For a small to medium-sized battle, the coordinated fire coverage of land, sea and air this time was quite fierce.
Various artillery shells and aerial bombs composed of hundreds of tons of steel and explosives almost turned the resistance positions on the other side of the river upside down.
There were more than a dozen houses and a small Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue beside the road connected to the blown bridge. The latter was roughly a product of the Edo period. But after an hour of artillery fire all over the sky, they had completely disappeared from people's sight, leaving only fragments of bricks and tiles scattered all over the place.
Several seaplanes released by the Zhanghe and Yongping have been hovering at an altitude of about three hundred meters, responsible for reporting the impact points of the shells to the battleships to facilitate correction of deviations.
From the perspective of the pilots and observers, about eight or nine hectares of wilderness on the west bank of the Arakawa River has turned into the surface of the moon, with craters of varying sizes.
"Tsk, tsk, I'm afraid not all of them are dead."
"I'm afraid I just need to cross the river to clean up the battlefield later..."
"Yes, it's such an exaggeration. It's a great achievement to survive."
The officers and soldiers were squatting or lying by the river on the east bank. They couldn't help but sigh after witnessing such a spectacular scene.
Yao Liangchuan also recorded in his notebook: "...Since a quarter past seven o'clock, our troops have fired all kinds of weapons, and naval aircraft and naval guns have also competed to fire. Bullets rained down, and the Japanese army's front line was like a sea of fire, and smoke covered the sky. ..."
The captain of the third team of the first battalion carried a Type 34 submachine gun, blew a whistle, and then said loudly: "Damn it! You bastards, get ready to go!"
Immediately, two red flares were launched into the air, and a sharp and short suona sound also sounded. Both of them expressed the same meaning - the offensive operation had begun.
The 85-horsepower six-cylinder air-cooled gasoline engine carried by the amphibious tank made a loud roar, and it seemed to be impatient after being idle for a long time.
Eighteen Type 35 floating chariots drove into the water from the river bank in a very uniform manner. While the tracks continued to paddle, the small propeller at the tail also turned, rolling out waves of snow-white waves.
"Be quick! What are you doing?!"
Amid the shouts of the non-commissioned officers, the heavily armed soldiers half pulled and half pushed, working together to get the standard rubber boat into the water, and then began to paddle in cooperation.
The attack front of the eighteen amphibious tanks of the chariot convoy and the two teams of more than forty rubber boats was about 400 meters wide. The quality displayed by them made the two British men three kilometers away couldn't help but admire them.
Lieutenant Allen and Captain Olier were the unlucky guys who were temporarily assigned to do hard work. They were assigned to serve in the Tokyo Concession in October last year, but the garrison would be evacuated within a few months.
They originally planned to come to Tokyo and enjoy themselves for a year and a half, but their happy life lasted only a few days. Before leaving, they were instructed to stay on a military observation mission.
"Which unit is this?" The bearded Captain Ollier looked away from the artillery mirror. "The quality of the Chinese people is completely different from what those people in China say."
"The blue-green uniforms indicate that they are Marine Corps. The Chinese have many battalion-level units, but there are only two regiment-level units. I think this should be one of them." Lieutenant Allen replied.
"I don't know how their army is performing. At least the level of the Marine Corps is very good." Oriel snorted, "The politicians of the British Empire are really funny. While they ridiculed the Chinese, they also encouraged to strengthen their military presence in the Far East. Defense of the area.”
Allen sighed: "Arrogant, cunning and selfish, bureaucrats and politicians in the British Empire seem to have always been like this. My grandfather said so."
The two seemed to have forgotten their own jobs and instead complained about being assigned to do drudgery.
Meanwhile, where the fighting was taking place, a dozen amphibious tanks had washed up on the west bank.
On the ruined position, the gunpowder smoke has not yet dissipated, and everything is dilapidated. The resistance forces seem to be all dead, with no sign of firing.
"boom!"
A Bofors M34 anti-tank gun placed at the edge of the side of the position survived the previous fierce fire. The disgraced resistance gunners controlled it and fired at the Ming army's amphibious tanks.
"Bang-boom!"
The 37mm armor-piercing high-explosive bullet easily penetrated the 12mm carburized surface-hardened armor steel and exploded inside, making a dull roar.
The tank painted with a white "13" number used its inertia to rush forward for six or seven meters, and then slowly stopped. Some of the exploding shells and bullets broke through the hatch cover, and red and yellow fireworks emitted from the turret. The seat and hatch erupted like a fountain of steel fire.
"Car No. 13 is gone! Where is the enemy artillery?!"
