afterglow

Chapter 491 Surprise attack on Penang! Don't talk about martial arts

As the founder of modern special forces, the British created many special forces during the war, such as the Army's Special Air Service (SAS), the Navy's Special Boat Squadron (SBS), the Desert Expeditionary Force (LRDG), and so on.

The British who were defeated and fled back to the British Isles shivered in the face of the millions of German troops across the strait. However, after passing the initial darkest moment, some British soon began to consider how to fight back.

The German army sweeping across Europe was too powerful, and allowing British troops to cross the sea to attack the German army frontally was tantamount to hitting an egg with a stone.

As a result, an army lieutenant colonel named Clark put forward the proposal of "organizing a small group of elite troops to harass the weak defense areas of the German army, continuously wearing down the German army, and striving for victory."

Many senior generals believed that this method was a self-destructive approach, but the proposal was approved by the Prime Minister, and the Gomand Strike Force was born.

The situation today is roughly similar. The British army is helpless against the German army across the Taiwan Strait in Europe, and it is also helpless against the Ming army in Asia.

Therefore, the unconventional surprise attack force attracted the attention of many people, but there were also many objections, believing that this was a loss of troops and generals for no reason.

So Director Glenda and Captain Girod worked hard. They hoped to use a successful operation to prove that the strategy of infiltration surprise attack was effective.

The Jungle Expeditionary Detachment (LRJD) carefully selected two targets, one was the nearby port city of Yangon in southern Myanmar, and the other was the farther and more dangerous Penang.

"Is the hook attached?"

Not only did they collect a lot of intelligence, they also instigated several local police officers to rebel, laying a good information foundation for the surprise attack.

The team members were on guard all around, while the officers gathered together to discuss the map.

In this way, the infiltration of the jungle expedition detachment can be said to be surprisingly smooth.

For more than a year, the local Ming army successively captured some British agents and realized that Penang had been infiltrated by enemy agents to a certain extent.

In addition, there are two air force anti-aircraft artillery battalions stationed in Penang, a naval service detachment, and the 59th Regiment of the 20th Army Division.

Unit 2 arrived at the port just a few days ago. The large grid antenna has been shipped to the selected address, but the main control equipment, generator, and distribution box have only been loaded at the dock.

There are two large wooden boxes on the back of the heavy truck, which contain various supporting electrical equipment for the radar - cables, distribution boxes, oscilloscopes, main control equipment, etc.

Damn it! Is it so troublesome to install this precious thing in a car?

The next journey is not that far. It is only a dozen miles from the pier to the destination, Penang Hill, and it only takes a quarter of an hour.

"Everyone has been grinding away like crazy, from noon to now."

After landing, the four small sampans were dragged into the grass and hidden.

The setting sun was reflected on the sea in the west, and the moist sea breeze blew in the face. The team members rowed skillfully, and the four boats quietly rushed onto the beach.

Others used Enfield rifles with shortened barrels. These short-barreled rifles were called bush carbines.

In other words, Captain Girod only needs to lead his men to a surprise attack on a stronghold, take a few photos, and bring back some trophies to brag.

"to make!"

The officers and soldiers were already impatient with waiting. They received the order early this morning and heard that they would set off at noon, but they actually waited until sunset before setting off.

Captain Girod divided his men into two, an assault team and a demolition team to attack the 212th Independent Heavy Air Defense Battalion of the Ming Dynasty Air Force. He himself led people to set up an ambush next to the road in northern Penang.

Facing the Ming army military police and foreign police agents here, the British agents battled wits and courage with them. They suffered a lot of losses but also gained a lot.

The diesel engine roared loudly and black smoke spewed out of the exhaust pipe. Two French-made Bellier GPE-2 heavy-duty trucks slowly drove out of the Penang pier.

Overall, it's pretty good. The disadvantage is that the technology is immature and manufacturing is time-consuming and laborious. The Ming Air Force placed an order for 23 units and planned to deliver 10 units in the first batch, but so far only 6 units have been delivered.

A platoon from the Penang Defense Battalion performed the escort mission, divided into three trucks and two sidecar motorcycles.

During Operation Zanxia, ​​Penang was captured by the Ming Army on the Western Front. Since then, it has been bathed in the light of the sun and the moon. There are often Ming Dynasty naval warships here for supply, inspection and maintenance.

The Penang Garrison Command has a fixed Penang garrison battalion under its jurisdiction, including several infantry teams and a gendarmerie team, with a total number of nearly 1,000 people.

