afterglow

Chapter 486: There are always more solutions than difficulties; the US-Portugal Security Treaty

Arranged on both wings of the offensive starting position were Type 37 heavy machine guns and Type 31 anti-aircraft machine guns. At least ten machine guns were firing at the same time.

All machine guns fired with long bursts, and strings of bullets hit any place on the US military position where muzzle flash appeared.

The officers and soldiers stepped on the sloping soil slope, and moved forward slowly in groups of small and five groups taking turns to cover and cover.

People were constantly being hit by incoming bullets or injured by falling mortar shells.

Zhou Changfeng saw clearly in the high-magnification artillery mirror - a certain place looked just like an ordinary bush, but when five or six soldiers passed by, it suddenly started spitting out tongues of fire!

One of the most terrifying situations in actual combat is being killed by side-firing machine gun fire. These people were knocked down almost in the blink of an eye.

The other surrounding Marine infantry immediately lay down to seek cover. At the same time, at the starting position of the attack, two heavy machine guns on the left immediately turned their muzzles to suppress this exposed firepower point.

Tens of seconds later, another recoilless rifle began to fire at it, firing as many as seven or eight rounds until the hidden firepower point was completely silenced.

Then another 112mm infantry gun aimed at that place and fired a shot. In the smoke, broken weeds and logs were flying all over the sky...

And this is just a corner of a huge battlefield - at this moment, the participating troops of the 1st Marine Regiment are attacking the US military position on the west side of Edson Heights from three directions.

In fact, this kind of ordinary civil fortifications are relatively easy to deal with. Some bunkers reinforced with cement or I-beams cannot be destroyed by rocket launchers and recoilless rifles. Even the powerful 112mm infantry cannon can only destroy them. Quiet for a while.

The incineration ability of white phosphorus is weak, and it is more often used to generate smoke and arson. The damage effect on this strong support point is not satisfactory.

After removing several enemy fire points, the attack continued, with dozens of officers and soldiers of the 1st Marine Regiment rushing forward.

The artillery instantly transformed into a large shotgun, and more than a hundred steel balls ejected from the muzzle, sweeping across a fan-shaped area hundreds of meters ahead.

In future generations, even if we do not consider the PF97 Cloud Explosive Rocket Launcher, a powerful individual weapon for attacking enemies, even the more common FHJ84 Incendiary Rocket Launcher or M202 Rocket Launcher may be able to attack enemies at long distances more easily.

The main position so close seemed to have become an insurmountable chasm, and the path of attack was almost covered with blood and corpses!

The bullets jingled on the mantlet of the anti-tank gun, and soon a rocket-propelled grenade flew in and exploded. The metal jets and fragments killed the two gunners at the back and overturned the gunner and observer on the right. .

The two could only forcefully lift the leg-mounted frame after reloading to adjust the direction of the muzzle, and then fired multiple rounds until they were killed in the fighting position by flying grenades...

Driven by high-pressure nitrogen, the dazzling fire dragon spurted out and pounced on the stubborn bunker.

Our own 80mm and 128mm mortar shells landed on the US military positions one after another, hoping to suppress the enemy soldiers squatting in the trenches.

【Picture】

When encountering such a target, you can only rely on blasting tubes, explosive packs, and flamethrowers to risk getting close to attack at extremely close range. How dangerous the process is!

It can be seen through the artillery mirror that the impact of the first echelon in this direction has been contained, and the soldiers can only lie down on the ground.

The U.S. Marines, who were in a hurry, opened fire with any weapons at hand. Even the one-pound explosive blocks specially used by engineers were wrapped with detonators and thrown out.

More than a dozen Ming soldiers then rushed into the main position, jumped into the trenches, and started close combat with the U.S. troops. Several subsequent teams also followed suit.

The injured two men got up and continued the gunnery battle. Only then did they realize that the steering machine had been destroyed by the metal jet and could not adjust the direction of the shot left or right.

Under the coordinated suppression of light and heavy machine guns, several soldiers from the second squad of the third platoon of the chemical defense team crawled forward little by little.

From time to time, sporadic mortar shells fell nearby. The soldiers carrying flamethrowers and a few others moved slowly amidst the hail of bullets, until they were only about thirty meters away from the target and stopped.

Partially burned gasoline was poured in from the firing port, and the entire bunker was engulfed in orange flames, sending out black smoke straight into the sky.

However, the incendiary bombs fired by both of them are filled with napalm. Although the Type 37 rocket launchers and Type 40 recoilless rifles used by the Ming army are also equipped with incendiary bombs, they are filled with white phosphorus.

