This was the most arduous, fierce, and costly battle the Federal Army had fought since it landed on the North American continent. The protagonists of this battle, the 3rd and 4th Airborne Regiments of the Federal 1st Airborne Division, had also become the most important figures in the Federal Army.
Heroes, their survivors will return to the Federation after this battle to replenish and expand, and the remains of those sacrificed soldiers will also be transported back to the Federation in the form of ashes and buried in the center of Xiangyang City, the federal capital.
In the cemetery.
After receiving the battle report from the front line, General MacArthur and his group of generals in the Western Theater Command immediately realized what losing Pocatello meant. With the capabilities of the Federal Air Force, in less than a month, this place would become
It was the take-off point for federal aircraft, and the federal bombers departing from this point would cover most of the cities in central America under their wings. This responsibility was too great for MacArthur and their generals to bear.
Even if MacArthur knew that launching a counterattack against Pocatello now would not bring any good results, he had no other choice. If the Western Theater continued to retreat like this, he would probably become the first American in this war.
It is not surprising that a senior commander who was dismissed from his post would even go to military court. No matter how influential his family is in the military, no one can save him in the face of the anger of more than half of the American people.
On the same day, three US armored divisions and two infantry divisions near Salt Lake City began to gather in the small town of Rupert McCammon. In addition, four mechanized infantry divisions from the Central Theater of the United States came from Montana and Wyoming.
It also moved from the northwest direction of Pocatello to the vicinity of Rexburg. Thousands of U.S. Air Force fighters and bombers also moved from airports in various places to five airports near Salt Lake City. The U.S. military was desperate.
Regarding this move of the US military, the federal army had already thought of it when formulating the plan to raid Pocatello. According to the calculations of the federal army, there should be more US troops coming. Obviously, General MacArthur was not decisive enough and did not risk everything.
He also left five divisions south of Salt Lake City and in Arizona. He was probably afraid that the federal forces in San Diego would take the opportunity to cross Arizona and rush into New Mexico. This was not the first time that the federal army had used this tactic of seducing the east and attacking the west.
.
Facing the U.S. military that dares to march on the road in broad daylight, the Federal Air Force certainly cannot turn a blind eye. Although U.S. military fighter jets can occupy advantages in quantity and range at medium and low altitudes, facing the Federal ab-
3 bombers and US Air Force planes can only watch from below.
Although the accuracy of high-altitude bombing is very low, and some bombs will even be blown to the ground several kilometers away by high-altitude air currents, bombs falling from the sky and bombs not falling are basically two different feelings for military troops marching intensively on the ground.
.No one is willing to gamble their luck under those heavy aerial bombs. Therefore, it still plays a big role in delaying the concentration of US military and consuming the heavy equipment of the US military.
Due to the continuous harassment of small batches of Federal Air Force bombers, most of the troops drawn from different defense zones by the US military were unable to arrive at the assembly point at the scheduled time. However, the Federal 4th Armored Division and the 11th Mechanized Division that arrived subsequently
The division took advantage of the continuous reinforcements from the US military and launched an offensive against the two US armored divisions that arrived early.
More than 600 tanks and more than 200 artillery pieces from both sides launched an attack on the north bank of the Snake River. The 11th Mechanized Division sent two infantry regiments equipped with flares to assist the 4th Armored Division in the battle. Originally, the number of tanks
The U.S. armored group that had an absolute advantage on the battlefield was bombarded by the federal self-propelled rocket group at the beginning of the war. This instant attack without any sign not only caused losses to the U.S. tanks, but also severely damaged the health of U.S. soldiers.
morale.
In the ensuing tank melee, the US tanks discovered another big problem, that is, the US tanks not only had to face the very strong federal tanks, but also had to pay attention to the federal soldiers hiding in the grass, behind rocks, and in the woods.
Those in groups of 3 or 5
Federal soldiers carry an iron pipe and can accurately hit an anti-tank shell on a US tank within 200 meters. No matter what type of tank the US military is, as long as it is hit by a shell that emits a stream of white smoke,
If hit, everything will turn into a fireball.
