The leader of the Kingfisher formation shouted loudly and ordered:
"The third, fourth, and fifth brigades protect the bombers! The first and second brigades follow me to meet the enemy!"
After saying a roll, he led two groups with a total of 68 fighter jets and rolled down from a high altitude one after another, directly attacking the 30 Qing fighter jets.
The leader of the Osprey formation also immediately ordered:
"Drop the bomb, avoid each other, and return!"
Because the superiors had explained in advance that the first priority for dive bombers was to protect themselves. It would be better to kill a few Qing troops than lose one.
The 150 "Ospreys" immediately dropped their bombs, scattered to avoid the fighters, and returned home under the tight protection of 82 "Kingfishers".
A massive air battle involving more than 60 Ming army aircraft, more than 30 Qing army aircraft, and nearly a hundred fighter planes immediately unfolded over Pukou.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang saw from the observation window that two dive bombers fell down, dragging black smoke, and his expression immediately became sharp.
"What's going on!" He yelled to the side, "How could we be shot down!"
Then he immediately picked up the telescope and looked at the sky on the other side, and continued to roar:
"The Qing aircraft came around from there!... I said, not a single dive bomber was allowed to be lost!... What are our planes doing for food! Find me Li Guoliang!"
The communications soldier behind him didn't dare to breathe, and was busy contacting the Army Aviation Commander. Soon, Li Guoliang appeared on the other end of the phone, and before he could speak to Xiaoqiang, he said with fear and fear:
"Sir Xiang... I already know, I will send more fighter jets now! I promise that no more bombers will be shot down!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang relaxed a little and sighed:
"Master Li, I said that there are only 150 dive bombers in the entire Ming Dynasty. There are too many places that need to be used. They must be protected... It's my fault too. You put too much emphasis on battlefield protection, so you concentrated all the fighter jets in Pukou.
In the sky, let the Qing army planes come over. Mr. Li, we still need to send out warning fighters. You are more professional than me, so you decide."
"Yes, yes," Li Guoliang wiped his head with cold sweat, "I'll make arrangements now. Don't worry, sir..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was right. Li Guoliang cared too much about the air superiority over Pukou and took an extremely risky move. He transferred almost all the fighters of the 1st and 2nd Aviation Divisions to Pukou.
At present, the Ming Dynasty has a total of four aviation divisions. Each division fights with a hundred or dozens of bombers in total. The 1st and 2nd Aviation Divisions defend the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. They are the elite of the entire army aviation, and their fighter planes are almost all the most advanced.
"Kingfisher". By doing this, Li Guoliang almost evacuated the fighter jets within three to four hundred kilometers along the river. Therefore, the Qing army's aircraft easily broke through the air defenses, detoured to the southeast of Nanjing, and successfully attacked from the angle of the sun.
Soon, Xiang Xiaoqiang received a report from Li Guoliang. According to the Kingfisher leader's report, the Qing army consisted of eight "Four-Four Formations" with a total of 32 fighter jets, all single-wing "Haidongqing". Xiang Xiaoqiang was overjoyed and asked Li Guoliang.
:
"What do you think?"
Li Guoliang's voice was also excited:
"There are only about a hundred Haidongqing left in the Qinglu Air Force, and now they have sent more than 30 at once. It can be said that they have put their capital on the line!... Sir, this may be because their emperor is surrounded.
Here, the Qinglu Air Force can't care about anything, we just have to eat this bite!"
This aviation veteran’s analysis was the same as mine. Xiang Xiaoqiang was very happy and said:
"Not bad! I saw dozens of 'Kingfisher' escorting the bombers back. Let them return to join the battle immediately after escorting. We must use a five to one advantage to eat up the enemy, minimize our own losses, and at the same time, we must quickly
The battle must be decided quickly. Fighters cannot be left in other places, otherwise the air attack on our airport will be in trouble unless the prisoners react."
"That's right," Li Guoliang replied, "the general did take a risk."
Numerical advantage always means a better exchange ratio. Originally, the Ming army's fighter jets had a two-to-one advantage. Now that the 82 Kingfishers escorting the Osprey bombers have returned to the battlefield again, the Ming army's numerical advantage has reached five to one.
