The 11th Army of the Little Japanese Army divided into three groups and attacked southward. On the left are the elite 3rd and 13th Divisions, which move south from Tongcheng, and the 27th Division advances subsequently; on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River are the 68th and 116th Divisions, which are divided into six groups to forcibly cross the Xinqiang River, and the 34th and 116th Divisions forcefully cross the Xinqiang River. The 58th Division followed up one by one; on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, the 40th Division was the main force, starting from the Huarong and Shishou areas.
The Japanese left-wing troops moving south from Chongyang, with more than 4,000 troops heading southeast of Tongcheng and more than 2,000 troops heading southwest of Tongcheng, encountered stubborn resistance from the New 15th Division and the New 13th Division of the 72nd Army. However, this time the little devils had They came prepared and used firepower to clear the way. When the army approached the position, they did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, they used artillery regiments and aircraft bombing to launch fierce firepower coverage of the positions of the New 15th Division and the New 13th Division!
"Commander, Commander, the artillery fire of the little devil turtle son is too fierce. Our army's position cannot withstand it at all. Request for reinforcements, request for reinforcements immediately!" After half a day of fierce fighting, Tang Xunbo, the commander of the newly-organized 13th Division, looked at his position. The battle was filled with gunpowder smoke and there were heavy casualties. He immediately rang the phone to ask for reinforcements.
The artillery fire of the Japs was extremely fierce. It was different from the Japs in the past. Tang Xunbo remembered that in the last war, the Japs' artillery regiment only had 24 75mm mountain guns, but the Japs encountered this time had a full 36 A 120mm howitzer. After the shell exploded, there was no one alive within a few dozen meters!
Even solid trenches are of no use if the shells land near it. The huge shock wave will cause instantaneous liver and gallbladder rupture and death.
Coupled with the aerial bombing by the Little Japanese, the casualties in the newly formed 13th Division's positions covering several square kilometers in half a day exceeded one-third!
This is really unbearable! Tang Xunbo knew that the commander of the army was also in trouble. The position of the newly formed 15th Division was also attacked by the Japs. The entire position was not far from his place, but he had no choice. If he did not request reinforcements, his position would be destroyed today. Can't keep it.
After being bombarded indiscriminately by Little Japanese Yi, his position not only suffered heavy casualties, but also suffered heavy losses in weapons. As prominent positions, machine guns and heavy machine guns suffered more hits, and the loss rate on the position was quite high.
In terms of the equipment of the newly formed 13th Division, machine guns and heavy machine guns are their most powerful counterattack weapons, and now more than half of them have been lost to Japanese artillery shelling and bombing.
As the sound of the Jaap's shelling slowly faded, Tang Xunbo knew that the Jaap's infantry was about to start charging. While he was requesting reinforcements, he ordered his only reserve team to be pulled to the position.
...
"How could this happen? How could this happen?" In the Ninth Theater Command, Commander Xue watched as the three groups of Japs launched an attack almost at the same time, investing as many as 10 divisions and several brigades. He and Gao Jianwu proposed through the Allied Forces 's pre-war warnings were almost identical.
For such a situation, Commander Xue never expected that the young man would be so determined and the offensive would be so fierce this time. In less than a day, the peripheral defense line was almost completely breached. It was not because the brothers did not work hard and fight desperately that the peripheral defense line The six infantry divisions were almost wiped out.
In every aspect, the artillery dispatched by the little devils are more than dozens of large-caliber howitzers, and there are also a large number of air forces for bombing.
Looking at the little Japanese offensive troops and our lost positions and troops marked on the map, the loss in just one day has exceeded more than a week in previous battles.
Although it is not his direct troops that have been lost now, the 40 divisions deployed along Tanzhou and Hengzhou have lost 6 divisions at the beginning of the war. This loss is something he cannot bear.
"Mr. Xue, for the current plan, it is best to immediately ask for help from the expeditionary force group in Hengzhou. The expeditionary force group can fight well and annihilate hundreds of thousands of Japanese in the Southeast Asian theater. It has made great achievements and will have an immediate impact on changing our current unfavorable situation. ." Chief of Staff Zhao Zili of the war zone looked at the dangerous line on the map and suggested to Commander Xue.
