Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

Then, Zeng Jiwen said to Wang Zhuo:

"Tell Liu Zhendong that it's time for him, the commander of the Eighth Route Army Air Force, to show his worth.

We don't care how this battle is fought, I just want the result!"

When the Japanese fighter planes took off, a radar station was operating quietly on a hidden hill in the Taihang Mountains north of Yangquan.

The soldiers at the radar station stared at the fluctuating signals on the screen, and soon a series of enemy plane echoes appeared on the radar display.

"Enemy planes are coming! There are so many of them!

West position 270, altitude 4000,

East position 10, altitude 3445, flying towards Yangquan! "

The operator immediately called the Eighth Route Army's headquarters at a temporary field airport outside Xiyang.

Since last year, the 389th Division has begun to form its own aviation force with the assistance of the north.

Plus the pilots trained in Lanzhou in previous years.

With assistance from the north, the 389th Division formed its own air force unit - the North China Air Corps, with Liu Zhendong as commander.

配备了144架战机，包含I-16、I-15战斗机和SB-2快速轰炸机、DB-3轰炸机和侦察机。

There are three groups in total, each group contains four squadrons, including two fighter squadrons, two bomber squadrons, and several reconnaissance aircraft.

In addition, there are dozens of training aircraft at the aviation school in Tunliu for training pilots.

These fighter planes were secretly based at hidden field airfields in the suburbs of Yangquan, Changzhi and Jincheng, forming a complete air defense system.

At the same time, in order to deal with the heavy-duty sweep by the Japanese army in North China, three flying squadrons with a total of more than 100 fighter planes were temporarily stationed in the north.

At the Xiyang Air Force Temporary Command, Commander Liu Zhendong received a telegram from the Military Region Command and without much thought, he issued an order:

Act according to the predetermined battle plan!

"

After the order was given, the entire airport became busy.

According to the previous combat plan, in order to prevent their own air force from being exposed, the Japanese army knew that there was a large amount of anti-aircraft firepower in the defense zone of the 389th Division.

Then in the early stage, the Japanese reconnaissance planes must have been dispatched first to test their air defense firepower network, and then the fighter planes cleared the ground air defense firepower points, and finally the bomber formations were dispatched to bomb.

Radar monitoring also illustrates this situation.

There was a huge gap between the Japanese aircraft groups in the two directions. It was obvious that the ones in the front were the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft units.

Liu Zhendong responded quickly. After the first wave of Japanese reconnaissance planes arrived, he dispatched part of the anti-aircraft firepower network to lure the Japanese fighter formation to bomb.

Then they set up hidden anti-aircraft positions on the flanks to launch surprise attacks on Japanese fighter planes.

(The army hasn't arrived yet, so let some of them be the commanders of the air force first.)

Zhao Jing, commander of the first squadron of the Air Corps, and Chen Qi, commander of the second squadron, led a fighter formation to take off urgently, preparing to ambush the Japanese bomber formation from the rear by detouring around the Taihang Mountains.

Ye Hui, captain of the 3rd Squadron, and Raymond Hall, captain of the 1st Squadron of the "Yuanhua" Aviation Regiment in the north, led their fighter formations to ambush on the flanks of the battlefield, waiting for the Japanese fighter formations to engage in a fight with the ground air defense forces before they raided the Japanese fighter formations.

The other two squadrons, escorted by some fighter jets, launched air strikes on Shijiazhuang and Taiyuan airports at the beginning of the battle.

As Japanese fighter planes gradually approached, the Eighth Route Army radar station continued to report the enemy's movements to the headquarters.

While Japanese pilots were still immersed in the superiority of high-altitude cruising, the Eighth Route Army Air Force had already taken off to their respective designated combat areas.

After the first wave of Japanese reconnaissance planes entered the airspace over the 389th Division's base from Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang, anti-aircraft firepower points in various places began to open fire to intercept the Japanese reconnaissance planes.

With the exposure of the anti-aircraft firepower point, more than ten minutes later, the Japanese fighter formation appeared above the air defense force and began to attack the ground anti-aircraft firepower network.

In the sky on both sides of the entire Zhengtai Line, more than a dozen ground fire points engaged in fire with Japanese aircraft one after another.

The air defense forces of the 389th Division stationed in Yangquan also immediately took up combat positions. According to intelligence, Japanese planes had already broken through and were flying towards Yangquan.

Dozens of Soviet-made 52-K 85mm anti-aircraft guns were installed on the air defense positions outside Yangquan City, and the mobile air defense forces were equipped with Soviet-made DShK12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns.

Together with the captured Japanese Type 89 anti-aircraft machine guns, a multi-layered air defense firepower network was formed.

At 8:30 in the morning, the Japanese fighter planes finally arrived over Yangquan.

In the Japanese fighter fleet, Kondo Shigeru, who was in charge of the fighter formation command, was commanding the fleet to attack the air defense forces of the 389th Division on the ground.

"The target is five kilometers ahead!"

"Prepare to attack!"

However, just as the Japanese fighter planes began to lower their altitude, fierce anti-aircraft fire suddenly broke out from the ground.

The 37mm anti-aircraft guns hidden on the hillside began to roar, and dense shells cut through the sky and headed straight for the Japanese fighter planes.

At the same time, anti-aircraft machine guns in various positions began to rain down bullets, forming an interwoven fire network.

"idiot!

Watch out for anti-aircraft guns!"

Kondo Shigeru was shocked and the original fighter formation was instantly disrupted.

The wing of a Type 1 fighter was hit, and it instantly caught fire and fell to the ground, trailing a long trail of black smoke.

Another Type 97 fighter plane was hit directly on its fuel tank by anti-aircraft guns, exploding into a fireball and scattering debris.

At this time, on the flanks of the Japanese fighter planes, under the cover of huge clouds, the aircraft groups of the 3rd Squadron of the Air Corps and the 1st Squadron of the "Yuanhua" Air Corps had been waiting for the Japanese planes for a long time.

"The target enters the ambush circle!" Ye Hui ordered in a low voice.

"Everyone, listen up! Prepare to attack!"

In an instant, 34 I-16 and 38 I-15 fighter jets swooped down from the clouds.

The 12.7mm machine guns and 20mm cannons on the fighter planes spewed out blazing flames and rushed directly into the unsuspecting Japanese fighter formation.

"Baga! Enemy planes! They're fighter planes of the Eighth Route Army!" A Japanese pilot shouted into the radio in horror.

However, it was too late. As the Eighth Route Army Air Force, which had been lying in ambush for a long time, began to attack, the Japanese Air Force over Yangquan suddenly fell into chaos.

Because the Japanese fighter planes were diving downward to attack at this time, there was no time to change direction.

And once it changes direction, it will inevitably get close to the ground and be hit by ground-based air defense weapons.

For a time, a large number of planes in the Japanese fighter formation were shot down.

At this time, Major Kondo Shigeru, who was commanding the operation, turned pale and immediately ordered all fighter planes to enter a defensive state, but it was too late.

The Eighth Route Army fighter planes attacked from all directions, tearing the Japanese fighter formations into pieces.

Looking from the ground, at this moment, the Japanese fighter formation in the sky was like a lamb to be slaughtered. It was constantly being hit by its own fighter planes, and then quickly fell to the ground, causing huge explosions.

For a moment, the entire ground force erupted in huge cheers.