The Milky Way is Also a Grain of Sand
Chapter 390 The Training of the Special Operations Brigade Jiangbei Aviation Second Detachment
Ye Dadan’s Sixth Regiment set out from Tongcheng.
Although it was a bit farther from its destination, Mount Huo.
Because there wasn't a surprise attack by a Japanese cavalry regiment,
their speed was relatively faster.
The day after annihilating the 30th Brigade of the Japanese infantry,
the Sixth Regiment had advanced to a position only ten kilometers away from Mount Huo.
At this time, Sasaki Yuto, the brigade commander of the 30th Brigade of the Japanese army,
returned to Mount Huo with Noda Yusuke, the commander of the 33rd Infantry Regiment,
and Tanaka Seiji, the commander of the 38th Infantry Regiment.
The three Japanese officers, including Brigade Commander Sasaki Yuto,
had been walking all night.
This time, there were too few of them,
so they dared not take the main road, fearing they would encounter soldiers of the Special Forces Brigade.
They dared not take the side roads either, fearing they would encounter bandits.
They had suffered enough on their way back.
These three Japanese officers,
since setting foot on this land,
had never suffered such hardship.
In order to escape with their lives,
they had no choice but to walk cautiously along a small path tens of meters from the main road,
groping their way through the dark all night.
Only then did they enter the city.
Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu heard from Yan Junliu, the commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army, that his two brigades had been completely annihilated.
Suddenly hearing that three senior commanders had luckily escaped,
he immediately sent someone to bring the three Japanese officers to the command post.
Inside the command post,
Brigade Commander Sasaki Yuto and the other two
were eating ravenously.
They had been starving for the past day and night,
they were truly exhausted and hungry.
Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu was very considerate of his subordinates.
He waited until the three Japanese officers had eaten their fill
before asking:
"Did you encounter an ambush by the National Army?"
Brigade Commander Sasaki Yuto couldn't help but turn red in the face
when he heard this heartbreaking topic.
He said in a low voice:
"Reporting to the division commander! No!"
"Then how did you manage to bury nearly ten thousand brave warriors?"
Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu’s tone became somewhat displeased.
"Reporting to the division commander! Although we did not encounter an ambush by the National Army,
our experience was even more miserable than being ambushed!
At dawn yesterday morning,
as the sky was just beginning to light up,
suddenly a dense barrage of artillery shells rained down on our camp.
Division commander!
Those were 150mm heavy artillery shells,
absolutely!
Although we have no evidence,
judging from the craters left by the exploding shells,
we are 100% certain!
The heavy artillery bombardment caused heavy casualties throughout the brigade.
The shells came quickly,
and ended quickly.
So many warriors in the entire brigade were wounded or killed,
so of course we had to carry out rescue efforts.
As a result, those cunning National Army soldiers
actually carried out another bombardment a quarter of an hour after the first round of bombing.
Not only were they cunning,
but their artillery fire was also extremely accurate.
The second bombardment caused even more casualties for us.
After requesting instructions from the division commander,
we were ordered to return to the city.
But…
the road back to the city was even more difficult!
There were too many wounded and fallen warriors,
we couldn't take them with us.
We directly left them in place to wait,
waiting for the subsequent hospitals and supply convoys to collect them.
We led the warriors who could still fight on the road back,
who knew we would encounter the National Army aircraft strafing us along the way!"
"Strafing? Not bombing?" Fujita Toshimatsu asked suspiciously.
"Division commander! It was strafing.
Their planes didn't drop a single bomb."
Hearing Brigade Commander Sasaki Yuto say this,
Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu breathed a sigh of relief:
"As long as it wasn't bombing,
there's no problem!"
Brigade Commander Sasaki Yuto was about to cry:
"Division commander! Strafing is the devil that sent us to hell!
Their planes, after discovering us,
began strafing us in turns,
again and again,
strafing us again and again.
They seemed to be toying with us like children,
this strafing lasted for a full two hours!"
"Two hours!" Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu, who had been sitting, suddenly stood up.
"What was their purpose in strafing for so long?"
"The purpose was to annihilate us completely!
Their infantry didn't catch up,
so they kept suppressing us with their air force,
making it impossible for us to move an inch.
The entire brigade was suppressed by the planes,
unable to advance at all.
When the planes were done venting,
their infantry came up.
The entire brigade could no longer organize effective resistance and defense.
Moreover, their planes cooperated with the infantry to strafe the resisting warriors again.
