Objectively speaking, Kono Shinta's air-ground coordination strategy is no problem.
The Eighth Route Army's defense at Wangxing Airport was very weak... One main regiment had more than 1,700 troops. Since there was no danger to defend, they could only build field fortifications around Wangxing Airport. There was basically no defense and no way to retreat in depth.
This can be said to be a taboo for infantry against enemy mechanized troops.
Without defensive depth, it means that it can only be hard-topped and unable to conduct flexible operations with alternating offense and defense.
Forming a circle for defense means that once the enemy breaks through a hole and breaks into the circle, he can rush directly to the back of the other line of defense, so the entire circular defense will soon collapse.
But Wang Xuexin was helpless about this, because the terrain of Wangxing Airport only had so many troops, so he could only plan to retreat to the underground fortifications of the airport if the outside could not be defended.
Therefore, the tactics of mechanized troops like the Japs coupled with airborne paratroopers with engineering background are targeted operations: mechanized troops can be used to attack the Eighth Route Army defense line. After the paratroopers cooperate with the mechanized troops to quickly destroy the Eighth Route Army defense line, they immediately attack the underground of the airport.
The fortifications were blasted, excavated and then attacked.
Who would have thought that the time inconsistency in the Japanese's air-ground coordination directly led to the paratroopers being almost wiped out before the ground troops arrived. Even the captain of the Japanese fifth air advance brigade and its headquarters (radio station)
The moment it landed, it was destroyed by the Eighth Route Army, and the radio station was captured and became a trophy of the Eighth Route Army.
The captain of the 5th Air Advance Group is Yuuki Tanimoto, who is quite famous among the paratroopers.
This was not because he had any results, but because during a training, one of his subordinates fell from a high altitude and broke into pieces because his parachute failed to open. Yuri Tanimoto collected all the pieces and took the subordinate personally.
Come back.
The Japanese troops often admired this kind of crazy and almost inhuman so-called bravery, so he became the captain of the 5th Airborne Advance Group.
This was Yui Tanimoto's first actual battle, and it was also his last.
While Yuri Tanimoto was still hanging on the parachute rope, the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army rushed right below him. Because they did not see the military rank clearly, the Eighth Route Army soldiers simply raised their guns and shot him dead in mid-air.
Or we can't say "killed" because Yuri Tanimoto was only injured at the time.
But being injured on the parachute rope was fatal because he was unable to perform the normal landing action to relieve gravity at the moment he landed.
So he actually fell to death.
When the Eighth Route Army soldier saw the rank on the corpse's military uniform, he realized that it was a lieutenant colonel. He could only say to himself, "What a pity. I should have taken him back alive for questioning!"
But it was too late by now, so we could only search as many documents and items as possible on him and leave.
And this did Shino Endo a big favor.
Because the commander of the Fifth Air Advance Team was killed immediately, the whole army was beaten to a bloody mess before the situation was understood, and the radio station was seized by the Eighth Route Army and could not contact its superiors, so Shinta Kono had no idea what was going on.
What happened.
Shimi Endo actually knew that he had caused a big disaster: because he underestimated the guerrillas and wasted time, it directly led to the early landing of the entire paratrooper brigade and the entire army was annihilated... If the responsibility for this mistake was held accountable, he would commit seppuku.
Pass.
While Endo Shino was secretly sweating, he received a telegram from Shinta Kono: "How is the battle going?"
Shino Endo was stunned. Shinta Kono would ask this question, which meant that he had no idea that the paratroopers were finished.
Why is this happening?
Then Shino Endo understood that the paratroopers were defeated so quickly and suddenly that the paratroopers did not have time to send the message!
At this, Endo Shino secretly breathed a sigh of relief and called back: "The battle was fierce. The Eighth Route Army seemed to be prepared, and the enemy also organized a quick reaction force. The paratroopers were beaten and suffered heavy losses before they had time to assemble!"
Shinta Kono didn't know the truth at the headquarters, so he just frowned and cursed: "Asshole, the Eighth Route Army actually has a quick reaction force. Do they know that our army will use paratroopers to land?"
In fact, Wang Xuexin really didn't know and didn't expect it.
Because he had always believed that the Japanese paratroopers were so defeated that they were called "the disgrace of the empire", so he did not consider the possibility of paratroopers in combat at all.
However, sometimes troops whose combat effectiveness is exhausted can still play an unexpected role at the right time.
only……
The Japanese's Fifth Airborne Advance Team was not very lucky. Now they had truly earned their reputation as the "Shame of the Empire".
The next battle will not be easy.
Wangxing Airport withstood strong pressure from the Japanese attack.
The Japanese fought a decent "blitzkrieg", at least in terms of the coordination of air, tank and infantry. If there were no problems with the paratroopers, this battle would have been even more beautiful.
From Wang Xuexin's perspective, the Japanese used bombers to bombard the Eighth Route Army's defense line as soon as they started fighting, and then tanks covered the infantry to attack the Eighth Route Army's defense line.
The Japanese's attack was very smart. They did not divide their troops into four groups and attack from four directions at the same time.
Instead, only a small group and a few tanks were left in the other four directions to contain the Eighth Route Army with firepower, and then the main force was concentrated to attack in one direction.
This is to use concentration to defeat decentralization.
Currently, the total strength of the Eighth Route Army is greater than that of the Japanese: one regiment of the Eighth Route Army has more than 1,700 people, while the Japanese have only two squadrons of more than 400 people.
However, the Eighth Route Army's more than 1,700 people had to defend on four sides, so each side only had more than 400 people.
In fact, the Eighth Route Army's defense strength on each side was not more than 400 people, but only more than 100 people.
This is Wang Xuexin’s decision.
He said to Tang Liangjun, the commander of the 208th Regiment in charge of defense: "Commander, it is foreseeable that our army's firepower is much weaker than that of the Japanese, and our army has no danger to defend. The only thing that can protect our honor is the underground fortifications..."
Before he finished speaking, Tang Liangjun nodded and replied: "Understood, deploy a small number of troops on the defense line, the main force will conserve strength in underground fortifications, and use the tactics of refueling to waste time with the Japanese!"
Wang Xuexin nodded, it was so easy to talk to smart people.
If this tactic was not used, the Japanese would almost collapse after just one round of bombing.
At this time, the Japanese concentrated most of their troops to attack one side, and their strength was several times that of the Eighth Route Army defenders.
The gap in equipment is even greater: the Japanese have planes and tanks, while the Eighth Route Army only has rifles, 50-guns and rocket launchers.
For a time, the Eighth Route Army was overwhelmed by the Japanese firepower and could not even lift its head. The Japanese tanks and infantry also rushed towards the defense line with a "clack, gala"...