Chapter 210 Bombardment!

On May 7, 1941, there was still half an hour before the Japanese army officially launched the attack.

Okamura Neiji looked at the busy staff in front of him and showed a very satisfied smile. He stared at the strategic situation map with a vicious look and said to the chief of staff beside him:

"Tanabe-kun, this time the Republic of China troops in Zhongtiao Mountain will definitely not be able to escape. When the time comes, we will be victorious, and the Eighth Route Army in North China will definitely be like chickens and dogs facing the warriors of the brother country."

"Contact Yan Baichuan and give him a part of the county to ease our relationship. Our North China Front Army has limited manpower, so it is better to let the locals take charge. As long as he is willing to surrender, everything will be fine."

"Pay attention to let the troops guard the Eighth Route Army strictly. Those people are the last hidden danger."

Tanabe Moritake, who was recording next to the map, nodded. He has been in charge of persuading surrender since he resigned from the 41st Division, and he knows Yan Baichuan very well.

He is a typical miser. As long as he is willing to share a lot of benefits, the other party will surrender sooner or later.

"You are right. Separating some counties can not only stabilize the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, but also free up some troops and improve the security of our occupied areas. It is really killing two birds with one stone."

"I will tell my men to do it right away. Leave it to me."

"Okay!"

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese, who felt that they had won the battle, suddenly attacked together, launching a pincer attack from the east, west and north, and attacking the Zhongtiao Mountain area by breaking through the center.

After precise deployment, the 21st and 35th Divisions directly under the front army, plus a 4th Independent Cavalry Brigade, were responsible for the eastern section of the defense line.

They set out from Henan Province and aimed directly at the heart of the 14th Army.

They attempted to make full use of the mobility of the troops and the obstacles of the Yellow River on the flank to completely cut off the retreat of the Guosu defenders.

The First Army attacked from Shanxi Province, using four divisions to divide the battlefield and divide the Zhongtiao Mountain defense line into two areas that were not connected at the beginning and end of the east and west.

Once they joined the front army's direct troops that had wedged into the enemy's formation on the flank, they could wrap the enemy into a big dumpling.

Next, we only need to fight a few internal annihilation battles and repeatedly sweep to encircle and annihilate the 200,000 Republic of China troops on the opposite side.

·····

At Xinxiang Airport, 108 aircraft of various types of the Army Aviation took off one after another. This is a large formation composed of Type 97 fighters, Type 97 heavy bombers and Type 97 single light aircraft.

Considering that the Guosu defenders have no air superiority at all, bombers account for 70% of the formation.

The few fighters also mounted bombs, and the possibility of escort and air combat was not considered at all.

After all the aircraft took off, a flying squadron of Type 97 fighters took the lead and flew towards the Ninth Army defense zone.

In the communication channel, Lieutenant Colonel Ishida Reizo, who was in charge of the command, said frivolously:

"Gentlemen, relax a little. We have come all the way from the northeast to get results. There will be no damn northern Russians in this battle, let alone I-15 and I-16."

"Our mission is just to fly over the enemy's position and drop the bombs. Then you can hunt freely and use the aircraft machine guns in your wings to shoot at those trembling Republic of China people."

"But you must pay attention to the possible anti-aircraft weapons. I don't want one of you to die in such a place. It will be a shame for the team."

After saying this, the channel fell into a brief silence, and then all kinds of cheers broke out.

Although the battle has not started yet, they seem to have seen the 9th Army suffer heavy casualties under the aircraft machine guns and bombs.

And these devils are not worried about being monitored by Guojian's radio.

After all, you can't expect a group of people who can't even get enough food to have any thoughts on defense. What's more, the other party's conditions are so difficult that there is no condition for monitoring.

"Lieutenant Colonel Ishida, don't worry! I will definitely drop the bomb accurately on the enemy's head and send those poor guys to their deaths!"

"The terrain near Jiyuan is very suitable for combat! As long as we lower the altitude a little, we can definitely wipe them out."

Hearing the discussion of his subordinates, Ishida Reizo's mouth curled up a wicked smile. He deliberately said this simply to stimulate his men's desire to attack.

Only by quickly defeating the Ninth Army can they join the 33rd Division in the direction of Yuanqu and complete the inner encirclement of the 14th Army of the Zhongtiao Mountain garrison.

At that time, the Zhongtiao Mountain defense line will be divided into two, and this battlefield will be won. And he, Ishida Reizo, is likely to be promoted to colonel for his outstanding performance.

