(Five hundred) flesh millstones

As it turned out, the Chinese's strategy was a great success - dozens of "Zero" fighters took off and intercepted, and three "Kuaidao" bombers were damaged by Japanese fighters who successfully slipped into the battlefield, but the Japanese planes involved in the war almost all became piles of wreckage on the Siberian steppe. However, the "powerful" Japanese propaganda apparatus once again "dealt a heavy blow" to the Chinese Air Force, and the Japanese side reported that 33 Chinese fighters and 12 "Kuaidao" bombers had been shot down, but did not mention the heavy losses of the Chinese side. Seeing that the Japanese army had basically lost its air defense capability and the morale of its ground troops was extremely low, Zhong Liwei decided to pull the trigger for the execution of the Siberian garrison. Early in the morning of 22 November, a large number of fighters of the Northeast Army swarmed out and went straight to the point that had already been stepped on by the reconnaissance planes: because the rear supply lines were bombed intermittently, the Japanese army had to set up a number of temporary ammunition and fuel supply points on the front line. The precious supplies sent by the Japanese troops in the rear at the risk of death were all reduced to brilliant "fireworks" on the Siberian steppe that morning.

The Northeast Army on the ground used armored units as spearheads and easily penetrated the Japanese defense line. The torrent of steel rolling forward was unstoppable, and all Japanese troops in their path were reduced to ashes. At this time, the fighter units of the Japanese Army Air Force were either killed or wounded, and the lone light bomb and several heavy bombardments embarked on the final decisive voyage under the eyes of the remnants of the soldiers at the airfield. The vast majority of young pilots failed to break through the barrage erected by the Northeast Army's air-ground joint erection, and a very small number of fighters used the same "meat bullet" tactics as the Japanese troops on the ground -- ramming the armored units of the Northeast Army.

After the thorough "clean-up" on 22 November, the vast majority of the pilots of the Chinese Air Force in the next few days were left with some reconnaissance missions, and the occasional bombing mission became a "sought-after commodity" among the various units; after the targets that finally appeared were picked up by the reconnaissance fighters of the Northeast Army, it became commonplace for the attacking troops who rushed to arrive to have to return empty-handed while scolding their mothers. Later, the Chinese Air Force simply sneaked into the hinterland of Japan to "open meat," and of course this kind of "spontaneous" behavior, which seriously did not conform to the dogma of the Northeast Army, which was "said" to be extremely rigid, was launched with the tacit consent or even instigation of the higher-level leaders. On 24 November, 39 "Kuaidao" bombers, escorted by a large number of fighters, "happened to get lost" near Mount Sukhara and bombed two Japanese trains and a large section of railway tracks into rubble.

At this time, there was no concept of "battle line" on the Sangye River battlefield, and only a large number of Japanese troops were left surrounded by the heavy forces of the Northeast Army in the solid support points scattered everywhere, and they resisted stubbornly. In the face of the Northeast Army's sea of tanks, aircraft and artillery, this behavior of the Japanese army is not so much a breakthrough as a suicide. Although the Japanese army aviation was almost drowned in the sea of Chinese fighters in the air at this time, the Japanese fighters still risked their lives to take off every day, trying to provide a little help and hope to the Japanese troops on the ground.

At this time, the Japanese army aviation stationed in Eastern Siberia had lost its elite, and the top brass of the Japanese army aviation, who was completely disappointed with the battle situation at the front, refused to send new fighters and supplementary troops to the Sangye River. The Japanese army aviation in the eastern Siberian region had to collect everything that could fly and push them to the battlefield, and the results of this battle between the two generations of fighters were self-evident, and the scene of these Japanese planes being surrounded and intercepted by the "hungry" Chinese air force fighters and finally being smashed into a ball of fire quickly became a famous sight over the Sangye River. 
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Looking at the wreckage on the airfield, looking at the names crossed out one by one on the compilation table, the unbearable huge losses completely crushed the Japanese army aviation stationed in Eastern Siberia. At the end of November, the Japanese Army Aviation Headquarters received a report on the strength of the Japanese Army Air Force stationed in Eastern Siberia, saying that they still had about 160 planes that could be called "airplanes," and the vast majority of them could not immediately take to the air to meet the enemy. Zhong Liwei sneered when he heard the news, this general's temper was hot, and it was quite terrible to have bad water, and more and more Japanese fighters became a puddle of rags on the grassland.

