Episode 32 The Yellow River Bridge

Beginning on the 21st, Xiang Xiaoqiang transferred two armored divisions of the Left Army Group to the Eastern Theater, and then transferred three mechanized divisions of the Right Army Group to the Western Theater. In this way, a situation was formed: all five armored divisions were concentrated in the Eastern Theater of Operations, and all five mechanized divisions were concentrated in the Western Theater. The armored strength of the Ming army in the eastern battlefield was greatly enhanced, while the armored strength of the Ming army in the western theater was greatly weakened.

In the early morning of the 21st, the movement along the three roads began, and by noon on the 22nd, all the movements were completed. Such a large mechanized transfer, of course, did not escape the eyes of the Northern Qing Dynasty. All five armored divisions of the Ming army were concentrated in the eastern battlefield, with 1,000 concentrated medium and heavy tanks eyeing the ground, as well as tank battalions scattered among dozens of army motorized infantry divisions...... All these made the Qing army command, which had learned the power of the armored cluster in the previous stage, tremble. As a result, the Northern Qing Command was more determined that the Ming army was about to launch an offensive in the east.

For three days from the 21st to the 25th, Guangwu strictly ordered to speed up the transfer of troops from the north of Zhili to Shandong and the Central Plains at all costs.

The continuous deployment of troops for many days made almost all the wagons of the Quanbei Qing Dynasty concentrated on the North China Railway Network. Not only the wagons of passenger cars and container trucks, but even the wagons of open cars were crowded with soldiers. As the train sped away, they were exposed to the bitter cold wind, shrunk their heads, huddled together to keep each other warm.

In late October, the weather in the north is getting colder, but there is a severe shortage of coal in most parts of the northern Qing Dynasty. Ordinary people can't buy coal at all, and even some wealthy officials and businessmen have to find a way to get some coal. ——At this time of the year, it was the beginning of the peak of Shanxi's coal shipments. But now, all the railways, all the wagons, are used to transport troops, tanks, artillery, and there is no surplus for transporting coal.

In order to ensure the safety of the North China railway network and put an end to the sabotage of the underground organization in the Southern Ming Dynasty, Guangwu specially removed two second-rate divisions and nearly 30,000 infantry, so that they did not have to do anything else, just look at every inch of the railway. These 30,000 soldiers, at an average density of one soldier per 100 meters, completely guarded several railways in North China impenetrable. Beneath the railway embankment, every 100 meters, a soldier carrying a rifle on his shoulder, could see each other. This really makes it impossible for the saboteurs to do it.

Facts have also proved that after the "crowd tactics" were used to guard the railway, there was not a single incident of railway sabotage.

……

On the morning of the 22nd, an aircraft carrier detachment of the Ming Army left the Dongjiang Fleet and sailed into the Bohai Sea.

This detachment, consisting of two aircraft carriers and 20 destroyers, was cleared by minesweepers, swaggering, completely ignoring the constant fire of the Qing batteries 20,000 meters away on both sides, and once again openly broke into the front yard of the Northern Qing Dynasty: the Bohai Sea.

This time, the composition of the fleet of the Ming army was very "simple", in addition to minesweepers, aircraft carriers and destroyers. The purpose is obviously simple, it is an air mission. Moreover, the Ming aircraft carriers are equipped with a strong escort force - two aircraft carriers with 20 destroyers. On average, each aircraft carrier is protected by 10 destroyers. This is completely not intended to allow the Qing torpedo boats to get close.

At sea, destroyers and torpedo boats are exactly the relationship between hounds and rabbits. The destroyer appeared as a torpedo boat nemesis in the first place. The word "expel" in a destroyer means to drive the enemy torpedo boat away from its own fleet. In the early days, it was to "expel torpedo boats", and of course later there was the task of "expelling" submarines.

……

As soon as the Ming aircraft carrier fleet entered the Bohai Strait, it began to release planes. This time it was all the fighters again. A total of 164 fighters were carried on board the two aircraft carriers. This time, 120 planes were released at a time, and they were killed in the direction of Dongying, Shandong, in the southwest.

