Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 576 Valley Bombing: Annihilation of Sasaki's Regiment
Inside Tongqian Gou, smoke and dust filled the air, and the sounds of gunfire mingled intensely.

The Japanese army was already considering retreat, so the Eighth Route Army switched from defense to offense.

Eighth Route Army soldiers built fortifications using the boulders and steep slopes on both sides of the stream. The sound of rifle fire was crisp and dense, occasionally mixed with the "whoosh" of grenade pulls, followed by muffled explosions in the pile of pebbles, with gravel and water splashing together.

The Japanese heavy machine guns were mounted on a slightly higher earthen slope at the mouth of the ditch. Bullets swept across the stream, creating rows of fine water lines, or hit the rocks, splashing sparks, dust, and stone chips.

"Second squad leader, take out their machine gun."

"Yes."

An Eighth Route Army soldier leaned out from behind a large pebble half-submerged in the water, quickly aimed a loaded Taishan individual rocket launcher at a machine gun mounted on a large rock on the riverbank in the distance, and pulled the trigger.

The man-portable rocket, trailing a plume of fire, hurtled towards its target and struck squarely.

The huge flames engulfed the large rock where the Japanese machine gun was located. After the firelight dissipated, only half of the machine gun mount remained on the rock.

The accurate shooting destroyed a Japanese machine gun emplacement, allowing the troops to advance a distance.

Taking down this Japanese regiment in one fell swoop is no easy task.

New machine gun emplacements spewed fire, and at the same time, enemy mortars behind the lines began firing.

The shells whistled across the mountain ridge and landed on the pile of pebbles at the bottom of the ravine, instantly shattering several boulders into pieces. The fragments scattered like shrapnel, and the stream was splashed with waves several meters high before crashing back down, creating puddles on the pebbles.

Under the suppression of infantry artillery and machine gun fire, the two armies were once again locked in a stalemate.

The Japanese troops of Sasaki Detachment were fighting fiercely with the 717th Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, which occupied advantageous terrain, in an attempt to open up a passage to advance on Wutai Mountain. However, the attack on their rear supply depots put them in a dilemma.

Suddenly, the distinctive roar of aircraft engines filled the sky as five gunships swooped down like birds of prey!

"It's a gunboat! Scatter and take cover!" the Japanese commander roared.

However, the valley was narrow and the army was crowded, making it difficult to effectively avoid danger in a hurry.

Fang Wen, having activated his mechanical senses, had already locked onto the winding Japanese column below. He quickly issued an order over the communications: "Attention all aircraft, aircraft number 5, attack the rear of the enemy; aircraft numbers 3 and 4, attack the middle of the Japanese force; aircraft number 2 and I will attack the front of the Japanese force. Everyone, give it your all and give them a good beating. Empty the bomb bays."

Because this Japanese force lacked anti-aircraft firepower and mountainous terrain made it difficult to call for air support, it was the perfect opportunity for gunboats and aircraft to shine.

Immediately, the air raid began.

The air squadron's gunships used flank fire in a circling maneuver to continuously suppress the Japanese forces below.

The Japanese troops were suddenly hit by a hail of bullets from the sky, and their formations were thrown into chaos.

On the Eighth Route Army's side, the regimental commander immediately announced the launch of an attack, quickly closing the distance between the troops.

Faced with this situation, the Japanese army could only withstand the suppression of air fire in an attempt to stop the Eighth Route Army's advance.

But this time, there's also a new weapon for Mount Tai: air-to-ground rockets.

The two new gunships will launch all of their air-to-air rockets.

The rocket launchers suspended on the sides of the two gunship aircraft simultaneously spewed out tongues of fire!
More than ten 82mm aerial rockets, with a sharp whistling sound, like the scythe of death, ripped through the smoke-filled sky and crashed into the Japanese ranks.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—" A series of violent explosions erupted almost simultaneously at the bottom of the narrow ravine! Orange-red fireballs churned violently, and rubble, soil, and severed limbs and remains shot into the sky along with billowing smoke.

The astonishing coverage of the rockets was revealed at this moment, and the explosions instantly engulfed large sections of the road, along with Japanese soldiers, mules, horses, and supplies.

The piercing screams and the mournful cries of the horses were completely drowned out by the deafening explosion.

The vanguard of the Japanese army, which had just been trying to resist, was suddenly engulfed in flames and chaos, and their morale was severely broken.

After completing this deadly air strike, Fang Wen picked up the microphone and called out: "Air strike formation calling 717th Regiment, please respond if you hear me."

The commander of the 717th Regiment took the microphone from the communications soldier: "This is the 717th Regiment, please speak."

"We have captured the Japanese army's logistics strongholds and set up interception positions along the Japanese army's retreat route. However, our air strike formations need to fly back to base to replenish fuel and ammunition for a second round of attacks. Please hold off the Japanese army and create an opportunity for our combined attack."

