Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 351 Operation 349 a successful decapitation strike, the retreat of the Japanese 20th Division, Fang Wen's insights.
The gunboat No. 4, named Suiko, arrived in the area behind the Japanese 20th Division.

Because it was suspected to be a Japanese command center, Fang Wen decided to bomb it one last time.

After determining the ground location using mechanical sensing, Fang Wen shouted as he flew into the airspace above, "Open the bomb launch port and prepare to launch the bombs."

Gong Xiuneng pried open the buckle and pulled hard with both hands, opening the bomb release port on the bottom of the aircraft.

It was pitch black outside the bomb bay, and a strong wind was blowing in from below, making everyone's clothes flutter.

At that moment, no one cared; their hands were on the basket containing the bomb, waiting.

Twenty seconds later, Fang Wen spoke again: "Countdown to 10 bomb drops, stop immediately when the countdown ends."

10
As the countdown began, the crew braved the strong winds and dumped the bombs into the bomb bay.

The old-style napalm bombs, about the size of a fist, were depleted here, falling like raindrops.

As the countdown ended, everyone stopped throwing bombs, but their eyes were still looking down through the bomb chute.

A few seconds later, bursts of fire erupted below, like a rain of flames.

That scene had a unique charm.

Gong Xiuneng exclaimed excitedly, "This power is incredible!"

Kuang Anming was also stunned by the explosion and flames below: "They're all on fire."

So does everyone else.

They were seeing a large-scale bombing with napalm for the first time and were not used to it for a while.

Fang Wen asked, "How many bombs are still undropped?"

After realizing what was happening, Gong Xiuneng quickly made a rough estimate and replied, "There's still a little over half left."

"Then continue deploying, awaiting my orders."

Fang Wen turned the gunboat around, preparing to readjust its position.

At the same time, he was also keeping an eye on the situation of the train artillery on the other side of the railway.

There seems to be a minor issue with the mobile unit.

The massive burst of flames that suddenly erupted from the Japanese command center was also seen by the mobile units not far away.

They were even more eager to start the train's cannons and fire a shot at the Japanese command center.

However, the Japanese officer with glasses underwent a change after seeing the distant explosion.

He suddenly became excited, gesturing wildly and muttering something in Japanese.

"What are you doing? Want to get shot?" the soldier next to him shouted angrily.

Liu Yubao, the temporary commander of the mobile force and the company commander of the reinforced 1st Company of the 3rd Battalion of the Independent Regiment, immediately became alert.

He suddenly saw the bespectacled officer holding something in his hand, and then suddenly smash it towards his forehead.

Oh no! Liu Yubao suddenly realized that the other party was holding a Japanese Type 97 grenade.

This melon-sized grenade has a double-safety activation device. You need to first remove the safety pin on the head, and then tap it on the helmet to activate the strike fuse.

But now, the bespectacled officer is not wearing a helmet.

He clearly didn't understand, and actually used his forehead to trigger it. When a person is in pain, they can't bring themselves to do it. At the moment of impact with his forehead, he subconsciously pulled back, causing the grenade to fail to detonate and hit the fuse.

Actually, the best way would be to smash the grenade against the steel plate of the train gun next to it.

The Japanese officer who had just realized what was happening rushed toward the train gun and smashed the grenade with all his might.

"Scatter quickly, those bastards have grenades!" Liu Yubao shouted a warning, while simultaneously leaping forward and kicking the bespectacled officer in the lower back.

The Japanese officer was kicked away and fell under the train gun. Fortunately, the grenade had a delayed explosion and did not explode immediately.

A moment later, the train gun exploded with a bang, and shrapnel from the shells wounded three soldiers, but because they were not in the center of the blast, their injuries were not too serious.

Liu Yubao was furious. As a member of the special operations team specially recruited by Fang Wen, he was given special attention and was able to carry out a mission alone. Everything was fine until the last moment when something went wrong.

In response, officers from other units asked, "Now that the technical officer who could operate the railway gun is dead, can the gun still be fired?"

"Go! The cannon is all turned up, and the shells are loaded. It's just a matter of firing, let's give it a try."

Immediately afterwards, Liu Yubao and several soldiers from the mobile unit began to explore how to operate the train gun.

One of the soldiers, who had been trained in artillery, noticed a lever next to the back seat that looked like a firing device.

"Everyone move aside, don't stay behind the cannon, lest you get hurt by the ejected shell casings and recoil. I'm about to fire."

The others quickly moved aside, and he pulled the lever by himself.

Indeed, the massive cannon shuddered violently, a deafening roar erupted, and a streak of fire shot out towards the distant command center.

At this distance, the train cannon shells, with an initial velocity of one kilometer per second, arrive at the target area instantly.

After Fang Wen piloted the plane back to the bombing area, he started the countdown again to drop the bombs.

