The 891 American encirclement network thirteen broadmen are powerful!

May 27, 1939, 3 a.m. Panuco Valley.

Just in the armored formation of Chapter 885 of the Japanese Army, Major General Hoshino Toshimoto, who led the charge, gasped and muttered in a low voice: "Could it be that there is a row of large and small fires flashing in the elite Imperial Army Chapter 885 group!" Suddenly, more than a dozen Japanese tanks that had just stopped moving forward and were turning their guns to aim turned into dazzling fireballs as if they had been suddenly struck by a thunderbolt. A dozen or so Japanese tankmen screamed and got out of the burning tank, rolling back and forth on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire on their bodies. It turned out that thanks to the M3 Grant. The power of the 75mm gun of the Li tank was greater than that of the Japanese Type 97 tank, so the Americans stopped and aimed at a distance of 600 meters! So they were the ones who fired first.

However, the Japanese army was really well-trained, and quickly reacted from the initial panic, and the Type 97 tank guns also roared one after another, and one after another 47mm caliber armor-piercing shells dragged the fiery red tail flame, and crashed into the American tanks at a distance of 470 and 480 meters at a very fast speed! In the blink of an eye, almost the same number of M3 Grants. Li Tantan ignited a fire in the sound of explosions one after another. Shells from both sides rained down on each other's tank formations, and the entire battlefield was littered with ignited tank wreckage, like piles of bonfires.

At the rear of the battle line, in the Japanese advance command post set up on a small hill, Maeda Toshiwei and Lieutenant General Nakamura Akito, commander of the 56th Division, both held binoculars and stared at the opposite scene. I saw with my own eyes that the armored forces that had been saved up with great difficulty, which had cost countless dollars, were consumed little by little in the confrontation with the American tanks, and the tanks were hit one after another and caught fire, and the losses on both sides were almost one to one. Obviously, both tanks have a bit of a strong attack and weak protection. M3 Grant. Lee's 51mm frontal armor could not withstand the Type 97 47mm tank gun at a distance of less than 500 meters, while the Type 97's 25mm armor was not at the height of the M3 Grant. The 75mm howitzer of the Li tank was even more vulnerable in front of it.

This encounter is really a "precious" Type 97 against the Americans' "garbage" M3 Grant. Li Tong is gone! However, considering that the heavy industry production capacity of the United States is at least 30 times that of Japan! How can Japan afford such a one-to-one tank battle?

At this moment, a staff officer strode into the makeshift command post and leaned over Nakamura Akito and muttered a few words in his ear. Then I heard Nakamura exclaim, "Nani! That's what Commander Yamashita said on his order! ”

Maeda put down his binoculars and whispered, "What's wrong?" ”

Akito Nakamura took a telegram from the staff officer's hand, looked at it carefully, shook his head slightly, and said, "Commander Yamashita ordered us to repel the enemy in front of us as soon as possible, and then ...... Immediately retreat in the direction of the city of Bayes without delay. Because...... Three divisions under the command of Commander Ushijima were defeated by the Americans on the south bank of the Panuco River! The two victorious American armored divisions are advancing in the direction of Tamuin after resting for a few hours! ”

Maeda was stunned when he heard this, and after reacting, he hurriedly snatched the telegram from Nakamura's hand, read it carefully, and after reading it, his face suddenly darkened, and beads of sweat the size of beans oozed from his forehead. He muttered, "This...... How is this possible! How can it be! How could the imperial army be defeated! Is this all there is to the Empire's war in the Americas? ”

……

In the headquarters of the Japanese Central American Front in Bayers, at this time, they were already in a panic, and the commanders of several front armies, including Ishihara Waner, the "first strategist of the Japanese army," were like ants on a hot pot, so anxious that they gathered around the map station, and the telegram from the headquarters of the 11th Army (Ushijima Mansho's department) requesting "tactical guidance" flew like snowflakes! No one thought that the American armored forces, which had just been fighting with the Japanese army for a day, had only rested for a few hours and started to attack again! Before Ushijima could even gather the remnants and organize a new defensive line, Patton's tanks rumbled! The Japanese army, which was already in chaos, was rushed into disarray, and Commander Ushijima could only hurriedly organize a few baggage squadrons and carry rifles to the top for a while, and he didn't know what use the Type 38 6.5mm rifle cartridge could do against the frontal armor of the 51mm thick M3 Grant Lee tank. Although the scattered Japanese officers and soldiers did not flee once they were routed by tanks like those Anglo-French troops on the European battlefield, but insisted on fighting separately on the battlefield. However, people with a little knowledge of military science know that the combat effectiveness of the modern army is by no means based on individual bravery, and an army that has lost its organization and is completely chaotic cannot even give full play to the original 10 combat effectiveness, and staying on the battlefield is also the life of the whole army!

