Rise From Eight Hundred

Chapter 1501: Opening the net and waiting?

After suffering such heavy losses, the Japanese troops in the south of the city finally became more honest, and there was no fighting in the south of the city throughout the morning.

But this was only on land. The fierce battle in the air started around 9 a.m.

This is actually the daily routine since the Battle of Hengyang began. The Military Commission attaches great importance to Hengyang. Although the ground reinforcements are making slow progress, the air support is still in place.

There are fighters taking off from airports in Guilin, Liuzhou and other places in the distance, and Zhijiang Airport in the distance. The fighter forces invested include two brigades of the Chinese Air Force, 5 squadrons of the Flying Tigers, and 4 squadrons of the U.S. Air Force, taking turns. The total number of fighters and bombers dispatched was by no means less than 200, and the total number of aircraft sorties deployed in the first week of the war exceeded 1,600. The scale was almost larger than that of the Songhu Battle in 1937, when 700,000 elite army troops from across the country were deployed.

The Japanese military also went all out. The Chinese Dispatch Forces Command mobilized almost all the land aviation fighters in China, more than 280 of them, to compete with China for air supremacy.

Every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., there are almost always fighter planes in the sky attacking the ground or chasing each other in fierce battles.

But it is obvious that even if the Japanese army has assembled all the land and aviation forces in the Chinese theater, it is already at the end of its war effort.

Because the fighters equipped by both sides at this time are completely different from those in the first few years of the war. The Chinese Air Force is equipped with old-fashioned Hawker III and Yi-15 biplanes that have been eliminated by the United States and Mao Xiong, while the Japanese Army is equipped with the 96 with better performance. , Type 97 fighter jets, the Chinese Air Force had to rely entirely on life-threatening and even bayonet-fighting tactics in the air to barely achieve the record of shooting down enemy aircraft.

At this time, the Chinese Air Force has completely replaced new fighters such as Wildcats or Hellcats. There is even a flying group that has replaced the most advanced American P-47 fighter jets nicknamed "Thunder". This kind of "air tank" The well-known new fighter jet is definitely a nightmare for Japanese Army Aviation.

With a huge weight of 6,000 kilograms, the big guy not only has steel armor plates to improve the survival rate of air combat, but also has 8 12.7 mm heavy machine guns and a full 3,400 rounds of ammunition. It can also carry more than 1,000 kilograms of ammunition on the wings. Bombs, what buzzes the minds of the Japanese Army Aviation the most is that this air fire output platform also has a speed of 690 kilometers per hour and a combat radius of up to 1,200 kilometers.

For the Battle of Hengyang, the Military Commission actually sent the Thunder and Lightning Squadron guarding the mountain city to Liuzhou Airport.

The Thunder Squadron also lived up to its heavy responsibility, dispatching 5 times in a week, shooting down and damaging 28 Japanese aircraft, while only 3 of its own were damaged and none of them crashed, which greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese Army on the ground.

However, there are only 12 P-47 fighters in China that are comprehensively ahead of the Japanese Zero fighters, and it is impossible to rely on these 12 Thunder fighters to patrol the skies over Hengyang every day.

The majority of Chinese fighters flying over Hengyang are still Wildcats or P-40s!

Lin Heng, who has been promoted to deputy captain of the 4th Air Force Group, was ordered to lead the team to attack the sky above Hengyang at 11:00 on June 10. This was his eighth time in the sky above Hengyang in the past seven days.

Intelligence showed that more than 20 Japanese fighter planes had been engaged in a fierce battle with friendly forces over Hengyang from 9:00 to 10:30, and no more Japanese aircraft would arrive in the sky over Hengyang in the short term.

He wanted to lead his 18 P-40 fighter planes to bomb and dive and straf the Japanese infantry in the west and south directions of Hengyang City to reduce the pressure on the Hengyang defenders.

Lin Heng and his subordinates have done this kind of work several times, and they are no strangers to open areas like the west of the city.

The west of the city is dotted with large and small ponds and swamps. Because of the hot weather, the Japanese infantry often jumped into these ponds to catch fish and bathe between battles. When the enemy's fighter planes came, most of the Japanese soldiers would climb ashore naked and scatter like birds and beasts. If you don't have time to run, just lurk in the pond, hold your breath, and wait for the plane to leave before climbing ashore.

