Type 98 light explosive, officially designated as KI-36.
The aircraft's top speed is only 348 kilometers per hour and its cruising speed is 236 kilometers per hour. Its performance lags behind that of high-speed fighters of this era.
But because it has a range of 1,300 kilometers, it is very suitable for use as a reconnaissance aircraft... Reconnaissance aircraft are not required to fly fast, but they are required to be able to stay in the air for a long time and continue to provide intelligence to ground forces.
It is also because of these advantages that it is also used by the Japanese army as a ground attack aircraft...Ground attack aircraft cannot be too fast because it is too fast for the pilot to aim at the target and have no time to pull up.
Its main weapons are two 7.7MM caliber machine guns, and it can also carry ten 12.5kg small bombs under the wings.
At this time, Okamura Neiji felt that this aircraft was born to attack the Eighth Route Army's anti-slope fortifications:
Machine guns are not prone to accidental damage, and small bombs of 12.5 kilograms will not affect the charging Japanese troops due to their large killing radius like aerial bombs weighing several hundred kilograms.
Therefore, this kind of aircraft is very suitable for providing aerial fire support to the Japanese troops while they are charging.
To this end, he transferred two Type 98 light explosive brigades from Peiping in one go, totaling 58 aircraft.
Even Okamura Neiji is still considering that once the attack by these aircraft in the direction of Zhaojiayu is effective, then he should mobilize more Type 98 light explosives to cooperate with the battle of the "non-security zone" troops.
"This is the era of three-dimensional warfare!" Looking at the Type 98 light explosives flying into the sky outside the window, Okamura Neji said with some pride: "The Eighth Route Army uses both surface and underground fortifications for defense, and I use the underground fortifications to defend themselves.
Attack from both the surface and the sky! So... General!"
Okamura Neiji couldn't wait to see the results, or in other words, he wanted to know how the Eighth Route Army's tacticians would respond... Okamura Neiji was a little worried that the opponent would not be defeated so easily.
Compared with Okamura Neji, Major Matsukawa Juri, captain of the 18th Independent Flying Group, appears to be more confident.
This is not because Matsukawa Juri has any comparisons or ideas in strategy and tactics, but because he often performs reconnaissance missions in North and Central China, and he knows that it is easiest to perform missions within the scope of the Eighth Route Army.
"They don't have anti-aircraft machine guns!" Matsukawa Juri said easily to the 27 attack aircraft led by him through the intercom: "They don't have any anti-aircraft guns! So, what you have to consider is how to target the enemy and kill them!"
Each of the Japanese pilots laughed arrogantly:
"It was a pleasant mission!"
"No, this isn't even a mission, it's a performance!"
"If we keep carrying out missions like this, we can get home alive!"
…
This is indeed the case.
The Eighth Route Army had no anti-aircraft machine guns or anti-aircraft guns, let alone sending fighter planes to intercept them.
The Jinsui Army and the Central Army did have a few planes, but of course they would not come to help.
Therefore, after the Japanese attack planes flew over Zhaojiayu, they immediately swooped down to straf and bomb the Eighth Route Army.
This group of Japanese pilots was selected by Neji Okamura. They have been flying aircraft for reconnaissance activities for a long time. They are all experienced pilots with excellent flying and attack skills.
Under their attack, machine gun bullets hit the soldiers in strings, and artillery shells were thrown into the trenches of the soldiers one by one, suppressing the Second Battalion until they could not even lift their heads.
At the same time, the Japanese ground troops crossed the mountaintop position and launched an offensive against the anti-slope position.
The double blow from the air and the ground made the anti-slope position stationed by the Second Battalion as dangerous as a fortress. If there were no tunnels to maneuver around, the Japanese would have defeated them with just one charge.
Li Yunlong was anxious in the regiment headquarters. After walking for a while, he stopped and shouted: "Damn it! Command Battalion, Third Battalion, use machine guns to shoot down all these planes!"
"Yes!" the correspondent responded and passed on the order.
Machine guns can indeed masturbate.
The most common way of fighting is to put a machine gun on a soldier's shoulder, and then the shooter and the soldier cooperate to shoot at the aircraft in the sky.
But this approach is almost a matter of chance.
First of all, the ground where the machine gun is located must be flat. If it is one high and one low or has a slope, the shooter will lose the target if he holds the machine gun and follows the target.
Secondly, the target for the two of them to cooperate like this was too big, especially the soldier standing in front holding up the machine gun tripod. He could not move during the whole process and stood like a target, even if an aircraft dived in this direction.
Thirdly, the aircraft is fast and it is extremely difficult for machine gun bullets to hit the target.
The soldiers all knew this, but they still set up several machine guns and fired into the air.
In the end, a plane was actually hit, and it fell to the other side of the high ground, emitting black smoke and screaming.
However, this was not a good thing. The Japanese planes immediately turned their targets on these machine gunners.
At this time, Wang Xuexin was avoiding strafing and bombing from planes in the tunnel.
But Wang Xuexin knew that this would not work.
Machine gun shooting is not reliable. Regardless of the casualties of the machine gunner, the consumption of bullets will be a problem if the gun is fired like this.
If the machine gun cannot shoot down the plane, it means that the Second Battalion cannot survive.
The second battalion couldn't hold on any longer. If the Japanese took another step forward, it would be the turn of the third battalion on Highland 2.
Further down, there is the collapse of the entire independent group.
After thinking about it, Wang Xuexin shouted to his subordinates in the tunnel: "Follow me in the first row!" He then ran out of the tunnel with his gun and ran towards the high ground.
Although the soldiers in the row didn't know what Wang Xuexin was going to do, and some even didn't hear it during the explosion, they quickly passed on the order one by one:
"Follow the platoon leader!"
"Follow up!"
…
As a result, a platoon of more than 20 people sometimes hid and sometimes leaped forward, and it didn't take long for them to reach the high ground.
Without saying a word, Wang Xuexin pointed his gun at the car tires and blew them out one by one. He then turned around and ordered:
"Work in pairs, cut off the tires, and work fast!"
"Class 2 and Class 3 follow suit and remove the tires from other cars!"
The soldiers responded and spread out to cut the tires. After a while, the car tires were gathered into three piles.
Wang Xuexin shot at the lower half of a car's fuel tank from a distance... The reason why he shot from a distance was because he was worried about the fuel tank exploding. It would be a loss if he did not die on the battlefield but in an accident.
Big.
When it's done, take out a lunch box or tooth cup from your bag to catch the leaked gasoline. When it's full, pour it on the tires.
The other soldiers saw this and followed suit without waiting for orders.
Finally, he lit a match and threw it on the tire... and with a "pop" sound, the tire was lit on fire.
Car tires are made of rubber. Once they are ignited, thick black smoke will emit. When the wind blows, it will float towards the high ground. Soon it will permeate the air and be everywhere.