Chapter 1413 First arrival at Shipai! (Please vote for me!)
The eight Wildcat fighter jets returning home had not even seen the shadow of the airport when they received a notification from the ground that the fleet had been attacked by Japanese aircraft.
Return to the ground to refill fuel and fly to the previous fleet position, which will be at least an hour and a half later.
For air force pilots, they basically have a mentality of doing everything they can to obey fate. No one would think that a fleet carrying the army can survive the attack of fighter jets with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour until they arrive.
The Air Force Command had even prepared a report in advance that the fleet was attacked by Japanese planes and suffered heavy losses, but the escort fleet did not participate in the battle. Moreover, they also realized that there must be something going on inside, otherwise how could the Japanese planes capture the escort aircraft so accurately?
Time for the fleet to return?
After receiving the news, Minister He also sat in the office with a gloomy expression. He was confident in the land combat capabilities of Tang Dao and the Four Lines Regiment, but this was after all on the water. No matter how powerful the army was, it could not achieve even 10% of its success.
At a loss.
Almost all Chinese soldiers who received the news that Japanese planes appeared over the transport fleet were already prepared for an elite infantry regiment to disappear from the organization.
However, when eight fighter jets roared over the fleet still sailing on the Yangtze River, they were surprised to find that the entire fleet was sailing normally on the river as if nothing had happened, and at least downstream within this hour and a half.
The direction continued for another 20 kilometers.
This was not different from the tragic scene as imagined, but very different. The Chinese pilots were completely confused and circled the fleet at least three times to confirm.
"Squadron leader, I have counted, there are 43 ships in total, not one missing!" An air force second lieutenant reported to his squadron leader after confirming it at least twice.
"Could it be that they were Japanese reconnaissance planes, but the number was slightly larger?" A Chinese Air Force captain with rich combat experience could only give this reason.
But obviously, he didn't believe this reason himself.
Even the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft, seeing such a huge fleet with no air defense at all, would not hesitate to lower their altitude and shoot with their airborne machine guns. This has been the norm since the Japanese occupation of Jiangxia.
So what was the reason that made the Japanese planes give up attacking the convoy? Eight escorting Wildcat fighter jets circled and searched the area around the convoy for nearly an hour, and then returned after judging that the Japanese planes would not come again.
It wasn't until they returned to the airport that they received the news that petrified them on the spot.
The four invading Japanese Zero fighter jets were all shot down by anti-aircraft machine guns deployed by the fleet.
I’m afraid the Japanese are not big fools!
A high-speed advancing fighter plane was actually shot down by an anti-aircraft machine gun coming from the water? If this information had not been conveyed by their major group leader, I am afraid that the Chinese pilots would have told him that this was a good joke and he should not tell it next time.
.
This incredible news was soon confirmed. In the surrounding mountainous areas where the fleet was sailing, people had already seen the burning wreckage of the plane in the valley. Without any battle reports of the loss of Chinese fighter planes, it could only be the Japanese.
of the plane.
What kind of force was that? New questions quickly replaced the pilots' previous doubts about why the Japanese planes did not attack.
It was not until after the Battle of Shipai that the numbers of the four regiments participating in the battle were revealed to the world, and the doubts of the Chinese Air Force pilots were finally answered.
It turned out to be the world-famous Four Elements Group, so that was normal.
As for the Japanese navy, they waited for their four fighter planes to return. It was already noon when they realized that something had happened to the four fighter planes that were attacking the fleet.
Damn the Chinese Air Force! Damn the Americans! Apart from the Chinese Air Force who can shoot down the Imperial Navy's eagle, the angry Japanese Navy Colonel Air Wing Commander in Jiangxia can no longer find anyone else.
The reason why the Chinese Air Force can do all this is naturally due to the latest fighters sold to them by the Americans.
The commander of the Japanese Naval Air Wing, who was about to send out 12 fighter jets to compete with the Chinese Air Force again, canceled the military order just before the fighter jets were filled with fuel and drove onto the runway.