The news of the entry of the Ming fleet into the Bohai Strait immediately reached Beijing. The Northern Qing Air Force had a big head, and immediately knew where the Ming army was going to bomb this time, which was likely to be the prelude to landing in Shandong. They knew that the Ming army would definitely repeat its old tricks this time, first using aircraft carriers to carry fighters with short ranges to approach the target, and then taking off bombers with long ranges from the Changshan Islands, fighters and bombers formed in formation at designated locations, and then flew to bomb the intended targets.

The air force reported to Guangwu, and Guangwu immediately transmitted the order, and the fighters of the two strategic airports of Dongying Airport and Tangshan Airport took off to meet the battle.

When Guangwu preached the decree, his back was also in a cold sweat. He knew that there were only two possibilities: one was the prelude to the landing of the Ming army in Shandong. The second is that the Nanming Air Force intends to seek a decisive battle with the Qing Air Force, and through several such active attacks, exhaust the air power of the Qing Dynasty, and then clear the sky for the next Northern Expedition.

Either way, Guangwu was extremely terrifying to think about. But he had no other choice, so he could only bite the bullet and order the Qing Dynasty's precious fighter group to take off to meet the battle.

But this time he didn't plan to be led by the nose by the Ming army again. He ordered the Dongying Aviation Regiment to directly meet the Ming fighter group, and then let the Tangshan Aviation Regiment take off and lay an ambush on the flank, waiting for the Ming army's bomber group to fly from the Changshan Islands in the future.

Guangwu planned that even if the Qing Air Force suffered heavy losses this time, it would have to let the Ming bombers be the back. In short, we must show the Ming army and let them taste the taste of hemorrhage.

The Dongying aircraft group first engaged the Ming army aircraft group 100 kilometers off the coast of Dongying. The Dongying Combat Aviation Regiment of the Qing Air Force had three brigades, one brigade Haidongqing and two battalions Jebe, with a total of 126 fighters. Now, except for 28 Jebels who could not take off for various reasons, the remaining 98 are pouring in. However, in the Liaohai air battle on the 19th, the Dongying Combat Aviation Regiment lost 13 Haidongqing, and there were still 29 Haidongqing left. In other words, 69 of these 98 fighters are old-fashioned two-winged Jebe.

Such an old aircraft group, to face the Ming army's 120 aircraft group, the disadvantage is too obvious. Within ten minutes of the battle, 26 Jebe and 5 Haidongqing were shot down, while the Ming army lost only 9 Kingfishers.

The fighter leader of the Qing army was fighting hard, and at the same time, he was looking forward to the friendly troops at Tangshan Airport coming to reinforce him. Together, the two combat aviation regiments will have more than 200 fighters, and no matter how many Haidongqing there are, such a large number can always form a counterweight to the Ming army. But he watched the sky full of Jebel falling down one by one, and Hai Dongqing also fell down from time to time, and the earphones were full of curses from the brothers, but the reinforcements from Tangshan just didn't come.

While he was fighting, he roared and asked the base, when will the reinforcements from Tangshan come. In the end, I waited for an answer: the Tangshan Combat Aviation Regiment had another task and could not come to reinforcements for the time being, so it asked the Dongying Aviation Regiment to hold on.

Hold on? I can't stand it now.

Cold water was poured down, and the morale of the Qing army's aircraft group was beaten to the ground. Subsequently, the brothers of the regiment began to report "fuel shortages" one after another, and then, without waiting for approval, they left the battlefield one by one and returned to "refuel".

The Ming army's aircraft group suddenly found that more and more of the opponent's planes were leaving the battlefield, and their own superiority immediately increased at a geometric speed. Within 10 minutes, another 20 Jebe and 8 Haidongqing were shot down. At this time, except for the 39 fighters that had left the battlefield, there were no Qing fighters over the Bohai Sea.

The Ming army also shot down 23 planes at this time, and now there are 97 left. The 97 kingfishers took advantage of the victory and pursued the 39 fleeing Qing planes. When they flew over Dongying Airport, the 39 Qing military planes were either landing or refueling. Ninety-seven kingfishers swooped down from the sky and fired directly at the Qing planes on the runway, causing panic and chaos at the airport.

