The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 573 Tooth Extraction (Part 4) (Bonus Chapter for 2020……7825)

At the same time, in another pile of ruins across the street.

Old Yu picked up a Czech-made light machine gun and fired two three-round bursts at a Type 95 light tank about forty meters ahead.

Unfortunately, even though the magazine of the light machine gun in his hand was loaded with SMK-H armor-piercing rounds.

Even after hitting the tank's thickest frontal armor, it still produced some flying sparks, and then the bullet ricocheted off somewhere unknown.

Instead, a burst of machine gun fire from the tank returned fire the next second.

If it weren't for Lao Yu's amazing reflexes, which allowed him to quickly and awkwardly roll over on the spot, he might have been killed by the Japanese soldiers.

Well, I'm a veteran who joined the crew during that time travel to Taierzhuang.

Lao Yu naturally knew that although the Czech light machine gun could also use SMK-H armor-piercing rounds, its barrel was too short, making it impossible to unleash the full power of this type of bullet.

It also cannot penetrate the frontal armor of the Type 95 light tank, which has a side armor thickness of 12 mm.

If we switch to the side armor, a side armor only 6 millimeters thick would be more appropriate.

The key issue is that he needs an opportunity.

Ahead, there were four surviving Japanese tanks lined up, each responsible for a direction, moving rapidly back and forth in place.

The machine gun firepower above, combined with the rifles held by the dozen or so Japanese soldiers hiding among them, formed a ring of firepower with almost no blind spots.

This meant that during the lulls in the Japanese machine gun fire, Lao Yu and his men had almost no opportunity to fire on one side of the armored vehicle.

Even if a couple of shots were hit, they were basically ineffective because it was impossible to aim at the approximate location of the Japanese crew.

Anyway, after fighting for so long, the two magazines that Lao Yu was given before setting off, a total of forty SMK-H armor-piercing rounds, are now almost empty, and there is still no way to break through this small turtle formation in front of us.

As Lao Yu casually tossed aside the light machine gun that had been emptied of armor-piercing rounds, he muttered a complaint:
"Damn it! If only I had brought an S-18 Solothurn anti-tank rifle with me this time, it would have been great. It's not like we can't afford it or we don't have the financial means."

At this time, Lao Yu was unaware that Zanana's precious anti-tank rifle had become unusable due to some minor malfunctions, and now Zanana could only focus on the cluster grenade issue.

Furthermore, he himself was well aware that being able to afford that thing was one thing, but being able to carry it during marches and battles was another matter entirely.

After all, in addition to the 53.5 kg weight of the unloaded gun, each 20*138 mm caliber bullet weighs an astonishing 175 grams.

Two hundred rounds of ammunition is a 35-kilogram load. With other weapons, ammunition, and equipment, a single person can easily carry more than 130 or 140 kilograms.

After such a heavy load during the march, even he was too exhausted to fight.

Therefore, Lao Yu's complaints above were just complaints; he never really thought about buying one...

Afterwards, Lao Yu threw away the Czech-made light machine gun and took out a bundle of six grenades from a cloth satchel slung across his shoulder.

This is his real method and hope for taking down the Japanese tanks in front of him.

Before rushing forward, Lao Yu shouted, "Smoke bomb!"

The brothers who were with Lao Yu immediately pulled out a DIY smoke grenade from behind them and threw it forward.

Soon after, a large amount of smoke quickly filled the air just before the Japanese tanks and Lao Yu were about to charge forward.

However, Lao Yu himself knew that such smoke was of limited use in the current situation, far less effective than blowing up tanks when defending a position.

This is also the main reason why Hu Biao and his men did not use smoke grenades in tonight's ambush.

The reason is simple: the Japanese machine gun fire is too intense and there are almost no blind spots; even if the Japanese can't see him, he will still be hit by a hail of bullets when he rushes forward.

Therefore, this smoke can provide some psychological comfort.

The most important thing for it next is to be lucky enough not to be hit by the Japanese soldiers' random gunfire.

Today, Lao Yu was quite lucky. Just as he charged forward, the Type 91 machine gun on the tank in front of him had just run out of ammunition.

It should be noted that the Japanese Type 91 vehicle-mounted machine gun was actually an upgraded version of the Type 91 light machine gun.

The stock was removed to make it more suitable for the cramped environment inside the vehicle, and the magazine capacity was increased to 50 rounds to enhance sustained firepower.

However, this also means that it takes longer to reload.

Realizing this, Lao Yu crouched low and sprinted through the smoke, stopping only when he was eleven or twelve meters away from the Type 95 light tank.