On November 31, Zhong Liwei officially reported to Beijing that all Japanese troops that had crossed the border between Central and Siberia had been wiped out. In the later attack on the Japanese army's fortified support points, the Chinese Northeast Army suffered huge losses that should not have been suffered, and the ferocity and tenacity of the trapped Japanese exceeded the imagination of the senior generals of the Chinese Northeast Army, and Beijing's "total annihilation within a time limit" order forced Zhong Liwei to make the decision to attack.

Knowing that there was no hope of survival unless they surrendered, the Japanese army calmed down from the panic of the early days of the siege, and they became an army of zombies with weapons in hand, without a trace of fear, pity, or other normal feelings. In the face of such a group of monsters who believe in "the life of the immortal warrior (æ­»ăȘă‚“ăšæˆŠăˆă°ç”Ÿă, one of the most famous words of Uesugi Kenshin, copied from "Wu Tzu)", the fighters in the sky, the roaring artillery and even the rampage of the steel giant beasts have lost their strength, and the only way to use the flesh and blood of the soldiers of the Northeast Army to turn into a huge grinding disc to grind away the will and life of the Japanese army little by little.

In the face of huge casualties, Zhong Liwei did not chase after the poor warriors, but nailed the torrent of steel that could have rolled forward across the border to the actual demarcation line before the start of the Battle of the Mulberry River. He did this because of the new changes taking place on the other side of China's border, thousands of miles away. With the fall of Turkey, the Soviet army has begun to move eastward in large quantities, and the Chinese people at this time do not know that the real war is coming, but Beijing is clearly aware that the rapid fall of Turkey will make the decisive battle between the Soviet Union and China break out soon, and the dark clouds of war are gathering over China's western frontier. In such a situation where the rain is about to come and the wind is full of buildings, Beijing needs to find even a moment of tranquility in the East.

While the noise on the battlefield is quieting down, the propaganda war on the other front has just begun. Faced with a well-known outcome, the Japanese shamelessly announced that they had shot down a total of 2,260 Chinese planes, while the Chinese Air Force was even worse in what Chinese officials called it, believing that they had eliminated a total of 1,246 Japanese fighters. Of course, this is just a big talk contest of 50 steps and 100 steps, and if the bullhide boasted by both sides is true, then the air force invested by both China and Japan in the normal battle of the Sangye River is not enough to be shot down by the other side. The losses announced by both sides were discounted, with the Chinese announcing that 251 fighters had crashed or gone missing from July to November 1942, while the Japanese had admitted only 162 losses.

The air operations at the Sangye River had a huge impact on the development and performance of both the Chinese and Japanese air forces in the early stages of World War II. In order to cope with the flexible Chinese fighters, the fighters developed and equipped by Japan in the early stage were extremely maneuverable, and their range was also extremely surprising to the United States and Britain. However, due to the unprecedentedly strong firepower of the new fighters that the Northeast Army later participated in, the Japanese side discovered in time the problems of its own fighters in terms of defensive strength and airframe strength, and got back on the right track. However, the Japanese Army's air force's successful ground support in the early stage of the war enabled the Japanese army to accumulate sufficient experience in close air support, and the absorption and digestion of this experience enabled Japan's light and heavy explosive units to greatly improve their combat effectiveness in the later period, causing the Allied forces on the battlefield to suffer greatly. China, on the other hand, saw the outstanding performance of high-speed bombers and strengthened the belief that "bombing wins", so much so that later there was an "air fleet" that bombed the Japanese mainland into a sea of fire. 
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In addition, since both China and Japan have chosen the reference system of the aviation industry as a relatively backward opponent with a relatively backward level of technology, because they have a certain misunderstanding of their own level of development, when Japan faces the Americans in the Pacific Ocean with unusually strong research and development capabilities, and when China meets the Soviets, who are technologically advanced and have reached the peak of their technical and tactical level with the help of the Germans, these two Asian powers are destined to fall into a new bloody battle.

The greatest significance of the Sangye River air battle is that the terrifying sight of the sky stained red with blood has become accustomed to both China and Japan, and this is the most terrifying thing about the veterans, they are not afraid of death, but they are afraid of being forgotten.

In the face of the fiasco of many attacks, the Siberian garrison was not convinced, and the stakes of war became bigger and bigger, and more and more troops and equipment were put into the battlefield. ‘

In order to make up for the shortage of troops on the battlefield, Lieutenant General Komatsubara, the headquarters of the Siberian garrison army, was transferred to the 1st Independent Garrison Brigade and the 14th Infantry Brigade and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade of the East Siberian District. Ishihara mixed brigades and other units brought the strength of all branches of the armed forces under the command of Lieutenant General Komatsubara on the Kuroha River front to 180,000.

In order to make up for the lack of firepower, the headquarters of the Siberian garrison transferred the 5th Field Heavy Artillery Wing, the 7th Independent Field Heavy Artillery Wing, and the 3rd Brigade of the Lushun Heavy Artillery Brigade from the interior of Eastern Siberia. In addition to the various artillery units already existing, the Japanese army on the Sangye River front has a total of 1,238 heavy artillery, field artillery heavy mortars, various mountain artillery rapid-fire guns, and anti-aircraft guns.

In order to make up for the shortage of anti-tank weapons, all the Japanese infantry squadrons on the Sangye River front organized "meat bomb attack squads", that is, people with explosives to pounce on the tanks. Died with the tank. Because the Japanese tanks were inferior to the Northeast Army in terms of quantity and quality, the lack of tanks to make up for the lack of "meat bullets" was a major invention of the Siberian garrison on the battlefield.

After the troops and equipment were fully prepared, the Japanese army formulated a general offensive plan with artillery as the main battle, followed by infantry attacking from both flanks.

On November 27, 1942, the weather was clear, the red sun was rising, the Japanese army was waving its flags on a front of more than 70 miles, and the various wings were looking at each other from afar, waiting for the order of the general attack.

At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, 58 Japanese bombers and fighters first flew over the Sangye River and bombed and strafed the positions of the Northeast Army on both sides of the river. At the same time, several gray oblong observation balloons were raised over the Japanese heavy artillery positions, and in the hanging baskets under each balloon, three artillery observation officers manipulated the artillery team mirrors to find the heavy artillery positions of the Northeast Army on the west bank platform.

At 6:30, the Japanese army first used field artillery to fire in a group to lure the Northeast Army's heavy artillery to return fire, so that after the target was discovered, it would correct the target observed in the past, and then use heavy artillery to inflict a devastating bombardment on the Northeast Army artillery.

The field artillery of the second artillery group was bombarded by the group for an hour, and the artillery commanders could not see whether the artillery of the Northeast Army had fallen into the trap. By 7:30 a.m., another 30 minutes of lure bombardment had been carried out, but there was still no response from the artillery positions on the west bank. Rear Admiral Uchiyama waited impatiently, ordered the two artillery groups to attack and fire at full efficiency at 8 o'clock, and suggested that Lieutenant General Komatsubara order the infantry to attack at 10 o'clock in the afternoon. At 10 o'clock, the order of the division commander to attack reached the wings and even the brigades.

At 8 o'clock, all the Japanese artillery fired at the same time, and the 160-millimeter-long warhead of the heavy artillery wing flew from the position of more than 10 kilometers behind the infantry to the west bank of the Sangye River. Mountain artillery, mortars, and infantry artillery of various divisions and regiments also helped to fire at the same time. From the beginning of the war to the present, the Japanese army has never used such large-scale artillery, and this is also an unprecedented first time in the history of Japanese army warfare. Rear Admiral Uchiyama was able to command 338 field heavy guns and 472 field guns to fire at the same time, and his excitement can be imagined. The Japanese artillery positions were in full swing, the men and horses were busy, the shells on the positions were piled up, and the rolling scorching shells were shining yellow and shiny, and they were hot to the touch. The gunners, covered in sweat, shouted loudly as they pushed the shells into the chambers. On the platform on the west bank of the Sangye River, black smoke rose one after another, and the cars and armored vehicles on the slope of the west bank drove towards the back slope of the platform in groups, and there was a chaotic roar. From the observation balloon, the artillery of the Northeast Army has been eliminated at least 10 main positions so far; The artillery of the Northeast Army is being dragged by a tractor to change positions; The artillerymen of many artillery squadrons were beaten dumb and could not return fire. All in all, the results are significant. 
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Major General Uchiyama ordered: artillery fire was extended, and the shelling was extended by one hour, that is, the infantry charged at 11 o'clock.

10 a.m.; Several "woolly rhinoceros" heavy fighters of the Northeast Army flew at a low altitude and rushed straight to the Japanese army's observation balloons along the undulating ridge line of the sand dunes just a few meters above the ground. A machine gun fire, one after another balloons exploded in the sound of "bang bang", like huge fireballs, attached to the grassland, large pieces of debris flying in the air with smoke and fire. The Japanese observation officer on the gondola had already been killed by machine guns, and after the observation balloon exploded, the Japanese artillerymen suddenly became blind and stopped firing, and only after a long time did they breathe out artillery fire again in the indirect observation calculations of the ground observation posts. The artillery group fired for a whole day.

Tens of thousands of tons of steel poured on the artillery positions of the Northeast Army on the West Bank Plateau. One consumption of ammunition was staggering in the history of Japanese warfare. However, the artillery of the Northeast Army was not significantly weakened, and after noon, the artillery of the Northeast Army began to counterattack after moving to a new position. The shells were like a downpour, and the more they hit, the more fierce they became, which made Major General Uchiyama extremely surprised, wondering how the Northeast Army had so many cannons, could it be that the Japanese artillery bombardment did not achieve the expected effect? Judging from the artillery battles in one day, the Northeast Army's artillery firing capacity is at least four or five bases, and it can be inferred that the Northeast Army's ammunition reserves are quite sufficient, and the artillery performance is good.

On this day, the light and heavy bombers of the 2nd Flying Regiment of the Japanese Army, about 120 of which flew over the Sangye River in a group of 6, and more than l00 anti-aircraft guns of the six anti-aircraft artillery regiments on the ground of the Northeast Army rose up to meet the battle, and the blazing anti-aircraft shells flew into the air, exuding tens of millions of white bullets. More than 100 Chinese planes also flew head-on, and the planes of both sides fought like shuttles over the Sangye River, and 34 planes of the Japanese 2nd Flying Regiment were shot down and fled in disarray.

Before the bombardment that day, the Japanese infantry brigades had received orders to attack 10 hours before noon. Later, Major General Uchiyama temporarily decided to extend the shelling for an hour, and the infantry sortie was changed to 11 o'clock, because of the fierce artillery battle between the two sides, the positions were littered with shells, the communication between the various wings and the major units was intermittent, and the telephone lines were blown to pieces. In order to repair, squads of telephone soldiers were killed, and some brigades lost contact with the wing from the very beginning of the shelling. Therefore, the order to extend the sortie for an hour, some infantry brigades and squadrons did not know.

At 10 o'clock, that is, when the artillery battle between the two sides was at a fever pitch, several Japanese main attack troops at the forefront jumped out of the trenches and shouted "Hurray!" "Charge to the positions of the Northeast Army on the shore. As a result, the charging infantry was not only subjected to artillery and machine-gun fire from the opposing Northeast Army, but was also bombarded by field artillery shells flying from their own rear. The 72nd Brigade of the 5th Infantry Wing charged to the death at 10 o'clock in the rain of shrapnel. At 10:30, when the Japanese army rushed to the position of the Northeast Army, only more than 100 of the 1,000 people in the brigade remained. The Northeast Army is retreating. The L Brigade occupied its position, but was bombarded by its own rear artillery group, and almost the entire team was destroyed. He gritted his teeth and scolded Artillery Major General Uchiyama, vowing to send Uchiyama to the Military Law Council for trial. Rear Admiral Uchiyama never expected that his temporary motion in the shelling would be extended by one hour and would cause such great losses to the infantry. However, as the front-line commander of the general attack, Michitaro Komatsubara, could not temporarily change the orders given during the operation that had already begun, considering that communications might be cut off during the bombardment. Experienced commanders would not have agreed with the decision of Major General Uchiyama to extend the shelling for an hour. So, the responsibility lies primarily with Lieutenant General Komatsubara.

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