Chapter 165 Bombarding Taiyuan Airport!

In order to ensure that the troops can smoothly expand the results of the battle, the headquarters decided to launch a surprise attack before Shinozuka Yoshio regrouped the counterattack force.

The deputy commander ordered the three major military regions to launch attacks on the target at 8 o'clock in the evening of September 23, officially starting the second phase of the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

This time, the 129th Division has an overwhelming advantage in terms of manpower. Each enemy stronghold has to face nearly ten times the number of Eighth Route Army soldiers.

In addition, the equipment of each main regiment has been upgraded in a new round, and the second phase of the battle is almost not difficult.

The brigade commander led the left group to personally take charge of the strongholds such as Yanbi and Wangjing on Yushe and Yuliao Line. The subordinates include the 772nd Regiment, the 16th Regiment, the Independent Regiment, the New 1st Regiment, and the 28th and 35th Regiments of the First Death Column.

Even if the defenders in the county town were replaced with the same number of Tianhuang Guards, it would be useless.

The right group was led by Brigade Commander Chen.

Considering that the strongholds such as Guantou and Xiaoyu in the eastern section of the Yuliao Highway are relatively scattered, he decided to send three regiments of troops to various traffic nodes around Liao County to block enemy reinforcements.

After the 32nd Regiment of the New 11th Brigade cleared all the enemies in the strongholds, he would lead all the main forces to attack the city together.

Considering that other areas, even the devils in Taiyuan would counterattack.

The deputy commander-in-chief gave the task of blocking the enemy reinforcements to the new 10th Brigade of Brigade Commander Fan and the 7th, 8th and 9th Regiments of the Third Death Column.

In addition, the 17th and 57th Regiments of the Taiyue Military Region will also participate in the battle. They will form the Qinbei Detachment to attack the north-south traffic line of Qin County and cover the main force.

No matter how fierce the above-mentioned battlefields are, it has nothing to do with our No. 3 male Li Yunlong.

At this moment, our Li Da Regiment Commander is feeding mosquitoes in a woods somewhere northeast of Taiyuan with the third battalion of the new second regiment.

In order to successfully capture the airport of the First Army Aviation, they arrived near Taiyuan two days earlier than the start of the second phase.

The reason why it was so difficult was that there were too many airports around Taiyuan. There were five airports built in such a small area.

Moreover, the Japanese army aviation was so stable that the landing location was random every time, which made the reconnaissance difficulty of the third battalion suddenly increase.

In the final analysis, Yan Laoxi had to take the blame for this matter.

The master of existentialist philosophy only did one thing after he took over Shanxi Province, which was to turn the small piece of land he ruled into an iron bucket.

After suffering a loss in the early stage of development, in order to preserve his independent kingdom in the chaos, he implemented the three nos and two musts.

He refused to participate in the military-F melee many times, and won several years of stability for Shanxi Province.

After gaining a firm foothold, in order to promote the economic development of the province, the egg dancers implemented the so-called six policies and three affairs.

During that time, the lives of the people showed signs of prosperity. Even the disaster victims from neighboring provinces heard about the situation in Shanxi and flocked in to seek a place to live and work.

After several years of wretched development, our Shanxi local emperor understood a truth.

If you want to keep your power, you must have a loyal army, and you can't be strangled in the production of military supplies.

During the rapid development of the Shanxi army, the Zhi-Feng War broke out.

After seeing the power of the airplane, the master of philosophy became very interested in this weapon. In order to have this powerful foreign thing, he specially sent his confidant to Europe to learn advanced technology.

So in 1923, the first airport in Shanxi Province was built.

There are many propeller planes imported from foreign countries, which are responsible for training pilots and passenger and cargo transportation.

With this big treasure, the character of the local rich man and miser was brought to the fullest. He built a large number of fortresses around the airport and guarded them strictly.

It's a pity that this airport is congenitally insufficient, and the area and simple dirt runway gradually cannot meet the military requirements.

With the idea of ​​waste shame, Yan Laoxi turned it into a civil airport.

A route from Beip to Guangzhou via Taiyuan, Luoyang, Hankou, Changsha was opened, which is also the first civil route in the history of Shanxi Province.

In order to meet the increasing number of flights, this local rich man built three airports, Honggou, Gegou and Qinxian, on the west and south sides of Taiyuan City.

