allonlinenovel Chapter 126: Decisive Battle in North China 2
Chapter 126: Decisive Battle in North China 2
After Xu Ren spat out the betel nut he was chewing, he waved his right hand in the air, and then the order to attack sounded from the communicator.
The seemingly shy armored brigade commander, Major General, got into the T34-85 command tank under him and closed the top cover.
Behind this tank numbered 1048, there were more than 190 tanks and armored vehicles of various types, following their commanders and rushing towards the place shrouded in thick smoke in the distance.
Saburo Inada was sitting in a Type 4 tank, looking at the scene outside through the observation deck, but all he could see was the gray dust raised by the passing tanks of a large group of vehicles.
Behind him stood a tank observer, waving a red flag in his hand.
Yes, there were no radio stations installed between the Japanese tanks for communication, so they could only rely on flag signals to communicate.
In fact, the Soviet armored forces in the early stage of World War II also operated in the same way, but they changed it in the later stage. After all, without radio communication, it would cause a lot of unnecessary trouble and waste fighter planes.
The 78th Army was different. Their tanks were produced according to the system. Even the first Type 34 tanks and T76- were equipped with radios.
So now the Japanese can only advance for a while, and those tanks that are rushing too fast must slow down or even stop.
They had to wait for the command tanks still behind them to rearrange their tasks for the next stage.
However, the Japanese tank observer at the front had already seen that the opposite side was also covered by the high smoke and dust just like his side.
They knew that it was the Chinese armored force that appeared, the most powerful enemy they had ever encountered in their lives.
"Prepare for battle! Pay attention to using the front armor to fight the enemy! The vanguard will temporarily stop and wait for the heavy Type 43 tanks in the rear to come up!"
Xu Ren has learned through the communicator that the forward observer can already see the Japanese tanks through visual observation.
It’s just that the Japanese tanks have stopped moving, while we are still rushing forward at high speed, after nearly an hour of high-speed advancement.
Those bulky heavy 43 tanks (IS-4) have been left behind by the flexible and fast T34, so now we have to wait for them.
In this way, when encountering the enemy, you can reduce your own losses, and of course it can also increase your destructive power in disguise.
The vanguard tank battalion slowly slowed down, and they immediately began to change their formation. The original high-speed marching formation was changed into a combat formation after seeing the enemy.
In fact, it is the familiar three-three system, that is, three tanks form a small combat team, but their main attack hammer has not arrived yet, so they have to wait for them temporarily.
"Full speed maneuver! We must reach the front line within a quarter of an hour!" Shi Zhihua, who was in charge of commanding the heavy armored regiment, shouted loudly in the communication channel.
The big guy under their butts was good in every way, with perfect armor thickness and firepower, but the speed was hard for them to accept. The average speed was 30 kilometers per hour, which was incomparable to the abnormal speed of T34.
Of course, Shi Zhihua was just sighing. How could it be possible for the big guy under his butt to run at a speed of 45 kilometers? At least it is not possible at this stage.
As the armored forces of China and Japan chose to stop or slow down at a distance of five kilometers from each other, the thick smoke and dust above both sides slowly dissipated.
Through the telescope, Xu Ren could clearly see the uneven iron lumps on the Japanese tanks. Of course, he could also guess the approximate properties of the tanks equipped by the Japanese army from the situation.
Looking at those, there is absolutely no difference between them and the German Type 3 tanks and Panther tanks.
Oh! That's not right! Their paint scheme is different. It's not the unique camouflage of the German army, but just a layer of khaki paint hastily applied. It looks particularly funny. They actually painted the tank in khaki.
"Have the Katyushas come up?" Xu Ren asked in the communication channel, referring to the 20 Katyusha rocket launchers belonging to the st Armored Brigade.
"Report to the brigade commander! The fire reinforcement battalion has arrived and is ready to join the battle at any time!"
Zhao Lei, the commander of the fire support battalion, answered loudly!
"Very good! I hope to see all your rockets covering the Japs within five minutes! After you finish the fight, the entire army will go out to destroy these ridiculous Japs tanks!"
Less than two minutes after Xu Ren gave the order, the whizzing sound of rockets cutting through the air resounded throughout the land, and the sky behind the 1st Armored Brigade was dyed red by the tail flames of Katyusha rockets.
"Baga! Artillery fire! The Chinese rocket launchers! Charge forward immediately and mix with the Chinese tanks, so that they won't dare to attack us at will!"
There was nothing wrong with Saburo Inada's order. Now the main force of the 3rd Tank Division could only avoid being continuously covered by devastating rockets if it were to combine with the 1st Armored Brigade.
The Japanese tanks saw hundreds of rockets with red tails flying towards them. Many of them had never seen the scene after the explosion of such horrific weapons.
But that doesn't mean they haven't heard of it. Those who have survived the attack of this weapon have already told everyone about the horror of this weapon.
Now the Empire’s military research and development department has also begun trying to produce this kind of weapon, but they have only just found some clues. I believe that after a while, the Empire will have its own rocket launcher.
"Boom boom boom" the 132mm rockets exploded in balls of red flames in the advancing ranks of the Japanese tank division.
A full round of 20 rockets fired by 320 launch vehicles caused considerable damage to the Japanese army, and 26 tanks were set on fire under this round of fire coverage.
The morale of the Japanese army had already been suppressed before the battle even started.
This round of rocket coverage fire was just the beginning of this tank battle. Looking from the sky, nearly 500 tanks of both sides on this plain were like charging heavy armored knights, attacking each other with all their might.
With a loud "boom", a ball of flame spurted out of the muzzle of a T34-85 tank, and the shell flew out of the muzzle in a rotation.
The shell drew a tiny arc at a height of more than ten meters from the ground and flew towards a Type 4 tank one kilometer away from them.
Unfortunately, this shell did not hit the Japanese tanks which were advancing at high speed. Of course, the Japanese tanks had already opened fire.
However, at a distance of more than one kilometer, the hit rate of both sides was pitifully low. Three T34s on the st Armored Brigade were hit, but the front armor withstood the Japanese artillery shells.
In order to save money, the Japanese army did not develop armor-piercing projectiles specifically for armored warfare. After all, the National Army had very few armored vehicles on the Chinese battlefield.
Even if there were any, they were all thin-skinned tanks, and could be effectively destroyed by the Japanese Type 92 infantry guns and Type 37 anti-tank guns.
As for the 75mm tank gun equipped on the Type 1 tank, they were not equipped with many armor-piercing shells, but only imported professional armor-piercing shells from Germany.
As for the Type 75 tank's mm short-barreled gun, it is not equipped with armor-piercing shells, only high-explosive shells!
Each Type 4 tank was only equipped with five armor-piercing shells. Since the Japanese had never experienced such armored warfare, they fought from a long distance in order to destroy the enemy first.
They took the initiative to use armor-piercing bullets, but at such a long distance, not only was the hit rate pitifully low, but even after hitting it, it failed to penetrate the reinforced front armor of the T34-85.
After seeing the Japanese open fire first, the 1st Armored Brigade also chose to fight back, but the 1st Armored Brigade was equipped with a much more complete range of ammunition.