Chapter 1080: 1081 first night
Chapter 1080 1081 The first night
What the commanders of the 2nd Armored Division of the Mirage Army did not expect was that the Tang paratroopers who had been defending in Leping... suddenly began to counterattack.
Moreover, the other side was not using its own infantry to counterattack, but an armored force was shot out from behind these Tang Army paratroopers.
Three 59 tanks quickly defeated the attacking Mirage troops, and then, under the cover of about 50 Tang Army paratroopers, launched the first counterattack against the Mirage 2nd Armored Division.
The tanks of the Tang Empire passed by the burning or charred remains of Mirage tanks whose flames had been extinguished, and aimed their long barrels at the crumbling Mirage armored forces.
The commanders of the Mirage Kingdom did not expect that the Tang Army's paratroopers were about to collapse before, and then they suddenly had weapons and equipment like tanks.
This is actually because Wu Zhong did not expect that after the Tang Army broke through the beach defense line, it immediately began to develop in depth and missed the time to notify his armored forces.
The armored forces of the Mirage, which had not received the news, were spread out and were always in an offensive state. They did not build fortifications, and most of their energy was even focused on air defense.
Because they were interfered by the Tang Army's aircraft for two hours, the commanders of the Mirage Armored Forces had to use local materials and began to get some anti-aircraft camouflage for their troops.
There were actually no leaves in the forest in November, so they could only find some dry branches to cover the tanks and armored vehicles, trying to disguise these large equipment into the woods as much as possible.
In addition, they also had to get some bunkers for their artillery positions. After all, the most serious harassment by Tang Army aircraft was the conspicuous artillery.
In addition, they did not know where they found two anti-aircraft guns and placed them in the most critical places as much as possible to cover their supplies.
As a result, they were busy until about three o'clock in the afternoon. The enemy's planes did not continue to harm them, but the enemy's tanks did kill them.
The Mirage Army was suddenly in disarray. When several tanks of the Tang Army tried to attack forward, they abandoned their armor and did not organize an effective defense at all.
So, dozens of Tang paratroopers, coupled with less than a platoon of tanks, rushed into the position of the Mirage 2nd Armored Division.
The scene suddenly became exciting: the starting position of the armored forces was actually a state where various vehicles were crowded together. There were ammunition trucks transporting ammunition for the tanks and oil tankers refueling the tanks.
Of course, there are heavy tanks and light tanks with dead branches stuck on their heads, as well as trucks that have just unloaded soldiers and some parts and repair equipment.
When the tanks of the Tang Army climbed up the hillside and saw the scene in front of them, the tank commanders could not believe their eyes.
Countless cars, motorcycles, tanks, and armored vehicles are scattered on this reverse slope. There are almost hundreds of them at a glance.
Immediately afterwards, the tank crews of the Tang Army began a head-grabbing race. As they charged forward, they kept turning their turrets, destroying enemy vehicles one after another as they passed by.
They used machine guns to shoot the trucks, and used artillery to destroy the armored vehicles and tanks. They did not withdraw from the battle until the three Tang Army 59 tanks were out of shells.
At this moment, the Mirage Army's 2nd Armored Division had collapsed. No one realized that the Tang Army's tanks had no shells. Everyone was running away, not even daring to look back.
The battlefield was littered with burning debris, and the soldiers of the Tang Army also played an important role. They used their ferocious attacks to drive away the Mirage infantry who tried to organize a counterattack, and then used the grenades they carried to blow up many trucks.
The mirage army retreated until it reached its artillery position before stopping its rout. Then they realized that the Tang army did not seem to continue to pursue.
The commander of the 2nd Armored Division of Mirage, who was furious, immediately organized a few hundred troops, plus some retreating tanks, to launch a counterattack.
Regrettably, along the way they only saw the remains of tanks abandoned by their own troops and hundreds of corpses of Mirage soldiers, but they did not see the Tang army.
“Asshole! They are returning to Leping!” The commander of the 2nd Armored Division of Mirage, who had already realized that the strength of the Tang Army was not as strong as it seemed, only remembered the losses of his troops at this moment.
After he counted the losses, he decided to retreat immediately and retreated the remaining troops to a place about 15 kilometers away from Leping.
After a whole day of fierce fighting, less than half of the 200 heavy tanks and 170 light tanks under the Mirage's 2nd Armored Division are now left.
He now only has 110 heavy tanks in hand, and less than 100 light tanks are available for use. Among the remaining tanks, about 40 tanks were unable to participate in the battle due to malfunctions, and about 120 tanks were damaged. There was no way he could continue fighting in this state, so he had to stabilize the situation and find a safe place to survive the night.