Four airports in one city, such a high configuration ranked among the top in the country during the Republic of China period.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, the Japanese occupied Taiyuan. All the belongings that the master of philosophy had worked hard to buy were used as wedding clothes. Not only were all kinds of factories gone, but even these four airports fell one after another.

In the early days of the war, the number of various types of aircraft owned by the Japanese First Army was not large, and four small airports were barely enough.

But in order to further plunder Taiyuan’s resources and consolidate the defense line of North China, these beasts sent more and more aircraft.

So that the original small-scale and short runway airports were no longer enough.

Umezu Michijiro, the commander of the First Army at the time, combined the existing resources at hand and ordered the forced conscription of civilians.

Using the raw materials seized from the industrial zone outside the city, they built a large airport between Taiyuan and Yuci that could take off and land civilian and military aircraft.

The new airport not only has a 1,000-meter-long and 80-meter-wide cement runway, but also a 700-meter taxiway. In order to use up the captured resources, even the apron was reinforced with cement.

"This airport is still in use now, it's Wusu Airport."

The five airports mentioned above were built in four different directions of Taiyuan City. The reconnaissance platoon of the New Second Regiment has been running non-stop for half a day in order to find the location of the enemy aircraft.

In fact, Xiao Ri was not so cautious before, mainly because the 769th Regiment gave them a hard time in Yangmingbao.

That night attack caused the First Army to lose 24 aircraft, greatly weakening the strength of the Army Aviation, resulting in them not having enough aircraft to attack the positions of the preserved fruit troops during the Xinkou Campaign.

At that time, the military and civilians across the country cheered for it, and the bald man who had always been stingy with the Eighth Route Army was rewarded with 20,000 oceans.

In addition, a large number of aircraft were transferred to the southwest, and Shinozuka Yoshio had to strengthen the defense in order to protect the remaining air force.

Before the outbreak of the war, most of the Japanese airports were guarded by guards with insufficient combat effectiveness. Their number basically did not exceed one squadron, and even heavy weapons were not popularized.

Moreover, these people had poor tactical literacy, and they did not even clean up the natural shelters around the airport. In addition to barbed wire and basic machine gun positions, they were reluctant to repair even a sentry post.

The military appearance and discipline are much better now. The airport cordon has been extended to 1.5 kilometers, and a squad will patrol every half an hour.

If a stranger approaches, as long as the password is wrong, even if he is wearing his own military uniform, he will be shot directly.

The Japanese also learned the lesson of Yangmingbao and dug a lot of trenches on the periphery. With the nearby open and dark bunkers, whenever the enemy attacks, the powerful firepower will definitely make the enemy unforgettable for life.

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Dusk has arrived. Captain Li looked at the watch on his hand. There is still one and a half hours before the start of the second phase of the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

With the help of the searchlight on the Japanese sentry tower, he can see eleven Type 97 fighters neatly placed on the apron through a telescope.

Old Li carefully observed the surrounding terrain and glanced at the heavily guarded airport. After thinking for a moment, he kicked the pillar next to him who was busy calculating.

"As expected of the Japanese from Taiyuan, their level is different from those third-rate troops in Yangquan. We haven't seen an enemy patrolling seriously for a long time."

"If we charge this position, even if our regiment comes, we will most likely die here."

"Fortunately, the brigade commander feels sorry for our New Second Regiment and actually dispatched 6 82mm mortars. If there were another 54, I would dare to attack Taiyuan. Are you done, kid? We're going to attack soon!"

Hearing the question from his own regiment commander, Wang Chengzhu nodded quickly.

The reason why the Japanese have now demarcated the defense range is largely because they bully the Eighth Route Army for not having heavy weapons with a long range.

The most common support equipment in the army is grenade launchers and 60 mortars.

Needless to say, the former has a range of only a few hundred meters.

The range of the latter is generally around 1,500 meters. As long as a warning circle is set up at this distance, the attack of the Eighth Route Army can be somewhat curbed.

Bombarding the Japanese airport is a fatal temptation for any artillery. Wang Chengzhu was so excited that he trembled when he thought about what was going to happen next.

"Hehehe, the maximum range of our 82mm mortar is nearly three kilometers. I like the term information gap more and more now. I'm going to make a contribution again."

"More than a thousand shells, Deputy Minister Huang is still generous. With the firing rate of seven guns, it will take about seven or eight minutes. You have to find a way to buy time, commander."

These words seemed full of confidence, but Wang Chengzhu was under a lot of pressure.

