Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 308 Anti-aircraft guns shoot down planes (1)

The reputation of Yue Qianli and the guerrilla column was well-known among the Japanese army. Even the most arrogant devils did not dare to look down on him. After learning that the defenders of Zhaojialing were Yue Qianli's troops, the expressions of several old devils became serious.

Colonel Harada Shimofu also took over and said:

"Taking into account the return of some wounded soldiers, the guerrilla column should still have 2 people. Zhaozhuang and Zhaojialing have at most 5 people. Where are the remaining people?

Yue Qianli is best at fighting defensive battles. Could it be that the remaining 1 people are hiding in the surrounding area?"

It's rare for Major General Shandi to lead troops into battle alone. He wants to establish meritorious service. If he is frightened like he is now, then what's the point of fighting!
Thinking of this, he pulled himself together and said:
“Gentlemen, according to the information fed back by the 3rd Division, the guerrilla column was divided into two parts during the battle;

The troops south of the Huai River broke out westwards and headed for Henan, and only the remnants north of the Huai River were ordered to head north to Xuzhou to cover their retreat.

After hearing this, Harada Shimofu let out a long sigh of relief:
"If that's the case, then it's easy to understand. The guerrilla column broke through in a dispersed manner. The one in Zhaozhuang was the main force, which should be around 1.5 people.

The detachment south of the Huai River has about 1 troops. The two sides are equally strong and can definitely fight.

Now was the time when the guerrilla column was at its weakest, and when Yue Qianli was most likely to be defeated. He did not even have the heart to defend Zhaozhuang to the death;

As long as we defeat the enemy in Zhaozhuang, the mountain detachment will be famous all over the world, and even a powerful force like the 3rd Division will have to look at us with awe. "

After hearing this, the eyes of the Japanese soldiers became hot. No one in the Japanese army wanted to meet Yue Qianli, but everyone wanted to defeat him.
As long as he defeats Yue Qianli's troops, even if he is recognized by Yu Ren, his future in the army will be limitless.

Tanaka Seimichi seemed to have made up his mind as well, and said to Major General Yamaji:
"General, this is a rare opportunity for the mountain detachment. As long as we capture Zhaojialing, the main force of the Zhaozhuang guerrilla column will be defeated.
Now that they have given up Xuzhou, how can they possibly defend a small Zhaozhuang!

They just can't disobey military orders. I suggest asking the division commander for tactical guidance and coordinating air warriors to bomb Zhaojialing and Zhaozhuang to force Yue Qianli to abandon his position."

Seeing that everyone's fighting enthusiasm had been aroused, Major General Shandi said while the iron was hot:
"My lords, Yue Qianli's troops are the public enemy of the empire, and His Majesty has issued a kill order!
When fighting against Yue Qianli's troops, don't worry too much about casualties. As long as you can destroy the guerrilla column, you will get as many replacements as you can. If they need air support, we will try our best to meet their needs.
Remember, Your Majesty does not care about casualties, only Yue Qianli!"

The Japanese soldiers all stood up to show their loyalty to Yu Ren, each of them as if they were given a shot of chicken blood. After all, it was not them who would die, and what the empire lacked the least was cannon fodder - or should we say "warriors".

After unifying their thoughts, Major General Yamaji sent a telegram to the 106th Division Headquarters that evening requesting tactical guidance, and Lieutenant General Miyano Fumio immediately sent a telegram to the commander of the Central China Front Army, Hata Shunroku, requesting air support;

Not long after, he received a reply from Hata Shunroku, who agreed to his request and instructed the 106th Division to annihilate Yue Qianli's troops.

Regarding Yue Qianli and his guerrilla column, the attitude of the Japanese from top to bottom is the same, that is, to destroy them at all costs, and Yu Ren must be given enough face;

When the lord is worried, the ministers are humiliated; when the lord is humiliated, the ministers die. Both major Eastern nations believe in this, and the Japs have even reached a perverted level.

