Chapter three hundred and ninety seventh seized ten aircraft
On October 18, 1940, at 4:50 in the morning, the sky was misty and bright.
Last night, Takeshi Igawa warmly entertained Dong Jiang, and a sumptuous dinner was also arranged for the soldiers of the reconnaissance company.
Around ten o'clock in the evening, the airport pilot returned to the airport from the city. However, the two sides did not meet. Dong Jiang also heard Takeshi Igawa complain that those guys were back.
Then the two of them drank until the early hours of the morning, and Dong Jiang was able to escape smoothly.
Dong Jiang's reconnaissance company was arranged separately in a group of barracks. The barracks were large houses, and there was a wooden door in the middle of each house, which made it easier for the reconnaissance company personnel to gather.
"In ten minutes, the main force will launch an attack. The pilots must be dealt with. The Japs' plane must not fly into the sky. We must also protect the safety of our pilots. Do you understand?" Dong Jiang said to
Several cadres of the reconnaissance company said.
"Understood!" Several people responded in low voices.
Dong Jiang looked stern, then pulled out the bayonet hanging on his waist and said: "Act!"
The entire Changzhi Airport, flight team, guard team, maintenance team plus some ground staff, there were less than 300 Japanese troops at full count.
In other words, the reconnaissance company was entirely equipped with Japanese weapons for this operation. If the reconnaissance company's previous firepower configuration was followed, Dong Jiang was confident that he could completely annihilate this group of Japanese troops after sneaking into the airport.
But even now, Dong Jiang doesn't take the little devil seriously.
Taking advantage of the gap between the patrol team passing by the barracks in the airport, more than 80 people from the reconnaissance company rushed directly to the two-story building on the northernmost side where the pilots lived, and the other group rushed to the ground tower headquarters in the airport.
The Japanese soldiers who were on guard at the two gates were killed by "our own people" without any reaction.
Under the leadership of Cao Dabao, the more than 40 soldiers responsible for dealing with the Japs pilots were divided into two groups. One group rushed to the second floor and the other stayed on the first floor.
Since it was not clear whether Japanese troops lived in any of the rooms, the reconnaissance company worked in teams of two and occupied the entrance to each room.
Hearing the sound of kicking the door upstairs, Cao Dabao, who stayed on the first floor, did not hesitate and kicked open the wooden door in front of him. Another soldier next to him threw the two grenades in his hand directly, and the two turned around
Lean against the wall.
The activated shrapnel caused fatal injuries to the sleeping little devil, and the bed sheets were stained red with blood in the blink of an eye.
Immediately, the soldiers quickly rushed in to perform the last-ditch attack. Some of the surviving Jaap pilots endured severe pain and tried to resist, but were neatly dispatched.
Then everyone gathered in the lobby on the first floor, and a soldier from the reconnaissance company was actually injured.
"Why are you still injured?" Cao Dabao said in a deep voice.
"It's really unlucky that the two guys I was in charge of lived in the upper bunk. The grenade had no effect. Fortunately, I reacted quickly and only injured my arm!"
Cao Dabao nodded after hearing this, and then said: "Four groups of comrade pilots are left to protect us. Their guns are not long-sighted. They all stay in the hall with their ears pricked up. They will be bombarded soon. Don't be accidentally injured. The rest
People occupy a favorable position and cannot let the little devils rush in."
At this moment, a shrill siren sounded inside the airport, and the Japanese patrol outside had heard the sound and rushed from the east side of the airport to provide support. At this time, Dong Jiang had already arrived at the Japanese ground tower headquarters.
Zhou Weihan's combat mission for the reconnaissance company was to eliminate Japanese pilots, destroy their towers, prevent Japanese aircraft from taking off, and then wait for the main force to attack. The remaining Japanese troops were not part of the reconnaissance company's mission.
At the same time, Takeshi Igawa, who had been drinking all night and slept like a dead pig, was awakened by the continuous sound of explosions.
Fortunately, I didn't take off my military uniform last night, so I saved myself the trouble and ran out of the single house quickly.
I saw many Japanese soldiers wearing urine mustard, naked, standing with weapons, shooting at the reconnaissance company soldiers in the two-story building.
"It's the group of people from the transport convoy who came yesterday. They have occupied the pilot's small building and are defending it. They must be the Eighth Route Army in disguise!"
"Nani?" Takeshi Igawa's face was livid, as if he didn't believe that the person he was chatting with over wine yesterday was actually the Eighth Route Army.
At this time, continuous explosions sounded near the airport's outer fortifications.
In the airport, the Japanese soldiers were in chaos. The fighting in the small building had not subsided yet, and there was movement outside the airport.
Since the Japanese army devoted its troops to a large-scale sweep, and the Changzhi Airport was located in the hinterland of the Japanese-occupied area, the airport security team did not have many troops at this time.