I made a decisive decision
and ordered the entire brigade to break through separately.
I personally led a team to charge past the National Army,
fighting bravely all the way.
Although all the warriors who followed me were killed,
we managed to break through the National Army's blockade.
That's how we were able to come back alive!"
While Brigade Commander Sasaki Yuto was reporting,
Regiment Commanders Noda Yusuke and Tanaka Seiji kept wiping away their tears.
When they recalled everything from yesterday,
they still felt lingering fear.
If their luck had been slightly worse along the way,
they would have been dead for sure.
Brigade Commander Sasaki Yuto then asked:
"Division commander! Have any other warriors from the 30th Brigade returned?"
Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu shook his head.
"What about the 19th Brigade?"
"No!"
For some reason, when Brigade Commander Sasaki Yuto heard that no Japanese soldiers from the 19th Brigade had returned,
he felt much more relieved.
For them,
they weren't afraid of large casualties,
but they were afraid that other units would have fewer casualties than themselves!
Since not a single Japanese soldier from the 19th Brigade had returned so far,
it was possible that their casualties were even greater.
After all, three members of the 30th Infantry Brigade had returned after all,
and they were the three highest-ranking commanders.
Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu looked at the exhausted state of his three subordinates
and waved his hand:
"You may go and rest!"
He was also very panicked in his heart:
"There has been no news of the cavalry regiment sent out yesterday.
If the National Army on the opposite side can use aircraft to suppress a brigade for two hours,
what would they do against cavalry?
In two hours, not a single cavalryman would be able to escape.
Warhorses sprinting at full speed for two hours
will definitely run themselves to death."
Thinking of this,
Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu had another ominous premonition.
Although he hadn't reached the point of being a commander without any troops yet,
his strength had indeed decreased by 80% compared to the day before.
Originally, there was a division with 23,000 to 24,000 Japanese soldiers.
Now, two infantry brigades were gone,
four field hospitals were gone,
and two battalions of the supply regiment were also gone.
The cavalry regiment was probably also gone.
If this went on endlessly,
Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu's forces had already dropped below a whole number,
leaving only the odd remnants.
Now, with less than three thousand Japanese soldiers remaining,
they still had to defend Mount Huo and Lu'an,
waiting for the 10th Division to return to support them.
He no longer had the confidence to defend the city in the face of such a formidable National Army.
Now, Division Commander Fujita Toshimatsu could only pray:
May the 10th Division return quickly!
Division Commander Shinoyama Yoshio was currently commanding his division on the march.
His actions were very swift.
After receiving the mission,
he immediately ordered the cavalry to contact each other and divide into two routes,
marching rapidly towards Mount Huo and Lu'an.
He didn't want his division to be like the National Army's reinforcements,
always arriving at the battlefield after the fortress had been lost.
Sixth Regiment Commander Ye Dadan obeyed Lin Fan's orders
and waited outside Mount Huo City,
waiting for Liu Laopao to lead the Second Infantry Regiment to arrive.
Second Regiment Commander Liu Laopao handed over the defense line in Taihu to the National Army troops sent by Li Pinxian.
He wanted to march rapidly, but was suppressed by Lin Fan's orders.
Lin Fan ordered them to maintain normal marching speed,
and to be sure to bring out all the supplies and materials that the Special Forces Brigade had left in Taihu.
This slowed down Liu Laopao's speed.
The Special Forces Brigade had originally been sending supplies to Taihu,
preparing to fight all the way along Taihu, Susong, and Huangmei.
Now that the plan had changed,
the supplies sent to Taihu had to be transported back.
This required a lot of manpower,
and someone had to guard them along the way.
From Taihu to Tongcheng,
there were still many National Army troops fighting guerrilla warfare in the mountains along the way.
Among these troops, there were also many bandits mixed in.
They didn't care about anyone,
and didn't respect anyone's authority.
They only recognized supplies.
The Special Forces Brigade had only been here for a short time,
and didn't have time to clear out these people.
This made them even more rampant.
Therefore, this time, the Special Forces Brigade used a large number of local laborers to transport supplies,
and the Second Regiment had no choice but to send people to guard them.
In the past,
the Special Forces Brigade had its own supply team,
which was a fully armed force.
No one dared to have any designs on them along the way.
This time, with the Second Regiment escorting them,
no one dared to have any designs on them either.