The reason is simple. The three Chinese military airports stationed in Sichuan Province have seen a sudden increase in the number of transport trucks, which often heralds major operations by the Chinese Air Force.
The Chinese Air Force is weak, but it is as weak as a bee, but it also has a tail sting that stings people to the point of ecstasy!
In the past two years, the Japanese navy and army have continued to bombard Chinese army positions and several important cities indiscriminately. Although the role of the Chinese air force is mainly for defense, they also have long-range bombings of Japanese-occupied airports.
Especially after the big bombing in August 1940, the Chinese successfully used the new fighter planes sold by the United States to ambush the Japanese Navy's bomber group and escort aircraft group. The Chinese Air Force attacked frequently. If you bomb me, I will have to pay back how much money I have.
A bomb is given to you, which will bring mutual harm to the extreme.
The bombing of Jiangxia Airport in early December left a lingering shadow for the Japanese naval aviation. Taking advantage of the foggy weather cover, six Wildcat fighter jets carrying 500 pounds of aerial bombs rushed over Jiangxia Airport and destroyed at least two heavy bombs.
Bombs and five incendiary bombs were dropped near the pilot's rest area.
When the bodies of one lieutenant colonel, three majors, and 14 lieutenant pilots were dug out from the rubble, they all smelled!
The smell of barbecue!
The fighter planes parked on the runway were also destroyed and 13 were injured!
What the Chinese once failed to accomplish even after spending hundreds of fighter planes, they now accomplish it with just a few bombs.
The Japanese army has strengthened its intelligence penetration near the Chinese airport. With this omen, the furious Japanese naval commander could only put aside revenge and focus on his own air defense.
Perhaps this was the closest the Japanese came to severely damaging the Four Elements Group, and the cost was not too high, but because of an excellent feint on the part of the Chinese, the Japanese lost this opportunity.
That night, the fleet finally arrived at the port of Shipai Fortress. According to the previously formulated plan, personnel and horses were the first to log on to the river bank, followed by the air defense battalion, and finally various equipment and supplies.
Before arriving, the headquarters of the Fourth Army Regiment contacted the headquarters of the 18th Army, which also responded with a message to express welcome and informed the Fourth Army Regiment that after arriving at Shipai, all defenses would be commanded by the 11th Division Headquarters.
The 11th Division of the 18th Army stationed at Shipai Fortress sent a major general brigade commander to contact the fleet after it docked, and sent an infantry battalion to assist the Four Lines Regiment in landing and temporarily stationed in the valley.
This was all preparation for the air defense during the day the next day. We were already here, and the personnel and materials were crowded on the narrow river bank and then bombed by Japanese planes. It was really a pity.
The division commander surnamed Hu obviously attached great importance to the arrival of the Four Elements Regiment. Using a major general from the main brigade to greet Colonel Tang Dao was obviously a high standard.
However, maybe it was already 11 o'clock in the night, and the major general had already fallen asleep, or maybe the mountains were high and the road was dangerous, so it would take time to get here. After the fleet docked, there was no one else at the scene except the company commander of the 11th Division.
Tang Dao simply stopped waiting and started unloading supplies.
Originally, the major general and brigade commander had some complaints about a dignified major general coming to greet an army colonel who was one level below him. However, not long after arriving at the scene, the army major general's eyes showed no dissatisfaction except awe.
He knew the composition of the Special Forces Regiment of the Si Xing Regiment, which had as many as 5,000 troops, almost as much as his main brigade.
But as a top student from Huangpu and an elite infantry brigade commander in the war zone, he knew that whether he could win a battle did not depend on the number of people.
If we talk about the large number of people, in the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Xuzhou, and the Battle of Jiangxia, wouldn't China have twice the advantage against the enemy in that battle, and wouldn't the final result be a defeat?
Whether an army has combat effectiveness depends solely on military discipline.
