The bombers swept over the Taiyuan airfield, dropped a flying bomb, and overturned, shredded, and detonated the planes on the tarmac one after another.

The anti-aircraft fire on the airfield opened fire at the first moment, and the bullets and anti-aircraft shells whizzed after and entwined the bombers, which provoked the anger of the pilots of the Eighth Route Army.

Originally, the army did not pay enough attention to air defense, and an antiaircraft machine gun squadron and an antiaircraft artillery squadron were generally stationed at an airfield. Ever since Liu Yimin led his instructor to occupy Taiyuan and asked David to lead a team to bomb the airfield, the army has constantly strengthened the air defense force of the airfield, and a base-type airfield like Taiyuan is inhabited by an antiaircraft machine gun brigade and two antiaircraft artillery squadrons. However, the army still uses traditional air defense tactics, does not know how to concentrate fire and melee combat methods, and each artillery is fighting separately, and the hit rate is relatively much lower.

The bomber group of the Eighth Route Army roared down, bombs kept dropping, and the airborne machine guns and machine guns were blown like a wind, and the anti-aircraft fire positions of the Japanese army were filled with gunsmoke and blurred flesh and blood, and they were ravaged to a complete mess.

Unfortunately, the pilots of the Eighth Route Army still had a short flight time and incomplete technology, and in the desperate counterattack of the anti-aircraft firepower of the Japanese army, two light bombers were still hit. Although Liu Yimin and Luo Ronghuan repeatedly warned the pilots not to choose to die with the enemy, the young Eighth Route Army aviation unit still drove the fighter plane headlong into the antiaircraft fire position of the Yue Army, and in the midst of the huge explosions and the fierce flames that rose into the sky, the surprise and fear on the faces of the Yue Army air defense soldiers were completely fixed in the impression of the old city of Taiyuan.

After solving the anti-aircraft firepower of the Japanese army, the bomber formation once again pounced on the airfield, and it was not until the oil depot of the Japanese army was detonated that it was triumphant.

At the same time that the Taiyuan Airport was completely blown up, the Shijiazhuang Yuejun Airport also welcomed its most unwelcome guests, and the bomber formation led by Chang Qiankun, captain of the Second Air Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, drilled out of the clouds and began to pounce on the airport.

Shijiazhuang Airport has been attacked twice, especially the first, the explosion of ammunition depot and fuel caused by air raids has completely turned the airport into a purgatory on earth. Therefore, the vigilance at Shijiazhuang airport was very strict, and as soon as the morning dawned, two fighter planes took to the air to put on alert.

Unlike Taiyuan Airport, which mainly undertook the task of supporting the First Army's clean-up operations, Shijiazhuang Airport undertook the task of bombing southern Hebei, so early in the morning, the planes of the Japanese army began to refuel and hang bombs and took off to carry out the task of reconnaissance and bombing in the Jingxian area.

When Chang Qiankun led a bomber formation to the sky over Shijiazhuang, he was discovered by the fighters on duty of the Chinese army, and the planes immediately pounced to block the attack. Chang Qiankun ordered Nick to lead the fighter squadron of Wu Le and Lei Zhicheng to meet the fighters of the Yue Army, and he led the bombers directly to the Yue Army airfield.

Looking at the planes that were taxiing and taking off at the airport, Chang Qiankun knew that Shijiazhuang Airport had received an early warning report from fighter planes, so he immediately ordered the planes to be intercepted and bombed, and he rushed down as soon as he pressed the nose of the plane.

As soon as a taxiing plane raised its nose, it was hit in the abdomen by Chang Qiankun's machine gun, which immediately exploded and caught fire. As soon as Chang Qiankun saw that he had made a meritorious contribution in the first battle, he flew by with his fighter plane in an ultra-low-altitude flying posture, and the bombardiers and shooters behind him kept dropping bombs and firing, splitting a bloody road on the airfield.

After pulling it up, Chang Qiankun saw that the bombing effect was good, and the planes were basically destroyed. Just as he was about to press the nose of the plane to dive again, Nick's stiff Chinese came from the headphones: "Chang, I found a formation of fighter jets in the army." ”

Chang Qiankun looked at Shijiazhuang Airport with a little regret, and decisively ordered the bomber formation to leave the battlefield and retreat quickly. Nick was ordered to lead a squadron of fighters to cover and retreat at an opportune time.

The formation of the fighters that arrived was a squadron of fighters that had just taken off from Shijiazhuang Airport and was on a reconnaissance mission near Jingxian County, with a total of four fighters, and had just flown not far from Shijiazhuang when they received an order to return to the airport to intercept the bombers of the Eighth Route Army.

