As the officers roared at the top of their lungs and the roar of the aircraft became louder and louder, the Japs in the cavalry group subconsciously made various evasive movements.
The most skilled among them is naturally the 71st Tank Regiment. They belonged to the 23rd Division of the Kwantung Army before being transferred to the Mongolian Army and have the experience of fighting the entire Battle of Nomenhan.
The bombing intensity of the Maozi back then was no worse than it is now.
"Disperse quickly! Each tank squadron focuses on evasion! Don't have any unnecessary thoughts!"
"Baga! What are the infantry doing! Do you want to compete with the planes in speed? Where are the machine guns? Hurry up and set up the light and heavy machine guns! The enemy fighter planes are flying very low! Fight back while you dodge!"
"Contact the headquarters and ask the Army Aviation to send fighter jets to support!"
It was obvious that these Japs who had not been sent to dig potatoes in Siberia still had a few brushes.
Faced with the sudden air attack, more than fifty light and medium tanks, under the command of their own company commander, immediately moved to the south and north directions.
The trucks responsible for logistics transportation drove east and west in an attempt to disperse the troops and minimize losses.
The situation of the infantry was relatively miserable, as there were few natural bunkers on the plains. They can only crouch down to avoid and wait for counterattacks, and their moves are so skillful that they make people laugh.
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Escort fighter group, pilot aircraft.
Comrades who have studied physics all know one thing, that is, level bombing is no less difficult than dive bombing.
There are many items that need to be calculated during the entire operation process, including aircraft airspeed, ground speed, deflection angle, wind speed, flight altitude, average falling speed of bombs and many other parameters.
In film and television works, the behavior of flying directly above the target before dropping a bomb is pure nonsense, and it is not even as reliable as pressing the button to enter the bombardier's aiming perspective in the game.
As a twin-engine fighter that first flew in 1935, the Blenheim's bomb delivery device was just a simple optical sight. The bombing accuracy naturally relied on the personal experience and feeling of the bombardier.
When the entire escort formation was about to arrive above the Japanese, Captain Wang Hai said through the communication device:
"Enter the fighting position! Fang Ziyi! Let's give the enemy some color to see!"
As a bombardier, Fang Ziyi didn't talk nonsense. He carefully checked the airspeed indicator and altitude indicator. Then he pulled the lever to open the bomb-drop cabin with an expressionless expression, and began to observe the situation on the ground through the sight.
A few seconds later, he first dropped two 227-kilogram aerial bombs.
At the same time, fighter aircraft with a sudden weight reduction have a tendency to increase altitude. Captain Wang Hai quickly stabilized his flying posture, fearing that it would affect the accuracy of his teammates' bomb delivery.
After the two big babies left the cabin, eight 20-kilogram small melons followed immediately. The entire plane kept throwing aerial bombs like a hen laying eggs.
After seeing the pilot aircraft in action, the rest of the crew dropped bombs together.
A full 240 aerial bombs, carrying the scream of death, covered the evacuation route of the 71st Tank Regiment from south to north.
The 227-kilogram aerial bomb is a classic of the Air Force Division. Even if it explodes near the Type 97 medium tank, it can paralyze the tank. If it is a little closer, it can even directly restore the enemy to its parts.
Although 20 kilograms is a junior among aerial bombs, the charge coefficient of even a small aerial bomb is outrageous. Using it to deal with the Type 95 light tank and the Type 97 medium tank is quite similar to anti-aircraft cannons hitting mosquitoes.
"Boom boom boom!"
Aerial bombs fell on the path of the 71st Tank Regiment one after another, and the powerful shock waves would overturn the Japanese industrial garbage from time to time.
A certain Type 95 light tank that was so lucky was even given the title of Warrior for receiving aircraft bombs from its turret.
The horizontal bombing technology of the 1st Air Division is indeed very immature, and some crews even only hit the enemy with the first bomb.
However, the number of aerial bombs was really large. Many Japanese soldiers were torn into pieces near the explosion point, and their body parts were mixed with the soil in the Suiyuan area.
Faced with justice from heaven, the young people have long forgotten the orders of their captains.
Fight back? It's good to be alive. Now they just hate their parents for giving them two legs.
Looking at the destroyed tank below, Fang Ziyi nodded with satisfaction. This was the first time that the troops carried out horizontal bombing in actual combat, and it was barely qualified to achieve such a result.
"Team Wang, does our attack count as the carpet bombing Director Huang mentioned?"
"In the past, one of our aircraft could carry up to two aerial bombs. Even in the fiercest battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, we never dropped 200 bombs at a time."
Hearing what his team members said, Captain Wang Hai smiled and shook his head.
Although the entire formation had just dropped 240 aerial bombs, the total weight was less than ten tons, which was still far from the level of carpet bombing.
"Where is this? Ten tons of aerial bombs are barely enough in the Asian battlefield, but they are definitely not enough in Europe."
"When there is a chance to attack the enemy's homeland in the future, we will have to deploy hundreds of Lancaster bombers and drop thousands of tons to be qualified. The target of carpet bombing is densely populated or industrial areas. It is nothing to blow up a few broken tanks."
It seemed that there was some resentment in his heart. When he said this, Captain Wang Hai specially adjusted Blenheim into a shallow dive attitude, and then used the four aviation machine guns under the belly to sweep away the Japanese on the ground.
"Attention all crews, attention all crews!"
"The mission of clearing the aerial bombs has ended. Don't get too hung up on the battle and leave the battlefield immediately! I will continue to serve as the pilot for the rest of the trip."
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"Damn the Eighth Route Army! I will fight you until death!"
Looking at the wailing plains, Kawasaki Zentaro clenched his fist tightly. He didn't even notice that his nails had pierced the palm of his hand.
Since the main target of the 1st Air Division was the 71st Tank Regiment, the casualties of the 14th Cavalry Regiment were not serious. Only more than 200 soldiers died in the air raid.
However, such a battle loss is completely unacceptable to an old Japanese from a noble background.
We said before that the initial cavalry group consisted of two units, the First Cavalry Brigade and the Fourth Cavalry Brigade, both of which also adopted the organization of two regiments.
In the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the 4th Cavalry Brigade was almost completely wiped out on the eastern battlefield. The first time the Kong 1st Division licked the ground, it killed half a regiment of cavalry.
Counting the losses just now, half of the cavalry group was lost to the Eighth Route Army Air Force.
For a Japanese like Zentaro Kawasaki who values honor more than his life, the hatred of the First Division has exceeded that of the 35th Army in the Eighth Theater.
"Signal Corps! Let's go see if Chun Xiu is in good condition. Also, ask them how many tanks they have left in the regiment that can be used normally."
"You can still encounter the Eighth Route Army's air force in a place like this. The enemy is most likely escorting their airborne troops! If we go back in despair, Lieutenant General Nishihara will definitely not spare us."
"If we can kill that airborne force, we will be considered guilty and meritorious! I will not be a human being until I take revenge!"
(End of chapter)
