The pilots flying the Stuka gradually found their own feelings, and the new round of bomb drops achieved better results.
Another Mirage cruiser was hit, this time an aerial bomb penetrated the cruiser's deck vertically and directly hit the ammunition magazine inside.
This is completely different from a torpedo hit: a torpedo hit only involves the explosion of the torpedo itself, but in fact there is almost no explosion.
Because the torpedo sinking of a warship mainly relies on the water inflow after the explosion, a large amount of seawater will instantly pour into the opponent's ammunition depot and oil depot, which is equivalent to helping the water injection to suppress the explosion.
Aerial bombs are different. When an aerial bomb hits, it detonates inside the warship after penetrating the deck armor. This is equivalent to causing structural damage and explosion first, and then causing the hull to rupture and flood the ship.
So when the mirage cruiser was hit by a bomb, the explosion of the ammunition depot made the whole scene tragic and terrifying.
The huge explosion even flew parts of the cruiser into the air and fell onto the deck of another cruiser next to it.
The fire caused by the explosion of the ammunition magazine under the forward turret of the battleship almost ignited the bridge and the smokestack behind it. All rescue efforts were ineffective. The oil depot in the middle of the battleship exploded and caught fire. The entire battleship disintegrated on the sea before it sank.
In a sense, the protection level of Mirage's warships is average, and the cruiser's lack of tonnage leaves the main weight to the artillery and main armor belt.
Although the horizontal armor has been slightly strengthened, in fact they still underestimated the damage that naval aviation can bring to battleships.
Before there was time to mourn for this battleship, another cruiser on the other side was hit by a torpedo. Unlike the previous cruiser, this cruiser was lifted high from the sea by the explosion, and then fell heavily back into the sea, almost breaking in the middle.
Compared with the heavy cruiser that capsized before, this cruiser is obviously a light cruiser, and it seems to have been modified.
It has four chimneys and only two main gun turrets at the bow and stern. This type of cruiser is actually not very powerful in terms of combat effectiveness. It is fast but has very limited armor.
This type of light cruiser is generally used for patrol and surveillance, and its main focus is economy. During the war, they could barely make up the numbers with the main fleet, or they could act alone to escort a fleet, fight against relatively useless destroyers, or the like.
Being hit by a torpedo at this moment, its lack of protection and structural instability were highlighted. Originally, the aviation torpedo did not have such huge power, but it almost broke when it hit it.
The Mirage's southbound fleet, which originally had only seven cruisers and three destroyers, could be said to have suffered heavy losses at this time.
Three of their warships were watching being sunk, and the remaining warships were struggling to hold on and were in danger of capsizing at any time.
Seeing that his fleet was about to be unable to withstand it, Mirage Haiang sent a message to the main fleet to report his experience, and on the other hand, he issued an order to retreat immediately.
Are you kidding me? If we go further south, I'm afraid the whole army will be annihilated here. The support they promised from the army... well, if that can be considered support, it won't work at all!
Finally, several Zero fighter jets arrived, but they were beaten by the curved-wing aircraft being escorted. None of them escaped, and they were all shot down!
What good can such cover do? No one else has more numbers, let alone combat effectiveness: The telegram sent by Mirage Haiang to the main fleet focused on this matter: The army's aircraft support is unreliable. If you want to ensure that the main fleet is foolproof, at least two hundred aircraft are needed. Only a fighter jet will do.
But this telegram fell into the hands of the main fleet commander Mirage Haifeng, and it became a big joke: their Mirage country had no more than 200 aircraft deployed on the South Island. How could it be possible that they all took off to support the navy?
In fact, the commander of the Mirage Army in the South Island, Mirage Wu Zhong, was ill and rushed to hospital. He had already ordered the Tulong bombers to take off again and carry out bombings against Leping and Dongshan.
In order to retake these two places, he had given death orders to the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions, ordering them to break through the defense line composed of Tang Army paratroopers before 1 p.m.
Because the commanders of the Mirage Army stationed on the beach were almost crying. The reinforcements they had been waiting for had not arrived. Now they were squeezed into a corner and were about to be annihilated by the Tang Army's landing force.
…
On the beach, a landing ship drove directly to the beach. The huge iron door on its bow had been opened, the springboard had been lowered, and a jeep rushed ashore first.
Immediately afterwards, a Type 59 main battle tank drove out. With such advanced landing equipment, the 9th Army of the Tang Army could land ashore much faster than expected.
Riding in the jeep, Funk looked at the artillerymen who had set up positions on the beach and set up towed 155mm heavy artillery. He felt that this time the landing operation was safe.
