The Japanese planes were getting closer and closer, and the officers and men who had just formed a queue broke up into battle groups under the orders of the junior officers, and under the leadership of the group leader, they took refuge in the rice fields and forests beside the road.

The first wave of ten fighters of the Japanese army dispersed, forming a huge fan in the sky, flying towards the road, and when they got closer, the ten planes swooped down one after another, like ospreys skimming the water, and the officers and men of the new second division who were evading in all directions were their prey.

At this time, the new 2nd Division, through continuous capture, already possessed more than 80 Japanese-style 13-mm anti-aircraft machine guns, 40 Type 98-mm anti-aircraft machine guns, plus its own 36 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, 36 millimeter Erly anti-aircraft guns, and hundreds of light and heavy machine guns, and the anti-aircraft firepower was already outrageously strong.

Therefore, when the Japanese fighters screamed and swooped down on the road and the rice fields and forests on both sides, hundreds of scarlet tongues of fire suddenly shot out from the ground, rolling towards those Japanese planes.

Although the Japanese pilots were already mentally prepared for the anti-aircraft firepower of the new Second Division, they did not expect that the firepower network would be so dense to such a perverted level.

Those Japanese bombers swooped down and were about to enter the bomb delivery trajectory, when they were suddenly hit, and a Japanese Mitsubishi Type 97 light explosive plane rushing in front of it plunged into the fire net and immediately turned into a ball of fire.

Almost at the same moment, two Japanese bombers of the same model rushed into the second row and crashed into the barrage, and suddenly became full of holes, and the two fighters dragged the billowing smoke, let out a strange cry, and planted to the ground, followed by a huge explosion, sparks flew everywhere, and the smoke went straight into the sky.

Subsequently, the Japanese army once again paid the price of destroying the three fighters, and the four fighters behind finally adjusted their flight trajectory in time, forcibly pulled up in the air, circled several times to avoid the barrage curtain, joined up with other Japanese fighters flying from the eastern sky, adjusted the battle formation again, and swooped down on the antiaircraft guns and antiaircraft machine gun positions that fired tongues of fire in a two-plane and three-plane formation, and frantically strafed the ground with the aviation machine guns in the nose in a vain attempt to suppress the anti-aircraft fire of the new Second Division and then bomb the air defense positions.

"Whoosh-"

Dense bullets rained down from the air like a torrential rain, and with a shrill whistling, dirt and sand flew into the air.

"Puff-"

Quite a number of air defense soldiers of the New Second Division, who were shooting at the air, fell in pools of blood one after another, dripping blood sprinkled on the hot barrels and guns, making a "silky" sound, and the water vapor emitting white smoke rose up, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of burning.

With the help of the ammunition man, the surviving sub-shooter picked up the body of the robe and laid it flat on the ground on one side, and then quickly filled the gun position, operated the anti-aircraft gun and anti-aircraft machine gun, and fired fiercely at the Japanese drama fighters.

Under the calm and calm command of Gui Tao, commander of the antiaircraft artillery battalion, the tenacious air defense units of the New Second Division braved the fire of the Japanese army and fired continuously into the air with an incomparably tenacious spirit.

There are more and more Japanese planes, and it seems that the Central China Front of the Japanese Army has made a lot of money to destroy the New Second Division, and in a short period of an hour, more than 40 fighters from various airports in Shanghai have gathered in the air.

At this time, three Japanese planes found a small forest full of people, dropped bombs one after another, and then pulled up at high speed, one of the Kawasaki Type 98 light bomb planes could not dodge, was hit by ground artillery fire, and disintegrated in the air, and the other two fighters rushed towards the blue sky desperately.

It was the middle of winter, the trees withered, and the bombs dropped by the Japanese planes instantly ignited the dead leaves and thatch, and as the grove was surrounded by fire, more than 20 soldiers who were on fire rushed out, threw themselves to the ground, rolled, and extinguished the flames on their bodies.

The casualties on both sides were increasing rapidly, several air defense positions were covered by Japanese bombs, and the casualties were quite heavy, and four or five forests full of people were also set on fire by Japanese fighters, but the corresponding Japanese army also paid a huge price for the destruction of 18 fighters.

