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

"You bastard, I'm the leader of the group. How can you command car No. 2 without me noticing?" Zhang Chi cursed with a smile into the radio, but he felt warm in his heart.

He knew that these soldiers were no longer just soldiers following orders, they were truly willing to use their lives to protect him.

While the amphibious tanks were slowly landing, the remaining six torpedo boats were parked horizontally on both sides of the river. The heavy machine guns on them opened fire at the same time. The 12 12.7mm heavy machine guns used transcendental shooting tactics and spewed flames.

Bullets as thick as fingers streaked through the air on both wings of the landing force, accurately covering the airport runway 2 kilometers away.

The dense firepower poured down like iron rain, and the several Japanese planes parked on the runway were torn and penetrated in an instant like paper models, and the fuselages collapsed quickly like deflated balloons.

Several armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullets hit the fuselage. The incendiary agent attached to the bullet head immediately reacted with the duralumin skin of the fuselage. The flames seemed to have found the most perfect fuel, rising rapidly and thick smoke rising into the sky.

Those fragile planes on the ground had no power to resist. The burning orange flames engulfed the fighter planes, and the entire airport began to be filled with fire and smoke.

The Japs were a beat slow to react.

When the loudspeakers in the airport finally sounded a shrill alarm, the Japanese sentries on the wooden watchtowers inside could only frantically grab the mounted Type 99 light machine guns and hastily fire at the oncoming amphibious tanks, but it was already too late.

The machine gun fire on the sentry tower posed almost no threat to the solid steel tank armor. It was like a stone hitting an iron wall. The weak 7.7x58mm Arisaka bullet could only splash a few sparks on the 12mm front armor of the LVT-A1, without affecting the advancement of the amphibious tank at all.

"At 1 o'clock, 800 meters away, the Japanese wooden sentry tower, high-explosive bombs fired in unison!"

While giving orders, Zhang Chi calmly turned the elevation handwheel and raised the muzzle to aim.

Soon, four 37mm guns fired at the same time, and the watchtower, along with the Japanese and the building, was reduced to ruins in the flames.

The pace of this amphibious armored assault was lightning fast, and the troops were as precise and deadly as cheetahs.

Accompanied by a series of explosions, 24 amphibious tanks broke into the airport from the almost undefended riverside area of ​​the Japanese.

"Everyone, pay attention. Once we enter the airport, the infantry will start getting off the vehicles and continue advancing with the tanks." Zhang Chi decisively issued an order, asking the infantry to get off the vehicles and fight.

Everything went smoothly at the beginning. Zhang Chi in the car could feel that he was leading the soldiers of the independent regiment towards victory.

----

On the other side, inside the airport tower.

"What? Is everything normal at the division headquarters? Is there no fighting in the Xinpingyang direction?"

Aoya Daiki held the microphone, his face full of shock, his mind in a mess.

"Where do the enemies in the west come from?" he muttered to himself, alarm bells ringing in his heart.

Before he could continue his thoughts, a sudden burst of machine gun fire and artillery fire came from the direction of the river, shaking the glass of the tower slightly.

Before he could react, he heard the sounds of machine guns and artillery fire coming from the direction of the river not far away.

Aoya Daigui suddenly stood up and rushed to the window on the second floor of the tower. The scene in front of him made his blood freeze instantly - dozens of huge amphibious tanks were climbing ashore from the edge of the river, and the steel monster-like bodies were flashing coldly in the morning light, slowly approaching the airport.

"Where did these ghost things come from!" He widened his eyes, almost unable to believe his eyes.

At this moment, a thought suddenly rushed into his mind.

"I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I think of digging anti-tank trenches on the flat area along the river bank?" He pounded the table, feeling so frustrated that he almost wanted to slap himself a few times.

However, it was pointless for him to regret now, as the armored torrent was already within reach.

Okuya Daiki took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

While sending a messenger to order the two squadrons on the west side to return to support, he hurriedly grabbed the microphone again and shouted: "Hey, connect me to the division headquarters immediately. I want to ask for tactical guidance. Yes, tactical guidance!"

However, no matter what Okuya Daiki called out, he knew that the situation had become out of control.

The remaining defenders in the airport were just a squadron, plus a group of ground crew and pilots with no combat effectiveness.

At this time, facing the approaching tanks, the airport lacked any decent defensive fortifications.

After all, when Aoya Daiki was building the fortifications, all the bunkers and defense facilities he designed for the airport were placed on the west side of the airport, completely targeting possible attacks launched by the Allied forces from the direction of the Sindhu border.

Inside the airport, the Japanese soldiers stood there in stunned silence, watching the roaring steel behemoths gradually approaching from the river.

On the horizon, there were no bunkers, no anti-tank trenches, nothing that could stop the enemy.

"Damn it! How could these tanks launch a surprise attack from the south?" the staff officer in the tower began to panic, his voice trembling as he demanded, "There are troops stationed in Myitkyina and Lashio south of Xinpingyang. How could they not have noticed the movement of so many tanks?"

"Prepare to retreat!" Aowu Daigui roared in a low voice to the adjutant beside him, and prepared to leave the tower, which was a conspicuous place.

He felt that since the airport had been breached, it would be better to withdraw from the airport and retreat to the west towards the brigade headquarters to join the main force of the brigade.

But before he could finish his words, the ground suddenly shook violently, and Aoya felt as if the entire airport was shaking.

"Boom!" A deafening explosion came from the airport's oil depot area. Billowing black smoke rose up instantly, flames shot into the sky, followed by a series of even louder explosions.

It turned out that the artillery company of "Mountain Cannon" was showing its power.

After several rounds of mortar bombardment, the entire oil depot area had turned into a sea of ​​fire.

Those iron storage tanks filled with aviation fuel were like burning powder barrels, exploding one after another, splashing fuel everywhere, and flames engulfing everything around them.

"My oil! My oil--!" Aowu Dagui watched the flames rising in the distance and let out a shrill wail.

He lost all his composure, his knees gave way, and he fell to the ground, holding his head in his hands, his face full of despair and pain.

According to the plan, this precious aviation fuel will be transferred to the semi-underground concrete oil depot that is about to be completed in a few days.

However, he didn't expect that Zhang Chi would seize the opportunity and ignite all the aviation fuel before it could be transferred.

"We're only a few days away, just a few days!" Aoya gritted his teeth, his heart filled with regret and anger.

The fire plunged the airport into complete chaos.

The Japanese soldiers fled in all directions, while the ground crew and pilots struggled helplessly, trying to find any shelter they could. However, the airfield was flat, and they could only watch helplessly as the huge tanks surged towards them, despair consuming everyone's nerves.