The Ming Army of the Third Route carried out a surprise landing on three landing sites at the same time, but the situation was not so ideal.

The officers and men climbed into the landing craft from the sides of the three destroyers along the rope nets, and more than 20 landing craft rushed straight to the beach in two columns.

Normally, when carrying out beach grabbing, we will not concentrate on one point, but will disperse and elongate the entire landing front, so as to prevent a certain area from being blocked by enemy fire and being completely suppressed.

However, at this time, there was no need to care so much, and the landing force could only concentrate into a slender column and rush to the beach along the seaplane channel opened by the US military, otherwise it might be severely damaged by mines.

At 6:11 a.m. on July 15, a loud noise was heard from the distant Bay of Caneohe.

Zhou Changfeng, who was on the Kunlun Mountain, immediately looked over, only to see a large wave bursting out of the sea, which could be seen from such a distance.

A few seconds later, the wreckage of the shattered landing craft fell to the surface of the sea, along with the Marine infantry on board.

There were four destroyers responsible for transporting troops on the west route, carrying about 900 men from the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Regiment of the 4th Marine Brigade and the 1st Brigade Reconnaissance Battalion.

Some landing craft attempted to make a detour, but the bay was hampered by the presence of coral reefs that made it difficult to navigate.

There were also three destroyers on the eastern route to deliver the landing force, and their target was Kailua Bay, and the 3rd Battalion of the 6th Regiment of the 3rd Marine Brigade was tasked with securing the landing ground and capturing the town of Kailua.

Compared to the situation on the western route, the eastern road was much better, and in fact the soldiers did not notice the presence of mines on the sea at all, which can be described as smooth sailing.

At 6:20, in the northern part of the Mokapu Peninsula, the first landing craft washed up on the beach.

The honor of "first boarding" was won by the first platoon of the first battalion of the seventh regiment of the fourth marine brigade.

The water was just up to their calves, and the soldiers rushed forward with a quick pace.

"Let's be at the forefront!"

"Move fast! Don't grind! ”

"The third brigade is playing well, let's also fight, do you hear?"

A 128mm anti-explosive bomb fired by the destroyer swept over everyone's heads and smashed into the runway, tower, and hangar of the airport hundreds of meters away.

Booming explosions came from ahead, and the eyes of the soldiers flashed with the flash of crackling shells.

Several artillery smoke bombs burst over the hangar, and the scattered white phosphorus immediately burned after coming into contact with oxygen, emitting a thick gray-white smoke.

The resistance of the American troops was extremely light, first under rapid and heavy shelling, and then a group of enemies rushed forward with shouts, which was really caught off guard.

For the second-line personnel of the naval air station, who lack infantry training, there is nothing worse than the current situation.

The U.S. military had no decent field fortifications here, except for foxholes, which were crude, makeshift bunkers made of sandbags, which apparently could not withstand the shelling of the Navy fleet on the opposite shore, and were littered with tattered bags and piles of sand.

The Marines, who were fighting on their backs, naturally had a higher offensive enthusiasm than ordinary army forces, and the soldiers were even more excited to see that the enemy had no effective defensive measures at all.

"Herald! The machine guns are set, all the bayonets are loaded, and they are killed in one go! ”

"Bang! Phew-"

The sound of bayonets clattering one after another, the red flares dragged the smoke into the blue sky, and the blue-gray figures with rifles and submachine guns launched an unstoppable assault on the enemy in front of them.

The attacking troops, scattered in a loose formation, looked densely packed, but in fact there were only two infantry corps, with a total of more than 300 men.

The U.S. military garrison stationed at the naval air station opened fire sparsely, several Browning heavy machine guns and automatic rifles strafed, and the grenades fired by the Springfield rifles fell to the ground and rolled around several times before exploding.

The officers and men of the 4th Marine Brigade swept across the airport runway like a surging wave, and in the process, more than a dozen people were knocked down by bullets and fragments, but many more were killed like a sea of people.

The muzzle velocity of a rocket-propelled grenade is very low, and the black shadow of the grenade flying through the air is visible to the naked eye.

"Boom!"

The flames of the explosion flickered, and the smoke spread instantly, and a Browning air-cooled heavy machine gun was overturned by the shock wave, along with the tripod.

Several American soldiers from the heavy machine gun team fell to the ground lying on their stomachs, shouting for help, but unfortunately no one else around them had time to care.

The Ming army's assault ranks were already approaching, and the shouts and shouts of killing were clearly audible.

The morning light of the rising sun shines on the earth and the sea, and the bayonets of the blue roast technique shine brightly.

"Wan Sheng—"

"Want to escape? Pursue! ”

"Someone! Come! A captain shouted at the top of his voice, pointing to the ruined tower not far away and ordering, "Where did the flag go?" Plug it in there! ”

At 7:12, Zhou Changfeng saw in the telescope that the big red pennant was planted on the distorted and crooked airport tower.

