dognovel Chapter 220: The First Battle of Electronic Warfare Aircraft, Chaos on the Xunyang Defense Line
Chapter 220: The First Battle of Electronic Warfare Aircraft, Chaos on the Xunyang Defense Line
"Target location found!"
An F-100 Super Sabre fighter-bomber flying in the front successfully searched for the target in the valley through the AN/AJB-1 low-altitude bombing system.
The pilot then rolled sideways and began to reduce the throttle.
As it moves, the low-altitude bombing system's self-dropping loop is gradually approaching the target area.
When the self-dropping loop and the target area overlapped, under the control of the electronic system, two 1000-pound napalm bombs left the rack almost instantly and flew in a parabolic manner towards the 7th Army headquarters.
With a low-altitude bombing system, it is equivalent to equipping the fighter plane with a precise sight.
A less than apt analogy is the difference between a bolt-action rifle and a rifle equipped with an optical sight.
A fighter plane that is not equipped with a low-altitude bombing radar is equivalent to a bolt-action rifle. It can only rely on the rifle's built-in rear sight for aiming, which is very dependent on experience.
It’s different for rifles equipped with optical sights. Just aim at the enemy and pull the trigger.
And what’s different is that as long as you aim your crosshairs at the enemy, the rifle will automatically fire.
Although it is still not possible to achieve the effect of precise strikes.
After all, the bombs used are ordinary bombs and do not have any guidance capabilities.
But compared with the pilot's experience, the precise data calculated by the low-altitude bombing system is obviously more accurate.
Two 1000-pound napalm bombs fell from the sky and landed directly in the valley.
In an instant, two huge orange-red fireballs shot up into the sky.
The raging flames directly swept over the location of the headquarters of the 7th Army of the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation.
The 7th Army headquarters itself was just a few tents camouflaged in the woods.
The tent and the surrounding woods almost blend together, and it is difficult to detect with the naked eye unless you conduct reconnaissance close to the ground.
That is why the 7th Army's headquarters only placed a few tents here and did not build any defensive fortifications.
How could a thin tent possibly withstand the attack from napalm bombs?
So you can imagine what's happening in these tents.
However, subsequent fighter jets still made some finishing blows on the target area.
"Choo Choo Choo....."
Napalm bombs, high-explosive bombs, and cluster bombs exploded one after another in the valley, and bursts of explosions resounded through the sky.
The reorganized 11th Division, located at the front line of the Dabie Mountain defense line, suddenly found that it could not contact the military headquarters.
And before long, not only was the military headquarters unable to be contacted, but even their radio station could not be used and they couldn't even send telegrams.
The commander of the reorganized 11th Division suddenly felt that something was wrong.
What prevented them from sending telegrams was the EB-66 electronic warfare aircraft flying over the Dabie Mountains, which was also part of the Renaissance Army's plan.
The EB-66 electronic warfare aircraft is an electronic warfare aircraft developed based on the B-66 Destroyer tactical bomber. It is also the first jet electronic warfare aircraft of the original time and space Eagle Sauce.
A total of 25 30 MHz-10.75 GHz clutter and communication jammers are packed inside its fuselage, with the maximum interference distance reaching 300 kilometers.
Its main task is to interfere with communications and radar.
At present, this fighter has become an important means for the Renaissance Army Air Force to carry out long-range interference and electronic signal collection against the enemy.
For example, it was this electronic warfare aircraft that located the 7th Army headquarters.
The 7th Army headquarters disappeared without a ripple until the soldiers who ran out of the valley contacted a local force nearby.
Only then did they know that the 7th Army's headquarters had been bombed by the Restoration Army's Air Force.
However, what happened next caught them off guard.
The precision strike group composed of F-100 and F-105 fighter-bombers carried out low-altitude precision strikes on suspected targets along the entire Xunyang front.
More than 80% of the suspected targets discovered have been destroyed.
This also directly led to the paralysis of the command and communication systems of most of the troops on the Xunyang front.
Among these suspected targets was the divisional headquarters of the reorganized 11th Division.
If the commander of the reorganized 11th Division had not gone to inspect the front-line positions, his fate would not have been much better.
The bombing of battalion-level, regimental-level, division-level and even army-level command posts also caused major problems in the command chain on the Xunyang front.
Liu Jing, commander of the Third Corps and commander-in-chief of the Xunyang front, could only contact the surrounding troops through signal soldiers on horseback, and even the telephone could not be used.
Because many telephone lines were blown down.
This also directly led to chaos on the entire Xunyang front.
After the Xunyang front-line command system was paralyzed in the tactical bombing.
The B-45 tactical bombers and Tu-16 medium bombers following behind also entered the war zone and carried out large-scale bombing on the high ground of the Southern Alliance defenders on the front lines of Dabie Mountains and Mubu Mountains.
In the face of their ineffective air defense system, the two jet bombers dropped tons of bombs.
The B-45 tactical bomber has a bomb load capacity of 12 tons.
The Tu-16 medium bomber has a bomb load of 9 tons.
