The Fourth Disaster, Starting from the Movie Eight Hundred

Yuecheng, who was in the middle of it, felt it particularly clearly. This army was fundamentally different from the previous powerful armed force composed entirely of players. It was a power that could only be unleashed when humans truly possessed the will to transcend life and death.

"This isn't a game after all."

Yuecheng took a deep breath and adjusted his state. When the charge began, the tank he was driving must protect as many people behind him as possible. They were the true backbone and hope of the Chinese nation in this world.

"Fire! Fire! Keep firing! Extend the artillery fire! Forget about the integrity of the city's buildings. This assault team includes a lot of normal people with only one life left! The lives of our soldiers are more important than the integrity of Changchun. The city is destroyed, so let it be. We will rebuild a better one!"

The artillery fire of the Volunteer Army soon became more brutal and fierce. Buildings outside the city were constantly destroyed. The already shaky Changchun city defense system was completely destroyed.

"The attack channel is open, blow the charge!"

Chapter 75: Japan is gradually being drained

(I will be very busy tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so updates will be reduced or even stopped. I will try my best to keep updating, but I can't afford to waste my life)

The battle-filled horn sounded, and the first to rush out were tanks and armored vehicles, as well as a large number of Type 4 152/203.

Players have discovered that these cheeky assault guns are incredibly useful for crushing enemy defenses head-on.

But assault guns have no turrets after all and cannot fire freely, so they need a large number of infantry cover during the charge, and their main targets are also fixed fortifications.

At this time, the city of Changchun was in chaos. The Japanese army was unable to effectively concentrate its forces, which directly led to the fact that when the main force of the Volunteer Army began to attack the city, the internal and external defense systems were completely disconnected and each fought on its own.

Anyone who has played hardcore RTS games knows how passive this situation is, and it will really make you explode in the center.

But the Japanese had no choice. They tried very hard and even pushed the heavy artillery that had just come off the production line in the arsenal to fight against the volunteers. With the warehouse behind them and sufficient ammunition supplies, they still could not stop the steel tracks of the volunteers from rolling forward.

In fact, the Japanese army has deeply realized the importance of tanks and armored vehicles on the mainland battlefield through this series of beatings.

But the problem is that the Japanese army, compared with the National Army, is inherently weak in armored strength. In addition, a large amount of steel resources are provided to the navy. If the army wants a steel torrent, it must first see whether the country's steel mills support it.

In the history of World War II, Japan's crude steel production peaked in 1943, at 870 million tons. This was many years after they had integrated the entire Northeast, plus the local steel production. It was only 1939, and the Volunteer Army had already liberated Harbin. Even if the Volunteer Army did not advance at all, Japan's steel production would decline sharply, and might even be lower than 500 million tons per year. Compared with the old imperialist powers, there is still a huge gap.

This shows how much benefit the September 918th Incident brought to Japan. If it were not for the resources of the Northeast, Japan would not even have the courage to launch the Pacific War. Zhang Xiaoshuai's retreat without fighting can be said to have fulfilled the Japanese devils' madness in World War II.

Damn it! The more I think about it, the angrier I get.

Now Japan has realized the mistakes they made, but correcting them is not a matter of overnight. Even if tanks only need to consider the three most basic attributes of firepower, protection and mobility, it takes time from design to prototype and then to mass production. With Japan's industrial level, it will take at least half a year, and it is normal to be busy for a year. If the problem of the army and navy competing for steel is involved in the middle, it will be even more complicated, and there may be no results until the end of the war.

Don’t think it’s an exaggeration. The Japanese devils were just so weird throughout history.

However, the strong pressure from the Volunteer Army forced Japan to temporarily unite internally, because the navy also knew that the lifeline of Manchuria and Mongolia could not be lost, otherwise Japan's overall steel production would decline and their share would also be reduced.

"What is that?"

The recruit frowned and wondered if the tank in front of him had appeared on the battlefield of World War II.

It looks very large, very slow, and its shape gives people a very green feeling, so that the original outline of the tank is completely invisible, and even makes people suspect that this is some kind of armored vehicle modified by the Japanese army. -p

"Never mind, let's have a shot first!"

The caracal Lin Luan directly took the launch button, and with a loud bang, the iron monster on the opposite side was directly blown to pieces.

"What a piece of junk." The recruit was speechless.

When the two men's T-34/76 passed by the wreckage of the tank, they discovered that the tank was actually a modified Type 97 medium tank of the Japanese. Many sandbags were added to the outside and the armor was thickened. However, considering the Type 97's originally poor foundation, it was modified into such a shape. No wonder it was slow, had poor firepower, and looked like an old turtle when it was driven.

