Rise From Eight Hundred

The biggest mistake of the Japanese North China Front Air Corps was not sending Captain Sasaki!

Otherwise, with Captain Sasaki and the Four-Line Regiment's rich combat escape experience, they would never make such a low-level mistake.

But it is undeniable that Captain Sasaki has made all his efforts. Before departure, he was designated by his air wing commander to tell all Japanese pilots the key points of bombing the Four-Line Regiment's position.

"You must fly high and fast! After dropping the bomb, return immediately, and never fight! Otherwise, the Chinese will definitely use the tactic of burning both jade and stone." The Japanese pilots remembered these two points firmly.

In short, it's done quickly, and you must not smoke after the fact!

In the exam, you will only get low scores if you apply it mechanically, but if you do it on the battlefield, the consequences will be great.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The lessons learned from the Battle of Panzhai made the Japanese pilots very cautious. The 36 Japanese planes that took off from Baoding Airport maintained an altitude of 3,000 meters all the way.

When it was still 80 kilometers away from Lincheng County, the 10th Division was notified by radio. Shinozuka Yoshio also ordered the artillery regiment to change to incendiary bombs. He wanted to use the blazing fire to indicate the exact bombing target for the aircraft in the high altitude.

"Sir, where are the Japanese playing? Why did they change to incendiary bombs at this time?" Xia Dayu looked at the flames that were constantly ignited by incendiary bombs in the wilderness, puzzled.

The land around Zhaojiazhuang is either farmland or wasteland. There are forests, but more of them are loess. There are anti-gun holes in the trenches. Unless the incendiary bombs are bombarded at the entrance of the anti-gun holes, there is no lethality. What is the purpose of the Japanese army's large consumption of incendiary bombs?

Tang Dao, who walked into the lookout, also looked at the sea of ​​fire in the distance with a telescope, frowning slightly!

As the saying goes, "there must be something wrong when things are out of the ordinary." The Japanese artillery's sudden change of ammunition must have a purpose, but Tang Dao can't read minds. I wonder what Shinozuka Yoshio wants to do?

Anyway, with the stingy nature of the Japanese, they will never come here to clear the inventory.

Just when Tang Dao was having a headache, Erya, who stayed in the regiment headquarters temporarily as the captain of the regiment's medical team and military secretary, ran over from the No. 2 radio station and handed Tang Dao a piece of intelligence.

Tang Dao's face was slightly solemn.

It was from a secret intelligence station deployed by Gong Shaoxun in Handan City a few months ago. It had 5 intelligence personnel and a low-power secret radio station. It risked sending intelligence at a time when the Japanese army was highly alert. The criticality of the intelligence can be imagined.

But soon, when Tang Dao read the intelligence, his face eased.

Originally, he didn't know what the Japanese wanted to do, but now through this intelligence, he finally guessed Shinozuka Yoshio's intention.

"Dozens of Japanese fighter planes flew over Handan City!" The intelligence officer could not report the number clearly, and could only send an approximate number in the telegram, which shows how anxious he was at the time.

Indeed, the scale of 36 fighter planes in 3 flight squadrons is extremely rare, not to mention in the battlefield of North China, even in the battlefield of the Central China Battle last year, where both sides deployed more than one million troops.

"It seems that Shinozuka Yoshio is going to point out the target for his bomber!" Tang Dao breathed a sigh of relief.

The dispatch of Japanese planes that completely control the air superiority has long been in Tang Dao's calculations. When digging anti-artillery holes and various machine gun fortifications, Tang Dao gave instructions that the anti-artillery standard should not only focus on the Japanese 75mm mountain artillery, but also take into account heavy bombs.

Therefore, the top of the anti-artillery hole of the infantry class is generally covered with a one-meter thick loess layer and supported by solid logs. Unless they are unlucky and hit by heavy bombs, they still have enough survivability.

The battlefield of Zhaojiazhuang was wide enough, with a radius of nearly 4 kilometers. Even if the Japanese army dispatched twice as many fighter planes, let alone 36 fighter planes, they could not achieve full firepower coverage with the poor ammunition load of the Type 96 fighter planes.

The 12 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns were very powerful, but if they opened fire rashly and were targeted by Japanese fighter planes in the sky, there would be losses. After all, there were dozens of Japanese planes attacking this time.

