Chapter 23: Attack on Kyushu Island (3)
The sky over the fleet was full of black clouds from anti-aircraft fire, and the transport fleet, which had rushed to the periphery of the landing site and had relatively weak anti-aircraft firepower, also brought out the machine guns equipped with infantry to shoot into the air, trying to resist the almost frenzied attack of the Japanese fighters with dense firepower. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The Temporary Fleet was taken by surprise, but for the Japanese pilots who had only received three months of intensive training, the defensive response of the Temporary Fleet also frightened them, whether it was anti-aircraft fire or machine gun fire, as long as they were not careful, they would be killed.
The performance of the army aviation did not seem to satisfy the Japanese troops on the shore, and the skewed performance of the fighters with the red pill logo on the sea during the dive attack made all the Japanese soldiers who knew about air combat know that perhaps this attack by the army aviation could not have the effect they wanted.
McHausen also did not believe that the Japanese flying team would be able to defeat his experienced carrier-based pilots. Whenever a Japanese plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire, it smoked, caught fire, or rolled directly into the sea, the fleet would burst into cheers, and the officers and men of the US-Australian coalition on the transport ship were even waving their military hats to cheer for themselves.
However, no matter how tightly guarded, there will always be a few holes, and a Japanese bomber with black smoke in its tail plunged headlong into a transport ship with a sharp and piercing whistling sound. With a "boom" sound, an explosion like a large salute bomb exploded on the transport ship, and the violent shock wave produced by the explosion swept all the dozens of US-Australian officers and men watching the battle on the deck of the transport ship, and several US soldiers who were closer to the side of the ship were swept directly into the sea by the shock wave.
McHausen looked at the transport ship that was hit by the Japanese planes in amazement, apparently the hull of the transport ship was seriously damaged by the violent explosion, and under the eyes of McHausen and other officers, the hull of the transport ship was tilting rapidly, and the raging fire was spreading rapidly. Several U.S. officers and soldiers who were mixed in flames screamed and tumbled into the water, and with one continuous explosion after another, McHausen and the others could clearly see a section of the hull of the transport ship flying high into the sky. The machine guns, which had already been twisted and deformed, fell from the sky with a clatter, smashing a large crater into the conning tower of the nearby frigate, and there were no casualties on the frigate.
When the ships around the transport ship that caught fire and exploded were about to come forward to rescue, they saw that the transport ship that had disappeared on the front deck suddenly shook for a while, and then it was directly broken into two, sinking rapidly with the speed that everyone could see, and more than 100 officers and men who finally jumped into the sea and had not had time to get out of the scope of the sinking ship were instantly submerged by the whirlpool when the ship sank.
The transport sank so fast that it didn't even react, only the debris and corpses scattered on the surface of the sea reminded people of what had just happened. McHausen's hands trembled uncontrollably as he clenched the binoculars, and no one knew better than McHausen the importance of the transport, which was the USS Warrior, which carried more than 500 soldiers and a large amount of equipment, in addition to the large number of medicines in the cabin of the transport.
What made McHausen even more heart-wrenching was that there were three improved wheeled armored personnel carriers on the transport ship, which were the latest new infantry equipment developed by the Umbrella Weapons Laboratory, which was originally intended to be used for field testing in the Kyushu Island landing battle. When loading the three armored personnel carriers in Indonesia, McHausen saw with his own eyes that the technical staff officers sent by the base had tested the three personnel carriers with heavy machine guns, and even the Browning large-caliber heavy machine guns could block the firepower of all the machine guns equipped with the Japanese army.
But now, the armored personnel carrier that McHausen pinned his hopes on sank to the bottom of the sea before it could be unveiled, and McHausen did not know how to deal with the technical staff officers sent by the base. The frenzied actions of their companions seemed to inspire the other weak Japanese pilots, and as the anti-aircraft fire of the temporary fleet intensified again, more and more Japanese fighter pilots who were wounded by bullets used their landlines as weapons and slammed into the ships on the sea.
Although most of the Japanese planes were shot down by the fleet's carrier-based aircraft group, the temporary fleet suffered unprecedented heavy losses because of the crazy performance of the Japanese fighter pilots. In just half an hour, 12 ships of various types, including an oil tanker and two frigates, were sunk or seriously injured by Japanese fighters, and even McHausen's flagship was almost hit by a desperate Japanese fighter plane into the conning tower.