Along the way, there were constant whistles from various mountain strongholds,
and people could be seen moving in the distance.
But no one actually took action.
The Second Regiment's marching speed was not fast.
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Regiments were even faster.
According to Lin Fan's plan:
The First and Fourth Regiments were in Hefei;
the Second and Sixth Regiments were in Mount Huo;
the Third and Thirteenth Regiments were in Lu'an;
the Tenth Regiment was in Qianshan, and the Eighth Regiment was in Lu'an and Hefei;
the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Regiments were in Tongcheng as a reserve force for this battle;
the supply teams were stationed in Mount Huo and Lu'an respectively,
organized into regular combat units.
The logistics support task for this battle
was entirely undertaken by Zhang Shun's men.
Zhang Shun's troops had not yet been incorporated.
Although he had this idea,
it would take some time to truly incorporate them.
This time, they were responsible for providing logistics to the Special Forces Brigade,
and Lin Fan would pay them for it.
The flight teams that flew from Jurong to Tongcheng and Qianshan last night
began to familiarize themselves with the area today,
flying around Tongcheng and Qianshan.
Xiao Jianying led the fighter plane squadron to escort them.
In fact, there was also a fighter plane squadron in the air team that came last night.
Xiao Jianying asked Lin Fan for instructions:
"Brigade commander! When we are training, can we go and see Jinzhai County?"
As soon as Lin Fan heard this, he knew: He wanted to go and help the National Army.
The National Army and the Japanese Second Army were engaged in a fierce battle in Jinzhai County these days.
Looking at the map, Qianshan is 120 kilometers away from Jinzhai County,
which is not far for planes.
Lin Fan thought for a moment: I will ask the Fifth War Zone for instructions!
After all, the Special Forces Brigade's flight team was a bit of an oddity.
He didn't want them to be shot down by the National Army or Soviet planes on the battlefield.
When Bai Chongxi heard that the Special Forces Brigade's flight squadron intended to help in Jinzhai,
he was overjoyed and readily agreed.
He guaranteed to Lin Fan: Not a single National Army or Soviet plane would appear in Jiangbei.
In fact, the National Army's planes in Wuhan
were only deployed to protect Wuhan.
They rarely went on the offensive,
let alone actively attack the Japanese.
Bai Chongxi knew that the Special Forces Brigade's planes included those captured from the Japanese,
and those they manufactured themselves.
After receiving the news from Lin Fan,
he immediately called Song Xilian on the front line,
telling him to notify the front line
that if they encountered planes fighting the Japanese,
they must not attack them.
Those were the Special Forces Brigade's planes coming to help.
Song Xilian was confused.
They had been fighting fiercely with the Japanese for three days,
and they had only seen Japanese planes come to bomb them.
Not a single friendly plane had appeared in the sky.
Was the world about to change?
After receiving Lin Fan's notification that they could go,
Xiao Jianying immediately ordered: All members of the Second Aviation Group of Jiangbei,
fly northwest.
Song Xilian put down the phone.
In his command post, he could still see Japanese planes diving from the sky,
dropping bombs on his 36th Division, which was defending its position.
The 36th Division was one of the most elite units in the National Army,
and one of the five German-equipped divisions.
Since the beginning of the War of Resistance,
they had been on the main battlefield and had not missed a single battle.
By now, the soldiers of the entire division had been replenished six or seven times.
The officers and soldiers of the entire division were crippled,
replenished, and continued to go to the battlefield.
They were crippled again, replenished again,
and went to the battlefield again.
This time, the position they chose was very good.
At the southern end of the highway from Shangcheng to Lu'an,
Mount Fujin could block the entire highway from a high vantage point.
The Japanese 13th Division wanted to attack Yeji,
they had to pass through this highway,
so they had to capture Mount Fujin.
The Fifth War Zone deployed the 88th Division, the 36th Division, and the 114th Division here.
The 88th Division and the 36th Division were both among the five most elite divisions in the National Army.
This time, they were all placed on Mount Fujin,
which shows how much importance was attached to this place.
In recent days, the Japanese 13th Division's attacks here had been very fierce.
The air raids continued non-stop from morning to night.
The National Army was determined to fight to the death this time.
These soldiers and officers had learned a lesson from not fighting and retreating and being punished by military law.
Especially the 88th Division, their division commander and a large number of officers
were deemed to have abandoned the city during the Lanfeng Campaign that ended a few days ago.
They were all executed by the military court on August 10.
