After a day of fierce fighting on the 8th, Anton's Ming army still held its position, and the Japanese 4th Division, which was attacking frontally, did not advance a step. However, there were not many casualties. The two sides were almost in a semi-confrontation state. Sometimes
Although you can't see through the ruins, you can still hear the soldiers on the other side talking, and when the other side is cooking, you can smell what's cooking in the other side's pot.
On the contrary, the 10th Division, which served as an assist, suffered heavy casualties. The Yalu River was filled with corpses of Japanese soldiers, and many rubber rafts riddled with holes were floating down the river.
The commander of the 10th Division, Rensuke Isotani, kept calling the headquarters of the 4th Division for two days, questioning, angrily, and cursing, saying that they were all cowards and ignored the title of "Imperial Army." Using Isotani Rensuke
In the words of Jie Jie, "It is not easy to have a stalemate with an absolutely inferior enemy on the second day of the offensive."
And Isotani Rensuke still did not understand the actual situation, otherwise he would not have said this. The actual situation was not that the two armies formed a "stalemate confrontation", but that a regiment of Ming troops in the city was fully capable of defeating the Japanese Fourth Division.
It was entirely because the "friendly enemy" of the Fourth Division was rare, and the Ming army gave way to them, fearing that they would be beaten away.
On the 7th, the Japanese army occupied Fuxin. On the evening of the 8th, four Japanese divisions attacked Yixian from the northeast and approached Jinzhou. At the same time, six Japanese divisions also approached Shenyang from the north.
Jinzhou and Shenyang originally had only one division of the Ming Army. Jinzhou was the land gateway connecting the inner and outer passes of the pass, while Shenyang was the administrative center of the entire Fengtian. At this time, the Ming army's reinforcements from the pass arrived in Shenyang from the south and began to cooperate with them.
The leading troops of the Japanese army engaged in the battle. The Ming army reinforcements that arrived in Jinzhou also continued northward and started fighting with the Japanese army in Yixian County.
There are ten Japanese divisions directly attacking these two cities. The reinforcements that have arrived from the Ming army have also reached seven divisions. These seven divisions are all motorized infantry divisions, and their firepower is that of the Japanese A-type divisions.
More than double. Each division is equipped with a tank battalion, with a total of 32 medium and heavy tanks. As for the Japanese divisions attacking Shenyang and Jinzhou, each division is also equipped with an independent tank regiment, with a total of 30 Type III tanks.
tank.
In normal historical time and space, the Japanese Type III tanks would not be developed and equipped for the army until the 1940s. They were designed to deal with the main battle tanks of the US Army and the Soviet Army. In normal history, due to the long-term potential of the Japanese Army
The enemy, the Republic of China Army, had almost no armored forces, and its heavy weapons were extremely backward. Japanese tanks did not need to deal with tanks, and even
Even the threat of anti-tank guns is not great. Therefore, a "thin-skinned turtle shell" similar to the 95 tank was developed. But in this time and space, the Ming army has strong armor and powerful artillery firepower. The Japanese Army's number one
The imaginary enemy is naturally the Ming army. For this reason, the Type III medium tank, which was not supposed to be produced until a few years later, now appears early.
However, both sides did not use these dozens of tanks together. Instead, they dispersed them into various battalions and companies and used them as weapons to cover the infantry. There was no other way. Equipping these infantry divisions with tanks meant that
For this purpose. Specialized like the People's Guard.
Armored divisions only have one or two hundred tanks in one division, which is not many after all. The tanks on both sides are now scattered so widely that it is difficult to see one, and they are followed by large groups of infantry, carrying machine guns and pushing small tanks.
Cannons, ducking forward and rushing forward. The tank stations on both sides were unable to fight at all.
Although the Ming army had rich combat experience and stronger firepower, they also strongly felt the Japanese army's powerful combat effectiveness and their drive to fight without their lives. After the two sides' artillery fired at each other, the two sides charged.
Thousands of Japanese troops rushed forward with bayonets in hand, shouting "Long live!" and their momentum made every Ming Dynasty officer and soldier tremble with fear.
Although they had a lot of submachine guns in their hands, the opponent seemed not to be afraid of death at all, charging forward one after another. The Ming army soldiers often finished the shooting in one shot, and were killed by the Japanese bayonets before they had time to change their magazines. The Ming army soldiers
The riflemen were no match for the Japanese soldiers with their bayonets. The Japanese soldiers all seemed to be masters of hand-to-hand combat, and they stabbed a Ming soldier to death in just a few strokes.
Although in general, the Ming army was able to achieve a better exchange ratio with its advantages in heavy weapons and light weapons, everyone was mentally under great pressure. They could not understand that there were such tigers and wolves in the world.
The soldiers on the other side were obviously strangers to each other, but the unforgettable expression of hatred on their faces and the desire to die together made every Ming Dynasty officer and soldier seriously frightened.
"Does he have a grudge against me for killing my father?"
This is a thought lingering in the minds of many Ming army soldiers.
…
The "small naval staff" established by Xiang Xiaoqiang was very efficient. In the early morning of the 9th, three aircraft carriers "Tianxuan", "Tianji" and "Tianshu" were moored at the Zhoushan base, as well as nine destroyers.
, taking advantage of the darkness, quietly drove out of the Zhoushan Islands through the complicated waterways, bypassed the Japanese destroyers monitoring the Ming fleet, and drove from the south to the East China Sea.
This is the benefit of the Zhoushan Islands as a home fleet base. As an archipelago, it has a very wide area, a very long perimeter, and many exits, almost countless. It is almost impossible for the Japanese fleet to completely block and monitor from the periphery.