"I saw it! The other end at nine o'clock!"
Car No. 6 reacted the fastest. While other cars were still surprised, it had already started firing tracer bullets in the direction of the resistance anti-tank gun position.
The importance of good teammates is self-evident. This directly pointed out the direction for other Ming army tanks. Whether they saw it or not, they should bomb it first!
In just ten seconds, more than a dozen rounds of 37mm anti-explosive bombs and more than two hundred rounds of 7.36mm machine gun rounds were poured there.
At this time, some rubber boats also washed up on the river beach. The soldiers threw away their oars and quickly sought cover with their weapons in hand.
The previously dead position became lively in an instant, with "bang bang bang" gunfire accompanied by countless bullets fired from the left, front, and right. The screams of being shot echoed one after another on the entire river beach.
Mortar shells that didn't know where they came from also fell one after another, hitting the heads of the Ming troops who had just landed just as accurately as if they had eyes.
The officers and soldiers immediately fell down, then took out the shovels they carried and began to dig foxholes.
In this case, there is no need to fight back. With more than a dozen tanks present, the firepower of the infantry detachment seems to be incomparable. The best way to seize the time is to build individual bunkers.
Different types of military commanders have different mentalities when they witness the casualties of their subordinates. Even if they are both "sad" and "angry", their cores are often very different.
Treating soldiers as consumable tools means regret and indignation when things are destroyed by others. Treating soldiers as brothers means regret and indignation when one's own flesh and blood are harmed by others.
Perhaps because of his background, Fan Qijin, a grandson of Lai Amber, obviously leans towards the former.
However, since Zhou Changfeng did not have any additional requirements on the time limit, there was no need to rush in this battle and he could counterattack calmly.
So after looking at the telescope for a moment, Fan Qijin said in a deep voice: "You are so determined after being bombarded by a battleship? Tsk, send the order over, cast a smoke screen diagonally from the front, and several tanks on the left cooperate with the two platoons to attack the enemy. Insert it two hundred meters deep and jam their ribs!"
The Type 36 radio transceiver played a big role. His orders were transmitted to the other side of the river in an instant. This is a direct reflection of the improvement of combat efficiency by technical equipment.
"The viewing distance is 820, the elevation is 11, the enemy's front-line position and depth, the first to fourth shots are increased by 10 dens one by one, smoke screens!"
"Bang! Bang!"
The four 80mm smoke bombs landed at different points, roughly ten meters apart in the vertical direction.
For three consecutive rounds, a gray-white smoke wall appeared on the flank of the resistance army's position. It was composed of smoke balls released by twelve smoke bombs. It was about 150 meters long and more than ten meters wide, directly cutting off the enemy's position. On the right, it is difficult for enemy troops elsewhere to detect the situation there.
At the same time, four amphibious tanks and a detachment of more than 60 people made a bold attack, broke through the enemy's blockade, and advanced 200 meters quickly and decisively.
They immediately built fortifications on the spot, or simply borrowed existing craters as bunkers to establish a solid support point.
A nail was driven between the ribs? No one would be happy to change it.
Lieutenant Colonel Fujiwara Yoshiharu quickly ordered mortars to suppress the incoming Ming troops, and mobilized a squadron of reserves to launch a counterattack.
When the Japanese's attention was attracted by this detachment, the main force on the front had recovered from the chaos of being blocked when they first landed ashore. The infantry launched an attack and the tanks stayed put.
The tanks in this situation acted as armored archers rather than armored cavalry.
Hundreds of officers and soldiers from the Third Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment slightly widened their front line to the two wings, and then jumped forward to cover the incoming fire.
Although they were from the same period, the image of the brave defenders was very different from what was shown in later film and television dramas - the helmet they wore was the British pot-lid style MkI Tommy helmet instead of the 90-style steel helmet; The light machine gun is a Lewis or Madsen, not the 11-year-old crooked handle; the heavy machine gun is not a Type 92 chicken neck fed by bullet plates, but a water-cooled Vickers fed by a canvas belt.
Lacking direct anti-tank firepower, they can be said to be helpless in the face of such an offensive. Once their own machine gun firepower points are fired, they will be attacked by Ming army tanks. The dozen Type 35 floating tanks lined up on the front are like More than a dozen mobile bunkers.
Therefore, the resistance army can only hope to regain a victory in close combat.
Because the firepower of the machine guns was almost suppressed, it was almost impossible to stop the impact of the Ming army soldiers with rifles alone. Within a few dozen seconds, the Ming army infantry who were alternately covering the advance had already rushed into the forward position.
