Chapter 332: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 342: Prince, There Must Be a Reason for Doing This

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Lv Muzhi put down his radio headphones, turned his head, and said: "Just received a report: Anqing Airport has been completely destroyed and has completely lost its takeoff and landing capabilities. Anqing Port has also suffered heavy losses under our Air Force's comprehensive strikes."

General Shanov, after hearing the translation, smiled: "General Lv Muzhi, our first cooperation has gone so smoothly. For the Japanese army's forward base, this can be said to have dealt a heavy blow."

Ambassador A Leisi also seemed very excited, as if he had seen new hope.

Originally, the Xia Guo Army's momentum of retreating step by step caused great concern within the Soviet Union, fearing that the Japanese army would completely annex Xia Guo, so they dispatched aid and launched arms trade.

But now, this proactive sortie by the Youth Corps Air Force and the Soviet Volunteer Air Force has achieved great results. This made A Leisi see that Xia Guo's combat power remained intact, and the War of Resistance had prospects!

The Xia Guo Army, after hard battles, still possessed the ability to launch a proactive counterattack against the Japanese army. At least the Youth Corps was like this!

As long as Lv Muzhi's force is used well, letting him continuously launch proactive strikes against the Japanese army, the Japanese army, in order to maintain stability in the occupied areas, will inevitably transfer more troops to North China.

In that case, the material supplies requested by Lv Muzhi would be no problem for him.

Letting the Youth Corps grow step by step is beneficial and harmless to the Soviet Union; the ones with headaches will be the Japanese army.

By then, even if the Japanese army does not dispatch the Kwantung Army south from the Northeast, they will at least have no spare strength to continue strengthening the Kwantung Army.

The hidden dangers and pressure of the Soviet Union in the Far East will naturally be reduced, and the Japanese army can be made to sink deeper into the Xia Guo Battlefield.

A Leisi raised the list in his hand and said: "General Lu, the submachine guns and rifles you requested in the list can be directly supplied to the Youth Corps; I see no problem at all."

As for artillery and tanks, the scale is not small. We need to report to Moscow in detail the possible positive changes in the North China situation before we can apply for allocation."

He paused, his tone becoming serious: "However, to ensure my suggestion is passed domestically, my report must be very persuasive, so please fulfill your previous promise."

Besides this beautiful joint air raid, we also need to see actual ground actions by the Youth Corps.

A ground offensive capable of forcing the Japanese army to reassess the threat in North China. Can you do it?"

Lv Muzhi raised his wine cup and smiled slightly: "Of course. You will soon see the sorry sight of the Japanese army fleeing in panic in North China."

However, don't forget my rubles by then."

A Leisi smiled helplessly and raised his cup as well: "Of course I won't forget, my general!"

I also want to tell you good news: my country will give the Japanese devils a little scare, of course just a harmless joke..."

At the same time, about fifty kilometers west of Anqing.

Inside the cockpit of a Type 96 Land-based Attack Aircraft, the radio suddenly transmitted an urgent call.

After listening, the communications operator turned pale and turned to Major Chisaki on the plane: "Commander, emergency notification from the Air Corps Headquarters! Anqing Airport has been destroyed and cannot land! We are ordered to immediately divert to other airports and must avoid Anqing airspace; enemy planes are waiting for our return there!"

Chisaki's heart sank.

Everything was fine at departure, but home was raided upon return; now there's no way back.

This feeling is truly stifling!

Fortunately, the Type 96 Land Attack Bomber is a bomber with a long range, and the fuel is more than enough to divert.

But other fighter planes were not so lucky—especially those Japanese fighters that took off from aircraft carriers downstream of Anqing, or even from Jinling City.

These fighters originally had average range, and were flying with ammunition; after experiencing fierce battles over Ma Dang Fortress, both their ammunition and fuel had been greatly consumed.

Their fuel was almost gone; they originally planned to land at Anqing for supplies, but now had nowhere to go.

The worst part was that these fighters had no idea what had happened in the direction of Anqing!

As a bomber, the Type 96 Land Attack Bomber had a large fuselage, naturally with space for a radio, through which it could receive warnings from headquarters.

But many Japanese fighters were not equipped with radios at all, knew nothing about the dramatic changes in the rear, and flew straight to Anqing Airport to return.