At 8:05, the 7th Regiment of the 4th Marine Brigade successfully completed the task of assault landing, defeating and clearing the US troops at the Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station.

This airfield is now under its own control, and the first battalion of the 7th Regiment has roughly calculated that more than 140 enemy soldiers have been killed and wounded, more than 300 have been taken prisoner, and its own losses are only about 60 people.

"It's beautiful, it's crisp." Zhou Changfeng commented.

The landing on the front of the Mokapu Peninsula was particularly smooth, and the situation in the east was not bad.

The 3rd Battalion of the 6th Regiment of the 3rd Marine Brigade in Kailua Bay successfully landed and completed the tactical deployment against the 19th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division, one of the few U.S. Army units in the area.

The division was reorganized from the local Hawaiian garrison, formed only four months ago, and a month ago most of its troops were scattered on the islands of Oahu, Lanai, and Maui, and only now hastily returned to concentrate on Oahu.

Previously, Zhou Changfeng and others estimated that there were only about two battalions here based on intelligence, but this was not correct, in fact, the 19th Infantry Regiment was around the town of Kailua.

The U.S. military was a little sluggish, first using 75mm howitzers and 81mm mortars to bombard the beachhead, but was slow to make up their minds to launch a counterattack.

It took a full twenty-five minutes for the regimental commander, Colonel Bazel, to instruct four infantry companies to launch a counterattack against the enemy who had come ashore.

Under the cover of six M2A1 half-track armored vehicles, a large number of American infantry rushed to the beachhead from several directions, trying to drive the Ming army, which had not gained a firm foothold, into the sea.

The 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment, which had no anti-aircraft guns, could only use infantry anti-tank weapons to attack those armored vehicles, because the distance was too long, and the bazooka with a range of only 100 meters could not reach it.

Although the only recoilless gun destroyed two armored vehicles in succession, the huge dust and flames that were fired were extremely conspicuous, and the crew members were quickly killed and wounded by the double blow of American mortar and machine gun fire.

The officers and men of the Ming Dynasty could only rely on a few anti-aircraft guns to resist, and the battle situation was precarious.

Fortunately, several destroyers on the surface of Kailua Bay provided timely support, and the Jinghai-class super destroyer No. 5, the Captain Wu, came close to less than 900 meters and opened heavy fire.

The single-mounted 144mm naval gun spit out a muzzle flame several meters long, and the 46.3kg armor-piercing blast projectile flew out of the muzzle, crashed into the sand and exploded!

One second a half-track was firing wantonly, and the next second it was overturned by a shell that landed only a few meters away.

The track fell off, the steel plate was deformed and warped, and after a while, the gasoline it leaked ignited, and a fire broke out in an instant.

For example, the high-explosive shell of the Mk12 203mm naval gun weighs 118kg, while the high-explosive shell used in the howitzer of the same caliber weighs 90kg.

Several Ming destroyers off the coast of Kailua Bay fired 213 shells in 10 minutes, disrupting the counterattack of the 19th Infantry Regiment.

The momentum of the US military was stagnant and soon ceased.

The 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment was able to gain a foothold, but due to the US artillery bombardment and the counterattack just now, the total casualties also quickly increased by more than 200 men, and the losses were not small, and it was obvious that they were unable to capture the town of Kailua.

"Report! The minesweepers are coming, and now they have gone to the west to sweep up. Also, the Air Force said that the plane would arrive in about a quarter of an hour. ”

On the platform outside the bridge of the Kunlun Mountain, someone brought good news.

Zhou Changfeng was very worried that the U.S. military would take the lead in strengthening the defense of the Nuanupari Pass after coming to its senses, and that would be difficult to do.

"Tell Pan Mingbiao to let the reconnaissance detachment go first, follow behind the minesweeper, go ashore as soon as possible, and take the mountain pass no matter what!"

"Yes! The detachment of the 4th Brigade Reconnaissance Battalion gave priority to assault and landed by boat and went straight to the mountain pass! The communications staff officer repeated it quickly, then turned and left.

Three minesweepers, which had limited speeds, arrived belatedly and have begun to clear the mines in Kaneohe Bay.

Contact minesweepers directly cut the anchor chains attached to the mines, and then use anti-aircraft machine guns to detonate them, or use a capture net to trap the mines and tow them to the safety of the sea at a distance.

The reconnaissance battalion of the 4th Marine Brigade was strengthened in the immediate battle, equipped with three additional rocket launchers and two anti-aircraft machine guns, and they were ordered to carry out the important task of seizing the Nuanupari Pass.

This mission was so important that Zhou thought that all the officers and soldiers who participated in the battle deserved to be remembered, and he promised to erect a monument in the mountain pass to commemorate the battle.

Four landing craft followed behind the minesweeper, slowly moving forward, and everyone was anxious.