"Okay, please rest assured and return to base. We will definitely be able to hold off the Japanese army."

"Okay, see you in 2 hours."

Fang Wen ended the communication with the ground, decisively pulled up the nose of the aircraft, and led the gunboat back to base.

The gunboat air raid squadron returned to its base and quickly carried out maintenance, refueling, and ammunition assembly.

At the same time, the 717th Regiment split up and moved towards the interception point via the mountain ridge.

After this unit joined forces with the guerrillas and paratroopers at the blockade point, they waited for the Japanese army to appear.

Within two hours, the Japanese army, under constant harassment from the 717th Regiment, fought intermittently and finally managed to retreat to the pass.

That pass—a vital choke point on the Japanese army's retreat route—was completely silent.

The soldiers waiting to intercept them were positioned in the grass on both sides of the hillside.

The paratroopers who controlled the remote detonator for the "Taishan directional mine" were the main characters at this moment, watching the marching column below intently.

It wasn't until nearly 300 Japanese soldiers had crossed the minefield that they all pressed the detonator remote control.

The moment the remote control button was pressed, four huge explosions suddenly rang out from the silent pass, and the flames illuminated the entire pass area.

Four "Taishan directional landmines" buried in the gravel and grass at the pass were detonated simultaneously, and fragments shot out in all directions like a rain of steel.

Unlike the explosive shockwave of ordinary landmines, directional landmines produce fragments that precisely cover the area in a fan shape, with each triangular fragment carrying enormous destructive power.

The uniforms, leggings, and leather shoes worn by Japanese soldiers were completely ineffective against this high-density shrapnel attack, penetrating like paper. The only thing that could protect against shrapnel was the helmet, which was useless against this type of attack from below.

Screams echoed through the pass, only to be quickly drowned out by gunfire from both sides.

The Japanese troops, cut off by the minefield, made the 300 Japanese soldiers in front of them easy prey.

Not only were they being attacked by bullets, but the boulders that had been piled up on the hillsides on both sides of the pass were loosened by the pre-planted explosives and rolled down like an avalanche, forming a huge rain of stones.

The 300 Japanese soldiers trapped inside the pass were in dire straits, suffering heavy losses under the barrage of stones and bullets.

Even more frightened mules and horses broke free of their reins, carrying ammunition boxes and charging wildly through the chaotic ranks, further scattering the already disorderly formation.

Some people tried to climb the steep slopes on both sides to break through, but were shot down by paratroopers who were ambushed in the grass with submachine guns;
Some tried to break through the pass, but after paying a heavy price, they found that machine guns set up outside the pass were unleashing a deadly barrage of bullets.

At this point, the Japanese retreat was halted, and the 717th Regiment, which was pursuing them, also launched an attack.

Under the combined effect of these two factors, the Japanese army was like a trapped beast.

Based on past combat scenarios, the Japanese army would suffer heavy losses in such an ambush, but would not be annihilated.

After all, they still had four encirclement forces to support them, and as long as they held on, they still had a chance to break out. But this time, the addition of gunboats and aircraft changed everything.

At the flight group's base at the seaplane airfield, tense mid-flight preparations began.

Mechanics and ground crew were busy carrying out maintenance, refueling, and loading ammunition.

Compared to the last airstrike, this time they were equipped with new weapons.

Taishan homemade aerial bombs.

Because it is not carried by bombers and fighter jets, it needs to be dropped manually. Therefore, each aerial bomb is carried into the aircraft as a bare bomb.

How to bomb these aerial bombs? It's simple. Just open the bottom hatch, which is rarely used by gunboats, remove the safety pins from the aerial bombs, and drop them directly.

At an altitude of 1000 meters, in a narrow mountain gully, a 7% hit rate would be enough to inflict heavy damage on the Japanese troops in Tongqian Gully.

Time flies, so we must seize every second.

Sweat beaded on the mechanics' foreheads as they carefully lifted the last, dark aerial bomb into the cabin and secured it with safety straps.

"Report: Loading complete, maintenance complete, fuel replenished, everything ready."

Upon hearing the report, Fang Wen announced that everyone should board the plane.

Pilots and crew members from various aircraft boarded the planes as they waited nearby.

Fang Wen boarded his plane and picked up the microphone: "Attention all aircraft, please be careful when dropping aerial bombs. Make sure you are aiming correctly before dropping. Also, after opening the hatch and unfastening the safety straps, drop the bombs immediately. Don't let the bombs 'shake' down prematurely."

"Roger that!"

"understand!"

The engines roared again, and the five gunboats left long trails on the water as they took off in succession.

This time, Fang Wen used radar detection devices to explore aircraft once again.

