By 8 o'clock in the morning on June 1, the Third Red Division to the north of the Second Red Division, which had been bombed into a puddle of rotten persimmons, was torn apart by the Blue First Armored Division into nine pieces in a 20-kilometer-long area.
Each area has no organizational structure above a battalion level.
Of course, this is just a guess made by the blue team based on the number and size of the divided blocks. In fact, during the two and a half hours of non-stop bombing and strafing, the Third Red Division no longer had a complete structure above the platoon.
The 2nd Blue Division, reinforced by a tank battalion, was assigned by Rommel to stay behind to "clean up" the paralyzed 2nd and 3rd Red Divisions, and then went south to fight the approaching 4th and 5th Red Divisions. Rommel himself was completely defeated.
Without delay, lead the 1st Blue Division to continue advancing westward along the highway, face the 1st Red Division and the 6th Red Division, break through or defeat them, and then drive to Nanjing to win the exercise.
The 1st Blue Division is an armored division. After allocating a tank battalion to the 2nd Red Division, there are still two battalions with a total of 90 tanks, which are still the main armored force. The main armored force always has to charge forward and act as a "butter knife".
Rommel mastered this very well.
The tanks and armored vehicles of the 1st Blue Division were dispersed into battle formations and "rumbled" into the fields on both sides of the road. The wheeled vehicles of the 1st Blue Division formed a convoy on the road, following the armored troops.
The forward speed of the entire division is currently 20 kilometers per hour.
This kind of speed is unimaginable for ordinary infantry divisions. The traveling speed of ordinary infantry divisions in a day is only 15-20 kilometers, and the fastest light-armored column can only travel 25-30 kilometers at most. But mechanized and motorized divisions, these
The distance is covered in just one hour.
The Red Army's reserve forces, namely the 1st Red Division and the 6th Red Division, are stationed only 20 kilometers away from here.
Now there are only blue planes in the sky. In the entire exercise battlefield of more than 100 kilometers long, where every part of the Red Army is, how many people there are, what they are doing, and where they are going are all under the eyes of the Blue Army. So the Blue Army's 1st Division Company
There is no need for reconnaissance, just rush forward at maximum speed.
…
The tracks of the Lightning-3 tank "rumbled" over the farmland. Wherever it passed, like a combine harvester, large areas of crops fell down and were crushed into the soil.
There are nearly a hundred such "combine harvesters" scattered widely in the farmland on both sides of the road. The area of crop damage is very large.
What is growing in the fields now is summer grain, which will be harvested in two or three months. Now it is growing very well, and it is green and attractive.
On the field ridge in the distance, many farmers stood with straight necks, watching the large number of tanks and armored vehicles passing by their fields. Some stared blankly, some pointed, and talked loudly. There were also
Many young people jumped excitedly to watch.
They didn't know whether they were feeling sorry for the crops, or they had never seen such a large battle before and were stunned. It was probably both. Because local governments had informed them that military exercises would be held in the past few days and some crops might be destroyed.
But no matter how much damage is done, the government will pay 1.5 times compensation. The farmers are not worried about their losses except for some instinctive feelings of pity.
But the soldiers on the armored vehicles continue to feel heavy. Whether they are armored soldiers or infantry, most of them are farmers' children. Although they now wear helmets and military uniforms and sit on armored vehicles and trucks, they all stand up and hold the vehicle
On the side, I silently looked at the crops in the farmland that were being crushed by tanks. The excitement of the large-scale raid and consecutive victories had now dissipated a lot.
…
More than ten kilometers away from the leading troops of the Blue Division, the Red Sixth Division was struggling to hold on under the "ravage" of aircraft overhead, moving forward almost inch by inch.
On both sides of the road, long groups of people had already dispersed and were lying in the fields. At least one-third of the various cars, carriages, and artillery on the road had now been declared "bombed."
With great difficulty, the nine dive bombers overhead flew away.
Division Commander Huang Shuliang raised his head from the temporary foxhole that the soldiers had just dug. He covered his helmet with a straw stick in his mouth and scanned the sky with squinted eyes. Several staff officers from the division headquarters next to him also carefully looked at the sky from their respective positions.
Look up from the foxhole.
Above the foxhole, two drill referees wearing armbands stared at them eagerly, hoping that they would have the honor of personally pronouncing the death of a division commander.
But this Commander Huang Shuliang was really slipping like a weasel, just not giving them a chance. Ever since he was hit by the first round of air raids an hour ago, he was like a coward, and immediately jumped out of the car, screaming, and also
He ordered all the staff officers of the division to follow him and dive into the farmland on the roadside. After the first round of air strikes, he seemed to have expected that the air strikes would never end like this, and immediately asked the soldiers to dig temporary foxholes and provide them to the division headquarters.
For hiding.
After the first round of air strikes, he looked up and saw that many vehicles, mules, horses, and artillery on the road had been tied with red cloth by the exercise referee to represent destruction. There were also many infantrymen on both sides.
Under the supervision of the exercise referee, he cursed and put on a death plate and lay aside.
Huang Shuliang immediately asked the messenger to pass on and ordered the entire division to immediately be in air defense mode. Each regiment closely observed the sky and sounded the air defense alarm as soon as possible. Once the entire division heard the air defense alarm, it must immediately disperse to both sides of the road and lie down to hide.