Nick and the fighter squadron had just dealt with a military fighter on duty, when he saw four military fighters pounce on him, and while alerting Chang Qiankun, he quickly pulled up, and the young men commanding the fighter squadron occupied a favorable position.

In contrast, the fighter pilots of the Yue army were well trained, and the four fighters plus one fighter on duty, and five fighter planes of the Yue army pounced on them with great vigour.

As soon as Nick saw this formation, he knew that his boys were still a little tender and were not the opponents of the plane, so he hurriedly ordered the fighter squadron to retreat, and he and his comrade-in-arms Sorens drove the fighter plane to entangle with the army, fighting and retreating, and flew towards the direction of Shaanxi. Nick knew that as long as he flew across the Yellow River, he could be saved even by parachuting.

The pilots of the fighter squadron already knew that the airfield was destroyed, that they had just filled up the fuel, and that the ammunition was sufficient, so they clung to Nick and Sorens and chased them all the way.

It was not easy to fly across the Yellow River, and Nick and Sorens knew that they were safe, and they no longer fled, and turned to fight with the machine.

Seeing that the pilots of the Eighth Route Army were no longer running away, he was naturally pleasantly surprised, and immediately pounced on them and began to fight.

On one side are senior flight instructors of the US military, and on the other hand, there are well-trained pilots of the Chinese military, and the fighters are the same fighters, depending on whose skills are excellent. The two sides tumbled and rolled over and fought each other in the sky of Shaanxi, and in the end, neither side took advantage, Nick and Sorens shot down a plane with superb technology, and they both abandoned the plane and parachuted because they ran out of fuel.

After the information of the Eighth Route Army's fighter planes attacking Taiyuan Airport and Shijiazhuang Airport reached the headquarters of the North China Front Army's Flying Group, Lieutenant General Kinoshita, commander of the North China Flying Group, was furious and immediately ordered the Shijiazhuang Airport to be quickly repaired, and a squadron of reconnaissance planes was dispatched to Shijiazhuang Airport to begin a new round of comprehensive reconnaissance and search for the Shaanxi anti-Japanese base area. Major General Seiichi Kita, head of the army's secret service organ, also ordered the intelligence agencies to go all out to search for information on the airfield of the Eighth Route Army in Shaanxi, with the intention of destroying the newly born Eighth Route Army air force in one fell swoop.

After arriving in Xi'an, the plane that took off from Baoding Airport was intercepted by the Eighth Route Army Air Force fighter squadron that had already returned to the airport; Chang Qiankun, four retired US instructors, including David, Rothsson, Ross, and Steele, took off with the fighter squadron to meet the enemy, and the two sides fought the first air battle in Shaanxi's history over Xi'an. This time, the army did not get a good deal with it, and four bombers and one fighter were shot down, and the Eighth Route Army Air Force also lost two fighters. The battle loss ratio was 5:2. Fortunately, in Xi'an, the pilot of the Eighth Route Army was rescued immediately after parachuting, and the pilot of the army was miserable, and the best ending was to be captured.

After the army suffered losses, Lieutenant General Kinoshita, who had memorized the story of his predecessor Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi committing suicide by disembowelment, had nowhere to vent his anger, forgot all the orders of General Terauchi Shouichi to concentrate all his planes to reconnoiter and search in the Jingxian area, and mobilized all the planes of the North China Flying Group and the carrier-based planes of the Combined Fleet to conduct an all-round search and reconnaissance of Shaanxi, in an attempt to find the airfield of the Eighth Route Army and destroy it. As a result, he couldn't find the airfield, so he was embarrassed and angry, and dropped all the bombs on the Yellow River River defense position of the Eighth Route Army, the Zhongtiao Mountain [***] position, the position of the Jinxi Jin Sui Army, and the position of the Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong.

Afterwards, when the chairman sent a report to Liu Yimin, he specifically raised the issue of how to avoid retaliation by the military planes, which caused Liu Yimin to grit his teeth when he walked and spoke for several days in a row, and he was eager to immediately arrest Lieutenant General Kinoshita for public trial.

General Shouichi Terauchi didn't wake up until noon, and when he woke up, he asked Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe if he had found the exact location of the main force of Liu Yimin's instructor?

Okabe Naosaburo reported on the Eighth Route Army's air force's sneak attack on the Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang airfields, and said that in order to retaliate against the Eighth Route Army air force, Lieutenant General Kinoshita Toshitoshi had ordered all efforts to concentrate all his efforts on searching and reconnoitring the location of the Eighth Route Army's airfield in Shaanxi, preparing to destroy the Eighth Route Army air force in one fell swoop.

