You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

"What?!"

Terauchi Hisaichi suddenly stood up, knocking over the teacup in front of him.

Tea spilled all over the table, but he didn't bother to wipe it up.

He rushed to the huge map on the wall of the operations room.

His eyes quickly searched the map.

Zhibo, Dongying.

These two locations are south of the Yellow River and are among the closest field airfields to the Weifang front.

However, the line of fire between the enemy and our side marked on the map is currently still at the Weifangcheng line.

The straight-line distance between Zhibo and Dongying airports is more than 50 kilometers!

"Baka!"

Terauchi Hisaichi grabbed the major staff officer by the collar and roared:

Are you crazy?

"At a distance of fifty kilometers, have the enemy's artillery grown wings? How could they possibly reach our airfield?!"

The major, struggling to breathe, stammered as he answered:

"Your Excellency Commander, it is absolutely true."

Reports from the front lines indicate that the falling shells have extremely large calibers and explosive power.

That's definitely a heavy artillery piece!

Many of our planes were destroyed on the runway before they even had a chance to take off.

Terauchi Hisaichi loosened his grip and slumped back two steps.

A range of fifty kilometers.

This exceeds the limits of all conventional army field artillery.

Could it be a naval gun?

Impossible, that's inland, warships can't get in there at all.

A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through Terauchi Hisaichi's mind.

Railway gun!

The super cannon in Lin Feng's hand that once displayed its might in the battle to annihilate the 5th Division!

-----

Outside Weifang City, along the Jiaoji Railway.

The K5 railway gun has been fully deployed again and is ready for combat.

In fact, Lin Feng had already noticed the changes in the Japanese air force's tactics.

The Japanese no longer concentrated large groups of aircraft, but instead dispersed their planes to several field airfields near the front lines.

Each airport only has a dozen or so fighter jets.

Taking advantage of proximity, they take off frequently to wage a war of attrition.

This tactic did indeed cause considerable trouble for the 33rd Army Corps' air force.

But the Japanese soldiers, despite their meticulous planning, overlooked one thing.

Lin Feng possessed a K5 railway gun.

This 283mm steel behemoth has a maximum range of 62 kilometers when firing a standard high-explosive shell.

If a specially designed rocket-assisted projectile is used, the range can reach a terrifying 86 kilometers.

A distance of fifty or sixty kilometers is well within the optimal firing range for the K5.

Lin Feng then ordered the workers at Sifang Locomotive Factory to work through the night.

Working with engineering troops, they repaired another huge circular track on a flat section of the Jiaoji Railway.

Once the K5 railway gun is mounted on the circular track, it can perform 360-degree omnidirectional aiming.

"boom--!!!"

A deafening roar resounded.

A huge blast of air swept around, even flattening the weeds on the high ground.

The 21-meter-long barrel of the K5 railway gun suddenly retracted.

A rocket-assisted high-explosive warhead weighing 250 kilograms roared out of the barrel.

After the shell traveled a certain distance in the air, the rocket engine at the tail ignited.

Trailing a long tail, it headed straight for the Japanese field airfield dozens of kilometers away.

A field airfield near Zhibo.

Japanese ground crew were frantically refueling and loading ammunition belts onto several Type 97 fighter planes.

The pilots had just swallowed their issued "assault pills" and were preparing to board the plane.

A terrifying tearing sound suddenly came from the sky.

"Boom!"

A 283mm high-explosive shell struck the center of the airport runway.

The earth trembled violently.

A huge crater, several meters in diameter and several meters deep, was formed instantly.

Tons of soil and gravel were thrown high into the air and then fell like hail.

The two Type 97 fighter jets parked near the runway were torn to pieces by the violent shockwave.

The aviation fuel was ignited, triggering a violent secondary explosion.

Flames shot into the sky, and thick smoke billowed.

"Run! Get off the track!"

The Japanese officer shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The K5 railway gun maintained a steady rate of fire of one round every eight minutes, blasting heavy shells into the Japanese airfield.

A temporary hangar collapsed, and a fire broke out in a warehouse area filled with fuel.

Those Japanese pilots who had just taken psychiatric drugs and were preparing to take off and fight to the death were blown to pieces before they could even touch the control stick.

The bombardment by the railway artillery had just ended.

The muffled roar of two engines echoed through the sky once more.

Several HE-111 bombers appeared in neat formation over the airport.

The bomb bay under the fuselage is opened.

Dense aerial bombs rained down like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

This time, the bombers' targets were not only the airport, but also the nearby train station and railway line.

The continuous explosions completely destroyed the Japanese army's logistics hub.

The railway tracks were blown up, and the carriages filled with aviation fuel and ammunition were engulfed in flames.

Next, several field airfields deployed by the Japanese at the front lines were completely paralyzed.

Or it would have been blown away by a 283mm heavy artillery shell.

Either because the train stations and railways were destroyed, fuel and ammunition could not be transported, and the remaining planes became scrap metal lying in their nests.

Terauchi Hisaichi's meticulously planned attrition tactics quickly became a complete joke in the face of the Thirty-Third Army's overwhelming heavy firepower.

-----

A few days later, in the operations command room of the 33rd Army Corps headquarters.

The telegraph machine kept ticking.

Staff officers, carrying red and blue pencils and various indicators, moved quickly between the huge sand table and the military maps on the walls, constantly updating the latest enemy and friendly situation at the front.

Lin Feng stood in front of the sand table, holding a handful of freshly picked dates in his hand. Every now and then, he would pick one up and pop it into his mouth.

At this moment, a staff officer, holding a newly translated urgent battle report, strode over to Lin Feng's side.

"Your Excellency, here is the latest battle report from the Weifang front."

The staff officer handed over the battle report with a hint of surprise in his voice.

Lin Feng took the battle report and quickly scanned its contents.

A look of surprise appeared on his previously calm face.

"They withdrew?"

Lin Feng put down the battle report and his gaze fell on Weifang City on the sand table.

According to his previous analysis, Weifang, as an absolute transportation hub on the Jiaoji Railway line, has an extremely important strategic position.

Since the Japanese 114th Division had dug so many fortifications outside the city and also breached residential buildings inside the city in preparation for street fighting.

This clearly indicates a determination to hold out to the bitter end, using a meat grinder tactic within the city to wear down the Great Xia army's manpower.

Lin Feng had even mentally prepared himself for a fierce battle.

He mobilized combat engineer battalions, dispatched flamethrower units, and even brought 150mm self-propelled heavy infantry guns into the city.

They were just waiting for the newly formed 15th Division and the 1st Honorary Brigade's armored forces to complete their flanking maneuver.

Once the encirclement is complete, he can close the door and beat the enemy, slowly dealing with the Japanese garrison inside the city.

The result was unexpected by everyone.

When the commander of the Japanese 114th Division, Shigeharu Suematsu, discovered that the Otsuka armored forces had appeared on his flank and that there was a risk of being completely encircled, Suematsu discovered the situation.

There was not the slightest hesitation or dragging things out.

He decisively ordered the abandonment of Weifang City.

Under the cover of artillery fire from the 106th Division, the main force of the 114th Division quickly boarded the trains and trucks that had been prepared in advance.

They retreated westward overnight.

They retreated directly to the Zhibo area west of Weifang, and the surrounding mountainous region with its complex terrain.

They completely relinquished the vast, flat, and fertile Jiaolai Plain.