.At the same time, 12 20mm anti-aircraft guns from the division's air defense company fired at enemy aircraft.
At this time, the infantry division had little experience in air defense. Moreover, the infantry division had its own anti-aircraft gun unit. Although there were only 12, it was already a quite luxurious configuration in this era. This was because Tang Yunsheng considered that the Blue Army had air superiority and gave extra
On the configuration of the Red Army.
The intervals between the Blue Army's air strikes were very short, and a few minutes later the second wave of air strikes arrived. The Red Army officers and soldiers who had just gotten up and walked had to scatter to both sides of the road and lie down to hide.
The second air raid again resulted in heavy casualties. However, as Huang Shuliang's order was quickly passed on, by the time of the Blue Army's fourth and fifth air raids, air defense alarms sounded in time, and the Red Sixth Division stopped in addition to equipment and vehicles.
On the road, although the damage was still serious, the casualties were greatly reduced.
…
"Okay, the alarm is off!...The alarm is off!..."
The shouts came from far and near. The soldiers in the fields on both sides got up cursing, flicked the dirt off their bodies, and continued to walk in line with their guns on their shoulders.
Huang Shuliang's temporary division headquarters is located next to these foxholes. So far, the division command system has remained unscathed, unlike the unlucky Second and Third Red Divisions, which were "beheaded" from the beginning.
.Although the Sixth Red Division has suffered considerable losses, the entire command structure is still perfect and the organization is still very sound. It can execute orders and prohibitions and advance and retreat in a well-founded manner.
"How far are we?"
Huang Shuliang chewed straw sticks, pressed the map on a "scrapped" carriage, and asked the staff beside him.
"Master, please look at this," a staff officer pointed at the map and said, "We are here now. In front of us is Hengtang. Hengtang is only ten kilometers away from Luoxi."
"Do you think the enemy's vanguard has reached Luoxi?"
The staff officer took a compass and measured it on the map and calculated:
"The enemy uses Lightning-3 tanks as the main force. The maximum speed of Lightning-3 on the road is 40 kilometers per hour. But it is impossible for their tanks to drive on the road. Firstly, the road must be left to wheeled vehicles, and secondly, it is close to us. They
The tanks cannot be allowed to form an ordinary marching column on the road, but must be in a scattered battle formation. The maximum cross-country speed of the Lightning-3 in such fields is 25 kilometers. But that is the highest, and it is impossible for the actual enemy to drive
So fast. Otherwise, their fuel and maintenance pressure would be greater. Therefore, their estimated speed is 20 kilometers per hour. It is impossible to cross Luoxi at this moment. But the difference should not be much."
Uncle Huang nodded, and just as he was about to say something, the air defense siren rang loudly in the distance. Without saying a word, he immediately jumped into the foxhole with his head in his hands. Several other staff officers also grabbed the map and jumped in.
In their respective foxholes.
The long marching column now dispersed like a group of ants, rushing from the road to the farmland on both sides. At the same time, 12 machine guns in the distance sounded "bang bang bang".
In the sky, several fighter jets rushed down in turn with tongues of flames flashing, and then they dropped several "small bombs" like dive bombers.
Many soldiers knelt down from the field, raised their necks and cursed:
"Damn it, the fighter jet dropped a bomb too! What are you doing!"
But senior officers such as Huang Shuliang understand that many fighter jets can also be equipped with bombs, such as the Kingfisher of the Ming Army. The difference is that the weight is smaller.
Now it is obvious that the Blue Army feels that the dozens of dive bombers are not enough. There are no enemies in the sky anyway, so they simply add small bombs to the fighter jets. In this way, the number of "dive bombers" of the Blue Army has increased by one.
times.
…
"Alarm cleared...Alarm cleared..."
Another shout came from the distance.
"Damn it, I won't let you live anymore!" A staff officer stood up from the foxhole, spat with dirt, and cursed, "Let me suppress you and beat you. Let alone march, I can't even raise my head.
!If you keep going like this, you can walk five miles a day, which is good!"
Huang Shuliang emerged from the foxhole, shook the dirt off his helmet, and said with a smile:
"Don't worry, we're going slow, and the blue army can't go fast!... Come on, come on, I'll tell you..."
After he finished talking to several staff officers, they couldn't help laughing.
"Master, this move of yours is really damaging."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter... We never tire of deceit... That German guy, that 'fog fox', attacked early and played tricks on us. Then I'll play with them to see if it's his fox trick or my old yellow trick! Hold on!
Hahaha……"
Several people in the division headquarters laughed again.
…
The leading tank troops of the Blue Army were "rumbling" in the fields. Each tank commander stood on the turret, holding his arms on the top of the turret, and looked majestic.
Suddenly, the voice of the tank commander in the front row came from the earphones:
"Attention, there is something ahead..."
His voice paused, and then he said in disbelief:
"It appeared... it appeared..."
The commander of the tank company was impatient and asked with a frown:
"What happened?"
"A lot of farmers showed up..."
"Farmer?!"
"Yes, farmers," the captain in the front row said hesitantly, "They gathered in groups on the road and in front of us. There were thousands of them, and they seemed to be carrying various farm tools... There were also many old men and old ladies sleeping.
I'm... sleeping on the road. Sir, please stop first."