bestfiction Chapter 508 orders the tank troops to charge forward and reach Taiyuan City within 20 minutes!
Chapter 508 orders the tank troops to charge forward and reach Taiyuan City within 20 minutes!
The six Zero fighters were only filled with 2000% fuel and half loaded with ammunition, but their combat effectiveness was not greatly reduced. Since the Zero fighter had a range of more than kilometers, % fuel was enough for it to fight in the air for an hour without any problems. Therefore, after seeing the Japanese Zero fighter successfully take off, Sun Chunming responded quickly and ordered all bombers to drop all the bombs they were carrying and leave Taiyuan Airport as quickly as possible.
"Captain, we will return soon. Tell him to be careful. If things become impossible, evacuate immediately and don't fight to the end." Sun Chunming shouted loudly, holding the intercom in his hand.
Li Yunlong tightly grasped the intercom in his hand and replied with a serious face: "Sun Chunming, you must return to the base immediately and do not go to Taiyuan City again. The Taiyuan Airport has made such a big commotion. I estimate that the defenders in the city have already been mobilized. I estimate that the Japanese will soon reinforce the Taiyuan Airport."
"When you return with the bomber unit, you must remind Captain Kong and Captain Ding to be prepared for the Japanese's revenge. Tell them to pay close attention to the Japanese's movements and never let them take advantage of any loopholes."
After giving instructions, Li Yunlong hung up the call, took another intercom handed over by the telegraph operator, put it to his mouth, and shouted loudly: "Attention all troops, we have successfully attacked the Japanese airport. Don't worry about the Japanese pursuit. Our mission is to shoot down the Japanese fighter planes. Now we enter the free shooting stage. Each company is free to find targets and destroy all the fighter planes on the runway!"
Each company immediately started fighting on their own, shooting wildly at the fighter planes parked on the runway. The entire Taiyuan Airport fell into a big melee, with fighting everywhere, and some Japanese fighter planes successfully took off from the runway.
In order to protect the fighter planes on the ground, the Japanese were also very crazy. Carrying explosive packs and grenades, they launched round after round of desperate charges. The rumbling sounds of explosions continued to ring out, and the entire Taiyuan Airport completely turned into a hell on earth.
Ichiro Sato and Ichiro Fujiwara had no time to care about casualties. They kept urging the Japanese soldiers to refuel the fighter planes and sent a squadron of suicide squads to stop the attacking tanks.
"Sir, the division commander, the battle has been going on for nearly half an hour. Taiyuan City must have already learned about the attack on the airport. As long as we hold on for another half an hour, reinforcements will arrive. I have just asked for help from the nearby garrison, and I estimate that they will be here in another quarter of an hour. Now we have successfully taken off 21 fighter planes, and they will immediately look for a nearby open space to land. As long as they can successfully fly away from the airport, the fighter planes can be saved." Fujiwara Ichiro reported excitedly.
Ichiro Sato's face was no longer as gloomy as before. They had tried their best now. As for how many fighter planes could be rescued in the end, it was indeed an unknown. However, as the commander of the 16th Flying Division, he felt that he had fulfilled his responsibilities. Even if the headquarters wanted to punish him, he could argue with reason.
"Fujiwara, I will find a way to transfer more troops to guard our fuel depot firmly. As long as the fuel depot is not blown up by the enemy, we can rescue more fighter planes. It is already 5:28 in the morning. As long as we hold on for half an hour, we will immediately evacuate Taiyuan Airport. The loss of aircraft is not terrible. The empire's military factories can manufacture more. But if the pilots are lost, even if more fighter planes are produced, we will face the embarrassing situation of no one to fly them."
"Notify the pilots to evacuate immediately. Send heavy troops to protect them. Do not let their safety be threatened. The flight trainees must also be taken with them. They can serve as the death squad at critical moments. We must ensure the safety of our hundreds of pilots."
Since the start of the "One Hundred Refinements into Gold" plan, the number of Japanese pilots has increased rapidly. Originally, the maximum number of pilots could be increased by 3900 per year, but now the number has almost quadrupled to more than , which is beyond the Japanese's expectations. This has greatly increased the strength of the Japanese naval aviation force in the southward campaign, and they have won three naval battles in succession, ensuring the control of the sea in the Pacific region.
The Japanese base camp, having tasted the sweetness, expanded the "Hundred Refinements into Gold" plan again, increasing the number of flight trainees from 10,000 to 30,000. Anyone with a high school degree could participate in the pilot selection. This immediately improved the skills of the Japanese pilots. If we had known that the Japanese had previously required a college degree for pilots, the number of pilots would have increased significantly after the relaxation.
As the Japanese successively obtained large amounts of oil in the Nanyang area and Sakhalin Island, the problem of oil shortage that had plagued the Japanese was completely solved. This was also the fundamental reason why the Japanese had the confidence to repeatedly expand the number of their air force.
