The pilot selected by this aviation force is indeed very skilled. Although the Type 98 direct-assisted reconnaissance aircraft with the ability to take off and land at short distances from frontline airstrips is only an old-fashioned reconnaissance aircraft, its low-altitude performance and maneuverability are still quite good.
Not bad. The observer's position in the back seat can barely squeeze two people into it.
At this time when escape is the first priority, don't worry about the general's demeanor. This Type 98 direct-association reconnaissance aircraft, which is both a liaison aircraft and a reconnaissance aircraft, has only two seats, but the back seat needs to be equipped with some extra seats.
It is relatively spacious for reconnaissance equipment. Although it is a bit crowded with two people squeezed in, it is still better than losing one's life.
Although this Type 98 direct-association reconnaissance aircraft is slow, its low-altitude performance is quite good. The most important thing is its unique wing design, which allows it to take off and land on flat land in the wild. Although this type of aircraft is no longer in the field
For front-line reconnaissance work, the modified aircraft's excellent short take-off and landing performance has made it the first choice for the Japanese army to evacuate personnel and conduct tactical liaison when necessary in the current war situation.
This time we braved the enemy's artillery fire to fly to the war zone. The only available take-off and landing locations were a narrow street in a village. Therefore, the take-off and landing distance was very short, but because it was a reconnaissance aircraft, the range was relatively long.
The aircraft became the first choice for rescuing Lieutenant General Yuan Mamoru.
In fact, this is not the first time that this kind of aircraft has performed this kind of mission during this battle, so the pilot is still very skilled. Although there is no navigation at night, this unarmed reconnaissance aircraft has no control over the pilot.
With skillful control, he avoided ground fire and landed accurately in the surrounded Hulang Village.
But the plane that took the risk to land in Hulangzhuang, after picking up the person it wanted to pick up, never returned to the designated landing point in Yantai, where it would meet up with Yoshio Yoshio's military headquarters in order to return to the country together. It completely disappeared.
Now, in the vast Hebei-Shandong border area, the sea and sky are all the same color.
Contact with this plane was lost after takeoff, and no one knew which direction the plane flew to. There was no record of a crash by the Anti-Japanese Army, and there was no record of the plane's return from the Japanese army. This plane was carrying the commander of the 9th Division.
And where the chief of staff's plane went has become an unsolved mystery.
It was not until a few decades later that the battlefield of that year underwent earth-shaking changes. From an unknown small fish port, it had been built into a large emerging port in northern China. During a dredging of the waterway, it was only in the Bohai Sea east of Qikou that
In the deep sea area of the Bay, a World War II Japanese aircraft that had been severely corroded by sea water was salvaged.
From the almost intact remains of the three bodies in the cabin, as well as the names on the sabers they carried, people discovered that this plane was the one that disappeared decades ago after taking off from Hulangzhuang and disappearing on the border of Hebei and Shandong.
aircraft in the area. When inspecting the aircraft, people found a Type 99 rifle bullet used by the Japanese army in the oil line of the engine.
In other words, when the plane took off, an unknown person fired a shot at the engine. As a result, the plane plunged into the sky shortly after it took off because the oil line could not supply oil and the engine stopped working.
Bohai Bay. As for who shot this bullet, it has truly become an eternal mystery.
In the Hulangzhuang battlefield at that time, among the three troops participating in the war, although the Bohai Navy area was all equipped with Japanese weapons, they were all Type 38 rifles and crooked handles. Even some Type 92 heavy machine guns were all of 77 caliber.
, but it is not compatible with this Type 99 rifle ammunition. The anti-alliance forces participating in the war did not have a single Japanese-style light weapon from top to bottom.
Among the armies of the two countries participating in the war, only the Type 99 rifles and Type 99 light machine guns used by the Ninth Division used this kind of bullet. Who fired this bullet? It is estimated that no one except the person involved.
People can answer it later. But judging from the situation at Hulangzhuang at the time, it should have been an angry Japanese soldier who fired the shot.
As for the fact that the Japanese troops at Hulangzhuang were very angry at that time, it was not without reason. The battle situation was extremely unfavorable, and the remnants of the Japanese army trapped in Hulangzhuang were already in a situation where they had no ammunition, no supplies, and even no drinking water.
The regiment commander and division chief of staff took the lead in fleeing first, which undoubtedly made the remaining Japanese officers and soldiers below very angry.
Moreover, the only 20,000 bullets dropped into Hulangzhuang during the Japanese airdrop operation also deepened the anger of the remnants of the Japanese army. To be honest, these 20,000 bullets, according to the Japanese army's standards for ammunition use, if used sparingly,
It was enough for the Japanese army to use for a while.
But the key issue is that the remnants of the Japanese ninth division in Hulangzhuang are the key division of the Japanese army as the so-called domestic defense circle. Thanks to the painstaking renovation of the base camp, the equipment is extremely sophisticated. The entire division is equipped with the same equipment.
The Type 99 rifle, Type 99 light machine gun, and the latest Type 1 heavy machine gun all use Type 99 7.7mm bullets.
In the only successful airdrop carried out by the Japanese army, all the bullets that fell into the hands of the remnants of the 9th Division were Type 38 bullets. Logically speaking, given the quality of the Japanese army, such low-level mistakes should not have occurred. But the problem is
Time was too tight to allocate ammunition from other directions, and the navy participating in the first batch of airdrops only had 65-caliber ammunition.
At the same time, the Navy does not know exactly what kind of ammunition the Ninth Division uses. The Army currently has two kinds of 77-caliber ammunition and one 65-caliber ammunition. These three caliber ammunition are all equipped and used in large quantities.
.And the Japanese troops on the Chinese battlefield have always used 65-caliber plus 92-caliber machine gun bullets.
