Chapter 866 The debut of the independent tank battalion (two-in-one chapter)
Time: 3rd, 9:12pm.
Location: On a road that has been repeatedly run over by wheels and tracks, but still has a thin layer of snow due to the heavy snow falling all over the sky.
"Call headquarters, call headquarters, this is the investigation team!
At present, everything is safe in the front. No soldiers' planes have been found, and no troops have joined forces with Guo Jun. You can continue to move forward with confidence. Report completed~"
He lowered his head and put down a telescope in his hand.
The warehouse manager picked up a walkie-talkie at hand and shouted into the phone.
After doing all this, the warehouse manager happily took out a small water bottle from his arms and took a small sip into his mouth.
Immediately, an expression of enjoyment appeared on his face.
What was put in the kettle was some instant coffee seized from the Royal Heavy Tank Battalion; because the warehouse has always been stored close to the body, it still has a warm feeling after drinking it in the mouth.
After letting the warehouse manager drink it, he felt happy.
The whole person felt indescribably relaxed.
The reason for this is that the warehouse manager at this moment is sitting on a Willys Jeep, and in the driver's seat next to him, the driver, a professional racing driver, is helping to drive.
The warehouse manager only needs to sit in the passenger seat, pick up the binoculars from time to time, use his powerful night vision to observe the sky, and then report the specific situation.
Anyway, the warehouse manager felt that his current treatment was compared to the situation last night when he was still carrying dozens of kilograms of equipment and relying on a pair of soles to travel.
Today, I feel like I can move forward easily just by pressing the accelerator under my feet. I don’t know how much better it feels all of a sudden.
The contents of the report from the Cangguan's mouth were transmitted through the radio waves of the walkie-talkie to a location several kilometers behind him, in a certain Centurion Commander tank, in the ears of Hu Biao and Company Commander Hu.
In his mouth, he just replied:
"Received, please continue to be vigilant."
After saying that, he continued to face a young Z army soldier next to him who was said to have been in elementary school for a few years and had a relatively smart mind.
He began to explain how to operate this primitive electronic system carried on a tank.
Not far away in the tank, Ashtray, the driver, was also driving the tank forward while teaching another ZY soldier how to use this big guy of more than 40 tons.
control situation.
The warm air was constantly blowing out from the vents, so they did not feel the low temperature of minus 40 degrees outside the car. It could be said that this was the first time they felt such warmth during this mission.
This situation did not happen to Hu Biao and Ashtray alone, but to the mechanized unit of the independent tank battalion on the road.
Some similar scenes are happening on every tank, armored vehicle, and even truck.
The members of the Zhongzhou Team, facing the Zy Army soldiers who had complex emotions such as excitement, nervousness, confusion, etc., in a comfortable environment, explained some issues related to the equipment they are currently operating...
As it gradually darkened, the independent tank battalion, which had been established less than five hours ago and was designated the 50th Army, was officially dispatched in the darkness.
We began to march towards the biggest goal of the third battle: the city of Han*.
For this brand-new independent tank battalion, with a total of 412 officers and soldiers, there is no training and running-in period at all.
Or to put it another way, the subsequent march and battle process was the best training and running-in period for them after their establishment.
The reason for them to do this is actually very simple:
Based on limited intelligence, the current Shiji believes that the large forces united with Guo Jun are now running away in trucks.
The driver's feet almost stepped into the fuel tank, and he was desperately trying to escape.
If the various units of the ZY army were slightly slower in their pursuit, not only Li Chengwan but also the large forces united with Guo would all run away.
There must be a strong and fast force that can break into Han* City in time and block their escape route.
So Hu Biao and his newly formed mechanized force received such an order.
In the minds of modern people like Hu Biao, because of some information learned by later generations, they were even more nervous and impatient than Zhisi, wanting to take down Han* City.
Because in the original historical line, because Li Qiwei had already formulated a so-called magnetic tactic based on the serious shortage of supplies in the Z army.
So, at the beginning of the third battle.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Qiwei issued many targeted orders.
For example: Lianhe Guo Jun relied on the mobility of the wheels to proactively retreat in advance under the cover of aircraft and did not fight to the death with the Zy Army.
Therefore, most of the effective forces of the United Guo Army were relatively intact and successfully retreated to the vicinity of the 37th Line.
Therefore, in the third battle, the United Guo Army troops that were wiped out in large numbers by the Zy Army were actually those puppet troops from South Korea.
Or the Royal Heavy Tank Battalion, this kind of army of the younger brother's family, the losses of the soldiers themselves are not big.
Also, during the retreat of the joint Guo Army, Li Qiwei issued an order that all materials that could not be taken away must be destroyed as much as possible.
