The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 98 Attack and Defense 4
boom

After a loud noise, accompanied by the sound of steel twisting, the turret of a Type 37 heavy armored vehicle was turned into scrap metal by a blasting grenade from a [-]mm tank defense cannon right in front of Toshiyoshi Hyakutake's eyes.

Just when He Wei was killing people with his large-caliber heavy machine gun, Chen Xinsheng's tank defense gun platoon did not slack off. The two [-]-type anti-tank guns opened fire at almost the maximum rate of fire, and after achieving the destruction After a good start with a Type [-] medium tank, they successfully destroyed two Type [-] heavy armored vehicles with weak armor. In addition, they also damaged a Type [-] heavy armored vehicle and a Type [-] medium tank.

In just such a short time, the Japanese tank troops in the vanguard lost almost half of their combat effectiveness, and the beaten Japanese tank troops had not even found the enemy's exact location and were in a mess.

Since he had been attacked by the Chinese army's tank defense artillery before, Hyakutake Toshiyoshi determined when the first tank was destroyed that the culprit of the cancellation of this Type 37 Chinese tank was the Chinese army's [-]mm combat anti-aircraft gun. .

But then, what caused the five Type [-] light armored vehicles on the far right side of the team to lose their combat effectiveness, Toshiyoshi Hyakutake could not guess. Judging from the trajectory of the red tracer bullets and the damage effect of the hit tanks, the armored vehicles could be destroyed. The weapons that are beaten like this and have such a high rate of fire are mostly large-caliber machine guns or machine guns equipped with armor-piercing projectiles.

The first thing that came to Shunkichi Hyakutake's mind was that the Chinese army might have added [-]-millimeter caliber machine guns to its positions. The Japanese army had always done a good job in intelligence work on the Chinese army. Before the war broke out, Shunkichi Hyakutake and other Japanese combatants Officers in the vehicle force will use the information from the intelligence department to learn and judge the anti-tank weapons equipped in the Chinese army.

Among these anti-tank weapons, in addition to the 37 mm German anti-tank gun, various types of [-] mm caliber machine guns are the most deterrent to tanks.

战前中国进口了大量不同国家生产的二十毫米机关炮，中国购买的20毫米机关炮有瑞士产厄利空20毫米机关炮、瑞士制苏罗通20毫米机关炮、丹麦制麦德森M1935型20毫米机关炮、意大利制布雷达M1935 20毫米机关炮等。

Some of these artillery pieces are equipped for centralized use in the independent artillery regiments of the Chinese army, and some are equipped with the most elite German adjustment divisions in the Chinese army, and are equipped in small artillery companies under the infantry regiments of the adjustment divisions. The regiment's small artillery battery is equipped with four [-]mm machine guns.

If you don't look into it carefully, you will find that the ballistics and shooting destructive effects of the large-caliber heavy machine gun operated by He Wei are very similar to those of the [-]mm machine gun. The battlefield is chaotic, and Hyakutake Shukichi has no time to study it carefully. All he can think of is that the Chinese army has another Equipped with a strengthened machine gun to increase anti-tank firepower.

"Stop advancing, stop advancing, concentrate firepower to suppress the enemy's firepower points"

Hyakutake Shukichi couldn't bear to look at the miserable condition of the destroyed tanks anymore, so he took the risk to push open the turret roof, climbed out and kept waving the command flag in his hand. In this situation, the tanks could no longer retreat, and the only way to survive was Stop advancing and concentrate all the light and heavy firepower of the remaining tanks to suppress the firepower of the Chinese army's anti-tank guns and suspected machine guns. Only in this way can the remaining tanks be saved.

While commanding his tank to organize a fire counterattack, Shukichi Hyakutake also sent a signal to the infantry officer hiding behind the tank for the infantry to cross the tank and launch an attack.

To be able to escort the infantry here is already the end of his duty. These anti-tank guns and machine guns that are poisoning the tanks should have been dealt with by the infantry, not to mention that there are only 200 meters away from the main position of the Chinese army. The distance is about 200 meters. If tanks have to be escorted to the end even for the last [-] meters, then there will be no difference between infantry and waste.

boom

bang bang bang
boom

The Japanese tanks that had stopped advancing finally organized a large-scale suppressive counterattack. After being severely beaten by Chen Xinsheng's tank defense artillery platoon and He Wei's large-caliber heavy machine guns, there were only three Type [-] tanks left intact. There are still two Type [-] heavy armored vehicles left. As for the Type [-] light armored vehicles, all of them were wiped out after being shot by He Wei. Not to mention that they were all destroyed, they all lost their mobility.

Among the five Type [-] vehicles, two not only lost their mobility, but also the turrets and the shooters in the turrets were all damaged and killed. Only the remaining three vehicles had the machine gunners in the turrets capable of operating the turret machine guns to fight back. ability.

