afterglow

Chapter 511 Surprise? surprise! An early victory?

A few days ago, Fan Canyuan's troops, like other battalions, built concrete obstacles one after another on the coastline.

However, when burying concrete piles in shallow waters, the soldiers found two black balls with tentacles among the coral reefs. It was later confirmed that these were mines previously deployed by the US military. It was estimated that they had drifted away from the laying area. Come here and stay stuck here.

Engineer units then reset the fuses of the two mines and removed the glass bottles filled with electrolyte from the lead tentacles.

These are two Mk6 mines filled with 300 pounds of ammonium picrate.

Fan Canyuan felt that since Zhou was able to use several misfired light aerial bombs planted in advance to hit the British in the head, wouldn't his two mines be more powerful?

Therefore, he applied to keep it, otherwise it would be dismantled to recover explosives. Because the superiors felt that they were going to bomb the Americans anyway, they had the same goal by different routes, so why shouldn't they be bombed?

Fan Canyuan knew that there were many uncertainties in his idea. Where should such a big thing be buried so that it would not be discovered? And also to avoid being detonated by US military fire.

Someone proposed to send people quietly to the place two hundred meters in front of the position at night, use the existing bomb crater to conduct secondary excavations, and then drag the mines over and bury them!
However, the problem is that such a buried point is only more than 100 meters away from the US military's offensive starting position. It is closer to the Americans than to our own people. It is too risky and easily exposed.

Finally, Fan Canyuan decided to adopt another method, which was to place the mines in the shelter of the forward position and wait for the enemy to invade the position before detonating them.

All night long, the U.S. fleet fired continuously, ensuring that there were flares floating in the sky at all times, as if without flares, the night would swallow up the troops on the beach.

The M2A4 light tanks that were destroyed during the day had not yet burned up. They lit up the surroundings like a bonfire, and the gunshots knocked down people. Soon, the American troops near the wreckage of these tanks fled in a hurry.

Many people finally breathed a sigh of relief when the eastern sky turned white, and this night became known as the Night of the Dead.

Due to the extreme lack of experience, omissions in all aspects occurred one after another, resulting in a large number of avoidable losses.

For example, U.S. military medical personnel underestimated casualties, quickly ran out of plasma and analgesics at the beach, and it was quite troublesome to temporarily change the supply delivery plan.

The division headquarters first asked what medicines the field medical camp needed to supply, and then contacted the navy after receiving a reply. The navy then went to search for it on ships carrying military supplies. It took more than three hours for the plasma and analgesics to arrive. Sent, and it was delivered to the wrong beach!
At 21:37, Lan Er Beach was the first to receive medical supplies, followed by Red Beach. However, Huang Y Beach, which was in the most urgent situation, did not receive it until 22:26.

This is safer, but the disadvantage is that the zigzag trench will greatly weaken the scope of the explosion, which cannot compare with the killing radius of the explosion in the open field, and this position must be abandoned voluntarily to avoid accidentally bombing one's own side.

Six hundred meters directly in front of Lan Er Beach, a patrol team from Company B of the 32nd Infantry Regiment jumped into the trench one after another, and then a fierce exchange of fire broke out with the Ming army who came after hearing the news.

That night, the two mines were pushed by the soldiers and rolled into two shelters about a hundred meters apart in a straight line.

Anyway, it is enough to ensure that at least one mine detonates. As long as it is launched smoothly, the number of enemies killed will definitely be greater than that of just a few shots fired by the people in your own row.

Since Zhou Changfeng did not deploy many troops here, the defense was very weak, making it easier for the smaller US patrol to break into the position.

6月11日到6月12日的这一夜对美國陸軍第7步兵师上下而言堪称刻骨铭心
A group of fledgling rookies were assigned to counterattack the so-called "American territory". The landing operation during the day suffered heavy casualties. More than 300 officers and soldiers were killed or seriously injured, and as many as a thousand were injured.

Fan Canyuan's calculation was very shrewd - his superiors did not require him to hold on to the forward position, and this place could be abandoned at any time.

Unlike the struggling Marine Corps, the U.S. Army's current weapons and equipment have already taken on a completely new look - holding M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles or Thompson submachine guns, wearing M1 steel helmets, and automatic riflemen have also replaced M37 ammunition belts.

Two wires were laid out for each mine to reduce the possibility of one being broken and rendered ineffective. The telecommunications were connected to a hidden observation post 150 meters behind the forward position.

The Ming Army's continuous artillery bombardment never stopped. The Mountain Artillery Regiment of the Third Marine Brigade fired in turns all night, usually in groups of two guns, and carried out constant rapid fire for an hour on the target beach, with a total of 120 rounds.