But it is not Tang Tuanzuo's personality to passively take a beating. After thinking for more than ten seconds, Tang Dao's brows relaxed: "Since Shinozuka Yoshio can point out the direction of their planes, then we can do the same! What's the matter? He has incendiary bombs, but my Fourth Line Regiment doesn't?

Order the howitzer company and the heavy mortar company to change the incendiary bombs for me and fight back in five minutes! Starting from 200 meters in front of the front position, extend 1,500 meters to the rear Japanese position!"

At this time point, Tang Dao has made precise calculations. The straight-line distance from Handan to this place is about 80 kilometers. According to the speed of the 96 fighter planes with a full load of nearly 300 kilometers per hour, it will take about 13 minutes.

The intelligence has a certain delay. At this time, the Japanese fighter planes are about 9 minutes away from the battlefield.

With the normal firing rate of 12 150 heavy mortars and 12 80mm howitzers, about 300 shells can be fired in 4 minutes. Calculated based on half of them being incendiary bombs, 150 incendiary bombs are enough to set the Japanese positions on fire.

In other words, the Tang sword easily resolved Shinozuka Yoshio's attempt to use fire to guide the bomber group to the target.

If they were capable, the Japanese bomber group would lower their altitude and use visual to distinguish the positions of both sides that were almost close together. The 12 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns were not vegetarians and could chase the Japanese aircraft group from 1,500 meters to more than 4,000 meters.

Tang Dao believed that even if the Japanese military's communication methods had evolved to allow instant communication between the ground and the sky, the Japanese bomber group at high altitude would not be able to find the correct target just by talking on the ground.

Tang Dao really thought about the Japanese Army at this time. The Japanese aircraft at high altitude could report to the 10th Division. It was to send electricity back to the aviation regiment headquarters and then forward it to the aviation regiment. The efficiency was appallingly inefficient.

In fact, if the Japanese Army Air Forces had not suffered huge losses in the battle with the Chinese Air Force more than a year ago, which made the Japanese Army Base Camp realize the importance of radios on aircraft for coordinated air operations, I am afraid that the Japanese Army Air Forces would still have to rely on Use gestures in the air to communicate!

Of course, at this time, Tang Dao still wanted to confuse the view of the Japanese Army Aircraft Group at high altitude, forcing them to lower their altitude so that they could find better fighters for the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns deployed on the ground.

Even Shinozuka Yoshio understood this intention after thinking hard for two minutes, and ordered with an ugly face: "Power up the Army Aviation Corps and inform the Imperial Army Aviation warriors that the forward positions of our division were also bombed by incendiary bombs. Previously, The tactic of using firelight to indicate bombing targets is invalid, and the warriors of the Imperial Army Aviation are asked to find the bombing targets on their own.”

But obviously, both Shinozuka Yoshio and Tang Dao underestimated the foolish criticism of the Japanese North China Front Army Air Force pilots who seemed a little too nervous.

‘The Chinese actually have large-caliber anti-aircraft guns imported from the German Empire! ’ This piece of information has always been a dark cloud hanging over the hearts of Japanese army aviation pilots.

Even though there is a huge fleet of aircraft that almost covers the sky, the number of fighter planes cannot dispel the dark clouds on the brows of the Japanese Army Air Force pilots.

After all, when a grain of ashes of the times falls on an individual’s head, it is like a mountain! No matter how many fighter planes there are, as long as one shell hits your fighter plane, you will be dead.

Therefore, 10 kilometers before arriving at the battlefield, after being reminded by the fleet commander, the bomber group composed of 36 fighters rose instead of falling, raising the altitude to nearly 4,000 meters.

Because of the spherical surface, it happens to be the blind spot of the air station, completely blocking information from the ground.

Therefore, the telegram sent by the 'wise' Yoshio Shinozuka was in vain.

What's even more terrible is that the Japanese bomber group happened to enter the battlefield from the northeast, which happened to be the direction of the Japanese position.

In the summer of July in the north, the visibility is very good. Even at an altitude of 4,000 meters, you can clearly see the dots of firelight on the ground.

"Yo Xi! Gentlemen, the 10th Division on the ground has pointed out the target for us. There are the hateful Chinese, blow them up!" A Japanese army aviation major who led the team looked sideways at the porthole, his eyes filled with excitement. .