Dongying Airport is a regimental airfield, and the anti-aircraft artillery position is still very strong. Amid the terrible sirens, the anti-aircraft artillery group opened fire intensively, and the sky was covered with black clouds. During the strafing, not a single Qing plane on the airport took off, but because the Ming army's fleet was full of fighters, it could only strafe large and fragile aircraft, and it was difficult to suppress the anti-aircraft guns protected by sandbags alone.

During the strafing fire, more than a dozen Qing military planes on the airport were engulfed in flames. The fuel and cloth skin burned brightly, leaving only the skeleton to collapse in the fire. However, the kingfishers of the Ming army were also hit by artillery fire one after another and planted to the ground. At this time, the exchange ratio between the two sides tends to be flattened.

The leader of the Ming army felt that this was more than worth the loss, so he ordered to return.

The remaining 85 Kingfishers, with fuel that was about to run out, re-raised the formation and flew in the direction of the sea carrier.

……

On the way back, the Kingfisher group was intercepted by a brigade flying from Cangzhou, a squadron flying from Texas, and a total of 50 Qing fighters. But these 50 are all old-fashioned Jebe, and there is no Hai Dongqing. In normal times, this is definitely a good opportunity to "duck hunt". However, the leader of the Ming army considered that after the two major battles just now, the formation was running out of fuel, and it could no longer fight with the new force of the Qing army, and it could not afford to fight. So he called for reinforcements from the fleet on the one hand, and on the other hand, he ordered the aircraft group to increase the throttle, and with the speed of monoplanes, he threw off the Qing army biplanes.

This is very effective, the Qing army's Jebe aircraft group did not want to fight with these 85 kingfishers, this time it was in the middle of the hand, pretending to increase the throttle to chase for a while, but could not catch up, so it reported to the base: lost the target.

The 85 kingfishers of the Ming army flew to the sea and met the 40 kingfishers that took off from the aircraft carrier to meet them. 40 Kingfishers escorted the 85 planes back to the aircraft carrier, guarding the vigilance as they lined up to land one by one.

At half past ten in the morning, all 85 planes landed on the aircraft carrier. 40 well-fueled kingfishers scattered to reconnoiter and keep watch.

The tasks of the first stage of the Ming aircraft carrier fleet were completed. A total of 21 Haidongqing fighters and 56 Jebe fighters of the Qing army were annihilated. Own losses of Kingfisher fighters 28 units.

……

The Tangshan Combat Aviation Regiment of the Qing Army, which had been lying in ambush on the road that the Ming bombers were expected to pass through, circled in the sky for almost an hour, and never waited for the legendary Ming bomber group. Tangshan is 200 kilometers away from here, and it will take 200 kilometers to return home, and 400 kilometers of fuel will be used up for the round-trip voyage. The maximum range of the Qing army's fighters is similar to that of the Ming army's kingfisher, which is about 650-700 kilometers. They had been hovering in the sky for almost an hour, and two-thirds of the fuel had been consumed. If you stay any longer, you won't even have enough fuel to return to the sea, and you will have to fall into the sea.

The leader of the Tangshan Combat Aviation Regiment couldn't care so much, looked at the fuel table, and simply said to the base, "We must return," and then led the whole regiment to turn around and retreat.

In the afternoon, the Ming aircraft carrier fleet also turned around and returned home, swaggering through the Bohai Strait again and returning to the Dongjiang Fleet. From start to finish, not a single bomber was involved.

In this mission, in addition to shooting down 77 Qing fighters, it also sank 6 Qing torpedo boats.

……

After listening to all the reports, Guangwu was so angry that he smoked. Instead of catching the bomber formation of the Ming army, it lost 77 fighters, plus 6 torpedo boats.