From Red 1 to Yellow 1 beachhead, the U.S. military sent out multiple combat patrols one after another, stabbing the Ming army's forward positions like needles in an attempt to find out the specific layout of the positions and lure hidden firepower points to open fire.

This kind of firepower was quite ferocious in close combat. The two sides strafed and threw grenades at each other, making it difficult to separate.

The Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers in the forward positions also continued to harass them with cold shots. Some people preferred Type 35 semi-automatic rifles, while others preferred Type 21 bolt-action rifles.

After daybreak, Brigadier General Charles White ordered each beachhead to organize armed reconnaissance to test the defensive deployment of the enemy in front of him.

Everyone didn't know how to transform the two into electronically controlled detonations, so they simply placed a few blasting tubes and more than a dozen 2-ounce packages of explosive blocks underneath for detonation, and connected the electric detonators and wires.

Twenty minutes later, the patrol retreated.

Based on the results of armed reconnaissance, Division Commander Charles chose to attack the Ming army positions behind the beachheads of Lan Er and Huang Yi. Four companies were responsible for the direct attack, and three other companies were ready to take over or reinforce.

"If successful, we can secure a position 1500 yards wide and 1000 yards deep, but it will be a dangerous salient and I think we must be prepared."

"Yes, sir!"

The 57th Field Artillery Battalion, which completed its tactical deployment at the beachhead, began to attack the Ming army's forward positions. All exposed firepower points and suspicious targets were covered.

The Ming artillery then opened fire, forcing the US artillery to hastily suspend its fire preparations.

U.S. military planes arriving from various airports on Oahu also carried out fierce air strikes that seemed to cover the sky and the sun, and the effect seemed to be very good. However, the U.S. military who suffered a loss of blood yesterday no longer believed what they saw with their eyes.

At 11:48, the cowering 7th Infantry Division finally began to take the initiative to attack.

The first battalion of the 21st Infantry Regiment was ordered to attack the blue second direction, and the second battalion was responsible for attacking the yellow first direction.

Usually, the US military is accustomed to having the first company perform assault missions, similar to a sharp knife company. The second company is responsible for covering, feigning attacks, and attracting firepower, and the third company serves as a tactical reserve.

Under normal circumstances, in principle, the third company will not take over when the first company's assault is blocked. Only when the first company successfully opens a breakthrough, the third company will follow up to expand the results.

Suddenly, rows of dark-gray figures emerged on the golden beach, and roars of "go go go" and "move your ass" came one after another.

【Picture】

Yesterday's fate of Company F of the 17th Regiment is still fresh in our minds, and the rumors are getting more and more exaggerated, which makes the soldiers quite uneasy. No one wants to be chased all the way like yesterday's unlucky guy, and then end up with a shameful person who was shot in the back. Way to die.

"Bang! Bang!"

The sound of gunfire suddenly came, and the soldiers jumped and fell down quickly.

The wounded who were shot let out painful howls, which was quite scary, but the officers and non-commissioned officers kept urging, so everyone could only bite the bullet and continue to move forward.

However, unexpectedly, the resistance they encountered today was very slight, and there was no other incoming fire except sporadic gunfire.

The target position has been blown to pieces by fleets and aircraft, and the ground is littered with twisted, section-by-section barbed wire. Company A of the 1st Battalion "attacked" the Ming Army's position after paying a slight price of four casualties. The expected tenacious resistance did not occur, and the dilapidated position was deserted.

The company commander took out his flare gun and prepared to load a blue flare into it to signal that the place was under control.

At this time, a blue flare was first launched a few hundred meters away to their right - this meant that E Company of the 2nd Battalion next door had also easily occupied the target position.

"Captain, they were one minute ahead of us." A sergeant said easily.

But just when the captain loaded the flare and raised his gun in the air, he was about to pull the trigger...

In the hidden observation post more than a hundred meters away behind the position occupied by Company E, several Ming soldiers were sure to observe that most of the invading enemies had entered the position.

The sergeant threw away the nearly burned out cigarette, took the detonator and cranked the electric crank a few times, then pressed it down hard.

"Boom! Boom!!!"

The loud noise startled the commander of Company A, who was about to pull the trigger of the flare gun.

Looking around, I saw smoke and dust billowing up from the violent explosion, and the location of E Company was covered by billowing smoke.

Also shocked was Zhou who was far away in Kasijini Mountain.

Two consecutive deafening roars made him feel nervous while sitting at the headquarters!
Zhou Changfeng immediately walked quickly to an observation port, frowned and picked up the telescope to look in the direction of the explosion.

