NCCnovel Chapter 198 Hit me hard, I must knock down the Japanese fighter plane! 1-word chapter
Chapter 198 Hit me hard, I must knock down the Japanese fighter plane! 1-word chapter
Just as Lin Zhenhua was preparing for air defense operations against the Japanese bombers, the Second Mixed Brigade, which had departed from Taiyuan, was already rushing to northwestern Shanxi by train. Their first stationing location would be Ping'an County. At the current marching speed, they would arrive at Ping'an County in four days.
After a short rest, it only takes three days to launch an offensive against the independent regiment. The Second Mixed Brigade has an infantry regiment and an artillery regiment, with a total of 7000 people.
Li Yunlong had no idea that the Japanese were really serious this time. In addition to the Second Mixed Brigade, they also merged the Sato Battalion and the Makino Battalion that entered the Zhangzhuang stronghold, plus a tank squadron, and placed them under the command of the Second Mixed Brigade. This time, when attacking the Independent Regiment, the total strength of the Japanese in the base was close to 10,000, equivalent to half a division of the Japanese. The Independent Regiment would face the biggest crisis since its establishment!
In order to guide the bombers in the sky, Yamamoto Ikki led more than 40 special agents and left Maoerling and rushed to Heiyun Village. Less than ten minutes after walking, Yamamoto Ikki suddenly thought of a good idea. He immediately ordered his subordinates: "Team one will be responsible for collecting dead branches and leaves, and team two will immediately clear a piece of open space. All this must be done within five minutes!"
Under Yamamoto Ikki's order, 46 members of the special forces team became busy urgently. Yamamoto Ikki was not idle either. He went back to his original place and retrieved a parachute. When he came back, the two teams had completed the tasks he assigned.
"Our next mission is very simple. We only need a big fire in the shape of an arrow, indicating the direction of Black Cloud Village. This way, the bombers in the sky can easily find the target according to our guidance. After the fire is lit, I will immediately launch three flares into the sky to attract the bomber group. In this way, our target guidance mission can be easily completed without taking huge risks."
I have to say that when people are in life-and-death crisis, they can really come up with clever strategies. Yamamoto Ikki's strategy is not brilliant, but it is very useful.
Under the command of Yamamoto Ikki, a huge arrow-shaped pile of dead branches and leaves was built in just three minutes. The parachute was ignited with a match, and the dead branches and leaves began to burn violently after being ignited by the parachute.
After instructing his men to continue adding firewood to the fire, Yamamoto Ikki took out the signal gun from his waist, loaded three flares into it, and fired at the distant sky. Three consecutive flares were launched into the sky, attracting the attention of Major General Kudo.
When Major General Kudo saw three flares rising in succession, he immediately sent two fighter jets to check and soon received a report from his subordinates.
"Yoshi! Yamamoto-kun has indicated the target for us. We will immediately rush to the place where the flare is raised. Following the direction indicated by the arrow, the Hayata squad and the Hatoyama squad will immediately conduct reconnaissance of the airspace 30 kilometers ahead. After discovering the target, we will immediately launch a tentative attack. After the Chinese counterattack, we will start the bombing operation!"
Major General Kudo was very cautious in his arrangements. He did not underestimate the Independent Regiment because of its lack of anti-aircraft weapons. He first sent two squadrons of fighter jets to clear the Independent Regiment's anti-aircraft firepower, and then sent bombers to carry out bombing. It was precisely because of this that Lin Zhenhua was forced to change his original combat plan and launch an attack ahead of schedule.
Lin Zhenhua, who was hiding under a big tree, saw two Zero fighters flying over Heiyun Village. At first, he didn't pay much attention to it, thinking that it was a normal reconnaissance operation of the Japanese. Besides, some camouflage had been done before. If the Japanese pilots didn't look carefully, they really wouldn't be able to find the three anti-aircraft guns on the training ground.
But soon Lin Zhenhua discovered something was wrong, especially when he saw three flares launched into the sky in the distance and two fighter planes that had left the sky above Heiyun Village before returning with the main force. He thought to himself that something was not good, knowing that the Japanese pilots had received guidance from the ground. He had to strike first and get rid of the Japanese fighter planes before the Japanese bombers arrived.
However, the excellent maneuverability of the Zero fighter made Lin Zhenhua a little distressed. Fortunately, he had completely disassembled and assembled the Zero fighter once and was very familiar with its shortcomings. When diving, the Zero fighter could easily disintegrate. In addition, the Zero fighter's defense was very weak, which were all points that could be used to make trouble.
Just as Lin Zhenhua was about to issue targeted orders against these weaknesses, he suddenly realized that he was now using anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns instead of fighter planes. It was extremely difficult for anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns to hit high-altitude, high-speed targets like the Zero fighter. Things suddenly returned to the starting point, and for a moment, Lin Zhenhua was really at a loss.
Lin Zhenhua was very clear that there was no shortcut in this air defense operation. He could only fight the Japanese fighter planes head-on. As long as he could kill a few Japanese fighter planes, the Japanese bomber pilots would not dare to lower their altitude for bombing. This was the only chance to reduce the final losses.
