readx; Chapter 357: The Americans' Counterattack!

"Regiment Commander, do you think about it again, our troops are not many, and it will be too dangerous if we continue to attack forward!" Cao Liang said with a somewhat anxious expression. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"I know, but if we can't break through the defense line as much as possible before the Americans react, then when they react, it will be more difficult to attack, and we will have to pay more sacrifices, plus the military strength of our Southern Front Corps is already at a disadvantage compared to the Americans, and once the war falls into a war of attrition, it will be very disadvantageous for us. So we have no choice but to keep moving forward. Yan Zhichao said with a resolute expression.

As a regimental-level officer of the Huo Family Army, although his position is not low, Yan Zhichao does not know that the General Staff of the Huo Family Army and the American Theater Command have a strategic layout of defeat, Xu Ping, and Xu Xiaosheng for this war, but they will never allow a big victory. Therefore, Yan Zhichao, who received the order to attack, first considered how to fight, so that he could defeat and even annihilate all the American ** teams in Memphis.

"Then you stay here and command the second battalion to fight a defensive battle, and take over the follow-up troops, and I will continue to attack with the first battalion, the regimental headquarters guard company, and the machine gun company. Cao Liang said hurriedly.

After listening to his old friend's words, Yan Zhichao's heart rose with a deep sense of relief and warmth, and he knew the danger of the next war. Although Huo Jiajun fought a time difference, taking advantage of the opportunity of the Americans to breakfast and not being in the position, with the cooperation of the airships, they suddenly launched a large-scale artillery bombardment, blowing up their defensive positions and bringing a large number of casualties to the American Southern Front Corps. But the nearly 400,000 U.S. ** team even experienced an initial defeat. But it is still a huge trouble for the Southern Front Corps of the Huo Family Army, which is originally inferior to the other party. Therefore, it is necessary to try to attack as far forward as possible before the opponent reacts. If it can continue to break through the second line of defense on the periphery of Memphis, then the US Southern Front Army will lose half of its defensive advantage, which will be a great strategic advantage for the attacking Huo Jiajun, and the losses of the troops will be minimized.

"Okay, Lao Cao! You're the political director, and I'm the military director, so let me do something like this with the troops! Even though the Americans had several times the number of troops we had, it would take only half an hour at most for the fraternal troops in the rear to come up to support. I don't think it's too difficult for more than 1,000 of us to hold on for half an hour!" Yan Zhichao said with a smile after patting his old partner on the shoulder.

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According to the forward troops' reports, the Chinese' troops have broken through our first line of defense. Now they are attacking like our second line of defense under the cover of fortress artillery!"

After listening to the words of the staff officer. Pierre Beauret's heavy brow jumped a few times involuntarily, and his face was gloomy and he asked loudly: "What about our troops, why don't you destroy them!"

"Commander......!" the staff officer squirmed his lips with a pale face, but said nothing. After all, he is just a staff officer who conveys the battle report from the front, not a high-ranking officer, and of course he does not know the current battle situation on the front line.

"General, I don't know why the heavy artillery of the Chinese is so accurate, and their presence not only destroys the defense line we have worked so hard to build. And our reinforcements to the front line were also cut off by their artillery fire. It is difficult to create an absolute superiority over the attacking forces of the Chinese. However, now that some of our artillery is in the hands of the front-line troops, with their support, we will be able to contain the offensive of the squadron, and with our superiority in strength, plus the artillery in our hands, we will even be able to defeat them!" said Harry Herbert, chief of staff of the U.S. Army on the Southern Front.

After listening to his words, Boregaard's face turned slightly, and after waving his hand to let the pale staff officer go down, he sighed with a hint of gloom. "The Chinese offensive is too fast, too fierce!"

Hearing this, almost all of the senior officers and officers of the Southern Front in the room nodded with a look of agreement, compared to their own army, which had not yet assembled the army for half an hour, and it took nearly an hour to organize an effective counterattack. Seeing that the new US troops have no war experience, the troops lack emergency preparedness, and taking advantage of the weekend vacation of Westerners, most of the US legionnaires on the southern front are spending the weekend, with the cooperation of the fortress heavy artillery, the Huo Jiajun, who decisively engaged in the attack, only took less than an hour to hit the second line of defense on the periphery of Memphis, which is really too fast and surprising! In particular, the tactics of combining infantry and artillery allowed the Americans to occupy an advantage in troops, but more than 1,000 people from a battalion of the 101st Regiment firmly held a gap in the second line of defense!

"Give Harman and Woodreth orders not to be afraid of sacrifice, and to destroy all the Chinese troops on the first or second line of defense before the Chinese reinforcements come up!" Boregard suddenly turned around the spacious war room and ordered loudly.

Harman and Wood Rhys, commanders of the Ninth and Twenty-fourth Armies of the Southern Front, respectively, were stationed in two of the outermost of the four lines of defense in and around Memphis.

