Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

"Commander, there are no survivors at the airport. We killed all those Japanese pilots, not one of them." Liu Changshun came over to report the situation.

"Hmm, not bad, well done." Li Jin nodded in praise.

"Just now, a Japanese soldier actually tried to fly the plane, but my men shot him down. Luckily, we had a backup plan, otherwise that Japanese soldier would have really gotten away with the plane." Liu Changshun said, feeling that his preparations had not been in vain!
“There really are some who aren’t afraid of death, but it’s understandable. There are only a few hours left until dawn. Judging by the time, the Japanese soldiers at the other airports should have been dealt with by now,” Li Jin said. It’s normal for those Japanese soldiers to choose to escape by plane when faced with certain death and a sliver of hope.

Just as he finished speaking, the walkie-talkie in his hand rang, and Lü Changgong's voice came through.

"Commander, I've basically resolved everything here, except for a slight mishap," Lü Changgong said.

"Did some Japanese soldiers take a plane and run away?" Li Jin said.

"Yes, I really didn't expect that any Japanese devils would dare to fly away in the middle of the night. It was a mistake on my part." Lü Changgong readily admitted his mistake, feeling that he should have given it more thought.

"How many Japanese soldiers escaped?!" Li Jin didn't blame Lü Changgong, but instead asked.

"Two Japanese soldiers tried to escape in their planes, but one of them crashed into a wall before it even took off, so only one of them managed to escape," Lü Changgong said.

Two planes took off, but one of them seemed to panic and went the wrong way, crashing into the wall.

"Well, they didn't run that far. Just be more careful next time." Li Jin didn't blame Lü Changgong. In fact, if we really had to blame someone, he was partly responsible. If he had thought of this beforehand and reminded Lü Changgong and the others before the battle, this situation might not have happened.

However, it's not a big problem; a few Japanese pilots running away isn't a major issue.

When Tani Hisao heard that a pilot had actually managed to escape in his plane, he was happy for the pilot. He never expected that someone could escape alive during the Northeast Army's attack; it was practically a miracle.

"Yes, then I'll have someone plant explosives on those planes." After Lü Changgong finished speaking, the walkie-talkie went silent.

However, at that moment, the roar of an airplane came from the sky. A Japanese plane was actually landing on the airport. Under Li Jin's watchful eye, the plane landed on the runway and then slowly came to a stop.

"Commander, could this be the plane that escaped from Lü Changgong's side?!" Liu Changshun looked at Li Jin in astonishment and said.

Lu Changgong had just said that a plane had run away, and then a plane arrived here. It was hard not to suspect that this was the plane that had run away.

"It should be right." Li Jin couldn't help but laugh.

"Wait, why are those Japanese devils running this way?!" Liu Changshun couldn't understand why the Japanese devils, after escaping, would fly towards the nearby airport.

"Perhaps it felt it was closer here, and thought it hadn't been attacked, plus there were lights on the runway, so it flew down," Li Jin explained after thinking for a moment.

In fact, just as he said, that's exactly what the Japanese pilots thought. Because other places were too far away and they couldn't tell which way to go, but the Japanese could tell which airport was nearby, so they chose to fly to the nearest airport.

Just then, the plane came to a stop, and a Japanese pilot got off, staggering as he did so.

"Airport No. 3 has been attacked. You need to go and provide support immediately," the Japanese pilot shouted to the approaching crew.

However, when he saw who it was, his face turned pale instantly. Damn it, wasn't this the same person who attacked their airport, wearing the same clothes? He had actually run into the enemy's group. He should have gone to another airport.

"Damn it, this place has been attacked too!" The Japanese pilot cursed and turned to run back to his plane, trying to escape again.

boom!
Just then, a gunshot rang out, and the Japanese pilot was shot in the head and died instantly. However, when the Japanese pilot died, his eyes were filled with terror.

"You little devils, your men don't seem to be any better. They're just stupidly coming to their deaths," Li Jin said with a smile, looking at Tani Hisao beside him.

Don't be fooled, sometimes, those who are destined to die can't escape, just like this Japanese soldier who thought he had escaped to safety, but who would have thought he would come back to die again.

