However, the Japanese field artillery and mountain artillery scattered everywhere began to exert continuous force, bombarding the main position of the Jizhong troops.
However, the Japanese artillery did not dare to gather together to implement fire coverage.
The pilots and aircraft of the Eighth Route Army aircraft were not vegetarians.
Therefore, the enemy's artillery firepower is not too strong.
However, even though the artillery firepower was not too strong, it still caused the Eighth Route Army on the position to suffer a lot.
One after another, the 75mm artillery shells soared into the sky from all directions, drew arcs in the sky, and then fell to the Jizhong troops' position at high speed.
"Boom boom boom..."
Fireballs exploded one after another, billowing smoke rose into the sky along with the shock wave, and a cloud of mud mist was lifted up.
"Leave a lookout and the rest of the soldiers retreat to the artillery holes in the rear positions!"
Facing the Japanese bombardment, the company and platoon commanders of the Jizhong troops quickly issued orders and withdrew from the forward positions with their weapons in hand.
With only one night of preparation time, the soldiers of the Central Hebei Army could only build simple trenches, foxholes and artillery holes.
There wasn't much time to build a multi-layered earth-and-wood fortress that could withstand Japanese 75mm artillery shells.
Facing the Japanese 75mm artillery shells, the soldiers could only choose to retreat temporarily.
Wait until the Japanese infantry begins to attack, then enter the main forward position.
"You little son of a bitch!"
"I'm going to fight you today!"
After retreating to a relatively safe area, a company commander used binoculars to look at the forward position shrouded in artillery fire. The company commander cursed.
On the battlefield, the bodies of many fallen soldiers have not yet been removed.
The remains of these soldiers were blown to pieces by the Japanese shelling.
"Don't let me get the chance. If I get the chance, I will chop off the heads of the Japanese artillerymen and use them as chamber pots!"
The company commander's tone was stern.
"Company Commander, the Japs this time are really extraordinary!"
"It's really fucking difficult to deal with!"
Next to the company commander, a platoon commander also sounded amazed.
This platoon leader is also an elite veteran with outstanding marksmanship. He has been fighting the Japanese for several years, and this is the first time he has encountered such a powerful Japanese.
Compared with the group of Japs that were eliminated at Niangziguan last time, there is a huge gap between this group of Japs.
Relying on advantageous terrain, powerful firepower, sufficient ammunition and logistical supplies, and air support, the Jizhong Military Region blocked the Japanese breakout attack.
But this group of Japs, regardless of the marksmanship of the infantry or the accuracy of the artillery, almost hit wherever they pointed.
Even though the Jizhong troops had two waves of air support, under the three waves of Japanese attacks, the two main regiments on the main position still suffered heavy casualties.
Fortunately, the troops recently received a new batch of Czech and Maxim troops, which greatly enhanced their firepower and were able to repel the Japanese attack.
If the equipment used in the last Niangziguan battle was the same, the casualties of the Jizhong troops would have been even greater.
"The enemy attacking our Jizhong troops this time is the Japanese 11th Division, that is, the Japanese from the Type A Division. How can they not be powerful?"
Although he said this, there was no fear in the company commander's expression.
"No wonder."
The faces of the platoon leader and the surrounding soldiers suddenly showed expressions of surprise.
However... there was no look of fear on the faces of the soldiers. The battle has reached this point, and fear is useless. Don't they think the Japanese will kill you if you are afraid of them?
Aren't they just the Japs from the Class A Division?
Everyone has two shoulders supporting one head, who is afraid of whom?
"It would be nice if there was always air support..."
A veteran squad leader sounded expectant.
If they have air support, they can more easily repel the Japanese attack and inflict heavy damage to the Japanese.
"Buzz buzz-"
At this moment, the sound of airplanes sounded in the sky. The soldiers looked happy at first, thinking that their own airplanes were coming to provide air support again.
The company commander's expression was a little confused. Didn't his superiors say...that the air support of the new regiment would come every two hours?
He raised the eight-fold telescope on his chest and looked towards the sky. When he saw the direction in which the Japanese plane was coming, there were indeed about 40 planes flying in, as well as the plaster icon on the plane. His expression suddenly changed.
He shouted loudly: "It's a Japanese plane, hide it!"
In this kind of simple trench, the soldiers are relatively concentrated, and the aerial bombs are like exploding targets.
One explosion will kill a large area.
But I definitely can’t run now. How can I outrun a plane flying in the sky with two legs?
We can only hide on the spot. How many soldiers can survive can only depend on God's will.
At the same time, officers at all levels in various regiments of the Eighth Route Army also changed their expressions and shouted loudly to the soldiers, telling them to take cover immediately.
The power of aerial bombs is much greater than that of 75mm artillery shells!
