After reporting these situations in a low tone, the colonel of the Northern Flight Group of the Aviation Corps, the head of the Operations Department, looked at him wordlessly, with his elbows propped on his desk, his head in his hands, and the commander of Major General Liu Cuigang, who was speechless.

He understood the commander's mood at the moment, after all, since the garrison was stationed on the Jinzhou front, the troops had never suffered such a large casualty, almost two fighter regiments, and what made Liu Cuigang tear his heart was not the number of fighters lost, but the fifty-two pilots who died, the eleven pilots whose whereabouts are unknown, the fighters have been lost, and they can be replenished at any time, but the pilots have been sacrificed, which is his biggest loss.

After a while, Liu Cui just calmed down and said, "I know the casualties of the troops, let's talk about the results of the battle!" ”

The head of the War Department was in good spirits, his tone was much higher, and he reported: "Starting at 10 o'clock this morning, we mixed our fleet and began to attack the Japanese fleet, aiming to sink 15 Japanese warships of various types, and in the air battle that followed, the fighter formation shot down a total of 208 Japanese fighters. ”

"Beginning in the afternoon, in the waters of Liaodong Bay, our four fighter regiments faced two fighter wings of the Japanese army, shot down a total of 85 Japanese fighters, and in the battle in the airspace of the West Liaohe River Valley, a total of 123 Japanese fighters were shot down.

After listening to the report of the head of the war department, Liu Cuigang did not express too much excitement, no matter how you look at it, the result of this air battle is a huge victory for the Northern Flying Group. The Third Air Force of the Kwantung Army was almost crippled, and even if it was to recover its vitality, it would take quite a long time, and as a result, it would also completely change the balance of air power between the enemy and us in the western Liaoning, the Liaodong Peninsula, and the airspace of the Liaodong Bay.

Liu Cui just stood up from behind his desk, clasped his hands on his shoulders, and said to himself: "A hundred little devil pilots can't be exchanged for one pilot for me!" And then. His tone changed sharply, and then he said to the head of the war department: "Inform the commanders and captains of each regiment to go to the conference room immediately to summarize the battle." There shouldn't be such a big loss, be sure to find out why! That's right. Battle results. Did you report it to the division commander? ”

The head of the war department replied, "Commander, before reporting to you, I have already reported to the division commander in accordance with the regulations!" ”

Liu Cuigang nodded, just about to speak, "Jingle bell!" "The phone rings on the desk. Ringing quickly, Liu Cuigang grabbed the phone and asked, "This is the commander's office of the Northern Flight Group, where are you?" ”

On the other end of the phone. The calm voice of the division commander Tang Qiuli came, "Cuigang, are you confident, how can you listen to your tone, it seems that I am not very happy, I have already seen the battle report, more than 400 Japanese fighters and fifteen warships were killed in one battle, and the record of four to one has surpassed Le Yiqin, what, after a big victory, what else is there to be unhappy about?" ”

Liu Cuigang's nose was sour, and he replied immediately: "Division commander, Cuigang doesn't dare to be complacent, in this battle, the troops lost nearly two regiments of fighters, sacrificed 552 pilots, and eleven people are missing. ”

Tang Qiuli sighed deeply, he knew Liu Cuigang's mood very well at the moment, how could he not be like this, whenever a comrade-in-arms sacrificed, he would also be depressed, but this kind of emotion should not be a reason to deny the results, at this point, Liu Cuigang's psychological endurance is weaker than Le Yiqin's, at the beginning of the Indochina Peninsula, the West Indies and later in the battle to escort the American and British troops, Le Yiqin's troops also suffered losses every time.

The overall casualty situation is much more than that of the Northern Flying Group, but Le Yiqin's attitude is to turn the grief of every comrade-in-arms sacrifice into the next battle, which is more ferocious and fierce, as long as there is war, there will be sacrifices, Tang Qiuli does not want this kind of feeling, which will affect Liu Cuigang's command ability in the future, because he wants to try his best to avoid casualties in the troops, and he is tied up, and finally becomes a conservative and even war-fearing commander, which will ruin his future.

Tang Qiuli originally wanted to enlighten Liu Cuigang a few words, but after thinking about it, this is not something that can be said clearly in a few words, so let's talk to him in detail after tonight's celebration banquet, "Cuigang, the achievements must be affirmed, in this way, Deputy Division Commander Liu and I will pay out of our own pockets to invite the commanders of all flight regiments of your army and all the captains of the brigades, including the captains of the ground service department, to come at eight o'clock!" ”

Liu Cuigang's lips trembled a few times, his mood was very complicated, that is, he was grateful for the actions of the division commander, the huge casualties of the troops, and he was heavy in his heart, and he was hesitating, Tang Qiuli said again: "I am very interested in those fierce air generals under you, the four-to-one record, there must be many wonderful stories!" ”

Liu Cuigang felt the care of the teacher, "Smack!" One of them stood up and said loudly: "Please rest assured, all officers above the captain level of the Northern Flying Group will attend the division commander's banquet on time!" ”

Putting down the phone, Liu Cuigang said to the head of the War Department: "The order has been changed, all the officers above the rank of captain of the group will participate in the celebration banquet held for us by the division commander and Deputy Division Commander Liu tonight, and tell them to dress up in good spirits!" ”

"The division commander and the deputy division commander invited us to a banquet?" The head of the war department repeated in a bit of confusion, and looked at Liu Cuigang in disbelief.

