At this time, Chuikov and Jiro Domen, who were commanding the Japanese Red Army's armored cluster north, did not know that someone was already fighting the idea of those precious tanks under their hands. Together, they are cursing these T28 tanks, which are of unreliable quality.

"Damn, there's an assassin in the GC International factory! Comrade Yue Fei should be asked to send someone to investigate it and arrest the damned assassins and shoot them all! Chuikov was standing next to an anchored T28 tank and yelling. Jiro Tamen didn't dare to throw the fire on the head of the Soviet godfather's GC International Factory, and was jumping to reprimand a few Japanese mechanics who were busy sweating profusely.

In fact, the fact that these T28 tanks are lying on their stomachs one after another is really not a trend of Japanese mechanics, but a product of a design failure in the first place. Weak armor, a low-powered 76.2mm infantry gun, a poorly balanced suspension system, and an extremely unreliable M5 aviation water-cooled gasoline engine all make this formidable tank a complete shelf. However, at present, the T28 has not encountered a real opponent on the battlefield, so the problem of firepower and armor has not been exposed, but the quality of the M5 engine has caused headaches for the Japanese Red Army that uses it.

"Your Excellency, the engine of this tank is worn out and has been scrapped, and it needs to be replaced with a new one."

A low-ranking officer of the Japanese Red Army, with a sad face, pointed to the open back cover of the tank and reported: "The service life of the M5 engine is very short, usually only a few dozen hours......"

"Then hurry up and replace it!" Jiro Tamen is on the gas head. After hearing the report, he immediately shouted: "Push this tank to the side of the road, don't affect the march of the large army!" ”

"Hay!" Then the little officer sighed as if relieved, turned around and went to arrange for the tank repair vehicle to tow the broken down T28 away.

Jiro Tamon turned around. With a wry smile, he said to Chuikov: "Comrade Advisor, there are less than 60 T28s left that can be operated now, and it is estimated that 40 will be good to Tongchuan, but fortunately, there are still more than 50 T26 tanks that can be operated, and most of the T18s can also be used." ”

Chuikov raised his wrist and looked at his watch, it was almost 7 o'clock in the evening, and he and the 70,000 army commanded by Domen Jiro had not yet completely penetrated the old town. Such a march was not much faster than that of the infantry. The reason for this, in addition to the frequent breakdown of T28 tanks, is that this coastal road is too narrow. As soon as one T28 broke down, the whole army had to stop.

"It can't go on like this," Chuikov shook his head and said, "Comrade Duomen, let's push all the T28s to the side of the road." ”

Duomen Jiro was stunned. Asked, "Don't use T28?" Will there be a problem with opening up the river? ”

"No, it won't. Now the most important thing is speed. Chuikov didn't seem to take the Korean army in Tongchuan in his eyes at all, the Japanese mecha army had 70,000 people, and even if there was not a single tank, with infantry and artillery, he could take down the city of Tongchuan, which was defended by only a small number of Korean troops. After the tank repair vehicle towed away the broken down T28 in front of him, he returned to his armored command vehicle with Jiro Tamen, and after a while, the convoy that was connected from end to end for more than ten kilometers rumbled forward again.

……

"Tanks! It's our Korean tank! Banzai! Hooray......"

When about 60 A-tanks painted with the Taiji pattern drove into Tongcheon Fortress, every North Korean soldier and soldier they met along the way couldn't help but cheer. Although this tank weighs only 10.5 tons. Equipped with only a 37mm gun and a 6.5mm machine gun, it is already a steel monster for North Korean cannon fodder soldiers who have not seen much tank. Seeing so many "steel monsters" coming to help, the morale that was already about to collapse rose again.

"Report, the vanguard of the Japanese army has appeared near the outer position of Tongchuan!" Although a division commander surnamed Li of the South Korean Advance Army defending Tongchuan had the rank of major general, he still regarded himself as a subordinate in front of Jiang Xianyun, a Chinese colonel, and respectfully saluted him and carefully reported the situation in Tongchuan.