As soon as General Shouichi Terauchi heard this, he felt that Lieutenant General Kinoshita's mind was full of mush, and he dared to put aside the order to find the main force of Liu Yimin's tutor and bomb the distant Shaanxi and Shanxi. Immediately, Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo told Lieutenant General Kinoshita to stop carrying out the mission of bombing Shaanxi and Shanxi, and immediately concentrate forces on searching and reconnaissance to find the main force of Liu Yimin's instructor.

Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe went to call Lieutenant General Toshinori Kinoshita, and General Terauchi got up to wash and eat.

While he was eating, Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe came in and reported that Lieutenant General Kinoshita Toshitoshi had said that he could not carry out the orders of His Excellency the Commander, because all the fighters had already taken off to Shaanxi to carry out reconnaissance, search, and bombing missions, and that after completing the mission, they would go to the Jizhong area to carry out reconnaissance missions if they had time.

When General Terauchi Shouichi heard this, he threw his chopsticks on the dining table with the first snap of anger, and his mouth was about to scold Bage Yalu, when a shark fin was stuck in his throat, making the dignified Imperial Earl and Army General bulging their eyes and mouths wide open and speechless.

It took a long time for the military doctor to toss the shark fin out. General Shouichi Terauchi, who has recovered his ability to speak, opens his mouth to be a eight-grid tooth road, and Lieutenant General Kinoshita Toshita does not understand strategy, and is not worthy of being the commander of the North China Front Flying Group, and is only worthy of going fishing in Hokkaido. Then he ordered Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe to personally go to the headquarters of the flight group and carry out a close search and reconnaissance of the Jingxian area in the afternoon.

Thinking about it, General Terauchi Shouichi ordered Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo to personally contact the troops along the Cangshi Road to inquire about the enemy's situation.

It was not until 4 p.m. that the fighters of the North China Front Flying Group began to carry out careful search and reconnaissance in the areas of Linqing, Wucheng, Jingxian, Fucheng, Jiaohe, and Xianxian. The result was contrary to General Terauchi Shouichi's expectations, and the aviation unit reported that it did not find the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

Terauchi Shouyi was anxious, knowing that Liu Yimin led the army in this area, and the damn aviation had no eyes, so he couldn't find them. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, General Shouichi in the temple lamented that God would not bless me, and the surname Suo closed his eyes cross-legged and started to meditate.

At six o'clock, the main force of the instructors of the Eighth Route Army began to assemble along the Cangshi Road. At eight o'clock, Liu Yimin gave an order, and the artillery brigade began to shell Cangshi Road. Under the cover of artillery fire, the three first-class main brigades, the cavalry brigade and the divisional troops broke through the Cangshi Road in three ways and swept towards Xian County.

The armies defending Cangshi Road were the 23rd Division and the 24th Division, and since these two divisions were still responsible for the garrison of the Pinghan Line, the Jinpu Line, and the Deshi Line, the battle line was too long and the troops were insufficient, and the strength of each wing was only used for the defense of Cangshi Road. If you encounter an ordinary [***] force, and the devils of the two wings defend the stone road, it can be said to be as stable as a rock, and it can be called a heavy defense. It's a pity that the army was hit on the Deshi Road, and it hurried to the Cangshi Road to set up defenses, and it was the main force of the instructor that it encountered, and this point of strength was only two regiments in the instructor's army, and it was still scattered on the long Cangshi Road, and every section of the road seemed to be empty, where could it stop the instructor with extremely strong firepower?

The defenders, who saw the powerful firepower of the instructor, completely became a shrunken turtle, and they didn't even have the courage to pursue. Just carefully and meticulously did not report to the division: "At 8 o'clock tonight, the Eighth Route Army concentrated several artillery regiments to bombard Cangshi Road, and then attacked separately under the guidance of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, and the defenders were all shattered. This part of the Eighth Route Army wears the uniform of the imperial army, the passwords are all in words, the firepower is extremely powerful, and it is now rushing to the direction of 3 Xian County. ”

The report was soon transferred to the headquarters of the North China Front, and General Terauchi Shouichi was also hungry and meditated, standing in front of the map, his hand holding the telegram trembling.

It was Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo who reminded him that the situation was urgent and asked the commander to make a decision as soon as possible, so that the frightened General Terauchi Shouichi came to his senses, and ordered the 23rd Division and the 24th Division to immediately withdraw their troops from Cangshi Road and Deshi Road, concentrate all forces to rush to Baoda Road to set up defenses, ordered the 22nd Division to transfer troops to the north to undertake the defense of Pinghan Road of the 23rd Division, and ordered the 108th Division to undertake the 24th Division, the 22nd Division, and the 108th Division to undertake the task of supporting the Baoda Road.

