bullyxtreme Chapter 233: Another surge of troops, changes in the situation on the battlefield in Shanghai
Chapter 233: Another surge of troops, changes in the situation on the battlefield in Shanghai
The situation on the Shanghai battlefield at this moment can be described as a two-pronged emergency.
Moreover, Chen Rui never expected that his ace unit, the 18th Army, would be defeated so quickly.
Nearly 40,000 troops from three divisions were wiped out by the Fuxing Army in just one day and one night, which directly left the southern part of Shanghu wide open and exposed to the Fuxing Army.
What's even more terrible is that at this time the Fuxing Army launched a landing operation against the Wusong Fortress.
Compared with the newly built Chongxing Fortress, Wusong Fortress has much better geographical location and defensive advantages.
After all, this fortress existed during the previous dynasty and has undergone modern modifications.
So during this week, the navy and air force of the Fuxing Army took joint action and launched intensive artillery and air strikes on the Wusong Fortress.
Among them, the artillery shells fired by the dozens of navy ships at the Wusong Fortress exceeded 10,000 tons.
Take the MK13/14 grenade used by the Iowa battleship, for example. A single grenade weighs 800 kilograms.
A total of more than 3600 rounds were fired, with an average of 36 rounds fired by each of the 406 100mm main guns.
You should know that the life of the main gun barrel of the Iowa-class battleship is only 300 rounds.
After the landing operations at Shanghu and Yangchangwan were completed, the gun barrels of the four Iowa-class battleships and many other ships had to be replaced.
The Air Force and carrier-based aircraft units were also not ambiguous. They dispatched more than 6000 sorties and dropped more than tons of bombs.
The entire Wusong Fortress was plowed directly.
More than ten artillery batteries and a group of positions consisting of hundreds of positions were all blown up, and it was difficult to find a relatively complete fortification on the surface.
When the soldiers in Wusong Fortress shoveled soil, nearly one-third of it was shrapnel.
More than 28 troops from the four divisions of the th Army of the Fifth Corps, which was responsible for defending the Wusong Fortress, were directly wiped out.
Nearly an entire division of troops was destroyed in the bombing.
From this we can also see how powerful the air strikes and artillery bombardments of the Renaissance Army have been in recent days.
The morale of the entire 28th Army was low. Although many soldiers were not killed or injured in the explosion, they suffered serious psychological trauma. In fact, they were just frightened.
After all, they had never seen such a scene before.
The entire battlefield was like hell on earth.
While the 3rd and 4th Motorized Infantry Divisions launched an offensive from the Jianing direction towards the Shanghunicheng Fortress, the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions also launched a landing operation against the Wusong Fortress from the Changhe River.
The entire river surface at the mouth of the Changhe River was covered with more than 30 landing ships of various sizes, ranging from 4000-ton small personnel landing craft to -ton tank landing ships.
This time, Jiang Hua brought out all the navy's resources.
He never stopped recruiting troops after the war started.
This directly resulted in the five million yuan in funds being insufficient every day, and they had to continue using the funds accumulated previously.
At this time, he also understood what it meant that a cannon shot would bring him a fortune.
Before, the size of the army was small and it didn’t feel that big.
The combat troops this time are as high as millions, and there is also the navy, a gold-eating behemoth, and they have to carry out landing operations that consume a terrifying amount of ammunition.
So the usage of this fund increased immediately.
Half of the funds were used to sustain the war effort.
The other half of the funds is used to increase the number of troops.
As the war broke out, not only were the troops in the south stretched thin, but there was also great pressure in the north.
Take the battlefield in the south as an example. The army currently has four army groups deployed, but none of them are fully staffed.
The Second Army added the 24th Airborne Division, bringing the total strength to five divisions.
The Third Army, the Fourth Army, and the Seventh Army each had only four divisions.
This time, Jiang Hua directly completed the establishment of the four group armies, and each group army was expanded to the size of 6 divisions.
The Second Army was expanded to seven divisions, including the 7th Airborne Division.
In this way, the four army groups in the south have 25 divisions under their command, with a total strength of about 40 people.
Together with the National Guard, Navy, and Air Force, the total number of troops mobilized has exceeded one million.
Moreover, Jiang Hua is also preparing to expand the military strength of more than three army groups.
One of the army groups continued to be incorporated into the Central Plains Military Region to strengthen the military strength here.
After all, with the end of the Three Kingdoms Alliance, the situation has become more complicated, so more troops are needed to deal with it.
The other two or more army groups are preparing to be incorporated into the Far East Military Region.
As the ice and snow in Siberia gradually melted, Tsarist Russia became restless and couldn't wait to launch an offensive against the Irkutsk region.
This time, Tsarist Russia was very well prepared.
The Far Eastern Military District has only six divisions of the Far Eastern Group Army with a strength of about 100,000 people, plus more than 100,000 National Guards and more than 10,000 Air Forces, for a total of more than 200,000 troops.
In addition to the more than 100,000 prisoners converted by Yuri, the total strength of the Far East Military Region is only about 400,000.
Faced with the million-strong army of Tsarist Russia, the army was still somewhat stretched in terms of manpower.
