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Text Chapter 996 Typhoon (5)

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    The expected Japanese sneak attack fleet did not appear. When the scorching sun shone on the Ryukyu Islands again, the Army's heavy artillery battalion, which was preparing for night attacks at sea, joined the fierce battle.  Being on an isolated island requires great courage, both on the offensive and defensive sides.  Because in this environment, there is no room for maneuver and dodge. Even the most common 75mm field gun can hit from one end of the island to the other. Therefore, the battle for the island has never been about the rear.

    For tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides, there are only two ways ahead, either death or victory.

    Facing the Kumejima fortifications carefully arranged by Tadamichi Ribayashi, the soldiers of the Marine Corps and Infantry Division almost "gnawed" forward inch by inch. Every hundred meters they advanced, they had to pay a huge price.  In order to capture it as soon as possible, after the fleet returned at ten o'clock in the morning, Liao Changfeng once again deployed two infantry divisions and sent three special engineering armored battalions to the island to strengthen the attack.

    Young Zhang Tianrui, carrying a radio on his back, lay in the crater with his comrades, using a scope to search for Japanese firepower points and fortifications on the hillside.  He is an artillery guide, whose task is to find the target and provide accurate coordinates for the heavy artillery behind.  Although calibration aircraft are becoming more and more advanced, they still cannot replace their tasks. Especially in mountains, dense forests and narrow areas, manual guidance is still the most important auxiliary method for artillery.  "Over there!" At the reminder of his comrades, a 75mm gun barrel protruded from the cliff.  It can be seen that the design of this fortification is very clever. The shelling window is like a sliding door. The door is made of thick steel plates with a color similar to granite.  After each fire, the Japanese army would quickly retract the gun barrel, close the door, and wait until the next target was found before reopening it.  And because it is deep into the cliff and has its back to the sea, it is difficult to be directly targeted by artillery fire.  But this time, the ones aiming at it were not ordinary artillery.  "Tin Hau Mountain. Target type solid granite, height 122, scale 37, coordinates"

    "Lie down! Everyone lie down!"

    "Boom!"

    After calling for fire suppression, the two 305mm "roller" heavy mortars deployed on Owu Island began to show off their power.  This kind of short-range obstacle-breaking and suppressing artillery is not as powerful as yesterday's large-caliber naval gun, but it is definitely the favorite of infantry.  The 460-kilogram extra-heavy earth-penetrating bomb made of tungsten alloy landed on the top of the artillery fortification, and the warhead easily penetrated into the mountain five meters deep.  Two violent serial explosions opened a huge gap thirty meters in diameter directly at the location of the Japanese bunker.  The entire fortification flew into the air along with the shattered and collapsed rocks.  You can even see the mutilated corpses of Japanese soldiers in the diffuse smoke and dust.

    "Gasoline engine! Rush up! Cover fire!" The Marines, who have received strict training and deal with islands and various terrains every day, responded quickly.  When the bunker was blown away by artillery shells, an officer immediately directed the artillery fire and concentrated the firepower to suppress the scattered fire points around the bunker. The infantry also quickly detoured to both sides to divert the enemy's firepower and protect two strange-looking tracked armored vehicles climbing up the hillside.  .

    It¡¯s strange because these two armored vehicles look very weird, looking like extremely thick and huge ¡°square boxes¡±.  This is the tank tank affectionately called the "gasoline engine" by the soldiers.  Oil tank tank.  It is completely modified according to the protection standards of the Type 36 tank. Even the weak top armor has been greatly strengthened. Even small weapons can't hit it with sparks.  But don't think it's for someone else's tanker truck.  In fact it is a terrifying, fully mechanized arson machine!  Accompanying the "gasoline engine" are two Type 36 C engineering tanks of the infantry division.  This kind of engineering tank, which was so powerful in Central Asia and left the Soviet army helpless, sprayed hundreds of meters of flames and crushed them all the way.  When approaching the gap created by the "roller".  On the "gasoline engine", a foldable spray gun with a length of more than 20 meters stretched out, and the oil gun slowly rose.  He probed through the twenty-meter-high gap.  In an instant, a full two tons of high-pressure gasoline gushes out from the nozzle. The high-temperature oil and gas flow, which is more than 200 meters long, penetrates into the hole deep in the fortification and continues to penetrate deeper along the smallest vents and cracks.  The more than 100 Japanese soldiers hiding inside were just lucky to have escaped from the heavy artillery fire, but they were scorched and melted by the flames, and they were unable to even shout.

    In terms of individual soldier ability, willpower and hard-working spirit, the Japanese army can definitely rank among the world's strongest armies. However, the national strength and the serious lack of mechanized combat concepts mean that they do not know how to fight a mechanized war.  Although the Chinese National Defense Force is not as wealthy and motorized as the United States, they have a commander who is proficient in mechanized warfare. He can popularize the concept of mechanized warfare in the past twenty years, and then concentrate financial and material resources on research and provide for the Marine Corps.  Elite troops equipped with sufficient mechanized equipment.  Among these equipment, there are both standard tanks and armored vehicles, as well as emergency weapons like "gasoline engines" that are purely designed by soldiers based on fire trucks and put together by themselves.  But whether it is a standard or a patchwork, it shows that the troops have explored and summarized the ideas and tactics of mechanized warfare.