"Yes, Commander!"

"In addition, give General Pershing an order to have his cavalry immediately set off to strike at the Chinese reinforcements and buy time for the Ninth Army and the Twenty-fourth Army to recapture the defensive line!"

"Also, send the artillery, concentrate all the artillery that can be used, so that they don't have to save shells, and give my assault troops aiming at Chinese ...... hard!"

With a series of orders issued from the headquarters of the US Army's Southern Front Corps in downtown Memphis, a large number of American soldiers who stayed in Memphis for holidays rushed to the front line under the leadership of their respective commanders, and a large number of artillery pieces that were originally hidden to avoid the detection of Huo's army were continuously transported to the front line, and the counterattack of the US ** team gradually became stronger.

"Lie down........." Listening to the unique scream of the 75mm field artillery shell, Yan Zhichao's face changed, and he couldn't help but shout loudly. However, in this fierce battle, the distance of his voice is really limited in the battlefield where guns roar. Coupled with the fact that a large number of soldiers in the U.S. Servant Army were almost all recruits before participating in this war, even with the reminders of experienced squad and platoon level officers and a lot of training aids, there were still many soldiers who were slow to react and were torn apart by the shells falling from the sky.

Yan Zhichao almost gritted his teeth with stumps and spills of blood, and after they opened a three-kilometer breakthrough in the second line of defense of the Americans, the Americans' counteroffensive became stronger and stronger like a tidal wave, and more and more soldiers participated, and now there was even artillery support.

"Phew, bah......!" Duan Zhifeng, the commander of the first battalion, spit out the dust that had just escaped from his mouth and nose due to the shelling, and then he didn't bother to clean up his gray military uniform, hunched his waist, followed the tunnel, and quickly came to Yan Zhichao's side, and said: "Regiment commander, the Americans' counterattack is getting stronger and stronger!"

"Well, yes! Judging from the intensity of the shelling just now, there are at least 50 or more artillery pieces shooting at us, and the number of Americans attacking us has reached 30,000, and it is even increasing, so our defensive pressure is very great!" Yan Zhichao put down the binoculars in his hand and said with a solemn expression.

"Fortunately, with the help of the fortress artillery in the rear, the continuous charge of the Americans was interrupted, otherwise it would have been difficult for more than 1,000 of us alone to hold out for half an hour under such an offensive by the Americans!" Duan Zhifeng said.

"That's right, but we can't hit too many artillery pieces of more than five thousand meters, and the rate of fire of these heavy guns is very slow, it is difficult to form a barrage and interrupt the enemy's attack, otherwise our troops will fight so hard!" Yan Zhichao shook his head at the battlefield filled with gunpowder, and then his expression became firm again, "No matter how difficult the war is, we must firmly hold this breakthrough, even if we all sacrifice ourselves on the position, we will never take a step back!"

"Tick tick ......!" the sound of the telegraph sounded like a loud war sonata, reflecting the intensity of the current front-line fighting!

"Report, the third division has all crossed the river and is rapidly advancing to the enemy's first line of defense in accordance with the battle plan!"

"Report that the Command Engineer Corps has conducted an on-site survey of the railroad bridge across the Mississippi River, and they say that in a maximum of four hours, they will be able to reopen the bridge!"

"Report, according to airship reconnaissance, the vanguard of the 101st Regiment of the First Division has successively broken through the enemy's two outer lines of defense with the cooperation of the rear fortress artillery, but now they are blocked by a large number of American ** teams, and the enemy's artillery fire is also increasing, and their defense is becoming more difficult!"

"Report, according to the airship reconnaissance, five minutes ago, a large number of cavalry rushed out from the inside of the city of Memphis, the number is about 40,000, and the flag should be the Fourth Cavalry Corps under the command of the US Southern Front Corps!"

"Cavalry commander, it seems that the Americans have moved their real character!" Wu Min couldn't help but laugh after listening to the telegram from the confidential staff officer.

"Well, Pierre Beauregaard is a famous southern general who participated in the Civil War, and he is naturally not a weak hand in commanding a war, he understands that if we can't immediately eliminate the 101st Regiment that opened the two outer lines of defense, the US Southern Front Corps will lose half of its defensive positions, which will be extremely unfavorable to their later operations!" Wang Xiangzong said with a faint smile.

"Commander, does the fact that the Americans have sent their cavalry now mean that they are ready to counterattack?" Wu Min asked.

Hearing his words, Wang Xiangzong flicked the ash of his cigarette, and then took a puff of the cigarette in his hand again, and slowly shook his head, "No, compared to our grasp of the war situation, the US Southern Front Command has no radio, and the United States Army Command on the Southern Front, which lacks war preparations, is in a state of confusion about the entire war situation. When a good commander has a hard grasp of the battle situation, the first thing that comes to mind is not attack, but defense!" )