Chapter 255 Siege Bombs

Outside Taiyuan City, the Southern Group's position.

"Fire!"

After receiving the order, several gunners mechanically pulled the fuse.

The M18 cannon is extremely stable. Due to the existence of the hydraulic recoil device, the recoil during each firing cannot even push the gun position.

With the assistance of the artillery observation post, one shell after another hit the fortress group within a few kilometers ahead.

After a full nine minutes of shelling, the positions outside the Japanese city were already riddled with holes and ruins, and even some of the city walls had been damaged to varying degrees.

In addition to the hard training of the artillerymen, the excellent logistics support also contributed to the fact that our side was able to achieve such an excellent record without injury.

After all, in modern warfare, excellent logistics teams are as important as combat teams.

One minute later, the first phase of the shelling ended.

The brigade commander strode out of the battlefield command post and took the telescope handed over by the staff officer.

The first thing that caught my eye was the smoke and the piles of shells behind the artillery positions.

As the commander-in-chief of this battle, the brigade commander originally wanted to observe the enemy's positions first and decide whether to let the infantry launch an attack based on the specific damage.

But the artillery positions on his side were so spectacular that he couldn't help but take a second look.

At this time, the First Army's ring fortifications were more than 90% damaged, with only more than 20 reinforced concrete fortresses standing alone in the ruins.

The high-explosive and armor-piercing shells fired by Miss 75 were the nemesis of masonry fortifications. Shinozuka Yoshio's shoddy work eventually pitted Iwamatsu Yoshio.

"Notify the First Air Division to let the fighters take off. The remaining fortresses can only be handed over to them."

"Infantry, engineers and artillery are ready to act. We will start the siege next. We need to break through the city wall as soon as possible. Every minute and every second is important now."

"The shelling just now will definitely alarm the devils in the city. The enemy is likely to be desperate. Once they start the industrial zone, the special forces regiment will not be able to hold on for too long."

As soon as the brigade commander finished speaking, the communicator on standby picked up the phone and passed the orders to the relevant troops.

But at this moment, something strange happened.

In the distant Taiyuan City, a huge streamlined balloon numbered 104 slowly rose.

This thing is familiar to everyone here. In the early years when the troops were still miserable, they were bullied by the enemy with observation balloons and artillery.

The enemy's intention is also very clear. They want to find their own artillery positions and launch a retaliatory counterattack.

"Boom!"

Just as the staff were preparing to implement the response plan, the observation balloon, which had just appeared for less than half a minute, turned into a gorgeous flame in the air.

With a violent explosion, the artillery observer in the basket was crushed to ashes.

The reversal came too quickly, and the staff officers did not react for a while.

Among the people present, only the brigade commander kept smiling, as if everything was under control.

A few seconds later, the portable communicator on his waist vibrated rapidly, and the loud voice of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment commander Han came out.

"Report to the commander-in-chief! Our unit successfully completed the mission!"

"Based on my many years of experience, the enemy's observation balloons definitely did not obtain any data!"

As a famous hexagonal warrior of our army, the brigade commander took into account almost all possible events when preparing specific combat plans.

He expected that the enemy would send observation balloons.

Since the Eighth Route Army had 150 Hotchkiss 25mm anti-aircraft guns, the deputy commander-in-chief mobilized talented artillery from the three main forces to form a direct anti-aircraft artillery regiment.

It's a pity that the entire North China Front Army's land aviation was lost in the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign.

This has led to the newly established anti-aircraft artillery regiment not having the opportunity to show its strength from October last year to now, and it can only silently guard the safety of the headquarters and logistics department.

In this Taiyuan campaign, the brigade commander took the anti-aircraft artillery regiment on his own initiative.

One is to deal with any possible aircraft when the air force is not present.

The second is to support the infantry. After all, the Hotchkiss 25mm anti-aircraft gun is light in weight, and it can follow the infantry with its own wheels.

Anti-aircraft guns are mainly used to lay flat and attack infantry. Who will do air defense for serious AA people?

Facts have proved that every response measure prepared by the brigade commander is very far-sighted. Killing an observation balloon in half a minute is the perfect answer given by the anti-aircraft artillery regiment.

In such a short time, the enemy's artillery observers must have nothing to gain.

"Stay alert and be careful of Iwamatsu Yoshio's backhand."

"Before the Air Force 1st Division arrives at the battlefield, the air defense depends on you."

"Yes!"

As the saying goes, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone.

As soon as Commander Han finished communicating with the brigade commander, the last aviation unit of the First Army rushed out of Taiyuan City.

At this stage, all Japanese pilots are old devils who have both strength and luck. Both are indispensable, otherwise it is impossible to survive the pursuit of the First Air Division.

Looking at the observation balloon that was blown up by Linkong, Jinbao Yukiji's face became extremely gloomy.

The advantages of anti-aircraft guns are concealment and firepower. If they enter the effective range of anti-aircraft guns without knowing it, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Although their own observation balloons opened the way for them with their lives.

But the anti-aircraft commander of the Eighth Route Army was obviously an expert, and the positions he arranged were natural. Even though he had just exposed his position by firing, he could not see how many anti-aircraft guns the enemy had.

