bullyxtreme Chapter 159: Countdown to the Destruction of the 2nd Independent Army
Chapter 159: Countdown to the Destruction of the 2nd Independent Army
The Tsarist Russian soldiers on the ground stared in amazement at the cloud from which the fighter planes emerged, as if the cloud contained endless fighter planes.
But in just a few minutes, hundreds of fighter jets have flown out of this cloud layer, and the number is still increasing.
"Damn it! Set up all the anti-aircraft artillery and machine guns and coordinate with our fighter planes to drive them away."
"Contact the 35th Fighter Division immediately and have them launch their fighters to defend our skies."
Faced with the sudden appearance of the Renaissance Army fighter planes, Lieutenant General Sergei, commander of the Second Independent Army, who was in the middle of the marching force, was not surprised.
He was also prepared to deal with harassment from the Restoration Army's Air Force fighter jets.
The air defense brigade, together with the air defense battalions and companies under each unit, has more than 12.7 anti-aircraft artillery pieces of various calibers, plus hundreds of mm DK large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns.
Its anti-aircraft firepower is still very fierce, far beyond the reach of the Fuso army.
In addition, they also have two fighter pilot divisions with more than 200 fighter jets of various types to cooperate with ground air defense firepower to drive away the Renaissance Army fighter jets.
It was for this reason that Lieutenant General Sergei dared to issue the order for the entire army to attack during the day.
However, he still underestimated the power of the Renaissance Army's fighter jets.
When the first batch of fighter planes appeared one after another, the leading Mustang and Thunder groups focused their targets on the 5th Motorized Infantry Army, the vanguard of the Tsarist Russian march.
When dozens of fighter planes rushed into the Tsarist Russia's air defense firepower circle, they were immediately attacked by fierce anti-aircraft artillery fire.
Balls of black mist exploded in the air.
The tracer bullets fired from the anti-aircraft machine guns also formed green and red bullet chains in the air, guiding the targets for the anti-aircraft machine gun positions.
When facing this fierce anti-aircraft firepower, the Mustang and Thunder fighters shuttled through it like dancing ballet in the air, nimbly dodging the enemy's shells and bullets.
At this time, more than 20 Tsarist Russian fighter planes responsible for covering the advance of the troops rushed forward without caring about being accidentally hit by their own anti-aircraft fire, trying to stop the actions of the Mustang and Thunder groups.
Faced with these incoming Tsarist Russian fighter planes, two squadrons of Mustang fighter planes broke away from their formation and went up to meet them.
The remaining fighters continued to break through the air defense firepower circle.
When the pilots saw the groups of tank troops below, they all became excited.
Aerial bombs and rockets were continuously thrown at these tanks.
However, more than 30 tanks were destroyed in just a few minutes, which made the commander of the Fifth Motorized Infantry Army so angry that he wanted to stare down the rampaging Fusion Army fighter planes with his eyes.
As more and more Renaissance Army fighter jets joined the battlefield, the Russian air defense circle could no longer hold up.
Because two squadrons of 60 Il-10 attack aircraft were targeting these air defense positions.
They did not bomb the Tsarist Russian infantry, but instead targeted the anti-aircraft positions that were constantly spewing fire into the sky.
For the Il-10 attack aircraft with heavy armor, although it cannot withstand 76mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns, it can still withstand a few hits from 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns.
What's more, the DK anti-aircraft machine guns equipped by Tsarist Russia did not perform well, mainly because their firepower was too weak. An anti-aircraft machine gun only had a 30-round drum magazine, and the problem of belt feeding had not yet been solved.
In addition, Lieutenant General Sergei made a fatal mistake.
It is true that the entire Independent Second Army was equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft weapons, but they were used in a dispersed manner, so their anti-aircraft firepower was not particularly fierce.
If he concentrated these anti-aircraft guns and machine guns in the front army, it would cost some price for the fighter planes to break through the air defense circle.
As the Il-10 attack aircraft hunted for air defense positions, gaps appeared one after another in the Tsarist Russia's air defense circle.
B-25 and B-17 bomber groups also entered the scene at this time, carrying out carpet bombing on the Fifth Motorized Infantry Army.
When the bomber group was over the sky, 250-pound, 500-pound, and 1000-pound bombs fell from the sky, causing violent explosions on the ground.
Under the carpet bombing, the Tsarist Russian soldiers had nowhere to hide.
Life seems so fragile at this moment.
A 250-pound bomb dropped into a crowd of people would be enough to cause a bloody storm.
After the explosion, the area around the crater was littered with broken limbs and corpses, and the blood dyed the ground red.
The entire Fifth Motorized Infantry Corps was completely thrown into disarray by the bombing, and its commander had lost contact with the troops of the two divisions.
When the second batch of fighter planes arrived over the battlefield, the first batch of fighter planes had already begun to return one after another.
At this time, the 35th Fighter Division coming to reinforce from Tsarist Russia was ambushed on the way.
Vladislavl and Shuangchengzi are areas that the Air Force focuses on monitoring.
The 35th Fighter Division took off from several small and hidden military airports behind Shuangchengzi.
As soon as they took off, they immediately appeared on the display screen of the TBM-3W airborne radar early warning aircraft.
The TBM-3W airborne radar early warning aircraft has a very long detection range for fighter jets. Coupled with the 24-hour rotation of multiple aircraft for surveillance, no fighter jet can escape their eyes.
The Air Force then dispatched two squadrons of Mustang fighter jets to intercept.