Under the joint attack of federal tank groups and anti-tank forces, the battle lasted only three hours. The two US armored divisions were driven back to the south bank of the Snake River, and most of their tanks were destroyed on the north bank of the river.
This defeat of the U.S. armored forces can no longer be blamed on the lack of strength of the U.S. Air Force. At the beginning of the war between the two sides, the two U.S. armored divisions received support from nearly 100 U.S. fighter jets and bombers.
However, when these fighters and bombers approached the ground battlefield, they were first fired by ground anti-aircraft guns of the 3rd Armored Division and the 11th Mechanized Division, and then attacked by countless artillery shells rising from the ground with a stream of white smoke. Many US military aircraft
They were all shot down during low-altitude attacks. It would be too difficult for U.S. military pilots to attack individual soldiers hiding in the grass and woods from the air.
One federal armored division and one mechanized division, without any air force cover, defeated two US armored divisions and shot down dozens of US fighter jets and bombers that were covering the ground forces. This surprised the US military again.
, it turns out that the federal army is not only powerful as the air force, but also the defense of the federal ground forces without aircraft cover.
The air firepower was so fierce that many US military pilots who participated in this battle would rather fight federal aircraft in the sky than cover their ground troops, because if they were hit in the sky, there was more than an 80% chance of being hit.
You can escape by parachuting, but if you are hit by those white-smoking shells at low altitude, there is only one result, death!
After the Federal 4th Armored Division and the 11th Mechanized Division defeated Rupert's US Armored Division, they moved north overnight. Thanks to the advanced highway construction in the United States, tens of thousands of federal troops appeared in Rex early the next morning.
Near the fort, two fresh followers are gathering here.
The U.S. Motorized Infantry Division transferred from the Central Theater of the United States even thought at first that it was the U.S. Armored Division coming to support them. Those U.S. soldiers who had just been transferred from the U.S. Reserve Force actually fired at the reconnaissance tanks of the 4th Armored Division.
Wave a helmet to say hello.
When a large number of federal tanks appeared from the fields on both sides of the road, the U.S. commander realized that something was wrong. However, the armored division and the mechanized infantry division were the nemesis of the infantry. The tank cluster charged the rudimentary defense lines of two U.S. infantry divisions with one charge.
of disarray,
The armored vehicles and motorcycles that followed used heavy firepower to clean up the American soldiers running around. The 40,000 American soldiers basically failed to organize a decent defense. After 2 hours, less than half of them became prisoners of the federal army.
, most of them have become lonely ghosts.
The federal 4th Armored Division and the 11th Mechanized Division, which completed two large-span raids from the north to the south, did not even clean the battlefield. They immediately turned around and returned to Pocatello. Such a hasty evacuation was not due to the discovery of the US military near Pocatello.
It's not that there are any urgent tasks that need to be completed, but that these two federal troops are out of supplies, from fuel to ammunition. If they encounter US troops again, they will have to use tanks to crush them.
As the saying goes, if you injure the enemy one thousand, you will lose eight hundred. After the two federal armies went to war in the north and south, they were at the end of their war effort. Not only did the casualties exceed one-third, but the equipment losses were even greater. Many tanks were too late to repair or lacked sufficient equipment.
The 3rd Armored Division now had less than 80 combat tanks and was unable to attack anymore.
In addition, there are also problems with the federal logistics. Several sections of the railway from Seattle to Pocatello were blown up by US aircraft and agents, and the roads are not safe. The federal transport convoys are often attacked by US aircraft during the day.
Pocatello gear and supplies already
It could no longer keep up with the consumption of troops. Although the Federal Air Force mobilized hundreds of transport planes to carry out multiple airdrops of supplies to the federal army in Pocatello, for the armored divisions and mechanized divisions like oil tigers, this airdrop could not even be carried out.
I couldn't stand it for half a day. (To be continued...)
