One day in the summer of the 25th year of the Republic of China, a huge noise broke the tranquility of the northwest suburbs of Yangzhou. Outside the west gate of Yangzhou, there was a large military training ground for the Yangzhou Camp of the Qing Dynasty. Thousands of civilians gathered on this large ground.

.They carried the soil, pushed the carts and pulled the rollers, and leveled the site. Groups of civilians were pulling the rollers and tamping them under the scorching sun, sweating. The sound of trumpets kept coming one after another. One person led the others, and everyone shouted and sang in unison. The leader

The tune was high and stretched, the harmonizer was deep and powerful, the sound of the trumpet shook the sky, and the sound spread for miles. Accompanied by the high-pitched and exciting, steady and powerful labor chant, huge stone rams hit the ground again and again, and huge stone rollers rolled over

Land after land.

This site being leveled is Yangzhou Qianjin Airport. In the 21st year of the Republic of China, the "December 28th Incident" broke out in Shanghai, which exposed the outstanding problem of extremely weak defense in the east of Nanjing, the capital. Two years later, in view of Shanghai being the national economic center, Nanjing

It is the political center of the country. In order to prevent Japanese imperialism from invading Shanghai again and preventing the Japanese army from marching westward to invade the capital Nanjing, the construction of national defense fortifications in the Shanghai-Hangzhou area has been put on the agenda of the National Government. After a field visit by a German consultant, a "Beijing" was proposed.

"Shanghai-Hangzhou Fortification Plan", however, the standard of the construction plan proposed by the German consultant was too high, and the huge amount of funds required was beyond the financial resources of the National Government, so it was not fully adopted. After that, several on-site surveys and studies were carried out by the Kuomintang Military Commission Staff Headquarters.

A relatively reasonable plan was put forward, which was the "Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou National Defense Fortification Construction Plan". Also planned and constructed at the same time as the construction of this national defense fortification was the Yangzhou Qianjin Airport.

In order to prevent the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet from going up the Yangtze River and invading Nanjing, the Nationalist Government decided to build a forward airport in Yangzhou. Fighter aircraft were deployed to defend Nanjing's air defense, and at the same time, they were responsible for launching air strikes against Japan in the direction of Shanghai and the Yangtze River Estuary. Site Selection of Yangzhou Forward Airport

Located near the Situ Temple in the western suburbs of Yangzhou, the original Qing Dynasty Yangzhou Battalion military training ground was used for martial arts training. After the "December 128 Incident" in Shanghai, in order to strengthen war preparations, the National Government naturally chose this flat campus for rapid transformation into a simple airport. The airport occupies an area of

The land is nearly 1,000 acres and is a square site with a side length of 800 meters. It starts from Gezhuang in the east, east of Jingjiawu in the west, Xiezhuang in the south, and Jiangjiazhuang under Dayandun in the north. The oil depot is located at Slender West Lake in Yangzhou.

Nearby, the arsenal is located next to Bujiaqiao, and there is a road to the east of the airport that leads directly to Yangzhou City.

For the construction of this airport, more than 1,000 villagers from nearby counties were requisitioned, and thousands of houses in 13 villages were demolished. In the summer of the 25th year of the Republic of China, Yangzhou Airport broke ground. After the "July 7th Incident" broke out in Peking, Sino-Japanese relations continued to deteriorate.

, the war situation became increasingly tense, and the threats to the capital from the direction of Shanghai and the Yangtze River Estuary became more and more prominent. In order to prevent problems in the bud, Yangzhou Airport stepped up construction, hurrying and slowing, and it was completed in a hurry in the early summer of the 26th year of the Republic of China.

Delivery.

On the evening of July 24, the Japanese army in Shanghai conducted a massive search in the city on the pretext of a missing sailor. At Tiantong'an, Yokohama Road and other related traffic arteries, with the support of tanks and vehicles, Japanese Marines with loaded guns and ammunition

Set up a jam and investigate. This incident is very similar to the Peking Incident on July 7th. From this incident, the Central Military Commission of the Nationalist Government saw the conspiracy of the Japanese navy in Shanghai and the Japanese army's attempt to provoke war in Shanghai. So.

, accelerated the eastward defense deployment of the capital Nanjing.

On August 4th, a thunderous roar came from the sky in the western suburbs of Yangzhou. Planes hovered in the sky, and then landed in Yangzhou Airport in an orderly and smooth manner. For the first time, Yangzhou people saw a large number of planes landing in the sky.

For the first time, I felt the mighty power of the Chinese Air Force.

The beginning of the Peiping War aroused anti-Japanese enthusiasm in the small county of Yangzhou. Although the anti-Japanese enthusiasm was high and the Peiping war lasted for nearly a month, Peiping was too far from Yangzhou, and Yangzhou people naturally felt that the war was still far away. Even if they saw groups of

Even though the national army planes were landing, Yangzhou people still didn’t have much sense that the war was approaching. The people still worked at sunrise and rested at sunset as always. Because, except for planes, how could ordinary people see the war from the arrival of these planes?

trace.

