Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 503 Aerial Encirclement and Slaughter of the Chidori-type Minecraft Ship; Victorious Return

In 38 years, Guangzhou had a total of 4 airports.

Dashatou Amphibious Airport, Nanshitou Water Airport, Ershatou Water Airport, Tianhe Land Airport.

The first three are all located in the city and built along the Pearl River, making them unsuitable for Japanese military aircraft to take off and land.

Therefore, the Japanese army chose Tianhe Airport in the north of the city.

Located at Shou Gou Ling, also known as Shou Gou Ling Airport, it was originally the base of the 15th Air Force of the National Army.

(Aerial view of Tianhe Airport)
Fang Wen piloted the Qinyuan to the airspace above the airport, observing the situation below.

The Japanese army extended the original north-south runway to 1400 meters and added a 1000-meter east-west secondary runway to its north.

It is evident that the Japanese military intended to use this airport as an important military airfield in the South China theater.

There are currently about 20 Type 97 fighter jets parked at the airport, which are used for air suppression of the surrounding areas of Guangzhou.

It is currently the only Japanese land-based air force force in the area besides the naval air force.

As for Fang Wen's actions this time...

With the Japanese naval air force unable to provide timely support to Guangzhou, it was the only air force capable of threatening gunboats.

He had already made a plan to stop the planes below from taking off by himself.

How to do it?

The secondary runway is still under construction and cannot be shot down.

The 20 Japanese warplanes had to take off from the extended original main runway.

The best solution is to destroy the runway.

But now, two fighter jets have already entered the runway one after the other, and the first one has begun to accelerate and is about to take off.

Without hesitation, Fang Wen steered the Qinyuan ship into a dive.

After descending to a firing range, the enemy aircraft was targeted and fired upon using the television fire control system.

Under his control, the two inverted, vertically mounted machine guns adjusted their firing angles and aimed at the enemy aircraft below, spewing deadly flames from their muzzles.

At that moment, the Type 97 aircraft was raising its fuselage, preparing for takeoff.

However, it was hit by an oncoming machine gun shell and exploded at a height of 30 meters.

Having easily taken down the first enemy plane, Fang Wen set his sights on the second.

The enemy pilot actually abandoned his aircraft, jumped out of the cockpit, and desperately rushed towards the runway.

Fang Wen's goal was to prevent the plane from taking off; he did not pursue it. Instead, he destroyed the fighter jet, gained altitude, and took off again.

Under his mechanical perception, the remaining dozen or so enemy planes were still trying to take off. The Japanese ground crew drove small vehicles to catch the rubble on the runway and drag it to the sides of the runway.

If they were to fight one aircraft at a time, the Qinyuan wouldn't have that many spare ammunition.

Therefore, the main way to deal with the fighters below was by using a medium-sized aerial bomb carried by the Chinwon.

The bomb is about 2.2 meters long, 0.25 meters in diameter, and has a wingspan of 0.8 meters. It weighs about 242 kilograms.

It contains 120 kilograms of TNT explosives and is a new generation of assault weapon produced by Taishan Bomb Factory.

The power of this bomb has been tested and it can kill unprotected personnel within 50 meters in open areas, destroy bunkers within 20 meters, and create a crater 6-10 meters in diameter and 2-4 meters deep when it explodes upon impact.

If the planes can hit the runway, they will be able to destroy it and prevent Japanese warplanes from taking off for a short period of time.

He searched for the bomb impact point in the air. Because the runway had been lengthened, the aerial bombs had to land further forward, otherwise, leaving some distance, it was possible for the plane to take off.

After some observation, he determined that the impact point was on the runway 200 meters away from where the enemy planes were parked.

Once everything was determined, Fang Wen used the mechanical sensing vision to calculate the bombing parameters in advance and piloted the Qinyuan to circle to the optimal bombing height.

Just as Fang Wen was about to drop the bomb, he suddenly noticed something unusual—three Japanese ground support vehicles were driving on the runway.

If the bomb is dropped at this time, it is likely to hit the ground support vehicle. The resulting obstruction will actually reduce the destructive power of the aerial bomb on the runway.

In this case, the three ground support vehicles would have absorbed the blast of the bomb.

Absolutely not.

He stopped dropping bombs in time and instead let the plane fly a short distance away.

Flying at high speed, it covered dozens of meters in the blink of an eye. As he pressed the bomb release button, the fuselage pylons were released, and the 250-kilogram aerial bomb roared down toward the target.

The bomb's tail fins spun rapidly in the airflow to counteract wind resistance, allowing it to fall straight down onto the runway below.

"Boom—!" Amidst the deafening explosion, a giant crater with a diameter of 8 meters was torn open in the runway, and flying chunks of dirt dented the side of the nearest ground support vehicle.

Surprisingly, they didn't use a pure concrete track, allowing the explosive force to be maximized.