Although this thing is called a medium tank, the thickest part of the armor is only 25mm, and the quality of Japan's armor steel is not as good as Germany's. To achieve the same effect, the Japanese tanks have to be heavier and riveted, which directly affects the output efficiency of the engine and makes the tank's maneuverability worse. In short, it is inferior to its foreign counterparts in all aspects.

They could only bully those antiques after World War I and before World War II, such as the museum tanks deployed by Britain and France in Southeast Asia at that time. When the US Sherman appeared, they directly found the feeling of the Tiger on the Pacific battlefield.

Modifying the Type 97 into this shape was probably the last resort for the Japanese, hoping that this modification would make the tanks at hand more combat-effective. But in fact, it was a complete waste of effort. As for other Japanese tanks, let alone them, the Japanese light tanks could not even match their Italian counterparts, and could only bully semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries like the Republic of China.

In terms of the destructive effect on the Volunteer Army's tanks, the Japanese army's large-caliber cannons laid flat in street fighting were more useful.

But it also depends on what kind of equipment they are facing. If it is a player's modified Type 4 assault gun, the Japanese heavy artillery will most likely only make the members faint or overturn them, but will not be able to penetrate and destroy them.

Compared with the major industrial countries in Europe and the United States at that time, Japan was really backward in all aspects, but it did cross the dividing line between industry and agriculture and had more possibilities. The revolutionaries in old China recognized this, so after the founding of New China, they spared no effort to build the foundation of industry, which led to the rapid development of reform and opening up.

The transition from zero to one is always the most difficult. Children who fail to catch up with the regular classes must work a thousand times harder during the make-up classes.

The greatest fortune of China in this parallel world is that it has a group of children from the future in the most difficult times, and these children are very willing to contribute to the impoverished and weak motherland.

The battle in Changchun became increasingly fierce, and Japanese reinforcements continued to arrive, but they were all blocked outside the city of Changchun.

Under field combat conditions, the conscripts who could get fire support from heavy artillery groups burst out with unimaginable combat effectiveness. The Japanese army was often still attacking when their way back was cut off by dense barrage of bullets. The volunteers on the position then only needed a counterattack to send them all to hell.

Now the Japanese army is increasingly finding that bayonet tactics are useless, because the volunteer army on the opposite side has developed to the point where every person is equipped with box guns, shotguns, and submachine guns. Although there are soldiers charging with bayonets, when they hear the creepy word "kill", they are definitely veterans of the volunteer army, the bayonet ghosts on the Songhu battlefield, and they are invincible monsters.

Private Ono did not participate in the Battle of Shanghai, but he had a high emotional intelligence and was very popular in the team. He was taken care of by the veterans. As time went by, he heard from the veterans about the terribleness of the volunteer army in the Battle of Shanghai, so he had already prepared himself mentally before joining the war.

But after the actual fight, Ono discovered that words could not replace reality after all. No matter how much preparation he made, it was meaningless. The powerful force of the Volunteer Army would easily crush all these preparations. The daily military training was simply a monkey show compared to the steel torrent of the Volunteer Army.

What's terrifying is not only the Volunteer Army's tanks, but also their endless variety of individual weapons. The tank teams that easily bully the Chinese army on weekdays will be killed by the Volunteer Army soldiers' sticks (iron fists) that can launch rockets, or they may be shot into sieves by machine guns equipped with armor-piercing bullets.

The Volunteer Army had countless heavy artillery and tanks during the offensive, but why did their line-filling troops also have so many tanks and heavy artillery? Don't their weapons and equipment cost money?

This is the illusion of the Japanese. Although players hope that each of their troops is the main force, it is impossible to do so in the actual implementation process. The consumption of infantry divisions and mechanized infantry divisions are two different concepts, and the consumption of mechanized infantry divisions and armored divisions are two different levels. A traditional infantry division only needs about 100 tons of supplies a day, but an armored division needs at least 700 to 800 tons of supplies a day, and it is not surprising that it exceeds 1,000 tons. It is really a big money-eater.

As the saying goes: When the engine starts, it's worth a fortune.

I remember there was a question on Colonial Call, asking what would happen if we gave a combined brigade to other countries?

The answer is that country will soon become the most martial country in the world except for Wuchang. This is the value of a great power's heavy weapons. Only the industrial Cthulhu can afford to support Godzilla.

