afterglow

Chapter 632 Pacific Specialty Armored Bomb Confrontation; Long Shuo! Long Shuo!
As the most elite light infantry units of the US military, several Ranger battalions are equipped with the latest weapons and equipment.

History has changed beyond recognition. The existence of the Ming Army and Marine Corps has made the arms race in the Pacific battlefield much more intense than in the original plane.

The Ming army was already using steel-plate bulletproof vests and automatic rifles with intermediate-power bullets. How could the US military be willing to fall behind?
In order to offset the advantages of the enemy's individual equipment as quickly as possible, some things were born earlier.

Winchester restored the speed selector in the original design for the M1 carbine, giving it a fully automatic shooting mode. Several manufacturers also began mass-producing 2-round magazines, resulting in the M carbine.

【Picture】

At the same time, unlike in history, they also developed a pointed version of the .30 carbine bullet, which was finalized as the M4 ordinary bullet. Apart from this, no other changes were made to the cartridge case - none of the modifications such as shrinking the mouth or increasing the propellant were adopted.

Compared with the round-nose carbine bullet, the pointed version has stronger penetration, and the effective range is slightly increased to 250 yards. It can ensure the penetration of the Ming army's standard 150mm surface-hardened steel plate at a distance of 2.5 yards.

Since carbine bullets are inherently weak, the pointed version also has a disadvantage, which is that the stopping power is obviously polarized.

If it hits an unprotected body, it will be a one-shot shot that will leave the victim no serious harm; but if it hits a steel plate, the bullet will penetrate into the body after breaking it, and it is likely to roll over or even break into pieces, causing great damage.

This was a forced compromise because the U.S. military was very worried that the Ming army would popularize steel plate bulletproof vests on a large scale.

In any case, the carbine is more useful and can at least pose a threat to enemies wearing body armor.

The spear and the shield cannot be biased. The US military, which has suffered a lot of losses, has naturally increased its research and development efforts in bulletproof vests.

Although the U.S. Army Air Force has equipped anti-fragmentation clothing specifically for bomber crew members, it is ultimately not suitable for ground forces.

As a result, bulletproof vests using aluminum alloy inserts came into being.

In the original plane, it was shaped as the M12 bulletproof vest, made of eight layers of nylon 6-6 fabric with a 0.125-inch (3.2 mm) thick aluminum alloy plate inserted in the middle. It weighed 5.4 kg and could withstand 9 mm Parabellum pistol bullets.

【Picture】

Unfortunately, the 9.6×20㎜ pistol bullets equipped by the Ming Army are among the most powerful pistol bullets in the world, so the US military is forced to use 0.15-inch thick aluminum alloy plates, and the total weight is increased to 6 kg.

The M12 bulletproof vest can block 50mm pistol bullets fired by submachine guns at a distance of 9.6m; it also has a 10% chance of blocking it at a distance of m.

Boy! Pacific region special armor bomb confrontation!

"Sir, it's too dangerous outside. I ask you to go back."

"No!"

The battle has reached this point, and it is meaningless to command from the shelter.

Brigadier General Ronald, with his arms and head bandaged, put on a helmet, picked up a carbine, and rode around in a jeep to boost morale.

The night sky was completely torn to pieces by flares and tracer bullets flying everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

At an intersection in the middle of the city, the rangers held their ground against a barricade made of truck wreckage and oil drums.

Seeing the commander personally on the front line, someone asked loudly: "Sir! What should we do next?"

"call out--"

Just then, a flare roared into the sky, illuminating Brigadier General Ronald's face and everything around him.

He narrowed his eyes, pointed at the ground, and ordered: "Hold this line, don't let them move forward!"

"Yes, sir!"

In the next three hours, the Ming army launched five consecutive attacks on Company C of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, but all were repelled. The burning wreckage of two Yuannian armored personnel carriers was parked on the street.

The two sides engaged in life-and-death hand-to-hand combat twice. The soldiers from both armies were so bloodthirsty that they even tried to pull out the pins of each other's grenades!

The extremely brutal battle left a deep impression on the Ming army. The 114th Regiment of the 38th Division reported that the enemy encountered by the 3rd Battalion at 11 o'clock was particularly tenacious, using a large number of automatic rifles and bulletproof vests. Such elite and stubborn troops were unprecedented.

At midnight, the Ming army used the reinforcement tanks to cover the frontal advance and assisted by flanking attacks on both wings, and finally solved the fishbone stuck in the throat.

When Company C finally retreated, it had been almost wiped out. Company K, which originally had a full complement of 73 men, was reduced to 16 men, including the lightly wounded. The rest were either seriously wounded or killed.

After this battle, "rangers hold the line" became the motto of the Rangers, instead of the historical "rangers lead the way".

When the time came to after midnight, the battle evolved into a white-hot stage.

Multiple Ming troops rushed and attacked from more than a dozen directions, gradually compressing the U.S. military's range of activities.