These 32 Haidong Qings of the Qing Army all belong to the First Combat Aviation Regiment of the Qing Air Force. The quality of the pilots is not inferior to that of the Ming Army pilots, but they came all the way from Fengyang Airport, nearly 200 kilometers away, to store fuel.
Nearly half of it is consumed, and aerial combat consumes the most fuel.
These 32 Haidongqings rushed in and fought for several rounds. 15 of them were knocked out. The remaining ones were short of fuel and tried to leave the battlefield. But the "Kingfisher"
The maximum speed is 12 kilometers per hour faster than the "Haidongqing", and it won't let go.
For a moment, the sky above the Yangtze River looked like it had been painted with a paintbrush. Dozens of long smoke trailed in the sky, accompanied by fireballs that exploded in the air from time to time. It was a spectacular sight.
The citizens of Nanjing had never seen such a scene. They were so feasted for a while that they almost forgot about the war. They climbed to the roof or high places to watch this once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. Whenever a plane exploded into a fireball or dragged a long plume of smoke,
On the ground, some citizens cheered, some sighed. More people couldn't tell who was who, asking each other and talking.
Within ten minutes, the remaining 17 "Haitongqing" of the Qing army were shot down one by one. The Ming army only lost 13 "Kingfisher" in total.
The exchange ratio is 2.5 to 1, which is very good.
"Great," Xiang Xiaoqiang looked through the telescope, watching the last Haidongqing fall into the river, and slapped his thigh happily, "Now the Qing army only has more than 60 single-wing fighters left! ... And we still have
There are more than two hundred."
…
Although the Ming army attacked the outskirts of Pukou Town, the remaining 30 to 40 thousand people from the three Eight Banners Divisions of the Qing army have now shrunk to the town, hiding in the streets and alleys, and in private buildings, relying on the ruins of the walls, using
Mortars, anti-tank guns and other weapons resisted. The remaining Eight Banners Division was very resolute in resisting, far beyond the Han army on the periphery. The Ming army suddenly became very uncomfortable. Although tanks and armored vehicles opened the way, they began to struggle and suffered casualties.
surge.
The Ming army went to attack Li first, and captured mostly Qing soldiers and rarely saw civilians. Occasionally, there were a small number of civilians. The Ming army also gathered them and took them far away from the battlefield, and prepared a large red cross
The flag is unfurled for identification in the air.
There are only a few thousand people seen so far, which is less than a fraction of the Qing army. Maybe most of the civilians in Pukou have fled after the war started for many days. But these civilians suffered heavy casualties, and they were all killed by the Ming army's bombs.
Those who were injured by shells and shells, and those who dragged their families and their families to escape. Now, most of the military doctors and medicines in Pukou are used on these civilians.
A female People's Guard doctor was furious and asked them:
"Both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been at war for so many days, why don't you run away? Is your family foundation more important than your own lives?"
A woman was holding a child, sitting on the ground, raising her head, and said in a daze:
"How can we people run away?"
"Hey, why can't you people run away?"
Several Pukou people sitting on the ground looked at each other, all confused. An old man glanced at her and said:
"Daughter, you look very kind, so why are you just making us people happy?"
This female military doctor said curiously:
"Why am I making you people happy? Hey, tell me clearly, what's going on?"
The old man shook his head and sighed:
"We are ordinary people. We have no money and no ability. How much money do we have to spend to find a road?"
The female military doctor was startled and murmured:
"Road...road?"
She remembered that when people in Beiqing left their residence, they had to find "roads" first. But she didn't expect that there was a war, and people needed to find roads to escape. Besides, this was not about escaping south, this was
Run north!
"It's a war now!" She was a little frightened and asked angrily, "It's normal for refugees to flee. Now there are no roads or roads. Doesn't this cost the lives of ordinary people?"
The old man said "Hey" and sneered:
"You don't want roadblocks? Isn't that the case all the time?... My daughter, you are young and don't understand. Things in this world are so dark! The more times like this, the tighter the roadblocks become! Those in charge of the roadblocks
The officials all moved into big fortresses, and they were not afraid of bombs exploding, so they kept their anger and made money... Normally, you could get one by spending half an ocean and treating guests to a meal... Now I heard it has gone up to five yuan.
Ten oceans a piece!