However, the players themselves are also aware that filling the line with pure infantry divisions will consume a lot of resources, so on the one hand, they try to find solutions with individual weapons, and on the other hand, they try to find solutions with armored vehicles.

No one stipulates that infantry divisions cannot arrange some armored vehicles, so players give those armored cars and armored vehicles modified from T-34 chassis that can tow artillery to infantry divisions. At the same time, they distribute motorcycles to the infantry divisions to the best of their ability. If that doesn't work, they use mules and horses. In short, they try their best to ensure that the soldiers can travel on wheels or four legs when conducting tactical maneuvers.

In addition, some light tanks were assigned to the infantry division, which eventually formed an armored infantry division that looked weird in the eyes of the Japanese. Anyway, if you say this is an infantry division, the Japanese will definitely get angry with you.

Your infantry division has so many armored vehicles and tanks! ?

At this time, the Volunteer Army's Northeast First Front Army was responsible for intercepting the Japanese reinforcements heading east of Changchun, and it was also the best equipped.

Even so, there was still a considerable proportion of new recruits in this army. However, after absorbing the veterans of the Anti-Japanese United Army, this ratio barely became one to one, and Commander Yang personally took charge of the command.

To be honest, it's a bit tense. The Northeast First Front Army has three divisions, and the division-level size of the Volunteer Army is about 20,000 people, so this is a force of nearly 60,000 people. Before, the largest combat scale of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army did not exceed 1,000 people, and now it has expanded fifty times. Even if Commander Yang studies hard and reads books seriously on weekdays, he is still unable to cope with it.

Fortunately, the Volunteer Army sent professional staff to assist, and the troops were in high spirits, well-equipped, and could get fire support from all directions at any time, which directly stuck the Japanese reinforcements in Jilin. The original reinforcements were forced to defend the city and wait for help, and they were beaten so badly.

In fact, their original defense line was not here, but after the actual exchange of fire, Commander Yang found that the Japanese were very weak, so he began to let the troops advance slowly, which is the standard "build a strong camp and fight a stupid battle", just like a caterpillar advancing along the railway line, and then he looked up and saw that they had arrived in Jilin.

Is the Japanese's combat effectiveness so poor?

It's not that the Japanese's combat effectiveness has declined, but that their war potential has been consumed too much and they can no longer keep up. The hundreds of thousands of people lost in the Battle of Shanghai were all elite Japanese troops, and those old Japanese soldiers could not be replenished in a short period of time. At that time, the Northeast Army sent part of its troops to the Battle of Shanghai, but as a result, most of these elite troops were killed. The remaining ones can only be called survivors. They trembled when facing the volunteers, and their hands shook when they heard the charge. Their morale was directly reduced by half. How exaggerated the losses of new recruits compared to old soldiers can be, as proved by the US-Japan casualty ratio in the later period of the Pacific Campaign.

After all, Japan is not the British Empire. As an island country, its war potential is very limited. Britain's strength is maintained by sucking blood from the whole world. Japan cannot do this, which is why it can only be regarded as a second-rate power.

Back then, impoverished and weak China was able to bleed Japan to the point where it could no longer take care of itself through a protracted war. Its later strategy completely became a crazy fantasy. Now, the volunteer army that can directly cut open the Japanese army's aorta to bleed it will only make the Japanese reach the limit of their national strength faster and quickly start a downward spiral.

You know, before 1945, Japan's homeland was still safe in the Northeast, which was their resource base. But now the volunteer army's knife has directly stabbed into their hearts, forcing Japan to fight desperately. This continuous high-intensity consumption immediately exposed Japan's lack of follow-up war potential disadvantages.

From the time when the Chinese People's Volunteer Army appeared on the scene during the Second Battle of Shanghai in 1937 to February 1939, less than two years have passed. However, Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Policy has been sent to the ICU by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and is now on the verge of being extubated.

The insightful people in the Japanese government have long seen this, but what can they do? They dare not speak out.

Since no one puts the brakes on Japan's chariot, it can only go down the same path until the end, continuing to consume its own strength in a place where it is doomed to fail, until the day comes when all the people are awakened.

"The Empire cannot continue to consume at this rate!"

Ishiwara Kanji, who had just inspected the Jilin front, sighed. He was now in deep worry.

As the planner of the September 918th Incident, the biggest difference between him and other militarists was that he was more or less smart. He knew that China was too big and Japan was too small, and that the premise for a snake to swallow an elephant was that the elephant did not resist. Therefore, he proposed the strategy of "nibbling away" at China, hoping that Japan would move slower and more steadily.

