That’s four chapters today, we’ll continue tomorrow.
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Since the 177th Infantry Regiment was bombed by Eighth Route Army incendiary bombs and suffered heavy casualties, Nakata Yui no longer dared to let the troops operate as a unit.
After that, whether it was fighting or marching, at most they were based on brigade units, and even the artillery deployed in the rear was dispersed as much as possible.
This feels a bit like the roar of the wind, the roar of the cranes, and the chaos of the grass and trees.
The surviving Japs described this concentrated bombing of incendiary bombs this way: "As soon as the fire bomb explodes, fire will be everywhere, and all places will be burned. Even rocks and water are burning.
There's nowhere to hide! It's so scary, it's like fire from hell!"
When the 176th Regiment following closely behind passed the bombing point, they were all stunned when they saw the charred land and the still smoking corpses in front of them.
This is not the first time that the Eighth Route Army has used incendiary bombs. It has used incendiary bombs before when using rocket launchers and rocket launchers.
Therefore, the Japanese are not unfamiliar with this kind of napalm bomb.
But it is the first time that it has been used on such a large scale to fire hundreds of rounds at a time. The effect of this and the shadow left in the hearts of the Japanese are not comparable to other battlefields.
Because of this, the Japanese were worried that the Eighth Route Army would carry out another such bombing at any time, which made them dare to concentrate their troops from beginning to end.
This leads to another question...
The Japs used a bolt-action rifle, which had a slow rate of fire and insufficient firepower per unit area. Once the Japs dispersed the personnel, this weakness became more serious.
Then the Japanese used this dispersed formation to attack the defense line formed by the Eighth Route Company's repeating rifles... That was almost seeking death. It was actually a fueling tactic. The people in front rushed forward and fell to the enemy's guns.
Next, the people behind will add more.
Finally, the Japanese had no hope of fighting, so they resorted to their old tricks again, rushing forward with grenades and explosive packs in hand.
But this still doesn't work...
This tactic was useful in the past because both the enemy and us were armed with bolt-action rifles. Armed with grenades and explosive packets, it was possible to rush into the enemy's trenches and explode into pieces.
Now, with the Eighth Route Army equipped with repeating rifles, it is almost impossible to rush into the Eighth Route Army's trenches under fire.
As a result, the 59th Division organized breakouts again and again, only to be ruthlessly beaten back by the Eighth Route Army soldiers again and again.
At the rear of the 59th Division, the main force of the Eighth Route Army was getting closer and closer, like the god of death walking towards these evil-doing devils step by step, asking them to repay the debt they had owed with their blood.
Okamura Neiji's attention was completely attracted by the 59th Division, because in the history of the empire's campaigns there had never been a record of a division being surrounded by the enemy and completely wiped out.
Today, this precedent may be set in Daqingshan.
This made Okamura Neiji break into a cold sweat with anxiety, and he kept directing nearby troops to rush to Daqingshan for reinforcements.
However, these troops were either too far away or insufficient in strength to capture the train station.
If the railways were open, long distances would not be a problem, because the empire could be transported by train.
But at this time, the railway station had been occupied by the Eighth Route Army, which continued to attack along the railway line, which prevented the imperial army from using the railway for reinforcements.
Highway reinforcements?
Without air superiority, the cars seemed to be targets for enemy fighter planes.
"Air supremacy!" Okamura Neiji was so anxious that he punched the table and said, "We should send the aviation team out, otherwise the 59th Division will be doomed!"
Shinta Kono stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, General, now is not the time, we should wait until early morning tomorrow!"
Okamura Neji was silent for a while, then nodded helplessly.
For a long time, Okamura Neiji looked up at his staff and ordered: "Order the 59th Division to postpone the breakout to preserve its strength, and must persist until early morning tomorrow!"
"yes!"
Okamura Nei wanted to persist until the early morning, mainly because he hoped to play the role of a "human missile".
A fatal flaw of the Japanese "man-operated missiles" is that they are too slow and can easily be intercepted by fighter planes. Therefore, it is difficult to pose a threat to the steel factory airport during the day.
At night, the pilot of the "man-operated missile" cannot see the target clearly, which affects the accuracy, so the early morning is the best time for its attack.
Okamura Neiji stayed up all night because he could always receive news from the front:
"The 176th Regiment was bombed by Eighth Route Army rockets!"
"The 175th Regiment was attacked by the Eighth Route Army!"
"The main force of the Eighth Route Army launched an attack on the 175th Regiment, and our army suffered heavy casualties!"
…
Okamura Neiji may not care about these casualties, but he must care about whether the 59th Division can break through.
If it is completely wiped out, it will be a major stain on Okamura Neji's command.
Even after thinking about it, Okamura Neiji couldn't figure out how this battle could end up like this. He didn't even understand where he went wrong, why he always seemed about to win but ended up with a wrong move.
With great difficulty, Okamura Neji finally waited until the early morning.
Okamura Neji breathed a sigh of relief and ordered: "Attack!"
"attack!"
"attack!"
…
The staff officers who had been prepared long ago conveyed the orders one after another.
The order was passed on in two parts: one to the "manned missile" base and the other to the air force.
Then both units got busy. The missile base nervously conducted a final inspection of the equipment. With the help of the ground crew, the pilots entered the missile to prepare. Then, with an order, the missiles were ignited and took off one by one.
At the same time, seventy "Zero Fighters" of the air force took off and formed in the air, then circled and waited in the predetermined airspace.
Ten minutes later, fifty "manned missiles" appeared in a neat formation under the moonlight. The seventy "zero battles" consciously divided into three teams, guarding the left and right sides of the "manned missiles" respectively.
and above.
The purpose of the Japanese doing this is obvious. They want to rely on the cooperation of "missiles" and fighter planes to achieve the purpose of gaining air supremacy at the minimum cost.
Faced with the Japanese's formation situation, that is, the tactic of combining "manned missiles" and fighter planes to go straight to the steel factory airport, the Eighth Route Army Air Force will be in a dilemma:
Takeoff interception?
It was difficult for the more than twenty "La-5" fighters to break through the protection of the seventy "Zero Fighters" and intercept the fifty "human-operated missiles" among them.
No takeoff to intercept?
Then they will soon face the situation of being bombed by "man-made missiles".
Even if "La 5" chose the third way to take off and evade...the Japanese would still be able to seize air superiority.
Because fifty "man-operated missiles" will inevitably blow up the temporary airport beyond recognition, and then the Japanese's "zero war" will immediately take over air control.
Once the Japanese seized control of the air, they would not allow the Eighth Route Army to repair the temporary airport.
As a result, the initiative will be transferred to the Japanese.