The Japanese ground crew on the vehicles were thrown to the ground by the shockwave, and then large chunks of broken, hard soil pelted them like shrapnel, their fate uncertain.

Fang Wen observed the explosion effects below and was basically certain that the enemy planes could not take off to fight, so he turned his plane around and flew back to the center of Guangzhou.

More than ten minutes had passed by then, and the paratroopers of the Taishan Independent Regiment had completed their operation and were withdrawing from the headquarters.

With the support of gunboats and aircraft, they proceeded westward from Huiai Middle Road.

Any Japanese troops that dared to show their faces and attack along the way were annihilated by combined ground and air fire.

There was simply no way the Japanese army could withstand the combined assault tactics of 20mm autocannons, 12.7mm heavy aircraft machine guns, rifle grenades, and 4x scope sniper fire.

With such powerful firepower, destroying a Japanese stronghold only required less than a minute of concentrated fire.

Therefore, they quickly rushed to the intersection of Huiai Middle Road and Zhonghua Road and turned onto Zhonghua Road.

At this point, according to the plan, they had 25 minutes left to complete the evacuation.

It takes 15 minutes to travel 2200 meters along Zhonghua Road, then 5 minutes to turn onto Jiangbian Road and head towards Tianzi Wharf (1000 meters).

These 20 minutes are a race against time; as long as we arrive on time, we can board the gunboat and fly away from here.

The soldiers were running as fast as they could.

From the buildings lining both sides of the street, someone opened a window and shouted, "Heroes, what have you been doing?"

This is asking, "Heroes, what have you done?"
The overseas Chinese soldiers in the column could understand and couldn't help but proudly reply as they ran, "We've taken down the Japanese headquarters!"

Upon hearing this, more windows opened, and someone shouted, "Well done!"

Many more people cheered them on with their eyes and applause.

The support from these people gave the soldiers even more energy, and they ran towards their destination with all their might.

Meanwhile, the four blocking points could no longer stop more and more Japanese troops from arriving. The nearby blocking soldiers retreated towards Tianzi Wharf, while those further away followed the underground party members and went into hiding in the city.

Everything seemed to be proceeding as Fang Wen had anticipated.

But that's not the case.

Downstream of the Pearl River, a small warship is sailing toward Tianzi Wharf.

Fang Wen had a deep understanding of the Japanese navy's armaments through Yoshida.

He knew this was a Japanese Chidori-class minesweeper, with a displacement of about 500 tons, a length of about 60 meters, and a speed of about 20 knots. The bow gun was a Type 3 127mm single-mount turret, weighing 18.5 tons, and had no anti-aircraft capability.

The bow also has two twin-mounted Type 6 533mm torpedo tubes.

The stern features a Type 3 127mm twin-mounted gun turret weighing 32 tons, two twin-mounted Type 6 533mm torpedo tubes, and a Type 94 depth charge launcher.

However, it is worth noting.

The Type 3 120mm naval gun at the stern of this warship is the Type B, which has anti-aircraft firing capability, a maximum elevation angle of 75 degrees, and a rotatable turret design that can rotate horizontally within a certain angle range to achieve 360° all-around firing coverage.

However, it has weaknesses. Although the turret can rotate, the gun is operated entirely by a manual mechanical joystick, and its reaction speed is very slow. If it is destroyed in advance, the warship will lose its air defense capability.

(Chidori-class minesweeper)
How did it end up on the Pearl River waterway?
Fang Wen remembered something.

It was designed for tasks such as coastal patrol, surveillance, and mine laying, and also to provide escort for Japanese transport convoys.

On the 22nd, the Japanese army held a winter solstice ceremony. A large number of pumpkins were transported by a transport ship, which was probably escorted by this warship.

Unexpectedly, it stayed in Guangzhou for a rest and instead of leaving, which became a major loophole in the plan.

If they are allowed to occupy Tianzi Wharf, the gunboats will be unable to land, and the soldiers who have completed their attack missions will be unable to board and leave.

He immediately opened the internal channel and contacted Pan Jiafeng.

"Pan Jiafeng, you and aircraft No. 3 and No. 6 fly to Tianzi Wharf first. There are Japanese warships there. We must take them out."

Upon hearing Fang Wen's order, Pan Jiafeng and two other gunboats broke away from the formation and flew directly to the riverside dock, while the remaining seven continued to escort the ground troops.

In less than a minute, three gunboats arrived at Tianzi Wharf, and they also spotted the warship sailing upstream.

At the same time, they also received a radio message from Fang Wen.

"This is a Japanese Chidori-class torpedo boat. Although it is not very large, its 120mm guns are enough to destroy the gunboats after they have landed. We must destroy or drive it away. Note that it has anti-aircraft capabilities; the guns at the stern can fire at a 75-degree angle. After I destroy it, you can launch your attack."

