The Navy believes that in the current Pacific battlefield, the mode of naval warfare has long been changed from the original battleship duel to an aircraft carrier duel. Most of the aircraft carriers currently available to the Navy are based in several bases in the Central Pacific. Except for two of the mainland's ships, they have just returned to the mainland.
In addition to the aircraft carriers being overhauled, there is only one new aircraft carrier undergoing training.
These aircraft carriers are urgently needed in the Pacific battlefield and cannot stay on the mainland for too long. The other ships are also urgently needed not only for combat, but also for escort. Therefore, the Navy is really unable to comply with the Army's requirements at the moment.
, allocate the ships they need.
After arguing for two full days over how many ships to deploy for this battle, the Navy finally compromised. It agreed to add one more aircraft carrier, plus several battleships and heavy cruisers that had just completed major repairs on the mainland, to devote to the landing firepower.
On cover.
During the entire campaign, as long as the Americans do not launch a major offensive in the Pacific, the Navy will always keep more than one aircraft carrier stationed in the Bohai Bay to provide air cover and support for the Army. However, after the Army's landing is completed, all the Navy's large ships will withdraw
Walk.
However, the Navy has also promised to deploy a land-based aviation fleet in the theater. The aviation fleet will be fully equipped with the Navy's latest land-based fighter jets, Thunder Fighters, and was originally developed to replace the old carrier-based attack aircraft, but due to its landing performance
Poor performance caused continuous accidents, and the aircraft was too large to take off from the aircraft carrier. Instead, it could only be used as a land-based attack aircraft using the Comet and Tianshan ship attack aircraft, assisting the Army in providing air cover for this operation.
For the Japanese Navy, at least in terms of local air defense, it currently faces much less pressure than the Army. After all, the current anti-Japanese air raids on the mainland are mainly focused on Army targets. The targets of the Army are to be bombed one by one.
There is basically no major threat to naval targets except for a few bombs that occasionally miss their targets.
Compared with the heavy pressure brought by the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, in terms of local air defense operations, the pressure of the Navy can be said to be basically dispensable so far. Therefore, the Navy's life in the mainland is still quite easy, and it can still deploy
It is not surprising that the Army expects the Navy to also provide air support for this operation.
In addition, because the original performance of the new carrier-based aircraft developed by the Navy is not up to standard, not many can be boarded on ships. Compared with the tense Pacific War situation, the mainland has a backlog of aviation aircraft that cannot be boarded on ships.
Teams and aircraft. At this time, it is normal for the navy to take on the bulk of air operations.
Even though the Navy didn't want to, these aircraft couldn't be used on ships, but they could still be used as shore-based aircraft. However, under the Emperor's decree, the Navy could only reluctantly cooperate and form a mixed aviation team.
He was transferred to the Chinese battlefield, which had been evacuated for three years, to cooperate with the Army in operations, and to assume major air cover tasks.
With the navy's compromise, the general plan for this battle was finally come out. And with the battle plan determined, the war machine of the entire China Expeditionary Force was once again running at full speed. Yantai, Lianyungang, and Shanghai ports were full of
After landing, the Japanese army and a large amount of supplies landed.
Japanese naval ships cooperating with the army's operations have also arrived in Lushun one after another. Among them, the ships that were originally deployed off the coast of Tianjin, but began to withdraw to Lushun due to the ice period, began to reappear off the coast of Tianjin. The Japanese Navy's latest carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft has just begun service.
Caiyun reconnaissance aircraft also appeared many times at the Hebei-Shandong border and the entire Bohai Bay area to conduct reconnaissance on the entire battlefield.
This long-range reconnaissance aircraft developed for aircraft carriers has a long range and is extremely fast. It can easily take off from Shanghai and conduct aerial reconnaissance of the entire North China battlefield. Its reconnaissance range even reaches as far as Suixi, which has brought great influence to the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
Troubled. Although the Anti-Alliance Air Force organized interceptions many times, it was difficult to intercept such long-legged and fast reconnaissance aircraft due to the performance gap of fighter jets.
