Devil's Army

Instructor Yin took the lead and rushed towards a formation of Japanese fighter planes. When he was close to the formation of Japanese fighter planes, he suddenly pulled up and flew over their heads with a "whoosh".

Instructor Yin lowered his altitude after passing over the Japanese fighter formation, and used a small angle to bite the main engine of the Japanese fighter formation from behind.

After a series of firepower output, the Japanese main engine was hit by Instructor Yin Hua Xiayi's 30mm main gun and exploded in the air.

Upon seeing this, the wingmen on both sides quickly fled to the sides at high angles.

After shooting down the Japanese main engine, Instructor Yin immediately turned right and caught the Japanese wingman that was escaping to the right.

Another burst of artillery fire reached a distance of four to five hundred meters.

The Japanese wingman was hit continuously, with thick black smoke coming out of the tail, and plunged into the Hutuo River.

Another Hua Xia II fighter plane next to Instructor Yin also roared towards another fighter formation of the Japanese army when Instructor Yin rushed towards it.

The Hua Xia II fighter plane piloted by Sun Zhigang calmly fired fiercely at the Japanese main engine flying towards him head-on.

At the same time, three Type 95 fighters of the Japanese fighter formation also fired fiercely at Sun Zhigang's Hua Xia II fighter from three directions.

The main engine of the Japanese aircraft was hit by Sun Zhigang's fighter planes, and the tail began to fall with black smoke. Sun Zhigang's fighter plane was also hit by several bullets, and the plane became difficult to control. Wisps of black smoke also began to emerge from the tail.

Sun Zhigang tried hard to control the plane and wanted to catch the wingman that had just flown past.

Seeing this, Instructor Yin flew towards Sun Zhigang.

When Instructor Yin was flying side by side with Sun Zhigang, he desperately gestured to Sun Zhigang, pointing in the direction of the tribe and asking him to return immediately.

Sun Zhigang understood what Instructor Yin meant and maneuvered the plane towards the tribe with difficulty.

He Qingliu's Huaxia II fighter also tangled with a group of Japanese fighter formations that rushed over head-on. The Japanese fighter formation still used the same tactics, with three fighters attacking He Qingliu from the left, middle and right.

He Qingliu quickly shot down the Japanese main engine with the overwhelming firepower of the Japanese Type 95 fighter.

After shooting down the Japanese main engine, He Qingliu turned right, preparing to bite the wingman on the right from behind and shoot him down.

When He Qingliu's Hua Xia II was preparing to turn, the Japanese wingman on the left also rushed towards He Qingliu while shooting.

There was a loud "boom" and the two fighter jets collided in the air.

He Qingliu died heroically before he could parachute out, becoming the first pilot to be sacrificed in the First Anti-Japanese Army since the establishment of the Air Force.

While Instructor Yin and his men were fighting with the Japanese fighter planes, the First Army's H-1 bombers calmly bombed the Japanese troops and heavy artillery positions on the north bank of the Hutuo River.

Three Japanese fighter planes flew over and attempted to attack the bombers of the First Army, but were shot down by the escorting Huaxia II fighter planes of the First Army.

In this air battle, the First Army Air Force had one plane destroyed and one damaged, shot down seven Japanese fighter planes, and returned home tragically.

At this time, the Japanese Second Infantry Battalion and Heavy Artillery Squadron on the north bank of the Hutuo River had been bombed into a mess by the First Army's bombers. The floating bridge, which had been nearly half built, was also completely destroyed.

The Japanese Second Battalion was no longer able to organize a large-scale attack and could only confront the Chinese army across the Hutuo River.

This was the most comfortable day for the soldiers of the 723rd Regiment. There was neither bombing by Japanese heavy artillery nor bombing by Japanese aircraft. There were only sporadic gunfire attacks.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese planes came to bomb again. There were bursts of explosions on the south bank of the Hutuo River. Flames shot into the sky and fortifications collapsed.

"Captain, can you call your aircraft to come over for support?"

Captain Wang of the 723rd Regiment asked with heartache as he looked at the soldiers in the fortifications who were constantly being blown away by Japanese planes.

The first regiment commander said nothing and looked up at the second brigade commander.

Wu Lang shook his head at them and said:

"It's difficult. Our planes have to travel a long distance, so it takes nearly two hours to go back and forth. Plus refueling and ammunition preparation, it takes at least four or five hours each time. The Japanese planes are now taking advantage of our weakness and creating a time difference with us."

How to shorten the aircraft's flight distance, increase its hovering time, and enhance its support capabilities once again appeared in Wulang's mind.

The Japanese took advantage of the chaos caused by the bombing of their planes on the south bank of the Hutuo River to attack the Chinese troops. The engineers also quickly built a pontoon bridge.

Those Chinese defenders on the south bank of the Hutuo River who were not hit by the bombs from Japanese planes fired at the Japanese with all their might.

Every minute, soldiers from the 723rd Regiment and the st Regiment fell on the positions on the south bank of the Hutuo River.

In the command center, Division Commander Song looked at the tragic battle situation at the front line of Hutuo River and cried with lingering fear:

"It's a good thing your planes blew up all the Japanese heavy artillery today, otherwise we would have been in trouble to hold this line of defense."

"It will be dark soon. The Japanese planes will not take off in the dark, and they will not launch a night attack without the support of aircraft and heavy artillery. I guess this is it for today."

In the evening, the enemy's planes returned one after another, and the enemy stopped attacking. The battlefield returned to a state of confrontation between the two armies.