The seized box of brandy soon became even more popular than Coca-Cola, on a first-come, first-served basis, with many people only having time to taste a small bite after hearing the news.

"Let's get some people to help with the work."

"Hey! Come and help! ”

"! Drunk red. One of the lieutenants who came to inspect helplessly kicked several soldiers on the ground, crossed his waist and shouted, "Go to the eastern trench!" ”

The Commander of the assault force was followed by a signal man with a radio talkie, who reached out and removed the microphone from the walkie-talkie to report back to the rear in more detail.

The three-wheeled motorcycle swayed and drove leisurely, and the reel of the telephone line was hung on the back of the motorcycle, and the telephone line was arranged all the way to the temporary command post on the side of the school.

The corpses of the dead were carried to the truck, and the soldiers stood in pairs facing each other, one grabbing the corpse's arm and the other's feet, and throwing them onto the truck.

In the evening, more than fifty bodies were transported to the rear by two trucks.

Next to a half-collapsed Catholic church, some officers and soldiers of the chemical defense team have been waiting here for a long time.

It's a church, and there are several craters of different shades, so it's not too suitable.

The crater was first covered with a tarpaulin to prevent contaminating the groundwater and causing a plague.

The corpses of officers and soldiers of the 60th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army were thrown into it, and the dog tags that had been collected were piled up on the ground, and a handful of them were grabbed.

The brigade headquarters of the 3rd Marine Brigade put this large handful of dog tags in suitcases and used them to register them.

"The American soldiers are really complete, they are all good materials, last time in Rabaul, those Australian soldiers were far worse."

"But without fighting, didn't the cart of wounded soldiers sent back in the afternoon say that it was easier than when I hit Rabauer."

The officers and men of the anti-chemical warfare squad are discussing that the bitter battle to capture Rabaul last year is still vividly remembered.

Subsequently, someone carried several bags of things like rice bags, and the words printed on them were "disinfectant", and the actual ingredient was ordinary calcium hypochlorite.

They slashed through the bag with bayonets and sprinkled all the bleaching powder into it

Some of the captives were sent to bury the bodies, and the pits were finally filled in at dawn.

"The enemy's resistance is not very strong, and it can be seen that the forces are limited."

"There are enemy mortar positions in the northwest two miles of the school, and there are scattered fortifications nearby, and this threat next to the offensive axis should be taken into account."

"The assault force still has a shortage of more than 20 tons of supplies, so let the supply point at the second beachhead find a way to evenly and find a few trucks to transport it over as soon as possible."

"The No. 3 blocking line in the northwest is not effective enough, and the seaplane said that it has seen the movement of personnel, and it will increase the amount?"

Perimeter Wind had shifted his command center to shore, and in the dock warehouse northeast of Villeville Bay, the staff officers had no time to slack off, and were on duty in shifts in front of the sand table and map.

The sound of tick-to-tick announcements, the sound of talking about the situation, the sound of talking on the phone to give instructions...... All kinds of sounds mingle together.

Like most officers and soldiers, Zhou Changfeng also practiced the ability to fall asleep on such occasions.

He was just about to lie down on the marching bed and seize the time to sleep for a while, but it backfired.

"Sir, the front line has come to report, saying that tomorrow it will definitely be able to take the hotel in one go, and ask for a war half an hour early."

"Have the wings of the hotel been cleared?"

"Not yet."

"Not in advance, as planned." Zhou Changfeng said casually: "Let the fleet extend the time when the time comes, I don't plan to ask for this building." ”

The bespectacled major staff officer hesitated for a moment, then clenched his fists and took the order, "Yes." ”

Early the next morning, the battle began again.

The attack on Belinda's hotel was first carried out by an offensive and defensive battle on both flanks, thus forming a semi-encirclement posture against the place, and then supplemented by three artillery fire blocking lines, completely isolating it.

This was the last strong support point for American forces in the city on Kauai, where the remaining forces of Company A and Company B were assembled, as well as half an anti-tank battery of about 300 men.

The smoke and dust from the 250kg bombshells dropped by the carrier-based dive bombers reached into the sky, and when they spread, they almost obscured half of the sky.

At 7:00, the battleships Yongpei and Zhanghe were ordered to carry out artillery support.

Excluding the hundreds of 128mm shells fired by several destroyers, the two ships fired a total of 67 384mm shells, destroying most of the field fortifications built by the US military, and the hotel was also directly hit by 5 shells, and the exterior surface was severely damaged and looked riddled with holes.

The 6th Marine Regiment then launched an attack on both flanks of the Belinda Hotel, and the battle went so well that the U.S. troops, lacking anti-tank weapons, could only put up limited resistance.

Such resistance was more sluggish than defensive, as they were simply unable to stop the Ming army coordinated by Butan.

