The British T28/1937 heavy tanks that were coming towards him were still driving in full swing. In the captain's periscope, the outlines of those British heavy tanks were getting bigger and bigger. Zhang Mingzhi knew very well what the British tank commander's intention was. It seemed that the other party also knew that the 122mm howitzer of the t28/1937 heavy tank would definitely not penetrate the opposite Chinese heavy tank.

Just as Zhang Mingzhi observed the severely damaged British heavy tank, the second target immediately opened fire. The tungsten core armor-piercing projectile hit the target accurately again, but this time it hit the main turret of a t28/1937 heavy tank, and did not stop immediately.

"Replace fortifications and destruction bullets"

Zhang Mingzhi decided to replace the shells because according to his observation, the power of the tungsten-core armor-piercing shell was too surplus and wasted. Therefore, he wanted to try the "fortification destruction bomb". This is a semi-armor-piercing shell. There is a small amount of explosives at the rear of the shell warhead. Its main purpose is to destroy solid fortifications, but it can also deal with close-range enemy tanks. Since the shells have a small amount of explosives, once they penetrate the tank armor, the damage caused is much greater than that of ordinary armor-piercing shells.

"Bang"

The ammunition hand quickly loaded the shell, and then the gunner quickly selected the target and then shot out the fortification destruction bomb.

The shell accurately hit a t28/1937 tank, hitting the front of the vehicle body, but it did not penetrate it, but bounced away.

"Tungsten Core Armor Piercing Bomb"

Zhang Mingzhi roared, he was very annoyed because he found that he had underestimated the armor thickness of the heavy tanks made in the Soviet factory.

"Bang"

A tungsten-core armor-piercing bomb flew out of the "wild boar"-style gun barrel and hit the front armor of a British heavy tank, piercing through the armor plate, leaving a clear round hole on the head.

Now, the combat distance between the two sides has been smaller than 400 meters, and all the British heavy tanks have stopped attacking and have begun to use the 122mm howitzers on the vehicle to bombard Chinese tanks. At the same time, the 57mm anti-tank guns have also begun to pour bullets into China's heavy tanks.

There was no doubt that a strange scene appeared at the scene. The tanks of the warring sides stopped on the dry sandy land, competing with each other for whom the shells were stronger and whose armor was thicker.

If the military strategist saw the scene, he would definitely remember the infantry tactics of the boreblower era. At that time, the infantrymen on both sides lined up in line to shoot at the enemy queues face to face, because the rifles at that time were not very accurate and not far.

Now, it is the tank troops' turn to play this "queuing and shooting" tactic, because tank guns cannot accurately shoot while traveling, and perhaps with the advancement of technology, this tactic will eventually be abandoned.

This is the way the 6th Army's tactics evolved. Technology is improving, but tactics often cannot keep up with the rapid development of technology.

...

Just as Zhang Mingzhi and his comrades in the Second Company were having a face-to-face "queuing shelling" tactic with British tank soldiers, on the hillside, which was only more than one thousand meters away from the battlefield, battlefield commander Tian Miao was closely watching the fierce tank battle in the low-lying area there.

From the overall perspective of the battlefield, the current entire battle situation is very unfavorable to the British tank troops. First, its leading tank team has been blocked head-on by the third company in the west and is retreating step by step. Secondly, its queue was cut off by the first company that rushed down the hillside, and the front and rear troops can no longer effectively cooperate or support each other. Finally, its rear troops, that is, the tank team composed of t28/1937 heavy tanks, were also forced to turn to face the Chinese heavy tank team that rushed up from the south, and it was passive as soon as the war started, and it was impossible to go to the west to reinforce.

Now, the only mobile force that British commanders can use is the only infantry and artillery. However, under the strafing of machine guns from Chinese light reconnaissance tanks, those British infantry could not get close to China's heavy tanks at all.

Tian Miao was very nervous. He was not worried about the battle on the front battlefield, but about the flanking armored team. He was a little worried that the mobile unit would not be able to reach the back of the British position on time. According to the current situation, the British commander would not be unable to see that the British army was at a disadvantage. If he decisively ordered the troops to retreat now, then the battle planned by Tian Miao would not evolve into an annihilation battle, but could only be a defeat.

It must be admitted that with the smooth development of the war, Tian Miao's ambitions became greater and greater. He wanted to eat the British army in one bite. According to the staff's estimate just now, the size of this British army was almost close to a division. In other words, Tian Miao was trying to use one of his armored reinforcement regiments to eat a semi-mechanized infantry division of the British army. This ambition was quite surprising. No wonder Tian Miao revealed his meaning to the staff just now that the staff looked a little stunned.

The ancient Chinese military strategy emphasized "ten encirclements", which means that if you want to wipe out a strong enemy, you must have an absolute advantage in terms of military strength. Now, Tian Miao has only more than 1,000 troops, while the British army has nearly 10,000 troops. The military strength is very different. If you want to eat up these ten thousand British troops in one bite, you must think of some other way.

The three tank companies and half an infantry battalion were responsible for the flanking roundabout mission. The unit was code-named "Iron" and when the "Iron" troops were out, Tian Miao specifically instructed the tanks and half-track armored vehicles to bring some branches and drag them to the rear of the vehicle so that the sandstorm behind the vehicle would be raised in the process of driving quickly, and use this method to bluff and scare the British officers and soldiers.

Whether this bluffing military strategy can work is still unknown, but what Tian Miao is more concerned about now is when the "Iron" troops will appear in the far-reaching rear of the British army and attack westward?

The "Iron" troops carry a radio station and can keep in touch with Tian Miao at any time. Just five minutes ago, just as China's heavy tanks rushed towards the British army, Tian Miao had just telegrammed with the commander of the "Iron" troops and learned that the troops were advancing smoothly and were expected to arrive in the designated area within an hour and enter the battle.