This time, those coming to bomb were the 83rd and 47th Squadron of the Japanese Flying Division.
There are 21 Type 1 fighter jets and 23 Type 96 land attack aircraft.
Fighters are responsible for escorting and dive bombing strafing. Each Type 96 attack aircraft carries 800 kilograms of aerial bombs.
The soldiers of the Eighth Route Army kept crawling and evading, with serious expressions on their faces.
"Onboard..."
In the direction of the Japanese army, the Japanese soldiers saw the attack formation composed of their own fighter jets and bombers appear. The Japanese soldiers were overjoyed, stood up from their hiding positions, and shouted "board!"
The Japanese's 5th Infantry Brigade also had their morale boosted and was ready to attack at any time.
After the bombing by fighter jets and attack planes, it was time for the 5th Infantry Group to perform.
"Yoshi!"
Looking at the fighters and bombers flying the 6th Division in the field of telescope, Takashi Takamori couldn't help but smile.
Air support finally arrived, the battle was secured!
At this moment, the already loaded Jiazishan artillery and field artillery fired red smoke bombs at the deep positions of the Eighth Route Army in Central Hebei to guide the aircraft for bombing.
As for the forward positions, I don’t know how many times they have been plowed by Japanese mountain artillery and field artillery.
"Send the order, the 11th Cavalry Regiment, be ready to attack. After the Locust Army aviation unit is completed, break in from here!"
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "To prevent the Eighth Route Army cavalry from attacking the 5th Infantry Brigade!"
Takamori Takashi gave the order in a cold tone.
The Eighth Route Army in Central Hebei Province also has a cavalry unit. Its strength is that of a regiment, but its combat effectiveness is unknown.
At this time, neither the Eighth Route Army nor the Japanese army dispatched cavalry troops, hoping to use them as a trump card.
After the aircraft bombed the main position of the Eighth Route Army, the only thing that still threatened the 5th Infantry Brigade was the cavalry unit of the Eighth Route Army.
As for the Eighth Route Army's mountain artillery unit, the fighter jets will not leave so quickly.
Once the Eighth Route Army's artillery fires at the 5th Infantry Brigade, it will immediately be attacked by Japanese fighter jets.
Similarly, when the Eighth Route Army aircraft came for air support, the Japanese artillery did not dare to fire.
"Hi."
Chief of Staff Masio Nishihara suddenly lowered his head, turned around and gave orders to the 11th Cavalry Regiment.
"General, the Eighth Route Army fighter jets have been spotted from the southwest!"
At this moment, a Japanese lookout soldier rushed into the headquarters and reported hurriedly to Takamori Takashi.
"Nani?"
Takamori Takashi's expression changed:
"How many fighter jets came from the Eighth Route Army?"
Just as the Locust Army aviation unit arrived, the Eighth Route Army fighter jets suddenly appeared. This was not a good thing.
"About 20!"
The Japanese lookout soldier replied.
"20?"
Takashi Takamori suddenly thought of something bad, and his expression became more solemn.
On paper, the Eighth Route Army has only 20 fighter jets, while the Locust Army Aviation has more than 40 aircraft. The advantage lies with us.
However, the strength of the Eighth Route Army's fighter jets is not comparable to that of the Locust Army's fighter jets.
In the air battles in central China, the Eighth Route Army's fighter jets and the Locust Army's fighter jets had a combat loss ratio of more than 20 to 1.
but.
Now the arrow is on the string and has to be fired.
Takashi Takamori quickly walked out of the headquarters and looked into the sky with his telescope. Sure enough, about 20 Eighth Route Army fighter jets appeared in the field of view of the telescope.
A jet fighter without propellers.
Now I just hope that before the Eighth Route Army's fighter jets arrive, the Locust Army's planes can drop aerial bombs on the Eighth Route Army's positions.
The ideal is full, but the reality is cruel!
The pilots of the Eighth Route Army had obviously seen the Japanese aircraft. Their speed suddenly increased, and they formed an attack formation and flew towards the Japanese aircraft at a speed close to the speed of sound. They penetrated the Japanese aircraft from the flank like flying swords!
At this time, all the Japs pilots' attention was focused on the red smoke grenade area on the ground.
The Japanese pilot was preparing to operate the control stick to pull the aircraft into a dive position.
Entering the attack range, Liu Zesheng, leader of the Independent Flying Squadron of the New Eighth Route Army Regiment, aimed at a Japanese plane and opened fire first.
"Boom boom…"
The firing sound of the 20mm aerial cannon rang out, two tongues of flame spurted out from under the wing, and two eye-catching bullet chains instantly wrapped around a Japanese bomber that was preparing to dive.
"boom!"
I saw that the Japanese bomber was hit first, then trembled for a while, and was blown up in the air in an instant.