Since the Japanese army lacks anti-aircraft guns, Chinese pilots often leave only a few fighter planes on guard at mid- and high-altitudes. Most of the fighter planes search for targets at low altitudes, drop bombs, or simply shoot with machine guns. Sometimes they see Japanese troops in ponds in the air. He deliberately flew low over the pond over and over again so that the Japanese soldiers could not get out.

At this time, the Japanese soldiers would either be suffocated to death in the pond, or they would show up and become targets for Chinese fighter planes. As long as they are not too stupid, they will eventually choose the latter.

After they have had enough fun with these fools, the Chinese pilots will be satisfied and shake their wings and drop bombs on the pond. After a violent explosion, the water will often be covered with white flowers, including killed fish and shrimps, as well as naked ones. corpses of Japanese soldiers.

Whoever has control of the air has the right to speak. Whatever the Japanese fighter planes did to Chinese soldiers and civilians, the Chinese Air Force will return them in full force. It will not only destroy them physically, but also punish them spiritually. torture.

The Japanese infantry hated the Chinese fighter planes so much that they bit their back teeth. However, like the Chinese infantry back then, they only had light and heavy machine guns and were helpless against the fast-moving fighter planes.

"Group 3 aircraft into a group, with one aircraft staying on alert at a height of 2,500 meters, and two aircraft entering low altitude to search for targets and bombing and strafing the ground. Each aircraft should pay attention to the fact that each aircraft needs to reserve 300 rounds of ammunition for emergencies. The Japanese army has not been completely lost. Combat capabilities, each formation must not be careless! I emphasize again, must not be careless!" Before arriving in the sky above Hengyang, the young air force captain gave the order with a serious face.

He, the deputy captain, originally had 2 squadrons of 24 fighters under his direct control, but now he and he only have 18 fighters, 3 of which were damaged and repaired at the airport, but there are still 3 people and their fighters left in the mountains and waters of Hengyang .

Only one person successfully parachuted, but the other two pilots hit the ground with their fighter planes and exploded into a ball of fire. Lin Heng did not want such a tragedy to happen again.

"Roger!" The Chinese pilots felt the seriousness of Deputy Captain Lin and replied solemnly on the radio.

The 18 fighter planes were divided into two teams. One team went to the west of the city to bomb the Japanese army, and the other team went to Zhangjiashan in the south of the city to bomb the main force of the Japanese army, which had more than 10,000 people.

As the leader of the No. 3 group, Air Force Second Lieutenant Chen Xiangrong is responsible for air security. Looking down from an altitude of 3,000 meters, you can clearly see large areas of charred black on the ground. This is land that has just experienced heavy rains. It should have been It was a large piece of yellow mud, but it was burned by artillery fire and turned black. You can fully imagine the intensity of the battle yesterday and at night.

The fact is just as the air force second lieutenant thought. While deploying more than a dozen infantry brigades to attack Zhangjiashan, Tiger Nest and other positions, the 116th Division also mobilized two divisions, the 116th Division and the 68th Division. The affiliated artillery regiment and an independent artillery regiment totaled more than 120 artillery pieces. During more than ten hours of fierce infantry battle, a total of more than 18,000 artillery shells were thrown at the Chinese position. The intensity of the artillery fire exceeded that of the Battle of Tanzhou. the sum of.

Fortunately, the Chinese side also organized more than 60 artillery pieces of various types to fight back, and also threw no less than 10,000 artillery shells at the Japanese army.

Anyway, the main theme is that if you don't let me live, I won't make it easy for you. Hundreds of people on both sides of China and Japan were killed by fierce artillery fire. Seventy or eighty percent of the various fortifications carefully built on the surface of the Chinese side were destroyed. .

The six Chinese fighter planes roared and swooped down, looking for the Japanese infantry and artillery positions that had been hiding. The two 500-pound aerial bombs hanging under the wings were enough to blast any target they found into the sky.

However, the Japanese army had learned to be smart after several days of bombing. The infantry used tree branches to camouflage trenches and fortifications. Not to mention from an altitude of thousands of meters, it was as low as four to five hundred meters. They wanted to find hiding places. It was also very difficult for the Japanese troops to rise up.

The fighter planes at high altitude and the Chinese air force flying by at low altitude at high speed did not know that in the jungle on a hillside on the ground, along with the low roar of Japanese officers, long gun barrels pointed towards the sky.