It is obvious that the US military has not been on vacation on the island for more than a month. The large number of bunkers and firepower points they built among the mountains have made it difficult for the Ming army to move forward.

A strong machine gun bunker has been hit by more than a dozen anti-explosive bombs or rocket-propelled grenades of different calibers. The turf and soil outside have been basically blown away, but every time the smoke clears, the brown gun inside Ning Zhong's machine gun would still fire again as if nothing had happened.

After fierce close combat, the participating troops finally tore a gap about 100 meters wide in the US military position and began to eliminate the remaining enemy soldiers.

The remaining 37mm anti-tank gun was also loaded with shrapnel shells and fired at the Ming soldiers who were only a few dozen meters away and charging towards them with submachine guns.

However, the US military also dispatched reserve forces in time to launch a counterattack. Zhou Changfeng saw at least fifty enemy soldiers coming from two directions for reinforcements, and the blocking firepower was also visibly strengthened. In addition to mortar shells, there seemed to be an additional 75mm high Explosive bomb?

The two follow-up platoons on our side can only further widen the distance and cautiously pass through the blockade zone.

In the end, as expected, the battle failed, and the positions that had been taken were taken back by the 5th U.S. Marine Regiment on the opposite side.

Zhou Changfeng stood up from behind the artillery mirror, frowned and asked, "Are you sure you have found the right place? It seems that blocking the artillery fire has not worked so far."

The 80mm mortars of each battalion of the st Marine Regiment continued to conduct blocking fire after completing the artillery preparations, in order to cut off the road of US reinforcements.

But it seems to have no effect so far.

Xue Can sighed helplessly: "It has always been like this. We have tried changing it several times, but no matter how it changes, their reserve team can always counterattack in time."

It can be said that the offensive and defensive model of Edson Heights has gradually evolved into the famous battles in the Peninsular War.

The specific pattern is: the attackers rushed to the top of the hill after hard work → occupied the hilltop after a bloody battle → the defenders suffered heavy losses, but the survivors relied on strong fortifications to resist and delay the time until the reserves arrived for reinforcements → the attackers were forced to retreat... …This cycle repeats over and over again, constantly grinding the meat.

The difference is that the Ming army as the attacker now has few heavy weapons and does not have extremely powerful artillery support because it has to pass through the jungle.

The First Marine Brigade, equipped with a series of excellent individual weapons, had such a difficult time fighting here. It is not surprising that the Second Division, which had historically inferior weapons and equipment, suffered thousands of casualties from the US military here.

"Stop for now." Zhou Changfeng said calmly as he walked back.

A staff officer immediately shouted: "Send the order, withdraw the troops! Someone will come and organize the rescue of the wounded soldiers."

After returning to the headquarters, Zhou Changfeng, who was in a bad mood, first asked about the status of the D-42 Squadron.

Currently, the injured warships in the fleet have returned to Rabaul in groups, while the remaining warships are still on standby in the waters near Cape Espany. They had already consumed a large amount of ammunition during the shelling of the shore on March 3, and then were attacked and suspended during the sea supply operation. Thousands of artillery shells were also fired in the subsequent naval battle. Now the ammunition surplus is stretched thin and they can only From time to time, I fired a few scattered shots at the airport for fun.

The navy can't be counted on for the time being, and the only foreign aid that can be called at the moment seems to be the air force unit stationed in Rabaul.

So a telegram was sent to the Rabaul Garrison Command.

Knowing that the battle situation on Guadalcanal's front line was not going well, Wang Wenzhi and others were a little surprised - weren't they marching straight into the front line with overwhelming momentum in the past few days? Why did you suddenly feel deflated?

"Didn't the Navy say that the enemy fleet has escaped? What's the situation?"

"Commander, wait a moment, I will go and get some photos."

Wang Wenzhi and his staff compared the map and aerial photos for a long time and figured out the reason why the attack mentioned in the telegram from the 1st Marine Brigade was blocked.

"It's strange. Isn't it smooth to attack along the coastline? The progress has been so fast in the past few days. Why do they need to divide their troops to the rear? Isn't attacking with light equipment just asking for trouble?" the communications staff major of the 4th Pursuit Aircraft Detachment said doubtfully .

"Zhou Changfeng doesn't seem to be a random person. Maybe he has his own plans." Wang Wenzhi said thoughtfully: "How is the progress of the airport on Bu Island?"

Someone immediately replied: "The first section is ready, and the extension section has just started."

Because Rabaul is too far away from Guadalcanal, the bomb load and stay time of Ming army aircraft are severely limited.

So the Air Force sent an engineering battalion to land on Bougainville Island, the westernmost island of the Solomon Islands, and started construction of a backup transit airport there. The airport will be constructed in two phases and will be able to take off and land bombers upon completion.