Chief Xue turned back and glanced at Chief of Staff Zhao Zili, who stared at him calmly. As if this was a common suggestion.
But Chief Xue knew that Zhao Zili was not a simple person. He was the confidant arranged by the principal and he had always been very dissatisfied with his monopolization of power in Xiangdi.
It's just that because of Commander Xue's great contribution to killing more than 100,000 Japs in the previous three Tanzhou battles, the principal cannot directly intervene in the personnel arrangements here. He only firmly controls the development of the army. After so many years, the location is In a land as sacred as Xiangdi, Commander Xue's direct troops only have one Fourth Army.
Zhang Deneng, the commander of the Fourth Army next to him, seemed to have read through his parents' thoughts, and stood up and said, "It's not like we haven't fought against the little devils before. Which of the three previous fights did we not beat them to a pulp? Chief of Staff Zhao has this point in front of him. A small setback is nothing. When we let them in, close the door and beat the dog, we will be able to deal with the little devils severely this time."
The tactics Zhang Deneng was talking about were exactly the "Sky Furnace Tactics" for which Chief Xue was famous. Layers of defenses were built to allow the Japs to be consumed in the blockade. Then, after a single force penetrated deeply, they concentrated the main force and two wings to encircle them, killing all the Japs who penetrated deeply.
In the first three battles of Tanzhou, Commander Xue relied on this tactic to severely punish the Japs. In total, more than 100,000 Japs were annihilated near Tanzhou in the three battles. Before Gao Jianwu, Commander Xue was The well-deserved first general in the war against Japan.
However, with the rise of Gao Jianwu, he went on a killing spree in Shanxi, British Burma and Southeast Asia. In addition to the current Qiongzhou Battle and the Pearl River Delta Hong Kong and Kowloon Campaign, the cumulative annihilation of captured Japs has exceeded 300,000.
It was equivalent to wiping out as many front troops as the Little Japs, and his reputation had long surpassed that of Commander Xue.
Chief of Staff Zhao Zili looked back at Zhang Deneng and said, "Commander Zhang, the situation on the front line is very dangerous now. Without strong reinforcements, can your Fourth Army withstand the Japs in Tanzhou? Although Commander Xue's tactics are very powerful, they are also very dangerous. , we need strong troops to hold up Tanzhou to prevent the little Japanese from moving, so that the outflanking of the two flanks will make sense."
"Otherwise, luring the enemy deep will become like luring a wolf into the house. Can you afford the responsibility of losing the vital points of the entire Xiangdi?"
As soon as Chief of Staff Zhao Zili said these words, Commander Zhang Deneng immediately felt as if his hair had exploded. "Chief of Staff Zhao, what do you mean by this?"
Chief of Staff Zhao smiled coldly and ignored the anger in Commander Zhang's eyes. "I'm just talking about the matter. The little devils now are completely different from the little devils two years ago. Can't you see it? The front lines we deployed are almost It will break with just one poke. The firepower equipment of the little devil is completely different from what we expected."
"Now the little devils are coming in three groups. They defeated our three lines of defense in one day and defeated six entire divisions of our army. If we let the powerful reinforcements sit aside and do nothing for our own selfish purposes, we will lose the city and the ground." The responsibility will naturally be borne by you, Commander Zhang."
Although Zhang Deneng wanted to further refute, he didn't know how to talk about it. The current situation was indeed as Chief of Staff Zhao said that the entire front was more fragile than expected.
It's not that the forces deployed are less, but that the enemy is stronger.
"Okay, let's stop arguing. Now we should work together to tide over the difficulties." Commander Xue saw that his confidant was being manipulated by Chief of Staff Zhao, and stood up to help him.
"Chief of Staff Zhao, the current situation has not reached the point you mentioned. The main force of our army is still there, and the expeditionary force group remains in Hengzhou. It will always be a rely on. When necessary, I will ask them for help." Xue The chief continued,
"It's just that the Air Force also asked Chief of Staff Zhao to seek instructions from the top to dispatch the American Air Force as soon as possible to eliminate the threat of aerial bombing for our army."
