readytorunbook Chapter 403: Battle of Kranji Dam (Part 2)
Chapter 403: Battle of Kranji Dam (Part 2)
The sound of artillery fire was deafening from the outer positions on the northeast side of Kranji Dam.
The modified concrete building was firmly fixed on a small mound, like a piece of iron embedded in the mountain. Only three extremely narrow firing holes were exposed, and there was not even an observation port. It was obviously designed to withstand artillery bombardment.
"Damn it, I'm going to give up today!" Inside the tank, commander Li Zhiqiang patted the loader's shoulder and shouted like thunder, "Keep loading the armor-piercing shells. I'm sure we can get them in today!" (Two-man turret, commander doubles as gunner)
This is the outermost position outside the dam area, and Li Zhiqiang felt it was difficult.
Fearing that he would be hit by the Japanese's ambushing mountain artillery, he did not dare to let the 0702 vehicle get closer to improve the shooting accuracy, and could only suppress it from a distance.
"Target - left firing port, distance 1100, fire!"
An armor-piercing bullet cut through the air and hit the edge of the concrete gun hole accurately, stirring up a cloud of smoke and sparks.
Fortunately, the smoke and vibrations generated by the continuous shooting suppressed the heavy machine guns inside, and the mortars carried by the infantry company immediately released smoke bombs.
"Boom, boom, boom--" Several smoke bombs drew arcs and landed in front of the concrete bunker. In an instant, a thick white fog rose up, covering the small hill tightly.
"Platoon one, follow me!" The second lieutenant platoon leader took the lead and jumped out of the coconut grove. Then the infantrymen formed into a sparse skirmish line rushed out of the coconut grove, jumped into the naturally formed ravine, and tried to approach the hill.
The infantry captain's plan was very good. The tanks attracted attention, the infantry used the terrain as cover, and the last section of the distance was excavated using earthworks to directly blast the concrete building at close range.
In this way, when the main force arrives, they can directly attack the main area of the dam, saving a lot of time.
"boom--!"
The sudden huge explosion resounded through the sky and earth, as if the entire ground was shaking violently, and even Li Zhiqiang in the tank was startled.
"What the hell?! This is not our gun!" exclaimed the young loader.
"Damn it!" The infantry captain put down his binoculars and burst into tears.
In the thick smoke ahead, a large pit suddenly appeared in the original ravine area, with broken limbs and arms scattered everywhere, and an entire row of infantry were almost blown to pieces.
It turned out that the Japanese had collected unexploded bombs from the bombs dropped by the Anmin Army Air Force during the bombing in the previous few days. After removing the explosives inside, they connected them with detonators with wires and buried them in the ditches.
Kenji Doihara, who had carefully studied the tactics of the Anmin Army, naturally knew that in addition to relying on armored cover, the Anmin Army's infantry also liked to use earthwork excavation.
So he specially prepared this trick based on the characteristics of the Anmin Army, and the natural ravine that seemed suitable for attack was a bait and a deadly trap.
The IEDs converted from several heavy aerial bombs had a huge equivalent. The sky and the earth changed color in an instant, and an entire row of infantrymen died heroically.
"Is that... Platoon Leader Zhang and the others?" The captain suddenly noticed that the gunfire ahead was still going on and was startled.
He raised the telescope and found that there were still five or six figures still charging!
"Damn it! He actually rushed through the IED area!"
Sure enough, it was platoon leader Zhang Liancheng.
He and a few nimble young men rushed fast enough and managed to escape the fatal killing zone early. However, their faces were covered in blood and blood oozed from the corners of their mouths due to the shock wave. However, this group of people did not fall down and continued to charge with semi-automatic rifles.
There was even green smoke coming out of their bodies, like the grim reaper who had just crawled out of the center of the explosion.
"Quick, weapons platoon, cover them with fire!"
Just at this moment, two more LVT-A1 tanks and another infantry platoon appeared from the distant swamp area.
Two LVT-A1 tanks quickly suppressed the heavy machine gun bunkers in several trenches outside the concrete bunker with artillery shells.
The infantry took advantage of the fact that the Japanese on the flank were distracted by the two tanks and the remaining infantry in front, and easily attacked the small mound.
Soon, the Japanese troops in the trenches around the concrete building were cleared out. In order to prevent the Japanese from repeating the same trick, the captain used the radio to remind the officers in the front to pay attention to whether there were any suspicious signs of digging and wires in the trenches.
The next step was to carry out close-range blasting of the concrete bunker and then use flamethrowers to drive out the enemy troops inside.
By the time the captain and the reserve troops arrived at the front line, the hill was already quiet, with only the occasional shots from the Japanese soldiers in the distant positions.
A row of corpses covered with white cloth nearby made one feel uneasy, and a large pit in the distance was filled with corpses wearing Japanese military uniforms.
"No prisoners?"
"They fought to the bitter end, so there were no prisoners," an old soldier saluted and replied, "But, sir, aren't all these defenders Japanese soldiers? Many of them don't even have calluses on their hands, and some aren't even Japanese at all..."
Most of the Sindhu people who came to Southeast Asia to make a living were Dravidians, while the natives were Austronesian, and the difference between them and the devils could be seen at a glance.
The captain nodded, his tone complicated: "They must have been forcibly conscripted."
This also explains why he felt that the combat effectiveness of these defenders was somewhat low. Apart from the IED that caused huge casualties, these enemy forces did not cause much casualties to his reinforced company.
He sighed: "They are all miserable people..."
Of course, since both sides have already pointed their weapons at each other, he will not show mercy.
"I will report this situation to my superiors. Now let's build fortifications to prevent a counterattack."
-----
This battle came at a high cost, but it also gained valuable space for advancement and a stable starting position.
Just a reinforced company responsible for fire reconnaissance missions can achieve this level. Even Qi Quan looked at it differently after learning about it.
Soon, the subsequent main forces arrived at the outskirts of Kranji Dam.
The rumble of heavy tracks was heard as an M4 Sherman tank rolled in from behind, its gun raised, followed by a jeep with a folding communication antenna - that was the air-ground coordinator's vehicle.
With their help, the chain bunkers outside Kranji Dam were no longer a problem.
P-47s carrying rockets and SB2-C dive bombers carrying armor-piercing bombs began to attack the outer bunkers one by one under the radio guidance of the air-ground coordinator.
Unlike the White Party, with the general Kenji Doihara in charge, no one dared to resell the precious materials such as steel bars and concrete distributed. Therefore, the fortifications around the Kranji Dam were built in a solid manner with guaranteed quality and quantity.
However, these fortifications did not perform much better against the bombs and rockets launched from the summit.
The modern warfare system (modern in terms of World War II) has long proved that simply building fortifications, unless they are built like the Maginot Line, will have very limited effect when facing an enemy with artillery and air superiority.
Especially when there were only more than 800 stragglers of the "Syonan Special Volunteer Corps" and more than 400 genuine Japanese soldiers in the Kranji Dam, they were outnumbered and could not even organize a counterattack, and could only passively take the beating.