Under the surprise attack, the troops were suddenly stretched thin, but Takeshi Igawa quickly calmed down: "Don't panic, the Eighth Route Army has not broken through the outer fortifications, the imperial troops from Guancun Town will arrive soon to support!"
"The personnel are divided into two groups, one group destroys the Eighth Route Army occupying the small building, and the other group supports the soldiers at the wall!"
Just outside the airport, Wang Yigong heard the movement inside the airport and immediately fired a red flare into the sky.
On the artillery position at the rear, four Type 92 infantry cannons and twelve mountain cannons were already ready to go. After seeing the signal to launch an attack.
The artillery commander immediately ordered: "The bunkers and gun towers in front of the target, prepare for test firing, hit!"
As the flag in the hands of the flag soldiers waved, a dull sound suddenly came from the cannon barrel.
"Boom!" The first round of shells flew out together.
Today, the artillery battalion has experienced many battles and has honed its professional skills to perfection.
In an instant, with the southwest corner of the artillery position as the benchmark, the airport's peripheral fortifications on the west and south sides were suddenly engulfed in a sea of flames.
However, the outer turrets and bunkers of Changzhi Airport are different from others. The entire body is constructed of strips of stone, and the defense is much stronger than that of masonry structures.
After a round of artillery fire, many gun towers and bunkers were still standing on the position.
The artillerymen had already been informed of this special situation, and then each artillery piece adjusted its firing at Zhu Yuan, and three more rounds of artillery shells were fired.
In just over a minute, 64 artillery shells hit the outer fortifications of the airport, and the puppet troops on the fortifications suddenly became a mess.
Compared with the puppet troops crying for their parents who were bombarded by sudden artillery fire on the position, the puppet troops in the gun towers and bunkers were even more miserable. Many puppet troops who were slow to react were crushed under the rubble.
The surviving puppet troops in both directions subconsciously wanted to retreat into the airport, but the fire points arranged on the wall directly opened fire.
The puppet troops running in front were immediately knocked down. The iron gate of the airport's only external access was now locked. The airport wall was more than two meters high. The puppet troops behind were caught in a dilemma.
"Battal Commander, what should we do? The Japanese just opened fire and we can't get close to the wall at all!" a puppet soldier said tremblingly.
Seeing this situation, the puppet battalion commander's scalp went numb. He originally thought he could live peacefully at the airport for a few days. Who would have thought that not long after he was stationed here, he would catch up with the Eighth Route Army and attack the Japanese airport.
"How come the Eighth Route Army can attack one by one at Changzhi Airport!" The puppet battalion commander was so frightened that he lost his mind.
I can't fight again and again, and I can't run anymore.
Although Changzhi Airport is large, the Fourth Regiment has deployed two infantry battalions and two heavy machine gun troops, totaling more than 1,100 people.
Although they were divided into two directions: west and south, under the cover of artillery fire, they came around at once, driving the puppet troops to one place like a big net.
There were constant shouts of killing from all sides. Seeing that they had no way to go, many puppet soldiers simply threw their weapons to the ground and squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands.
The soldiers who rushed over were immediately amused by the situation in front of them: "Damn it, I haven't taken action yet, this group of puppet soldiers surrendered pretty quickly!"
.......
On the artillery position in the rear, the artillery company commander in charge saw that the soldiers of the fourth regiment had surrounded the puppet troops, and immediately ordered the artillery bombardment to stop.
"Extend all mountain artillery fire to avoid the small two-story building. The comrades of the reconnaissance company are still inside!"
The two-story building where Dong Jiang and others were sitting was close to the west wall. It was difficult to observe with the naked eye, but it was very clear in the artillery mirror. This was the reason why Dong Jiang and others were hiding in the two-story building.
Then the twelve mountain cannons quickly adjusted their firing points based on the data calculated with the artillery mirror, and bombarded the Japanese barracks on the west side and the wall on the south side.
The airport security team's fortifications at the fence are several platforms of about ten square meters connected to the fence, and steps extend from the platform to the ground.
Fire points are arranged on each platform, and shooting can be carried out from the opposite side through the shooting holes on the wall, so that the hard wall can withstand bullets from outside.
However, when Takeji Igawa designed the airport, he never expected that the Eighth Route Army would have such a large number of artillery. After all, the last time the Changzhi Airport was breached by the Eighth Route Army, it was only won by force. Otherwise, how could a cannon be designed under the wall to avoid artillery fire?
tunnel.
At this time, Takeshi Igawa, who was personally directing the battle at the wall, suddenly heard the scream of artillery shells piercing the air from above.
"Dodge the bombardment!"
Takeshi Igawa shouted, and then he nimbly jumped off the platform and hid in the corner between the platform and the wall.
First, the area near the Japanese barracks was engulfed in a sea of fire, and then the surrounding wall.
