Night finally fell, and the two sides who had been fighting fiercely for a day finally stopped and each lurked in their own territory to lick their wounds.
Strictly speaking, this is the first time that the young Chinese army has conducted amphibious landing operations. The entire naval command has seriously underestimated the problems and difficulties that will be encountered in amphibious operations. Although the Japanese army has only one brigade of less than seven
The scale of the attack was thousands of people, but the Japanese relied on favorable terrain to resist one after another, which frustrated the naval headquarters and the Marine Brigade's idea of rapid advancement.
The island's complex terrain and criss-crossed fortifications reduced the power of naval guns to a point that was unbearable for naval generals. This gave those who thought that they could rely on powerful naval gunfire to destroy the Japanese defenses as soon as the war started, and then the infantry
The staff officers who could swagger up to occupy the enemy's position were given a resounding slap in the face. The Marine Brigade fought for a whole day before advancing less than ten kilometers. It was not until the afternoon that they were bombarded by carrier-based aircraft regardless of cost.
A beachhead was barely established, but the price paid by the Marine Brigade was more than a thousand casualties.
The heavy casualties and large consumption of ammunition poured cold water on everyone in the Naval Staff. Amphibious operations are not like the previous land army operations with large-scale infantry, air force and endless heavy artillery groups at all times.
Support, its requirements for logistics support are so demanding that it makes logistics officers vomit blood. Among other things, even the toilet paper used by soldiers to wipe their buttocks has to be transported from Vladivostok, thousands of miles away, and today's ammunition consumption per day is
The ammunition consumption that the staff thought was enough to last for a week has been consumed. If the attack continues at this rate, the entire fleet's ammunition will be consumed within three days.
"We need medicine, food, more ammunition and troops." This is the common voice of all commanders on the shore.
"You are committing a crime." On the aircraft carrier "Zheng Chenggong", Navy Commander Admiral Chen Shaokuan had a livid face, and his finger barely touched the noses of the staff.
Chen Shaokuan, who had just received the report, felt dizzy when he saw the casualty figures of today's troops. The casualties of more than a thousand Marine Brigade soldiers consumed seven ammunition bases in exchange for a depth of ten kilometers.
"Ten kilometers, you guys are really good at it." Chen Shaokuan was so angry that he was trembling, "What are those ten kilometers enough for? I tell you, those ten kilometers are only enough to bury our fallen soldiers for a whole day. It's bombarded by planes and cannons."
Damn it. The casualties of the Marine Brigade are still so heavy. When you were planning the landing operation, your heads were caught by the door panel. Why didn't you estimate this situation?"
The room full of staff officers in the war room, including Chief of Staff Zhang Shouye, all lowered their heads and let Chen Shaokuan's saliva spray on their faces without saying a word. Most of their experience was in fighting the Japanese army at home and the Soviet army.
At that time, as for this kind of amphibious island landing operations, everyone was "a toad jumped into the well and didn't understand."
There are no heavy bombers to help them clear the way, and there is no continuous support from heavy artillery groups. In this place where even a bullet has to be transported from thousands of kilometers away by transport ship, everything is extremely precious.
The soldiers of the combat brigade were helpless when facing the Japanese troops hiding in the complex terrain. Although the tanks of the armored division had been ashore, they did not have much use in this place full of volcanoes and steep terrain. All of this
They are all so strange.
Just as Chen Shaokuan was angrily staring at the dejected staff officers in front of him, a communications officer ran over and reported: "Sir, this is a call from the president himself. I want you to answer it personally."
As soon as the communications officer finished speaking, the staff's heads dropped lower. A battle that the president was personally concerned about and had the advantage of firepower and troops was fought like this, making these self-proclaimed elite staffs feel ashamed.
.
Chen Shaokuan, who was accustomed to the surname, touched his heels and stood upright before taking the headset and microphone handed over by the communications officer, "Report to the President, Navy Commander-in-Chief Chen Shaokuan reports to you."
"Commander Chen, you have been fighting for a day, how is the battle?" Su Tong's voice was not loud in the headset, but it made Chen Shaokuan feel uncomfortable.
"Report to the President, we have only advanced ten kilometers today, and we have suffered more than a thousand casualties, and one-third of our ammunition has been consumed. We did not fight well today." Chen Shaokuan's voice suddenly dropped.
Su Tong was silent, and only Su Tong's heavy breathing came from the headset. Chen Shaokuan felt very ashamed. The president handed over such a fleet of advanced ships and more than 25,000 elite ground troops to the world.
For himself, now he just had to deal with a second-rate Japanese brigade consisting of more than 7,000 people. After beating him like this, without the president saying anything, Chen Shaokuan felt that he should buy a piece of tofu and kill him.
