In August, the hottest month of 1946, the storm unleashed by the Chinese army chilled the hearts of Americans.
"The Chinese army didn't move. Once it moved, it was like an overwhelming force, defeating many American defense lines at once.
The previous month of solid offensive was not without results. The Chinese army had already nailed some nails on the other side of the Yellowstone River and other rivers. As long as we cross the river, the river chasms in many places have been gradually smoothed out, and China's steel legion will flow again. No matter how many American troops are blocking it, it will not work.
"How could the Americans, who had hurriedly set up their positions, have time to build another Maginot Line?" Even if they have the ability, they have lost confidence in passive defensive fortresses.
Faced with China¡¯s dominant fighter jets and heavy artillery attacks, the Americans who had learned a lot began to go underground.
The large-scale construction of tunnels, trenches and other underground fortifications has become another trick that Americans learned from the Chinese army. Even after systematic calculations by the Americans, the Americans used a large amount of steel bars and cement to build underground fortifications, making them more regular and stronger.
¡°At least Americans are proud to be better than the Chinese. But if Americans go to mainland China and see the permanent three-defense fortifications built to prevent accidents, they will realize what better defenses are.
On the front line, the Chinese army has long focused on the offensive. Except for some important facilities that have undergone strict and formal construction, it is impossible to put in those temporary underground fortifications on the front line that will have to be moved with the advance in a short time. A lot of energy. In addition to training officers and soldiers and developing the habit of caution, even some underground fortifications do not need to be built.
"Offense is the best defense!" Now the Chinese army has the confidence to shout such words.
China's usual tanks and fighter jets are enough to block all the Americans' offensive power, and the new equipment of the Chinese army specially strengthened by Meng Xiang for this attack has made the Americans unable to attack for a long time. courage.
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"These are China's new tanks?" American General Patton held up his telescope and looked at the Chinese tanks below the high ground in a daze.
When he heard the news of the sudden invasion of the Chinese army, Patton was the first to muster the courage to attack and propose a counterattack.
He was already suffocating after withdrawing from Europe. The American armored forces he personally led had had several small-scale battles with the Chinese army before. Although he also believed that Chinese tanks were difficult to deal with, he was not exaggerating. Relying on Pershing and Super Pershing tanks against China's largest number of Type 59 tanks. Then rely on the Overlord tanks to block the slightly smaller number of rhinos and grizzly bears in China. There is a chance to win a victory in China.
As for China¡¯s Mammoth tanks, after all, only a few appear on the battlefield, and they cannot determine a large-scale tank battle. Moreover, the Americans have recently developed some countermeasures specifically against Chinese tanks.
Truman, who was troubled by the unfavorable situation at home and abroad, was in urgent need of a victory and first approved Patton's counterattack plan.
It can¡¯t be called a counterattack. It can only be said to be a head-on confrontation with China¡¯s most famous tank unit when other armies are constantly retreating under China¡¯s overwhelming offensive.
to this end. Truman ordered Eisenhower, commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, to fully support Patton's operation and set up a position on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The Chinese army, which had been aware of it for a long time, did not give way at all. The tank army that crossed the Mississippi River rushed forward directly. It's just that the largest number of main tanks is not the Chinese modified Type 59 tank of the T54/55 that China has fought in Asia, Africa and Europe, but replaced by the T64a tank.
Faced with the full outburst of the Americans and the support of allies such as the United Kingdom, the performance of the jointly developed tanks has been greatly improved. Although the old Type 59 is low-cost and extremely cost-effective, its casualties are gradually increasing when facing new American tanks.
China is not yet luxurious enough to use tankers as cannon fodder, so Meng Xiang is gradually looking for another alternative main battle tank.
The American m60 series was the first to be abandoned by Meng Xiang.
Not to mention the high cost of American weapons, in terms of performance, power and other aspects are slightly inferior to the Soviet and Russian tanks of the same era. However, the fire control and electronic aspects that Americans are most proud of are not digestible and absorbed by China in this era. Even some models have restricted the production of branch bases due to advanced electronic technology.
Among the tanks currently available for selection. Compared with the British Chieftain tank and the West German Leopard 1 tank, which also had good performance, Meng Xiang still liked the high-quality and low-priced Soviet tanks that later frightened the entire Western world.
