Day and night turned, and a day later Oahu was covered with dark clouds, a gray and dark sky flashing with thunder and lightning, and heavy rain pouring down.

At the docks and improvised transfer areas on the beachhead of the Mokapu Peninsula, the shouts of the Ming soldiers were blurred and distorted by wind, rain, thunder and lightning, and everyone was busy, covering the piles of supplies with tarpaulins to protect them from the wind and rain.

After nearly three days of hard work, by noon on 20 July, even though the US troops tried every means to obstruct it, the total number of Ming troops who landed on the island had exceeded 8,000, and a large amount of equipment had been sent ashore in relatively complete form.

At present, the Ming army in the northeastern part of Oahu is composed of all units of the 4th Marine Brigade, and only the floating tank battalion is missing, which is still on standby on Kauai; In addition, there were the first batch of three battalions of the sixth regiment of the third marine brigade to land.

They had 18 80mm howitzers and 18 112mm howitzers, as well as 12 wheeled assault guns from two regimental assault artillery units, 3 tanks completely destroyed, and 11 remaining serviceable or repairable.

“…… It was enough to stabilize the position, and after the remaining 2,000 men of the Sixth Regiment arrived, they would not be given additional troops for the time being. ”

Zhou Changfeng held two blue pencils in his left hand and a red pencil in his right hand, and drew two small circles on the map.

After speaking, he looked at Jiang Xuan, who was a few meters away, and muttered, "Air Force ...... Arrange it yourself, and ensure that you can enter the station smoothly, so as not to be suddenly bombed by the enemy. ”

The last large-scale attack planned by Jiang Xuan to seize air supremacy in one fell swoop was really a major progress in attacking Hawaii.

He has fulfilled his duties as a front-line commander of the air force very well, and he is worthy of being a capable person specially transferred from the mainland by the Metropolitan Governor's Office, and he has lived up to expectations.

The Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station was repaired soon after it was taken over by the Ming army; Bello Airport is still rushing to work, and it is expected to be repaired tonight.

As a result, our own air force has a foothold on Oahu, and some fighter planes are about to be transferred to the station, and the range of activities and sortie efficiency of the air force have been expanded again, and the balance of victory is naturally more in favor of the Ming army.

The two airports were also renamed Ningyuan Airport and Pingyuan Airport respectively.

At dusk, many boats appeared on the sea west of Kauai Island.

After a while, they got closer, and through the binoculars, they could see that they were all their own ships flying white flags on a blue background.

The most eye-catching thing was one of the abrupt giant ships, like a small mountain, which at first glance thought it was a battleship.

That is the luxury super cruise ship Suzaku, with an actual displacement of 71,000 tons and a maximum speed of 29 knots, and this ship alone can carry nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers.

In fact, the best sailing strategy for this kind of high-speed cruise ship is to ride alone for thousands of miles, and it is easier to be attacked if you follow the fleet at a slow speed of 10 knots.

If she sails alone, the Suzaku can maintain a high speed of 21 knots for a long time and gallop on the vast sea, and even if the enemy's slow submarine finds it, it will not be able to keep up with her footsteps, and can only watch the giant ship drag all the way and disappear into the distant sea level.

However, this was the first time that the Ming Navy had used it for an ocean-going mission, and it had only dared to let the Suzaku go back and forth between Dagu and Guam.

This time, the navy was also more cautious, or out of a sense of psychological security, and finally vetoed the plan to let this precious giant ship ride alone with a full load of personnel and materials.

As the sun went below the surface of the sea, the flotilla finally sailed into the bay of Neville and began to unload the laden officers and equipment.

They are the 17th Infantry Division of the Army, a unit formed in Huzhou Prefecture, with a long history.

In addition to the 17th Division, there were also two servant army units, namely the 21st Korean Regiment and the 2nd Brigade of the Japanese Defense Army.

Because of the reason for the kingdom, the degree of rot of the Koreans holding their thighs is beyond imagination, and they have not seen much growth after the imperial decree of the Ming Dynasty requiring them to strengthen their armaments.

Except for two infantry divisions from Hamgyong Province as a field force, the rest of the army units are independent regimental and brigade-level garrison units, and their quality is worrying.

The navy was no less disgraced, with only auxiliary ships such as minesweepers, minelayerers, and submarine hunters, except for two light cruisers and nine destroyers.

In fact, the Busan Naval Shipyard has the ability to build thousands of tons of warships, and in addition to the fact that the engine is still dependent on imports, the weapons and equipment can also be partially solved by itself, but the North Koreans are not in a hurry in the context of this war, and the actual progress of the project is very different from the shipbuilding plan.

The North Koreans have built a good quality fighter and seaplane force, but there are also hidden dangers of excessive consumption and inorganic use.

It is not a problem to produce low-power aero engines in-house, and the production of aluminum is enough for its own use, but the more powerful aero engines are dependent on imports, and the same is true for aviation gasoline.

