Film and Television World Life Record

They arrived really quickly. Although there were only a few of them, and it was unclear which small airport nearby they had been transferred from, Li Mu didn't want to risk an air battle with them. His life was far more precious and useful than theirs.

The next moment, Li Mu turned his plane around, easily shaking off the other planes, and flew towards Nanyang.

When I got back to Nanyang, it was almost 3 a.m. I took a quick shower, went back to the villa, lay down on the bed, and quickly fell into a deep sleep. I had barely rested all night and was really exhausted.

The next morning, after washing up, I ate breakfast while reading the morning's newspaper.

Last night, the news of the bombing of the Jinan military airport was reported in the newspapers, despite the fact that the country tried its best to cover up the facts and deny the damage.

But Jinan is such a big city, with many powerful forces entrenched there, as well as some foreign businessmen and journalists. How many people are watching?

The airport was bombed flat, and the fire burned for half the night. Everything was burned to the ground. They still want to hide and deny it, but who can they fool?

As a result, the bombing of the Japanese military airport in Jinan, with nearly two hundred planes reduced to wreckage overnight, undoubtedly made today's headlines.

Such heavy losses and such a successful air raid are rare in aviation history, even before the outbreak of the European war, and many foreign media outlets have reported on it.

Li Mu was reading the newspaper with great interest, and was in a very good mood.

I looked through the media again and found that some media outlets had reported on the bombing of the Japanese armored and artillery regiments, but most of them were vague and did not describe the specific losses suffered by the Japanese.

Actually, this is normal. After all, it's the front line, and it's the Japanese troops. It's difficult to get detailed information unless the Japanese themselves reveal it.

The bombing of their airport had just been exposed, and they were already humiliated internationally. How could they dare to reveal it to anyone else?

Li Mu flipped through the papers again. There weren't many reports on this topic, and most of them lacked concrete evidence. They were just speculations based on what he had heard or felt about the bombing.

He was eating breakfast and reading the newspaper here; on the other side, the 14th Division, which had suffered heavy losses, lost air support and its heavy firepower was reduced by more than half, its combat effectiveness plummeted, and it no longer had its former arrogance.

Tu Feiyuan calmed down and slowly realized the encirclement Xue Laohu had laid for him. He might not have cared about these things before, relying on the mobility and powerful firepower of his troops to break through the battlefield directly.

Now, we have to pay attention and start choosing a direction to break through.

As for the target, Tu Feiyuan was very shrewd and immediately saw that the Guo family's direct subordinates and ace were intentionally preserving their strength and did not want to fight easily, so he chose this as the breakthrough point.

This time, who knows how it will end!

Chapter 441: Iron Torrent

There was a small town near Lanfeng City where the headquarters of the Anti-Japanese United Army was located.

Several people were studying the map and discussing the upcoming battle when suddenly a staff officer rushed in.

"Commander-in-Chief, urgent military situation."

Commander Chen calmly asked, "What happened?"

The staff officer said, "Gui Yongqing's 27th Army, which was stationed in Lanfeng City, just abandoned the city and ran away."

Commander-in-Chief Chen stood up abruptly, his voice filled with both emotion and disappointment: "The 27th Army, that's Guo Fu's elite force! The Tu Feiyuan Division was still dozens of miles from Lanfeng City! They didn't even fight a single battle, and they've already abandoned the city and fled..."

He sighed, "If Lanfeng City falls, this plan to encircle them will fail. Once the Doihara Division occupies Lanfeng City, they can attack or defend at will, thus gaining the upper hand. With their cooperation from the Japanese forces in Xuzhou, the battle will be much more difficult."

As he spoke, Commander-in-Chief Chen waved his hand forcefully: "Lanfeng City must be defended. The 27th Army has abandoned the city, so we will go and defend it. The Japanese suffered heavy losses last night, and we must not let them escape the encirclement."

Li Yunlong said eagerly, "Brigade Commander, if we intend to take over Lanfeng City, we need to act quickly to prevent the Japanese from getting there first. This time, I, Old Li, am willing to take the lead and capture Lanfeng City before the Japanese." He looked very eager as he spoke.