Except for some reserves in the Jinan military station, no such bullets are available in any theater in Shandong. Coupled with the gap between the army and the navy, the navy has no idea what ammunition the Ninth Division is equipped with.
Just air-drop whatever ammunition you have on hand.
After the limited medicines and bandages were exhausted due to lack of food and water, the wounded could only be hastily bandaged with leggings, and even the seriously injured could only die of pain, and the remnants of the Ninth Division, whose morale was extremely low. After receiving
With this kind of ammunition that cannot be used at all, morale is even lower.
At this time, it is not surprising that some angry soldiers fired at the plane of the division commander who abandoned him. But was the plane shot down by his own people, or was it used by Japanese weapons on the spot?
Shot down by the Bohai Navy Region troops, the final reason can no longer be found out.
In fact, everyone is only interested in this aircraft. After all, as a defeated country, the Japanese army basically did not retain its World War II aircraft. Although this 98-type direct-association reconnaissance aircraft has very little fuselage skin corroded by sea water.
The engine and frame are quite intact.
As for who fired the bullet that hit the plane, no one is willing to study it. After all, this happened decades ago. Although it was a big event at the time, throughout World War II,
But it's just a trivial matter. There are many things worth studying: Who has the patience to study who fired this shot?
After the commander and chief of staff of the Ninth Division took the lead in evacuating on the plane that came to support them, the morale of the Ninth Division on the Hulangzhuang front had completely collapsed. During the subsequent offensive in the Bohai Sea District,
The resistance of the remaining members of the Ninth Division dropped to the point of being indispensable. An hour and a half after the two men flew away, the first line of gunfire at Hulangzhuang had completely fallen.
After the final settlement of the remnants of the Ninth Division on the front line of Hulangzhuang, the Bohai Navy Region troops, which suffered heavy casualties, quickly dispatched a brigade to go south quickly and merged with some local armed forces remaining north of the Yellow River in northern Shandong. Although Du Kaishan took away
That regiment has been returned to its original form.
However, excessive casualties meant that the only brigade in the Bohai Sea Region was no longer capable of sustained combat, at least for a short period of time, before it was replenished. The reinforcement regiment of the Anti-Japanese Alliance that accompanied the brigade southward began to expand with Tao Jingfei toward the southeast.
The troops cooperated with each other and launched a defense on the north bank of the Yellow River.
As the two Japanese divisions on the Dezhou and Jinpu lines withdrew to the south of the Yellow River, the remnants of the 115th Division and the 9th Division were completely surrounded and annihilated. At this point, the sound of gunfire had completely ended on the entire Hebei-Shandong border battlefield.
In the Lubian War Zone, the Anti-Japanese Alliance and North China troops have advanced to the banks of the Yellow River and are confronting the Japanese troops on the south bank of the Yellow River across the old path of the Yellow River.
At this moment, the Yellow River broke its banks at Huayuankou in 1938, and the levees in Henan were damaged many times. The Chinese side broke its levees. In order to ensure the safety of the traffic lines, the Japanese suppressed the Chinese troops in central Henan and northern Anhui and attacked the east Henan.
Harassment and counterattacks also broke the embankment east of Huayuankou many times.
After the Huayuankou Incident, there were still 20% of the Yellow River's old course. The magnificent levees built successively on both sides for thousands of years now only have a few trickles left. The originally mighty river surface is no longer flowing.
It is also impossible to see. At this moment, the old course of the Yellow River has long been unable to become the natural barrier expected by the North China Front.
Although at the beginning of this battle, the North China Front Army, which had suffered heavy losses in the Anti-Japanese War last year, had to adapt to the situation. It was Okamura Neiji who left him a back-up. The Yellow River became a natural barrier again to ensure that Shandong Province
As well as the security of eastern Henan and northern Anhui.
Regardless of the fact that it was a busy time for farming, he ordered Eastern Henan to forcibly recruit a large number of civilians to work desperately to block the hole where the embankment broke. Especially in 1942, the hole to the east of Huayuankou was opened by the Japanese army. Is Oka
When the atmosphere was tense before the war, Neiji Murura gave instructions to block it in the shortest possible time at all costs.
At this time, he wanted to return at least part of the Yellow River to its old course. It was not because Okamura Neji had any kind intentions at this time. He was trying to return the Yellow River to its old course at this time, just to re-form a deep channel in eastern Henan and northern Shandong.
Natural barrier. As long as the old course of the Yellow River can regain water, it will be a natural blockade that can contain the enemy's tank offensive in the Shandong Plain.
The gap of more than 1,000 meters accumulated over many years of destruction is so easy to block. Moreover, the west of Huayuankou is still under the control of the First World War Zone. In addition, the continuous shelling of the First War Zone on the other side of Huayuankou and the recruitment of civilian laborers are out.
The work was ineffective. The personnel dispatched by Wang Puppet worked together to provide the materials needed to block the mouth.
The Japanese command structures at all levels, which were overwhelmed by the war, were unable to supervise. The battle here has been completed, and the plan to return the Yellow River to its original path is far from a shadow. Its progress cannot be described as slow.
It can be said that the speed of emergency repairs is slower than a snail's crawl.
However, after the war, the Japanese army forcibly recruited tens of thousands of civilians from eastern Henan, and mobilized thousands of puppet troops from eastern Henan to make all-out repairs. Finally, within two months, all the gaps east of Huayuankou were covered
By blocking it and allowing some water in the old Yellow River course, it can barely be considered a half-barrier.
But that was two months after this fierce battle. At least for now, the North China Front is helpless to defend the already empty south bank of the Yellow River. Apart from the 65th Division, there is only one 48th Division that has not yet arrived on the battlefield.