Chapter 272: Capture the Pilots of the Eighth Route Army!

"There is a bug in the previous chapters. Endo Saburo should be the major general of the Army Aviation. I can't find the commander of the Navy Aviation, so I just randomly named him and changed it when I found him. I wrote more than a hundred words, so this paragraph is free."

Yichang, Army Aviation Base.

"Quick, quick, quick! Fill up the aviation fuel needed by all fighters!"

"In addition to the Type 97 heavy bomb and Type 97 light bomb, the Type 97 fighter must also be loaded with bombs! Every extra bomb means more possibilities!"

"If those navy idiots take all the credit, where will our Japanese brother Army Aviation put their face!"

Hearing the roar of their own major general, every ground crew showed a bitter and helpless expression.

In order to speed up the preparation, the staff of the entire Yichang Airport were busy. The devils started working in the afternoon, and they only regretted that their parents didn't give them another pair of hands.

In theory, normal commanders can't find any fault with such a speed.

But Endo Saburo was not an aviation major. He was in charge of the artillery of the Kwantung Army for a long time. He could be said to be a typical layman leading the experts.

This old devil was not only a rookie but also unwilling to learn. As a major general of the Army Aviation, he did not even understand the most basic maintenance process. He would only beat and scold his subordinates on weekdays.

In fact, many senior generals in the Japanese Army Aviation were transferred from different arms. Lieutenant General Kinoshita Minoru, the defeated general of the Air Force 1st Division and the head of the 3rd Flight Group, was originally an infantryman.

Frequent random selection of generals is also one of the reasons why the Army Aviation is not as good as the Navy Aviation.

Just as Endo Saburo was about to return to his command post, a colonel chief of staff came to him in a hurry. The other party's face was extremely pale, and it was clear at a glance that an accident had occurred.

"Major General, something big has happened!"

"The 1st Air Division of the Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared on the battlefield and fought an air battle with the 11th Air Force of the Navy Baka outside the mountain city."

"According to the intelligence feedback from various sentinels, the enemy is now in full advantage. It is estimated that it will not take long for the first batch of attacking forces of the Navy Air Force to be eaten up!"

"What!?"

As soon as these words came out, Endo Saburo was shocked.

This is not because the old devil suddenly realized what it means to be in the same boat, but he was simply afraid that the Eighth Route Army Air Force would attack their Yichang Airport.

After the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the Army Aviation in various regions basically changed color when they heard about the 1st Air Division.

Not only was the opponent far ahead in the performance of the fighter planes, but they also had no martial ethics every time and fought in groups as soon as the battle started.

In the case of inferior quality and quantity to the enemy, the entire expeditionary army, except for the Kwantung Army Army Aviation, had no qualifications to fight with the Eighth Route Army Air Force.

Currently, there are three flying squadrons stationed at Yichang Airport, with more than 100 fighter planes of various models.

However, since the Army Aviation collected basic information on the Hurricane and Spitfire fighters, it was determined from the range that the 1st Air Division of the Eighth Route Army had no possibility of supporting the mountain city.

As a result, among the three flying squadrons, only the 60th Squadron was a combat division.

The remaining 12th and 98th Squadrons were all heavy bomber formations composed of Type 97 heavy bombers.

If the Eighth Route Army attacked them directly after dealing with the Navy's idiots, the three flying squadrons would definitely not escape the fate of being wiped out.

After all, there were only more than 30 fighters, and they were a pure fighter force.

You can't let more than 70 Type 97 heavy bombers take off forcibly, jump over the enemy and drop bombs.

Those two flying squadrons were the treasures of the Kwantung Army, and they were originally established to deal with the steel torrent of the Russians in the north.

Once the precious aircraft was destroyed at the Yichang Airport, I am afraid that even if Commander-in-Chief Hata Shunroku personally came forward, he would inevitably end up committing seppuku to apologize.

Thinking of this, Endo Saburo immediately said to the chief of staff and the signalman beside him:

"Sound the air defense alarm! Let all fighters take off immediately! Be careful of the enemy attacking from the west!"

"All Type 97 heavy bombers and Type 97 light bombers unload the bombs! Don't worry about other problems, take off quickly and move to Dingjiazhou Airport and Yanglinshan Airport."

"I will notify the superiors, you are only responsible for retreating!"

The order for emergency retreat was immediately transmitted to every pilot through the airport broadcast.

Under the threat of death, all the devils burst out with 200% cohesion. One after another, Type 97 fighters took off, and then scattered around to take up the vigilance work.

