The opponent I encountered this time actually dared to challenge him? This is completely different from the previous British and Indian troops!
Several corporals and sergeants opened fire violently with submachine guns and automatic guns, while the rest of the soldiers charged forward bravely with rifles with bayonets attached.
The enemies in front of them also fired back with Thompson submachine guns. Some even put Lewis light machine guns on their waists and shot at the rushing Ming troops.
"Ta-ta-ta-ta-"
"Da da da da——"
The two sides exchanged fire at extremely close range, and then the two groups of people collided. These British Commonwealth soldiers also fought tenaciously with bayonets, daggers, and engineer shovels.
The soldiers shouted loudly, looked sternly, and fought with each other holding various weapons high. Blood spattered, and every time someone blinked, someone fell to the ground clutching serious injuries.
The tenacity of the enemy's resistance surprised the commander of the First Battalion of the Second Mobile Brigade. From the telescope, he could see that the opponent was still maintaining organized resistance and was even preparing to counterattack.
Uh... It's just an outpost battle, an encounter, why is it so abnormal?
Later, three Type 32 armored vehicles directly under the armored vehicle battalion came to support. They were originally the leading units, but they just followed farther away to avoid being ambushed by the anti-tank guns deployed by the British and Indian troops.
This is a general-purpose armored vehicle based on a truck chassis. It has two axles and six wheels. It has a small square tower and is equipped with two heavy machine guns. There are shooting holes reserved on the side of the vehicle body.
For dismounted infantry without anti-tank weapons, even this light vehicle with 8mm thick armor is a tricky thing to shake.
"Enemy armored vehicle! Sir!"
"retreat."
Under fierce machine gun fire, the force of more than a hundred people finally retreated. Several smoke grenades were casually thrown forward, and they quickly retreated under the cover of smoke.
"Deng-deng-deng-"
After breaking out of the smoke, the three armored vehicles opened fire one after another, flickering flames blooming from the muzzles of the guns.
Countless bullets were poured into the enemy soldiers who were retreating, knocking down several people.
This was the first time such a high-intensity battle broke out since the war began. The Ming army soldiers, who had been going smoothly all the way, realized that a real war would not always be smooth, so they must not underestimate the enemy.
After capturing several wounded soldiers and after some interrogation, the confused officers and soldiers of the 2nd Motorized Infantry Brigade learned that this all-white Commonwealth army was actually the 7th Division of the Australian Army.
In other words, it is the 20th Infantry Brigade under its jurisdiction.
[Image of the Australian Army at the Beginning of the War]
"No wonder, then everything makes sense. I was wondering why I haven't encountered the Australian army until now, but I did."
As he spoke, Zhou Changfeng took a stack of seized documents, including certificates, maps, war briefings, etc.
The ID of a killed Australian second lieutenant, a small-scale map of the Malayan Peninsula, several briefings on the situation of the troops, and a pamphlet?
"〈How to against with ICA〉?" He opened the thin booklet with only a few pages and looked at it. He found that it lacked practical guidance and was basically filled with vague words full of subjective assumptions.
"...We must not relax under any circumstances. The Chinese army has been rigorously trained, equipped with sophisticated weapons, and has greater endurance than us. The infantry and light artillery work closely together, and they can move faster than us in complex terrain. , and may use various tricks..."
"...The Chinese have long-term spy networks deployed in Malaya and Borneo. They can clearly understand our movements, and the local expatriates will definitely help them in various forms. The Chinese army can easily smash field defense lines and face It is unreasonable to passively defend against them, and we should actively attack..."
Seems appropriate? But in fact it can only be said to be specious.
"The name is not worthy of its name. It is better to change its name to "Don't Be Careless"." Zhao Hanfeng commented disdainfully.
Zhou Changfeng handed the stack of documents back to the staff officer next to him, "But at least they won't take it lightly."
Historically, the British Commonwealth Army had such a mentality in the early days of the war - the Japanese could not even defeat China, a backward agricultural country, which meant that they were poor, and how could we lag behind the Chinese army?
This simple and crude unreasonable inference filled the British Commonwealth troops with unrealistic contempt, and they were hanged as expected.
But it is different now. They still pay more attention to and be wary of the Ming army. This makes the intensity of the battle in Malaya much higher than in history.
In the original history, the Japanese army on the Western Front made reckless advances and even took the risk of letting some troops disperse and take small boats to go back to the rear of the battle line. Instead, they beat the British and Indian troops into nowhere. It was a miraculous effect.
However, now the Ming army is proceeding step by step and fighting steadily, but its progress is slow.
