Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Changzhi Airport, North China.

It is now the Air Force's first forward airfield.

At four o'clock in the morning, the darkness before dawn enveloped the earth, but the emergency lights on both sides of the airport runway were already lit, with two rows of straight beams of light stretching to the end of the dark night sky.

On the tarmac, dozens of B-25 Mitchell medium bombers have completed their final bomb loading operations.

Ground crew, like industrious worker bees, were conducting final checks on these massive warplanes, the air thick with the pungent smell of high-octane aviation fuel.

The rudimentary flight briefing room was filled with smoke.

Liu Zhenting, the captain of the First Brigade, stood in front of the blackboard and forcefully stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette in his hand.

His eyes were bloodshot, but his gaze was frighteningly bright.

In front of him sat dozens of pilots, navigators, and bombardiers who were about to take off.

They were all young, with youthful faces, but each of their eyes were as steady as a rock.

They are the nation's most elite crew members, each a pillar of the country.

"Brothers, put out your cigarettes and listen to me!"

Liu Zhenting's voice was somewhat hoarse, but extremely penetrating.

He picked up the chalk and drew a thick line heavily on the blackboard; that was the Yellow River.

Then he drew an "工"-shaped symbol, which spanned across the thick line.

"I don't need to say more, you should all have heard the news."

"The Yellow River Luokou Iron Bridge".

"Just now, Director Zhou called and said that Chief Consultant Chu has given a death order!"

Liu Zhenting turned around abruptly, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces like a blade: "Two divisions of the Kwantung Army are rushing towards this bridge by train!"

"If we let them cross the river, our main combat troops in Liaocheng will face the desperate situation of being attacked from the flank, and our fourth phase of the North China counter-offensive will also fail."

"This battle is not an ordinary, routine mission; it's to shut down the back door for our brothers on the ground!"

The audience was completely silent, with only heavy breathing.

Liu Zhenting abruptly changed the subject, his tone becoming unusually serious: "This mission is difficult! Extremely difficult!"

"First, this is an emergency mission. We don't have detailed aerial reconnaissance photos of the bridge, nor do we have ground guides to instruct us on the target, or even weather data. But we can expect that tomorrow should be a sunny day."

"Secondly, the Japanese aren't stupid. This bridge is a vital passage, and there must be dense anti-aircraft artillery positions deployed around it. We don't have fighter jets to suppress the anti-aircraft fire beforehand, which means we have to withstand the Japanese artillery fire and drop bombs on the bridge piers!"

"Are you scared?!"

Liu Zhenting roared.

"Not afraid!"

Dozens of throats simultaneously erupted in thunderous roars, shaking dust from the rooftops.

"Okay! I have the guts!"

Liu Zhenting nodded, his expression softening slightly, yet still carrying a resolute air of facing certain death: "Although we lack guidance and photos, we still have our advantages!"

"The Yellow River is as wide as the sea, and the iron bridge is as long as a dragon!"

"As long as you're not blind, you can see it at a glance once you fly to the Yellow River!"

"This time, we need low-altitude bombing."

Liu Zhenting stretched out his hand and made an extremely dangerous dive signal: "Everyone, fly strictly according to formation. This time, we're going to risk our lives!"

"Low-altitude entry, close-range bombing!"

"Reduce the altitude to 500 meters! Or even 300 meters!"

"As long as it doesn't hit the bridge surface, crush it as hard as you can!"

"Even if it means scraping the roof of the Japanese trains with our wings, we must drop the bombs precisely on the bridges!"

We only have one chance!

"If we miss it, the Japanese train will have crossed the river!"

At this point, Liu Zhenting paused, his gaze lingering on each of the young faces.

"I know that some of them might not come back after this trip."

"But I tell you, our Air Force is the pride of heaven, the children of the nation's mother, and the nation's martyrs."

"The brothers on the ground are fighting with bayonets and bleeding."

"Even if we turn ourselves into bombs, we'll smash that bridge to pieces while we're in the sky!"

"Do you have confidence?!"

"Have!!"

A young bombardier stood up, adjusted his flight cap, and smiled nonchalantly: "Captain (who was promoted after the last mission), you can rest assured!"

"This big iron bridge is so conspicuous. If it's blown off course, I'll gouge out my own eyes and stomp on them!"

"Correct!"

"Our B-25s are tough and resilient. As long as we can blow up the bridge, a few tons of iron are no big deal!"

