readytorunbook Chapter 982 The Invincible Tank Force
Chapter 982 The Invincible Tank Force
A stern voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie: "If you can't figure it out, keep it to yourself. This is an order."
"The situation is urgent right now, so there's no point in saying more. Just wait and see, I guarantee you'll be in for a surprise."
Just as the soldiers of the First Battalion were still wondering what was going on, a violent tremor suddenly came from the ground behind them.
A large number of tanks slowly drove toward the collapsed section of Goose City's wall, with six medium tanks leading the way.
The massive steel behemoth, weighing tens of tons, slowly approached, creating an extreme sense of oppression.
As soon as the tank unit appeared, all the soldiers of the Jin-Sui Army cheered. They had only ever seen this kind of scene on the enemy's side before, but now it had become their own.
When the Tuqiao Regiment Commander saw this from the city wall, he was immediately terrified.
The appearance of anti-aircraft machine guns was beyond his expectations, but fortunately, those large-caliber machine guns were relatively slow to move and could not be deployed in urban street fighting, so they did not affect the course of the battle.
But now, an armored force appeared before him, a whole battalion in size, a force capable of destroying large cities.
Back then, they rampaged through China with their powerful armored forces, destroying countless of our fortified cities.
But now they face the revenge of the Chinese armored forces, while the Japanese have no countermeasures.
After all, China's armored forces were pitifully weak and were completely depleted in the early stages of the war. Therefore, the Japanese were always confident that their tanks were invincible and had no intention of researching anti-tank weapons, thinking that it would be a waste of time.
Even in Northeast China, where the Japanese were soundly defeated by the Russian army's steel torrent, the situation did not change much.
After all, their army has limited resources, and with the navy's rabble constantly robbing them, it's simply impossible for them to produce an anti-tank weapon that's not very effective.
In fact, during the battle with us, the enemy captured a few recoilless rifles and some shells, which were then transported back to China for reverse engineering.
There's nothing we can do about it. Many weapons, unless they're developed and never seen on the battlefield, will eventually be copied by the enemy.
Regarding this issue, Kong Hao had already prepared himself mentally. As long as our technology always remains at the forefront, none of this will be a problem.
However, there is an old Chinese saying: "Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst."
This is the most suitable weapon for this purpose. Regardless of how well the enemy's military industry can replicate it, even if they succeed in replicating the recoilless rifle and its shells, they will be prioritized for deployment to regular divisions.
A third-rate garrison like the one commanded by the Tuqiao Regiment is simply not qualified to be equipped; that's the reality.
Especially now that the Japanese high command is preoccupied with seizing resources in Southeast Asia, how could they possibly provide anti-tank weapons to second-line garrison divisions?
Faced with the close advance of our armored forces, Company Commander Tuqiao was about to order the mountain artillery company in the city to launch a counterattack when he suddenly thought of a possibility.
Could this be another conspiracy? The enemy is using armored forces to lure out their artillery, and once their coordinates are revealed, their artillery positions will be destroyed by heavy howitzers.
Thinking about this, the regimental commander of Tuqiao became conflicted again; this decision was really difficult to make.
Moreover, in reality, the 75mm mountain gun is not a very good anti-tank weapon.
After all, tanks are mobile, and mountain gun shells are difficult to hit. If they explode around the tank, the resulting fragments cannot penetrate the tank's protective armor, so they are not very effective.
After figuring it out, the regimental commander of Tuqiao abandoned the plan to counterattack with artillery, and instead ordered his men to quickly transfer a large number of hand grenades from the city's armory.
He also wanted to learn from the Chinese army's previous methods of dealing with their armored forces, such as bundling grenades together and sending soldiers to blow up our tanks. This was a last resort.
Upon seeing this, Chu Yunfei on the other side also lowered his binoculars in disappointment. He had just had a plan to use armored units to lure the enemy into exposing their artillery.
In particular, the armored battalion commander repeatedly assured him that the enemy's mountain guns could not cause any damage to the tanks at long range, which is why he and the chief of staff formulated this plan.
However, it's not a big problem. This is just "killing two birds with one stone." It's best if we have it, but if we don't, it won't affect the final victory.
Once the tank units approached the city wall, a barrage of bullets rained down, but they mostly struck the outer armor with a clanging sound, causing virtually no damage.
After the tank stops, it aims its cannon at the enemy's firing point and fires a shot, sending those annoying flies flying into the sky.
These are eighteen tanks, and they are only 300 meters away from the enemy's machine gun position. Even if the gunners inside the tanks had their eyes closed, they could hit the fixed target.
After two rounds of firing, there were hardly any Japanese soldiers left on the collapsed section of the city wall; after all, if they stayed any longer, they would simply become cannon fodder.
After destroying the enemy's light and heavy machine gun positions, two medium tanks quickly drove towards the gap.
When the soldiers of the First Battalion saw their armored forces arrive, they quickly made way for them, feeling reassured that they had a strong backer.
The battalion commander immediately dispatched his most elite platoon, fully equipped with PPSh submachine guns, to follow behind the tanks and slowly advance under the cover of their sturdy armor. This can be considered the most basic form of infantry-tank coordination.
Once our medium tanks got close, they fired two shots at the enemy's breach in the fortifications blocking the way, blasting open the fortifications and blowing all the enemies hiding inside into the air.
Unable to withstand the pressure, the Japanese soldiers tried to jump out with grenades and fight our tanks to the death, but they were riddled with bullets by the tank's coaxial machine gun and the accompanying infantry.
This is the significance of combined arms operations: tanks cover infantry, and infantry also cover tanks.
However, that's all it can do. After all, heavy tanks can't get through the city walls, so infantry are still needed to open the city gates.
After clearing away all the obstructions, the infantry following behind the tanks quickly rushed into the city and then attacked from both sides.
Upon seeing this, Regiment Commander Zhang, who was directing operations from the rear, immediately clapped his hands and shouted:
"Good, we finally broke in. Order the follow-up troops of the First Battalion to follow up and deploy quickly according to the intelligence provided by friendly forces. Prioritize capturing the city gate fortifications and open the city gate to cover the main force's entry into the city."