The Australian soldiers also realized that the situation did not seem quite right - how could they get all the way without the slightest resistance?

Captain Angus also couldn't understand that he could attack with the armored vehicles, and even if he wanted to use intrigues, he wouldn't have gone without firing a single shot, right? Otherwise, it will definitely be massively killed by armored vehicles after that.

After entering the small village, the Australian soldiers began to change their strategy of searching and advancing, and instead walked 20 meters in front of the armored vehicles with one infantry squad, and the other squad followed behind, covering their own armored vehicles from approaching and blasting.

The wooden houses with sloping roofs and stilted buildings are common in Malaya, which are somewhat similar to those on stilts in southwest China, but the difference is that the roof shape is different, and instead of tiles, they are covered with woven materials such as bamboo and grass.

Quietly enter the village, don't shoot guns.

Round-toed cowhide field shoes had a terrible sticky and slippery feeling when stepping on the wet dirt streets.

When the cautious Australian soldiers slowly advanced more than 20 meters, the fire of the heavy mortars suddenly stopped.

An ominous atmosphere filled the hearts of the officers and men of C Company.

Immediately afterward, a red flare rose into the sky.

The windows and doors of many of the surrounding houses were pushed open, and the muzzle flames of several inches long erupted in a loud burst of gunfire.

Several Australian soldiers approached a house and were about to push the door, only to be sieveed in the blink of an eye by a barrage of .351 Winchester rifle rounds.

Suddenly, the two paths that ran through the village were filled with gunfire and explosions, and the roar of the two Trinity anti-aircraft machine guns was the most shocking.

A bullet longer than a Coke can was pulled into the receiver and immediately accelerated by gunpowder gas to push out of the muzzle, and the scene of a machine gun bullet containing 15,000 joules of kinetic energy hitting the human body at a close distance of tens of meters was extremely bloody.

The chopsticks poked through the flesh and blood, and the bullet continued to penetrate the weak mild steel plate of the armored vehicle with ease.

The 12.8×96mm tracer bullet dragged a conspicuous trail of light into the interior of the armored vehicle, and the tracer tube continued to burn, thus igniting the fuel tank.

In a matter of seconds, the street entrance became a killing area of flesh and blood, flames and black smoke emerging from the cracks of the armored vehicles.

The storm of bullets of various calibers gave these audacious Australian troops a head-on blow, and their formation was broken up at once.

The Australian soldier who fell to the ground after being shot was trampled by the panicked others, who were immediately knocked down by the bullet.

Captain Angus staggered behind an armored vehicle that was desperately strafing back fire, only to see a soldier fleeing from the scene being disemboweled.

The 12.8mm machine gun bullet only opened a two-finger-thick hole when it entered his back, but when it pierced through his abdomen, it tore half of his stomach apart, and the dark red viscera fell all over the floor like rotten jam.

The rocket-propelled grenade fired from the bazooka crashed into the side of the armored vehicle and exploded, leaving Angus covered in mud and water as he was knocked down by the flying fragments.

The machine-gun turret of the armoured vehicle was also silent, and there was a dull crackling sound from inside that put the iron bucket on a hanging firecracker—a metal jet that had induced the bullet.

Now Angus finally understands how funny his idea is - even without anti-tank guns, the Chinese are not at all afraid of armored vehicles!

The frightened soldiers crawled behind any cover they could find, firing back indiscriminately in the general direction.

Thanks to the usual training of the Australian army, it is still qualified, otherwise it would probably be in a panic situation now.

A platoon that did not enter the village hurriedly fired smoke grenades and 2-inch mortars, and the two Vickers heavy machine guns on the periphery also fired wildly without sparing bullets, doing their best to cover the retreat of the ambushed troops.

At this time, four Type 38 medium tanks of a tank platoon ventured through the artillery blockade.

They were ordered to deal a heavy blow to these unknown enemies, and after carefully observing and figuring out the pattern of falling bullets to block the artillery fire, they quickly took advantage of the gap to speed through and were unscathed.

The roar of the engines and the clashing of the tracks came, and the frightened officers and men of C Company changed their complexion when they heard it.

The second battalion and the first team, which had retreated to the small village and successfully ambushed them, also pursued them from the flank, intending to take advantage of the victory.

"Boom!"

The tanks came and went, machine guns and artillery fired in a volley, and a Vickers heavy machine gun group that was about to evacuate with its weapons was blown down by flying shells.

The sputtered high-velocity fragments even cut through the water-cooling sleeve, and the warm cooling water trickled out.

