Chapter 278: Bridgehead Fortress, Yidu

Jiang Anguo himself was also crazy, bringing a Division and a Regiment to attack Yichang, which already had the forces of a Division and was a Class A Division.

Jiang Anguo is a madman, also gambling.

But he is seventy percent sure of taking Yidu; whether it's ground firepower or air power, at this moment they are already on his side.

The most important thing is that now the sky belongs to Jiang Anguo!

"Tell Quan Zong, the fighter aircraft will reach Yidu's airspace in ten minutes; have him watch and mark for the air units," Jiang Anguo shouted loudly at the communications soldier.

Xu Guozhang's eyes brightened; if this battle can get air support, the loss for the 150th Division will be minimized.

Independent First Battalion, Battalion Commander Quan Zong, specialty: mountain.

Quan Zong can be said to have followed the 200th Division under Dai Anlan, seized Dongzhi, fought Xibu, and then the Tonggu counterattack.

Fought half of Myanmar's campaign.

He can be considered a veteran of the battlefield, and now has become the commander of the Independent First Battalion.

The Independent Regiment led the first unit to the combat site following the 150th Division, which was Quan Zong's First Battalion; this time the two main attacking units, besides the Independent First Battalion, were the 448th Regiment of the 150th Division under Xu Guozhang, whose regiment commander is Xie Boluan.

At this moment the two lay on the ground atop a hill outside Yidu city, able to see the Little Devils inside Yidu, and suddenly the guard went into martial law.

Obviously something caused the Little Devils to be so tense.

Xie Boluan looked eastward; the sky was about to brighten.

"Company Commander Quan, we have already missed the scheduled attack time; are we sure we should keep waiting?" Xie Boluan said anxiously.

Quan Zong's face was expressionless, and he said, "Regiment Commander Xie, no need to rush; Changde is only a little over a hundred kilometers from Yidu, the fighter aircraft need only half an hour to reach Yidu's airspace. After we pull out those Little Devils' bunkers, launching the attack will not be too late!"

Xie Boluan, helpless, could only continue lying on the ground, waiting anxiously.

On Yidu's west side, after Quan Zong reached outside Yidu city, he immediately ordered the Artillery Company, its commander Mi Long, to advance westward, i. e., west of Yidu city, forming a pincer attack to assault Yidu.

Of course, Mi Long's unit's main role was to confuse the enemy.

The main reason Quan Zong dared to split forces like this was that there were not many Little Devils inside Yidu.

The Little Devils had about a battalion of 1,100 men, while Quan Zong's Independent Battalion had 653 men; of course, Quan Zong also brought the entire regiment's Artillery Company, though it had no artillery.

After Jiang Anguo reached Wufeng Mountain, the artillery had already been delivered into Quan Zong's hands.

Shi Xiaomao stroked the 75mm field gun, looking at the specks of Yidu in the distance; he had already aimed the barrel at those positions outside Yidu city, and he believed that as soon as the combat order was issued, his Artillery Company could swiftly eliminate those Little Devils' fire points.

In the distant sky, a muffled roar grew louder.

"It's coming!" Xie Boluan slammed a fist into the soil before him, the splintered dust seeming to tremble with suppressed excitement. He stared at the sky, feeling a great weight finally lift. If they waited any longer, dawn would break and their whole plan to assault Yidu would become even harder.

He knew all too well how hard the city was to bite.

Quan Zong beside him remained silent, watching the steel beasts drawing nearer in the sky, and he decisively growled, "Signal flares! Aim at the Little Devils' bunkers, give them direction!"

"Yes." the nearby soldier replied immediately.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

More than ten dazzling arcs of light sliced the night, precisely striking the defensive works outside Yidu that the Japanese Army boasted about.

Meanwhile, inside Yidu city.

In the Japanese bunker, the night sentinel yawned, clearly still half-asleep.

This damned weather, both humid and stifling.

The Japanese soldier lowered his head and cursed.

"What is that?" he was startled, and before he could react, a huge black shadow silently pressed down under the red light.

"Enemy attack! Air raid!" a shrill alarm instantly shattered Yidu's tranquility.

In the high sky, pilot Nick caught sight of the signal flares blooming on the ground from the left side window, a slight smile at his mouth. He opened the radio, his voice calm and decisive: "Target acquired, Hawks, follow me!"

The engine's roar suddenly intensified, the P-38 lightning fighter dived toward the death zone marked by the signal flares.

Nick's aircraft swept over Yidu's airspace first.

The Japanese forces defending Yidu were the Infantry 58th Regiment's First Battalion, commanded by Battalion Commander Sasaki.

In fact, inside Yidu, Sasaki had already ordered his soldiers to prepare defenses, because he had received a Telegram from Yichang early in the morning.

He already knew about the transport fleet being attacked at dawn.

The Japanese 13th Division, its division commander Neishan Yingtairang ordered all units in the area to be cautious, to prevent Chinese forces from launching an attack on Yichang.

But he did not expect the attack to come so suddenly.

He also saw the fighter aircraft in the distance.

"Baka, organize the troops for air defense," Sasaki shouted.

"Yes." the Japanese soldier replied.

The Japanese never imagined that one day they would have to conduct air defense, because the Chinese sky had been constantly ravaged by Japanese aircraft, and in just one day all the Central China's Japanese airfields were crippled, leaving only a few aircraft, and the bomber formations were almost entirely destroyed.

"First squad, bomb with me, the Yidu mission; Second squad, your target is the bunker on Xiaoting hill."

"Yes, Captain."

"Understood."

In the sky, eighteen P-38 fighter aircraft instantly split into two groups, with nine aircraft continuing northward toward Xiaoting.

"First squad, follow me," Nick shouted, excitedly doing a roll in the air, leading the other aircraft toward the bunker marked on the ground by the signal flares, and Nick pressed the bomb‑release button.

Boom!

Boom!

The deafening explosion roared as a five‑hundred‑kilogram bomb was dropped onto the Japanese bunker.

Even if it missed the target, anyone within the blast radius would have their internal organs shattered.

In one bunker, a Japanese machine gunner remained in a prone position, yet he showed no movement; his ears, eyes, and nose all bled.

He was killed outright by the bomb's force.

The explosions continued, nine five‑hundred‑kilogram bombs in total; the fragments and shockwaves were enough to destroy a Division's forces.

"You turtle son, that was satisfying!" Regiment Commander of the 448th Regiment Xie Boluan shook his head, then scratched his ears, these air force guys are really ruthless!

From this spot Xie Boluan could just see the blast points, the huge craters, and the Sandbag scattered around; these had all been Little Devil positions before, and in an instant they turned to ash and dust.

Outside Yidu, it was like a fireworks feast.