The Japanese army lacks sufficient ground defense and control weapons, but this does not mean that it does not exist. Under the almost tyrannical request of Commander Yokoyama Isamu of the 11th Army, the Japanese Army Base Camp has been preparing various equipment and materials for the war against Hunan Province three months ago. Among them are the anti-aircraft anti-aircraft guns required by the 11th Army.

After half a month of arduous transportation, these anti-aircraft guns had arrived in the south of Hengyang City in the past two days. However, at the request of the 116th Division Yan Yongwang, this batch of anti-aircraft guns consisted of 24 Type 98 20mm anti-aircraft cannons and 4 Taisho Ten guns. The air defense brigade composed of 75mm anti-aircraft guns has been hiding in the mountains and forests for a year.

The Japanese army hopes to use this air defense brigade unknown to China as its trump card to attack China's most advanced 'Thunder' fighter squadron. Only in this way, not to mention regaining air supremacy, will at least not allow China to occupy complete air superiority. From time to time They used fighter planes to bomb the infantry indiscriminately. In the past week, the number of infantry casualties caused by Chinese aerial bombing and strafing has reached as high as 2,000. This is unacceptable to the proud Imperial Japanese Army.

However, in the past two days, the Chinese Thunderbolt fighter squadron was resting and did not appear on the battlefield. Watching six P-40 fighters carrying heavy aerial bombs jump into low altitude and begin to stare at the infantry on the ground, hiding in the command post Yan Yongwang finally couldn't bear it anymore.

"Shoot down all the Chinese fighter planes. I want them to know that this is not a place where they can run rampant." Iwa Yongwang issued a military order on the phone to Lieutenant Colonel Masao Matsui of the Air Defense Brigade, which was temporarily under his jurisdiction.

"Hi! Please rest assured, I will shoot down all enemy planes and teach the Chinese an unforgettable lesson!" the Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel vowed on the phone.

As the Japanese gunner cranked the mechanical handle, the gun barrels wrapped in dead grass branches were aimed into the air.

At this time, on Highland 221, Tantai Mingjing was holding a can of canned meat to feed his puppy Erniu. Erniu was the great-grandson of the four-line regiment's meritorious dog Hammer. He was just nine months old. He started training when he was 2 months old. He was assigned to the army last month to serve as an infantry squad search and combat dog. Then he went on an expedition with a temporarily formed independent company. Company commander Tu Yunsheng handed the military dog, which was less than one year old, to Dan Tai Mingjing and became a member of his infantry squad.

Although 'Er Niu' is less than one year old, the puppy that inherited his great-grandfather's excellent genes is very smart and brave. During the battle to support the 221 Highlands yesterday, this little guy stayed with Tantai Mingjing.

After discovering the enemy's situation in the dark night, he knew not to make a sound, so he used his paws on the ground to remind Tantai Mingjing. This allowed Tantai Mingjing's infantry squad to always discover the enemy's situation one step ahead of the enemy. In the fierce battle, only one person was lost due to injury. This kind of casualties ranked first among all the infantry squads participating in the battle of the 10th Preliminary Division and the Sixth Regiment. In the morning, they were commended by a general order from the headquarters of the Preliminary 10th Division.

During the battle, 'Er Niu', which weighed 40 kilograms, even killed three Japanese soldiers. However, it was also injured. One of the wounds was bitten by a desperate Japanese soldier and a piece of it was torn off. Fortunately, it was wearing a special combat vest. Before setting off, Tantai Mirror specially got a 4 mm thick steel plate for it to insert into the vest fabric on the chest and abdomen. Although it was a bit heavy, it could still be used at critical moments. Save your life.

After the post-war inspection, it was found that there were at least three dents on the steel plate, which should have been stabbed by the Japanese daggers. If one hit was missed, for this fighting dog with the excellent "hammer" gene, it would be a long time to wait. The only thing left for the Japanese army was death.

Tantai Mingjing liked Er Niu very much. After the war, he not only carefully bandaged Er Niu's wounds, but also gave him his canned beef for lunch.

"Squad leader, look, our plane is trying to trouble the Japanese again." A soldier heard the roar in the sky and pointed to the sky excitedly.

Although such scenes are not uncommon, for infantrymen, especially those who have been bombarded by Japanese fighter planes for a long time, it is difficult to be unhappy watching the Japanese devils being 'bullied'.

