Devil's Army

At this time, in order to strengthen the air defense force, Xiaoguanzhuang Airport had deployed three anti-aircraft artillery companies. Under the protection of the Third Fighter Squadron of the First Army, it suffered little damage.

The largest air battle between the First Army and the Japanese Army broke out over the Tangshan base.

On the first day of the war alone, six Type 95 fighters and twelve Type 98 heavy bombers of the Japanese army were shot down.

The Japanese also shot down two of the I Army's planes and damaged six Huaxia II fighter planes.

At around nine o'clock in the morning, the Japanese troops launched a fierce attack on the outskirts of the Tangshan base. The most intense battles were in Jiangjunshan and Gubeikou, outside Tangshan.

The Japanese air force also participated in the bombing of Tangshan.

The bomber squadron of the First Army was ordered to take off and participate in the bombing of the Japanese army, but was chased by Japanese fighter planes.

Fortunately, the speed of the First Army's H-1 bombers was much faster than the Japanese fighters, so they were able to easily play hide-and-seek with the Japanese fighters in the airspace around the Tangshan base and bomb the Japanese ground forces from time to time.

This was also the reason why the First Army's bombers were unable to provide timely reinforcements when the Jidong Independent Brigade was in distress in Hengshui.

The next morning, Japanese commander Masazo Terakura dispatched three fighter squadrons and two bomber squadrons, a total of 60 aircraft, from the southern battlefield to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the Tangshan base.

At this time, although the Japanese Kwantung Army in the Northeast was eyeing the old base, it had not yet launched an attack.

Leng Feng transferred all twelve Hua Xia II fighter planes from the old base to reinforce the Tangshan base.

A brutal and fierce air battle broke out again over Tangshan.

The 3rd Brigade was stationed in the positions in the direction of Tangshan and Gubeikou. After completing their last mission of blocking the Japanese troops in Gubeikou, they built fortifications in the Qianxi Mountains.

The commander of the 27th Division of the Japanese Army, Masaharu Homma, had failed in the Gubeikou Battle last time. After replenishing his troops this time, he was just trying to save face. So when he arrived in front of the rd Brigade's position in the Qianxi Mountains, he ordered the artillery to bombard the rd Brigade's position fiercely.

After the Third Brigade Commander's construction and consolidation during this period, the Qianxi Mountain position was no longer a temporary position during the First Battle of Tangshan. Although it was not as strong and dangerous as the Gubeikou position, it was not something that the Japanese army could break through in a short time.

The Japanese 27th Division bombarded the Qianxi Mountains for an hour, and the top of the Qianxi Mountains was reduced by several centimeters by the Japanese artillery fire. Broken branches and small fires were everywhere.

The troops of the First Regiment of the Third Brigade hid in the double-layered wooden anti-artillery fortifications, mouths wide open, listening to the horrifying sound of the artillery shells exploding, which made their eardrums uncomfortable.

After the Japanese 27th Division stopped its shelling, its infantry began to attack the Qianxi position.

The soldiers of the First Battalion of the First Regiment of the Third Brigade quickly crawled out of the anti-artillery holes and fired at the attacking Japanese infantry.

The artillery deployed behind the positions of the Third Brigade also continued to bombard the attacking Japanese troops.

The first wave of large-scale attack by the Japanese 27th Division was unsurprisingly beaten back by the rd Brigade.

Captain Masaharu Homma called for the aviation force to come for reinforcements.

Soon, Japanese bombers flew over and fiercely bombed the Qianxi position. But as soon as they started bombing, they were driven away by the Huaxia II fighter planes of the First Army and had to flee quickly in all directions.

At this time, a H-27 bomber that flew over with the First Army's Hua Xia II fighters also began to join the bombing of the Japanese th Division infantry.

The Japanese 27th Division, which had no experience in air defense, suffered heavy casualties when it encountered a fierce attack from the First Army's air forces. It had to flee in all directions to avoid the bombing of the First Army's aircraft and artillery.

After the planes of the First Army flew away, the soldiers of the 27th Division of the Japanese Army gathered again and launched an attack on the Qianxi Mountain Range. However, under the desperate resistance of the soldiers of the Third Brigade, they were unable to break through the Qianxi Mountain Range until the evening.

The Japanese 110th Division attacked Tangshan from the direction of Jiangjunshan.

There were only some small hills with not too high slopes here, which were not very suitable for fighting a blocking battle. But we couldn't let the Japanese army march straight to the gate of Tangshan City, so the 3rd Regiment of the 5th Brigade arranged troops to build fortifications here.

Fortunately, there was plenty of time, and the Third Regiment of the Fifth Brigade used a large amount of wood mixed with mud to build relatively solid anti-artillery fortifications.

When the Japanese 110th Division arrived in front of the hill, the artillery immediately launched a fierce bombardment on the fortifications.

The green grass that had just sprouted on the hills was blown everywhere by the Japanese artillery fire.

The soldiers of the First Battalion of the Third Regiment of the Fifth Brigade squatted in the anti-artillery cave, covering their ears and opening their mouths, waiting for the most difficult moment to pass.

After the Japanese artillery bombardment stopped, the infantry began to jump and attack the fortifications of the 5th Brigade.

When the soldiers of a battalion in the fortifications heard that the artillery fire had stopped, they all crawled out of their anti-artillery holes like groundhogs and observed the movements of the Japanese troops on the opposite side.

When the Japanese soldiers of the 110th Division approached the fortifications, they came under heavy fire from a series of cross-machine gun fire points and were unable to get close to the fortifications.

A captain of the 110th Division of the Japanese Army who was in charge of commanding this battle saw that the artillery fire did not cause much damage to the fortifications of the th Brigade, so he increased the intensity of the artillery bombardment and also dispatched the tanks, the powerful weapon for attacking the plains.