Rise From Eight Hundred

This time, the bombardment of the 39th Infantry Brigade once again broke the record of the amount of ammunition dropped in a single round on a local battlefield in North China!

The reason is that the 21st Division, this clever little ghost, ran too fast and too anxiously, so that many materials that were previously intended to be blasted were still intact in various storage points. [.\\nＣＯＭ 思TU updated the most complete and comprehensive chapters, and the error-free content was repaired most timely. Due to cache reasons, it is recommended to visit the browser.\\nＣＯＭ official website]

Not to mention other ammunition, the shells used for the 41-type 75 mountain gun alone were seized by the Four-line Regiment for more than 3,000 pieces!

In addition to the shells previously seized from the artillery positions, the total number of mountain artillery shells reached a staggering 7,000 pieces!

For the artillery officers and soldiers of the Four-line Regiment who seized 14 75 mountain guns, what else is there to worry about?

It really was from early morning to sunset. Each of the 14 captured mountain guns fired 300 rounds on average. If they were not worried about the quality of the barrels and feared that too much output would cause the barrels to explode, the 500 rounds allocated to each gun might be emptied.

Since the bombardment began at noon, the Sihang Regiment fired as many as 7,000 rounds of various types of shells! Most of them fell on the heads of Japanese infantry.

This afternoon alone, more than 1,800 Japanese infantrymen were killed or injured in this fierce bombardment, and that was not counting the two artillery battalions that were beaten even harder.

The word "beaten" is not applicable at this moment, it should be used more like "slaughtered"!

Even the major general and brigade commander of the 39th Infantry Brigade, Takagi Yoshito, spent an afternoon hiding in a cave with a dusty face, staring blankly at the constantly flashing artillery fire outside the cave.

The 17th Division, which had fought a bloody battle with the 39th Infantry Brigade for a week and suffered more than 4,000 casualties, fought back with all its might. Zhao Shoushan ordered his artillery battalion to bombard the high ground at all costs, and also used infantry to counterattack the lost high ground under the flying shells!

He wanted to keep his pre-war promise. This time he would never give up any of his brothers, even if he had died on the high ground.

The 12 mountain guns and 12 105mm howitzers of the 39th Infantry Brigade did not fail to fight back, but they found with great sadness that the heavy firepower advantage they were once proud of was completely gone in this artillery battle initiated by the Chinese.

Not only in terms of the number of artillery, but even in terms of caliber, they all lost!

What's worse is that because they were attacked from both sides, the entire infantry brigade was surrounded in a mountain with a radius of only 2 square kilometers. As soon as the artillery positions opened fire to counterattack, the thick smoke rose into the sky and could be seen from a long distance.

The Chinese Bofors mountain guns, Type 41 mountain guns, 105 howitzers, 150 large-caliber mortars, and 80mm howitzers belonging to two infantry battalions all focused their fire on the artillery positions.

If it was an AD exchange of fire, it would be easy to say. Before you kill me, I can still output a wave of damage to you. But the terrible thing is that the area of ​​the Four-line Regiment staying outside the Falu Ridge is obviously much wider, and the artillery positions are set up on all the hills!

Just say, did you get beaten up!

The Japanese artillery positions only exchanged fire with the artillery positions of the Four-line Regiment for less than an hour, and then they completely turned on the rotten mode and stopped fighting!

It’s not to save shells, but to completely defeat them. Yoshito Takagi can no longer sacrifice the few guns in vain, but to hold the position and wait for support to arrive. At that time, these artillery will be needed when the whole army breaks out.

This consideration is actually correct for the battle situation at the time!

After all, the 39th Infantry Brigade, which still had 5,000 to 6,000 men, was not a group of more than 5,000 pigs. Even though the Chinese side had turned the tables and trapped them in a mountainous area of ​​only 2 square kilometers, it would take at least three to five days to eat them up.

In particular, the Japanese North China Front Army still had complete air superiority. If 24 aircraft were not enough, then 48 would be enough. If 48 were not enough, then 96 would be enough! This was what Lieutenant General Saburo Okabe, Chief of Staff of the North China Front Army, had promised him.