In such a one-sided battle, 60mm and 81mm mortars became one of the few weapons that could cause problems for the Ming army, and almost seven of the 117 casualties in the liquidation of the outlying positions were wounded by mortar shells.

At 12:30, with a red signal flare lifted into the air, the general attack of the Ming army on the Belinda Hotel officially began.

Eight tanks attempted to carry out tactical deployment, and the only two remaining anti-tank guns of the US army opened fire at the right time, and a Type 38 medium tank was about to burst into fire.

The only surviving loader struggled to crawl out of the hatch at the top of the turret and fell to the ground covered in blood.

The officers and men of the Marine Corps also quickly returned fire with all kinds of light and heavy weapons, and tracer bullets continued to fly towards the place where the muzzle flame came out.

The four tanks, regardless of the three, seven, twenty-one, decisively returned fire in the direction indicated by the infantry, and the artillery and machine guns were fired at full power.

Other tanks subconsciously reversed and wanted to retreat, but after reversing for more than 20 meters, they found that the others were still insisting on firing back, so they switched gears again.

During this time, another tank was destroyed.

The incoming 37mm armor-piercing projectile may have pierced through the armor and hit the ammunition rack, causing the vehicle to detonate and flames erupt like fireworks through the gaps in the turret seat and hatch cover.

Heavy machine guns, tank guns, and mortars were all called up, and they continued intermittently for nearly a quarter of an hour, until the two anti-tank guns were completely silent.

On the starting position of the attack, the remaining Ming tanks were lined up in an arc, and six or seven wheeled armored reconnaissance vehicles also drilled through the cracks.

"Brothers! Eat dinner after taking this building! ”

"Ready...... Walk! ”

"Hooray!"

Amid whistles and shouts, four platoons of Marine infantry climbed up from their positions and rushed to Belinda's hotel a hundred meters away, alternately under cover.

The hotel building was in a dilapidated state, and at first glance there was no sign of enemy activity, but at this moment the muzzle flame suddenly flickered.

In addition to the windows, American soldiers also made holes in the walls, using the holes they had carved out as firing ports.

The armored vehicles of the Ming army immediately responded with fierce eyes, and countless firepower smashed into the hotel like a storm.

"Wow-w-w-"

One after another, 20.8mm piercing bombs and incendiary bombs crackled on the wall, and cement debris scattered and splashed, and smoke and dust gradually diffused......

"Fire cover! Send a few of them over! ”

"It's up to you!"

The two teams of three of the chemical defense team were crawling forward with difficulty, and the bullets were flying sideways overhead, and the fire was so intense that the bullets could touch each other.

Falling cement fragments crackled against the steel helmet.

When they had reached less than forty meters, the soldier with a flamethrower pointed his gun at a window where it was spitting out muzzle flames, and then pulled the trigger.

Compressed nitrogen pours gasoline out, ignited by an electric spark in the front of the gun, and pours into the window as a dazzling dragon......

"Burn them!"

"Happy!"

"Burn, don't stop, then set fire!"

The soldiers cheered, and the sight made everyone even more excited.

The three fire dragons continued to appear, and in a few minutes, almost all the first floor of Belinda's hotel was set on fire, and as far as the eye could see, there was already a sea of fire, and thick black smoke poured out of it, gathering and reaching into the sky......

It went more smoothly than expected, and the Ming army stormed the hotel at 14:19 and engaged in a thrilling indoor battle with the American troops who were cowering in it.

"It's such a weekly edict, we have captured the lower two floors, and the remnants of the enemy have withdrawn to the upper floors, and they are still resisting stubbornly."

"Withdraw, don't gnaw like this, I said I don't want this building."

Zhou Changfeng didn't want to waste any more time, or he felt that it was extremely unworthwhile to have an extra sacrifice here.

Following his instructions, two sapper platoons brought a large amount of explosives and arranged packets of explosives around the load-bearing columns on the first floor.

Over the course of several hours, the sappers placed more than 300 kilograms of TNT cubes and more than 20 blasting canisters on eight load-bearing pillars on the north side of the first floor of the Belinda Hotel.

During this time, the infantry were still fighting from the upper floors, and the sound of gunfire, explosions, and shouts echoed in everyone's ears, and the wounded were constantly being carried down, and the ground was covered with blood, and the old and the new were mixed together, and it was not known whether it was the enemy or the comrades.

At 17:10, after confirming that all combatants had been evacuated, an engineer lieutenant pressed the detonator lever hard.

"Boom !!"

The violent explosion greatly exceeded the expectations of the officers and men present, and the shock wave knocked some people watching the excitement to the ground, and the flying cement fragments injured several unlucky people.

By this time, the lower floors of the hotel building were already shrouded in smoke and dust, and the discerning soldiers noticed that the building was shaking slightly.