As the sky gradually darkened, the Tang Empire troops who had already established a foothold in Leping and Dongshan and other areas also began to build simple trenches to guard against possible night attacks by mirage troops.
Xiang Ziyu's troops were removed to rest, and soldiers from the 19th Division of the 9th Group Army were on top. In fact, as of dinner time, the Tang Empire's landing site on the South Island had expanded to a huge area with a horizontal width of more than 20 kilometers and a vertical width of 22 kilometers.
In this area, the total number of troops and paratroopers of the Tang Army ashore exceeded 70,000. If the Mirage relied only on infantry, it would be difficult to drive this size of Tang Army into the sea.
Because in addition to the support of a large number of rocket launchers and artillery, these Tang troops are also supported by nearly a hundred tanks that have been ashore: these tanks include not only the Type 63 amphibious tanks, but also the genuine King of Land Warfare Type 59 main battle tank.
At this time, Mirage Takeda, who had just received the news that his 2nd and 3rd armored units had retreated, finally remembered that there was a regiment coming from Nishima behind him.
Yes, most of Mirage's 3rd Corps has arrived at the South Island at this moment. Because the railway was destroyed, they are now heading south along the road in a wide formation.
At the same time, without the interference of Tang Army aircraft, the Mirage's engineering troops were also desperately trying to repair the damaged airport. Several of the airports that were not seriously damaged will most likely be repaired by the day after tomorrow.
“The 2nd Armored Division has suffered heavy losses, and they can no longer launch an attack on their own... It is better to let them and the cooperating 22nd Armored Division retreat back to Dananhe...” The staff officer stood beside Mirage Wu Zhong and expressed his opinion.
Mirong Wuzhong was still unwilling to give up the beach, because if his troops retreated, the Tang army might take the opportunity to advance the battle line to the Great Nanwan area.
In Ming Wuzhong's view, the Great Nanwan Port cannot be lost anywhere. He believed that the Tang Army's follow-up troops must rely on this port to land.
As long as he holds on to the Great Nanwan Port, the Tang army will not have too many troops ashore, and he will still have a chance to turn defeat into victory.
Hong Wuzhong did not know that the Tang Army had built a floating dock near the landing site, nor did he know that the Tang Army had such new technology.
He still doesn't know that the Tang Army has new weapons and equipment such as aircraft carriers, so he still doesn't know where the Tang Army's aircraft come from.
However, in Mirage Wuzhong's view, everything should be fine after all: as time goes by, the sky gradually darkens.
Those **** planes of the Tang Army can no longer take off to interfere with Mirage's actions: whether on the ground or in the sea.
Mirong Wuzhong decided to organize a night attack tonight and conduct a large-scale counterattack in an effort to recapture the two villages of Leping and Dongshan.
In his plan, the navy will also have brilliant results tonight: the main fleet of the Mirage will break into the fragile landing site of the Tang Army, and use huge cannons to teach the Tang Army's landing fleet, which has come all the way from afar, a lesson.
"Let the troops regroup! Select the bravest warriors! Cooperate with the navy's attack tonight to recapture Leping and Dongshan!" Mirage Wuzhong finally decided not to let his troops retreat to the Danan River, because such a retreat would be detrimental to For him, it would be equivalent to giving up hope of victory.
The staff officer also understood Mirage Wu Zhong’s thoughts, so he nodded and went to convey Mirage Wu Zhong’s order. After he left, Mirage Wu Zhong continued to look down at the map. On this map, Mirage's military strength seemed to be very strong.
On the other side, Mirage Haifeng led the Mirage Kingdom’s main fleet and began to move southward at full speed. He had been making irregular maneuvers outside the Tang Empire fleet, and waited until the sky darkened before launching a charge.
His fleet has a speed of about 40 kilometers per hour. At full speed, he can rush in front of the Tang army's fleet before dawn. No matter where the Tang Army's aircraft came from, at that time it was no longer possible to stop the Mirage fleet from attacking.
Mirage Haifeng even felt that he could take advantage of the opportunity at dawn to severely damage the Tang Navy at artillery range!
So at about 6 o'clock that day, the Mirage Navy fleet began to sprint at full speed in the southeast of South Island, heading towards the landing site established by the Tang Empire.
On the other side, the northern cruise fleet led by Mirage Haiang, who had suffered heavy losses earlier and had only a few battleships left, also turned around and once again rushed towards the Tang Army fleet at full speed.
About 20 minutes later, Bernard received a report from the outer security fleet, saying that they had discovered the mirage fleet and that the other party was moving at full speed towards the landing site.
"Put the East Bay-class battleship on standby! Place the decisive battle 200 kilometers away from the landing site! Now that you have prepared the Styx, don't give the opponent a chance to escape!" Bernard stared at the chart and told everyone The officer ordered.
(End of this chapter)