The Japanese Sumatra Operations Command in Palembang.
Lieutenant General Toshio Maeda, commander of the Lanyin Army under the Southern Army, was convening an emergency military operations meeting. This noble general who was supposed to have died in a plane crash in September of the previous year, because Japan's aviation industry combined with American aviation technology and had some
Through innovation, the performance of the transport aircraft was greatly improved, so he saved his life and continued to be his emperor in Sumatra.
Different from the dispensable strategic position of Sumatra in World War II, as the Anjia Army conquered the Malay Peninsula in 1941, which seriously threatened the security of the Lanyin Islands and even the Luzon Islands occupied by the Japanese army, Sumatra became a strategic location to resist the Anjia Army.
the front line of attack.
Under this circumstance, the Japanese Southern Army Command deployed the 38th Army, the 40th Army, the 62nd Army, and the 63rd Army in one go to Sumatra, with a total of four armies and thirteen divisions.
Among them, there is one Class A division, three Class B divisions, and the rest are Class C divisions.
The reason why Maeda Toshio did not set up his headquarters in Java Island, which has better conditions, is that the Southern Army headquarters is located in Jakarta, Java Island. Compared with Count Juichi Terauchi, Maeda Toshibao is far inferior in terms of qualifications and status.
Coupled with the important strategic position of Sumatra Island, a general with sufficient weight must be in charge, so Maeda Toshio just stayed in Sumatra Island. Fortunately, he came here safely in the past two years.
However, with the frequent activities of the Anjiajun navy in the East Indian Ocean in July and August this year, especially after November, the cross-border reconnaissance reconnaissance aircraft of the Anjiajun suddenly became extremely frequent, and troops gathered across the strait. Maeda Toshio knew that
The days are over, and the only thing that cannot be determined is the specific date of the opponent's attack.
At 4 o'clock in the morning this morning, the submarine force of the Southwest Fleet ventured into the Strait of Malacca. After paying a heavy price for four ships being sunk, they finally discovered that Anjiajun ships of various types were gathered in the strait, and most of the small ships were docked and on standby.
It is basically certain that today will be a very dangerous day.
After receiving the emergency notification, Maeda Toshio had to convene this meeting to discuss countermeasures.
Because time is too urgent, Lieutenant General Takamori Takashi, commander of the 63rd Army Corps stationed in northern Sumatra, Lieutenant General Kato Reizo, commander of the 62nd Army Corps in the north-central Pekanbaru area, and Lieutenant General Kato Reizo, commander of the 40th Army Corps stationed in the Jambi area.
The army commander, Lieutenant General Shimizu Nouriki, didn't even have time to come back for the meeting, so Maeda Toshio could only order them to step up their guard over the phone.
In the conference room, Maeda Toshio looked solemn and said nothing.
Chief of Staff Akira Muto, who rushed from his mistress's house for the meeting, read the telegram in his hand and asked, "Has the news been verified?"
"After the incident, we immediately dispatched reconnaissance planes. Although most of them were shot down by fighter jets of the Anjia Army Air Force, we still sent back useful information. From Penang to Singapore in the south, the Chinese mobilized countless landing ships.
It may come towards the coastline we are guarding at any time!"
Intelligence staff officer Colonel Matsuda Ryonosuke stood up and answered.
Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano, commander of the 38th Japanese Army stationed at the line from Palembang to Nanbang Port in southern Sumatra, had received accurate information on the way here and anxiously suggested: "Commander, do you want me to lead my troops north immediately?"
, support Qingshui and the others?"
"No!"
Commander Toshio Maeda has not expressed his position yet. Akira Muto has already exclaimed: "Sano-san, we still don't know the specific direction of the Chinese attack. What if we rashly mobilize our troops and the Anjia army lands from Bangga Strait? What if?
If Palembang falls, the entire Sumatra defense line will immediately collapse!"
"No way!?"
Major General Minekawa Kenichi, chief of staff of the 38th Army, asked puzzledly: "At present, Bangka Island is still in our hands. How easy is it for the Chinese army to go west along the Musi River to capture Palembang? In the past two years, although Malacca has
Many islands in the strait have fallen, but in order to ensure the safety of Palembang, we have repeatedly reinforced defenses on Bangka Island. In addition to fortresses, we have also built many new military airports. The Chinese may not be able to take advantage!"
"Why don't I know this?"
Muto Akira said solemnly: "Without the Air Force, our defense would be basically perfect. However, the Anjia Army has the most powerful air strike force in the world, plus the ability to hover in mid-air at any time.
As long as they are determined not to be afraid of paying huge sacrifices, including aircraft for attacking and airships specially used to mobilize troops, it is still unknown whether Bangka Island can be defended!
