Chapter 428

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

The lead Type 38(t) light tank spotted the enemy ahead, braked sharply, and its tracks gouged two earthen dragons across the hard plain.

The tank commander stuck half his body out of the turret, observed for a moment, then grabbed the radio handset and called out:

"This is the Armored Reconnaissance Vanguard! Enemy armor main force spotted two kilometers ahead of our front! Current position: over a hundred enemy tanks! Repeat, over a hundred!"

Inside a command vehicle in the rear, Sun Liren heard the news, his eyes showing not a trace of fear, but instead igniting a kind of excitement.

"Reconnaissance vanguard, halt advance! Type 38(t) Tank Battalion, extend to both wings, vacate the front line, and simultaneously reconnoiter enemy conditions on both flanks!"

"Central Armored Group, all units hear this order! Maintain formation! Prepare to receive the Japanese tank cluster!"

As Sun Liren's military order was relayed, over two hundred Youth Army tanks gradually slowed, finally coming to a complete stop.

Five armored battalions, totaling 225 tanks.

Ninety Type 3 Assault Guns slowed gradually, their low, smooth contours spread horizontally across the plain like a long embankment cast of steel.

Long 75mm cannons pointed diagonally at the sky, then lowered in unison, locking onto the rolling dust clouds on the distant horizon.

Ninety Panzer III Medium Tanks guarded the left and right sides of the Type 3 Assault Guns, vigilant for any movement on the flanks, ensuring the assault guns' firepower.

Forty-five Type 38(t) light tanks turned into streaks of gray lightning, probing outward to both flanks to search for possible enemies on the wings.

Viewed from high above, the defensive line formed by these 225 tanks stretched a steel front several kilometers wide across this plain.

This oppressive feeling, purely piled up from steel, was an unprecedented spectacle on this impoverished land of Xia Guo.

At the same time, inside the forward command headquarters of the Japanese Tank Division 3, Lieutenant General Xiyuan Yice lowered his telescope, his expression stern.

"The Chinaman's armored force... has actually developed to such a scale?"

But Xiyuan Yice quickly regained his composure, waving his command sword and pointing forward.

"Transmit order to Tank 5th Brigade: charge at full speed head-on, at any cost draw enemy fire, and pin them down!"

"Tank 6th Brigade and rd Mobile Infantry Regiment, immediately slash diagonally from northwest to southeast! I want to kick hard at the waist of Lv Muzhi's armored group!"

"Like encircling and annihilating Chinese infantry, use our steel Locust Army to make them collapse under pincer attack!"

Xiyuan Yice's clever scheme was to use a powerful armored force to hold the front and draw Lv Muzhi's attention, then have a powerful surprise force on the flank execute a flanking attack.

This tactic of a punch to the front and a kick to the waist had proven effective time and again on the Xia Kingdom battlefield.

As the Japanese military order was relayed.

Before the Youth Army Armored Group's front, over a hundred Type 97 Chi-Ha and Type 95 tanks, like a bursting flood, charged at full speed toward the Youth Army position.

Eight kilometers from the Youth Army Armored Group's left wing, over a hundred tanks of the Japanese Tank 6th Brigade, along with countless trucks and armored vehicles under rd Mobile Infantry Regiment, formed a huge arc, attempting to raid the Youth Army Armored Group from the left wing.

Within the Youth Army Armored Group, the Type 3 Assault Gun served as the main firepower for this battle.

A Type 3 Assault Gun named "Iron Man" crouched quietly behind a gentle slope.

Tank Commander Wang Tie removed his dust goggles, wiped the dirt from his face, and stared fixedly at the markings in the periscope.

"Twelve o'clock direction, Japanese lead tank, distance sixteen hundred meters. Armor-piercing High-explosive Shell, load!"

Gunner Li San held his breath, his right hand quickly turning the Elevation Handwheel, the Crosshair constantly correcting on the jumping Japanese shadows.

Boom—!

The Type 3 Assault Gun shuddered violently, cannon muzzle fire surging, a 75mm Armor-piercing High-explosive Shell slicing through the Long Sky at a speed hard for the naked eye to discern.

The first shot went high, exploding dozens of meters behind the Japanese tank into a huge column of earth.

"Too high! Adjust the density position downward!"

"Old Li, are you blind? Aiming point!"

"Correct the density position, distance fifteen hundred, fire!"

The gun recoiled again; this time, the shell precisely struck the front armor of a speeding Type 95 Light Tank.

The Japanese armor, thin as cicada wings, was still like butter cut by a hot knife at fifteen hundred meters; the shell penetrated the hull instantly.

"Target destroyed!"

"A sniper kill at fifteen hundred meters! Nice!" Cheers erupted within the crew.

"Don't celebrate too early, keep fighting!" Tank Commander Wang Tie reminded them.

The target shifted to a Type 97 Kai Medium Tank speeding forward at full speed, the tank model the Japanese currently took most pride in.

Wang Tie's Type 3 Assault Gun crew opened fire on a Type 97 Kai Medium Tank.

The first shot landed dozens of meters ahead of the Type 97 Kai, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Too low! Raise it!"

Gunner Li San adjusted the angle, and the second shot struck the ground on the side of the Japanese Type 97 Kai.

Tank Commander Wang Tie cursed anxiously: "Damn it, missed! Adjust the firing table to the right!"

The loader picked up a 75mm Armor-piercing High-explosive Shell, preparing to load.

Hearing Tank Commander Wang Tie's curses, Li San observed through the Gun Sight while adjusting the firing table, muttering softly: "At such a distance... hitting one already isn't bad..."

At this moment, the loader shouted: "Shell loading complete!"

As Li San calmly stepped on the Firing Pedal, the Type 3 Assault Gun vehicle shook.

A 75mm shell was fired, flying toward a Japanese Type 97 Kai Medium Tank.

The Japanese Type 97 Kai Medium Tank, which they boasted was the strongest, meant nothing before the Type 3 Assault Gun.

Only a sharp clang was heard, followed by an earth-shattering secondary explosion, the Type 97 Kai's turret blown directly into the air.

"Target eliminated!"

Tank Commander Wang Tie excitedly waved his fist: "Hit it! Lao Li, you son of a bitch are a real genius!"

The hot blood of the entire tank crew boiled over at this moment.

With a clang, a shell flew in and struck the frontal armor of the Type 3 Assault Gun.

The sound of the impact was so loud that the five men in Wang Tie's tank crew fell silent for two seconds.

The tank commander, driver, machine gunner, gunner, and loader observed the interior of the Type 3 Assault Gun and found nothing abnormal.

Tank Commander Wang Tie laughed heartily: "The devils can't penetrate our Type 3 Assault Gun! Fire quickly, keep firing!"

"At a distance of over a thousand meters, our frontal armor reaches eighty millimeters; the Japanese Army's tanks pose no threat to us, yet we can easily destroy Japanese tanks!"

"Even if Japanese Army tanks draw closer, they cannot penetrate our armor! Open fire! Our tank crew is the strongest!"

Not only was Wang Tie's tank crew's Type 3 Assault Gun harvesting Japanese tanks at full force, but the other eighty-nine Type 3 Assault Guns were likewise firing recklessly!