latelenovela Chapter 147: The Distant Bridge, starring the Japanese paratroopers (Part 1) (50 gifts plus more)
Chapter 147: The Distant Bridge, starring the Japanese paratroopers (Part 1) (50 gifts plus more)
Let’s go back a few hours.
At 3:55 a.m. on July 13, Matsuyama Yuzo received a report that the two battalions sent for the night attack had suffered heavy casualties and achieved little results.
Matsuyama Yuzo, whose hair had turned completely white in just a few days, now covered his face with his hands and collapsed dejectedly in the underground command post, not knowing what to do.
Once upon a time, the Locust Army, which dominated the battlefield of Qian Kingdom with its firepower advantage, scoffed at the trick of night attack that only the weak would use.
However, now the situation has changed. After encountering Zhang Chi, who has stronger firepower, Matsuyama Yuzo has to launch a night attack, trying to regain the outer defense line lost during the day through hand-to-hand combat in the dark.
However, Zhang Chi, knowing that the Japanese had launched many night attacks on the United States Marines on small islands in the Pacific, was well prepared for this.
The troops on the front line had already set up a cordon outside the trench by connecting empty cans with wire.
When the Japanese tried to crawl over at night, as long as they accidentally touched the wire, the empty cans would shake and the sound of them colliding with each other would immediately alert the soldiers who were sleeping with one eye open in the trench.
Then the M2HB heavy machine gun swept wildly into the darkness, and the 60mm and 82mm mortars fired flares crazily.
"The enemy's flares were like free money, covering the entire sky. My fearless Locust soldiers lost their sense of surprise and were directly hit by enemy fire in the open area between the two positions, most of them being killed."
The captain, with one arm in a sling and blood still seeping from the gauze on his head, lowered his head and said with a sad face.
As for the other captain, he had stepped on a landmine and was evenly scattered on the ground, with no chance to come back to report.
Yuzo Matsuyama waved his hand silently, signaling the other party to go down.
At this point, Matsuyama Yuzo, who had been close to his limit after a day and a night, could only choose to take a nap. Maybe there would be good news when he woke up?
At 5:47 in the morning, Matsuyama Yuzo, who had just fallen asleep, was woken up in a daze by his adjutant.
"Mogang Town was lost? The railway bridge was also captured by the enemy?"
Matsuyama Yuzo almost fainted when he heard the new bad news.
That was one of the only two retreat routes for the entire army, and it was easily seized by the enemy?
Matsuyama Yuzo instinctively thought that the enemy had suddenly captured the bridge by airborne paratroopers:
"Did the enemy send out the airborne troops? (The Japanese call paratroopers and airborne troops airborne troops)"
The adjutant shook his head:
"According to the report from the bridge guarding squadron, the enemy is coming up from the Irrawaddy River."
"It's Zhang Chi's elusive amphibious force again, damn it!" Songshan Yusaku cursed. The Nanyang region is densely covered with water networks, but only the navy has developed internal combustion boats (amphibious tanks).
The Japanese army is now short of manpower, with neither amphibious tanks nor machine guns and speedboats, which allows Zhang Chi's amphibious forces to shuttle and land at will.
"The enemy only has about a battalion of troops? Let the Independent Garrison Brigade dispatch a battalion, plus two puppet army regiments to seize the bridge."
"Also, we're requesting tactical guidance from Yangon. Our army of over 2 is in danger of being annihilated. Please, Mr. Mutaguchi, act like a military commander!" (The puppet army doesn't count; Matsuyama Yuzo only considers the Japanese.)
"Hi." The adjutant turned and left to send a telegram. Of course, he would beautify his boss's tone in the telegram.
-----
The commander of the 15th Army, Mutaguchi Ren'ya, also received the telegram and was scratching his head in worry.
The 33rd Division was under attack from the New 1st Army in the Xinpingyang direction and was unable to withdraw any troops to provide rescue.