It is impossible to let the expeditionary force group in easily. It is easy to invite this group of people, but it is difficult to send them away. Commander Xue himself is also such a person, so he occupies the sacred land of Hunan.
What's more, what the expeditionary force group just accomplished in Guangdong made Commander Xue even more wary. He would never use the expeditionary force cluster unless absolutely necessary.
But the Air Force can, because the Air Force base is right over Hengzhou.
He knew what Chief of Staff Zhao meant. He wanted to muddy the waters here and allow the expeditionary force to come in. Then there would be another force here, which would give Chief of Staff Zhao an even greater opportunity to reach out.
After all, he represents the principal.
"If it's just the Air Force, I personally don't think it's enough to reverse the current unfavorable situation. Commander Xue, I will truthfully report the situation here to the principal." Chief of Staff Zhao disagreed with Commander Xue's words.
For him, the last thing he wants to see is for the place to become monolithic and become an independent kingdom, so that even the principal's words are not feasible here.
Therefore, Chief of Staff Zhao is willing to do anything that makes Commander Xue unhappy. This does not mean that Chief of Staff Zhao approves of the expeditionary force cluster.
In fact, he knew very well that in the eyes of the principal, the expeditionary force group was as unruly as Commander Xue and needed to be dealt with.
Take advantage of this opportunity for the little devil to attack. Chief of Staff Zhao hopes to get rid of these two disobedient people.
"Chief of Staff Zhao, please excuse me." Commander Xue said with a livid face when he saw that Chief of Staff Zhao didn't give him any face.
He has asked the peak for air force reinforcements several times, but so far, the beautiful country's air force has remained on hold.
Of course he knew that this was Shangfeng's beating on him.
To be honest, the current battle situation was beyond his expectation. Luring the enemy deep is an inherent tactic of his Heavenly Furnace strategy, but it's not as fast as this, it's like a rout.
If all the troops were like this without fighting, then his Heavenly Furnace tactics would become a joke.
Because no matter how strong the tactics are, they need combat power to support them. Now the little devil's combat effectiveness far exceeded his imagination, and the positions of six reorganized divisions were actually broken through in one day.
This kind of offensive efficiency is simply terrifying.
...
Hengzhou.
"Commander Gao, are you planning to dispatch the air force to reinforce Tanzhou?" Commander Fang obviously did not understand Gao Jianwu's approach.
After all, in his opinion, Commander Xue has not lowered his dignity to ask for help. If he asks for help now, wouldn't that mean he is lowering his status?
"Yes, the little Japs broke through our first-line position on the first day of their aggressive attack. The friendly troops on the front line suffered heavy casualties, and we cannot sit idly by here." Gao Jianwu said.
"But now that Commander Xue has not yet received a military order, would it be inappropriate for your army to fight on its own?" Commander Fang asked cautiously.
He and Commander Xue are in the same situation, and now the two divisions originally planned for the Hengzhou defense line have not yet been released by Commander Xue. Commander Xue made it clear that he was using his position to bully him, but Commander Fang was helpless.
The expeditionary force cluster appeared in Hengzhou like a timely rain this time. For Commander Fang, it was like a long drought met with gentle rain.
With the Expeditionary Force group in charge, he now feels that his defense line is very stable, so for Commander Xue, he hopes that the other party will be as miserable as possible.
"Our expeditionary force is doing things in groups, but we just want to make my heart clear." Gao Jianwu replied.
In the face of a powerful enemy, the generals here are still divided and fighting on their own, and even wary of each other. This made Gao Jianwu, who had traveled through time and witnessed this situation for the first time, very irritable.
No wonder in his memory, this battle was so miserably lost, and the 400,000-strong army was almost destroyed.
But now that he is here, and he has the power to turn this battle around, he won't care too much and just do what he wants to do.
...
Hengzhou Airport.
"Lu, are there any combat missions today? 40 aircraft were dispatched at one time." Howard, the colonel of the American Air Force at Hengzhou Airport, saw Lu Xingguo ordering the attack and couldn't help but asked curiously.
"Yes, Colonel Howard, our battle target today is the Japs fighter jets in the sky north of Tanzhou, no matter how many they come." Lu Xingguo said while picking up his helmet.