There was no usable bunker outside the barracks, and the Japanese troops, who were already in a stalemate with the reconnaissance company, fell into panic.
Looking at the tragic situation of the Japanese troops outside the building through the window, the impact point of the nearest artillery shell was only about 40 meters away from the small building.
Cao Dabao could even feel a wave of air hitting his face: "Damn it, I gave them the structural diagram of the airport. Those guys from the artillery battalion really dare to bomb here!"
Cao Dabao was cursing, but the power of the Sanba Gai in his hand remained undiminished. Seeing the opportunity, he knocked down another Japanese soldier about a hundred meters away.
The fence at Changzhi Airport is not short, but in the battle just now, the specific location of the Japanese firepower point has been exposed.
According to this situation, artillery shells continued to explode near the fire point. Some fell inside the wall and some fell outside the wall.
The Japanese garrison was hiding inside the wall. Although it was unable to cause maximum damage, the collapsed wall hit the little Japanese hard.
The unlucky guy, Takeji Igawa, was hiding in the corner and couldn't dodge, so he was buried alive.
At this time, Wang Yigong, the headquarter of the Fourth Regiment, saw that many of the walls of the airport had been blown down, so he directly asked the Third Battalion, which was acting as a reserve force, to push up.
Seeing that the overall situation was decided, Wang Yigong said, "If our fourth regiment had the firepower back then, we wouldn't have killed so many soldiers! In just ten minutes, the Japs' position was broken through!"
"Don't even look at what's going on now. There's a reconnaissance company inside the airport to contain it, and there's fierce artillery fire outside. The little devils inside the airport are probably stunned. Look, the puppet troops on the east and north sides are still there.
They haven’t come to support us yet, so they must have been scared out of their wits, so we have joined together to harvest the corn!” Gao Zhiheng said with a smile.
"According to this development trend, the role of infantry will become increasingly useless in the future. It is hard to imagine how far aircraft and artillery will develop in a few decades!" Wang Yigong muttered.
Both of them thought that the attack on Changzhi Airport would go smoothly, but they did not expect that the Fourth Regiment would only play a supporting role, and the limelight would be stolen by the artillery.
During the battle at Changzhi Airport, although the Japanese troops stationed in Guancun Town did not receive a call for support, the continuous explosions alerted the Japanese troops.
The Japanese commander of Guancun Town, Shota Kamiya, knew the importance of Changzhi Airport and immediately reported to the Japanese troops in Changzhi City, and then assembled all the Japanese and puppet troops in the town.
A Japanese infantry squad mixed with more than 400 puppet troops rushed towards Changzhi Airport for reinforcements.
The two places were not far apart, but halfway through the journey, the sound of shell explosions in the direction of Changzhi Airport suddenly stopped.
Kamitani Shota was startled, and then a bad thought came to his mind. The enemy attacking the airport had artillery, so he must have captured the airport.
"Hurry, hurry up!" the ancient shota shouted, urging the puppet troops who were working hard to march quickly.
Unexpectedly, at this time, the sound of horse hooves came from the front, and a large group of cavalry in gray military uniforms suddenly appeared from the corner of the road.
"It's the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army!" A puppet soldier exclaimed, pointing to the cavalry in front of him who was gradually accelerating.
"Run quickly!"
I don't know who shouted in the team. After hearing this, many puppet soldiers ran towards the wasteland on both sides.
This move suddenly exposed the Japanese army from among the ranks.
The cavalry regiment immediately divided into two parts. The cavalry company at the front of the attack sequence continued to attack the Japs on the road, while the rest of the cavalry regiment soldiers circled towards the wastelands on both sides to encircle the fleeing puppet troops.
The sharp sabers raised bursts of cold light, and the Japanese squad had no time to organize a counterattack. In one round, more than fifty Japanese soldiers were chopped down like melons and vegetables.
The puppet soldiers who were circled back looked at this scene and couldn't help but feel cold in their hearts.
The Japanese and puppet troops in Guancun Town were the closest group to Changzhi Airport, but they were intercepted and killed by the cavalry regiment on the way.
.......
By this time, the battle at Changzhi Airport had ended.
Except for some puppet troops stationed in the gun towers and bunkers on the east and north sides of the airport, they ran away when they saw that the situation was not good, and the rest of the Japanese puppet troops were completely wiped out.
At the airport, the ten pilots of the flight team have already driven out and are ready to take off at any time under the command of Takema Yamada.
"The four on the left are Type 97 fighter jets, the three in the middle are Type 98 reconnaissance aircraft, and the three on the right are Type 97 light bombers. So far, their performance is very superior!" Yamada Takema introduced.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
I'm very sorry. I've been in a bad state in the past few days. I resigned. I can't finish the two chapters normally. I'll try to update them tomorrow.