The 2nd Squadron of the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 1st Marine Brigade attempted to capture a building. The Ming army soldiers fired multiple rounds with recoilless rifles and rocket launchers but to little avail. Two frontal attacks also failed.

Sergeant Sheng Liquan led a reinforced squad to the east side of the building, infiltrated and assaulted, and after more than 20 minutes of fierce fighting, they successfully repelled the U.S. troops guarding the street east of the building.

Under the cover of firepower, Sheng Liquan crawled forward carrying two blasting tubes, approaching little by little in the hail of bullets.

The windows on the first floor of the building were all sealed tightly. In the darkness, he, who was wounded in many places, searched for a long time one by one with the help of the light from the explosion and flares. He finally found a gap and stuffed both blasting tubes in.

There was a deafening roar, and the violent explosion knocked Sheng Liquan, who was covered in blood, unconscious.

The few remaining enemy soldiers in the building fled out in panic and were shot one by one by the Ming army soldiers guarding outside.

When Sheng Liquan woke up, the medical soldiers were bandaging his wounds.

He tightly grasped the medic's arm, stared with wide eyes and asked sternly: "Have you taken the building?! What time is it now?!"

The medical soldier gave Sheng Liquan an injection to relieve pain, but he soon fell into shock due to excessive blood loss and was carried on a stretcher to the rear...

The combat log of the First Landing Army recorded: "At 0:30 in the morning, our army surrounded the town of Kahului from three sides and fourteen directions. The remaining thousand enemies were forced back to a small area of ​​more than 100 hectares in the harbor area."

Zhou Changfeng smoked one cigarette after another, and the ground was full of cigarette butts.

The rumbling sound of artillery came from not far away. It was the 38th Division's dozen self-propelled howitzers that were firing effectively. "Sometimes people are hanging on by a thread. The enemy's remnants will not hold out for much longer." Zhao Hanfeng took out his pocket watch and took a look. He said confidently, "We should be able to annihilate them before sunrise."

Zhou Changfeng looked to the east. The flames from the battle on Maui even reflected the outline of Haleakala volcano on the east side of the island.

Of course he was not looking at the volcano, but at the sea east of Maui.

In the direction he was looking, a fleet of more than 20 warships was sailing slowly.

The Type 50 Special Forces Fleet was based on the landing force escort fleet led by Zou Pu, and was temporarily reinforced by the two battleships Longshuo and Yongle.

因而这支舰队合计有2艘特务战列舰成化号和正德号，2艘高速战列舰龙朔号和永乐号，另有16艘驱逐舰、2艘超级驱逐舰、2艘轻型巡洋舰、3艘防空巡洋舰。

However, considering that this was an interception operation, Zou Pu did not bring those anti-aircraft cruisers.

At 2:06, the Longshuo's radar warning equipment captured an electromagnetic wave signal, and the radio scout immediately shouted: "Report! Our ship is being illuminated by enemy radio scouts!"

The function of the radar warning equipment (RWR) is to intercept enemy radar signals and issue a warning in advance, so that the enemy can at least know that it is about to be or has been exposed.

"Speed ​​up and prepare for battle. The Longshuo and Yongle ships will launch aircraft. Pass the order down!" Zou Pu gave the instructions calmly and steadily.

At 2:08, a PBY Catalina seaplane reported that radar detected an unknown echo on the sea northeast of Maui, and it was suspected that a target had appeared.

At 2:10, the USS Cleveland, equipped with the latest SG radar, also detected the target, and sent a warning to the flagship USS Washington: "An unknown target has been spotted on the sea ahead, high alert!"

In just four minutes, both sides became aware of each other's presence.

This was the moment the Ming army was waiting for, and the U.S. military indeed carried out a reinforcement operation at night!
Of course, the US military also knew that it would be impossible to conceal the formation of reinforcements, so they had made preparations long ago.

The US fleet here is numbered TF-53.1, with the flagship being the battleship USS Washington, as well as the heavy cruisers USS Astoria, USS Northampton, USS Juneau, 11 destroyers and 23 landing ships, commanded by Lieutenant General Robert Ghormley.

As if to show off their achievements, the US warships reported their discoveries to the USS Washington one after another, fearing that they would be left behind. However, due to the single radio communication channel, this actually caused confusion.

The two sides were about fourteen kilometers apart at this moment. When the Washington recovered from the communication chaos, two spots of light suddenly appeared in the sky in front of the fleet.

These were flares fired by the Beipanjiang light cruiser. In the blink of an eye, half of the fleet was illuminated.

The American sailors were blinded by the dazzling light and they all lowered their heads and raised their hands to cover their eyes.

The Yongle's lookout witnessed the situation with the help of a high-power telescope. He immediately reported loudly: "The enemy fleet has been spotted! Two battleships, one cruiser, and at least seven destroyers."

This is basically consistent with the situation detected by the radar, almost accurate.

