Episode 4 Fire Scouting

While the Ming army was approaching the Altay region day by day, the three things were being done at the same time, secretly searching for the designer of the castle, secretly finding the former governor of Altay, and secretly searching for the castle drawings in the Forbidden City in Beijing. According to the arrangement, the military also conducted an aerial reconnaissance of Kanas Lake.

It was a twin-engined professional reconnaissance aircraft with several cameras under its belly to take pictures. When boarding, the crew members were also informed of the purpose of the mission, which was to prepare for the bombing of the Kanas Lake area by the Ming Army. Because the Ming army suspected that Guangwu was hiding in the Kanas Lake area.

This is a precautionary measure. The Kanas Lake region is in the northern part of the Altay region, close to the Soviet Union. The air superiority there was still in the hands of the Soviet army, and there was definitely a possibility that the Ming reconnaissance plane would be shot down. It's best not to be shot down, you can take pictures back, and you can also reconnoiter the anti-aircraft fire arrangement in the Lake District. If it was shot down, then the confession of the crew would mislead the Soviets and convince them that the Ming army was going to use the method of bombing, which would direct the attention of the Soviets to the path of "air defense" rather than "anti-commando".

Because the lake area is so large, the number of troops that can be deployed is limited. And the "air defense arrangement" and the "anti-assault arrangement" are not the same. The former requires dispersion, which can reduce the chance of being shot, and it is also convenient to detect enemy planes and search for pilots who have parachuted. The latter is a ground defensive war, so it requires the deployment of troops as concentrated as possible. And once the 800 Soviet troops are deployed in a centralized manner, then the hope of success of the Ming commando will be very slim.

……

The reconnaissance plane soon returned, was not shot down, and the mission was successfully completed. The photos were taken a lot and they were all clear. The castle and the five villas by the lake are clearly visible, as are the machine guns on the top of the castle and villas. And the anti-aircraft artillery crew of the Soviet army was obviously the best, and the reconnaissance plane was scarred, and according to the crew members, it almost did not come back.

But the Ming army couldn't stop there, and everything was fine after getting the photos. Precisely because the reconnaissance plane was not shot down, the Soviet troops did not know whether this aerial reconnaissance was for a surprise attack or a bombing. It was necessary to organize a bombing campaign immediately afterwards to reassure the Soviet army.

The next day, the Ming Army's army aviation unit sent a squadron of dive bombers, escorted by two fighter squadrons, to take off from Outer Mongolia, which was more than 100 kilometers away, and directly inserted itself into the airspace over the Altai Mountains in northern Xinjiang.

This time the Soviets were obviously more prepared, and the Ming fleet met the patrolling Soviet fighters on the way, because the Soviet patrol planes only had a two-plane formation, and the Ming troops easily shot them down. But his whereabouts were also revealed. When flying over Kanas Lake, the Ming aircraft group was attacked by more intense anti-aircraft fire. The last time the reconnaissance aircraft detected anti-aircraft fire was six, that is, the six 37-mm anti-aircraft guns mounted on the roofs of a castle and five villas.

Now there are new points of fire, which have increased to 12 at once. In addition to the original 6 37-mm rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns, 6 large-caliber anti-aircraft guns also appeared. A huge black cloud exploded under the belly of the Ming plane, and the shock wave shook the plane like a roller coaster. This was apparently dragged up by Soviet troops from Kazakhstan overnight in vehicles along mountain roads.

The captains of several bombers had the special task of reconfirming the position of Soviet anti-aircraft fire. Several captains took the bird's-eye view photos taken by the previous reconnaissance plane, combined them with the actual observations of the present, and then marked the location of the extra fire on the photos with their pens.

All the Ming pilots were also told that Guangwu was hiding in the castle, and the goal this time was to blow up Guangwu. Therefore, this Ming bombing is not like a drama at all, it is completely real. As before, the Ming army aircraft group skillfully and skillfully divided labor, and some fighters hovered at high altitude and were on alert, ready to meet the Soviet fighters who were reinforcing at any time. Some of the fighters cooperated with the bombers to dive and suppress several anti-aircraft fire, while half of the bombers skillfully dived and dropped bombs, and the bombs rained down around the castle.

But as Fourteen Gege said, the shape and location of the castle made it difficult to hit. Although the Ming bombers were veterans, the bombs either fell into the lake below the castle or into the steep woods above the castle. As a result, the castle itself was not much, but was surrounded by a flood of splashes and broken leaves.

In the end, only one bomb hit the top of the castle directly. Half of the Soviet artillery crew was killed, a small hole was blown out of the top, and a large amount of rubble and lime fell in the hall below. But the hole is not big, and it can barely drill through a person. Several thick steel bars were exposed at the entrance of the hole, and it was seen that the cement layer was very thick. Obviously, the castle uses a lot of reinforced concrete elements and is much stronger than a traditional pure stone castle.

From this point of view, even if 10 more bombs hit, they would not be able to hurt a single hair of Guangwu at the bottom.

The Ming army was shot down by anti-aircraft guns and a dive bomber. On the way back, the Soviets came to reinforce with dozens of fighters, and another air battle broke out, and more than a dozen planes were shot down on each side. After that, the Ming bomber group was picked up by fighters from Outer Mongolia and was able to return.

……

The failed bombing campaign left the crew frustrated. More than a dozen planes and brothers were lost, but only one bomb hit, and not a single hair of Guangwu was injured. But for the "terrorists" in the wooden huts in the Tianshan camp, the bombing was too successful. In this operation, the Soviet army's reaction was fast and the firepower was strong, which completely confirmed their speculation - Guangwu was there.

Otherwise, it's just a scenic area, why guard it like this?

Guarded by a large pile of clear photographs washed out, and the two flight squadron leaders who were selected, the terrorists began to let it go.

The two squadron leaders were ordered to come from Outer Mongolia to Dihua to report on their work, but they were very frustrated at first, thinking that they had come to be trained. But it wasn't until they suddenly met Her Majesty the Empress and Her Royal Highness the Prince, as well as two Her Royal Highnesses the Princess, whom they had only seen in the newspapers, that they understood that things were not so simple. Deputy Director Zhang of the East Factory told them the true purpose of the operation, and several captains suddenly realized and became excited.

Next, the two squadron leaders were left in the camp to cooperate with the work of the intelligence organization, and were not allowed to go out or communicate with the outside world. They were people who had flown over the Lake District, and had seen with their own eyes the location of the castle, its topography, and the anti-aircraft fire of the Soviet army. In the following planning, their opinions have important reference value.