Chapter 9 The Snake Catcher Said (4)
Article 4
As the deafening roar shook the air, another Japanese Self-Defense Force Type 90 main battle tank was mercilessly pierced by the 125mm main gun of a Chinese People's Liberation Army Type 88C tank just 20 meters away from Tōmoto. The shattered armor fragments flew everywhere, and the entire vehicle was engulfed in a blazing inferno. In Tōmoto's eyes, the entire battlefield seemed to be burning at this moment. "I still have my wife and children, I cannot die here." Tōmoto cowered in a corner of the trench, clutching his Type 89 automatic rifle and trembling with fear.
"Coward." A lieutenant ran up to Dōmoto's face and slapped him hard, then handed him a handheld recoilless rifle. "Attack, attack! Do you know?" The lieutenant roared with anger, but disappeared into the chaotic battlefield in an instant. Dōmoto suddenly felt that at this moment, only he was left alone on the entire front line. "Why did I come here?" Dōmoto struggled to get up, mustered his courage and charged towards the armored tide of the Chinese army.
"God of war, protect us! Advance!" In the dark tank turret, Nakahara Saburō was commanding the 15 Type 90 main battle tanks of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' Special Tank Battalion, which had once been considered invincible, forming a wedge-shaped formation to counterattack against the Chinese army's frontal assault. In fact, the number of tanks on both sides of the battlefield remained roughly equal at 1:1. In some local areas, the Japanese tanks even held a significant advantage, but it was clear that the Chinese military was better prepared for nighttime operations.
The Type 90 tank, although slightly superior in performance to the Type 88C used by the Chinese Expeditionary Force, was not a decisive factor in nighttime battles where the psychological quality and tactical level of the tank crew often determined victory or defeat. The tanks of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' Special Tank Brigade, which were quickly deployed into battle, disappeared one after another on Uchida's command platform, while 12 black-painted Russian-made Ka-52 heavy armed attack helicopters swooped down onto the central battlefield under cover of terrain, belonging to the 310th "Chinese Crocodile" Independent Flying Squadron of the 171st Army Aviation Strike Division.
In the face of the powerful firepower of Ka-52, the composite armor of the Type 90 tank was as fragile as paper. The Japanese Self-Defense Forces' 87-type self-propelled high-altitude guns scattered along the entire front line were also powerless to protect their numerous ground targets, and once they opened fire, they would be subjected to a fierce suppressive fire from China's long-range artillery.
The only outcome awaiting the Japanese Self-Defense Forces is collapse. More and more Chinese tanks are rolling over the first-line defensive fortifications of the 16th Division of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, tearing apart the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' in-depth defense system from east to west in an instant. Although there are still many Japanese infantrymen resisting while relying on the remaining fortifications, their efforts alone are apparently unable to stop the surging armored tide of the Chinese army. Soon these isolated strongholds will also be ruthlessly eliminated.
As the last few Type 90 tanks of his direct subordinate regiment were hit by Chinese Army's anti-tank missiles one after another, Nitta Saburo, this so-called "Tosa Fighting Dog", was like a mangy dog with its spine broken, paralyzed in his seat, waiting for the judgment of fate as dead ashes, and the intercom next to his ear kept transmitting the consultations and accusations of tankers who were still resisting.
"Captain Uchida, wake up." Lieutenant Utsumiya turned around, pulled out a short knife and stabbed it into Uchida's abdomen. He then picked up the radio transmitter and broadcast to the entire regiment: "Major Uchida has taken responsibility for our defeat and committed seppuku. I am now taking over command, and I order the entire regiment to disengage from enemy contact." From this moment on, Utsumiya's name officially entered the long history of war between China and Japan, a name that would frequently appear in the memoirs of Chinese tank soldiers.
A fierce air battle was also taking place in the skies above Java, with the first batch of Chinese Air Force planes entering Jakarta airspace being intercepted by Japan's Self-Defense Forces. 15 F-15J fighter jets faced off against more than 60 J-11C and J-10D fighter jets from the Chinese Air Force.
The massive escort fleet of Type E, all they could do was to interpret the tenacity of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force by being shot down.
A few minutes later, the sky above Jakarta was left with only the red star and the military emblem of August 1st flying, the guided bombs dropped by the JH-7 fighter-bomber made Jakarta a sea of blood and fire. The remaining Japanese Self-Defense Forces' anti-aircraft firepower was still desperately resisting, but in return, there was only self-destruction. Standing on the rooftop of a building, Uesugi Jun gazed alone at the city that had been protected under the Japanese wing.