He pulled the fuse, swung his arm, and threw it forward with all his might. After throwing it, Lao Yu immediately lay down on the ground, covering his head with his hands.

As for grenade throwing, Lao Yu was quite confident. Although he wasn't as flashy as Black Star, he was still confident he could throw this bundle of grenades onto the Japanese tank.

With only 6 to 8 millimeters of armor on the top of the Japanese Type 95 light tank, it would be a one-shot kill.

Then, Lao Yu heard a 'thud' sound, the incredibly pleasant sound of a grenade hitting the armor of a tank.

And then, there was nothing more.

After waiting for several seconds, Lao Yu still didn't hear any explosion. After a moment of confusion, he realized, "Holy crap! Did we run into a dud?"

Encountering a dud is not uncommon for even slightly experienced time travelers.

Leaving aside the hand grenades produced by our Party in the early stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, due to material and technical reasons, the dud rate reached an astonishing 30% for a period of time.

Even with the grenades produced by major arms factories under the Nationalist government, such as Gongxian and Jinling, Lao Yu encountered duds.

The crucial question is, why did it have to be at this critical moment?
Old Yu had no more cluster grenades or Molotov cocktails left that could take down the Japanese tanks, and the Japanese machine gunners were about to reload and start firing again.

In a short time, poor Lao Yu didn't even have time to retreat or find a place to hide, and was caught in a huge crisis.

But to be fair, this guy had pretty good luck today.

A second or two later, just as the Japanese vehicle-mounted machine gun roared to life, and just as Lao Yu was about to be hit, a loud bang suddenly came from the armor on one side of its vehicle.

Immediately afterwards, the tank, presumably with its ammunition compartment blown out, turned into a huge ball of fire.

Because they were so close, Lao Yu was hit by several flying rivets in the violent shockwave of the explosion, which caused him a sharp pain.

However, Lao Yu couldn't care less about this trivial matter and turned to look at the ruins on his left.

To my surprise, a 37mm anti-tank gun that had been blown up during a battle with Japanese tanks had been re-erected.

Zhi Xiang, a newcomer who joined this time, is currently peeking out from behind the tattered cannon shield to observe the battle results; therefore, that cannon shot just now was Zhi Xiang's doing.

Having thought of all this, Lao Yu shouted at the top of his lungs, "Zhixiang, well done! Keep it up!"

After replying "Okay," the helmsman continued to adjust the anti-tank gun's azimuth and elevation mechanisms, aiming at the next Japanese tank.

So, the artillery company under Zhixiang's command was deployed to the battlefield to block Japanese reinforcements.

This arrangement does not mean that mortars are ineffective against tanks; if a shell hits the top of a tank, creating a top-down effect, it can destroy a tank with a single shot.

The problem is that mortars have a limited minimum range due to their curved firing angle.

In the current ambush battlefield, there is a situation where setting up the weapon too far away will cause friendly fire, while setting it too close will not meet the minimum range requirement.

So, left with no other choice, the ten cannons of the artillery company were assigned to the defensive line to snipe at the Japanese reinforcements in the city.

However, Zhi Xiang was more cautious and did not go there to intercept the Japanese reinforcements. Instead, he stayed on the more important ambush battlefield and kept an eye on the 74th Army's four 37mm anti-tank guns.

Before long, one of the guns was blown up by the Japanese counter-fire, and almost all of the gun crew members were killed in action.

After rushing up, Zhi Xiang quickly inspected the anti-tank gun and was pleasantly surprised to find that although the gun shield and one of the wheels were blown off, making it somewhat uneven, the gun was still in the anti-tank gun.

You can use a brick to slightly prop it up, and it will still be usable, albeit barely.

Overjoyed, Zhi Xiang quickly called for help to re-set up the anti-tank gun. With his first shot, he destroyed the Japanese tank in front of Lao Yu.

Immediately, Zhi Xiang's spirits were lifted, and soon after, a second cannonball was fired.

He hit a tank that was slow to react and was just about to turn its turret; even if he didn't blow it up directly, the Japanese tank's turret stopped turning and it was no longer a threat to him.

Just as he was preparing to press on and fire another shot at the tank.

The situation on the battlefield changed again. To be more specific, the Japanese soldiers, who now only had about twenty tanks left, finally dared not stay in place.

Thick smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe as it sped toward the ruins at maximum power.

After witnessing this scene, everyone in the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and the 74th Army knew one thing: the Japanese were courting death. Everyone, just hold on a little longer, the 13th Tank Regiment is about to be wiped out...

(End of this chapter)