"Team C and Team F, let's go to Tanjong Highway, maybe we can ambush a convoy. Did you hear that?"

This long-wave radar was developed by Guangzhou Tianning Telecom Company. It has an operating frequency of 116MHz and a power of 12kW. It can detect aircraft formations at an altitude of 6000m with a detection range of up to 150km and an angle measurement accuracy of 3°.

In the organization he designed, the assault team has six people, the demolition team has five people, and the support team has five people. They are equipped with many Thompson submachine guns. The support team has two Bren light machine guns.

The operation was carried out with great autonomy - the British and Indian Army Command did not specify specific targets for them at all.

"Are you ready? The sun will set if you don't leave!"

It wasn't until the night before the Trident submarine set off that they finally finalized it - the brave and fearless, in order to prove our ability, the target...Penang!

Penang was developed as a commercial and trade center by the British colonial government as early as 1786 AD. It is now one of the important port cities in the Malayan Peninsula and is home to a large number of overseas Chinese.

At lunch, each person was given two steamed buns to deal with it, and they haven't eaten dinner yet.

The No. 1 unit shipped last month has been generally installed and is being debugged.

The team members wore wide-brimmed soft hats and British-Indian army uniforms printed and dyed green by themselves, and quickly disappeared into the lush jungle...

Two of them were transported to the port one after another by sea, and then unloaded ashore and installed at a more suitable site on Penang Hill.

In order to protect this important port city on the west coast of the Malayan Peninsula, the Ming army not only deployed dozens of 80mm anti-aircraft guns, but also planned to install two shore-based warning radars here.

【Picture】

Obviously, the Ming army, which had never been attacked by special forces, could only think that the enemy might launch air strikes through careful analysis of the intelligence gathered.

"understand!"

However, everyone takes it for granted that they should be prepared for air defense, or camouflage important facilities with air defense.

Captain Girod cherished this opportunity so much that he personally led the team here, vowing to prove that the specially trained elite team was deadly.

"Benson, take Team D and Team H to Bayu. I want you to blow up the Chinese anti-aircraft guns."

The convoy was driving at a low speed on the highway. After leaving the city, there were suddenly fewer pedestrians nearby.

What no one expected was that just as the convoy entered a corner and involuntarily slowed down to turn around, a violent roar came from a very close distance, and the shock wave instantly shattered the windows of several trucks.

"boom!"

A Type 21 truck produced by Yangyue Company was overturned by the explosion. The whole truck burst into flames, and all the soldiers on board fell out of the truck.

Almost at the same moment, intensive gunshots rang out across the countryside.

You can tell by the iconic "click" sound that it is a Thompson submachine gun. Several Mills grenades also flew to the ground, rolled around twice and exploded.

The blown-up truck blocked the way. Caught off guard, the Bailey heavy-duty truck with huge inertia was unable to stop at all. The driver pressed the brake pedal firmly, but could only watch as the rear of the car in front grew larger and larger, and finally collided with each other. "Bang! Bang!"

"Da da da - da da -"

"There's an ambush!"

"Left hand, left hand!"

The soldiers hurriedly jumped out of the car in surprise, rolled and crawled to find cover, and then fired back at the British commandos on the other side of the road.

People who were hit by bullets cried out for help in pain, or rolled over into a depression on the roadside.

Although the Jungle Expeditionary Detachment only had a dozen or so people, they had a slight upper hand with the ferocious firepower composed of seven or eight Thompson submachine guns and two Bren light machine guns.

The soldiers of the Ming army all left the dangerous convoy to prevent themselves from being harmed by cross fire from both sides, and then relied on the ditches or depressions next to the road to continue fighting.

Captain Girod knew that he had taken advantage of the ambush and caught his opponent off guard. However, he was still at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and had to seize the opportunity to stop the attack.

He shouted, "Cooper and Morris, come on!"

Immediately, two people climbed up from the trees and rushed forward quickly.

The two of them walked through the dangerous firefight area in the face of a hail of bullets. They bent down and rolled to the Bailey truck that was riddled with bullet holes. They threw the small satchel-shaped explosive bag up with their backhands.

Inside were three one-pound packages of baratto, a mixture of barium nitrate, TNT, and aluminum powder that was commonly used by the British army.

But just as they were about to turn back, a 7.7mm automatic bullet hit the rear tire of the Bailey truck on the right.

"boom!!!"

The damage caused by a tire blowout in a truck cannot be underestimated. The air in the tire with a pressure of eight or nine atmospheres is often released in a very short time, and the power can be imagined.