After receiving all kinds of intelligence, especially after a large number of Japanese troops landed in Yantai, Lianyungang and Shanghai, Yang Zhen was sure that the wolf was coming, and ordered all units to immediately prepare for battle. He also ordered the aviation force to bomb Yantai and Lianyungang, and
Increase the bombing intensity on the Longhai Railway and the Shandong section of Jinpu Road, completely paralyzing the Longhai Railway and Jinpu Railway.
However, the four Japanese railway regiments that first entered the Shandong theater and northern Jiangsu to ensure the smooth flow of the Longhai and Jinpu railways showed strong field repair capabilities. Although they were repairing railways damaged in air raids, they were severely damaged by northern Jiangsu.
Despite the interference from the Military Region and the First Section of the Central Shandong Military Region, high-intensity emergency repairs were always maintained. The Japanese army also increased the deployment of anti-aircraft firepower along the two railways.
Although the anti-alliance aviation forces continued to increase their air strikes, under the full-scale emergency repairs of the four field railway regiments invested by the Japanese army and the full cover of ground artillery fire, before the entire battle began, the Japanese army's two railways, which were the same lifeline, were
Intermittent, but always open to traffic.
All the equipment in Yantai Port and Longkou Port were completely destroyed by the attack aircraft fleet dispatched by the Anti-Japanese Alliance during the air raids, and they lost their operational capabilities in a short period of time. Qingdao Port, which was not originally used as a landing site for the Japanese army, was also used by the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
The bombers also suffered heavy losses under the all-out air attack.
However, under the cover of Lianyungang, the eastern starting point of the main transportation route of this surge, under the cover of the Japanese Army Air Force stationed in China and the greatly increased ground air defense firepower, multiple air strikes by the Anti-Japanese Alliance have never been able to reach Lianyungang.
Success. During the entire battle, Lianyungang, a small port that did not even play a supporting role in the entire Japanese military system, actually became the main port used by the Japanese military.
However, although it was not possible to completely cut off the Longhai and Jinpu railways and completely destroy Lianyungang, under the full attack of the Anti-Japanese Air Force stationed in Hebei, the Japanese divisions suffered considerable damage when they set off to the designated combat areas.
Massive damage. Many trains transporting soldiers and supplies were also bombed on the railway lines.
Although the Japanese army and navy aviation forces participating in the war were fully engaged in providing cover and transporting troops, they also made careful plans and adopted night marching and transportation methods as much as possible. However, the resistance was dispatched almost around the clock.
Under the bombing by allied aircraft, the Japanese troops still suffered heavy losses while transporting them to the front.
In order to weaken the strength of the Japanese divisions participating in the war as much as possible, the Anti-Alliance Air Force stationed in North China was dispatched. Large-scale bombing and attacks were carried out on all roads and railways in Shandong and eastern Henan. Even the P40 fighter jets
High-explosive aerial bombs were mounted to carry out fire strikes against the Japanese troops.
As the Japanese army marched towards the Hebei-Shandong border, nearly 60% of the cars were blown up on the road. An independent field heavy artillery brigade of the Japanese army deployed in this direction was captured by the Anti-Japanese Alliance night bombers during the night march. During the guidance
Under the instruction of the flares dropped by the aircraft, a group of Blenheim light bombers completely covered the Japanese troops with firepower.
This independent field heavy artillery brigade, with its eight 150mm cannons, as well as all the tractors and ammunition carried, were all blown up on the road from Linyi to Changhe. The exploded ammunition and the ignited
The fire caused by the tractor can be seen clearly from dozens of kilometers away.
The 114th Division, which was transferred in this direction, could not even reach the combat area, and its two infantry brigades were destroyed by a sudden explosion. One and a half of its 83rd Infantry Brigade got off the train in Yanzhou.