In the afternoon, the defeated troops who had retreated from Jiuyi had arrived at Tongchuan one after another, and there were about 1,200 or 300 people, and the news that the Japanese armored troops were heading north from Jiuyi was brought by them. However, what appeared on the outskirts of Tongchuan now was a Japanese cavalry unit, which was estimated to be the vanguard of the Japanese armored forces.

As for the fortifications of Tongcheon, the small city is located in a relatively open valley, and the coastal road on the east coast of Korea passes through the small city. The South Korean army laid out a defensive line at the intersection south of Tongchuan City, and a regiment was placed on the hill on both sides of the road, and there was another regiment in Tongchuan City, and an artillery battalion was also placed in the city, equipped with 6 Chinese-made 105mm howitzers and 12 75mm mountain guns, but they were not equipped with anti-tank guns, only a small number of Type 27 anti-tank guns. In addition, anti-tank mines were planted on the road, and there was an anti-tank trench south of Tongchuan City, which was more than five meters wide and more than three meters deep. A number of anti-tank fire points and anti-artillery fortifications were built behind the trenches. Although it looks quite sturdy, there is still a big question mark over whether it can withstand the test of Japanese artillery fire.

In addition, this afternoon, the city was also bombarded by the guns of the Japanese navy, but due to the long distance and the lack of accurate calibration fire, no damage was caused, and only one large-caliber shell fell on the west side of the city, blowing up a large broken city wall and killing more than a dozen people.

"Deploy all 12 45mm anti-tank guns to anti-tank fire points." After Jiang Xianyun figured out the general situation, he gave an order to a battalion commander of the anti-tank rangers. Then he called the commander of the armored corps of the ROK army and ordered: "Let's attack once first and drive the Japanese cavalry away, so that they know that we have tanks here, and they will definitely send T28 and T26 tanks to fight us." If it's a T26, let's knock them out with a Type A tank, and if we encounter a T28, we'll lead them under the muzzle of a 45mm anti-tank gun. ”

There was no suspense in the next battle between tanks and cavalry. These Japanese cavalrymen had been mixed with the 1st Tank Division for many years, and of course they knew how powerful the tanks were, and put up a little resistance. After finding out the number of tanks of the South Korean army, they left dozens of corpses and fled back to report the news.

"What? Dozens of South Korean tanks found in Tongcheon? ”

When the cavalry report was obtained, the main force of the Japanese mecha army under the command of Chuikov and Jiro Domen was still about 20 kilometers away from Tongchuan, and the 1st Tank Division, which was at the forefront of the team, was only about 15 kilometers away from Tongchuan.

"Do you know what model of tank it is?" Jiro Tamon asked.

A panting cavalry officer replied: "It's Type A tanks, at least 20 of them." ”

"Intelligence says that the South Korean army has an armored corps, equipped with A-type tanks aided by Chinese." Chuikov then asked: "In addition to these tanks, how many defenders are there in Tongchuan?" How's the defense going? ”

"The South Korean army deployed about two regiments of defenders on the hills on both sides of the road leading to Tongchuan City, and the rest is not clear."

Chuikov nodded. Said to Duomen: "It is estimated that there is a division of troops, let the First Tank Division, the First ** Tank Wing and the First Cavalry Group deal with them." ”

"Do you want to call the warships at sea for fire support?" Multiple asks.

Chuikov said: "No need, we have to fight quickly." After laying down the Tongcheon, the Kuài advanced to Wonsan. ”

Although the order said that a quick battle should be made, it was not so quick to convert a marching army into an offensive state. In particular, the Japanese armored forces lacked a very important mechanized equipment self-propelled gun, and the T28 tank equipped with a 76.2mm caliber cannon was temporarily "abandoned". So the 1st Tank Division and the 1st Cavalry Group after arriving on the periphery of Tongchuan. It took another two or three hours. Only then did 12 Soviet-made 122 howitzers, 24 Japanese-made 75mm cavalry guns, and 18 120mm heavy mortars be placed on the narrow terrain.

At 1:30 a.m. on June 9, the Japanese began shelling, first carrying out a 5-minute rapid attack on the ROK forward positions, followed by a 15-minute constant velocity fire on Tongcheon Fortress, and finally a 10-minute artillery attack on the possible ROK tank assembly area. After the bombardment ended, in this space-time. The first tank-on-tank offensive and defensive battle has finally begun!

