Chapter 426 I Didn't Lose, Why Do You Call Me a War Criminal?

At 5:30 pm on April 17, 1942, the afterglow of the setting sun still lingered on the permanent airport of the Qilu Military Region.

The Spitfire fighters that occasionally flew across the sky were tirelessly conducting reconnaissance between the base and the coastline.

The ground crews gathered around the communication hall in three circles inside and outside, indicating that the Eighth Route Army would have important actions today.

In the room, every signalman was extremely alert, waiting for the possible movement in the headset.

Just when he was extremely anxious, the comrade sitting in the middle suddenly raised his left hand, signaling his colleagues nearby to keep quiet.

"Beep beep beep"

In an instant, the hall became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone took off their headphones and held their breath, and their eyes were all cast on each other's rising and falling right hands.

As an experienced soldier, the basic skills of the signalman were naturally very solid. He quickly finished the interpretation, and then said excitedly:

"We are back! The comrades of the Air Force are about to return!"

"Quick! Notify General Lin and Chief of Staff Liu, and then have the control tower sound the alarm and prepare to receive the Air Force 1st and 3rd Divisions!"

After that, everyone did their job, and the whole airport came alive in an instant.

Accompanied by the harsh signal sound, a large number of fire trucks and ambulances modified from Japanese trucks drove to the grass or open space near each runway to wait.

In the rest area, almost all ground crews started to act at the same time. They took the Beetle as a squad and rushed to the standby location.

Even Lin, Luo, and Liu were not idle. The three of them put down their work at hand the moment they heard the signal sound, and led several senior commanders straight to the tower.

"Here we come!"

"Quick! Pass my order! The flare is launched!"

The first Lancaster appeared in the field of view of the telescope, and Chief of Staff Liu immediately turned his head and ordered the soldiers on standby behind him.

After receiving the order from the superior, two red flares shone brightly in the air.

This means that the ground is ready and the damaged bombers in the fleet can land first.

The roar of the piston engine came from far away, and everyone held their breath and looked up at the sky, and began to count the number of returning planes.

"1, 2, 314, I only saw 14 here, and the troops are still entering the field."

"Damn it! A total of 20 planes were dispatched, and 1 turned back halfway, which means that 5 fighters did not come back! It's really a bit difficult to carry out the strategic bombing mission now!"

The "loss" far exceeded the pre-war expectations, which made Chief of Staff Liu frown. He clenched his fists and hit the guardrail hard, his face full of regret.

This is not that 103 is distressed about the plane. The broken thing will indeed affect the combat effectiveness of the troops.

However, the rear area has the ability to produce it, and it is only a matter of time to replenish the bombers. The loss of 5 planes is not enough to hurt the bones.

What really made him sad was the crew members on the Lancaster.

After all, for the current Eighth Route Army, high-end talents who can control various types of advanced equipment are the real treasures.

"LYL, calm down. As a commander, it is a taboo to lose your composure."

"Maybe those bombers that did not return just temporarily followed other squadrons to other airports. Before everything is clear, you have to keep calm!"

In fact, the situation of the tiger in the forest is not much better now.

Although the expression on his face is still calm, as if everything is under control, the deep worry in his eyes cannot be hidden.

After a while, Political Commissar Luo spoke to ease the atmosphere. He patted the shoulders of his two colleagues and said:

"Let's go and take a look at the apron. We can't miss this scene. YL, don't cry and manage your expression."

"Okay!"

Just as the three were talking, the crew with more serious damage in the bomber formation landed first and began to taxi and slow down on the runway arranged in advance.

Then came the low-level squadron, the pilot squadron, and the high-level squadron.

Fortunately, there were no problems during the entire landing process. Except for a Lancaster that almost failed to lower its landing gear in time, the rest of the fighters landed smoothly.

The moment the first batch of damaged fighters opened their doors, all the ground crews began to cheer loudly and sent their blessings to the heroes.

At the same time, medical staff rushed forward and cooperated with the crew members to carry the injured soldiers on stretchers.

The hospital near the airport has the best surgeons and equipment in Shandong Province. Except for some comrades with particularly severe frostbite, they can basically handle most of the injuries.

Of course, the busiest is always the ground crew.

The skilled uncles need to repair and maintain the fighters as quickly as possible, and debug all the onboard weapons.

Paper cannot cover fire.

Although the devils were temporarily blinded by the models of the fighters, they would sooner or later discover one thing, that is, all the aircraft carrying out strategic bombing missions came from the Eighth Route Army Air Force.

By then, the other side will definitely not give up.

Whether for the safety of the rear area or to vent their anger, the enemy will inevitably launch a retaliatory crackdown on the Qilu Military Region.

Moreover, no one can guarantee that the Japanese navy will not be forced to put aside their past grudges and launch a joint operation with the Kwantung Army of the Army.

Under the above premise, it is absolutely wise to keep all kinds of equipment in the best condition.

Only in this way can the Air Force cope with the fierce war with escalating intensity.

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After the wounded were taken away by the ambulance and they were sure that their group would not delay the rescue work at the scene, the three commanders 01, 02, and 03 walked out of the crowd.

Caressing the bullet-riddled pilot aircraft, a trace of guilt flashed in Chief Liu's eyes. He took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his emotions.

"Comrades! Welcome home! Thank you for your hard work!"

"I'm proud of you! Each of you is a national hero!"

"For today's celebration banquet, I specially found a famous local Shandong cuisine chef to show off his skills. Everyone must eat with open stomachs!"