Under such strict military law,
the soldiers and officers temporarily did not dare to run away.
Their brave fighting, coupled with their advantageous position,
made things very difficult for the Japanese.
Even so, the National Army soldiers still suffered very heavy casualties.
The Japanese planes were really hateful.
Just today,
the officers and soldiers of the 36th Division defending the main position on Mount Fujin
saw Japanese planes diving down.
In the distance, a large group of planes was coming.
This time, the planes were so dense
that they could not be counted.
There were at least thirty planes or more.
The Suzuki Yukei Flight Squadron, which was bombing the National Army position on Mount Fujin,
had been bombing for about ten minutes.
This was just an ordinary bombing raid on this position in recent days,
and it would not be the last bombing raid here today.
They would return after replenishing their ammunition.
Rokkaku Akimasa was a pilot
who was flying a fighter plane to escort the bombers.
These fighter planes had nothing to do in the sky.
There were no National Army planes in the entire sky.
These fighter pilots were really bored,
so they also joined in the strafing of the National Army position.
They could dive to the front of the National Army position
and use the fighter plane's machine guns to strafe the National Army position.
Fighter planes were nimble
and easy to control.
The Japanese machine gunners had very high accuracy,
and they were able to shoot accurately.
They posed a great threat to the National Army soldiers defending the Mount Fujin position.
Pilot Rokkaku Akimasa had just completed a strafing run.
Seeing that the National Army soldiers could not escape the bullets he fired from the machine guns even when they hid in the trenches,
Pilot Rokkaku Akimasa was very excited.
He pulled up the plane.
He could also see Imperial infantry marching up the hillside on the road below the distant hillside.
In order to capture this Mount Fujin position,
the 13th Division had spared no effort,
concentrating all the power it could use: planes and artillery were all used.
Rokkaku Akimasa piloted the fighter plane
and pulled up again,
preparing to circle around
and go back to Mount Fujin for another strafing run.
At this moment,
he saw another group of planes coming from the front.
Commander-in-Chief Smoke Junroku was really taking good care of the Second Army.
This wave of bombing had not ended,
and the second wave of bombing was coming.
But what kind of planes were those fighter planes following behind?
They were smaller than bombers and larger than fighter planes.
Did the Empire have any new types of planes appearing?
Since the beginning of the battle,
the types of Japanese planes had been constantly emerging like bamboo shoots after a rain.
The Japanese pilots could not fully recognize them.
Just as Rokkaku Akimasa was lost in thought,
the opposing planes were only three hundred meters away.
They were still flying forward.
Clearly, they were going to give the National Army on Mount Fujin a hard time.
But suddenly, those planes on the opposite side shot out a string of fiery red bullets.
These bullets were like a chain,
and they hit his plane all at once.
The nose of the plane was hit.
The propeller was like being locked by a chain,
and it immediately stopped spinning.
Rokkaku Akimasa’s plane immediately turned around and fell to the ground.
The situation in the air changed too quickly.
The National Army soldiers on Mount Fujin clearly saw more planes coming in the distance.
They were preparing to endure more intense bombing and strafing.
But the fighter planes that flew over
actually started fighting with the planes that had arrived earlier.
Ordinary soldiers
had not reacted yet,
and more and more planes were falling from the sky.
The Japanese soldiers of the entire Suzuki Yukei Flight Squadron were shouting in horror in the sky:
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
They were looking at planes that were clearly the same as theirs.
Why were they attacking them so aggressively?
"Misunderstanding or friendly fire?"
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei tried to call the opposing pilots in the earphones,
trying to explain: They were all friendly forces! Don't fight anymore.
There were thirteen planes in its squadron for this mission.
Just now, there have been reports that nine planes had crashed.
But its call was never answered.
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei struggled to operate the plane,
trying to escape from the plane that was chasing and attacking it,
while still trying to call.
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei was flying a fighter plane,
flying up and down. He suddenly pulled up the nose of the plane,
trying to fly the plane into the sky.
"Da da da!"
"Da da da!"
The crisp sound of machine gun fire
kept following his fighter plane,
and he had not been shaken off at all.
Going up! He can't escape!
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei pressed down the nose of the plane violently again.
The fighter plane quickly fell toward the mountains below as if it was losing speed.
"Da da da!"
"Da da da!"
The sound of machine gun fire was still following him,
and bullets were still whistling past squadron leader Suzuki Yukei’s ears from time to time.