The same thing happened to the two bomber squadrons. At this time, both the pilots and the machine gunners had red eyes, and they all wanted to tear off the meat of the preserved fruit troops.

Soon, 108 planes flew over their own army. There were 25,000 infantrymen, more than 5,000 horses, cannons, armored vehicles and tanks.

Such a luxurious lineup made them feel proud, and with the cheers from the ground, all the Japanese pilots fell into a frenzy.

Fifteen minutes later, three flying squadrons arrived above the Ninth Army's position.

"Found the target! No anti-aircraft position was found!"

"Haha, those stupid Republic of China people don't know our real intentions at all. They have long been deceived by Commander Okamura Ningji's strategy of false troops."

"Charge! Charge! Charge! Attack!"

In a burst of ghosts and wolves howling, the three types of aircraft made different choices.

The Type 97 single-wing bomber is the main dive bomber of the Japanese Army Aviation, and also their first single-wing bomber, with a bomb load of one thousand pounds.

Under the leadership of the leading lieutenant colonel, the Japanese began to look for their respective targets. The mission of their team is to eliminate all anti-aircraft positions that may threaten heavy bombers.

"First Squadron, attack."

The twelve Type 97 single-wing bombers ended their circling, and the pilots began to lower the altitude of the bombers, and then pressed the joystick to dive and prepare to drop bombs.

These people were just feinting, that is, finding the anti-aircraft firepower point would be considered as completing the mission, so the dive angle of the aircraft was not large.

Seeing that the altitude of the first squadron was about to enter the range of the anti-aircraft machine guns, Lieutenant Colonel Mizukami Higashihiko of the dive bomber team issued another order on the communication channel.

"Second Squadron, enter the combat position!"

Another twelve Type 97 single-wing bombers began to lower the altitude and gradually approached the position of the Ninth Army.

At the same time, the anti-aircraft firepower of the Ninth Army finally couldn't hold back. More than 20 anti-aircraft machine guns fired from different positions, sprinkling sparse bullets at the diving enemy.

Some soldiers on the machine gun positions also spontaneously organized themselves and began to counterattack with the anti-aircraft machine guns.

But the first squadron, which was still in an offensive posture, ended their dives and pulled up their bombers, and the second group behind them launched an attack on the air defense positions.

"Yoshi!"

"These preserved fruit troops are so cooperative. They are still so stupid after four years of fighting."

This scene made Mizukami Higashihiko laugh out loud. He was very satisfied with the effect of his soldiers. Just a feint, the enemy's most valuable air defense position was deceived and the mission was perfectly completed.

Moreover, the shooters of those anti-aircraft machine guns can basically be regarded as firing randomly, and there are a lot of overlaps in the firepower network.

Originally, it was possible to threaten the second squadron with the cooperation of light and heavy machine guns. But now it is twice the result with half the effort, and it can't even force the self-defense to give up the attack.

Mizukami Higashihiko is very confident in his subordinates. After all, they are pilots transferred from the Kwantung Army. Compared with the strength in the north, it seemed like returning to the novice village.

He firmly believed that the second squadron could eliminate the anti-aircraft firepower point, so he directly issued an order to attack.

"Third squadron, prepare to attack!"

"Freely choose high-value targets, ignore those anti-aircraft positions."

The fact was just as he expected. The first and second squadrons quickly eliminated all anti-aircraft machine guns with accurate bombing.

Except for one unlucky guy who was blown up on the spot, the remaining 23 Type 97 single-light bombers successfully completed their assigned tasks.

Because the ground forces no longer had the ability to organize effective air defense forces, this situation made the Japanese in the third squadron very arrogant.

They drove the plane, and the dive position even slightly exceeded the safe height before dropping the bomb.

When the fuselage was pulled up after the dive, bursts of violent explosions rose on the outer positions of the Ninth Army.

Unlike the Type 97 single-light bomber that attacked in a dive, the Type 97 heavy bomber was a twin-engine bomber, and its attack method was horizontal bombing.

After the dive bombers dealt with the few anti-aircraft positions, they ended their circling and carried five Type 92 450-pound weapons, swaggering towards the core area of ​​the Ninth Army's position.

Seeing the heavy bombers enter the field, the Type 97 fighters led by Ishida Reizo immediately stopped their current alert work. They began to lower their altitude and prepare to attack the ground.