After saying that, Fang Wen piloted the Qinyuan and swooped down.

At the same time, he pressed the reload button on the machine gun control lever with his left hand.

This is the ammunition for the Qinyuan, which uses the Taishan 20mm armor-piercing fragmentation machine gun shell, specifically designed to deal with heavily armored targets such as tanks.

This time, however, it was used to attack the turrets of warships.

The turret defenses of warships are no worse than those of tanks, and Fang Wen has not tested them before, so he is not absolutely certain about their effectiveness.

He maneuvered the plane into a swooping maneuver and pressed the launch button just before passing the ship.

A barrage of machine gun shells rained down on the stern of the warship below, first piercing the bodies of several Japanese naval soldiers, and then hitting a mine placed on the deck.

With a loud bang, the armor-piercing shell detonated the mine, causing even greater damage.

The final target, the Type 3 12mm twin-turret, withstood the attack of machine gun shells.

It actually blocked the attack of the armor-piercing bullet!
Fang Wen immediately activated his X-ray vision ability.

The long-unused X-ray vision has a miraculous regeneration effect.

Using his ability to penetrate matter, Fang Wen discovered the internal structure of the turret's armor.

The armor on this thing isn't all that thick. The Japanese, as always, took the spirit of cutting corners to the extreme. As long as you don't shoot at the thickest part of the armor, the middle section, you can penetrate it.

He quickly pulled up the fuselage, adjusted the angle in the air, and then swooped down again.

This time, the armor-piercing shell successfully penetrated the turret's protection, and exploded inside, killing not only the operator inside but also destroying the turret's mechanical gear structure.

The ship's gun, its gears jammed by shrapnel, was rendered useless and could no longer defend against the air, becoming a target for the three gunship aircraft.

Therefore, Fang Wen ordered Pan Jiafeng and his men to attack.

Three gunship aircraft flew around the warship, unleashing a barrage of bullets and shells upon it.

This is just a torpedo boat; it simply cannot withstand such concentrated firepower.

Not to mention, it also carried a large number of unlaunched torpedoes.

Under saturation attack, torpedoes exploded one after another, tearing the hull apart and causing it to gradually take on water.

This torpedo boat was destroyed by just four aircraft!
The Japanese soldiers on the ship jumped into the river to escape, but some, unable to swim far enough, were pulled to the bottom of the river by the whirlpool created by the sinking ship and became fish food.

Thus, the crisis at Tianzi Wharf was resolved.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and the paratroopers were running wildly along the riverside road.

Fang Wen picked up the microphone and ordered the seven gunboats covering the paratroopers, as well as Pan Jiafeng's three planes, to land at Tianzi Wharf.

Although the Tianzi Wharf in 1938 had become desolate due to the Japanese occupation, there were still some boats on the river.

But today, those boats voluntarily parted, giving up a wide stretch of the river.

Ten gunboats landed on the river and then turned around and headed to the dock.

Everything had been practiced many times, and the planes and paratroopers cooperated seamlessly, quickly boarding the aircraft.

The entire boarding process took another 7 minutes, exceeding Fang Wen's planned time of one hour and five minutes.

However, at present, according to the radar detection device, no enemy aircraft have taken off from the sea, so there is enough time.

After boarding was completed, the gunboats took off one after another, heading southwest towards Yangjiang, while Fang Wen stayed behind to keep watch.

After the gunboat squadron flew away from Guangzhou, Fang Wencai detected more than a dozen aircraft in the sea 200 kilometers away through the radar detection device.

It was too late. Fang Wen smiled and piloted his fighter jet back.

Forty minutes after he left, the Japanese naval air force finally arrived.

After searching in the air without success, they had no choice but to leave.

(Tianzi Wharf in Guangzhou in the 30s)
The paratrooper surprise attack took place an hour and a half later.

Guangzhou City, Southeast Command Headquarters.

a mess.

Bullet marks and craters were everywhere. Japanese reinforcements were rescuing the wounded and counting the dead.

The result was unbelievable to them.

This attack not only resulted in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of Japanese soldiers, but more seriously, it also wiped out all the high-ranking Japanese officers from the Southeast Theater who came to attend the meeting.

The commanders of the 5th and 104th Divisions, as well as their regimental commanders, were killed in the battle.

In addition, there was the commander of the 4th Air Regiment and several staff officers of the 21st Army Staff.

Apart from the commander of the 18th Division, who was stationed in Zengcheng and therefore did not attend the meeting, nearly 70% of the high-ranking Japanese troops in Guangzhou were lost.

Without high-ranking officers to command, the Japanese army was thrown into chaos.

At this point, launching a counterattack would be an excellent opportunity.

After the plane landed, Fang Wen immediately contacted the Tax Police Corps, attempting to reach the 12th Army Group that had fled to northern Guangdong through them.

(End of this chapter)