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

“Rumble——!!!”

The huge fireball caused by the precise hit of the 155mm high-explosive grenade bloomed like a flower of hell on the distant hills.

The scorching air waves carried dirt, broken barrel parts, and unknown pieces of flesh and blood, splattering radially in all directions.

"Well done!" Lieutenant Colonel Chen Qiming, commander of the 3rd Tank Battalion of the 1st Armored Division, cheered loudly on the radio with a sense of joy.

The Japanese 150mm heavy artillery just now used the terrain and vegetation for cover, fired forward, and knocked down two precious M4 "Sherman" tanks in succession with high-explosive bombs.

Type 96 150mm howitzer

The blast wave from a 150mm high-explosive warhead containing several kilograms of explosives creates an overpressure of 10.8 atmospheres within 7 meters, which can shatter internal organs or tear limbs apart.

Therefore, although the affected tanks appeared intact on the outside, the crew members inside had been killed or injured by the terrifying overpressure and had completely lost their combat effectiveness.

Goto's artillery dismantling tactics are not completely useless. This insidious cold artillery tactic is the only means by which the Japanese can pose an effective threat to the Nanyang armored forces when they are at an absolute disadvantage.

But now, this cunning heavy artillery and its gun crew have been reduced to powder under the precise and fierce counterattack of the Nanyang M44 self-propelled howitzer.

This is the power of the Nanyang Defense Force’s modern combat system.

You have cold artillery? I have more powerful self-propelled artillery, advanced sighting equipment, and an efficient communication and command system.

Discover and destroy. From Chen Qiming's call for support, to the M44 in the rear completing the calculation, loading, and firing of firing parameters, to the front-line artillery observation quickly calibrating, and finally accurately covering the target, the entire process was smooth and took less than three minutes.

The Japanese's heavy firepower points were extremely vulnerable in the face of the powerful system of Nanyang.

Every heavy artillery piece exposed was destroyed.

Major General Goto's heart sank to freezing point.

Through the telescope, the 120mm cannon that held his last glimmer of hope was no longer there, leaving only countless huge craters and curling black smoke.

On the front line, the driven-out native "Vanguard Corps" had already completely collapsed under the metal storm of the Nanyang tanks' machine guns and the crushing of their tracks, which in turn disrupted the already shaky defense line.

The steel torrent of Nanyang - the M4 "Sherman", M24 "Chaffee" tanks, and the accompanying M3 half-track armored vehicles, are rolling over the mud and corpses with an unstoppable momentum. The vehicle-mounted machine guns are spraying dense rain of bullets, covering the Nanyang infantry who are jumping off the vehicles.

In Goto's opinion, these Nanyang infantrymen were well-trained and agile.

They advanced in groups of three or four, with a wonderful rhythm, and several combat teams took turns to cover each other.

The M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles in their hands emitted a crisp and deadly "ping-pong-ping-pong" sound, accurately suppressing any friendly firepower points that dared to show their heads and shoot. The BAR automatic riflemen provided continuous suppressive fire, and the bullets were casually poured out as if they were free.

The feeling of despair began to overwhelm Major General Goto and the Japanese soldiers under his command like a tide.

"Amaterasu... how... how do we fight this?"

In a foxhole, a young Japanese soldier held his Type 99 rifle tightly, watching an M4 "Sherman" with a ferocious tiger head logo painted on it roaring and crushing the barricades. Its tracks rolled up clods of earth covered with blood and mud and rolled towards him.

The black muzzle and roaring machine gun exuded the breath of death.

His eyes were filled with endless fear and his body was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

The rifle in his hand seemed so pale and powerless in front of the steel behemoth.

Morale is gone...

Major General Goto put down his telescope dejectedly. He knew that this line of defense built by remnants of defeated soldiers and cannon fodder was finished.

The iron torrent of the Nanyang people is ruthlessly crushing the last line of flesh and blood defense of the Great Neon Empire Army.

However, he still had a card, an ace card that carried his last crazy hope - the more than 1300 elite soldiers remaining from the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Guards Division.

These soldiers were true die-hard militarists, composed of veterans drawn from the mainland and the Kwantung Army half a year ago. Many of the grassroots officers had experienced the baptism of Nomonhan.

This unit is well-equipped, has sufficient ammunition, and has an extremely strong fighting will. It is the strongest combat unit among the Japanese troops on the island of Sumatra.

Nanyang Army's attack direction

They were not deployed in the front-line positions that were doomed to collapse. Instead, they were used as surprise troops by Major General Goto. Hours in advance, they quietly sneaked into the dense tropical rainforest on the flank of the road, where the sun was almost invisible, and struggled to make a detour to the rear of the Nanyang troops.

The mission of this special force is extremely dangerous and extremely important. Like a poisoned dagger, it stabs fiercely into the relatively vulnerable back of the Nanyang Armored Group - attacking its logistics supply convoys, artillery positions or command nodes.

In Major General Goto's plan, as long as he could create enough chaos to slow down the advance of the main force in the South China Sea, or even force the enemy to send troops to reinforce, he could buy time for the remaining troops to reorganize their defenses or... "advance."

At this moment, the Guards were moving silently through the slippery, muddy and thorny rainforest.

Sweat soaked their dirty uniforms, and mosquitoes bit their exposed skin frantically, but there was a fanatical and murderous gleam in the eyes of every Japanese soldier.

The regiment commander, Colonel Morita, an old devil with a scar on his face and a sinister look in his eyes, roared to boost morale:

"My lords, the time has come to serve His Majesty the Heavenly Locust. Let those Nanyang devils see what true Imperial warriors are like. Target, the convoy behind enemy lines, kill them."

Around two o'clock in the afternoon, just as the Nanyang vanguard troops were making every effort to break through the main defense line of the Japanese, and the long supply convoy in the rear was slowly moving forward along the road accompanied by more than a dozen M3 half-track vehicles and M16 self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles, something strange happened.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me—onboard!!!"

At the edge of the rainforest on the right side of the road, a beast-like howl suddenly erupted.

Countless figures in yellow-green military uniforms and helmets rushed out from the dense bushes and vines.

They held Type 99 rifles with bayonets, brandished their gleaming sabers, and with hysterical madness on their faces, they rushed straight towards the logistics convoy closest to the highway.

"Enemy attack! The convoy was attacked and needs support!" The Nanyang officer in charge of the convoy's security shouted on the radio.

The Japanese officers and sergeants who rushed to the front were extremely brave.

A second lieutenant wielding a Type 95 saber pounced on a Dodge truck that had just stopped like a mad tiger.

He jumped high, and using the momentum, he slashed the sharp saber at the driver's window!

"Baga! Go to hell!" There was a cruel glint in the lieutenant's eyes.

However, what greeted them was not the expected panic and fragile resistance of the logistics troops.

Almost at the moment the Japanese rushed out of the rainforest, the M2HB 12.7mm heavy machine guns on the roofs of several M3 half-track vehicles accompanying the convoy let out a dull and deadly roar.