The unlucky Corporal Cooper was overturned on the spot and rolled several times on the ground. Then he was shot twice by a Ming army machine gunner on the other side of the road and was killed on the spot.

As the fuse burned out, the fuse took effect, and the explosive package exploded violently!

For a moment, sawdust and equipment parts were flying all over the sky, falling with a crackle within a hundred meters. Everyone shrank in shock, and the small battlefield was quiet for several seconds.

Seeing the soldier beside him shaking his camera, Captain Girod immediately ordered a retreat.

The team members did not dare to fight, and immediately fought and retreated...

At about the same time, Team D and Team H also launched an attack on the Ming Army's anti-aircraft gun positions.

The actions of special forces can often be regarded as "not martial ethics", and their targets are often the enemy's second-line troops or rear service personnel.

On one side are elites who have received special training, and on the other side are rookies who have had little experience in combat and lack of individual soldier training. Moreover, they still have mental arithmetic but no care, so they will naturally have an advantage.

The 18th Heavy Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion of the Air Force is equipped with 80 6-type mm anti-aircraft guns and large-caliber searchlights. Such units are deployed in important cities or transportation hubs for air defense in key areas.

British commandos are not yet equipped with silenced weapons. Silent assassinations with cold weapons are not only inefficient but also prone to misses.

When they were spotted, a fierce exchange of fire broke out.

There was a loud sound of gunfire, and the scene was not small. Tracer bullets flew back and forth under the dark sky, and roars and shouts were heard endlessly.

After nearly twenty minutes of fighting, dozens or hundreds of air force anti-aircraft artillerymen were unable to do anything to the dozen British commandos.

In the white light of explosive explosions and thermite burning, anti-aircraft guns with a purchase price of more than 40,000 yuan turned into scrap steel.

However, the Jungle Expeditionary Detachment, which was conducting a surprise attack for the first time, also lacked experience.

Fast in, fast out, and quick victory are the rules of the special forces, otherwise you will pay the price in blood!

The three armored vehicles arrived belatedly, and fierce machine gun fire instantly blocked the corner of the anti-aircraft gun position, suppressing the British commandos who were trying to retreat in place.

Only one of the three armored vehicles is a Bren machine gun vehicle captured last year, which is considered a regular armored vehicle; the other two are actually modified by Ming Army engineers using requisitioned British-made Austin cars and welded steel plates.

【Picture】

These things are very effective in dealing with guerrillas and resistance organizations, and rounding them off equals no money. It can be said that everything is put to good use.

"Sergeant, we're nailed here!"

"Dammit! Damn it! Use your rifle to fire an anti-tank grenade at it!"

A commando loads his Enfield rifle with blanks and attaches a cup-shaped grenade launcher to the muzzle.

With a "bang", a No. 68 anti-tank grenade flew out and hit the side of the Bren machine gun truck.

In the explosion, the steel plate was penetrated, and the weak metal jet injured several people, but other than that it had no other effect.

In the northwest corner of the anti-aircraft gun position, the members of Team D and Team H of the Jungle Expeditionary Detachment were screaming hysterically. Countless bullets flew from all directions, and the team members were shot dead one after another.

Half an hour later, the battlefield returned to peace.

The night wind blowing from the sea took away the choking smoke, but the strong smell of blood still penetrated his nose.

Soldiers from the 212th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, with flashlights and rifles in hand, carefully gathered around and arranged the eleven corpses with different forms of death in a row.

In the early morning of the next day, a telegram was sent from the Penang Command and Envoy Department, and was finally sent to the Staff Office of the Metropolitan Governor's Office along with hundreds of other telegrams.

"...That evening, the staff headquarters was unexpectedly attacked by an enemy suicide squad. The enemy came quietly and lurked on the killing sentry. After being discovered by the staff staff, they resisted with all their might, blowing up four anti-aircraft guns and a commander..."

On the vast front, countless stories happen every day and night.

Zhou Changfeng naturally didn't know about this little thing. He had to prepare for the promotion ceremony.

Xia Xiaoshi was actually more active than Zhou, and shook him awake early in the morning.

"Zhou Kexing! You need to be at the Ministry of War at eight o'clock sharp."

Zhou Changfeng, who was half asleep, was stunned for a few seconds before he woke up and said vaguely: "Now... when is it..."

"Chenshi!" Xia Xiaoshi answered very simply.

As a result, Zhou Changfeng turned his head to look at the window in confusion, only to find that it was pitch black outside.

Nonsense! It's not even daylight yet!

(End of this chapter)