The ground crews also began to remove the hung bombs and strictly implement the orders of their own major generals.

The First Division did not plan to attack Yichang Airport immediately because of the lack of fuel and spare bombs. Otherwise, with Endo Saburo's wave of unloading bombs before the battle, he would definitely become a laughing stock for future generations before Nanyun Chuyi.

······

Hankou, the 11th Air Force Base.

"Baga! What are you doing!"

"Why haven't you contacted the first batch of attack teams? Could it be that the fruit has hidden aviation power that can kill the Type 96 Land Attack Group escorted by more than a dozen Zero fighters!"

"Waste! All waste! Spread your legs! Raise your hands! Grit your teeth!"

As a war machine designed for the Pacific and Southeast Asia, the Type 96 Land Attack was equipped with a radio station for long-distance communication.

When the attack group was about to arrive at the mountain city, the colonel who led the attack sent a telegram back according to the rules.

But now nearly an hour has passed, and the battle report that should have been sent back has not yet arrived. All signs indicate that the advance troops are likely to encounter an accident.

In a rage, Tsuchida Tsunayoshi directly took out the Navy's heirloom spirit injection stick. He was ready to vent his resentment with this group of unlucky signalmen in front of him!

Looking at the signalmen who were obediently ready, the Navy Rear Admiral nodded with satisfaction.

The spirit injection stick in Tsuchida Tsunayoshi's hand was half a meter long and five centimeters wide. In order to increase the weight of the stick, he also specially injected mercury into the inside.

Under normal circumstances, the tortured soldiers would definitely not be able to walk out of the door standing, and the bruises on their buttocks would never disappear in ten days or half a month.

However, the old devils would not care about such trivial matters. In his opinion, only physical punishment could instill the concept of victory in the soldiers, and only the cowardly and incompetent would make mistakes because of their lack of will.

"Pah!"

The first stick fell, and the signalman staggered forward a step.

When soldiers are punished, they must not cry out in pain, but must also shout "Hi" loudly while being beaten. Otherwise, the spirit injection is unsuccessful and the punishment must be increased.

Obviously, Tsuchida Tsunayoshi was a little high. He didn't care about the painful expressions of his subordinates at all, and even wanted to change to a thicker and bigger spirit injection stick.

"Learn the spirit of our navy well!"

"You must learn to be brave after knowing shame! Enter the honorable battle sequence! You must take the corresponding responsibilities!"

Serving in the 11th Air Force of the Navy is a very torturous thing.

The major general who was originally responsible for training the aviation force was Yamaguchi Tamon, who was famous for his strict and unkind training.

During the 101st combat record last year, several pilots died in training accidents in order to complete Yamaguchi's harsh and difficult training courses.

Privately, the soldiers called him the murderer commander.

After looking forward to seeing off Yamaguchi Tamon, Tsuchida Tsunayoshi, a madman, came from the mainland.

It seems that because the old Japanese soldier had suffered severe bullying during his school years and the days when he first served in the army, he would punish the soldiers more severely whenever something went wrong.

When the Japanese soldiers were beaten with the spirit injection stick, they would be laughed at and ridiculed, and often had to endure the humiliation of other people's words.

Such psychological and physical torture led the beaten signalman to gradually have the idea of ​​overthrowing his superiors. He clenched his fists tightly, as if he would turn around and fight back in the next second.

But at this moment, Admiral Shigetaro Shigetaro, commander of the Chinese fleet, walked into the communication room.

The sudden arrival of the top leader made Tsuchida Tsunayoshi stop punishing the soldiers. He also waved his hand, signaling all the signalmen to leave the room.

"Commander Shigeta! Are you here to ask about the attacking troops?"

"I have just punished the signalmen in charge of liaison matters. It is estimated that the battle report from the front line will be transmitted back soon. Please wait for a while."

After speaking, the whole room fell into silence for a full half a minute.

As Shigetaro Shigeta sighed, a big slap hit Tsuchida Tsunayoshi's face hard, which was also a tit-for-tat in a sense.

"Baga! You are also a waste!"

"The first batch of attacking troops has been annihilated! Do you know who the enemy is? It is the Eighth Route Army that you promised would not appear on the battlefield!"

"The news came back from the army! You are going to lose my face!"

After saying this, Tsuchida Tsunayoshi fell into panic instantly.

The meaning of his superior's words was very clear. He had to bear the blame for the failure of this combat mission. The loss of fifty fighter planes of various types can definitely make a major general lose everything.

