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Chapter 1782: The Capture of Muscat

In Muscat, Major General Shinji Ito, who had received a telegram from the base camp, stood in the fortress fortress behind the castle of Joreli with a serious face, raised his binoculars, and looked at the harbor in the distance from the lookout. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

At this time, a new wave of aircraft flying from the northern sea once again raged in and around Muscat, with huge explosions one after another, columns of smoke soaring into the sky, and a scene of ruin everywhere.

Ito Shinji put down the binoculars and said to Kazuo Nakasa, the chief of staff next to him, with some doubts: "Why do I think these fighters are more like carrier-based aircraft?" ”

"Probably not!"

Kazuo Sakai replied with some uncertainty: "It is estimated that it is only a model, but the essence is still a land-based fighter." After all, the base camp replied that the South China Air Force is currently carrying out strikes on our air base on Luzon. Since the land-based fighters of the An Jiajun can cross the vast South China Sea, they can naturally also fight across the Gulf of Oman, and there should be no problem with this! ”

"Damn the Shina people!"

Shinji Ito raised his binoculars again, took a closer look, and saw that the entire harbor was shrouded in fireworks, and the coastal defense positions on both sides of the harbor for several kilometers were actually within the strike range of this wave of planes.

"Commander? What do you think...... Is the bombing of the Chinese really paving the way for the British fleet's counteroffensive, as the base camp said? ”

Kazuo Sakai asked with some surprise when he saw Shinji Ito's actions.

Shinji Ito nodded: "The situation analyzed by Chief of Staff Ishihara is very likely!" Now we have a serious shortage of troops, and all the forces in Muscat and the surrounding area combined, there are only three garrison brigades, and we must be very cautious to defend tens of kilometers of beaches. Fortunately, we also have a Lanyin Master in our hands, who can respond to the defense of the two wings of the beach at any time...... Hopefully this time my speculation is wrong......"

Before Ito Shinji's words fell, the communications staff officer sitting in front of the walkie-talkie stood up nervously: "Your Excellency Commander, a huge fleet suddenly appeared in the sea off Minstan Beach, four kilometers west of the port, with unknown intentions!" ”

Kazuo Sakai was in his heart, and secretly said that the British had really come, and Ito Shinji ordered loudly: "Pay close attention to the enemy's movements, and at the same time let the officials on the front line of Minstein quickly withdraw the people on the position and hide all in the back of the anti-artillery barrier to avoid unnecessary losses!" ”

"Yes!"

As soon as the communications staff officer conveyed Ito Shinji's order, the earth-shattering sound of artillery bombardment had already been heard from the northwest of the fortress.

On the sea more than 10 kilometers north of Minstan Beach, with the order of the gunners of the ships, countless dense flashes appeared, and these flashes seemed to make the sun in the sky dark, and the 203mm, 152mm, 140mm, and 130mm caliber main guns equipped with light and heavy cruisers and destroyers of the aircraft carrier task force roared together and launched a fierce artillery bombardment on the beach in the distance.

Countless shells, scrambling in the air to the beachhead, almost instantly, the beach of Minstan was surrounded by smoke and flames.

Compared with the main port of Muscat, the defense of Minstan Beach is weaker, the British have built a number of pillboxes and batteries here relying on the breakwater of the coastline, and after the Japanese occupation, they built a coastal defense fortress on the mountain three kilometers behind the coastline and one or two hundred meters above sea level, equipped with shore fire prevention power.

Despite the huge disparity in strength, relying on the closed permanent artillery fortifications, the Japanese coastal artillery still carried out counterattacks without showing weakness. British-made shore defense guns spewed flames, firing grenades or armor-piercing projectiles at the sudden fleet.

Due to the overwhelming superiority in quantity and quality of the naval guns of the South China Navy's aircraft carrier task force, with the passage of time, the Japanese counterattack was gradually suppressed, many pillboxes were overturned, some fortresses suffered casualties, and fortifications began to be damaged one after another.

As the artillery suppression gradually took effect, the landing craft towed by the troop carriers attached to the fleet had untied the tethered steel cables, and were at full speed, loaded with marines and men, and rushed towards the beach ahead. The specially modified landing craft were equipped with steel plates in the bows, and the general-purpose machine guns that accompanied the boats were set up, and the machine gunners hid behind the steel plates to launch heavy fire suppression on the beachhead.

