Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1504: Guard for another 10 days!

After Lin Heng was rescued, he was rushed to the underground field hospital in Hengyang City for treatment at around 3 pm that day.

Three big men from the Hengyang Command went to the field hospital to visit in person. However, upon seeing the man with blood all over his mouth, Tang Dao, who was ranked last, laughed out loud and walked up to Lin Heng and hugged him tightly: "Tu Yunsheng said that he rescued an Air Force captain named Lin. I wondered if it was you. I didn't expect it to be you. Fortunately, I rescued you intact, otherwise Shen Chonghai would have resented me to death."

"Commander Tang, Deputy Captain Lin Heng of the 4th Flying Squadron reports to you! Commander Tang, I will have to take care of me in the future." Lin Heng saluted Tang Dao in a proper manner.

This scene made the two leading figures, Sun Mingyu and Zhao Junmai, dumbfounded. They were considered senior officers in the army, one a lieutenant general and the other a major general. But which of the Air Force pilots were from elite families? In addition, they were the most valuable branch of the military in China, and they were naturally arrogant. Even if they met army generals like them, they would just salute and leave it at that, but they would not directly classify themselves as subordinates.

Especially the one in front of him, who looks only 25 or 26 years old but has been promoted to deputy commander of a flight squadron. He must be the elite among the elites of the Air Force.

Sure enough, Lin Heng then saluted to the two of them again, but it was mainly out of courtesy, not like he did to Tang Dao.

Not to mention the two shrewd generals, even the medical staff on the side could see that this air force elite's attitude towards the Tang sword was different from that of the two generals.

  Based on this alone, Tang Tuanzuo's awesomeness in everyone's mind increased by another 10%!

They greatly underestimated the importance of Tang Dao in the hearts of these young Chinese pilots. Not to mention that Tang Dao brought a dozen young pilots to escort Chen Buping's coffin home, and the gratitude and respect in the hearts of those core air force pilots, just say that two years ago Tang Dao brought hundreds of pilots to India to receive Wildcat fighters.

A heroic regimental commander in the army actually flew the latest US fighter jet so well that the US ace pilots were stunned. In the hearts of a group of young pilots headed by Lin Heng, Tang Dao was like a god of war.

In the words of Shen Chonghai, who was already a flight squadron leader, "Commander Tang just likes to kill the devils with a knife in hand. Otherwise, with his talent, he would definitely be the ace among aces in our Air Force."

"That's right. Now that you have entered Hengyang City, it will be difficult for you to leave given the current enemy situation around Hengyang. However, your car has been blown to pieces by artillery fire from both sides. If you, a big darling of the Air Force, are asked to go to the front line with a gun, not only will Chief of Staff Zheng Shaoyu be furious when he finds out, but even Commander Fang will have to put me in solitary confinement!" Tang Dao replied with a smile.

"I can be the Air Force's ground liaison officer in Hengyang!" Lin Heng blurted out.

This idea must have been brewing in his mind for some time. Perhaps from the moment he was rescued and saw the overwhelming artillery fire from both sides, this clear-minded Chinese Air Force elite had already realized that it was impossible for him to leave Hengyang City.

Since he can't leave, he must fight to the end with the soldiers and civilians of this city.

But if he really had to carry a gun to the front line, his level would probably not be much better than those reserve civilians who had just picked up guns, so he had to use his strengths.

At that time, the Air Force and the Army had no future joint command organization. Whenever the Army needed air support, it had to send a telegram to the Ministry of Military Affairs, which would then coordinate with the Air Force Command. Finally, it had to obtain approval from the Military Commission before the precious Air Force could be dispatched.

During that time, no one knew how many rounds of fierce fighting had gone on on the ground.

Or, it was a separate action by the Air Force, and the Army had no right to know about it. They only realized that their air support had arrived after the planes were over the position, but the battle might have been over by then and the Japanese had escaped.

Although the air force fleets were bombing the Japanese positions in a lively manner, having fortifications to hide in and being bombed in the wild are two completely different concepts.

"Okay! Deputy Captain Lin's suggestion is very good. On behalf of Commander Fang, I appoint you as the Hengyang City Air Defense Force Liaison Officer." Sun Mingyu, the Chief of Staff of the 10th Army, immediately reacted to Lin Heng's sudden proposal and gave the appointment on the spot.

Tang Dao also patted Lin Heng's shoulder hard to express his approval of his idea.

In this era, not to mention the Western world, even the Japanese Army established its own Army Aviation Corps. The purpose was to facilitate unified command. Once the infantry had a need, they would report it to the higher level, and the command would call on the Army Aviation Corps for support based on the actual battle situation. The response speed of its air support was much faster than that of China.

If Lin Heng, the Air Force liaison officer, could rely on his understanding of the Air Force to directly contact the squadrons at various airports, he could easily shorten the response time to one-fifth of the previous time or even shorter.

Fang Xianjue was also very happy after receiving the news, and immediately reported the situation to the theater command and the Military Commission, hoping to use this opportunity to establish a channel in Hengyang City that directly connects with Zhijiang, Guilin, Liuzhou and other airports. Even if he cannot directly command the Air Force's operations, he can also provide feedback to the Air Force at any time on the ground combat situation or observed weather, air enemy situation, etc.