The old 18th Division stationed in Mandalay could not move lightly. After all, if Myitkyina was lost, the most that could be done was to reopen the Burma Road, and the key southern part of Pegu was still in the hands of the Japanese.
If they lose Mandalay, an important city in central China, the Japanese can prepare for the battle to defend Rangoon.
With limited manpower, Mutaguchi Ren'ya could only order the 3rd Guards Regiment, which had just arrived in Mandalay, to go north along the railway to open up Matsuyama Yuzo's lifeline.
Mutaguchi knew very well that with the fall of the Mogang Bridge, without the supplies and ammunition transported by rail, Matsuyama Yuzo would run out of ammunition in just two weeks relying solely on the existing reserves in Myitkyina.
As for food shortage? There are still so many civilians in Pegu around Myitkyina. The Japanese can just rob them of their food.
Fearing the 3rd Guards Regiment wasn't fast enough, Mutaguchi Ren'ya also requested assistance from Terauchi Juichi, requesting the 2nd Advance Regiment (a division-level unit with two advance regiments) to airdrop directly onto the Mogang Bridge. (The paratrooper image is at the end of the chapter, as explained by the author.)
Mutaguchi did not need the paratroopers to capture the bridge directly. In his plan, the paratroopers only needed to delay until reinforcements arrived.
-----
On Zhang Chi's side, Hao Yi's fast troops had rested for a day after the exploratory attack on the 11th.
Starting from the early morning of the 13th, its tank regiment and motorized infantry regiment bypassed the city of Myitkyina, passed through the fields west of the city at full speed, and rushed towards the Mogang Bridge.
From now on, both sides entered the stage of racing against time. As long as Zhang Chi's fast attack could reach Mogang Bridge in advance and completely block the enemy's retreat, they would be able to close the door and fight the enemy, and have a chance to wipe out half of Matsuyama Yuzo's division and an independent brigade.
If the Japanese reinforcements arrived first and had the possibility of capturing the bridge, Zhang Guangjun's amphibious troops would have no choice but to blow up the bridge and retreat across the river.
Although the trains carrying ammunition would certainly not be able to cross the river after the bridge was blown up, the Japanese army could still evacuate by building a pontoon bridge and escape.
Therefore, throughout the day on the 13th, the focus of both sides was not on the fierce attack of the 1st and 2nd columns on Matsuyama Yuzo's second line of defense, but on the race for reinforcements from both sides.
In the sky, the enemy and our planes were the first to become bloodthirsty.
After quietly accumulating for more than a week, the more than 30 light and heavy bombers that the Japanese secretly accumulated, under the cover of more than 30 other fighter planes, flew over the on-the-road Haoyi Express.
The bombers ignored the P-40 fighters trying to intercept them over the battlefield and dropped bombs on Hao Qi's marching column. Although Hao Qi's fast column had a large number of M13 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns firing into the air, the desperate fighting style of the Japanese bombers still delayed the fast column's advance.
On the other side, all the bombers of the Independent Air Force were also dispatched. Except for a few B-25s circling over Myitkyina to monitor the Japanese heavy artillery units, the remaining A-1Hs and B-25s were loaded with heavy bombs and napalm bombs, and attacked the train column carrying the 3rd Guards Wing along the railway.
This forced the 3rd Guards Regiment to abandon their vehicles and flee on foot into the rainforest beside the railway.
As for the troops sent from Myitkyina City, once they left their positions in broad daylight, the 155 self-propelled artillery with a range of 14.6km could easily cover them with firepower in the open ground under the guidance of the artillery observers in the B-25 crews in the sky. This forced Matsuyama Yuzo to wait until night to let them set off.
(Zhang Chi's modified 155 self-propelled artillery uses the M1 155mm howitzer, with a range of 14.6km. White Eagle's other M1 155mm cannon, nicknamed Long-legged Tom, has a longer barrel and a range of 24km. These two are not the same gun, but the shells seem to be interchangeable.)