Episode 7 Air Operations

On May 8, Xiang Xiaoqiang temporarily stationed troops outside the city of U-Lu-Mu-Qi, .U-Lu-Mu-Qi, which was the name of later generations. The current name is still Qianlong's order - Dihua.

The headquarters was established outside the city of Dihua, and then the first thing was to choose a flat place a few kilometers north of the headquarters and repair an airfield with bulldozer tanks. It is bordered by the northern slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains to the south and the endless prairie to the north, where planes can be landed almost anywhere.

The officers and men looked at the scene of a flat river and abundant water and grass in front of them, and their hearts suddenly felt happy. The fatigue of the long journey for days seems to have been swept away. In addition, everyone can see that there are suitable aircraft for taking off and landing everywhere here, presumably the air superiority of the Ming army can be brought into full play, and it is even more felt that victory is just around the corner.

The grass over the calf is scattered with all kinds of flowers, and hundreds of meters away, thousands of meters away, you can see lakes and blisters of all sizes. The big ones can be called lakes, and the small ones are only the size of fish ponds, so they can only be called water bubbles. The water inside was turquoise and reflected the white clouds in the sky. Behind it is the gradually rising Tianshan Mountains, the slopes are very gentle, and the dense coniferous forests grow all the way up, and when you reach the upper third, you are covered with snow, as if a person is wearing a white hat.

Officers and soldiers sat scattered within a radius of several kilometers, surrounded by several large and small blisters, happily bathing, catching fish, and setting up bonfires. The cooks cooked, and the ordinary soldiers roasted the fish they had caught and the sheep they bought. The pain of being tormented by the sand, dust and salt along the way was all thrown out of the clouds at this moment.

At the beginning of May, it was still very cold in northern Xinjiang, especially the water, which flowed down from the Tianshan Mountains. It looks clear, but it's still cold under your feet. But even so, there are already many soldiers who pride themselves on their physical strength and swim naked in the water. But it wasn't long before he crawled ashore screaming and shivering.

Some of these blisters are more than a meter deep, and some are several meters deep. But even if the water is several meters deep, if you look down from the shore, you can see the pebbles at the bottom of the water and see the fish swimming inside, and it is quite clear. Such clear water is unthinkable in the east.

These southern soldiers were particularly fond of fish. After so many days on the road, I couldn't eat fresh fish, and now I saw so many fish in the water that many soldiers cut branches from the hillside, made fishing rods, and sat by the blisters to fish. You can often catch it.

The fish here is quite fatty, with a lot of fat and delicious. However, the good times did not last long, and fishing only cheapened the soldiers who came first. As more and more troops came behind, especially those tanks and armored vehicles rumbling over, the fish became more and more difficult to catch. As a result, some soldiers switched to shooting, but the water was so clear anyway that you could see it to the end. But there is refraction in the water, and it is often seen that the big fish is still at the bottom of the water, but when the shot goes down, the fish swims away. Later, they all figured it out, taking into account the variables of refraction, and one big fish after another bubbled up with blood.

……

On the day of the 8th, after sending reconnaissance patrols to the north, west, and east, in the evening, Xiang Xiaoqiang and 14 Gege held a "bonfire party" outside Dihua City to reward the officers and men of the division. It means that everyone has worked hard all the way, and now that they have arrived in northern Xinjiang, it means that the battle has been won.

In the south of Dihua and Changji, the traders in the two cities heard the news, regardless of the Han Uyghurs, a large number of people drove sheep and cattle, and brought fruits, raisins, scones, naan, wine and so on to do business. There are even people who can sell fresh fish...... In order to facilitate local transactions, the expeditionary force of the Ming army did not bring banknotes, and almost all of them were hard currencies such as gold coins, silver oceans, and copper plates. They buy and eat what they like, and they buy and try things they have never seen before...... The vendors in Dihua and Changji were simply crazy. I haven't seen such a big good business in many years.

Uyghur and Kazakh girls danced in the bonfire, but still holding large strings of raisins and scones in their hands, dancing while building bonfires to sell, the bearded father next to them played the piano to accompaniment, with quacking chickens and ducks hanging around their waists, and wine jars at their feet...... When the sale is finished, return to the pack and pick up the goods immediately, and sell them again when you return...... When the 1st Armored Division came here, the battle had not yet been fought, and the economy of Changji and Dihua was first stimulated.

Amid the bonfires scattered all over the mountains and fields, and in the fragrance of countless roasted fat sheep, Xiang Xiaoqiang made an encouraging speech by radio through the loudspeakers on dozens of vehicles. While eating and drinking, the officers and men of the whole division listened to the shouts of the adults, and one by one their blood boiled for a while, and they were top-heavy for a while, and there were few people looking for the north.

