After drifting on the sea for more than half a month, the 1st Marine Brigade and the 38th Division were finally about to reach their destination.

They set sail from Guadalcanal and Moresby to Guam in the northwest, then to Wake Island in the northeast, then to Midway, and finally to Oahu, a total distance of nearly 9,000 kilometers.

The next order of reinforcement was that the 1st Marine Brigade rushed to Oahu first, followed by the 112th Regiment of the 38th Division, the Mountain Artillery Regiment, the division headquarters, and finally the rest of the 38th Division.

These days are undoubtedly the most difficult for the 1st Marine Brigade - not only is the sea journey boring, but also frightened because of the US submarines.

"Now that I think about it, I'm still angry, it's obviously good, but one was stolen without paying attention."

"This is not bad, the momentum has been suppressed, last month the US submarines were much more rampant than now, one fleet was stunned by half, and two escort ships were sunk."

Xie Wancheng, Zhu Lishuo, and Yao Liangchuan were walking on the foredeck of a merchant ship, and now the fleet had passed through Kauai Island, and there was only half a day's sail left before the destination.

Three more Type 36 D-destroyers, unpainted and with an exposed aluminum alloy fuselage, flew in a zigzag formation from the west and hovered over the convoy to escort the convoy.

The Rongxun freighter, the only victim of the fleet, was hit by one of four torpedoes fired by the USS Stingray (SS-186) in the waters east of Midway, capsizing and sinking more than twenty minutes later.

The 1st Battalion of the Mountain Artillery Regiment of the 1st Marine Brigade suffered heavy losses, with a total of 18 112mm howitzers and 20 shells of 29,000 shells swallowed up by the sea, as well as other sighting and communication equipment.

Perimeter Feng was unimpressed, losses of this magnitude had little effect, and the intact 2nd Battalion had a total of 18 80mm howitzers available.

As for the more powerful suppression artillery...... At present, there is a 2nd Field Heavy Artillery Brigade in the Haleiwa area. Although the brigade lost nearly half of its losses to bombardment and air raids by the U.S. fleet, it still has 19 144mm howitzers and 17 112mm cannons ready for battle, but it is only currently running out of ammunition.

The artillery units of the 17th Infantry Division and the 3rd Marine Brigade also suffered losses of varying degrees, but the remaining artillery combined should not be underestimated.

Considering that the air supremacy occupied by the air force, the air attack of the air force can make up for the lack of artillery units to a certain extent, and the combined firepower of the army, navy, and air force is completely sufficient.

Zhou Changfeng is more concerned about the rotorcraft transported by this fleet, and these things may have the expected miraculous effect.

The so-called gyroplane is actually an early flying machine, which is somewhere between a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft in nature - in addition to the upper rotors, there is a horizontal propeller to provide forward power, and often with small wings to provide partial lift during flight.

[Picture]

Gyroplanes and helicopters are quite similar in appearance, but the biggest difference between the two is that the rotors of a gyroplane are unpowered, and the engines only power the propellers in the horizontal direction. In this way, as it moves forward, the oncoming air currents blow the upper rotors to rotate, creating the main lift.

As a result, the gyroplane cannot take off and land vertically, and must taxi to accelerate before taking off, but it also has a high level of safety – even if the engine is turned off, the aircraft will gain lift as the air blows the upper rotor when it falls, and finally slowly lands on the ground.

The world's first gyroplane was born more than a decade ago, and in this era of rapid changes in aviation technology, gyroplanes are also evolving.

The Ming Army believes that this kind of light aircraft that can take off and land at short distances is suitable for use as artillery school firing aircraft and liaison aircraft, and the result so far is the trial production of the 39 type rotorcraft.

The reason why it is still hung on the name of "trial production" is because the results are not as expected, and the Ming Army found that although the rotorcraft has unique advantages, the disadvantages greatly limit the practical use - the touching of less payload.

Therefore, the army canceled the originally planned order for 400 aircraft, and only a dozen of the 39 rotorcraft were trial-produced.

Except for a few prototypes that have been scrapped, the rest are being tested in combat in various units, a few in the Indo-Du direction, a few in the Australian direction, a few in the Siberian direction, and the remaining four are all asked by Zhou Changfeng.

This humble little plane can only reach a top speed of 172km/h, uses a 300 hp star-shaped engine, has a measly maximum take-off weight of 1200kg, and is only allowed to carry two pilots and observers for payload.

The sun and the moon turn, and the insignificant days pass in a flick of a finger.

On August 2nd, Hawaii welcomed the bright sunshine as always, and although the temperature was high, the cool sea breeze and abundant water vapor took away a considerable part of the heat, and the temperature felt far from hot.

"Good news came early in the morning, and the whole day felt sunny."

Telecommunications from the mainland kept Zhou Changfeng informed of the latest situation in the European theater, and in a city called Salamanca in western Spain, the offensive and defensive battles between German and American armies around this place ended.