At present, the airport has completed the construction of a 600-meter runway, which is enough to support the emergency backup needs of most aircraft.

Zhou Changfeng requested air support from Rabaul, hoping that the air force could drop incendiary bombs deep into the US defense line, thereby blocking the counterattack of the US reserve forces deployed on the second line to the greatest extent.

At the same time, he also emphasized not to use standard aviation incendiary bombs, which require gasoline filling, large range, and long burning time.

Before the birth of napalm, incendiary bombs were usually of two types: thermite and white phosphorus - the former was powerful, but had a shorter duration and smaller diffusion range; the latter was weaker and lacked sufficient deterrence.

In order to meet Zhou's request, the 1st Light Bombing Detachment stationed at Rabaul Airport No. 5 could only rack their brains to find a way.

As the saying goes, "As long as the mind does not slip, there are always more solutions than difficulties." Facts have proved that the subjective initiative of the Ming Dynasty Air Force units is still good.

Ground crews and mechanics collected a large number of auxiliary fuel tanks, and at the same time unpacked several boxes of arson grenades and installed them inside the auxiliary fuel tanks as ignition components.

Next, they mixed No. 66 gasoline used in ordinary cars and second-class naval heavy oil, and mixed each large barrel of gasoline with three liters of heavy oil to prepare a large amount of fuel with a viscosity similar to cooking oil.

These temporary and hastily prepared things are definitely not as good as the napalm specially prepared by the Ming army to capture Fort Drum last year - that is a special fuel added with oleic acid and palm oil.

"By the way, the supplies for the frontline troops have to be transported dozens of miles from the beach into the dense forest. Come up with a strategy and organize a certain amount of airdrops to relieve them some pressure."

"But...we don't have an airlift unit here."

"Go to Mocheng and ask two teams to come over. Hurry."

"Yes."

When the Ming army in the southwest Pacific region encountered setbacks and had to prepare for the next phase of the offensive, the island seizing operation in the Central Pacific region went surprisingly smoothly.

Following the orders of Chester Nimitz, a lightning-fast evacuation operation was organized, code-named: Operation Magic Broom.

The Pacific Fleet and the Army Air Force dispatched a large number of destroyers and bombers to transport the US troops stationed at Midway and Wake Island around the clock.

Operation Magic Broom was undoubtedly a success, so when the menacing Ming fleet arrived, the two islands were almost deserted, leaving only a large number of booby traps and landmines.

From beginning to end, including accidental casualties and casualties caused by these explosives, the Ming army killed 19 people and injured 102 people on Wake Island; the US military only lost one PBY Catalina seaplane, and 5 people were killed.

A miserable victory! The ratio of casualties between the enemy and ourselves was as high as five to one hundred and twenty-six!

This is the charm of journalism... you must try it.

In addition to deploying a large number of explosives, the US military also destroyed all facilities before withdrawing. Piers, cranes, runways, towers, barracks, warehouses, etc. were all blasted or burned to the ground.

So much so that Song Zhongkai, who visited the island for inspection, couldn't help but sigh that he could actually see the scene of solid walls and clear fields here.

Despite this, the Ming army avoided hundreds of casualties and the consumption of hundreds of tons of ammunition. The process of capturing Midway Island and Wake Island was as easy as picking out a bag.

This was immediately publicized by newspapers all over the country, claiming that the US military retreated without fighting and fled. This shows that the courage and morale have been lost.

The Yingtian Mansion in the capital, the Bell and Drum Tower business district, and the Yingtian Stock Exchange are more popular than ever these days.

Citizens watching the market crowded together, and a long queue stretched for more than half a block in front of the trading window. Companies related to the military industry all soared, and smaller shipping companies also soared.

In such a joyous atmosphere, the European battlefield was much less popular, and news about the situation in the Iberian Peninsula was basically ranked on the second or third page instead of the front page.

Since the launch of Operation Sanjianlan on February 2, the German troops on the northern and southern fronts have made rapid progress. The Spanish army, which is between the second and third rates, has little power to fight back against the rolling German People's Army and can only passively defend.

The advancing speed of the German army was basically equal to half of the average daily marching speed of the infantry division. After leaving the mountainous area, the Spanish army's defense line outside Madrid collapsed within a few days.

Now, hundreds of thousands of troops from the Northern Army and the Southern Army have arrived at the city. This capital city, which was devastated by the civil war three years ago, is now about to usher in a new war.

On March 3, the diplomatic attaché sent by Washington to Lisbon sent back the news that there was no suspense - the "US-Portugal Security Treaty" was successfully signed.

(End of this chapter)