novelden Chapter 149: The Invincible Skeleton Division
Chapter 149: The Invincible Skeleton Division
The SKELETON DIVISION's combat method of using heavy armored units as cover and coordinating infantry advances was simply unheard of by the Songhu Army.
Faced with this steel monster that was completely incapable of causing any damage, everyone in the 17th Division felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
"Division Commander, perhaps we can temporarily build an artillery position and let the artillery regiment use heavy artillery to attack the enemy's armored units."
Division Commander Pan Changhe shook his head and said, "The enemy's advance was too fast. Before the artillery positions were even built, the enemy had already attacked us."
"Immediately give the order, have Ke Xiaowei fight to the death to intercept the enemy, and the other two brigades quickly retreat and build defensive positions on the Qingguang Road in the rear. At the same time, blow up the road and create a large number of gaps. I don't believe that their armored vehicles can still fly over!"
"Division Commander, if this happens, the 152nd Brigade will probably be wiped out."
"Excuting an order!"
After the 152nd Brigade was completely annihilated, more than half of its combat soldiers were captured by the enemy, and the 153rd Brigade almost lost % of its troops. After a desperate interception, the division commander Pan Changhe finally led the remaining defeated troops to temporarily build a simple defensive position with sandbags on Qingguang Road. At the same time, he used explosives to blast the roads south of Xiaguang Road into gaps of varying depths and widths of more than three meters.
It has to be said that as the ace force under Zhang's command, the 17th Division is remarkable both in terms of combat effectiveness and the commander's on-the-spot responding ability.
But unfortunately, they were facing the SS Division, which was almost half a century ahead and had been famous throughout World War II.
Faced with the destroyed road, the armored vehicles of the SS Division could no longer advance. If they wanted to continue moving south, they could only turn around and change another road.
But this difficulty was not a problem for the battle-hardened battlefield commander, Ike, the commander of the SS Division.
The range of the machine guns on the armored vehicles could still easily cause devastating damage to the positions of the 17th Division. At the same time, the heavy armor and heavy artillery regiment quickly established artillery positions. Amidst the smoke and deafening sound of artillery fire, the positions of the 17th Division were blown to pieces. The speed at which their artillery positions were formed was far different from that of the Skeleton Division. Almost as soon as their positions were formed, the signalmen of the Skeleton Division who were observing the opponent's heavy firepower points with telescopes discovered their positions. Before they could play any role, they were blown to pieces.
After baptizing the enemy's heavy firepower points with artillery, the soldiers of the 17st Armored Infantry Regiment of the SS Division quickly searched for suitable materials nearby, such as door panels from nearby houses, etc., and pieced them together to form a pontoon bridge across the ditch. A large number of soldiers armed with rifles and submachine guns crossed the pontoon bridge and launched a charge against the th Division.
At the same time, many armored units turned around and took a detour to block the 17th Division's retreat route.
It was not until this time that Pan Changhe realized that he had made a fatal mistake. Trying to use infantry to form fire positions to obstruct the advance of the enemy's armored forces was completely unadvisable. The enemy's equipment and firepower were far superior to his own. Perhaps the best strategy was to break up the whole into small pieces and let his soldiers use the city terrain to engage in street fighting, constantly harass the enemy and slow down their advance.
But it was too late to react now. The reason why the Skeleton Division was given this name as if it came from hell was because the combat soldiers under its command were all fearless and had amazing fighting will, and were even called crazy.
The 17st Armored Infantry Regiment directly defeated the entire 17th Division from the front. The st Armored Grenadier Regiment and a large number of armored combat units also blocked all their retreat routes. The battle lasted for a total of one and a half hours. The th Division, known as the most elite of the Songhu Army, was completely wiped out. The division commander and chief of staff were killed on the spot. More than % of the soldiers were killed or wounded, and about half of the soldiers became prisoners of the Skeleton Division.
The area where the two sides fought was like hell on earth, with craters everywhere from shell impacts and the ground covered with black marks of all sizes.
Blood flowed like a river, and corpses were piled up almost into a hill. The three regimental combat units of the Skeleton Division, which had dealt a fatal blow to the 17th Division, suffered very little casualties. The enemy's artillery did not play any role and they were killed on the spot.
The only casualties, less than a hundred soldiers, were caused by the stubborn resistance of the 17th Army when they were building a pontoon bridge across the chasm.
"Commander, these troops are simply too weak. If our opponents are all of this level of strength, I think we will be able to accomplish the mission assigned to us by the leader extremely well."
Ike said calmly, "On the battlefield, no matter how weak your enemies are, do not underestimate them. Send a message to the leader and ask the military police to take over the prisoners. The frontline combat troops continue to advance. Within six hours, I will capture all the so-called Songhu troops!"
"Young Marshal, the 17th Division was attacked by an unknown enemy force on the way to Wang's Manor in Putuo District and has been completely wiped out. The reconnaissance battalion has sent news that the enemy's elite combat troops, at least tens of thousands of people, are rapidly advancing towards our Songhu Army's base camp."
Zhang Liye, who was originally sitting on the sofa, tasting red wine and imagining that he would gain an important position in the Southern Government in the future, suddenly became furious.
In the command center, Song Ziqiang, who was chatting and laughing with Zhang Liye, was also shocked.
"What did you say!"
"Impossible! Beilong Town's 101-strong combat force has been pinned down by the st Division. Where did the enemy troops come from in Shanghai?"
The communicator looked at Zhang Liye, who was furious, and said in panic: "The reconnaissance troops don't know the origin of this enemy army. It's as if they suddenly appeared out of thin air. They have a large number of armored units and extremely advanced combat equipment. Without any defense, the 17th Division was completely wiped out in less than two hours..."
Zhang Liye smashed the wine glass in his hand to pieces.
"Useless! All useless! You didn't even know that Su Zhengyang's large-scale armed combat force had infiltrated Shanghai. What's the point of keeping you? And Zhang's damn Hidden Dragon Bureau, they keep saying that any disturbance in Shanghai is under their control. They are worse than blind!"
It took Zhang Liye three full minutes to calm down.
"Immediately have the 15th and 16th divisions build defensive positions near our base and prepare to meet the enemy! No wonder Su Zhengyang, that bastard, is so arrogant in front of me. It turns out he has been prepared for this!"
"We in the Zhang Clan have no way out now. Today it's either you or me! Send a message to the 101st Division of the Bai Clan and ask them to take strong military measures against Beilong Town immediately, capture Yang Chengjun as soon as possible, and rush to support the Songhu Army Headquarters!"
"Tell the reconnaissance battalion to keep a close eye on every move of Su Zhengyang's troops. If anything goes wrong again, I'll skin them alive!"
Unlike the furious Zhang Liye, Su Zhengyang was in an unusually relaxed mood at this moment. After enjoying breakfast in the manor, he found a set of chess and had a great time playing against Yan Shuangying.
The outcome of this war was doomed from the moment it began. In Su Zhengyang's opinion, these so-called ace troops were nothing but vulnerable chickens and dogs in front of the Skeleton Division. Even if facing a force ten times its size, the Skeleton Division would surely win the final victory with its invincible momentum.