One hour was really a bit long. During this period, the British battlefield commander could order the entire army to retreat at any time. In order to prevent this, Tian Miao made a bold decision.

"Notify the Third Company not to annihilate the British leading tank team immediately, let them go back, and let them meet with the heavy tank team, so as to restrain the main force of the British army, let the British commander make a mistake in judgment, and delay the issuance of their retreat orders."

Tian Miao's order was quickly conveyed by the staff, and it immediately had an effect. The sound of artillery bombardment from the west quickly weakened. If the British commander was reluctant to let the tanks rushing in front, he would definitely give the infantry and artillery a little longer here.

"Teacher, look at it"

A staff officer suddenly shouted and raised his finger to point at the sky.

Tian Miao and several other staff members raised their heads and looked into the sky. In the southeast direction, several small black dots appeared. The distance was still far, and it was hard to tell which model of aircraft it was. However, it is certain that it was not the air force summoned by Tian Miao. The battle in Muscat is still very fierce. China's air force will mainly ensure the safety of boarding the sixth game, and compete with the British naval fleet for sea control in the Gulf of Oman and even the entire Arabian Sea. Therefore, when Tian Miao asked for battle with his superiors, he had been clearly informed by the theater command that at least before four o'clock this afternoon, he was unlikely to receive strong air support, and he could only rely on his armored forces.

Everyone's attention was attracted by the unidentified aircraft that appeared in the sky. The battle at the 6th place here was temporarily ignored by everyone. Tian Miao and the staff raised their telescopes and looked towards the sky in the southeast. Soon, they saw clearly the closer and closer aircraft. It was a heavy long-range bomber. Although they could not see the details clearly for the time being, Tian Miao's heart immediately skipped a beat. He vaguely felt that the visitor was not good, because according to the information he received, the heavy bomber of the Chinese Air Force 6 Airways has not yet appeared in the battlefields of South Asia and the Middle East. The main ones for battlefield fire support for the Battle of Muscat were medium bombers and dive bombers and attack aircraft, but the UK was different. In the Middle East, according to the pre-war notice of the General Staff, the British army deployed two types of heavy bombers, one was "Lancaster" and the other was "Halifax".

Finally, a staff officer first identified the specific models of the heavy bombers flying towards the battlefield.

"It's the 'Lancaster' British bomber"

The staff officer shouted, and everyone was shocked.

"What are you shouting? Call the air defense vehicle to be on guard"

Tian Miao rolled his eyes at the staff officer and calmly issued an order to another officer, but he felt a little relieved. After all, the one who came was a heavy bomber.

The staff officer's judgment was correct. He was flying from the southeast to six British Lancaster heavy bombers, affiliated to the RAF's First Bomber Team, and was stationed in Aden City in the northern part of the Gulf of Aden. These bombers were ordered to bomb Muscatden for six games. However, when they flew to the airspace not far from Tianmiao's "Hunter" troops, they suddenly received an order from Aden. This order changed the combat targets of the bomber unit. Now, the attack targets of these six Lancaster heavy bombers have been changed to Tianmiao's position. This was a tactical air strike. It was obviously a blocked British troops sent a telegram to the British Air Force for help.

With the issuance of the Tianmiao air defense order, those Chinese armored air defense vehicles that did not participate in front-line battles immediately entered combat readiness. The anti-aircraft guns raised their muzzles and aimed at the direction of the British aircraft. However, the problem is that most of these armored air defense vehicles are small and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns, with only two 75mm caliber anti-aircraft guns. If the British aircraft fly at a high altitude, most anti-aircraft guns cannot effectively intercept.

Now, the flight altitude of British bombers is 7,000 meters, and most anti-aircraft guns from the "Hunter" troops cannot be used.

Tian Miao did not order anti-aircraft guns to open fire immediately because he was not sure whether the target of the British aircraft was his troops, and he also felt that the British aircraft should not throw bombs randomly at the risk of bombing British tanks and infantry.

But the facts proved that Tian Miao was wrong. Not only did the British aircraft start to drop in altitude, but the first aviation bomb was also quickly dropped. Obviously, the British bombers did not consider the risk of accidentally injuring friendly troops. Their mission seemed to be to sweep away all obstacles on the British troops' road to westward.

"Bang"

"Bang"

Under Tian Miao's order, all anti-aircraft guns fired, with the purpose of deterring British bombers and forcing them to carry out high-altitude bombing to reduce their bombing accuracy.

At this time, all vehicles participating in ground combat were also informed by the battlefield commands of both sides. Some vehicles that had time to hide quickly evacuated the battlefield and looked for hidden places, but most armored vehicles ignored the threat from the sky and continued their battle.

"boom----"

Finally, the first aviation bomb fell down, and the deafening explosion shocked the ground. Compared with the "small fight" of tank guns on the ground, the air force's move was generous. A huge bomb crater was blown out of the ground. A British medium-sized tank that had just retreated from the west fell head-on, and then the motive was turned off.

"Boom...boom..."

Smoke columns rose one after another on the sand on both sides of the highway, and the ground was shaking and shaking. Even when squatting on the hillside, Tian Miao could feel the vibration from his feet. At the same time, he also found that the aiming point of the British bomber was probably on that road, because the landing point of the bomb was concentrated on both sides of the highway.

Seeing the British bomber throwing bombs like this, Tian Miao breathed a sigh of relief. This attitude was not so much a bomb that it was making trouble, and it might not even be able to boost courage for the British ground troops. The only function was probably to increase the flight of the bomber as soon as possible to avoid those Chinese fighters that might appear in the air at any time.
Chapter completed!