mesbooks Chapter 355: Battle of Chittagong (7) John’s troops are completely relaxed
Chapter 355: Battle of Chittagong (7) John’s troops are completely relaxed
31 kilometers north of Chittagong, in a temporary position controlled by John's troops.
At 11:01 a.m. that day, the scorching air was filled with dryness, and the soldiers from the 36th Infantry Division on the battlefield were still looking up at the distant sky.
Dense anti-aircraft fire burst out among the clouds, and the black smoke produced by the explosion of large-caliber anti-aircraft shells almost formed a continuous piece, as if covering the sky over Chittagong with a dark curtain.
One plane after another belonging to John's people was burning and crashing.
They all knew one thing: it was impossible for these planes to achieve the planned bombing targets today.
Immediately afterwards, the news of canceling the attack was passed down from the division headquarters and finally reached the front line.
"Did you hear that? The attack order has been canceled!"
"What? No fight today?"
After a moment's silence, a burst of interlaced shouts broke out in the trenches, and some people even couldn't help cheering.
"No fighting today, hurray, no fighting!"
"God bless us, we don't have to die today!"
The soldiers who had been staring at the distant positions with their nerves tense just now felt relieved, and the sweat on their faces seemed to have evaporated a little.
The soldiers of the 36th Infantry Division of the mainland, who had been waiting for several hours since dawn, now felt like balloons that had suddenly deflated.
The hot weather in the South Asian subcontinent had already made their short-sleeved military uniforms and the sweat they had seeped out stick to their bodies, making them extremely uncomfortable.
A corporal squatting in the trench, holding a Lee Enfield rifle, breathed a sigh of relief, unbuttoned his short-sleeved uniform, wiped his forehead with a towel, and said to his comrade beside him:
"My only wish now is that nothing else happens this afternoon so I can go home and take a good bath in the evening."
When the gunner of the Vickers machine gun heard the news, he unloaded the belt from the chamber without hesitation, put it back into the ammunition box, and relaxed the muzzle downward.
The assistant gunners also breathed a sigh of relief. They had been stuck in the trenches for several hours, and the sweat from their palms almost soaked the canvas of their bullet belts.
"Come on, guys," the machine gunner said with a grin. "We've got plenty of time. Why don't we play a game of cards?"
The group immediately went into the anti-artillery hole on the side of the trench, and the playing cards were spread on the wooden box with a clatter. A moment later, low murmurs and occasional laughter were heard in the trench.
Senior officers evacuated the front lines quickly and efficiently.
They left behind some observation posts and then returned to the hidden bunkers in the rear. It was not a decent thing to stay in the trenches under the sun.
The assembly position not far away was filled with John's tanks.
After hearing the order to cancel the attack, without the supervision of superior officers, the tankmen of the 50th Armored Brigade jumped out of their vehicles immediately.
For these young people who came from far away from their homeland, staying in a tank on the battlefield in South Asia with temperatures reaching over 30 degrees Celsius was simply torture.
The heavy armor and hot and humid air made them feel like they were in a steel steamer. Even though they were just on standby, their uniforms were already soaked with sweat.
Now, since there was no need to attack, they immediately flocked to the shade of the nearby trees, gathered in twos and threes, unbuttoned their uniforms, revealing their sweat-soaked shirts underneath.
"Damn this weather," a tanker muttered, fanning himself with his shirt. "I bet this place is hotter than hell."
"Stop complaining. At least we don't have to get back into that damn tin box."
His comrade shrugged, took out a can of freshly received black tea from his oilcloth bag, skillfully poured it into the teapot taken from the tank, lit the small stove, and waited for the water to boil.
Soon, the aroma of tea filled the air, and the tankmen sat together with their teacups, drinking black tea and sharing the newly delivered military sausages.
It was John's traditional sausage—minced meat, visceral fat, pork skin, gristle, breadcrumbs, and water—which they chopped into small pieces and ate between army biscuits.
"Honestly, this thing may not look very good, but it's much better than the curry paste in South Asia." A soldier said vaguely with his mouth full of sausages and biscuits.
Soon, a casual battlefield tea party began.
The soldiers began to brag about their achievements. Some boasted that they had destroyed three Desert Fox tanks in North Africa, some patted their chests and said that they had a distant relative serving on a Royal Navy battleship, and some imitated the tone of their superiors, causing people around them to laugh.
The tense atmosphere on the battlefield disappeared and the soldiers completely relaxed, as if there would be no more fighting all day.
Major General Elvis, commander of the 50th Armored Brigade, allowed this atmosphere to continue.
As for the Anmin Army on the opposite side?
Aren’t they just a group of yellow monkeys holding primitive weapons?
Some officers and soldiers of the 50th Armored Brigade have fought against the Desert Fox in North Africa and will never lose face!
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At the same time, at the frontline hidden position in the area controlled by the Anmin Army.
A regimental armored battle group is fully prepared for combat.
Standing inside the turret, Li Mingcheng, with his upper body exposed from the commander's tower, stood with his hands behind his back, and in front of him was a torrent of steel ready to go.
Two armored battalions and one motorized infantry battalion—that was all his battle group had.
一共73辆坦克，包括14辆最新调配过来的M4A1（76）W型长身管谢尔曼。
These tanks have brand new paint jobs, all recently painted in tropical rainforest camouflage.
Their turrets and hulls are painted with the eye-catching Anmin Army emblem.
The barrel of the 76mm artillery is slightly slender, pointing quietly into the distance, like a cheetah ready to pounce.
作为张弛的战雷系统陆战科技树早就解锁的坦克，这款【M4A1（76）W型中型坦克】在系统中战斗权重5.0，单价4.7万银狮币，和老款3.7权重的75mm炮【M4中型坦克】的2.2万单价比并不算贵。
However, since the enemy's armored strength has always been weak, Zhang Chi has not replaced the Sherman with this anti-tank model on a large scale.
After all, even the White Eagle soldiers on the Western Front believed that the 75mm Sherman was more capable of supporting infantry, while the 76mm Sherman, due to the small amount of explosives in its high-explosive bombs, became a professional anti-tank vehicle.
This time, Zhang Chi took into consideration that the defenders of Chittagong might have to face John Lao's armored forces, so he shipped a lot of goods by sea.
In fact, after a while, the medium tank battalion under Li Mingcheng will be fully equipped with 76-gun Shermans.
Li Mingcheng took a deep breath and glanced at the steel chariots farther away.
除了这批先海运到的14辆长身管谢尔曼外，还有27辆老款75mm短炮的M4谢尔曼，以及32辆M24霞飞轻型坦克。