Chapter 239: Izumo (Asking for subscriptions, asking for monthly passes, asking for various !! ）

The battle plan has not changed, and it is still the one that was discussed before, but Zhou Zhirou made an additional request, he asked Liu Nijia and others to send the flagship of the Third Fleet, the "Izumo", to the bottom of the sea no matter what, even if this mission fails.

This request made Liu Nijia very embarrassed, the bombing of the Wusongkou military port was originally the 40th Group Army's operational plan, and the Third Fleet, as the vanguard of the Japanese invasion of China, was already within the strike range of the Northern Air Force, so before he came, Chen Feng took special care of Liu Nijia and did his best to kill the cruiser Izumo if possible. Originally, Liu Nijia was ready to agree to Lao Zhou's request, but Lao Zhou's last sentence made Liu Nijia feel more pressured.

In the eyes of all the officers of the 40th Group Army, mission came first, and life came second, although Chen Feng said exactly the opposite when he taught them. There was nothing wrong with attacking the Third Fleet and sinking the Izumo, but Lao Zhou had to draw snakes to add to it, which made Liu Nijia and others more worried.

"Director Zhou, I think you should talk to our head office about this request, although the head office has also said before that we want to do our best to kill the Izumo, but we must not give up the entire battle plan for the sake of a cruiser, even if it has a major impact, please forgive me!" Liu Nijia said loudly.

"Commander Liu, you used to be a member of the Air Force, and you should be aware of the efforts made by our entire Air Force to sink the Izumo, and now you have the opportunity to complete this mission. Don't you want to? Zhou Zhirou looked directly at Liu Nijiadao.

Mao Limin on the side asked: "Commander Liu, I read your file just now, and I know that you are Le Yiqin's subordinate, I don't know what your relationship with him is." ”

"Brother Le is my mentor and friend, I admire him very much, and he treats me like a brother. And he died on my behalf, in fact, it was me who won the death lottery that day, and it was he and I who exchanged the lot. Liu Nijia said in a deep voice.

Obviously, Zhou Zhirou and Mao Limin didn't expect that the relationship between Liu Nijia and Le Yiqin would be so deep, Zhou Zhirou and Mao Limin glanced at each other, and they both saw deep surprise in each other's eyes.

"That being the case. Then I just want to ask. Do you want to avenge Le Yiqin? Zhou Zhi judo.

Zhou Zhirou's words made Liu Nijia fall into deep thought. He was also a former member of the National Government Air Force and was also a deputy squadron leader, and he was well aware of the story between the Air Force and the Izumo. "Izumo" was an armored cruiser with a displacement of almost 10,000 tons. It is the first type of armored cruiser in the Izumo-class class. Built at the Armstrong shipyard in England. He participated in the First World War and the Russo-Japanese War, and served as the emperor's ship. After the Lugou Bridge Incident, it served as the naval flagship in Japan's war of aggression against China. The Izumo participated in many battles against China, and in the Battle of Jiangyin, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese fleet on the Japanese side, Admiral Hasegawa Kiyoshi sat in command of the Izumo and commanded the famous "Battle of Jiangyin", sinking the first and second fleets of the Chinese Navy.

Before and after the August 13 Songhu War, the flagship of the "Izumo" violently bombarded the positions of the Chinese army with artillery to cover the Japanese attack; It also bombarded factories, schools, and houses in Shanghai, causing huge losses to the lives and property of Chinese. In the face of such a threat, the Chinese Navy and Air Force were determined to sacrifice their lives for the country, and continued to attack, and finally caused the Izumo to suffer heavy damage, which greatly boosted the anti-Japanese morale of the Chinese people, but due to various reasons, although the Izumo was repeatedly damaged, it miraculously did not sink, and was worshiped by the Japanese Navy and Air Force and the Japanese people, and it can even be said that before the battleship Yamato and the battleship Musashi were put into service, the Izumo almost became the spiritual pillar of the Japanese people.

More importantly, the purchase of the Izumo armored cruiser was also made by the Chinese to Japan, and this money was part of the huge indemnity that Japan received from the Qing government after the victory in the Sino-Japanese War, and the Izumo cruiser was used to order armored cruisers from the British.

Although after the First World War, the Izumo, which was old in concept and combat power, was incorporated into the second-line troops, because of its large tonnage and heavy firepower, it became the flagship of the second-line troops, and at most commanded more than 90 warships under its command, in the 128 Incident, that is, led the Japanese fleet to blockade the Chinese coastline, and the Chinese navy was powerless.

"Be sure to blow up the Izumo!"

This was the voice of all the officers and men of the Kuomintang navy and air force who participated in the war at that time, including Liu Nijia, who knew that if the Izumo ship could be blown up and sunk, it would not only be of great military significance, but would also greatly boost the anti-Japanese morale of the Chinese people.

