Chapter 1313: Continued Deterioration
"What's that? Hurry up and put out the fire! "Bremani did not find any artillery, and his own tank was destroyed in this way. This was the first result of the Huaxia Bazooka, and Tian Yongshi, who had been serving as a reserve, equipped this cheap tank killer in order to increase the infantry's anti-armor capabilities, and successfully blocked Guderian's attack with the armored forces in this battle.
Guderian didn't have much infantry in the first place, and he didn't bring much infantry with him in this improvised battle. Coupled with the fact that it was the first time such a weapon was encountered, seven or eight tanks were destroyed or damaged in a hurry. Without infantry cover and lacking sufficient machine-gun and mortar firepower, the German Panzers found themselves unable to move an inch in front of the assault guns and anti-tank groups, unable to fight the assault guns on the front, and self-propelled anti-tank guns on the sides, perhaps hiding in that crater An anti-tank group suddenly jumped out to deliver a fatal blow to the tank.
As a result, the seemingly formidable German armored forces had a feeling of being stuck in a quagmire soon after entering the battlefield. The Type 29 tank on the front once again took advantage of its superiority in armor and firepower to gradually occupy the top, while the assault artillery unit hit the opponent's flank with slow but deadly artillery after the flank was secured, and the two armored units cooperated with each other and slowly closed the clamp like iron pincers!
"Release the smoke and retreat! We helped them buy time, and soon it will be dark, and Lu Beining should be able to get out. Realizing that he was unable to break through the opponent's defenses, Guderian also chose to retreat. One way or another, they temporarily repelled the Russians, and at the same time stalled for time. Guderian realized that the Chinese army was insufficient, and should not have taken a riskier action at night. At least this night they can retreat to the preset position and rest well. However, the crisis was not resolved, and although the counterattack of the other side was temporarily contained, the logistics of the entire Austro-Hungarian corps were in a mess. Even the fuel and supplies for the withdrawal of troops were in question. Don't let a soldier race against the opponent's armored forces with his feet!
Guderian calculated that the situation of the Austro-Hungarian Corps and himself would not be very good in the future, but his estimate was still somewhat optimistic, and shortly after the Chinese strategic bomber force dropped the bombs, the transport planes and gliders that arrived later threw the elite Chinese airborne troops into the rear of the Austrian troops. The first wave of 2,000 airborne troops was positioned relatively far back and aimed at the stations and supply points along the way. The defense in these places was not very strong, under the cover of the accompanying gunboat machines. The paratroopers quickly took control of the situation.
"It's good, at least much better than expected." Brigade Commander Colonel Duan Tianming and his command team set up their own temporary command in a mountain col and began planning for this evening's mission. Long before the departure, the Chinese General Staff had deduced what the Austro-Plenum would do after an air raid. According to the General Staff's analysis of Schrager, this person belongs to the kind of person who dares to fight hard. But in his bones he still tends to be conservative. There is no hesitation when it is time to retreat, especially when the Huaxia Army has launched a counterattack, their speed will definitely not be slow, and it is very likely that they will pass through the town just controlled by the Huaxia Airborne Forces in front of them tonight, after all, they need to face the overwhelming superiority of the Huaxia Air Force during the day.
It is impossible to stop the opponent's attack by relying solely on the defense of the town in front of you. The town was just a supply transfer station, and there was no defense system at all. And the sturdy buildings in the town that can be used as support points are pitiful. To throw forces here, relying on the small arms of paratroopers to stop the tanks and artillery of the Austrians was simply suicidal. Therefore, the tactics adopted by the Chinese airborne troops were mainly based on delay, and the main force did not rely on the towns, but centered on the road, attacking the Austro-Hungarian infantry units and logistics units encountered along the way, and at the same time guiding the air force to strike at the Austro-Hungarian troops marching at night. Huaxia has insufficient troops, and now it is as much as it can hold.
As night fell, Schrager finally began to move, and after once again drawing a part of the fresh forces from various units to make up for the rear line, he withdrew with the remaining troops in the direction of Kirkuk. Never before had the Austrians made such a large-scale night road move. Thousands of vehicles of all kinds and tens of thousands of troops were crowded on the highway in a disorderly manner, and what was even worse was that during the daytime air raids, many grassroots headquarters were cleared out by the other side beating rabbits. Driven by the desire to flee for their lives, the troops without these grassroots commanders have become more and more chaotic and frenzied, and there have even been situations where they are fighting for roads and supplies!