Soon, everyone heard the sound of reinforced concrete cracking.

After about five seconds, the Belinda Hotel began to tilt north.

As the amplitude increased, the speed of the dumping became faster and faster, and finally it collapsed completely with a bang, and the scene was shrouded in a huge amount of dust that was raised, and people coughed repeatedly.

Several reporters accompanying the army jumped to their feet in frustration because they did not carry cameras, and could only use their cameras to shoot desperately continuously.

One of them admired and admired: "It is worthy of today's famous generals, leading the army to fight neatly, but the seemingly simple and crude method is particularly effective, and the results are immediate, it is really high!" ”

Zhou Changfeng, who was wearing a steel helmet, stood next to him, holding a telescope to enjoy such a good show, only feeling relaxed and happy, and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly.

Hearing this flattery, he smiled and said nonchalantly: "Don't dare to be, just improvise." ”

From May 10 to May 13, which lasted three days and three nights, the Ming landing force drove the American troops on Kauai out of the beachhead and urban support points.

Zhou Changfeng noticed that the enemy's troop deployment was characterized by being light in the front and heavy in the rear, and he was sure that the US military was implementing defense in depth.

The captive's confession was also consistent with his speculation that the Army's 60th Infantry Regiment stationed at Kauai had focused its fortification on the line of Mount Cawhichini in the center of the island, which was dotted with semi-permanent fortifications that had been repaired in the last two months.

"It's not a big problem, as long as the airport can be used, the Air Force can come."

From the perspective of the perimeter wind, the stubborn resistance of the US troops entrenched in the middle of the island is of little value, and the only role is to contain the pace of the Ming army.

This also confirms from the side the principle of the U.S. military's campaign to defend Hawaii - procrastination, do everything possible to delay the Ming army, consume the material supplies of the Ming army, and buy time for their own preparations for a large-scale counterattack.

Given that the chances of the remnants of the U.S. forces on Kauai taking the initiative are slim, the next offensive can be more relaxed.

The only hidden danger was the artillery unit, which, according to a wounded and captured lieutenant, half of the howitzers of the 45th field artillery battalion were transferred to the deep positions, which would certainly shell the Lihue airfield.

As a result, the Air Force was not happy.

Landing right under the nose of the enemy, ready to be bombed at any moment? It's also too dangerous.

"Solve part of it, suppress part of it, and basically maintain the operation of the airport." Zhou Changfeng spread his hands and ordered the officers of the 3rd Marine Brigade: "The Air Force is really difficult to serve...... Re-open the front view and side view, and I will command the artillery regiment. ”

The next day, May 14, morning.

There were still intermittent gunshots in the northern suburbs, which were encounters between a small reconnaissance detachment of the Ming army and a US patrol and a guard position.

As expected, the U.S. military naturally did not let the Ming army use Lihue Airport.

The airfield, which had been repaired with great difficulty, had been shelled since dawn, and the density of bombs dropped was not large, but it was naturally impossible for planes to take off and land under such circumstances.

Perimeter Feng, who personally went into battle, took up the rangefinder to measure the distance between friend and foe, and then determined the firing direction of each gun position, and quickly completed the continuous test of the battle formation.

He picked up the microphone of the field phone and said lightly: "The viewing distance is seven seven five zero, the elevation is two four five, the enemy's concealed artillery position, killing and explosive shells, instantaneous, calibrating fire, one round, ready." ”

"Roger."

In the artillery command post, the calculation board and slide rule were slipped and rattled, and the staff officers and calculation soldiers quickly finished calculating the shooting elements, and then transmitted the data to the various artillery positions.

A few shells flew towards the target, the smoke and dust rising were obvious, and the seaplanes hovering in the sky immediately reported the deviation of the landing point.

After a slight correction, Zhou Changfeng directly ordered the implementation of effective shooting, which greatly surprised the artillery officers present, but it was not easy to discourage Zhou's interest.

Subsequently, 17 112mm howitzers available to the 1st battalion of the Mountain Artillery Regiment opened fire in unison!

The cannon roared, and the cannonballs rained down on the hills below the Cavhikini Hills, which were covered in artillery fire in an instant......

Until that night, there was no much movement in the US artillery, and from time to time a shot was fired and then it fell silent, and the seaplane observers in the air estimated that only one or two artillery pieces remained.

At this point, the Air Force agreed to settle in Kauai.

At 9:11 a.m. on 15 May, 23 Type 36 destroyers of the 1st Destroyer Detachment, 12 of which were the latest Type 36 D, finally arrived after a long transfer flight.

The major who led the team was magnificent, and as soon as he landed, he pointed to his feet and said, "This airport can be renamed, let's call it Weiyuan Airport." ”

[Picture]

(End of chapter)