However, Umezu Yoshijiro believes that given the current gap in aircraft performance between the Army and the Anti-Japanese Alliance Air Force, and that the Navy still needs to be the main force in executing this plan, if the battle damage rate is within an acceptable range, considering the two armies Don't get too entangled with that insidious and mean guy.
As long as the plan can be implemented satisfactorily, even if a certain price is paid, it is not intolerable for General Umezu Yoshijiro, but first of all, this price must have a limit. His use of the Army Air Force at any cost must not be tolerated, and the current situation will not be tolerated. The limited strength of the Kwantung Army Aviation Corps was exhausted.
When the base camp mobilized this batch of combat aircraft for the Kwantung Army, the base camp had repeatedly told him that after this battle, the base camp had decided to transfer all of these combat aircraft to Saigon and Taiwan. The base camp was forming the third flight group. The aviation team is the backbone of it.
If the losses are too heavy, it will have a fatal impact on the next operations of the base camp, especially if the army is convenient and wants to make a fortune in Southeast Asia, which has always been the navy's sphere of influence, these aviation units will be the army's move south. A favorable capital for combat.
Although the General Staff Headquarters has been accelerating the production of new fighter jets, due to limitations in raw materials and the production capacity of several aircraft factories, aircraft production has been unable to keep up with demand, and the training of new pilots has also been progressing slowly. The Army In terms of mobilization, the progress was too slow.
Moreover, in view of the previous situation on the battlefield in China, the new mobilization force has always been based on ground troops, and the production of weapons and equipment has always been based on artillery and light weapons required by ground troops. When it comes to aviation, the number is not very large. , if the loss is too large, it will be difficult to replenish the base camp in a short period of time.
Afraid of Onishi Takijiro's arrogance and not knowing how to restrain himself, Umezu Mijiro, who was not at ease with this guy, still gave Tokugawa Yoshitoshi secret advice, but he also knew that if he wanted to succeed without taking any cost, he would succeed. It is impossible, so his principle is that he can suffer considerable losses, but the loss cannot exceed his bottom line.
But although it can be said that the entire Kwantung Army has been quite psychologically prepared for certain battle losses, but it is one thing to be mentally prepared, and it is another thing to be able to accept it. Faced with such battle losses on the first day The tragedy was so severe that General Umezu Yoshijiro and Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi could not accept it no matter what.
This aerial decisive battle has just begun, and the real decisive battle is still far behind. If losses are continued at this rate, even if the entire existing fighter force of the Kwantung Army Aviation Corps is invested, it will not be enough to achieve the goal of Onishi Takijiro. That so-called goal.
Neither of them expected that despite all their precautions, they would catch him and be dragged into a huge hole. Onishi Takijiro, a bastard, simply did not regard the Army Air Corps as a force of the imperial army. As a subordinate of the emperor, the loss in this battle undoubtedly made Umezu Yoshijiro and Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi very anxious. Onishi Takijiro, the culprit, in their hearts, plummeted from a conspirator to a bastard. Of course, if they can curse out.
Faced with the heavy losses, Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was extremely angry. General Umezu Yoshijiro really said that what this guy did was to use his lower sniper to attack the enemy's upper sniper, consuming it. After defeating the enemy's limited strength, the insidious plan of dispatching the entire army almost prevented the Kwantung Army Aviation Corps from annihilating its descendants.
In his bullshit plan, he actually lost two-thirds of the aircraft dispatched by the Army Air Force this time. Not to mention that even his most capable subordinates who commanded the battle were all killed in the sky over the Twin Cities. These are shocking They are all the essence of the Kwantung Army Aviation Corps and even the Army Aviation Corps.
What makes Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi most distressed is that his most elite subordinate, Lieutenant Colonel Kato Takeo, the 64th Flying Group Captain who was the first to switch to the Army's latest Type 1 fighter and the Army's ace pilot, flew him. When the Type 1 fighter jet participated in the battle, it was directly hit by the large-caliber cannon of a P-39 fighter jet that dived down from high altitude. The aircraft and the aircraft were also hit, caught fire and exploded, and died in the battle.
In addition to the death of Takeo Kato, the chief ace of the Army Air Forces during the Battle of Nomonhan, Second Lieutenant Mitsuyoshi Tarui, who had a record of 28 kills, was also turned into a fireball along with his Type 97 fighter. Another ace pilot, Joezo Iwahashi, was shot down over the Twin Cities after parachuting, and his life or death is unknown.
If the loss of aircraft was acceptable to him, Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi, then the loss of pilots, especially the ace pilots, made Tokugawa Yoshitoshi feel so distressed that he almost vomited blood. Currently, none of the pilots have returned.
You must know that last year, there were only more than 200 graduates of the Army's Junior Aviation School, which is specially used to train pilots. It still takes a lot of time for a pilot to graduate from the aviation school and fully form combat effectiveness. After removing the intermediate At that time, the pilot had physical abnormalities and quit.
The number of pilots who can truly replenish the army is not too many. In other words, the losses this time, especially the losses of some ace pilots with rich actual combat experience, are extremely heavy for the Kwantung Army and even the entire Japanese Army Aviation Force. Yes, how could Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi accept this loss?