"Commander! Please give me another chance!"

"In the days ahead, we will still have to implement Operation Plan 102! You need a frontline commander to formulate various complicated operation plans!"

"Please spare my life! As long as more advanced Type 1 land attack and more Zero fighters arrive at the Hankou base, I will personally lead the team to wash away the shame."

The so-called Operation Plan 102 is actually a bombing operation to further destroy Guofu's will to resist the war and force the people of the Republic of China to surrender.

The plan was proposed by Shigetaro Shigeta, who was the advocate and implementer of using air power to force Guofu to surrender.

The old devil also made many public remarks, believing that in order to quickly deal with the Sino-Japanese Incident, it was necessary to give Yamashiro a devastating blow, and the air force was the main force of the attack.

It must be said that he and Meyer, who was quitting his lollipop addiction, definitely had a common language. After all, the German Air Force thought so in Dunkirk.

Under normal circumstances, Tsuchida Tsunayoshi's proposal just now was definitely a successful flattery.

Even if he couldn't keep his rank because of the failure of the mission, he would definitely save his life.

But when Commander Shigetaro Shimadari heard Operation Plan No. 102, he immediately showed a very unhappy expression on his old face.

"Operation Plan No. 102 will soon cease to exist, and our superiors may be writing new orders!"

"Those damn army idiots actually proposed that bombing the mountain city is useless because of some small losses! They are all sinners of our brother country! They are termites!"

"After you die, I will take care of your wife and children, don't worry."

Although Endo Saburo was only a major general, as a senior officer who had worked his way up from the grassroots, he was full of wits.

Since he came to Yichang and was responsible for commanding the Army Aviation to attack Shancheng, he began to prepare a way out for himself.

After receiving the information about the disastrous defeat of the 11th Air Force of the Navy, the old devil commanded the troops to move to a safe rear while submitting the "Opinions on the Inland Offensive Operations" that had been prepared long ago to his superiors.

In the letter, Endo Saburo pointed out that the bombing effect reported by the troops was too exaggerated. Shancheng did not become a ruin at all, but instead developed from the peninsula area to its surrounding areas.

After years of baptism, the people of the Republic of China seemed to have immunity and no longer felt much about the bombing. The idea of ​​​​making them surrender only through the power of the air force is absolutely impossible to achieve.

In addition, the Eighth Route Army Air Force has already found a way to increase the range of fighters to support Shancheng at any time, so it is meaningless even if the Army Aviation is equipped with a large number of Type 1 Fighting Falcons.

This move really cut off the fire from under the cauldron. Not only did it make the military leaders give up the idea of ​​continuing to bomb the mountain city, but it also allowed their troops to be transferred from the dangerous Yichang Airport.

He also put all the blame for the mission failure on the Navy, and even washed away the guilt of retreating without a fight with a few words.

After explaining everything, Shigetaro Shigeta left the communication room without looking back, leaving Tsuchida Tsunayoshi like a puddle of mud.

······

The perspective returned to the mountain city.

Half an hour after the 11th Air Force of the Japanese Army was completely wiped out, the lanterns in the city were gradually changed to green, and the citizens hiding in the major public air-raid shelters saw the light of day again.

Thanks to the clean and neat resolution of the battle by the First Air Division, the oxygen in the large tunnel was barely enough, and no large-scale suffocation tragedy occurred.

When the door of the air-raid shelter was opened, only some weak and sick citizens inside fell into a coma.

After learning the truth from relatives and friends outside the city, the people cheered and ran around in the city to tell each other. After three years, everyone finally waited for the eagle in the foggy city that was capable of protecting the airspace.

In a short time, the reputation and reputation of the border area once again ushered in a surge. The world where only the bald man was injured was achieved.

In the Huangshan Villa, the treacherous gentleman and the pig general stood uncomfortably in front of their boss.

"Too much bullying! It's really too much bullying!"

"The desperate war fox has crossed the line. The mountain city is not a place for the Eighth Route Army to run wild!"

"You military control to move! Catch a few people to kill the chicken to scare the monkey! We can't let them continue to promote in the city! Otherwise, how can I, the chairman, do it?"

"The air defense headquarters is also moving! Didn't a few Eighth Route Army pilots parachute? You must find them first and force me to tell who provided them with the planes!"

This chapter is a foreshadowing for the second Tanzhou battle, so that the people in the central and southern regions will suffer less.

A new volume will be opened tomorrow, and we will farm well until 1942 to prepare for the great famine