Tank on the move.
CHAPTER 13 – OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENTS
06:22 (China Time)
Tuesday, September 6, 1932
Region of Kalgan, 200 kilometers northwest of Beijing
Republic of China (occupied territory)
The two Chinese communist soldiers had been very careful in staying well hidden behind bushes and long grass while observing the Japanese Army fortified camp some 300 meters from them. The bulk of the People’s Eight Army, to which they belong, was still quite a long way to the South, marching hard towards Kalgan with the intent of retaking that city. The job of the two Chinese fighters was simple but crucial: to find and report on the Japanese Army units standing in the way of the People’s Eight Army’s advance towards Kalgan. For such a job, discretion was certainly a lot more important than valor. As the old saying went, ‘dead men tell no tales’.
“How many Japanese do you think that this camp contains, Zhou?’’
“From the number of tents visible in the camp, I would say a minimum of 2,000 men, Li: it probably is the camp of an infantry regiment. I don’t like the way the Japanese fortified their camp with lines of trenches and barbed wire: it would cost our forces dearly to take it.’’
The two communist soldiers had started sketching a rudimentary map of the camp when a growing noise made them tense up.
“What’s that?’’
“Uh, I don’t know, Zhou: I never heard such a noise before. It is however growing rapidly and seems to be coming from the Southeast.’’
Both soldiers looked in that direction, only to understand after a few more seconds that the noise was coming from the sky. That excited at once the two scouts: Japanese planes had been rare these last few days and there were rumors that French planes had started a couple of weeks ago to bomb Japanese forces in Northern China and Manchuria. Hoping that the small dots now visible in the sky would turn out to be French aircraft, the two scouts nearly shouted in joy when it became evident that the planes, eleven of them, were preparing to attack the Japanese camp. Completely enthralled, the Chinese watched with glee as the planes, fast and menacing ones with two propellers each, split up to form three parallel files and dove at a slight angle towards the Japanese camp. Then, as the eleven planes started overflying the camp, where alarmed Japanese soldiers were now running out of their tents, dozens of what looked like streamlined fuel tanks dropped in sequence off the aircraft. Instead of exploding on impact, as the two Communist soldiers expected, the tanks instead burst out in a series of gigantic fireballs which rolled on the ground and covered wide areas before gradually changing into huge rising clouds of thick black smoke, with the whole thing accompanied by a mighty noise of rolling thunder. Under the ecstatic eyes of the Communist soldiers, hundreds of Japanese soldiers running towards their defensive trenches were enveloped by the rolling balls of fire and burned alive, or were asphyxiated when the oxygen in the air was consumed by the flames. The Communist soldiers could not contain their joy at that spectacle and shouted out in triumph. Thankfully for them, none of the surviving Japanese soldiers noticed them before the planes came back for a second attack pass. This time, the planes fired volleys of rockets, targeting the few hard buildings of the camp plus the vehicle park and the ammunition dump. All those disappeared in multiple powerful explosions, with the ammunition dump in particular being turned into a spectacular display of fireworks. Just as the two Chinese soldiers thought that the planes were finished and would fly away, they turned for a third attack on the camp. This time, they fired their internal guns, which appeared quite powerful, judging from their muzzle flashes and their explosive shells. Those shells peppered and ripped apart hundreds more Japanese soldiers, many of whom were vainly firing at the planes with their rifles. When the aircraft did fly away, their ammunition expended, there was little left of the camp, with only some 200 bewildered Japanese soldiers having somewhat survived the attack. Noting that down on their sketch, the two Chinese soldiers then cautiously retreated deeper into the vegetation, anxious to give the good news to their commander.
14:18 (China Time)
Thursday, September 8, 1932
Quai de France, port of Shanghai
China
Major Alexander Vandegrift looked on happily as fresh U.S. marines were coming down the gangway linking the Quai de France and the troopship THEODORE ROOSEVELT. With this fourth marine company now arriving, plus replacements for his battle casualties, his battalion was at last going to be at full strength. Another plus that had come on the THEODORE ROOSEVELT were the motor vehicles for his battalion, which had to leave them behind when they had travelled by air from Los Angeles to the Philippines, then to the French aviation cruiser REDOUTABLE. A first lieutenant in his mid twenties who had disembarked first came straight to Vandegrift and, stopping at attention in front of him, saluted him while announcing himself in a firm voice.
“First Lieutenant Samuel Griffith, arriving with Heavy Weapons Company of Second Battalion, Fourth U.S. Marine Regiment, sir!’’
Vandegrift returned Griffith’s salute before shaking his hand.