Seemingly thinking of something embarrassing, 103 pondered for a few seconds before continuing to add:

"However, eating and resting will have to wait for a while. We have to go to the intelligence office for a briefing first."

The operational briefing meeting, as Chief of Staff Liu calls it, is a necessary step after every Air Force operation. It is mainly used to analyze the bombing effects of the troops and the intelligence along the way.

During the meeting, all returning crews were put in charge of a dedicated intelligence officer.

When analyzing intelligence, the bombing effect, the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery defense zone, and the model and number of Japanese interceptors are all the focus of intelligence personnel.

The reason why it is so complicated is naturally to prepare for the next attack.

After all, suppressing an enemy country's war potential is never a one-and-done deal. Only a flawless plan can reduce the losses of the strategic bombing force.

After hearing the arrangements from their superiors, the comrades of the 1st and 3rd Air Division nodded one after another, and then dragged their tired bodies into the car.

As elites, they certainly know what is important and what is light.

"Yes! Execute the order!"

Ten minutes later, everyone arrived at their destination.

Sitting in comfortable chairs, all crew members relaxed a lot, but what followed was physical and mental exhaustion.

After more than ten hours of continuous driving, fighting and high concentration, the total mission range exceeded 4,000 kilometers. Even an iron man would not be able to withstand it.

Seeing this, the intelligence agents did not dare to waste time and quickly pushed out the map they had prepared.

"A total of 19 bombers participated in this mission. Only 14 have returned successfully. Does anyone know what happened to the other five?"

As soon as these words came out, Chief of Staff Liu, who was originally listening in the hall, immediately pricked up his ears.

Obviously, compared with the effect of bombing, 103 is still more concerned about the casualties of the troops.

The matter was so important that Captain Wang Hai did not let it slip. He first looked at the captains of each squadron, then stood up and walked towards the tactical board.

"The five missing heavy bombers were not shot down by the enemy."

"They abandoned the plane xx kilometers away from the coastline, but fortunately all crew members successfully parachuted."

"If everything goes well, the Navy's rescue team will be able to take the comrades home in a while. However, considering the speed of the old ships, there is a high probability that they will miss the celebration banquet."

After finishing speaking, there was a brief silence in the hall, followed by cheers that soared into the sky. Lin, Luo and Liu were also caught off guard by the sudden good news.

In fact, Captain Wang Hai is not to blame for hiding this matter. He informed the navy of the specific location half an hour ago.

However, due to coordination problems between the military services, news of the rescue was delayed in reaching the airport.

After the scene calmed down, Captain Wang Hai looked at the task bar on the tactical board and took the initiative to add:

"This bombing mission went much smoother than expected. We successfully bombed many target factories with almost no casualties in each squadron."

"In addition, we also sank the aircraft carrier Hosho, the battleship Nagato, the cruiser Oyodo and two submarines, and severely damaged the battleship Fuso and multiple destroyers."

"Of course, the Japanese's Etajima Naval War School and Wu Gang also suffered heavy losses. Especially the former, there is no possibility that it will reopen in a short time."

Facing Captain Wang Hai's talk, no one in the intelligence hall dared to respond except for the rustling sound of records.

Without him, just because the record is too dazzling.

If calculated based on the size of this army, the losses caused by the 1st and 3rd Air Divisions to the Japanese this time will definitely be higher than the value of the North China Front Army.

After a while, the tiger in the forest regained consciousness first. Although his face was full of shock, the commander calmly asked:

"Captain Wang Hai, it's not that I don't believe in the strength of our comrades. I'm just considering the subsequent publicity matters. Do you have any actual evidence to support the above-mentioned achievements?"

During World War II, the battle reports provided by the Air Force often contained a lot of water. This was a common problem faced by major forces in various countries.

It will take more than ten years to achieve relatively accurate identification of aircraft types and battle results.

Let’s not talk about it remotely, let’s just talk about the achievements falsely reported by the Navy.

The trend of the war is exactly what they reported to the Locust. What the IJN should consider now is definitely how to land on the west coast of the Ugly Kingdom, not the Battle of Midway.

As if he had guessed the problem of the tiger in the forest long ago, Captain Wang Hai waved his hand casually to the back, signaling his second-in-command to bring up the gift bag that had been prepared long ago.

"General Lin, the equipment in front of you stores photos and images of bombing the enemy's rear and sinking the surface ships of the Combined Fleet."

"The shooting effect of our fighter planes is slightly better than that of the high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the same period with the British. I believe they are enough to prove the achievements of our comrades."

As soon as these words came out, Political Commissar Luo rushed up with a few big strides. A ray of light burst out of his eyes, as if he saw some rare treasure.

"Good, good, good! Good stuff!"

"Director Liu! Send someone to collect the evidence quickly. After processing, send a copy to the border area, the headquarters and Suiyuan first!"

In the hands of political experts, these audio-visual materials are not only evidence, but also an unparalleled weapon for the Eighth Route Army to carry out propaganda work.

As long as they are shown several times in major cities, the morale of the people and troops of the whole nation will definitely rise by more than one level.

As for the bombing of civilians in Japan, will it have a bad impact on the troops? Will the Japanese use the Geneva Convention to make a fuss?

Sorry, we don't care at all.

Let's not talk about whether there are so-called civilians in that piece of broken land. We didn't sign the Geneva Convention.

Accusation?

Don't be ridiculous!

As long as I don't lose, no one has the right to judge me, and no one has the right to call me a war criminal!

Who goes to Nuremberg and who goes to Tokyo, we'll see after the war. (End of this chapter)