The enthusiasm of the young soldiers comes entirely from their courage, and if we talk about military strength, they really can't compete with the Japanese army. Taking the navy as an example, the warships of the Chinese Navy are generally small in tonnage and poor in quality, most of the main warships are relics of the late Qing Dynasty, and the total tonnage is about 5% of the Japanese fleet, and the largest cruiser "Haiqi" is only 4,300 tons, which is more than 40 years old.

The situation of the air force was similar, and the combat planes could not be compared with the Japanese army in terms of number and performance, and the only advantage was that the pilots were well-trained and determined to sacrifice their lives for the country.

In order to sink the Izumo, the Chinese Air Force warriors repeatedly formulated detailed operational plans in order to completely send this 10,000-ton giant ship that the Japanese people would never sink into the sea. On August 14, 1937, Sun Tonggang, deputy captain of the 2nd Air Force Group of the Nationalist Government, led 21 Northrop bombers to take off from Guangde Air Base in Anhui Province and fly 220 kilometers in a straight line to the sky over Shanghai, with the main goal of bombing the "Izumo" and its frigates. They were divided into two formations, one to bomb the enemy's headquarters, docks, warehouses and other military facilities, and the other to bomb ships such as the Izumo. Relying on its temporary superiority, the Chinese Air Force began a bombing campaign for several days.

A week later, newspapers on both China and Japan reported that the Izumo had been repaired, and at 4 p.m. on the 21st, they began shelling houses in Pudong for half an hour.

The repeated bombing of the Izumo ended in failure, and finally one day a captured Japanese pilot, and a former Japanese instructor of Liu Nijia and others, gave them an idea, and the captured Japanese pilot was just trying to test the courage of the Chinese pilot.

According to the plan of the captured Japanese pilots, the Chinese Air Force needed to send a pilot to fly the plane towards the chimney of the warship and die with it. As long as the mission is successfully completed, even if it does not sink the Izumo immediately, it can be severely damaged.

After repeated arguments by the Aviation Committee, this plan was considered to be very feasible, but it was difficult for the Aviation Committee to send anyone to carry out this task, because after all, whoever was sent there would be death, and there was absolutely no hope of deep return. But unexpectedly, as soon as the plan came out, all the pilots expressed their willingness to carry out this mortal mission.

The pilot's pride in not fearing sacrifice greatly shocked the aviation committee, but who to send was really a problem, and everyone was arguing and wanted to carry out the order. In desperation, the Aviation Committee had no choice but to get a life-and-death lot, and whoever drew the death lot would go, and as a result, Le Yiqin, one of the "Four King Kongs" of the Chinese Air Force, was selected, and the bombing mission fell on him. Soon after, Le Yiqin, who was determined to die, drove a plane into the Izumo ship, causing the Izumo ship to suffer serious injuries, and he died a martyrdom.

But only Liu Nijia himself knew that it was actually him who drew the death lot, but before he could speak, the death sign was snatched by the big brother Le Yiqin, and it can be said that Le Yiqin died for him. Unfortunately, a series of bombing campaigns by the Air Force did not completely disable the Izumo.

To tell the truth, before he came, Liu Nijia had saved the sinking of the Izumo armored cruiser to avenge Le Yiqin, but before he came, Chen Feng also gave him an important task. That is, at the time of the bombing, if the Japanese aircraft carrier Fengxiang, which was fighting with the Third Fleet, was also there, it would be sunk at all costs, and the next target would be the Izumo.

"Director Zhou, my life was saved by Brother Le, and I want to avenge him more than anyone else. But I have a more important task for the bombing of Wusongkou Port this time, that is, to sink the Japanese aircraft carrier Fengxiang, and then it will be the turn of Izumo. But I can assure you all that if there is a glimmer of hope, I will also send the Izumo to the bottom of the sea to give a bad breath to Brother Le and all my Air Force colleagues. Liu Nijia said loudly.

"Okay, with your words Commander Liu, my old Zhou will rest assured, everyone, success or failure is in one fell swoop, whether you can severely damage the Japanese Third and Fourth Fleets, whether you can sink the Fengxiang, sink the Izumo, whether you can breathe a bad breath for the country and the people, whether you can raise the prestige of the country in a war, and whether you can suppress the Japanese invaders in a war, it all depends on you." Then Zhou Zhirou continued: "Please rest assured, this action party-state fully supports you, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of this operational plan, the party-state has transferred all the fighters, and will put on a posture of fighting to the death with the Japanese army, as for the bombing of Wusongkou, I will leave it to you." ”

"Please rest assured, Director Zhou, whether it is for our mission or for the sake of the dead Brother Le, our Northern Air Force will definitely not drop the chain at a critical time, everything depends on tomorrow's actions!" Liu Nijia said on behalf of all the pilots of the Northern Air Force. (To be continued......)