"In addition, please pay attention to maintaining altitude. You must pull up after diving to 3,500 meters! Do you understand?"

"Hi!"

Faced with the commander's heart-warming reminder, the Japanese Army Air Force pilots all agreed via wireless communicators.

As a result, what can be called the largest accidental bombing incident in the history of the Sino-Japanese war occurred.

More than a dozen Japanese fighter planes roared and dived from an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters. Their ferocious posture was like a soaring goshawk discovering a cute little rabbit on the ground and trying to kill it with one strike.

"Long live the Empire!"

"The empire's military fortune is prosperous!"

. . . . . . . . . . .

On the ground, the Japanese soldiers of the 10th Division, who were looking up in the trenches to watch the performance of their own fighter planes, cheered thunderously.

As a result, what was surprising was that while they were still high in the sky, the proud eagles of the empire stopped swooping, and small black dots were thrown down from the belly and under the wings of the aircraft.

What do the Imperial Eagles want to do? That's still several kilometers away from the Chinese position! Did the bomb dropped at this time have wings? Could it fly to the Chinese position on its own?

After all, the 10th Division is also a permanent division. Most of the surviving veterans have experienced many actual battles with Imperial fighter bombing support, and they still have some understanding of how far bombs can glide in the air.

Since this distance cannot reach the Chinese position by gliding, where will the gliding go?

The Japanese veterans who had this question in their minds turned pale instantly!

The Japanese infantry who reacted quickly bent down and hid in the trenches, while those who reacted slowly looked up and watched the "little black dots" falling from the sky, slamming into their own positions, and creating huge fireballs.

That's a super combination of 500-pound aerial bombs and 50-pound aerial bombs!

The Type 89 tank, the main force of the Japanese Army, weighs 10 tons. Even if a 75mm mountain gun shell explodes next to the tank, it can't do anything to it.

But in front of the 500-pound aerial bomb, it was nothing.

An 89 tank that was still 1,200 meters away from the front line was already very cautious. Seeing bombs exploding hundreds of meters away, it immediately stepped on the accelerator and hid in a fortification, hoping to use the fortification to avoid the possible impact. Shockwave.

But a heavy aerial bomb that exploded 40 meters away from the tank gave the armored monster no chance. In the face of the violent shock wave, its 10-ton weight was too much for it. The entire tank rolled several times in a row before it fell on all fours. overturned in the wilderness.

The steel body of the tank looked like it had been smashed by a group of Li Yuanba with drums, urns, and golden hammers, and there were still pieces of meat stuck to it.

The Japanese infantrymen who had no time to dodge were crushed into cakes by the 'rolling logs' created by their own army aviation.

Lt. Gen. Yoshio Shinozuka, who was more than 2,200 meters behind the front line, had no chance to watch the feast led by his own army aviation warriors. When the first bomb fell and the violent air wave swept around, two loyal guards pounced on the division commander who was half-sunk in the ground command post.

It really depended on the two men's quick reaction. A 500-pound bomb exploded less than 200 meters away from Yoshio Shinozuka's headquarters. The violent air wave not only swept all objects on the ground, but also swept two heavy machine gun fortifications built with sandbags and wood, as well as the people and heavy machine guns inside into a plane. A 92 heavy machine gun was even swept by the air wave like a bullet and hit the observation port facing the front of the headquarters.

That is, the command post of the Japanese Army Lieutenant General was half-sunken, and the nearly one-meter building exposed above the ground was specially reinforced with steel plates and logs. The frontal defense can almost withstand the direct fire of 75mm mountain artillery. Otherwise, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio might become the first Imperial Lieutenant General in the history of the Japanese Army to be killed by the Type 96 fighter.

Shinozuka Yoshio escaped this disaster, but it does not mean that other people in the division he led can.

In this area, in addition to the more than 300 guard squadrons directly under the division, the 10th Division Headquarters also has nearly 40 division headquarters communications soldiers, medical soldiers and other arms.

After the Japanese bomber group dropped all the bombs and left the 4,000-meter altitude unscathed and proudly like a little rooster in heat, Shinozuka Yoshio greeted all the female relatives of the officers of the Japanese North China Front Army Aviation Corps whose names he knew without any aristocratic style.

