Chapter 314: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 314 Tsuchiya Yuan: Impossible, Absolutely Impossible

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Cao County lies between Heze and Shangqiu, a necessary route for Tsuchiya Yuan's Fourteenth Division to head north back to Heze.

Tsuchiya Kenji sat in the armored command vehicle, ears pricked to the rumbling cannon fire ahead, looking utterly incredulous.

Tsuchiya Yuan's Fourteenth Division, after reinforcements, numbered over thirty thousand; even without counting tank units, its artillery alone far surpassed other elite divisions.

Besides its own artillery regiment, Tsuchiya Yuan's division had been reinforced with a heavy artillery brigade, a field heavy artillery regiment, a mortar battalion, and two anti-aircraft squadrons.

With so many cannons, Tsuchiya Yuan feared nothing from Xia Guo's Central Army—until he met Lv Muzhi's Youth Army.

The vanguard ahead had been struck by the Youth Army's Second Army artillery; Tsuchiya Yuan knew well that was no ordinary cannon fire.

The explosions were so dense they could hardly be counted, instantly covering an area several kilometers wide ahead.

The earth shook violently; even from this distance, the armored command vehicle he rode in swayed slightly.

Through binoculars, one could even see the fiery trails of shells still flying in the sky.

A battle report came from the vanguard: Colonel Sakai, who had been clearing the road ahead, had retreated back in an armored vehicle.

"Divisional Commander, the enemy's artillery is ferocious; our tank units cannot pass and must detour!"

Division Commander Tsuchiya Yuan looked back at his division.

The entire Fourteenth Division's retreat stretched for several kilometers—tanks, trucks, towed artillery, supply vehicles, mules and horses—all crammed onto this not-so-wide road.

Large numbers of Imperial Infantry waited in the fields on both sides of the road for marching orders.

Speed had slowed far more than expected; the division's massive heavy equipment and artillery units dragged down the overall pace.

Tsuchiya Yuan couldn't figure out why his heavy artillery moved so slowly while the Youth Army's cannons moved so fast, already getting ahead of him.

"What on earth is going on, Colonel Sakai? Are you sure you tried your best?! Enemy heavy artillery shouldn't be able to move this fast; how could it suddenly get ahead of us!" Division Commander Tsuchiya Yuan questioned.

Colonel Sakai said firmly: "From the firepower I saw, the heavy artillery intercepting us numbers no fewer than two heavy artillery brigades!"

"The lead tank squadron... several tanks were blown right over! The infantry simply cannot pass!"

"The Second Army's tanks and infantry are also gathering in Cao County ahead!"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Tsuchiya Kenji exclaimed.

Xia Guo's Central Army heavy artillery brigades had long withdrawn from the battlefield; how could they gather such a massive heavy artillery group in Cao County, already fallen, in such a short time?

Moreover, this firepower density and coverage speed completely exceeded his understanding of heavy artillery units.

Even if all four of his own artillery regiments fired a salvo together, they couldn't produce this instantaneous coverage effect!

Colonel Sakai simply said: "Why don't we also deploy our heavy artillery and have a real fight with the Youth Army? See whose cannons are more powerful!"

"I will lead the tank units in another charge! I will definitely lead Divisional Commander out of the encirclement!"

The Chief of Staff shook his head: "Absolutely not; once we stop, the Youth First Army on the Longhai Line behind us will catch up, and then we'll be attacked front and rear, and no one can save us!"

Just then, a roar came from the sky.

Not cannon fire, but the roar of many airplane engines.

The entire Fourteenth Division immediately sounded the air-raid alarm.

"Divisional Commander! Air raid! Large numbers of enemy aircraft are coming from the southwest!" the commander of the anti-aircraft troops shouted loudly.

Tsuchiya Kenji looked up and saw dense black dots on the southwestern skyline.

So many they blotted out the sky and covered the sun!

They formed attack formations, like eagles swooping for prey, diving down on the marching column of the Fourteenth Division.

"Anti-aircraft! All first and second anti-aircraft squadrons, all machine guns, take positions! Quick!" the commander of the anti-aircraft troops immediately issued the air-defense order.

At three thousand meters altitude, Major General Regimental Commander Gao Zhihang of the Southwest Air Force sat in the cockpit of a BF109 Fighter, looking down through the glass canopy.

In this battle, the Southwest Air Force dispatched over a hundred fighters and bombers, vowing to devour Tsuchiya Yuan's mechanized division.

"All battalions, note: execute the attack according to the plan." Gao Zhihang's voice came over the radio, "Fighter First Squadron, sweep the enemy escort fighters, suppress the high altitude;

Second Squadron, attack the front of the enemy marching column, focus on finding and striking Japanese tanks and towed vehicles; Third Squadron, search and attack Japanese artillery, focusing on enemy anti-aircraft fire!

Bomber First Squadron, attack freely!

Begin action!"

The huge formation immediately split into multiple groups.

Gao Zhihang personally led the twenty-seven BF109 Fighters of the First Squadron, using their excellent climb rate to quickly seize higher airspace, stand guard, deal with possible Japanese warplanes, and provide cover for the attack groups below.

The BF-109s of the Fighter Second and Third Squadrons were like sharks smelling blood, diving down on the marching column of the Fourteenth Division.

The Bomber First Squadron was a newly formed squadron; Lv Muzhi had scrounged up many warplanes from all over—Douglas Bombers, Martin 139s, Northrop 2EC Bombers, and German-made He111 Bombers—finally assembling twenty-seven bombers to form a bomber squadron.

The main model of the Bomber First Squadron was the Martin 139 Bomber, and the second most numerous was the German-made He111 Bomber.

Under the cover of BF109 Fighters, the bombers opened their bellies one after another, pouring down the aerial bombs they carried, launching a wild bombardment on the dense Japanese troops on the ground.

On the ground, the Japanese troops were in utter chaos.

The soldiers jumped off the trucks in panic, looking everywhere for cover.

The Japanese truck drivers towing artillery drove their vehicles off the road and into the fields on both sides;

The Japanese anti-aircraft artillery troops deployed on the spot and counterattacked the Southwest Air Force in the sky.

"Enemy aircraft diving! 25mm anti-aircraft guns, fire!"

"Machine gun teams, aim at the sky!"

In the Japanese ranks, the 25mm anti-aircraft guns quickly swung their barrels, the gunners frantically turning the direction and elevation machines, trying to lock onto those high-speed diving fighters.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

The mm Machine Gun Group opened fire in rapid succession, weaving a somewhat sparse curtain of fire.

Suddenly, several puffs of black smoke erupted near the wing of a BF109 Fighter in a dive—the fragmentation from near-miss mm shells—but the pilot showed no fear, using his mm Cannon to open fire on the Ghost anti-aircraft gun group on the ground.

Two fire snakes, one shooting from the ground into the air, one from the air into the ground.

Puff puff puff puff!

With a sound of exploding blood and flesh, the BF109 Fighter climbed away after completing its attack, while on the Ghost's mm anti-aircraft gun position, a pile of rotting meat now hung.