Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Corporation aircraft factory. Yamaguchi Tarumo, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Air Force, was visiting the trial production workshop of the new fighter plane accompanied by Jiro Tsurakoshi, head of the Second Design Section of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Corporation, and Hidemasa Kimura and Takeo Doi, the designers of the fighting plane.

This high-altitude fighter is called Thunderbolt, and its armament is four chain-fed 20mm aviation guns, each carrying 200 rounds of aviation artillery shells, and can also hang two 60-kilogram bombs. The main technical data are: the length of the aircraft is 9.7 meters, the wingspan is 10.8 meters, the height of the aircraft is meters, the important parts will be covered with bulletproof armor, the empty weight of the whole aircraft reaches 2,839 kg, the maximum take-off weight is 3,211 kg, the maximum flight speed: 670 kilometers per hour, and the maximum range: 2,519 kilometers. ”

"The all-metal single-seat fighter, known as the Gale Fighter, will be armed with four 20-mm Type 99 Type 2 Type 4 guns, each with 250 rounds of guns, and can carry two 250-kilogram bombs or one 500-kilogram bomb. The empty weight is 3,226 kg, the maximum take-off weight is 4,720 kg, the maximum flight speed is 630 km/h, and the maximum range is 2,350 km,......"......

After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University's Faculty of Engineering in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering, he joined Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 1927 as a designer, and designed the Type 7, Type 9, Type 96, and Type Zero Ship Fighters. In particular, the Zero fighter has now become the main fighter of the Japanese Air Force, and it can be seen in the entire Pacific Theater from the battlefield of Huaxia until the end of World War II, and can be called the most famous fighter of Japan in World War II.

At present, due to the urgent needs of the war, Jiro is being ordered to step up the research and development of two new fighters, the more advanced Thunderbolt and Gale. In terms of comprehensive performance, these two fighters far surpass the current Zero fighter, the main fighter of the Japanese Air Force, and once the research and development is successful, the Japanese Air Force will certainly have a qualitative leap. At the end of World War II, Japan designed several advanced fighters and advanced armored tanks with excellent performance and a great threat to the Allies.

It's just that Japan has been exhausted, not only does it not have enough oil resources, but even its own territory has begun to suffer from the indiscriminate bombardment of the Allies, and it is simply unable to transform research results into industrial products.

"It's hard work!" After listening to Jiro's story, Yamaguchi nodded with great satisfaction, and then said earnestly: "The Zero fighter you designed is very good, but its weaknesses in speed and defense have seriously affected its combat effectiveness!"

Especially in the face of the Americans' Hellcat fighters, P-38 Lightning fighters, and P-51 Mustang fighters, it was already difficult for the Imperial Zero fighters to take advantage. In the last few large-scale air battles, although the air warriors of the empire have done their best, the battle damage gap is still very large! ”

"Hello!" Jiro lowered his head with a red face, and said very ashamedly: "Your Excellency the General is disappointed, the Zero fighter is indeed lagging behind." "No, the Zero is still a very good fighter." Yamaguchi Tashi hurriedly waved his hand and asked with a smile: "It's just that what I want to ask is, can the Zero fighter still be improved in terms of speed and protection performance?" ”

Jiro shook his head with difficulty and said, "There is almost no possibility that it can be greatly improved on the basis of the original!" "When Mitsubishi designed the Zero War, it was constrained by the military's technical requirements and a series of mistakes, and decided to limit the weight of the fuselage to the level of 2 tons, and the volume and engine selection were limited, and all the tragedies of the Zero War were related to the lack of power. Due to the small size of the fuselage, it was not possible to install larger engines, and the protection of the aircraft (protective steel plates and self-sealing fuel tanks), speed (engine power), firepower (weapon performance and wing strength) could not be improved.

In general, this is an aircraft that has reached the most ideal condition from the beginning, there is no potential for improvement, and the Navy has missed the opportunity to develop and replace the aircraft with this excellent performance to confront the American aircraft that are constantly leaping in performance. The high casualties of pilots caused by low protection became the main reason for the defeat of the Japanese Navy.

