If we say that the casualties on the frontal battlefield of the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain can only be regarded as a bone-wrenching injury for the North China Front Army.

That Lu Hang is definitely badly damaged, and it is not too much to even say that he has skinned and cramped.

Since the main opponent of the North China Front Army was the Eighth Route Army, which had extremely high combat qualities, its air power could play a very limited role in the face of scattered and flexible guerrilla warfare and movement warfare.

As a result, the original number of fighters could not meet the needs of the battlefield.

However, the situation in Zhongtiao Mountain was different, the defenders of Guoguo gathered heavy troops here, and they lacked regular field anti-aircraft weapons, so they were clearly sent to the door to be bombed.

In order to cooperate with the advance of the ground forces, Okamura Ninji even pulled down his old face and went to the Kwantung Army to borrow troops.

As a result, it turned out that on the first day of the battle, the army lost eighty percent of its fighters. The entire Third Flying Group, together with the support of the Kwantung Army, was almost wiped out by the formation.

Such war losses are simply devastating for an island country with scarce resources. With the military production capacity of the book, it will have to be stepped up for at least a few months to make up for the loss.

After all, at this point in time in 1941, there were only 19 fighter squadrons, 20 bomber squadrons, and 7 reconnaissance squadrons in the entire dispatch army.

lost nearly 20% of the combat power at one time, and whoever came had to jump like thunder.

After learning the news, the General Staff Headquarters, which is in charge of the army's military orders, sent a telegram overnight to hold them accountable.

In the message, he scolded Lieutenant General Toshinori Kinoshita of the Third Flight Group for nine pages, and it was so ferocious that even Raeder felt distressed for a few seconds when he saw it.

In addition, the Ministry of the Army, which is in charge of day-to-day affairs, also made a strong statement, demanding that the North China Front remove such an incompetent general.

But all this pressure was carried down by Okamura Ningji.

As an eyewitness, he knows very well how powerful the air force of the Eighth Route Army is. At that time, even if there was a different person in command, it would not change much.

Although the old devil shouts stud attack every day, it doesn't mean that this is a reckless man with only muscles in his head.

He is well aware of the very important position of air supremacy in modern warfare, and that a rash attack will only cause the army to be beaten everywhere, and it is simply impossible to move an inch without the support of the air force.

What's more, helping Kinoshita Min stop and hold him accountable is a thing that has more advantages than disadvantages.

First of all, the temporary change of commander will inevitably affect the morale of the troops, and the offensive under the command will have a negative impact.

Secondly, if the attack does not go well or problems arise again, the other side can also become the blame for the defeat of the war. The weight of a lieutenant general of a younger brother is definitely enough to silence the mouths of those people in the General Staff Headquarters.

In the end, a favored general will be in a position to control the rest of the situation. In case a person who spares his life is transferred, it will be troublesome if he does not cooperate with the work.

Xinxiang, headquarters of the 3rd Flight Group.

"Your Excellency, the flight regiment transferred from Central China is already in place. It contains two fighter squadrons and one bomber squadron. ”

"Counting the remaining forty or so planes, we have the opportunity to snatch local air supremacy again. All of the above aircraft are ready to go,"

"It's just that we still have to avoid the air force of the Eighth Route Army as much as possible, after all, the other side is a formation composed of pure fighters."

The adjutant's words shocked Kinoshita, but soon he was like a frosted eggplant again.

While reinforcements from two fighter teams are crucial, air combat is not something that can be won by simply competing in numbers. When there is not much difference in the technical level of the pilots on both sides, quality is the key to victory.

As soon as he thought of the opponent's fighters with high protection performance and strong combat capability, the old devil's face was full of bitterness.

"Did the allies send back any valuable information? Two and a half days have passed, and the model and basic data of the enemy's fighters have not yet been figured out? ”

"Could it be that the intelligence agencies of the three major Axis powers are all moths that eat military salaries? Can't even do that? ”

After the first duel with the 1st Air Division, Toshitoshi Kinoshita gathered all the surviving pilots. Let them draw a sketch of the shape of the plane to fight with them based on the memories in their minds.

Through nearly 100 fighter fighters, the staff officers of the Third Flying Group set their sights on the British Isles, far away in the northwest corner of the European continent.

Fortunately, intelligence gathering is not difficult, after all, the allies only fought a shocking air battle last year. With the relationship between the two parties, it makes sense to share some data.

Faced with the questions of his own lieutenant general, the adjutant took out the information that had been prepared a long time ago.

