Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

After hearing these words, Seishiro Itaga gradually calmed down. The planes at the airport were doomed, but as long as the pilots could escape, there was still hope.

With pilots here, their air force can be assembled immediately when planes arrive, and they can regain air superiority over this area.

"Division Commander, are you feeling better now?" Oda Ichiro asked softly, his tone full of concern.

“It’s alright, you’re right. Our most important task now is to eliminate that Northeast Army. Although the lack of air strikes will make things more difficult, we must take care of them no matter the cost!” Itagaki Seishiro said slowly, his eyes resolute. He had only one thought in mind: to destroy one of the Empire’s greatest enemies.

"Division Commander, that's right! It's just a force of a few thousand men. With so many of us deployed, how could we not be able to handle them?!" Oda Ichiro breathed a sigh of relief and spoke up.

“However, what I’m a little worried about now is that we’ve lost air superiority here. Once the Nationalist army gets the news, won’t they send planes over?” Oda Ichiro frowned and expressed his concern.

It is important to understand that air superiority is a decisive factor in the victory of a campaign in a region. Without air superiority, logistics cannot be guaranteed, and the front-line troops will encounter difficulties.

Once supplies and ammunition are scarce, even the most skilled soldiers will be unable to withstand the enemy's attack, since they cannot withstand bullets.

"You don't need to worry about that. They're still negotiating with the Empire. Although they haven't made a statement yet, they would never dare to attack us at this time."

Therefore, our current enemies are actually the Eighth Route Army and that Northeast Army! Itagaki Seishiro was quite confident about this.

Just like when the Taiyuan airport was bombed by the enemy, the Nationalist army didn't dare to attack them. This shows that the Nationalist army was actually not very willing to take the initiative to attack them.

“If that’s the case, we won’t have much trouble. We can focus on dealing with that Northeast Army.” Oda Ichiro nodded. Since they didn’t have to worry about the air, their logistics wouldn’t have any major problems either. This would give them a better chance of dealing with that Northeast Army.

"Division Commander, shouldn't we inform the Commander about the airport situation?" Oda Ichiro said again.

As soon as he said that, Itagaki Seishiro fell silent. Last time, when he lost more than 300 aircraft, he was severely scolded by Commander Shinotsuka. Although the number of losses this time was not as large as last time, the number of people they lost in the past two days was too many. In addition to the lost aircraft, he didn't know how the commander would scold him.

"Sigh... I should tell the commander after all. I'll tell him tomorrow morning. Let's not disturb him for now and let him get some rest," Itagaki Seishiro said with a sigh.

Telling the commander now won't help; at most, it will keep him awake at night and make him curse at you. It's better to wait until the commander has rested before telling him.

“That’s fine. The airport has been destroyed, so we’ll have to build a new one. Or, let’s just use the airport in Taiyuan. The enemy isn’t here now. If the higher-ups can send planes over, it will be easier to annihilate that Northeast Army,” Oda Ichiro said.

In fact, the new airport in Taiyuan had been built long ago. It was only because they were worried that the enemy would attack again that they built other new airports. But unexpectedly, the enemy was still able to find their airport and destroy it. It was really unexpected.

“Yes, that’s all we can do for now.” Seishiro Itaga nodded in agreement.

.........

At this time, outside Airport No. 4, the soldiers of the Special Operations Regiment were still launching a fierce attack on the Japanese. Under their attack, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat step by step, even retreating into the airport.

The soldiers naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass them by. They stormed into the airport, seized the Japanese positions, and went to fight the Japanese again.

Da da da………

Bang bang bang…

Boom boom boom...

Gunfire echoed throughout the area. The Japanese soldiers put up a fierce resistance from their positions inside the airport, but they also suffered heavy casualties under the bombardment.

"Damn it, how can the enemy's artillery fire be so accurate in hitting us!" A Japanese captain, hiding behind a bunker, cursed.

He simply couldn't understand it. They had only been inside the airport for a few minutes, so how could the enemy have adjusted their guns and launched a precise attack on them in such a short time?

“Yes, how did the enemy manage that?! Their artillery positions are at least several miles away from us. Even if they captured our walkie-talkies, they shouldn't be able to communicate over such a distance.” The Japanese lieutenant next to him also expressed his doubts.

Their walkie-talkies actually had a communication range of only about two miles, or even less. So how did the enemy manage to communicate so quickly?

"Could it be that the enemy has assigned radios to the observers and artillery positions?! That's why they were able to communicate our coordinates in such a short time," the Japanese captain speculated.

It seems like this is the only possibility now: the two radio stations are communicating with each other, which is why this is possible.

"I don't know if the major and the others have escaped. We can't hold off the enemy's attack any longer," the Japanese captain sighed.

Only by fighting against this Northeast Army can one understand just how powerful this enemy force truly is; it is simply beyond their ability to resist.

"Judging by the time, the major and his men should be able to leave the airport in another minute or two. The airport is quite large, so it will take some time to get them out quickly," the Japanese lieutenant said. They just need to hold out for a few more minutes so that the major and his men can retreat safely.

"Actually, I'm a little worried. Will the enemy block the major and his men's retreat? With the enemy's combat strength, they don't need to send too many men to stop the major and his men," the Japanese lieutenant said, changing the subject.

"Baka! Don't say things like that! The major and the others will definitely be able to retreat safely!" the Japanese captain cursed, because the other man's words had genuinely frightened him.

If the major is also cornered, then they will probably be wiped out today.

"Hey! I was just talking nonsense!" The Japanese lieutenant nodded hurriedly and slapped himself again.

.........

On a hillside about three or four hundred meters from the airport, Li Jin placed binoculars in front of Tani Hisao, letting him watch as the Japanese soldiers at the airport were killed.

