Late at night, inside and outside the city of Jeongju on the shore of West Korean Bay, insects chirped endlessly. In the darkness of the hills to the north, an armored convoy stayed at the edge of the woods. If you look closely at the light source, you will find that there are many world-famous Type 36 'Siberian Tiger' main battle tanks inside, and the body is also painted with a tiger head pattern. This is a pattern of honor, and only meritorious units can be awarded the title of Tiger Division. And the unit in front of it was the 37th Panzer Division, which had participated in the Zhzhezkazgan blockade, the Arkalyk tank battle, and the Pavlovsk siege.

Division commander Zhao Dengyu curled up in the command car, and the big blade that never left his body hung on the wall of the carriage. After dozens of hours of continuous pursuit, he and his troops were tired. At this moment, it was already the third day of the Battle of the Peninsula, and except for the fierce battles between Maoshan and Hunchun, the Japanese troops in the other three directions did not fight to the death. Is it that the Japanese army has no courage? Zhuo Fan's answer was no. Judging from several skirmishes, the quality of the Japanese army is good, especially good at earthwork and interspersing. So this retreat is not cowardice, but Ban Huan wants to lure himself deeper. Because from a geographical point of view, the most suitable place to block armored clusters from Sinuiju to the south is Anju, where many rivers such as the Jiulong River and the Cheongcheon River meet.

Dingzhou is the throat gateway to the north of Anzhou.

"Commander." A communications soldier trotted to the door of the car and woke up Zhao Dengyu to salute: "The reconnaissance company is back, and two tongues have been recovered." ”

"Oh? Where is it? After listening to the words of the signal soldier, Zhao Dengyu hurriedly jumped out of the command vehicle. Soon, more than a dozen scouts with their faces painted black and two Japanese soldiers with their mouths gagged came over. "Two puppet soldiers." The company commander threw his 'tongue' on the ground, ignoring the muffled grunt of the captive's pain, got into the carriage, and opened the map to the dim overhead light: "It's basically figured out." The 3rd Division did not leave, it stopped in front, there was an infantry brigade in the city, and a puppet army garrison brigade. The other brigade was on the Changgangling Heights, five kilometers to the northeast. You see. Here it is. The mountain is steep, the tank cannot climb up directly, there is an artillery wing behind it, and there are more than a dozen ** tanks and anti-tank guns stuck in the southbound road to the west. There was a river in front of the heights, and we went into the water to touch it, but the river was not wide but the water was deep, and the tanks could not swim directly across it. There is only one way into the city, which has been blocked by the enemy, and there are also enemies along the railway, and there are many positions. But it was too dark. I can't figure out how much. ”

"This Fujita Jin, there are two hits, it seems that he wants to block Lao Tzu here! Is it possible to bypass the river? Zhao Dengyu rubbed his hands. Judging from the map, the city and the northeast Changgangling just formed a flanking attack on the southbound passage, and if they attacked during the day, they would inevitably be attacked by highland fire. Even if the city is forcibly broken and the Japanese troops on the high ground are not cleared, the follow-up troops will not be able to pass. This kind of terrain is more difficult for heavily armored divisions, after all, no one is stupid enough to take a tank to climb the slope and attack on the back. If a large number of troops are forcibly concentrated forward to carry out a surprise attack, it will cause the troops to be too dense and threatened by flank fire. In turn, it is necessary to hit the high ground first. An infantry wing of seven or eight thousand people, relying on this infantry in an armored division, it is difficult to fight a quick battle.

That's the difficulty of fighting a war in Korea, because the peninsula is basically covered with this kind of terrain. Therefore, Zhuo Fan painstakingly explored the reason why everyone wanted to change the tactics of the battalion and regiment structure in the northwest and use more flexible company-level tactics. The best way to deal with this defensive tactic is to send a small number of troops to quickly circle the rear of the high ground. Contain it, and then break the city. However, the company commander shook his head affirmatively: "I asked a few locals, if you take a detour, you have to walk 37 kilometers to the east, and there are mountains all the way." ”

Seeing that his eyebrows were twisted, the company commander hurriedly added, "Division commander, don't worry. The main force can't get past for the time being, but doesn't our reconnaissance battalion have amphibious vehicles. Let's cross the river and go around to the back, and when dawn the main force can storm Dingzhou. Faced with the mountainous terrain of North Korea, when Zhuo Fan was reorganizing his troops, he asked the navy for amphibious tank equipment for two regiments, just to deal with this situation. I didn't think of it as a dignified teacher, which made Zhao Dengyu's face a little unbearable, and scolded with a smile: "Stinky boy, I think you want to make meritorious contributions, right?" ”

"How can it, without your wise leadership, how can we eat meat."

