dognovel Chapter 113: Panther Tank Cluster Crosses the Dalin River
Chapter 113: Panther Tank Cluster Crosses the Dalin River
Beiwopu was the river crossing point chosen by the Fuxing Army, and the railway bridge on the Dalin River was the location chosen by the Fuxing Army for the feint attack.
This is also where the Fuso Army's 19th Division has the largest number of troops stationed.
The entire 74th Regiment, with a force of more than 3800 men, was stationed on the railway bridge and on its left and right sides.
In the early morning of May 32, 5.
The 74th Regiment had breakfast in the tunnel fortifications of the position as before.
Their breakfast is very simple, just a rice ball with some pickles.
As for canned food, there is only one at noon.
Suddenly there was a whistling sound in the sky.
Many veterans, upon hearing this sound, threw down their lunch boxes and rushed into the nearby anti-artillery holes without saying a word, fearing that they would run too slowly.
“Boom…Boom…Boom…”
Dense artillery shells fell on the battlefield like meteorites, causing an earth-shaking explosion.
The explosions continued one after another.
But at this moment, the 74th Regiment was very calm.
Because they have begun to get used to such days.
In the previous few days, they had been subjected to at least four hours of shelling every day.
Two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.
They have all begun to figure out the pattern.
"Our artillery is useless. When they encounter the artillery and fighter planes of the Restoration Army, it's like a cat encountering a mouse."
"They are truly useless. Not only did they fail to stop the Restoration Army's bombardment, they also lost most of their own artillery."
In the anti-artillery cave that was 4 meters deep, feeling the movement coming from above their heads, they began to complain about their own artillery.
If the Fuso artillery heard their complaints, they would definitely hand the cannons to them and then say: You come!
They wanted to have a decisive battle with the artillery of the Renaissance Army, but they had no chance at all.
The first is the performance of the artillery.
They could clearly feel that in every aspect, their artillery performance was inferior to that of the Renaissance Army.
Secondly, their artillery reconnaissance aircraft and artillery balloons were unable to take off at all.
Basically, they will be shot down as soon as they take off, even at night.
As for the artillery reconnaissance unit.....
They had already sent out four or five artillery reconnaissance teams, but all of them disappeared without a trace.
The Renaissance Army possesses very accurate radio positioning technology and radio jamming technology.
And it is very powerful in anti-reconnaissance capabilities.
So the artilleryman's three eyes are useless.
They could only use the nearby high ground to set up observation posts to locate the location of the Restoration Army artillery.
You know what, they actually found one.
But it was useless even if they found it because their artillery range was simply out of reach.
"Didi, didi, didi..."
After the bombardment lasted for an hour, a quick and shrill whistle suddenly came from outside the tunnel.
After hearing the whistle, everyone's face instantly tightened, and they picked up their weapons and rushed out of the anti-artillery cave.
The whistle came from the observation post of the position.
If the whistle blows, it means the ground offensive of the Restoration Army has begun.
Not only were they not nervous at all, they even started to get ready.
After being bombed for several days, we can finally fight against the ground forces of the Restoration Army.
The Fuso troops of the 74th Regiment began to look for cover and set up firing points in the bomb craters.
Soon the smoke from the artillery shells dissipated from their positions.
At this time, they were finally able to see clearly what was happening on the other side of the railway bridge.
When they saw the scene on the other side of the river, their faces suddenly froze.
They didn't see even a single infantryman of the Restoration Army.
They were all tanks, including Leopard medium tanks and Panzer IV H tanks, totaling more than 150 in total.
How can they fight like this?
The tanks were scattered across the river, their guns pointed at their positions from afar.
Then, one bridge-laying tank after another drove to the river under the cover of the Panzer IV H tank and began to lower the steel pontoon bridge.
When the commander of the 74th Regiment of the Fuso Army saw this scene, his face changed drastically.
"Damn it! Why are there so many tanks?... Oh no! They're trying to build a bridge! Order all anti-tank guns and artillery to leave their hiding places! Shoot! Shoot at them!"
For a moment, the entire 74th Regiment's position was in chaos.
The Fuso army's counterattack began.
However, their counterattack could not pose much threat to the tanks of the 31st Tank Regiment.
Take their anti-tank gun for example, it is still the old Taisho 37-year type mm flat-fire sniper gun.
The 37mm armor-piercing explosive shell it was equipped with had a penetration depth of less than 50mm, so it could not pose a threat to the frontal armor of the Leopard and Panzer IV tanks.
On the contrary, this bulky flat-fire cannon is difficult to move, produces a lot of smoke, and easily exposes its position.
Once exposed, they will be attacked by concentrated fire from tanks.
In addition to flat-fire cannons, the Fuso army even started to bring out mortars.
The shells fell densely on the tank cluster, causing explosions.
The mortar unit of the Renaissance Army also launched a counterattack.
This mortar unit also specially drew several self-propelled mortar vehicles from the mechanized infantry regiment.
The self-propelled mortar vehicle is an extension of the multi-purpose infantry fighting vehicle and is equipped with a 120mm caliber rapid-fire mortar.
A total of 4 vehicles were dispatched.
After the first pontoon steel plate of the bridge tank was laid, the Fuso army no longer cared about the tanks.
Their artillery also concentrated their fire on the pontoon bridge.
Regardless of the cost, they blew up the first section of the pontoon bridge.