What made Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi even more angry was that this guy obviously failed to fulfill his promise when he acted. His naval aviation did indeed dispatch a lot of aircraft, but the ones he dispatched were similar to Type 97 fighter jets. The performance of the Type 96 fighter jets was quite different from that of the enemy's American-made fighter jets, but his main force of Zero Fighters was only thirty-six, which was only a little more than one-tenth of the total number of Zero Fighters he had on hand.
Not only was the number of new fighter planes dispatched far less than what he promised, but even the naval aviation seemed to be half-hearted in cooperating with it. As the last one to arrive on the battlefield in the plan, it was also his so-called ace zero battle. When he arrived on the battlefield, It was more than half an hour later than planned. The Army Aviation Corps and the Hainan Airlines Type 96 fighter team that had previously participated in the battle arrived at the battlefield to join the battle when they were exhausted and suffered heavy losses.
By the time the thirty-six Zero Fighters they dispatched arrived on the battlefield slowly and unhurriedly at an altitude of six thousand meters, the two batches of Army Aviation dispatched had almost lost the number of dispatched aircraft. More than half of the time, when these zero battles arrived, they were just in time to clean up the mess. They got a big advantage, but the Army Air Forces suffered heavy losses.
Looking at the number of people returning home, only half of the ones before departure were not enough. If we exclude the scrapped fighter jets that barely returned but were scrapped, as well as those with scars all over their bodies, I am afraid that a considerable number of them will never be able to fly again after this battle and will have no choice but to quit aviation. Team pilot.
After Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi learned the detailed battle situation, he didn't even bother to eat dinner, and went directly to Onishi Takijiro to seek justice. In his opinion, the naval aviation major general's move was obviously an attempt to kill someone with a knife. , suspected of being backed by the Army Air Forces for his promotion.
If all his naval aviation forces were dispatched and arrived in the combat airspace on time, the army aviation forces would also suffer some losses, but they would never suffer such heavy losses. This damn guy threw nearly half of all the Kwantung Army's fighter jets beyond the Songhua River. North, which also includes four of the latest Type 1 fighter jets, and the entire Army only has more than a dozen of these aircraft.
Faced with huge losses, how could Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi not burst into anger? How did Major General Onishi Takijiro promise to the Kwantung Army in the first place? Should he, Onishi Takijiro, pay such a heavy price? The Kwantung Army even gave the Army an explanation.
The most important thing is that Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi is sure that the fact that the Navy dispatched so few new fighter jets and arrived at the battlefield half an hour late was definitely this guy's deliberate act. Otherwise, based on the so-called training level and extent of their Navy, and this The guy was so shrewd that a time error of half an hour was enough to make him, a rear admiral, commit seppuku.
He deliberately delayed for half an hour because he was sitting back and watching the Army Air Force consume the enemy's so-called vitality so as to create decisive fighters for his Naval Air Force. Otherwise, why would the second batch of people rushing to the battlefield not be a zero battle, but already lagging behind? Type 96 fighter jet, he knew clearly that compared with the enemy's American-made fighter jets, the Type 96 fighter jet was no match at all.
Only zero combat aircraft can compete with the enemy's combat aircraft, but he only dispatched a mere thirty-six aircraft. Therefore, in the view of Lieutenant General Yoshitoshi Tokugawa, he was consciously preserving the strength of their naval aviation. Otherwise, if there are new, so-called universal fighter jets that are not used, why are we sending out old-fashioned fighter jets?
Facing Lieutenant General Yoshitoshi Tokugawa's fierce questioning, Major General Onishi Takijiro said a few words: "In today's air battle, the enemy also suffered heavy losses. Although the Kwantung Army Aviation Corps suffered heavy losses, today's battle The goal has been achieved. As for the number of losses, the Kwantung Army Headquarters should have been mentally prepared when approving it." He blocked Tokugawa's words.
After saying these words, Onishi Takijiro stood up and held the table with both hands, staring at Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi for a long time. After seeing Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi, his heart went crazy, and then he slowly walked away. Said: "Lieutenant General Tokugawa, there is no free lunch in this world. If you want to eat delicious food, you can't do it without paying a certain price."
"This plan to bomb the embankments on both sides of the Songhua River and create a man-made flood to cut off the retreat of the Jiangnan Anti-Union Forces was proposed by your Kwantung Army. Since this operation is beneficial to your Kwantung Army, it will also benefit your Kwantung Army. Army, then the losses will naturally be borne by your Kwantung Army. The naval aviation force neither has this responsibility nor the obligation to bear it for you."
"And the losses of the naval aviation this time are not smaller than those of your army aviation. The naval aviation also lost more than ten precious zero fighters this time. As a senior officer, Lieutenant General Tokugawa, you should know that these precious new fighter jets are of great significance to How important is the empire’s next overall strategy.”
"Due to your army's competition for resources, the navy's zero-war production has never been able to increase. Currently, it is only more than 300 aircraft. Coupled with the losses at the beginning of the year, a full sixth of these 300 fighter jets have been lost. The losses of your Army Air Force were too great and cannot be explained to the base camp. My losses in the zero battle were also too great. How should I explain them to the Naval Command?"
"Lieutenant General Tokugawa, it's not just you or your Kwantung Army who need to explain to the higher ups. I also have to explain to the Navy Command. We are all the same on this matter. Your army does not have many new fighter jets. Our navy's current number of new fighter jets is also insufficient, and everyone is facing similar situations, so I can't just follow the wishes of the army or the Kwantung Army."