Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 235 We are not afraid of death, but we are afraid that future generations will forget us!
After a moment of contemplation, Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "Yes, that's true. In terms of overall strength, our troops are currently on par with the Japanese army."

"The only disadvantage may be in terms of manpower. Our logistics and industry are not enough to support us with more than 300,000 troops."

"Therefore, the only way to achieve victory is to focus on improving combat capabilities!"

------

Hata Detachment Command Post.

Shigeichi Hata hid inside the air-raid shelter, covered in dust and dirt. Looking down at the sand and dust covering his body, a deep sense of humiliation welled up in his heart.

Lieutenant Kawai Tadashi flinched, walked to the binoculars, squinted one eye, and observed the ground situation:
"Your Excellency, the ground bombing has ended!"

Shigeichi Hata shook off the sand and stood up: "Baka! You cunning Chinese, who exactly leaked the location of the command post?"

Before arriving at the Chinese battlefield, with the mindset of "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle", he conducted a very detailed investigation.

Upon learning that his opponent was Wang Feng, he immediately adjusted his battle strategy. In addition to some conventional practices, such as dispersing the artillery regiment and logistics support, he also set up a "fake" command post and assigned several communications soldiers to chat about daily life via telegram.

This was all to mislead Wang Feng and prevent a repeat of the mistakes of the 18th Division.

But to my surprise, despite all my precautions, only two days later, the SB-2 fast bomber flew overhead and quickly dropped all its bombs.

Fortunately, I was prepared and set up the command center at the entrance of the air defense fortification; otherwise, I would probably have died under the bombs like those staff officers who were unable to evacuate in time.

Shigeichi Hata secretly rejoiced: "Kawai-kun, there's an old Chinese saying that's quite true: always keep something in reserve!"

Kawai Tadashi: "Your Excellency is right!"
Shigeichi Hata frowned: "The command post is heavily guarded; Chinese spies simply cannot infiltrate it, if possible."

Kawai Masashi immediately said, "It's those idiots from the Navy!"

"Your Excellency, could it be that the Chinese intercepted the navy's radio communications?"

Shigeichi Hata: "I'm not sure. There's an old Chinese saying, 'A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit.' We must learn from this lesson and stop providing specific information to the Navy!"

The animosity between the Japanese Army and Navy had been brewing for a long time. Although the Third Fleet cooperated with the Hata Detachment in the landing operation, the two sides were not actually closely connected and each fought their own battles.

It was common for army soldiers to have already landed on the mudflats while gunboats on the river were still firing at the shore, resulting in frequent friendly fire incidents.

Even the Commander-in-Chief of the Operations, Shunroku Hata, could not directly issue orders to the Third Fleet; everything had to be discussed and agreed upon.

------

Frontline battlefield.

In the woods, a group of soldiers crouched low.

"Commander, the airport is just ahead!" a scout ran over and said in a low voice.

The 20th Army was originally stationed around Anqing and was very familiar with the location of the airport. There was no need for a large-scale search. Several main regiments blocked the Japanese army on the perimeter, while an elite regiment took the opportunity to pass through the gaps in the battlefield and directly approached the vicinity of the airport.

The 133rd Division's offensive line stretched for dozens of miles. The Japanese forces were relatively small, and with frequent troop movements, a gap appeared, making it incredibly easy to slip through.

The regimental commander took out his pocket watch, glanced at the time, and said, "Alright, First Battalion, take the explosives and lay them out immediately after you go in. Second Battalion, keep watch on the perimeter. Third Battalion, go and intercept the main force of the Japanese army!"

"action!"

"Move quickly!"

"Yes!"

The Sichuan Army was poorly equipped, and units below the regimental level were not provided with radios, so they had to rely on their own two feet to transmit information.

The messengers scattered and left.

The battalion commander squatted down and looked at the battle map spread out on the grass.

"The brothers on the outer perimeter are probably not going to hold out much longer. We only have one hour left, and we must end the battle as soon as possible!"

Chief of Staff: "Then what should we do? The airport runway is difficult to bomb." Battalion Commander: "Just blast a few craters in the runway. I think the main targets should be the hangars and fuel depots; those are easier to bomb!"

The chief of staff looked at the map, at the marker representing a military airfield: "Sigh, it wasn't easy to build that airfield, and now it's been blown up like this, what a pity."

Battalion Commander: "What other options do we have? We can't just leave it to the Japanese devils!"

Battalion Commander: "If only we were fighting in the Japanese devils' homeland, we wouldn't care how much bombing we got!"

Team leader: "Let's not talk about that now, let's get moving!"

The battalion commander stood up and walked towards his soldiers.

As the main force, the First Battalion was not far from the regimental headquarters. They had only walked a few steps when they encountered several company commanders.

Battalion Commander: "We're about to go into battle, what are you going to do?"
"Old Zhang, you've been leading the charge, you should go back and get ready!"

Company Commander Zhang knew time was of the essence, so he didn't waste any time and handed over a cloth bag: "Battalion Commander, this is the money that Commander Wang gave us a few days ago. All of our company's money is here."

"The airport is heavily guarded. The brothers know this mission is extremely dangerous. We'll leave the money with you first. After the war, you don't need to send it home. We can just find a place and erect a monument for everyone."

The other company commanders chimed in, "Yes, we'll leave the money with you first!"

The battalion commander was taken aback: "This..."

Company Commander Zhang: "Commander Wang was right that day. We soldiers may not live to see the victory. We just hope that after we drive the Japanese away, the younger generation won't forget us!"

The battalion commander initially wanted to refuse, but his hand seemed to move on its own, accepting the heavy money bag. After a brief hesitation:
"Don't say such discouraging things before the battle."

Company Commander Zhang smiled and said, "Our company is ready and can be deployed to battle at any time!"

------

Inside the forward command post.

Wang Feng rubbed his eyes and exited the overhead view.

The bombing of the naval fleet was a great success, and through the name tags on the tags, he learned the detailed results of the operation before the staff could.

The gunboat "Toba" sank, and the gunboat "Atake" caught fire on its aft deck. Although the fire was eventually extinguished, the raging flames spread to the engine room, and the warship has now completely lost power.

A major overhaul would take at least two months.

They are basically out of the running for further battles.

In addition, two minesweepers were sunk.

on the other hand.

The second provisional bombing squadron's operation also achieved good results. A heavy bomb landed directly on the head of the staff, and more than 80% of the staff officers were blown to pieces, so badly that they could not be pieced back together.

Wang Feng made a rough estimate.

At least three majors, two lieutenant colonels, and one colonel were killed in action.

Communication facilities were also destroyed, rendering the Hata Detachment Command Post virtually useless and ineffective.

The only pity was that the Japanese commander, Shigeichi Hata, escaped.

In addition, he also took a moment to look at the offensive at Anqing Airport.

A battalion of soldiers launched an attack, with Type 92 heavy machine guns on the tower firing relentlessly. Countless corpses littered the path of the charge.

The Sichuan Army troops, with their fearless spirit, stormed into the airport.

Destructive bombing then began.

(End of this chapter)