In Xiacun, 27 kilometers east of Yuncheng, the Japanese built an airport here.
In order to keep it secret, the Japanese arrested all the people in the village and turned them into laborers who worked day and night to build fortifications and repair the airport. If they couldn't do the work anymore, they would be buried alive. The blood and tears of the people were flowing everywhere in the airport.
Maruyama Kihara was waiting anxiously with his subordinates in the lounge. After thinking about it, he felt uneasy. He told his subordinates again: "Gentlemen, this is a battle about our fate! If we lose, all of us will return home."
If you become a coach and win, you can stay on the battlefield and fight the enemy. So, please!"
As he spoke, Maruyama Kihara bowed deeply to his subordinates, who all stood up and returned the bow.
Squadron Leader Hiraga said: "Please rest assured, Major, we will go all out and will not give up until we achieve our goal. Even if we use planes to hit them, we will destroy the enemy's tanks! Let the Empire know that our 45th Flying Group should do more
Stay on the battlefield instead of returning home!"
Squadron Leader Ono said easily: "Pinghe-kun, I heard that the Eighth Route Army only has fifty tanks, but we have 32 planes. Each plane is not enough to divide two targets. Only Hiraga-kun needs to use planes to hit them, right?"
"
The other pilots laughed.
In their view, this is actually a mission without danger. Although the 98 light bomber has many shortcomings, such as insufficient range and maintenance, it is a veritable dive bomber.
The characteristic of a dive bomber is that it relies on the inertia of the fighter plane to dive toward the target to increase the accuracy and lethality of bomb delivery.
Therefore, it was easy for 32 bombers to destroy more than fifty enemy tanks, and there was no need to hit them with planes as Squadron Leader Hiraga said.
While the pilots were chatting and laughing with each other, the staff officer who was guarding the telegram stood up and reported to Maruyama Kihara: "Your Excellency Major, the headquarters telegram has found the target ten miles east of Shanghe Village. Please be sure to contact our tank at the target."
Destroy it before contact!"
Maruyama Kihara was overjoyed. It only took him two seconds to find the location of Shanghe Village on the map. Then he waved his hand and shouted: "Everyone, be loyal to the empire!"
"Long live!" the pilots responded loudly, and then followed Maruyama Kihara and ran out of the lounge and rushed to their planes.
Not long after, the planes roared into the sky one after another along the runway.
After forming the team, Maruyama Kihara took the plane along the highway and plains, and carefully avoided Yuncheng... This was because Maruyama Kihara had absorbed the lessons from the previous battle in Yuncheng. He knew that the Eighth Route Army was equipped with several anti-aircraft guns.
The Eighth Route Army actually has anti-aircraft guns?
This time surprised Maruyama Kihara.
But after thinking about it, since Mao Xiong was willing to give the Eighth Route Army the most advanced tanks, he certainly wouldn't be stingy with these anti-aircraft guns.
It is not difficult to avoid anti-aircraft guns.
Maruyama Kihara knew that the range of Mao Xiong's anti-aircraft guns was not far, mostly only four or five thousand meters.
To deal with such an anti-aircraft gun, you only need to pull the aircraft higher and avoid the woods to exceed its range.
This is also the reason why Maruyama Kihara chose the plains as his flight route.
What Maruyama Kihara didn't expect was that the flight route he chose just exposed the time he gave the Eighth Route Army to prepare...
If the Japanese plane flew out from behind the mountain, the battle would begin the moment the Eighth Route Army discovered it, and there would be no rush to prepare.
But the Japs were flying east from the plain, another group of 32 aircraft. The Eighth Route Army's scouts stationed in the mountains could see the target from a long distance.
So he immediately reported to Wang Xuexin by telegram.
"Battal Commander!" Chen Songyong's voice was low and urgent: "We found the Japanese aircraft group and will probably arrive in ten minutes!"
Wang Xuexin did not hesitate and immediately ordered: "Order the troops to enter the third ambush area immediately and prepare the anti-aircraft guns!"
"The troops enter ambush area three!"
"Prepare anti-aircraft guns, ambush area three, ambush area three!"
…
The tank troops had actually crossed ambush area No. 3, but as soon as they received the order, they immediately ordered the tanks to turn back.
The whole team turned from the front team to the back team, and the back team changed to the front team, and then retreated along the way they came.
Then one by one they hid in the tank bunkers dug in advance...
It stands to reason that a tank bunker has no anti-aircraft function, because its top is open, and even from the perspective of a Japanese pilot, the tanks can still be seen from above.
Such a bunker cannot protect against bombs falling from overhead.
But this is not the case.
Because aerial bombs usually do not hit the target vertically on the top of the tank, but hit the tank from the side in a diagonal line with the inertia of the aircraft.
This is when the bunker comes into play.
The flight path of the bomb is actually blocked by the tank bunker, so it will be detonated in advance and cannot damage the tank.
In order to deceive the Japanese, the soldiers even rolled out more than a dozen fake tanks made of wood from the grass... Such fake tanks were set up at every ambush point and were usually covered with turf in order not to attract the enemy's attention.
Just push it to the road when needed.
After Gangzi directed the driver to drive the tank into the bunker, he shouted to the soldiers who were still running outside: "Cover, cover!"
Those are soldiers arranged in the ambush area, about a platoon in number. Their task is to make fake tanks and dig tank bunkers and ensure their safety.
Because this task is easy, most of them are new recruits, and some are guerrillas composed of local people.
They had no combat experience, but after pushing out the fake tank, they put their palms on their foreheads next to the tank to shield them from the sun and looked at the sky, as if they were worried that the Japanese planes would not be fooled.
Gangzi was so angry that he cursed at them, and even took out the cannon from his waist and fired two shots, shouting: "Are you fucking dying? Do you want to see how the Japanese plane lays eggs or something?"
Yes? Spread out and lie down immediately!"
As soon as the soldiers dispersed, the Japanese plane swooped down with a shrill roar.
Maruyama Kihara felt that this mission went very smoothly, which gave him an ominous feeling... Isn't this too smooth? The target was found within ten minutes, and the target was still stationary.
This is the strangest thing about Maruyama Kihara.
The tank was discovered by an airplane, and it was discovered in a plain area. Shouldn't it move as quickly as possible to avoid the bombing?
It is actually not difficult for experienced tankers to avoid bombers.
For example, if the bomber suddenly turns when it is approaching, or stops suddenly, this can cause the bomber to misjudge and miss the target.
But now, they have stopped, and several tanks are still parked in the middle of the road, standing there like targets.
Maruyama Kihara took a closer look and discovered the problem.
"Tank bunkers!" Maruyama Kihara said: "Many of their tanks are hiding in tank bunkers!"
"It's nothing!" Squadron Leader Hiraga replied: "All we have to do is dive at a high angle!"