"! Less sycophants. Well, you're a good idea, it's just too slow. Go, let the reconnaissance battalion immediately cross the river from the upper reaches and make a detour to Changgangling. Zhao Dengyu snorted coldly: "Hmph! If you want to flank the attack, Lao Tzu will give you a night attack and see how his Fujita's cannon is still aiming! His staff officer was startled when he heard that he was going to fight at night: "Division commander, the black light is blind, and the city is attacked, I am afraid that I will be injured by mistake!" "No wonder the staff is nervous, it's okay to fight in the field at night, but attacking the city, it's definitely a mess! Just how to distinguish between friend and foe is enough to give headaches. During the siege of Tashkent and Petropavlovsk, there were countless incidents of confusion and accidental injuries during the night battles.

"What are you afraid of! Didn't you just get a night camp! Zhao Dengyu disagreed, and said with a sneer: "Besides, you can't even think of it, and Fujita definitely can't think of it either." Okay, okay, I'll tell them not to fire and hurt the people, okay? So decided! Come on, let the night camp go! Let's go to Dingzhou. ”

When Zhao Dengyu decided, ten kilometers away in Dingzhou City, Fujita Jin and his officers stood in front of the map to study the battle situation, and the soldiers next to him went in and out, and a temporary headquarters was still being set up. To say that this battle is really very depressing, more than 20,000 people in a division and regiment were chased by Zhao Dengyu for nearly 100 kilometers, if it weren't for Banhuan's strict order to retreat, ready to lure Zhuo Fan to Anzhou to rely on the terrain for a decisive battle, he couldn't turn around immediately. But now that you've retreated here, it's useless to think about it. "Division commander, all wings are deployed."

"Hmm." Fujita nodded. There is a city and a mountain to attack, and he is still confident that he will be here and give his opponent an unforgettable lesson. So Yu Feng turned around and pointed to the map with confidence: "I have studied the chariot tactics of the Chinese army, and what they are best at is a frontal feint attack and a flank assault. But this tactic will not be effective here, because there is only one way to the south, and if they do not seize Changgangling, they will not be able to avoid the blockade of our artillery. If you want to seize the high ground first, not only will you be flanked by us, but the chariot will also stop on the slope of Changgang Ridge. ”

"Hey, Shogun." The officers nodded their heads and watched with admiration as their fingers moved across the map.

"One mountain and one city, if you can't break the pinch, you can't go south. If we delay one more day, General Obata will be able to accumulate more strength in Anzhou. Therefore, I hope that you will work hard and not forget the emperor's grace! Right here, let the Chinese army understand. Hiding behind steel is cowardly behavior, and it is impossible to defeat a true Imperial samurai. Hearing that everyone agreed, Fujita was also a little proud. But then he frowned again and pointed to the sea: "I need to remind you that the Imperial Navy is no longer able to protect the sea, so you must be especially careful of the artillery at sea." ”

"Boom." Before he could finish speaking, the sound of shelling suddenly rang out. Could it be that he is a crow's mouth, and the China Navy came so soon? Fujita was startled, and was not relieved until the staff officer came in to report. "General, east of Changgang Ridge. Discovery of fireboats in China (the Japanese name for amphibious tanks). ”

Inner fireboats? The corners of Fujita's mouth twitched. Although the main forces of the two armies have not fought a few times decently, he still has studied the armored divisions of the Republic of China. Knowing that amphibious tanks are not regular equipment of the army, the number of temporary equipment is certainly not much. So he didn't panic, looked at his watch and said, "It must be the assault force of China!" I want to cross the river to occupy the position, and then build a bridge. Come! As soon as the voice sounded, the officers around him stood tall and full of momentum. Order Major General Tatsumi and the 5th Brigade to be sure to destroy the fireboats in Shinai! Remind him that the Chinese army is all chariots. They must not be allowed to erect pontoons. ”

"Into the position, into the position." The Japanese army reacted quickly, and before Fujita's order went out, Yasushi Osainoue, the 18th Wing stationed on the Johoku railway line, was already shouting and ordering the soldiers to enter the position.

The railroad tracks have long since been cut up. Previously, the garrison brigade also used cement and bricks to build many forts along the railway line into the city, which were densely packed and extended to the railway station in the city, so Inoue Yasushi was very confident that he could rely on these hidden forts to block the footsteps of the 37th Division.

