The war songs were thunderous, the motors roared, and the heroic airborne troops penetrated deep into the enemy's rear.
The umbrella flowers gleam with silver light, full of anger and hatred, and for the motherland and the nation, magic soldiers descend from the sky to fight.
To fulfill the soldier's oath, eliminate all invaders and send them all to hell!————"Kongchen Quotes*Song of the Paratroopers"
Time has arrived in mid-May unknowingly, and the climate in the south is gradually warming up. The hot sunshine is baking the ground, and even the hard-working coachmen are hiding in the shade to rest.
In the northern war situation, the Nanjing government's inaction and passive resistance worsened the situation in all aspects of the northern war situation. The Japanese dispatched troops from central China marched all the way, and the fastest Japanese 21st Division troops were already directly under Nanjing City.
As the Hainan Army repaired for more than half a month, the soldiers also regained their combat effectiveness. Perhaps inspired by the victory of the naval battle, they all held back their strength.
Therefore, the army's new stage combat plan was put on the agenda, and Li Weidong's command headquarters also issued a letter to prepare a plan for the northward campaign - Operation Thunder.
The wheel of history is rolling forward, and tragedy is what makes people remember and learn lessons. No one understands the consequences of the fall of Nanjing better than Li Weidong, and he cannot remain indifferent to watch this historical tragedy that has saddened countless people happen again.
This is a large-scale battle plan, which outlines the navy, army and air force. The troops participating in the battle have reached more than half of the total strength of the Hainan Army. It can even be said to be a battle of fate.
When this crazy plan came out, not only the military staff were shocked by the detailed calculation of the troop investment, but even Li Weidong, the person in charge of the plan, was secretly stunned.
Moreover, the plan also required the use of paratroopers. Their goal was to reach the Nanjing area from the mainland of Hainan Island via Fujian after a short period of repair, and seize the Zhenjiang Bridge in the east of Nanjing, thereby cutting off the connection between the Japanese troops in the south of the Yangtze River and the Japanese in North China.
The further strategic goal is to seize control of these bridges and take advantage of the unsteady Japanese foothold under Nanjing City to attack the Japanese divisions in the Danyang area with the Ningguo County First Field Army, while the navy will contain the Japanese troops stationed in the Yangtze River from the sea.
Squadron.
For this plan, the Hainan Army must invest at least two field armies, as well as tank brigades, air force parachute divisions and other units. The scale of the military operation plan is breathtaking, but it also gives the officers of the staff and logistics departments a headache
Endless.
The officers of the General Staff conducted the drill on the military sandbox over and over again, anticipating any difficulties and changes that might be encountered, and the distribution of troops was even calculated down to the infantry squad level units.
Statistics and mismatching are complicated tasks, and the logistics department needs to mobilize supplies day and night. Military supplies production orders fall into the hands of factory owners like snowflakes.
At the Hainan Army Headquarters, officers involved in the action plan are making final arrangements here.
"Adjutant Gao! Please introduce the situation captured by our military reconnaissance aircraft!" Chief of General Staff Ge Changming said at the beginning of the meeting.
After hearing this, Gao Yi immediately came to the white screen on the wall that was opened in front of the photo projector, and closed the curtains in the room. The light in the room suddenly seemed a little dim.
Soon, the projector produced a black and white photo on the screen. Judging from the picture, it can be seen that it was taken from a very high altitude. It was a bridge covered with ant-sized river-crossing troops.
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After adjusting the projector, Gao Yi pointed to the projected photo and said: "This is the Zhenjiang Bridge. The Japanese army captured it two months ago. The National Army troops stationed there ran away without firing a shot. The importance of the bridge cannot be overstated.
And it means that the Japanese troops in Shandong and other places in North China can cross the Yangtze River from here and join the battle in the South China theater. Therefore, its control can be said to be extremely important."
The entire operation can be divided into two parts: First, the combat mission of the airborne troops. More than 8,000 people from the First Airborne Paratrooper Division of our army are responsible for capturing the Zhenjiang Bridge and nearby areas.
Second, the ground forces, mainly the First and Second Field Armies of the Hainan Army, advanced all the way north, with the Hainan Army Tank Brigade as the vanguard to tear apart the Japanese left defense line and outflank the Japanese troops outside Nanjing.
However, the ideal is full, but at first it is skinny! The difficulty of completing this plan is no less than a full-scale counterattack.
The main test of this is the cooperation between the troops. After the Air Force paratroopers succeed, the ground tanks must tear apart the Japanese defense line and resist the Japanese retreat. If the timing is not grasped well, it is likely that the Air Force paratroopers will be trapped by the Japanese army.
.Therefore, Li Weidong was extremely cautious in this plan.
"General! The location of the First Field Army is in Xuancheng, which is 101 kilometers away from Zhenjiang in a straight line. Such a long distance is very difficult for the tank brigade, and it does not include various situations that will be encountered on the way!"
The major officer said that this issue must be considered.
The rivers in the south of the Yangtze River are crisscrossed and the water environment is complex. Between the station of the Hainan Army's First Field Army and the Zhenjiang Riverbank, the destination of the assault, multiple obstacles must be passed, including several river tributaries and lakes.
