The farewell party that night was extremely lively, and Neji Okamura returned home in great joy.
The next morning, the convoy slowly drove out from the North China Expeditionary Forces Headquarters. The Japanese troops had already stepped up vigilance on the roads along the way.
After arriving at Nanyuan Airport, Okamura Neji looked around at the historical ancient city of Beiping in the distance with a variety of emotions.
"General, take care!" Chief of Staff Tanabe Moritake, who came to see him off, said solemnly.
"Well, Tanabe-kun, the next period of time will be left to you. The base camp is planning a new security plan for North China!"
"Hi!"
The two of them looked at each other in silence. Apart from some packed clothes and a collection of books, the only thing that boarded the plane with Neji Okamura was the Manmin Umbrella.
A transport plane and four reconnaissance planes slowly rose into the sky and disappeared from Tanabe Moritake's sight in an instant.
In Pu County, the telegram forwarded by the Eighth Route Army headquarters quickly reached Zhou Weihan's hands. In the past few days, the Eighth Route Army has been studying the flight route of Gangcun Ningci's special plane.
Generally speaking, Okamura Neji's plane route is traceable. Shanghai is 1,200 kilometers southeast of Peiping. With the current aircraft power of the Japanese army, it is enough to reach Shanghai directly.
If it is a straight flight, there is a high probability that it will pass through the Hebei, Shandong and Henan regions. However, after leaving Peiping, North China is full of Eighth Route Army base areas. In order to prevent accidents, the flight route cannot pass through the core area of the Eighth Route Army base area. It is more likely to be along the railway.
Flying over the important towns on the line.
Therefore, Zhou Weihan deployed the air defense brigade in the Liangpu area as a casual chess. Once traces of Neji Okamura's special plane are found, the Tainan Flying Team can take off to intercept it. If the opportunity is good, it can shoot it down directly. If nothing can be done, it can drive it away.
To the Liangpu area.
The air defense brigade has a total of 26 anti-aircraft machine guns and 6 anti-aircraft guns, organized into four squadrons.
A detachment has six groups, each performing its own duties, namely:
The sound search team is responsible for searching for the sounds of Japanese aircraft with their listening devices, from far to near, from small to loud. The people in this sound search team have particularly good ears.
The sound broadcasting team is responsible for air defense alarms. The length of the alarm sound indicates the degree of crisis of the situation.
The instrument control group is responsible for instrument control to calculate the aircraft's azimuth, distance and other information.
The lighting team is responsible for judging the information from the instrument control group, and then illuminates it with a searchlight. When the searchlight and the signal from the instrument group shine together, the enemy aircraft is found, and then waits for the anti-aircraft gun to shoot the aircraft.
The reporting group is responsible for communicating with external parties and exchanging information.
The power generation group is responsible for providing power guarantee for other groups.
The air defense brigade was formed specifically for the Eighth Route Army when American instructors stayed in Pingshun and trained a group of soldiers.
"Commander, telegram from headquarters, Okamura Neiji's special plane has taken off from Nanyuan Airport. In addition to his special plane, there are only four reconnaissance planes accompanying him!"
"That's great, I really hope God gives me one more chance!" Zhou Weihan said with a smile, stroking his hands.
Not long after, telegrams came one after another.
"Report, the headquarters forwarded a telegram from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, Japanese aircraft appeared near Baoding!"
"Report, Japanese planes have arrived over Shimen and are flying south again!"
Zhou Weihan glanced at the time. At this rate, Okamura Neji would probably have lunch in Hudu.
"Inform the Tainan Military Region that the flight team will take off immediately. Be sure to keep Neji Okamura in the base area!"
"yes!"
After receiving the order, the Tainan Flying Team's Type 97 fighter jets and Type 98 reconnaissance aircraft took off immediately, but they only hovered over Yamawang Mountain. Each aircraft was equipped with a high-power walkie-talkie and six small radios.
Powerful walkie-talkies to strengthen communication with each other.
The difference from before is that the Japanese sun flags on all aircraft fuselages are no longer replaced by red five-pointed stars.
"Report, Japanese planes have arrived over Handan!"
"Okay, inform the flying team to immediately go to intercept near Anyang!" Zhou Weihan said loudly.
On the plane, Okamura Neiji looked through the window and marveled at China's great rivers and mountains. This kind of complex and changeable topography has never been seen in a small country like Japan.
Suddenly, Okamura Neiji suddenly had an idea and wanted to change the flight route: "Soldier, can you let the plane fly over Hebei, Shandong and Henan? I want to see what the situation is like in the Eighth Route Army base there?"
The little Japanese pilot in the cockpit was obviously stunned after hearing this. How could the flight route be changed on the fly? Whenever Okamura Neji's special plane arrived at a place, the local Japanese troops would inevitably report it to their superiors.
However, after Neiji Okamura spoke, the Japanese pilot did not dare to contradict him and immediately changed his flight direction to the south of Handan, and the four accompanying reconnaissance planes followed him away.
This move made the observation troops on the ground a little confused. The cadre leading the team exclaimed: "It's bad, it's bad. The Japanese plane flew away to the southeast. Our plane may be empty!"
Soon, the news of the diversion of the Japanese plane reached Zhou Weihan's ears: "Damn it, this old devil Okamura Neiji came to my door!"
"Inform the observation troops in various places to continue to use walkie-talkies to contact the flying team and make sure they catch up with the Japanese aircraft!"
This was the Eighth Route Army's first air battle, and it was an extremely difficult interception battle. If you were not careful, the Japanese aircraft could escape.
Fortunately, the Japanese aircraft did not detect anything unusual, but the Japanese troops in Anyang were so anxious that they did not notice Okamura Neji's special plane passing over Anyang for a long time.
At this time, seven planes from the Tainan Flying Team had arrived near Fengle Station, north of Zhanghe River, and the high-power walkie-talkie on Zheng Zhongwu's plane suddenly sounded.
The soldier behind quickly picked up the microphone: "Hey, this is Unit 1, this is Unit 1!"
"Comrade, it's an emergency. Ten minutes ago, the Japanese aircraft flew southeast from Liujiazhuang, fifty miles south of Handan. The Communists concluded that it might pass through the Liangpu area and the southwestern Shandong area. Please go to pursue it immediately. Please be sure to
Stay in communication!”
"I see!"
"Damn, how could this happen?" Zheng Zhongwu immediately adjusted his direction, and the flying team hovering over Fengle Station flew towards the Liangpu area.
In Fengle Station, the little Japanese was a little confused about the several planes that appeared in the sky. They appeared at the wrong time and in the wrong number, and the signs on the fuselage indicated that they were not Japanese aircraft.
Immediately, the abnormality was reported to Handan. After hearing the news, Temple Yong's face turned pale.
Not long ago, the Japanese army in Anyang sent a report asking whether they had discovered the whereabouts of General Gangcun's plane. However, several planes appeared at this time.
"Baga, it couldn't be Zhou Weihan's fault. Could it be?" Temple Yong had a vague guess that made his back shiver. He originally thought that Zhou Weihan would give up the idea because he didn't know the flight route from him.
I was chatting in the group for a while today, but I was delayed and got the wrong name. Let’s let Neji Okamura live one more day.