"Shuffle!" Yamaguchi sighed in disappointment, unable to greatly improve the Zero fighter, then it means that the Japanese Air Force will not be able to reverse the increasing battle loss ratio in the short term, which means that the Japanese Air Force will continue to work hard to make up for the poor performance of the fighter with more casualties. This is really not good news, although Japan has established an independent air force and has given sufficient resources to tilt it.

The Japanese Air Force has now expanded its seven flight divisions and regiments, with a total of more than 6,700 combat aircraft of various types. However, with the increasingly fierce air battles in the Pacific Theater, the Burma Theater, and the Shandong Peninsula in China, the Japanese Air Force suffered extremely serious losses in both combat aircraft and pilots.

The combat planes produced and the pilots trained were completely unable to keep up with the speed of attrition, and the Japanese Air Force was now getting weaker and weaker, and Yamaguchi had already smelled extremely dangerous signals. Therefore, Yamaguchi heard a lot, so he specially organized a group to come to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to deliver some kind of message.

Retracting his thoughts, Yamaguchi Tawen looked at Jiro and the others with extremely eager and hopeful eyes, and instructed heavily: "Digoshi-kun, then please complete the research and development and trial production of new fighters as soon as possible, the Japanese Empire needs more advanced fighters to complete the great cause of the empire!" "Please rest assured that we will do our best to live up to the high expectations of the Shogun and His Majesty the Emperor!"

Jiro nodded heavily: "A year at the latest, or half a year at the earliest, our Thunderbolt and Rafale fighters of the Great Japanese Empire will be successfully developed, they can completely fight against the current mainstream advanced fighters of the Americans, and the Imperial Air Warriors will be invincible." It will definitely turn the tide in one fell swoop! "Yo Si! Big drop good! ”

Yamaguchi nodded happily and said, "I believe that the Dugoe-kun and the lords will definitely be able to design the best and most advanced fighter in the world, and the future of the Great Japanese Empire is up to you!" After speaking, Yamaguchi Tawen bowed deeply to Jiro and the others, and his expression was extremely solemn.

"Hello!" "We will do our best!" "The Great Japanese Empire has been around for a long time!" Jiro Tsurutsu, Hidemasa Kimura, and Takeo Doi bowed and nodded, and then raised their arms and shouted slogans in a frenzy. On the morning of May 4, the headquarters of the Governor of the Burma Theater in Yangon.

Oh, oh, oh, as soon as the rooster crowed, when Jiang Qiang came from a pleasant dream, the sun was already shining outside the house. "Damn, it's almost eight o'clock!" Rubbing his eyes, Jiang Qiang grabbed his mobile phone and glanced at the time, and found that it was already half past seven in the morning, so he quickly broke away from the gentle township and quickly turned over and got out of bed.

There is no way, Jiang has been working day and night recently, it can be said that he "gets up earlier than the chicken and sleeps later than the dog every day", and he is a little tired in terms of mental and physical strength. Walking out of the bedroom, the dining room was already filled with a large table of Yuko Kitajima's carefully cooked breakfast, Jiang Qiang was not polite, and began to eat after washing.

Quickly filling his stomach, Jiang Qiang said goodbye and went to the war room of the headquarters. "Good morning, Sosa!" "Boss, you're here!" "Commander Jiang, good morning!" Chen Zhengnian, Huang Hong, Xu Guangming, Stilwell, Li Zongren, Sun Zhen and others, who had already arrived at the war room first, greeted Jiang Qiang with a smile after seeing them.

"Good morning, everyone!" Jiang Qiang blushed and nodded back to everyone, and after taking his seat, he asked Huang Hong, "How is the situation of the 66th Army now?" What are the casualties of our army? Huang Hong immediately replied loudly: "Report to the general seat, according to your instructions, after the 66th Army encountered a desperate situation, the special operations division and the airborne regiment lurking near Wangang Shan were ordered to go to the rescue. After a night of bloody fighting, our army annihilated more than 2,400 Japanese troops and rescued more than 6,000 officers and soldiers of the 66th Army, including Zhang Zhen, commander of the 66th Army, Sun Liren Qi Xueqi of the new 38th Division, Liu Bolong of the new 28th Division, Ma Weiji of the 29th Division and other senior generals.

