Chapter 8 Indecisive (Three)

  Three

  It's almost noon, and the scorching sun of the equator is mercilessly burning down on the rainforest of Merak Island, where the Chinese expeditionary force's most important forward base on the Java Sea - "Ziying" Airport - is located.

  In the past 24 hours, 2,500 officers and men of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Engineering Corps worked day and night to rush the work, in order to enable this abandoned Japanese Self-Defense Force military airport to play a crucial role in the war as soon as possible.

  Watching the FC-1B light fighter jets of the Chinese Marine Corps' combat readiness duty squadron flying low-altitude patrols and circling overhead, Lieutenant Kong Wei withdrew his gaze to continue scanning the surrounding woods of the airport, which was fraught with danger. Although in the past 24 hours, the Chinese Marine Corps had launched continuous attacks, clearing out several secret strongholds set up by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' 12th Ground Mobile Troop around "Ziying" Airport.

  However, the effect was not ideal. The Japanese, who had lost most of their heavy weapons in the first day's air raid, apparently gave up counterattacking and fled into the depths of the jungle. Recalling that after the end of World War II, there were still Japanese old soldiers who persisted in fighting for more than 40 years and came out to surrender from the jungles of the Philippines, the Chinese military considered it absolutely impossible to underestimate the Japanese's super-strong adaptability in the jungle.

  "Who made them monkeys? Talking about jungle survival, hey! We Chinese really don't dare to call the shots with those little Japanese." Recalling what Li Gang, who was in charge of the island's field air defense system, had said half-jokingly not long ago, Kang Wei couldn't help but smile. But just at that moment, Kang Wei's sharp eyes, unique to a sniper, were attracted by a bright spot of a smile that suddenly appeared in the jungle.

  "Is that a Japanese Self-Defense Force sniper?" Kang Wei hastily pressed his face tightly against the cheek rest of the Type 98 automatic sniper rifle in his hands, tensely gazing at that suspicious thicket. However, that mysterious light spot did not appear again.

  "Has it been abandoned? The choice to attack during the day means that the opponent is either a novice or an extremely skilled expert." Slowly lifting his head, Kang Wei softly spoke into the intercom near his mouth: "Hound Dog 2. There may be Japanese snipers lurking in your defensive zone, quickly search and take them alive."

  At Kang Wei's command, 5 fully armed Chinese special forces soldiers threw off their camouflage nets and suddenly jumped out of the pre-dug trenches, rushing quickly out of the woods. No one could escape their pursuit, Kang Wei picked up a bottle of "Kang Master" purified water beside him, replenishing the water lost under the scorching sun.

  "Report to the captain, the prey has been captured, requesting to return to the team." Soon, Kang Wei's earpiece rang with the voice of Wang Zhuo, the leader of "Hunting Dog 2" squad. For some reason, Kang Wei could clearly feel that Wang Zhuo was smiling at this moment, and he was smiling very happily.

  Before long, two tall Chinese special forces soldiers appeared on the airport runway, escorting a small figure wearing camouflage. Kang Wei also rushed down from the control tower to take a look at the "style" of his Eastern counterpart. "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen a woman before?" It wasn't until Kang Wei ran up to the captive that he realized the other's physique was unusual, and with a sudden jerk of her head, she coldly spat out a sentence in perfect Mandarin.

  "King Zhuo, what does it mean?" Kang Wei only felt his face burning with anger, and could only vent his anger on his subordinates. "Report to the captain, she said she is a special war correspondent for Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao. Malaysian Chinese, named..." Although Wang Zhuo immediately straightened up, her face was still full of smiles. "Enough, send her to the intelligence department at the command center." Kang Wei, who was both angry and anxious, waved his hand to cut off Wang Zhuo's report. Under the scorching sun, Kang Wei felt his sweat increasing even more.

  The Type 88C main battle tank is the most representative product of the Type 88 series, and it was independently developed by China's national defense workers after arduous struggles. It became a "star of hope" in the Chinese People's Liberation Army's main battle equipment before the large-scale deployment of the Type 98 main battle tank. Although its performance indicators were slightly inferior to those of the Type 98 main battle tank and its various improved models, the Type 88C tank still gained favor with the Chinese People's Liberation Army's southern rapid reaction force due to its overall length of 10.65 meters, width of 3.3 meters, height of 2.3 meters, and combat weight of 41.5 tons.