The four battleships, two large and two small, in the Ming army fleet had begun to turn, preparing to occupy the T-shaped crosshead position to unleash all their artillery fire.

As for the Chenghua-class small special battleships with all front-mounted main guns, this was not necessary, but they also turned together for the sake of formation consistency.

Continuous visual tracking at night was extremely difficult, and the Ming fleet did not open fire for the first time until five minutes later. If the flares fired by the Beipanjiang were not counted, the Zhengde should have fired the first shot in the naval battle.

In an instant, in the vast dark night, the sound of cannons rang out, flames shot up into the sky, and the light spots of muzzle flames and flares were reflected on the sea.

Naturally, the U.S. military would not be willing to be in a disadvantageous T-shaped vertical position. The Washington and two heavy cruisers immediately turned around and took the same course as the Ming fleet. The naval battle quickly turned into a standard naval battle.

The screen ships of both sides charged at the same time, while the main battleships fired at each other, and more than a dozen huge water columns emerged around them!
The highest columns of water were undoubtedly caused by the battleships' 16-inch shells, while the smaller columns came from the heavy cruisers' 8-inch shells.

Because of the long distance, the hit rate of the four Ming warships was quite low, but they had a great advantage in quantity and quality compared to the US military, because the US heavy cruisers could not penetrate the main armor belt of the Chenghua-class small battleships.

"Let them have a taste of 16-inch shells!"

"Now! Fire! Fire!"

The Washington fired two and a half consecutive salvos, none of which hit the target, but the fire control radar on board had locked onto the Longshuo.

The Mk3 fire control radar, which is based on British technology, can identify the water column splashed by the impact point of the shell to assist in correction, but its performance is relatively average and the detection accuracy is not high. However, the Washington is not equipped with the most advanced Mk8 fire control radar.

"boom!"

The ninth salvo fired by the Zhengde hit the target, and five water columns splashed around the Northampton, which was mistaken for a battleship. At the same time, the first chimney burst into flames, and the American sailors saw a huge hole in the chimney!
The Type 320 -inch (㎜) -caliber triple-mounted main gun was developed more than years ago, and is now easily used to deal with treaty-class heavy cruisers.

Almost at the same moment when the Northampton was hit, the Washington, which had been firing madly at the Longshuo, also hit it!

Two 406mm super-heavy armor-piercing shells hit the middle of the Longshuo's hull and the front of the No. 8 main turret respectively. Her main armor belt was unable to defend against the famous Mk super-heavy shells at a distance of just over ten kilometers; the turret did successfully block the incoming armor-piercing shells.

华盛顿号只管一个劲的猛烈开火，仿佛看上了龙朔号似的。她在五分钟内向龙朔号打出足足69发406㎜穿甲弹和102发127㎜通常弹，统共有8发主炮穿甲弹和37发副炮通常弹有效命中龙朔号！

After suffering such continuous heavy damage, Longshuo's power was cut off, its speed dropped sharply, and its main guns stopped firing.

The combat log of the USS Washington recorded: "2:30, confirmed that multiple main gun hits have been made, the target is silent, and the enemy battleship has been completely suppressed."

The friendly Yongle was certainly not watching the show, but this giant ship's night combat skills were obviously not strong enough. Although it formed a straddle fire at the beginning, after the Washington maneuvered to evade, the next few semi-salvos were all near misses or far misses.

While the battleships of the two armies were slapping each other from a distance, the screen ships were charging bravely and fearlessly.

The second Atlanta-class ship, the USS Juneau (CL-52), turned on its searchlights in an attempt to identify the target that posed the greatest threat to friendly ships.

The ship that was exposed was the Qianjiang torpedo boat that was in the lead. Covered by the beam of light, she immediately turned on her searchlight to illuminate the Juno.

At the same time, the Jiangning super destroyer and the Beipanjiang light cruiser decisively turned their guns and fired fiercely at the exposed Juno!
Turning on the flashlight in the middle of the night is so conspicuous, who else should I hit if not you?
The two 144mm anti-personnel bombs fired by the Jiangning accurately hit the bridge of the Juneau. One was a dud, and the other detonated successfully. The 9.2kg Type B explosive exploded violently, killing all the officers inside and only a few survived.

Qianjiang took the opportunity to pour torpedoes at several American warships a few kilometers away. The four seven-tube torpedo launchers were very scary. A series of 4㎜ medium-sized torpedoes fell into the sea with a thud. Adjutant Yanlei exclaimed: This is like pouring a basket of fish into the water and releasing them!
Faced with the dense torpedo tracks, even the American sailors were stunned.

A few minutes later, the Juneau failed to completely avoid the incoming torpedoes. One of the torpedoes hit the stern of the ship and exploded, splashing waves. The violent explosion almost threw the light cruiser out of the sea and fell down!
At this moment, a heart-shaking voice came from the command tower of the Yongle.

"General! Something's happening! The radio detective has detected an enemy ship in the 40-degree direction!"

(End of this chapter)