Chapter 413: The Largest Air Battle
This was made possible by the high-quality high-altitude cameras, which were installed on B17 reconnaissance planes and provided the forward command and staff headquarters with the most detailed military intelligence and ground facilities, including the build-up of Japanese troops, large storage facilities, and the newly built airfield runway.
Fortunately, when it comes to the manufacture of precision instruments, especially precision optical instruments, there is no country that can compete with China. The secret cooperation with Germany benefited not only from the dotted islands of the Pacific Ocean, but also from the rigorous character of the Germans and their love for precision machining. From the very beginning, Lu Liang was obsessed with cultivating the rigorous character of the people and his subordinates, and the continuous expansion of the army and the training of the militia also had a positive impact on this character, and the interaction between the personnel of the two sides after the secret cooperation with Germany sublimated the rigorous character of the Chinese people, and the excessive rigidity of the Germans made the Chinese people breathtaking, but the great president Lu Liang liked this kind of character, which can be seen from his subordinates -- most of the senior officials and generals are this kind of character.
The psychology of getting by was completely thrown away, and the result was that the quality of Huaxia's industrial products was top-notch, and the reliability was very reassuring. In the manufacture of precision optical instruments, Huaxia engineers and workers also imitated the paranoia of the nation that loved precision machining, relying on this paranoia that bordered on madness, and now the aerial photos in the hands of Lu Liang and the high-level of the Chinese army can make them clearly understand the every move of the enemy in the distance.
Kosu Nakamichi was shocked by the results of the battle -- none of the 50 Taisho 2 fighters returned, and a large number of "long-trained" and excellent pilots were killed, which was equivalent to the loss of one-tenth of the air power. This made Xiao Su Zhongdao thoroughly understand the gap between him and the Chinese Air Force, he still has a lot of Taisho three-year fighters and American P01 fighters in his hands, but these are the basis for his support rights, if all of them are broken, his mother is very likely to affect his career!
Matsunaga Masatoshi was also in a conflicted mood, on the one hand, he was pleased that Kosu Nakamichi had died down, and on the other hand, he was worried about the strong combat effectiveness of the Chinese Air Force, so that the prepared attack was likely to fail due to the ineffectiveness of the air force.
The silence after the first sortie did not last long, and the intelligence gathered from various quarters allowed the aviation operations staff to draw up a detailed battle plan, including seizing air supremacy on the Kyushu Island battlefield, medium bombers and dive bombers supporting front-line defensive operations, and long-range bombers bombing strategic targets in the enemy's rear.
Fifteen field airfields behind the Kagoshima Line took off fighters and bombers at the same time, and more than 150 Mustang fighters converged with 220 dreadnought dive bombers to go to the intended target. Fifty B25 medium bombers also joined the bombing, but the number did not achieve the intended bombing effect, and fifty were scattered on a front several hundred kilometers long. The request for more medium bombers has been approved by the General Staff, and in addition to another fifty B25s that are about to arrive in Kagoshima, a third batch of one hundred B25s will soon take off from a military airfield on the Shandong Peninsula and transfer through a military airfield on Jeju Island, where they are expected to arrive in Kagoshima in four days. Aircraft parts, aviation fuel, and ammunition have arrived at the port of Kagoshima by transport ship and have been placed at various field airfields.
The most prized B17 bomber will take off from the Jeju Island military airfield, and after arriving in the sky over Kagoshima, it will be escorted by Air Force P51 fighters to the depths of the Japanese army to bomb in depth. The 150 B17s stationed on Jeju Island were dispatched 50 this time, and the Air Force has not been receiving such long-range bombers for a long time, and the long-range flight bombing tactics of large formations are still familiar. However, the Japanese did not have the means to intercept such bombers, so they could reassure the air commanders.
For a time, air defense sirens were all over the major military camps, cities, and other important places on Kyushu Island, and as long as there were more than 100 of these planes, they would give people the feeling of covering the sky and the sun. In total, the Chinese army dispatched nearly 600 aircraft of various types, but unfortunately they did not gather, and the dispersion of targets allowed them to act in groups, after all, the purpose of the war was not to show.
The Japanese troops on the front line were brutally attacked by dive bombers and fighters, and one bomb after another, with a fearless scream, accurately hit the target, they exploded in the dense crowd of Japanese troops, and the shock wave and shrapnel took countless lives. Not to be outdone, the Mustang fighter carried small bombs and machine-gun bullets that could also inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese. What made Matsunaga Masatoshi unbearable the most was that the Chinese Air Force appeared in the rear of Kyushu Island, and a large number of important facilities without concealment measures were destroyed, including valuable fuel to drive tanks and armored vehicles, large warehouses for storing ammunition and food, military camps assembled in the rear, important road hubs, railway stations, docks, and so on.