Could such a violent explosion be caused by the ammunition depot being hit and exploded?
Or maybe the US battleship opened fire, and the explosion just now could only be achieved by large-caliber naval guns or heavy bombs.

"Here comes someone! Make a call to District B2."

"Order!"

Zhou Changfeng walked to the side and took the phone, "Hello! Are you the chief officer of District B2? No? I'm Zhou Changfeng. Let your chief officer come and answer the phone!"

The No. 3 forward position is now filled with gray smoke that is spreading and reaching into the sky. If you look down from above, there are two large pits that are very conspicuous.

The Mk6 mine had a 300-pound charge, and Fan Canyuan's subordinates added fuel to the fire by stuffing some explosive blocks and blasting tubes next to the mine. The actual explosive power was no less than the normal shells fired by the battleship's main gun.

The weight of the Mk13 high-explosive bomb launched by the Iowa-class battleship is only 69.7 kilograms of explosives, which is probably less than half that here.

The horrific explosion tore the nearby officers and soldiers of Company E to pieces on the spot. The broken limbs, broken arms, and earth and rocks that flew into the sky fell one after another within a three-kilometer radius.

Suddenly, the entire beach was deathly silent, and time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The Ming army who calmly withdrew from their position also felt uncomfortable. Many of Fan Canyuan's subordinates were also shaken to pieces by the shock wave. Some people were less lucky and had their shoulder blades shattered by a thrown stone.

In the hidden observation post only about 150 meters away from the explosion point, three Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers hiding inside were knocked to the ground by the blast wave. The huge shock wave and overpressure made them feel It was as if all the internal organs had been punched.

"Report to the superior officer, don't worry, the movement just now was caused by my subordinates. He was thinking of leaving some big surprise for this enemy last night, and he may have killed hundreds of people in one go!"

"That's it, I understand."

After hearing the report from the chief officer of District B, Zhou Changfeng felt relieved.

He didn't care about the big noise caused by the frontline troops. It was a good thing to have such subjective initiative, and it was not too late to be happy.

As for where the explosive equipment came from and how it was carried out, that was not something that he, a commander, needed to inquire into. It was not enough to assign a staff team to senior commanders to share the affairs. How could he do the opposite and do everything personally?

In fact, Zhou Changfeng only cared about who was hit by the bomb just now, but now that he knew it was an American, it didn't matter.

Company E of the 32nd Battalion of the nd Infantry Regiment suffered a combat casualty of more than people in the explosion just now, and a quarter of them may be classified as missing.

In addition, dozens of people were injured to varying degrees. The captain of E Company was seriously injured, and a complete company just withdrew from the battle in confusion.

Suffering from this setback, the US military offensive was forced to suspend for more than an hour.

At 13:30 in the afternoon, the 7th Infantry Division resumed the offensive.

After occupying the forward position, the US military advanced in depth, and the resistance they encountered gradually increased.

As of 15:05, Company H of the Third Battalion reported that it had advanced meters and captured an anti-tank gun and a field telephone.

However, the good times did not last long, and the U.S. military soon hit the first line of defense - which was actually the real position from this moment on.

The command post established by the Third Battalion was discovered by the experienced Ming army because it was not concealed enough, and then multiple 80mm and 128mm mortar shells roared down.

The battalion personnel suffered heavy casualties, but the battalion commander, Major Ted, survived because he was on the front line to direct the battle.

However, only forty minutes later, an anti-aircraft machine gun concealed on the flank of the Ming army seized the opportunity and suddenly opened fire, killing Major Ted and seven of his accompanying officers and soldiers in one fell swoop.

Facing the main line of defense carefully laid out by Zhou Changfeng, the U.S. military's three-and-a-half-hour offensive failed to make any progress. Company A of the 7st Tank Battalion assigned to the 701th Infantry Division accidentally entered the minefield because it lost its way.

Amid the roaring explosions, the U.S. tank crew thought they were ambushed by anti-tank guns, and drove around in desperation. The result was even worse. Many tanks were damaged and destroyed, and they had to abandon their vehicles and evacuate...

The poor performance of the Americans made Zhou Changfeng feel a little emotional. Facts have proved that the price of siding with America is not small. The result of weakened military preparedness is to spend double or even triple the price on the battlefield to make up for it.

The current U.S. military is not the unstoppable and experienced U.S. military that was in history for 44 or 45 years, and the Ming army here is not the Japanese army that was at the end of its rope at that time.

Right now it's like a ruthless duel between rookies. In a sense, it's unfair. Unfortunately, this is a battlefield and there's no such thing as fairness.

Zhou Changfeng picked up the tea cup and took a sip, "Get ready and send a small good news in advance, so as to... report that everything is safe."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)