Yes, Saburo Okabe, who received the news that the 21st Division had evacuated and sold out the 39th Infantry Brigade, immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

It was not just a matter of nearly 10,000 people in a Type A division being surrounded and severely damaged by the Chinese, but that the important town of Shimen was in danger.

Niangziguan was only 30 kilometers away from Jingxing County, which was still controlled by the Japanese North China Front Army. For an army, 30 kilometers could be reached in just half a day.

The two infantry squadrons and the baggage squadron that had just arrived in Jingxing County had a total of only 700 people. If you think about it, you will know that the morale of the Chinese army that had just defeated the 21st Division is high, and the 700 defenders without heavy firepower support are just their snacks.

And 40 kilometers after Jingxing County is the important town of Shimen. It is called an important town because of its geographical conditions. This city is the most important transportation hub from North China to Shanxi Province and Henan Province.

In order to better support the battle in Shanxi Province, the Japanese North China Front Army also stored a large amount of combat supplies there. If the Chinese ate up the 39th Infantry Brigade and then marched to Shimen like they had done before, what would the 3,000 defenders of Shimen, composed of two infantry battalions and one baggage battalion, do to defend it?

People can be withdrawn, but what about supplies? Who would be willing to blow up the mountains of supplies in the station? Those are all the wealth saved by the people of the empire who only eat one full meal a day!

If Shimen was captured by the Chinese, Okabe Saburo knew very well that he, the Lieutenant General Chief of Staff, would basically be finished.

The Army Headquarters had to find someone to take the blame for this major defeat anyway. General Shanshan Yuan was appointed as the commander by His Majesty the Emperor, and for the sake of the Emperor's face, he was not suitable; Nagano Kameichiro, Takagi Yoshito and other guys who were ineffective in commanding the front line were too low-ranking and could not bear such a big blame; after counting the entire North China Front Army, it seemed that only he was suitable!

Baka! If he had known earlier, he would not have been this unlucky lieutenant general. Okabe Saburo really regretted it at that moment. If he could, he would even prefer to continue to be his Army General in the Kwantung Army.

So, on the one hand, he was furious and wanted to hold Nagano Kameichiro, who had turned off the field radio and remained silent and was still running for his life, responsible, while on the other hand, he quickly contacted Tokugawa Haoming, the major general of the temporary air corps.

"Tokugawa-kun, the face of the front army this time depends entirely on the colleagues of the Air Corps. If we cannot rescue the 39th Infantry Brigade or let them hold out in the encirclement for 5 days, then this battle of Jindong will become one of the most shameful battles in the history of the Imperial Army!" Okabe Saburo did not say any extra words and told the crisis very frankly.

"Hi! Your Excellency the Chief of Staff, all the officers and soldiers of the Temporary Air Corps will do their best!" Tokugawa Haoming, who had a civilized beard on the other end of the phone, nodded expressionlessly and accepted the order.

"In that case, I'll wait for your victory report, Tokugawa-kun!" Okabe Saburo hung up the phone after saying that.

"Order, all the airports under the Temporary Air Corps, except for the fighter planes under maintenance, all other fighter planes will be equipped with bombs to participate in the battle!" Tokugawa Haoming hung up the phone, walked to the window in silence, looked at the row of fighter planes parked on the apron for a long time, and finally gave the order.

The young left staff officer standing behind him waiting to record the military order was startled: "Commander, are they all the fighters?"

According to the Army Aviation Regulations, each airport must have fighters left on combat duty, otherwise if enemy planes appear, the pitiful anti-aircraft guns on the ground alone cannot stop the bombing of enemy planes.

"Of course it's all the fighters, otherwise, what do you think Chief of Staff Okabe meant by calling me?" The Japanese Army Aviation Major General looked back at his operations room staff with a gloomy face.

Tokugawa Haoming was in a bad mood, not because his fighters and pilots had suffered considerable losses since the battle, but because he, a major general of the army who originally had a weak presence in the front, was suddenly put on the fire.