At that time, the Japanese naval team, which was being used as a cover by the Anti-Japanese Alliance bombers, had an opportunity to return and was blocked at Yanzhou Station.
A combination of high-explosive aerial bombs and napalm bombs destroyed the brigade's three main infantry brigades together with the Yanzhou station. One of the infantry brigades was destroyed along with the train it was riding on before it could even get off the train.
The bombers carried out carpet bombing and sent them to the west.
When the Japanese HNA fighter group arrived in Yanzhou after receiving the news, the 83rd Brigade Headquarters to which the division belonged, together with an entire infantry brigade riding in the same column, had been completely wiped out by the air attack. The people who had to clean up the mess were wiped out.
The Japanese army could only dig a big pit and bury the corpses of the Japanese soldiers, which were burned by napalm bombs and looked like coke.
Before the main force of the 114th Division reached the battlefield, it lost its combat effectiveness under the air attack and withdrew from the battlefield. The division's two organized brigades and accompanying troops finally arrived on the Shandong battlefield, only the remaining complete infantry brigade, plus
Other infantry brigades also have a detachment composed of four squadrons with combat effectiveness. It is commanded by Major General Matsuno Katsuaki, commander of the 84th Brigade, and was strengthened to guard the road from Linyi to Juxian.
Faced with the almost all-pervasive anti-Japanese bomber group, the Japanese army had to change its advance tactics. Instead of using the regiment as a unit to advance in a centralized manner, the Japanese army adopted the method of dispersed advance in groups as units, arriving at designated areas and then concentrating again. At the same time,
All divisions scheduled to be used in Shandong got off the train south of Yanzhou and entered on foot.
It also changed the original method of dividing the army and navy aviation forces into regions and taking charge of fighting for air supremacy. Instead, the army and navy aviation units participated in the battle, adopting a cumbersome method of seamlessly linking the air forces in batches to take off for cover, and returning to the base in turn to refuel and rest, ensuring that each division
Moving towards the front line, this reduced the losses suffered by various divisions on the way.
At the same time that the various divisions of the Japanese army were marching towards the designated combat areas. On March 9, just after the ice-free period in the Bohai Bay completely ended, the two battleships Kongo and Haruna dispatched by the Japanese Navy were attacked by the Yakumo and Haruna.
Two old-fashioned armored cruisers, the Kamote, the heavy cruiser Kumano, and the light cruiser Yubari, which had just completed battle damage repairs in China.
As well as the cooperation of six destroyers, three minesweepers and nine submarine destroyers, as well as the aircraft carrier Shokaku that had just completed emergency repairs, the aircraft carrier Chitose that was converted from a seaplane carrier, and under the air cover provided by forty-five Zero Fighters.
, carried out large-scale artillery bombardment on the Beitang and Dagu lines around Tianjin.
The two battleships fired a total of more than 700 rounds of 356mm artillery shells, and together with the heavy cruiser Kumano, a total of more than 2,000 rounds of 203mm and 150mm artillery shells were fired. As for the 120mm artillery shells and small and medium-sized shells,
There were countless caliber artillery shells. Under the massive bombardment by the Japanese army, the entire line from Beitang to Dagukou was bombed into a mess.
Since the aviation forces of the Anti-Japanese Alliance were concentrated on the southern front at the moment, they were conducting air interceptions against the various Japanese divisions that were advancing towards the theater. Therefore, no air strikes were carried out for the Japanese Navy's artillery operation. As for Tao Jingfei's deployment in the North
The ground artillery on the line from Tang to Dagu was too far away from the range of the Japanese naval guns, so they did not launch any counterattacks.
After bombarding the Japanese fleet for a whole afternoon and almost destroying all the artillery shells they carried, the light cruiser Yubari was left to command the destroyers, monitor the coast of Tianjin and protect the two aircraft carriers stationed outside Tianjin.
The main fleet returned to Lushunkou to replenish artillery shells.