The most critical thing is that unlike the Navy, which only has to undertake the bombing of Chongqing, the Army Aviation also undertakes ground support tasks for various operations and air raids on Lanzhou, Xi'an and other places. The deployment of troops is quite scattered. Naturally, it is impossible and impossible to devote most of the troops to the air raid on Chongqing.
Army aviation, especially long-range aviation, did not perform as well as naval aviation in the rear bombardment carried out by the China government. In the end, the main task was even transferred to naval aviation. However, this was not the fault of Lieutenant General Tokugawa. , but this guy just hit Lieutenant General Tokugawa all over the body. No matter how good-tempered he is, he is probably very tolerant.
Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was so angry that he almost spit out a mouthful of blood. If Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Teiichi hadn't winked at him and told him to be patient, this good-tempered Army Lieutenant General would have almost pulled it out on the spot. Saber, duel this guy and solve the problem the samurai way.
Those who were made unhappy by Lieutenant General Onishi Takijiro's words were not Umezu Mijiro and Tokugawa Yoshitoshi. Almost no one present had a good-looking face, and many of them were using weapons that could kill people. His eyes were fixed on the rear admiral. If eyes could kill, this guy would have been riddled with holes.
His words clearly meant that the Kwantung Army's aviation force had suffered too many defeats, but everyone could tell that his words were implicitly referring to the entire Kwantung Army, which had suffered repeated defeats in the face of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. But it's not just the aviation force, the entire Kwantung Army has risen since the end of the Anti-Japanese War in 1938. Until now, it still doesn't know what the taste of victory is. His words almost attracted everyone present.
Although Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Teiichi is not very good-looking, compared to Umezu Yoshijiro who suppressed his anger and Lieutenant General Yoshitoshi Tokugawa who almost didn't fall out on the spot, he was still calm. He also knew that he was in this situation. You must not get angry at any time. Not only should you not get angry, but you must also try to control your temper. If you have no choice, you have to speak for yourself.
In this situation, it is very inappropriate for Commander Umezu to speak first. Commander Umezu is the supreme commander of the Kwantung Army, an army general, and a noble person. If he is allowed to come up and ignore him, he will not understand what the distinction between superiors and subordinates is. , a guy who talks without thinking through his brain and contradicts with a few words, how can the entire Kwantung Army lose face?
No matter how well-educated General Umezu is, he can't withstand repeated contradictions. Moreover, now that the war is imminent and the Kwantung Army is in urgent need of naval aviation support, it will cause conflicts between the army and the navy and have an impact on the entire combat plan. Then The trouble is huge. Now the Emperor is paying close attention to the war situation in Manchuria. If there is a problem with this stall, no one will benefit.
If Lieutenant General Tokugawa is allowed to speak, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Seiichi can see it from Tokugawa Yoshitoshi’s livid face. If he is asked to speak, the two of them might have to quarrel on the spot. After thinking about it, Yoshimoto Seiichi knows that these words He still had to say it himself. Who made him the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army? He had to persuade this thorn in his side.
But before Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Teiichi opened the door, a shrill air-raid siren suddenly sounded outside the air-raid shelter. The guards outside the door were busy closing the air-raid shelter door and starting the ventilation device, listening. Hearing the shrill alarm sound coming from outside, another contemptuous smile appeared on the corner of Onishi Takijiro's mouth over there.
The Kwantung Army has been beaten right under their noses, but they are still here clinging to everything. There are so many good things in the world. Even if they give in on the command, with their despicable behavior The level of command, can they fight this battle well? If they can fight well, why should they be blocked at the gate of their hometown and beaten every day?
In the past few days since arriving in Xinjing, he has encountered anti-Japanese air raids every day. Although the intensity of the air raids is not great, it cannot be compared with the intensity of the Japanese air raids on Chongqing. But where is Xinjing? It is the headquarters of the Kwantung Army. The location is the capital of the Manchu Empire, which was supported and controlled by the Kwantung Army.
Now reduced to the point of being bombed all day long, the Kwantung Army still has no face and fights for command. At this time, the anti-alliance air raids are coming. For the Kwantung Army, it is indeed a very shameless thing, but for themselves Say, maybe that’s a good thing, right?
Compared with the contemptuous expression of Major General Onishi Takijiro, the expressions of General Umezu Yoshijiro and Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi over there were even lower. Since the beginning of this battle, the Anti-Japanese Alliance has dispatched bombers many times to attack the new Air raids were carried out on the Kwantung Army Headquarters in Beijing, the Imperial Palace of the Puppet Manchuria, the Japanese settlements in Xinjing City, as well as Xinjing Railway Station and various train dispatching yards.
Although there were only a few dozen bombers dispatched every day, the impact on the morale of the Japanese in Xinjing City was considerable. Xinjing Railway Station, a transportation hub in Jilin, was bombed, forcing Japanese troops to rely on roads for mobilization. , this undoubtedly put great pressure on the Japanese army, which lacked a sufficient number of trucks.
In addition, more than a dozen military trains transporting supplies and essentials in several train stations and dispatch yards were bombed, which basically paralyzed the medium and long-distance railway lines. It also caused the Japanese army, which relied heavily on railways for transportation of supplies, to have difficulties in supplying supplies. At present, The material supply pressure of various divisions at the front is extremely high, and even some divisions have experienced shortages of ammunition and food.