There are many rivers in the Malayan Peninsula, and there are more than 200 large and small rivers on the western line from north to south.
The British and Indian troops blasted bridges and laid mines before retreating, but the pursuing Ming army had to build pontoons and clear mines, and was bombarded by British and Indian troops from time to time.
The Ming army on the eastern front had already reached Mersing in the southern part of the peninsula, but it was only then that the Ming army on the western front forcibly crossed the Perak River.
After the air force's indiscriminate bombing, the Ming Army on the Western Front concentrated artillery and armor units, and cooperated with the infantry troops to tear apart the tight defense line established by the British and Indian troops based on the Perak River from the front, and captured Anshun.
But this only reaches the central part of the peninsula, followed by Kuala Lumpur and Malacca.
This style of play was evaluated by Zhou Changfeng as "ruthless but not clever enough", but at least it shows that the Ming Army's ability to attack difficult situations is quite good.
"It is now known that there are enemy British and Indian 8th and 11th Divisions on the Western Front, as well as some local servant troops. It is not clear whether the Australian troops have been sent there. It seems that if all the 40,000 people fled to Singapore It’s not easy to solve, I’m thinking about making them dumplings and eating them.”
However, Zhou's idea is not feasible in Zhao Hanfeng's opinion.
The latter pointed at the map and said: "But this is already the south of the island. Air supremacy has not yet been seized. The enemy air force can still move. Moreover, the Australian army in front of us seems to be more proactive. If they actively contain it, it will probably be difficult to control the situation. "
The Far East Air Force has been suppressed to a very small area by the Ming Air Force. They only dare to attack the Ming army aircraft groups that go to bomb the Singapore Fortress, and at most they go to the southern part of the peninsula for a few rounds.
However, Zhou Changfeng still sent a telegram to the Third Army General Office, asking Qiu Peisheng if he would consider this idea.
However, in the evening of that day, a moderate rain came quietly, which directly put a cross on his idea.
No matter how big or small, dense raindrops fell on the ground, turning the southern part of the peninsula into a muddy mess in just half an hour.
"Since we are constantly retreating to make dumplings, let's take our time. Take a day off tomorrow to perfect the reconnaissance of the enemy in front of us, and then launch the offensive the day after tomorrow."
"It's an order."
The Ming army soldiers were quite tired after days of rapid progress. Although riding transportation vehicles relieved their feet from fatigue, it was impossible to get a good night's sleep in a rickety truck.
The soldiers who lacked sleep took the time to go to bed after dinner. They got into the small tents, wrapped themselves in blankets and fell asleep.
As for the new opponent we met today, to be honest, most people thought it was nothing more than this, and could not be called a formidable enemy at all.
Ordinary people know very little about this distant country. They are basically limited to a few words in textbooks. Many soldiers only know about it after joining the army.
Ten years ago, the Australian Department of Defense ordered the army to hunt down the overpopulated emu [ér miáo] - a large, friendly-looking bird that was causing serious damage to a large number of farmland crops.
A group of confident Australian soldiers carried two Lewis light machine guns and went hunting. They also prepared cameras to record the images of the army removing harm to the people to enhance their image.
As a result, they fired thousands of rounds of ammunition in a few days, but only hunted more than a hundred emus, which was just a drop in the bucket. During this period, they were almost wiped out because the truck rolled over, so the operation ultimately failed. .
As a result, the Australian army became the laughing stock of the world under the news media reports - the first human army defeated by birds.
Today's encounter quickly spread among the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers in the assault group. Everyone generally felt that the army composed of descendants of criminals and prisoners had nothing to fear except being bold and brave, so they slept peacefully.
The next day.
It was still dark, so the cooks started working in the dark.
The Ming Army has many types of stove trucks, the most common of which is a wooden-wheeled trailer, which is pulled by a horse and can provide meals for an average of fifty people. Each team's field cooking class has three stove trucks.
The motorized troops were slightly different. Wooden wheels were not suitable for being towed by trucks, so they were replaced with rubber tires. The Second Mobile Brigade was equipped with such rubber-tied stove trucks.
The fragrant pancakes and warm fish soup make many people extra hungry as soon as they wake up. Each class will assign two people to go to the cooking class to collect meals, while the others will stay on guard and remain vigilant.
Later, when the Ming soldiers were enjoying breakfast while leaning comfortably in the wet foxholes, the dull sound of artillery came leisurely from the distance.
"There are guns coming! Take cover!!!" An officer immediately shouted sharply.
But before he finished speaking, many soldiers with quick reactions had already bowed down and covered their heads.
