Chapter 150

Of course, Lin Fan was also aware of the god of war: artillery!

Given the chance, he would absolutely not allow the Japanese artillery to fire. The ground attack aircraft were precisely there to strike the Japanese artillery.

Furthermore, they would completely annihilate the Japanese artillery, making them afraid to even approach cannons.

Ground attack squadron leader, Feng Wencheng, led nine aircraft directly over the Japanese artillery regiment.

They began strafing from the artillery regiment, all the way to the Japanese infantry regiment.

Making a wide circle, they returned to strafe again.

Regimental Commander Take da Seiichi hid inside the command post, watching helplessly, unable to do anything.

From his vantage point, many Japanese soldiers had fallen around the cannons that had not yet been put into position.

There were artillerymen and engineers, and even those Japanese who could run were overtaken by the planes even after running a hundred meters.

Engineers Tokugawa Yosuke and Takeda Juzo were just like that: they didn't run outward.

Just as the Japanese were struggling, the rear guard of the 5th Infantry Brigade, originally the 4th Battalion of the 6th Regiment, was in dire straits.

This battalion had suffered heavy casualties during the artillery bombardment and had been broken up and supplemented into other units.

Thus, the 3rd Battalion, led by Battalion Commander Asahi Takuya, became the rearguard of the entire brigade and was now under attack by the Special Operations Brigade.

Lieutenant Lin Taro's company was reduced to only fifty or so Japanese soldiers. They listlessly carried their rifles at the rear of the column, preparing to retreat towards the Tang River.

Although the Japanese soldiers in this company suffered heavy casualties in the first wave of bombing in the morning,

they suffered little casualties in the subsequent strafing and bombing, which could be regarded as a blessing in disguise.

Just as they had received the brigade commander's order to retreat towards the Tang River,

they suddenly saw a group of soldiers in the distance.

The soldiers were pushing several carts in front of them, with machine guns mounted on them.

The other side also spotted them, and the two sides met unexpectedly, less than five hundred meters apart.

The Japanese soldiers of Lieutenant Lin Taro's company were still stunned: When did the National Army get behind us?

The National Army on the opposite side had already launched an assault. The carts were pushed very fast, and mortar shells and infantry gun shells exploded within Lieutenant Lin Taro's company of only fifty or so soldiers.

After two rounds of shelling, Lieutenant Lin Taro quickly led the remaining ten or so Japanese soldiers to retreat.

If they didn't retreat, they would all die there.

Lieutenant Lin Taro didn't retreat far before Lieutenant Tadokoro Rikuto's company took over.

There were about a hundred Japanese soldiers in this company. Although in a hurry, they immediately went prone and established a defensive line.

When the opposing infantry charged forward, the Japanese knee mortars began to bombard.

Although not very accurate, at least there was a bang.

Company Commander of the 1st Company of the 8th Regiment shouted loudly: "Mortars! Infantry guns, blow them to hell!"

He had five mortars and two infantry guns on his side, and these firepower followed behind.

The company commander gave the order, and the artillery immediately bombarded.

The infantry continued to advance, without the slightest slackening.

At the same time, it wasn't just one company of the 8th Regiment that was attacking. The entire 8th Regiment and all the companies of the 6th and 7th Regiments were attacking the Japanese.

The position of the 5th Company of the 7th Regiment was closest to the Japanese field artillery regiment.

Squadron Leader Feng Wencheng had already contacted the 5th Company, and four ground attack aircraft were specially clearing obstacles for the 5th Company.

This made Pi Yuxuan, the company commander of the 5th Company of the 7th Regiment, extremely happy.

He led the entire company along the route directed by Squadron Leader Feng Wencheng. In fact, the 5th Company was also familiar with this road.

However, at this time, there was a pair of eyes in the sky, and they could also carry out a wave of clearing for the Japanese who were blocking the way.

When the 5th Company rushed close, although the Japanese were still stubbornly resisting, their resistance was completely futile.

After all, the slightly stronger machine gun firepower of the Japanese was the focus of the aerial attacks.

Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro's retreat order was issued less than ten minutes before they encountered a second round of aerial bombing and strafing.

Seeing that the planes overhead were all the ones that had come once before,

Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro knew it was over!

These planes were able to load ammunition and refuel in such a short period of time and fly back to fight again, indicating that they had an airfield nearby.

He didn't know about such an important situation, nor did the division headquarters or the 11th Army.

What did this mean?

This meant that this operation was a premeditated and prepared plan by the National Army.

Or that the National Army had been defeated so quickly and so thoroughly along the way was just a trap.

With questions, Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro immediately sent a telegram.