northernbook Chapter 1133 Weak Industrial Strength
Chapter 1133 Weak Industrial Strength
On the surface, the Japanese have entered the ranks of the world's advanced countries, and this is what they themselves have claimed. Many of their own citizens also believe the government's propaganda.
However, in many core technologies, the gap between them and developed countries is actually quite significant. In some developed Western countries, modifying a machine gun would be a very easy task, and it is already in widespread deployment.
However, this was a very difficult thing for Japan; otherwise, they wouldn't have put something like the Type 92 heavy machine gun on an anti-aircraft machine gun.
This weapon is indeed effective against infantry; although its rate of fire is not very high, its accuracy in burst fire is extremely high.
The problem is that the accuracy of burst fire is not directly related to shooting down aircraft. Aircraft are extremely fast, disappearing in the blink of an eye. If the range is too short, then this anti-aircraft machine gun is definitely a failure, no matter how excellent it is in other aspects, it will be useless in shooting down aircraft.
The facts quickly proved this to the Japanese officers and soldiers. All the bullets fired by their anti-aircraft machine guns went behind the planes, even if they had fired ahead of the target, and their aim was very accurate. This must have been fired by an ace from one of the divisions, but with only 30 rounds, it was simply not enough to do anything to the planes in the sky.
Many air defense soldiers grumbled and complained, feeling they had performed about as well as they had in regular training, or even exceeded expectations. Unfortunately, the planes in the sky remained unharmed. As for the light machine guns mounted on the soldiers' shoulders, they were probably even less effective.
When facing charging infantry, those things often jammed, let alone when facing aircraft in the sky. These Stuka bombers were initially on high alert, but after a while, they found the ground anti-aircraft fire to be utterly ineffective, so they simply decided to engage in free-for-all attacks.
Before they arrived, their superiors had told them that the Japanese army's air defense capabilities had been significantly strengthened, so they couldn't act the same way as before. They needed to pay attention to coordinated operations, with some drawing anti-aircraft fire while others launched attacks. They did just that at first, and within 10 minutes, the Japanese air defenses had been completely neutralized.
Since that's the case, our pilots had nothing to say, and everyone began to disperse and clean up the trash for our ground troops.
After each had chosen its target, the Stuka bombers roared down from the sky, each carrying 250-kilogram bombs, enough to shatter any target on the ground.
When the advancing Tiger Regiment saw the smoke rising from the distant explosions, the brothers wished they could floor the gas. Our current advance speed was already fast enough, but the air force's attack power was simply too strong. If we were any slower, we'd be good for nothing more than capturing prisoners. This was our first battle since arriving on the battlefield from the north.
The Japanese soldiers initially held a sliver of hope, thanks to the addition of several anti-aircraft machine guns. Compared to before, they now possessed the capability to counter enemy aircraft. However, within ten minutes, the power of these anti-aircraft machine guns became apparent. Not only did they fail to hit the enemy planes, but they also shattered the Japanese officers' and soldiers' hopes.
Establishing an air defense force was something they had in mind. Previously, facing the 72nd Army's aircraft, things were slightly better if there was Japanese air cover. Without Japanese air cover, we were like lambs to the slaughter on the ground.
With the addition of these anti-aircraft weapons, they felt things would get a little better. But the anti-aircraft weapons proved largely ineffective, instead shattering their morale. The troops originally tasked with guarding the area around the anti-aircraft weapons scattered and fled upon seeing this. After all, aircraft in the sky specifically target anti-aircraft weapons.
In less than five minutes, the bombers had dropped almost all their bombs. Then, the bombers lined up in neat rows and began strafing from east to west. The return journey was entirely within our territory, so naturally, we didn't need to take all the machine gun ammunition back with us.
The Stuka bomber had two machine guns, each carrying 1200 rounds of ammunition. It was firing its way through the enemy ranks, and from the sky, the bullet belts on the ground formed a long line, cutting directly through the entire Japanese army column.
The Japanese troops roared around everywhere, but unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, how could they possibly outrun the planes in the sky? Besides, you didn't know where these planes would start their attack, so running around was pointless. Staying in one place might have saved your life, but who knew if you ran around randomly? It all came down to whether the bullets were meant to hit you or not.
Several soldiers ran so hard they were panting, barely able to catch their breath. They finally managed to climb over a few mud walls to the north, which meant they were out of town. The planes wouldn't be chasing them anymore, so they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as several soldiers were leaning against the mud wall, panting heavily, someone suddenly heard the roar of machinery, and not just one machine.
The Japanese soldiers exchanged glances, all seeing fear in each other's eyes. This was understandable; the 72nd Army always operated this way. By the time their air force began its retreat, their ground troops had likely already entered the battlefield.
According to some veterans, their ground forces are not the same as ours. Ours has at most 100 men surrounding a single tank, and that's considered our strongest fighting force. The enemy has a vast array of tanks and armored vehicles; if you die quickly, you won't even see the infantry behind those vehicles.
Fear was written all over their faces, but none of them dared to look back, as if their heads were locked. But regardless of whether they dared to look back, the tanks of the 72nd Army continued to advance at a normal speed.
When a mud-brick wall was knocked down by a tank, these men finally ran south like madmen. They had held out until the very last moment, but they hadn't fired a single bullet and were terrified.
Thump thump thump...
Seeing these guys with the heavy machine gun on the tank wouldn't make your hands and feet go cold...