With his mouth gagged, Tani Hisao naturally couldn't speak. Of course, even if he hadn't been gagged, he wouldn't have said anything more. After all, having such a foolish subordinate was truly something to be ashamed of.

"Quickly load the explosives onto the plane. Once we blow it up, we'll head back to Huangyun Mountain and rendezvous with them," Li Jin ordered.

They still had to retreat back to Huangyun Mountain, since Xu Qingfeng and the others hadn't arrived yet. They needed to reunite first before making any other plans.

A dozen minutes later, dozens of planes at the airport had been loaded with explosives.

Li Jin pressed the detonator in front of Tani Hisao without any expression.

Boom boom boom......

Dozens of planes exploded one after another, bursting into flames. Many fragments were blown away. Tani Hisao was furious as he watched this scene. So many planes were destroyed. It would take a lot of time to rebuild them.

In particular, they also lost so many pilots in the process; the loss was simply unimaginable.

While Li Jin was bombing the planes in the airport, the walkie-talkie also relayed news that planes at other airports had been bombed. As for the pilots who escaped, only one from Lü Changgong's side managed to get away, but he was killed. None of the other Japanese pilots escaped.

It can be said that this operation went quite smoothly.

Li Jin immediately ordered the troops to withdraw, and at the same time, he sent a telegram to his superiors informing them that the planes at the airport had been bombed.

.........

Taiyuan, Japanese military camp.

Seishiro Itahira paced back and forth in his office, his face full of irritation. He was worried about whether the pilots would be able to escape.

In fact, he had already guessed that the pilots at the airport were unlikely to escape; the enemy would not allow them to get away so easily.

Ring ring ring………

Just then, the phone on the table rang, and Seishiro Itagata quickly ran over to answer it.

"I am Seishiro Itagata." "Division Commander, something bad has happened! The retreating pilots have been blocked by the enemy and it seems they can't get out." The voice of the Japanese regimental commander came through.

"Alas... Just as I thought, it's all over." After hearing this, Itagaki Seishiro sighed deeply and said slowly, his tone filled with despair.

"Division Commander, it shouldn't be that bad. As long as the pilots surrender, they should still have a chance to survive. At most, they'll just have to give the enemy more supplies." The Japanese regimental commander didn't think so. On the contrary, he felt that the enemy also knew the pilots' important value, so they would definitely spare their lives, provided that the pilots surrendered.

"Sigh... You're thinking too simply. If it were that easy, I wouldn't have said such a thing." Seishiro Itagata sighed again.

"Does the division commander mean that the pilots won't surrender and will eventually be killed by the enemy?!" the Japanese regimental commander said, clearly having misunderstood.

“Of course not. What I mean is, they would die even if they surrendered. The reason you think they can live is because the enemy captured prisoners before, right?” Itagaki Seishiro said, naturally knowing why the other party would think that way.

It was simply that when the enemy attacked Taiyuan Airport, they captured dozens of pilots, so they thought it would be the same this time.

"Division Commander, isn't that pretty much it? Last time the enemy captured our pilots, we exchanged them for supplies," said the Japanese regimental commander.

“How can this be the same?! The reason they took prisoners during the last attack was because we posed no threat to them, and the Eighth Route Army was also involved. That’s why there were prisoners. But do you think the situation is the same now?” Itagaki Seishiro retorted.

In the absence of any threat, Mu Jin would naturally leave some prisoners out of respect for the Eighth Route Army. However, now, Mu Jin is surrounded by them.

Under such circumstances, capturing prisoners would bring Mu Jin no benefit whatsoever; on the contrary, it would easily hinder the army's marching speed, which would be tantamount to suicide for the whole group.

"So, it seems the pilots at several airfields are all going to be killed by the enemy?!" the Japanese regimental commander said, his voice trembling.

Two hundred pilots, carefully trained by the empire, were killed by the enemy just like that?!
"Sigh, this is my fault. I didn't expect the enemy to have found the location of the airport." Seishiro Itaga was somewhat regretful, because his poor decision had caused such serious consequences.

"Division Commander, this is not your fault. The enemy is too cunning. Who would have thought that the enemy would start making preparations so long ago? It's not the thief you should fear, but the one who has his eye on you. This Mu Jin is a thief!" The Japanese regimental commander quickly comforted him.