At present, the remnants of the 66th Army have arrived in Lashio and have been transferred to a state of rest. In this battle, our army lost 341 people, seriously injured 158 people, damaged 5 helicopters, 7 No. 4 tanks, and more than 50 artillery pieces of various types! "Good! The seriously injured soldiers must do their best to rescue them, and the fallen soldiers must do a good job of dealing with the aftermath and compensating them! ”

Jiang Qiang nodded lightly, and then asked, "What about the 6th Army?" Huang Hong hurriedly replied: "Report to the general seat, the 6th Army has arrived in Xibu Town, and according to preliminary statistics, the 6th Army still has more than 12,000 people. "Just over 12,000 people left? That is, more than half of the casualties of the 6th Army? Jiang Qiang's eyes froze, and he said in pieces: "There are only more than 6,000 people left in the 66th Army, and the two fully staffed armies together are less than 20,000 people, and more than 40,000 people have been reduced in just two days?" ”

Huang Hong nodded and said: "Yes, the 6th Army and the 66th Army fought very bravely and tragically in this battle, but their results were also very remarkable, according to the preliminary killing of at least 17,000 Japanese invaders." "Even if you add the Japanese soldiers killed by our army in the end, the casualty ratio between us and the enemy is still as high as 2:1?" Jiang Qiang shook his head slightly, looking very dissatisfied.

At this time, Sun Zhen said excitedly: "Commander Jiang, in two days, we have killed 20,000 devils on the northern front, plus more than 20,000 devils on our side, we have eaten more than 40,000 devils in just two days, this is simply an unprecedented victory!" Li Zongren nodded and said: "Yes, don't look at the devil's Burma dispatch army of more than 500,000 people, if we continue to consume like this, it won't take more than a month, we can completely resolve the crisis and turn passive into active!" ”

Different from Jiang Qiang's "high standards and strict requirements", Sun Zhen and Li Zongren were very satisfied with the casualty ratio of 2:1 between the 6th Army and the 66th Army. Moreover, the devil troops that attacked in the past two days are all veteran devil troops who have fought fiercely, and their combat effectiveness is very strong, and they can completely crush ordinary national army troops on the domestic battlefield, and it is indeed very difficult to play such a record.

"That's right, the devil lost two divisions in two days, no matter which point of view, it's great news!" Jiang Qiang smiled, turned his head to look at Huang Hongdao, and said, "Pass on my order, and the Myitkyina Military Region will immediately dispatch and form a medical brigade to Lashio to set up a temporary field hospital.

We must also do our best to rescue the light and serious wounded of friendly troops, and every Chinese soldier who fought bloodily for the country is a national hero! Huang Hong hurriedly took the order and said: "Yes!" Rest assured, we will never let our heroes shed blood and tears! "Good!" Jiang Qiang nodded lightly, and then said murderously: "Send a telegram to Lu Shengfeng and Sun Liren, and then the battlefield on the northern front of Burma will be handed over to their two armies."

Emphatically tell them not to be in a hurry first, the Japanese army is now very powerful, don't be in a hurry to fight a decisive battle with them, you can rely on the defensive position to consume it first. When the time is ripe, I will order the 4th Army to go to northern Myanmar to participate in the encirclement and annihilation battle, and then eat the devil's 18th Army in one go! "Yes!"

After memorizing Jiang Qiang's orders, Huang Hong immediately walked out of the war room and went to the communication office to convey the order! "There should be no problem on the battlefield on the northern front," Stilwell said at this time, "However, the Japanese invaders seem to have figured out the details of our rocket artillery troops, and they no longer have any scruples!"