Another pilot loudly echoed, "To be able to sacrifice for one's country is a worthy death!"

There was no fear, no retreat.

This is the Chinese Air Force today.

Having endured countless trials of blood and fire, they are no longer the weak and vulnerable team that was once bullied by everyone.

They have the best planes, and even more importantly, the toughest bones!

"it is good!"

Liu Zhenting put on his flight gloves and suddenly waved his hand:

"Everyone, make final preparations!"

"Yes!"

After half an hour.

With a deafening roar of engines, dozens of B-25 bombers loaded with heavy bombs taxied off the runway. Under their wings lay not only steel and gunpowder, but also the balance of power in the entire North China battlefield.

Like a flock of vengeful black eagles, they soared towards the rushing Yellow River and the iron bridge that determined the fate of countless people, meeting the dawn's first light.

An hour and a half later.

The northern approach bridge section of the Luokou Bridge on the Yellow River, part of the Jinpu Railway.

The train's monotonous clattering rhythm echoed like a tireless hypnotist in the twilight of dawn.

This military train, fully loaded with the vanguard infantry regiment of the 29th Division of the Kwantung Army, had been speeding along the tracks for two days and one night.

Inside the stuffy freight car, the air was foul and stagnant, a mixture of foot odor, sweat, and the musty smell of someone who hadn't showered in a long time.

The soldiers were crammed together like sardines, swaying and bobbing with the swaying of the train.

Near the ventilation window, Private First Class Tanaka hunched his shoulders, clutching his Type 38 rifle, his eyelids heavy as if weighed down by lead.

How much longer until it stops?

Tanaka muttered, his voice revealing undisguised exhaustion and annoyance: "We've been traveling all the way from Fengtian to now, my bones are practically falling apart. Didn't we say we needed to rest?"

"Why are you setting off again so soon?"

Sitting opposite him was Corporal Yamamoto, a veteran who had participated in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.

He laboriously pulled a flattened pack of "Golden Kite" cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, took a deep drag, and exhaled a puff of bluish smoke: "Resting?"

Yamamoto sneered, seemingly very dissatisfied with his superior's orders: "The front lines are in complete chaos, how can we possibly have time to rest?"

“But, Corporal,” Tanaka’s eyes showed a hint of confusion, “aren’t we the Kwantung Army?”

"Shouldn't we be guarding against the Soviets in Manchuria?"

Why did we come all the way to North China, a region we're not familiar with?

"I heard that the Chinese army here is very powerful; they almost wiped out the entire 8th Division."

"Shut up!"

Yamamoto whispered a rebuke, but it wasn't too harsh; only a barely perceptible fear flashed in his eyes: "If the military police heard you say that, how many heads do you have to have them shoot you?"

A brief silence fell over the carriage.

After a long while, Yamamoto lowered his voice, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to Tanaka:
"What locust army flower, what elite force. It's all a lie."

“I spent five years in Manchuria and watched as batches of veterans were transferred to the Pacific Ocean and to the southern islands, and then never came back.”

"Now even troops like us who stayed behind are being pulled in to fill the gaps."

Yamamoto stared blankly at the cigarette butt burning out in his hand: "This war is never over."

"Tanaka, I just want to go back to my hometown. I want to see my three-year-old daughter."

Tanaka buried his head in his knees, his voice choked with emotion: "I want to farm, I want to eat the rice balls my family makes."

Most of the soldiers around were asleep, and even those who were awake had blank stares, like a group of soulless shells being transported to the incinerator called the battlefield.

Just then, the train slowed down noticeably.

"Guangji, Guangji—moreover—"

The sound of wheels hitting the rails became dull and hollow.

"We've reached the bridge." Yamamoto peeked out through the gap: "The Yellow River is below. After crossing this bridge, we'll reach Jinan, the center of the battlefield. The Chinese haven't reached this side yet."

Tanaka looked up, just about to catch a glimpse of the legendary Yellow River.

Sudden.

A strange, low humming sound, drowning out the sound of the train moving, came from overhead.

The sound grew louder and closer until it became a deafening roar that ripped through eardrums.

Tanaka asked, bewildered, "What was that sound?"

Yamamoto's face turned deathly pale instantly. He lunged towards the window and looked up at the sky. The clouds had been torn apart.

Dozens of black crosses, accompanied by piercing shrieks, swooped down from thousands of meters in the sky. The menacing shark mouth paint below the nose looked particularly terrifying in the morning light.