The Chinese army's endless means of striking made it difficult for the Japanese to parry, and the experience gained from previous battles quickly became useless. While they were taking covert measures on the front line of the battlefield to protect supplies and artillery, the Chinese dropped bombs far behind. Heavy losses of supplies and soldiers were taken by surprise, and the transportation routes from Honshu and Shikoku to Kyushu were temporarily halted due to the destruction of the port, and the main roads on Kyushu were destroyed, greatly reducing the efficiency of troop transfers and material transportation. Many factories and facilities that have been relocated inland have also been bombed by the Chinese army, and more precious machine tools and factories have been destroyed, and they have to supply bullets and guns to the front line, and now nearly a quarter of the factory facilities on Kyushu Island have been forced to stop production.
Tactical bombing inflicted direct damage on the Japanese army, while strategic bombing greatly reduced the war potential of the Japanese, each of which Matsunaga Masatoshi could not bear. Without transportation, supplies, and factories in the rear, millions of people on the front line would collapse without an attack by the Chinese army, and the original strategy had to be revised and the attack of the Chinese air force had to be contained in order to wait for the moment of the final general attack.
"General Kosu Nakamichi, the change in the situation is helpless, and I think I have to dispatch fighter jets from the army aviation." Pulling down his face and coming to the aviation headquarters, Matsunaga Masatoshi said to Kosu Nakamichi.
"Soga, don't you need to hide your strength?" Xiao Su Zhongdao played with his mustache and looked at Matsunaga Masatoshi playfully, like looking at a cat, not his direct commander, an army general.
"Yaga! Xiao Su Zhongdao, do you want to commit the following crimes? I am an army general and the commander of the Kyushu garrison, and you are only a major general, and the army aviation is also a subordinate department of the army, and according to your duties, you need to completely obey my command. I can remove you immediately, it's within my rights! Masatoshi Matsunaga couldn't bear it anymore, and shouted explosively without scruples, the pressure of the war had already made him sad, and the constraints of his men made him even more angry.
"Remove me? Ask the General Staff if you agree, ask Marshal Osako Kamitoshi if you agree, and ask His Majesty the Emperor if you agree! Nakamichi Kosu was tougher than Masatoshi Matsunaga, and stood up and responded loudly. The noble son of this Japanese super family is indeed not afraid of the threat of Matsunaga Masatoshi, and the changes in Japanese politics, whether it is a feudal faction or a capitalist force, must cooperate with the consortium to gain a firm foothold. His family is the largest consortium in Japan, and his family members and staff members are all over the political and military circles in Japan, and the military coup led by Osako Uetoshi would not have succeeded without the support of his family. The most important thing is that Kosu Nakado had a good relationship with Emperor Taisho, and the two were regarded as playmates since childhood, and they were even more accomplices in spoil women, and this relationship was the most suspicious - the core of the militarist government's propaganda was the emperor, which greatly increased the power of Emperor Taisho.
Masatoshi Matsunaga took a deep breath, and then jerked out the chrysanthemum saber he was wearing, and the people around him were shocked, and they all stepped forward to stop him and prevent him from making more radical moves. Kosu Nakado retreated again and again, but the scene in front of him was shocking, Matsunaga Masatoshi didn't intend to hurt Kosu Nakado at all, but aimed the tip of the knife at his abdomen.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Japanese Empire is in danger in the face of the mighty Chinese army, and we are absolutely inferior on either side, with only 40 million citizens loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. Our strength is embodied in the countless united people, and once there is a rift in the interior, it will be difficult to defeat the Chinese country. For the sake of His Majesty the Emperor, for the sake of the Japanese Empire, and for the sake of the Kyushu garrison, I am willing to commit suicide by disembowelment, and I ask you to understand my painstaking efforts! After speaking, he shouted "Long live the emperor"! He swung his ornate saber into his abdomen.
"Dang!" A crisp sound came, Matsunaga Masatoshi's saber fell to the side, and at the critical moment, Kosu Nakado reacted, instantly pulled out his saber and rushed to Matsunaga Masatoshi and shot down his saber.
"Your life should be left on the battlefield! Your Excellency the Admiral, I am willing to dispatch all the fighters to fight the Chinese army, and I, Xiao Su Zhongdao, want to show the Chinese people, even if the fighters are behind, our pilots will defeat them with the spirit of bushido! "A farce ended, and a temporary reunification was finally reached within the Japanese army, and Matsunaga Masatoshi gambled with his life to win Kosu Nakamichi to send troops. Japanese fighter pilots will also prove their loyalty to the Emperor with their lives.
The lives of the little devil pilots were in the hands of the Chinese Air Force, and the previous bombing could have targeted the Japanese airfield, but it was deliberately bypassed when making a plan. The purpose of the Chinese Air Force is very simple, that is, to train the ranks with the fighters of the Japanese Air Force and to train a large number of experienced pilots on this battlefield. It's a pity that the Japanese hid in the airfield during the bombing and didn't come out, which made the Chinese army feel a little sorry, but the Japanese finally made the decision to die, and the largest air battle over Kyushu Island was about to begin, which would be a battle larger than the Belgian air battle. (To be continued.) )