Chapter 386: The Elite British Royal Tank Battalion
If the 6th Battalion of the Commonwealth is the trump card of the British army, then the Royal Tank Battalion of the British Army, which once faced off with the "Desert Fox" in El Alamein, is the trump card of the trump cards, because the 6th Battalion of the Commonwealth is famous for fighting a blocking battle at best.
However, the Royal Tank Battalion was defeated in several bloody battles with the German armored forces, and because of this, the Royal Tank Battalion was given the title of "Fox Hunter" because they were more cunning, sharper and more aggressive than Rommel, who was known as the "Desert Fox".
Therefore, when the Korean War broke out, Britain incorporated this ace unit with great achievements into the formation of the Seventh Brigade and put it into the Korean battlefield as its first-class main force.
For this reason, Britain can be said to have spared no expense, in addition to recruiting veterans who had participated in World War II to form the core backbone of the Royal Tank Battalion, it will also give priority to the MK3 model, the latest model of the "Centurion" tank that has just been improved, as the main combat equipment of the Royal Tank Battalion.
Different from the first two models of the "Centurion" tank, the MK3 has been greatly strengthened in terms of firepower and protection, the original 76.2mm tank gun has been replaced by the more powerful 83.5mm tank gun, the front armor has also been increased from the original 76mm to 118mm, the side armor has also been strengthened from 38mm to 51mm, and the 152mm inclined armor on the cast turret built by the new process can be called the strongest defense tank in the Western world.
Perhaps from the data, compared with the latest Soviet T-54 tank there is a significant gap, and even compared with the German "Tiger" tank during World War II, but thanks to the UK's relatively strong military technology base, Britain is extremely good in the quality of armor steel and tank guns.
Because of this, although the caliber of the tank gun is only 83.5mm, its power is not inferior to the 90mm tank gun equipped by the US army, even against the 100mm tank gun of the T-54; As for the armor, even more so, so the British "Centurion" tank does not look outstanding in terms of data, but it is the top tank in the Western world!
After all, the British Empire at this time had not yet declined to the point where it could not even build a tank, but a tank power that far surpassed the United States and dared to compete with the Soviet Union!
If you have to pick a bone in the egg, then you can only say that the engine of the "Centurion" MK3 tank, Rolls-Royce's MKIV.B-12 cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine is no problem in terms of power, but compared with the diesel engine adopted by the Soviet Union, it is lower in terms of safety, strike resistance and reliability.
But this flaw is not worth mentioning in the face of the light infantry of the Chinese army, after all, the anti-tank weapons in the hands of the Chinese army are almost zero, even if there are some, but they are useless in front of the "centurion" MK3, a tank that represents the world's first-class level, if the Chinese really do not measure themselves, it must be self-inflicted.
Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, the commander of the Royal Tank Battalion, is so confident, because he has world-class equipment, experienced soldiers, and he, an excellent commander known as the "master of armored tactics" in the British army, Hamilton has reason to believe that the Chinese army, which cannot be stopped by the sixth battalion of the British Commonwealth, will inevitably be crushed to pieces in front of his steel torrent!
In fact, at the same time that the commander of the British 7th Brigade ordered a retreat in the direction of Seoul, Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton keenly noticed that there was an obvious gap between the attacking Chinese army and the Korean army covering the flank, so he commanded the Royal Tank Battalion to carry out a fierce counter-assault towards that gap.
The First Korean Army, which was following the rear of a main division of the Volunteer Army, was fighting smoothly, but it did not expect that the torrent of steel like a huge wave crashed towards them, and was caught off guard, and was beaten by the Royal Tank Battalion, and even in the end, they didn't even bother to fight with guns, and directly chased the North Korean soldiers with heavy tracks.
However, the defeat of the 1st Korean Army was not the goal of Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, what he wanted was to force the main force of the Volunteer Army to retreat, or even crush!
Therefore, just as the First Korean Army was rapidly shrinking, Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton immediately waved his division and rushed from the torn defense line to the main force of a certain main division of the Volunteer Army on the right flank.
The situation on the battlefield changed so quickly that before the Volunteer Army could react, the First Korean Army had already been routed and contracted, and the sharp left hook of the British Royal Tank Battalion was unceremoniously hit in front of them.
Fortunately, a certain main division of the Volunteer Army had rich experience in battle, and the commanders and fighters had excellent tactical qualities, and after the initial panic, they immediately relied on the favorable terrain to delay the offensive of the Royal Tank Battalion.
However, in such a back-and-forth, the gap in the defensive line that the heavy firepower company had managed to tear up in Quang Pyeong-dong was not effectively strengthened and expanded, so that the British Seventh Brigade could calmly withdraw from Quang Pyong-dong, thus failing the strategic plan of the Volunteer Army Headquarters to encircle and annihilate the British Seventh Brigade.
Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton saw that a certain main division of the Volunteer Army was withstanding his attack, so he did not entangle, immediately withdrew from the battle, and immediately came a beautiful return pistol, launched a surprise attack on the heavy fire company that was expanding the breakthrough of the Guangping Dong defensive line, and after rescuing the remaining soldiers of the 6th Battalion of the British Commonwealth in the defensive line, he drove away along Highway 18 with full horsepower and a gust of wind......
"That's the British unit?"
After receiving the order of a certain main division to immediately pursue it, he looked at the direction of the Royal Tank Battalion with a calm face and asked the communicator on the side, and the communicator immediately replied: "According to the confession of the prisoners, it is the most elite Royal Tank Battalion of their Seventh Brigade!" ”
"Then let's fight their elite, order the whole company, leave what you have in hand, immediately move forward lightly, catch up, and kill that royal tank battalion for me!"
"Yes!"
The communicator stood upright, and then hurriedly conveyed Tang Jixian's order, and in the blink of an eye, the commanders and fighters of the heavy fire company began to pursue along Route 18 in the direction of the Royal Tank Battalion......
……
"Congratulations, my dear lieutenant colonel, for your bravery in saving the entire British army!"
Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton sat on his command tank, and the headphones on both sides kept hearing the praise of the commander of the British Seventh Brigade, and Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton couldn't help but smile proudly: "Thank you for the compliment, dear Mr. Brigade Commander, but compared to my insignificant achievements, the plan formulated by you and those American generals is really powerful, yes, those crazy Chinese, they really chased ......"