The Rise of the Third Reich

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

The first thing to greet the ferocious "armored impact" of the US military was the 35-caliber high-explosive shells fired from the two battleships "Hiei" and "Kirishima" on the ocean near Haleiva Beach. Those are two battleships firing! The whistling shells hit the front line composed of US tanks and infantry. The 152mm secondary battery shells were better. As long as they did not directly hit the tanks, they only killed some infantry.

The power of the 356mm artillery shells is astonishing. Just when it flies over from the sky, it makes the sound of a train passing by. Every time a 356mm artillery shell explodes, it creates a huge gap in the US military's offensive front, destroying the U.S. military's offensive line. Everything within the scope of the explosion was thrown out, and even the M3 tank was easily overturned. As for the infantry, they were blown to pieces before they even had time to scream.

In the face of the huge destructive power of the battleship's main gun, the tank, the king of land warfare, is really not much different from a child's toy. However, the offensive formation set up by the US military tonight was relatively loose, and there were only two Japanese battleships participating in the bombardment. Therefore, the scene looked scary, but the damage caused was not too great. However, the attacking U.S. soldiers were still quite shaken. The infantry following the tanks were in chaos. Some turned around and ran away, while some were frightened by the power of the battleship's main gun and ran around screaming, but more The people lying down one after another looked for cover, and no one could care about covering the tank.

The tank rushing in front had no place to hide, and it had no intention of stopping. Instead, it increased its power and moved forward, as if it wanted to rush through the death zone created by the battleship's gunfire faster. As long as you rush into the Japanese army's position, you can use the crawler tracks to crush those yellow-skinned monkeys who dare to offend the majesty of the American Empire!

"The tanks and infantry are out of touch?" Masao Maruyama, who was supervising the battle, saw this scene through the telescope and whispered an armored soldier's term in English.

"Yes." Paulus also answered in English, "Infantry must never forget that protecting tanks is their important mission, and tank soldiers must not forget to protect infantry. This is the basic principle of armored force operations, but many troops cannot do it. At this point, the infantry and tanks will be out of touch once the artillery fires."

"So we will be able to fight off the Americans soon?"

"It's not that easy," Paulus said. "The first line of defense will definitely be breached, because the bombardment of the battleship's main guns can't last for a few minutes. Didn't your navy say that the main guns don't have much ammunition? The 152mm secondary gun can We can't create such a momentum. However, the American tanks will be greatly weakened after breaking through our first line of defense. The second or third line of defense should be able to block these tanks, and then we can use the support of naval guns. Fight back."

The method Paulus mentioned is the method that the German Wehrmacht is currently preparing to use to defend against the Soviet tank sea - instead of concentrating its forces on the front line, it adopts a deep layout, using space to consume the kinetic energy of the armored force's assault, while also avoiding a line of defense. Being breached caused the entire line to collapse.

While Paulus and Maruyama were talking, American tanks and some infantry (not all infantry were lying still) had rushed to a distance of less than 250 meters in front of the Japanese first line of defense.

At this time, the mortars deployed behind the Japanese positions fired dozens of illumination bombs, forming "little suns" shining with white light above the charging US tanks, illuminating the battlefield below pale.

Major Yusaku Yamada, the commander of the combat artillery brigade attached to the Japanese 2nd Division, fiercely removed the straw hoop on his head, pointed forward with his command knife: "Let go!"

The 19 37mm rapid-fire guns deployed behind the Japanese position showed their muzzles, and the gunners also took off the cover and violently pushed the ammunition into the chamber. Then the match rope was pulled, and deadly tongues of flame spewed out from each muzzle!

The Japanese Army's Type 1 37mm rapid-fire gun is an improved version of the Type 94 anti-tank gun. It was originally intended to be used against new Soviet tanks (I don't know if it is KV1 or T34?), but now it can be used against the American M3. The M3 tank is a light tank with a total combat weight of 12.7 tons. The thickest part of the frontal armor is 44mm. At a distance of 250 meters, a 37mm rapid-fire cannon can barely penetrate it.

The combat defense artillery of the 2nd Division are all well-trained, and the distance of about 250 meters is close enough. Therefore, the accuracy of the first wave of artillery fire was very high. 15 of the armor-piercing rounds hit the target. 4 of them failed to penetrate the armor of the M3 tank due to the shooting angle. 3 of the remaining 11 rounds hit the M3. The tracks of the tank and 8 rounds penetrated the armor of the M3 tank and exploded inside the tank, paralyzing the tank.