If there is a continuous war of attrition in the future, there is no guarantee that Daming will also export aero engines, after all, the Daming Air Force itself also needs to use it.

The North Koreans' countermeasure is to stock up on a regular basis, but the problem is that aviation technology is changing with each passing day, and the eight or nine hundred horsepower hoarded in warehouses is now outdated.

The reason why some client state troops were piggyback on this increase in troops to Hawaii was purely because the imperial court wanted to assess and test their combat effectiveness.

In the battlefield of the South Asian subcontinent, the performance of the Annam army, navy and air force, which cooperated with the Ming army and the British army, was acceptable, and at least they could complete the task of defense or containment very well.

Zhou Changfeng didn't like to see these two client state troops very much, he felt that this was a waste of valuable transportation capacity.

The next day, the remainder of the 6th Regiment of the 3rd Marine Brigade departed by boat for the Mokapu Peninsula as the last temporary reinforcements.

The 17th Infantry Division of the Army, which had just arrived, still needed a day or two to rest and recuperate, and it also took time for all kinds of heavy weapons to be transported to the landing ships one by one.

The resume of Zhong Dexin, the commander of the 17th Division, is relatively unique, his family was originally in business, but due to the lack of foundation, there is a risk that it is difficult to maintain for a long time, his father is looking for a backer and firmly believes that striking iron still needs to be hard, so he let his youngest son Zhong Dexin join the army and enter the Yanjing Military Academy to study.

The first impression that this teacher in the prime of life gave Zhou Changfeng was that he was shrewd, and his words and deeds could show that he was very good at calculating.

"I arranged the landing deployment in the Haleiwa area in this way, with Kenaka Bay as the boundary, the beach on the north side is divided into two sections, which are Beach A and Beach A, and the Pweiji Beach in the south is also two sections, Beach B and Beach B."

Zhou Changfeng pointed to an aerial photograph and explained the arrangement of the beach-grabbing operation.

"The two beachheads in the north are under the responsibility of the 3rd Marine Brigade and 5th Regiment, and they are mainly on the defensive.

Yu Daixin, who was full of confidence, hugged his fists and said: "Behind this beachhead is the town, there are many houses, and it is easy to entangle and delay time." ”

"Your 17th Division will be responsible for B1B 2 to the south, open up a landing field large enough, and temporarily advance four or five miles to the south, and clear Kenaka Bay to the east." Zhou Changfeng continued, looking at Zhong Dexin.

The latter's expression was calm, but there was no full promise in words, but he just bowed his head and said: "It's all up to Zhou to wait for the edict to arrange." When they came ashore, there was a river on the east side that was suitable to serve as a barrier against the enemy on the east side. ”

"Of course, if it goes well, the day-and-night push stop line can be extended here." Zhou Changfeng, who was expressionless, took out a red pencil and drew a line on the map, "Eight miles away from the coastline, the large army can't go any deeper." ”

Next, Jiang Xuan, who is in charge of the air force, also talked about the support plan during the whole process.

Since the Air Force has consumed too many aerial bombs in the past half month, the existing aerial bombs are relatively scarce and can no longer continue to squander them on a large scale.

And because Zhou was unwilling to wait for a convoy of transports that would arrive six days later, the bombing of his own air forces in this landing operation would be greatly reduced.

“…… The amount of bombs dropped will be much smaller, and the targets of in-depth air raids will be limited to individual intersections and assembly areas, and the number of sorties will be small. Be prepared, I'm afraid the enemy's dispatch will be faster. ”

After finishing speaking, Jiang Xuan glanced at the people present.

"It's okay, what are you afraid of, the enemy troops on this island are incomplete and scattered." Yu Daixin is very confident.

Although the bombers lacked bombs and had to cut back on sorties, the fighters were fine, there were more than enough bullets, and aviation gasoline was abundant.

And because dozens of fighter jets have been stationed at the airfield on the Mokapu Peninsula, Oahu's air supremacy has become even stronger.

In the next two days, preparations for the landing operation were in full swing.

On the pier of Willy Bay, barges sail back and forth, and boat-like boats continue to travel back and forth between land and boats.

Someone waved small flags with both hands to guide tanks and armored vehicles to slowly drive into the landing ship; Soldiers with bags and rifles lined up and boarded the freighter along the gangplank......

Afternoon, July 22.

Kauai was as sunny as ever, but the fleet's weather unit gave a worrying estimate that there were more cumulonimbus clouds around Oahu, and another storm could be coming.

This was followed by a series of telegrams of inquiry, some from the imperial court, some from the emperor, and some from the Grand Governor's Office.

"'It's in good condition, don't worry, just wait for the 38th Division and the 1st Marine Brigade to be in place', just reply in a unified way, I don't have so much leisure to chat with them!"

"Yes."

After careful consideration, Zhou Changfeng decided to carry out the landing operation as originally planned.

He asked the Air Force to bomb the roads, railroads, and railroad yards in central Oahu two hours ahead of schedule, and to use double the amount of bombs.

