The British had suffered a loss in the Old Port last year, but they had also figured out the shortcomings of the bulky and fragile thing.

However, the Americans are now discovering that this is not the case at all, and the same large aircraft equipped with light and heavy firepower, why did the British say that "heavy machine guns can pose an effective threat to it"?

The crew of Cormorant 7 noticed that there were probably six or seven machine guns on the ground firing wildly at them, and the intertwined web of fire completely enveloped the large bird.

The 7.62mm and 12.7mm machine gun rounds punched the fuselage with dense bullet holes, but they could not penetrate the reinforced steel engine and cockpit.

The wind drilled into the engine room through the bullet holes, and the machine gunners and gunners could feel the air leaking on all sides, but they had no time to pay attention to it.

The short-barreled infantry gun can be installed on the aircraft because of the small recoil, but the disadvantages are that the muzzle velocity is too low, the shells fly very slowly, and a large amount of advance needs to be reserved, which puts forward high requirements for the quality of the gunner.

The second-class light firepower is much better, and the twin-mounted 12.8mm aviation machine gun is powerful, fast, and has a straight trajectory, which is quite easy to use, and there is nothing wrong with it.

The exposed anti-aircraft machine-gun positions were immediately fired back, and the overwhelming fire that fell from the sky slashed the head and covered the face, and the flesh and blood torn by the large-caliber machine gun bullets sprayed red blood......

The Cormorant VII successfully suppressed the U.S. field artillery group, forcing them not to open fire, and effectively supported the deployment of its own landing force.

Three members of the crew were wounded, and after returning to the sea and landing, the battered plane was leaking everywhere, and if the Taihu cranes had been any slower, the heavy gunboat would have sunk.

The 2nd Battalion of the 5th Regiment was blocked by artillery fire at the 2nd beachhead for a long time, and after finally completing the battle, it successfully captured the position of a company of US troops at 16:47 and consolidated the landing field.

At 17:25, the commander of the 5th Marine Regiment and some regimental personnel successfully landed on the island.

They selected a shelter that had been cleared from the forward position of the US army, and set up the front-line headquarters on the spot, and there were still stains of blood and many bullet casings on the ground.

In the battle room of the Lu Xun, five or six staff officers were busy around the large sand table in the middle, and the small blue flag was pulled out and replaced with the red one.

The small triangular flags represent the detachments - battalions and below; The small rectangular flags represent the troops - regiments and above.

"Report! A, A, and A2 have seized the predetermined territory, and B1 is still fighting fiercely, and the victory is not decided. ”

"Pass my order, the artillery can go ashore, and the troops who have already gone ashore will gather their ranks, count their equipment, and ...... at night Organize small-scale infiltration as appropriate. "The circumference wind gave instructions unhurriedly.

"Yes!" The radiant major communications staff officer clenched his fists and led the way.

Given that the three landing sites were all firmly established and that a small tactical depth had allowed the artillery units to be deployed, Zhou Changfeng ordered an 80mm howitzer battalion belonging to the 3rd Marine Brigade to go ashore at the 2nd Beachhead.

At 18:11, because it was getting late, two landing craft carrying artillery collided, and four Type 33 80mm howitzers sank with the boat.

At 19:05, the 2nd Battalion of the Mountain Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Marine Brigade selected a position on the 2nd beachhead and began to lay out telephone lines and establish artillery positions.

That night, some infantry detachments of the 3rd Regiment and 1st Battalion attempted to infiltrate to the northwest and northeast, but only one detachment managed to penetrate the American defensive line on Kauai.

A battalion and a squadron attempted to capture a mortar position directly east of the Lihue airport, but the U.S. forces refused.

Both sides continued to reinforce each other, and the scale of the battle gradually increased from the initial half platoon to the participation of the whole team.

The fierce night battle lasted for six hours, with tracer bullets flying all over the sky, flares rising into the air from time to time, and flares never stopped.

The U.S. infantry stationed here opened heavy fire on the recharging Ming troops with Browning automatic rifles and Garand rifles, and the sound of guns and cannons shook the sky, and the crisp sound of the empty magazines ejected when the latter shot into the air was completely inaudible.

"Outflank to the left!"

"Knock out that machine gun!"

"Ready, ready!"

"Kill—"

There were two or three light spots floating in the night sky, the bright ones were flares fired by the Ming army's 112mm infantry guns, and the dim ones were fired by the US army's 60mm mortars.

At this moment, a sudden cluster of extremely bright light illuminated the entire battlefield as if it were daylight, and it was a 128mm cannon flare fired by the destroyer Lingbi.

The bazooka's jump-and-pop personnel bomb explodes in mid-air, and the bursts of steel balls and short steel rods knock enemies down in pieces!

"Round and round, oh lazy!"

The infantry of the Ming Marine Corps shouted the shouting phrases in the pamphlet, raised their guns and prostrated with their guns, and little by little approached the mortar position 100 meters away.