This was due to the five no-nos that the anti-aircraft artillery regiment had followed since its establishment, that is, no people, no guns, no roads, no new soil, and no flashes.

Even though the enemy was likely to have no planes available, the lessons of blood and tears in the past made Captain Han engrave concealment and bombing prevention into his bones.

After thinking for a moment, Jinbao Yukiji led the team to increase the altitude and said in the communication channel:

"The damn Eighth Route Army actually hid an anti-aircraft force. Fighters, follow me to attract firepower and buy time for the dive bomber formation to break through."

"Gentlemen, the time to sacrifice for our brother country has come! It's a black card! Onboard!"

"Attack!"

After speaking, Jinbao Yukiji took the lead.

Because the devil was determined to die, he did not use the horizontal bombing that he was best at on weekdays, but chose the half-baked but highest hit rate dive bombing.

The noses of the three Type 97 fighters suddenly sank, and they changed from level flight to dive and launched a suicidal attack on the positions of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment.

During the whole process, they kept maneuvering to try to avoid the attack of the anti-aircraft artillery. From time to time, they also used small water pipes to strafe, trying to attract the positions below to take the initiative to open fire.

Looking at the aggressive enemy planes, Deputy Commander Han did not rush to order to open fire.

The positions of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment had fortifications, and the aviation machine guns of the Type 97 fighters could hardly pose a threat.

He had no interest in those fighters who came to die on their own initiative. It was not easy to lead the team to the battlefield once, and it was enough to shoot down the bombers in the rear.

The comrades of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment were also very calm. After eight months of training, they had already mastered the use of the circular sight. Everyone predicted the flight speed of the enemy plane based on the speed circle and was ready to shoot at any time.

Commander Han held a telescope in one hand, staring at the Japanese plane with his eyes, and held a portable communicator in the other hand.

In order to unify the command of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment, each company was equipped with a portable communicator. With just one order, the whole regiment can launch an attack at the same time.

"Fire! Anti-aircraft gun crews are on full alert!"

Instantly, traces of tracer bullets cut through the sky.

One hundred and fifty Hotchkiss 25mm anti-aircraft guns fired at full power, and the soldiers were like experienced hunters waiting for their prey to enter a trap, and then launched a winning attack.

After a long period of rigorous training, everyone in the anti-aircraft artillery regiment changed their ammunition very quickly, and almost every gun crew could maintain a level of more than 110 rounds per minute.

With such proficiency, even the Japanese and French navies had to kowtow before leaving.

Faced with such dense anti-aircraft firepower, the three Type 97 fighters were ruthlessly killed on the way to the attack without any waves.

The planes without armor protection easily disintegrated in the air.

It's a pity that two Type 97 single-light aircraft still broke through the anti-aircraft artillery regiment's position.

"Damn it! We can't hit! Commander, the enemy has exceeded the firing height and range, what should we do now?"

Looking at the anxious expression of his battalion commander, Commander Han waved his hand casually. He picked up the telescope and looked to the southeast, where dozens of planes were vaguely approaching.

"Why are you in such a hurry? The devils won't succeed."

"Have you forgotten who took away our sideline?"

"Okay, get ready quickly. We will follow the infantry in a while, and there may be tanks in the city to fight!"

······

Time goes back to ten minutes ago, Wusu Airport.

Although the Air Force 1st Division has made a name for itself in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, now everyone in the country knows that a powerful air force guards the motherland's airspace.

But we have to admit that this young unit still has some problems.

The first one is the serious shortage of skilled ground crew.

After all, the difficulty of training an excellent ground crew is no less than that of a pilot.

Whenever there is a large-scale mission, the Air Force 1st Division always needs to prepare a long time in advance, otherwise it will face the problem of insufficient manpower.

On the tarmac, Captain Wang Hai was cooperating with the ground crew to conduct the final inspection of his Spitfire before takeoff.

There were already 34 solid or hollow red stars on the fuselage of this fighter, which had become a symbol of the glory of the Air Force First Division.

Limited by the limited military production capacity of the book, Captain Wang Hai might not be able to match those German ace pilots who were like cheating in this world war.

But based on the current record, there is definitely no problem in surpassing the second-tier players such as Ivan Kozhedub, Richard Bunge and Saburo Sakai.

After confirming that everything was normal, Captain Wang Hai returned to the cockpit.

With the sound of piston engines and propellers, the Spitfire under him flew into the sky. After circling at low altitude for several times, it formed a formation with five Hurricanes and flew towards the airspace of the Southern Group together.

Because the distance between the airport and the battlefield was very close, all fighters did not need to carry auxiliary fuel tanks, and each took off with a full load of ammunition.

Looking at the densely packed ground crews and the fighter jets lining up to set off, Captain Wang Hai said with a smile:

"Let's go, first get rid of the remaining reinforced concrete fortresses. Then try to blow up the city walls with special bombs, and provide as much help as possible to the infantry."

It's raining again today, fortunately it's not the underworld time, at least it's dawn