After giving the order, Terauchi Shouichi sent another telegram to Kita Seiichi, who had already arrived in Shijiazhuang, asking him to rush to southern Hebei overnight no matter what, and urgently make an appointment with the representatives of the Eighth Route Army to discuss the collection of corpses, talk about the Eighth Route Army's northward attack on Pingjin, and stabilize the Eighth Route Army no matter what.

Okabe Naosaburo is now more and more unpredictable General Terauchi Shouichi, what's the matter, it is Liu Yimin's mentor who killed under Beiping City, that is not what he can enter if he wants to enter Beiping, the walls of Beiping City are so strong, it should be no problem to hold it for a few days. In a few days, you can transfer the main force back to encircle and annihilate the instructor. Why are you so panicked!

How did Okabe Naosaburo know the suffering of General Shouichi Terauchi, in case Liu Yimin really arrived in Beiping, with the strength of the defenders of Beiping, he would not be able to stop the instructor. Once the city is broken, the general of the temple will only commit suicide by disembowelment, and no matter how thick-skinned he is, Emperor Hirohito will not tolerate his guilt for losing Beiping.

All the actions of Shouyi in the temple fell into the ears of Liu Yimin, who was marching to Xian County, and he immediately ordered the whole army to change back into the clothes of the Eighth Route Army and divide the troops on the spot. Teach the 1st Brigade to go north to Hejian and take an offensive defense against Baoda Road; Teaching the Second Brigade out of Raoyang, Anping, and Anguo; Teach the three brigades to take Wuqiang, Shenxian, Xianxian, and Jiaohe; The cavalry brigade is equipped with a medium-sized mortar regiment to take Suning, Lixian, and Boye; The division headquarters led the guard regiment, the new 2nd Regiment, the new 3rd Regiment, the 1st Field Artillery Regiment, the Heavy Machine Gun Regiment, the Special Operations Brigade, and the Sniper Brigade to turn south and take Fucheng, Jingxian, and Wuyi to monitor the enemy on the Jinpu Road. Ordered the Western Front Group to mobilize the militia and the masses to completely destroy the Deshi Line after the army withdrew from the Deshi Line, and sent the 4th Brigade with the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment to recover Gaocheng, Wuji, Jinxian and Shenze, the 6th Brigade with the Mountain Artillery Regiment to capture Luancheng and Zhaoxian, and the 8th Brigade to capture Shulu and Hengshui. Among them, the Fourth Brigade and the Sixth Brigade have the task of monitoring the army on the Pinghan Line.

After Liu Yimin gave the order, Luo Ronghuan said with a smile: "Division commander, you are going to take advantage of the retreat of the army and recover Jizhong without a fight!" ”

Liu Yimin immediately retorted: "What the political commissar said is not right, our 100,000-strong army has struggled for several days and nights, fought so many shells, and fought for hundreds of miles, how can we say that we can recover Jizhong without a fight?" We are in the middle of a war! ”

When Luo Ronghuan saw Liu Yimin's rebuttal, his face was full of smiles, knowing that he was proud in his heart, and then said: "I think, this battle is called Liu Yimin's scaring away Shouyi in the temple!" However, although the army has retreated, I am afraid that the battle in Shanxi will become more and more intense, and on the Pinghan line, the 14th Division of Tufeiyuan Kenji has not moved, and it is difficult to say whether he will return from northern Henan to attack southern Hebei or join the Shanxi battlefield. On the Jinpu line, the fifth, tenth, and sixteenth divisions of the Yue Army are still eyeing each other, and it is difficult to say whether they will go north to besiege our army. This war is getting bigger and bigger, our army is fighting in the southeast and north, and it is relatively tired, and it needs a short period of recuperation! ”

Liu Yimin nodded and said in a deep voice: "Obviously, the Yue army wants to take a defensive position in central Hebei, southern Hebei, and western Luxi, and concentrate its forces on fighting in the direction of Shanxi and Xuzhou. There is no problem in Shanxi, we have four main divisions there, Mr. Zhu, Mr. Peng, and several division commanders are the most talented military leaders of our army and have actual combat experience. Wei Lihuang's Zhongtiao Mountain defense line was said to be impossible for a while and a half. As for Xuzhou, it is necessary to look at the development of the war. It's a big deal, when the time comes, we will insert a pole and flank the Yue army with Li Zongren. However, our Eighth Route Army is fighting to the death with the Yue Army here, and we don't see Chairman Jiang commanding [***] to carry out an active attack on the Yue Army, which is not good, and we have to think of letting [***] take the initiative to defend and attack. ”