Officers and men of the Marine Corps, fully armed, wearing blue and white variegated camouflage uniforms and steel helmets of the same color on their heads, holding automatic rifles, calmly squatted in the cabin, their faces full of courage and determination, and from time to time behind the steel plate at the bow of the ship, holding binoculars in their hands, and looking sideways to observe the movement of the beachhead.

At this time, the Japanese artillery positions hidden in the anti-slope behind the beachhead began to counterattack, and one shell after another fell into the sea water three or four thousand meters away from the beach, and columns of water, large or small, immediately rose on the surface of the sea.

Since they were only garrison troops, not soldiers of the first or second divisions, the quality of these artillery was uneven, and their artillery skills were not flattering, but at this time, the landing ships of the South China side were already all over the entire coastal area, and any shells that did not shoot in the wrong direction had a chance to hit the target.

Seeing the sudden artillery attack of the Japanese army, most of the naval officers and men on the ships in the distance pinched a cold sweat for the landing craft and the marines inside, and the threat of these shells to the landing craft was self-evident, and only by approaching the land as soon as possible and destroying the enemy's resistance could it be truly safe.

At this time, Vice Admiral Zhao Lei, who was standing on the bridge of the "Huashan" aircraft carrier and watching the battle, was surprisingly calm.

The Japanese artillery counterattack was extremely normal, and if the Marines successfully landed on the beach in front of them without any resistance, they might be dangerous—or poison gas bombs, or some kind of trap, and the Japanese could resort to any despicable means for victory, but this wave of artillery counterattack made those terrible fears hypothetical.

"It can be seen that most of the Japanese artillery is equipped with old-fashioned artillery, the firing range is extremely limited, and judging from the splashing of the water column, the power is not great, which is basically in line with the rumors that most of the Japanese garrisons are equipped with captured artillery that was eliminated from the last European war by the British!"

Lieutenant Colonel Wen Xuan, an intelligence staff officer standing beside Zhao Lei, explained while holding a telescope to carefully observe the battle situation.

Zhao Lei held up the binoculars and nodded slightly: "Indeed, the Japanese artillery fire is also the first round of ferocity, but after that, it seems to be sparse, it is estimated that the rate of fire of those old-fashioned artillery is very problematic, now it depends on whether our Marine Corps officers and soldiers can quickly land and quickly tear through the enemy's defense line." ”

While Zhao Lei spoke, a new round of salvo fire from the fleet began. According to the indicative data of the reconnaissance planes hovering over the beach, a large volley of shells fired by the fleet during the shelling flew over the hill behind the beach and accurately flew around the Japanese artillery positions, and the already thin artillery fire of the Japanese troops suddenly became weaker.

After receiving a report from the operational staff officer and knowing that the first wave of aircraft had been refueled and loaded with ammunition, Zhao Lei immediately gave the order to attack.

On the aircraft carriers "Huashan", "Taishan", and "Hengshan", the crew and pilots began to make final preparations before taking off. On the flat and wide deck, carrier-based aircraft are arranged in a neat and orderly manner, the propellers of many fighters have been started, and the motors are roaring, just waiting for the order to take off.

Soon, carrier-based aircraft flew off the deck and circled over the aircraft carriers, and as there were fewer and fewer planes left on the deck, the huge white fox emblems painted on the decks of the three aircraft carriers gradually appeared. Strange to say, the Anjia Army Air Force and Navy are very fond of this fox symbol with a pair of wings, which represents the expectations of the leader, and for most pilots, this symbol can be said to be the driving force that motivates and urges them to fight.

When more and more fighters and bombers gathered over the fleet, Minstan Beach was already within reach of the first batch of landing ships.

If the soldiers in the cabin did not look sideways, they could only see the cannonballs that kept scratching overhead and the columns of water rising high nearby.