The U.S. soldiers could see countless moving figures under the white light, and people on both sides continued to fall, and the surrounding area echoed with shouts of killing, screams, and gunfire.

The wounded who were shot were constantly bleeding, and the smell of gunsmoke and blood mixed together was disgusting......

In the second half of the night, when the company commander, Captain Taylor, was killed by a grenade, the American troops, who had lost more than half of their losses, were forced to retreat.

In the early morning of 11 May, the landing grounds of the 5th Marine Regiment were connected to each other, and the battalions and units established mutual contact.

Zhou Changfeng ordered the brigade convoy to start landing, and the 6th Marine Regiment began to prepare for landing.

At this time, Lihue Airport was already full of bomb craters, and the two runways were destroyed by different types of aerial bombs and artillery shells like the surface of the moon.

Guarding the airfield was the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 60th Infantry Division of the US Army, and it was its 3rd Battalion B Company that fought fiercely with the Ming Army last night.

Zhou Changfeng is no stranger to this unit, when he was in Kuah Island before, the opponent of the 1st Marine Brigade was the 39th Regimental Combat Team in addition to the stubborn and tenacious 5th Marine Regiment, and the 39th Infantry Regiment was subordinate to this 9th Division.

The U.S. infantry used the craters on the runway to build field fortifications last night, and the small craters were converted into single foxholes, and the large craters were converted into double foxholes, and the remnants of the third battalion B company and the complete A company were responsible for defending the area.

At 7:02, an abrupt gunshot made one more winner of the Shooting Medal among the millions of Ming soldiers.

Tian Kai, a pacesetter of the 1st Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment, used a Type 35 combat defense gun to shoot and kill a lieutenant of the 45th Field Artillery Battalion, who was then ordered to come over and set up a side observation point.

The 14.4×112mm armor-piercing incendiary bomb contained more than 16,000 joules of kinetic energy and flew out of the muzzle, and half a second later easily penetrated the sandbag and hit the artillery officer behind.

At 10:15, Zhou Changfeng ordered a landing on the second beachhead.

The beach marked B2 is located in the northern part of Villeville Bay, and this section of the beach about 800 meters long is relatively gentle, which is more suitable for beach landing.

Behind the second beachhead was a large hill, and it was not surprising that the U.S. forces must have set up defensive positions there.

The surface ships of the Ming army carried out fierce artillery bombardment on the depth of the second beachhead, and the battleships Zhenguan, Longshuo, and Jianwu used their main guns to fire continuous half-salvos, and 384mm and 400mm anti-explosive bombs kicked up large clouds of smoke and dust.

At 10:21, a 144mm anti-explosive bomb hit an ammunition storage site, triggering a series of explosions.

Suddenly, the hills north of Willy Bay in Naville burst into flames, and the sound of rumbling explosions was like rolling thunder.

There were suspected signs of enemy activity on the lighthouse at the entrance to the bay, and the Xiangshan-class destroyer Nangong was ordered to destroy it.

Five minutes later, the Nangong fired six rounds at it, and the lighthouse collapsed in the explosion and turned into rubble.

At 11:19, the 2nd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment, which had already landed, began to advance to the north, but was soon met with fierce resistance.

The barricade area consisting of minefields and snake-bellied barbed wire greatly hampered the advance of the Ming army, and the American troops often waited for the Ming Marine infantry to clear the obstacles before suddenly opening fire.

The well-placed mortar and side-firing machine-gun fire caused a lot of trouble for the 6th Regiment and the 2nd, and more than 100 casualties were suffered in two hours.

The front-line first-aid post had just been set up, and only one military doctor and four paramedics were in place in time, completely unable to deal with the steady stream of wounded who were being evacuated.

After successively removing several hidden machine-gun fire points, the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Battalion of the 6th Regiment suddenly encountered two strong bunkers.

The two bunkers are horns of each other, able to cover each other, made of reinforced concrete, unusually strong, surrounded by minefields and various obstacles.

The soldiers used grenades to mark them with smoke bombs, and the destroyer Nangong shelled them for a quarter of an hour, firing a total of 168 rounds of 112mm anti-explosive shells.

When the smoke cleared, the liaison officer saw that several pieces of cement had collapsed from one of the bunkers, and the twisted steel bars were exposed.

However, the bunker was still not destroyed, and the Browning heavy machine guns inside were still firing.

Annoyed, the liaison officer requested a higher level of support firepower, which was approved after half an hour.

The battleship Yonghui was ordered to help, and she ejected a seaplane before slowly sailing into Naville Willy Bay.

Soon, the gunnery saw the red smoke rising from there.

"The target concrete bunker, 2,400 meters apart, is usually bombed, and the whole salvo is ready."

The three triple 384mm guns were pointed straight at the target, and then flames erupted in the earth-shattering roar, and the muzzle blew and the sea water next to the battleship was flooded.