Liu Cuigang urged angrily: "Yes, go and inform it!" There's still more than an hour to go! The head of the war department ran out excitedly, muttering, "My God, those are the first and second people in our army!" ”

When night falls, the ancient city of Jinzhou, the lights are beginning to be put on, although it is on the front line, there is no lack of bustling streets, and the citizens can not see the citizens, lest the clouds of war shroud their heads of panic, and their own fate can not grasp the helplessness, they believe that as long as it is the troops of the independent division, stationed in Jinzhou City, the little devil will not want to enter the city half a step, in fact, the prosperity of Jinzhou, is because the troops of the independent division are stationed here.

In Jinzhou City, the largest restaurant "Kanto Restaurant", the upper and lower floors are lit up, and at the gate of the antique and antique style, there is a notice board more than one person high, on which are written several lacquered gold characters: "Distinguished guest charter, closed today." ”

From more than seven o'clock, from time to time, officers wearing straight aviation uniforms and armed with pistols arrived in military jeeps, jumped out of the jeeps, greeted each other affectionately, and walked into the building.

Tang Qiuli and Liu Tiehan jointly hosted a banquet for the officers of the Northern Flight Group of the Air Force at the largest restaurant in Jinzhou City, but at this time, in Wafangdian on the Liaodong Peninsula, in the office building of the Third Air Force Headquarters of the Kwantung Army, in the office of the commander Major General Qiujin, it was a different scene.

In the huge office, there was only one desk lamp, and the office became more and more empty and gloomy, and the commander, Major General Akitsu, sat behind the desk with a blank face, staring blankly and vacantly at the dark roof, only himself, Major General Akitsu drove all the officers out.

On the desk, there are a few pieces of messy manuscript paper, looking closely, there are not a few words written at all, Major General Akizu's head is now very messy, messed up into a pot of porridge, the battles that took place during the day, like a movie, in his mind, constantly spinning.

According to the regulations of the General Headquarters of the Kwantung Army, all units of the Kwantung Army must write a report on the battle situation to their superiors after each battle, and Major General Akitsu must write it if he wants to, and he must also write it, and the Third Air Force is under the direct command of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, so the report must be submitted directly to the commander-in-chief, Senior General Minamijiro, but from more than 5 o'clock in the afternoon to now, his mind is in a mess, and he can't even organize a decent sentence.

Moreover, Rear Admiral Akitsu does not know how to put pen to paper, truthfully report the battle situation, the Third Air Force has been disabled, losing 416 fighters, and has not been able to save Yamada's Manchukuo Bohai Sea Cruise Fleet, this is a direct loss, the entire family of the Third Air Force, but has more than 600 fighters, more than 100 bombers, what is the result now, Liu Cuigang, who was an independent division, killed more than 400 at once.

In other words, the entire Third Air Force has only more than 70 fighters that can take to the skies for combat at present, a little more than a complete wing, and the loss of pilots has reached an astonishing 380 people, and even his own chief of staff, Takeshita Takeshita, was killed by the pilots of the independent division.

With such a huge loss, the Third Air Force was not broken, but dying, and such a result was reported, coupled with the failure to save Yamada's fleet, Rear Admiral Akitsu was absolutely convinced that with the stinky temper of the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, General Minamijiro, in no more than three days, there would be military police officers who would come to Wafangdian, escort themselves back to their homeland, and send them to a military court.

If the navy fanned the flames again and attributed the result of the total annihilation of the Bohai Sea Patrol Fleet of Manchukuo to its own unfavorable rescue and sat idly by while the friendly forces shattered, although this is not the case, someone will always be responsible for this defeat, and the end will be even worse, and there will be the possibility of eating a single bullet.

If you don't report it or avoid the serious, you can't hide it if you want to, once the matter is revealed, you will die even worse, Major General Akijin is entangled, how to put pen to paper, which can not only explain the facts, but also reduce the charge, so entangled that he feels distressed, his liver hurts, his head hurts, and he has the mood of dying headlong.

"Bang bang bang!" There was a soft knock on the office door, and Major General Akitsu raised his head viciously.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) )