The purpose is to prevent the soldiers of the Z army from getting any supplement in supplies.
Once the supplies carried by the Zy army soldiers are exhausted, those soldiers who have completely retreated will immediately launch a counterattack after they have completed their rest.
In the original historical line, the fourth battle started under such circumstances.
At that time, the ZY army was quite lacking in supplies, and the soldiers were quite exhausted after the war and did not recover at all.
In order to cover a large number of our own troops and successfully retreat back to the vicinity of the 38th parallel, the 50th Army of the ZY Army conducted a brutal blocking battle on the Han River line.
Although in this defensive battle, the 50th Army earned the title of 'the strongest defensive force on the surface' in the mouths of many military fans in later generations.
But to be honest, Hu Biao, who is currently in the 50th Army, does not want similar situations to continue to happen.
Because only by being in it, can you know how many ZY soldiers risked their lives and everything to create this legend that was widely spread in later generations.
In this process, they endured some somewhat unimaginable hardships.
So after receiving the order from Zhi Si, Company Commander Hu hurriedly laid out a principle at the battalion headquarters meeting that the old would lead the new and the company would fight while fighting.
An independent tank battalion was formed and deployed overnight.
During the march, members of the Zhongzhou team began to train the soldiers of the Z army in the operation of equipment.
Even though the number of trucks is limited, the tank battalion actually has a considerable number of soldiers who still need to use a pair of soles to travel.
However, a large number of machine guns, ammunition, mortars and other equipment were loaded onto the truck.
And when you are tired from running, you can sit on the tank and rest outside for a while. The marching speed will immediately increase.
At the same time, the process of rushing like this is much easier and faster.
Of course, Hu Biao and his independent tank battalions still have quite a few problems.
First, they collected fuel from the fuel tanks of scrapped tanks and trucks in Death Valley, as well as some oil barrels, and could barely replenish all the vehicles of the independent tank battalion until most of the fuel tanks were filled.
After using it up, I still don’t know where to find the extra fuel.
Secondly, even if the departure time of the independent tank battalion has been changed to night, it is not so safe during the march.
On the one hand, the soldiers' planes are not junk like the Japanese. Basically, they cannot take off at night.
Although the military planes taking off at night were affected to a certain extent, they were still frantically dispatching to cover the retreat of our own troops.
If they discover the existence of the independent battalion and know that these Centurion tanks have fallen into the hands of the Z army, it will be a disaster.
On the other hand, the ZY Army is the 50th Army, and many people do not know the existence of independent tank battalions.
Not to mention the other units of the Z army.
Then the problem arises. When there are many intersecting troops at night, it is difficult to see clearly the independent tank battalion and the red five-pointed star that has just been painted on the turret.
So after seeing such a thing, their first reaction is probably to vote for it.
In short, because of all the above concerns, the warehouse manager took the driver, Hei Tantou and three other people in a Willys Jeep and set off as a reconnaissance team.
Along the way, we kept a distance of about five kilometers from the independent tank battalion.
Mainly because of the warehouse manager's night vision ability, he can detect incoming soldiers and aircraft at the first time; then he can use the walkie-talkie to promptly notify the convoy behind, turn off the lights, conduct concealment, etc.
In addition, the fact that the warehouse manager is the number one sniper of the Zhongzhou team is not just talk.
He already has some almost beast-like intuition about where there is an ambush on the battlefield.
Therefore, if there really is a ZY army ambushing the roadside, then there is a high probability that he will be able to discover it in time, and then reveal his identity to avoid the tragedy.
So far, the warehouse management has done quite well in these aspects...
******
Around 1 o'clock in the morning on the 4th, the brand-new independent tank battalion ushered in their first battle.
At that time, Hu Biao was ejecting a head from the turret. He was chewing the captured chewing gum and blowing the cold wind to prevent him from almost falling asleep due to the shaking of the tank's advance.
Suddenly, the familiar voice of the warehouse manager came from the headset:
"Call headquarters, call headquarters, this is the investigation team!
We heard bursts of fierce gunfire from two or three kilometers ahead, and we didn’t know which army unit it was and what opponent it was fighting."
"Hurry over and take a look, and then report back~"
After hearing this, Hu Biao suddenly became energetic. The main reason is that their Centurion tanks can drive about a hundred kilometers even after filling up the fuel tank.
The half tank of fuel left before departure was now very low after driving all the way, and there was no way to drive to Seoul*.
It would be very embarrassing if we really had to lie down in the middle of the road.
Then at such a critical moment, they finally discovered the possibility of uniting with Guo Jun from the front and replenished their fuel supplies. Naturally, Hu Biao was overjoyed.