"Besides, there is no one way to attack Palembang. The Chinese have already occupied Xinji Island. If they landed on the Lalang coastal area in the north of Bangka Strait under the cover of the air force, they would go straight to Musi Island and reach Palembang.
It’s only a day or two’s journey. If General Sano leads his troops northward, who will defend Palembang? Once Palembang is lost, the retreat of many armies in the north and central area will be cut off, and failure will be a matter of time!”
Maeda Toshi nodded in agreement and asked: "So Muto-kun, how should we deal with the current situation?"
"For the time being, we can only cope with the ever-changing situation by remaining unchanged!"
Akira Muto analyzed: "So far, we still don't know how many troops the Chinese have used and the specific direction of their attack. If we abandon our solid positions and respond hastily, we may lose our advantages and cause trouble.
An Jiajun can take advantage of this opportunity! There is a strategy in ancient Chinese military books called 'strike later'. We need to be patient enough now, wait and see how the battle situation changes, and then wait for the opportunity to act!"
Maeda Toshiro didn't have any better ideas for the time being. After a while, he said: "Okay, in that case, let's wait and see what the situation is!"
"Hey Yi——"
...
For a fighter plane with a speed of at least 400 kilometers per hour, a one-hundred-kilometer flight only takes about ten or twenty minutes. However, for the airborne officers and soldiers of the Anjia Army who are about to engage in a fierce battle, this distance is not enough.
It's so long.
As members who are destined to be "surrounded", all airborne officers and soldiers know very well that every time they go on a mission, they are fighting to the death. For many of them, this may be the last journey in their lives.
At 8:15 in the morning, Anjiajun's fighter jets and bombers crossed the Strait of Malacca and fully invaded the airspace of Sumatra Island.
The Japanese coastal air defense forces deployed on the eastern coastal defense line began to use anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, anti-aircraft machine guns and other anti-aircraft weapons to attack the Anjia Army's air raid force.
Under the current military and technical conditions, the most advantageous weapon against Air Force fighters is actually fighter planes. The effectiveness of ground-based air defense weapons is quite limited.
Everyone in the Japanese army understands this, but the conditions do not allow it. Since 1941, after several consecutive years of air combat, the air power of the Japanese army and navy aviation units on Sumatra has been greatly damaged. Now there are not many fighters that can take off to fight.
There are more than two hundred aircraft, and their opponents are a huge fleet of more than eight thousand aircraft.
With a pair of forty, and the performance of the opponent's fighter plane far exceeds our own, the result is almost doomed!
When the Japanese army and navy aviation forces were completely destroyed in the first wave of engagement, various strategic points on Sumatra Island were quickly bombed indiscriminately by Anjia Army bombers.
Among the fighter planes flying in the sky, the transport aircraft groups of each airborne division successfully arrived at the designated location, and soon countless parachutes fell from the sky.
The main task of the airborne troops is to establish a solid blocking position behind the Japanese army, completely separate the various strategic clusters of the Japanese army, and open up a temporary airport suitable for the landing of airships and armed helicopters. The airships will fully transport the troops to Sumatra Island, and then
Attack the landing site near the coast from behind.
There is no doubt that this is an extremely brutal airborne battle!
Since the airdrop took place during the day, even though the location was chosen to be at a weak point of the Japanese army, it still attracted a large number of Japanese troops to the airdrop point to shoot in the air in a short period of time.
The Japanese soldiers shot into the sky desperately against the firepower of armed helicopters, fighter jets, and attack aircraft hovering in the low sky. Although most of the bullets hit the bait hanging the scarecrow, there were still airborne officers and soldiers who were unlucky.
It became a floating corpse in the air.
Some of the paratroopers who landed in the dense water network area in central Sumatra fell directly into lakes and rivers. They eventually drowned in the lake under the drag of the weapons and parachutes they carried. As for those who were lucky,
The airborne officers and soldiers who landed safely have not passed the danger they need to face. Next, they must complete the assembly of troops before the Japanese ground troops encircle them, set up blocking positions, and wait for the arrival of follow-up troops.
From beginning to end, the armed helicopters worked hard to suppress the Japanese counterattack. Once the Japanese anti-aircraft firepower was discovered, the notified fighter jets, attack aircraft and bombers swooped over and carried out precise strikes to ensure the safety of the armed helicopters. If nearby
If there are no fighter planes to assist in the battle, the armed helicopter will launch its own "Rainbow" I-type air-to-ground missile to eliminate the threat.
While covering the smooth launch of the airborne troops, countless bombers and attack aircraft near the coastline were bombing the Japanese coastal defense lines and Japanese ships located in harbors and estuaries.
Due to the huge threat from the Anjia Army Air Force, the Japanese Navy did not dare to deploy combat ships on Sumatra Island. The Southwest Fleet, which is responsible for the maritime defense of the Southeast Asian archipelago, can only use the Surabaya Port outside the bomber range as its home port, and use the Java Sea, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, and Suzhou Sea as its home port.