This was completely different from the Youth Corps, where every BF109 was equipped with a radio.

The Japanese army thought they had taken a small advantage in the air battle over Ma Dang Fortress, using nearly two hundred fighters to overwhelm Xia Guo's fifty-plus fighters.

Among the victories, even some German fighters of the Youth Corps were shot down by the Japanese army.

This made the pilots of the Air Corps smug, discussing on their returning planes what to eat after returning to Anqing Base, and where to go for fun after eating and drinking their fill!

Thus, in high spirits, a large number of Japanese fighter pilots still flew toward Anqing.

Not a few Japanese pilots who thought they had won and were returning happily, when flying back over Anqing, saw not a flat runway, but rolling thick smoke and soaring firelight.

Immediately afterward, they encountered the BF109 formations that had been waiting there for a long time.

The Youth Corps pilots had deliberately reserved ammunition, specifically for this final blow.

The BF109 formations, waiting with ease and ample ammunition, dove down from the high clouds or the direction of the sun, dropped all camouflage, and swooped straight at the Japanese returning fighters.

The Japanese pilots wanted to resist, but many fighters had almost exhausted their ammunition in the Ma Dang air battle, making resistance difficult to be effective.

Moreover, dozens of Youth Corps fighters came from the Zhengzhou direction to take over the relay; this was clearly aimed at annihilating this exhausted force!

One Japanese plane after another, like tired birds returning to their nests, crashed into the hunting net without any defense, and were hunted down one by one.

Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi had already walked out of the air raid shelter, looking up at the Japanese planes constantly falling from the sky, his eyes full of regret.

He hated himself for being too eager to win, sending a large number of fighters toward Ma Dang, which left the rear empty and led to this disastrous defeat.

"Damn it... I already told you not to return..." Tokugawa Yoshitoshi gritted his teeth and said in a low voice.

"There's no way; many fighters had no fuel left... and they didn't have radios either..." the Staff Officer said helplessly.

On the side, Okamura Yasuji was urgently contacting Central China Expeditionary Army Commander Hata Shunroku, requesting to coordinate fighter support as much as possible, saving one plane if possible.

As for those bombers equipped with radios that received the warning, although they escaped disaster while diverting, some were still intercepted and pursued by Youth Corps fighters.

In just this one day, Tokugawa Yoshitoshi's Air Corps lost over a hundred fighters.

Once the news spreads tomorrow, it will surely cause a sensation internationally.

By the time the Japanese army's large-scale air reinforcements arrive, the Youth Corps' fighters will have already withdrawn to their own airfields, waiting for the next opportunity.

Tokugawa Yoshitoshi came alone to the now-ruined Anqing Airport.

Gazing at the charred corpses and shell craters covering the ground, the regret in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by surging fury, and he said to the adjutant beside him:

"Bring my personal aircraft. One day, I will take to the skies myself and settle this score!"

The adjutant said: "Your Excellency, your personal aircraft is an outdated fighter model; it's passable for transport, but not even mentioning the German fighters of the Youth Corps, even if you encounter the Russians' I-15 fighter plane, it would be a fight to the death!"

"Get me a Type 97 fighter! If my Air Corps is totally annihilated, this Vice Baron will become Baron Hell!"

"Piloting the last fighter plane to charge at the Youth Army and the Russians!" Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi said mournfully and indignantly.

Lieutenant General Gangcun Ningci was somewhat speechless, feeling that Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi had gone mad, and said consolingly: "There is no need to be so pessimistic; my Eleventh Army's five divisions are advancing along both banks of the Yangtze River. Although the attack on Ma Dang Fortress on the south bank failed, the army has not suffered a heavy blow, and the offensive can still be reorganized;"

"Don't forget, we still have the Second Army stationed at Hefei that has not been deployed! Provided that Prince Tōgū Toshihiko leads the Second Army's four divisions westward from the corridor between the Dabie Mountains North Foot and the Huai River, they can outflank the north side of Wuhan and attack Wuhan directly from the side!"

"The victory of this battle will ultimately belong to us!"

Tokugawa Yoshitoshi shook his head: "You mean Prince Tōgū Toshihiko? His Second Army has remained at Hefei, motionless. My Air Corps has never received his request for air support."

Okamura Yasuji pondered for a moment: "Prince Tōgū Toshihiko doing this... surely he has his own considerations."