Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Damn it! If no one comes soon, don't blame me if the planes at the airport are lost!" The Japanese major angrily threw down the phone.

He was certain that the one who attacked them was the Northeast Army. With the limited forces at their airport, it was simply impossible for them to stop the enemy.

"Major, Major!" A Japanese captain rushed in.

"Why are you running around instead of commanding the battle!" The Japanese major was furious.

"Major, the enemy's offensive is too fierce, and their marksmanship is extremely accurate. Our machine gunners are simply unable to suppress the enemy with firepower."

"In just two or three minutes, our casualties have already reached one or two hundred. If this continues, there's no way we can hold the airport," the Japanese captain said hastily.

It was because he saw the huge number of casualties in such a short period of time that he rushed over to report.

"What?! Even the machine gunners inside the bunkers can't suppress the enemy with fire?!" The Japanese major was shocked. To protect the airport, they had built multiple bunkers, making the defenses very tight.

"Major, there's really nothing we can do. The enemy's marksmanship is just too accurate. Although the window where the machine gun is placed is small, the enemy can still kill the machine gunner with one shot. I've never seen such a terrifying enemy," the Japanese captain said. He had personally witnessed the machine guns in the bunkers instantly go silent, and it wasn't just one or two, but more than a dozen bunkers.

"It seems that holding the airport is definitely not going to work. The only way is to retreat to the mountains not far from the airport. Only in this way can we have a chance to survive," the Japanese major said immediately.

The enemy's fighting strength was simply too strong. If they held out to the death, they would surely perish. Therefore, they only had one option: to escape.

"Major, there are still quite a few planes in the airport. Are we really going to retreat like this?! Will the regimental commander blame us then?" the Japanese captain said. In fact, he also preferred to retreat into the mountains so that he could use the terrain to escape.

"Then what do you think we should do?! Are we really going to hold out and wait for reinforcements?! Don't be silly, even if the regimental commander and the others get here, it will take them a long time, and by then we'll probably be dead!"
"Don't forget, there are hundreds of pilots at the airport. These pilots are far more valuable than the planes. As long as we can evacuate with the pilots, we won't be punished! In fact, we'll be rewarded!" the Japanese major said.

The other units suffered heavy casualties, and the higher-ups must have known that with their strength, they could not possibly hold the airfield after being attacked by that Northeast Army. Under such circumstances, if they could safely take the pilot away, it would be a great achievement.

"Understood. How many men should we leave to cover their retreat?!" The Japanese captain nodded and then asked. If they all retreated, the enemy would definitely not give them a chance. Therefore, it was still necessary to leave troops behind to block the enemy and buy them time to retreat.

"I'll take a squadron of soldiers to protect the pilot as he leaves, and the rest of you will be responsible for holding off the enemy!" the Japanese major immediately said.

He worried that taking too many people would make it impossible to stop the enemy, so taking only a company of soldiers would be enough. Once they escaped into the mountains, they could split up and act separately later.

The enemy's objective is basically the planes at the airport, so as long as they can retreat into the mountains, they will most likely be fine.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese captain nodded and left.

Meanwhile, the pilots in the dormitory had already come out. They looked at the battle not far away, their faces full of shock. The airport had actually been attacked by the enemy. They just didn't know what the situation was like up there.

"Oshima-kun, you jinxed me! You were right, the enemy actually found their way here!" Nakata couldn't help but curse at Oshima.

"What does this have to do with me? If the enemy wants to attack, does that mean they won't come if I don't tell them?" The Japanese soldier Oshima didn't want to take the blame. He just wanted to know if the soldiers in front could hold off the enemy's attack.

"Who exactly are the enemies who attacked the airport?! How dare they come?!"

"It must be that Northeast Army, otherwise I can't think of anyone else who would dare to attack a heavily guarded airport."

"What?! I heard that the Northeast Army has already wiped out the 33rd Brigade, and now they're attacking the airport. Can we stop them?!"

The group of Japanese pilots discussed amongst themselves, and when they heard that it was the Northeast Army that had attacked the airfield, they all felt immense pressure.