Nothing happened overnight. When the red sun rose again in the east, a group of fighter planes flew in from the northeast. They were as black as a flock of crows passing by, which made people feel unlucky just by looking at them!
The shrill anti-aircraft whistle sounded, and teams of khaki figures swiftly hid in the anti-artillery holes dug in advance, leaving the rest to luck.

Since the Japanese controlled the air superiority, the Nationalist Army allowed them to bomb them most of the time without any ability to fight back. Unfortunately, they encountered a guerrilla column this time.

Yue Qianli, contrary to his usual practice, deployed the 24 anti-aircraft guns of the direct artillery battalion in the small woods north of Zhaozhuang when he entered Zhaozhuang. He had to guard against the enemy's aircraft. The direct artillery battalion of the column had a rocket artillery battalion, a 1mm mountain artillery battalion, a mortar battalion, and an anti-aircraft artillery company that had been hidden.
After being used once in Jinling City, it was sealed up by Yue Qianli. The main reason was that the shells were too difficult to replenish. On average, each cannon had only more than 100 shells, and after using them, they were no different from firewood sticks.

In order to defend Zhaozhuang, Yue Qianli had to live a hard life this time. He took out half of the shells and said to the anti-aircraft artillery company commander Tian Zhongbin (formerly the anti-aircraft artillery platoon leader of the 527th Regiment):
"Captain Tian, ​​we must raise soldiers for a thousand days but only deploy them for a moment. This time it's up to you!

The Japanese planes have never suffered any loss and are very arrogant. In order to increase the hit rate of bombing, they even fly very low. You just wait and see for them. As long as the Japanese planes come to bomb Zhaozhuang, you will kill them. "

Captain Tian had been choking on this for a long time, and was just waiting to show off his skills, so he immediately said loudly:

"I promise to complete the task, and make his father unable to recognize his mother!"

Yue Qianli's defense was broken in an instant. He was indeed a professional artilleryman. His swear words were so skillful.

As an old brother whom he had known since the attack on the Marine Corps Headquarters, Yue Qianli spoke to him casually, patting him on the shoulder and saying:
"Brother, do your best. I'm counting on you!"

Tian Zhongbin always felt that Yue Qianli was driving, but he had no evidence. It was all because Chinese characters were too profound.

Yue Qianli left the anti-aircraft artillery company to the supplementary detachment to assist in the defense of Zhaozhuang, and then left with full confidence. He let Wang Jianfei and the supplementary detachment play with the Japanese first, while he himself took the main force of the column and hid in the mountains north of the Longhai Line.

The scene switches to the sky, where the commander of the 7th Flight Wing, Colonel Nobuhide Ishimoto, is not in a very good mood;
Other squadrons were sent to bomb important targets, but they were sent to bomb a small town. Even if he knew that the other party was Yue Qianli, he would not give him face. In the eyes of the flight squadron commander, a regiment commander of the army was nothing.

The target of his bombing should at least be the commander of the army group, or General Li. The air warriors have their own pride.

Soon the target appeared in their sights, and he received the task of bombing Zhaozhuang and Zhaojialing;

After discovering the target, it shook the fuselage a few times, passed the order to others, and then lowered the flight altitude so that it could hit the target more accurately.

As for the safety issue after lowering the flight altitude, he had never worried about it. The Chinese couldn't poke them down with bamboo poles.

In order to improve the efficiency of the bombing, the Japanese aircraft fleet was divided into two parts. Two squadrons of 24 aircraft including Colonel Ishimoto bombed Zhaozhuang, and the remaining squadron of 1 aircraft bombed Zhaojialing.

When the huge fleet of planes flew over the grove and rushed towards Zhaozhuang, the Japanese in the direction of Zhaojialing couldn't help but cheer.

"Itaya!"

"Sky Warrior Itaya!"

When Tian Zhongbin saw the enemy's fleet of aircraft appear, he shouted:

"Fire, damn it!"

(End of this chapter)