Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1507 Those who succeed need to pay a price!

Although the Japanese army managed to get dozens of tons of food while fighting for the Chinese airdropped supplies, some of them contained poisonous substances, so they could not eat them safely and had to find a place to store them. They also lost 200 people and consumed a lot of medicines.

  It's a big loss. How could the Japanese, who love to scheme the most, be willing to suffer this loss?

If you can't do this, make up for it in other ways.

Although the Japanese army had basically lost air superiority, under the strict order of Tian Shunroku, the 5th Air Corps, which had been replenished with dozens of fighter planes and bombers from the Kwantung Army in ten days, began to resume its work.

The Japanese army has basically figured out the deployment patterns of the Chinese and American air forces, especially the American ones, which basically appear in the sky between 9 am and 5 pm.

Since they couldn't win the fight, the Japanese army decided to take a detour. If you don't arrive until eight or nine o'clock, then I will be there before eight o'clock.

Early in the morning of June 6, just as the sun was rising, a huge fleet of Japanese planes swarmed over the sky, first launching a heavy bombing on the city of Hengyang, then flew to the south of the city and dive-bombed the various high ground areas.

The anti-aircraft battalion of the Sihang Regiment, which had been hidden for a long time, finally had its place to be used!

As soon as the air defense alarm was sounded in Hengyang City, Cheng Tieshou ordered the anti-aircraft artillery squads hidden in the artificial caves around Yanhui Peak to pull the 40mm anti-aircraft guns, quadruple 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns and specially reinforced 20mm machine guns to their gun positions.

Since the battle of Hengyang broke out on June 6, the anti-aircraft battalion, except for occasionally using 1mm machine guns to support the front line, has not fired a single shot from either the Bofors 20mm anti-aircraft gun or the quadruple heavy machine gun.

In Tang Dao's words: "The battlefield is not a gambling table, but to win, you must not only fight for the spirit of daring to die, but also fight for wisdom and patience. A good trump card may not be enough to win the final victory, but it may also become an important cornerstone of victory."

Therefore, most of the officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft battalion watched the bloody battle between the enemy and us in the sky patiently without being able to help at all. Fortunately, the Chinese Air Force gradually gained the upper hand, otherwise it would have been an extremely painful psychological torment for the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Regiment who attached great importance to friendly forces.

This was endured for a whole month, until one day the Japanese army mobilized 24 Zero fighters and 12 Type 97 bombers, playing with the time difference to bomb Hengyang and the south of the city positions.

As an old rival, Yokoyama Isamu actually knew that the Four-line Regiment had anti-aircraft guns. From the military orders he issued to the various divisions, he mentioned at least ten times that "Be vigilant against China's surface-to-air defense. If you find any trace of it, do your best to destroy it!", you can see how deep the shadow of Yokoyama Isamu's defeat in the Battle of Shipai was.

But whether it was Isamu Yokoyama, the Fifth Air Corps, or the 116th Division in the south of the city, after a month of hard fighting, they had never seen any Chinese surface-to-air equipment appear, and subconsciously they had finally forgotten this terrible force that had caused them great harm.

  There is an old Chinese saying that goes "Once the wound has healed, the pain is forgotten", which refers to this kind of psychological state!

The Fifth Air Corps had actually taken most of the details into consideration. They had taken into account the fastest deployment time of Chinese fighter jets, how many fighter jets China could send to participate in the battle at one time, and why Chinese fighter jets were able to arrive at the battlefield in time for many consecutive times. It must be that China had deployed observation stations along the way and issued warnings.

So this time, the fleet departed from Jiangxia Airport at 6 o'clock, deliberately made a big circle, flew at least 300 kilometers more, and maintained an altitude above 5000 meters. It successfully avoided the three early warning points deployed by the 10th Army in the mountains 3 kilometers outside Hengyang City.

How meticulous was that Major General? In order to ensure that this round of bombing was foolproof, he even took the terrible "legend" into consideration and did not send Major Sasaki, the "star of misfortune", to the battle to prevent bad luck.