All the U.S. tanks hit by the anti-tank guns stopped moving forward and began to turn their muzzles and fire at the place where the muzzle flash had just appeared. A small number of infantrymen following the tanks immediately dispersed and also fired at the Japanese trenches ahead with Browning M11 Garand rifles.

In a shallow trench dug by the Japanese more than 200 meters in front of the American infantry and tanks, the Japanese infantry also began to use Type 38 rifles, Type 11 light machine guns, Type 92 heavy machine guns, and the Japanese Army's unique 50mm The grenades returned fire. For a moment, the battlefield was filled with orange and dark red lights flying around at extremely fast speeds, fireballs rising from time to time, and bits and pieces of muzzle flashes. It looked very lively and attracted everyone's attention.

Sergeant Jiro Yamada from the countryside of Kurokawa County, Sendai Prefecture, half-poked his head out of a foxhole camouflaged with branches and leaves of Hawaiian coconut trees, and immediately smelled the choking smell of gunpowder. Bullets and 37mm shells whizzed over his head, bringing gusts of hot wind. However, Yamada didn't care at all. His eyes were attracted by an M3 tank 30-40 meters ahead that was firing with 37mm and machine guns. This was the purpose of squatting in this muddy foxhole! He picked up the "Iron Fist" anti-tank grenade launcher, which looked unreliable, and then, according to the requirements of training, he first turned on the safety, then carried the "Iron Fist" on his shoulder, then aimed the spindle-shaped warhead at the tank in front, and suddenly pressed the trigger switch. I felt a stream of heat gushing out from behind, and the "Iron Fist" launcher on my shoulder shook violently. The spindle-shaped warhead flew towards the huge M3 tank in front of me at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, it slammed into the front of the M3 tank and turned into a huge fireball. Then I saw a huge orange-red fire suddenly burst out from the top of the tank!

Jiro Yamada, who was ready to become a god, was stunned by the scene in front of him - such a crudely made weapon actually worked! Now there is no need to go to Kudanzaka for the time being.

"This is..." Colonel Collins suddenly put down the telescope in his hand, turned his head and said to Admiral Short, "Admiral, I saw several tanks exploded!"

"Explosion? Was it the 37mm gun that hit the ammunition and exploded?" Admiral Short also noticed that M3 tanks were often turned into fireballs by the Japanese on the battlefield - this kind of M3 tank is too unreliable, right? After the Battle of Hawaii, I must suggest that the Army Department make the tanks stronger, and the front armor must be at least 100mm thick.

Colonel Collins also agreed with Admiral Short's conjecture. However, there is nothing to be afraid of anti-tank guns, unless these anti-tank guns can be deployed flexibly and relocated at any time, otherwise they will be targets for howitzers. So he suggested: "Admiral, the artillery has been redeployed and can start bombarding the rear of the Japanese front line." "Okay, 10 minutes of shelling should be able to eliminate more than two-thirds of the anti-tank guns." Admiral Short immediately nodded and agreed with Colonel Collins's suggestion. His tank cluster combat is now similar to infantry, and the key is to cooperate with artillery. Admiral Short believes that tanks should cooperate with artillery, while his opponent, the Japanese, believes that tanks should cooperate with submarines... Just as the American tanks and the Japanese "Iron Fist" on the plains of Oahu Island were passionately colliding, about 30 Japanese Navy tanks had quietly surfaced under the cover of night on the sea near Waikiki Beach south of Oahu Island. Rudolf von Ribbentrop was standing on the command tower of the I-16 submarine at this time, staring at a group of navy men fiddling with tanks.

He saw these navy tank soldiers take out a bunch of machines from the submarine's open hatch and start installing them. These were the tank engines and generators. In order to prevent water from entering during transportation, they had to be disassembled and stored and installed before being put into use. The navy tank soldiers who assembled the engines and generators were all skilled workers and completed the installation in less than 15 minutes. Then these people began to install the buoys skillfully. After the buoys were installed, a tank became a ship with tracks and four pairs of road wheels. The whole process took about 30 minutes.

Just as these navy tank soldiers were equipping the engines and buoys, a large number of Japanese marines began to climb out of the cabins of 15 large submarines that floated on the water. Each submarine carried forty-five fully armed marines.

In addition, each large cruiser submarine also carries three "small engine boats" on its deck. 60 Marines will board the three "small engine boats" and follow the amphibious tanks called the Type 2 Inner Fire Boat to rush to Waikiki Beach.

If the assault on the beach is successful, the 30 tanks will lead the 900 Marines to attack Diamond Head near Waikiki Beach. If the assault on Diamond Head is also successful, the 305mm mortar deployed by the US military there may be destroyed or captured!