"Based on the information we submitted, the German side quickly recognized that the fighter jets used by the Eighth Route Army were Hurricanes and Spitfires with the British."

"It's just that the weapon models and basic information given by the other party don't match, and the active equipment of the Eighth Route Army seems to be more advanced, which is really incredible."

This is also reasonable, after all, the Spitfire provided by the system is MK9, and at this time, the MK5 with the British has just come out.

In terms of appearance alone, the shape of the wings is slightly different. Not to mention the fact that in air combat, the difference in thrust, speed of climb and weapon systems is clear at a glance.

The situation is similar for hurricanes, and now Obiei is still using MK2A with 8 small water pipes.

Kinoshita Min took the information and read it carefully, and the various data on the paper sent chills down his spine. Although he is not a technician, he can also understand that the gap between the two sides is not a star and a half.

Responsibilities and pressures did not allow the 3rd Flying Group to give up the battle easily, and could only figure out how to deal with the foreseeable difficulties that followed.

"Hey, the question now is not whose fighter model is more advanced, but how we can use the Type 97 fighter with an all-round backward performance to fight the enemy."

"It seems that before the Fighting Falcon is not equipped, we can only rely on tactics to gain an advantage on the battlefield."

"Gather all the staff officers and prepare for a combat meeting."

Since the Army Aviation rarely fought hard battles in the Republic of China, the crushing battle made the thinking of the top management of the Third Flight Group rigid.

Kinoshita Toshitoshi and a group of staff officers discussed from noon to evening, and finally came up with a decent battle plan before midnight.

In the new plan, they will send half of their air power to bomb Luoyang.

In this way, it was possible to attack the headquarters of the 1st Theater of Operations, so that its commander could not remotely control the entire defenders of Nakajo Mountain. It can also attract the attention of the Eighth Route Army Air Force and distract the opponent's forces.

If the Type 97 fighter can achieve absolute numerical superiority, it is not without the strength to fight the Spitfire and the Hurricane.

"Haven't you always been known as the teacher of benevolence and righteousness? I'd like to see if you care about civilian deaths. Once I was asked to seize the opportunity to be outnumbered, it would be a day of shame for our Third Flying Group. ”

"Send a telegram to Commander Gangcun, I won't live up to his expectations of me this time!"

"Hey!"

······

May 10, Luoyang.

With more than 100,000 inhabitants, the city is both the capital of Henan Province and the headquarters of the First Theater of Operations.

To the north of it, there are not only the dangerous fortifications of Zhongtiao Mountain, but also the dangerous Yellow River, which is turbulent and almost impossible to cross, as a barrier, but such a dangerous barrier cannot stop the indiscriminate bombing of Japanese aircraft.

Before the Battle of Nakajo Mountain, people seemed to be living a very peaceful life in the city.

But as the news of the devil's attack reached the city, and an important line of defense had been breached, all the inhabitants suddenly became terrified.

Since Okamura Ninji approved Kinoshita's battle plan, the densely populated city has been bombed twice, and an atmosphere of fear, panic, and chaos has hung over the city.

At this time, the people in the Provisional Command of the First Theater were panicking, and by the time of the start of the battle at Nakajo Mountain, the Japanese had bombed at least 200 sorties. The previous headquarters had collapsed, and the group had to move to an office building.

"The fighting was fierce, unseen in the years of the Anti-Japanese War. From dawn to dusk every day, there is an average of not a minute in the sky where there is no activity of enemy aircraft. The position is located without dimensions and is not shrouded in enemy artillery smoke and poisonous gas. ”

"In this battle, more than 300 enemy air force planes were dispatched day by day, and the communication lines, river crossing fields, and communication lines were completely destroyed by it."

"In the airspace above our position, it was bombed and threatened by it all the time, the position was destroyed, the men and horses were killed and wounded, the supply was cut off, and the reinforcements were out of time, which almost brought the operation of our troops to a complete standstill."

The battle report from the front line made the battle conference room fall silent, and the always steady Commander Wei was also a little confused.

When he heard the noise outside, he opened the curtains to let the sunlight in, then opened the window to look out.

The streets were chaotic and crowded with vehicles. Thousands of people poured out of the city, shouting and scolding mingle.

In order to compete for property, there is no shortage of people who fight each other with fists and feet. Dust rose in the air, giving people a sense of impending disaster. The city was bombed and had become fragmented and tattered.

In addition to the citizens who fled on the street, there were also staff members cleaning up the scene.

The clerks, dressed in white, carried away a corpse wrapped in a straw mat.