Although the degree of industrialization of the Ming Dynasty does not rank in the first echelon of the great powers, the rich automatic firepower equipped by the infantry units can be said to be second to none.
According to the army establishment table revised in the 36th year of Zhichang, each team headquarters has ten Type 34 submachine guns and ten Type 20 automatic guns, which can be allocated and used when necessary. That is to say, on average, each team has Each class gets two additional automatic weapons.
From the perspective of the late war, this may be nothing, but it is only 38 years ago, and the British army has not even been equipped with standard submachine guns.
Without contrast, there is no damage. The number of automatic weapons directly determines which side will have the advantage in close combat.
Hundreds of resistance troops launched a counterattack and the Ming army rushed into the position. The roar of grenade explosions and miserable howls came one after another.
The resistance army, ragged due to the fierce fighting, launched a hand-to-hand charge with rifles with bayonets, shouting "Long live Japan" or "Long live the Yamato clan", but there was no "Tian Nao Heika board".
The short, bandy-legged resistance soldier held a slender bolt-action rifle that did not match his stature, which seemed quite funny to the officers and soldiers of the 1st Marine Regiment.
Rounds of 9.6×20mm pistol bullets and .351 Winchester rifle bullets were sprayed out, and the knocked down Japanese fell to the ground, or fell into the trench from above.
It didn't take much effort, and the Fujiwara detachment's counterattack was crushed.
On the flank, the detachment of four tanks and dozens of infantry remained firmly in place, and a squadron counterattacked against them in vain.
At this point, the reserves of the three squadrons have suffered heavy losses, and only two squadrons of the reserves are fully equipped. But the forward position has been captured by the Ming army, and the main position is crumbling.
The defense line that had been built up with all the effort and efforts for days and nights was easily breached by most of it?
I thought I could hold off the Ming army for at least two days and nights, but it turned out that I was in danger after only holding on for two hours. The exchange ratio between the two sides was even worse. As the defender, my casualties were several times that of the attacker.
"Prepare to retreat!"
"Now? Sir, we should at least wait until dark, right?"
"Impossible, we will all be dead before then."
The expressionless Lieutenant Colonel Fujiwara Yoshiharu deeply felt the gap in national power. Abstract industrial output and other statistics were now intuitively and concretely reflected on the battlefield.
After randomly releasing some smoke canisters to obstruct the Ming army's sight, the Fujiwara detachment quickly broke away from the defense line and retreated towards Tokyo city.
When the headcount was taken at noon yesterday, there were still more than 5,700 people in the Fujiwara detachment. So far, it has only experienced one failed night attack and more than two hours of frontal defense, and has suffered more than 2,000 casualties.
Violent artillery fire and air raids accounted for the majority of the number of enemy annihilations. About 1,400 people were the result of artillery shells and aerial bombs. Among the remaining 600 people, a considerable number were the result of hand grenades and rifle grenades. Rifles The casualties caused by bullets fired from machine guns pale in comparison to those of explosive weapons.
Such a high-intensity battle has destroyed many people's mental defenses - the friends they were talking with last night turned into corpses a few hours later, or were left with only stumps and broken arms.
The retreat road was only a few kilometers away, but the air strikes from the Ming army's carrier-based aircraft made it seem ten times longer.
There were hundreds of corpses along the way, and many people fled timidly. When the defeated soldiers of more than 3,700 people retreated to the predetermined area, there were less than 3,000 people left.
"Naval aircraft reported that there were no other suspected enemy forces nearby."
"Okay, then let's keep pushing forward and stop when we reach the city."
The Marine Regiment's operation to forcibly cross the Arakawa River went quite smoothly. Zhou Changfeng was very satisfied and determined to take advantage of the current excellent morale to continue to advance.
At the same time, in the direction of Kawasaki to the southwest, because the enemy's will was far beyond the imagination of the 4th Division, they were initially at a loss because of their caution, but then successfully achieved a breakthrough.
The fate of the Matsumoto detachment was even more miserable than that of the Fujiwara detachment. The Fourth Division wiped out most of it, with no organization at all, and only less than a thousand troops fled.
Directly east of Funabashi City, the 7th Division's progress was also quite smooth. The Shimizu detachment that blocked them was severely damaged by land, sea and air fire because they chose beach defense.
After that, the Qingshui detachment, which suffered half of its casualties, wandered away without attacking, laying booby traps and mines everywhere to delay the actions of the 7th Division.
By noon that day, the Ming troops who landed from three positions had cleared their respective frontal obstacles, and the city of Tokyo was surrounded on three sides.
(End of chapter)