The U.S. 1st Army set foot on European soil in May, and the German and American armies came into contact in early July, but the battles that followed were invariably small in scale, mostly in platoon-level encounters.

It was not until late July, when the Germans had made sufficient preparations, to launch a tentative offensive – one for the mountain division and one for the infantry, and the scale was not large.

As the defenders, the U.S. military considered itself to be at ease and well prepared, hoping for a beautiful defensive counterattack.

Although the U.S. troops withstood the German attack at the beginning, the subsequent counterattack was a big surprise, the counterattack on the left and right flanks was not in place, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, and the "pincers" that should have been in place at the same time ended up being more than ten hours apart.

As a result, the Germans seized the opportunity to wrap the dumplings of the American army, and as a result, one division was annihilated and two divisions were defeated.

During the eight-day and seven-night battle, the US 1st Army suffered 3,426 killed, killed, or missing, 10,200 wounded, 5,553 captured, and 7,008 non-combat attrition.

The losses of technical equipment were also quite huge, with the US military losing 103 tanks, 228 half-track armored vehicles, and 610 off-road vehicles and trucks.

In comparison, the total number of German casualties was 3,120, and the losses were 39 tanks and 265 vehicles.

"As far as strategy is concerned, I feel that I am quite right, and I can't find fault with it, but the actual fight is surprising." A lieutenant colonel staff officer of the former Lu Xun said.

"The method is not difficult, there are many people who are the head of the theory, but how many can actually implement it?" Zhou Changfeng waved his hand, "Large-scale land battles test the command ability of generals, as well as the proficiency of officers at all levels, and the Americans suffer from inexperience. ”

"It is true that the United States usually only retains tens of thousands of horses, and when a war starts, it is crammed to expand its army, so the army that blows up balloons is embarrassing and useful, and it will take several years to train it."

"This has little to do with time, the tuition of the army is human life, and any division that can fight has experienced the tempering of war. The better an army is at learning from casualties, the stronger it is. ”

"General soldier Takami! No wonder the 1st Marine Brigade gathers at the end of each battle to hold a meeting and summarize, this is the doorway of the insider. ”

Zhou Changfeng said "um", stabbed the canned luncheon meat with a can opener, and said casually: "This is a very important measure, and it can also suppress the arrogant atmosphere by the way." ”

At this time, a herald rushed into the headquarters in a hurry.

He clasped his fists and saluted, and his eyebrows flew and he said loudly: "Report!" Look, the fleet! ”

There was an air defense observation post halfway up the northern part of the Huai Nai Ridge, and several sentries were staring intently at the small black dots on the sea in the northwest direction.

The corporal at the head put down the optical rangefinder, picked up the binoculars and looked at it for a long time.

A dozen ships could be seen heading for it, no doubt reinforcements from Midway.

At 16:25 p.m. on August 2, the 172 flotilla arrived at Kenaka Bay in the Haleiwa area more than half an hour earlier than expected.

The corpses of the officers and men of the two sides who had been pushed ashore by the tide were collected the day before yesterday and buried at the northern foot of the Huai Nai Ridge after being separated.

The ebb and flow of the tide wiped away the blood and smoke-soaked craters, and the golden sand was still as charming as it was in the dazzling sunlight.

"I heard that the Seventeenth Division is almost empty? The enemy's counterattack was fought so fiercely? ”

"It's true, can this be fake?"

"Isn't it different from the ghost place where we didn't poop in Kuah Island before, how difficult it is to fight, Centipede Ridge folded into a thousand people."

Officers and men of the 1st Marine Brigade, armed with rifles, submachine guns and light machine guns, set foot on Hawaiian soil in casual chat, many of whom had walked in a crater that might have been blown up just a few days ago.

A quarter of an hour later.

The off-road vehicle that Zhao Hanfeng and Yao Liangchuan were riding slowly drove along the coastline, all the way to the west, and finally stopped at the northern foot of the Huai Nai Ridge.

There was a makeshift military station, eight tents, three shacks, two sentry posts, and crimson pennants fluttering in the sea breeze.

Zhou Changfeng sat on a bench at the door of a shack, browsing a few tele-newspapers.

"See Junza!"

Zhao Hanfeng and Yao Liangchuan's mood was undoubtedly excited, and they had been separated for a few months, and now they were really overjoyed to see the old chief.

Zhou Changfeng couldn't help laughing, "It's good that safety is here, I've been worried for a long time, I'm afraid that something will go wrong." ”

Zhao Hanfeng, who showed helplessness, shook his head slightly, "It's a pity that the first battalion of the artillery regiment is gone, and the artillery, shells, and equipment have all sunk to the bottom of the sea." ”

"It's good that people are fine, these days... The brand new cannons are almost out of the factory. ”

"I read the battle report that the enemy has not moved since the defeat of the counterattack, and the loss is so big, it should not be difficult to finish it next." Yao Liangchuan said.