That night, the officers and soldiers watched the embers of the bonfire and fell asleep soundly in their tents. Although it was still very cold at night, and although wolf howls were constantly heard from all sides, the officers and men had never slept so comfortably in the past ten days.

Throughout the night, one or two gunshots rang out from near and far. The remains of cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks all over the mountains attracted wolves for many kilometers in a radius. But a few "snaps" from the gun-wielding sentinels made the wolves retreat. Before going to bed, the officers and men also knew that the single shot was fine, and it was a wolf.

……

The next day, May 9, the expansion of the airport continued. At the same time, the army aviation team from northern Xinjiang began to land one after another.

There were no fighters this time, all dive bombers. Because it is clear that enemy aircraft will not be encountered. In addition to a small number of anti-aircraft guns, the only "anti-aircraft weapon" in Erdun Mutu was machine guns.

Watching one after another "ospreys" and "vultures" roar and land one after another, the soldiers ran and cheered beside the runway, and they were very happy. They seemed to see the miserable end of Erdunmutu's cavalry being chased and strafed by planes on the vast steppe.

Everyone believed that by the time they saw the enemy, they were already a corpse. Even the most cautious people have to admit that this time, if there were casualties, it would probably be less than non-combat attrition.

Two dive bombing squadrons flew in the Army Airlines, a total of 90 dive bombers. Among them, there is one squadron each of the "Osprey" and "Vulture". There are also quite a few transport planes, which have sent ground maintenance personnel, as well as some technical experts from the Army Airlines and the Nine Colored Deer Company.

This time, the army aviation also has the intention of using northern Xinjiang as a testing ground, and wants to test what strengths, weaknesses, advantages, and disadvantages of the two types of dive bombers are, and how they can be improved under such a situation of completely open air, no enemy planes, and fierce anti-aircraft artillery fire.

……

In the next few days, the 1st Armored Division was in a state of rest, waiting for the results of the reconnaissance of the landing aviation, and then determining the direction of the next sortie.

Dihua Airport is the main airport for the Northern Xinjiang Dispatch Team of the Army Airlines. It is close to the army and close to the two major cities of Dihua and Changji, which is very convenient. Moreover, the dive bomber bomber has a range of 1,200 kilometers, and when it takes off from here, the combat radius completely covers the entire northern frontier, and can even fly over the northernmost Altay and enter the territory of the Soviet Union.

Central Asia is far from the sea, and the climate is dry, with good sunshine and especially sunny days. The climate is also very suitable for air combat. The officers and men of the Army Aviation Northern Xinjiang Dispatch Team, like the officers and men of the armored division, were full of optimism.

On the 9th, the army aviation rested for a day, and on the 10th of the next day, the mission of the army aviation began.

Dive bombers flew in groups of two, took off and headed in three directions, conducting reconnaissance and propaganda.

East Road: Fly to the eastern end of Northern Xinjiang and the western end of Inner Mongolia for reconnaissance. This road sent the least number of aircraft, because it is mainly a no-man's land, the Great Gobi Desert, and the possibility of enemy activities is not very likely.

West Road: Fly west along the Jungar Basin, passing through Manas, Shihezi, Jinghe, until the westernmost section of northern Xinjiang: Abi Lake, then don't fly across the border, turn north, fly to the Tacheng area, and then return. There were a lot of planes sent along the way, because there were many residential areas along the way, which was suitable for enemy troops.

North Road: Cross the center of the Jungar Basin, that is, the Gurbantunggut Desert, and go to the northernmost point of northern Xinjiang: the Altay region for reconnaissance. The Altay region is a top priority, sending the most aircraft. Because it is the old nest of Erdun Mutu.

……

The reconnaissance plane flew along the way to reconnoitre, and when it passed through the residential area, it dropped leaflets to tell the local residents that now that the Northern Qing Dynasty had surrendered, this was already the territory of the Ming Empire, and everyone was already a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. Erdun Mutu is a rebel, don't support him. Now the Ming government is offering a reward for Erdun Mutu's head, as long as it can kill him and lead his troops to surrender, a heavy reward of 5,000 taels of gold. If you can kill him, you will be rewarded with 1,000 taels of gold.

On the day of the 10th, snowflakes of leaflets spread all over the vast Altay region, Tacheng area, Changji area, Hami area, and Turpan area.

On the morning of the 11th, a reconnaissance plane on the West Road discovered the situation and found a small group of cavalry in the Tacheng area, that is, in the area of the "Devil's City," which is 250 kilometers away from Dihua.

For a while, the group of planes took off and roared towards the "Devil's City" in the northwest direction.