Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

At night, the atmosphere inside the Taiyuan First Army Headquarters was so heavy that it was hard to breathe.

The lights were dim and the room was filled with a tense smoke, as if even the air had become stagnant.

Commander Yoshio Shinozuka sat behind a large wooden desk, one hand tightly gripping the surface, his knuckles turning white.

His other hand slowly stroked the battle report on the table, his eyes fixed like a hawk on Yamamoto Ikki who was standing opposite him.

"Yamamoto..." Yoshio Shinozuka spoke in a deep and cold voice.

"Hai!" Yamamoto Kazuki's body trembled, his back straightened, and cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

He knew that what was coming next would not be good.

"Shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yoshio Shinozuka slammed the table, causing the teacup on the table to jump and spill strong tea onto the battle report, quickly spreading a large dark area.

Yamamoto Ikki lowered his head with a hint of embarrassment on his face.

Of course he knew what the commander was angry about - the daytime air battle was a complete and utter defeat, worse than anyone had expected!

The figures in the battle report are shocking:

A total of 132 fighter planes were shot down, and 54 were seriously damaged and could not be repaired after returning, which was almost two-thirds of the fighter planes of the North China Air Force!

According to the description of the returning pilots, the Eighth Route Army lost less than 30 fighter planes.

Moreover, most of them were accidentally injured by ground anti-aircraft fire rather than being shot down in air combat!

And there is an even more fatal consequence: the Eighth Route Army actually has an air force!

The Eighth Route Army's Air Force not only successfully ambushed the Locust Army's Air Force, but also took advantage of the situation to bomb the Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang airports, destroying a large number of Locust Army aircraft parked at the airports.

The airport facilities were severely damaged, rendering the North China Air Force basically useless!

In short, the elite troops of the North China Air Fleet were almost wiped out, while the enemy's air force still maintained its combat capability and even became more arrogant!

"idiot!"

Yoshio Shinozuka stood up suddenly, his eyes bloodshot, and stared at Yamamoto Ikki fiercely.

“132!

132!

Yoshio Shinozuka roared, his fingers trembling as he pointed at the numbers on the battle report, his voice filled with anger and unwillingness.

"What is the Eighth Route Army?

A group of local Eighth Route Army soldiers!

A group of bandits who lack even heavy weapons!

But what about today?!

They actually have an air force?!

Where did their fighter jets come from?!

Where do their pilots come from?!

Tell me, Yamamoto!"

Yamamoto Ikki lowered his head and moved his lips, but he was unable to explain. Shinozuka Yoshio would not give him a chance.

"Didn't you promise?!"

Shinozuka Yoshio slammed the table hard, and the sound was so loud that the entire headquarters echoed with his roar.

"Didn't you say Yangquan was the Eighth Route Army's armored force training base?

Didn’t you say that the people in the Special High Police are all idiots?

You tell me~

Where did the Eighth Route Army’s planes come from!

We were ambushed in plain sight!"

He took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth:

"The results of it?

They now not only have armored forces, but also an air force.

They even dared to set a trap to ambush the Locust Army's air force!

This is the information your intelligence officer gave me?!"

Yoshio Shinozuka's eyes were red, and he wished he could eat Yamamoto Ikki alive.

Then he grabbed the documents on the table and threw them at Yamamoto Ikki.

Yamamoto Ikki didn't dare to dodge at all, allowing the documents to hit him and then scatter all over the floor.

"Commander..." Yamamoto Ikki lost his former pride.

At the same time, his voice was trembling, knowing that no matter what he said at this moment, it would not calm Yoshio Shinozuka's anger.

"I...we really underestimated the strength of the Eighth Route Army..."

Yamamoto Ikki reluctantly explained, "According to previous intelligence,

I didn’t expect that the Eighth Route Army actually had an air force!

Even the Eighth Route Army was able to place the people we instigated to rebel right under their noses.

I didn’t realize it was a trap~”

"idiot!"

Shinozuka Yoshio roared angrily again:

"Are you a stupid pig?!

Aren't your special warfare tactics very cautious about intelligence?

How come I didn’t find it?!

Why did the pilot come back to report that the Eighth Route Army's air force had been waiting for a long time?

At this time, Yamamoto Ikki was also puzzled.

Suddenly, Yamamoto Ikki remembered something, raised his head abruptly, and said with a changed expression.

"They used radar!"

"Radar?" Yoshio Shinozuka frowned.

"Yes!" Yamamoto Ikki reacted immediately and figured out why the Eighth Route Army had found their air force so accurately in the air and ambushed them so early.

Yamamoto Ikki said with a wry smile,

"General~

If my guess is correct, as soon as our reconnaissance plane entered the airspace over the Taihang Mountains, the Eighth Route Army had already grasped our movements and set up an ambush based on our flight route.

Our bombers entered the battlefield without any cover and became sitting ducks for the Eighth Route Army Air Force..."

When Yoshio Shinozuka heard what Yamamoto Ikki said, his face fell into contemplation.

"If what you say is true..."

“Damn it!…”

Yoshio Shinozuka took a deep breath, walked to the map with a gloomy face, and stared at the location of the 389th Division's base.

"Then this is not just a matter of losing fighter planes..." Shinozuka Yoshio whispered.

Yoshio Shinozuka also reacted to Yamamoto Ikki's analysis just now.

Yoshio Shinozuka is no stranger to radar.

When he came to the Chinese battlefield to teach, Yoshio Shinozuka knew the role of radar on battlefield aircraft.

However, at this time, apart from some naval ships being equipped with experimental radars, the army's radar research had just been launched.

However, unexpectedly, radar appeared on the Chinese battlefield, especially in the Eighth Route Army's base.

At this time, Chief of Staff Michitake Yamaoka, who was standing by, slowly said, "Commander, things may be worse than we thought..."

"Worse? Could there be anything worse than 132 fighter planes being shot down?" Yoshio Shinozuka's face looked very unhappy, and he stared at Michitake Yamaoka with cold eyes.

Michitake Yamaoka felt scared when Yoshio Shinozuka looked at him.

He swallowed hard, then said:

"The Eighth Route Army bombed our Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang airports, destroying a large number of grounded fighter planes and damaging a large number of logistical supply facilities...

In other words, we not only lost our air combat forces, but also temporarily lost our ability to control the air."

"What?!" Yoshio Shinozuka's pupils suddenly contracted.

Yamaoka Michitake continued, "Our airport runway is severely damaged and fighter jets will not be able to take off or land for a short period of time.

The supply lines were also affected by the air raid, and a large amount of fuel and ammunition were destroyed. At least in this operation against the Eighth Route Army, the locust troops on the front line may face air raids from the Eighth Route Army!

We currently have no counter-attack capabilities in the air!"