But as the person who launched the 918 Incident, his suggestions were obviously not convincing compared with his actions. At least those young military officers who regarded him as an example of "overthrowing the superiors" and establishing merits felt that the empire needed a proper push from them at a certain critical point so that it could achieve great things.

As for whether that node is appropriate, who cares? The worst that can happen is that I will pay with my life. This is a patriotic combination of skills that I and other comrades-in-arms have gambled our lives on!

After pondering for a while, Ishiwara Kanji took out a pen and paper. He had to do something, otherwise the empire's foundation would not last for thousands of years, and his generation might even become the last tragedy of the Meiji Restoration.

If possible, it would be best to advise the Emperor directly. I don't know if it would be feasible to follow Tojo's approach, or if I could give a heads-up to all the big guys and try to increase the chances of success.

Just as Ishiwara Kanji was pondering, the volunteer army far away in Mongolia did something big.

They headed straight for Chita.

Chapter 76: Burning Chita

(Second update! There’s more to come! Where are everyone’s tickets?)

Since the German army did not attack Chita in the history of World War II, this place does not feel familiar, but the name seems very Chinese.

That's right, because before the signing of the Treaty of Nerchinsk, Chita belonged to us, and then it belonged to Russia.

I believe that at this time someone will jump out to denounce Man Qing's treason and pursuit of personal gain. It is really a rubbish dynasty and its crimes deserve to be punished. The eighteen clans must be killed from top to bottom to vent the anger.

But please wait a minute, when the Treaty of Nerchinsk was signed, the Qing Dynasty was not yet in its final stages of development. The Manchu Qing Dynasty in the Kangxi era was still very combat-capable. Of course, at that time, wars were mainly fought with the Eight Banners of Han, but the feudal dynasty in its rising period was indeed full of martial virtues. The Treaty of Nerchinsk was the best result that the Qing court could achieve under the historical background and conditions at the time. Moreover, the treaty used "China" as the official name of a sovereign state for the first time, rather than the name of the Qing Dynasty. It clearly regarded the Qing Dynasty and Russia as equal entities, laying the legal foundation for modern international relations. To a certain extent, it can be said that the previous generation planted trees for the future generations to enjoy the shade.

Mite Green is indeed rubbish, but if you criticize it in an objective way, what's the difference between you and those keyboard warriors? They only have emotions, no knowledge, and all they do is vent. It's a waste of time.

Given the internal and external conditions of the Qing Dynasty at the time, especially the Galdan Rebellion, which almost led to an alliance with Tsarist Russia, the Qing Dynasty was indeed meritorious in forcing Tsarist Russia to retreat under such circumstances and laying the foundation for the external environment for the subsequent suppression of Galdan. This must be acknowledged. However, the value of Chita at the time was obviously not enough for the Qing court to do its utmost to preserve it.

But to be reasonable, we Chinese have been operating here for many years, and you, the Soviet Union, including the previous Tsarist Russia, have been operating here for many years. We have had ownership of this place since ancient times. Why should you take it away? We must conquer it!

Taking Chita would have a fatal effect on cutting off the Soviet Union's Far Eastern artery.

The Soviet Union is indeed vast and rich in resources, but the cost of developing permafrost is very high. Otherwise, why did Tsarist Russia try every means to build railways to the south of its territory instead of directly going around the Arctic, where there is more strategic depth and the railways are safer?

It can't be repaired. The cost of explosives along the way is probably higher than the cost of building the railway. The Soviet Union had planned such a grand project in the past, but after doing the abacus, it was clear that this job couldn't be done!

Moreover, whether it is a railway or a highway, there are not only construction costs, but also maintenance costs, and these costs are basically borne by the cities along the line. When a city becomes a local transportation hub, the economy will also pick up, and this amount of money can still be afforded. Even if central funding is needed in the early stage, the cost can be recovered quickly.

But this is the Far East, Siberia, a vast land with a sparse population. At this time in 1939, the local population was not measured in terms of how many people per square kilometer, but how many square kilometers per person. Urban construction could not be carried out and economic development could not be accelerated. The population would definitely move to places with better life and lower costs. Then the population in the Far East became fewer and fewer, and finally development shrank, and railway maintenance became a state of deficit.

Why, after the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, did Russia ultimately establish a cooperative model, despite numerous objections within the country? It's because only by doing so can Russia's Far East be revitalized and the other head of the double-headed eagle be erected. Otherwise, it will remain in a state of limbo. While we must be wary of Russia's greed, they are not fools after all; they know what to do and when to do it.