After the war, this was also considered one of the wisest choices among all the deployments made by the major general corps commander!

However, the Fifth Air Corps ignored the powerful ground-to-air force of the Fourth Regiment.

The truth is, no one could have imagined that there would be someone so cowardly. The two sides had been fighting for a month, with blood and flesh flying everywhere in the sky and on the ground, yet there were still people hiding something.

Then, this strange thing happened to the Japanese.

In fact, Hengyang City was not the focus of the Japanese bombing. The focus of the Japanese aircraft bombing was the positions in the south of the city.

Therefore, the incendiary bombs dropped in Hengyang City were basically mounted under the wings of Zero fighters. Most of the bombs carried by the 12 bombers were 500-pound bombs, which were specially prepared for the Chinese positions in the south of the city.

24架零式战机有20架在2500米空域盘旋为轰炸机群警戒，只有4架零式战机伴随12架轰炸机俯冲进入低空，对目标进行投弹。

Such a deployment indicated that all Japanese aircraft's vigilance focus was on the air rather than the ground.

Cheng Tieshou on the ground looked through a telescope at the group of Zero fighters still circling in the sky, a ferocious smile curved across his face.

Since you bastards don't take our land seriously, today I'll let you bastards feel what it feels like when Juhua is suddenly exposed!

Although Cheng Heimian, who has been promoted to lieutenant colonel in the army, still has a hot temper sometimes, the seven years of experience in war have already turned this 7-year-old middle-aged man into a real piece of steel.

He was so calm that it was almost cruel!

Even though he watched the Japanese bombers flapping their wings and dropping heavy bombs, turning the Chinese positions such as Zhangjiashan and Tiger's Nest into a sea of ​​fire, he remained unmoved and did not give the order to attack on the walkie-talkie.

"Battalion Commander, open fire! The damned ones are rushing towards Huangcha Ridge!"

"Yes! The explosion power of a 500-pound bomb is too terrible. We can't let the Japanese like this."

Anxious requests for battle came from the walkie-talkies from the company commanders.

  In the field of view of their telescopes, the flames rising from the bombs dropped by Japanese planes were more than 40 meters high. One can imagine what a hellish scene it was on the ground!

"Shut up, everyone!" Cheng Tieshou roared coldly, and the communication channel suddenly became quiet, with only the rumbling sound of dull explosions.

Cheng Tieshou was still waiting. The Japanese Type 97 bomber was flying at a high altitude, as high as 1000 meters. At such an altitude, it could easily escape the range of the 12.7mm heavy machine gun.

而防空营精心部署在12个阵地上36具四联装12.7毫米重机枪将在600米至1000米低空编织成的那张密不透风的火力网，对于进入低空的12架日军轰炸机来说，会是比40毫米博福斯高射炮还要更致命的存在。

As the commander of the air defense battalion, Cheng Tieshou did not lead his troops into the war, but that does not mean he had fun during these 30 days.

This army lieutenant colonel, whose combat experience and command ability were consistently ranked among the top ten in the Sihang Regiment, observed the sky every day and found that the number of bombers dispatched by the Japanese army was constantly decreasing, and then would increase again on a certain day, but never exceeded 20.

This means that the Japanese war potential has long been weakened. At least for the Japanese Army Aviation in China, replenishment can never keep up with consumption. A sudden increase means that they have just received replenishment, and the replenishment cycle is getting longer and longer.

For example, the 12 bombers dispatched by the Japanese army today should be the largest number of bombers appearing on the battlefield in the past half month, which means that this is another reinforcement for the Japanese army.

As long as these 12 bombers can be shot down at once, the Japanese will not be able to have more bombers arrive at the battlefield for at least 10 days. This will be of great help to the entire battle situation in Hengyang.