The Ming army has always been a fighter, and not a single bomber has appeared, so it seems that this is an air decisive battle that is actively sought. Obviously, this decisive battle was very beneficial to the Ming army. The Nanming Air Force is not only higher in quantity and quality than the Qing Air Force, but also higher in aircraft production and reserve pilots than the Qing Air Force. What's even worse is that every time this kind of "air decisive battle", Nanming can always achieve a very good exchange ratio.

If such a "decisive battle in the air" continues, the Qing Air Force will really be exhausted very quickly. And after it is exhausted, it is not easy to recover.

Guangwu thought about the recent battle situation.

In the past 10 days, after the land battlefield has fallen silent, the sea and air battlefields have been extremely lively. And every time Nanming took the initiative. Nanming's land and navy raids frequently attacked the rear of the Qing Dynasty, as if they were seeking opportunities to fight. Once the Qing planes took off to fight, they always suffered heavy losses, and they lost to the Ming army in a big exchange.

This is what the Ming army wants! What is sought!

Guangwu looked at the map, gritted his teeth, and tapped his fingers heavily on the table. He knew the strategy of the Ming army. The reason why the Ming army stopped for so long and did not take advantage of the victory to go north after the Jianghuai Battle was because it was too superstitious about the support of air power on the ground and relied too much on air power. They intended to destroy most of the Qing air force between the two battles, and then continue the offensive under the protection of absolute air supremacy.

Guangwu was originally quite unimpressed with such a thing as "air supremacy", at least he didn't see how heavy it was. He felt that the support of the aviation for ground combat was there, but it was not as good as the artillery. This is also the general attitude of all the worlds in this era.

However, just over 20 days after the war began, Guangwu's concept changed greatly. The brutal truth taught him a lesson. Countless battlefield reports show the same pattern: the Ming bombers bombed with their heads and faces, and the Qing army was almost scattered. Before they could regroup, the Ming tanks had already rushed to the front. Then, naturally, it was a logical surrender.

The appearance of airplanes was too short, only thirty years. It has only been used in wars for more than 20 years (it is said that it is more than 20 years, but it was only used for a few years in world wars, and the last ten years are all blank). It's hard for the world to react. No matter how outstanding a military strategist is, he doesn't know what kind of eyes to look at this new thing and how much to expect from this new thing.

Guangwu is no exception. From the original disapproval, to the current extreme fear, the time is too short, only ten days. What's next? How can I make better use of the aircraft? How can you use aircraft to protect yourself and fight the enemy?

It's a complete confusion. No previous experience, no theory. There is no experience in the whole world, there is no theory, everything has to be explored.

With the blood of my planes and my pilots, I groped little by little.

Guangwu couldn't get angry when he thought of this, gritted his teeth, and said fiercely:

“…… Why doesn't he Nanming have to grope at all? Why do they use it so well in the first place? …… When and how to use it, you know it all! …… It's as if it's been fighting with airplanes for decades! ”

After careful consideration, Guangwu made two decisions:

First, before the next major offensive of the Ming army, this kind of decisive battle in the air should be absolutely avoided. The existing planes were evacuated to various airfields as much as possible, and the Ming planes came to provoke, unless a large number of bombers came, they should try to avoid fighting.

Second, it is necessary to immediately start on the diplomatic front, actively negotiate with Japan, and strive to get Japan to sell a large number of fighter planes to itself. At the same time, it had a positive influence on Moscow, saying to Stalin how terrible the Southern Ming was, that the Great Qing Dynasty was in danger of losing the country, and that the Great Qing Dynasty and the Soviet Union were in danger of dying......

Guangwu also knew that Stalin was cunning and cunning, and at this stage, he wanted him to sell the advanced fighters of the Qing Dynasty, but there was no door. At most, you can buy some tattered old antiques at a high price.

However, if the future really came to that point - that is, the Qing Dynasty lost the Central Plains Campaign, and the Southern Ming Dynasty took Shandong Henan and advanced into the Yellow River - then Stalin would also see the danger of the Qing Dynasty. At this point, he will definitely understand that the danger of the Great Qing Dynasty is also the danger of the Soviet Union...... At that time, it was hoped that a large number of advanced fighters could be purchased from the Soviet Union in time to turn the situation around.