Fortunately, just as the ground radar detection results showed, the Japanese air force did not send aircraft to provide support.

This is quite normal, as the Wutai Mountains were a completely unfamiliar area for the Japanese air force that flew in from Tianjin.

Without clear landmarks and surrounded by mountains, finding a unit was not easy, and they could hardly provide effective support to the Japanese troops operating deep in the mountains, as they could in urban air raids.

Even if it did fly over, the effect wouldn't be significant.

Unless they realize the seriousness of the situation.

But by then, they had probably already wiped out the entire Japanese regiment.

Shaking off his thoughts, Fang Wen led the gunboat squadron to the target area.

Thirteen minutes later, we arrived over Tongqian Gou.

In the narrow valley, the smoke was even thicker than two hours earlier. The Japanese troops could be vaguely seen, compressed into several small areas, wriggling futilely like insects trapped in a jar. On the hillsides on both sides, Eighth Route Army soldiers appeared and disappeared intermittently, and the sounds of gunfire and explosions never ceased. Clearly, the 717th Regiment and the blocking forces were firmly holding the enemy in check.

"Attention all aircraft, descend to 800 meters, maintain formation, and await my instructions before launching the attack!" Fang Wen ordered.

The gunboats lowered their altitude and began flying along the valley.

As they approached a group of Japanese soldiers holding out, Fang Wen picked up the microphone and contacted the ground: "Calling the 717th Regiment, an air raid is about to begin. Please disperse temporarily to avoid being affected by the bombing."

"Ground received, instructing all units to disperse." After ending the call, the commander of the 717th Regiment immediately used his walkie-talkie to call all units to take action.

Fang Wen adjusted the internal frequency in the air and continued: "I will first drop the pointing smoke grenades, and each aircraft will conduct a round of bombing when it flies over the smoke area."

After the order was given, Fang Wen accelerated the aircraft and flew ahead of schedule to the target area.

There, he called out, "Throw smoke bombs."

Gong Xiuneng, who was on standby, immediately opened the hatch. A stream of air mixed with pungent gunpowder rushed in, but Gong Xiuneng continued without paying attention and threw down a small smoke grenade.

The smoke grenade is activated immediately after being thrown, falling while emitting white smoke, and continues to emit large amounts of smoke after hitting the ground.

The Japanese army believed it might be poisonous gas and dared not approach it.

At the same time, they were surprised to find that the gunfire from the Eighth Route Army around them had suddenly stopped.

The eerie silence lasted only a moment, after which several more planes appeared in the sky.

Inside the gunship, the pilot looked at the smoke below and gave the order to drop the bomb. The crew took a deep breath, unfastened their safety straps, and the two of them worked together to lift an aerial bomb. One of them pulled out the safety pin at the top, and then the two of them pushed the bomb out of the bottom hatch together.

The dark, cylindrical object somersaulted in the air, then, pulled by gravity, plummeted with a sharp whistle towards the pile of rocks scattered with Japanese soldiers in the middle of the ravine. Almost simultaneously, bombs from other gunboats also began to fall.

"boom--!"

The first bomb landed precisely near the pile of rubble where the Japanese troops were gathered, exploding with a deafening roar upon impact.

The rough sheet metal shell shattered into countless sharp fragments under the enormous impact, mixed with dirt and gravel, sweeping across a wider area.

Flames shot into the sky, and the huge rocks that served as cover for the Japanese troops were overturned by the shockwave. The surrounding Japanese soldiers fell one after another as if struck by an invisible giant hand.

Two more bombs followed, hitting their targets in quick succession. One landed near a Japanese ammunition depot, triggering a chain of explosions. Crates of bullets and grenades were thrown into the air by the blast wave and then fell like hail, exacerbating the chaos. The other bomb struck directly into the Japanese ranks, the massive shockwave sending people flying several meters away, splashing muddy water as they landed in the stream.

"Well done!" Fang Wen praised. "Keep it up, let's continue!"

The gunboat squadron flew along Tongqian Gully toward the pass, searching for its target, with the planes constantly flying back and forth.

Once Fang Wen identified a target, he would use the same method to guide the bombing.

With the experience gained the first time, the subsequent actions became increasingly skillful and smooth.

One aerial bomb after another was dropped into the smoke, causing wave after wave of explosions.

This Japanese regiment was completely destroyed by bombing in the narrow valley.

They had nowhere to hide, suffered heavy casualties, and were unable to escape this confined area.

After the bombing, they were met with an even fiercer attack from the Eighth Route Army.

Meanwhile, the air force of gunships also joined in, using firepower to suppress and support the operation.

The battle lasted for an hour. The 717th Regiment made a full-scale advance and reached the pass. With the combined attack of gunboats, aircraft, paratroopers, and guerrillas, the entire Japanese regiment was completely annihilated.

(End of this chapter)