The Yonghui fired two full salvos in a row, and 18 rounds of 384mm anti-explosive shells were scattered within a range of tens of meters, which was not bad in terms of shooting accuracy, but it was not satisfactory.

The officers and men of the 6th Marine Regiment cautiously continued to act, for fear that the bunker would suddenly come back from the dead.

They threw the blaster into the half-collapsed bunker, and then brought in the flamethrowers of the chemical defense platoon, and spewed fire three times in a row, finally destroying the two strong bunkers completely.

At 13:39, the 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment also completed the landing on the 2nd beachhead.

Zhou Changfeng casually opened a can and scooped it with an iron spoon to eat.

A young captain intelligence staff officer said happily: "Sir, the situation is very good, the enemy is losing and retreating, as you estimated, and then it is time to retreat into the city and resist stubbornly." ”

"Boom!"

At this moment, a loud bang came from the sea.

Everyone followed the prestige, only to see smoke rising from the front of a battleship in the distance, soaring into the sky.

The No. 2 turret and No. 3 guns of the Yanshan heavy cruiser suddenly exploded, causing more than 20 casualties on the spot.

Everyone did not know what was happening, and thought that they were being shelled by the enemy.

The captain of the Yanshan immediately ordered to reverse the car at full speed, and the Nangong destroyer next to it also turned on the smoke screen generator to provide cover for the Yanshan.

It wasn't until a quarter of an hour later that the whole fleet figured out that there had been a borehole.

Fierce fighting continued on the entire front until the evening.

After clearing the hills north of Willy Bay, the 6th Marine Regiment planted the crimson flag on the highest 107th Height.

The 5th Marine Regiment also drove the U.S. troops out of Lihue airfield, and with the support of brigade convoys, easily repelled the weak counterattack launched by the U.S. forces.

At this point, the outer defense line of Kauai Island completely collapsed.

“…… Roughly speaking, yesterday and today, our army annihilated about 1,000 enemies, and dozens of people were captured. The 5th Regiment suffered more than 380 casualties, the 6th Regiment suffered 212 casualties, lost 7 chariots, and was repairing one. ”

After listening to the report, Zhou Changfeng pointed to the mountains in the sand table and said: "According to the information from the interrogation of the prisoners, the Americans have built a large number of fortifications on the front line of Ka Kini Mountain, which is the most troublesome. It's okay to clean up the city next, most of the cabins on Kauai are wooden houses. ”

The wooden house is good, and it is burned clean.

However, this is a last resort, and it is in disguise to clear the wilderness for himself.

"Indeed, it is unlikely that the enemy army will be heavily guarded in the city." Someone chimed in.

"Look at the aerial photos." Zhou Changfeng took a few photos, "What is this?" School? The school building is a reinforced concrete building, and so is the hotel 300 meters to the south. ”

Considering the low morale of the U.S. troops, and the fact that they were probably more inclined to fight in preset positions in the field, Zhou Changfeng believed that it was entirely possible to drive the U.S. troops out of the city without burning down large swaths of houses.

To do this, he planned to organize an assault force consisting of tanks and infantry to take key points directly.

Under the cover of artillery and gunboats, the brigade's combat convoy, the first team of the reconnaissance battalion (equipped with wheeled armored reconnaissance vehicles), the second battalion of the sixth regiment, and the first team of the chemical defense battalion directly attacked Kauai Middle School and Belinda Hotel, omitting to sweep other parts of the city.

In this plan, the three battalions of the five regiments covered the left flank, the first battalion of the six regiments covered the right flank, and the three battalions of the six regiments served as reserves.

While the staff officers were in full swing to draw up a battle plan, a communications staff officer walked briskly with a telegraph.

He clasped his fists and saluted, and then said to Zhou Changfeng: "Zhou waits, the Admiral has called to ask how the seizure of the island is going, and how long it will take to occupy Kauai Island." ”

The latter thought for a moment and muttered, "It takes time to clear out the remnants of the enemy, but if it is only to destroy the organized defense...... It should be possible by the fifteenth. ”

"Humble duty understands."

Song Zhongkai and Ouyang Zhanghua had been worried that the U.S. fleet, which had disappeared, would suddenly appear.

The enemy is in the dark, and the fleet covering the landing of the island is bound here, and tactically it is extremely passive.

Yesterday and today, two days of almost non-stop large-scale searches, only a few US submarines were found, and the most important thing is that the Saratoga is still missing.

Just at 19:27, the Yongle received a telegram from Midway-

According to various researches, the British aircraft carriers HMS Radiance and HMS Brave had already passed through the Panama Canal in late April and rested in the Galapagos in early May.

The angry Song Zhongkai crossed his waist and complained: "How long has it been since the Brilliant was delivered?" How dare you send out to sea? ”

(End of chapter)

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