Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 148, Section 147: Bombing the 6th Division's Positions, a Combined Air-Ground Attack
5 month 12 day.

For three consecutive days.

Sun Debiao and a mountain dweller named Zhang Laifu moved along the Great Wall.

The two did not have a specific goal.

Anyway, we just followed the Great Wall.

According to Sun Debiao's idea, since the fighting there was urgent, they should call for bombing there.

Following this line of thought, Sun Debiao and Zhang Laifu actually walked from the Lengkou section of the Great Wall to Xifengkou, a protruding defensive point in the middle of the Great Wall defense line.

Bloodstains still remain on the dilapidated city walls in the distance, and fragments of large swords reflect the sunlight in the grass below.

All of this tells the two of them that a fierce battle once took place here.

"We're too late," Sun Debiao said regretfully.

"It's not too late. As long as we find the main force of the Japanese, we can blow them up." Zhang Laifu didn't think about the strategic issues. He just wanted the gods to punish him again and blow up enough Japanese to avenge his father.

Sun Debiao nodded, and the two of them, keeping their bodies low and avoiding the gaze of the Japanese soldiers on the city wall, headed towards their next target.

They passed Qingshan Pass and arrived at the upper reaches of the Luan River.

This is where the battle continues: the Nantianmen section of the Great Wall.

That place is only 150 kilometers away from Beiping.

Thousands of Japanese troops were attacking that section of the city wall.

On the distant Luan River, countless Japanese troops were forcibly crossing the river.

In the sky, Japanese bombers circled back and forth, dropping bombs on the Great Wall.

This scene demonstrated to Sun Debiao and Zhang Laifu the cruelty and scale of war.

Zhang Laifu panicked: "My benefactor, let's go. Even if a god came, it wouldn't help us here."

Sun Debiao glared at Zhang Laifu, looked around, found a well-hidden spot, and spread out the camouflage cloth to cover himself.

Then he had Zhang Laifu stand guard outside while he took out a radio transmitter and sent radio waves southward.

Shanghai.

The wedding banquet hosted by the general manager of Taishan Airlines is still ongoing.

After finishing in Jiaxing, we went to Shanghai Airport to finish the ceremony; the atmosphere was very lively.

This was also the best cover-up; who would have thought that the newlyweds would be bombing the Japanese at night?

With a broad smile, Fang Wen responded to the toasts from guests, one glass after another.

No one knew that he only drank plain water, as alcohol was forbidden due to the possibility of daily bombing raids.

This cover of a wedding banquet won't last long. Fang Wen was also very anxious. Could it be that something had happened to Sun Debiao in the north?

Despite his worries, he still had to greet the guests with a smile.

Until Manager Liu made a gesture.

There's news from the north.

Fang Wen immediately raised his hand to touch his temple, swaying as if about to collapse: "I can't take it anymore. My head is so dizzy."

Fang Shouxin immediately said, "The general manager can't hold his liquor. Everyone, please eat and drink well. I'll escort him to his bridal chamber."

Amidst laughter, Fang Shouxin helped Fang Wen leave.

After leaving the banquet and arriving at his residence, he immediately sobered up and was completely sober.

Kuang Mingzhu, dressed in a red wedding gown, got up to help him change. "Go ahead, I'll cover for you at home."

Fang Wen nodded solemnly, went out through the hidden door in the back room, and arrived at Fang Shouxin's house.

There, Manager Liu took out the telegram.

Fang Wen received the telegram and read it carefully.

The fighting was fierce in the Gubeikou and Nantianmen areas.

The Japanese army has crossed the Luan River, defeated the defending forces on the south bank, and formed an encirclement.

[More than a dozen bombers continued to bombard the area, putting the defending forces in a precarious situation.]

Fang Wen immediately took out the map and began to analyze it.

This indicates that the bombing advantage from three days ago has obviously vanished.

The 6th Division consisted of four brigades, of which the Hiraga Brigade was bombed and rendered combat ineffective.

The remaining three groups, Matsuda, Takada, and Hattori, still launched a river-crossing attack.

The Great Wall defense line has been largely lost, and the last section is also in imminent danger.

The current situation is that that section of the Great Wall not only has to fight off the enemy in front, but also has to deal with the Sixth Division that has circled around to the rear.

Manager Liu and Fang Shouxin could also see the current situation.

The two spoke up:
"Isn't the 57th Army the one guarding the south bank of the Luan River? There are four divisions in total, with at least 3 men."

"Yes, the Japanese 6th Division only had about 10,000 to 20,000 men left, and they forced their way across the river. How could they be defeated?"

The questions of the two are also the questions of Fang Wen.

If the 57th Army did not attack the Hiraga Brigade camp three days ago because it was following orders, then what about the current situation?