Thousands of people and thousands of pack horses disembarked from the ship, and the sound of people screaming and horses neighing could be heard from miles away?
But as the Army Major General walked along, he heard very little noise. When he was still two miles away from the dock, he was even interrogated by a sentry.
If it was from the 11th Division, then that would be fine. It meant that the 11th Division was strict in managing the army. But what shocked the Army Major General was that the checkpoint with the open and hidden sentries actually belonged to the Si Xing Regiment.
After listening to his guards announce their identities and check their documents, they let him go politely.
As for the checkpoint of the 11th Division, we didn't encounter it until we walked two to three hundred meters. When we saw him, we didn't even check his ID. We immediately saluted him respectfully and moved the roadblock to let him go.
Normally, this would be nothing. After all, he was wearing a major general's uniform and had a guard. Almost no one had ever stopped him in the 11th Division's defense area, and he had long been used to it.
But now such a comparison makes the judgment clear. The Four Elements Group doesn't care what uniform you wear, everything follows the rules.
Although there was a guard platoon with submachine guns next to the Army Major General, the Army Major General clearly felt that there were more than just the five or six soldiers with live ammunition at the temporary checkpoint. There were at least ten people hiding on the hillside in the darkness.
Whenever attacked, those muzzles hidden in the darkness will surely spit out deadly flames without hesitation.
Don't ask the Army Major General how he knew this. It was the intuition of a veteran who has been in the army for more than 15 years.
After graduating from Whampoa Military Academy, this major general worked his way up from platoon leader to company commander, battalion commander, regimental chief of staff, deputy regimental commander, and regimental commander. It was not until the second year after the war started that he was promoted to the rank of commander due to his outstanding military exploits.
Major General Brigadier.
Even though he is already a distinguished general now, if he were to pick up his gun and fight the Japanese, he would be no weaker than those elite soldiers.
This veteran's judgment was indeed correct. The mountain infantry company that first landed sent 6 infantry squads to the periphery of the landing site, extending another 300 meters in front of the original checkpoint of the 11th Division to guard the entire regiment.
The reason why it is not farther is that the contact with the 11th Division has not been completed yet. In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, we did not do this. Otherwise, the mountain infantry company will extend outward at least 5 miles to avoid being mortared in the area where supplies are being unloaded.
Artillery bombardment.
In an infantry squad, except for the five soldiers led by the squad leader who were exposed, the other 10 people, including precision shooters, machine gunners, and mortar operators, were all hidden in a temporary fortification 50 meters away from the checkpoint.
If attacked, the 10 soldiers occupying the commanding heights are fully confident that they can block and repel an infantry platoon-level enemy.
This Army Major General is very disciplined. After first checking the certificate handed over by the squad leader of the Mountain Infantry Company, he also reported his military position and showed his certificate. Otherwise, let alone a Major General, he is just a major general.
Even if Master Hu himself came, they could not force their way through the checkpoint.
"You go pick up Tang Dao and see if the Four Elements Regiment is as strong as the legend says. If the reputation is greater than the strength, you can just be responsible for receiving them. As for the distribution of defense zones, let them be responsible for the outer perimeter, which will be the main force of our division.
Replace it." The major general brigade commander remembered the explanation given to him by the proud division commander before leaving, and his heart began to beat.
The ancients said: You know what you are doing! Just a small checkpoint in the Si Xing Regiment has already shown such strict military discipline. You can imagine what kind of army their whole regiment is.
After passing two checkpoints in succession, the Major General Brigadier arrived at the dock.
At this time, the major general and brigade commander took a deep breath.
The dock was already brightly lit, and the major general brigade commander walking from the mountain path could see at a glance the small dock that usually could only accommodate a thousand people and dozens of tons of supplies.
Just thinking about the situation of thousands of people and more than a thousand pack horses all crowded here makes it very confusing.