……

At dawn on the 23rd, the second day of the Dongying Air Battle, the second phase of the Ming Army's Dongjiang Fleet began.

It was the same aircraft carrier group that once again sailed into the Bohai Sea in the morning and released another 120 fighters.

But this time, the Qing Air Force had an order from Guangwu and no longer took off to fight. Planes at several major airports were also evacuated, scattered to small airfields in various places, either hiding in hangars or covered with camouflage nets and disguised as bushes. Anyway, the strafing airfield is not afraid.

The Ming fighter group turned around, and did not find the Qing planes facing the battle, so they sent back a radio signal. Ten minutes later, a large group of dive bombers drilled out from the northeast, rendezvoused with 120 fighters, and flew mightily over Dongying, all the way over Guangrao, Zibo, Zouping, and Zhangqiu, and went straight to Jinan.

The air defense siren over Jinan City was raised, and the whole city panicked. Soon, the sky over Jinan was covered with black clouds of anti-aircraft guns.

The Qing army that was running on the Yellow River Bridge in Jinan and entering Shandong looked up at the sky and was dumbfounded. There were congested teams and military vehicles in front and behind, and the surging Yellow River on both sides, and there was nowhere to hide.

The Ming army aircraft group was obviously coming towards the Yellow River Bridge in Jinan. Thirty-six dive bombers took turns to pounce, and after a burst of strafing, they dropped bombs on the bridge.

In the Northern Qing Dynasty in 1936, there were only two fixed bridges over the Yellow River. One is in Jinan and the other is in Zhengzhou. Both of these are railroad bridges, one built by the Japanese and the other by the Germans. In other sections of the Yellow River, there are some permanent pontoon bridges, similar to those on the Yellow River in later China. However, the capacity of these pontoon bridges is limited, and many of them have to be temporarily dismantled in early spring and during the "flood season" when the Yellow River thaws, so as not to burst the embankment. It is these two bridges that can really form a strategic transportation capacity all year round and can cross the train.

Now, on both sides of the Yellow River Bridge in Jinan, bombs are falling like dumplings, and the yellow water columns are rising one after another. In some places, the mud and sand have become dark mudflats, the water is very shallow, and the bombs explode directly. The water column and the smoke column exploded, which was earth-shattering.

The Qing troops crowded on the bridge fell into a great panic, trampling on each other and squeezing at both ends of the bridge, and discipline was completely out of control.

The Ming fighters swooped down with impunity, repeatedly strafing the bridge deck. The bridge was narrow and crowded, the Qing soldiers had nowhere to hide, and the blood flowed like a river, and the bridge was full of corpses. The surviving Qing soldiers threw away their equipment and jumped over the railing into the Yellow River. Some were swept away directly by the raging river, and some fell into the shoal and were seriously injured. A lucky few climbed the pier and shivered in the water.

Jinan's urgent telegram came to Beijing, and Guangwu was so angry that he was scolding him for being too pressing.

However, if the Yellow River Bridge is blown up, it will not be a few planes that will be lost, but the whole of Shandong. There was no way, so he had to order the evacuated fighters to take off and assemble again and rush to Jinan for rescue.

The Ming army finally ushered in the Qing army. Half of the fighters escorted the bombers home, and the other half stayed behind to fight.

It was another big battle, the Qing army lost more than thirty fighters, and the Ming army also lost more than two dozen fighters and bombers combined. As a result, the Ming army aircraft took the initiative to leave the battlefield and return home.

Most of the planes of the Qing army were two-winged Jebe, and they could neither catch up nor want to catch up and increase losses, so the two sides disengaged and the air battle came to an end.

At the same time, Guangwu received an urgent call from Zhengzhou:

The Yellow River Bridge in Zhengzhou was also bombed by the Ming army!

Guangwu reacted sensitively: This is not as simple as the Ming army seeking air combat!

The Ming army actually bombed the two Yellow River bridges in Zhengzhou and Jinan at the same time, what did they want to do? …… Do they really not want to cross the Yellow River anymore? Maybe Nanming's ambitions stopped at the Yellow River?