This time, everyone threw all the remaining bombs.

Meanwhile, they witnessed a completely different explosion below.

The explosion occurred in the very center, destroying numerous buildings below in one fell swoop.

This must have been done by the mobile unit.

Fang Wen was amazed by the power of the Type 90 240mm train cannon.

Because the shot was fired horizontally, it pierced through several buildings, carving a trench in the center, and then produced an explosion within a radius of two to three hundred meters.

Fang Wen's heart tightened; this weapon absolutely could not be kept.

He immediately notified the mobile unit: "Destroy the train gun."

The mobile unit replied: "We are installing explosives. There was a minor accident just now, and three of our men were injured."

Fang Wen was stunned. The night raid had gone smoothly all the way, but he never expected that there would be casualties at the train cannon.

He inquired about the situation and was relieved to learn that the injured were not seriously hurt.

The bombing is now complete, and an extra super shell has been delivered to the Japanese command center. Under these circumstances, the Japanese will definitely search frantically for the night raiding force, and we must leave before the Japanese complete the encirclement of this area.

Two minutes later, an explosion occurred at the railway gun, and the Japanese strategic artillery was destroyed before it could be tested in actual combat.

Subsequently, under Fang Wen's command, the mobile force infiltrated the area under the cover of night.

After successfully evading three Japanese units, the mobile force returned to the first destroyed heavy artillery position.

Dozens of Japanese soldiers remained here, cleaning up the position; they were the only Japanese troops to encounter a mobile force.

In response, the mobile force immediately launched an attack, annihilating these Japanese troops on the battlefield.

They then retraced their steps back the way they came.

Meanwhile, Fang Wen, who was in the air, also saw the Japanese army's response.

They finally realized there was a defensive loophole and immediately gave chase.

However, their marching speed was simply not fast enough to keep up with the mobile forces.

The only obstacle lies in the villages of Nanbeihu.

After receiving the notification, the Japanese troops there set up roadblocks along the route.

Their purpose in obstructing the movement was to give the nearby Japanese troops time to encircle the mobile force.

Fang Wen immediately informed the ground mobile forces of the situation.

"Attention, the Japanese army is blocking our way in the Hucun area. There are more than 200 infantrymen. Do not stop at all, charge through in one go."

The mobile force received orders and headed towards Hucun.

Half an hour later, the troops arrived, where Japanese soldiers were shining carbide flashlights in all directions, and infantrymen were waiting in full force on the positions they had just built with sandbags.

They thought that blocking the way with sandbags would stop the mobile troops.

That idea is too naive.

Two Taishan Pine Tanks charged forward. The tanks charged through the bullets, reaching the sandbag formation, their tracks directly crushing the sandbags as they passed over them.

This scene terrified the Japanese soldiers behind the sandbag formation. Some ran away in a hurry, while others were unable to dodge in time and were pressed down by the huge black shadow overhead.

The two tanks instantly destroyed the Japanese defenses, and then reversed to ram through the sandbag formation, clearing a path.

The armored convoy followed closely behind, its firing ports on both sides spewing fire as it swept across the Japanese troops along the road.

More than 200 Japanese soldiers were powerless to resist the mobile force. After paying a heavy price, they could only watch the convoy drive away.

The mobile force was then out of danger and safely returned to its rear base.

Fang Wen also piloted the gunboat back to Taiyuan Jinyanghu Airport.

The feint attack by the Provisional 7th Division thus came to an end.

The night raid was a complete success.

Japanese 20th Division Command Post.

A scene of ruins.

Except for the first group of officers who left the command post, everyone else perished in the fire.

Even those who survived the bombing did not escape the deadly attacks of the train cannon shells.

Therefore, all the high-ranking officers of the division died in the command center.

Without a command structure, the troops immediately descended into chaos.

The remaining officers of the 4th Division were, at the highest rank, two brigade commanders who were directing operations at the front, and four regimental commanders.

They were all of equal rank and none of them could command the others, creating a command vacuum in the 20th Division.

This situation, when reported to the Japanese North China headquarters, also caused a stir.

Therefore, the Japanese army high command ordered the 20th Division to rely on the railway for defense and temporarily halt its offensive.

They will also send military investigators to investigate the situation.

As a result, the 20th Division's frontline troops began to retreat.

After a night.

The eastern defense line suddenly changed.

The Japanese troops actually retreated.

The soldiers on the front lines, pleasantly surprised, reported the situation to their commander.

The frontline commanders of the 27th Route Army also did not understand why this change had occurred.

Therefore, Commander Liu immediately went to the front line to check.

He was on the front line, looking through binoculars at the distant Japanese positions.

The place was deserted, completely empty.

"Where did they retreat to?" Commander Liu asked.

The frontline officer replied, "We sent out scouts to follow them quietly, and found that they kept moving to the rear, abandoning the valley pass that they had finally captured. Later, because we were worried that they would be discovered by the Japanese army if we followed them for too long, our men returned to report."