The Australian soldiers, who knew they were powerless to resist, were suddenly thrown into disarray, and Captain Angus, who was wounded in the leg, was carried to a depression and shouted orders to fire signal flares for help.

In fact, Company A, which had not rushed with them to attack, had seen the plight of these reckless fellows, but was now in a dilemma.

If you go to answer, it is likely that you will not be able to protect yourself; But if you don't respond, you will probably have to take responsibility after the war.

Captain Kleist was anxious for artillery support, but nothing happened.

The rampaging Ming tanks opened fire on any exposed Australian fire, first with Vickers heavy machine guns, then Lewis light machine guns.

Later, the four Type 38 medium tanks did not even let go of individual soldiers, and the Australian infantry who were targeted immediately attracted a 48mm anti-explosive bomb.

The Australians, who lacked anti-tank weapons, had little room to fight back, and they used Enfield rifles to fire grenades at Ming tanks, but the Mills grenades were bounced off the armor and exploded in mid-air to no avail.

In desperation, Captain Angus fired at the tank with a revolver, but it didn't take long for him to be knocked down by a barrage of machine-gun bullets, and after two flutters, he was silent.

The blood flowed in a small pool of blood, which soon soaked into the wet mud.

The unscrupulous tankmen seemed to get carried away from the accompanying infantry because they were too aggressive, and one of the tanks was blown off by a blaster from an enemy who came by nowhere.

However, no matter how brave and fearless he was, he could not stop the defeat, and the order of C Company was soon shattered.

The Australian soldiers who had lost their ability to resist were scattered, some lost their weapons and fled, and some curled up in the craters to resist stubbornly, but few of them raised their hands and surrendered.

The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty pursued the situation and directly recaptured the positions they had deliberately abandoned before.

"Captain, we can't stop them, what should we do?!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Kleist, the commander of Company A, immediately ordered a retreat.

"Retreat! Right now! What are the damn artillerymen doing ?! ”

Your artillery support has not responded until now, and staying here is tantamount to looking for death!

What he didn't know was that his artillery position was being hit by a sharp attack by the Ming army's field artillery group.

In these years, there were no such things as counter-battery radar, and it was not easy to determine the precise position of the opponent's artillery, so the artillery did not often perform counter-battery tasks in actual combat.

A reconnaissance group of the 2nd Mobile Brigade successfully penetrated the perimeter of the 20th Australian Infantry Brigade and established an observation post in depth of the enemy.

In this way, the field artillery group of the assault group was able to try to carry out a fire rush on its artillery positions.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

The hail-like shells set off a storm of fire on the Australian artillery positions in the blink of an eye!

Dirt bags, wooden crates, camouflage nets, and other things were lifted into the sky by the blast wave, and the wheels of the blown up trucks burned brightly, emitting a pungent smell of burnt rubber.

Most of the twelve QF 4.5-inch howitzers were destroyed, and the artillerymen were almost strewn with corpses, and every artillery position was strewn with broken limbs and broken clothes.

Zhou Changfeng originally planned to rest for a day and wait for the next day to attack aggressively, but these Australians came to find fault with themselves, so they had to make a change.

The improvised offensive plan was not detailed enough, but Zhou Changfeng thought it was sufficient.

It can be said that their own side launched an attack with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai, and the Australian troops with high morale can only cause more trouble, and it is absolutely impossible to turn the tide of the war.

Weapons and troops are superior, and it is better to go all at once.

The 1st Assault Vehicle Battalion served as the spearhead of the attack, and the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Motorized Infantry Brigade cooperated with it, and the two were responsible for the central breakthrough; The convoy directly under the 1st Marine Brigade and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Regiment attacked to the west.

The Amphibious Tank Battalion of the 1st Marine Brigade and the other two battalions of the 2nd Mobile Brigade were retained as reserves, ready to take over the attack.

"But that's radical, isn't it? The remaining ammunition is only enough for a day at most, and if the intensity is high, I am afraid it can only last for half a day. Zhu Lishuo specially called from the artillery command post to question.

"Don't worry, stop the offensive if you run out of ammunition and switch to defense on the spot."

"But...... What if the enemy counterattacks? You have to keep a back hand in case you need it, right? ”

"You forgot about the captured guns? If you just stick to it, it's enough. Zhou Changfeng then added: "You pick an artillery group, test fire as soon as possible, and get familiar with it, it doesn't matter if you don't have a shooting table." ”

Due to the high rate of advance, the artillery unit to which the assault group belonged had practically exhausted the three bases of shells it had carried on its journey from Kota Bharu.