Cheng Tieshou's judgment was quite accurate. These 12 Type 97 bombers were provided by the Kwantung Army for the sake of the Imperial Headquarters. Otherwise, in terms of rank, the Kwantung Army directly under the Imperial Headquarters would also belong to a front army and could simply ignore the China Expeditionary Army.

If these 12 bombers were shot down, no matter how thick-skinned Tian Junliu was, he would not be able to ask the Kwantung Army for help. Instead, he would have to transfer planes from Japan. Considering Japan's national strength, whose entire strategic focus is on the Pacific and Southeast Asian battlefields, it would take an unknown amount of time.

Tang Dao's patience and Cheng Tieshou's tenacity at the last moment will eventually yield fruitful results. From the strategic significance of the Hengyang Defense War, it is far greater than shooting down 12 bombers itself.

Because, since June 6th, no matter how bloody and hellish the Battle of Hengyang was, no Japanese bomber appeared in the sky over Hengyang.

"Yo! After this battle, the 11th Army should be much more relaxed!" A Japanese Army major in the air couldn't help but smile as he felt the slight vibration of the plane and the black smoke rising from the belly of the plane.

As the commander of the 5th Flying Regiment under the 6th Air Corps, Major Shichiro Yamashita actually has a very glorious past.

This Japanese Army Major was actually a former naval aviation officer, and had a record of shooting down five Chinese fighter planes. He was an ace pilot, but his luck was really bad. In the Battle of Nanjing, he was a lieutenant in the naval aviation officer and led 12 fighter planes. As a result, he was chased and intercepted by the most luxurious lineup of the Chinese Air Force at that time over Nanjing.

Three of the four aces of the Chinese Air Force attacked together and fought fiercely with the elite formation led by Yamashita Shichiro over Purple Mountain. One can imagine the helplessness of this Japanese Navy Aviation Lieutenant at the time. As expected, his fighter plane was damaged and had to be forced to land on the outskirts of Jinling, and he was captured by the defenders.

During the retreat from Nanjing, the unfortunate child was taken all the way to Jiangxia and then to Shancheng, where he was detained for a full six years. It was not until last year that he was brought back by the Japanese with a large sum of money and captured Chinese pilots and intelligence personnel.

He could not return to the naval aviation, so Yamashita Shichiro could only stay in the China Expeditionary Force and was promoted to major, serving as the commander of a flight regiment in the newly established 5th Air Corps. But six years later, when he returned to the skies, he was surprised to find that the Chinese Air Force was no longer a weakling, and the performance of the fighter planes equipped was completely superior to that of the Empire. It was extremely difficult for him to shoot down five planes as before, even one.

After spending half a year, the former ace pilot of the Japanese Naval Aviation Force finally accepted the reality and became a flight combat commander instead of just dreaming of being an ace pilot.

But today's relatively successful bombing rekindled the fighting spirit of this Japanese Army Major, whose ambition had been greatly dampened.

"All fighter planes, follow me and clear the obstacles for the Imperial Infantry!" The Japanese Army Aviation Major, whose brain was constantly secreting dopamine, was obviously a little excited. After issuing the military order, he pushed the rudder and pressed the nose of his Zero fighter down to a low altitude of 600 meters.

He planned to use the six heavy machine guns mounted on the wings and nose of the Type 97 bomber to strafing the Chinese positions. Only in this way could he live up to the expectations of the corps commander.

The dense rain of bullets from the 12 Type 97 bombers would surely sweep away the blood and flesh of the Chinese soldiers in the trenches who had managed to escape the bombing.

This will not change even after several years.

The Japanese ace pilot who had been in a Chinese jail for nearly six years had apparently returned to his past glory under the stimulation of victory.

  The commander has spoken, how dare the bomber group disobey orders?

So one bomber after another lowered their noses, entered the battlefield from the northeast, roared into a low altitude of 600 meters, and prepared to strafing the Chinese positions that were still shrouded in thick smoke.

If the ambitious Yamashita Shichiro could see those "stick-like objects" that were raised high and were already thirsty through the jungle, he would definitely regret his impulsive behavior.