Although Howard knew that the Little Devil Air Force was wreaking havoc not far away. But there was no order from above, so his fighter jets could only stand still.
Through confrontation training in the past few days, Lu Xingguo and others have won the respect of Colonel Howard, because these people are really training hard to improve themselves, even though they still lack many operational skills compared to the elite air force of the beautiful country.
】
But they dare to fight hard, and the time they spend on training every day far exceeds that of the American Air Force. Although this has a great impact on the life of the fighter jet, under the current circumstances, the life of the fighter jet may be the next battle, and there is no need to worry about so much.
"I wish you success!" Howard shook his head and extended his thumb to encourage Lu Xingguo. He also wanted to take to the air to fight, but he didn't understand why the order hadn't been issued yet. He heard that the Japanese Air Force was already wreaking havoc in the north of Tanzhou.
"Thank you!" Lu Xingguo responded with a smile. Because of Major General Smith, Lu Xingguo now has a good impression of the American Air Force.
For the bearded Colonel Howard, Lu Xingguo was also very grateful to him for readily agreeing to be their sparring partner, so that the technical level of the brothers could continue to improve.
Returning here from Southeast Asia, transitioning and fighting along the way, the air group of the Expeditionary Force Group has grown very rapidly. With the accumulation of flight time and the improvement of operational skills, most pilots have thoroughly understood all aspects of the Mustang fighter. Compared with As for the beautiful ace pilots, now everyone lacks practical combat.
Therefore, Lu Xingguo and the others were more excited than worried about Gao Jianwu's order.
The 40 fighter jets gradually took off in five waves. Now there is no radar to provide early warning. We can only estimate the airspace and number of opponents based on experience.
During yesterday's battle, Gao Jianwu received information from the intelligence system that the air force dispatched by the Little Devils was the 3rd Flying Group, which dispatched the 27th Flying Group, the 59th Flying Group, and the 75th Flying Group respectively, with a total of 116 fighter jets dispatched. and bombers.
Today, Gao Jianwu received a new reminder. Today, the Little Devils will dispatch 48 Nakajima-1 Falcon fighter jets from the 27th Flying Team and 32 Type 99 light explosive bombers from the 59th Flying Team!
However, of course Gao Jianwu would not tell Lu Xingguo and the others this intelligence information directly. Instead, he instructed them to dispatch 40 Mustang fighter jets to stay in the area where the Little Japanese fighter jets were active.
Comparing the combat effectiveness of the Nakajima-1 Hayabusa fighter jets, Gao Jianwu felt that dispatching 40 Mustang fighter jets was already looking down upon them.
Lu Xingguo and the others don't care about anything else. In their opinion, even if they don't meet the little Japs in the battle today, they can still cheer for their friendly forces if they appear in the sky above their own friendly forces' positions. So today I have gained something.
Even for friendly forces, Lu Xingguo and the others could not stand the current intrigues of their archenemy. But Lu Xingguo and the others almost all came from this system, and now they are able to do their part for them. Of course, Lu Xingguo and the others are very proud.
The airspace instructed by Commander Gao was over the middle and west roads where the Japs were attacking. This time their target was the Japs' fighter jets, so the fighter jets carried all machine gun bullets.
Didn't carry any bombs.
All fighters are organized into a combat group of four, with an experienced pilot serving as the lead aircraft and a relatively new pilot as a wingman, forming a two-fighter group.
After all the fighter jets took off, everyone was in a state of silence and flew to the target according to the pre-planned route. Due to the limited battery capacity of the walkie-talkies and the lack of air generators, no one wasted any power on chatting.
On the other side, Commander Fang was walking at the window, looking at the Expeditionary Force cluster fighter jets gradually disappearing in the sky to the north, and gained some new understanding of the Expeditionary Force cluster in his mind.
...
An air force base on the front line of Little Devils.
"Sir Kuroda, be careful. I wish you victory and triumph!" Kazuo Iwata, captain of the Japs Frontline Airport Guard Team, saluted and blessed Kuroda Hisafumi, the center left of the 27th Air Force.