Because that Northeast Army had already killed many of their people, and even the airport in Taiyuan had been bombed by them.

"Baka! Stop making noise, what's all the fuss about! I'm going to find Major Kameda and ask him what's going on." At this moment, a Japanese pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel spoke up angrily.

The Japanese pilots immediately shut up and dared not say anything more.

After leaving the dormitory, the Japanese lieutenant colonel walked forward, but he hadn't gone far when he saw Major Kameda leading a number of soldiers.

"Kameda-kun, what's the situation now?! When will reinforcements arrive?!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel asked.

"Enough talk. Get all the pilots to retreat with us from the rear immediately," Major Kameda said sternly.

They need to retreat as quickly as possible, otherwise, he fears the enemy will storm the airport, and then no one will be able to escape.

"What?! The fighting has only been going on for a few minutes, and you're already retreating?!" The Japanese lieutenant colonel was stunned, not expecting the other side to say that.

"Baka! Stop wasting time and come with us. We can talk about anything after we leave the airport! If you don't want to leave, I can kill you right now!" Major Kameda's eyes flashed with murderous intent, startling the Japanese lieutenant colonel.

Normally, if Kameda dared to speak to him like that, he would definitely curse him out, but now, he was certain that if he said anything more, the other party would really dare to shoot.

Soon, the group arrived at the pilots' dormitory. With the order to retreat being given, the pilots breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, they all felt that since they couldn't stop the enemy's attack, they should withdraw. As for the planes in the airport, they could only leave them to the enemy.

.........

Taiyuan, inside the Japanese army camp.

Seishiro Itagaki finally managed to fall asleep, only to be woken up again. He was furious, but he also knew that the news at this hour must be urgent.

He rushed to the communications room, and after answering the phone, Seishiro Itagami's eyes widened as he listened to the voice coming from the other end, and his drowsiness vanished instantly.

"Baka! What did you say?! Which Northeast Army unit attacked Airport No. 4?!" Itagaki Seishiro questioned, doubting if he had misheard. "Division Commander, it's true. The airport isn't too far from the Huangyun Mountain area, and the enemy is perfectly capable of getting there quickly! My question is, should I send men to support the airport?! I'm worried they might ambush my men along the way," the Japanese regimental commander stated, getting to the heart of the matter.

To be honest, he was genuinely worried about being ambushed by that Northeast Army. He wasn't afraid of others retreating, but that Northeast Army was ridiculously strong. Being ambushed by them would definitely mean certain death.

As soon as he said that, Seishiro Itagata fell silent.

He knew that although the airport's garrison could hold off most of the enemy, they were no match for Mu Jin's troops. Sending reinforcements now could very well result in an enemy ambush.

At that time, not only will the airport be lost, but casualties will also increase. The problem is that if they are evacuated like this, the planes in the airport will be completely gone.

"Division Commander, are you still there?!" The Japanese regimental commander couldn't help but ask when he heard silence on the other end of the phone.

"No need to send reinforcements. You just stay and guard the county town. Oh, and have the airport commander immediately evacuate the pilots. The enemy's objective is to bomb the planes."

"As long as they evacuate the airport and escape into the mountains, they will be safe." Seishiro Itagaki took a deep breath and then explained the plan.

Airplanes can be rebuilt, but if pilots are lost, it takes much longer to train them, and the resources required are enormous.

Therefore, all they need to do right now is keep the pilots so that there will be pilots to continue flying planes in the future.

"Understood, I'll call them right away and tell them to withdraw." The Japanese regimental commander hung up the phone after saying that.

"Damn it! How could I have forgotten about the airport!" Seishiro Itagata cursed angrily. He really hadn't expected that the enemy would be able to find the location of their airport and launch an attack.

"Division Commander, what happened?!" At this moment, the Japanese brigade commander, Oda Ichiro, ran in. He had just seen the division commander rushing towards the communications room, and he knew that something must have happened.

"Airport No. 4 was attacked by that Northeast Army." Itagaki Seishiro sighed and explained the situation.