It was no different from a group of young women breaking into a gathering place of bachelors who had been trapped on a deserted island for more than ten years. "All the hairs on their bodies stood at attention" was not enough to describe the feelings of the Japanese pilots at the moment when the ground fire was fully opened.

In the words of Lieutenant Yamamoto, the only parachuted fighter captured: At that moment, I felt the blood in my body freeze, and I had no idea how to control the fighter plane.

In fact, facing this huge anti-aircraft firepower position with three quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns deployed every 400 meters, no matter how skilled the operator is, it is difficult to escape the fate of being hit.

That was almost equivalent to a salvo of 108 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns, but this was not the final form of the firepower network set up by the Anti-Aircraft Battalion of the Fourth Regiment.

  In addition, there were 24 20mm anti-aircraft guns that had been sealed up and launched a full-scale attack!

The 20mm anti-aircraft guns had been abandoned by the Four-Line Regiment because they were too heavy, and the firepower output and transportation and manpower costs were too high. However, the Battle of Hengyang was too dangerous, so Tang Dao finally chose to transport this batch of machine guns that had been sealed in the North China battlefield to Hengshan half a year ago.

  This thing is the equipment that the Anti-Aircraft Battalion of the 4th Regiment started with. The veterans are all very skilled in operating it. As long as three veterans are used as gunners and a dozen recruits are brought in for three months of training, a machine gun squad with sufficient combat effectiveness can be formed immediately!

The 24 20mm machine guns all used shrapnel shells, blocking the airspace between 1000 and 1800 meters. Any Japanese planes that fled into this airspace from a low altitude below a thousand meters would become their prey.

And above 1800 meters in the sky, the world naturally belongs to the 40mm anti-aircraft gun!

不过这12门40毫米博福斯山炮主要对付的不是已经进入低空的12架日本轰炸机和4架零式战斗机，而是在高空盘旋警戒的20架零式战斗机。

Its purpose is not to shoot them down completely, but to drive these small and more maneuverable fighters out of this airspace.

After all, if 20 Zero fighters were allowed to rush down from low altitude and fire machine guns, the already completely exposed anti-aircraft artillery positions would also pay a price.

Sure enough, when the anti-aircraft machine gun positions below opened fire fiercely and directly stunned the 16 Japanese fighter planes that entered the low altitude, the white fog that suddenly bloomed in the sky also stunned the 20 Zero fighters.

  The Chinese anti-aircraft gun is really powerful!

Japan's high-altitude aircraft groups instinctively scattered, accelerating to higher altitudes and leaving the anti-aircraft artillery bombardment area at high speed.

This is also the quality that any good pilot should possess. How can you consider the team without saving yourself first?

The Japanese pilots' control level was indeed amazing. The 12 3000mm anti-aircraft guns that could almost control the altitude of 40 meters fired a wave of attacks with all their might, firing at least 800 shells, but only shot down one plane or damaged one. Most of the Japanese planes safely escaped the airspace filled with shrapnel.

But the Japanese aircraft that entered low altitude were not so lucky.

Yamashita Shichiro, the air commander, was the first to bear the brunt of the attack, mainly because his Zero fighter flew the fastest, so his leading fighter was targeted by at least three positions, which had nine quadruple-mounted 3mm machine guns.

In an instant, hundreds of bullets were fired at the Zero fighter that was diving down at high speed, enough to form a barrage of bullets.

  Unfortunately, Yamashita Shichiro ran into this barrage!

The 12.7mm thick bullet effortlessly tore through the fragile aluminum alloy body of the Zero fighter, making egg-sized holes in it.

Not only the nose and wings, but several bullets even went through the belly and went straight into the cockpit. One of them directly hit Yamashita Shichiro's right leg.

Before he could even feel the pain, a cloud of blood mist exploded in the cockpit. Only then did Yamashita Shichiro discover with horror that his right leg was already a bloody mess.

