It was drizzling in the sky. The heavily armed paratroopers organized themselves into platoons and nervously counted the number of people under the command of the platoon leader. C47s were separated on several runways and lined up in an orderly manner at the airport. The pilots were
Under the instructions of the ground crew, the fire was started, and instantly the propellers roared and the air was filled with a strong smell of gasoline, as if the soldiers had been brought to the battlefield.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Wang Xuexin nodded to Chen Songyong beside him.
Chen Songyong immediately ordered: "Let's go!"
"Set off!"
…
The soldiers walked into the C47 cabin from the rear one by one and prepared in two rows. The cabin slowly closed under the instruction of the signal light, and then slowly advanced on the runway, faster and faster, and finally a roar rose into the sky.
Rushing into the distance into the night...
Chen Songyong looked at the C47s taking off one after another, and said with some worry: "Captain, this is their first time flying on an airplane, and it is also their first time parachuting from an airplane!"
Wang Xuexin nodded.
This is indeed a bit difficult for them. They were sent to the battlefield before they had even had time to train a few times, and they were still parachuting in the dark.
But this was the battlefield, and Wang Xuexin had no choice.
"There is always a first time!" Wang Xuexin said.
He believed that the soldiers could overcome these difficulties because they were the Eighth Route Army. Crossing grass and climbing snow-capped mountains did not trouble them. The first time they flew in a plane and the first time they parachuted were nothing!
The moment the plane took off, Wang Shuheng's stomach began to churn. He had been fighting on the ground for a long time and couldn't get used to the smell of gasoline. What made him even more stressed was that 28 fully armed soldiers were holding it in this small cabin.
The turbid air made Wang Shuheng feel breathless.
He wanted to vomit, but he held it in with all his strength.
No reason, just because he is the regiment leader... If he, the regiment leader, behaves so badly in front of his subordinates, then the morale of the entire army will probably be affected.
In fact, this was Wang Shuheng's overthinking. When the airborne regiment got on the plane, it was already divided into small groups in platoons that could not communicate with each other. Even if Wang Shuheng made a fool of himself by spitting it out, it would only be known to the 28 people in the cabin where he was.
But Wang Shuheng has always been very tough. Before, he was shot through two holes in the abdomen by a Japanese soldier without making a sound. Now this discomfort is nothing.
However, Wang Shuheng soon discovered that he was wrong. Soon the plane encountered violent turbulence in the air. Wang Shuheng couldn't hold back the sound of "Wow" and vomited it out. Instantly, the cabin was filled with a sour smell.
taste.
Wang Shuheng was embarrassed for a while, he wiped his mouth and said: "Damn it, if I had known, I shouldn't have eaten so much!"
No one answered, only a few faint chuckles could be heard in the darkness.
Liyuan is more than 400 kilometers away from Yanmen Pass. The C47 flew at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour for more than an hour before reaching Yanmen Pass.
Because it was dark, there was no need to consider the issue of interception by Japanese fighter jets... Actually, it did need to be considered, as the Japanese had night fighters.
But the Japanese night fighter actually relies on sight. It just adds a machine gunner in the rear cabin.
This kind of night fighter can still play some role under moonlight, but tonight it is dark and windy with light rain, so even if the night fighter is sent, it will be in vain.
Then, under the instructions of the pilot, the Eighth Route Army soldiers jumped out of the opened cabin door one after another...
At this time, Okamura Neiji already knew that a group of planes were flying to the rear of the empire, which was observed by radar.
Okamura Neji was a little surprised when he heard this information. What was the purpose of the Eighth Route Army?
Could it be the mechanized troops that sent fighter planes to bomb the empire?
Or transporting supplies to the Eighth Route Army?
These are not common sense...
At this time, Okamura Neiji did not know that the Eighth Route Army had formed an airborne force, so he never imagined that this was an airborne operation against Yanmen Pass.
Until a communications soldier almost screamed and reported: "Your Excellency, General, Yanmen Pass... the airborne troops of the Eighth Route Army, they parachuted there!"
"What? Airborne troops!" Neji Okamura's expression changed drastically: "The Eighth Route Army actually has airborne troops!"
After being stunned, he quickly ordered: "Quick, send reinforcements to Yanmen Pass immediately!"
However, by this time it was too late to realize this.
Unfavorable information came to Okamura Neji one after another:
"Your Majesty General, the railway leading to Yanmen Pass has been blown up!"
"The Route 19 bridge was blown up!"
“Mines and guerrillas discovered on Route 8!”
…
Just kidding, Wang Xuexin taught Yingjiang how to coordinate the airborne troops with the guerrillas, how could he not know how to use it?
Long before the airborne landing, he had contacted the guerrillas in the Yanmen Pass area through the headquarters.
The guerrillas near Yanmen Pass are still quite large, and one of them is a regular company of the Eighth Route Army.
This is mainly because the Yanmenguan area is mountainous, and these mountains are also connected to the Taihang and Luliang Mountains on both sides, which is very suitable for guerrillas to sneak in and disrupt traffic.
However, this is precisely why there are so many blockhouses, bunkers and barbed wire fences near Yanmen Pass, in order to block the guerrillas from destroying the transportation lines of Yanmen Pass.
The problem is that this time the guerrillas did not destroy the transportation lines near Yanmen Pass, but to prevent the Japanese reinforcements from reinforcing Yanmen Pass.
Therefore, the guerrillas pushed out about 30 kilometers north and south with Yanmen Pass as the center, blowing up bridges and railways, or laying mines or holding on to a certain high ground to buy time for the airborne troops.
As a result, the Japanese reinforcements were unable to move forward and were unable to effectively implement reinforcements for a while.
The Eighth Route Army airborne troops dropped to both sides of Yanmen Pass like spreading beans... According to the plan, one battalion of the Eighth Route Army parachuted to the north side of Yanmen Pass, and two battalions parachuted to the south side of Yanmen Pass, and then attacked Yanmen Pass simultaneously from the north and south.
Stationed at Yanmen Pass were a Japanese squadron of 150 people, and there was also a transport brigade of more than 300 people... This transport brigade happened to transport ammunition and supplies passing through Yanmen Pass, and it drove more than 100 people.
A car filled with military supplies was blocked at Yanmen Pass by parachutes from both sides of the Eighth Route Army.
This can also be regarded as one of the benefits of conquering Yanmen Pass:
Yanmen Pass is an important transportation thoroughfare. All ammunition and artillery shells produced in Taiyuan Arsenal must be transported to the front line through Yanmen Pass.
If the Eighth Route Army occupied Yanmen Pass, it would be equivalent to blocking the neck of the Japanese, preventing the two divisions north of Yanmen Pass and a large number of puppet troops from receiving supplies.
There is no need to think about what the result will be.
If the Japanese could not break through Yanmen Pass in time, their attack on the Eighth Route Army's Longxi Airport would be a dead end.