After a long silence, Su Tong's voice finally sounded again: "Amphibious operations on land and sea are a brand new topic. This is a brand new field that none of us have been exposed to, so the temporary defeat is excusable. But I am determined to
You cannot accept falling down in the same place for the second time in the same way. Chen Shaokuan, you are also a veteran of the naval community. You are a naval general. You should know that there is a specialization in the art industry. Your specialty is surface combat rather than
Amphibious operations, so tonight I will send another army general to take over your ground command. Do you have any opinions?"
"I fully accept your order and have no objections." Chen Shaokuan stood up straight and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After today's lesson, Chen Shaokuan finally understood that ground combat and surface ship combat are completely different fields.
, some of the experiences that I took for granted in the past are not feasible at all on the ground.
"Well, the person who will take over your ground command will arrive tomorrow. I will also have the ammunition and reinforcements you need shipped to you as soon as possible. In short, I don't want to hear you report to me that there is no attack again.
"Okay, do you understand?" Su Tong's words revealed a firm will, and Chen Shaokuan had no doubt that if he failed to fight again, Su Tong would not hesitate to change his determination.
Su Tong, who put down the phone at the Nanjing Presidential Palace, didn't say anything. He just took out a cigarette from his body and lit it. The thin green smoke blurred his delicate and resolute face.
In fact, the difficulties encountered in this amphibious landing operation were already expected by Su Tong. At this time, the amphibious operation to fight for the island is still a brand-new topic. No country in the world has really studied amphibious operations as a course.
China is no exception.
But Su Tong was surprised by the casualties of the Marine Corps today. More than a thousand well-trained Marines suffered casualties, and they still had superior strength and firepower. It seemed that this amphibious operation was really difficult to fight.
ah.
At this time, Su Tong thought of the Battle of Luzon fought by the US military in later generations. In that tragic battle, the US military dispatched 175,000 US troops commanded by General Douglas MacArthur to attack 250,000 Japanese soldiers commanded by Yamashita Fengfumi.
The Fourteenth Front Army formed by the Japanese Army fought for seven months. In the end, the US military ended the battle for the island at a cost of 47,000 soldiers and 217,000 Japanese casualties.
In this battle, the US military attacked with overwhelming superiority of warships, aircraft and artillery and suffered heavy casualties. The casualties of more than 1,000 of our own troops today seem not surprising now.
"No, we need to strengthen their troops." Su Tong, who was pacing back and forth in thought, stopped, walked quickly to the desk, grabbed the black phone, and shook it vigorously: "Hey, pick up the air force headquarters for me.
Gao Zhihang? I am Su Tong, now I give orders"
The sky was gradually getting brighter. As soon as Chen Shaokuan got up, he received a report from his subordinates that the new ground commander had arrived by plane overnight.
When Chen Shaokuan came to the war room, a middle-aged general wearing the uniform of an army lieutenant general stood in front of him.
"Report to Commander Chen, Army Lieutenant General Guan Zhenglin has come to report and ask for instructions from the commander."
"Yudong, it turns out that the president sent you here." Chen Shaokuan returned the gift and stepped forward to hold Guan Zhenglin's hand and said with emotion: "I feel relieved when you are here."
Looking at Chen Shaokuan's bloodshot eyes, Guan Linzheng felt a sigh in his heart. Chief Chen had been up all night again last night. Guan Zhenglin, who graduated from the first phase of Huangpu, has clearly realized that the old era has passed since the Republic of China truly realized its unification.
, the current national situation is completely different from before. Although he has an arrogant personality, he is not a person who is ignorant of current affairs. During the reorganization of the national army, he, then the deputy commander-in-chief of the 31st Group Army, resolutely called on him to support
The central government proactively cooperated with Su Tong in the reorganization work of the army, thus gaining Su Tong's trust and still letting him serve as the commander of the 31st Group Army stationed in Anhui.
In the past two years, there has been peace in the country and there is no war to fight. Yesterday, as soon as he received the order from the Ministry of National Defense, he immediately handed over the work to his deputy and took several staff officers and guards by plane overnight to the library thousands of miles away.
Page Island.
"Mr. Fu, please explain to me the current situation on the island." After the ceremony, Guan Linzheng changed his honorific title to Chen Shaokuan, although he had already read the information on the plane when he came.
But the detailed situation still needs to be asked by Chen Shaokuan, the front-line commander.
"Okay, let me explain to you the current situation and yesterday's battle first." Chen Shaokuan cheered up and explained the current situation to Guan Linzheng in detail.