Chapter 115: The th Division Still Fights

After the BF109 completed its first round of attacks on the Japanese Army positions, Song Yunfei piloted the aircraft and immediately made a rapid climb toward the northeast of Xibu; they would launch two rounds of attacks on the enemy.

It was not a reckless air raid, but an air strike following the direction of the th Division's advance.

Song Yunfei had only four BF109s; if he had forty aircraft, he could flip Xibu upside down!

This time, their bullets will be even more precise; the Japanese positions form a north‑south line, and Song Yunfei's maneuver circles around from the north of Xibu back, making the fighter and the Japanese positions line up in a straight line.

Clank clank clank.

The BF109's machine‑gun bullets swept the ground troops again; after two rounds of fighter sweeps, few Japanese remain standing on the First Defensive Line.

Song Yunfei immediately led three fighters over Xibu, firing the remaining ammunition into the city; he had specifically reminded everyone to conserve ammo to ensure they could still attack the Japanese inside Xibu.

The main purpose was to delay the Japanese actions inside Xibu; the 148th Regiment would surely send troops to support the outer Japanese positions, but Song Yunfei's raid would slow that support.

"Regimental Commander, they look like our people," one pilot said, spotting a group on the ground dressed like Expeditionary Force soldiers.

Song Yunfei wasn't sure, but he could be certain they weren't Japanese, because that group hadn't moved since the attack began.

Indeed, they weren't mistaken; it was the 148th Regiment, or the 56th Division, holding over two thousand Expeditionary Force prisoners, some of whom were British.

The reason they weren't killed is that, from the start of the Southeast Asia campaign, the Japanese knew they would later need to build railways for logistics, so they required massive labor.

Those able to serve as soldiers were naturally the best labor.

That explains why so many Expeditionary Force soldiers were detained in Xibu.

The 148th Regiment never expected the enemy to have bombers and fighters; they were beaten into a panic, the earlier bombers hadn't recovered, and the second wave of fighter attacks overwhelmed the soldiers inside Xibu.

Honestly, trying to damage fighters with only rifles and machine guns is very difficult.

Regimental Commander Xiangyuan Wuwei Zhi Fu saw the loss report, frowned, and realized Xibu couldn't hold; after just two bombing runs, the 148th Regiment had lost one‑sixth of its manpower.

The problem was worse: over half the soldiers were being moved due to casualties, many houses had collapsed, and numerous soldiers were trapped underneath, needing rescue.

Song Yunfei made a decision: the fighters would turn around and fly back.

"Regimental Commander, we're out of ammunition," one pilot reported over the radio.

Song Yunfei knew his aircraft was also nearly out of ammo.

"I understand, obeying orders," Song Yunfei said calmly.

"Understood."

It wasn't just the other pilots who didn't understand.

Jiang Anguo also faced a problem: the bombers from the first wave had returned to Lashu Airport, and re‑arming them was a major issue.

He had no ground crew, and Jiang Anguo had no extra personnel to exchange, which made him very anxious.

Pilots can reload, but arming four bombers isn't something eight pilots can finish in a short time; it takes time.

Bombers need to be loaded with ordnance and refueled, both requiring crew; only a few were available.

Time waits for no one; any delay here would cause many th Division soldiers on the front to die.

Calming down, Jiang Anguo rushed to the hangar and once again exchanged for four Stuka bombers, each loaded with ordnance.

Moreover, ten additional ordnance units were available on the ground.

"Damn, I'm a genius." With no slots or weapon limits, Jiang Anguo directly secured the bombers.

Move the armory, Jiang Anguo!

"Someone, push the outside bombers off the runway; pilots, start the bombers quickly to support Xibu," Jiang Anguo shouted.

Since re‑arming the bombers wasted time, Jiang Anguo swapped in new aircraft.

"Yes."

Soon, the Guard Company soldiers moved the bombers away.

Watching the bombers take off again in the sky, Jiang Anguo smiled with satisfaction as the numbers on his system raced.

This must be that Song Yunfei's BF109s have already carried out ground attacks on the Japanese, causing significant damage.

In fact, when Jiang Anguo saw the th Division's wounded, he hadn't expected Dai Anlan to transport the injured by cargo plane.

"Get the wounded to the hospital quickly for treatment." Lashu has a comprehensive medical system, which naturally belongs to Jiang Anguo, and medical supplies are abundant.

Actually, Lashu's supplies were already ample, but after Staff Corps Lin Wei left, the command's secretarial staff also left, and the medical personnel retreated inland.

Jiang Anguo had already assigned military doctors to each unit, and Lashu had a dedicated hospital, now taken over by Jiang Anguo.

The main point is that Jiang Anguo himself hadn't considered using a transport plane to move the wounded.

Fortunately, Dai Anlan thought of this, which can greatly lessen the impact of the wounded on the th Division's operations.

Reducing the number of wounded allows the th Division to pull more troops for an offensive against the Japanese.

The 600th Regiment smoothly captured the first position of Xibu.

At the same time, the 600th Division suffered some combat casualties, but the command was most affected.

"Division Commander, lie down and don't move," Chief of Staff Zhang Zhige said.

During the charge, stray fire hit Dai Anlan's abdomen.

It wasn't until breaking through the first line that Dai Anlan leaned on his guard, who also realized something was wrong.

Zhang Zhige immediately thought of something and said, "Bring the medic from the Eighth Company right away."

Dai Anlan's face turned pale, yet he gritted his teeth and told those around him, "Everyone must keep this secret; other soldiers must not know the Division's situation. Continue fighting, break through Xibu, and bring the brothers home!"

"Yes."

With those words, Dai Anlan's pain subsided!

This was the moment to deliver a decisive blow to the Japanese; if Dai Anlan fell now, the th Division's morale would suffer greatly.

The soul of the th Division is Dai Anlan.

If news spread that Dai Anlan was incapacitated, the assault on Xibu would become impossible.