At this time, because 90% of the fighter planes were already using radio stations, after obtaining the frequency band, even the ground could directly contact the fighter planes in the air.

  In the past, there were no air force personnel in the Hengyang Command. If a bunch of outsiders wanted to do this, no one would feel at ease. But now there is a deputy commander of the flight brigade, who is an ace pilot who has shot down 12 Japanese planes. Who else can be as professional as him?

With the strong promotion of Major General Zheng Shaoyu, who had had dealings with Tang Dao and had been promoted to Air Force Chief of Staff, that evening, the man finally agreed to establish an Air Force Liaison Office in Hengyang. Lin Heng was appointed as the director of the Liaison Office with the rank of Air Force Major, and all the Air Force pilots rescued back to Hengyang City were under the jurisdiction of the Liaison Office.

Wow, I got promoted again. Tang Dao looked at the three stars on his collar badge which had been there for almost seven years. He could only say sadly that he had to continue on the path he had chosen even if he had to kneel!

Fortunately, such days will not last too long. In just one year, the Japanese will succumb to the fireballs created by the two big fat bombs and lose external threats. The people and history will definitely make the most correct choice.

In order to ensure the normal operation of the Air Force Liaison Office, Fang Xianjue specially assigned one of the only two long-wave radio stations of the 10th Army Headquarters and the corresponding communications soldiers to Lin Heng. Tang Dao also transferred a wireless communication radio and three walkie-talkies to Lin Heng.

All of this is to enable faster coordination with the Air Force, and Hengyang's unified land and air combat mode has reached the most important node.

The Japanese probably never imagined that the "excellent" performance of their air defense brigade, which had been dubbed the "death star", would actually lead to enhanced communication between the Hengyang defenders and the Air Force, which further led to China's air supremacy advantage over Hengyang becoming more obvious.

For two consecutive days, before the Japanese bombers arrived over Hengyang, Chinese fighter planes had already taken off from the airport 30 kilometers away and arrived at the battlefield in less than minutes, attacking the Japanese bombers that had not yet completed their bombing mission.

That's because when Fang Xianjue arrived in Hengyang 20 days ago, he followed Tang Dao's advice and sent three teams consisting of infantry, engineers, and communications soldiers to three directions 100 kilometers away from Hengyang.

Their task was to stay on the top of a mountain that had no tactical value, observe the sky with binoculars, and immediately report to the Hengyang Command using a field radio if there was any sign or roar of an enemy aircraft.

This early warning method, which provides at least 15 minutes in advance, allows the Hengyang military and civilians enough time to hide in air-raid shelters to reduce casualties.

However, in the past, there were too many barriers to communication with the Air Force, and it was impossible to notify the Air Force in time to join the battle. Therefore, Japanese planes were still able to bomb positions or the city of Hengyang many times, and many carefully constructed fortifications were destroyed.

But now the situation is very different. Lin Heng's Air Force Liaison Office can directly inform the Air Force through the radio how far the Japanese aircraft fleet is from Hengyang, and the Air Force can decide how to participate in the war based on its own situation.

The number of fighter planes could also inform the Chinese fighter planes still in the air immediately, so that they could make corresponding tactical changes. The dozens of fighter planes deployed by the Japanese army were hit repeatedly in two days, which directly pushed the reputation of Major Sasaki, who was already regarded as an "imperial hero", to the peak. In the end, even the Japanese Army Major General who wanted to set an example could not bear it anymore. Not only did he not send Major Sasaki to the battle, he was even unwilling to send a single plane to the Hengyang battlefield.

Starting from June 6, the Japanese army changed its full-scale attack on Hengyang into a focused attack in one direction south of the city. However, the large-scale attack by regiments in broad daylight was changed to small-scale assaults by squadrons and teams every night.

Every evening, when the Chinese aircraft would not come again, the Japanese army mobilized various types of artillery to bombard the Chinese positions, and then launched an infantry attack, almost all night long.

When it was almost dawn, the Japanese army realized that Chinese fighter planes were coming again, so they immediately stopped their attacks and retreated.

At dusk the next day, they regrouped and made a comeback, repeating the same cycle every day.

But obviously, night fighting was not the strength of the Japanese army, and for the Chinese army, what kind of harsh environment had they not fought in? Attacking the enemy at night was originally one of the ways they fought against the Japanese army. Now that the Japanese army used their own well-trained tactics to deal with them, it was naturally welcomed.

The battle lasted for 6 consecutive days, during which the Chinese troops were rotated twice and the Japanese army was unable to make any progress.

At this point, the Battle of Hengyang had been going on for exactly 15 days. In a bloody battle led by a group of officers and soldiers led by Fang Xianjue, the Hengyang defenders had blocked the Japanese troops that were besieging the city on all sides in the mountains and ponds and swamps outside the city. Not to mention allowing the Japanese troops to enter the city, they couldn't even see the shadow of the city wall.