Finally, he no longer had to use his precious system points to secretly exchange oil for use.
The investigation by the warehouse manager and others did not take long.
At most ten minutes later, the warehouse manager's furious voice sounded in Hu Biao's headset again: "Old Hu, the battle ahead is a company of the 442nd Regiment of our 148th Division.
The company commander is still an acquaintance of ours, Ma An is just a baby.
Their opponent was a large force of mechanized infantry, and the only tank had been destroyed; but there was one M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and two M16 self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles left."
Upon hearing such a report, Hu Biao's scalp immediately became numb.
Ma An, the child soldier who was always chatting with them in the past, but they didn't dare to recognize each other, seemed to be in trouble.
Because of the M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft cannon and the M16 self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle, once these anti-aircraft weapons are leveled and fired at the ground, Hu Biao is of course very aware of how fierce the firepower is.
These things are a complete nightmare for the volunteers.
"Ma An, you stinky boy, you must not die~" While muttering in his heart, Hu Biao also held a microphone in his mouth and gave instructions to the convoy:
"All vehicles and personnel speed up and prepare for battle..."
"Hand grenade~" Ma An shouted at the top of his lungs on the battlefield that was illuminated by flares like daylight.
Under such an order, several ZY soldiers around him rounded their arms, threw the grenades with the fuse in their hands towards the soldiers' position in front of them.
Because they were still seventy or eighty meters away from the soldiers' position, these grenades could only land more than thirty meters in front of the position after flying a certain distance.
Then, the exploding grenade sent up snow foam all over the sky, blocking the sight of the defenders on the position.
And Ma An, who shouted such a sentence, was also holding a large light machine gun and wildly fired at the defenders on the position according to memory.
In short, all the above is just to give the two soldiers of the sharp knife squad a chance to take action.
The two soldiers of the sharp knife class did not waste such an opportunity.
The moment the grenade exploded, they suddenly jumped up from the ground, hugged an explosive package and rushed towards an M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun on the position.
Unfortunately, the firepower on the position was too intense.
Even the snow foam brought up by the grenade explosion blocked the sight of the soldiers on the position.
But when that anti-aircraft gun and two days of anti-aircraft vehicles began to fire back and forth randomly, a dense firepower network was immediately formed in front of the position.
The two soldiers from the sharp knife squad rushed out a few steps away.
One of the soldiers was beaten in half, and the other soldier fell down on the spot after being hit by two 12.7 mm caliber bullets in the chest.
At this point, all the sharp knife squads composed of party members were killed in front of the position.
The only result was that shortly after the war started, a newly issued rocket launcher was used to blow up an M4A3 tank.
But in the blink of an eye, the two rocket launcher operators, along with the only rocket launcher in their company, were also fired by several 40mm artillery shells...
"What the hell! It looks like I'm going to be honored here today."
After spitting out a mouthful of sand, Ma An muttered in a voice that only he could hear.
After nightfall, the Second Battalion of the 442nd Regiment where he belonged received an order to reach this unknown intersection before dawn.
They also built fortifications and sniped at the retreating troops of Guo Jun.
After more than four hours of travel, they arrived here ahead of schedule.
But upon arrival, they found that there were already about 200 soldiers who had built a defensive position on both sides of the road, firmly guarding the intersection.
What's even more terrible is that an M4A3 tank, a twin-mounted self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, and two quadruple-mounted large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns are used as the core firepower point on the position.
Of course Ma An is very aware of how powerful this thing is when it hits the ground.
It's just that an order is an order, and there are no conditions at all. They must conquer this intersection, no matter what the price.
In the end, after two attacks and more than half of the company's casualties, Ma An knew he had to risk his life.
He told the commander beside him: "Lao An, if the artillery is glorious later, you will be in command of the troops."
After saying that, he picked up a blasting tube and planned to personally lead people to kill those anti-aircraft guns and machine guns, otherwise it would be impossible to capture this place.
And just when he was about to rush out, he found a large engine roaring behind him.
Among them, a familiar voice roared:
"You have to pay special attention. As long as you knock out those super bazookas, that 40mm anti-aircraft gun will not be able to penetrate our frontal armor at all.
So, don’t blow up these anti-aircraft firepower and trucks, I can still use them if I keep them.”
To be honest! Ma An is really a little too familiar with this scolding command method, because it is full of Chief Hu's unique personal style.
Although each of them was more or less affected by the personal command style of these child soldiers.
But it seems that only Chief Hu had such a rich flavor.
After thinking about this, a bold guess emerged in Ma An's mind, and it became stronger and stronger...