·····

Time goes back to three minutes before the Type 97 single light attack, on the outer position of the Ninth Army.

In the past few days, all kinds of intelligence have indicated one thing, that the enemy must be attacking the Zhongtiao Mountain defense line. As a miscellaneous brand among miscellaneous brands, the entire Ninth Army has little confidence in this battle.

Suddenly, a strange sound was heard in the sky in the distance.

As a battalion commander who has been in various major war zones and survived four years of fighting, Tian Fujie immediately reacted to one thing, that the devil's planes are coming.

"The planes are coming! Hide quickly! Everyone enter the anti-artillery cave!!"

After hearing the order, all the soldiers began to act. Some veterans would even bring along new recruits from their hometown to save them from dying in the air raid for no apparent reason.

But after waiting for half a minute, the imagined bombing did not fall on their heads. This unusual situation made everyone look confused.

If the soldiers of the miscellaneous army want to survive, they must stay together for warmth.

As a battalion commander who still has a conscience, Tian Fujie felt that he was responsible for his brothers. So after struggling in his heart for a moment, he carefully climbed out of the anti-artillery hole to check the situation.

As soon as the old soldier came out, he saw the Type 97 single light of the second squadron of the devils, diving towards their own air defense positions.

"Damn, these idiots! Why are they firing now! What kind of anti-aircraft machine guns can they use if they don't know how to defend against air attacks! Shouldn't they fight back after the devil planes have finished dropping bombs?"

In fact, what Tian Fujie said makes sense. After all, dive bombers need to climb and pull up altitude after dropping bombs.

That was when the aircraft had the worst maneuverability and the largest lateral area. If the shooter's level was high enough, he could definitely shoot one down.

After watching for a while, the veteran even cursed in his hometown dialect.

"What the hell, they don't even know how to shoot ahead. After fighting for a long time, they didn't shoot down a single plane. Such a good anti-aircraft machine gun, all wasted by these earth hammers."

"It didn't hit again, I won't watch it anymore."

Strictly speaking, we can't blame the shooters for being bad. After all, they had just received their new weapons not long ago, and they had no time to get familiar with the weapons in their hands.

If the Japanese hadn't attacked them, they might never have touched anti-aircraft machine guns in their lives. This is the treatment of the miscellaneous troops.

After the anti-aircraft positions were completely destroyed, the first and third squadrons of the Japanese began to hunt recklessly.

These days, they choose their targets at will. Tian Fujie's battalion also became a target because of a cannon.

A 100-pound bomb landed firmly near his hiding place. The powerful destructive force directly collapsed the anti-gun hole that was dug with great effort.

When the deputy battalion officer dug him out of the soil, Tian Fujie's ears and nose were full of blood. His head was also buzzing, and he couldn't say anything for a while.

At this time, the position was in chaos, with soldiers running around everywhere.

"Medic! The second platoon leader is dying! Medic!"

"Squad leader! Hold it down first! Clean cloth! Who has a clean cloth?"

"Stop the bleeding first! There's too much blood, I can't see the wound clearly! Drag it back!"

"Company commander! Open your eyes! Look at me! Don't sleep!"

Tian Fujie, who had recovered a little, stood up with the battalion deputy's shoulder. Looking at the chaotic position, he said to his adjutant anxiously:

"Quick! Organize all the brothers who can still move, the Japanese infantry is about to attack!"

"If it's still so chaotic, everyone will die!"

But at this moment, shells fell on their position.

A large number of Japanese mountain artillery, field artillery and large-caliber howitzers tilted their firepower towards the Ninth Army's position, and many soldiers who had not returned to the anti-artillery caves died immediately on the spot.

First there was bombing and then artillery bombardment. Even Tian Fujie, a veteran, had never seen such a high-intensity attack.

What's more, the Type 97 bomber was about to enter the sky above the Ninth Army's position. No one wanted to let this heavy bomber fly over their heads. Everyone knew what would happen to Shancheng.

A boy who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old was hiding in the anti-artillery cave. He was trembling with lifeless eyes. The powerful artillery shells and bombs made him forget what the old soldier said.

"Where is our Chinese air force! Don't we have planes? Who can help me?"

This scene made the old soldier in the cave a little bit unbearable. He pulled the boy to his side and said helplessly:

"Chinese air force? It was finished in 1937."

I sent an Easter egg chapter, which contained the troop deployment map of Zhongtiao Mountain