At this point,
squadron leader Suzuki Yukei had used all the skills he could struggle with,
but he still could not shake off the plane that was chasing him from behind.
His fighter plane had been falling downward for a while.
It was about to crash for real.
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei had no choice but to struggle to survive.
It pulled up the nose of the plane violently,
trying to pull the plane up.
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei understood in his heart:
"We can’t continue to fall!
I’m going to take off!"
It was at this moment
that its fighter plane suddenly shook violently.
The tail of the plane was shot off.
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei panicked.
Now, even if it had great skills,
it would not be able to pull the plane back.
The entire plane dragged black smoke
and crashed into the mountain below.
A voice came from his headset:
"No misunderstanding at all!
I am shooting the Japanese devils!"
At the critical moment,
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei ejected from the fighter plane,
and was able to save his life for the time being.
While floating in the air,
it had time and space to observe the entire situation in the air.
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei looked around:
The last plane of the entire Suzuki Yukei Squadron that was still flying also crashed while dragging black smoke.
Nine parachutes were floating in the air.
These were the pilots of the Suzuki Yukei Squadron parachuting to survive.
These Japanese soldiers tried to control their parachutes,
trying to fly back to the area controlled by the Japanese and land.
But their efforts
needed the cooperation of a good wind.
Obviously, the mountain wind here did not cooperate with them at all.
There was an east wind for a while and a south wind for a while.
There was no stability at all.
The turbulence was blowing everywhere.
Squadron leader Suzuki Yukei was also working hard.
It was trying to control the place where it would land in the Japanese area.
Army Commander Song Xilian had just conveyed the news that aerial brothers had come to help to the various divisions.
He got a report: Japanese planes in the air were fighting Japanese planes,
and thirteen planes had already been shot down.
There were also nine parachutes floating around.
In fact, Song Xilian had already seen everything clearly in his command post.
He understood the situation on the battlefield.
He ordered the 36th Division, the 80th Division, and the 114th Division to keep a close eye on the Japanese pilots floating in the air.
As long as they landed on their own position,
they must be captured alive.
Being able to capture Japanese pilots alive,
even capturing one Japanese pilot alive,
would be a great achievement.
The National Army soldiers on Mount Fujin
were all rubbing their fists and wiping their palms,
keeping a close eye on the Japanese pilots floating in the air,
just thinking about when they landed,
they would rush up and grab a few prisoners.
Judging from the positions where those Japanese soldiers were currently landing in the air,
at least five of them would land on Mount Fujin.
This was a credit that was delivered to their doorstep!
Less than three minutes after Song Xilian issued the order to capture prisoners,
an amazing scene appeared in the air.
The fighter planes that had just shot down the enemy planes
actually began to shoot at the Japanese soldiers flying in the air.
One fighter plane after another flew to the front of those Japanese pilots
and opened fire at close range.
The sound of the machine guns "da da da"
could be clearly heard by the officers and soldiers on the main position of Mount Fujin.
The scene of the Japanese pilots being shot and blood gushing out of their bodies was also clearly seen by all the National Army officers and soldiers.
The planes in the air
not only killed the few Japanese soldiers who might have landed in the Japanese area,
but also killed all those Japanese soldiers who would definitely land on the National Army's position.
"How ruthless! Where is this flight team from? Da Feng Novel
They are too awesome!"
According to the National Army soldiers' thoughts:
This flight team was about to return.
Now, they were surprised again:
The planes that had just participated in the air battle rose to a high altitude.
They did not fly away.
They were just circling in the air.
More planes were flying in from a distance.
These planes had one characteristic.
They were bigger.
After they flew to the battlefield,
they immediately dived down toward the Japanese infantry who were attacking.
Each plane had four machine guns that were strafing.
The unit that was attacking Mount Fujin was the Japanese Infantry Captain Kouchi Shinshuke's company.
They had just witnessed the entire air battle,
and also saw the fighter planes that had fallen from the sky.
But these Japanese soldiers did not understand:
There were still many of their fighter planes circling in the air.
What was going on?
In this situation,
the planes that had just participated in the battle flew higher.
The planes that had arrived later began to dive.
They did not charge toward the National Army position on Mount Fujin.
They charged toward Kouchi Shinshuke's company.
Even more planes went along the road, all the way toward Lu'an, strafing as they went.
The sudden changes in front of the position
left the National Army soldiers defending Mount Fujin dumbfounded.