The Japanese bomber burst into a brilliant fireworks display in the sky. The aerial bombs carried under the wings exploded, and the entire bomber and its crew members scattered in the air.
After succeeding with one blow, Yanagisaki was not proud.
Instead, he continued to fly the Saber fighter, looking for the next prey.
His goal is to shoot down 100 Japanese aircraft!
And this is only the first one.
The reaction of the Japanese pilots was also extremely fast. When the first bomber was blown up, all the Japanese aircraft immediately scattered.
But it was of no use. In front of the Saber fighter jets approaching the speed of sound, the Japanese aircraft were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Forty Japanese planes were hit one after another, either blown up in the air, or had their wings broken, and fell like a kite with its string broken.
In less than 5 minutes, the two flying squadrons that came to provide air support to the Japanese infantry were completely wiped out.
When the Japs on the ground saw this scene, they felt as if they were mourning for their heirs.
The good news is that air support has arrived, a total of 40 aircraft.
The bad news is that the air support aviation units were wiped out by Eighth Route Army aircraft.
It was also the first time for the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army in Central Hebei Province to see such a one-sided air battle. It was not even exciting, it was a complete one-sided massacre.
The soldiers of the Jizhong Eighth Route Army fell into a sluggish state, so much so that they even forgot to stand up while lying on the ground.
After annihilating all the Japs' aircraft, the 20 Saber fighter jets did not leave, but quickly gathered together, and then swooped down towards the location where the Japs' 5th Infantry Brigade and the 11th Cavalry Regiment were assembled.
When the Japanese infantry and cavalry saw that something was not going well, they ran away and crawled on the spot to avoid the situation.
The Japs' horses ran fast and dispersed quickly, but the Japs' infantry ran slower.
As the Sabre fighter jets passed by, there was an overwhelming sound of explosions, and dozens of huge fireballs soared from the Japanese formation.
Boundless flames swept across with terrifying heat.
Almost the entire 5th Infantry Brigade was swallowed up, and the Japs at the center of the flame explosion were burned to ashes almost in the blink of an eye.
As for the Japanese cavalry regiment, because they ran fast, not many were affected by the napalm bombs.
but.
Subsequent waves of swooping and strafing attacks by 20 Saber fighter jets killed more than 100 Japanese cavalry.
After that, 20 Saber fighter jets completed their mission and then flew towards Taiyuan.
In the Japanese command post, watching the Eighth Route Army fighter jets disappear from the sky, Takashi Takamori relaxed. As the Eighth Route Army planes left, the sense of oppression from the Eighth Route Army fighter jets also disappeared.
"idiot!"
Takashi Takamori walked into the headquarters, and immediately drew out his command sword, instantly cutting the table in front of him and the map on the table into two halves.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, shall we continue the attack?"
Seio Nishihara on the side asked with a very solemn tone and expression.
Obviously, this wave of Eighth Route Army aircraft was not the two waves in the morning.
This means that planes from the Eighth Route Army will come to provide air support later and bomb the Locust Army's attacking troops.
The attack was blocked. More than 40 aircraft of the 6th Division that came for air support were shot down. The 5th Infantry Brigade, which was assembled to prepare for the attack, was severely damaged. The 11th Cavalry Regiment was chased away...
All this was carried out under the personal witness of soldiers from the 11th Division, 40th Division and 56th Division.
Seio Nishihara could predict that the morale of the three divisions of the Locust Army had already been greatly reduced at this time.
The morale of the Jizhong Eighth Route Army troops on the opposite side is probably rising sharply at this time.
There is nothing that can be done about this. Who makes the Locust Army's aviation unit unable to defeat the Eighth Route Army's air force?
"Immediately report to General Yoshiji Okamura of the North China Front that the 83rd and 47th Battle Groups were all shattered on the Jinzhou battlefield, and request tactical guidance."
Takamori Takashi's tone was no longer as confident as before, and was replaced by deep helplessness.
"Hi."
Saihara Zhengfu suddenly lowered his head.
…
Jingxing battlefield.
Eighth Route Army Frontline General Headquarters.
Li Yunlong stepped on the ladder of the earthen fortress and used the artillery scope to observe the situation on the battlefield.
The team is currently going very smoothly, much smoother than expected.
The first attack was when the main ace of the new regiment was re-armed and combined into the 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions. In less than half an hour, they captured the forward positions of the Japanese and puppet troops, and by this time they had penetrated into the deep positions of the Japanese and puppet troops.
The power of the large number of flamethrowers prepared by each battalion was fully demonstrated at this time.
The Japanese and puppet troops hiding in the artillery holes and civil fortifications often do not need infantry to get in and clean them up. They only need flamethrowers to attack the Japanese artillery holes and civil fortifications.
Within the Japanese fortifications, various Japanese-style screams and pseudo-style screams will inevitably be heard.