SFS Chapter 194: Attacking Longling (6): Rockets volley, the sky collapses and the earth cracks
Chapter 194: Attacking Longling (6): Rockets volley, the sky collapses and the earth cracks
"Your Excellency, why are you here?" Bai Minghui's eyes were filled with surprise when he saw his commander appear in his command post.
He had received a telegram from Zhang Chi saying that he would support him, and he thought that only a part of the troops would be sent. He didn't expect that even the commander-in-chief Zhang Chi would come in person.
"Hahaha, surprise, right? I brought you some 'winter provisions'." Zhang Chi smiled and patted Bai Minghui's shoulder, his tone relaxed, "By the way, I'll take a look at your situation here to prevent anyone from being lazy."
In fact, after learning from Yamamoto's strategy, Zhang Chi has been avoiding mentioning his detailed whereabouts in telegrams.
After all, the poor 'human admiral' was ambushed and shot down by the White Eagle Air Force while on a transport plane because his staff described his itinerary in detail in the notification telegram, and the telegram was deciphered.
The Anmin Army's telegram code is not an Enigma cipher machine, so Zhang Chi cannot guarantee that his own telegram will never be deciphered.
For safety reasons, he made his whereabouts as mysterious as possible, which caused Bai Minghui to be surprised.
"Haha, with the supplies you sent, I can guarantee that we will spend New Year's Day in Longling!" Bai Minghui couldn't hide the excitement on his face.
"Haha, you are very confident." Although Zhang Chi felt that it was not a good idea to follow Mai's example and set a flag, the military advantage in the Longling direction was close to 10 to 1, and he really couldn't think of any chance that Honda Masazai had to turn the tables.
For a moment, the front-line command post was filled with a relaxed and happy atmosphere.
After the joke was over, Zhang Chi walked to the map and asked seriously, "What's the situation now?"
Bai Minghui quickly adjusted his status and pointed at the map to report:
"On the 10th, we completely cleared the Xiaodongshan position, killing 800 enemies and suffering 400 casualties."
"On the 13th, General Wei's troops captured Tenglong Bridge and annihilated 600 Japanese soldiers, but they also suffered heavy casualties."
"On the 17th, we captured Tiger Leap Gorge. General Wei's troops occupied Zhen'an Street and Laodongpo. From here, they had cut off Longling's connection with Songshan and Tengchong."
"So Longling is now an isolated city?" Zhang Chi was speechless. He thought it would take at least a month to capture Longling, but he didn't expect that with the east and west advancing, they reached the city wall of Longling County in just half a month.
"That's right!" Bai Minghui paused, his voice more confident. "Longling is now an isolated city. As long as the supplies arrive, we can rush into the county town in a few days at most."
"Okay!" Zhang Chi nodded, his eyes sharp. "Go ahead and do it boldly. Don't you have me behind you?"
Zhang Chi was not planning to be the 11th Marshal, nor was he addicted to micromanipulation, so he waved his hand and let Bai Minghui continue to do what he wanted.
This simple sentence boosted Bai Minghui's morale, and he immediately began to redeploy the attack plan.
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After some urgent consultations, the Anmin Army and the Expeditionary Force agreed to launch a joint attack on the 20th.
On December 20, the temperature became increasingly cold, and the general attack on Longling County was immediately launched.
历史上龙陵1万多鬼子守军是开战后鬼子南方军紧急从勃固境内第 2 、18 、55师团调来的，还有密支那 56 师团拉来的一部分。
Zhang Chi estimated that since he had already defeated most of the 56th Division in Myitkyina and cut off the route for the Japanese reinforcements to arrive from the west, there couldn't be too many Japanese soldiers left in Longling County. There might only be a thousand or so at most.
In fact, it was similar to what Zhang Chi had estimated. With the connection with Tengchong and Songshan being cut off, there were only less than 2000 Japanese defenders left in Longling County, and most of them were lightly wounded.
As for the seriously injured Japanese soldiers, the old Japanese soldier Honda Masazai said that there were no seriously injured soldiers. Aren’t they all the reserve food in the basement?
In the early morning of the 20th, cold rain and snow fell from the sky, and the air in the mountains was unusually heavy.
54 Sherman Organ Pipe tanks (pictured at the end of the chapter, author says) of the 13th Self-Propelled Rocket Artillery Regiment under the Armored Training Division slowly drove into the designated position 3 km northwest of Longling County.
The tanks quietly formed up into formation like giant beasts. On their round turrets, the neatly arranged 60-tube rocket launchers looked like erupting craters, raised up one by one, and after adjusting the angle, pointed towards the distant Longling County.