They had never imagined that
they would be able to see their own planes fighting the Japanese.
This made Song Xilian sigh.
From the time the Japanese 13th Division began to attack,
he had been lamenting to Commander-in-Chief Sun Lianzhong:
If only I had an artillery regiment,
or even just an artillery company,
and we could bombard the Japanese from a high vantage point,
we would definitely be able to annihilate the Japanese army.
Unfortunately, he didn't have it!
Now, he saw that the Special Forces Brigade's planes actually had artillery.
Such planes
were even better than tanks!
He had been fighting the Japanese in Mount Fujin for three days.
During those three days,
the Japanese planes had not caused serious damage to the National Army.
The Japanese artillery had caused the most damage to Song Xilian's men.
The 13th Division had set up an artillery position in the distance of Mount Fujin.
More than 20 artillery pieces posed the greatest threat to the entire Mount Fujin position.
Unfortunately, he could not talk to the planes in the air right now.
Otherwise, he would definitely ask the other side to blow up the Japanese artillery.
As Song Xilian was thinking this,
Kouchi Shinshuke's company's attack had already collapsed at this time.
They saw that their planes had all been shot down.
The speed of this company's attack slowed down.
They tried to wait for artillery support from the rear.
As a result, the artillery support had not yet arrived.
They saw that the paratroopers who were parachuting had also been shot to death by the National Army's planes.
The morale of the entire Kouchi Shinshuke company suddenly fell.
At this time, they were just demoralized,
they had not yet reached the point of collapse.
As a result, the planes in the air actually dived toward them,
and also strafed them.
This was not a big deal.
More importantly, these planes were actually loaded with four machine guns in a crazy way.
The firepower of one plane was more fierce than the firepower of a tank.
Kouchi Shinshuke's company was swept by the Special Forces Brigade's ground attack planes.
They could no longer hold on.
These Japanese soldiers began to flee backward.
Even if Captain Kouchi Shinshuke was yelling loudly from behind, he could not stop the Japanese soldiers from fleeing.
The National Army soldiers defending the position had never been so relaxed.
All along,
on the Mount Fujin battlefield,
they were the main force,
they were the protagonists,
the absolute protagonists.
Every time they wanted to repel the Japanese attack,
they needed to pay a price in blood to succeed.
This time,
they were the audience.
All the National Army soldiers cheered.
It was not the first time that they had repelled the Japanese attacking troops.
But it was the first time that they had been able to fight so satisfyingly.
At this time,
the Japanese artillery was not convinced.
They began to bombard the Mount Fujin position.
Those cheering voices came to an abrupt end.
The National Army soldiers hurriedly hid in the trenches
and began to enter survival mode.
This situation made the fighter squadron escorting in the high altitude very unhappy.
Xiao Jianying and the others quickly found the Japanese artillery position in the air.
Fighter planes took turns strafing this artillery position from behind.
Song Xilian on the main peak of Mount Fujin saw planes diving down constantly in the distance.
Then, the Japanese artillery bombardment stopped.
He immediately understood:
The Special Forces Brigade's air force had attacked the Japanese artillery.
Xiao Jianying began to tune the frequency and call the National Army.
He did not know if the National Army had a wireless telephone.
The call was never answered.
He had no choice but to send a telegram to Lin Fan,
asking Lin Fan to forward it to the Fifth War Zone.
The National Army soldiers on Mount Fujin
had just hidden themselves,
and the Japanese bombardment had ended again.
These soldiers did not know what was going on?
They mustered up their courage
and crawled out of their hiding places again,
standing on high ground to observe.
They saw that those planes that had just repelled the Japanese were still chasing and killing them.
They had no intention of letting any of the Japanese soldiers go.
They kept strafing back and forth.
These planes were not only strafing in front of the Mount Fujin position.
They were also strafing all the Japanese cars and supplies parked on the road within range.
In the more distant places that these soldiers could see,
those planes kept diving down from the sky.
After strafing for a while,
they would pull up again,
and then dive again.
This time, all the soldiers cheered again.
No Japanese artillery shells were being fired over to spoil the fun.
The telegram that Bai Chongxi received read:
"The Special Forces Brigade's air strike.
The National Army infantry cooperated on the ground.
They counterattacked the Japanese artillery position
and seized the Japanese artillery."
After thinking for a moment, Bai Chongxi understood.