Zhou Changfeng nodded, "Almost, according to the prisoners' confessions, now (the U.S. army) is all defeated except for a patchwork independent infantry regiment that has not been put into battle. ”

The 296th Infantry Regiment was reorganized from the garrisons evacuated from Wake Island and Midway during Operation Magic Broomstick, and is now fully manned and unfed.

In the evening, the headquarters of the 1st Marine Brigade, the beach-grabbing battalion, and the engineer battalion went ashore smoothly.

As soon as Xie Wancheng saw Zhou Changfeng and the others, he sighed with a big grin: "It's a pity, Junza, I originally thought that this Oahu Island would only be able to be taken down by us taking the lead, but now it seems that it will collapse as long as you kick two feet." ”

"The day before yesterday, I was a little sorry that the main credit for the capture of Oahu could not fall on our brigade." Zhou Changfeng smiled slightly, and said lightly: "But when I woke up, I was relieved, because when I thought of the first brigade coming, I immediately felt that I had a bottom in my heart." ”

"Ballast stone." Yao Liangchuan on the side said calmly: "What are you going to do next?" Is it good to have a strategy for the attacker? ”

"One main and one auxiliary," Zhou Changfeng gestured to Oahu on the map, "the first brigade broke through head-on, the attack route was Wheeler Airport and the railway station, and then formed a semi-encirclement posture north of Pearl Harbor, separating the remnants of the enemy army in half; The 4th Brigade will respond to the Nuanupari Pass, pin down the enemy, or break into the city of Honolulu to disrupt the enemy's morale. ”

The group then discussed the deployment in detail, planning to use a regiment as the main force, concentrate all available tanks to break through along the main axis, and develop directly in depth, ignoring the flanks; The second regiment followed closely behind to finish up the aftermath, and if one regiment was in danger of being trapped, it would attack again.

The four gyroplanes painted in khaki paint were unloaded the next morning, and their strange shapes attracted a lot of attention, and no one had ever seen such an aircraft with ailerotors overhead.

After a short run, the four planes took off leisurely, climbed slowly, and flew to the Mokapu area, dozens of kilometers away.

At the same time, two landing ships also arrived at Kaneohe Bay on the Mokapu Peninsula with a batch of supplies and several mountain guns.

The so-called "mountain artillery" in the military language of the Ming army actually refers to howitzers, which have this conventional name because of the bending of the ballistics.

As for the real mountain artillery - light mountain howitzer, it is called "mountain cannon" in military language, because only this type of artillery can be disassembled and carried over mountains and mountains.

Because the combat environment is generally hilly and mountainous, and the terrain is complex, most of the artillery of the Ming army originally pursued lightness, even if the total combat weight of the ordinary 33 type 80mm howitzer is only 660kg, which is even lighter than the 75mm mountain artillery of some European armies.

The Italian M34 mountain gun weighs 780 kg, and the German GebG36 mountain gun weighs 715 kg.

In this case, the light weight of the mountain artillery in the Ming army sequence can be imagined.

The 37-type 80mm mountain cannon adopts the design of intermittent threaded gun latch, long cradle and long recoil stroke, and uses many aluminum alloys and aluminum-magnesium alloy parts when manufacturing, and the total combat weight is only 408kg, which can be said to be outrageously light, but because of the high cost, the output is small.

Following Zhou's orders, the Ming army used small liaison planes to fly back and forth over the Keolao Ridge in search of a suitable location and a relatively gentle summit.

The best place at the moment is a 585-level plateau, seven kilometers from Pearl Harbor to the west and six kilometers from downtown Honolulu to the south.

The Ming army dismantled the three 37-type mountain guns into a decomposed state, and hung a single part under the rotorcraft, and no one sat in the back seat of the gyroplane, so that it could just fly.

After flying to the 585 heights, the pilot turned off the engine, and the rotorcraft slowly descended and landed, removing the artillery parts.

Through this method, all three mountain guns were in place, and the members of the artillery crew came to this high ground one by one.

However, one of the mountain guns was damaged by falling on a rock, and only the other two could actually be used.

Since then, the four gyroplanes have been repeating the task of transporting ammunition, transporting boxes of shells to high ground.

From here, Pearl Harbor and Honolulu are in full view, and mountain artillery on high ground poses a serious threat to the depth of the American rear.

A U.S. military convoy was driving along the road from Honolulu to Pearl Harbor when it was unprepared for shelling.

"Get cover! Get off the road! ”

"Beware! Incoming firepower! ”

"Damn, where did these shells come from?!"

Dozens of bullets were dropped in a row in the space of five minutes, and the US soldiers who were caught off guard were scurrying with their heads in their arms, and more than a dozen trucks were paralyzed on the highway and burning.

When the officers and men of the 1st Marine Brigade were ready for battle and began to enter the starting position of the attack one after another, the rumbling sound of artillery was heard on the 585 heights, and the Ming artillery on the top opened fire unscrupulously, sounding the clarion call for the final general attack of the Ming army in advance.

(End of chapter)