Chapter 85: The Air Defense Company's Fierce Battle
The sudden anti-aircraft artillery startled the Japanese pilots who originally thought it was an easy hunting operation. Only then did they remember that this time they were not bombing the Chinese army with crude weapons and basically no air defense capabilities.
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This army on the ground once inflicted heavy losses on the 21st Flying Group at Kenanpo. In that bombing, the attacking flying formation dispatched eighteen aircraft, and in the end ten aircraft and dozens of crews were lost.
It ends with personnel.
Today, they dispatched a total of 22 aircraft, including 16 bombers and 6 fighter jets, in order to destroy this new armored force in one fell swoop to avenge the attack a few months ago.
They never thought that this armored force actually had anti-aircraft artillery, so that was it. After observation, the pilots were surprised to find that these anti-aircraft firepower seemed to be moving, which was beyond their knowledge.
"Baga, why are the Chinese anti-aircraft firepower still moving?"
"No, the Chinese installed anti-aircraft guns on tanks!"
"Their firepower is very fierce, everyone, be careful."
"Help...they are chasing me...someone help me!"
The communication channels were filled with the exclamations of Japanese pilots.
"Dong dong dong..."
Streams of dense firepower kept spraying out on the ground, and hot tongues of flame kept chasing the planes in the sky.
The first to attack just now was a Tornado 20mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. This is a self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery that was completed by Germany in May 1944 in another time and space.
It was developed on the basis of the chassis of the Panzer IV tank. The turret of the Panzer IV tank was removed and replaced with a semi-open turret surrounded by 9 pieces of armored steel plates.
The vehicle consists of 5 personnel (commander, gunner, two loaders, radio liaison driver), and is equipped with a 20mm quad-mount Flak 38 anti-aircraft anti-aircraft gun (3200 rounds of ammunition).
There is also an MG34 general-purpose machine gun as an auxiliary weapon.
This self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was designed, but the Germans who originally had high hopes for it were disappointed to find that the 20 mm caliber cannon was really unable to deal with the thick-skinned high-altitude bombers of the Allies.
So the Germans designed another anti-aircraft self-propelled gun nicknamed Dongfeng. This self-propelled gun was also based on the Panzer IV tank. It also adopted a semi-open hexagonal turret and was equipped with a 37mm Flak 43 anti-aircraft gun.
Dongfeng self-propelled artillery makes up for the problem of insufficient shooting height of Tornado self-propelled artillery. When the two are combined, it is enough to deal with air threats below three thousand meters.
When Gao Hongming first founded the armored regiment, he hesitated for a long time about whether to add an air defense company to the armored battalion. After all, the more vehicles, the more manpower needed and the difficulty of establishment.
But in the end, he gritted his teeth and formed this anti-aircraft company consisting of 6 Dongfeng self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and 12 Cyclone anti-aircraft guns, for no other reason than to prevent the armored battalion from being unable to fight back when it encountered an air attack.
And today's sudden air raid also proved that Gao Hongming's original decision was wise.
After a brief panic, the armored battalion of Wild Wolf Valley began to move. The young armored soldiers started their tanks to evade maneuvers, while the soldiers of the anti-aircraft company drove the tanks at high speed while shooting into the sky.
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On a Tornado self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, two loaders were nervously loading shells. The commander observed and generally reported the position of the enemy aircraft, while the gunner was responsible for aiming and shooting.
"Dong dong dong..."
Amidst a burst of rapid artillery fire, dense shells continued to pour into the sky. More than ten tongues of flame formed a deadly fire net in the sky, posing a great threat to the incoming Japanese planes.
"boom!"
A No. 4 tank was driving rapidly toward a jungle in the east. Just as it was about to enter the jungle, a 60-kilogram bomb exploded next to it. The huge explosion and shock wave knocked the 22.5-ton tank sideways.
It turned to the side, black smoke was emitting from the entire tank, and the crew inside did not know whether they were alive or dead.
The bomb was dropped by a Nakajima-1 fighter jet. After dropping the bomb, the fighter jet flipped its wings, turned over dexterously, and quickly rose head-up to prepare to leave the battlefield.
But it was still a step slower. Just as it was flying towards the sky, a Cyclone self-propelled anti-aircraft gun locked onto it. With a burst of violent shooting, the angry gunner stepped on the firing pedal.
Four 20mm anti-aircraft guns poured out flames at the same time. In just a few seconds, 60 shells enveloped the Type 1 fighter in a net of fire. With a violent explosion, the Type 1 fighter flew in mid-air.
The plane was torn into pieces, and the pilot inside had no time to parachute before the plane disintegrated in mid-air.
"Takagi-kun..."
Fujino Shigeharu in the sky closed his eyes in pain when he saw this scene. The pilot of the Type 1 fighter plane that was hit by anti-aircraft guns and exploded in the sky had just been transferred from the mainland not long ago.
In Fujino Shigeharu's view, this young man from Aichi Prefecture was smart and brave, and was a rare talent. He had planned to train him well, but he never expected to be killed in battle today on his first mission.
The disintegration of the Type 1 fighters in the air did not make the Japanese retreat, but instead aroused their anger. Under the command of Fujino Shigeharu, the remaining five Type 1 fighters began to swoop down from the sky, taking advantage of their maneuverability and flexibility to continuously shuttle through the air.
In the fire net, the idea was to attract anti-aircraft fire in order to open a bombing channel for the bombers.
"At nine o'clock, at a visual distance of 300 meters, a Type 1 fighter plane is diving towards me." A Cyclone self-defense anti-aircraft gunner said loudly while raising his head for observation.
The loader immediately stirred the steering gear and height machine, and the large cross-ring direct sight quickly aimed at the incoming Type 97 heavy explosive machine.
Then he stepped hard on the shooting switch with his right foot.
"Dong dong dong..."
Accompanied by a silent and rapid sound, four 20mm artillery guns fired rapidly at the Type 1 fighter jets that were rushing down in their direction.
You must know that although the Type-1 fighter is mainly used for air combat, it can also carry two 60kg bombs for bombing missions when performing ground attack missions, and its two 7.7mm machine guns are also fatal to gunners who have no protection at all above their heads.
threats.
This bomber was also quite cunning. It dived while continuously dodging left and right. Several anti-aircraft gun shells passed by the fuselage. It was not until it reached a height of about 80 meters that the shells were concentrated on the tail.
The injured plane would definitely not be able to return. The Japanese pilot gritted his teeth and desperately controlled the plane to hit the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun...