coobybook Chapter 272: Reconnaissance planes come and they successfully conceal their true intentions by using
Chapter 272: Reconnaissance planes come and they successfully conceal their true intentions by using
Lin Zhenhua watched the rain in the sky gradually subside, took out the weather forecast bottle and looked at it. It was predicted that there would be no rain today, and it was estimated that this light rain would stop soon. He looked at the time and it was already 6:30 in the morning. The kitchen staff had already delivered the food. Lin Zhenhua took the food handed over by Ding Wei and squatted aside to eat.
"Lao Ding, after the rain stops, I plan to deploy six 88mm anti-aircraft guns and 12 anti-aircraft machine guns on the position. As long as the Japanese reconnaissance plane does not fly at a very low altitude, we don't need to shoot it down. Of course, if there is a chance to kill it, we will definitely not let it go."
"But the Japanese fighter planes suffered a great loss before, and only one Zero fighter escaped in the end. I estimate that in the short term, the Japanese air force will not dare to attack the independent regiment again!"
Ding Wei became interested when this matter was mentioned. He did not participate in the air defense battle the day before yesterday, but he knew how fierce it was. It was precisely because all the Japanese bombers were shot down that the Japanese had no choice but to send out a suicide squad carrying explosives to blow up the fortifications on the Xiaoyunling position. This gave Ding Wei and Kong Jie a chance to catch their breath, otherwise the position would have been lost to them long ago.
"College student, our New 20st Regiment also had a 90mm twin-mounted anti-aircraft gun before, but we had too few shells, only more than 30 rounds. I thought we could use it to kill a Japanese fighter plane, but we didn't expect that not only did we not achieve any results, but we also lost six light and heavy machine guns and the lives of more than soldiers. From then on, we could only bear the air defense."
"We are already very short of ammunition. Anti-aircraft operations consume too much ammunition. Even if you give me hundreds of anti-aircraft guns, I can't afford them. They are just like a pile of scrap metal in my hands! Without the ability to produce military products, relying on the little ammunition captured from the Japanese is really a drop in the bucket!"
"If you, the college student, hadn't traded a division's weapons and equipment from the Third Reich this time, no matter how capable Li Yunlong was, he wouldn't have been able to hold on to the base. I thought about it all night last night and became more and more aware of the importance of the arsenal. I plan to ask the brigade commander to take charge of guarding the arsenal. Once the arsenal is officially put into operation, the Japanese will get the news and will definitely attack the independent regiment again. With the existing strength of the independent regiment, it is impossible to hold on!"
The honest Kong Jie had the same idea and quickly interrupted, "The New Second Regiment under my command has been destroyed. It will take a long time to rebuild. In the next few months, I plan to stay in the base of the independent regiment and rebuild the troops! By the way, we can also strengthen the defense of the base. Before in northwest Shanxi, our three regiments formed a horn and could cooperate with each other, but in this war, we suffered heavy losses and are no longer able to defend the base we established before. The previous arrangements of the brigade commander are no longer appropriate, and we must take the initiative to make adjustments now!"
Lin Zhenhua knew that what the two said was the truth. Now that the combined strength of the three regiments was present, it would be very difficult to defend the base. If the troops were further divided, they would be defeated by the Japanese one by one. This consequence was definitely not what everyone wanted to see!
"Let's talk about these things later. Now that the rain outside has stopped, we need to quickly deploy the anti-aircraft guns. I estimate that the Japanese reconnaissance plane will arrive in two hours, so we must prepare in advance!"
Things turned out just as Lin Zhenhua had expected, but this time the Japanese sent three reconnaissance planes instead of two. The first reconnaissance target was the Xiaoyunling position. After discovering the three Japanese reconnaissance planes, Lin Zhenhua was not polite and immediately ordered: "Sanwazi, fire immediately. You must fire fiercely. It doesn't matter if you miss, but you must fire vigorously to let the Japanese feel that our strength has not been weakened. Only in this way can we dispel the Japanese's unnecessary thoughts!"
The three reconnaissance plane pilots first arrived above the Japanese camp. Seeing that there was nothing below, they cursed a few words in their hearts and began to slowly approach the Xiaoyunling position.
"Mr. Sada, you have the best skills among the three of us. I need you to take the risk and get close to the enemy's position to investigate the enemy's troop deployment. Mr. Kuroda and I will provide you with assistance. I'll leave everything to you!" Kenichi Sato gave the order with a serious face.
Saburo Sada scoffed at the team leader's arrangement. It was obvious that the team leader had the best driving skills, but he had offended him last time, and this time he was sent to die. He cursed in his heart, but he had to follow the order.
Operating the reconnaissance plane under his seat, Saburo Sada nimbly dodged the incoming artillery shells and bullets and flew low towards the Xiaoyunling position. During the flight, he casually glanced down and saw that the personnel in the position were doing their duties. At an altitude of more than 800 meters, he casually turned twice and did not look down again.
Suddenly he heard an explosion in the distance. After looking over, he found that Kuroda had foolishly flown into the independent regiment's anti-aircraft position and was shot down on the spot. He could not help but almost laugh out loud. This bastard, relying on the support of the squad leader, bullied him every day, and this time he finally got his retribution.
"Captain, I'm Sada. I've completed my reconnaissance mission. We can leave now!"
Hearing the voice of Saburo Sada on the radio, Kenichi Sato was very annoyed. Kuroda was the nephew of his good friend, but he was killed by that bastard Saburo Sada. He would not be able to explain to his good friend when he returned, not to mention that his good friend was someone he could not afford to offend. He secretly hated Saburo Sada, and at the same time he made up his mind not to let that bastard Saburo Sada go back safely.
"Sata, your flying altitude just now was around 800 meters, and you couldn't see the situation of the position clearly. I order you to descend to an altitude of 500 meters and conduct reconnaissance again. I will attract the enemy's firepower for you. Follow my orders immediately, otherwise I will send you to a military court!" Sato Kenichi gave the order with an angry face.
This made Saburo Sada very angry, but facing the team leader's order, he had to obey and risked approaching the Xiaoyunling position. Lin Zhenhua did not expect that the Japanese reconnaissance plane would be so bold. He immediately operated the quadruple 20mm anti-aircraft gun beside him and frantically fired at the reconnaissance plane piloted by Saburo Sada. When he completed the reconnaissance work and fled, a shell directly hit the tail of the reconnaissance plane. The reconnaissance plane that lost control did not give Saburo Sada much time to react and fell directly from the sky.
Saburo Sada realized that something was wrong, and he jumped out of the cockpit while cursing angrily. He had just opened his parachute and fell. The fighter plane hit the parachute. Amid Saburo Sada's screams, the plane fell rapidly from a height of 200 meters and was sent back home dead.
Seeing Saburo Sada being killed by the enemy's anti-aircraft fire, Kenichi Sato immediately left the Xiaoyunling position. Before leaving, he deliberately flew over the Xiaobaozhuang position. After encountering strong resistance from the anti-aircraft fire, he reluctantly returned to Taiyuan Airport.
Sato Kenichi reported what he saw and heard in an exaggerated manner. In addition, two reconnaissance planes were lost. Yoshio Shinozuka believed Sato Kenichi's lies and reported them to the North China Front Army Headquarters. This led General Tada to make a wrong judgment and suspend the assembly of troops to carry out the large-scale mopping-up operation as originally planned.
In fact, the closest Japanese battalion to the Independent Regiment only needed two days' journey to reach it, but to be on the safe side, General Tada canceled the previous support plan and narrowly survived the crisis.
However, the crisis did not disappear. A telegram jointly signed by Yamamoto Ikki and Hirahara Kojiro was delivered to Yoshio Shinozuka's desk.
"Mr. Mitsui, this is a telegram just sent by the two people you are following. I would like to forward this telegram to the North China Front Command, hoping to change General Tada's mind. What do you think of my approach?" Yoshio Shinozuka asked humbly.
Chief of Staff Mitsui Ippei shook his head and replied with a sigh: "Shinozuka-kun, I came to the 12th Army just to get some experience. I really don't want to get involved in the affairs of the 12th Army! Since you asked about this, I will say a few more words, hoping that it will be helpful to you!"
"Yamamoto Ikki and Hirata Kojiro have a bad reputation in the 12th Army. No one wants to be associated with them, especially since they proposed the action plan this time. This will cause a violent backlash from below."
"The truth will eventually come to light, and this matter cannot be concealed. In fact, even in the North China Front Army, the two are hated by everyone. I don't know why the general trusts them so much. I can only give the general a piece of advice, let the two play freely. As for how far they can go, it depends on themselves. In this way, everyone from top to bottom can be explained, General Tada will have face, and the people below will also have face. This is the best solution at present!"
"In fact, even I don't want to be contaminated by these two. They have never won a battle they have participated in, and I know whether they have met their nemesis. In order to break the curse on them, I think the general should add them to this sweep. As long as they have made great contributions, the general will have the confidence to speak for them in the future, instead of taking on huge pressure to do thankless tasks like now. If you follow the advice of these two and still suffer heavy losses and fail in the end, it will have a huge impact on the general's future. Please think twice!"
After listening to Mitsui Ippei's analysis, Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly understood the whole thing. The reason why he supported the two men so wholeheartedly before, apart from his own selfish motives, was because he was very optimistic about them, especially Yamamoto Ikki's special operations. It was also because of this that he allowed the two men to fail many times.
"Thank you very much for your advice, Mitsui-kun. I know what to do next. If we want them to be recognized by everyone, we must let them have impressive combat records. Otherwise, no matter how much we say, it will be useless. In the army, soldiers should rely on combat achievements to speak, not on who has the loudest voice. We can also take this opportunity to let the two of them accumulate more experience so that they can avoid taking detours in the future!"