Chapter 167 7th Division

"Mr. Director, our 7th Division has now moved to the Obihiro area. In another three hours, we will be able to advance to Kushiro. Right now, there is a fierce battle in Kushiro. As long as we take Kushiro, the invading Soviets will have no way to retreat." Upon hearing that the Director wanted to dispatch the 7th Division back, the Chief of Staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, General Aoki, said.

In front of him was the Chief of the Defense Agency, Watanabe Hideyoshi. Today, everyone had been here since the beginning, without even having a meal, but all they received was bad news one after another.

In the air confrontation, despite the help of the US Air Force, the Soviets still defeated them. The Soviets firmly grasped the air supremacy. At sea, the American aircraft carrier formation failed to control the itinerary of the Soviet fleet and was scared back by two terrible Soviet fighter planes!

The original US-Japan defense agreement clearly stipulated this. Now that the island nation is in danger, the Americans are unwilling to be at the forefront!

The Americans lost more than a dozen F-4s, so they decided to temporarily abandon the attack and wait until a new F-15 fighter wing arrived from their homeland. By that time, Hokkaido would have been full of red flags!

What they could not tolerate the most was that the main force of the Soviets boldly penetrated into Chitose and seized the most important base in Hokkaido! Now, the Hokkaido Air Self-Defense Force no longer has an air force base to use!

We must recapture Obihiro! As the supreme commander, directly responsible to the Prime Minister, Watanabe Hideyoshi issued the next order, immediately ordering the 7th Division to withdraw and recapture the Chitose base!

Amateur! A complete amateur! Hearing his words, General Aoki knew something was wrong and immediately gave a new suggestion.

The Director General of the Defense Agency is a civilian, appointed by the Prime Minister who won the election. He has no experience in commanding a battle! He is just like the mustache man in World War II, commanding recklessly!

The 7th Division has arrived in Obihiro. Their mission is to capture Kushiro and drive the Soviets into the sea. Now, after more than five hours of long-distance attack, they are just in a state of exhaustion. If they replenish fuel and take a short rest in Obihiro, and then rush to Kushiro, they will be a fresh force. But now, retreating back is simply ridiculous!

When they returned, they were in their most exhausted state. Recapturing Chitose? It would be difficult to rely on the 7th Division alone! As long as they recaptured Kushiro, the Soviets would naturally collapse without a fight.

"No." Watanabe Hideyoshi said firmly: "Chitose is right next to Sapporo. We can't lose it. If the Soviets take Chitose, the next step will definitely be to besiege Sapporo. There are nearly a million of us there. It is the administrative center and industrial center of Hokkaido. We can't lose anything there! We can't cause panic among the people!"

If it was just the Chitose base, that would be fine. The main reason is that Chitose is only a few dozen kilometers away from Sapporo. For the armored forces, one charge will be enough to get there. Sapporo cannot be lost!

The 7th Division must retreat to Chitose, which is their base camp!

When receiving the order from his superiors, Lieutenant General Sato Kitaro, commander of the 7th Division, couldn't help but curse.

Baka! Go back now? Take back Chitose? This is simply an order issued by an idiot! Looking at the row of Type 74 tanks behind him, Sato Kitaro was almost going crazy.

Of course he didn't know that the Soviets drove directly from the highway. In order to avoid being attacked from the air by Soviet fighter planes, the armored units of the 7th Division drove directly off-road through the wilderness in a straight line. After the bumpy ride, they were at their weakest, and their fuel had been exhausted.

After refueling here, they could just head to Kushiro. If they returned to Chitose, they would be out of fuel by the time they arrived at Chitose. How could they fight? The fuel in the Chitose base must have been given to the Soviets!

What to do? Night had already fallen, and Lieutenant General Sato Kitaro crumpled up the order and threw it on the ground.

"Order, continue attacking Kushiro!" Sato Kitaro shouted.

Disobeying orders is the tradition of the island nation's soldiers! As a veteran who participated in World War II, Sato Kitaro did not take the orders from above seriously at all. Winning the battle was the most important thing!

Attack, keep attacking!

The 7th Division, fully fueled, continued to advance eastwards. In the front were the 71st, 72nd and 73rd tank regiments, with their gun barrels held high. In the darkness, the only sound was the roar of the engines.

Sitting in a command tank, Sato Kitaro was still looking at the latest battle report. The 5th Division had already fought with the Soviet defenders in Kushiro. The Soviet army was not large in number, and their number had also been determined: it was the 105th Airborne Division!

The airborne division can't compare with the elite island nation's ground self-defense force! Now the 5th Division is in a bad situation, mainly because the 5th Division's equipment is too poor. The Type 61 tank is like paper in front of the enemy. As long as the Type 74 tank is pushed up, it will definitely be able to kill the enemy!

After World War II, the Japanese developed the Type 61 tank, but after it was finalized and equipped to the troops, this tank fell behind and had no advantage over the Soviet T-62 tank. Therefore, the development of the second generation of tanks began in 1964.

It uses the L7A3 105mm tank gun imported from the United Kingdom, which can fire armor-piercing and armor-piercing shells and armor-piercing shells introduced simultaneously. This NATO standard tank gun can tear open the armor of the Soviet main battle tanks.

At the same time, the high-power 700-horsepower engine is equipped with a new shooting and aiming system consisting of a two-way gun stabilizer, a ruby ​​laser rangefinder, an analog ballistic computer, and a periscope sight. The performance of this tank is very advanced and is not backward compared with the Western world.

keep going!

The tracks crushed the ground, the hydro-pneumatic suspension system cushioned the bumps, and the tank moved forward rapidly, getting closer and closer to Kushiro.

Kushiro Port.

"Hurry, comrades, speed up!" At the port's dock, cargo ships were busy unloading.

Thanks to the heroic fighting of the air defense force and the air force, the cargo ships were able to get out of the Kunashir Channel safely and finally arrived at Kushiro Port at nightfall.

Amidst the rumbling sounds, the T-72 tanks of the 14th Guards Tank Division rumbled onto the land.

The arrival of the 14th Tank Division brought relief to the defenders of Kushiro Port. This powerful new force will completely crush the defending enemy!

This day was a very difficult day for the 105th Airborne Division.