OBS Chapter 275: The Japs Withdraw from Western Yunnan
Chapter 275: The Japs Withdraw from Western Yunnan
"Well, I'll figure out the steel issue. I'll deliver the steel you need in three days at most. You can design it. We'll build two bridges. One will be based on repairing and reinforcing the original Gongguo Bridge, and the other will be built at the location of the original Shanyang Bridge. However, the standard load-bearing capacity of the Shanyang Bridge must not be less than 35 tons."
Xu Le couldn't help but sigh at this point, and looked at General An with a squint: "How did you blow it up in the first place? Not even a bridge pier was left..."
Commander An really wanted to shout out his injustice. He didn't expect that after he blew up the bridge, the Japanese still used their powerful firepower to force their way across the river.
However, the bombing had its advantages, which was that the Japanese artillery could not be transported over, which meant that his 60th Army had to defend the Shanyang position for so many days with almost no heavy weapons and a shortage of bullets.
But he never imagined that Xu's army was not only so efficient in fighting, but also had so many tanks and cannons. The bridge he had blown up with his own hands half a month ago became the biggest obstacle to the troops' advance.
"Young Marshal, I didn't know you could bring so many heavy tanks. Don't blame me! If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have wasted the army's explosives. I feel bad..."
Xu Le's current position in the Xu family army is the commander. Most outsiders call him commander, including Commander An a few days ago.
But with Wei Li's efforts, the 60th Army was taken away from the Yunnan Army.
But it was not given away for free. The number of the 60th Army belonged to the Yunnan Army, including the division-level organization of the 182nd and 184th Divisions, which were not handed over.
Moreover, the original 60th Army originally had more than 5000 troops, and with the wounded there were about 7000 people.
The Yunnan Army only gave Xu Le 2500 people, and the remaining people including machine guns belonged to the Yunnan Army!
Originally, the Yunnan Army was unwilling to let go of even the wounded soldiers, but Wei Li's words made them give in.
The wounded soldiers will be treated on the spot, and after they recover, they will be allowed to make their own choice, whether it is the Xu family army or the Yunnan army, and neither side is allowed to stop them. If you disagree, then the deal will be cancelled, and you won't even have a machine gun!
This was unacceptable. The Yunnan Army had managed to get 300 machine guns with great difficulty. How could they let it go just because of some wounded soldiers? The highest commander of the Yunnan Army, General Long, agreed immediately!
Therefore, in reality, the 2500 soldiers under General An’s command are unregistered and undocumented!
However, Admiral Long’s next move made Xu Le look at him with new eyes!
On the second day after the handover, General Long ordered the remaining 60 men of the original 3000th Army to set off quickly. Wei Junjun checked and found out that the destination of the 60th Army was Guangxi Province, to support the front-line war of resistance.
Since the Japanese defeated the Eagle Sauce at Midway Island, their troops in North China have not taken any military action so far, but their troops in Central and South China have launched a fierce offensive.
Changsha finally ushered in the third decisive battle, and several counties in Guangxi Province were invaded by the Japanese.
Moved, Xu Le immediately purchased 2000 million rounds of Mauser rifle bullets and asked Governor Tan to arrange a convoy to transport them to the front line of the 60th Army.
This is also the only contribution he can make to the National Guard on the front line at the moment. 2000 million rounds of bullets are enough to support the 60th Army for several months.
.....
Now, Xu Le faced a problem. He promised the engineering team to provide steel within three days.
There are two ways. The first is to hand over the captured Japanese artillery and trucks to the engineering team and have them recast and use them.
The second method is to exchange all the captured heavy weapons for military merit points, and then purchase heavy and cheap equipment, and still hand them over to the engineering team for recasting.
Although the second method is much more cost-effective, Xu Le finally chose the first method.
Because if he handed over the new equipment he bought from the system, no one would dare to integrate it, and it might even cause shock to the whole country.
The world has never seen a bridge being repaired with brand new weapons!
So, he didn't want to be labeled a psychopath.
Nearly 200 Japanese artillery pieces and about 160 tons of steel. There were very few Japanese trucks, after all, their performance was too backward and the power was insufficient, so they could not be deployed in large numbers in a terrain like Yunnan Province, so only a few dozen were seized, with a total of only 60 tons of steel.
Adding the 50 tons collected from other places, the 270 tons were still not enough. The designer had no choice but to redesign the drawings and change the width of the bridge to 7 meters, so that tanks could only pass in one direction.
But this also shortened the construction period. It is estimated that it can be completed in 20 days and open to traffic in 25 days.
由于钢材的质量好，杉阳大桥的限重预计能达到38吨，整体承重能达到120吨。相当于能够同时供3辆69式坦克或者4辆83式自行炮过桥。
Gongguo Bridge is a little worse, after all, it is reinforced on the original foundation, with a weight limit of only 15 tons and an overall load-bearing capacity of only 60 tons. However, the construction period is much shorter, and it can be opened to traffic in 15 days at most.
Xu Le had no doubt about the speed at all. You know, the Burma Road is more than 1000 kilometers long, with more than 2000 bridges and culverts of various sizes, but it only took 9 months!
Of course, this speed was achieved at the cost of the lives of 3000 Tang Dynasty migrant workers.
Originally, Xu Le planned to buy some Type 63 amphibious tanks to temporarily replace some Type 69 tanks for crossing the river, but because the construction period of the bridge was much faster and the armor of the Type 63 tanks was too weak, he finally gave up.
Xu Le did not dare to guarantee that those who committed mistakes would be punished, but he always adhered to the principle of rewarding those who made contributions.
When Xu Le's commendation came, everyone was surprised. Most people thought that Consultant Wei should be credited with the primary credit for killing so many enemies in this battle.
But in the end, it was the 8st Company of the st Battalion of the th Mechanized Infantry Regiment that won the first prize. However, after everyone learned the whole story, there was no objection.
The 8st Company of the st Battalion of the th Mechanized Infantry Regiment opened up a route to cross the river and risked their own lives to buy time for the troops' roundabout operations.
The company commander and the three soldiers who died were each awarded a second-class merit, and the remaining soldiers were each awarded a third-class merit or honorary merit.
This is the second time that an entire company has been awarded the honor, following the 1th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 9st Armored Regiment!
As the only consultant in the entire army, and also the commander of the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division and lieutenant general of the National Guard, Wei Li no longer cares about merits or anything like that, or perhaps the dozens of medals in his bag have already proved his worth!
.....
7月23日，公果大桥比预定时间提前了2天通车，全军除坦克、83式152毫米自行加榴炮和装甲176师的88式自行高炮外，其余所有的军事车辆和炮旅全部转移到了保山县附近。
7月25日凌晨，炮旅的4个66式152毫米加榴炮营分别部署在腾冲东岸的马田村和龙陵东岸的戟子铺，开始对怒江西岸的鬼子岸防部队实施定点炮轰。
With a helicopter reconnaissance company in the air, the Japanese lost air superiority again. The artillery brigade finally showed its power and the hit rate of its artillery shells exceeded 50%.
The Japanese, who were already strong on the outside but weak on the inside, suffered another fatal blow!
The Japanese did not expect that Xu's army would repair the bridge so quickly and transport all the heavy artillery across the river, so that the only remaining artillery regiment of the 55th Division exposed its position without firing a single shot and lost more than a dozen artillery pieces.
Just when Xu Le and others were studying how to force a crossing of the Nujiang River, an exciting piece of news came.
The helicopter reconnaissance company reported that the Japanese troops on the west bank had withdrawn, and the Japanese troops in Tengchong and Longling were also fleeing quickly, retreating into Myanmar along the Burma Road.