On the ground, the word "miserable" can no longer be used to describe it: Qi Jun's airships burned one by one, instantly turning the entire base into a fire field.
There are at least thousands of workers in the base, and they all have to serve the airship. Some workers prepare hydrogen, repair equipment, generate electricity in the power plant, and are cooks in the canteen...
These thousands of people, plus the pilots, pilot apprentices, commanders and other auxiliary personnel on the airship, amount to almost ten thousand!
Now, these people have been enveloped in fire, roasted into dried meat, and burned into coke.
The losses of the soldiers on the periphery were not great, but the people in the core area basically had no way to survive. Because the fire could not be extinguished at all, people did not even dare to get close.
As long as the wind direction changes slightly, people downwind will be in great danger. They will be burned to death by the flames before they have time to escape, or they will be suffocated to death simply because the air is exhausted by combustion.
"Retreat! Get out of here!" Seeing that the targets he was protecting had turned into a sea of flames, the Qi commander said to his men.
He is not willing to lead his men to die here. The fire is becoming so huge. If he doesn't leave at this time, do he have to wait until he is familiar with it?
As a result, the Tang Army on the periphery immediately began to retreat, while the Tang Army's fighter jets in the sky looked confused at this moment.
They still had at least four-fifths of the bombs left to drop, and as a result, the target was completely wiped out right before their eyes. Should they be allowed to face the flames and continue to drop bombs frantically?
This obviously didn't work, so they had no choice but to fly their plane back, preparing to vent their hatred by dropping all their bombs on the Qi army's frontline positions when they returned.
If the Qi army in the first-line defense position knew this news, they would definitely be very speechless. Their Qi state's targets were too fragile to exhaust the enemy's ammunition, so these enemy ammunition were retained...
Last night, all the air defense units of the Tang Army were put on alert. The Qi State airship unit, which had not slept well all night, was wiped out in just a few minutes.
It was a real ashes - all the airships were burned up, and then the ammunition in the airship magazine that had not had time to be unloaded exploded, blowing the melted airship frame into the sky.
In the factory that caught fire instantly, the workers didn't have time to escape before they were all cooked, then turned into coke, and finally burned to white ash.
The airship force that Cyric supported Qi was completely wiped out, millions of gold coins were all wasted, and both sides also lost a large number of personnel... It seemed that Qi's air force had withdrawn from the war.
…
On the western front of Qi State, the sky was already bright. The Tang Army's offensive was launched again. Liu Guozhu's tanks received the order to continue advancing and began to advance forward.
Originally, according to original estimates, the attack on Luozhen was the task of the 4th Armored Division. However, according to adjustments, Redman decided to remove the troops that suffered relatively heavy losses on the first day and arrange them in a more relaxed direction.
Therefore, Liu Guozhu, who received the third-class Hussars Medal on the first day of the battle, was ordered to go to Luo Town with his troops to seize the rear area that threatened the third prince.
Just like during training, the tank troops filled up their fuel belts and ammunition and set off. However, this time, they were followed by more supply trucks and a large number of infantry who had just arrived last night.
They now have to switch defense areas with the 4th Armored Division, so no fighting will break out at the beginning. They have to pass through areas that have been occupied by their own troops, and then they will see the temporary defense line built by Qi State.
The Qi army has been busy all night. It is impossible for them to do nothing. They will build fortifications where they are stationed. They should at least dig a trench or something.
"Be prepared! The radio is full of the voices of Air Force liaison officers! They want to identify ground targets!" Liu Guozhu leaned half out and looked at the road that the infantry had finally cleared last night. Liu Guozhu heard the voice coming from the earphones.
.
His tank was following a tank in front of it, advancing along a road with wheat fields on both sides. From time to time, overturned carriages and the bodies of killed soldiers could be seen on the roadbed.
There was obviously a brief exchange of fire here. The Qi army left about seven or eight corpses here, and then most of them probably surrendered.
Because Liu Guozhu saw a large number of tents and daily necessities discarded next to the body, and even two Cyric 90mm caliber howitzers.
It is completely designed to compete with the Tang Army's 75mm caliber infantry cannon, with a larger caliber. It seems to be trying to suppress the Datang Group's products in terms of firepower.
Unfortunately, this kind of artillery is too bulky and can only be towed by a horse-drawn carriage. Its maneuverability is not very good, so it is inconvenient to operate and use.