"Why don't we throw away some more heavy and anti-aircraft guns. There were so many people, and we had limited vehicles and fuel, and a towing truck could take at least one platoon away if we gave up the artillery. Major General Haydn, who was immortal, looked at the chaotic crowd outside and said with some unbearable feelings.
"You don't understand, once the defeated army has a motor vehicle, then the entire legion will become a rout! You don't have to fight your opponent at all, they run away on their own! Schrager shook his head. Such scenes often appeared in the weak-willed Austro-Hungarian regiments. The cohesion of different ethnic groups is inherently less than that of a single ethnic group, if they have the ability to quickly leave the battlefield. Even death could not organize them. What's more, Huaxia won't let them leave in peace like this.
"It is impossible for Lu Bening and Guderian to completely block the Huaxia Army. Their forces were too small and their defensive surface was too wide, and the best result was to hold back the main force. However, some commandos made up of fast vehicles can still kill through the cracks. If we discard these heavy weapons, how will we deal with these commandos? And against the bombers that will appear over us again tomorrow? Taking a step back, even if we go back, how can the Austro-Hungarian Legion, which has lost all its heavy weapons, block the attack of the Huaxia Legion? Schrager's words were filled with deep dissatisfaction, and Haydn's performance disappointed him too much.
For these reasons, Schrager not only could not indulge his troops in a wild run. It is also necessary to enforce discipline and limit the speed at which troops can move. Always maintain the combat effectiveness of the troops to deal with all kinds of emergencies. All vehicles towing the weapons and supplies drove slowly on the road, while off-road vehicles and infantry moved slowly on both sides of the roadbed while keeping the flanks safe. Through the efforts of the gendarmes and officers, the chaos was finally eased, and the huge Austro-Hungarian regiment began to slowly retreat westward. And Schrager turned out to be right. Before Tian Yong could catch up, Duan Tianming's troops had already launched an attack, harvesting the other party's lives like ghosts in the night under the cover of night.
The huge convoy slowly squirmed like a giant python, and the headlights of the cars were turned on to illuminate the front and rear vehicles. From the air, it looks like a fiery serpent. There really weren't many tanks left of the Austro-Hungarian regiment, except for those consumed in the previous battles. There were also a large number of tanks that were abandoned because they were damaged or lacked fuel. These powerful units were concentrated in front and behind the convoy. The front is to open the way, and the reason to stay behind is to break the back. However, there is a lack of tank protection in the formation that is more than ten kilometers long in the middle, and this has become the preferred target for the Chinese paratroopers!
THE 12-BARRELED 107MM ROCKET LAUNCHER PLACED ON A 0.5-TON JEEP WAS ONCE AGAIN A WEAPON OF ATTACK. The Austrians finally believed that the Germans' intelligence said that some kind of terrible weapon weighing less than half a ton, but with instantaneous firepower to withstand a light howitzer company, was real. "Let's get started. Look at how quickly the Austrians reacted. Accompanied by Duan Tianming's order. Six 12-barreled rocket launchers entered the attack position. Began firing at the convoy on the road 6 km away.
"The other party's blow was without warning, almost in an instant, one by one, a point of light suddenly appeared in the night, and their speed was not very fast, dozens of seconds later. These deadly fireballs fell one after another in the moving convoy, this first wave of firepower was so strong that we even suspected that a battalion of heavy artillery units opened fire on us, violent explosions sounded continuously, in the explosion and flames one by one trucks were blown to pieces, the artillery behind was not spared, although some of the artillery crews struggled to pull the artillery off the tractor, and quite luckily deployed, but they could not find the target at all, the opponent's attack was very rapid and hidden. We were all stunned by the blow. "In a battlefield diary. THE AUSTRIANS RECORDED THE FIRST TIME THEY ENCOUNTERED THE 107MM ROCKET LAUNCHER.
The reaction of the escort troops on both sides was still very fast. Led by the officer, they quickly spread out to the flanks and fired flares to find their opponents, and with one flare after another they rose into the sky, turning an area of several hundred meters in front of the position into daylight, but unexpectedly, the enemy was not here.