. And the Japanese fleet would never dare to penetrate deep into the complex waterways and defense systems of the archipelago.
The flagship of the squadron this time is the Tianshu. In addition to the escorting destroyers, the main ships of the Tianshu squadron are all aircraft carriers. They carry a total of 240 combat aircraft, of which half are fighter jets and the other half are dive bombers and torpedo planes.
The scheduled mission of the squadron is to break through Japan's Western Pacific island chain and advance into the Pacific.
First of all, breaking through the Japanese island chain means engaging in a naval battle with the Japanese fleet guarding the island chain and annihilating the opponent. Secondly, after breaking through to the Pacific Ocean, the aircraft carrier aircraft must extensively search the ocean for Japanese transport ships and any warships, and then attack them.
sink. Third, if conditions permit, choose a suitable location on the east coast of Japan.
Conduct air strikes on a suitable target. This target can be a military port, a commercial port, or an industrial zone. The purpose is not strategic bombing, but to give Japan a strong shock, slap the Japanese navy in the face, and force them to deploy in the Yellow Sea.
and the East China Sea fleet were transferred eastward to give the Ming Navy room to move and redeploy its forces.
The Tianshu squadron will also fight against the Japanese main battleships and strive to sink the Japanese main battleships to complete the ultimate goal of this voyage - to prove that aircraft carriers are stronger than battleships.
…
Originally, "in principle", Xiang Xiaoqiang was given two aircraft carriers. However, Xiang Xiaoqiang took chicken feathers as command arrows and insisted that this only meant "two aircraft carriers" and did not mention other ships. He also wanted a battleship.
Cruiser. But Xiong Dingming told him that the only battle cruiser of the Ming Dynasty, the Zhurong, was sent to Europe to blockade the Soviet Union before the war, and was currently on its way back from Nanyang.
Xiang Xiaoqiang then changed his mind and wanted a battleship. He knew that although the aircraft carrier had advantages in day and long range, it was possible to have "close contact" with enemy battleships at close range at night and on cloudy days. In this way, the aircraft carrier would be in a very dangerous situation.
Besides, this is the first time that the Ming Navy has used aircraft carriers in naval battles on such a large scale. What is the fate of the fleet?
Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't know whether he was used to it or whether the pilot had enough experience in attacking ships. He knew not to be blindly optimistic and to prepare for the worst. The most certain situation is that the aircraft carrier would use air strikes from a long distance to defeat the enemy first.
The ship was damaged and weakened, and then the Ming battleships attached to it and conducted traditional artillery battles to sink the enemy ship.
But asking for battleships from Xiong Dingming at this moment is tantamount to asking for the skin of a tiger. In the eyes of these giant ship and cannonists, battleships are now the lifeblood of the Ming Dynasty's navy. Now one battleship has been seriously injured (Zhengde), one battleship and one battleship
The cruisers (Yongle and Zhurong) are overseas, and the local fleet has been greatly weakened. Now we rely on these four remaining battleships to guard the sea gateway. How can we extract another one and send it overseas?
But Xiang Xiaoqiang refused to give up and insisted on getting a battleship. He almost fell out because of this. Xiong Dingming was unwilling to fall out with Xiang Xiaoqiang, nor was he willing to weaken the local fleet, so he reluctantly agreed to give in one more step and allocate another battleship to Xiang Xiaoqiang.
aircraft carrier.
When Xiong Dingming tried hard to get the battleship from him, he also had the intention of "asking for the top and you will get the middle, asking for the middle and you will get the bottom". If a miracle happens, it is best to get the battleship. If Xiong Dingming refuses to give up the battleship,
Then Xiang Xiaoqiang planned to change his mind and ask for another aircraft carrier. Now that Xiong Dingming offered to give him another aircraft carrier, Xiang Xiaoqiang's goal was basically achieved, so he readily agreed.
Although aircraft carriers have great limitations, there is a big difference between two aircraft carriers plus one battleship and three all-aircraft carriers. Although the former can "operate in all weather", first, there is a battleship dragging down the entire fleet.
The speed will be much slower. Secondly, there is a qualitative difference between the air strike power of two aircraft carriers and the air strike power of three aircraft carriers.
Two aircraft carriers each have only about 80 fighters and bombers, so it is difficult to say that they will definitely gain an advantage in air combat or bombing. With three aircraft carriers, that is 120 fighters and 120 bombers. Even in the face of
The 120 fighter jets at the Japanese land-based airport are definitely a force that cannot be underestimated. As for the ship attack, 120 dive bombers and torpedo bombers, no matter what fleet the opponent is, are doomed.
…
The Tianshu squadron took advantage of the darkness and galloped southward at a high speed of 25 knots, but kept a relatively close distance to the Fujian coast, never more than a few dozen kilometers away. In this way, even after dawn, it would be intercepted by Japanese reconnaissance planes or
The submarine found that since it was within the protective radius of its own land-based aircraft, there would be no serious problems.
Their goal is to go all the way south and pass through the strait between Taiwan Island and Diaoyu Island. The Japanese army has at least two heavy cruisers deployed there. But the Ming army has an airport on Taiwan Island, from where
Passing through the island chain, being able to get the protection of land-based aircraft on Taiwan-Taiwan Island is an even greater advantage for the Ming fleet.
Sink the two Japanese ships, cross the strait, and sail eastward to enter the vast Pacific Ocean. From there, turn around and sail northeast, you can sail into the busy area of Japan's Pacific route. From there, you can attack Japan's Pacific Ocean