Amidst the chaotic footsteps, hundreds of Japanese soldiers rushed out from the barracks or under the shade of trees, and then hurried into the position under the scolding of the officers. Unfortunately, the positions built at the airport were all made of
It is designed to defend against ground attacks, but has no protective effect against attacks from the sky.
As a result, the Japanese soldiers walked out of the bunker one after another, stood in the open space, raised their guns and fired into the sky.
At the beginning, the Japanese soldiers could still shoot unscrupulously by taking advantage of the 38-meter range advantage. But when the height of the Chinese airborne troops dropped to only three or four hundred meters, the Japanese soldiers immediately became the targets of assassination.
Because the Chinese airborne troops are all equipped with Thompson submachine guns, they have an absolute firepower advantage.
The only thing that can pose a fatal threat to the Chinese airborne troops is the eight twin anti-aircraft machine guns deployed at the airport.
The caliber of these eight double-mounted anti-aircraft machine guns has reached 13.2mm. The bullets fired have unimaginable destructive power. If they hit the human torso, there will basically be only a pile of broken limbs. Even if it only hits
Parachutes can also tear large holes, eventually causing the parachute to completely tear. For airborne troops, the result is also tragic.
However, the Chinese airborne troops were scattered very scattered, and the Japanese anti-aircraft machine guns could only rotate and shoot, but could not move freely. Therefore, the airspace that could be penetrated was very limited. Therefore, the Chinese airborne troops shot by the Japanese anti-aircraft machine guns were not actually
Not many. What really caused the Chinese airborne troops to suffer heavy casualties was insufficient training.
Due to the lack of sufficient targeted training, the movements of Chinese airborne troops were deformed or even made mistakes when airborne. Many soldiers failed to control their body balance when jumping out of the cabin. As a result, the parachute bags could not be opened normally. There were also many soldiers because
Due to insufficient hanging training, I was unable to keep my body vertical before landing, and ended up falling sideways.
All the more than 2,500 members of the Chinese Airborne Regiment airborne, but less than 1,000 of them landed safely.
Of course, less than 200 paratroopers were shot to death or fell directly to death by the Japanese army. Most of the remaining paratroopers only lost their combat effectiveness due to injuries from falls.
However, even if less than 1,000 people landed safely, it was still enough to seize Yangon Airport.
Because Colonel Du Xuewen, the leader of the airborne regiment, had not arrived to join the rendezvous, Chief of Staff Li Jiuding took over the command decisively and led the dozen or so airborne detachments that were the first to complete the assembly to launch an attack on Yangon Airport. With the firepower support of the U.S. Air Force,
It took the airborne regiment less than half an hour to clear the garrison squadron at Yangon Airport.
After seizing the airport, Li Jiuding ordered his troops to enter the fortifications outside the airport to prepare for the Japanese counterattack.
It was only then that Li Jiuding suddenly came to his senses. The regiment leader Du Xuewen never appeared. He immediately started asking the officers and soldiers who were reinforcing the fortifications along the trench: "Have you seen the regimental seat? Have you seen the regimental seat?"
The airborne soldiers shook their heads, and only one soldier replied: "Come on, I saw it."
After that, before Li Jiuding could continue to ask, the soldier continued with a sad expression: "I am in the same team as the regiment. I was the first to parachute, and the regiment was the last one. But when I opened the parachute and fell,
When I saw Tuan Zuo, he screamed and fell from me. His parachute didn't seem to open."
"What did you say?" Li Jiuding suddenly changed his expression, "The parachute of the group seat has not been opened!?"
Seeing the soldier nodding sadly, Li Jiuding suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs: "Look for me, send someone to look for me immediately. If you want to see the group in life, you will also want to see the group's corpse in death!"
Half an hour later, two airborne troops discovered a mutilated corpse in the jungle near the airport. The corpse's face could not be identified, but judging from the rank of colonel on the collar badge, it was obviously Colonel Du Xuewen, because
In the entire airborne regiment, only Du Xuewen and Li Jiuding hold the rank of colonel.
Mandalay, Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters.
General Luo Youlun excitedly walked into the dim underground war room, immediately stood at attention, and reported to Yue Weihan: "General Officer, good news, the airborne regiment has captured Yangon Airport!"
"Okay, great job!" Yue Weihan stood up suddenly and punched the table hard again.
"But..." Luo Youlun changed his tone and continued with a solemn expression, "The airborne regiment suffered heavy casualties. All the more than 2,500 people in the regiment carried out the airborne landing. In the end, there were more than 1,500 casualties, of which more than 300 were killed in action, and the remaining 1,200
The rest were injured to varying degrees, and Captain Du Xuewen also died for the country."