Luo Ronghuan thought for a while and said: "In this case, we can push the boat down the river and use this time to bury our heads in the construction of base areas and troops." At present, there are too many troops concentrated in southern Hebei, and the training headquarters alone cannot keep busy, and Wu Zheng is busy with logistics construction, so he needs to strengthen his strength. ”

Liu Yimin has been thinking about this problem for a few days, and the war is too tight to be arranged, and when he saw Luo Ronghuan mention it, Liu Yimin said: "When the soldiers are used, they hate less, and I think our army urgently needs to expand its troops." In this way, the two of us also went our separate ways. I commanded the troops here, and the political commissar went back to Nangong to hold funerals for Comrade Li Yimo and General Fan Zhuxian, and to command the reorganization of the Jizhong army and the Luxi armed forces. After the political commissar went back, he explained his views to the chairman, the boss, Division Commander Lin, and Political Commissar Nie, and I suggested that Meng Qingshan's deputy commander of the Jizhong Military Region be changed to political commissar of the Jizhong Military Region, with Lu Zhengying as commander and Comrade Lu Ben as full-time secretary of the Central Hebei Region. After the political commissar went back, he came up with a specific reorganization plan and reported it directly to the Military Commission and the General Headquarters, remembering to report to Division Commander Lin and Political Commissar Nie first. In addition, Zhao Yunxiang, Duan Haizhou, Qiao Mingli, Fan Zixia's Department and Luxi's armed forces in Jizhong were all incorporated into our army. I plan to rename the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Brigades of the Eighth Route Army the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions of the Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Soviet Unions, with three brigades and nine regiments in each division, and an artillery regiment, a heavy machine gun regiment, a cavalry regiment, an engineer regiment, and a baggage regiment. Several other brigades were also built according to the scale of divisions, and after arriving in Shandong, they were named garrison divisions after their combat areas. What needs to be expanded at the moment is the South Hebei Garrison Division and the Luxi Garrison Division. Anyway, we have enough cadres and soldiers, and there is no problem with weapons and equipment, so what we need is a period of running-in training. This matter will be considered by the political commissar as a whole. ”

Luo Ronghuan thought for a while and said, "The expansion of the army needs the approval of the Military Commission and the General Headquarters, do you want to ask for instructions first?" ”

Liu Yimin shook his head: "I have already asked for instructions when I left Xi'an, and the chairman and the president have approved it." If you're bold, it's no problem. Of course, it is necessary to ask for more information. You look at it, first of all, reorganize the troops in Jizhong, let them return to Jizhong as soon as possible, and the main force of our army must seize the time to attack the Hanji Road, and also seize the time to go east to Shandong, it is impossible to stay here for a long time. Now the situation in Jizhong is very good, and the sweep of the army is tantamount to exposing the faces of all kinds of motley armed forces, and cleaning them up. Our army's recovery of Jizhong this time will wipe out all the Han forces in one fell swoop. In this way, the foundation for the future development of Jizhong has been laid. The Jizhong army will soon become stronger. If there are difficult things to do during the reorganization, we should discuss them with Comrades Meng Qingshan, Lu Zhengying, and Lu Ben, and we can also set aside a part of the Jizhong troops and organize them into the 115th, 120th, and 129th divisions. Especially the 120th Division, which has a thin foundation, and Jinsui is sparsely populated and has no soldiers. Jizhong is densely populated, has a large number of soldiers, and is of high quality, so I can add a little more to them. ”

Luo Ronghuan felt that Liu Yimin had considered it very comprehensively, and thinking that the task was very heavy, he immediately wanted to rush back to Nangong. Liu Yimin ordered the cavalry battalion of the Third Regiment to escort Luo Ronghuan back to Nangong and strengthen the garrison of Nangong.

When they broke up, Luo Ronghuan once again told Liu Yimin that if the devil did not take the initiative to attack, he would not attack Pingjin and concentrate on restoring the base area in Jizhong. No matter what the deployment, you must not risk your life. It's okay to make surprise moves, but you should be cautious when making dangerous moves.

Liu Yimin knew that the political commissar was not worried about his safety, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't be fine." With such a powerful brigade on my side, what are we afraid of? ”

Luo Ronghuan also laughed.

The two of them walked and talked. After the cavalry battalion of the Third Brigade caught up, Liu Yimin shook hands with Luo Ronghuan and said goodbye and went their separate ways.

(To be continued)