Okabe Saburo didn't mention Shanshan Yuan in the phone call just now, but in fact, every sentence was about Shanshan Yuan, and he almost said clearly that if the battle of Jindong failed, his temporary aviation corps would bear a large part of the responsibility.

The 21st Division and the 39th Infantry Brigade were beaten to a pulp by the Chinese, so what does it have to do with my temporary air corps? If he hadn't been restrained enough, Tokugawa would have really wanted to spit at that person.

But this Army Aviation Major General also knew that the reason why Okabe Saburo dared to say that was, on the one hand, he would be blamed if he failed, so he simply dragged everyone into the water, and on the other hand, he represented General Shanshan Yuan this time. As long as the temporary air corps dared not to use its full strength, he could not deal with the temporary air corps, and Shanshan Yuan, who was also embarrassed, would not give face to anyone.

This person, once he had nothing, would let go of all his concerns. If you don't save me, I will drag you to taste what poop tastes like.

This is what Okabe Saburo actually wanted to express!

As for the 39th Infantry Brigade, they had actually been abandoned. Holding on for 5 days was the greatest expectation of the North China Front Command for them.

As long as there is a five-day buffer, the North China Front Army, which is already stretched to the limit, will draw enough troops from the garrisons in the major cities in North China to reach Shimen!

Therefore, this time the North China Front Army's temporary aviation corps can gather up to 78 fighters!

That will also be the largest bomber group dispatched in the North China battlefield since the start of the war. Even under the strict order of Tokugawa Haoming, each fighter plane taking off will reduce the amount of machine gun bullets and fuel carried on board, and try to mount as many bombs as possible!

Just as he answered his combat staff, "What kind of combat duty is needed? How many days have you not seen Chinese planes in the sky of North China? In the Southeast War last year, the Chinese aviation force has been completely destroyed. Even if the Soviet Union in the north supports them and delivers a batch of fighter planes, do they have enough pilots?"

The confidence of the Japanese Army Aviation Major General is not without reason. According to war history, China started the Battle of Songhu on August 13, 1937, and invested 314 fighter planes of various types. By the end of December 1937, only 7 could take off for combat.

Equipment losses can be purchased again, but the loss of Chinese Air Force pilots is even more tragic. Several ace pilots known as the four kings of the Chinese Air Force died one after another within less than half a year after the war began.

The 500 pilots trained by Hangzhou Jianqiao Aviation School, known as the Huangpu Military Academy of the Chinese Air Force before 1937, were almost completely lost!

Moreover, at this time, the Central China Campaign was in full swing, and air battles were staged from time to time over Jiangcheng. Where did the Chinese get fighter planes to come to North China?

Even if there was, it could only be in southern Shanxi, where nearly 400,000 troops from both sides were fighting. The battle in eastern Shanxi, with less than 200,000 troops from both sides, was just a small scene compared to those battlefields with hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops.

Since Okabe Saburo had put him, the Army Aviation Major General, on the fire, he could only throw the damn Chinese into the fire.

But Tokugawa never dreamed that it was his anxiety and arrogance that caused the Japanese North China Front Army to be "backwards" by Chinese soldiers on the ground, and then to be killed in the air!

Yes, this open door kill came from the blue sky, not the earth! It has little to do with the anti-aircraft artillery group of the Four-Line Regiment that was on full alert.

This largest air battle since the war broke out over the North China battlefield at 4 pm on September 15, and the Four-Line Regiment Air Defense Company completely became a soy sauce.

Because China actually sent up to 5 air squadrons and 60 Yin-15 fighters!

These 60 Yin-15 fighters were not transformed by Tang Tuanzuo. He traveled through time, but he didn't bring a portable arsenal. If he had that system, 10 J-20s would be enough to dominate the entire Chinese sky. Isn't it like fighting turkeys to fight the 96 fighters that the Army Aviation is mainly equipped with at this time?

But the arrival of these 60 Yin-15 fighters here is also inseparable from Commander Tang.

