Chapter 209 There Has Never Been a Savior
At 13:00 in the afternoon on May 6, 1941, Taiyuan First Army Headquarters, there were still twenty-four hours left before the scheduled attack time by North China Front Army Commander Okamura Neiji.
With the sound of military boots hitting the ground, Huagu walked unhurriedly from the corridor into the combat conference room.
The originally noisy staff officers gradually became silent, as if a poisonous snake was approaching. One by one, they quickly turned sideways to make way for the cold-tempered man in front of them.
Although Hua Guzheng has not been with the First Army for a long time, he often beats and scolds his subordinates unreasonably.
He often bullies mid-level officers who are not from the Army University because he is a graduate of the Army University. Everyone in the entire First Army, from the lieutenant generals to the soldiers, disliked him. He was the one who made a bad name for himself by relying on his strength.
Ignoring those fearful looks, he came to the map in the conference room.
"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, do you have any plans for coming to me?"
Hearing his partner's voice, Yoshio Iwamatsu put down the document in his hand and turned around. After seeing the other party's posture, the old devil frowned very dissatisfied.
Although the other party has his feet together, he looks like a subordinate reporting work to his superior.
But if you look closely, you will find that there is a lack of respect for himself in his eyes, which is absolutely unforgivable in a hierarchical army.
Knowing that now was not the right time to teach him a lesson, Yoshio Iwamatsu suppressed the anger in his heart and started talking about business:
"Commander Gangcun's arrangement has worked. The defenders at Zhongtiao Mountain have completely lost the ability to judge our strategic intentions."
"According to the intelligence from Ttech, the enemy's Fifth and Fourteenth Group Armies have been deployed in a chaotic manner. It is not difficult to see that the enemy has fallen into a predicament of uncertainty."
After finishing speaking, Yoshio Iwamatsu handed the document on the table next to him.
The purpose of this battle was to expel the preserved fruit troops in the Zhongtiao Mountain area. With an attitude of picking on the weak, after finishing the Zhongtiao Mountain garrison, they concentrated their forces to deal with the Eighth Route Army operating in North China.
In order to prevent the strategic purpose from being seen through by the defenders at a glance, the First Army did a lot of preparation work in the preparation stage.
Guo Preserved also cooperated very well and fell into the trap, thinking that the enemy was going to cross the Yellow River west to attack Tongguan, and then detoured southward and approached the southwest capital.
Due to misjudgment of the enemy's situation, the defenders of Zhongtiao Mountain completely missed their last opportunity in their hesitation.
The First Army has successfully deployed a large number of troops on the Western Front. The 36th, 37th, and 41st Divisions and the 3rd and 9th Independent Mixed Brigades are already in place. War is inevitable.
As the chief of staff of the First Army, he was aware of the above information, but this was the first time he received the summary version.
He contributed a lot to the planning of this battle, and his military exploits will definitely be indispensable after victory. Hua Zhenggu couldn't hold back his excitement at the thought of getting promoted and making a fortune.
But at this moment, Yoshio Iwamatsu directly interrupted the spell casting.
"I have applied for the command of the Fourth Independent Cavalry Brigade on your behalf. Congratulations in advance. You will definitely gain a lot of results this time."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hua Zhenggu had a surprised expression on his face. The sudden news left him speechless.
This effect made Yoshio Iwamatsu very satisfied, and he even couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth.
As the chief of staff, he bribed bandits and set up a spy network. His job of spying on intelligence was okay, but since he took over the First Army, he began to lose sight of his position.
In just a few months, a lot of good things have been ruined. If we don't fix it, it won't make it to heaven.
As for the safety issue, Yoshio Iwamatsu has also thought about it. This battle is a sure win and there will definitely be no accidents.
What's more, the opponent is famously afraid of death. Whenever they take a break during the march, they will ask their subordinates to dig special air-raid trenches and artillery-proof holes.
Although the overall situation was decided, Hua Guzheng still wanted to struggle. He pretended to think for a moment and then said:
"Otherwise, I would still be based in Taiyuan. The work of the staff department cannot be separated from me. Moreover, this battle is based on divisions, so there must be Lieutenant General Ruyun on the front line."
"As a major general, my abilities are limited, so I might as well not join in the fun."
Looking at Hanatani Tadashi, whose face remained calm and his heart did not beat, Yoshio Iwamatsu showed a contemptuous expression.
"Don't belittle yourself, I know your abilities. It's just a cavalry brigade. With your level, it's more than enough to command a division."
"The ones attacking the Nakajo Shandong Line this time are the main force of the 35th Division commanded by Lieutenant General Harada Yukichi, the 21st Division commanded by Lieutenant General Tanaka Kuichi, and the 4th Independent Cavalry Brigade."
"The brigade commander of the Fourth Independent Cavalry Brigade was seriously injured some time ago. This is the position I applied for for you. After all, our First Army is responsible for the security of Jin Province. It is not good for the front army's direct-controlled corps to do too many things. ”
As soon as these words came out, Hua Guzheng completely gave up struggling.
In the final analysis, the plan to attack Zhongtiao Mountain was his own idea.
In order to cooperate with this operation, the superiors directly transferred two divisions from Central China, regardless of the deterioration of security conditions in the guarded areas.
Taking into account the number of defenders and the special terrain, the Kwantung Army also transferred 300 fighter planes of various types. Army Airlines operates at two airports, Yuncheng and Xinxiang, responsible for air cooperation.
