sbdcsierra Chapter 116: The 19th Division's Destruction and the 5th Division's Destruction
Chapter 116: The 19th Division's Destruction and the 5th Division's Destruction
The 21th Armored Division concentrated all its artillery except rocket launchers and fired at the remaining two battalions of the st Regiment of the th Division of the Fuso Army.
The reason why rocket launchers are not used is very simple.
Because the rockets were consumed too quickly, the logistics could not keep up.
不过有着54门105毫米、36门155毫米口径的大炮，已经够扶桑军21联队喝一壶了。
What's more, there is assistance from the Air Force.
This time, the Air Force dispatched two B-17 bomber squadrons and three fighter squadrons, totaling nearly fighter aircraft of various types.
They were here to clear the obstacles for the 11th Armored Division heading towards Shenzhou City.
At this moment, the Japanese experienced what it meant to be covered by artillery fire and carpet bombing.
The positions they built in a short period of time were as fragile as paper in the face of artillery and bombing, and collapsed directly at the first explosion.
The commander of the 21st Regiment was also very regretful at this moment.
If he had known that the Fuxing Army was so brutal, he would have left a large group behind to cover their retreat and then fled with the remaining troops.
But there is no if at this time.
They definitely won't be able to escape even if they run.
Because the advance troops of the 11th Armored Division have already arrived.
Although the remaining two battalions of the 21st Regiment still had more than people, they were facing the iron torrent of the th Armored Division.
There was almost no resistance and he was swallowed by the torrent.
Normally the battle lasted no more than two hours.
"Continue to charge forward and block the Fifth Division in Panshan County. Don't let them escape!"
Liao Jie's goal was to swallow up these two divisions in one gulp and directly cut off the claws that the Fuso people extended.
As long as the troops enter the ancient country's territory, they will never be able to escape.
After defeating the 21st Regiment, the soldiers of the entire th Armored Division launched a final offensive and headed straight for Panshan County where the th Division was located.
When Akira Okamura, commander of the 21th Division, received the farewell telegram from the st Regiment, he felt something was wrong.
This troop of the Renaissance Army seems to be particularly fierce.
Not only did it break through the 19th Division's Dalinhe defense line in a short period of time.
Within a few hours, they wiped out the 21st Regiment they had sent out.
Moreover, it is not difficult to judge from the opponent's forward route that the opponent is coming for you.
Now there are only two paths before him.
The first is to build defensive fortifications with Panshan County as the core to block the attack of the Fuxing Army here.
However, he later ordered General Hatoyama Shinya to send reinforcements to Panshan County.
If they are still defeated by the Renaissance Army, they can also resist step by step and wait for large-scale reinforcements from the mainland.
The second way is to leave now, leaving behind a battalion or even a regiment of troops to cover the rear, and then retreat directly towards Shenzhou.
As long as they retreat to Shenzhou, the terrain around Shenzhou may be able to stop the Fuxing Army.
As the commander of the 5th Division, he was too proud to allow himself to choose the second path.
So he chose the first one.
It was obvious that he did not have a clear understanding of the strength of the Renaissance Army.
I don’t know how terrifying the power of the armored division on the opposite side is.
In the evening, the vanguard of the 11th Armored Division of the Fuxing Army launched a tentative attack on Panshan County.
They were immediately met with fierce resistance from the outer defense line of the Fuso Army's 5th Division.
Liao Jie took into consideration that the firepower advantage of the Fuxing Army would be greatly limited at night.
In addition, fighting during the day consumed a lot of the soldiers' physical strength and energy, so no attack was launched, but the soldiers were allowed to have a good rest.
At the same time, make some adjustments to the current deployment.
The two division commanders, Liao Jie and Hu Hanping, also held a pre-war meeting.
"Old Hu, what's going on with the 19th Division? Has it been blocked?"
After breaking through the Dalin River defense line, the 19st Motorized Infantry Division sent a motorized infantry regiment to a place called Xietun Township to block the retreat route of the th Division.
This also put the remaining troops of the 19th Division in a pincer attack from the front and back by the 31st Tank Regiment, the st Artillery Regiment, and the rd Motorized Infantry Regiment.
After taking care of the Fifth Division, we will turn around and take care of the 19th Division.
“It’s blocked!
The 19th Division sent a regiment to attack Xietun Township, but their attack was unable to shake the defense line of the rd Motorized Infantry Regiment.
Liao Jie nodded and said, "That's good. I'm going to change the battle plan."
"Oh? What are you going to do?"
Liao Jie's words aroused Hu Hanping's great interest.
Liao Jie pointed to the Dalin River where the 19th Division was located on the sand table, and then pointed to Panshan County.
"I plan to take down these two divisions at once.
You mobilize the 2nd Motorized Infantry Regiment and the 1st Artillery Regiment from Panshan County to retreat.
The Air Force will also be dispatched after daybreak. You will cooperate with the 31st Tank Regiment to launch the final fatal blow to the 19th Division.
I have the 32nd Tank Regiment, the 33rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment, the 11th Artillery Regiment, and the motorized infantry regiment of your st Motorized Infantry Division. This is more than enough to deal with the th Division, which has just over men."
Liao Jie's tone was full of confidence.
After fighting during the day, he had a clearer understanding of the Fuso army.
He found that the Fuso people's way of fighting seemed to be still in the First World War era and had not changed.
Although their soldiers have a strong fighting spirit, they are very easy to take the initiative to attack and are not good at fighting defensive battles.