"Thank you Iwata-kun. I will treat you to a drink when I return home!" Kuroda Kufumi turned around and smiled in return. "If it's a routine matter, don't worry."
The Air Force of the United States is huddled at Hengzhou Airport. For Kuroda Hisafumi, now is the time to go out and reap a wave of achievements.
Although his 27th Flying Squadron is equipped with the longer-lasting Nakajima-1 fighter jets, it is still very powerful when faced with strafing by the Chinese troops on the ground.
The China position, which had no anti-aircraft firepower at all, was simply their own private territory where they wreaked havoc.
Therefore, in addition to covering the 59th Light Explosion Squadron, the 27th Flying Squadron also poured the bullets they brought out onto the Chinese army's positions when they returned.
According to the inside information obtained by the intelligence department, the Hengzhou Meili Air Force has not yet received orders from their superiors, so they will not dispatch, and the 27th Flying Team has no opponent in the air.
Everything is under control. With a relaxed and happy mood, Kuroda turned around and boarded his fighter jet.
The 27th Flying Team and the 59th Light Explosive Flying Team all took off and flew towards the target as planned.
Today, they will cooperate with the frontline troops to defeat the second line of defense of the Chinese army and divide and capture the 15 integrated divisions deployed on the first and second fronts of the Ninth Theater District!
Today, the Kawasaki Type 99 light explosive fighter, which can carry 8 50kg aerial bombs, is the protagonist of the battlefield. 256 50kg aerial bombs are enough to blow up two division-level positions of the Chinese army!
Especially their heavy weapons firepower will be completely destroyed this time!
...
"Attention to all groups, we have entered the clouds above the target. Now the entire army maintains its flying height and is hidden in the clouds. No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 and No. 4 fly out of the clouds respectively for reconnaissance." Lu Xingguo opened the full channel and sent out gave the first order.
Soon, the four fighter planes swooped down and flew out of the clouds. As the flight altitude decreased, the targets on the ground gradually began to appear in front of Lu Xingguo. The crisscrossed trenches on the ground and familiar flags were the target area. That's right.
Seeing fighter jets appear in the sky, the defensive soldiers on the ground panicked.
The power of the Japs' bombing has been reflected in their minds like a nightmare.
A burst of running began on the position, preparing to hide from the bombing of the little devils.
Lu Xingguo looked at the chaotic situation below and naturally knew what they were doing. He knew that he could not shout to them now. To make them believe that this was one of his own, he had to lower the height so that they could clearly see the markings on the fuselage. OK.
"No. 3, No. 4, let's lower the altitude by 500 meters and fly around at low speed twice from the side of the position to give the brothers on the ground a chance to see clearly!" Lu Xingguo called to No. 3 and No. 4 while lowering the altitude. Wingman No. 2 behind him naturally followed him closely.
When they flew around the position for the first time, the soldiers on the position were still panicking. But as Lu Xingguo and the others started flying around the position for the second time, someone finally saw something was different.
"My dear, don't be afraid. That's a Mustang fighter. It's our own plane! It's our own plane!" A knowledgeable battalion commander looked up for a long time and finally saw that there was no dog skin plaster symbol on the plane, but a The big five-pointed star symbol, and the paint is obviously not the gray color of the little devil.
What Gao Jianwu chose for the Air Force was not the flashy one like that of the Flying Tigers, but a silver-gray low-visibility paint that was almost invisible at high altitudes. Although this kind of paint was not as powerful as others painting shark mouths or tigers, it was practical.
Hearing the battalion commander's shout, some brave soldiers on the position began to stop and carefully observe the fighter jets in the air. Sure enough, they found that this plane was indeed significantly different from the little devil's.
The most important thing is that even after wandering around in the sky for a long time, no bomb was dropped.
Lu Xingguo and the others saw that someone finally recognized them on the battlefield. They took the lead and waved their wings left and right to signal. Although most soldiers on the ground could not see this action, some people still guessed that it was a fighter jet in the sky greeting them. They couldn't help but Jump up and cause a burst of cheers on the battlefield!
Lu Xingguo then piloted the fighter plane and began to raise its altitude to look for traces of the Little Japanese fighter jets.