The Hengyang defenders had only 2.4 troops, while the Japanese army had 7.5 troops. With a 1 to 3 ratio of troop strength, they were able to fight a defensive battle like this. It was definitely a successful defensive battle worthy of showing off to the whole of China and even the world.

However, Fang Xianjue, the highest commander of Hengyang who had achieved such a record, still had a frown on his face and his eyes were full of gloom.

Because, he fulfilled the promise he made to his teacher when he was in the mountain city to defend the city for half a month, but what about the reinforcements his teacher promised?

I haven't seen any hair yet.

At this time, Fang Xianjue didn't know how grateful he was to Tang Dao in his heart. If it weren't for Tang Dao's strong persuasion, he thought that the Battle of Hengyang would not end around the 20th as he expected, but would take more than a month or even longer, which would have made him ask that person for a large amount of logistical supplies.

The logistical supplies that he had previously thought to be sufficient would definitely not be able to last another week. Given that the reinforcements were still missing, it was unclear how long this defensive battle would last.

It's not that Fang Xian didn't try to test his teacher's attitude, but he also knew that what he hated most was generals sending telegrams to the Military Commission for help when they encountered difficulties, so he asked in a more tactful way and not so directly.

As for that person, he seemed to have forgotten what he had said before about defending the city for 15 days. He just praised the Hengyang defense battle generously and issued orders for promotion and awarding medals to all those who had made military achievements reported to the Hengyang Command.

But only living people are qualified to enjoy these things! Fang Xianjue felt extremely bitter, but he could only accept these invisible and intangible medals and awards.

  So what has Teacher Fang Xianjue been doing in the past half month?

In fact, at that time, China had six armies led by Wang Yaowu and Li Yutang on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, and five armies commanded by the commander Xue on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River. With these 6 infantry armies, the total strength reached nearly 5, which was more than enough to play a big game with the Japanese army.

The 11th Army was concerned about the existence of these Chinese infantry armies and placed its main force of 14 troops on the outskirts of Hengyang. It did not dare to use all its strength to attack Hengyang. Otherwise, even if Hengyang was made of steel and iron, it would probably have been overwhelmed by the more than 20 Japanese troops.

But he was indecisive and suspicious by nature, so he did not immediately transfer the army to the vicinity of Hengyang. It was not until June 6 that he ordered Li Yutang's Corps to move eastward from the southwest of Hengyang and the main force of the 13th War Zone to move westward from the Xiangdong mountainous area, to "attack their respective predetermined targets fiercely." Then, on the second day after Fang Xianjue sent a telegram inquiring about reinforcements, he ordered the Hengyang defenders to hold on for another 9 days.

It was just a matter of holding out for another 10 days. Fang Xianjue gritted his teeth and accepted it, as long as reinforcements could arrive.

  Seeing that things had come to this, the other generals in the command center could only cheer themselves up. After all, they had made it through the 15th, so what was the big deal if they could hold out for another 10 days?

Perhaps only the silent Tang Dao sighed slightly, 10 days? In another 3 10 days, I'm afraid the reinforcements will not arrive in this city.

For example, this time he finally made up his mind to mobilize eight infantry armies and planned to launch a decisive battle with the Japanese army outside Hengyang. The three armies commanded by Li Yutang moved, but the five infantry armies of Commander Xue remained in place.

Commander Xue has always been an extremely confident and even conceited person. In the Military Commission, only General Chen, the leader of the Civil Engineering Department, would he listen to. One is the supreme commander, so he has to listen to him; the other is his political backer, so he has to listen to him.

But this time he did not listen, because deep in his heart, he felt that the military talents of these two were just so-so, far inferior to his. He believed that the strategic goal of the Japanese army was to open up the Yuehan Railway, and Hengyang was only an important node on the Yuehan Railway. Losing it or not could not guarantee the complete smooth flow of the Yuehan Railway. As long as he locked another node, the Japanese army would have to point their troops at him, and the siege of Hengyang could be lifted, which was much more reliable than mobilizing a large army to march long distances to fight a decisive battle outside Hengyang.

Therefore, Commander Xue insisted on leaving five armies east of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway and relying on the rugged mountainous area on the Hunan-Jiangxi border to deal with the Japanese army.

After staring at the map for an hour or two, the man thought that this seemed like a good idea.

The 80th Army, which had already led its troops to attack a Japanese division 27 miles outside Hengyang, almost had a collective back injury when it received the news that friendly forces had not moved.

If the main force of more than 27 troops did not move, would these troops go and die? The th Army Group had to slam on the brakes.

With this kind of outrageous operation, do you think the more than 7 soldiers and civilians in Hengyang can wait for the legendary reinforcements?

In Li Jiujin's own words: "Wait for nothing, it's better to rely on ourselves than to rely on others. We will stay here. If two are not enough, then we will use three. As long as the Japanese dare to come for exchange sincerely, then we will exchange all of them!"

This person! Only when he is in a desperate situation, he will burst out with even more powerful strength.

But obviously, Hengyang at this time still has expectations for some people.

Therefore, the Japanese army at this time had not yet realized that they had not yet encountered the Chinese soldiers in their most crazy phase.

The bloodier moment has not yet really arrived!