Sea areas such as the West Sea of Rawai are used for cruising and combat. The offshore area on the east coast of Sumatra in the Malacca Strait is simply equipped with some transport ships and a small number of small ships modified from civilian ships to launch suicide attacks. In addition, there are some
A "suicide" man-operated torpedo without a return capsule built based on Italian technology.
The powerful air force of the Anjia Army, after annihilating the Japanese army and navy air forces on Sumatra Island, also wiped out all the Japanese surface ships anchored in the harbor and estuary areas with overwhelming force. However, no one realized that there were still people below the sea level at this moment.
There are a large number of "suicide" human-operated torpedoes hidden.
As the name suggests, human-operated torpedoes are torpedoes piloted by humans and adopt a "death-like" attack. It is conceivable that when Anjiajun's landing ships arrive, these "suicide" human-operated torpedoes will attack Anjiajun's landing operations.
Posing a certain threat. However, because the Japanese army could not figure out the exact landing site of the Anjiajun, this large number of "suicide" manned torpedoes could only be distributed along the long coastline, and the number that could be used in local locations was relatively limited.
The first wave of landing operations took place in the oil port of Dumai.
At 11:8 noon, the Anjiajun cross-sea transport ship, escorted by the escort fleet, unexpectedly appeared outside Dumai Port. However, the three forts on Lupa Island in the north, which the Japanese army relied heavily on, did not fire their guns to attack them.
.
Just when the Japanese troops stationed in Dumai Port were stunned, the landing battle of the Anjia Army had been launched. Under the transportation of landing ships, thousands of Anjia officers and soldiers rushed ashore along the beaches on both sides of the port, easily
After breaking through the Japanese defense line, the two armies attacked the center together. An hour and a half later, they successfully captured the last building in Dumai Port and completely annihilated a Japanese infantry brigade.
Until this time, the Japanese army still did not understand why the three forts built at a huge cost on Lupa Island did not attack the landing fleet of the Anjia Army.
It turned out that as early as a month before the attack was launched, the Anjia Army Navy's "Green Fox" Special Forces Brigade set foot on Lupa Island and quietly cleared out the exposed and hidden sentries deployed by the Japanese army on the island. Last night, with the support of the "Green Fox" Special Forces Brigade,
, the 1st Marine Division of the Anjia Army came ashore in the northwest area of the island. All the way south, with the help of infrared night vision devices and other night combat weapons, they destroyed all the Japanese forts and military camps.
Before the landing battle started, the Japanese troops on Lupa Island had been completely cleared, but the Japanese troops in the weakly defended Dumai Port were completely unaware of this, which directly led to the defeat of the battle.
Tanjong Balai on the northeast coast of the Strait of Malacca in Sumatra. It is located on the left bank of the Shahan River in Penya. The terrain here is low and flat, which is very conducive to landing operations. Therefore, the Japanese army is extremely defensive on this line. At 1:45 p.m., Lu Shunchen
The 19th Group Army led by Lieutenant General successfully arrived at the sea off Tanjong Balai, and then launched a beach landing under the cover of the Air Force and Army Aviation Forces. Although the Japanese army put up tenacious resistance, in the face of the powerful landing force of the Anjia Army, the Japanese army's
The defense line was broken within two hours.
The landing operation on the Belawan front line started at two o'clock in the afternoon. What followed was the most tragic Battle of Panjiang Strait.
Different from the Japanese Category C divisions faced by the troops commanded by generals Liao Minlin, Lu Shunchen and Zong Xingzhen, the Japanese Fortieth Army responsible for the defense of the Panjiang Strait was entirely composed of Category B divisions and had much higher combat effectiveness.
The eastern coast of Sumatra is covered with swamps. Logically speaking, the Japanese army should not build fortifications and deploy too many troops here. However, in the past few years, Anjiajun special forces have frequently sneaked into the interior of Sumatra from these seemingly impassable areas.
, which caused the Japanese army to panic.
Under such circumstances, the Lanyin Army Headquarters became ruthless and mobilized nearly a million indigenous migrant workers to fill in the swamp inch by inch. It took more than two years to complete this huge project, and then built a solid defense line along the coastline. In the end
Only about 200,000 natives were left out of one million, which shows how bloody and huge the amount of work was.
The huge landing fleet carrying the two armies successfully arrived in the outer waters of the Panjiang Strait. Immediately, under the cover of the battleships, light and heavy cruisers and fire support ships of the battle fleet, the landing ships of the Anjia Army began to rush towards the beach.
Due to the previous long-term large-scale air raids, the Anjia Army's landing operations were no longer concealed. The Japanese coastal defense forces entered the position in advance and relied on solid fortifications to violently block the Anjia Army's landing forces.