Yamashita was busy looking for reserves on the map that could be used for emergencies, but now the Japanese soldiers near Bayes City added up to one wing at most! The rest were some Mexican troops and the Central American Federal Army. It is simply unrealistic for them to go and fight the Americans! The only Japanese troops available were the "Maeda Force" that was heading north to try to copy the Americans' rear route. This "strange army" was originally the hope of Yamashita Fengfu and Ishihara Waner, but they didn't expect that the Americans actually sent an unknown number of armored troops south along the Panuco River Valley! Now it is fighting a decisive battle with the Japanese 1st Independence Tank Brigade in the northern part of the Panuco Valley.

Yes, Toshiwei Maeda used the word "decisive battle" in the latest battle report sent over! He also reported the defeat of the 13th Wing of the 6th Division in a very sad tone.

Yamashita and his staff couldn't understand how the Americans obviously didn't have much combat power in the previous Hawaii Battles and Panama Battles, and they could only lose their armor and flee in front of the powerful Japanese army. Could it be that the previous judgments of the US military were completely wrong? Or is the Japanese Army already in a slump after the 9.18 War!

At 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, the battle report of the "Maeda Army" came back. Finally blessed by Amaterasu, in the 2-hour tank battle, the 1st Independent Tank Brigade did not suffer any losses, and at the cost of 112 Type 97 medium tanks, it also destroyed 106 M3 Grants of the American army. Lee and 13 M3 Stuarts, and in the end, the US armored forces were not supported and the first to withdraw from the battlefield. That's not a big win...... After the victory, Maeda did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, but quickly gathered his forces and began to retreat, striving to retreat 10 to 15 kilometers before full dawn. However, the "good mood" of Yamashita and Ishihara and others did not last long, and Mitsuru Ushijima's urgent telegram came again......

Yamashita, Ishihara, and Major General Hyotaro Kimura, chief of staff of the American Front, gathered around the map table for a long time, trying to figure out what to deal with the situation, especially to save the 16th, 102nd, and 104th Divisions, which had collapsed. Although the three divisions are now in a mess, it is optimistically estimated that there should still be 40,000 to 50,000 remnants of the defeated army, and if they can be rescued and returned to Panama City to rest and replenish, it will not take more than four months (the time for the steamer to return to Japan and then transport the reinforcements to Panama), and the three divisions will be able to regain their combat effectiveness. But where are the reinforcements to save the three divisions of Ushijima?

Just when several Japanese generals felt cornered, they wanted to immediately cut their bellies with knives to thank the emperor and the people. The chief of staff of the front, Qin Yan Saburo Dazuo, proposed to them a solution that was not a solution, so that the infantry of the 16th, 102nd, and 104th divisions could retreat to the west or southeast, and not block the main road to Tamuin. Because the target of the American armored forces will not be these already routed infantry, but the 6th Division, the 56th Division and the 1st Tank Brigade, which are retreating south...... The Americans want to hold the city of Bayes through Tamuin and block the retreat of the "Maeda troops"!

As soon as Qin Yan Saburo was reminded, the heads of Yamashita Fengwen and Ishihara Waner were even bigger! If these two American armored divisions really rushed to Bayes City and blocked the retreat of the "Maeda Army", then the Japanese Central American Front would have lost 5 divisions and 1 brigade at once! How can only one 105th division be left to maintain the situation? I'm afraid that before the arrival of the next 8 divisions, the Americans will be able to recapture the Panama Canal! Now it's no longer time to think about saving the 16th, 102nd and 104th divisions, but to save the entire Front, and even the whole war!

Yamashita Fengwen roared, and pressed his palm heavily on the map table, "Defend it!" Defend it at all costs! Command Ushijima to put every soldier he can find into it, and be sure to withstand the American tanks! If they want to take out the Yamato soul and fight to the end, even if they bite with their teeth and hit them with their heads, they must resolutely resist it! ”

"Order Maeda, retreat quickly, ignore the air raids of the Americans, and must retreat to Bayes City as quickly as possible! If it really doesn't work, throw away the weapon and baggage...... Just get people out! weaponsThe Germans will definitely give us again! ”

Although the Japanese army was still fighting with all their might, the battle of the Panuco River had reached this point, and the victory and defeat had already been decided. If you look from the sky, you can see that the armored and motorized units of the Americans are crowding all the roads south from Monterrey, countless tanks, self-propelled guns, armored vehicles, trucks, and large-caliber artillery towed by trucks stretch all the way from Monterrey to Mante, and above them are American planes that cover the sky. All the defenders of Japan, Mexico, or the Central American Confederation who stood in their way were quickly drowned in a torrent of steel. The battle that began in the early morning of May 26 completely stunned the Japanese army and made them understand what a real mechanized war is! What is a blitzkrieg! Their bushido spirit is not even a fart in front of the rolling tanks, armored vehicles, and planes! And their enemy, the United States, which was once considered a paper tiger, does not care at all how many tanks or other equipment are lost......

……