“Welcome to Shanghai, Lieutenant Griffith. How many marines did you bring with you from the United States?’’
“I have brought the 174 men of the Heavy Weapons Company, plus 76 replacements for your combat casualties, sir. There is also a full motor transport company and a vehicle maintenance platoon, along with their vehicles and stocks of spare parts, aboard the THEODORE ROOSEVELT, sir.’’
“Excellent! The few ‘Bugs’ the French gave us provided us truly sterling services, but we were sorely short of heavy vehicles.’’
“’Bugs’, sir?’’
Vandegrift smiled at the understandable confusion of the young officer and pointed at the nearby Kruger COCCINELLE in which he had come to the Quai de France.
“That is a ‘Bug’, Lieutenant: a Kruger COCCINELLE All Terrain Vehicle, or ATV. This marvelous little thing can go anywhere, in either mud, sand, swamps or even water, as it is fully amphibious. It also happen to be resistant to bullets. Our marines positively love it. The French, or rather Miss Tasha Lenoir, the owner of the Lenoir Industries Consortium, gave us twelve of these bugs when we arrived from the States.’’
Griffith took a few seconds to look at the COCCINELLE before smiling to Vandegrift.
“It does look like a nifty vehicle, sir. Is the Corps planning to buy some more of these?’’
“I sure hope so! The COCCINELLE is a great little vehicle. I would love to own one myself for my hunting trips in the States. I suspect that it would become extremely popular if put on sale in the United States.’’
“I bet, sir! You will be pleased to learn that the First Marine Brigade has started to pull out of Haiti and is urgently being reorganized for shipment to China, sir.’’
“That is definitely great news, Lieutenant.’’ Said Vandegrift, smiling. “The fighting against the Japanese has been hard and intense and we certainly can use more marines here in China.’’
“Oh, by the way, sir, I have a message for you from the Corps Commandant.’’
Taking the bulging envelope offered to him by Griffith and opening it, Vandegrift extracted and unfolded a single sheet of paper, which had been wrapped around a small box. Vandegrift’s smile then turned into a grin as he read the short message.
“Major General Fuller is promoting me to lieutenant colonel, effective as of the First of September. YES! Could you help me pin those new rank insignias on my collar, Lieutenant? I would hate to go around improperly dressed.’’
“With pleasure, sir.’’
As Griffith was changing the collar insignias on Vandegrift’s combat shirt, he asked a question in a low voice.
“Uh, how are those French soldiers, sir? Are they good fighters?’’
Vandegrift answered him in a most sober tone and expression.
“Those French are true professionals, Lieutenant. Don’t believe the bar talk about them. Their naval infantry is excellent, while their Foreign Legionnaires are some of the toughest, roughest bastards I ever saw. Most importantly, their equipment and weapons are top notch and make us look like a bunch of Stone Age paupers. You should see one day the aviation cruiser our battalion was on: it truly is a technological marvel. Apart from being heavily armed with guns and missiles, the REDOUTABLE can carry a whole infantry regiment and its equipment, on top of carrying and operating over forty aircraft.’’
“Does it look like that ship over there, sir?’’
Vandegrift looked at the big French ship that had docked just after the THEODORE ROOSEVELT at the Quai de France and which was now lowering two side cargo ramps down on the quay.
“No! The PAS DE CALAIS, while having some similarities with the REDOUTABLE, is not an aviation cruiser. The French actually classify it as an amphibious transport ship. I was told that it is bringing to Shanghai a regiment of the French Second Armored Division.’’
“An armored division? What’s that, sir?’’
“Beats me! I guess that we will soon be able to see by ourselves, Lieutenant. In the meantime, have your troops wait along the promenade while our vehicles are coming out of the THEODORE ROOSEVELT. Once those have been unloaded, you will have our men climb into them. I will then guide your company to your designated barracks in Shanghai.’’
“Yes sir!’’
Seven American trucks had been put down on the quay by the cranes of the THEODORE ROOSEVELT when the rumble of a powerful engine and the noise of steel tracks made Vandegrift and his marines snap their heads towards the PAS DE CALAIS. Lieutenant Griffith’s eyes opened wide when he saw the vehicle that was now rolling out of the amphibious transport ship and slowly going down one of its side cargo ramps.
“Holy shit! What is that?’’
