afterglow

Chapter 530 The last twenty-four hours; Hawaii is worthy of its name!

For this counterattack, the US military in Hawaii basically exhausted all methods.

The total number of fighter jets of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps Air Force is still only a few dozen, and theoretically they do not have the strength to compete with the Ming Army for air supremacy.

However, in order to cope with the counterattack, the US aviation troops still came out in full force, taking turns to attack regardless of the cost.

Brigadier General Charles White, the current commander of the ground forces on Oahu, signed the combat order——

第7步兵师、第703坦克营、第707坦克营负责沿主轴线实施进攻；第9步兵师余部负责在右翼配合，并阻止明军任何可能的反击；第501空降团负责进攻左翼，沿着怀厄奈岭山麓推进施压。

For the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers in the Haleiwa area, an unprecedented crisis is approaching.

On the morning of July 7, a large number of US military aircraft swept over from east to west.

从毛伊岛起飞的14架B-18大刀轰炸机和8架SB2U辩护者俯冲轰炸机对莫卡普半岛的两座机场实施了轰炸，升空拦截的明军飞机取得7架击坠战果。

Thirteen B-13 Flying Fortress bombers taking off from the Big Island of Hawaii dropped dozens of tons of steel and explosives on the Ming Army's second-line positions in the Haleiwa area, forcing the reserve team to delay the assembly time for nearly two hours. They themselves were intercepted by three Type 17 heavy fighter shot down 2 aircraft.

After several days of assembly and testing, these anti-aircraft guns disassembled into parts were finally ready for use. So the US military used destroyers as fast transport ships to transport 12 M1 anti-aircraft guns to Oahu at night.

The Ming Army's aviation force on Kauai has a clear division of labor. The air force combat units concentrate their aircraft to help the ground troops. Because the field artillery groups can only fire sporadically for a long time, the air force's aircraft have become an important support force that frontline officers and soldiers can rely on. .

During this period, she was hit by a 500-pound armor-piercing bomb. The bomb penetrated the armor of the hangar deck and exploded in the No. boiler room, destroying two boilers and causing a decrease in speed. However, the flight deck was damaged. The small hole has been repaired and will not affect takeoff and landing.

第31、第34、第48、第49、第57、第84野战炮兵营全程提供炮火支援，总共有21门155㎜榴弹炮和40门105㎜榴弹炮投入战斗。

The U.S. military on Oahu has assembled the vast majority of anti-aircraft weapons to cover the artillery positions. Although the M2 anti-aircraft machine gun is not powerful enough, it is superior in quantity. The dense bullets also caused a lot of trouble to the Ming army aircraft.

Fomalhaut made a great contribution. Her fleet took off and landed continuously from dawn to afternoon and fought hard, which greatly protected our own fleet. A total of 31 enemy aircraft were shot down throughout the day, and 14 carrier-based aircraft were lost.

Zhou Changfeng decided to temporarily give up the head-on defense. As the order was issued, all Ming army units in the Haleiwa area retreated across the board.

The Longshuo itself was also attacked by a fleet of US military aircraft. She was hit by four 4-pound aerial bombs and three 500-pound aerial bombs. She was not seriously injured, but instead shot down eight incoming enemy planes.

During the day and night, the Longshuo conducted multiple attacks on the stranded West Virginia, hitting this large stationary fixed target a total of 17 times, muting her C and D turrets.

The USS West Virginia was ravaged beyond recognition by the 400㎜ giant armor-piercing bombs and 250㎏ aerial bombs. The superstructure was in tatters, and barely an inch of the deck was intact. There were debris, wood chips, and blood stains everywhere. As of the afternoon, only a few anti-aircraft guns were still firing.

The unrelenting and continuous firing made the barrels of most artillery pieces red-hot. No lighter was needed to light a cigarette. Piles of empty brass cartridge cases accumulated next to the artillery positions.

The naval air force taking off from Lanai Island mainly targeted Ming Army surface ships on the sea. The intermittent air battle lasted for a full day, with shore-based aircraft and carrier-based aircraft from both sides participating in the battle.

At 7:28 pm on July 16, Fomalhaut was attacked by an SBD Dreadnought and three SB27U Defenders. One Defender was shot down and fell straight down, hitting the anti-aircraft gun on the rear section of the port side. platform, resulting in 1 casualties and 3 injuries. The fire was not extinguished until an hour and a half later.

Those train guns pose a greater threat. A 91mm high-explosive shell weighing 203kg can blast a crater with a diameter of more than seven meters and a depth of more than two meters. No matter how strong the civil fortifications are, they can only disintegrate and shatter.

More than a hundred tanks may not sound like a lot, but even on the European battlefield, it is enough to cooperate with the infantry to launch a decent offensive.