The Japanese tank's search for the tank's defensive cannon lasted about 3 minutes. Finally, the firing position of the tank's defensive cannon was finally locked based on the dust raised when the tank's defensive cannon fired.

Therefore, under the guidance of tracer bullets, the 57mm cannon, [-]mm heavy machine gun, [-]mm and [-]mm vehicle-mounted machine guns on the Japanese tank concentrated all their firepower on the tank's defensive gun platoon. Shooting fortification bunker.

boom

bang bang bang
boom

In the defense fortifications of the tank defense artillery platoon, thanks to the good protection fortifications, the Japanese army's heavy artillery fire came down. Chen Xinsheng's platoon suffered no casualties, and the shrapnel generated after the explosion of the Japanese artillery shells also went smoothly. Some shot through the firing port of the artillery, and a few bullets came in, but the German-made tank defense cannon they used was equipped with a complete shield, and the stray bullets and shrapnel flying in were all bounced away by the shield without exception.

Although there were no casualties, the officers and soldiers of the combat artillery platoon inside the bunker felt uncomfortable facing the concentrated firepower of the Japanese tanks. The sand and dust shaken up by the dense bullets and artillery shells were blown straight away by the air waves generated by the explosion of the artillery shells. The shooting port was filled with water, and soon the inside of the shooting fortification was filled with flying sand like a thick fog.

"I care about his grandma, my eyes are narrowed."

"Fire the gun, fire the damn gun, are you crazy?"

The officers and soldiers of the tank defense artillery platoon were all yelling and cursing. Some people squinted their eyes because of the sand, and some were choked and coughed. Platoon leader Chen Xinsheng was not spared either. He had just personally canceled several Japanese tanks. The fight was in full swing, but the Japanese suddenly went crazy and started shooting like crazy. Not to mention shooting, they didn't even have the most basic aiming conditions. "Get up, get up, I will fight myself."

Chen Xinsheng seemed unwilling to give in. He pulled away the gunners who were covering their faces and personally picked up a 57 armor-piercing bullet. He went up to load it and shoot. He squinted his eyes and pulled the breech open based on experience. Before he had time to push the bullet and load it. , a [-]mm artillery shell fired by the Type [-] Chinese tank hit the top of the nozzle of the combat artillery bunker without any bias.

The shrapnel fired after the explosion burst in from the nozzle, and the fine shrapnel crackled on the shield of the combat gun. After a small fragment bounced off the shield, it flew along the aiming observation port on the shield. He came in and just passed Chen Xinsheng's arm, leaving a bright red blood stain on his uniform.

"The platoon leader!"

"Sir!"

Seeing that the commander was injured, the soldiers in the bunker dragged their platoon leader away from the shooting position. The injured Chen Xinsheng knew that he could not continue shooting. With the situation in the bunker, even if he successfully loaded the weapon, Most of the time, the aim will not be accurate, and the sight of the anti-tank gun may be damaged by flying shrapnel.

Chen Xinsheng, who retreated when faced with difficulties, immediately ordered the entire platoon to close the artillery, and asked the staff of the platoon's sergeant's platoon to block the firing ports with sandbags and earthbags. He himself quickly ran to the telephone, and with the assistance of the communications corpsmen, Quickly connected to the direct line to the command post of the Sixth Company.

In the command post of the Sixth Company, He Wei answered the phone. On the phone, Chen Xinsheng reported the general battle process of the combat artillery platoon and the current situation in the bunker, and confessed to He Wei, saying that due to the firepower of the Japanese tanks The blockade was too violent and the combat artillery platoon was no longer in a position to continue firing and had to cease fire.

"Platoon Leader Chen, you fought well and worked hard. Leave the rest to us and let your brothers rest in the fortifications."

How could He Wei accept Chen Xinsheng's confession? The battle defense artillery platoon had caused so much damage to the Japanese tanks until now. The combat defense artillery platoon had simply overfulfilled its mission. After giving Chen Xinsheng a few words of encouragement, He Wei hung up. After picking up the phone, he returned to the shooting port and raised his binoculars to observe the movements of the Japanese troops.

The Japanese tanks seemed to be directing all their fury at the combat artillery platoon. All the tanks stayed in place without even moving, acting as fixed firepower points and concentrating all the firepower on the tanks towards the combat artillery platoon. Heavy fire from the fortifications.

Even the Type [-] light armored vehicles that were semi-disabled by He Wei were firing fiercely with the [-]mm light machine gun on the turret. He Wei's place was quite safe. The command post was far away from the front line. The distance was too far, and the selected positions and angles during the construction of the command post bunker were carefully calculated by the engineering battalion and He Wei. At first, those Xiaodou tanks wanted to open fire and attack the command post. Unfortunately, after dozens of rounds, the Dou Battle The machine gun shooters on the vehicle found that the shooting effect was not good, and it had no effect except wasting bullets. In the end, they had to give up suppressing fire on the command post and instead attack the fortifications of the combat defense artillery platoon.