"Everyone, fire!"
With Zhang Chi's command, the electric lighters were activated one by one.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
In the next few seconds, the entire sky seemed to be torn apart, and the roar of the rocket's engine announced the coming of death.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" One after another, the M8 rockets suddenly broke away from the launch pad, carrying with them a roaring airflow and rushing into the sky in the wind and snow.
In just a few minutes, all 3240 M8 rockets were cleared from the launch pad, covering the sky like an "artificial meteor shower."
Countless rockets streaked through the sky, leaving long trails of smoke behind them, forming curved white trails. (Fun fact: before firing rockets, the Air Force must be notified to clear the airspace and prohibit aircraft from passing through.)
At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.
On the ground, whether it was the Qian people, the Japanese, or the White Eagle military observers, they were all shocked by this earth-shaking scene.
Their eyes involuntarily turned to the sky, witnessing this unprecedented visual impact.
"What is this?" a colonel in the Nationalist army almost gritted his teeth. "Is it artillery shells? There are so many of them, it's like a meteor shower."
His voice was interrupted by the exclamation of a colleague next to him:
"This is impossible! There are at least thousands of shells in the sky. This is at least a thousand artillery pieces firing at the same time. This is impossible!"
The high-pitched roar of the engines in the sky almost made everything around vibrate.
The Japanese defenders on Longling's defense line looked up in horror, only to see countless rockets with scorching tail flames falling rapidly towards their positions under the action of gravity.
Each rocket brought death and destruction, like a huge meteor, crossing the sky and swooping down to the earth.
"Enemy attack! Artillery fire! Take cover!" The Japanese officers leading the team shouted at the third company at the top of their lungs.
The Japanese soldiers on the ground fled in a mess. Some of them were fighting for positions in anti-artillery holes and cat-ear holes, while others were scattered in trenches, under city walls, and in buildings, looking for any place to escape death.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom" a series of explosions sounded on the Longling position, and fireballs, smoke, and thick smoke rose one after another.
Every explosion was like a heavy hammer striking the earth. The walls and fortifications of the entire county shook violently in the huge shock wave, as if they would collapse at any time.
Trenches were blown down, buried mines were detonated, and barbed wire and wooden barriers were thrown lightly like toys.
The earth was shaking violently, and the brick and stone structure of the county town's walls collapsed on a large scale after being hit continuously by 114.3mm rockets. The Japanese soldiers felt that everything around them was being manipulated by an invisible pair of big hands.
White Eagle's military observers stood in the distance, staring at the scene intently.
Their eyes never left the rockets in the sky. The continuous explosions made their heartbeats seem to resonate with the sound waves of the explosions.
"It's really... spectacular." The young captain murmured with a pale face.
"This is war, son." The major answered in a low voice, but his eyes were still fixed on the battlefield. The scene before him was exactly the same as the last World War his father had described.
180mm, 240mm, 380mm, cannons of various exaggerated calibers roared on the land of Fa Country. The violent explosions threw the soldiers into the sky like toy dolls, until the sky and the earth changed color and blood flowed like a river.
Standing on the top of the mountain, Zhang Chi was multitasking. He was observing the miserable plight of the Japanese through a telescope, while watching the profit prompts that were frantically flashing on the system interface in his mind. He did not feel much excitement in his heart, but more of a complicated satisfaction.
He adjusted the magnification of the telescope to the maximum, locked onto the movements of the Japanese positions, felt the shock and destruction brought by the rockets, and smacked his lips with satisfaction:
"A rocket salvo like this wouldn't be bad even on the European battlefield, right?" He stroked the stubble on his chin. "It's definitely comparable to the Soviet Katyusha rocket artillery regiment's salvo on Hans's armored division's assembly point."
(If the Tiger or Leopard Zoo had their sights, tracks, or turret rings damaged by rockets, they would be out of the battle, not to mention that they could be shattered by the impact and overpressure, killing the crew. What Hans feared most was that the armored division would be urgently covered by a wave of Katyushas when they were assembling before the attack.)
In fact, Zhang Chi deliberately used this firepower that completely exceeded the general specifications, not only to eliminate the Japanese in Longling as soon as possible, but also to deter the expeditionary force on the opposite side.
After all, once Longling is captured, the two armies will officially meet on the ground. There is no guarantee that the opposing national army will have some bad ideas. Zhang Chi feels that flexing his muscles first can reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble.
After all, as Commander Luo said, "Gentle words in the mouth, a big stick in the hand."
If Zhang Chi wanted the Kuomintang army on the opposite side to listen to him calmly after the war, he naturally had to show his big stick first.