"You kid, if you have this little time to watch the Air Force brothers blowing up the Japs, you might as well take care of your precious rifle. Yesterday, you were rolling in the mud. I don't know how much mud got into the gun. Don't worry about it when the Japs come. The gun fell off the chain and stopped firing." Tantai Mingjing laughed and cursed.

After four years of war experience, the boy who was once less than 17 years old has not only lost his youthfulness, but has also grown into a qualified veteran sergeant. Even though this soldier is several months older than him, his military age is still different. For two years, I always treated Tantai Mingjing like an elder brother.

"I cleaned and maintained it during breakfast this morning, but the performance of this rifle is really good. It has been soaked in muddy water for so long and it still hasn't malfunctioned. It's much better than the German flower trap. That thing has firepower. Fierce, but too delicate. If you fight against the Japanese in a place like this, you might lose your temper." The soldier replied with a smile.

"That's good, call the brothers over to smoke and watch the show. I took a pack from the company commander's backpack yesterday and it's an advantage for you." Tantai Mingjing took out a pack of crumpled cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

Fortunately, the packaging has not been opened, otherwise the battle scene in the mud last night would have been soaked into slag.

"Haha, the squad leader is so angry!" the soldier laughed. "Brothers, the squad leader is giving out benefits, come quickly!"

17 soldiers sat in the trench, happily lighting up the welfare cigarettes issued by the squad leader, which made them feel so comfortable.

Nowadays, tobacco is included in the individual supplies provided by the Four Lines Regiment to the soldiers, but only 8 packs are provided per month per person. If you still want to smoke, you can only buy it with the subsidy. Usually, these old smokers can only interact with each other. Damn, especially the Tantai squad leader who is not a big smoker.

In order to meet the needs of the brothers in his class, Tantai Mingjing's expenditure on cigarettes accounted for more than half of his monthly expenditure.

Since Tantai Mingjing entered the army, he has never asked Lao Tantai or his sister Tantai Mingyue for money. In his words: "From now on, I am an adult and I can earn and spend my own money!"

The military pay of the Si Xing Regiment was not enough, but it could not support Tantai Mingjing's comrades. Most of the comrades who died in the battle and those who were seriously injured were from poor families. Tantai Mingjing's military pay and bonuses were basically subsidized to his comrades and relatives.

This is actually a common phenomenon in the Four Elements Regiment. People who are still alive always don't want to see the parents, wives and children of their dead comrades who don't even have money to live and settle down.

After joining the army for four years, the 'adult' who has made great achievements in battle actually does not have a penny in savings. This makes Tantai Mingyue sometimes unable to help but say a few words about a certain adult.

Of course, the Tantai family never said that they expected Tantai Mingjing to save money to marry and have children. The sister could not help but feel sorry for her brother. The days during the war were already very hard, so she hoped that he would be kind to her.

But what is the happiness of soldiers?

Is it money, peace and tranquility, or the simple smiles on the faces of our comrades? Only the soldiers themselves know this best.

After a fierce battle, seeing all his comrades smoking and chatting together with smiles on their faces may be Tantai Mirror's greatest happiness at this time.

The comrade who was carried away by the stretcher team was only shot in the right chest. The Japanese Type 38 rifle had extremely strong penetrating power. The bullet did not stay in the body and did not damage the heart or arteries. His life could be saved. With the superb medical skills and sufficient medicines of the medical team that came this time, it is possible that he will be able to return to the army in 20 days.

Without this premise, I am afraid that Tantai Mingjing and his brothers in the infantry squad would not be so happy.

"Dong dong dong!" A series of terrifying shooting sounds suddenly echoed through the sky.

"There is no need for our anti-aircraft guns to fire!" A soldier subconsciously listened carefully and asked.

The air defense battalion of the Fourth Army Regiment also participated in the battle, but that was when Japanese fighter planes flew over the sky. Since five Japanese fighter planes were shot down, Japanese fighter planes did not dare to fly below 2,500 meters in the south of the city, even if they were to drop bombs on the Chinese positions in the south of the city. That was also at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters.

But at this time, there were only Chinese Air Force fighter jets in the sky.

"Not good!" Tantai Mingjing's face changed drastically, he threw away the cigarette butt, climbed up into the trench, picked up the telescope and looked into the distance.

The six Chinese fighter planes are flying high, and thick smoke has begun to rise from the tails of two fighter planes.

24 20mm anti-aircraft cannons fired together to form a fire net, and began to harvest prey!