Chapter 172: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 172: Escaping Unscathed

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

"Colonel Excellency! Behind! Behind! The Chinks' tanks are catching up!" the Imperial driver on the truck shouted desperately, glancing at the observer on the rearview mirror.

The Artillery Regiment Commander sitting in the passenger seat had actually been observing the rear all along; amidst the rolling dust and smoke, dozens of steel silhouettes were rapidly closing in—the low turrets and speeding tracks could only be enemy tanks.

At this moment, what the Artillery Regiment Commander cared about most were the last few Type 24 155mm Howitzers at the rear of the column; due to their excessive weight, important parts were slowly moving behind.

With a booming bang, from the Artillery Regiment Commander's perspective, a truck carrying the massive barrel of a Type 24 155mm Howitzer suddenly exploded, obviously hit by the Youth Army's tank force, and the heavy artillery parts on the truck were also blown to pieces.

"Baka! Accelerate! Accelerate faster!" the Artillery Regiment Commander shouted urgently; those few Type 24 155mm Howitzers were obviously unsalvageable, and at this moment he could only try to save more artillery pieces and artillerymen.

The truck driver gripped the steering wheel tightly, gritting his teeth, the accelerator already pressed to the bottom, "Colonel Excellency! The accelerator pedal is almost being stepped into the fuel tank by me! The 150mm howitzer hanging behind is too heavy, and there are many artillerymen sitting on the driver's compartment! The truck simply can't outrun the Chinks' tracks!"

The regiment commander watched despairingly as the tank clusters in the rearview mirror drew ever closer, especially those few Type 24 Heavy Guns being slowly towed; their huge bodies were now the most conspicuous targets.

"All vehicles, all vehicles." Zhou Weiguo's steady voice sounded over the radio channel, "Prioritize attacking the enemy's heavy artillery towing vehicles and mule-and-horse teams! T Tank Company takes the left wing, Type 3 Company follows me to attack the right wing, Anti-Aircraft Vehicle Unit follows in the center to suppress, sweep away the enemy's manpower! Motorcycle Infantry moves with the Anti-Aircraft Vehicle Unit!"

As soon as the order was given, the steel torrent immediately split left and right, like a powerful pair of pincers, firmly clamping the fleeing Imperial artillery regiment.

A T Light Tank took the lead in striking, the cannon muzzle adjusted slightly, and the 37mm cannon boomed.

Boom!

The shell precisely hit the middle of the truck towing a 150mm howitzer; the violent explosion directly tore the truck into two sections, with burning wreckage and twisted gun barrels tumbling onto the road, instantly blocking part of the passage.

The vehicles behind failed to dodge in time, crashing into each other one after another, causing a chaotic scene.

"Target hit! Continue!" the T Company Commander cheered over the channel.

On the right wing, Zhou Weiguo personally commanding the Panzer III Medium Tank Company set its sights on a bigger target—a Type 24 Howitzer being towed by a heavy towing vehicle, partially disassembled, but with its carriage and massive barrel still clearly visible.

"Aim at the towing vehicle, high-explosive shell, fire!"

Bang! Boom!

The 50mm high-explosive shell whistled out; although it did not directly hit the towing vehicle's cab, it exploded near the rear of the vehicle and the carriage connection.

The shockwave and shrapnel instantly cut through part of the Steel City's frame; the heavy barrel sank accordingly, and the entire huge cannon, like a beached whale, stopped askew, unable to move an inch.

"It's over... it's all over..." the Artillery Regiment Commander, seeing this scene through the car window, turned ashen and muttered to himself.

Greater disaster was yet to come; twelve Light Anti-Aircraft Vehicles, like hyenas closely following, tightly trailed the Imperial artillery towing vehicles and mule-and-horse transport teams, continuously firing from behind but not charging into the enemy formation.

The twin-mounted 20mm Oerlikon Cannons leveled, aiming at the Imperial artillerymen attempting to return fire with rifles or even pistols, and the frightened mule-and-horse teams scattering everywhere, beginning a merciless harvest.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

The continuous machine cannon formed dense barrages; the hit mules and horses were instantly torn apart, blood and flesh and organs scattered everywhere, and the artillery parts they carried were scattered all over.