But he was wrong. There were not many people on the dock, but they were all arranged neatly, forming several queues like long queues. After unloading the materials from the ship, they were continuously passed around and placed in an open area.
Just like ants moving, piles of supplies were piled up like hills.
A ship is unloaded, and with the semaphores on the shore and people on board constantly waving, the next ship approaches the dock, and everything is in order.
There was the neighing of the packhorses, but there was almost no noise from the personnel.
"Huh? Didn't you say that there are 5,000 people in the Four Troops? How come there are so few people?" After the major general brigade commander carefully looked at the pier, surprise and doubt filled his eyes again.
There will never be more than 1,500 soldiers assisting in moving supplies on the dock.
"Brigade seat, look over there." The lieutenant platoon leader, who was standing next to the major general brigade commander and constantly observing the surroundings, looked at the hillside more than 200 meters away in surprise.
It was originally dark there, but because of the lights on the pier and the light of a large number of torches, there was some visibility there.
In the dim light, rows of black shadows were like javelins stuck on the hillside.
"Telescope!" the major general brigade commander roared.
The personal orderly quickly took out the binoculars from his bag and handed them to his superior.
The brigade commander, who was holding a telescope and looking at the dark hillside 200 meters away, was stunned.
Those were not javelins, but rows of soldiers standing neatly on the hillside with rucksacks and guns on their backs.
The mountains in Xiling Gorge are already extremely steep. The reason why this area is used as a dock is because it is the flattest area in this generation, but the slope of the hillside can still reach 40 degrees.
In order to fight, the miscellaneous trees and shrubs on the hillside that can obstruct the view have been cleared away early, and this undoubtedly increases the difficulty of standing on it.
Especially since it was already the middle of winter, the cold wind blowing from the river was like a knife blowing on his face. Even though he was wearing a woolen coat and covering most of his face with a thick collar, the Major General brigade commander still felt uncomfortable. This was something he had to overcome.
One of the reasons why it took nearly an hour to get here from the brigade headquarters.
But those soldiers standing neatly, not afraid of the difficult terrain or the biting cold wind, just stood quietly in the mountains.
Why are they doing this?
After the Major General Brigade Commander's face was moved, he also fell into thinking. He could not find a reason to convince himself.
This was also the first question he asked Tang Dao after they met and exchanged a few words.
"I have been suffocating in a narrow cabin for several days. I can't even fart or poop on my back. If I don't take advantage of this time to stand in a military position and let the mountain breeze blow away the filthy smell from my body, I'm going to wait for the little devils to use artillery fire.
Come and get rid of it!" Tang Dao smiled and casually gave a reason.
He couldn't just come up and say to the elite major general and brigade commander of the Central Army, our Fourth Army Group is here to fight, and we must maintain a fighting posture at all times. Standing in a military posture is just a kind of daily training, which can make the infantry tense.
I was nervous, especially when I first came to this unfamiliar environment.
Maintaining adequate vigilance against the unknown is a key factor in surviving on the battlefield. This is an article written into the infantry tactical regulations of the Four Lines Regiment.
That was commonplace for the officers and soldiers of the Four Lines Regiment, but saying this at this time might make him think that he was showing off his military power. Tang Dao didn't want to cause this trouble.
Giving Tang Dao a sideways smile, the brigade commander knew of course that this man was mostly a liar, but he greeted him solemnly: "Commander Tang, please move to the division headquarters. Our division admires Commander Tang greatly.
I’ve been looking forward to discussing defense with you for a long time!”
With a good reputation, there are no empty warriors. With just an initial impression, the major general brigade commander had already judged that the Four Elements Regiment was at least an elite division no weaker than his 11th Division, and was already qualified to meet with his proud division commander.
After the Battle of Shipai, the major general brigade commander would be deeply grateful for his judgment and recognized that the role played by the Four Troops in the Battle of Shipai was by no means weaker than when he personally led the guards against the Japanese on the Gaojialing battlefield.