"It's better if there's someone above you. You can get one by giving less money... If you don't have someone above you and they know you have a lot of money, it would be weird if they don't squeeze you out of everything!... Hum, like
Poor people like us, with neither money nor power, can only sit at home and chant Buddha... Oh, by the way, there is nothing we can do. Zhang Sanwang from the alley opposite sent his fourteen-year-old daughter to the bunker
Went in... As a result, by the next day, we only spent 40 oceans, six road lines were completed, and all six members of the family escaped with their lives... and Liu Sangu over there at the dock, her son
My daughter-in-law was sent to the bunker, but the whole family ran away... An old man like me, who has neither a daughter nor a daughter-in-law, can only..."
When the female military doctor heard this, she was trembling with anger and said angrily:
"Shameless! So shameless! ... Let me tell you, we don't need roads there! Not only do we not need roads, but we can go wherever we want!"
The old man squinted his eyes and shook his head:
"I don't believe it. There's no such thing. It's not all chaos."
The woman holding the child next to her saw that the female officer of the Ming Army was already angry, so she quickly pulled the old man quietly and whispered:
"His grandfather, please stop saying a word...haven't we escaped now, and we didn't spend a penny, so what else..."
A voice behind asked:
"Are you telling the truth?"
The female military doctor turned around and saw an armored vehicle parked not far behind her. A young major general was listening coldly. There were also several lieutenant generals standing behind her.
She gasped, seeing so many high officials at the same time for the first time. The female medic from the People's Guard immediately knew who was in front of her, immediately stood at attention and saluted Xiaoqiang, and said loudly:
"Lord Commander!"
When the people in this small area heard that he was a commander, they all stood up in fear, some bowed, and some said hello. Most people just stood blankly.
Because the Ming army had already advanced to Pukou Town, the riverside position was already very safe. In addition, the attack was blocked, so Xiang Xiaoqiang moved the temporary headquarters to the west bank so that he could command nearby.
But he overheard this conversation. This was something he never expected. Xiang Xiaoqiang asked the old man:
"You mean, most of the people in Pukou are still in the town?"
The old man was so frightened that he dared not speak. He was trembling and wanted to kowtow in greeting. He was about to kneel down. Xiang Xiaoqiang frowned and glanced at him. The guard beside him immediately stepped forward and helped the old man up.
At this time, several female military doctors and nurses around saw that this was Commander Xiang, and they all gathered around. Two or three female nurses were eager to show off, and comforted the old man in a soft voice, telling him not to be afraid.
It's very good...
The old man was finally no longer afraid, and tremblingly talked about the situation in the town. Several people nearby also followed you and added something.
It turned out that until the day before Emperor Guangwu came, the relevant officials of Pukou Town had collaborated with the garrison to make a fortune while the Ming army bombarded the town. The garrison guarded the surrounding areas of the town to prevent people from escaping. Those who wanted to escape would have to pay dozens of times the price.
To build a road, otherwise you will have to be bombed in the town. There are more than 50,000 civilians in Pukou Town. These days, those who have some connections and a little savings have successively built high-priced roads and left thousands of people.
But the emperor came suddenly on the morning of New Year's Eve. The local officials and military officers were afraid. They were afraid that the emperor would see so many civilians who had not left, and would accuse him of it. So they colluded, saying that the local people were loyal and willing to live and die with Pukou. In this way.
As a result, even high-priced roads were no longer available, and no common people could even think of leaving. In the past two days, the Ming army had shelled and bombed, causing countless casualties among the common people.
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt almost suffocated. He took a deep breath and asked:
"How many people are there in the town now? What do you estimate?"
The old man thought for a while and said hesitantly:
"Twenty to thirty thousand, why can't I get less than thirty thousand?"
Several people nearby also nodded and said that it was about the same.
Xiang Xiaoqiang touched his forehead and felt his heart trembling. In a town as big as a palm, twenty to thirty thousand civilians were forced to gather together. How high was the density? If such a bomb went down, at least half of the civilians would be killed.
Any country or government, no matter how harsh it is on its people, will at least allow its people to flee when facing foreign enemies.
...But what we see now is that the government acts as a kidnapper, treats the people as meat tickets, and uses the attacks of foreign enemies to extort ransom from the people. Such a government, such a court...
Xiang Xiaoqiang remained silent for a long time, then slowly turned around and looked north.