However, they also paid the price of having several artillery pieces destroyed.
At the same time, an M31 Priest self-propelled artillery battalion behind the 7st Regiment also launched close-range artillery fire.
Intensive artillery fire once again fell on the positions of the 74th Regiment.
The Fuxing Army launched a fierce attack on the railway bridge positions with a large number of tanks and artillery.
After hearing the battle report from the front line, Kuroda Toshiki was shocked.
"What? More than a hundred chariots, and some specially built chariots for pontoon bridges.
It seems that the main attack direction of the Fuxing Army is the railway bridge.
Order the 74th Regiment to hold the position at all costs, and if they fail, blow up the railway bridge immediately.
I will send reinforcements to support them."
The reason why he directly judged that this was the main attack direction of the Renaissance Army was very simple.
That is more than 31 tanks of the st Tank Regiment.
Such a large tank unit is equivalent to the size of two tank regiments.
This is definitely the main force.
Since the main tank forces have appeared in the direction of the railway bridge, what else can it be if not the main attack?
So he immediately sent out a reserve force.
This reserve force is the 73rd Regiment.
Currently, there are only about two thousand people left in the 73rd Regiment, and personnel and equipment need to be replenished in the rear.
So Lieutenant General Toshiki Kuroda simply used him as a reserve.
Jinchuan City, headquarters of the 1st Column and the 11th Armored Division.
The chief of staff strode into the operations room with a telegram in his hand.
"Commander, the reconnaissance helicopter reported that a Fuso army of approximately 2,000 men was spotted moving towards the railway bridge.
It seems the 19th Division has been tricked; they have identified the railway bridge as our main attack direction."
Liao Jie took the telegram, glanced at it, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Very good. In that case, let's notify the Beiwopu area and have them break through the Dalin River defense line with lightning speed."
"Yes, I will give the order right away."
The chief of staff ran happily towards the room where the communications company was located.
The 32nd Tank Regiment, the 33rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment, and the 11th Armored Artillery Regiment were all waiting for orders from the column headquarters.
"Great, the order finally came!"
The moment the commander of the 11th Armored Artillery Regiment saw the order, he excitedly shouted, "Order all artillery companies to immediately launch an artillery attack on the Fuso Army positions on the north bank.
They must be beaten so hard that they can’t even raise their heads.”
At the artillery positions, the M7 Priests, M41s, M40s and self-propelled rocket launchers had already completed the assembly of all parameters.
The moment they received the order, they immediately launched a large-scale artillery attack on the Fuso position on the opposite bank of Beiwopu.
“Boom…Boom…Boom…”
"Swish swish..."
In an instant, it seemed as if thousands of cannons were firing at the same time on the battlefield, and the roar of the cannons swept around like thunder.
Dense artillery shells formed a rain of bullets in the air, just like a meteor shower falling to the ground.
Intensive explosions occurred on the positions of the 76st and 1nd Battalions of the 2th Regiment of the Fuso Army.
For a moment, the entire position was filled with artillery fire and explosions one after another.
The violent energy and dense fragments destroyed everything around it.
A large number of ground fortifications on the position were gradually destroyed by the artillery bombardment.
The commander of the 76th Regiment's face changed drastically after seeing the scale of the bombardment.
"Damn it, the main attack direction of the Renaissance Army is on our side!
Contact the division headquarters immediately and request support from the reserve forces!"
19th Division Headquarters.
When Kuroda Toshiki saw the call from the 76th Regiment, his face immediately darkened.
He didn't realize that he had been fooled.
The Fuxing Army dispatched a large number of tank troops in the direction of the railway bridge, making him mistakenly believe that this was the main attack direction.
So he sent out the reserve troops.
Unexpectedly, just as the 73rd Regiment of Qianqiao reached the direction of the railway bridge, the Fuxing Army launched a general attack on Xiaohuang Village downstream.
Judging from the report of the 76th Regiment, it is obvious that the direction of Xiaohuang Village is the real crossing point of the Fuxing Army.
"Contact the Fifth Division immediately and have them mobilize troops to reinforce Xiaohuang Village as quickly as possible. They must do this quickly!"
Kuroda Toshiki was really anxious.
He knew very well that the Fuxing Army had deployed so many tanks in the direction of the railway bridge, and they must have more tank troops.
Moreover, the general attack they launched must have been very swift, so they urged the Fifth Division to send reinforcements to support Xiaohuang Village without hesitation.
“Crunch, crunch…”
One after another, Leopard medium tanks rushed towards the Dalian River under the cover of artillery fire.
The 32nd Tank Regiment dispatched two battalions of 90 Leopard medium tanks to launch a river crossing operation from this area.
Before the tanks entered the water, the turrets all moved to the back.
To prevent mud and sand from entering the muzzle due to water.
After entering the water, one Leopard medium tank after another began to move quickly in the river channel which was two kilometers wide.
Soon the river was filled with Panther medium tanks.
The BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle accompanying the tanks in the rear was not willing to lag behind and plunged directly into the water with extremely rough movements.
Compared with the Leopard medium tank, which has amphibious combat capabilities, the small Dalin River is no problem for them.
At this moment, the 76th Regiment of the Fuso Army was suppressed by dense artillery fire and could not even raise its head, nor could it organize an effective counterattack.
So until the first Panther medium tank climbed ashore, they had no effective counterattack.