Yue Weihan was silent, this result was already within his expectation.
Airborne troops are originally a high-risk branch, and airborne operations are even more dangerous.
In history, even the most successful airborne operations had a casualty rate of more than 70%. The Chinese airborne regiment was able to capture Yangon Airport at a cost of 60% casualties, which was actually a miracle. Of course, after the follow-up troops were airlifted,
Before Rangoon, the airborne regiment still had to hold on to its gains, and there would definitely be a lot of casualties in the process.
At this moment, the door of the war room was pushed open with a "ping" sound.
Yue Weihan and Luo Youlun turned around when they heard the sound, only to see Baoshan Division Commander Li Yulong rushing in with a dark face.
After Li Yulong rushed into the war room, he did not stand at attention and salute Yue Weihan. Instead, he squatted in the corner with his head in his hands, and then said in a muffled voice: "Chief, I can't figure it out!"
Yue Weihan remained silent, but Luo Youlun said: "Mr. Li, what's wrong with you?"
Li Yulong ignored Luo Youlun and said to himself: "The guys in the special operations brigade have higher training levels and better psychological quality, but why is it Du Xuewen 1st regiment that airborne at Yangon Airport? If the special operations brigade is allowed to land at the airport first,
How could there be such heavy casualties if the 1st Regiment were to be airlifted to Yangon? Commander, you are partial, the Special Forces Brigade is a treasure in your heart."
After Li Yulong finished venting, Yue Weihan said calmly: "Are you done?"
Li Yulong flattened his mouth, and finally closed it in great depression.
"After you finish speaking, go back quickly." Yue Weihan stepped forward to pull Li Yulong up, patted his shoulder again, and said calmly, "After the fall of Yangon Airport, Kunming's 181st Division will be able to airlift it within two days
Arriving at Rangoon, I have cut off the Japanese army's retreat in Mandalay, and they are likely to struggle to the death, so you must be mentally prepared."
"Chief, I understand." Li Yulong's mood finally calmed down, and he immediately stood upright and said, "Don't worry, Master Baoshan will never embarrass you!"
After speaking, Li Yulong saluted Yue Weihan with a military salute, then turned around and walked away.
Watching Li Yulong leave, Luo Youlun suddenly said: "Chief Commander, I also think what Commander Li said is reasonable. If the special operations brigade is airborne into Yangon, perhaps our army's casualties can be much smaller."
"No." Yue Weihan waved his hand, stared at the map on the wall, and said, "The sword of the special operations brigade must not be unsheathed at this time, because there are more serious and important airborne combat missions.
Waiting for them! You also know that if you want to completely annihilate the Japanese army in Burma, just capturing Yangon is not enough."
After that, Yue Weihan suddenly said: "Immediately contact General Stilwell and the director of the 39th Army Field General Hospital Chiba, and request the US Air Force to send a special plane to bring the best doctors and the best medical equipment in the general hospital in the shortest possible time.
And transport the best medicines to Yangon Airport, tell President Chiba to save the lives of injured officers and soldiers at all costs!"
"Yes." Luo Youlun stood at attention and immediately took the order and left.
Yangon urban area, Japanese military headquarters.
The worst news was finally delivered to Shojiro Iida's desk. The airport was lost!
If the airport cannot be recaptured in time, with the Allied air transport power, two divisions can be airlifted to Yangon within two days!
However, Yangon's garrison force only has one garrison brigade. What's worse is that this garrison brigade has only three infantry brigades, and each infantry brigade only has three squadrons. The rest include artillery brigade, search brigade, and engineering brigade.
There are no logistics or technical units such as the brigade and the baggage brigade. This is actually an empty brigade!
Once the squadrons of the two divisions are airlifted, the fall of Yangon and Moulmein will be inevitable.
After the fall of Yangon and Moulmein, the Japanese army's logistical supply line in Mandalay was completely cut off. In other words, in half a month, the four main divisions in the Myanmar battlefield, including the Guards Division, will fall into
In the desperate situation of running out of ammunition and food, if the main force of the 39th Army takes advantage of the situation and crushes it, the Japanese army in Myanmar will collapse without a fight!
When he thought of this, Iida Shojiro suddenly shivered inexplicably.
If the four main divisions on the Myanmar battlefield are destroyed, Shojiro Iida's military career will come to an end!
At this moment, Iida Shojiro was really terrified. He seemed to have seen the gloomy face of the Southern Army Commander Terauchi Teraichi, and even smelled the cold smell coming from the sword given by the Emperor.