Jiang Xuan reminded that this might lead to no ammunition available for the plane in the future, but Zhou still insisted on this order.

In the middle of the night on July 23, countless ships left Kauai.

From a bird's-eye view of the night sky, you can see a dazzling array of navigation lights twinkling on the pitch-black sea.

Not long after, in order to prevent collisions and sneak attacks by US submarines, the destroyers escorting the ships on both sides fired flares incessantly, illuminating the originally dark sea.

At dawn, Zhou Changfeng sat on the amphibious command ship Lu Xun, and under the escort of the fifth formation commanded by Rear Admiral Wei Yingchun, the huge landing fleet was mighty and approaching the northwest waters of Oahu.

The fifth formation originally consisted of only the light aircraft carrier Beiluoshimen, 2 seaplane carriers, 1 light cruiser, 6 destroyers, and 3 fire support ships, but now it was reinforced by 3 light cruisers, 9 destroyers, and the battleships Yongping and Zhanghe.

The carrier-based aircraft detachment of the Beiluo Division was responsible for direct air cover, and the rest of the warships provided artillery support for the opposite shore.

At 5:30 a.m. on July 23, the fleet began artillery preparations for the intended landing area in the Haleiwa area.

The roar of the Jianwu-class battleship's twin 384mm main guns pierced through the sky, and hundreds of kilograms of anti-explosive bombs fell down, bursting out with mushroom-shaped smoke and dust.

The "boom" whistle was sharp and piercing, and one 144mm rocket flew towards the beachhead, triggering a series of explosions.

At 6:49, 16 fighter jets, 23 dive bombers, and 11 twin-engine light bombers took off from Kauai Weiyuan and Huaiyuan airports and flew over central Oahu.

Transport facilities that had been bombed many times before were now being hit by air strikes on a much larger scale than before.

The howling of falling aerial bombs and the incessant roar of one after another were incessant, the dust was flying, the smoke of gunpowder covered the day, and the roads and railways that the US engineering units had been repairing overnight were once again destroyed.

The sleepers were broken and broken, the rails were bent and deformed, and the Y3 steam locomotive built by Norfolk Western Railroad was overturned to the ground by the shock wave of the bombshell.

The 501st Airborne Regiment, as the General Reserve, was ordered to move to the defensive line near the Wheeler Army Airfield, but due to the severe damage to transportation facilities, they could now only march on foot.

The 602nd Tank Destroyer Battalion received the same order, and they were even more difficult, and the M2A1 half-track with 75mm field guns had been plaguing them due to heavy loads and continuous mechanical failures.

At the same time, in the Haleiwa area, the Ming army had already begun to land on the beach.

Dark clouds gradually loomed overhead, and the clear blue sky grew darker and darker, and finally turned gray.

At 7:27, the first echelon of the 5th Regiment of the 3rd Marine Brigade was divided into more than 20 landing craft and pounced on the beach with dozens of amphibious tanks of the floating tank battalion.

At the bridge observation post of the Lu Xun, Zhou Changfeng stood behind the thirty-fold large observation glass, carefully observing the progress of the battle.

Suddenly, a white light flashed, and a drop of water fell on him.

"Boom—"

The loud thunder resounded in the sky and the sea!

The raindrops also quickly increased, and the work of ten seconds became a dense heavy rain.

A few minutes later, the first Type 35 amphibious tank rushed onto land, its tracks running over the beaches of Haleiwa.

On a width of about three kilometers from southwest to northeast, landing craft and amphibious tanks rushed onto the beach, and a large number of Ming troops swarmed to land.

The U.S. forces put up little or no resistance on the beachhead, and the Ming soldiers could only hear sporadic gunfire – some of which were accidental fire.

However, the torrential downpour and the sudden increase in the sea breeze caused a lot of trouble.

Compared with the general smoothness of the first echelon, the formation of the second echelon was chaotic, and many landing craft deviated, and the result of the plan to go to the first beach of B landed on the second beach, but the reinforcement of the first beach of A accidentally broke into Kenaka Bay......

The U.S. artillery bombardment also began at this time, with 75mm and 105mm high-explosive shells falling one after another, and a series of explosive points instantly appearing on the beachhead.

However, this did not cause much hindrance to the Ming army, especially the 5th Regiment of the 3rd Marine Brigade that landed at Jiayitan and Jiaertan, and they had experience in maintaining order and digging temporary bunkers, and began to send reconnaissance groups and patrols in depth.

The Army's 17th Infantry Division was in a slightly worse condition, but Zhong Dexin's shrewdness was well confirmed - they had been stranded on Saipan for two months, but they did not waste their time, and Zhong Dexin planned a number of landing exercises of various scales, which can be regarded as laying a relatively solid foundation.

Behind Zhou Changfeng, a lieutenant colonel staff officer couldn't help but sigh: "Tut-tut, it's going well so far, our army is unimpeded." ”

The former was speechless, and said quietly: "This is just the beginning, don't talk big." ”

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(End of chapter)