After all, he will be most familiar with these tanks that are sold around the world. Moreover, the Soviet-made tanks and the Type 59 tanks are the sameThe mutual inheritance makes it easier for China's various tank talents that have been trained on the Type 59 tank to quickly adapt.
Meng Xiang directly abandoned the T62 tank, which had too many shortcomings, and directly targeted the T64 tank.
Although later generations will find fault with T64 in every possible way, in this era, it is already invincible. Even Lao Maozi insisted on using it until the 1980s, and it was even the main force of the equipment.
And the more famous t72 is just a reduced version of it. Lao Maozi would rather sell a lot of t72 than export t64. The performance comparison between the two can be seen.
Moreover, since the T72 was put into service in the 1970s, it adopted more advanced electronic equipment. As a result, the base that has not yet overcome the limitations of large-scale integrated circuit board technology cannot produce it. Otherwise, Meng Xiang would have directly chosen the same one in the 1970s. The more famous Leopard 2 tank was put into service at the end of production.
This is the future development direction of main battle tanks in Meng Xiang¡¯s mind, but in this era, the T64 can already support the Chinese tank corps to completely overwhelm the entire earth.
And Meng Xiang chose the more advanced T64a model. Although the T64 is slightly more delicate and the cost is much higher, this is not a problem for the base.
When the 125mm smoothbore tank gun of the T64A tank was raised high, forming a steel jungle, Patton, who started the dinner on time, bitterly discovered that the feast that China put on the table was definitely not digestible by the Americans.
Seeing that the Chinese main battle tank is no longer the Type 59 that Americans and even the whole world were familiar with and frightened, Patton had a flash of something bad in his mind. But he still commanded his tank corps to bravely face the opponent.
As a commander of the American armored forces who had made great achievements in Europe, Patton not only commanded the main force of his 3rd Army this time, but also the main force of more American tank troops, forming a five-thousand-strong army. The huge armored armament of multiple main battle tanks.
Judging from the concept of main battle tanks introduced from China, the more than 5,000 tanks in this huge armored force, excluding light tanks such as Sherman and Grant, are the weakest Pershing tanks. The Americans are firing at full power. The Super Pershing and Overlord tanks that were put into large-scale production are the protagonists. If you include light tanks, self-propelled artillery and tank destroyers, the number exceeds 10,000.
The number is so large that it cannot even be invested in the surrounding wars at once.
Truman invested heavily in this battle that he was determined to win. This was also the confidence that Patton dared to fight back.
China, which is well aware of American intelligence, also invested more than 3,000 main battle tanks here.
Both sides invested a total of more than 8,000 tanks, and the number of troops on both sides reduced to supporting roles exceeded 4 million.
The Chinese army has invested a total of 2.6 million troops in the Great Lakes region, including 1.7 million troops on this front line.
Americans striving to win a victorious battle also gathered in large numbers, numbering more than 2.4 million in this generation.
Even for this tank duel, the Americans invested more than half of the Sabers and Super Sabers they produced in this area. Even if these more than 2,300 jet fighters cannot regain air supremacy in the hands of China's more than 1,600 new fighters, at least It contained China's air power and protected the sky for American tanks.
The front lines of both sides stretched from St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota, along the shores of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, all the way to Chicago.
The factories in Chicago and Detroit behind have been operating at high speed. More tanks are constantly coming off the production lines, following the water transportation in the Great Lakes area and the dense surrounding railway network, heading directly to the arena where the tank troops of both sides are dueling near Chicago.
There is no alarm bell ringing, and no one will decide the outcome of this game.
When the Chinese tank troops rushed in, the largest tank battle in Chicago officially began.
As Hu Er and Patton issued the order to attack, there was not much testing at all, and the battlefield, which started with shirtless men fighting, gradually heated up.
Even though the battlefield for the tank duel between the two sides has expanded to more than a thousand square kilometers, in some places, the tanks of both sides are still crowded together, and even bayonet at close range.
But soon, China¡¯s T64 tank and the second-level Rhino and Grizzly told the Americans the difference between tank generations with their 125mm and 120mm tank guns. (To be continued)
ps: Sorry, I¡¯m going back home today. Sorry for the delay in updating!