The landing craft shook very violently under the impact of the waves and the explosion of artillery shells, and the splashes of water continued to fall, and these officers and men of the Marine Corps, who had participated in the landing operations exercise many times, no longer cared about whether they were safe or not, and they all picked up their rifles, and the people in charge of mortars and machine guns carried their weapons on their shoulders, and all of them were silently waiting for the moment when the steel landing ladder plate on the bow of the ship was put down.

A sharp whistle finally sounded on Minstan Beach, and the sound of rifle fire gradually intensified, proving that a large number of devil soldiers were gathering in the defense line of the beach, and then the crooked machine guns and chicken neck machine guns, as well as the Maxim machine guns captured from the British army, began to shoot at the landing craft less than a kilometer away from the beach.

On the thick steel plate in front of the officers and men of the Marine Corps, there was a gradual sound of being hit by a bullet, and the general-purpose machine gun mounted on the bow of the landing craft returned fire without showing weakness, and the sound of tearing cloth from all directions made this landing battle gradually enter the first place.

The destroyer "Tuojiang" in the fleet is one of the "Fantasy" class super destroyers belonging to the former French Navy with a displacement of 2,610 tons, its speed can reach 45.02 knots, and it is equipped with five Model1929 140mm/45 times the diameter gun, the maximum elevation angle of the gun can reach 30 degrees, the maximum firing range is 20,000 meters, and the maximum rate of fire can reach 6-8 rounds per minute. As the command ship of the Task Force Marine Corps, Colonel Gongsun Rong, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Marine Division, was in the command cabin, engrossed in observing the situation on the beach ahead with a telescope.

After the continuous heavy artillery bombardment of the fleet, there was no life on the flat beach, and most of the bullets were now fired from the top of the breakwater, and many heads wearing steel helmets were faintly shaking there, and there were many more figures, moving rapidly along some of the remaining communication trenches, from the fortress in the rear to the breakwater in front.

Colonel Gongsun Rong's ship formation had moved to a place only six kilometers away from the beach at this time, and the cannonballs flying from behind the beach landed from time to time on the surface of the sea very close to the warship, stirring up a high column of water. However, the naval officers and sailors on the battleship did not have the slightest fear, and on the semi-enclosed gun emplacement, the gunners busily stuffed 140mm high-explosive shells into the gun chambers, and then shelled towards the beachhead.

Since the gun emplacements were so close to the command room, Gongsun Rong could even clearly hear the crisp clanging sound of the unloaded shells falling on the deck.

"Not good!"

In the sight of the Manchu naval officer, a landing craft was directly hit by a small caliber shell, and in the flames and smoke of the explosion, there were scattered limbs, torn clothes, and weapon parts.

The landing craft, which carried about a squad of Marines, suddenly became a hell on earth, and although the whole boat did not immediately break apart, it quickly stalled and began to sink due to the flooding of the bilge.

Gongsun Rong's heart was sad for a while, but his eyes were still as sharp as an eagle.

Suddenly, a heavy shell landed a few meters away from the bow of the "Tuojiang" ship, and before the water column had completely fallen, several sailors on the deck fell in a pool of blood.

At this time, the landing ship in front had not yet completely sunk, and more landing craft passed by it quickly and without fear, and on the foredeck of the "Tuojiang", the sailors of the South China Navy quickly carried the dead and wounded back to the cabin, and the destroyer's front main guns were still firing at the beach with all their might, and the only traces left by the Japanese shells were the pool of blood on the deck and a few shattered portholes.

A few minutes passed quickly, and the carrier-based aircraft strike group again came to the sky over the Japanese-fortified Minstan Beach, and the exposed machine-gun and artillery positions were quickly reduced to the targets of precision attacks by aerial bombs and aviation machine guns.

On the surface of the sea near the beachhead, shouts were heard.

"Attention, brethren, the ship is coming to shore—"

The crew, located in the rear control area of the landing craft, shouted a warning, and in just a few seconds, after a loud "boom", the landing craft had already stopped. Fortunately, the speed of the landing ship was not fast, and the marines who had been prepared for a long time did not fall because of a small inertia, and after the hull shook a few times, the landing ladder in the bow of the ship suddenly fell forward, and the Minstan Beach was suddenly displayed in front of the officers and men of the Marine Corps.