Half an hour ago, the air defense alarm sounded at Taiyuan Airport. The Taiyuan Command was the first to learn the news and was ready to inform Shinozuka Yoshio, but it was too early and Shinozuka Yoshio was resting. The operations staff did not dare to neglect it and rushed to the lounge. Just as he was about to wake up Shinozuka Yoshio, he was stopped by the orderly.
The orderly gently opened the door and woke up Yoshio Shinozuka who was sleeping. Yoshio Shinozuka was not in a bad mood when he got up. He knew that the orderly woke him up because of something important. He quickly put on his clothes and came out of the bedroom. When he saw the serious expression on the face of the operations staff officer Taro Matsubara, he knew that something big must have happened.
"Commander, the air defense alarm has just sounded at Taiyuan Airport. It is very likely that it has been attacked. I have ordered the on-duty staff to quickly understand the situation. I estimate that when the commander arrives at the operations room, he will know the truth of the matter." Taro Matsubara reported anxiously.
Shinozuka Yoshio did not speak, but hurried to the operations room. Before he reached the door of the operations room, he heard the sound of a heavy mortar shell exploding. He immediately quickened his pace and ordered solemnly: "Immediately find out the source of the explosion and order the troops on duty near the airport to quickly reinforce. The safety of Taiyuan Airport must be guaranteed at all costs."
Without knowing the source of the explosion, Shinozuka Yoshio issued an order to strengthen the airport guard, and Matsubara Taro hurried down to pass on the order. A minute later, Shinozuka Yoshio arrived at the operations room, and the communications staff on duty ran over from the telegraph room, reporting with a horrified face: "Commander, we just received an emergency communication from Taiyuan Airport. Taiyuan Airport was attacked by a large number of armored forces. Please send troops to support immediately."
Shinozuka Yoshio's face became even uglier, and he gave an angry order: "Order the Okada Brigade to immediately support Taiyuan Airport. They must arrive within 40 minutes. No matter what the cost, they must protect the fighter planes at Taiyuan Airport and never let them be destroyed by the enemy."
"Order the garrison near Taiyuan Airport to rush to support quickly. They must arrive within 25 minutes. Those who delay the fighter plane will be punished by military law! Order all nearby airports to prepare to receive fighter planes and clear the runways immediately so that the fighter planes taking off from Taiyuan Airport can have a place to land."
Yoshio Shinozuka quickly issued a series of orders and sent reinforcements to Taiyuan Airport. The only thing he overlooked was that Li Yunlong and Lin Zhenhua had split their forces. Because of this, the reinforcements sent from Taiyuan City encountered the other half of the main force led by Lin Zhenhua just halfway through the journey.
"Haha, I didn't expect that I would get such a great advantage. Order the three tank battalions and one armored vehicle battalion to charge up immediately and disperse the Japanese reinforcements. Tell the soldiers to fight as hard as they can. Don't worry about the consumption of ammunition. Defeat the enemy in the shortest possible time. We must reach Taiyuan City within 20 minutes."
"Shen Quan, take an armored battalion with you and continue to rush towards Taiyuan City. We must rush into the city before the Japanese close the city gates. Otherwise, this battle will be difficult to fight."
"Old Zhao, you and the soldiers of the transport battalion must follow us closely and make sure you don't fall behind halfway. Without your ammunition support, we may not be able to capture Taiyuan City."
The Okada Corps did not expect that they would encounter Lin Zhenhua's main force less than twenty minutes after leaving the city. Before the Okada Corps had time to set up defense, the vanguard was directly defeated.
"Colonel, the three squadrons of the vanguard have been dispersed. Colonel Yoshida has just rushed forward with the Yoshida Battalion, intending to block the enemy's tank attack. But I think it will be difficult for Colonel Yoshida to do so. The enemy's firepower is too fierce, and the weapons in our hands can't break the enemy's defense at all. We can only use the most stupid method and let the warriors carry explosive packs and bundles of grenades to blow up the enemy's tanks." Operations staff Major Kuroda reported anxiously.
Colonel Okada was extremely angry, but he forced himself to calm down. He stared at the battlefield ahead and gritted his teeth as he ordered, "Order Yoshida's battalion to launch a desperate charge. No matter what the cost, they must stop the enemy's armored forces. Order the troops in the rear to turn around and quickly retreat towards Taiyuan City. At the same time, notify Taiyuan City to prepare for defense."
"Order Nomura Battalion to continue its rapid march towards Taiyuan Airport. No matter what the cost, we must arrive at Taiyuan Airport within half an hour."
"Kuroda, you must immediately organize three squadrons of suicide squads and have them carry explosive packs to blow up the enemy's tanks. I will lead two artillery squadrons to set up the guns and provide you with artillery support. Fortunately, we brought 12 anti-tank guns with us. With their help, we should be able to hold out for half an hour."