In the face of powerful ground anti-aircraft firepower, after a series of fierce battles, the Japanese planes no longer dared to easily lower their altitude to accurately bomb and strafe the ground.

As the Japanese fighters in the sky moved east, cheers rang out on the ground. As an air defense force, its main role is not to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible, but to prevent enemy planes from threatening our ground forces as much as possible, and as long as we minimize our own losses and do not let the opponent act unscrupulously, it will be the victory of the air defense forces.

After the Japanese planes withdrew, the air defense units began to pack up their weapons and equipment, and the officers and men of the New Second Division also returned to the road one after another, sorted out their formations, and opened the road again under the reprimand of their respective commanders.

Wu Ming led the generals of the division and marched towards Yuhang together.

In the following half a day, the Japanese planes carried out four air raids, but Wu Ming had already prepared and scattered the scouts far away, and when the Japanese planes were still forty or fifty kilometers away from the marching ranks, they were discovered, and the alarm was informed to the division headquarters through the radio station, which gave the air defense troops sufficient time to prepare, and the antiaircraft guns and antiaircraft machine guns that were on standby seriously threatened the safety of the Japanese planes, and the Japanese fighters did not dare to dive and drop bombs easily after trying to lose five fighters again, and the threat to the ground troops was much smaller.

When the news of the poor results of several air raids by Japanese planes reached the headquarters of the Central China Front in Shanghai, General Matsui Ishine pinched the telegram without any expression on his face.

Getting up and coming to the window of the headquarters, Matsui looked at the sky outside and fell into deep thought.

The 114th Division and the 6th Brigade of the Field Heavy Artillery, supported by the fleet's heavy artillery and carrier-based aircraft, were still annihilated by Wu Ming's New 2nd Division, and the New 2nd Division also plundered a large number of weapons, equipment, and combat materials stored by the 10th Army in Jinshanwei Port. The princes of the base camp were very angry at this unprecedented fiasco, and according to a telegram from Matsui Ishine's students at the staff headquarters, His Majesty the Emperor also personally inquired about the matter, and also summoned the cabinet and the bigwigs of the base camp to the palace for questioning.

Although it was the bastard Shigeji Suematsu who caused the trouble, he was already dead on the battlefield. In order to find a scapegoat, Matsui Ishine had to send a telegram to Yanagawa Heisuke and order him to be disemboweled.

At this time, Matsui Ishine was in a very bad mood, for Wu Ming and his new second division, the intelligence department did not know much, and did not pay enough attention to it, although the intelligence officer in charge of Central China had been punished, but Matsui Shigen was still full of resentment against the intelligence agency.

The latest order from the Tokyo base camp was to eliminate Wu Ming and his new 2nd Division at all costs. The telegram said: Wu Ming and the new Second Division have become a nightmare for the imperial army, and they are a sharp blade pressing in the hearts of all imperial soldiers. In order to allow Matsui Ishine to complete the task, the General Staff Headquarters specially transferred the 2nd and 7th Divisions from Manchuria, which shows how determined the princes of the base camp are.

However, the greater the determination, the greater the pressure on Matsui Ishone's shoulders, and even Yanagawa Heisuke, who has always been known as a wise man in the army, capsized in the gutter, which shows that Wu Mingzhi is difficult to deal with. Matsui Shigen sighed heavily, this guy is really cunning like a fox, he just transferred the second and seventh divisions south to Jiaxing, and the new second division ran away first, he is really a guy with a keen sense of smell

The current Matsui Shigen did not underestimate Wu Ming and the new 2nd Division, and the information sent back from the intelligence agencies showed that the local militia controlled by Wu Ming had completely destroyed the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway, and in addition, its engineers had set mines all over the road, and the 2nd and 7th Divisions marched very hard, and Wu Ming and the New 2nd Division slipped away in time, and it was quite difficult to catch up.

Matsui Ishine thought deeply and thoroughly, but the generals in the headquarters looked at each other and didn't know what to do. Although the imperial army had won a decisive victory in the Songhu battlefield, the Chinese army on the northern front had been defeated, and the southern front had also broken through the defense line built by Zhang Fakui, Liu Jianxu and others, in the face of the loss of the flag of the 150th Wing and the annihilation of the 114th Division and the 6th Brigade of the Field Heavy Artillery, all victories were overshadowed.