The streets were filled with refugees aimlessly searching for their lost loved ones, weeping in grief and calling out in disappointment, adding to the atmosphere of sadness, fear and desolation in the aftermath of the bombing.

Due to the bombing, the power plant in the city has been forced to stop working.

Schools and shops were also affected, and prices changed rapidly for a while, and the prices of rare items such as gold, silver, and jade, which were easy to collect and carry, rose across the board.

The tragic situation in the city awakened the indomitable will of Commander Wei. His sharp gaze swept over the officials, and he asked through gritted teeth:

"I've heard that there is abuse of power among you. Not only did he wantonly collect his wealth and make war money, but he also took advantage of his position to transport his family and private property outside the city first. ”

"Is that the case?"

As soon as the words fell, most of the people in the room changed their faces. They didn't even expect that what they were secretly doing would be exposed so quickly.

"Commander, there is a lack of anti-aircraft weapons in the city, and everyone can only lie on the ground and resign themselves to their fate in the event of bombing. Many of our family members were killed and injured by the bombing, and this was just a helpless move. ”

"Those of us who are officials do our best for the people on weekdays, and it's not too much to enjoy some privileges now."

This view resonated with many people, who cited examples to echo it, as if everything was justified.

Unexpectedly, Commander Wei was angry, looking at the chattering officials. With a fierce look on his face, he slammed his right hand on the table!

"Stupid! If you let your family members evacuate first, it is tantamount to telling the citizens that we can't defend this Luoyang City. For the sake of the petty profits in front of you, you have buried the foundation of the first war zone for four years! ”

"Pass my orders! From now on without my approval! No official or his family is allowed to leave without permission! If you're afraid of death, you'll put me in a bomb shelter! ”

"Send the garrison troops to me to maintain order, and those who raise prices will be killed! Smash and behead the burners! ”

After several orders were issued one after another, Commander Wei's expression looked much more relaxed. He came to the situation map of Zhongtiao Mountain and asked everyone present:

"What do you think about the next battle? To say in advance, I do not agree to the withdrawal. ”

"Take the initiative to retreat south, abandon Zhongtiao Mountain, and make every effort to consolidate the Yellow River defense line? I really don't know who came up with this stupid idea. This time to Shanxi, will it be sent to Shaanxi and Henan next time? ”

So far, everyone has seen through the purpose of the Japanese army, which is nothing more than that they are holding back the four divisions of the North China Front with a total of 70,000 people.

Without these people, the Japanese army would not have been able to launch any large-scale offensive. The other party intends to eat the defenders at the same time, and at the same time, free up troops to deal with the Eighth Route Army with all their might.

"Commander, in my opinion, we should ask the Eighth Route Army for compensation! This time, we completely carried the thunder for them, and if it wasn't for the other side to launch a hundred-regiment battle, the Japanese army would not have jumped over the wall in a hurry. ”

"No matter how you fight next, it's right to have a batch of weapons first! Even if we have to fight together in the future, after we have compensation, the chairman of the committee will have to explain it. ”

After the outbreak of the Battle of Nakajo Mountain, the air force of the Eighth Route Army not only frightened Okamura Ninji and Iwamatsu Yoshio, but even the preserved fruit was also worried.

In the past, it was only the light weapons of the infantry, but in just half a year, a large number of new fighters were actually taken out.

Although we can't do it because of the international situation, there is nothing wrong with making small moves from the perspective of the general situation. As long as you can get the right boost, it doesn't matter if Nakajo Mountain is lost.

Originally, the officials thought they had a good idea, but they didn't expect the sycophants to be crooked.

"Fuck you! It's been this juncture now, and you're still thinking about fighting in the nest? If it weren't for someone's air support! The defense line on all sides of Zhongtiao Mountain has long been over! ”

"Are you a fool? Airplanes are also something you could ask for? If you dare to mention this kind of thing again! Just put on a steel helmet for me and go to the air defense position to fight the plane! ”

"I've contacted the Eighth Route Army, and they'll send fighter jets to help us defend the city! The airport is already being repaired, and anyone who dares to have any crooked thoughts will wait to die! ”

With the strong command of Commander Wei, the preserved fruit officials did not dare to make any small moves. But at this moment, the sound of air defense sirens sounded again over the city.

"Bring me all the anti-aircraft guns! Lao Tzu doesn't believe it! A thousand-year-old capital, it's the turn of the little devils to spread wild on our heads! ”

Hey, the cold is so uncomfortable, my brain is buzzing

(End of chapter)