"What?! How is this possible?! How could the enemy know the location of the airport?!" the Japanese brigade commander exclaimed in shock.

"Perhaps it's just a coincidence. Fortunately, nothing happened at the other airports, otherwise it would have been a huge problem," said Seishiro Itaga.

Although the other airports are not particularly far from Airport No. 4, they are still about 20 miles away. It is impossible for the enemy to be able to find even these airports.

"Division Commander, I don't think it's necessarily a coincidence. I suspect the enemy has been preparing for this for a long time. Ever since the bombing of Taiyuan Airport, they've probably been searching for the location of our new airport," Oda Ichiro said with a serious expression.

Although this statement greatly flatters Mu Jin, he felt that Mu Jin might have genuinely considered these things, since the threat posed by airplanes to that Northeast Army was actually quite significant.

Therefore, when the Northeast Army fought against them, they basically wouldn't choose to fight during the day. Even when the enemy attacked the 33rd Brigade, it was when the planes were dealing with the Eighth Route Army.

By the time they realized they needed to call in aircraft for support, the 33rd Brigade was already wiped out!

"If that's the case, then the other three airports will probably be attacked too?!" Itagaki Seishiro's expression changed. If all the planes at the airports were bombed by Mu Jin, then the difficulty for them to deal with Mu Jin would increase again.

“I think we’ll be attacked. After they take this airport, they’ll move on to another one,” Oda Ichiro said slowly.

Although these were all just guesses, he felt that they had to be treated with such caution. To deal with that Northeast Army, they would need air power to strike.

"Damn it!! That guy, Mu Jin, probably already planned to bomb the airport from the beginning!" Itagaki Seishiro gritted his teeth, increasingly afraid of Mu Jin. How could someone be so terrifying? Was he even human?!

Since they began fighting Mu Jin, they have suffered defeat after defeat, gaining no advantage whatsoever, as if Mu Jin were an invincible force.

"Division Commander, stop hoping for the best. The pilots must get the planes off the airport by tomorrow," Oda Ichiro continued. He was worried that the division commander might be complacent, and it would be difficult to retreat later.

"Understood!" Seishiro Itagata said with a hint of helplessness. Just as he was about to make a call, the phone in front of him rang.

"Division Commander, I have already ordered them to evacuate the airfield with the pilots," came the voice of the Japanese regimental commander.

"Hmm, very good. Send someone to the airport tomorrow to retrieve the remains of the soldiers who died in the battle," Itagaki Seishiro instructed.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese regimental commander hung up the phone.

Just as Seishiro Itagami was about to make a call to someone else, the phone rang again, and he then received another message: Airport No. 3 had been attacked.

Seishiro Itahira also gave the order for the airport staff to take the pilot away.

Immediately afterwards, calls came from Airport No. 2 and Airport No. 1, all saying that the airport had been attacked. This left Seishiro Itagata completely stunned. He issued a series of orders to have the airport staff take the pilots away, and then, like a deflated balloon, he sat down in his chair.

"Division Commander, cheer up! As long as the pilots are still alive, we can still have air superiority here!" Oda Ichiro quickly comforted him.

He hadn't expected the enemy to attack four airports simultaneously; he had thought they would attack one airport at a time, but it seemed he had been overthinking it.

"This is outrageous!!!" Seishiro Itagata was furious.

"Is there not a single good news to be reported?! It's all bad news!!! Why isn't this Northeast Army in another war zone!!!" Itagaki Seishiro was truly on the verge of losing his composure.

If this Northeast Army were in another war zone, he might not have been under so much pressure, but unfortunately, Mu Jin was in his war zone!
With over two hundred aircraft at four airports, they completely lost air superiority here. Without these aircraft, they would need the Empire to send more planes, which would take a long time.

"Division Commander, calm down. We still have to deal with that Northeast Army. Even without air support, we can still handle the enemy, although the casualties will be greater. But as long as we can kill that Northeast Army, everything will still be alright! You can't give up now!" Oda Ichiro said repeatedly, afraid that Itagaki Seishiro would become discouraged and unable to deal with the Northeast Army. (End of Chapter)