In order to save his reputation, he may really have no choice but to commit seppuku.
No, we must not let such a thing happen, Yangon Airport must be recaptured!
Iida Shojiro gritted his teeth and roared to Isayama Haruki: "Order, the Yangon Guard Brigade and the 1st Division of the Myanmar Independent Volunteer Army are dispatched immediately, and tell Suzuki Keiji and Lamyang that they must recapture Yangon Airport before dark.
If you fail to complete the task, everyone will die!"
"Hai!" Isayama Haruki lowered his head suddenly and immediately took the order and left.
Saigon, Vietnam, Southern Army Headquarters.
Considering safety reasons, Terauchi moved his headquarters back to Saigon.
Because in the Pacific battlefield, the advantage of the U.S. Navy over the Japanese Navy is becoming more and more obvious. Not only is the number of U.S. Navy ships increasing at an alarming rate, but the overall quality of the U.S. Navy officers and soldiers is also rapidly approaching the Japanese Navy. But now
The U.S. Navy still lacked war experience, and the Japanese were able to barely support it.
"What!?" In the office, Juichi Terauchi stood up with a face full of shock, stared at Lieutenant General Luota, the chief of staff opposite, and said in a voiceless voice, "Yangon Airport has been lost!?"
"Hai." Luotian Gong suddenly lowered his head and said in a solemn tone, "According to the reliable information obtained by the Southern Agency, Yue Weihan dispatched a lightly trained crash airborne regiment. Although more than 60% of non-combat attrition was caused during the airborne process,
, but the remaining nearly a thousand people still succeeded in seizing Yangon Airport."
Terauchi Shouichi was stunned for a moment, then strode to the large map hanging on the wall.
After looking at the map for two seconds, Temple Touichi asked in a deep voice: "Lotian-kun, how many garrison troops are there in Yangon?"
"There is only one security brigade, but in fact there are only more than a thousand untrained reserve soldiers. There are neither artillery nor tanks." Luota Gong said in a solemn tone, "Other than that, there is only Lamiya.
The 1st Division of the so-called ‘Burmese Independence Volunteer Army’, but these Burmese farmers and fishermen don’t know how to fight at all.”
Temple Shoudun's face turned pale for a moment, and he said again: "So, where are the troops closest to Yangon?"
"Mandalay's heavy army group is closest to Yangon." Luotian attacked, "Besides that, it is Java's 15th Division."
Terauchi Shouichi said without hesitation: "Order, the 31st Division immediately returns to support Yangon, and must seize Yangon Airport before the Allies airlift more squadrons to Yangon!"
"Your Excellency, it's too late." Luota Gong sighed. "At the same time as the Chinese airborne regiment landed in Yangon, the U.S. Air Force's Fourteenth Air Force also bombed the railways and roads from Mandalay to Yangon on a large scale.
, if the 31st Division wants to return to Yangon to support Yangon, it can only walk. If it walks, the 31st Division will not be able to return to Yangon until half a month!"
The old man in the temple almost suffocated on the spot when he heard this. It would take half a month for the 31st Division to return to support Yangon!?
It's really going to be half a month later, and even the day lilies are probably cold, so what the hell are you going to do to support me?
However, what worried Juichi Terauchi the most was not whether Yangon could be recaptured. What the old Japanese was most worried about was the safety of the four elite divisions on the Burmese battlefield, especially Nishimura Takuma's Guards Division! This was forbidden by Emperor Hirohito.
Guards, once the Guards Division is shattered in Burma, the impact on the reputation of the Empire and the Imperial Army will be unimaginable.
Juichi Terauchi suddenly remembered the advice message Okamura Neiji sent him half a month ago. In fact, Okamura Neiji had already reminded him, hoping that the Southern Army would be more vigilant and beware of surprise attacks by airborne troops sent by the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
At Yangon Airport, he just laughed it off and threw Okamura's telegram into the trash can.
"Okamura-kun! By the way, that's Okamura-kun!" Thinking of Okamura Ningji, Terauchi Judun was like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw floating on the water, and immediately attacked Luota with impatience, "
Luota-kun, call the Central China Front immediately and request Okamura-kun for emergency tactical guidance!"
Juichi Terauchi was born into a noble family and had always looked down upon Neji Okamura, who was born as a commoner. However, the 100,000 Japanese troops in the Myanmar battlefield were at the end of their rope, and there was a danger of the entire army being destroyed day and night. For the sake of his own reputation and the future of the Terauchi family, he decided to