    The sea of ????fire raged on the cliffs, and the Japanese permanent fortifications at low altitudes were also destroyed.  deal with theseThe fortifications were simpler. The soldiers first set up temporary cement mixing stations on the beach, then used fire-breathing tanks to burn any opponents who dared to resist, and finally used forklifts or engineering tanks to dump cement concrete into these holes.  The quick-drying cement concrete weighing dozens of tons will quickly solidify in just a few minutes, and the Japanese soldiers inside will be doomed to slowly die from lack of oxygen in darkness and fear.

    The Marines and Infantry Divisions attacked unhurriedly and steadily. The "roller crusher" broke open the gap, the "gasoline engine" and the fire-breathing tank followed up and set fire. Finally, the cement door was sealed. Only places that were really inaccessible by mechanization could be used.  It will be handed over to the infantry to clear it up bit by bit.  Every time a hole is grabbed, an oil pipe will definitely be stretched in, and then hundreds or thousands of tons of oil and gas will be sprayed into the mountain and set on fire.  This kind of fighting style is unimaginable for ordinary Japanese soldiers, even Tadamichi Kuribayashi.

    In the end, in order to withstand the fierce offensive of the opponent, the Japanese army even launched "physical attack tactics."  On the roads where some opponents would pass by, empty barrels were buried at night, and soldiers could crawl inside holding the mines, then cover them with soil and bury them.  When the National Defense Forces passed by, they would detonate mines and kill them all.  Some Japanese soldiers simply tied their bodies with explosives and hid among the cliffs. When they saw the tanks approaching, they would ignite the explosives and jump off at the target But these crazy suicidal tactics could not save them.  Kumejima was defeated.  Overwhelming artillery shells, incendiary bombs, special obstacle-breaking ground-penetrating heavy mortars, strange fire-breathing tanks, and finally cement blocking the door For a small Kume Island, numerous mechanized equipment of all kinds were dispatched.  Hundreds of pieces, tens of thousands of tons of ammunition were used, thousands of tons of oil and gas were poured into the mountains and caves, and tens of thousands of tons of quick-drying cement were transported by precious transport shipsEvery item here is enough to envy to death  The Japanese "Imperial Army" was finally armed by scrimping on food and clothing and squeezing the people's fat and oil.

    By the afternoon of April 20, the number of various squadrons on Kume Island had exceeded 80,000. It took several months to build permanent fortifications, caves and bunkers that were extremely strong in the eyes of the Japanese army, leaving only a few mechanized equipment.  All the rest of the unclimbable Gufeng cliffs were destroyed, and most of the nearly 20,000 soldiers guarding the island were killed or injured.  The opponent has even begun to build an airport in the south of the island, completely ignoring Gumi Mountain's remaining enemies.  Faced with this irreversible defeat, Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who had made it clear before the war that China should not go to war, looked up to the sky and sighed.  But what made him even more angry was that in the past few days, the navy had not sent even a destroyer, let alone a battleship. He was so angry that he directly sent a farewell telegram to the emperor.

    "The war situation is approaching its final moment. With all the troops outnumbered, we decided to make a desperate move and break our bodies to pieces in order to repay the emperor's favor. However, we fought to the death for several days without seeing a single naval ship. Tens of thousands of people donated money and raised the spirit of the sea, but they abandoned the safety of the country and ignored it.  There are tens of thousands of loyal souls left. Although I am resentful, I hope that the Holy Emperor will punish me and tell the soldiers. I am on the front line, praying for the victory of the empire and peace, shouting long live the Holy Emperor, and bid farewell forever"

    After Ugaki finished reading the telegram that Emperor Hirohito specially forwarded to the fleet, he secretly glanced at Yamamoto, who was expressionless, and placed it and several copies on the table: "This is from Prime Minister Tojo, and this is from Prince Miyakanin, Nagano  General, Sixth General Hata Shun, Okinawa Front Yoshijiro Umezu" Each telegram was like a reminder.  Kuribayashi Tadamichi's farewell telegram to Hirohito caused an uproar in Japan. The whole country almost pointed the finger of the bitter battle at Kume Island at the navy. Some radical army officers even asked the navy to commit collective suicide and hand over the fleet to  Army Command¡­.

    "The Emperor has summoned the cabinet and General Nagano many times. According to the news, His Majesty is very dissatisfied with us. The Ministry of War believes that we are deliberately delaying time and are too timid to fight a decisive battle"

    Yamamoto Isoroku¡¯s brows deepened the more he listened. If it were anyone else, he would not care about these accusations.  As the commander of the combined fleet, the first thing is to find the best opportunity to defeat the enemy.  But now, the Emperor has forwarded Kuribayashi Tadamichi's telegram to himself, undoubtedly telling him that His Majesty the Emperor is very dissatisfied.  This made him very uneasy. Originally, according to the plan, the fleet decisive battle should be when the Chinese navy landed on the Ryukyu Island. Because landing on the big island would require hundreds of ships, which would definitely cause the main force to be contained, but now it will  Isn't it too early?

    Thinking of this, a feeling of heat rose from the bottom of his heart. He unbuttoned two buttons and asked, "Has Kume Island been lost?"

    "Kuribayashi-kun is still insisting, but it won't be long. China has invested 80,000 soldiers, and the fleet has been nearby to support."

    "Then let Kurita-kun set off. Let Nagumo also speed up, and be sure to join Inoue and attract the 21st China aircraft carrier fleet." Yamamoto Isoroku looked at the table full of urging telegrams and decided to attack.

    ====

    ps: There will be no update on the annual meeting of Hippo Unit tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Please ask for leave in advance.  If I come back early the day after tomorrow, I will continue coding.  In addition, I would like to inform all book friends in advance that during this New Year holiday, I will try my best to update it every day

    (To be continued)?.  )
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