…
From here to the north, there are thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, millions of square kilometers of land, and hundreds of millions of people...
How long will you continue to be kidnapped by this regime?
Aren’t they “supposed” to be liberated?
Isn’t it “possible” to liberate them?
This thought startled him.
...Is it possible? No, it's impossible! The vast land, huge population, and huge army of the Northern Qing Dynasty... these are all war potentials, and they are war potentials that are unmatched by the Southern Ming Dynasty.
...the population of Beiqing?
He turned to Xiaoqiang and looked at the thousands of people who had escaped with their lives, hugging each other and crying. Those whose whole families had escaped, whenever they saw Ming army officers passing by, they would step forward and stop them, asking if they could go to Nanming.
...the army of the Northern Qing Dynasty?
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the hundreds of thousands of Qing prisoners who were swarming in darkness and could not be seen to the end. The prisoners were sitting on the ground waiting to go to Nanming. Many of them were joking with each other, and they did not feel depressed or unwilling at all after being captured.
...can't it?
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the north and sniffed the cold air coming from the north, but his chest suddenly felt hot. He forced himself to calm down. This was incredible. What he was thinking about now was that the entire Ming Dynasty headquarters and the entire Ming army were...
No one dares to think about it. Those experienced generals and marshals don't dare to think about such a thing.
But this crazy idea had already entered his mind and he couldn't get rid of it. Just like the famous saying: Once a person has the desire to fly, he will no longer be satisfied with crawling on the ground.
He waved his hand to Xiaoqiang, brought his thoughts back, and finished the matter at hand first. He listened to the rumble of cannons in the northeast and ordered:
"Tell the Army Aviation Commander that the Osprey bomber formation will not take off for the time being."
"yes."
"We are not allowed to use heavy artillery for the time being."
"grown ups?"
"We'll use tanks to push it inward first."
Said Xiang Xiaoqiang.
…
The People's Guard's Lightning-2 tank moved forward slowly, its tracks creaking against broken bricks and rubble. Behind it was a platoon of infantrymen, holding submachine guns. Behind them, there was a "steel crossbow."
Self-propelled artillery.
The three-story dilapidated building in front was still intact. The walls were riddled with bullet marks, the glass windows were shattered, the window holes were burnt black, and a large piece of broken glass was scattered around the building.
The tank commander's heart was pounding. He had just participated in a street battle in Nanjing. Based on experience, he knew that there was an ambush in a building like this. But with so many windows, the enemy could attack him from any window.
The tracks stopped, the engine was still trembling, the turret was whirring and rotating, the 37mm gun barrel was slowly raised, and the windows on the 2nd and 3rd floors were looked at.
In the past, we could have called in dive bombers at this time and leveled the small building from the air. But we have just received the order from the headquarters. Not only are there no dive bombers to support us, but we cannot fire cannons or use flames indiscriminately on unknown buildings.
ejector. Because there may be a large number of civilians inside.
This is indeed the case. Before receiving the order, the Ming army discovered that there were more civilians in the building than they imagined. They often shot in with one cannon, blasting out a large number of women, children and the elderly. But the Qing soldiers who actually walked out with their hands raised,
There are only two or three.
Suddenly, on the first floor of this small building, fireworks erupted from the windows, and the loud noise hit the front armor of the Ming army tank.
It didn't penetrate, so it's estimated that the opponent's weapon was a 37mm cannon.
"There's an ambush, hide quickly!"
Before the shouting ended, two light machine guns stretched out from the two window openings on the second floor and fired violently at the Ming army below. For a time, a large number of Ming soldiers were killed.
The Lightning-2 tank immediately fell backwards, pressed down the gun barrel, and fired a shot at the window. Then the self-propelled artillery from behind came up, and the 57mm gun barrel also roared, and the wall of the second floor collapsed with a large
Blocks, a fire and dust filled the air.
When the smoke cleared, the loud cries of children could be heard in the building. Two Qing soldiers died on the ground downstairs. In the large gap on the second floor, two mutilated corpses could be seen. One was wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket, and the other was
One body was pressed under a brick wall, with only half of its head exposed. The head was obviously very small and belonged to a child.
Another little girl of eleven or twelve years old came over crying, her face covered in blood, screaming and wailing, and threw herself on the corpse wearing a flowered coat, shouting "Mother, mother". Next to her was an eight or nine-year-old girl.