Thousands of Japanese soldiers burrowed into the fort. After covering his ears to avoid the shelling, he found that the expected heavy fire preparations did not appear. "What's going on?" Yasushi Inoue was surprised. It's not that the Chinese army fought the old three sets, artillery coverage, chariot raids, and infantry follow-up. Why haven't the shells come tonight?

In order to find out the situation, Inoue Yasushi asked three **-type medium combat vehicles to attack and investigate. When the three medium tanks drove out of their shelters and headed for the dark north, Major Ho Zihua, who led the division's night armored battalion, also met them. "Attention units! Attention units! In pairs of two, watch out! The Iron Bull (nickname for the half-track) followed, beware of the infantry. ”

"Two o'clock! Obvious infrared signal! ”

Before he finished speaking, news came from the tank on the right. He Zihua hurriedly turned the turret around, and at the same time leaned out of his body, his eyes aimed at the infrared night vision device.

Sano, the leader of the chariot squad opposite, also poked his head out and held a telescope to search for the target. But there was a low tree in front of him, blocking his view, so he immediately let the tank turn left and prepare to go around. But just as his vision widened a little, a bright fireball with a loud noise suddenly pierced his pupils. Before the stinging sensation appeared, a fireball had exploded on the tank next to it.

200 meters away, an 85 mm armor fragmentation bullet accurately hit the tank in the face, and after the explosion of the plaster-like plastic explosive, the shock wave instantly shattered the inner layer of the steel armor, and hundreds of tiny steel pieces were sprayed out at a speed of 50-250 meters per second. The four Japanese tankmen were beaten into a sieve without making a single shout.

At such a close distance, not to mention the ** type tank with frontal armor of only 17 mm, even the best T34/57 of the Axis countries at the moment will not survive. "Shina! It's the Chariot of China! "Sanno finally reacted, but when he tried to determine the coordinates with the help of the fire, another tank was also hit and caught fire." Yaga! Where is it? Hurry! See, boom. Sano's eyes were red, and he hadn't been able to see the exact location of the other party until now. It wasn't until the tank went around the tree that a faint black shadow appeared 200 meters away. Before his gunner could calculate the coordinates, the tank under his feet shook violently, and the lower half of his body in the tank felt as if it had been torn apart, and the pain was severe.

"How did you find out?" Sano, who hasn't lost his breath yet, looks at the black clouds overhead, there is no moonlight! As he struggled to climb out of the tank, four ghostly Type 36 'Siberian Tiger' main tanks quickly emerged from the woods on his right. "What's that?" When a 'Siberian Tiger' turned the muzzle of the black hole around, he was surprised to find something strange.

On the top of the front of the 'Siberian Tiger' tank gun, a set of strange-looking equipment is installed. On the left is an 'astronomical telescope' that looks like an iron pipe, and on the left side of the iron pipe is a drum-like but non-emitting 'searchlight'.

"Boom." A 70mm grenade fired from the rear interrupted his train of thought and allowed him to see his opponent's appearance clearly.

"Aim for the fire and fire!"

In the firelight, Sano clearly saw that an extremely arrogant 'Siberian Tiger' commander, fiddling with the 'astronomical telescope' in front of him, aimed at the flickering infantry artillery position, and then blew up the unsightly bunker with only one salvo.

"Could it be a new type of detector?" The captain's operation made Sao's heart skip a beat.

He guessed correctly, this is the latest Wehrmacht 'Night Tiger' main tank. The mysterious equipment in his eyes is actually an active infrared night vision device. The development of infrared night vision devices can be traced back to AEG's 'cathode tube' in 1934, and the German army has come up with similar equipment, but it has not yet been officially equipped. The domestic research and development began in early 1935, after Yang Qiu asked people to buy back the patent of the radiation tube, combined with the data machine, and the first generation of night vision devices were developed and put into production at the beginning of last year. The drum-shaped object is the active irradiator, and the telescope is the receiver. The infrared night vision device, known as the 'Tanuki', has a detection range of 500 meters for tank and vehicle engines and 1,500 meters for muzzle flames. However, after production, it was found that due to bumps and battery problems, the maximum 250 meters for the vehicle in the operation, the muzzle flame also depends on the size, and the artillery above 75 mm can reach the standard. Although there was a total shortage, in line with the idea of equipping one generation and studying another, the army still placed an order for 500 sets, and pulled several night battalions to the peninsula to use the Japanese army as guinea pigs.

It's a pity that Sano can't pass the guess back, and after a commander killed the Japanese tank commander with his legs cut off by fragments at close range with a submachine gun, the battalion commander He Zihua immediately raised his right hand flat and ordered an attack: "Attack!" Kill it! ”…… (To be continued......)