Republic of China: German-equipped divisions massacred as warlords guarded the nation's borders

5:25 a.m.

The horizon was just beginning to show a pale, fish-belly white.

A low, dense rumbling sound could be faintly heard above the Wusongkou Fortress.

The sound initially resembled a swarm of distant wasps, but soon, the fixed-frequency, deafening roar of the engine, like rolling thunder, pressed down on the Shanghai coastline.

Air defense brigade command.

The piercing air raid siren echoed throughout the underground bunker.

"Report!" The radar monitor (sonic direction finder operator) yanked off his headset and shouted, "A large formation of aircraft has been detected approaching from the northwest at an altitude of 2,500 meters! The number is estimated to be over ninety!"

Chen Zijun stood in front of a huge sand table depicting the deployment of air defense forces in Shanghai, a freshly lit Havana cigar between his fingers.

His expression was as calm as if he were listening to an insignificant morning news report.

"It's finally here."

He exhaled a puff of pale blue smoke.

"The Japanese have really brought out all the wealth they have in their homeland."

Li Dingguo, the brigade commander of the air defense brigade standing next to him, rubbed his hands excitedly, his eyes gleaming with a bloodthirsty light.

"Commander, the brothers are itching to get started! We've been waiting for your word!"

Chen Zijun did not immediately order the firing.

He glanced at his watch.

"Wait a little longer."

"Let them in to fight."

"Let them fly directly above Wusongkou. We need to prevent these planes from penetrating our air defense perimeter. What if we alert them and they turn around and run away?"

"My rule is that once you're here, none of you are leaving."

……

Five thousand meters above the ground.

The First Air Fleet of Japan. They transported their planes and pilots to Taiwan by transport ships in advance, and then flew directly to Shanghai early in the morning to launch the attack, which can be described as going to great lengths.

Ninety-six Type 1 land-based attack aircraft formed a massive wedge formation, darkening the sky as they crossed the coastline.

The team was led by Colonel Matsuda, an ace of the Japanese naval air force.

He sat in the cockpit of the lead aircraft, looking down at the gradually clearing coastline through the fogged-up windshield.

"Colonel! The outline of the Wusongkou Fortress Complex has been spotted below!" the communications officer reported loudly.

Colonel Matsuda picked up his binoculars and carefully observed the ground.

He saw those massive concrete fortresses spewing flames onto the sea.

He also saw the Imperial fleet on the sea, battered and on fire by the fortress's giant cannons.

"A bunch of stupid navy idiots."

Colonel Matsuda gave a disdainful snort.

"That idiot Yamaguchi thought he could conquer everything with big ships and big guns, but he got beaten to a pulp by the Chinese shore artillery."

"The wars of the future belong to the skies!"

He adjusted his goggles with a smug look.

Before takeoff, the intelligence department at headquarters showed him an extremely valuable spy photograph.

That was a photo taken a few months ago by a reconnaissance plane at great risk, showing the Chen family's air defense positions.

Intelligence experts confidently told him that although the Chinese warlords possessed terrifyingly powerful coastal artillery, their anti-aircraft firepower was extremely weak.

The photo shows only a few small-caliber anti-aircraft guns firing, and their accuracy is extremely poor.

"Attention all crew members!"

Colonel Matsuda turned on the radio, his voice carrying an air of condescending arrogance.

"We have reached the target area!"

"The Chinese anti-aircraft firepower is like paper! Don't be afraid!"

"Altitude reduced to 1,500 meters! Entering bombing trajectory!"

"Let those bumpkins taste the power of Imperial air force bombs! Blow their fortresses to the ground!"

Ninety-six bombers began to lower their noses, their engines roaring deafeningly, like a flock of vultures that had smelled blood, and swooped down toward the Wusongkou Fortress complex.

Three thousand meters... two thousand five hundred meters... two thousand meters...

The ground remained quiet.

There was no indication that any anti-aircraft guns had been fired.

Only the coastal defense cannons were still firing at the sea at a leisurely pace.

Colonel Matsuda's smile grew increasingly sinister.

"Idiots! They don't even have air defense radar! They didn't even know we were right above them!"

"First Company, prepare! Bomb drop countdown: ten, nine, eight..."

……

Underground command post.

Chen Zijun watched as the pointer on the direction finder, representing the enemy aircraft's altitude, dropped below two thousand meters, and the entire formation of aircraft had already entered directly above Wusongkou.

He stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray.

"Li Dingguo".

"arrive!"

Chen Zijun raised his head, his eyes as cold as a drawn sword.

"Shed the disguise."

"Fire."

……

on the ground.

The small hills surrounding the Wusongkou Fortress, the abandoned factory area, and even the rooftops of some flat-roofed houses on the edge of the city.

Suddenly, a deafening shout erupted.

"Tear down the camouflage net!!!"

Whoosh!

Hundreds of huge camouflage canvases that were originally covering the position and disguised as grass and rubble were suddenly ripped off by the air defense soldiers.

If someone were standing in mid-air looking down at this moment, they would see a scene that would make any air force pilot's scalp tingle.

Within an area of ​​less than five square kilometers.

One hundred and twenty 88mm anti-aircraft guns, like hedgehogs, instantly raised their dark, five-meter-long, slender barrels.

This is the most famous and terrifying anti-aircraft weapon of World War II – the German Flak-18/36 88mm anti-aircraft gun!

The photo we saw at headquarters back then was indeed real.

At that time, Chen Jiajun's air defense positions really only had a few old-fashioned anti-aircraft guns for show.

The 120 real Grim Reapers were all completely covered by the high-level camouflage nets that Chen Zijun had purchased at great expense.