"Baka! You'll die a horrible death!" Tani Hisao cursed. He tried to close his eyes, but two soldiers forced him to watch.

Those were the empire's elite troops, yet they were slaughtered by this Northeast Army as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

"I'll die a horrible death?! Then before I die, you beasts will have to pay the price!" Li Jin revealed a ferocious smile. Letting the other side watch those Japanese soldiers die was just to let them experience the scene of watching their own people being killed.

It should be noted that Tani Hisao's 6th Division committed numerous crimes, and countless civilians died at their hands.

"How many of us did you kill in the massacre? And now I've only killed a few of yours, and you can't even handle it?! Damn it! You bastards! You son of a bitch!" Li Jin's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and his tone was full of rage. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, wishing he could kill the other party right now. But he took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"Then how do you explain how many people from our empire you killed!" Tani Hisao retorted stubbornly, pointing out that the number of soldiers who had died at the hands of the enemy was countless.

"You deserve it, you beasts! Who told you to invade us? I haven't killed enough of you yet. One day, I will wipe you out and erase you from the map!" Li Jin replied coldly.

"you………"

"Gag him. I don't want to hear him talk right now." Li Jin interrupted Tani Hisao and gave the order. Two soldiers quickly gagged Tani Hisao.

Li Jin was also worried that he might accidentally kill the other person while they were talking, so he would let the other person die without pain.

Gu Hisao made a whimpering sound. For some reason, when Mu Jin said he would wipe them out, he felt a little panicked. He even felt that the other party might really be able to do it, which made him wonder if the Empire's invasion was a mistake.

At that moment, the walkie-talkie in Li Jin's hand rang.

"Commander, we've stormed the airport, but the Japanese are still putting up a fierce resistance. It'll probably take another seven or eight minutes to completely eliminate them," Liu Changshun's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Yes, I see it. Let's deal with them as soon as possible, don't drag it out too long." Li Jin nodded in response, holding binoculars and watching the situation at the airport.

At this moment, Tani Hisao stared in shock at the black box in Li Jin's hand that could make sounds. What on earth was that?! It could communicate even without a telephone line, which was much better than their walkie-talkies. The key question was, just how far could this thing communicate?!

But Li Jin naturally wouldn't tell Tani Hisao what the walkie-talkie was for.

.........

Inside the airport, Major Kameda was leading the Japanese pilots as they ran towards the rear, now less than a hundred meters from their exit point.

Looking at the path to survival before him, Major Kameda was also somewhat excited. It seemed that he wouldn't have to die here, and he had even saved the pilot. He would surely be rewarded in the future.

However, at this moment.

Da da da………

Bang bang bang…

A burst of gunfire suddenly came from ahead, and a large number of the Japanese soldiers running at the front were killed on the spot. More than half of the more than one hundred Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded in just one encounter.

As for the pilots running behind, they quickly retreated and ran towards the cover.

The other Japanese soldiers fought and retreated. In reality, they had all clearly seen the enemy's position and were just thinking about firing, regardless of whether they could hit the target.

Puff puff………

The Japanese soldiers, who were fighting and retreating, were constantly being shot and falling to the ground. They were simply no match for the special operations soldiers; they were not on the same level.

By the time the other Japanese soldiers ran behind the bunkers to hide, their numbers had dwindled from nearly four hundred to about one hundred and fifty. Of these, fewer than seventy were pilots, and most of the fighting Japanese soldiers had died, leaving fewer than eighty men.

"Damn it, how could this happen? The enemy has blocked our retreat!" The Japanese major clutched his injured arm, his face pale and his eyes filled with terror. He had thought the enemy was all in front of him, but he never expected that there was a group of enemies specifically blocking their retreat.

"Major, what should we do now?!" a Japanese lieutenant asked in a trembling voice, his eyes filled with despair as he faced an invincible enemy.

"Damn it!" Major Kameda cursed, but he was at his wit's end.

"Major Kameda, why don't we surrender? Maybe we'll still have a chance to survive." At this moment, the Japanese lieutenant colonel pilot spoke up.

He remembered that the enemy had captured pilots to exchange for supplies, so they still had a chance to survive.

"You might still have a chance to live, but we might not. Now we have no choice but to fight to the death. If we all die, then you can surrender."

"The enemy still knows the value of pilots, and will most likely spare you," Major Kameda said.

Even ten of these soldiers couldn't compare to one pilot. Their deaths were not a pity, and they had no desire to let the enemy stay. If they surrendered, death would be their only fate.

"Kameda-kun." The Japanese lieutenant colonel looked at the man's fearless expression and felt a deep respect for him.

"Signalman, destroy the radio and burn the codebook immediately!" Major Kameda ordered immediately. They had no way out now, and the radio and codebook absolutely could not fall into the enemy's hands.

If the enemy were to obtain their codebook, the consequences would be unimaginable. Even if it fell into the hands of the Nationalist army, it would cause trouble, let alone if it fell into the hands of this powerful Northeast Army.

Therefore, the codebook must be destroyed.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese communications officer immediately burned the radio and codebook.

Just then, a dozen shells fell from the sky into the bunker behind it; they were shells from a grenade launcher!

Boom boom boom......

The shells exploded, killing many Japanese soldiers and pilots!

This terrified the Japanese pilots, who turned pale with fright.

"Damn it! We've already said we'd surrender, and they've started bombing us. If we don't surrender now, we're all going to die here!" the Japanese lieutenant colonel cursed, blood trickling down his forehead from a shrapnel wound.

"How can you blame me?!" Major Kameda said. Who knew the enemy would bombard them with grenade launchers, completely ignoring the fact that there were pilots here.

Does the enemy simply not care about these pilots?! Or do they think these pilots have no purpose?! How could that be!
The enemy had previously captured quite a few pilots as prisoners. (End of Chapter)