Several soldiers who were trotting around the position to deliver orders and retrieve items also quickly turned over and jumped into the nearest foxhole.
At this time, dense shells also crackled down.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom—”
High-explosive shells fired from the QF 4.5-inch howitzer hit the Ming army's position one after another, and fire and smoke suddenly engulfed the place.
About half a quarter of an hour later, a red and a yellow flare were launched into the sky one after another - that was a warning sent back from the forward warning position, indicating that the enemy was attacking.
A few minutes later, a field call from the Second Mobile Brigade reached the temporary headquarters of the assault group.
It is said to be a command post. In fact, the armored command vehicle parked in a low-lying area, then piled sand and soil bags around it, and then covered it with some leafy branches.
"Report! It is confirmed that the enemy troops are taking the initiative to attack. It can be seen that there are about 300 troops, divided into two echelons, front and rear, and a small number of armored vehicles accompanying them!"
"It's really a shame for them. I took the initiative to knock on the door." Zhou Changfeng leaned over the folding table and carefully studied the surrounding terrain map hand-drawn by the staff last night.
Zhao Hanfeng, with a thoughtful look on his face, pointed to the distance and said: "Look, the interception of artillery fire has a quite high frequency of bomb drops. This is not like a feint attack, it should be a formal counterattack."
The Australian 20th Brigade (Regiment) launched an attack on the position of the 2nd Battalion and 1st Team of the Ming Army's 2nd Mobile Brigade with two infantry companies and the cooperation of five armored vehicles.
This is a protrusion, behind which is a small village, where the brigade-affiliated heavy mortar team of the Second Mobile Brigade is deployed.
Obviously, the Australians are desperate to smooth it over.
Now, the position of the first team has calmed down, and the artillery fire has extended to the rear, and began to continuously bombard the passage to block the reinforcements.
"How do you think we should respond? Drive away with artillery fire?"
"What do I think? I think we have to teach them a lesson. Fighting is not just about bravery. War... is an art."
Because the Ming army was in an offensive posture, the soldiers did not spend a lot of effort to build complete and tight field fortifications, but only dug foxholes.
Under such circumstances, it would be a disadvantage to stick to the battle, so Zhou Changfeng ordered his own field artillery group to perform counter-artillery missions and try to suppress the opponent's artillery positions.
In fact, the simplest response is to cover the attacking enemy with a few rounds of artillery fire, which should disintegrate it.
But Zhao Hanfeng knew that the guy who had "lured" him into his employ with a few words back then was trying to do something ruthless again.
A quarter of an hour later.
After the sparse gunfire and sporadic grenade explosions, the Australian soldiers who participated in the attack were surprised to find that the Ming army actually retreated?
This position was dotted with foxholes and bomb craters, and had no shelter or communication trenches. It was obviously only temporary.
A sergeant bent down and picked up a half-eaten pancake, "They left in a hurry, Captain, you see this is the food they didn't finish, and it's still hot."
Angus, the commander of Company C, and Kleist, the commander of Company A who followed later, got into an argument. Angus planned to directly attack the small village a thousand meters away to solve the threat of large-caliber mortars.
"Those five-inch mortars are abominations. We have to take them out as soon as possible, otherwise they will escape once the artillery blockade is interrupted."
Kleist objected, "No, I don't agree. The Chinese are very cunning and good at using tricks. Do you know what 'a soldier never tires of deception'?"
"I only know that a normal commander would not give up the defense in front of the artillery position. They must have retreated because they did not have anti-armor weapons." Captain Angus pulled out his Webley revolver.
He said disdainfully: "We are soldiers, not linguists. I only know that we should execute orders and complete tasks."
A moment later, more than a hundred Australian troops from Company C deployed in a textbook standard offensive formation and quickly advanced toward the small village ahead.
Several Vickers heavy machine guns were deployed 600 meters to the left and 500 meters to the right. Each row was arranged in a Z-shaped pattern with a distance of 300 meters.
Not long after, Australian soldiers who encountered no resistance began to enter the village one after another. They heard the sound of mortars firing closer and closer.
Six old Vickers armored vehicles staggered over, followed by soldiers carrying rifles and forming two columns.
But what they didn't notice was that several 37-type A rocket launchers were already aimed at the armored vehicles; two 12.8mm anti-aircraft machine guns were behind the doors of the two rows of houses next to them, with their muzzles facing the street.
"Spread out the search, Sergeant Darren, and lead your men to occupy the building."
"yes."
"Captain, where are the Chinese?"
(End of chapter)