  In 2005, during a series of battles in which the Chinese Marine Corps intervened in the Vietnam War, particularly the Battle of Hu? and the subsequent Haiphong landing operation, the Type 63D amphibious tanks used by the Chinese Marine Corps showed obvious shortcomings in firepower and protection when facing the T-72 tanks equipped by the Vietnamese Army, to the point where they were clearly outmatched by the obviously outdated T-72s.

  After the war, the Chinese People's National Defense Army Marine Corps began to purchase a large number of Type 88C tanks to arm its front-line armored forces. The 77th Amphibious Infantry Brigade of the Chinese People's National Defense Army Marine Corps, which had a painful experience in the Battle of Hue, was fully equipped with Type 88C main battle tanks and landed on Java.

  "Advance forward." On the highway to the northern coast city considered by the Japanese Nan'yō Garrison as "the gateway to Sanbao", a small skirmish had just ended. Three 87mm armored reconnaissance vehicles and one Type 96 Multi-Purpose Missile Launcher of the Japan Self-Defense Forces were overturned on the roadside, burning fiercely, with charred bodies of the crew members exposed under the scorching sun, attracting countless tropical insects.

  They entered the Chinese army's ambush circle at noon today, and the tall body of the 87-style tank was easily discovered by the Chinese tank soldiers and destroyed with ease. Although Colonel Shen Fangzhong, commander of the 77th Amphibious Infantry Brigade's tank regiment, still didn't have much good feeling towards Ren Lingyu, he couldn't deny that Ren Lingyu's "armored left hook" a few days ago was indeed beautiful. The main force of the 77th Amphibious Infantry Brigade's tank regiment, commanded by Colonel Shen Fangzhong, did not participate in the battle to recover Sanbao Ridge City, but instead advanced at night and pursued the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' two elite brigades from the flank, which had been fighting continuously and were exhausted.

  From dawn today, the ground forces of Japan's Self-Defense Forces' Special Task Force Brigade and 4th Mixed Brigade, which were withdrawing at full speed, have been constantly being picked off by Shen Fang's armored column. This move has caused considerable distress to the commanders of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, who can order their troops to stop retreating and launch a counterattack. However, after days of high-intensity combat, not only is it impossible to replenish oil and ammunition to meet the needs of combat, but the exhausted state of the troops cannot be compared to the Chinese Expeditionary Force that has just arrived in the war zone. So they can only urge their troops to speed up their march while watching helplessly as the vehicles that have fallen behind are slowly "eaten away" by the Chinese army.

  "Captain, the left wing has discovered 4 Type 90 tanks in an ambush." The vanguard of the armored brigade's spearhead company transmitted another exciting message. "Let the repair team take a look, if it can't be repaired, leave it for you to use as targets." Shen Fang smiled wryly. At this moment, he had clearly forgotten Commander Ren's warning not to get too close to the North Ka City urban area.

  On the side of his armored torrent, a crooked road sign was written in Indonesian and English with the words "15 kilometers from the North Coast". At this moment, the vanguard of the 18th Reinforced Tank Regiment directly under the command of the Japanese Self-Defense Force's Southern Cross Expeditionary Command, led by Colonel Takayuki Kusunoki, also known as the "Tiger of the Mountain Country", had arrived at the North Coast through a forced march and was waiting in formation. The first armored confrontation between China and Japan in the Javanese jungle began with Shen Fang's advance.

  Kusunoki Osamu, 45 years old, can be said to be a rare tank ace in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. The members of the 18th Enhanced Tank Battalion directly under his command are mostly from Japan's Fuji Training Group. Facing the 90-type tanks of the Japanese Self-Defense Force's Special Task Vehicle Regiment that poured into the northern coast of Ka like a collapse, Kusunoki Osamu couldn't help but sneer at them.

  "What's 'Tosa Tomari', that idiot Naito is indeed like a dog, only knows how to bark. Let's go, and let these yellow-haired brats see what a real tank looks like." Under the leadership of Kusunoki Haruka, the vanguard of the 18th Reinforced Tank Regiment, consisting of 12 Type 74 tanks and 6 of Japan's latest 05-type 40-ton medium tanks, rumbled forward through the rubble-filled city center on the north coast.