After the fall of Bilu Island, the pressure on the battlefield on the southern front is increasing day by day, and now the devils have mobilized a large number of mobile small steamers to the east bank of the Salween River, and it seems that the devils are about to start a large-scale battle to cross the river again! Jiang Qiang said with a smile: "Then there is no way, who called the Devil South Route Army has nearly 400,000 heavy soldiers, why do you have to let them call a few times first!" ”

Chen Zhengnian smiled evilly: "Yes, even if it is 400,000 pigs, if you want to kill them, it is not something that can be done in a day or two!" "Ahem, ahem!" Stilwell was choked up suddenly, such a serious question, but the two guys in front of him treated it as a joke. Sun Zhen said to Stilwell with great enthusiasm: "General Stilwell, don't worry, the so-called soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, and our 22nd Army can completely withstand the attack of the devil!" ”

After the last hard encounter, the 22nd Army did play with self-confidence and domineering, although the casualties of the whole army were as high as more than 5,000, of which more than 3,500 were killed. But for the 22nd Army, that battle was undoubtedly a great victory, an unprecedented victory, with its own hard fight to defeat more than 5,000 devil soldiers, and created an excellent opportunity for the rocket artillery force to annihilate the war!

"Well, maybe I'm a little worried!" Seeing that everyone was so relaxed, Stilwell could only spread his hands and said, "But the problem is that Bilu Island has fallen, and Mawlamyine City and Motama City have also been bombed into ruins. After the coastal defense line and the Mawlamyine fortress were attacked by the Japanese army many times, many coastal defense guns and fortress guns were destroyed, and the coastal Mawlamyine fortress may not last long!

This problem is really serious! "There is no impregnable shield in this world, and even the supposedly impregnable French Maginot Line has not been able to defend against German tanks, and has not even played a role? Therefore, I never expected that a single defense line on the Salween River would keep the Japanese devils out of the defense zone. ”

Jiang Qiang looked at Stilwell and said seriously: "This war cannot be fought overnight, and when the enemy army is strong, we must pay attention to strategy. The defensive phase is mainly based on digesting the enemy's living forces, accumulating small victories into big victories, so that the situation can be gradually reversed! "If you lose your land, you will lose your land; If you save people and lose land, you will gain all people. ……”

Stilwell thought about it and asked softly: "Jiang, I understand the truth of avoiding the enemy's edge and not worrying too much about the gains and losses of one city and one place, but Burma does not have much room for strategic transfer. Yangon is very important to us and must not be lost lightly. Otherwise, not only would the Ringanqiang and Xiaobu oil fields fall into the hands of the Japanese invaders, but all the ports in southern Burma would fall, and the Japanese fleet would get a high-quality home port!

The total number of troops sent by Japan to Burma is still as high as nearly 500,000, which should not be underestimated, and once they have a firm foothold in Burma and can launch a large-scale attack on the industrial areas of northern Burma, it will not be so easy to deal with. Stilwell knew that Jiang Qiang had always liked to take risks and play cards out of common sense, so he was really worried that Jiang Qiang would have too much appetite and would deliberately put the devil in, and then play the routine of closing the door and beating the dog.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot! At present, our primary strategic goal is to consume as much of the Japanese army's living forces as possible at the minimum cost, and as for the rest, we can only take one step at a time! Jiang Qiang smiled and did not continue the topic, but began to inquire about the battle between Mawlamyine Fortress and Motama City.

To tell the truth, Jiang Qiang wants to end the war as soon as possible, let the Chinese people get out of the dire situation as soon as possible, let the Chinese nation stand up as soon as possible, and realize the great rejuvenation as soon as possible. Even if Jiang Qiang's current strength and heritage are very deep, he still does not have the ability to single out the Japanese devils, let alone the German chariots with peak military strength.

Therefore, it is useless to be in a hurry, you have to boil the frog in warm water, and eat the Japanese devil one bite at a time.