"Today is Jakarta, tomorrow it will be Osaka, Tokyo." A desolate feeling made his whole body tremble, in the flames he seemed to see a giant dragon soaring in the sky, was it? Has the Eastern Dragon awakened? Its sharp claws would soon crush the Japanese archipelago. A sense of despair he had never felt before made Uesugi's knees go weak, and he fell to the ground.
"Perhaps we've already lost, but even in death, we'll take down China's aircraft carrier as a shield." The 68 remaining F-1 and F-2 multi-role fighters of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force flew low over the sea towards the location of the Chinese naval fleet. However, such a large formation could not achieve a surprise attack, and soon they were intercepted by Chinese carrier-based aircraft and shipborne anti-air missiles. Even before entering the combat zone, 1
The 2 fighters were ruthlessly shot down. "Ready to fire, lock on the Chinese aircraft carrier." Finally, the Japanese fighter loaded with ASM-1
Two anti-ship missiles have entered the effective attack area, and before being shot down, all Japanese pilots tried to lock onto the two aircraft carriers of the Chinese Navy as their attack targets, a swarm of anti-ship missiles tearing through the night sky towards their targets...
Meanwhile, on the southern front line far from the main battlefield, the main force of China's 171st Aviation Strike Division crossed the existing battle lines with a large-scale helicopter fleet and advanced westward at high speed. Their destination was Bandung, a major inland city in Indonesia. The Japanese Self-Defense Force once considered Bandung as a reserve base, stockpiling a large amount of military supplies there, in preparation for using Bandung as a second strategic support point after Jakarta suffered a massive air raid. Therefore, when the news that China's airborne strike division appeared on the outskirts of Bandung arrived, the remaining helicopter troops of Japan's 4th Composite Brigade rushed to rescue immediately.
Due to the fact that both sides' armed helicopters were operating without support from other air power, a large-scale helicopter dogfight unfolded. Apparently, heavy attack helicopters like the AH-64 "Apache" did not have an advantage in helicopter-to-helicopter combat, while the OH-1 "Ninja" light armed reconnaissance helicopter used by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces was quite active in the battle. From its design inception, the OH-1's weapon system was biased towards air-to-air combat, with two of the four hardpoints under its short wings being used to carry twin 91-style air-to-air missiles. Its firepower was quite strong in the battle. Although not a specialized helicopter dogfighting model, it still caused significant losses for the Chinese Expeditionary Force; if there were more of them, the Chinese Army's 171st Aviation Strike Brigade might have been blocked outside Bandung City.
In the midst of a sea of flames in the outskirts of Jakarta, General Sutarto Dabriki, head of the Indonesian military government, drove alone to the front of a heavily guarded Dutch fort, where a beautiful piano melody was drifting out from a windowed room, echoing the explosions that were erupting intermittently from the center of Jakarta. "What a Javanese flower," General Dabriki silently admired, this wonderful music coming from the hands of Mrs. Liu Rujia, wife of Indonesia's new president Lin Guangzhao, who had been imprisoned by the rebels since the beginning of the coup.
This Dutch castle, named Chaya Garta, was built in the mid-17th century and has been used to imprison key members of the Indonesian Chinese Revival Party and high-ranking officials of the new Indonesian government who supported Lin Guangzhao since the coup. Under the dim light of the corridor, Dabraqi slowly walked towards Liu Rujia's room. Under the cold iron windows, he saw the politicians who were once arrogant and proud looking at him with various eyes, either desperate, or pleading, or angry. The intense bombing had already foretold that Jakarta would soon fall, and before retreating, how the rebels would treat them, these lower-class prisoners, most people no longer had hope for their future.
As he walked to Liu Rujia's cell door, Daburakai didn't forget the courtesy of knocking on the door. After getting permission from the owner of the cell, he let the guard open the door. "Please wait a minute, let me finish this song." Nearly two months of imprisonment had not changed Liu Rujia at all. The faint fatigue only made this former elegant woman show another kind of gentle charm. "I believe you know why I'm here, Mrs. Lin?" Daburakai asked in a low voice as he stood behind Liu Rujia and watched her white fingers press each key skillfully. "If I can dedicate this song to the future of Indonesia, I will have no regrets for the rest of my life. Please do it!" The last note flowed from her fingers. Liu Rujia smiled and replied.