It was a casual chat with Brigade Commander Cheng before the war. Speaking of the small oil field in the northwest, Tang Dao wondered if he could get some gasoline and diesel from the oil field that provided a large amount of military expenditure for the 80th Army. There are more and more factories in the Dakouzidong station now, and the power required is also increasing. It will take at least half a year for the small hydropower station to be put into use. The oil stolen from the Japanese army is not enough to supply electricity.

When he heard that Tang Dao could buy it at the market price, Brigade Commander Cheng naturally patted his chest and agreed, and complained that the oil field was also on the mind of the big boss. Look, the 60 fighters purchased with loans from the bear have to be transferred to the simple airport in Anyan, and take some fuel to exchange for aviation kerosene with the old Americans, and the price is less than half of the market price.

A fighter plane may only carry half a ton, so 60 planes can carry 30 tons. The small oil field deep in the Gobi Desert produces less than 400 tons a year. Just these hundreds of tons of crude oil have to support the living expenses of nearly 100,000 people in the 80th Army. Who wouldn't be annoyed?

60 fighter planes? Tang Dao remembered this at the time.

The clock went back to 12 hours ago. The surrounding area of ​​the quiet alley in Linfen City was suddenly heavily guarded. Dark blue and gray military uniforms were almost densely covered around the entire alley.

A middle-aged soldier with simple clothes and a simple face suddenly visited, but the stingy old man who was always high and mighty actually came out to greet him at the entrance of the alley.

That was the deputy commander of the Second War Zone. He was supposed to be in southeastern Shanxi to command the battle in eastern Shanxi, but he suddenly left his command post and quietly arrived in Linfen, which made the stingy old man a little confused.

No one knew what the two talked about in the heavily guarded study room. They only knew that the lights in the study room were on until dawn, and several confidential staff members and staff from the Second War Zone's Communications Department and Staff Department were waiting in another small conference room. Moreover, they were not allowed to return to their dormitories until the evening of September 15.

In other words, no one left the entire courtyard. There were as many soldiers with live ammunition as an infantry battalion around, and hundreds of people surrounded the entire alley tightly. Mosquitoes and flies could fly in, but living people couldn't even think about it.

It was not until many years after the war that the war report of that year was declassified that people who paid attention to the battle in Jindong knew how important the decision made by the stingy old man was that night.

He personally called the person who had evacuated to the mountain city and requested 60 fighter planes that arrived at Anyan Airport to support the battle in Jindong. While informing the person of the current situation in Jindong, he also promised that the Second War Zone would do its best to hold back the Japanese North China Front Army so that it would not send a single soldier to reinforce the Central China Battle.

Perhaps it was this reason that finally moved him, and he finally agreed to let 60 newly received Yin-15 fighters participate in this battle, but the condition was that Anyan area would provide 200 tons of crude oil at half price this year and the Second War Zone would not retreat to the Yellow River in any case, and if the fighter formation was damaged in the war, the Second War Zone and the 80th Army would offset it with military expenses.

These conditions were a bit chilling to look at even more than ten years later, not to mention that day, and at first glance, it was thought that it was not the army of one country!

With the stingy old man's stingy nature, this tactic of borrowing fighters to fight the Japanese was basically a fantasy rhythm.

"My troops will use the captured Shimen to offset all losses in the war zone!" The head of the 80th Army gave the stingy old man a reassurance.

Once Shimen was captured, the Japanese's piles of supplies would make up for the losses of the damaged fighters, but the premise was that they could be conquered, which was just a pie in the sky drawn by a certain regiment commander for the commanders.

After all, that night, the 21st Division was still attacking the Sihang Regiment at the front line!

But the stingy old man actually believed it like crazy, and gritted his teeth to accept the harsh conditions proposed by the elder.

So, on the afternoon of September 15, when the Japanese fighter planes began to refuel and load bombs at various airports in North China, waves of radio waves spread in the airspace.

The 60 Yin-15 fighter planes ready to go at Anyan Airport roared onto the simple runway and then flew into the sky with their heads held high!

At that moment, the 60 Chinese fighter planes also covered the sky, and were not inferior to the 78 Japanese aircraft formations that were about to meet in the air!