Feeling that air defense pressure has doubled, the US military provided B-17 bombers to urgently airlift a batch of M1 37mm anti-aircraft guns from the mainland to the Big Island of Hawaii a few days ago, a total of 26 guns.

Due to the angle of incidence, the Longshuo was unable to bombard the weak points on the sides of its hull, so the armor-piercing projectiles all hit the stern and superstructure. Although her threat was basically eliminated, it was impossible to repeat the hit on the ammunition depot last night.

In the afternoon of that day, in the face of the fierce offensive of the US military, the positions of the 49th Regiment and the 50th Regiment of the 17th Division fell one after another. The reserve team was blocked by artillery fire and was unable to reinforce in time.

The frontal width of the main axis of the US military's offensive is actually only two kilometers, and only three infantry battalions can be deployed in a full attack.

The 7th Division, which was responsible for the main attack, did indeed devote its entire regiment. At the same time, the 703rd and 707th Tank Battalions were divided into two echelons, front and rear, and cooperated with the infantry to launch successive attacks on the Ming army positions.

Looking down from the sky, the wilderness in central Oahu is full of flashing light spots, which are the muzzle flashes of the US field artillery groups firing desperately.

The performance of this anti-aircraft gun is average, far inferior to Bofors's products, and its output is not much. It must be given priority to the army group heading to Spain. If it hadn't been for George Marshall's personal supervision, I'm afraid even these twenty dozen anti-aircraft guns would have been useless.

The current anti-aircraft guns of the US military are in an embarrassing period of inactivity - the performance of its own 28mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns is worrying, subsequent orders have been cancelled, and the imitation and trial production of products from Oerlikon and Bofors have just been completed and finalized. Mass production will take at least dozens of days.

The M1 37mm anti-aircraft gun has appeared in the Philippines and Australia in the past, but it was extremely rare, so it was inconspicuous and was completely forgotten by Ming army pilots.

Calculating mentally but not accidentally, they suddenly encountered anti-aircraft firepower that was much stronger than the anti-aircraft machine guns. The Ming army aircraft paid a greater price to attack those train guns.

But now is no longer the critical moment to care about the loss and casualty figures. No matter what, as of sunset on this day, most of the train guns have been blown up.

Two gas lamps glowed bright yellow in the makeshift headquarters on the northern foothills of Waianae Ridge.

Looking at the worried-looking officers in front of him, Zhou Changfeng said calmly: "Don't worry too much. The Americans are charging so hard and fast. They come and go quickly, and they will soon lose their energy."

Someone chuckled and said: "What you said reminded me of an idiom, a silver-like wax gun tip, it's fierce, but it's just a look-alike, not of much use."

"Such a huge and deadly counterattack will overdraw their morale and strength." Zhong Dexin said solemnly: "Hold on, maybe they will collapse without fighting."

"The Air Force on Kauai is almost fully supplied. It needs planes and bombs." Zhou Changfeng raised his hand and glanced at his watch. "Order, hold the second line of defense for forty-eight hours, and then decide on subsequent deployments based on the situation."

Out of various considerations, he ordered more than 900 people from the search brigade of the Second Brigade of the Japanese Defense Forces as servants to launch a night attack on the enemy in front of them tonight, disrupting the deployment of the US military as much as possible, and providing support for the retreating Ming army units. Get more time to deploy.

Amid the cheers of the American soldiers, night gradually fell, and the deep black gradually engulfed Oahu, and the sounds of various birds and insects filled the wilderness.

Based on feedback from frontline officers and soldiers, the attack route of the night attack was selected to be the junction of the two US military forces - between the positions of the 7th Infantry Division and the 501st Airborne Regiment.

The next day came after midnight. The U.S. military, which thought it had made significant progress, did not know that a stormy night attack was quietly approaching.

At 7:29 on July 1, a series of sudden gunshots tore apart the peaceful night, and the battle started with an unexpected encounter. Suddenly, the classic shouts of "Sudden attack, give, give, give, board" echoed through the cratered fields of the Haleiwa area.

A large number of Japanese troops with white cloth strips wrapped around their foreheads and rifles with bayonets in their hands attacked the joints of the US military positions in a sparse formation. In just a few dozen seconds, hundreds of people poured into the US military's forward positions.

The company E of the 501st Airborne Regiment was the first to discover the "Ming Army" night attack. They immediately used mortars to fire illumination bombs and called for artillery support.

The illumination shell fired by the 81mm mortar slowly descended in mid-air, and the pale light it emitted illuminated the surrounding land for several kilometers.

Looking around, I saw countless dense crowds rolling in like waves. The piercing whistles and hysterical shouts of killing were horrifying.

"Enemy infantry is approaching!"

"There are too many of them!"