The shrill screeching sounds of burning bare trees, smoking craters, broken breakwaters, and mine-like potholes on the beach were the result of shells falling behind the beach, and the softer roar came from the shells fired from the Japanese anti-Japanese guns hiding in the hills behind the beach.

A string of general-purpose machine-gun bullets fired from the landing craft flew overhead with a "boom" and struck at the breakwater. The sound of machine gun and rifle bullets coming from the breakwater held by the Japanese army reverberated from far and near, stirring up rows of splashes of water more than 10 centimeters high and as thick as the barrel of a ballpoint pen.

The loud trumpet sounded, and the officers and men of the Marine Corps did not have time to think about it, so they stepped on the landing pedal that made contact with the bottom of the water, jumped into the sea with great strides, and then rushed towards the beachhead.

As more and more people landed, the infantry formed a skirmisher formation and quickly advanced towards the breakwater ahead, while the machine gunners lay in the bomb craters that exploded, suppressing the recalcitrant Japanese on the breakwater.

At this time, the Japanese troops who were evading the bombardment of the naval artillery basically rushed to the breakwater in front and into the fortifications in the mountains behind, and the reinforcements of the two regiments of the Lanyin army from the port area were on their way to the beach, but due to the intensive bombardment of carrier-based aircraft, those Lanyin indigenous soldiers were blown up to the point of howling, and there was a question when they would be able to reach the forward position.

After the special landing ship that followed the landing craft came to a stop at a distance of 20 meters from the beachhead, the bow landing ladder that was suddenly lowered was heavily plunged into the half-meter-deep seawater, and the icy sea water was beaten out, stirring up waves several meters high.

"Assault—"

Amid the rumbling diesel engine and the sonorous sound of the tracks, a "Dolphin I" amphibious tank slowly drove up the landing ladder, and the thick steel plate withstood the steel behemoth that emitted a metallic luster, making a "squeak" sound.

The "Dolphin I" tank is specially designed and manufactured for the Navy, with a total length of eight meters, a width of three meters, a height of two meters and a height of two meters and a height of 15 tons, a gun caliber of 75mm, a 7.62mm parallel machine gun and a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun with an engine power of 400 hp, a maximum speed of 64 km / h, a speed of 11 km / h on the water, and a maximum range of 370 km.

This amphibious tank has a well-sealed connection, a rubber seal at the turret seat, which has enough buoyancy when driving forward in water, the power unit is a water-cooled diesel engine, the transmission device is mechanical, the suspension device is a torsion bar type, and the water propulsion device is a waterjet propulsion type.

Soon, the Dolphin I tank was on land, running over the slightly soft beach and rumbling forward. Second Lieutenant Ma Yuan, the commander of the vehicle, who poked his eyes out of the turret, opened his eyes wide and watched the scene of the rain of bullets, and his blood could not help but surge, but he was not dizzy, and continued to indicate the direction of the tank's advance to avoid the reefs where they stood.

The bullets that kept flying over did not pose any threat to the hard armor of the tank, and the Japanese troops on the breakwater and in the fortress behind them were obviously confused, they never expected that the enemy who launched the attack actually had tanks, and for a time the formation was in chaos, coupled with the fighters constantly circling overhead, the Japanese defense line was already in danger.

"Two hundred meters ahead, ready to fire!"

With the order of Second Lieutenant Ma Yuan, the "Dolphin I" tank stopped its advance, and the place pointed by the muzzle was a reinforced concrete pillbox on the breakwater, and several machine guns stretched out from several holes, roaring desperately, and the Marine officers and men who were constantly charging were swept away by its bullets.

A soldier who was shoulder-resisting a bazooka, just aimed at the pillbox, was swept away by intertwined machine-gun fire, and lay on the ground with his head tilted unwillingly.

"Little *** of dog day, go die!"

With a loud "boom", the tank shook violently with the launch of the shell, from the barrel to the track.

At a distance of fifty meters, it took less than 0.01 seconds for the shell of the 75mm tank gun to accurately hit one of the firing ports of the pillbox. The shells that exploded inside the bunker detonated the ammunition in the bunker with a loud sound, and the entire bunker exploded from the inside, and black smoke and dust soared into the sky.