“I don’t know, but it sure looks like a mean beast to me.’’ replied Vandegrift, as impressed as Griffith, while exclamations and remarks went up and down the ranks of the marines waiting for their trucks. What they saw was a tracked vehicle bigger than anything they had seen before. On top of being obviously very heavy, judging from the way the whole quay vibrated once the vehicle started rolling on it, it sported a huge gun with a long barrel that protruded past the front of the hull. Furthermore, that big gun was carried in a kind of armored box with highly sloped side walls, with the box itself being suspended about two feet over the hull, supported by a pair of steel pillars. The way that the vehicle accelerated sharply once it was on firm ground and rolled on the Bund showed that it had plenty of engine power for its weight. As more similar vehicles followed the first one out of the transport ship, Vandegrift told Griffith to continue with the unloading of their trucks, then walked to the first French tracked armored vehicle, which had stopped on the Bund and had parked to wait for the other armored vehicles. Vandegrift arrived at the vehicle as a French officer was coming out by an armored hatch situated under the suspended box containing its gun. He saluted the officer, who wore the rank insignias of a lieutenant colonel, getting a salute in return, then spoke to him in his best French.
“Good afternoon, Colonel. I’m Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vandegrift, in command of the Second Battalion of the Fourth Regiment of the United States Marine Corps. May I ask what is this most impressive beast?’’
The French officer smiled with pride at the words ‘most impressive beast’ and jumped on the ground to come to Vandegrift and shake his hand. He then proved to be able to speak a very decent English.
“Lieutenant Colonel Charles Delestraint, Commander of the 505th Tank Regiment, itself part of the Second Armored Division. This is a Hotchkiss-Clarkson C-1 main battle tank, the workhorse of our armored units.’’
“Wait! Did you say ‘Hotchkiss-Clarkson’?’’
“Yes! Why do you ask?’’
“Because the pilot of the transport aircraft in which me and some of my marines landed next to the American consulate was named Clarkson. She is a black woman and told me that she was a weapons systems engineer.’’
Delestraint nodded slowly his head in comprehension.
“Miss Terry Clarkson is well known to me, since she is the co-designer of the C-1 and of many of the vehicles and weapons we use in the French Army. She designed the gun turret system for our C-1. We discussed armored vehicle designs once and she is certainly very competent in that domain, on top of being extremely creative. Since unloading the tanks and infantry combat vehicles of my regiment will take some time, I will give you a little tour of my C-1. First, its main armament is a high velocity 100mm, 45 caliber Model 1930 gun, mounted in what we call an ‘overhang oscillating turret’. Since there are no crewmembers inside the oscillating part of the turret, the gun is fed via an automated loading system with 36 rounds ready to fire, with 58 more 100mm rounds stowed inside the hull, at the rear. The C-1 also has a coaxial 25mm automatic cannon, a coaxial 7mm machine gun, one 7mm bow machine gun and a total of six smoke grenade dischargers, which allow us to rapidly deploy a thick smoke screen in front of the vehicle. The C-1 has a crew of four: the commander and the gunner, who sit inside the turret basket, and the driver and bow gunner, who sit forward next to the engine. That engine is a turbo-charged Salmson triple row 27-cylinder radial, rated to a maximum of 1,100 horsepower, which is in turn connected to a dynamo that feeds electricity to two geared electric motors situated inside the sprocket wheels. We call that an ‘electric drive’ and it provides a very smooth piloting of the tank compared to traditional mechanical clutch and brake gearboxes of other tracked vehicles, which tend to jerk while turning. With its high power to weight ratio and wide tracks, the C-1 is very fast and agile despite its combat weight of 36,400 kilos and can attain road speeds of eighty kilometers per hour, or fifty miles per hour for you Americans.’’
“This weighs over 36 tons? How thick is the armor on this beast?’’
“I am sorry, but that figure is actually classified. However, I can tell you that its thickness and sloping makes the C-1 next to invulnerable to all non-French antitank weapons known today. The Japanese are going to shit in their pants when they will see it in action.’’
“And how many of these…tanks do you have in your regiment, Colonel Delestraint?’’
“Ninety-eight C-1s, plus eighteen specialized variants used either for towing broken vehicles, bridging rivers and streams and remove obstacles. For this mission in China, a regiment of mechanized infantry and an artillery regiment have also been sent and should arrive tomorrow on another amphibious transport ship. Would you like to have a look inside?’’
“Sure!’’ replied immediately Vandegrift, jumping on the offer. Delestraint then led him to the front left corner of the tank and climbed on it, stepping on one of the road wheels to do so and then helping Vandegrift climb atop the hull. The latter immediately noticed the highly inclined surfaces of the tank, very few of which were at the vertical. Delestraint then pointed a sort of small, compact mini-turret on the front right side, from which a three-barreled machine gun protruded. Vandegrift, who had studied military history at length, recognized at once the type of machine gun.