The frightened American soldiers opened fire with all the weapons at hand, and many of them were bayoneted to death in their sleeping bags in a daze.

In the next position, a backup command post of the 7nd Regiment of the 32th Division rushed into several figures.

"Nisnei!!!"

Six or seven U.S. soldiers and staff members were shot dead on the spot before they could react.

It is very difficult to command at night, the battle situation is chaotic, most people quickly lose their command, the soldiers can't find the officers, and the officers can't find the soldiers.

The officers and soldiers of the search brigade who broke into the enemy's position simply penetrated in all directions in twos and threes, shooting at people when they saw them and throwing grenades when they encountered tents. This only made the situation more chaotic.

Some people even touched a place only a few hundred meters away from the 7th Division headquarters. The division commander, Brigadier General Charles White, pulled out his pistol and put on a helmet.

After a while, US tanks rumbled over and fired wildly. Only then did these threats that penetrated into the heartland be eliminated.

The Ming court did not pay much attention to the construction of the servant army. The Japanese Defense Force was essentially a light infantry unit, lacking body-barrel artillery and not having decent attack capabilities.

In order to facilitate unified logistics management, the weapons and equipment they use are mainly old Type 21 bolt-action rifles and Type 20 heavy machine guns issued by the Ministry of War.

In view of the relatively high cost of the standard light machine gun, officials from the Ministry of War felt that this was not cost-effective. Someone came up with an ingenious and crooked idea-replacing the light machine gun with a portable machine gun would be about the same?

The purchase price of a Type 720 light machine gun is 94 yuan, and a Type submachine gun is only yuan. The stamping submachine gun is a good cheap substitute no matter how you look at it.

As a result, the Japanese Defense Forces are only equipped with three light machine guns at the squadron (company) level, but each unit (squad) is equipped with two submachine guns.

Obviously, the military officials don't care about the negative impact of the lack of light machine guns. Anyway, the person who died was not one of their own, so they don't have to take responsibility.

Objectively speaking, this configuration seems to be more useful in close combat?

The fierce battle lasted throughout the second half of the night, during which the Ming army's frontline troops continued to attack the depths of the US military positions with mortars and rocket launchers, hoping to cause greater losses.

At 7:29 on July 5, the sky was dim.

When dawn came, the gunfire finally stopped. The US military counted about 400 Japanese corpses in front of and in their positions, and there were hundreds of casualties of their own.

"If nothing unexpected happens, today is the day to decide the winner. There is nothing to say. I hope you will fulfill your duties. Dismissed and everyone takes his place." Zhou Changfeng took a deep breath and said.

When the military order is given, the soldiers obey their orders.

Three days later, the regrouped U.S. military resumed its offensive.

In just four hours, the Forty-ninth Regiment at the forefront could no longer hold on. The US military attacked in turns at all costs. The position actually changed hands twice in this short period of more than 200 minutes.

The corpses of soldiers from both armies were stacked on top of each other, and within a few minutes they were blown away and blown to pieces by ruthless artillery fire...

In the headquarters of the 17th Infantry Division, the staff were numb to calls from the front line complaining for help. Every moment units were requesting artillery support and reserve reinforcements.

Field supplementary camp? They were all dismantled and replenished to the frontline troops yesterday evening.

"Ask the gendarmerie to come forward and clear out the enemies in the No. 2 diagonal position first." Zhong Dexin looked extremely haggard. Having grown up in a merchant family, he seemed to be more sensitive to such a bloody fight.

The staff officer on the side said in astonishment: "But Jun Zuo, the gendarmerie had already gone to reinforce the 51st Regiment early in the morning."

"Where are the guards from the air defense battalion, the motor transport regiment, the repair shop, and the post office? Take them out and gather them together. There must be dozens of them. Let's go together."

"Yes, yes, I have the order."

Compared with the Army, the pressure on the Marine Corps has suddenly doubled.

The 9th Regiment of the rd Marine Brigade was suddenly attacked by the remnants of the U.S. th Infantry Division at noon. Hundreds of U.S. infantrymen, supported by more than tanks and half-track armored vehicles, forced their way across the Kaukonawa River.

This unlucky infantry division has only a small number of troops, so it is called the "remnant division". It has been responsible for containing the flanks before, but now it actually participates in the war?
Cheng Maochang, the leader of the fifth regiment, immediately realized that the enemy was getting tough, and this was most likely a last-ditch effort.

Zhou Changfeng called, "The air force is about to drive away the US aircraft. The fleet will probably provide support in the afternoon. Can you hold on?"

Cheng Maochang replied firmly: "Please be at ease! I swear to serve the country loyally, and the department and the position will coexist."

Then, he added: "We need to let them know that the word 'Wei' in Hawaii is reasonable. This name is well translated and worthy of its name."

(End of this chapter)