So Lieutenant General Sergei was destined not to wait for reinforcements from the 35th Fighter Division.
The second group of arriving aircraft included a larger number of Il-10 attack aircraft and bombers.
Their targets were no longer limited to the Tsarist Russian Fifth Motorized Infantry Army, which was already in chaos, but also the Third Guards Artillery Division behind the Fifth Motorized Infantry Army.
This Guards Artillery Division is not even inferior to the Artillery Division of the Restoration Army in size.
It has a total of three howitzer brigades and three mortar brigades, with a total of more than 300 guns.
It is precisely because their artillery divisions are large that their targets are also large.
The entire artillery division has more than a thousand vehicles of various types serving these artillery pieces. How could the Air Force let go of such a large target?
However, this artillery division is also the key deployment area of the Tsarist Russia's field air defense forces.
When the bomber group approached, the 76mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns on the ground began to roar.
However, the Tsarist Russia had a larger number of DK anti-aircraft machine guns.
But the anti-aircraft machine gun has a firing range of only 2000 meters.
The bomber group flew at an altitude of 3000 to 5000 meters, which was out of the reach of these anti-aircraft machine guns.
As the bomber groups swept past, the Tsarist Russian artillery divisions on the ground suffered direct damage.
Shells exploded among the convoys like raindrops.
The trucks pulling the artillery were blown into fireballs, with the artillery overturned to the ground.
At the same time, the vehicle responsible for transporting artillery shells was also blown up.
In the high temperature of the explosion, these shells were also detonated, causing a powerful chain reaction.
A truck can easily transport two or three tons of artillery shells, so the power of the chain reaction can be imagined.
At this moment, Lieutenant General Sergei was confused.
He felt that there were no major problems with his deployment.
But now it seems so ridiculous.
This time he finally understood why the First Independent Army was defeated so quickly.
He finally understood why General Ivanovich told him to pay attention to air defense.
But despite his detailed deployment, he was still unable to stop the surprise attack of the Renaissance Army fighter planes.
The 5th Motorized Infantry Corps fell into chaos, and the losses of the 3rd Guards Artillery Division were estimated to be considerable.
Although during this period they also shot down the Restoration Army's planes.
But the number captured seemed a drop in the bucket compared to the size of the Restoration Army's Air Force.
Battle reports from the front line were constantly being gathered to Jiang Tianming via tactical reconnaissance aircraft.
At this moment, he was in Liao Jie's command tank.
When Jiang Tianming learned that the second batch of fighter planes were already attacking the Tsarist Russia's artillery units, he knew that the time had come.
"Deputy Commander Liao, now is the time for you to show your skills."
Liao Jie nodded.
"Don't worry, our 11th Armored Division never disappoints anyone."
Liao Jie immediately issued an order for the entire army to attack.
After the order was issued, both divisions accelerated their march.
Hundreds of Panther and Panzer IV H tanks formed a steel torrent, sweeping towards the Tsarist Russian Second Independent Army, which was less than ten kilometers away.
一辆辆M7型自行榴弹炮、M41型自行榴弹炮、M40型自行加农炮、M32型自行火箭炮。（M32多功能履带自行火箭炮车）
It was not until the artillery regiment of the 5th Armored Division was only about kilometers away from the th Motorized Infantry Army of the Tsarist Russia that it began to deploy.
For self-propelled artillery, unlike towed artillery, it does not require fortifications, state changes, or the selection of artillery positions.
Just stop, play and go.
So the 11th Armored Artillery Regiment completed the artillery preparation in just a few minutes.
This was also the time when the troops of the Fifth Motorized Infantry Army that had been scattered by the explosion were gathering.
When the coordinates provided by the artillery reconnaissance aircraft were transmitted to the artillery position.
Howitzer vehicles, cannon vehicles, and rocket launcher vehicles began to fire one after another.
Dense artillery shells and rockets whizzed out and headed towards the gathering crowd of the Fifth Motorized Infantry Army.
"Bombardment!"
A barrage of shells fell, exploding in and around the crowd, once again setting off a bloody storm.
The Tsarist Russian soldiers, who were already frightened, scattered again and began to run away desperately.
They had only one goal, which was to get out of the range of the bombardment.
Under the cover of artillery fire, more than 20,000 people of the Fifth Motorized Infantry Army fell into chaos again, running around like headless flies.
The tank groups of the 11th Armored Division and the 10th Mechanized Infantry Division, which were covering their advance on the left and right wings, appeared in front of the 5th Motorized Infantry Division.
When a dense and endless cluster of tanks appeared on the horizon, the eyes of the Tsarist Russian soldiers were filled with fear and despair.
Faced with such a large number of tanks, the entire Fifth Motorized Infantry Army was directly overwhelmed.
Wherever the tanks went, the Tsarist Russian soldiers either surrendered or fled.
However, the remaining tanks and infantry instinctively counterattacked.
But their counterattack was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, which was so ridiculous.
In about half an hour, the remnants of the entire Fifth Motorized Infantry Army were divided into countless pieces by the tank cluster.
The mechanized infantry following behind began to clear out these remnants, while the tank cluster continued to advance forward.
At the same time, the self-propelled artillery units following up from the rear also began extended bombardment, targeting the two infantry armies that wanted to reinforce from the rear.
When Lieutenant General Sergei heard the news, he was stunned again.
At this time he also understood that the Fuxing Army had been silent for so many days because they were targeting them.
Boli was just the bait to lure them here.
But it's too late to realize this now.