At the Japanese North China Front Headquarters in Peiping, the chief of staff was answering a call from the Aviation Command.
Halfway through speaking, the microphone in his hand almost fell to the ground.
When he walked up to Okamura Neji, he was stunned for a while before he spoke: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"The aviation force's operation to paralyze the Eighth Route Army convoy in the wing failed..."
"Impossible..." Okamura Neji retorted without hesitation.
"They are in the sky, and the Eighth Route Army convoy is on the ground..."
"Even if the convoy accelerates after being attacked by an air attack, as long as one vehicle is destroyed, the convoy will be blocked and become a living target, allowing the aviation to attack..."
"Such an air strike is a piece of cake for them. They don't even have any opponents. How could it fail?"
The chief of staff didn't know how to explain this.
After all, he had not personally experienced this air raid and was not a pilot. It was impossible for him to analyze the reasons for their defeat with just a few words from the Aviation Command.
I can only bite the bullet and report the news I heard: "I don't know even if I am in a humble position..."
"But their air strikes have indeed failed..."
"Deploy an aviation group of thirty-six aircraft to attack the Eighth Route Army convoy..."
"Only twelve planes flew back, and two of them were damaged. The remaining twenty-four planes were all destroyed by the Eighth Route Army..."
"According to the pilot's report."
"The Eighth Route Army parked the convoy in a valley and deployed a large number of air defense positions on the highlands on both sides of the valley."
"They suddenly opened fire when the aviation launched an attack..."
"As a result, the aviation force was caught off guard and suffered heavy losses!"
Okamura Neji still didn't believe it. He stared at the chief of staff and continued to ask: "Then the troops..."
"Even if the Eighth Route Army really laid a trap for the aviation troops on the battlefield... they don't have that many anti-aircraft weapons?"
The chief of staff continued to report: "The Eighth Route Army does not have many anti-aircraft weapons..."
"But they seized a large number of light and heavy machine guns in Taiyuan."
"Dozens of anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns were also captured."
"On the high ground on both sides of the valley."
"Even the most ordinary light machine gun can pose a huge threat to our military aircraft..."
"Reconnaissance aircraft report: After repelling our air attack force, the Eighth Route Army only took twenty minutes to clean the battlefield."
"Immediately left behind all the destroyed cars and supplies and continued to retreat towards the center of the wing..."
"The Aviation Command requests instructions: Should we continue to send planes to bomb the convoy..."
Okamura Neji finally believed it.
Then he turned into an angry lion, swept all the teacups and documents on the table to the ground with one arm, and cursed loudly.
"The Eighth Route Army in Yizhong went too far..."
"Conquering Taiyuan was enough to slap us in the face, and now they have eaten more than 20 of our planes... This is simply unreasonable..."
"I, Okamura Neji, swear..."
"As long as I am still in the position of commander of the North China Front, I will definitely eliminate them and wash away the shame..."
The more Neji Okamura talked, the angrier he became. He drew out his command sword and prepared to chop at the vase that his subordinate had just replaced to vent his anger.
As a result, just as he raised the command knife, the person in charge of intelligence suddenly broke in.
He was so frightened that he thought Okamura Ning was going to kill him, so he stepped back and begged for mercy: "Commander, spare your life..."
"I have important information to report to you..."
No matter how angry Okamura Neji was, he couldn't delay the business.
"Clang..." He put the command knife on the table with a sound, suppressing his anger and asked: "What's the matter?"
"It has something to do with the aviation force..." the person in charge of intelligence quickly replied.
"Starting at one o'clock in the morning three days ago, there have been planes flying between Taiyuan and the Yizhong base area..."
"It's a very large number."
"After receiving the news, the first reaction was disbelief."
"It was night at that time, and our aircraft did not yet have the capability to fly at night."
"It turned out that more than one intelligence officer reported this matter, and the subordinates took it seriously."
"We may not specifically contact the aviation forces in various parts of North China and ask them if they have any night flight missions that night."
"As a result, all aviation forces in North China did not take off that night."
"Think again that the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong happened to be attacking Taiyuan at that time."
"The plane discovered by the low-level suspected intelligence personnel is probably affiliated with the Eighth Route Army..."
"correct……"
"The night the plane appeared... the Eighth Route Army also lit a large number of bonfires between Taiyuan and Yizhong Base Area..."
"There's one every few kilometers."
"The humble officer asked the aviation force. Those bonfires were probably used by the Eighth Route Army to pilot aircraft."
"They also told me..."
"They can also fly at night without worrying about yaw if they have a campfire to guide them all the way."
Okamura Ningci was frightened again.
Staring at the intelligence staff member with a look of disbelief on his face, he asked, "This is absolutely impossible..."
"The Eighth Route Army is rarely equipped with even cars..."
"How is it possible to own an airplane..."
"It's not like you can fly an airplane just when you want to. You have to train for a long time before it can take off!"
"I've never heard that the Eighth Route Army trained pilots."
"And they don't have a plane or an airport... If you want to train, there's no place to train, right?"
"Is it possible that those planes came from Chongqing..."
"Although the air force under Chongqing was defeated by us, it still has more than a hundred aircraft~"
The person in charge of intelligence shook his head: "It should have nothing to do with Chongqing!"
"The relationship between Chongqing and the Eighth Route Army is getting worse and worse. They are reluctant to use the few remaining planes they have. It is absolutely impossible to reinforce the Eighth Route Army..."
Okamura Neji was anxious and immediately ordered: "Check..."
"No matter where those planes come from, you have to find out for me..."
"If the Eighth Route Army really has aircraft and has certain combat capabilities, then the Eighth Route Army's threat to us will definitely increase greatly, and we must pay more attention to them than before."
The chief of staff suddenly interjected: "The newly established tank unit of the Eighth Route Army should not be underestimated."
"According to reports from the Taiyuan garrison, this tank unit played a huge role in the battle against Taiyuan."
"Originally they only had a few tanks."
"As a result, one of our tank brigade was wiped out in one battle before the attack on Taiyuan, and more than 20 tanks and armored vehicles were captured."
"Almost all the tanks and armored vehicles they escorted the convoy back to the wing were captured in Taiyuan."
"With more tanks equipped, the strength of this tank unit will definitely increase exponentially, and we have to defend it!"
"There is another point that we should pay attention to..."
"After the Eighth Route Army has its first organic tank unit, it will definitely train a large number of tank troops continuously."
"In the future, if our army's tanks are captured, they will not be blown up as before. Instead, they will be equipped with troops as soon as possible and continue to expand the size of their tanks."