Lin Zhenhua picked up the phone next to him and shouted directly into the receiver: "Everyone, pay attention. I am now in charge of commanding the air defense operations. All anti-aircraft machine gun positions, pay attention. According to our previous training, hit three in advance and immediately blockade the six Japanese fighter planes in the sky with firepower. The anti-aircraft artillery units will not participate in the battle for the time being!"
"All anti-aircraft machine guns immediately adjust their firing angles and directions. Start firing in 30 seconds. Start firing in 30 seconds. Start firing in 30 seconds!"
As Lin Zhenhua's order was given, 24 anti-aircraft machine guns quickly adjusted their firing angles and directions. Hundreds of light and heavy machine guns deployed in eight mountain strongholds also aimed at the six Zero fighters in the air at the same time. They would pull the trigger as soon as the order was issued, and they would shoot down the Japanese fighters even if it meant sacrificing their own lives.
The atmosphere in each mountain stronghold was very solemn. With the help of the artillery battalion and the anti-aircraft artillery battalion, each air defense position was on high alert, waiting for Lin Zhenhua's firing signal!
Lin Zhenhua picked up the binoculars around his neck and looked at the Japanese fighter plane in the distance. He roughly estimated the distance in his mind, then picked up the phone next to him and shouted angrily, "The Japanese fighter plane is coming. All anti-aircraft machine gun positions should open fire immediately to form an internal and external fire interception network. We must shoot down the Japanese fighter planes. Hit them hard. We have plenty of bullets. If the Japanese fighter planes dare to come, we will resolutely shoot them down!"
As Lin Zhenhua's order was given, a total of 160 machine guns roared into the sky, countless bullets flew into the sky, and the wind locked the dive route of the Japanese fighter planes. Because the attack was very sudden, and the Japanese fighter planes generally flew relatively low, the battle had just begun, and results were achieved in one minute. A Zero fighter was directly hit by dozens of bullets on the fuel tank, and it caught fire and exploded. Then the entire Zero fighter disintegrated in the air. Several holes were punched in the wings of two other Zero fighters, but it did not cause much impact on the Japanese's flying posture.
The Japanese pilots reacted and turned their planes around quickly, trying to break away from the independent regiment. Lin Zhenhua knew that the Japanese fighter planes were most vulnerable when they were turning. As long as he seized these few seconds, he might be able to achieve new results. He shouted directly into the telephone: "All anti-aircraft gun positions should open fire immediately, and fire at six in advance. Fire hard, and never let the Japanese fighter planes get close to the village!"
The anti-aircraft gun positions, which had been waiting for a long time, immediately began firing into the air upon receiving the order, aiming at the turning direction of the nose of the Japanese fighter plane. Thanks to Lin Zhenhua's special attention to air defense operations, the anti-aircraft gun positions achieved the result of shooting down a Japanese Zero fighter after 30 seconds.
In the past six minutes, two of the Japanese Zero fighters were shot down and one was damaged. The damaged one was forced to return. This greatly reduced the pressure on air defense operations. In addition to a fighter squadron escorting the bombers, the Japanese only had three fighters left that could be used in combat.
Major General Kudo, who was cruising at a high altitude and low speed in the distance, was a little confused at this time and suspected that there was something wrong with his eyes. In just the past few minutes, they had lost two Zero fighters. Another Zero fighter was seriously damaged, with black smoke already coming out of the fuselage. They were forced to find a place to return home and make an emergency landing.
"Baga Yalu! What on earth just happened? Can anyone tell me?"
Lieutenant Colonel Kuroda, who had been observing the movements ahead, replied with some regret: "General, I saw what happened just now very clearly. The flying altitude of the two squadrons of Zero fighters was only 600 to 700 meters at the lowest, and only 1,000 meters at the highest. The lowest altitude of the mountains here is 200 to 300 meters. Hatoyama and Hayata were too careless and did not take the Chinese army seriously at all. That's why they suffered such heavy losses. They paid the price for their arrogance!"
After listening to Lieutenant Colonel Kuroda's explanation, Major General Kudo's face became even uglier. He had reminded the two before to be careful, but he didn't expect that they were still so arrogant, which led to the current situation. But now he had to send people to clean up the mess, otherwise the bomber would not be able to descend to the appropriate altitude, and if forced to bomb, the effect of the bombing would be greatly reduced.
"Kuroda Squadron, go to reinforce immediately! Kuroda-kun, Hayata Hatoyama and the other two squadrons, the remaining three Zero fighters are under your command. You must eliminate the anti-aircraft firepower of the Chinese army within half an hour. Now we only have 50 minutes of air time left. I need to reserve 20 minutes of bombing time for the bomber group. Everything is up to you!"
After receiving the order, Lieutenant Colonel Kuroda immediately led his team to rescue the three trapped fighter planes. Lieutenant Colonel Kuroda knew very well that he must rescue the three fighter planes as soon as possible, otherwise it would be difficult to eliminate the independent regiment's air defense force with just the three fighter planes in his team.