The goal of the entire operation is to capture the bridges across these waters at the same time. If the tank brigade encounters a bridge across a smaller river and cannot capture it, the engineer troops will need to build temporary bridges to pass through.
Regarding this issue, the commander of the First Army, Jiang Tao, has the most say. He explained: "The logistics problem of the tank brigade is not difficult. The 101st Division has completed the semi-mechanized replacement. With their coordinated cover,
The tank brigade's attack is not as difficult as imagined!"
All imaginable problems were put on the table, and the staff of the headquarters solved them one by one. When the meeting ended, the sky was already dark, and the group of people were already hungry and their stomachs were growling.
You can't eat a fat man in one breath, and launching a big battle can't be prepared in a short while. There is still a lot of work to be done.
"That's it for today! Dismissed!" Following Li Weidong's words, the officers in the headquarters stood up neatly.
"Yes! General!" everyone replied in unison.
——————————The dividing line before the storm——————————
On the night of May 17th, an Allied airborne formation consisting of 231 escort fighter jets and 154 transport aircraft took off from an airport in Hainan and flew to the Jiangsu area along two routes.
"Buzz...buzz...buzz...!" The noise of the engine reached the ears of the airborne troops. In the closed air flow environment, they could only squeeze into the canvas seats sweating.
Airborne combat means that they often have to be deployed in theaters behind enemy lines, and often cannot get supplies from their own side, so each person is covered with countless kinds of suspenders, magazine holsters, bullets... With a feeling of anxiety,
The victory of the battle was full of optimism.
"We are about to reach our destination. If you don't want to fall to death, check your parachute bags carefully!" In a Y-049 transport aircraft formation belonging to the 1st Airborne Division of the Hainan Army, the infantryman Shen Dongjing roared loudly, His voice even drowned out the noise of the plane.
The uniforms of the Hainan Army's airborne troops are different from the dark green of the Army, but a combination of lime gray and navy blue. The equipment was replaced with American M1 semi-automatic rifles because they could not airborne heavy weapons.
About five minutes after arriving, the sky outside the transport plane was filled with bursts of fire. It was the Japanese anti-aircraft guns that were firing. It was impossible for a huge fleet of aircraft to sneak past without making a sound under the eyes of the Japanese army.
"Woo...Chu...Woo..." The red warning light in the cabin flashed crazily, and a tense atmosphere began to spread. Some recruits couldn't help but sweat their palms.
"Relax, recruit! Just follow the instructions in training and you will land safely!" Shen Dongjing patted the shoulder of a slightly nervous recruit and said.
"Buzz...buzz...weng...!"
Soon, the sound of aircraft was heard in the northeast of the Hainan military aircraft group. A large number of Japanese fighter planes had also flown towards the transport aircraft group. It was estimated that it would not be long before they would be entangled with the escorting fighter formation.
The battle was extremely fierce, and the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery troops on the ground continued to fire into the sky. Several Hainan Army transport planes were hit, turning into bright fireballs in the night sky.
The pilot calmly and carefully judged the position. There was no ground reference at night, so he could only carry out airborne operations based on the calculated position.
"We have arrived at our destination, prepare to parachute!" the transport plane pilot shouted loudly.
"Operation begins, get out of the cabin!" Shen Dongjing ordered, stood up and opened the plane door, and suddenly the cold wind filled the entire belly of the plane.
Following the order, the airborne troops jumped out of the aircraft door one by one, tried their best to restrain their tumbling bodies in the air, and spread their bodies as wide as possible.
Because of the threat of anti-aircraft guns on the ground, to ensure the safety of the transport aircraft, airborne operations use high-altitude parachute jumps. The average skydiving height is 350 to 450 meters, so if you don't want to become a living target, don't open the parachute immediately after leaving the cabin.
As the altitude from the ground continued to change, the Japanese anti-aircraft guns in the parachute area continued to fire, but no one knew whether they were hit or not. However, there were also many unlucky guys who were killed by the Japanese army before they even landed on the ground.
It was windy at night, and the scattered umbrella flowers couldn't help but be blown away by the evening breeze. After landing, the Hainan Army airborne troops gathered as quickly as possible. They may not know each other, but they still separated the commanders based on their military ranks.
After Shen Dongjing landed, he quickly cut off the nylon rope of his parachute with a paratrooper's knife. He immediately searched for his comrades, and soon he was surrounded by more than a dozen Hainan Army airborne troops.
However, he only found three of the thirty members who were parachuting with him at the same time. One of the unlucky ones was actually hanging on a branch, and the rest of them didn't know where the night wind had taken them.
For Shen Dongjing, this was a strange place, and he could only roughly find the direction. Several people used the cover of roadside bushes to walk towards the meeting point, and they also found an airdrop supply box on the way.
"Sir! We found a weapons supply box! Ha... luckily, it's an M05 light machine gun!" One of the soldiers opened the supply box and exclaimed.
You must know that the biggest shortcoming of the airborne troops is the lack of heavy weapons, and having a light machine gun can greatly enhance their firepower.