In the early morning of May 14, the Huben army of the fortress of Motama marched to the headquarters of the 1st Army. "Good morning, everyone! Zhongmin, Brigadier He, Brigadier Gao, and Brigadier Shangguan, you just got off the firing line yesterday, so you can rest for a few days and then talk about it, you don't have to go to the military headquarters to report in such a hurry! ”

After Chen Zhengnian walked into the war room of the military headquarters, he first said hello with a smile, and then said with a smile to Xie Jinyuan, He Chen, Gao Zheyu, Shangguan Zhibiao and others who arrived at the war room first: "You fought this battle very beautifully, and the commanders of the headquarters and the commander's headquarters are very satisfied, which greatly boosts the morale of our army, presumably the commendation order personally signed by the headquarters will soon be sent to you!" ”

The 1st Division's Xie Jinyuan Division fought a bloody battle with the Japanese 15th Army for 12 days at Bilu Island, Mawlamyine City and Mawlamyine Fortress, and successfully completed the blocking mission. When the ammunition was exhausted and the fortifications were seriously damaged, the 1st Division could only take the initiative to abandon the city of Mawlamyine and the fortress of Mawlamyine, and all the officers and men of the division were ordered to retreat to the west bank of the Salween River on the night of the 13th to rest!

In this battle, the 1st Division ended up with 3,507 killed and 1,747 seriously wounded. At a heavy cost of slightly wounding more than 4,500 people, more than 13,000 Japanese soldiers were killed. In addition, the 1st Division shot down more than 40 Japanese combat planes, sank 4 destroyers, 3 light cruisers, dozens of troop transports, and destroyed more than 140 Japanese tanks of various types. Generally speaking, all the officers and men of the 1st Division, under the leadership of division commander Xie Jinyuan, fought extremely tenaciously and dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese invaders.

"The military seat has won the award, and the general seat is loved! We've just done our part, and there's nothing to be proud of! Xie Jinyuan waved his hand very modestly, and said with red eyes: "In the final analysis, our division can win this resistance war, all thanks to the bravery of the soldiers of the whole division" fearless, the most rewarding thing is those martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country and stained the battlefield with blood!

He Chen nodded and agreed: "Yes, this is not the credit of one person, it is the result of everyone's joint efforts and struggles. Without the soldiers' predecessors and soldiers, where would there be this victory! "Well, every warrior who fights for the country and sacrifices his life for the country is a hero of the nation, and we can never forget their merits!"

Chen Zhengnian nodded heavily, and then said in a deep voice: "Now to get back to business, these days, our army, the 22nd Group Army, and the 5th Army of the National Army have been fighting bloody battles against the Japanese on the Salween River defense line for 12 consecutive days. More than 50,000 Japanese invaders were killed or wounded, of which more than 35,000 were killed. At the same time, our army and friendly troops have paid a great price for casualties, and the current situation is that our army has lost more than 6,700 people in combat, the 22nd Group Army has lost more than 15,000 people in battle, and the 5th Army of the National Army has also lost more than 5,000 people in battle. ”

"According to preliminary statistics, there are still about 130,000 combatants on our side in the Salween River defense line, while the Japanese still have more than 450,000 living forces, and the balance of forces between the enemy and us is still very large!" "At present, the defense line of Bilu Island and Mawlamyine has been lost, and the defense line of the Salween River has also been bombarded and attacked by the Japanese invaders many times, and the fortifications of the first line of defense have almost been destroyed, and it is difficult to continue to play a strong defensive role.

In turn, Japanese small-tonnage ships could already reach the east bank of the Salween River from the port of Mawlamyine via a tributary of the Jiying River. In other words, the Japanese army units will not only be able to fight the artillery support of the Japanese fleet, but will also greatly improve their ability to cross the river. "According to the current intelligence analysis, the Japanese are making preparations for a full-scale attack, and it is expected that in no more than two days at the latest, the Japanese army will launch a general attack on the Salween River defense line!" "This battle is very important, and our side is at a great disadvantage, and it is very necessary for all armies and departments to work together! Next, we will have a specific discussion and arrangement on how to defend the operation......"

The general policy of resisting layer by layer and depleting the vital forces of the Japanese invaders has long been decided, but the specific operational details have to be formulated and implemented by each combat unit on its own. Although Jiang Qiang had already built two riverside defense lines along the Sidtang River and Bago River behind the Salween River defense line, as the last two barriers of Yangon City. But the Salween River defense line cannot be easily abandoned, it must be maximized, and it has to fight with the Japanese devils here!