He immediately called Song Xilian:
"Are there any planes from the Special Forces Brigade in front?"
"Yes!"
"They just sent a telegram
asking you to send infantry
to cooperate with the planes in the attack!
Snatch back the Japanese artillery."
Listening to Bai Chongxi’s notification,
Song Xilian could not believe it:
"Sir! The Japanese artillery position is five kilometers away from our army.
Although we cannot directly observe its artillery position here,
the Japanese must have sent heavy troops to guard the outside of the position.
Are you sure we can snatch it back?
Can we fight like this?"
Bai Chongxi had a very high level of trust in the Special Forces Brigade's combat.
"Army Commander Song! You should believe it when you look at the planes in the sky!
When it comes to snatching the Japanese’s things,
the Special Forces Brigade is the best."
Song Xilian looked up at the planes flying in the sky.
Some of them were obviously snatched back from the Japanese.
He made up his mind and ordered:
"The first regiment will immediately rush out of the position
and advance along the highway toward the Japanese artillery position."
He wanted to try!
However, after issuing the order,
he also instructed Li Tianhao, the commander of the first regiment:
"If the attack is blocked, retreat immediately."
Li Tianhao knew:
Although the straight-line distance from the Mount Fujin position to the Japanese artillery position was only five kilometers,
the actual distance traveled might be ten kilometers.
Over such a long distance,
which was also a mountainous area,
as long as the Japanese sent troops to intercept them,
his regiment would be very easy to be wiped out.
He asked with some hesitation:
"Army seat! Isn't this a little too rash?"
Song Xilian said helplessly:
"This is Director Bai's order.
The planes in the sky will cooperate with you."
Li Tianhao looked at the Japanese soldiers attacking down the mountain at this time who had been chased and killed by the planes until there were only twenty or so left.
He thought about the fact that there was a full company of them
when they were on the hillside just now!
Thinking of this, he answered loudly:
"Yes!"
This was considered accepting the mission.
The first regiment was the elite of the elite troops in the 36th Division.
Song Xilian sent the first regiment to grab the artillery.
He was also hopeful.
When Li Tianhao led more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the first regiment to rush out,
they stepped on the Japanese corpses left by Kouchi Shinshuke's company along the way,
and rushed forward.
They soon caught up with Captain Kouchi Shinshuke, who was being suppressed and could not escape.
At this time, there were only more than ten Japanese soldiers who were running away with Captain Kouchi Shinshuke.
The planes in the air waited until the vanguard of the first regiment rushed to a distance of less than fifty meters from the Japanese soldiers,
and then relaxed their strafing of this group of Japanese soldiers.
They flew forward,
clearly indicating that they were clearing the way for the first regiment.
Company Commander Hou Tianci led more than 100 soldiers,
and rushed to the front of this group of Japanese soldiers in big strides,
shouting and killing.
More than 100 National Army soldiers killed these ten or so Japanese soldiers in one fell swoop.
After killing these Japanese soldiers,
the soldiers of the first company’s morale soared.
Since they began to defend in Mount Fujin,
they had never come down the mountain.
This time they came down the mountain.
They could actually kill the Japanese soldiers with their own hands,
and it was so easy.
These soldiers followed behind the planes
and continued to charge forward!
Japanese Infantry Battalion Commander Miyamoto Takumi saw everything that happened on the front line.
The battlefield situation was changing too quickly.
The National Army’s attack was also too resolute.
In less than a quarter of an hour,
his company was completely finished?
The planes in the sky were also gone.
The support of the long-range artillery was also gone!
Kouchi's company was dead! Battalion Commander Miyamoto Takumi felt that he would not be able to command the battle today.
How should he fight next?
They were infantry, and they had no way to deal with the planes in the air at all.
But dealing with the National Army infantry that had rushed out,
Battalion Commander Miyamoto Takumi felt that this was his job.
And in such a mountainous area,
it was difficult to attack,
but it was very easy to find a position to defend and block.
He immediately ordered the Ueno Kazuki company to establish a position on a high ground on the side
to snipe the National Army that had rushed out.
Captain Ueno Kazuki immediately led the Japanese soldiers and began to rush toward the mountain peak that the battalion commander pointed out.
The 1st regiment of Li Tianhao.
If they wanted to rush to the Japanese artillery position,
the closest route was of course to counterattack back along the highway.
Of course, this was also the most difficult road to take.
The Japanese had been taking the initiative these days.
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