"Pay attention to the power level, our infrared searchlights and night vision devices have a very limited amount of power. Hurry up, everyone. "Just when the Austrians were a little confused, a team of tanks with active infrared night vision devices was carefully approaching the opponent under the cover of darkness. These night vision devices, which are equipped with the so-called Night Owl system, consist of two parts, one of which is an infrared searchlight equipped with a filter. Responsible for emitting infrared rays. The other part is a display that converts the infrared light reflected back from the target into an image. This primitive searchlight has an effective range of only 400 meters. But for a smear of Austrians, this kind of thing is already quite terrifying!
"I saw it, there was a mortar group 300 meters to our left. There was also a machine gun group next to it. "A gunner found a trail of the target from the viewfinder." They are really cunning, hiding all the fireteams in the night. The infantry served as a light bulb in front. ”
"Alright, watch the speed, reduce the noise, we're already close, ready to fight." The crackling of flames and the chaotic sound of gunfire drowned out the sound of light vehicles approaching. So much so that when the vehicle approached 200 meters. The Austrians were also not aware of each other's existence!
"The feast has begun!" WITH THE ISSUANCE OF THE ATTACK ORDER, THE 30MM MACHINE GUNS ON THE TOP OF MORE THAN A DOZEN LIGHT ARMORED VEHICLES AND THE MACHINE GUNS SIDE BY SIDE THAT BROKE THROUGH FROM THE SIDE SPEWED OUT A DEADLY FIRE SNAKE, AND THE FIRE NETWORK FORMED IN AN INSTANT DIRECTLY SMASHED THE MORTARS AND LIGHT ARTILLERY HIDDEN BEHIND THE AUSTRIANS. In the panic, the Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers could only see the sparks that kept beating in the night, but they could not catch each other.
Light artillery and mortars are the first targets to be swept up, and the former can threaten combat vehicles. The latter, on the other hand, can fire flares. In the presence of a light source, night vision devices do not have an advantage. With the help of night vision devices, the Huaxia chariots directly alternated cover with each other, and the dense cannonballs weaved into a rolling barrage and swept towards the front. In just a few minutes, the Austro-Hungarian regiment's supporting fire was cleared. And when the infantry in front looked in horror at the opponent who was killing from behind, they were greeted by black barrels and bullets like flying locusts!
"The other side has no heavy weapons, and the infantry can go up!" After clearing out the heavy weapons, the Huaxia light tank has an overwhelming advantage in firepower, but the firepower transmission is slightly thin. The accompanying infantry fighting vehicles began to lay down the infantry and accelerate the clearing of the remnants of the enemy. At this time, Huaxia's technology had not yet developed to the point where it could be equipped with individual night vision equipment. However, with the guidance of flares and battlefield light sources, experienced machine gun crews can still inflict heavy casualties on opponents. Like the Germans, the Chinese infantry was armed with a large number of assault rifles similar to the STG44, well, these weapons had a loud name in that plane - AK47. The combined firepower of a large number of general-purpose machine guns and assault rifles slaughtered a large number of Austrian troops in an instant. Before they could react, they were engulfed by a frenzy of bullets behind them.
"The number of automatic weapons on the other side is amazing, the firepower composed of our machine guns and Manrisia rifles cannot stop the opponent's attack at all, their number will not exceed 2 companies at most, but the fire transmission is much higher than that of one of our battalions!" An Austro-Hungarian ensign recalled.
IN JUST TEN MINUTES, TWO COMPANIES OF HUAXIA AIRBORNE TROOPS, WITH THE HELP OF 107MM ROCKET LAUNCHERS AND NIGHT VISION DEVICES, SUCCESSFULLY DESTROYED MORE THAN 80 VEHICLES OF VARIOUS TYPES AND ROUTED A BATTALION OF AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN INFANTRY. The long queue is truncated in the middle. And by the time the Austro-Hungarian support troops arrived to reinforce them, this elite paratrooper had already withdrawn from the battlefield under the cover of night, waving his sleeves and leaving behind a wreckage.
2,000 Chinese paratroopers were divided into several units to attack, relying on the advantages of efficient weapons and night vision equipment to make the already exhausted Austro-Hungarian regiment embarrassed, but such an attack can only cause some trouble to the other side at most, when facing those with more combat vehicles and armored units, the Chinese paratroopers are powerless, after all, no matter how powerful the 30MM machine gun is, it can't hit the front of the No. 3 tank and the assault gun. Although the other side does not have night vision equipment, it can turn night into day by relying on a large number of searchlights and flares, so the lightly armed troops are lightly armed troops, and it is still not qualified to touch the real hard stubble.
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