As a commander, he did not believe in the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps, but he was full of confidence in the 9th Army he formed.
In order to support this landing operation, the weapons and equipment department above even gave priority to replacing some Type 59 main battle tanks for the 9th Army. With these advanced main battle tanks, Feng Kezhi did not think that his troops would be pushed into the sea by the mirage army.
"Sir!" The commander of the 19th Infantry Division of the 9th Group Army who had just been sent ashore stood at attention and saluted Feng Kezhi: "The Marine Corps is clearing the landing site on the flanks, and my 1st Regiment is breaking through in depth! The 9th Armored Division came ashore first. A company has been assembled, and they will support us in penetrating the enemy's second line of defense head-on."
Sitting on the jeep, Feng Kezhi returned a military salute to his men: "Let the troops clear the landing site as soon as possible! The subsequent troops cannot move forward!"
As he spoke, he pointed to the various landing ships and transport ships approaching the beach, and shouted to his men: "I will give you 2 hours. Your troops must cross the second line of defense of the Mirage Army and fight with the paratroopers." Position contact!”
"Yes! Sir!" The leader of the 1st regiment stood at attention and saluted, and then hurried to carry out the order.
Feng Kezhi shouldn't have landed at this time, but he was eager to push his command forward. In his opinion, this was an attitude. A surrendered general like him should stand in the most dangerous place to protect himself. The empire is loyal.
Behind him, more Tang Empire destroyers were pouring their artillery shells on the mirage army: countless artillery pieces spit out tongues of flame, making the entire landing site still extremely noisy.
The following troops were densely piled on the beach, most of them were baggage of the 9th Army, as well as soldiers who had just been sent ashore.
Most of the artillery positions deployed by the Mirage Army in depth have been destroyed by Stuka dive bombers. The remaining ones can only support the frontal defense line and can no longer spare the power to shoot at the beach.
It is precisely because of this that Bernard acquiesced to Funk's action of pushing the command headquarters to the beach. After all, Bernard also believed that only Funk's landing would mean that the landing operation was proceeding smoothly.
The engineers of the Tang Empire who had just landed were clearing the minefields left by the mirage army. Their methods were simple and crude. They basically used detonators to directly detonate a certain area, followed by the next one.
The Tang Army did not carry much real mine-sweeping equipment, and most of them had lower priority and were on the later-numbered transport ships. At this time, everyone is no longer afraid of waste, and can only use what is available.
Along the trenches left by the mirage, the 1st Marine Division was attacking to the west, while the east side was the main attack direction of the 2nd Marine Division.
The troops of their two divisions are working hard to expand the landing site. Under their attack, the width of the Tang Army's landing site has exceeded 5 kilometers.
When Funk came ashore, he could only hear gunshots in the distance. But the gunfire behind him was still intensive, so he could only shout at the top of his lungs when he spoke.
"If I had known, I wouldn't have waited any longer!" He covered one ear with one hand, jumped out of the off-road vehicle with squinted eyes, and complained to the adjutant who was following him.
The headquarters engineers on the side were setting up a tent next to a reef, which was the temporary headquarters of their army group.
There are also communications troops who have erected antennas on the rocks. They need to arrange at least ten radio stations here and connect ten walkie-talkie devices... Of course, they also need generators and a camouflage net for air defense. , deploy warning zones further away.
In fact, the command system on a battleship is more complete. After all, it is safer and quieter, and there are more and more comprehensive communication equipment.
However, it is not without benefits for the commander to go forward. At least this native method of leading by example can indeed motivate the soldiers and make the entire unit fight more bravely.
In fact, the 9th Army was indeed encouraged: the 1st Regiment of the 19th Infantry Division, which had just landed, was attacking northward. Without tank cover, they had pushed their defense line right into the eyes of the enemy's second main line of defense. Underneath.
As the absolute main force in the group army, the 2nd Regiment of the 19th Infantry Division is coming ashore, and the artillery directly under the group army is also establishing its own artillery positions.
More tanks are also ready to join the battle. These Type 59 main battle tanks will not stop until they exhaust the fuel in their tanks.
"Let the subsequent troops replace the first batch of landing Marines as soon as possible...their pants are all wet..." Personally supervising the establishment of his headquarters, Feng Kezhi felt the cold sea breeze blowing on his face. .
He came ashore directly from the gangplank, and his boots were dry, but the soldier who opened the way for him waded ashore through the water. Now that they had endured the cold all morning, they really needed to rest.
——
There are two updates today. Don’t wait any longer. I’ll continue to update when I feel better.
(End of chapter)