The shell casing landed on the bottom plate of the tank with a crisp and pleasant sound, and the gunner shoved the next armor-piercing shell into the chamber as quickly as possible. The tank that Second Lieutenant Ma Yuan was in did not start again, but turned its muzzle to another pillbox on the breakwater, and after a red explosion flame, the shell penetrated directly through the surface of the pillbox, drilled into the inside of the pillbox and exploded, and for a time the flesh and blood flew sideways.

After the mighty Dolphin I tanks cleared the beaches and breakwaters of Japanese fire points at close range with their cannons, the Marines advanced like mercury deep into the Japanese lines. Bazookas, grenades, pried open the enemy's fire points one by one, plus mortars and general-purpose machine guns that followed the troops to attack and advance, and the Japanese army was crushed.

......

"What!?"

Shinji Ito received a call from the front and was dumbfounded. In a short period of one hour, the beachhead was lost, and the two regiments of the Lanyin Army that went to the rescue were still stranded on a hill two kilometers west of the port under the interception of the opponent's fighters, and the gap in the defense line was getting bigger and bigger.

Chief of Staff Kazuo Sakai looked solemn: "The front line reported that the troops that landed were all China, and there was not a single white man, which shows that the fleet that suddenly appeared must belong to the China!" Front-line artillery observers also reported a situation: The fighters circling over our port and suppressing our army's rescue all took off from that fleet, and they were also grouped over the fleet, which means that there must be aircraft carriers hidden in the enemy's fleet, in other words, this fleet is an aircraft carrier task force! ”

"The people of China...... Carrier-based aircraft ...... Aircraft carrier....... Not good! ”

Ito Shinji muttered a few words in his mouth, and his face suddenly became extremely ugly: "Nanhua is so deeply hidden...... So far, we don't know anything about the naval strength of Nanhua, except that they intercepted a number of French warships and used them in the Siam War...... Now that the empire is carrying out a Pacific strategy, if at this time, the navy of South China will kill from behind, and the consequences will be unimaginable...... No, I'll need to report this to the base camp immediately! ”

After saying that, Ito Shinji strode to the radio station and ordered Hideshozo Morimoto, a communications staff officer, to quickly send a report to the country.

The communications staff officer instructed several communications soldiers to be busy for a long time, but they have not been able to contact the country, and tried to contact the front army headquarters and the radio station of the Northern Route Army, but there was no response, and he looked at Ito Shinji with a sad face: "Division...... Your Excellency Commander, as soon as the enemy's artillery fire sounds, our radio communication with the outside world has been cut off. Now it is not only impossible to contact the base camp, but even the front army headquarters and the northern route army command cannot be contacted...... We...... We have lost ...... with the outside world."

"Baga!"

Shinji Ito stretched out his hand and slapped him twice, then grabbed Morimoto Hideshosa's collar and twisted him up: "Morimoto, no matter what, you must contact the base camp, it is a matter of imperial national fortune, you must do your best!" ”

Morimoto Xiu's face was flushed, several communication soldiers next to him were silent, and Kazuo Sakai, the chief of staff, saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly stepped forward to play a round:

"Commander, you can't blame Morimoto-kun for this. Remember what happened on the day the An Army launched its attack on Khuzestan and Iraq? At that time, we could not communicate with the two places, but the military in Syria could contact us. Now this scene is repeated, which indicates that the enemy has begun to interfere with radio communications in the Oman region. For now, we can only repel the enemy who has landed and ensure the safety of Muscat Port, and then find a way to contact the country! ”

Shinji Ito let go of Hidehide Morimoto with a miserable face: "It's too late!" The enemy not only has sea and air supremacy, but now also has an advantage on land...... When Commander Nakamura left, he took all the tanks, armored vehicles, and trucks with him, and we lacked effective anti-tank weapons, and the opponent was most likely the Anjia army, and the quality of the individual soldiers was far superior to ours, so this battle simply could not be sustained......"

"Boom-"

A cannonball exploded next to the fortress, and with a loud noise, interrupted Ito Shinji's words.

At this moment, the gunfire on the west side of Muscat Harbor was getting closer and closer, the shouts of killing were already clearly audible, and the Japanese command headquarters was filled with an air of despair.