The others could not speak, but the chief of staff, Major General Mamoru Iinuma, had to come to Matsui Ishone's side, coughed lightly, and said, "Commander, it is expected that Wu Ming and the new Second Division will arrive in Chang'an Town this evening. The air force failed to carry out several air raids, and the 2nd and 7th Divisions could not catch up with Wu Ming and the new 2nd Division in any case

Matsui Shigen retracted his thoughts, and in the face of such a difficult opponent as Wu Ming, he suddenly had a feeling that a dog biting a hedgehog could not get his mouth down, and if he was not careful, he would let the new second division bite back.

After much deliberation, Matsui Shigen finally made up his mind: "Since you can't catch up, don't chase anymore, Zhang Fakui's Eighth Army and Liu Jianxu's Tenth Group are stationed in the Wuxing area, and order the Second Division to turn to Wuxing, cooperate with the Sixth and Eighteenth Divisions and the Kunisaki Detachment to attack, and the Seventh Division will slowly follow up the new Second Division."

"What about this—the order from the base camp?"

Major General Mamoru Iinuma hesitated, after all, for every Japanese general, Wu Ming and the new Second Division were not eliminated for a day, which was a nightmare for the military and people of the Great Japanese Empire, not to mention the grand goal of the base camp to destroy China as soon as possible. The 2nd and 7th Divisions came to accomplish this sacred mission, and at this time, Matsui Ishine used the 2nd Division for other battlefields, which was afraid that it would cause dissatisfaction in the Tokyo base camp.

Matsui Shigen waved his hand and said disappreciatively: "According to the report of the intelligence department, the new second division has been divided into a part to form the third division of the Zhina Temporary, and now it is rushing to the Wuxing area to obey the dispatch of Zhang Fakui and Liu Jianxu. Although we will not be able to attack the main force of the new 2nd Division, if we annihilate the 3rd Division, which is in the same lineage, it will be enough to comfort more than 30,000 heroes of the 114th Division and the 6th Brigade of the Field Heavy Artillery."

Hearing what Matsui Ishine said, Major General Mamoru Iinuma had no choice but to agree, after all, the intelligence department obtained the information from the top level in Nanjing, and there should be no mistakes.

Tian Michi, chief of staff of the Tenth Army, received the order with a helpless expression, because of the self-determination of the former commander Yanagawa Heisuke, the headquarters of the Tenth Army had been deprived of the right to command all divisions and regiments on the southern front by the Tokyo base camp at this time, and it was under the direct command of the Central China Front. What Tian Dao Shengwu could do was to supervise the logistics work for all front-line departments.

Tian Dao Shengwu forwarded Matsui Ishone's order to the second and seventh divisions, but in fact, he did not need to forward it, and the two divisions had already received Matsui Ishone's order. The 2nd and 7th Divisions, as the most elite main divisions of the Japanese army, were not at all the headquarters of the 10th Army, which had lost the battle.

The headquarters of the 7th Division received an order from Matsui Ishone, and the division commander, Lieutenant General Sonobe and Ichiro, sneered, taking it for granted that the previous defeat of the 10th Army was caused by the lack of command of Shigeharu Suematsu and the laxity of Yanagawa Heisuke. Kazuichiro Sonobe was confident that his Seventh Division would not make the same mistake.

Sonobe Kazuichiro gave an order, the entire Seventh Division quickly assembled, looking at the fierce officers and soldiers, Sonobe Kazuichiro was very satisfied, and vowed to annihilate Wu Ming and the new Second Division, add more merits to himself and the Seventh Division, and must arrest Wu Ming to Tokyo for trial and execute in the most brutal way.

The commander of the 2nd Division, Lieutenant General Okamura Ninji, received the order and thought about a lot of things, especially the morale of the Japanese army at this time.

Although the Japanese side blocked the news that the 114th Division and the 6th Brigade of the Field Heavy Artillery Regiment had been annihilated, many Japanese soldiers still heard the news through a mysterious Japanese broadcast.

After nearly four months of fighting, the divisions and regiments under the command of the Central China Front are now exhausted, but Okamura Ninji is still full of confidence, and the more difficult the battle situation, the more he can show his ability and the combat strength of the second division.