On a narrow frontage, no more than a dozen meters wide, two T26 tanks covered several hundred Japanese infantry to begin the first wave of the charge. Meanwhile. More Japanese infantry rushed up the hillsides on either side of the road and began to attack the two regiments of South Korean troops entrenched there.

"Your Excellency, Colonel! It's coming, the Japanese devils are coming! In front were two T26s, in the back were infantry, and the T28 was not found. ”

Jiang Xianyun, who was hiding in the bunker outside Tongchuan City, heard excited shouts from the radio, no t28! What's going on? He didn't have time to think about it, so he gave an order to one of the tank companies in front: "Don't be busy firing yet, put the enemy close to fight, let one platoon attack, and the rest will not move." ”

The establishment of the ROK army's armored corps is modeled after that of China, with four tanks in one platoon, four platoons in one company, two more in the company headquarters, and 14 tanks at full strength. However, the company that was deployed by Jiang Xianyun to block the intersection in front had one tank break down during the march, and lost two more tanks in the shelling just now, and now only 11 Type A tanks can be driven, and one platoon has 3 or 2 Type A tanks.

"Boom ......"

After a series of metal impacts and explosions, the two Japanese T26s were pierced by 37mm armor-piercing shells without even reacting, and one of them was directly exploded and turned into a part state, which is estimated to be a shell that exploded inside the hull and detonated the T26's ammunition.

"Bombard the infantry, don't let the Japanese infantry escape!" Seeing the flames of the explosion of the T26 tank, Jiang Xianyun excitedly grabbed the microphone and gave an order in a loud voice. The eleven tanks of the first company all used 37mm guns to aim at the Japanese soldiers behind the T26 tanks, and a burst of high-explosive shells hit them, and their corpses were immediately scattered all over the field.

"Fire! Fire! Hurry up! ”

Seeing that his first wave of offensive was easily crushed by the opponent, the division commander of the 1st Tank Division, Yoshida Tsuki, was so angry that he hurriedly ordered the artillery to be fired.

Fifty-four Japanese artillery and heavy mortars were fired again. But what Yoshida and his Soviet military adviser Vlasov did not expect was that as soon as the Japanese artillery bombardment began, the South Korean artillery counterattack bombarded over. 105mm and 75mm shells rained down. In an instant, several 122mm howitzers were blown to pieces along with artillery!

"No, you can't beat the river in this way, Comrade Yoshida. Let the infantry divisions come up. Vlasov deserves to be a veteran of the Soviet army for a long time, but in the first battle, he knew that it would be difficult to take Tongchuan with the Japanese tank division and cavalry group.

"The terrain of Tongchuan is too narrow for the tank division to be placed on, and our infantry is too small, including the cavalry of the First Cavalry Group, there are only more than 5,000 cavalry, and the other side has at least 10,000 infantry divisions of the South Korean army. It's better to transfer infantry divisions and regiments to settle the battle. ”

"Baga! The 1st Tank Division is a waste, and Yoshida is a fool! A tank division can't even beat a small Tongchuan! What is the use of such troops? ”

After receiving the report of Yoshida Tsui's request for "tactical guidance", Jiro Tamon immediately burst into a rage. And it's no wonder. The tank unit, which was regarded as a killer weapon by the Japanese Red Army before the war, was indeed a great disappointment after the war. First of all, the large T28 tank broke down, and Yan Zhan Zhòng slowed down the march, and the so-called mechanized tank unit actually climbed much faster than the infantry. Now even the attack power of tank units is in question. A tank division plus a cavalry division was helpless in front of the defensive line of an infantry division. What is the use of such a tank division? It would be more useful to form a few more infantry divisions! It seems that the Chinese army's practice of dispersing tanks in infantry divisions is not unreasonable.