For the purpose of.

This is the moment today.

"Searchlight company! Turn on the lights!"

With a roar.

Forty high-powered air raid searchlights were powered on simultaneously!

Swish!Swish!Swish!

Forty thick, blinding white beams of light, like forty swords of light piercing the sky, instantly illuminated the dim pre-dawn sky as bright as day!

Colonel Matsuda was preparing to shout the command "Throw the bomb!"

Suddenly, a bright light pierced the cockpit window.

He instinctively closed his eyes, and the stinging pain made him scream.

Before he could even react to what had happened...

on the ground.

One hundred and twenty 88mm anti-aircraft guns.

They let out their roars.

Bang bang bang bang bang! ! !

The deafening roar of the cannons combined into a terrifying sonic wave that could tear eardrums apart!

The 88mm anti-aircraft gun can fire 15 to 20 rounds per minute.

This means that within the first second of firing.

One hundred and twenty fragmentation rounds, trailing red tracers, shot into the sky at an initial velocity of 820 meters per second!

They intertwined in mid-air to form a dense net of fire so thick that not even a fly could fly through it.

Then, at an altitude of 1,500 meters, which is the dive altitude of the Japanese aircraft group.

Detonate simultaneously.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom—!!!

The sky was set ablaze.

Thousands of anti-aircraft shells exploded in the air, producing plumes of black smoke and blinding flashes of light.

Each 88mm anti-aircraft missile, upon detonation, ejects thousands of high-speed, sharp shrapnel fragments in all directions.

The Type 1 land-based attack aircraft, which was at the forefront, didn't even have time to make any evasive maneuvers before crashing headlong into the wall of death made up of steel fragments and high-temperature flames!

puff!puff!

A series of teeth-grinding metallic tearing sounds echoed through the air.

In pursuit of range and payload, the Type 1 land-based attack bomber sacrificed almost all armor protection.

Compared to the shrapnel from the 88mm gun, their thin aluminum alloy fuselages were barely better than paper-thin ones.

"ah--!!!"

Colonel Matsuda's earpiece was instantly filled with the desperate screams of the various crews.

He barely opened his eyes, which were stung by the bright light, and saw a scene that terrified him.

The lead aircraft on the left wing was hit directly in the belly by an 88mm cannon shell, and the entire aircraft disintegrated in mid-air, turning into a huge fireball.

The wingman on the right had his right wing cut off like a saw by a dense barrage of shrapnel. The plane lost its balance and spun as it crashed toward the ground.

The first few bombers, their engines on fire, trailed long plumes of black smoke as they plummeted like kites with broken strings.

The pilot didn't even have a chance to parachute before being burned alive by the fire that broke out in the cabin.

"Scatter! Scatter immediately! Climb! Increase altitude!"

Colonel Matsuda roared madly into the communicator.

He desperately pulled the control stick back, trying to pull the plane out of the hellish web of fire.

But it didn't work.

120 88mm anti-aircraft guns, not firing in short bursts.

They are conducting continuous, saturation fire.

The black, explosive clouds in the sky grew denser and denser.

One after another, Japanese bombers were shot down in mid-air.

Some planes had their tails blown off and crashed straight into the sea like bricks.

Some aircraft fuel tanks ignited and exploded in mid-air, engulfing nearby friendly aircraft in flames.

This was a one-sided, predictable aerial massacre.

Chen Jiajun's anti-aircraft soldiers, shirtless and their faces covered in the soot of gunpowder, mechanically and frantically loaded shells into the cannon barrels.

"Beat them! Give them a good beating!"

"Take down these bastards!"

On the ground, one empty shell casing after another, still warm from firing, fell to the ground with a crisp clinking sound.

In the sky, the Japanese planes looked like withered leaves falling from trees in autumn.

It fell down with a whoosh.

ten minutes.

In just ten minutes.

From the first anti-aircraft gun salvo to the last Type 1 land-based attack aircraft crashing in the sky.

Japan's First Air Fleet boasts a proud fleet of ninety-six ace bombers.

completely annihilated.

Not a single one escaped.

Colonel Matsuda's plane was among the last to be shot down.

A shell exploded less than five meters from his cockpit.

A scalding hot shard sliced ​​off half of his head.

He didn't even have time to show a look of fear before his prized fighter jet, trailing raging flames, plunged headlong into the icy seawater outside Wusongkou.

……

at this time.

On the sea.

The bridge of the Hyuga was deathly silent.

Yamaguchi Tamon remained frozen in place, holding the binoculars, like a stone statue.

He saw clearly everything that had just happened in the sky.

He saw the terrifying, impenetrable anti-aircraft fire net.

He saw the most elite air force of the Japanese Empire wiped out in ten minutes, like flies being swatted.

Burning debris from the plane was still falling from the sky.

The sea was covered with splashes of water from the crashed fighter jets.

"That's all..."

Yamaguchi Tamon's binoculars slipped from his hands and crashed onto the iron floor.

"They're all gone..."

His last card.

His last hope for a comeback.

It was blasted to smithereens by the 120 anti-aircraft cannons that appeared out of nowhere by the Chinese.

despair.

An unprecedented, suffocating despair instantly gripped Yamaguchi Tamon's throat.

He collapsed into the conductor's chair, his face ashen.

And at that very moment.

The No. 2 Artillery Group of Wusongkou Fortress.

The barrels of those four most terrifying 381mm coastal defense guns slowly rose to their elevation angle amidst a tooth-grinding mechanical whirring sound.

Muzzle.

It was firmly locked on at 15,000 meters away.

The battleship Hyuga is now completely stagnant.