The main reason was that the airport in front of him was too big.

Even if the new second regiment chose the position closest to the apron, the artillery company could only cover two-thirds of the area at most, and the accuracy of the maximum range of artillery must be considered.

If they were unlucky, the Japanese planes might still be able to resist.

If it really came to that, their infantry battalion without air defense capabilities would better run as long as they could.

At the same time, Commander Li was constantly thinking.

If they could ambush at this position, the enemy's airport and planes would be seriously damaged even if they didn't die.

The problem that needs to be considered now is how to buy time for the artillery. After the mission is over, how can we retreat with minimal casualties.

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While the Third Battalion of the New Second Regiment was waiting patiently, the time came to eight o'clock in the evening. The three main forces launched an attack on the enemy on time, and the whole Jin Province was in chaos again.

In the headquarters of the First Army, Shinozuka Yoshio angrily roared at the staff around him. This time, even Chief of Staff Hideyoshi Kusuyama did not escape the big fight and experienced the long-lost pleasure.

Under the urging of his own commander, the efficiency of the daily life was not low at all. One after another, the instructions were sent to the troops at all levels, and even the devils in Taiyuan began to move out and rushed to the positions of Yushe and Liaoxian.

Suddenly, Shinozuka Yoshio, the old devil, remembered his new favorite general. Although the combat effectiveness of the Army Aviation was pitifully low at night, it was still no problem to throw bombs.

The fuel of the 29th Independent Flying Squadron has been replenished, and it is now fully capable of completing several combat missions.

Moreover, the target chosen by the Eighth Route Army was not far from Taiyuan. With the speed of the Type 97 fighter, it could even make a round trip in half an hour.

Thinking of this, the old devil picked up the phone.

"Asakawa, the Eighth Route Army has started a new round of attacks. I need your flight team to fly to Yushe County. According to the location, you are likely to encounter the enemy in Lion Head Mountain."

"I don't ask for high casualties in the first round of attacks, as long as you can bring back reliable intelligence!"

"Don't forget what I have repeatedly emphasized before. I don't allow you to use precious fighters to dive and hunt the enemy's ground forces. All actions should be stable!"

Asakawa Masatsugu, who received the call, showed a happy expression. He thought that he would never have a chance to stand out again after delaying Shinozuka Yoshio's affairs last time.

But now this call made the major of the Army Aviation have an impulse to go through fire and water.

"Hi! Just wait for our good news!"

After ending the call, Asakawa Masatsugu immediately used the radio in his office to wake up all the team members who were still resting.

Then he began to instruct the ground crew to enter the combat readiness equipment and quickly prepare the fighters.

In an instant, the whole airport became brightly lit. The ground crew, who were very busy in any country, got busy at the first time.

These people not only had to refuel the fighters, but also had to mount bombs and prepare bullets for the aircraft machine guns.

Fortunately, this airport has been used for two years and has a complete ground service system. There are underground ammunition depots and fuel depots.

These ground crews have clear division of labor. Some of them only need to carry carts from the ammunition depot and oil depot to the apron, and the other part of the colleagues will take over the work.

Although the labor intensity is a bit high, it is safe. Like those temporary airports in the war zone, it is very likely that a shell will blow up a flying squadron.

This scene was seen clearly by Li Yunlong with a telescope. He patted Wang Chengzhu on the shoulder and said:

"Zhu Zi, your artillery company's opportunity has come! Next, our new second regiment depends on you! The old rules, half a bottle of sweet potato wine, give me a good fight."

"No matter what happens, your target is always the enemy's airport! Only my order can stop the shelling!"

After hearing this, Wang Chengzhu showed a serious expression and clenched his fists.

"Captain! Don't fool me with sweet potato stew. After all, I am a well-known artilleryman of the 129th Division. This time I want to drink Fenjiu!"

"Okay! Enough Fenjiu! Get ready for action!"

After receiving the order.

Le Zhengdou, the commander of the third battalion, came to a telegraph pole. He stretched out a long bamboo pole with a sickle tied to the top and a thick circle of car tire rubber wrapped around the tail, and stretched it towards the high-voltage wire above his head.

After the sickle hooked the top high-voltage wire, he used both hands to pull the high-voltage wire down and put it on another high-voltage wire.

Instantly, with a "bang", the two intersecting high-voltage wires burst into brilliant sparks, and all the searchlights on the Japanese airport went out instantly!

Fire first, then change