“A Gatling gun? You use that old machine gun concept in such a modern machine?’’
That got him a sarcastic smile from Delestraint, who patted the top of the small turret.
“The Gatling gun concept may be old, but this is probably the best and most lethal machine gun in existence right now. It is a Clarkson 7mm Gatling Gun, is electrically-driven and can spit 3,000 bullets per minute. It is aimed remotely via a periscope by the bow gunner. CAPORAL VINCENT, COULD YOU TEMPORARILY GIVE YOUR SEAT TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL VANDEGRIFT?’’
“YES SIR!’’ replied the bow gunner from inside the vehicle before climbing out of his hatch. Vandegrift slid down the hatch at once and landed in a comfortable, well padded seat that appeared to be mounted on spring supports. There were five small periscopes arranged around the hatch, plus a bigger periscope linked to a sort of handlebar with two vertical grips. Looking through the bigger periscope, which was right in front of his seat, Vandegrift was able to see clearly outside in a limited arc. Turning the handlebar and pushing and pulling on the two vertical grips, he saw that the machine gun turret followed his commands and could point anywhere within a frontal arc of sixty degrees, which was quite good in his opinion. He then saw the big steel container sitting on the floor to his front and left and whistled in appreciation: it had to contain at least 500 belted machine gun rounds, while more ammunition containers were stacked behind the one feeding the machine gun.
“Hell, I wouldn’t want to charge this tank from its frontal arc: that would be pure suicide.’’
“Well, the Japanese will have to learn that lesson the hard way.’’ said Delestraint, who was kneeling beside the opened hatch. “I will give a minute for my driver, Master Corporal Letourneau, to describe to you his position, then I will show you my own commander’s station.’’
The said Letourneau then spent a minute explaining to Vandegrift how its commands worked, then took a moment to point at a few things around his station and that of the bow gunner.
“Thankfully for us French tankers, the designers of this tank took some time to think about the creature comfort features which equip this vehicle, sir. Next to me is a space heater and an air conditioning unit, plus an air filtration unit to protect us from poison gas. On your right side, you will see both an electric hot plate used to warm up our rations and a coffee pot heater to boil either water or soup. We also have a ninety liter potable water tank. All this, plus our crashworthy seats, makes it much more comfortable to operate this tank, sir.’’
“I see! I wish that our own military equipment designers could also think about such things. Thank you for your information, Master Corporal.’’
“It was a pleasure, sir.’’
Climbing out through the bow gunner’s hatch, Vandegrift then walked on top of the hull with Delestraint towards the rear. He had to grip handlebars on the sides of the gun turret to go around it, so that he could get behind the turret, where Delestraint made him sit down on the steel deck before sliding down the commander’s hatch, situated under the overhanging turret. Vandegrift was then struck by how well protected the commander and gunner were when their heads were out of their hatches: the hatches themselves opened up towards the front and had an armored Durex episcope in it, thus provided both protection and vision in the frontal arc. To both sides, Durex episcopes integrated into the bases of the pillars supporting the overhang turret allowed good lateral vision and excellent protection. This sharply contrasted with the few armored vehicles Vandegrift had seen before, where the commander’s head was completely exposed to bullets and fragments the moment he stuck it out of his hatch to have a better all-around view. To his left side, a large armored box and what looked like an automatic cannon were attached to the underbelly of the gun turret.
“Uh, I can see that this must be the 25mm coaxial cannon you told me about, Colonel Delestraint, but what is in this large armored box?’’
“That is a twelve-inch high-power L.E.D. searchlight. It has a heavily armored front cover and its position under the turret and between the support pillars helps protect it from incoming projectiles.’’
“And what is the intended purpose of that searchlight?’’
“It is meant to deter and counter enemy mass infantry assaults at night, both by blinding enemy soldiers and ruining their night vision and by providing illumination to our own soldiers, who can then aim their weapons more easily. It can also be used to search for hidden snipers at night and can even blind enemy pilots flying low at night.’’
“A nifty thing indeed, I must say.’’ said Vandegrift before lowering his head below the hatch ring and looking around inside the tank. What he saw finished convincing him that this tank was decades ahead of anything the United States even knew about. Climbing out of the hatch, he faced Delestraint, who then asked him a question.
“And what type of tank does the United States Army uses, Colonel Vandegrift?’’
At first giving a guarded look at the French officer, Vandegrift finally decided that Delestraint’s question was a genuine one out of curiosity, and not some attempt at mocking the United States.