This group of air force units is the fifth air force group that was originally stationed at Qingyunpu Airport in Jiangxi Province. The group leader Ding Jixu was ordered to lead the 24th Squadron and 25th Squadron of the group to station 24 American Hawker III aircraft at Yangzhou Airport.

(The 28th Squadron was transferred to Jurong Airport) and placed under the command of Yangzhou Airport.

Yangzhou Airport was originally a simple forward airport, and it was built in a hurry. When it was put into use, the conditions were extremely simple. It was just a square and flat site with a side length of 800 meters, with several runway lines and apron. There was no housing at the airport.

In addition to the deployment of airport security forces, there is not even housing for pilots. After landing, the pilots were temporarily arranged to live in a small earth temple outside the west gate of Yangzhou City. Due to the hasty deployment of the Air Force this time, the airport had just been built, and there was no housing for the pilots.

The place was not prepared. There were no beds, tables, chairs, or quilts in this small earth temple. Fortunately, it was summer, so the pilots lit mosquito coils and slept on the floor. The pilots' food was only provided by people sent into the city.

, they made do by buying some flatbreads and deep-fried dough sticks. A few days later, the flying troops were arranged to live in the Luyang Hotel in the city.

The Luyang Hotel and the airport are about five or six miles apart. The distance is too far, and it is a problem for pilots to join the battle. Fortunately, the Yangzhou County Government has arranged transportation in advance, and this transportation is rickshaws. These rickshaw drivers are all from the county government.

The rickshaw pullers were uniformly selected from all over the city, and all of them were young and strong, and could pull the rickshaw like flying. In order to strengthen war preparations, the county government arranged and supplied food to the rickshaw pullers nearby. When there was no alarm, the rickshaw pullers stayed at the Luyang Hotel.

There are neatly parked cars in a line on both sides of the door. When the alarm sounds, the pilots will sign in and board the rickshaw. Taking a shortcut from the hotel to the airport, the strong rickshaw driver takes about ten minutes, and at most a quarter of an hour, to reach the airport.

Yangzhou Airport is a simple combat-ready airport and an advanced airport in the capital Nanjing. During its construction, the ground was only filled and compacted, and there was no landing signal. It was signaled by a high pole during the day and fireworks at night. There was no

There are radio contact equipment and no airport equipment. The center of the airport is slightly higher than the surrounding areas. About 30 aircraft can be parked in the airport. The aprons are located in the northwest and southwest corners of the airport.

The peace in Yangzhou was broken when the Japanese army bombed Twelvewei Town in neighboring Yizheng County. On August 13, Twelvewei Town was still as peaceful as usual, and on this day, the Japanese army took the lead in launching a war in Shanghai, and at the same time sent water

Three planes bombed Nanjing, but were intercepted by Chinese military planes and forced to drop four heavy aerial bombs on Shierwei Town.

People in Twelve Wei heard the roar of the plane and stopped to watch the fierce battle in the sky. People in the house also ran out of the house after hearing the sound and watched the excitement in the sky. They did not realize that

Danger from the air. Unexpectedly, several black shadows fell under the fuselage of the plane with the sun rising again. No one had seen such a formation, and no one expected that it was a fatal bomb. As the

The earth-shattering sound came, and the citizens of the busy town of Shishiwei realized that the Japanese planes dropped bombs. Fortunately, these four bombs did not fall into the densely populated areas of the town. Some people were worried, some were grateful, and some

Dazed. In this bombing, ordinary people suffered unprovoked disasters and died on the spot. One person was killed and four others were injured. This bombing first sent a signal of the coming war to the market town of Twelve Wei.

Twelve Wei was originally a tidal flat. Since the establishment of the Huaiyan General Store during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, Twelve Wei has risen rapidly. It has grown from an unknown riverside wasteland into a prosperous town. Produced in the Huaihe River.

The salt from each salt field in the (Yellow Sea) arrives at Twelvewei via the Tongyang Canal or the sea-river combined transport. It is inspected, unbundled, and repackaged in this small town before being sent to Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and other "four banks of the Yangtze River". It is busy.

The salt transportation made this town extremely developed in terms of water transportation and commerce. It has been prosperous for a long time. There are many shops in the town and there are countless merchants coming and going in this town.

Because of convenient transportation and busy passenger flow, the news that "Twelve Wei was bombed by Japanese aircraft and people died on the spot" and the earth-shattering horror of the aerial bomb explosion seemed to have wings, from the canal, from the Yangtze River, from

The land route passed through merchants, boatmen, and coachmen that day and reached Yangzhou dozens of miles away. Some well-informed Yangzhou people felt for the first time that the Japanese war was burning at their doorsteps and in front of their eyes.

At this shocking news, their faces were not only shocked, but their hearts were full of panic, and their eyes were full of confusion. It was not until the day after Twelve Wei was bombed by the Japanese army, and the news in the newspapers that the people of Yangzhou truly

I feel that there is another war in Shanghai. Different from the Songhu War a few years ago, this time the war in Shanghai has been burning right before our eyes.
Chapter completed!