Chuikov also looked depressed. The killer tactics of the Soviet Red Army, the large-depth assault tactics, now seem to have met an opponent! Obviously, what really blocked the Japanese Red Army's mecha army was not the dangerous terrain of Tongchuan, but the multi-level defense system of the South Korean army. The real power of a tank cluster lies not in the combat effectiveness of the tank itself, but in the ability to destroy the enemy on the move. Especially after breaking through the enemy's defense line, using the tank's mobility and assault ability to crush, divide, and encircle the enemy in panic is the real combat mode of tank clusters.

But this time, the South Korean army's multi-layered defense system effectively avoided the chaos after the first line of defense was breached. An infantry division with a small number of tanks was able to take advantage of the favorable terrain to contain the onslaught of the Red Army's tank divisions. Other words. Using a multi-layered defense system, and using an Panzergrenadier Division with a Hunter Tank Battalion and a Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion as the core of defense, China and Germany could completely contain the assault of the Soviet Red Army Tank Army!

Considering the poor quality of the T28 tank, it seems that the Soviet Red Army did not have the strength to crush such a military power as China and Germany in one fell swoop......

Thinking of this, Chuikov couldn't help but sigh. Seeing his gloomy face, Duomen Jiro hurriedly relieved: "Comrade Advisor, don't worry, now the tank division is only a small setback, and there is no loss." I want to transfer two wings from the 2nd Division to help, and I will definitely be able to take Tongchuan by tomorrow morning at the latest, and the speed of such a breakthrough is not slow. ”

The speed of the Japanese army's breakthrough was indeed dissatisfied, and at the same time that the Japanese mecha army was temporarily frustrated at Tongcheon, the entire 38th line of the ROK army's defense line trembled under the Japanese artillery fire and iron hooves! Hundreds of thousands of heavily armed infantry, under the cover of 3,000 cannons, rushed like a flood to the South Korean positions.

The sound of artillery, shouting and killing, explosions, gunsmoke, firelight, and red flags constituted a spectacular battlefield symphony and picture, and the smoke of the artillery bombardment had not yet dissipated, and the violent Japanese Red Army was like a tide slapping the South Korean defense line.

The broken Taiji flag was stained with gunpowder smoke and bloodstains, and on the battlefield, the officers and men of the South Korean and Japanese armies were fighting with all their might, and one side had no way to retreat, and issued a final roar for the survival of the nation and the country. On the other hand, they hold high the banner of liberating mankind and cloak their aggression and expansion in a veneer of justice.

The sound of artillery outside the city can be clearly heard in Pyongsan Fortress, where the former enemy headquarters of the North Korean army is located, and the first line of defense of the North Korean army has been completely broken through by the Japanese army, and the troops are retreating one after another. The atmosphere in the Pingshan command headquarters was unprecedentedly tense, and no one dared to speak loudly in the war room, and Li Fan-seok and Jin Yuanfeng nervously discussed, trying to find a plan that could delay the Japanese attack, but after discussing for a long time, they were at a loss. The Japanese offensive is fierce, the North Korean army is insufficient, and it seems that the collapse of the entire 38th line defense system is only a matter of time!

Peng Dhuai did not care at all about the collapse of the North Korean army on the 38th Parallel, and his attention was still focused on the Tongcheon Wonsan area on the Eastern Front.

"General Tie Ji," Peng Dhuai shouted Li Fan-sao's number, and the deputy chief of general staff of the South Korean Army, who graduated from the Central Military Academy of China and the Army University, immediately looked up at Peng Dhuai, who said: "Have you noticed that the focus of the Japanese army's attack is actually on the east and west roads, the east road is their mecha army attacking Wonsan along the coastal road, and the west road is their infantry, advancing along the narrow plain of the west coast towards Pyongyang." And in the entire center, the Japanese offensive was not violent. Since there was no passage for the army to move north quickly, the aim of the Japanese army was to make a quick decision. ”

"Exactly!" Li Fanzao nodded. He'd already found out about it, but he didn't know how to take advantage of it.

Peng Dhuai continued: "If the Japanese army on the eastern front occupies Wonsan, and the Japanese army on the western front is blocked by Pyongsan and Sariwon, will the Japanese army on the eastern front outflank Pyongyang the rear road to the west alone?" ”