Just as the heart-wrenching howl was heard, another bullet passed through the side of the fuselage and shot into the unfortunate child's right rib, leaving a bloody hole the size of a bowl on the body of the commander Yamashita Shichiro before piercing through the fragile fuselage.

The wind blew through the gap towards the Japanese air commander, whose consciousness had become a little blurred due to the extreme pain, which made Yamashita Shichiro seem to wake up at that moment.

Looking down with unwilling eyes, all he could see was bright flames in the thick smoke.

  It was a scene of countless anti-aircraft machine guns firing at the same time!

"Retreat!" Yamamoto Shichiro, who still did not forget his duties as a commander at the last moment of his life, shouted the last word of his life and then hung his head dejectedly.

The Zero fighter that lost control was like a bird with a broken wing. It suddenly turned downward and crashed into the hillside behind Zhangjiashan. The vibration caused by the huge explosion also frightened the Chinese officers and soldiers who were still hiding in the tunnels to avoid the bombing, so much so that their testicles shrank suddenly.

  Isn't dodging a bomb a matter of luck?

But Major Shichiro Yamashita was by no means the only victim of this surface-to-air ambush. The Zero fighter had a speed of over 500 kilometers per hour, not to mention the Type 400 bomber which had a speed of only 97 kilometers per hour.

In the face of the crazy rain of bullets, the three Zero fighters could still struggle desperately by moving at high speed like sparrows in a net, but the 3 Type 12 bombers were like staggering old ladies. Apart from enduring the damage, their only choice was to pull up and accelerate upwards.

  But obviously, that can only mean passively taking a beating!

If the Type 97 bomber was not large in size and could withstand the attack, it would have been destroyed long ago. But in a fight, the one who is always on the defensive will eventually be knocked down.

After being beaten up, 12 of the 8 bombers finally escaped to an altitude of 1200 meters with wounds all over their bodies, but what greeted them was a barrage of 20mm machine guns.

The bombers, which had already begun to smoke and slowed down, could no longer hold on and three were shot down on the spot. The other five, emitting thick smoke, finally escaped the range of the 3mm anti-aircraft guns, but unfortunately were besieged by 5mm anti-aircraft guns that could fire at a height of 20 meters.

Finally, only two of the 12 Type 97 bombers managed to escape successfully! After flying 30 kilometers in the air in one breath, the Japanese pilots finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The story could have ended here, at least leaving two seedlings for the 5th Air Corps. Unfortunately, the two bombers were riddled with bullet holes, their fuel tanks were pierced, and their fuel was completely exhausted. The six crew members had to abandon their planes and parachute under the painful gaze of the 6 Zero fighter pilots who were escorting them back.

Unfortunately, in order to avoid the pursuit of anti-aircraft guns, the Japanese aircraft group chose the simplest straight line to escape, heading east. The area where the Japanese pilots parachuted was in the Chinese-controlled area.

Five of the six Japanese bomber crew members successfully landed to the ground, and only one died because his parachute did not open. However, three of the five who fell to the ground were beaten to death with sticks by the surrounding Chinese villagers, and only two were captured by the local security team.

These two people also became the only two survivors of the bomber group of the 5th Air Corps that used time difference and tactics.

Of course, even if they survived, they didn’t live long. After the war, the two unlucky guys were tried for war crimes because they bombed the south of Hengyang City, causing casualties on the Chinese side, and were eventually shot in the mountain city.

So far, this round of assault bombing led by the Japanese China Expeditionary Army Command had both successes and failures. It successfully dropped incendiary bombs on Hengyang City and also dropped heavy bombs on various positions in the south of the city, but the price was that 12 bombers and 5 Zero fighters were shot down, and 39 people, including Major Shichiro Yamashita, were killed on the spot.

This price left the entire 5th Air Corps dumbfounded.

Major Sasaki, the "unlucky star", patted his chest and was extremely grateful that he did not go to the battle. Otherwise, those 19 Zero fighters might not be able to come back.