"Okay! I understand!" Seeing that the car in front had stopped, Liu Guozhu also switched his call channel and ordered his driver: "Stop!"
His tank was also parked on the side of the road, and cars were speeding by from time to time on the other side. He, the gunner, and the loader all got out of the tank, and then the three of them hurriedly searched for something from the glove box on the side of their tank.
A huge dragon flag appeared.
They wanted to cover the engine compartment with this dragon flag to provide an identification mark for friendly forces in the sky, allowing the air force to distinguish between the fleeing Qi army and the advancing Tang army.
"Next time we can paint the flag on the roof of the tank! Then we won't have to go through so much trouble." The loader complained while fixing the wrinkled dragon flag.
"Okay! This can at least prevent us from being killed by our own people!" Liu Guozhu pressed the corner of the dragon flag into the gap in the engine compartment cover.
The entire tank force was busy providing identification marks in the air, and the car's bonnet and rear cargo box were also covered with red dragon flags.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! At this moment, there were groups of Stuka dive bombers roaring past in the sky. These seagull-like aircraft flew toward the front in dense numbers.
Army position.
"Not to mention, these guys are quite reliable." Hearing the sound of the engine, Liu Guozhu raised his head and sighed as he looked at the Stuka dive bomber flying into the distance.
These aircraft will destroy the enemy's defensive will before the tank troops launch an attack, and can even directly defeat the enemy.
They can replace artillery and use more accurate and timely support to crush any enemy's attempts to mass a counterattack.
With their support, the ground troops advanced as fast as lightning. Most of the infantry were singing songs and capturing prisoners all the way, and they arrived at the area that needed to be occupied without even a serious battle breaking out.
Each dive of these aircraft, which scares the enemy, will be accompanied by a frightening sound, and every bomb dropped will accurately land on the most important position, destroying important enemy targets immediately.
Just as Liu Guozhu was watching these Stuka dive bombers go away, he saw more planes flying over where he was.
This was the first time he had seen these planes. They were larger and their engines were noisier.
After the B-17 bomber unit bombed Qi Wangcheng and Nanye on the first day, they got up early this morning and were ordered to start executing tactical missions.
There are actually not many strategic targets in Qi State, and there is no place worthy of repeated bombing - when the industrial zone of Qi King City resumes production, it is estimated that it will be seven or eight days later.
However, approaching bombers cannot be left idle, so it is only natural for them to continue to take off to bomb Qi's frontline defense forces.
Although the accuracy of horizontal bombing is worrying, its momentum is definitely 10,000 times greater than that of a Stuka. Dropping bombs like raindrops on the Qi position is not much worse than the scream of a Stuka.
"What kind of plane is that?" The curious Liu Guozhu didn't know who he was asking. Obviously, neither his gunner nor his loader knew the highly classified B-17 bomber.
"Who knows, anyway...it must be our plane." The gunner raised his head and glanced at the B-17 bomber that had gone away, and replied with a smile.
On the other road, the 2nd Armored Division had already begun to rush towards Nanye. It only took them 30 minutes to break through the hastily constructed defense line of the Qi army without any delay.
The torrent of steel composed of 50 tanks crushed 4,000 Qi troops, and then pushed the surrendered Qi troops, dozens of Qi cannons, and horse-drawn trucks off the roadbed, and moved forward with the infantry behind them.
It wasn't until after breakfast that the third prince of Qi heard the news that his defense line had been breached again.
Another news that shocked him was that the Tang Army's troops were approaching Nanye, and it seemed that he and his eldest brother's escape route would be cut off.
"Your Highness! We must consider retreating! There is no benefit in staying here now." A general reminded the third prince.
Seeing that the border defense line has been completely breached, with no hope of closing the gap and even a tendency to expand, in this case, they are waiting to die by continuing to stick to the breached position.
"Then what should we... do?" The third prince, who had no idea, looked at his men and asked in despair.
He lost here, and the throne almost said goodbye to him. How could this not make him despair and lost?
"Retreat! Retreat from Luozhen to Nanye! Now...if we can defend Nanye, maybe the situation of the war will turn around!" The general replied directly: "Although Nanye is empty, there are still 10,000 defenders! If we can get there with 30,000 elites, it will be enough to reverse the unfavorable situation and re-stabilize the defense line..."
"Yes! Yes!" The third prince seemed to have grasped the life-saving straw and quickly agreed: "Retreat! Retreat immediately!"