Anti-Japanese War: Starting from Yaobai

Chapter 3070 A great battle is imminent, and a storm is brewing!
Inside Matsubara Castle, in Prince Kitashirakawa's office, a Japanese communications soldier came running breathlessly and handed a telegram to the prince: "Your Excellency, a telegram from the Tugou!"

Prince Kitashirakawa Minami slowly unfolded the telegram, his eyes quickly scanning its contents.

After reading it, his expression instantly became more complex, and he muttered a curse: "Damn it, these idiots, do they think I'd believe a telegram like this? Kill fifty or sixty people? If they could kill five or six of the enemy, I'd consider them capable."

However, despite the criticism, Prince Kitashirakawa still held this mutt in high regard.

Although Tu Gou exaggerated in his report, at least they weren't completely wiped out, and they even found the missing underground party member. This was undoubtedly good news for him.

Because in this way, as long as his army sweeps through, the anti-Japanese brigade and the underground party will all be wiped out.

Prince Beibai was smug and was about to give the order for the troops to prepare to set off the next day.

Just then, a Japanese communications soldier came to report.

"Your Highness, a telegram from the Fengtian Railway!"

Prince Kitashirakawa Minami took the telegram, placed it on the table, and read it. He found the report to be fairly detailed.
Report from Lu Hang on the Anti-Japanese Brigade's Air Defense Operations
Today, our air squadron was ordered to launch a probing attack on the anti-Japanese squadron's base, aiming to ascertain its air defense deployment and combat capabilities, and to provide crucial intelligence for subsequent large-scale military operations.

However, this operation encountered fierce resistance from the anti-Japanese brigade, and our side suffered relatively serious losses. The specific situation is reported as follows:

I. Course of the Battle

My flight squadron dispatched a total of 36 fighter planes, divided into three attack waves, to launch an attack on the anti-Japanese squadron's base from different directions.

As they approached the target area, the anti-Japanese brigade's anti-aircraft artillery positions quickly went into combat mode, firing very densely to form a relatively tight anti-aircraft fire network.

In the first wave of attacks, our fighter jets attempted to break through their defenses by low-altitude penetration, but were met with fierce fire from anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns.

Several fighter jets were hit by artillery shells, their fuselages were damaged, and some even exploded and caught fire on the spot, crashing near the anti-Japanese brigade's base.

Seeing this, I immediately adjusted my tactics, ordering subsequent waves of fighters to increase their altitude and use their onboard machine guns to straf the anti-aircraft gun positions while simultaneously dropping aerial bombs.

However, the artillerymen of the anti-Japanese brigade demonstrated extremely high tactical skills and fighting spirit.

They quickly adjusted their firing angle and continued to fire fiercely at our fighter jets with extremely high accuracy.

In the fierce firefight, our fighter jets were repeatedly hit, resulting in the loss or damage of many aircraft.

II. Circumstances of Loss

After half an hour of intense fighting, twelve aircraft have been confirmed to have been shot down, including three relatively advanced fighter jets.

In addition, several other fighter jets suffered varying degrees of damage, with some too badly damaged to continue their missions and forced to return to base for repairs.

Regarding personnel, 12 pilots are missing and their fate is unknown, while 3 other pilots are injured, one of whom is seriously injured and has been urgently sent to a rear hospital for treatment.

III. Analysis of the Anti-Japanese Brigade's Air Defense Capabilities

Judging from this operation, the Anti-Japanese Brigade possessed a relatively complete air defense system. Its anti-aircraft gun positions were rationally laid out, with a wide fire coverage area, enabling it to effectively strike our aircraft at different altitudes and from different directions.

Moreover, their artillerymen are skilled in operation and react quickly, enabling them to accurately strike aerial targets in a short period of time, demonstrating high military skills and combat proficiency.

Meanwhile, the anti-Japanese brigade's air defense weaponry was also quite advanced. The anti-aircraft guns they used had a long range, a high rate of fire, and great power, posing a serious threat to our combat units.

In addition, we observed that the anti-Japanese brigade was equipped with a certain number of anti-aircraft machine guns, which played an important role in close-range defense and further enhanced their air defense capabilities.

IV. Recommendations and Follow-up Actions
In light of the painful lessons learned from this operation, I recommend that the threat posed by the air defenses of the anti-Japanese forces be fully considered when taking further military action against them.

In terms of air force operations, tactics should be further optimized to avoid concentrated deployment of fighter jets. Instead, dispersed penetration and multi-point attacks can be adopted to reduce the risk of being targeted by concentrated anti-aircraft artillery.

At the same time, protective measures for fighter jets should be strengthened to improve their survivability.

In addition, I recommend strengthening joint operations with ground forces.

While the air force suppresses enemy air defenses, ground troops should advance rapidly, occupy advantageous terrain, and destroy enemy anti-aircraft artillery positions to create favorable conditions for subsequent military operations.

The failure of this operation has made our unit deeply aware of the heavy responsibility. Our unit will carefully summarize the lessons learned, adjust our combat strategies, and contribute our strength to the Empire's conquest of this land.

Flight Commander: Ichiro Saito

"Humph."

Prince Kitashirakawa tossed the report aside and let out a contemptuous snort.

The information conveyed in the report was indeed close to his guess.

The anti-Japanese brigade possessed air defense capabilities, and they had artillerymen skilled in operating these advanced air defense weapons.

This is not good news for him, as it means that his air force will face certain obstacles in future operations, and losses may increase significantly.

However, this isn't exactly bad news.

Prince Kitashirakawa knew very well that he had no intention of completely overwhelming the opponent with his air force.

In his strategic plan, the air force was only one part, a tool used to probe, harass, and deplete the strength of the anti-Japanese forces.

What truly determined the outcome was his well-equipped and well-trained ground forces.

"However, the air defense capabilities of this group of anti-Japanese elements are stronger than I imagined."

Prince Kitashirakawa Minami muttered to himself, a hint of seriousness in his eyes.

He walked to the map, his eyes fixed on the location of the anti-Japanese brigade's camp, and began to plan his next move.

"Since the air force cannot easily gain an advantage, let the ground troops take action ahead of time."

Prince Kitashirakawa thought to himself: It seems that the ground troops need to speed up and catch the anti-Japanese brigade off guard before they are fully prepared.

Thinking of this, Kitashirakawa Minami ordered, "Pass down the order to all units to prepare for battle. Tomorrow at dawn, we will launch a full-scale attack on the Anti-Japanese Brigade's position!"

"Hi!"

The messenger obeyed and left, while Prince Kitashirakawa walked to the office window, looking at the scenery outside, feeling a sense of impending doom.