"Forget it, let's not talk about it anymore. What's done is done, there's no use in regretting it." After hanging up the phone, Itagaki Seishiro slumped into his chair. This time, even the Commander probably couldn't protect him!

After the war is over, he will basically be court-martialed, but he should also have one more chance to commit seppuku.

Rather than going to a military court, it's better to commit seppuku and die with some dignity!
.........

386th Brigade, Conference Room.

The leaders and political commissars haven't rested yet; they're still waiting for news from Li Jin.

"Judging by the time, Li Jin and his men should have taken over the Japanese airfield by now, right?!" The political commissar glanced at his watch; nearly half an hour had passed since Li Jin launched the attack.

With Li Jin and his men's combat capabilities, attacking the Japanese airfield, eliminating the Japanese soldiers inside without any support, and blowing up the planes along the way would not be difficult.

"That's about it." The commander nodded.

"Speaking of which, there are still quite a few pilots at the airport. If we could capture those Japanese pilots, we could get a lot of supplies in return," the political commissar said, though he knew it was impossible.

"If Li Jin and his men weren't on a mission and weren't surrounded by the Japanese, capturing Japanese pilots would be an option, but let's forget about it now!" The commander shook his head. Although capturing more pilots would allow them to exchange for more supplies, the safety of Li Jin and his men still needed to be considered.

Leading a group of pilots would make it impossible to march quickly and would also be dangerous.

"Besides, we don't lack those supplies now. The Japanese pilots have killed countless civilians. There's absolutely no need to capture these pilots," the commander continued.

The reason they needed to capture prisoners last time was to rescue the soldiers who had been captured by the Japanese. Otherwise, when Li Jin attacked the Japanese airfield in Taiyuan, he should have killed all the pilots.

"That's right. The Japanese planes fly almost constantly to bomb civilians, and those pilots' hands are basically stained with blood!" The political commissar nodded in agreement.

Compared to supplies, avenging the people is clearly more important.

"Sir, the commander has sent a telegram." At this moment, a telegraph operator rushed in.

He handed the telegram to his superior.

"Sending a telegram so late probably means there's important intelligence," the political commissar said with a serious expression.

"Indeed, the commander said that the Japanese have transferred the Osaka Division to Taiyuan. If I'm not mistaken, Itagaki Seishiro is planning to send troops from Taiyuan to participate in the encirclement and suppression of Li Jin and his men." The commander read out the contents of the telegram.

The Osaka Division was transferred to Taiyuan, clearly to protect Taiyuan. The Japanese were worried that something would happen in Taiyuan if the troops were transferred out, so they transferred the Osaka Division there.

"If that's the case, the Japanese will send at least 50,000 troops to encircle and annihilate Li Jin. Among them, at least 30,000 are from a Class A division. Li Jin might be in some trouble now." The political commissar was also shocked after hearing this.

The danger involved in a battle where over 50,000 men surrounded and attacked over 20,000 others, including so many soldiers from top-tier divisions, is unimaginable.

"There are troubles, but I believe Li Jin can handle them. Fortunately, Li Jin took action against the Japanese airfield. Otherwise, with so many Japanese soldiers and the relentless bombing by Japanese planes, I would be quite worried," the commander said.

In his view, the Japanese did not have air power to strike, so they were not a big threat to Li Jin.

"That's true. In battles on the road, I really don't believe anyone can match Li Jin." The political commissar nodded. The combat effectiveness of the special operations regiment was something the Japanese could not match.

Moreover, Li Jin still has three regiments of troops under his command. At that time, Ding Wei's 28th Regiment will also go to Li Jin's command. In this way, it will be basically impossible for the Japanese to encircle and annihilate Li Jin.

He even felt that Li Jin could turn the tables and wipe out most of the Japanese soldiers, so there was no need to worry about anything going wrong.

"So, there's no need to worry too much about Li Jin. The pressure on our other units has decreased, and now it's our home turf!" the commander said slowly.

We must continue bombing the railways and destroying the Japanese roads to the end, preventing the Japanese troops from providing rapid and mobile support. Then, we can eliminate all of the Japanese pillboxes and strongholds. (End of Chapter)