On the open beach, Anjia Army landing ships one after another rushed onto the beach crazily despite intensive Japanese artillery fire. As the landing craft ran aground, the front baffle was opened, and countless Anjia Army officers and soldiers were like tigers emerging from the cage.
Under the cover of low-altitude armed helicopters, they rushed towards the Japanese position.
The defense line built by the Japanese army at a huge cost of manpower and material resources is not exaggerated. Since this artificially filled coast has an open terrain and no dangerous defensive terrain, the Japanese army built a large number of trench defenses in this area with bunkers as firepower points.
bring.
At the very front of the defensive zone, where the beach is, there are a large number of reinforced concrete barriers specially set up to block the landing of armored vehicles. These barriers are densely distributed on the beach, like dead tree stumps standing up from the ground.
, very headache-inducing.
Everyone must not underestimate these non-lethal iron piles. Although these obstacles cannot cause substantial harm to the landing troops, the landmines densely buried in the barrier zone are all fatal.
Behind the "jungle barrier" are the Japanese infantry trenches blocked by barbed wire. In these trenches, a large number of Japanese infantrymen huddled inside like ground rats, shooting at the sea through the shooting holes, killing and injuring a large number of Anjia who washed up on the beach.
Officers and soldiers.
Behind the infantry trench position is an anti-tank trench six meters wide and four meters deep. Its function is to continue to effectively block the advancement of the Anjia Army's armored forces after the isolation belt is removed by the Anjia Army engineers.
In this way, trenches were used to cut off the advance of armored troops, infantry positions were used to block infantry assaults, and bunker fortifications were used to block the attack. Such a large-scale defense belt, layer by layer, became the biggest capital of the Japanese army. Obviously, in this situation,
In the face of tight defense, it is not easy for Anjiajun's landing force to break through.
The beach landing battle that started at 2:30 in the afternoon lasted for more than two hours. Under the cover of the amphibious tanks that came ashore later, batches of Anjia officers and soldiers rushed onto the beach, and then rushed towards the Japanese army like a tide.
Infantry trench position.
Since the amphibious tanks were isolated in front of the reinforced concrete barriers and passively acted as fixed forts, the losses of the infantry were increasing. The sounds of guns, mine explosions, soldiers' shouts, dying groans, and painful wails were all heard throughout the area.
There was a roar on the open beach.
These sounds come together like a large-scale open-air concert, and the theme of the concert is destruction and death.
While the ground troops were attacking, the Anjiajun's air force also launched an unprecedented and brutal saturation attack on the Japanese defense lines.
Hundreds of bombers and attack planes were loaded with high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs. The Japanese artillery hidden behind the defense line quickly fell silent. The torn Japanese corpses and broken steel cannon bodies, accompanied by the dive of air fighters, were on the artillery position.
Flying in all directions. Every time the Japanese army exposed an artillery position, they would immediately enjoy the reception of dense aerial bombs and be wiped out.
The Japanese soldiers who were hiding in the trenches and shooting were surrounded by endless seas of fire.
Whenever an incendiary bomb falls into a trench from the air, the flames that rise into the sky and flash with white light can fill the tunnel in an instant. The Japanese soldiers buried in the flowing flames are covered with blood all over their bodies.
The flames either howled and twitched in the tunnel, or struggled to jump out of the tunnel, running wildly around the battlefield where gunfire rained down, until they were burned alive or killed by stray bullets.
Of course, the tenacity of the Japanese army is not exaggerated. Under such tragic circumstances, the Japanese army still persisted, causing huge casualties to the attacking Anjia Army. As many as a hundred landing craft and battleships were sunk by Japanese artillery fire.
The team's heavy cruiser "Guo Ziyi" was also damaged by a Japanese "suicide" manned torpedo and had to withdraw from the battle sadly.
Just when there was a stalemate at the front, the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Airborne Division of the Second Airborne Army, who successfully carried out airdrops on the south bank of the Guantan River, cooperated with the 23rd Armored Division of Sun Desheng's Eighth Group Army transported by airship, and suddenly came out from behind the Japanese army.
Defeating the Japanese defense along the way, they joined forces with the frontal attacking troops at the landing beach at 4:50 pm.
During these more than two hours of fighting, the Anjia army's offensive troops lost about 4,000 soldiers at eight landing points, but the results achieved were also extremely brilliant. Under the attack from the front and rear, the Japanese troops guarding the coast were completely annihilated.
The 72nd Division of the Forty Army, in this way, the door to Jambi was opened, and the battle went surprisingly smoothly.
The follow-up troops of the Anjia Army landed continuously. By evening, three armored divisions, six independent tank brigades and eight heavy artillery regiments came ashore. At this point, the Anjia Army troops that had successfully seized the beach had the support of heavy firepower. At this time, the troops in front
It has already rushed towards Jambi City in the south.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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