The outlaw attack of the Japanese fighters also completely angered Zhuo Fei, who was sitting far away on Jeju Island, and he immediately instructed McHausen that in order to ensure the smooth progress of the landing battle, it would not matter if the entire fleet of shells and carrier-based aircraft was destroyed before the follow-up group arrived in Nagasaki. Zhuo Fei was also completely angry, and while instructing McHausen, he also ordered the 1st Bombing Formation, which had returned to Jeju Island, and the 3rd Bombing Formation, which had not taken off, to take off together, and he was going to give the Japanese a hard blow this time.
Even if they were well prepared, the night bombing was not as effective as the daytime bombing, and when it was learned that the British flying team that had completed the strike mission was returning halfway, all the fighters on Jeju Island took to the air and flew towards Kyushu Island. "This bombing does not need precision, does not need to bomb density, does not need to avoid civilian areas, I just need you to drop every bomb with your heart, and then return here safely, the key point of your bombing mission is speed and bombing range."
The Provisional Fleet was exhausted by the surprise attack from the Japanese Army Air Force, and the servant troops who had already landed on land had no way to obtain the heavy fire support from the fleet, and they only moved less than 3 kilometers deep into the coastline before they were blocked by the swarming Japanese defense forces. The crowd tactic used to be a habitual defensive measure of the national army, but now it has been stolen by the Japanese army on Kyushu Island, and more than 5 hours have passed since the night air attack, which is enough for the Japanese army on Kyushu Island to transfer a large number of defensive forces here to block the advance of the servant army.
Zhuo Fei's original strategy was to use a part of the servant army troops that had successfully landed to try their best to attract the attention and strength of the Japanese army on Kyushu Island, and then the temporary fleet would take the opportunity to attack Sasebo. It's just a pity now, Zhuo Fei didn't expect Hideki Tojo to mobilize army aviation units to contain the temporary fleet regardless of losses, so that the temporary fleet could not go north to attack Sasebo.
With the help of dozens of armed helicopters, the vanguard troops of the servant army, which had already been unstable, stabilized their positions, but the strength of the Japanese army changed all the time, and it was still the Japanese army that currently had the advantage on the battlefield. "Hold on, as long as you grit your teeth and hold on for a while, once our planes arrive, the Japanese troops on the opposite side will collapse." The officers drawn from the Dangkou army kept cheering for the servants and soldiers, and the golden beans the size of soybeans were spilled out one by one.
In order to motivate these South Asian natives to fight bravely, before the start of each battle, Zhuo Fei would always order someone to smelt a large number of golden beans the size of soybeans, and then use these golden beans to boost the morale of the servants according to the battlefield situation. The dazzling golden beans directly represent wealth, and to a certain extent, it also stimulates the morale of these indigenous soldiers.
The battle has reached this level, it seems that everything is beyond Zhuo Fei's expectations, and the course of the battle seems to have already deviated from the battle plan formulated by Zhuo Fei in advance. Time passed, the long-lost naval guns finally sounded again, and the temporary fleet finally repelled the Japanese army aviation units that rushed to sneak attack, and was finally able to free up their hands to provide long-range fire support for the forward units of the servant army that were struggling to hold out on the shore.
The resurrection of the Provisional Fleet seemed to be a signal, and McHausen had completely ignored the fleet's own casualties and losses, and ordered the transports floating on the surface to send their troops and supplies to the beach as soon as possible, and at the same time ordered all the shipboard weapons in the fleet to provide fire support to the troops that had completed the landing. The sound of a landslide-like explosion resounded on the Japanese position, accompanied by waves of dust and smoke from the explosion, and the soldiers of the servant army who had been struggling to support them clapped their hands in joy, and now it was the turn of the damned Japanese army to taste the shells.
The temporary fleet had already solved its own troubles, and the helicopter gunships, which had already exhausted all the ammunition, also returned to the aircraft carriers in turn to replenish fuel and ammunition, and the helicopter gunships that had replenished the fuel and ammunition did not slack off in the slightest, and returned to the battlefield again to provide guidance and fire support for the advance movement of the servant troops. The reappearance of the firepower of the temporary fleet turned the battlefield situation upside down, and the balance of the battlefield also shifted little by little to the side of the servant army.