All kinds of ammunition, especially artillery shells, have begun to be used in limited quantities. As for food, they have begun to collect it on the spot. To put it bluntly, it is an open grab. As for whether it can be grabbed and whether the amount of food grabbed can meet the needs, that is for each division. It’s your own business. With the current limited transportation capacity, priority must be given to ensuring the transportation of ammunition.
As for the Kwantung Army Headquarters, which was regarded as a key bombing target, it was bombed into ruins. The current Kwantung Army Headquarters is actually unusable. Even the two Kwantung Army Generals, General Umezu Yoshijiro and Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi, The office of the supreme commander of the Kwantung Army was moved underground from the ground, and the current commander of the Kwantung Army Military Police was killed in the first bombing.
What embarrassed the Kwantung Army the most was that the anti-Japanese fighter jets that took off from Acheng caused unimaginable losses to the Kwantung Army aviation forces in the air battle outside Xinjing. It was only three days since the air raid began, and they were responsible for the air defense of Xinjing. The two battle groups, each equipped with Type 97 fighter jets and Mei Type fighter jets, lost Ember.
A Type 88 anti-aircraft artillery unit responsible for ground air defense also suffered heavy losses under dive bombing by the opponent's light bombers. In desperation, the Kwantung Army headquarters could only urgently transfer eleven anti-aircraft artillery squadrons back from the front line to take on the responsibility. Air defense mission, but under the various means adopted by the opponent, its effect is quite limited.
In the long time since Xinjing was bombed for the first time, it has only shot down less than ten Anti-Japanese aircraft, but it has lost more than ninety fighter jets and more than fifty anti-aircraft guns of various calibers. The capital's air defense force has lost its remaining embers. Except for a small number of anti-aircraft guns, there is basically no air defense force left, and the city has become an undefended city in the air.
For the aviation forces of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, Xinjing can now come and leave at any time. It has almost become their back garden. Especially today, a combat meeting is being held. In front of the navy's thorny head, the sky is falling outside. The bombs that came made these senior Kwantung Army generals even more embarrassed.
Even if you want to slap someone in the face, you won't do it like this. Right now, it's a critical time for the army and navy to compete for command. Your air strike at this time is not a naked slap in the face. What is it? You just gave it a slap in the face. Lieutenant General Yoshitoshi Tokugawa, who was full of anger, faced the explosion of bombs dropped by the Anti-Japanese Alliance night flight bombers outside. At this time, he was like a deflated ball, but his anger instantly disappeared.
In fact, no matter whether Lieutenant General Saburo Endo was transferred or the current commander, Lieutenant General Yoshitoshi Tokugawa, they still can't figure out why the air battle has become such a one-sided situation. The Kwantung Army's aviation basically has no room to fight back. The aircraft There is a gap in performance, which cannot be the reason for the failure of the Kwantung Army.
Both of them were confident in their pilots' courage and flying skills. However, in the air battle, in addition to the Anti-Japanese Alliance using a variety of new weapons, new aircraft, and new tactics, there were too many Neither of them could understand the matter.
According to the descriptions of pilots who participated in the war, although the performance of the American-made fighter jets used by the Anti-Japanese Alliance was better than that of the Type 97 fighter jets, compared with the imported German-made fighter jets, their combat performance was even inferior in some aspects, such as low-altitude In terms of dogfighting, it is even inferior to the Type 97 fighter jet.
Compared with several types of fighter jets currently equipped by the Kwantung Army, the biggest advantages of these American-made aircraft are their long range, strong firepower, fast speed, high engine horsepower, and most importantly, good protection performance, sturdy body, and ability to maneuver in the air. It can withstand large overloads.
However, when it comes to air combat performance, especially low-altitude dogfighting performance, there is still a certain distance compared with Japanese fighter jets that always emphasize combat performance. Not to mention new fighter jets, which are the old Type 97 fighter jets. In terms of combat performance alone, It is much stronger than them.
But they seemed to know the performance of all the aircraft of the Army Air Force very well. As soon as the first shot was fired in the battle, they targeted the weakest part of their own aircraft, and the tactics they adopted were almost entirely aimed at the performance of the aircraft used by the Kwantung Army Air Force. Come.
Your aircraft has good low-altitude combat performance, but they don't fight with you at low altitude at all. They take advantage of the thick body of your aircraft to dive down from high altitude and fire a salvo of guns and artillery. After the fight, they use its speed to compare. The Type 97 fighter has the advantage of being much faster and can break away quickly.
At that time, you will not be able to catch up because of your speed disadvantage. If you don't catch up, he will go around in a circle and come back and repeat it step by step. Many Japanese pilots simply cannot adapt to the tactics of the Anti-Alliance aviation until He was still confused after being shot down.
And the most embarrassing thing for the Kwantung Army aviation force is that the Type 97 fighter jets are only equipped with two 7.7 mm machine guns. Facing the thick-skinned and rough American fighter jets, their firepower is obviously insufficient. They have at least four 12 mm machine guns on their fighter jets. , as long as it is hit, the thin-skinned Type 97 fighter jet has basically no chance of survival.
If you encounter a fighter jet equipped with a 37mm aerial cannon, no one, including the man and the aircraft, can survive a single shot. And even if your own plane is out of bullets, as long as it does not hit the key parts, other people's planes will not be able to survive. It can continue to fly, or even if it fails, it will be bitten back.