“As far as I know, we don’t have anything that you would call a tank. We have a few armored cars that are little better than commercial type cars fitted with an armored body, that’s it. The U.S. Army did consult with an American designer, Mister Christie, but the present severe economic depression and tight federal budgets have meant that no money was available for the acquisition of tanks.’’
“Uh, I see! Be assured that, if you ever need tank support for your battalion, I will be most happy to provide it.’’
“Thank you very much for that, Colonel Delestraint. I hope that we will be able one day to fight the Japanese side by side.’’ said Vandegrift before shaking the Frenchman’s hand again and saluting him before jumping off the tank and returning to his waiting marines. Lieutenant Griffith eagerly asked him a question in a low voice as soon as he was back.
“So, what did you learn about it, sir?’’
Vandegrift gave him a sober look in return.
“It’s called a C-1 tank, has a 100mm bite and weighs no less than 36 tons. Somehow, I am convinced that we wouldn’t stand a chance against such steel monsters, Lieutenant. The good news is that it will be the Japanese who will have to face these tanks.’’
“Do the Japanese have tanks as well, sir?’’
“I was told that they had some, but nothing like those C-1s. However, we haven’t seen Japanese tanks in our own sector…yet. What support weapons did you bring with your company, Lieutenant?’’
“We have four towed 75mm pack howitzers, four medium mortars and eight Browning M2 heavy machine guns, sir.’’
Vandegrift hid a grimace then: He had been hoping that, by some miracle, the Marine Corps would have somehow acquired recently some kind of antitank weapon but, as usual, the American soldier continued to look like a pauper in terms of heavy equipment.
“Well, it will have to do. One thing that I want you to impress on your men is to not underestimate the Japanese soldier because he is not a white man. The Japanese soldiers are tough, brave and experienced fighters and they never give up. Thinking like racists do will only get our men killed.’’
“Uh, understood, sir.’’ replied Griffith, a bit taken aback by that unexpected piece of advice.
09:11 (China Time)
Saturday, September 10, 1932
Grounds of the Han Yang College, Siccawei District
West of the Shanghai American School
Just outside of the limits of the French Concession
“Golf Six, this is Six: send a platoon to take care of those damn snipers firing from the top floor of the Sciences Faculty Building, over.’’
“From Golf Six: I already sent men there. That problem will be fixed in a few minutes, over.’’
“Copy that! Six, out!’’
Alexander Vandegrift mentally thanked again the gift of miniature radios his unit had received from Tasha Lenoir: if not for them, he would be down to yelling and using messengers to control his battalion during this fight to chase the Japanese from the Han Yang College, situated west of the Shanghai American School, just outside the limits of the French Concession. The Japanese had started yesterday to fire mortars from here at the grounds of the Shanghai American School, impeding the air operations on those grounds and making major nuisance of themselves. The Allied Command had then decided to push westward to chase away the Japanese, a job for which Vandegrift had volunteered his battalion. The fight for Han Yang College had now been on for a good four hours and, while Japanese resistance had been stiff, the marines had been making good progress, securing building after building. Another gift from Tasha Lenoir, dozens of compact submachine guns, had also proved priceless during the fighting inside buildings, adding substantially to the marines’ firepower within those confined spaces, where their long Springfield 1903 rifles were a bit cumbersome. That in-house fighting had also proven again the tenacity of Japanese soldiers, who had fought to the death rather than surrender their positions. Yet another gift from Tasha Lenoir, her Durex helmets and armored vests, had greatly limited the amount of casualties suffered by the marines. Without them, Vandegrift would have lost already a good hundred men instead of the actual four dead and sixteen wounded marines he had actually suffered to date. He was now resolved to have a long conversation with the Commandant of the Marine Corps once he would be back in the United States, to argue for a complete re-equipment program for the Corps, based on the French equipment he had seen to date in Shanghai.
Vandegrift watched one of his Nash QUAD light trucks as it slowly drove away at its top speed of twenty miles per hour, carrying two wounded marines towards the Red Cross General Hospital, situated inside the French Concession. While the Nash QUAD, produced in the United States since 1913, was an effective and practical vehicle, with its four-wheel-drive and four-wheel-steering systems making it perform well in soft soils and mud, its 28 horsepower engine made it a slow vehicle, especially compared to the various trucks and vehicles the French were using. An urgent-sounding voice on his pocket radio then switched his attention away from the QUAD.
“Six, this is Foxtrot Six: I can see about twenty tanks approaching from the Northwest, advancing in column