Commander Liu immediately ordered: "Abandon Yukou?! You must immediately detach half of your forces to hold the Yukou position, and then you can take over the position when I send troops over."

After making the arrangements, he returned to his previous question: "What exactly is the Japanese army doing?"

After a moment's hesitation, the frontline officer said, "Could it be related to the Taishan Independent Regiment? They launched an attack on the Japanese last night and fought until midnight. Later, I heard explosions in the distance."

"How far is 'long distance'?" Commander Liu asked.

"It's hard to say, it's probably an echo, anyway it's quite far away. Commander, do you think it might be a setup by the Taishan Independent Regiment last night, deliberately starting a battle to attract the Japanese army's attention, and then sending out a surprise force to take down the Japanese army's stronghold."

The words of the frontline officer gave Commander Liu a very surreal feeling, and he couldn't help but say something.

"You've been reading too many historical novels. Only in Romance of the Three Kingdoms are there all sorts of ingenious strategies and tactics. In real warfare, everything is done step by step. Where do you find so many schemes?"

The frontline officer scratched the back of his head, chuckled sheepishly, and said nothing more.

Commander Liu pondered this possibility in his mind, as if there was no other way.

Is the Taishan Independent Regiment really that powerful?

He moved to the position of the Provisional 7th Division to learn about the situation there.

Upon arriving at the Provisional 7th Division's position, Commander Liu cut to the chase: "Commander Wu, did the Taishan Independent Regiment take any action last night?"

Wu Yingzong, acting commander of the Provisional 7th Division, replied: "The operation is over and has achieved good results. You have seen the Japanese troops retreat."

"Did you really do this? What happened last night?" Commander Liu was extremely surprised.

Wu Yingzong did not answer directly, but asked, "Our regimental commander asked me to pass on a message to you: if the Japanese army encounters serious problems, can you send troops to counterattack with us?"

"A counterattack against the Japanese? How is that possible? Even if the 20th Division has encountered a major problem and has to retreat, as long as the railway is under the control of the 20th Division, other Japanese divisions in the North China Theater can quickly arrive. Once our counterattack fails, I'm afraid we won't even be able to hold this place. We can't take the risk."

Commander Liu rejected without hesitation the joint counterattack proposal that Fang Wen had relayed through Wu Yingzong.

After receiving this reply, Wu Yingzong turned around and said, "I'm not too clear about the specifics of last night, but my current orders are to cooperate with your unit in defending the eastern front, while the Independent Regiment will go to the northern front to provide support."

After Wu Yingzong finished speaking, he did not explain further, but instead discussed the matter of joint defense with Commander Liu.

Everything that happened last night lingered in Commander Liu's mind like a fog.

Taiyuan Jinyang Lake Water Airport.

Fang Wen woke up refreshed after sleeping for three hours.

He received a telegram from Wu Yingzong reporting his findings.

"Yes, I understand that the 27th Route Army does not agree to a counter-offensive."

Fang Wen felt a surge of emotion.

Last night's night raid and decapitation strike successfully forced the Japanese army to retreat, giving the eastern front defenses a valuable respite.

They could even use this as an opportunity to launch a counterattack and increase their chances of winning.

But Commander Liu was right. If the 20th Division huddled together to protect the railway, there would be a steady stream of Japanese reinforcements coming from behind.

At this moment, Fang Wensheng felt a sense of powerlessness.

No matter how capable the Taishan Independent Regiment is, so what?

While the Nationalist government did nothing for five years, the Japanese army was making all the necessary preparations.

The gap between the two sides is huge now, and it can't be changed by one or two victories.

Therefore, he understood even more clearly that this war of aggression would take time.

Only time can change this resource gap and gradually reverse the advantage between the enemy and ourselves.

He understood the importance of a protracted war.

Fang Wen broadened his perspective, moving from individual air combat to tactical improvements and then to strategic thinking.

At this moment, Fang Wen understood that a war fought by one person is useless, and a war fought by a regiment cannot achieve overall victory.

This war of resistance requires not only continuous victories to weaken the enemy, but also more preparation.

Only by strengthening overall strength can we shorten the eight-year War of Resistance against Japan and minimize the damage caused by the Japanese invaders on Chinese soil.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Fang Wen was going to back down at this point in the Battle of Taiyuan.

The war must continue.

Preparations for establishing base areas behind enemy lines must continue.

The purpose of war is to continuously wear down the enemy, and the same applies to base areas behind enemy lines.

But that's not enough. Taishan Aviation's military industrial base can be further expanded so that it can develop and produce more and better aircraft, artillery and tanks for use in the War of Resistance.

After some thought, Fang Wen gradually became more open-minded and had a clear goal and direction for the future.

(End of this chapter)