The firepower of these two bombers is still very fierce.
虽然说图-16的载弹量虽然不如B-45，但是却有着7200公里的最大航程，B-45仅有3000公里左右，打击范围比B-45要广。
In the Third Army headquarters, Luo Qing looked at the map in front of him with a frown.
After a long time, his brows relaxed and he had made up his mind.
"Pass on my order: the 5th and 6th Motorized Infantry Divisions on the Dabie Mountain front, and the 8th and 9th Motorized Infantry Divisions on the Mubu Mountain front, switch from feint attacks to active attacks."
"Yes!"
Luo Qing had his considerations for doing this.
After tactical missiles, precision strikes and electronic warfare, the enemy on the front line has been thrown into great chaos.
Obviously, the General Staff underestimated the effect of this tactic.
As a front-line commander, he could see this more clearly.
So he decided to seize this opportunity to launch an attack first, perhaps he could take this opportunity to directly break through the Xunyang defense line.
Next, we can achieve our goal by cooperating with the air assault troops and airborne troops to capture Hongcheng.
If we still launch a feint attack according to the plan of the General Staff, once the enemy establishes a new command system, we will probably have to pay a greater price if we want to fight again.
It was with this in mind that he made this decision.
However, after issuing the order, he personally drafted a telegram and sent it to the military district headquarters, which then passed it on to the General Staff.
It would be fine if he made the decision on his own, but if he didn't explain to his superiors, then his tenure as the army group commander would be over.
No matter how great his contributions are, it won’t work.
Just when his telegram was sent to the Central Plains Military Region Headquarters, Jiang Tianming, the commander of the Central Plains Military Region, read the telegram carefully.
Luo Qing's ideas were explained very clearly in this telegram.
"Tell Luo Qing that since he has made the decision, he must show us his military achievements, otherwise he will be punished."
As the commander of the military region, Jiang Tianming's combat style is inherently fierce, so he is quite supportive of Luo Qing's proactive attack.
But his decision to act first and report later was a bit against the rules, so he still needed to be punished.
"Can!"
The reply from the General Staff was just one word.
After seeing this word, Luo Qing immediately let go of all his psychological burdens.
At this time, the artillery fire on the front line became more intense.
The most advanced positions of the Dabie Mountain defense line are the two high grounds located on both sides of the highway.
They are called Taizi Mountain and Kuijiaao respectively.
The core of this area is the Taizi Mountain Plateau, which is only about 200 meters high.
It not only controls the important highway along the river leading to Anqing, Jiangnan and Huaijiang provinces, but can also directly block the river.
On the opposite side of Taizi Mountain is the Huangshi position group of the Mubu Mountain defense line.
The Yellowstone position group is built around dense lakes and hills, with one scattered position after another.
The layout of these positions is quite sophisticated.
However, the general who arranged the Yellowstone positions did not consider another point.
The dispersion of positions means that the various troops cannot communicate with each other, and it also places high demands on the soldiers' combat effectiveness and fighting will.
So he only deployed three divisions of local miscellaneous troops in this group of positions.
Although there are three divisions, the strength of each division is only between 5000 and 8000 people.
The combined strength of the three divisions was less than 2, but their weapons and equipment were decent, all of them were old retired bolt-action and Hanyang-made rifles, and they managed to ensure that every soldier had a rifle.
The direct troops of the Southern Alliance are equipped with weapons and equipment from the three countries of John, Gaul and the United States.
Obviously, the three divisions deployed in the Yellowstone position group are just cannon fodder.
The first attack was launched in the direction of Taizi Mountain.
A number of multi-purpose wheeled infantry fighting vehicles launched an attack on Taizi Mountain under the cover of M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks.
The M41 Walker Bulldog light tank was designed to replace the M24 Chaffee light tank.
The combat weight is 23.5 tons, the maximum speed is 72 kilometers per hour, and the maximum range is 161 kilometers.
The weapon is equipped with a 76mm tank gun, an auxiliary machine gun and a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun.
Although it is only a light tank, its protection capabilities are still good.
The front armor has a uniform thickness of 31 mm, which is fully capable of blocking the fire of small-caliber anti-tank guns.
Dozens of M41 light tanks launched an armored assault on the Taizishan defense line in a skirmish line.
Behind these light tanks followed the attacking force of an entire motorized infantry regiment.
Motorized infantry is no longer pulled to the front line by cars and dropped off, and then coordinated with tanks to launch coordinated infantry-tank operations as before.
Now they are equipped with a series of multi-purpose wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, which can provide a certain degree of protection while enabling them to follow tanks in combat.
"The Renaissance Army, the Renaissance Army is charging forward!"
On the Taizishan Heights, the soldiers of the 11th Regiment of the Reorganized 118th Division suffered heavy losses in the previous bombing and artillery bombardment, and the defensive fortifications on the Taizishan Heights were also severely damaged.
When they saw dozens of tanks rushing towards them with their guns raised at the foot of the mountain, fear appeared in their eyes.