There are now troops and generals of the First Army in both the west and north directions, but there are no people from our own side on the eastern front.
Sending a major general as a chief of staff to command an independent cavalry brigade was reasonable and justified, and I had no ability to refuse.
Helplessly, Hanaya Masaru could only nod. He walked to Iwamatsu Yoshio and took the appointment letter listlessly.
"Thank you, Commander, for your cultivation!"
"You're welcome. We share the same glory. What's there to thank for?"
"You should take a plane to the 4th Independent Cavalry Brigade to take up your post now. The battle on the Eastern Front will begin in less than a day. Time waits for no one."
"Don't worry about safety issues. There are dozens of planes on the Eastern Front, and more than a hundred tanks, cars, armored vehicles, etc. There are few areas in the country that are safer than there."
Hanaya Masaru suddenly bowed his head, stood at attention, and bowed to the other party.
"Hi!"
"Iwamatsu-kun! See you after the battle!"
·····
At twelve o'clock in the morning on May 7, the border area airport.
Under the urging of their own intelligence network and the bald man, both the border area and the Eighth Route Army headquarters received news that the devils had launched a massive attack.
Since Yuncheng and Xinxiang became the footholds of the Kwantung Army Aviation, a large number of enemy fighter planes may appear over Shanxi Province and Henan Province at any time.
Considering the above situation, Principal Chang decided to set off directly from the border airport to catch the Japanese by surprise.
After all, even the fuel tank of the Gladiator fighter is enough to support an air battle plus the flight back to the field airport.
According to convention, the high-level troops will conduct pre-war mobilization before departure. Considering that the establishment of the Air Force 1st Division is inseparable from the director and Huang He, Principal Chang called the two to the scene.
Standing on the airport that has been expanded three times, looking at the 339 fighter planes of various models being prepared, a sense of pride surged from Huang He's heart.
The director on the side also had the same expression, which was a sense of accomplishment unique to military workers.
"According to the current development momentum, it won't be long before our number of aircraft will exceed that of Guofu. If we develop for another year, we may have more than the Japanese Army Aviation."
Hearing the four words "Guofu Air Force", Huang He shook his head speechlessly.
This unit can be divided into two parts, one is the direct line of the air nobles, and the other is the local miscellaneous pilots.
Most of the former are relatives, and they can take up important positions just after graduating from the aviation school. Their level of suppressing local miscellaneous pilots is the same as that of the army.
They don't care about the already precious and rare aircraft. There are many cases of violent driving and poor maintenance. They will immediately break down at the critical moment.
Even those hard-won new aircraft will be destroyed by human beings if they are not careful. After all, without the aircraft, there is no need to go on a mission, and it is safe if there is no mission.
The latter is the main force of air combat in the Anti-Japanese War. Among the four kings, three are from the Northeast and one is from Sichuan, but there is no direct line of the Central Army. Doesn't this explain everything?
The saying that there was no surrender of the Air Force in the Republic of China is even more classic. After all, those with backbone died in the war, and those without backbone are also very capable of running away, so it is normal that none of them were captured.
After talking about pilots, it's time to talk about buying aircraft.
When launching a national fundraising campaign, don't be too ugly. If you want to donate planes directly, they won't accept it. They only want cash, not planes, and they call it unified procurement.
The money donated by the whole country can obviously buy 200 Hawk 3s, but in the end, only 100 were obtained.
We can't say that they swallowed the money. After all, they had to deposit the money in the bank to earn interest and wait until the 21st century to buy F22.
After a series of classic methods, before the war in 1937, Guojian had only more than 600 aircraft in total, and a large part of them were grounded.
The most outrageous thing is that there were only 179 fighters, which did not have the strength to seize air supremacy from the devils.
Later, we had to look at the pilots who came to China to help. They brought 1,091 aircraft and 1,250 pilots. Among them, the number of fighters accounted for half, which was almost a complete air force.
The arrival of this team gave the devils an air force that was feared in the first half of the War of Resistance Against Japan, otherwise the Republic of China's airspace would have been lost long ago.
Just when Huang He was still distracted, Principal Chang came to him.
"Director Huang, the Air Force First Division cannot be where it is today without your help. From rescuing students from the Border Aviation School at the beginning to bringing in all kinds of fighter planes now, every step is indispensable."
"Say a few words to everyone, the comrades are waiting."
Huang He stood in front of the crowd a little nervously, facing the pairs of expectant eyes, he suddenly felt proud.
"They are full of benevolence and morality, saying that they want to establish a Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, but in fact they just want to annex our land. Today, we must defend this land that gave birth to miracles and not let it be tainted by fraternalism."
"When the whole world stands by and complains, only we can protect ourselves! There has never been a savior!"
"Give the Japanese Army Air Force a head-on blow and make it difficult for them to move. A steady, accurate and ruthless attack will be the key to victory this time."
"If the enemy attempts to resist stubbornly, then beat them until they surrender. Strike them by surprise with thunder and use the enemy's blood to irrigate every inch of Zhongtiao Mountain until the fruits of victory are harvested."
"Your assistance will be remembered and praised! It all depends on you, safe journey!"
After the pre-war mobilization ended, 339 fighters rushed to the battlefield!
I can't stand the fourteen-day shift. I'll take a day off tomorrow and stay at home to write all day!