Chapter 142: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 142: Can't Be Blown Up, Can't Be Smashed

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

In the air, the Japanese Army's high-altitude observation balloon.

The Japanese observer Fujii paced back and forth in the basket, constantly using binoculars to search for the positions of the officers and soldiers of the Sixty-Seventh Division. He saw that the position had been destroyed, but not a single corpse—this was simply inexplicable!

"Mr. Fujii, no need to look; we just need to faithfully fulfill our duties," said the accompanying radio operator, sitting in the balloon's basket with a radio set held to his chest.

"Idiot, what do you know? After this round fired so many naval shells, just the Mutsu battleship's eight main guns, plus over twenty secondary guns, fired over four hundred shells. Do you know how expensive a shell is? Over four hundred shells should wipe out at least one enemy battalion;

plus the other nine destroyers, totaling over a thousand naval guns, enough to buy the life of an idiot from an army regiment. But so far, I haven't seen a single Chinese corpse!"

"Hey! Balloon operator, lower the altitude, descend to nine hundred meters. I want to see if there are corpses on the ground!"

The Japanese Navy radio operator was curious. After firing so many shells, they were indeed very precious. He said, "Mr. Fujii, let me look through the binoculars too? Let me see the bombing results of our great navy!"

"Damn it, what can you understand..."

The two fought over the binoculars in the basket. The balloon operator pointed at a group of black spots in the distance: "Something's wrong, enemy fighters are coming!"

In the air, the Southwest Air Force urgently took off two squadrons of fighters, rushing toward the Japanese's three high-altitude balloons and over twenty Type 96 carrier fighters.

It had been many days since they last clashed with the little devils. Besides defending the railway and airfield, the Southwest Air Force had also modified some of its fighters.

Some fighters of the Southwest Air Force had already been equipped with radio systems. This modification had been prepared before the Battle of Songhu began, and was only officially completed recently.

Gao Zhihang still personally led the flight, piloting a BF109 fighter equipped with 20mm cannons. He issued combat orders via radio: "First Squadron, immediately climb to seize altitude; Second Squadron, go first and destroy those high-altitude balloons for me!"

The BF109s of the two squadrons shot toward the skies above Luodian like arrows off a string. Gao Zhihang's First Squadron, relying on the BF109's excellent climb performance, quickly seized the altitude advantage, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to the Japanese Type 96 carrier fighters circling at medium-low altitude.

"First Squadron, follow me up! Priority attack on enemy escort fighters!" Gao Zhihang's voice reached every pilot's ears via radio.

The altitude-advantaged BF109s immediately dove toward the Type 96 carrier fighters below in two-plane formations.

Rat-tat-tat, boom!

A BF-109's 20mm cannon fired first, the shell precisely hitting the wing root of a Type 96 carrier fighter attempting to turn and evade.

The destructive effect of the 20mm shell was far beyond what the Japanese 7.7mm aircraft machine gun could compare to. A large chunk of the hit Type 96's wing was instantly blown off, the entire plane immediately lost control, trailing thick smoke as it tumbled toward the ground.

Other BF109s also latched onto their targets, the firepower of MG17 machine guns and 20mm cannons continuously switching fire in the air.

Although the Type 96 carrier fighter was maneuverable, it appeared powerless before the BF109's high-speed performance and firepower advantage. Japanese fighters were constantly hit, trailing black smoke as they fell, or exploding into fireballs in the air.

At the same time, the BF109s of the Second Squadron dove straight at the three conspicuous high-altitude balloons.

The Japanese escort fighters were tightly engaged by the First Squadron and simply could not effectively intercept.

After shooting down a Type 96, Gao Zhihang locked his gaze on the observation balloon at low altitude.

Seeing the Japanese high-altitude balloon retreating to the rear, obviously intending to leave the battlefield.

Gao Zhihang did not rush to destroy the high-altitude balloon with his cannon; a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Hmph, want to escape!"

Pushing the control stick, the BF109, at extremely high speed, roared past right beside the balloon's huge gasbag!

The violent turbulence and powerful wake generated by the high-speed fighter were like an invisible large hand, slamming hard onto the fragile balloon gasbag.

The Japanese observer Fujii and the radio operator in the basket felt the entire basket shake violently, the world spinning.

The Japanese in the basket grabbed the edge of the basket in terror; the binoculars and radio in their hands flew out of their grips.

"Damn it! Damn Chinese pilot, what's going on with the escort unit?" Fujii screamed in terror.

The balloon operator desperately tried to control the attitude, but it was too late.

Under Gao Zhihang's highly insulting high-speed pass disturbance, the gasbag structure endured enormous pressure, the gas inside leaked, the entire balloon lost balance, began to spin uncontrollably, and descended toward the ground of the Luodian Position.

"Damn it, we're going to fall into the enemy's position!"

"No~ save me!"

The three Japanese Navy men in the basket were terrified, watching the ground rapidly enlarge in their field of vision, but could do nothing, only letting out desperate howls.

The other two high-altitude balloons also did not escape. The BF109 pilots of the Second Squadron did the same thing, either directly strafing the gasbag with machine guns to destroy the balloon.

On land, the naval gun attack had already stopped. The Japanese Army's Third Division first dispatched the Eighteenth Regiment to attack the Luodian Position, while the Sixth Regiment waited for the right moment to attack the left wing of the Luodian Position.

Huang Wei received the news that the Japanese had stopped shelling, and immediately commanded everyone to return to the Luodian main position.

The officers and soldiers of the Sixty-Seventh Division emerged from the large anti-artillery caves one and a half kilometers behind the Luodian Position, rushing into the Luodian main position through communication trenches.

Huang Wei, from behind, saw through the artillery observation mirror that the Japanese high-altitude balloon had actually fallen into their own position, and couldn't help but find it funny: "Pass my order: not a single Japanese soldier in the balloon is to be spared; I don't want prisoners!"

After the officers and soldiers entered the position, they discovered a deflated high-altitude balloon slowly descending uncontrollably toward their own position.

"Fire!"

A company commander shouted, and the soldiers continuously fired at the basket.

When the balloon landed, they found the Japanese inside had already been shot into a sieve, their entire bodies full of bullet holes.

Soldiers of a battalion who had originally been hiding in cat ear holes had also long since crawled out of the caves, opening fire on the Japanese charging at the front.

More than ten rounds of salvo from the Japanese naval guns caused this battalion to suffer over a hundred casualties, mainly because the power of the 410mm naval gun was too great. However, for the entire division, it was acceptable to let the Japanese naval guns consume over a thousand naval shells at the cost of this loss.

All officers and soldiers of the Sixty-Seventh Division continuously rushed to the position through communication trenches, soon filling all the firepower points of the position.

Ying Sen Xiao, the regimental commander of the Eighteenth Regiment, first sent two squadrons, one on the left and one on the right, for a probing attack, but found the firepower of the Luodian Position to be very abundant.

"What?! Did the navy's naval guns fire rotten eggs?!"