The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 402: Battle of Kranji Dam (Part 1)

In order to ease the shortage of troops, Kenji Doihara forcibly recruited expatriates and some natives in the city, even traitors among the Chinese and laborers of Sindhu descent, and incorporated them into the so-called "Syonan Special Volunteer Corps", forcing them to cooperate with the Japanese army in defense.

Some people who were lucky enough were even equipped with old weapons from the Japanese warehouse, while some others could only fill the trenches on the front line with wooden sticks, gasoline bottles, and Japanese military uniforms.

Doihara knew very well that the Anmin Army had powerful artillery and air support, but he also predicted that Zhang Chi would not use heavy artillery and bombing on the dam due to moral concerns.

After all, shells have no eyes. If the main dam is destroyed, not only will the water supply system of the entire island be paralyzed, endangering the survival of hundreds of thousands of civilians, but it will also directly interfere with the governance plan after the occupation of the People's Security Army. If a large amount of stored water pours out, it will cause a human tragedy.

Therefore, Doihara concluded that the Anmin Army, which was afraid of taking risks, could only rely on the ground forces to advance step by step.

"Give me 800 men and I can turn Kranji Dam into the Verdun of the East."

Full of confidence, he shouted to his subordinates at the front line, even laughing triumphantly: "I'll show those elite soldiers of the People's Security Army the power of our brother country's warriors! Even if they have planes in the sky and tanks on the ground, they will still suffer a heavy blow here!"

-----

The tall tank commander Li Zhiqiang, who had to curl up in the two-man turret, naturally did not know about Doihara's bold words. He kept turning the commander's periscope and staring at his surroundings nervously, guarding against the coconut grove next to him suddenly starting to speak Japanese language.

Suddenly, the platoon leader's voice came over the radio: "At 11 o'clock, 800 meters, in the dense bushes, there is a suspicious fire!"

“Whoosh—Boom!”

The next second, Li Zhiqiang saw a big hole exploded on the mud in front of him.

Apparently, the Japs had hidden a cannon and fired, but the bullet missed and hit the ground.

"Change formation! Battle formation! Be careful not to crush the infantry brothers!"

The four tanks immediately began to transform from column to horizontal formation. The infantrymen providing cover around them immediately dispersed and began to try to return fire in the direction of the artillery fire.

Suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire in the coconut grove, mixed with the sound of tank main guns and Japanese artillery firing.

"Bang bang bang-"

"boom--"

"Lock the target and fire!"

Soon, the artillery hidden in the bushes was silenced by the suppression of four 37mm tank main guns.

The driver, Li Zhiqiang, calmly commanded, "Aniu, shift to first gear and drive slowly. Gua'er, if you see anything suspicious, use your machine gun to sweep it away. Don't be stingy with your bullets!"

As the tanks gradually approached, the surrounding Marines also surrounded them. Equipped with a large number of submachine guns and carbines, they were like fish in water in the forest fighting, and the Japanese soldiers who only had bolt-action rifles and light machine guns could not raise their heads.

As for the grenade launchers that the devils love most, that thing can only be shot accurately in the hands of veterans, and now the devils still have so many veterans.

The dense coconut groves pose a huge obstacle to this type of indirect fire weapon.

Just when they were about to wipe out this small group of Japanese soldiers, suddenly, a shell came and hit the right track of vehicle 0702.

Li Zhiqiang only felt the car body vibrate, and then due to inertia, it stopped sideways in the woods.

"Where are the infantry? Have them throw smoke bombs at the Type 02 tanks." The platoon leader immediately shouted angrily into the radio channel, "Damn it, has anyone seen the Japanese artillery?"

Instead of answering, vehicle 0702 opened fire. A 37mm high-explosive shell accurately penetrated the bushes. After a burst of explosions, a metal part that was obviously a scissor-type gun mount was blown into the sky.

"Awesome, Li Zhiqiang, you're really accurate!" Li Zhiqiang heard the platoon leader's muttering over the radio, followed by an anxious question: "0702 vehicle, report the damage. If anyone's not dead, please let me know."

Just at this moment, the surrounding infantrymen threw smoke bombs. The driver, Niu Yingcai, risked opening the hatch and flipping out. After banging around for a while, he shouted:

"The track is broken, but it can be repaired!"

Several sections of the track of vehicle 0702 were broken, but fortunately there were spare tracks on the vehicle. However, in the current hail of bullets, it was definitely impossible to get off the vehicle to repair it.

Li Zhiqiang quickly reported the damage to vehicle 0702.

"Okay, let's abandon the car and hide first. We can repair the tracks after the fight is over."

-----

At 08:44, the 0702 vehicle with its tracks repaired and the squad left behind to protect them finally returned to the team.

"Damn it, the Japs are so tough to fight now."

The platoon leader put down his binoculars and smacked his lips.

In the distance, the Japanese had laid anti-tank obstacles and anti-infantry barbed wire welded with rails on both wings of the dam. They were very obvious and could be seen at a glance.

"I bet that area is all minefields, and there are artillery pieces hidden here, here, and there. They're either Type 92 infantry guns or Type 75 mountain guns, just waiting for my tank to show up."

The infantry captain who led the team also nodded. They knew their own business. Although the LVT-A1 amphibious tanks could move easily in rivers and swamps, their front armor was too thin. The Japanese's small artillery was only a tickling threat to the M4 Sherman, but it was fatal to the LVT-A1.

Although these two types of low-altitude artillery are indirect fire guns and are difficult to hit moving tanks, the tank platoon leader is not prepared to gamble the lives of his subordinates on the quality of the Japanese artillery.

"Then I'll report this to my superiors and tell them to wait until those M4s arrive before attacking?"

The infantry captain's tone was somewhat negotiating. Although his rank was high, the platoon leader was an armored soldier.

The platoon leader was somewhat confident. "The pontoon bridge was only built two hours ago. It'll be a while before those M4 Shermans arrive. As the vanguard, our mission is to conduct fire reconnaissance. Let's give it a try first."

Li Zhiqiang stood aside, watching the platoon leader and the infantry captain pointing at the map and the terrain in front of them, muttering for a while, and then they formulated a battle plan.

More than ten minutes later, Li Zhiqiang directed vehicles 0702 and 0703 to drive out of the coconut grove.

The Japanese, who had been on high alert, immediately discovered them.

"At 3 o'clock, 1200 meters, pay attention to the concrete building on the hill!" Li Zhiqiang finished speaking.

In that building, which was probably left behind by the John people, two heavy machine guns immediately turned their muzzles and began to fire wildly at the amphibious tanks.

"Are these devils any good?"

Li Zhiqiang was a little surprised. Generally, well-trained Japanese machine gunners would never fire at armored targets at such a long distance. After all, even armor-piercing bullets could not penetrate armor plates of more than ten millimeters at this distance. Firing in advance would not only give himself courage, but would also expose the location of his own firepower point.

"Forget it, the food is good!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two tanks stopped abruptly and began firing at the concrete building.

"Boom - boom -"