Chapter 638: The Eagle in the North China Sky

Division commander Tang Qiuli finally made up his mind and approved the independent division air force to participate in the operation against the Japanese North China Air Force, the main task was to protect the transport and supply line between Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang, and ordered to arrive at Jinan Airport.

Le Yiqin knew the key point of this mission, he established contact with Zhou Yushan, reported to the division commander Tang Qiuli for approval, set up a joint transport headquarters, and the main measures taken were that Zhou Yushan's transport convoy was divided into several batches and set off in a concentrated manner, and the air team sent planes to escort them along the way, and set up a transport station at Niangziguan to minimize the chance of the convoy being exposed to the uncovered road.

In the first day or two, Le Yiqin personally led eight planes into the air, and the results were good, capturing two batches of four fighters of the Japanese army, how could there be anything to say, pounced on it and beat it hard, two to one troops, none of the four Japanese planes escaped, all of them were beaten into the air, this side was just about to return home, received an urgent call for help from Zhou Yushan, four Japanese bombers, were bombing the convoy, with the car air defense artillery fire to carry out stubborn resistance, three cars have been bombed.

Le Yiqin was so angry that he was smoking, the little devil played tactics, entangled himself with four fighters, used bombers to deal with the convoy, and was fooled, he led the group of planes to pounce over, the Japanese bombers had already dropped all the bombs and returned home, not even a shadow was seen, under the wings, on the open field, there was only thick smoke rising from the ground, he knew that this was the wreckage of the unit's vehicles after being bombed was burning.

As soon as the plane landed, it received a report from Zhou Yushan, commander of the transportation headquarters of the independent division, that in this attack, a total of nine trucks were blown up by Japanese bombers, more than 30 soldiers were killed and wounded, and more than 40 tons of ammunition were lost.

The pilots who participated in the air battle, after getting off the plane, were very excited, talking about the excitement of the air battle just now, but they saw the commander's gloomy face, they were puzzled, and they were not happy to win the battle?

Le Yiqin ordered all the pilots to gather in the conference room, Liu Cuigang saw that Le Yiqin's feelings were wrong, as a ground commander, he knew better what was happening, as the deputy commander of the air team, he felt that he had an unshirkable responsibility, the ground radar had already discovered the four Japanese bombers, and at that time, he was commanding the tower.

His mind has been completely attracted by the air battle, in the headphones, the excited shouts of the pilots made his blood boil, his thoughts have already flown to the air battle scene, as an excellent pilot, the blue sky, is the stage for him to show his courage and wisdom, the report of the radar operator, was ignored by Liu Cuigang, thinking that it was to reinforce the four Japanese fighters.

As Le Yiqin's closest comrade-in-arms and brother, he could understand his brother's mood at this time, and he couldn't comfort him with words, he just patted Le Yiqin's shoulder, his eyes intersected, and his shame flashed, and he lived up to the expectations of the division commander.

Before he could speak, the correspondent sent a telegram from the division commander Tang Qiuli, and when they saw the content of the telegram, Le Yiqin and Liu Cuigang were even more ashamed, "The two commanders of the independent division air force, Le and Liu, are glad to hear that the air force won the first battle, shot down four Japanese fighters, and our side did not suffer any casualties, and they are very happy and relieved, with the Japanese air force in North China as the main opponent, sharpen the air combat skills of the pilots, and hope to make persistent efforts, the end of the Japanese planes dominating the sky in North China is not far away."

In the telegram, the division commander did not say a word about the losses suffered by the transport troops, but only reminded them to pay attention to tactics and preserve their own strength; in addition, he also mobilized all the air defense units of the Korean Iron Corps to Jinan Airport, and according to the deployment of the division commander, the surrounding area of Jinan was full of anti-aircraft artillery, and the iron barrels were as tight as iron barrels.

This was the best measure taken by Tang Qiuli, shooting down four Japanese fighters, the air force could no longer hide its figure, and it would inevitably attract the attention of the Japanese army, and the sudden appearance of air power would be a great threat to the Japanese planes, and would become the priority target of the Japanese air force in North China, and the difference in the number of planes was too great to be compensated for by ground air defense artillery.