He Wei no longer used his large-caliber heavy machine gun to attack the Bean tanks. All of these tanks had been beaten and lost their mobility. Only a few tanks' on-board machine guns could still fire to show off their majesty. Facing the sixth Even the solid fortifications could not cause any damage at all, and the Japanese-made large-caliber heavy machine gun operated by He Wei, which had made great military achievements, had to stop after a long period of high-intensity continuous shooting. Barrel cooling.

He Wei swept away the golden heavy machine gun shells piled on the shooting arm. Through the telescope, he could see the Japanese infantry hiding behind the tank squirming. It was obvious that the Japanese infantry was coming next. It was necessary to take action, but the Japanese infantry was also affected by the heavy damage to the tank troops and did not launch an attack immediately.

The battlefield is filled with the fierce firing sounds of Japanese tank-mounted machine guns and artillery. The three infantry platoons of the Sixth Company have not fired a single bomb so far. The number of Japanese infantry may be less than 1000, even if the Sixth Company The officers and soldiers of the company are hidden in the bunker fortifications, and they have complete light and heavy firepower, but it is also very stressful to fight head-on. Relying on the bunker fortifications to prevent the Japanese infantry from rushing in, it is more than enough to hold the existing positions, but if you want a large number of , it is still a bit difficult to eat them in batches and annihilate the attacking Japanese infantry.

After the last battle in which a reinforced infantry squadron of the Japanese army was completely annihilated, He Wei's appetite was getting bigger and bigger. Last time, he used a large amount of explosives thrown by a thunder cannon to give the Japanese a head-on blow. This time, He also wanted to give the Japanese infantry a big one directly. After thinking about it for a while, a small plan took shape in He Wei's mind.

Now the Japanese infantry are still 200 meters in front of the position, and 150 meters in front of the Sixth Company's position is a minefield that has been laid out in advance. Among the three minefields laid out by the Sixth Company, this minefield is the largest. , half of the landmines are buried here. What He Wei thinks is that once the Japanese infantry launches an attack, it is best to attract the main force of the Japanese infantry to this minefield, and then use the landmines to hit him hard. Those are one hundred large landmines made in Shanxi, enough for Japanese infantry to drink a pot.

But in order to attract the main force of the Japanese infantry, the Sixth Company must not use all its firepower. Once the three platoons concentrate all their firepower, with the dense firepower network composed of light and heavy machine guns, it is absolutely impossible for most of the main force of the Japanese infantry to rush in. In the mined area, after all, it was a three-dimensional firepower network composed of more than twenty light and heavy machine guns, but it would not work if the attack was too light. The Japanese infantry commander was not a fool. If after rushing closer, he saw the Sixth Company's position Those towering bunkers just standing there will definitely arouse their suspicion.

If you want to attract the main force of the Japanese infantry, you must achieve an effect of inflicting pain on the Japanese army but not too painful.

With a plan in mind, He Wei immediately asked someone to connect the phone to the first platoon command post without saying a word. Since He Wei is now acting as the company commander of the sixth company and is responsible for commanding the entire company, the first platoon is now the commander. All platoon affairs and command were handed over to the old squad leader Ge Guicai.

On the phone, He Wei's order to Ge Guicai was that once the Japanese infantry began to attack, they would fire as soon as they hit the pre-calibrated 150-meter shooting range. Not only the light and heavy machine guns in each bunker in the first row should fire, but also the rifles. They have to be pulled up to fight. In short, the long-range anti-personnel firearms that can fire in the first platoon must not be idle. Of the three platoons in the company, only the first platoon fires, but the first platoon must use the maximum firepower it can produce. The Japanese infantry laid out a blazing fire net.

The firepower network of an infantry platoon can not only effectively kill Japanese troops and attract Japanese infantry to organize large-scale attacks, but will not suppress the Japanese infantry because of too strong firepower. With the various firearms currently controlled by the first platoon, The quantity is just right to this extent.

After arranging the mission of the first platoon, He Wei answered the call to the [-]nd Mortar Platoon. He planned to use mortars to add fuel to the fire, and He Wei's strict and detailed instructions for the first platoon Unlike the detailed battle orders, his orders to the mortar platoon were quite casual: as long as the first platoon fired, the [-]nd mortar platoon could fire freely. There were no restrictions on targets, shooting methods, or the number of ammunition used.

When Sergeant Xu, the acting mortar platoon leader, heard on the other end of the phone that He Wei had given such a large degree of freedom, he immediately said that he must look good to the Japanese, and almost all of this deployment was completed by He Wei. At the same time, the Japanese infantry in front of the Sixth Company's position finally made a substantial attack.

(End of this chapter)