"Enemy attack! Air raid—!!!"

Yamamoto's roar was swallowed up by a huge explosion before it could be fully uttered.

"Woo--Woo--"

That moment.

The bomber piloted by Liu Zhenting had descended to a height of less than 300 meters above the bridge surface.

Through the sights, the Japanese army train, which slithered like a long snake on the iron bridge, was clearly visible.

"bomb!"

The hook under the fuselage is loosened.

Two 500-pound aerial bombs, burning with the fury of revenge, hurtled down.

Immediately afterwards, the subsequent bomber groups followed suit, raining down bombs on the steel behemoth.

"Boom!!!"

The first bomb landed on a flatcar in the middle of the train.
A violent secondary explosion occurred instantly, and a ball of orange-red fire shot into the air, tearing the entire carriage and the dozens of Japanese soldiers on it to pieces. This was clearly a freight carriage loaded with ammunition.

Then, an even more devastating blow came.

Several heavy aerial bombs accurately struck the bridge's steel frame structure and piers.

With a tooth-grinding metallic clang and a deafening roar, the bridge that had stood over the Yellow River for more than 30 years, and which had been repaired twice by the Japanese army, let out its final lament.

To Tanaka and Yamamoto's utter horror, the sky and the river surface reversed.

The immense centrifugal force tossed the soldiers inside the carriage around like beans.

Clearly, the rail in front of the carriage suddenly broke.
"Do not--!!!"

Tanaka let out his last scream.

next second.

The train locomotive, weighing hundreds of tons, dragged long carriages along with the broken bridge steel frame, plunging headfirst into the turbulent, muddy Yellow River like a dead snake with its spine broken.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

A huge column of water shot into the sky, creating waves tens of meters high.

The icy river water instantly filled the carriage, drowning out all fear, war-weariness, and homesickness.

For these Kwantung Army soldiers who had just set foot on North China soil, their war had ended before it even began, amidst the roar of the Yellow River.

In the sky.

The B-25 fleet pulled up its noses and proudly returned to base amidst a cloud of black smoke and flames.

Below, at the gap in the broken bridge, only the surging Yellow River flows eastward, carrying away all evil and ambition.
North China, Frontline Command Headquarters.

Before I knew it, the sky outside the window was already turning a pale white.

The clock on the wall pointed to six in the morning.

For most people, this is the start of a new day.

But for Chu Yunfei, it was just another long night.

He didn't sleep a wink all night, and the ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts—not his, of course, but those of the staff officers on duty.

Chu Yunfei was inhaling secondhand smoke, yet he remained incredibly energetic.

He had already processed most of the mountain of battle reports and telegrams requesting instructions piled up on his desk.

But he still couldn't fall asleep.

Chu Yunfei's gaze remained fixed like a nail on the black line on the map that represented the northern section of Jinpu Road.

"Your Excellency."

Fang Ligong brought over two glasses of warm water. Looking at Chu Yunfei's bloodshot eyes, he gently advised, "Go and take a nap. If there's any news from the Air Force, I'll wake you up immediately."

"can not fall asleep."

Chu Yunfei took the teacup, took a sip, and the slightly bitter goji berry water stimulated his nerves: "The vanguard of the 29th Division of the Kwantung Army is like a thorn stuck in my throat."

"According to Qian Bojun's final reconnaissance report, their vanguard armored train was less than 30 kilometers away from the Luokou Bridge."

"If you calculate the time, it will be within the next one or two hours."

Chu Yunfei put down his teacup and drew a heavy line along the Yellow River on the map with his finger: "This is a race against time."

"Your Excellency."

Fang Ligong pondered for a moment and analyzed, "Actually, even if the interception fails, or only part of it is destroyed, allowing the vanguard of the Japanese, such as a regiment, to cross the river, the impact on the Jinan battle should be within a controllable range, right?"

"After all, Xue Jie's 88th Group Army has already completed a semi-encirclement of Jinan, and our armored forces are also eyeing it covetously."

“Brother Ligong, it’s not the same thing.”

Chu Yunfei shook his head, his gaze deep: "If we let a regiment in, it would be like adding a ladle of cold water to a pot of boiling oil in Jinan. It will cause an explosion. We would have to pay the price of several thousand more brothers' casualties to wipe them out, but the strategic situation is more important."

