northeast China, a tragic scene of confrontation between mechanized armies appeared.
As the bomber squadron that had just destroyed the Japanese artillery position flew away, three more squadrons of the Anjia Army Air Force were ordered to join the battle group, one of which was an attack squadron specialized in ground attacks.
However, when a plane hits a tank, the tank can only be hit and cannot fight back. It sounds wonderful, but without effective guidance, the success rate of hitting is still very low. After all, tanks can move at any time, whether it is aircraft guns, rockets or
Dive bombing must rely on the pilot to calculate the enemy's movements in advance. Once the opponent's movement route is unexpected, the strike will fail.
Therefore, although two bomber squadrons and one attack aircraft squadron worked hard, the results were not great. On the contrary, the Japanese infantry suffered heavy casualties under the attack of aviation machine guns, which accelerated their collapse.
The command tank where Lieutenant Colonel Mao Yuan was located was very eye-catching. After issuing the combat order, he felt that the Japanese artillery fire was becoming more and more fierce. This man joined the army during the first Songhu Battle in 2032 and made many military exploits. He also passed through the Xufu
The 30-year-old officer, who was trained at the Non-commissioned Officer School and Simao Armor Academy and graduated with honors, took the initiative to retract into the tank, pull up the top cover, and then use the periscope to continue directing the battle.
So far, this Tiger I tank has been hit by three 75mm artillery shells. Fortunately, the front armor of the Tiger I tank is 130 mm and has an inclination of 30 degrees. The front lower armor and side armor of the body also have 100 mm. The Japanese Type IV
All the tank's shells hit the tank, but only left three deep dents on the hull and did not break down.
After a face-to-face fight, Anjiajun's tank army was turning its advantage into victory.
Compared with the Japanese tank soldiers who always like to gather tanks together, the tanks of the Anjia Army always try to keep a distance from each other. In addition, the terrain where the fierce battle is taking place at this moment is a forest, not a plain. When the tanks are gathered together, in addition to being detrimental to air defense,
The shells fired always hit the trees and caused explosions. However, the Anjiajun tanks that fanned out from the outside of the forest had enough time and space to find a favorable time and place to choose a good shooting opportunity.
The air force kept raining bullets on the Japanese troops in the woods. Their role was not only to suppress the enemy's counterattack on the ground, but also to understand the enemy's movements in a timely manner through high-altitude reconnaissance, and to guide our own tank troops to attack the enemy's weak links.
After the battle lasted for a quarter of an hour, the pilot clearly saw that the Japanese Type IV tanks were being surrounded by our Leopard II and Tiger I tanks, and the armored fighting vehicles and personnel carriers that were originally following our tanks bypassed the tanks.
On the frontal battlefield of the battle, the Japanese infantry were outflanked by detours.
It turned out that Lieutenant Colonel Mao Yuan had an extremely keen eye. He discovered that the Japanese army did not coordinate with infantry and tanks, which reduced the protection pressure from the side of the tank troops. The fourth and fifth armored infantry battalions originally used to protect the tank troops were
The equipped Type II and Type III armored fighting vehicles could neither cause damage to the opponent's tanks nor withstand the blows of the Japanese Type IV tanks. Simply let them avoid the frontal battlefield and go to the back of the forest to slaughter the Japanese infantry.
"Bangdang——"
A Type III armored fighting vehicle that circled back to the side of the forest to attack the Japanese infantry was hit by a shell from the side and fell down immediately.
The front of the armored fighting vehicle and the front of the turret can only protect against 25mm machine gun shells. The body and the sides of the turret can protect against bullets and shell fragments. Its main function is to provide auxiliary firepower for tanks on the battlefield and deal with soft targets such as infantry.
, as well as low-altitude and ultra-low-altitude slow-speed air targets.
"He Yi, pay attention to the one o'clock direction..."
Sergeant He Zhijie, the commander and ammunition loader of the Pawo chariot, greeted the gunner Dao Heyi. Dao Heyi is from the Dai ethnic group and his ancestral home is Bashu County, Shannan Province (former Siam Bashu Prefecture). He joined the army two years ago and was assigned
It was not until the end of last year that the Third Army began to officially serve as the machine gunner of the armored fighting vehicle.
Although this armored fighting vehicle has temporarily lost its mobility, the officers and soldiers did not give up. They still regarded the fighting vehicle as a fixed firepower point and continued to spray flames outwards.
At this time, at the one o'clock direction of the tank, a group of Japanese soldiers who were hit and were about to turn around and escape found that the armored tank had lost the ability to move. The leader, a major, shouted "Kili Wala" and quickly entangled twenty or thirty soldiers.
The Japanese soldiers rushed towards the chariot, ready to take advantage.
"Come if you are not afraid of death!"
Daohei glanced at the periscope, quickly operated the rotating gear of the turret, and cursed in his mouth: "You little devil, let's see if I don't beat you to death!"
As the turret rotated, Dogai pulled the trigger, and the muzzle of the 20mm machine gun spat out tongues of flame crazily, knocking several Japanese soldiers to the ground.
However, the Japs' reaction speed was not slow. When the turret rotated, the Japs howled and dispersed, so there were still many Japs approaching the tank at high speed.
"No, everyone, hurry up, open your mouths, close your eyes!"
He Zhijie, the commander of the vehicle from Liupanshui, Guizhou, saw a grenade drawing an arc in the air, followed by the sound of steel hitting each other on the roof, and immediately issued a warning.
"boom--"
The moment the grenade exploded, the inside of the armored tank shook violently. Fortunately, the bumps were bearable. Togai didn't care about the big bump on his forehead and hurriedly turned the muzzle to find the target. Soon, tongues of fire spit out.
, the two Japanese soldiers who were watching the explosion effect of the grenade had beautiful blood flowers blooming on their chests, and they fell headlong into a pool of blood.
The three occupants in the car suddenly became nervous. It turned out that there was a "dong-dong" sound from the top of the tank, which indicated that Japanese soldiers had climbed onto the tank. Then a "click-click" sound was heard from the cover of the tank, which was obviously on the top of the tank.
Lift the car hood.
The driver, Sergeant Dai Yao, nervously moved over from the driver's seat. Like his two comrades, he took out a pistol from his waist, raised his head, and pointed it at the cover.
Although the three of them all know that this is almost useless, it can only be so, because the inside of the tank cannot deal with the enemy on the roof. Once the cover is pried open, the enemy does not need to show his head at all, and a grenade dropped is enough to be fatal!
At this critical moment, the armored personnel carrier has caught up.
Seeing that their comrades were in danger, the two personnel carriers opened the back doors and rushed out in an instant. More than 20 armored infantrymen rushed out. Without deliberately aiming, they opened fire on the Japanese soldiers who were lying on the armored tanks and frantically pried open the roof. The two Japanese soldiers covered their faces.
Reluctantly holding his chest, he fell from the top of the chariot to the ground!
When the other Japanese soldiers saw the large force of An's army coming, they became panicked for a moment. They turned around again and ran into the forest. (To be continued)