However, when the previous capture of Kuantan, the Anglo-Indian 9th Division, which fled in a hurry, did not even have time to completely destroy the large amount of supplies hoarded there, resulting in many supplies and equipment falling into the hands of the Ming army without being destroyed.

13 QF 18-pounder field guns, 6 QF 4.5-inch howitzers, 177 Austin trucks, and more than 40,000 gallons of gas.

In addition to this, there were all kinds of medicines and food supplies, and the Ming soldiers found countless supplies from warehouses and supply depots in the city and suburbs - cigarettes, biscuits, canned beef, rum, black tea, aspirin, quinine, and so on.

If it weren't for the timely replenishment of these supplies, it would never have been possible for the assault group to move south quickly day and night, at least because it would have been delayed for two days because of waiting for its own supplies.

The Air Force also benefited from this, as the British and Indian forces had only time to burn down an oil storage station before the defeat in Kuantan, and more than 1,000 barrels of precious jet 100 gasoline were seized from the local air base.

The Daming Air Force stipulates that No. 87 gasoline is used during transfers, No. 94 gasoline is used during ordinary combat operations, and No. 100 gasoline is only allowed to be refilled during key operations.

Now, the 24th Team of the 6th Detachment Detachment stationed at Kuantan Airport can squander this high-quality fuel with impunity.

RAF Squadron 232 suffered an unprecedented setback this morning – 14 Hurricane MkII encountered 10 Type 36B formations, resulting in five being shot down, six damaged, and only two of the opposing side being shot down.

One of the downed Hurricane fighters made a forced landing in the wilderness, and the 38th Division on the march sent scouts to capture the pilot and hoist the plane back to Kuantan Airport in a heavy truck.

After inspection by mechanics, although the aircraft had several mechanical structural damages, it was generally intact and of repair and research value.

Therefore, the Air Force immediately organized manpower to try to repair it, and this was also the first time that the Ming Dynasty captured a British fighter that could be studied.

After learning that the counterattack attempt of the 20th Infantry Brigade of the Australian Army had failed miserably, Major General Ingram, commander of the Anglo-Indian 9th Division, immediately called to inquire.

It was said that it was an inquiry, but in fact it was mixed with some schadenfreude, because Cecil, the commander of the Australian 7th Division, had confidently mocked his command two days ago as "very passive and lacking in courage and enterprising."

Negative? Hehe, are you actively trying one?

Sure enough, the counterattack of the 20th Brigade directly planted a heel, losing an entire infantry company, and another royal artillery regiment (battalion) lost more than half.

At the same time, because the Western Front was in jeopardy, there were also disputes between generals and departments at all levels.

At 16:30 p.m., after a simple and hasty preparation, the artillery units of the assault group began to launch a heavy shelling of the marked Australian fortifications and firing points.

The Air Force Liaison Group commanded two 128mm heavy mortars to fire colored smoke grenades deep into the enemy's position, and a cloud of red smoke lined up in the Australian line.

A group of 23 Type 36 light bombers and 11 Type 37 dive bombers arrived as scheduled and dropped more than 200 aerial bombs.

The smoke of the previous shelling has not yet dissipated, and now so many bombs have been dropped. For a while, the mountains shook, and the defense line of the 20th Infantry Brigade of the Australian Army seemed to be torn apart.

The dive bomber roared to the ground at high speed, pulled up at a very low altitude, and dropped 250kg armor-piercing blasting shells that almost blew up the civil fortifications.

The thunderous rumble made the Ming soldiers in the starting position of the attack unbearable, and the performance of their own fighters made them applaud from time to time.

"Let's go, let's go!"

"Grab your gun, don't leave anything behind!"

"Bring more grenades and less else."

The group of planes left leisurely, and the officers beckoned the various units to go to the assault starting position one after another.

At this time, the Ming army's field artillery group also began the most rapid rapid attack and fire, in order to give the enemy maximum damage and deterrence before their own infantry attacked.

Twenty-six Type 38 heavy tanks and 9 Type 38 medium tanks departed from the second-line position and gradually spread out into a horizontal formation, with 40 meters between the left and right sides, and the width of the attack front was up to 1,000 meters.

When the artillery fire gradually stopped, the sharp whistle followed.

"Beep-beep-"

"Wan Sheng—"

In the blink of an eye, countless gray-green figures emerged from the depressions, craters, and foxholes in the wilderness, rushing towards the dilapidated and crumbling Australian defense line!

A group of tanks followed behind, slowly advancing like a row of unshakable steel batteries.

The RPG icon with a clear display has uploaded an easter egg stamp.

(End of chapter)