Chapter 1333 Defensive Operations

"I have to admit that the army of the island country is still very brave in combat. At least I have never seen that the army of any country can still attack bravely after being bombarded by 210mm heavy artillery, as if it is not afraid of death at all. ’” Major General Abraham said.

Major General Eric Hansen and Major General Felix Steiner both nodded. The bravery and bravery of the island army really shocked them a lot.

"Indeed, the fighting will of the army of the island country is very tenacious, which is undoubtedly unmatched by the armies of other countries. Of course, the fighting will of the army of our German Empire will definitely not be worse than that of the army of the island country!" Eric Hansen said the major general.

"Unfortunately, it is not decades ago now. The disparity in strength is difficult to make up for with courage. No matter how tenacious the army of the island country is fighting, they will lose in this battle. The Imperial Army will take them All resolved." Major General Felix Steiner said with great certainty. With Germany's military strength, if the main force hadn't been dragged elsewhere, it would be easy to get rid of the island country.

"How long does the command require us to hold out at Kinabatangan?" Major General Abraham asked.

"I don't know! Maybe we have to hold on until they think the time is right. I know that the 23rd Armored Division, the 221st Mechanized Infantry Division, and the 222nd Mechanized Infantry Division are nearby. It's just that they are very well concealed and have not been attacked by the islanders. It's just a discovery. After the islanders are beaten to death in front of our defense line, they will launch an attack and eliminate the islanders in one fell swoop! In this case, the islanders can be severely injured. Perhaps, we can be in Borneo Maybe we can continue to persevere." Major General Eric Hansen said.

"Even if we can hit the islanders hard in this battle, it may be very difficult to hold on to Borneo. The islanders' strength is too obvious. Up to now, they are still coming from The domestic transport of troops to the Philippine Islands. I have to admit that the Americans handed over the Philippine Islands to the islanders, which created a very big trouble for us. Using the Philippine Islands as a springboard, the islanders can ensure the safety of the sea transportation line and attack Southeast Asia and Australia," said Major General Felix Steiner.

"Well, forget about those strategic issues. Anyway, before our main force is free, we can drag the islanders to Nanyang and Australia. The problem before us now is to resist the attack of the island army. Then wipe them all out!" Major General Eric Hansen said.

The German army has made preparations at Kinabatangan, and is waiting for the island army to launch an attack.

On the morning of March 9, two island armies arrived at Kinabatangan one after the other. After they arrived, they immediately surrounded Kinabatangan, as if they wanted to wipe out all the German troops here.

In the afternoon, the 55th Division, 31st Division, 49th Division and 53rd Division of the Japanese Army launched an attack on the German positions in Kinabatangan from four directions.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The 75mm mountain artillery and field artillery of the Japanese army opened fire crazily. Many divisions of the Japanese army are equipped with mountain artillery regiments. These mountain artillery regiments are equipped with 36 cannons. Most of the regiments are equipped with 75mm mountain artillery or 75mm field artillery. Only a small number of divisions are equipped with 105mm howitzers. It can be seen that the artillery strength of the Japanese Army is not at the same level as that of the German Army.

The divisions under the Lanyin Front Army, except for the 2nd Division and the 18th Division, which are four-unit divisions, and before the subordinate artillery regiments have 105mm howitzers, the rest of the divisions, the subordinate regiments are almost all Mountain Artillery Regiment. This also makes the cannons they equip almost all 75mm mountain cannons or field cannons.

The shells fell on the German line of defense, bursting into clusters of flames. However, the German soldiers had already hid in the fortifications. The mountain artillery and field artillery of the island army did not pose a great threat to the German fortifications.

"The artillery strikes back, suppressing the artillery of the islanders!" Major General Abraham ordered.

The 72 210mm howitzers of the heavy artillery brigade were also divided into four positions to deal with enemies from four directions. The same is true for the artillery of the 225th and 228th Infantry Divisions. The two infantry divisions have a total of 36 150mm heavy howitzers, 54 105mm light howitzers and 108 75mm field guns.

The artillery of the German army launched a fierce counterattack against the artillery of the Japanese Army. When these cannons fired, the momentum of the island nation's artillery was suppressed at once. One by one shells fell on their artillery positions, destroying their cannons and killing their artillery. Especially the shells of those large-caliber heavy artillery caused great losses to the artillery of the island country.

Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai, Lieutenant General Masazai Honda, and the division heads of the other Japanese armies all looked very ugly when they saw this situation. Although they don't want to admit it in their hearts, it is the truth. In terms of artillery, there is undoubtedly a very big gap between the island army and the German army.

"Baga! Damn the Germans, the artillery is too powerful! After we occupy the South Seas and Australia, we don't have to worry about resources. At that time, we will be able to equip the troops with more and better weapons." Large-caliber artillery!" Lieutenant General Sakurai Shōsan said through gritted teeth.

Lieutenant General Honda on the side also nodded repeatedly. The resources of the island country are so scarce that it is very difficult for the army of the island country to equip more large-caliber artillery. After all, those artillery pieces are too resource-intensive. In addition, the main resources and financial resources of the island countries were tilted towards the navy, which greatly restricted the development of the army. So much so that there is undoubtedly a very big gap between the island country's army and the world's first-class army. Once on the battlefield, this will make the Japanese Army pay an extremely heavy price for it. Even, they had to use their lives to make up for these gaps.

At this time, the fighter planes of the 5th Aviation Group of the Luftwaffe also rushed to the battlefield and joined the bombing of the island army. These fighters have been transferred from the eastern Borneo airport to the western Borneo airport. But they were still able to provide strong air support to the German Army.

Dive bombers and ground attack aircraft launched an attack on the artillery positions of the Japanese Army. When these bombers finished dropping their bombs and swaggered away, the artillery on Daoguo Road had already suffered heavy losses.