Northeast China will develop sooner or later. It was not Ozawa who helped develop Northeast China, but the fact that he let Ukraine and Russia fight to the death accelerated the process of Northeast China's revitalization. We must clarify the relationship between the two.

With the basis of "since ancient times", the next thing to do is to recover the homeland. Conquering the Wolf and Juxu was a great achievement in ancient times, and now confining the bear to the north is also an achievement of the new era.

After learning that the volunteer army troops in Mongolia had begun to take action, Zhukov was panicked.

Looking at the calendar, it is now February 1939. At this time, the temperature in Siberia is minus 2 degrees Celsius. The volunteer army can ignore all casualties and consumption, but the Soviet army cannot fight like this.

The only thing that made Zhukov feel a little relieved was that the volunteers must be very tired after the long expedition. They were afraid that their troops would be defeated miserably at the gates of Chita, which would become his honor...

"Danger!"

Zhukov, who was thinking about something, was suddenly knocked to the ground by his guards and several layers of people were pressed on him. The roar of bombers was heard in the sky, and the B17 Kunpeng bombers belonging to the Volunteer Army began to drop bombs.

A fire in winter was indeed a fire. The bombs dropped were all napalm bombs, and Chita caught fire in a very short time. However, the players still had some morals. As long as the Soviet army did not set up anti-aircraft guns in residential areas, the bombs would not be dropped on the residential areas. They would only bomb military targets such as power plants, railways, post offices, barracks, and some dual-use targets.

For example, the volunteer army did not touch local schools and hospitals. In any case, they were more conscientious than Israel.

The Soviet anti-aircraft guns began to roar, but were quickly eliminated point by point by the accompanying Stukas. What had happened to the Japanese army now happened to the Soviet army in the same way.

But players clearly feel that the Soviet army is more difficult to deal with.

After all, it was a country that completed the five-year plan through the centralized advantages of the socialist planned economy. At that time, the Soviet Union's industrial output value had reached the second place in the world. In 1937, it had already increased its industrial output value to 10% of the world's total, and its steel production had reached 18 million tons. It was already a well-established industrialized power and just needed a war to prove itself.

Without these foundations, the first round of attack by German tanks would have been enough to smash the entire Soviet Union to pieces.

Moreover, the Soviet army had carefully analyzed the technical and tactical characteristics of the Volunteer Army and carried out targeted replacement of equipment, such as greatly increasing the number of anti-aircraft guns and starting mass production of 85mm anti-aircraft guns a year in advance. This thing is the one that will be equipped on the future T-34/85. Converting World War II anti-aircraft guns into tank guns is also a tradition of the times.

Compared with the Japanese's Showa air defense, the Soviet anti-aircraft guns obviously hurt more and were more technologically advanced, causing players losses far exceeding those of the Japanese. However, in terms of fighter jets, the Soviet army is still not good enough at the moment.

The main aircraft models in the Far East were the I-15 and I-16. Neither the biplane nor the first monoplane could defeat the Bf109 and FW190.

This time it was true. Zhukov saw with his own eyes the fighter planes on his side disappearing like snowflakes in the sky. The pictures showed the truth.

It’s not that the Soviet pilots didn’t try hard. They tried their best, but their planes couldn’t even smell the enemy’s exhaust. Even when they were circling and fighting at low altitude, the volunteers could use more tricks and easily shoot down the Soviet planes.

"Airplanes, we need more and more advanced planes!"

After the volunteers completed the bombing, they left in style, leaving behind a burning city of Chita.

"Where are our bombers? Let them take off and target Ulaanbaatar. We absolutely cannot afford to be attacked passively!"

Zhukov's judgment was correct. Although it was winter and it was difficult for the army to be deployed, if the enemy was bombing them every day, their morale would definitely decline faster than the Three Gorges Dam flood.

The good news is that the Soviet Union still has a bomber that can play a role at this time - Il-4. Its current code name is DB-3, and the name Il-4 was changed in 1942.

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, the Soviet giant bear must take revenge!

"General, we only have three bombers capable of taking off."

"What! Why are there only three left?" Zhukov was shocked.

Because the Soviet army had learned about the strength of the Volunteer Army's bomber unit through external intelligence, the planes in Chita were hidden and protected, and there was no reason why only three were left after being bombed.

The staff officer said bitterly: "The enemy's bombing is like having eyes, knowing exactly where we hid our planes. I suspect someone has betrayed the motherland!"

"Got it, don't make this public for now."