He didn't know the losses of other units of the 10th Division, but his division headquarters had nearly half of its casualties, including the escort squadron that was on guard in the trench less than 300 meters away from his headquarters.

What the Chinese were unable to do, the group of idiots of the Front Army Air Force actually did easily.

After the war, Shinozuka Yoshio even went so far as to tear his face and reported the matter to the Japanese Army Headquarters, even if it offended the Front Army Air Force Corps that would definitely provide him with air support in the future.

From this perspective, Shinozuka Yoshio was still loyal to his subordinates, even at the risk of his own future.

Of course, those who understand understand that if the topic is not quickly changed, Shinozuka Yoshio, the supreme commander who formulated all the tactics in the southern Hebei battlefield, will have to bear the consequences of defeat.

Unfortunately, even though Shinozuka Yoshio had already given it all, this shocking scandal was still far beyond the control of Shinozuka Yoshio.

As we all know, Japan only has the navy and the army, and there is no such thing as an air force. All fighter planes are either from the navy or the army. As the war situation continues to change, the navy has already gained an advantage in resource support. If the scandal of the army spreads throughout the country, the Japanese army will be pointed at and called stupid by the navy horse-riders!

In the end, it was the Japanese prince who personally came forward and called to comfort Shinozuka Yoshio, who returned to Pingbei City in disgrace after the defeat, and promised not to hold him accountable. Shinozuka Yoshio was finally at peace.

If we want to say how much the 10th Division's defeat in Zhaojiazhuang has to do with the blunder caused by the army's aviation idiots, then at least 20 to 30 percent of the responsibility must be there.

The more than 100 Japanese soldiers from the 10th Division who were taken away by a heavy bomb were only one-tenth of the Japanese soldiers who died in this blunder.

Although the 36 fighter pilots of the Japanese North China Front Army Air Force refused to admit their mistakes, saying that they carried out effective bombing based on the firelight indicated by the 10th Division Headquarters before the war, no one could count how many bombs the Japanese bomber group dropped on the 10th Division's position and how many on the Chinese position.

But according to the battle reports of both sides, the 10th Division suffered more than 1,200 casualties, including 929 deaths and more than 30 missing.

The medical team of the Sihang Regiment in Zhaojiazhuang received 59 remains and 46 wounded. The total number of casualties was just over 100. It can be basically judged that the Japanese position suffered at least 60% of the damage from the more than ten tons of explosives carried by 36 fighters.

The reason why the Chinese casualties were much smaller was that the Chinese fortifications on the defensive side were more complete, and the anti-artillery capabilities exceeded the Japanese by several levels.

Before the battle officially started, an infantry battalion was deleted from the organization table. If we add the security army infantry battalion that was previously destroyed by the Chinese army with explosions, the 10th Division's losses were close to 2,000.

Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, who had nearly 20,000 soldiers, instantly became a commander of 80,000 people, almost catching up with a major general detachment commander.

This is because Yoshio Shinozuka did not receive the loss report sent back by the infantry and cavalry who were "clearing the wild area", otherwise Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka's face would not be white but green.

The 600 elite soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment on the vast plains around Zhaojiazhuang are not ordinary pheasants. Anyone who comes up with a gun can harvest them.

Even if Japanese planes bombed the battlefields of China and Japan, the battle in the wilderness never stopped.

Until dark, there were at least 4 uninhabited villages and 6 plains around Zhaojiazhuang.

The Japanese army deployed more than a thousand troops at the most, but the Chinese soldiers who relied on the village to resist had tunnels and fewer troops. They could always evacuate the village smoothly through the tunnels with the cover of booby traps.

Since that day, the Japanese army has never participated in the wild area clearing battle at the battalion level again.

It’s not that Shinozuka Yoshio is not afraid of the harassment of a small group of Chinese elite troops, but in just one day, the 10th Division, which was attacking the three sides of the position, suffered more than 2,000 casualties. In addition to the losses caused by the stupid operation of the Army Aviation in the morning and the losses caused by clearing the wild areas, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio, who received the loss reports from various units in the evening, seemed to have aged seven or eight years in an instant.

In just one day, the 10th Division’s losses exceeded those of the past month. ()