He suddenly realized that, relying on the Great Wall, the National Army could still fight against the Japanese army. In other environments, even with a numerical advantage of several times, they might not necessarily gain the upper hand.

The Nationalist army was too weak.

Fang Wen couldn't help but feel sad.

But now is not the time for empty sorrow. We must do our best to see if we can turn the tide of the battle.

He was thinking about the bombing plan.

Now that the enemy is everywhere, Sun Debiao's fixed-point locking is no longer effective, since the Japanese army is currently in a mobile combat state and should be very dispersed.

Now, it all depends on how well he and Sun Debiao cooperate.

Sun Debiao was instructed to provide on-site, targeted bombing guidance, while I would conduct multi-point bombing based on his guidance.

This is the only way to maximize the effect of a long-range strategic bombing.

After having this idea, Fang Wen immediately called Sun Debiao back.

High on the mountain, there is an inconspicuous gray boulder.

Actually, it was just a concealing cloth.

Sun Debiao and Zhang Laifu remained inside silently, motionless.

A group of Japanese soldiers passed by on the opposite mountain, but the enemy did not notice them.

Zhang Laifu gripped the spear, his palms sweating profusely, extremely nervous.

Sun Debiao remained calm, holding his earphones and quietly waiting for a call back.

When the telegram arrived, he was overjoyed and translated it.

Remember the locations you're to direct the bombings tonight; bomb wherever you point.

Looking at the telegram, Sun Debiao felt a surge of pride.

Tonight, he will be the great hero who solves the problem in Beiping.

He instructed, "Laifu, you stay here. I'm going out to find a better spot."

"Are you out of your mind? The Japanese are right outside!" Zhang Laifu said nervously.

"It's okay, I have a solution."

After saying this, Sun Debiao put a camouflage cloth into his pocket, carefully watched the opposite side, and waited for the Japanese soldiers to come down the slope before covering himself with the camouflage cloth and climbing out.

He quietly reached the top of the mountain to survey the surrounding area.

The troops that crossed the river encountered resistance from the Nationalist army, whose weapons were quite effective, and the fighting was fierce.

It seems neither side can defeat the other today.

Sun Debiao kept this situation firmly in mind; tonight, this place would be the first bombing target.

That's right, there were too many Japanese troops, they spread out in a chaotic manner and occupied a large area, I don't know if the bombers could hit them all.

The second target was the Japanese troops outside the Great Wall. They had set up a camp in a small valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, far from the Great Wall's firing range.

While that place could protect them from attacks from behind, it also became the perfect target for bombing.

After making these judgments, Sun Debiao climbed back to his hiding place, preparing to take the signal transmitter out in batches.

Zhang Laifu hesitated for a moment, then said, "My benefactor, I'll go out with you."

Sun De quickly shook his head: "No, you can't do this well, don't ruin my plans."

He made three trips back and forth, transporting everything to the top of the mountain, then covered it with a camouflage cloth and began simulated aiming.

There are many points that need to be bombed, but they are not visible at night, so the task can only be carried out based on daytime targeting.

In order to avoid any mistakes that night, Sun Debiao, in a moment of inspiration, came up with a makeshift solution.

He first determined the locking position, then used small stones to make marked points, and memorized the angle of each locking point. In the evening, he could simply align the points according to the marks and adjust the angle to lock, which would make his work much more efficient.

Of course, these must be practiced repeatedly to be firmly memorized.

Time passed slowly, and night fell.

6pm.

The F.220 quietly took off from the airport.

The plane flew to Xiangxi Airport to load the latest batch of napalm bombs.

After loading was completed, Huo Duanyang reported the situation.

"General Manager, a total of 127 bomb loaders and two 50-kilogram napalm bombs have been installed, which is all the current stock."

Fang Wen nodded. Production couldn't keep up with consumption, so in order to ensure the bombing effect, a new tactic had to be used.

He confirmed that the two napalm bombs were secure, boarded the plane, and took off, flying northeast.

Following the signal from the northeast, the plane arrived at its destination precisely at around 3 a.m.

Below is the last stand of the Great Wall resistance, and behind it is the ancient city of Beiping. Did the Japanese want to take Beiping in a single sentence?

Fang Wen cleared his mind and issued the command.

"Next, I will conduct multi-point bombing. The bombing method will vary depending on the situation. Each bombing area may have four bomb drops. During each bomb drop, the number of bombs dropped from each bomb chute shall not exceed 10 bomb loads. Do you understand?"

"Understood," the bombing team members replied in unison.

"Let's begin," Fang Wen said, entering a state of mechanical perception and focusing intently.