Those Imperial artillerymen who failed to jump off the vehicles or find cover were even more fragile before the 20mm shells; often a single shell could cut a person in half or blow them into a cloud of blood mist. The scene was extremely bloody, and the entire retreat route instantly turned into a Shura field.

"Hahaha! Satisfying! Little devil, try your grandpa's might!" On the sidecar of a motorcycle with sidecar, a Youth Army soldier holding an MG34 General Purpose Machine Gun crazily swept fire while shouting loudly.

Scorching shell casings poured out from the right side of the gun like a waterfall; the motorcycle nimbly weaved through the battlefield, using dense firepower to shoot at scattered Japanese soldiers and the trucks and mules-and-horses on the move.

Zhou Weiguo calmly observed the battlefield; seeing that the little devils' formation had been scattered and more than half eliminated, he ordered: "T Tank Company, full power, get ahead of the devils, block their way; the rear Anti-Aircraft Tank Company and Motorcycle Infantry go to the left wing, take over the T Tank Company's original position!"

After the order was issued, several T Light Tanks, relying on their high-speed maneuverability, rushed ahead of the Imperial Artillery Regiment Commander's vehicle, blocking the path of the remaining surviving Imperial artillerymen.

The Anti-Aircraft Vehicle Unit originally at the rear, to avoid friendly fire, moved to the left side to continue searching for attack targets.

The Artillery Regiment Commander saw tank after tank drive onto the road ahead, completely blocking his only way out, and his heart was already utterly despairing.

"Colonel Excellency, the enemy has blocked our way; should we stop... what should we do?" the Imperial truck driver asked in panic.

The Artillery Regiment Commander gritted his teeth, directly opened an ammunition box under his feet, and lifted a 150mm howitzer shell from inside.

"Load it for me! Accelerate!"

Saying this, the Artillery Regiment Commander, like a madman, raised the shell high above his head with both hands, wanting this shell to gain courage.

The Imperial truck driver also went mad, shouting for Emperor Tenghuang, one foot desperately stomping on the accelerator, wanting to directly ram over the several Panzer III tanks on the road ahead.

But obviously that was impossible.

After several Panzer III tanks stabilized their bodies, they successively fired shells at the Artillery Regiment Commander's truck.

With a booming bang, all the devils on the entire vehicle, including the regiment commander in the passenger seat, all returned to the West.

The remaining Imperial remnants could not escape the fate of death either.

Zhou Weiguo ordered the Anti-Aircraft Tank Company to fire machine cannons at the ammunition boxes scattered on the ground, and other tanks also opened fire on the Imperial heavy artillery in good condition, striving to destroy this batch of Imperial heavy artillery.

After a sweeping attack, Zhou Weiguo led the troops back to the division to withdraw forces.

Returning along the original route, picking up the infantry left behind to entangle with the Imperial infantry battalion, heading toward Miaohang direction, retreating along the road they came.

However, Imperial reinforcements also arrived at the battlefield at this time; not reinforcements sent by the 11th Division and the 101st Division, but coming from the Changjiang River Mouth side, obviously reinforcements directly under the China Expeditionary Army, should be sent by the old devil Matsui Iwane.

The old devil Matsui Iwane urgently organized a batch of anti-tank firepower and joined the battlefield.

Taisho 11 Year Type 37mm Field Gun, Type 94 37mm Rapid-fire Gun, Type 96 25mm Anti-Aircraft Machine Cannon, Type 98 20mm Machine Cannon, pieced together a force to deal with Zhou Weiguo's tank company, plus more than ten Type 89 Medium Tanks.

However Zhou Weiguo did not care; his combat objective had already been achieved, destroying the Imperial heavy artillery force at Jiangwan Town, losing one tank and several motorcycles and bicycles, and there was no need to continue dragging on with the devils, lest the devils play dirty and send more reinforcements, then it would be a loss outweighing the gain.

"Regimental Commander, the Imperial reinforcements are biting tight!" a Tank Commander contacted Zhou Weiguo via radio.

"Ignore them, full speed ahead, we'll quit while we're ahead."

The words had just fallen when Lv Ziqing's voice came over Zhou Weiguo's radio: "Regimental Commander Zhou, advance quickly; I will block the pursuers myself!"