He likes this kind of opponent the most.
So he chose to change his combat style and try to wipe out the two divisions within two days.
Hu Hanping thought for a moment and nodded slightly, "Okay, then let's follow this battle plan!"
As long as we have air superiority, it will only take a few days to destroy these two Fuso permanent divisions.
Now they just compress the time into two days.
At night, the Fuso 19th Division did not choose to rest, but launched a breakout against the rd Motorized Infantry Regiment stationed in the direction of Xietun Township.
This time, the 19th Division concentrated the forces of two regiments.
Launch an attack on Xietun Township with twice the number of troops.
Although the night time limited the use of some of the Renaissance Army's firepower.
However, the strength of the Restoration Army's firepower was beyond the Japanese people's understanding.
Take artillery for example, the motorized infantry regiment is equipped with an artillery battalion.
Equipped with 4 120mm heavy mortars and 6 150mm heavy infantry guns.
Each battalion is also equipped with a large number of 60mm and 81mm mortars plus 57mm recoilless rifles.
There are also a large number of assault rifles, light and heavy machine guns, anti-tank rocket launchers, etc.
The 19rd Motorized Infantry Regiment was like an iron wall blocking the breakout forces of the th Division.
No matter how they attacked, he remained motionless.
In the second half of the night, the 2nd Motorized Infantry Regiment also arrived at Xietun Township.
The arrival of this vital force strengthened the defense of Xietun Township and directly shattered the 19th Division's fantasy of breaking out.
At this time, they were completely surrounded.
In front of them was the 31st Tank Regiment and the Dalin River, and behind them were two infantry regiments of the Fuxing Army and an artillery battalion of more than people.
Although the 19th Division still has more than troops, it is now as desperate as a beast trapped in a cage.
As the division commander, Kuroda Toshiki never imagined that when he took over the 19th Division from the previous division commander, Omagi Yoshiharu, he kept saying that he wanted to avenge the 19th Division.
Unexpectedly, not long after, the entire 19th Division would follow in the footsteps of the 20th Division and be destroyed in his hands.
Now Kuroda Toshiki knows that there is no hope of breaking out.
He immediately issued an order to the entire 19th Division to fight to the death, and equipped all soldiers with assault pills.
This battle will also be the last battle of their 19th Division.
After daybreak, strong support from the Air Force arrived.
This is also the reason why Liao Jie wants to swallow up two divisions in one bite.
An entire heavy bomber aviation brigade of 93 B-17G heavy bombers flew over the area where the remaining troops of the 19th Division were located and carried out a large-scale strategic bombing.
250-pound and 500-pound bombs rained down on their positions and fortifications.
The 31st Tank Regiment also crossed the Dalin River under the cover of the Air Force.
At the same time, the 19st Artillery Regiment also launched a large-scale artillery bombardment on the area where the Fuso th Division was retreating.
In terms of artillery scale, although the motorized infantry division is not as good as the mechanized infantry division and the armored division, it is not bad either.
As a standard division-level artillery regiment, the 1st Artillery Regiment is equipped with a total of five artillery battalions.
There are two M2A1 105mm towed howitzers, totaling 36 guns.
An M1A1 155mm howitzer battalion, totaling 18 guns.
A B-4 203mm howitzer battalion, totaling 12 guns.
Plus a battalion of 24 Katyusha rocket launchers.
This is the standard firepower allocation of the motorized infantry division artillery regiment.
Excluding the 24 Katyushas, excluding the artillery battalion of the motorized infantry regiment, the entire motorized infantry division had 66 barreled artillery pieces.
Only Jiang Hua has the capital to allocate this firepower.
Even rich people like the Eagle Sauce are reluctant to spend such a huge amount of money.
Because such allocation will not only greatly increase the pressure on the logistics forces, but will also lead to the artillery forces being too large and too costly.
But the Renaissance Army does not have these concerns.
Now all weapons and combat supplies come from the base, and the prices are extremely cheap.
So Jiang Hua has the capital to form a large artillery unit.
As someone who advocates large-scale artillery and fears insufficient firepower, he will simply push it to the top if he can.
The remaining forces of the 19th Division were subjected to a combined air-ground artillery and bombardment that lasted for an hour.
The area of less than 5 square kilometers where they were located was directly plowed by aerial bombs and artillery shells.
This also caused the 19th Division's strength of 1 men to be reduced to less than .
Before the formal ground offensive was launched, the remaining troops of the 19th Division were only over 9000 people.
An hour of bombing and shelling resulted in more than 5,000 casualties.
This is also because they have no cover left.
You can only carry it on the plains.
If they had some tunnel fortifications, there would not have been such heavy casualties.
"attack!"
The 24 rocket launchers of the Katyusha Rocket Artillery Battalion fired the last round of rockets, sounding the clarion call for the destruction of the 19th Division.
The following battle was very simple. More than 31 tanks of the st Tank Regiment moved back and forth and divided the positions.
The 2nd and 3rd Motorized Infantry Regiments cleaned up the rear, and after a day of fighting, they wiped out the thousands of Fuso troops participating in the position.
The 19th Division was destroyed!
However, the battle in Panshan County was not so smooth.
After all, the Fifth Division still has sufficient manpower, and with time to prepare, its fortifications are more complete.
However, they have also entered the countdown to extinction.
After a day of fighting, all their outer positions were eliminated and the entire Panshan County was surrounded.
The Fifth Division's more than 17,000 troops were all hiding in Panshan County.