Therefore, Jiang Hua prepared to add two or more army groups to the Far East Military Region to deal with the offensive from Tsarist Russia.
As for the evil neighbor Tsarist Russia, after dealing with the Southern Alliance and domestic warlords and stabilizing the domestic situation, we will have time to deal with them.
This time Jiang Hua is determined to defeat them until they are convinced.
He didn't mind being God's scourge once, leading his troops to attack the entire Tsarist Russia and directly reach Xizhou.
The commander of the 38th Army of Wusong Fortress felt extremely heavy-hearted when he looked at the large number of landing ships on the river in the distance from the high ground in the rear.
"Commander, the Restoration Army's ships are starting to move, and they're starting to land."
An officer holding a telescope exclaimed.
At this time, all eyes were focused on the surface of the long river.
The tank landing ships of more than 76 tons at the forefront of the landing fleet began to release the PT- amphibious tanks and multi-purpose amphibious infantry fighting vehicles from the dock.
Although the last landing operation went smoothly, the Marines still found many problems.
For example, during a landing operation, the space occupied by the infantry fighting vehicles in the personnel landing craft was so large that the personnel landing craft could not accommodate many people.
So this time, they simply let the tank landing ship take the lead and send tanks and infantry fighting vehicles loaded with soldiers to the beach.
After taking the beachhead, we will dispatch landing craft to transport marine infantry and launch an attack into the deep areas.
The rest are minor issues.
Amphibious tanks and amphibious infantry fighting vehicles were launched from the landing ships, and soon covered the river surface in front of the Wusong Fortress.
At the confluence of the Huangpu River and the Chang River, dense amphibious armored vehicles traveling on the water stunned the people of the 38th Army.
"Can tanks be driven in water?"
A major general was stunned, his face full of disbelief.
Tanks weigh dozens of tons and are made of steel. How do they float in the water and still move?
This left everyone puzzled, but the facts were right in front of them.
"Order the hidden artillery to fire at the river immediately to prevent their tanks from landing."
At this time, the commander of the 38th Army no longer hid his strength.
Although the density of the Fuxing Army's firepower delivery has been very high these days, there are still many heavy weapons hidden in the underground fortifications.
There are hundreds of heavy artillery with 105mm and 155mm calibers.
In just a few minutes, shells rose from behind the Wusong Fortress and whistled onto the river and the beach.
In an instant, columns of water rose on the surface of the river.
“There are actually artillery hidden.”
I didn't expect that the Wusong Fortress was bombed so thoroughly, and there was still hidden firepower. This was indeed a bit unexpected.
However, the Renaissance Army is not worried about causing interference with the landing operation.
Because when the hidden artillery of the 38th Army opened fire, dozens of fighter planes circling in the sky swooped over like sharks smelling blood.
In the sky, no matter how secretive the artillery is, it will produce smoke when fired, and the location of the artillery can be roughly found by the trajectory of the artillery shell.
Therefore, fighter planes in the sky can easily spot the smoky artillery positions without the need for reconnaissance planes.
Faced with the oncoming fighter planes, the artillery of the 38th Army began to frantically push the cannons back into the bunkers.
But the weight of the artillery limited their movement speed.
Fighter planes launched air strikes on artillery positions under dense anti-aircraft machine gun fire.
As bursts of explosions rang out in the rear, the artillery on the 38th Army's side began to misfire before firing a few rounds.
Some were directly blown up, while others were successfully retreated back to the fortifications.
This also made the commander of the 38th Army have a gloomy face throughout the whole process.
At this moment, they could only watch the tanks and infantry fighting vehicles of the Fusion Army rush onto the beach.
The mines, barbed wire, anti-tank trenches, and anti-tank piles they had laid on the beach had all lost their original function after being plowed over and over again by artillery.
When the first batch of dozens of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles rushed onto the beach, the 38th Army emerged from the ruins to block the Marines' landing.
A fierce landing operation unfolded at the Wusong Fortress.
The 24rd Motorized Infantry Division, the th Motorized Infantry Division, and the th Airborne Assault Division launched a new round of offensive against the southern part of Shanghai in two directions.
Among them, the 4th Motorized Infantry Division was responsible for attacking the Nicheng Fortress located in the eastern salient of Shanghu.
The 24rd Motorized Infantry Division and the th Airborne Assault Division were responsible for attacking the Huangpu River defense line.
Chen Rui dispatched two temporary divisions to hastily build a defense line on the north bank of the Huangpu River.
And they are constantly dispatching troops here.
The 69th Army in the direction of Nicheng Fortress dispatched two divisions.
However, they were discovered by the Air Force on the way, and after a heavy bombing, they retreated directly into the urban area in the southern part of Shanghu to avoid the bombing.
The situation on the entire battlefield began to reverse under the double-sided attack.
Chen Rui was even more worried. He knew in his heart that he might not be able to defend Shanghu.
At this time, he was already considering retreat.
If we continue to defend, I'm afraid the entire Third Corps will have to be lost in Shanghu.
Moreover, his 18th Army had been completely wiped out.
If the rest of the troops were wiped out, would Chen Rui still be able to gain a foothold in the Southern Alliance?
The idea of preserving strength has already emerged in Chen Rui's mind.