Two hours had passed since the battle began, so late than expected, and God knew if the enemy had sent reinforcements to the pass to strengthen the defense.

At 8:52, the minesweeper preliminarily completed the clearance of the sea area at the entrance to Kaneoh Bay.

However, they said that the time was short, and it was likely that there were still residual and leaky mines.

However, Xiao Wenquan couldn't wait, and the four landing craft immediately went straight to the beach.

The landing craft rushed to land, the bow hatch was slapped, and the officers and men who rushed out did not meet any resistance, not even a single shot.

They then quickly completed the formation and stormed the town of Kaneohe.

There were no pedestrians in sight in the town, newspapers, sundries, garbage, and a few cars and trucks were left on the ground, and the windows and doors of many houses were open, and the residents inside were nowhere to be found.

"I guess I slipped away in the morning when I heard the sound of the cannon."

The soldiers found a tourist map of Oahu from a prominent location at the newsstand and immediately handed it to Xiao Wenquan.

The team deputy leaned over and asked curiously, "Is this map unit feet or meters?" ”

"Nature is feet."

Four cars and one bus parked on the street were immediately requisitioned, but apparently not enough to accommodate everyone.

"Can these cars still be used?"

"Go, go, start the car!"

Xiao Wenquan immediately made a decision and waved his hand: "Zhao Cheng, take your people to the car!" ”

All the officers and men of the platoon boarded the car, acted as the vanguard of the detachment, and went into battle lightly, rushing to the Nuanupari Pass as fast as possible.

Arguably the best vantage point on Oahu, the Nuanupari Pass offers views of the surrounding mountains, the hills of Koorao Range, the sandy beaches of the Mokapo Peninsula, and downtown Honolulu.

From a military point of view, the Koorau Ridge divides the plains of northeastern Oahu, and apart from this pass, the northeast can only be reached by taking a long detour along the coastline.

As long as this is controlled, the Ming army's foothold on Oahu will be as stable as Mount Tai.

It was here that King Kamehameha defeated his enemies and eventually succeeded in unifying Oahu.

Daming is also driven by left-hand drive, American-made cars and buses have no difficulty at all, and driving a car is a basic skill for the elite of the brigade reconnaissance unit.

Several cars sped down the streets, lightning-fast through a few blocks, and soon drove away from the small town.

At the junction of the suburbs, a sentry post came into view, a Ford police car pulled up on the side of the road, and several small-town police officers wearing wide-brimmed hats waved to slow down.

"Hey! Why are you so slow? Those Chinese are coming soon! ”

An English-speaking sergeant shouted the classic phrase "not soon, right here" at the top of his voice.

Instead of slowing down, several cars accelerated and rushed to the truck, rolling up dust and roaring away, leaving several small-town policemen dumbfounded.

The bumpy country dirt road shook the soldiers to pieces, and soon turned uphill because of its proximity to the mountains.

The car was fine because it only sat four people, but the bus was full of heavily armed officers and soldiers, and the driver was afraid of turning off the engine, so he only dared to move forward slowly in first gear.

Zhao Cheng, the platoon leader of the team, simply ordered the car to be abandoned, and the map showed that it was less than a mile away from the target mountain pass, that is, about three miles of road.

"Gun loaded, be vigilant!"

"Let's go!"

"Move, run!"

Dozens of people carrying weapons and equipment weighing 80 pounds strode along the winding mountain road, and the verdant Keolao Ridge was close at hand.

Five minutes later, someone suddenly saw a figure around the corner not far away, and the next second the other party opened fire directly.

"There are enemies!"

"Spread out! Disperse! ”

Everyone soon found that there were not many enemies in front of them, so they immediately adjusted their formation, and the two teams rushed forward one after the other.

Two of the enemies were shot and killed in the flight, and a few others slipped away, and it was recognizable by their attire that this was not the Army, but the National Guard or the militia.

Zhao Cheng knew that he had to be decisive at this moment, and any hesitation could lead to defeat, so he led his troops to resolutely pursue.

The Nuanaupari Pass had been garrisoned only by a small number of National Guards, and after a brief exchange of fire between the outlying sentinels and the attacking Ming army, the thirty or so soldiers here panicked, and the fleeing sentinels could not figure out the specific situation, and exaggerated, claiming that hundreds of enemies were in pursuit.

A fierce battle broke out between the two sides three minutes later, and the condescending advantage was not small in actual combat. Three Browning automatic rifles suppressed the pursuing Ming officers and soldiers, and the soldier who was hit by the bullet fell to the ground and rolled down.

"!" Someone shouted eagerly, "I can't stand it, boss, let's withdraw first, I can't rush up without artillery!" ”

"Fart! Death will also die on this mountain! Zhao Cheng changed the magazine for the submachine gun, lay on the ground and shouted: "Gun grenades, gun grenades, smoke, the second class is ready to leap forward!" ”

[Picture]

(End of chapter)