While crying, the little boy picked up broken bricks and threw them at the Ming soldiers downstairs with gritted teeth.
The little girl immediately got up from her mother, hugged her brother tightly, and pulled him back, while looking at the Ming soldiers below in fear.
The Ming army platoon leader suppressed the discomfort in his heart and ordered:
"Class 1 and Class 2, occupy this building!"
More than two dozen soldiers carrying submachine guns rushed into the small building quickly. Soon, there was loud gunfire in the building. The sound of the Ming Army's Thomson submachine guns, the sound of the Eight Banners Division's imitation Soviet turntable light machine guns, and the Ming Army's shouts to persuade them to surrender, were heard from time to time.
There was also the sound of grenades exploding.
During the melee, civilians rushed out from the gate on the first floor from time to time, and several civilians jumped directly from the windows on the second floor and fell to the ground struggling in pain.
…But this is just one of many similar scenes in the street fighting in Pukou.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang was studying the battle situation in the armored command vehicle when he suddenly heard a noise in the distance. This was not the sound of a battle, nor did it sound like the prisoners making trouble.
He frowned and asked someone to go out to see what was going on.
Soon the guard came back and reported to him:
"Sir, it seems... there are many war reporters here."
"reporter?!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang stood up, rushed to the door, and looked out.
More than a hundred meters away, there was really a group of reporters, thirty or forty of them, carrying tripods and spotlights. Most of them were Chinese, and there were some foreigners.
More than a dozen military policemen tried their best to stop them, shouting something. But the reporters held their cameras high and kept taking pictures, while streams of white smoke continued to rise.
Xiang Xiaoqiang narrowed his eyes and couldn't believe what he saw.
... They are really war reporters! In the past, war reporters were all foreigners. Today, the reporter who saw a Chinese face for the first time carried a camera and rushed to the most dangerous front line... This will not be allowed in future generations.
imagination.
Ming Dynasty’s news media is so professional!
He reacted and shouted to Li Gensheng beside him:
"Who asked these reporters to come here? The pontoon bridge is so tense now, and every plank must be stepped on by the most useful people! Who asked these reporters to come on the pontoon bridge?!"
Li Gensheng put up the awning with his hands, looked around, and pointed in the distance:
"Sir, you see, they came here by boat by themselves."
Taking a boat? Xiang Xiaoqiang looked along his hand and saw a barge docked on the river beach a few hundred meters away. It was the most common barge on the Yangtze River, used to transport coal and pull sand. One boat could hold dozens of people.
.
"Hey!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang punched the armor plate and didn't know what to say. Money can make all the difference. Although shells are flying all over the river now, these reporters each took some money to pool their money together. In the eyes of a greedy ship boss
Come on, this is a lot of money. It’s a very simple thing!
"boom!"
A ray of white light pierced his eyes. Xiang Xiaoqiang understood that he had been photographed. He returned to the command car angrily.
Li Gensheng came over and said:
"Sir, there are so many civilian casualties in this town, we can't let reporters in! ... It's harmful to our reputation..."
When Xiang Xiaoqiang heard the word "civilian casualties", his mind suddenly changed: You can't look at the problem this way.
...The large number of civilian casualties is obviously not my responsibility, but the responsibility of the Qing government. If I cover it up like this now, it will be easier to explain later. Maybe in the future, the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians will be blamed on me.
On the head.
Moreover, there are so many foreigners among these reporters, and the international influence here is too great. If the whole world knows that Ming Dynasty has a "city-slaughter general", then it will be a big deal... I have just received the edict to control the national army.
, Seeing that I am unhappy, there are so many people who want me dead! If you make a fuss about this matter, it will be very troublesome if you don't die. Besides, that girl Zhu Yourong is as kind as a sheep. If she knows that I am attacking a small town, I will hurt her.
There are tens of thousands of civilians, so the impression I have in her heart... there will be no need to mess with her in the future.
Xiang Xiaoqiang made up his mind to seize the opportunity to expose the matter when these reporters came.
He turned to Li Gensheng and said:
"No, don't stop them, let them come in for the interview. I will be interviewed in person... First arrange for them to interview me, and then arrange for them to interview the refugees."