Shojiro Iida was pacing back and forth in the office with his hands behind his back.
Haruki Isayama, who was standing nearby, noticed a detail. The five fingers of Shojiro Iida's right hand behind his back were clenching, unclenching, clenching again, and then loosening again. This insignificant detail clearly showed that
Shojiro Iida was feeling nervous at this time because the outcome of the air battle at Mandalay would be directly related to the war situation in Myanmar.
"Isayama-kun." Shojiro Iida finally stopped and turned around to ask Isayama Haruki, "Hasn't the fighter group of the Fourteenth Air Force of the United States Air Force shown up yet?"
Isayama Haruki silently shook his head.
Ten minutes ago, 60 Zero fighter jets from the 3rd Flying Group took the lead in arriving over Mandalay and launched an attack on the transport fleet of the U.S. Air Force's Tenth Air Force. In less than ten minutes, the third
The 3rd Flight Group achieved great results, shooting down more than 20 Allied transport planes!
However, what is shocking is that the American fighter jet group did not appear!
Also, subsequent Allied transport planes did not appear over Mandalay. This seemed to be a trap.
A huge sense of crisis immediately enveloped Shojiro Iida. Where were the American fighter jets?
Suddenly, a terrible thought passed through Iida Shojiro's mind. Could it be that the American fighter group rushed to intercept the Imperial Army's bomber group? Thinking of the disastrous consequences of the bomber group encountering the American fighter group, Iida
Tian Xiangerlang immediately shuddered with excitement, could this really be a trap!?
Do the Americans want to use more than 20 transport planes as bait to destroy the Confederate bomber fleet?
If the Southern Army's bomber fleet is destroyed, the American fighter groups will be completely liberated. They no longer have to guard Mandalay's airspace at all times, and they no longer have to protect important facilities such as airports, bridges, and railways at all times. They will be able to operate without restrictions.
Launch a tidal wave of attacks on Japanese airports, ports and other important military facilities in Southeast Asia!
In other words, the U.S. Air Force will gain absolute initiative, while the Japanese Air Force will be reduced to a desperate situation of being passively beaten.
But soon, Shojiro Iida gave up this ridiculous idea. Even if the American fighter jets really went towards the Japanese bombers, it would be difficult for the two groups to encounter each other in the air because the sky is so vast.
, if two fleets want to meet in the air, it will never be much easier than fishing out a silver needle from the sea.
Time passed quietly in the quiet waiting, and there was no new discovery in the sky above Mandalay.
Just two minutes later, what Iida Shojiro was most worried about finally inevitably happened!
"Your Excellency, Commander!" Major General Hideyoshi Oda, the commander of the 3rd Flying Group, suddenly walked into the office with a livid face. Before he could stand upright, he angrily yelled at Shojiro Iida, "The bomber groups of the 3rd and 5th Flying Groups.
It was intercepted by a group of American fighter jets over Shan State. The two sides were fighting fiercely, and the imperial army had already suffered heavy losses!"
"What!?" Shojiro Iida was shocked when he heard this and said in a voiceless voice, "This is impossible!"
"Spies, there must be spies in the headquarters!" Oda Hideyoshi roared, "If the traitor hadn't leaked the flight route of the imperial bomber group in advance, the American fighter group would never have been able to find them. There must be spies in the headquarters.
Traitor, I want to find this traitor, then skin him and cramp him!"
"Baga, Baga Garu!" Shojiro Iida opened his bow left and right, slapped Oda Eira twice, and then roared angrily, "Now is definitely not the time to make wild guesses, quickly order the fighter fleet in the Mandalay airspace to rush to the rescue.
Bang airspace, pick up the bomber team! Hurry, hurry up!"
"Your Excellency, Commander, it's too late." Hideyoshi Oda said sadly, "The Bomber Squadron...is finished!"
Shojiro Iida felt like he was struck by lightning when he heard this, and immediately slumped back on his chair powerlessly. Haruki Isayama next to him couldn't help but sigh. Although the Japanese bombers have certain air combat capabilities, compared to fighter jets,
There is a huge difference in maneuverability and acceleration performance. Even the oldest fighter jets can kill the most advanced bombers without any suspense.
Over Shan State.
Another Japanese bomber was entangled by two P-51 Mustang fighters. The two Mustangs performed a beautiful roll in the air and bit the left and right engines of the Japanese bomber respectively. Immediately, the six engines installed under the wings of the Mustang were
The machine guns fired violently at the same time, and black smoke billowed out from the left and right engines of the Japanese bomber.
