Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (12 page)

Indeed
,
intelligence suggested that the attacking
Japanese
forces had moved up two infantry divisions to carry forward the assault, which bottleneck of forces
looked particularly inviting for
the
US
officer
commanding 1st PTG
and for which he planned a stellar coup.

1st
Provisional
would strike over the
Yujiang
River
at
Guiping
, driving straight down Route 304, seemingly aiming at Wuzhou.

In reality, leaving the 6th Chinese Tank Battalion to secure their rear, the bulk of the Group would turn right near Baishahe, and follow Route 211 all the way to Rongxian, cutting the Japanese supply lines and placing a powerful force behind the attacking formations.

Some of
the armoured infantry
,
supported by
the 4th and 5th Chinese Tank Battalions
, would then be detailed
t
o hold the area around Rongxian, securing the area against any Japanese counter-attack.

Lieutenant Colonel Albrighton would then lead
his
remaining three tank battalions
and infantry
into the rear of the Japanese assault forces and cause havoc
.

The plan was bold and relied on speed and surprise, but the roads were familiar to Albrighton’s Chinese second in command
,
and Japanese
reconnaissance
capability was almost nil.

American-Chinese forces:-

1st
Provisional Tank Battalion of
1st Provisional Tank Group,
2nd Battalion, 66th Infantry Regiment and 22nd Artillery
Battalion
of 22nd Chinese
New
Infantry Division, all of 56th Chinese Corps.

Japanese forces:-

1st Tank Battalion, 3rd Special Obligation Brigade ‘Rainbow’
,
temporarily assigned from Suwabe Detachment,
attached
directly to
63rd
Special
Army.

             
The ceremony completed, Hamuda detailed his men to the routine maintena
n
ce tasks needed to keep his new thoroughbred operational
.
With the work in full swing, he
moved towards the tank of his second in command, Lieutenant
the Marquis
Hirohata
,
who was in conference with the company’s senior NCO,
Sergeant-Major Kagamutsu.

As ingrained in them since birth
,
the two junior men acknowledged their leader with respectful
bows as he approached, which were
returned in kind.

Kagamutsu and Hirohata had been arguing about the best way to stow their Katana swords when on the road, an argument which had been going on ever since the Company had first received its new vehicles.

Kagamutsu argued that there was no place for a sword inside the fighting compartment, preferring it outside in the tube container holding the barrel cleaning equipment.

Hirohata, carrying
his family’s heirloom, a priceless blade crafted by legendary
sword smith
Hikoshiro Sadamune, preferred to keep his closer to hand
,
and secured it against the cage stanchions within the tank’s turret.

Thus far
,
Hamuda had avoided being dragged into the
argument
,
and had every intention of continuing to avoid the on-going squabble by dealing with more mundane military matters.

Despite the differences in station, Hirohata and Kagamutsu were committed friends. The former was a member of the
peerage, his father having been granted the title under the Kazoku system for military services to the Emperor, the latter was the son of a fisherman, and even though they had both been brought up within ten miles of each other
,
they had lived very different lives.

Their relationship was built on soldierly comradeship and shared dangers. T
hat Hirohata still drew breath was solely down to the bravery of his Sergeant-Major, whose face bore the burns caused by the fire
that
should have killed
the youn
g
Marquis
.
The
blaze
claimed the lives of the five other officers of 3rd Tank Division
who had
bunked in the wooden hut
,
but K
agamutsu had plucked the young L
ieutenant from the building
,
even as it started collapse on top of them. The young
Chinese
culprit had been apprehended swiftly and was brough
t before the unit commander.
Major Kaneda had beheaded the youth on the spot.

Unfolding his map
,
Hamuda cleared his throat noisily to draw a line under the pair’s ritual squabbling.

As the business of the march was being discus
sed
,
a shouted warning stopped them
abruptly, eyes swivelling upwards to confirm the
friendly nature of the approaching aircraft
.

Around the positions, AA gunners tensed, ready to hurl death into the air.

Private
Asego
had been the man to shout and his eyes were the finest in the unit. It was a full
ten
seconds before any of the three could verify that
the aircraft were indeed friendly.

A
Mitsubishi
Ki-46
reconnaissance
plane was being shepherded back towards friendly lines by a group of four
Ki-84 fighters
,
having conducted a mission to gather information about Chinese forces around Xingye.

Two of the fighters broke off from the formation
, circling back to port over the Heights of Jianzhuding
and lazily lost height, heading away from t
he Rainbow tankers to the south
.

Sounds of firing followed and the keener eyes of
Asego
confirmed that the aircraft were strafing something on the ground.

Lacking any means of swif
tly communicating with the troops on the ground
,
the flight leader had ordered two of his pilots to attack the enemy force on the road
,
in order to try and warn the tank force that they were not alone.

Hamuda swiftly grasped the situation and ordered his unit to readiness. Correctly assessing that the attack had been carried out the other side of the river, he ordered his tanks to prepare to move out.

On arrival at his command tent, a sergeant passed him the radio handset, unit commander Major Yamashio already informed and planning his own response to the obvious Chinese advance.

Fig #
33
-
Yujiang
River
dispositions.

1st Company was ordered to take up positions bordering the river, oriented to the west, remaining silent for a flank ambush when Yamashio ordered it.

2nd and 3rd Companies had crossed the river previously and would remain in position, guarding the approaches to
Guiping
. 4th Company would remain in situ as a reserve.

With the improved communications offered by
all
the
newly-arrived
German equipment
,
Yamashio expected to be able to better control his
battalion’s
responses
,
and
so was light on specific orders, enjoying a freedom of operation and command almost unheard of for a Japanese tank unit commander.

Hardy hated the Chinese with a passion. They were useless soldiers
,
so
he told himself, unable to digest the simple soldierly arts let alone the complexities required of the tank man.

And yet here he was, co
mmanding an M5 light tank with C
hinese crew
,
and leading his whole unit into battle.

The unexpected strafing attack by the nip fighters had been ineffective, killing solely one useless chink tank commander who couldn
’
t keep his head down.

Apart from that
,
the advance had been uneventful as the column pushed up Route 304 towards their first objective, the
Yujiang
River
bridges at
Guiping
.

Raising himself out of the cupola
,
he brought his binoculars to his eyes, taking in the relatively open landscape into which he was driving
.
Hardy shuddered at the memory and quietly t
hank
ed
his god that
he wasn
’
t back in
France
,
where such terra
in meant Paks and Panzer
s, which
always brought death and destruction in equal measure.

As they passed the left hand junction with the county road Teo Li, his gunner, began chattering excitedly and the tank halted abruptly and without orders. Whilst Hardy could normally manage to issue orders and could understand much of what his crew said, at this moment, his ability to comprehend the increasing pitch and rapidity of his crew’s agitated conversation was non-existent.

The gunner alternated between looking down his sights and sending an imploring look directly at his American commander, accompanying both with increasingly panicky words. Hardy shook the man’s shoulder and calmly used his best Chinese to find out exactly what the problem was.

He was in the process of isolating key words like 'Japanese’, 'Tank’ and 'big’ when something sounding like an express train rocked his tank as it passed close by.

Fig #
3
4
-
Yujiang
River
ambush positions.

Ordering his tank to head for some isolated buildings
just off to the right
,
he stuck
his head back out
, the binoculars again probing for enemies.

A second shot betrayed
the enemy
position.