great-warnovel Chapter 268 The Overwhelming Military Gap
Chapter 268 The Overwhelming Military Gap
"No retreat! Charge!"
Several Fengtian officers shouted loudly, but their voices were instantly swallowed up by the roar of tanks and the barrage of fire.
"Pfft!"
The blood mist exploded violently in the metal gaps of the track plates, and was then completely covered by black mud and rust.
"Fire! Open fire at all levels!"
The tank commanders were frantically issuing orders through their headsets.
"Da da da da da da!"
The MG34 coaxial heavy machine guns mounted on hundreds of Panzer II and Panzer III tanks spat out blinding orange-red flames.
Because the cavalry charge was so dense, the machine gun fire didn't even need to be aimed; each burst of armor-piercing bullets could easily penetrate the bodies of several cavalrymen and their horses.
The powerful kinetic energy of the bullets pulverized men and horses into mangled remains, and hundreds of Fengtian cavalrymen fell from their horses in droves, like wheat being harvested.
"Boom! Boom!"
The 20mm autocannon of the Panzer II and the tank gun of the Panzer III also began firing at point-blank range.
High-explosive munitions exploded with a deafening roar amidst the dark mass of cavalry, bursting into massive fireballs, with dense shrapnel flying everywhere, and the mangled limbs of warhorses and tattered military caps falling from the sky.
In that instant, the battlefield was completely transformed into a one-sided meat grinder made of steel, gunpowder, and flesh!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Jinpu Railway, the Fengtian Army armored train with its steam valves welded shut was still speeding along, attempting to flank the tank formation with its few old field guns mounted on the carriages.
"Boom! Boom!"
The gunner on the armored train, sweating profusely, pulled the fuse, and two 75mm shells slammed into the side of a Panzer II tank, creating a towering blast wave.
But before they could fire a second shot, four 88mm anti-aircraft guns on the high ground on both sides of the railway line, deployed by Chen's army, had already coldly lowered their muzzles.
"Target: Fengtian Army train locomotive, distance 2,500 meters, prepare for level fire!"
Inside the high ground bunker, the gunner roared hoarsely. The assistant gunner quickly turned the gun barrel to lock onto the locomotive's boiler.
"Armor-piercing rounds, load!"
The loader, holding the rounds with both hands, deftly shoved them into the breech with a clanging metallic sound. With a thud, the semi-automatic breechblock snapped shut, producing a crisp impact.
"Aiming complete!"
This terrifying weapon, hailed as the "anti-all-cannon wonder" during World War II, has been used against tanks, airplanes, and even warships by Chen Zijun. But today, for the first time, it has turned its fangs against armored trains from the old era.
"put!"
The position commander swung his large hand down sharply.
"boom!"
With a thunderous roar, an 88mm armor-piercing round shot out at a terrifying initial velocity, tearing through the air and creating a sharp, piercing white sonic boom.
"Snap!"
The ordinary sheet metal plates, only a few centimeters thick, that were mounted on the outside of the armored train's front end were as fragile as paper in the face of 88mm anti-aircraft shells, and were instantly pierced by violence.
The armor-piercing projectile pierced through the metal carriage at extremely high speed and savagely smashed into the high-pressure steam boiler inside the front of the train!
"Boom!"
Because the valves of the steam locomotive had been completely welded shut, an extremely dangerous steam overpressure had accumulated inside the boiler.
Under the combined force of the ammunition explosion and the ultra-high pressure steam, the locomotive's front end exploded with a devastating force, instantly vaporizing all the cavalrymen within a radius of dozens of meters!
"Click-clack-click-clack!"
The locomotive of the entire armored train derailed under the tremendous impact, and the heavy, massive iron body rolled on the rails, crushing and tearing dozens of armored carriages behind it into pieces.
The heavy iron wheels flew through the air, and the huge train ruins slid across the ground, smashing hundreds of cavalrymen and warhorses who couldn't dodge in time into flat, minced meat!
The thunderous sounds of cannons and horses' hooves on the battlefield gradually subsided at some point.
The fierce wind dispersed the billowing black smoke that filled the sky above the plains, revealing the devastated land.
The northernmost part of the Xuzhou Plain was now completely covered by a thick, crimson layer of blood. More than 90% of the once-fierce Fengtian elite heavy cavalry had been reduced to mangled corpses, lying haphazardly in the scorched mud pits.
Thousands of ownerless warhorses snorted in terror amidst the carnage, their desperate cries echoing from the pools of blood.
The two heavy armored trains had long since become derailed, crooked, and smoldering wreckage, with ammunition exploding in succession.
It’s over.
It's all over.
On horseback behind, Zhang Shizong, the military governor of Shandong, seemed to have all his energy drained away, his face turning from pale to ashen.
"Clang..."
His pure steel command sword, a symbol of the might of the overlord beyond the Great Wall, slipped weakly from between his trembling fingers and fell onto the muddy grass.
His eyes no longer held madness, only endless fear and disorientation:
"This...this is Chen Zijun's trump card?"
"What kind of cannon is that? What kind of armored vehicle is that?!"
"My God, how can there be such an invulnerable monster of steel in this world..."
The chief of staff beside him was so frightened he nearly fell off his horse, screaming with tears streaming down his face:
"General! We've lost! Utterly lost!"
"The vanguard cavalry has been completely wiped out, and the armored wagons are finished too! The infantrymen behind are all running back for their lives, and we can't stop them at all!"
"Let's retreat! If we don't leave now, the southern barbarians' armored chariots will roll over us, and we won't even have our ashes left!"
Meanwhile, inside the forward command post of Chen Jiajun's army.
Chen Zijun held up a high-powered telescope, his expression cold as he looked at the 150,000-strong Fengtian army that had completely collapsed in an avalanche-like manner.
Those ordinary Fengtian Army soldiers, who had lost the cover of heavy firepower and elite cavalry, were now like headless flies scattered all over the mountains and fields, abandoning their armor and rushing frantically northward.
"Young Marshal, it seems the overall situation is settled."
Shen Li strode in excitedly, wiping the sweat from his forehead:
"The Fengtian Army's psychological defenses have been completely shattered by our tank formations, and they are now in full retreat."
"Pass on my orders!"
Chen Zijun slowly lowered his binoculars, then drew his exquisite Browning pistol from his waist and slammed it heavily onto the mahogany podium.
"With the 2nd Armored Division leading the way, the 1st Division of the National Defense Force and the 12th Central Reorganized Army Division will follow!"
"No need to keep reserves, launch a full-scale counterattack!"
His eyes, sharp as a hawk's, swept over everyone in the command post, his tone carrying an undeniable domineering and bloodthirsty air:
"Tell all the brothers below that whoever captures Zhang Shizong alive will be rewarded with 100,000 pounds sterling!"
"Today, I'm going to wipe out every single one of these 150,000 Fengtian troops in Xuzhou!"
"Objective: Capture Jining and capture Zhang Shizong alive!"
"charge--!"
The loud and clear bugle call instantly resounded throughout the entire sky.
On the horizon of the Xuzhou defense line, hundreds of Panzer II and Panzer III tanks, along with armored vehicles and heavy trucks fully loaded with German-equipped soldiers, roared like a tidal wave as they swept towards the 150,000-strong Fengtian Army remnant army that had been routed!