"No.8!" The driver of the Mustang on the left shouted excitedly on the intercom. When he looked around anxiously to find the next prey, he found that there was no trace of Japanese bombers in the nearby airspace. Just now, they were so densely packed that they were almost obscured.
The Japanese bombers that had filled the entire sky were all missing.
Yes, the bomber groups of the Japanese 3rd and 5th Flying Groups have been completely destroyed!
Whether it is the Japanese Type 97 horizontal bomber or the Type 99 modified dive bomber, its maneuverability and acceleration performance are completely incomparable with the "Thunderbolt" or "Mustang" fighter jets of the US Air Force.
If it falls, without fighter escort, the end of the entire army is inevitable.
"Guys, well done, let me tell you, he is proud of you!" Captain Hans's voice suddenly came from the communication channel, "However, our work is not finished yet, we still have to
When we go to Mandalay, we have to let the Japanese girls there have a good taste of the power of the American Mustang!"
The communication channel suddenly rang with the unscrupulous laughter of the American soldiers.
The next moment, more than 200 fighter jets turned to the right at the same time, corrected their course with extremely cool stunts, and then roared away in the direction of Mandalay under the guidance of two radar pre-engine aircraft.
Half an hour later, a fighter group of the Fourteenth Air Force of the U.S. Air Force and a returning Japanese fighter group encountered each other over the dense sand fifty kilometers south of Mandalay. A fierce air battle broke out immediately. The number of fighter planes on both sides was about the same. The Japanese
Pilots have more combat experience, but the US military's fighter aircraft have better performance and more advanced tactics.
After forty minutes of fierce battle, the Japanese aviation lost more than 60 fighter planes and fled in defeat!
The Fourteenth Air Force also paid a heavy price. 28 P-47 Thunder fighter jets were shot down, and another 6 were injured. Two of them crashed on the way back. Although the performance of the Japanese fighter jets was not very good, the veteran Japanese Navy
Pilots are indeed not easy to mess with. If the Japanese are assigned two squadrons of Mustangs, the outcome of this air battle will probably be rewritten.
Mandalay, 49th Division Headquarters.
Major General Luo Youlun walked into the war room excitedly and reported to Yue Weihan: "At the main base, the pontoon bridge is about to be erected. At the latest tomorrow evening, the Fifth Army will be able to cross the river!"
"Okay!" Yue Weihan nodded, finally feeling more relaxed.
The Fifth Army is a mechanized force in the true sense, and its combat effectiveness is by no means comparable to that of the Sixth Army's three reduced infantry divisions, because the Fifth Army not only has tank regiments, automobile regiments, but also artillery regiments. This artillery regiment is equipped with
This is not a domestically made small-caliber mortar, but a 150mm-caliber American heavy howitzer!
However, compared with the field heavy artillery brigade of the Japanese Guards Division, this artillery is still not enough.
If the U.S. Air Force cannot win today's great air battle, and if the Allies cannot fully seize air supremacy over Myanmar, then the artillery regiment and tank regiment of the Fifth Army will soon be overtaken by the heavy artillery brigade of the Japanese Guards Division.
Once the two infantry divisions of the Fifth Army enter Mandalay, half of them will soon be killed or wounded like the Sixth Army.
Before Yue Weihan could think about it, Teacher Peng Bisheng had already walked in excitedly.
"General, good news!" Commander Peng Bisheng said excitedly, "The Fourteenth Air Force of the U.S. Air Force has completely annihilated the bomber groups of the two major Japanese flying groups over Shan State, and just defeated the Japanese fighter group over the dense sands.
, General Chennault asked me to tell the commander-in-chief that the air superiority in Myanmar belongs completely to the Allies!"
"Fuck!" Yue Weihan waved his fist heavily and cursed again.
"General seat." Major General Luo Youlun also said excitedly, "The time is about to be airborne to Yangon!"
"Well, it's almost time. As soon as Du Xuewen's regiment completes preliminary training, they can launch an airborne raid on Yangon Airport." Yue Weihan rubbed his hands excitedly, then said with a sinister smile, "Hey, let's play with us in the art of war, the little devil is still bad.
That's right, this time we're going to give Hirohito a big surprise!"
However, the subsequent changes in the battle situation were far beyond Yue Weihan's expectations.
Just three days later, the Battle of Mandalay quickly entered the most difficult stage.