He locked onto the signal source and tried to understand the situation below, which was a large area of ​​enemy positions.

For such a long and sprawling area, as long as you pinpoint the target and use a straight-line bombing pattern, you can simply plow through it all.

After bombing one side, they would come back and forth, enough to give those Japanese soldiers a hard time.

Having locked onto the area below, Fang Wen steered the aircraft to its correct position and flew towards the other side of the position, while simultaneously issuing commands.

"bomb."

The bombardiers, who had been waiting, began their work, and the bomb carriers replenished the bomb trays.

The Taishan Volunteer Army members, who had undergone extensive training, were wholeheartedly engaged in the grenade throwing operation.

Each bomb rack contains 6*6=36 napalm bombs. With three bomb slots, 108 bombs are dropped at a time. To complete the entire linear reciprocating bombing, a total of 1080 napalm bombs will be dropped.

These bombs fell to the ground, creating a series of flashes of light and shadow, and continuously igniting anything flammable.

The reactions to this sudden bombing varied.

On the Japanese positions, fire-breathing figures were running around wildly, explosions were happening constantly, and it was extremely chaotic.

Because they were facing the enemy head-on, their positions were filled with all kinds of ammunition. These wooden ammunition boxes were easily ignited by fire, and some exploded under high temperatures, causing even more damage.

Meanwhile, in the Nationalist army command post opposite them.

They are also arguing about this.

"Commander, the Japanese have been bombed again."

Should we give it a shot this time?

"How can we not care about the reputation of our Northeast Army? We agreed to defend the south bank of the Luan River, but as soon as the Japanese crossed the river, we lost our position."

"It's not our fault. The Japanese had bombers and artillery. Our firepower was too poor."

Hearing their argument, Commander He slammed his fist on the table.

"I've made up my mind. Once the bombing is over, I will immediately organize the troops to launch an assault on the Japanese positions."

Under his orders, the troops rushed into the inferno of the positions that had just been bombed.

The continuous burning effect of the napalm bombs threw the enemy's position into chaos, catching them completely off guard.

Fang Wen uses mechanical sensors to observe the ground conditions from high altitude.

Although it's not clear, some judgments can still be made by observing the various explosion flashes.

It appears that the Japanese army's positions have been attacked.

He was somewhat relieved, as airstrikes were meant to be carried out in conjunction with ground forces.

This time, at least, we got a good result.

This made him even more excited about the upcoming airstrikes.

Why hasn't Sun Debiao started aiming at the second signal source yet?

High up in the distance, Sun Debiao whispered excitedly, "We've hit it!"

He did not immediately adjust the signal transmitter to lock onto the next target.

Because he was unsure how much time would be needed between the two bombings.

He waited two minutes before starting a new lock.

After the new target was locked, the anticipated bombing continued, with bombing raids launched against another brigade position of the 6th Division.

Then came the third brigade position.

The bombing lasted for half an hour, from 3:00 AM to 3:30 AM.

Each bombing point lasted an average of 10 minutes.

In those fifteen minutes, the 3240 napalm bombs dropped caused enough chaos on the battlefield.

That Japanese position was riddled with fires, and weapons and ammunition would occasionally explode due to the high temperatures.

Although this bombing was not as effective as the last one, its continuous burning properties gave the Nationalist army an opportunity to counterattack.

The nighttime fire attack, coupled with the Nationalist army's charge, instantly turned the tide of the battle.

Fang Wen had no time to observe the results of the battle; he still had one bombing site to finish, and it was almost 4 o'clock.

We must finish as soon as possible and return to Shanghai Airport before dawn.

Otherwise, the secret of Taishan No. 1 would not be kept.

He eagerly awaited the final signal, and upon its appearance, immediately flew towards his final target.

The circling bombardment was completed there. Then two 50-kilogram napalm bombs were dropped on the center of the signal.

The circling bombing did not produce good results this time; more than half of the 1000 bombs fell on the ridges surrounding the valley.

The Japanese in the camp might therefore feel fortunate for the protection of the gods.

But the next moment, they were met with two large napalm bombs.

Instantly, two mushroom clouds rose in the valley, and within a narrow area, the sparks from the petrol bombs ignited everything in the valley.

After doing all this, Fang Wen immediately piloted the plane southwards to return to base.

It landed at Shanghai Airport at 7 a.m.

That night, Taishan No. 1 traveled 1000 kilometers from Shanghai to Xiangxi Airport, and then 2500 kilometers from Xiangxi Airport to the Great Wall and back to Shanghai.

It was still a night flight.

It was a long-range bombing mission carrying thousands of bombs.

It's unlikely anyone would imagine that this bombing was carried out by Taishan Airlines, a private airline.

(End of this chapter)