Chu Yunfei pointed to the Cangzhou-Tianjin line in the north of the map: "If the bridge is destroyed, tens of thousands of elite troops from the Kwantung Army's 29th and 57th Divisions will be stuck on the north bank of the Yellow River."

"If they can't get through, Jinan will be an isolated city. The 12th Army of Tuqiao Yici in that area will have no choice but to surrender or die."

"but."

Chu Yunfei changed the subject, pointing his finger to the area further north, which was the operational area of ​​Qian Bojun's Sixth Army Group.

"In this way, all the pressure will be shifted to Bojun."

Upon hearing this, Fang Ligong's heart skipped a beat. Looking at the map, he suddenly realized: "You mean, if the Kwantung Army cannot advance south, they will pile up in the Hebei Plain and then turn their guns on the Sixth Army?"

"Yes."

Chu Yunfei nodded: "That's why before we made contact, I suspected that Bo Jun had taken it upon himself to deliberately release some of the Japanese soldiers, but after we made contact, judging from Bo Jun's battle report, it was indeed not his fault."

"Judging from the battle just now, the Japanese are not stupid. Since they have no way to advance south, in order to ensure the safety of the capital region, they will definitely concentrate their forces to deal with the threat on their flank first."

"At that time, Qian Bojun's sixth episode will not only face the existing Japanese garrison, but also the two main divisions of the Kwantung Army that have been driven crazy by the pressure."

Fang Ligong sighed: "Then Brother Bojun's days are probably going to be tough."

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Chu Yunfei stood with his hands behind his back, his voice as cold and hard as iron: "A merciful person cannot command an army."

"In order to capture Jinan, to recover central Shandong, and to achieve victory in the entire North China campaign, the northern front must bear this pressure."

“I trust Bojun. He’s been with me for fifteen years and has always been a strong performer. His learning ability is no less than Sun Ming’s.”

"Give him enough ammunition and enough trust, and he will be able to unleash unimaginable power."

"Moreover, as long as we act quickly enough and take Quancheng, even if the northern offensive fails, we can still march south and then we can attack the Japanese army in northern Jiangsu from both sides."

While the two were talking.

Suddenly, a series of hurried and disordered footsteps came from the doorway.

Li Jingzhong practically stormed into the operations room, waving the still-warm telegram in his hand. His face was flushed with extreme excitement, and even his voice trembled.

"Your Excellency!"

"Your Excellency!"

"Urgent telegram from the Air Force!"

"Breaking news!"

Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong turned around at the same time, their eyes fixed on the piece of paper in Li Jingzhong's hand.

"Read!"

Chu Yunfei shouted.

"With Squadron Leader Liu Zhenting personally leading the way, our Air Force's B-25 bomber group successfully broke through the airspace above the Yellow River Luokou Bridge this morning!"

Li Jingzhong took a deep breath and shouted, "The bomb hit its target precisely! The third and fourth spans of the bridge have completely broken, and the bridge deck has collapsed!"

"Most importantly, it is said that when the bombing occurred, a Japanese military train fully loaded with troops and heavy equipment was crossing the bridge!"

"After repeated low-altitude confirmation by reconnaissance aircraft, the train plunged into the Yellow River along with the bridge! The vanguard of the Japanese army was completely annihilated!"

"It is estimated that over a thousand enemy soldiers were killed. As for the amount of Japanese material losses, it is currently impossible to calculate."

"it is good!!!"

Fang Ligong suddenly clenched his fist and excitedly spun around on the spot: "Let's blow up the bridge and everyone else!"

"It's like God is helping us!"

"Now let's see how Okamura Neiji will save Izumi City!"

Chu Yunfei's nerves, which had been tense all night, finally relaxed completely at this moment.

He took the telegram, and as he looked at the lines of text that made his blood boil, the slight curve on his lips finally turned into a hearty smile.

"The best-case scenario has occurred."

Chu Yunfei slammed the telegram on the table, as if shattering the Japanese army's last hope:

"Give me the order!"

Chu Yunfei's gaze was like lightning, and his voice was like a booming bell:

"Immediately notify the entire army!"

"Tell all the brothers that the Japanese reinforcements have already been fed to the Yellow River turtles!"

"Order Xue Jie, Tang Huaiyuan, and Sun Weiru's three divisions to launch a full-scale attack!"

"According to the original battle plan, launch an attack on Jinan, Tai'an, and all surrounding strongholds at all costs!" (End of Chapter)