At this time, the Fourteenth Air Force of the U.S. Air Force had not completely eliminated the Confederate fighter group, and the Du Xuewen regiment at Lambgar Base had not even learned the basic technical movements of parachuting.
However, the war situation in Mandalay may not last for many days.
Although the two main divisions of the Fifth Army have crossed the Irrawaddy River, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th regiments of the Baoshan Division have also been airlifted to Mandalay, the situation in Mandalay has become increasingly serious because the Japanese army
The Guards Division and the 31st Division have also arrived in Mandalay and joined the battle group.
So far, the number of troops gathered in Mandalay has exceeded 150,000, including nearly 100,000 Japanese troops!
The combat effectiveness of the Japanese Guards Division is really not to be boasted. Heavy artillery bombardment, tank charging, and the hit rate of grenade launchers are also extremely high. The heartless artillery and rocket launchers of the Baoshan Division were completely suppressed. After ten days of fierce fighting, the outskirts of Mandalay
The defense line and the airport were both lost, and the expeditionary force was forced to retreat into the city and launched a brutal street battle with the Japanese army.
The advantage of street fighting is that it avoids the threat of Japanese heavy artillery, but the disadvantage is that there is no way to retreat.
If the expeditionary force trapped in Mandeb is a lone army, then it is only a matter of time before it is eaten by the Japanese army.
Fortunately, Mandalay's expeditionary force is not fighting alone. Although the 181st Division of the 39th Group Army is still far away at Wujiaba Airport in Kunming, the New 6th Division, the New 9th Division and other directly affiliated units have already moved along the route.
The Burma Highway has advanced to the vicinity of Lashio, which is less than 200 kilometers away from Mandalay. It can be reached in a few hours by car.
However, if these two main divisions and the directly-affiliated troops were really deployed in Mandalay, the best they could do would be a stalemate with the Japanese army.
Although the current 39th Group Army has all been equipped with beautiful equipment, and the number and standards of trucks even exceed that of the U.S. Marine Corps. However, due to the limitations of air transportation, the standard heavy howitzers and tanks of the U.S. Army Division cannot be allocated to the 39th Group Army.
Group Army, which greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the 39th Group Army.
Of course, even if heavy howitzers and tanks can be airlifted to Kunming, the 39th Army cannot use them because the recruitment and training of technical arms cannot be completed overnight.
In fact, Yue Weihan did not intend to invest these two main divisions and directly affiliated troops in Mandalay!
However, before more reinforcements arrive, the battle situation in Mandalay cannot last for many days, which also means that the plan to airborne to Yangon must be advanced!
Mandalay city center, temporary headquarters of the expeditionary force.
Now, the airport on the outskirts of Mandalay has been lost and is surrounded by four Japanese army regiments. Yue Weihan can't escape even if he wants to, so there is no need to avoid suspicion, so he goes to a building in the city center.
The temporary headquarters of his expeditionary force was separately established in the British-style building.
"General, the situation has become more and more serious." Amidst the rapid footsteps, Luo Youlun hurried into the war room and said to Yue Weihan who was sitting in front of the map, "The 200th Division responsible for the defense of the Southern District is about to be unable to withstand it.
, the offensive of the Japanese Guards Division is too fierce, these little devils are really unambiguous in fighting!"
Luo Youlun was promoted to lieutenant general yesterday and became the chief of general staff of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
As for the original Chief of General Staff, General Luo Zhuoying, he took his guards back to Myitkyina when the Fifth Army was crossing the river, and then slipped back to Yunnan on a U.S. Air Force transport plane.
"Did Dai Anlan ask for help?" Yue Weihan asked in a deep voice.
Luo Youlun said anxiously: "That was the call for help from Dai Anlan just now!"
"It seems that the situation is really serious. If it had not been a critical moment, with Dai Anlan's character, he would never ask for help from the headquarters!" Yue Weihan nodded, and then said to Luo Youlun, "Chief of Staff, immediately
Transfer Peng Bisheng's 49th Division to the Southern District to strengthen the defense of the 200th Division!"
"Yes." Luo Youlun stood at attention and took the order.
Watching Luo Youlun's figure go away, Yue Weihan touched his chin and said to Chu Zhongtian: "Zhongtian, immediately send a telegram to the Du Xuewen regiment who is training at Lambjia base. The training plan is suspended and they should be ready for airborne landing at any time! Again!
Urgently contact General Stilwell, the 1st Regiment of the Baoshan Division will forcibly land in Yangon tomorrow morning!"