Le Yiqin read the telegram from the division commander Tang Qiuli again, and read the report of Zhou Yushan, the commander of the transportation command, and there was an excited discussion below, since the formation of the independent division air force, the first battle was won, the record of 4 to 0, a good start, the division commander personally sent a congratulatory telegram, can you not be happy? Le Yiqin and Liu Cuigang glanced at each other, and Le Yiqin then asked, "Are you satisfied with the results of today's air battle?" ”

The bottom shouted together, absolutely satisfied, Le Yiqin smiled coldly, "Absolutely satisfied? What was the task assigned to us by the division commander? "This question was cold at the time, yes, our only task is to protect the transport supply line, shoot down four little devil fighters, the transport convoy was blown up nine trucks, more than 30 casualties, is this a victory?

Seeing that his subordinates were wilted, Le Yiqin first made a self-examination, as an air commander, did not take into account the overall situation, forgot about the task, and had an unshirkable responsibility, and then pointed out that the pilots generally have shortcomings, as soon as they see the little devil's plane, they forget everything, and only care about their own happiness, today's air battle has also exposed our weaknesses, the overall cooperation is not enough, and there is a tendency to fight alone.

Air combat is the embodiment of the pilot's personal skill and courage, and don't forget that we are a whole, compared to the Japanese army, we are at an absolute disadvantage, and the Japanese pilots pay great attention to tactical coordination, take today's air combat as an example, four Japanese aircraft, knowing that they are not our opponents, but also desperately entangled us, in order to create a chance for the bombers, if you do not pay attention to the team's cooperation, it is us who suffer, these words, to all the pilots are greatly shocked, in retrospect, it is true.

Liu Cuigang also did a self-examination, admitting that he was bent on going to heaven, and he was not very reluctant to stay on the ground to command, and he wanted to go to heaven to have a good time, if the four Japanese bombers that appeared later attracted his attention, today, there would be no loss of transport troops, when Le Yiqin and Liu Cui just left the conference room, the pilots had not dispersed, listening to the sound of heated discussions inside, they looked at each other and smiled, the purpose of today's meeting was achieved, and they returned to the office, The two of them jointly wrote a review to the division commander Tang Qiuli.

Early in the morning, Le Yiqin came to the air combat command room, recalling yesterday's battle, he still felt uncomfortable in his heart, the Japanese planes took advantage of the numerical superiority, dispatched a large group of aircraft, covered the bombers to carry out large-scale destructive bombing of the transport and supply lines, and led all the fighters to take to the air to fight, in the face of the Japanese fighter group that exceeded his number several times, although he fought extremely bravely, he still did not break through the Japanese fighters.

After a scuffle, only two little devil fighters were killed, their own group, but one was shot down, four were damaged, and I watched dozens of Japanese bombers, blowing up several bridges on the highway to pieces, all over the craters, a transport convoy of ten trucks that was driving on the road, all of them were blown up by the bombers of the little devils, after returning home, I received a report from Zhou Yushan that because many bridges were destroyed, the convoy transporting materials and ammunition to the front line in Shijiazhuang was forced to be terminated, and it is expected that within 24 hours, Normal transportation cannot be resumed.

Think about it, this is the first fighter plane shot down by the air force since its establishment, fortunately the pilot parachuted and returned to the airport safely, but he has so many planes, loses one less plane, and the little devil fights for consumption, and there is no capital to fight, if the Japanese army always adopts such tactics, the consequences of the severity are self-evident, the troops on the front line in Shijiazhuang will run out of ammunition and food, even on the way to retreat, they will be hit by the Japanese air power, and the losses are unpredictable.

Not only was Le Yiqin and Liu Cuigang angry, but the entire air force was also helpless against the large aircraft group tactics adopted by the Japanese army, and they only blamed themselves for having too few planes, and if there were several hundred planes, they would be able to connect the little devils at the airfields in Beiping and Tianjin, and this was just a good wish, and it would be more difficult to add one more plane than to form a new brigade of infantry.

Tang Qiuli, who always pays attention to the air force, knows every detail of the air battle well, Okamura Ningji tasted the sweetness, the number of casualties of the Japanese army attacking the outer positions of Shijiazhuang is much smaller than before, he is determined to pinch his main artery, the air force is currently in a predicament, and there are casualties, which will not only affect morale, but also cause the impatience of the pilots.

Tang Qiuli decided to hand over the command of the Guanshan Campaign to Feng Jiwu, deputy division commander and commander of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps, with full command of the commander.

Tang Qiuli took Mei Ting, Mei Xue, and Mountain Tiger, under the protection of the guard brigade, left the Guanshan Headquarters, passed through the Taihang Mountains, and prepared to take Zhengzhou to Jinan.

(To be continued)