Commander-in-Chief Chen glanced at him and said, "The takeover of Lanfeng City is entrusted to Kong Jie. You have a more important task."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong's face immediately fell. What could be more important than taking Lanfeng City?

Commander-in-Chief Chen said, "We want to take over Lanfeng City, and the Japanese want it even more. They will definitely send an advance force to Lanfeng City. Your mission is to intercept the Japanese advance force and create conditions for Kong Jie to enter Lanfeng City."

Li Yunlong said with a worried look, "I, Old Li, have a miserable life. I only do dirty and tiring work."

Commander Chen laughed and scolded him, "Alright, stop playing the victim here. Everyone knows you."

"Don't worry, I'm handing the armored battalion over to you. Our first tough battle in Lanfeng is in your hands."

Li Yunlong's eyes darted left and right, then he suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "Alright, Brigade Commander, I, Old Li, will take this job."

"Look, I'll do the dirty and hard work. How about transferring one of the artillery battalions to me?"

Commander-in-Chief Chen glared at him: "Li Yunlong, you're really pushing your luck. Get going now, or I'll punish you if you delay the military mission."

He muttered to himself, "I remember the cookhouse is short of someone to make flatbreads, and we haven't found a suitable person yet."

Li Yunlong immediately became obedient.

"Brigade Commander, no way, no way! Old Li is the most reliable guy, he'll go right away, he'll go right away..."

……

In a large courtyard dozens of kilometers southwest of Lanfeng, Doi Makoto, commander of the 14th Division of the Japanese Army, received an urgent telegram. His face, which was full of bitterness, finally showed a slight smile.

As he expected, the 27th Army dared not fight a tough battle and abandoned the city and fled.

The division was badly bombed in the early morning, and its strength was greatly reduced. He was worried that the 27th Army would stay behind to test the waters, but he did not expect them to run away so decisively.

Thinking of the bombing in the early morning, Tu Feiyuan felt his heart bleed; it was simply too tragic. The fact that the government had organized such a large-scale bomber force without anyone noticing was completely unexpected.

This was something they often did, but they never expected to be the ones getting bombed today. The armored corps was almost completely destroyed, and almost all the remaining tanks were damaged. Even if some could be repaired, only two or three out of ten remained, making them unable to participate in combat for the time being.

The artillery also suffered heavy losses, with less than half of its artillery pieces remaining, causing the 14th Division's combat effectiveness to plummet.

Such a horrific scene even made him admire the soldiers on the other side. The bombing of his own division had already made his heart bleed, and he wished he could commit seppuku.

They have maintained air superiority since the start of the war, and the opposing army has been subjected to relentless bombing every day, yet they have not collapsed.

……

After reflecting for a while, he thought about the current situation. When he received the mission, he knew very well that he would be besieged if he led a small force of 30,000 troops into the middle of more than 100,000 Chinese troops.

Although he looked down on the Guo family's army, he did not underestimate them. He was a cunning fox; even if he had succeeded a hundred times before, he would still be cautious the next time.

However, he miscalculated this time. Who could have imagined that the threat would come from the air, and on such a large scale?

Previously, I would never have believed that the government had the strength to organize such a large-scale bomber fleet.

However, he was indeed bombed, and badly so.

Sighing, yet also grateful for his small stroke of luck, the 27th Army of Lanfeng City had left without a fight. If they hadn't been so focused on preserving their strength, given the current combat power of the 14th Division, the outcome of a direct confrontation would have been quite predictable; at the very least, they could have kept him trapped here for several days.

Now things are much better. The 27th Army has fled, and we can occupy Lanfeng City without bloodshed. With the cooperation of the Japanese forces in Xuzhou, we are almost invincible.

While feeling heartbroken about the losses incurred in the early hours of the morning, I was also amazed by the unexpected turn of events.

However, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, the most important thing now is to send an advance force to take over Lanfong.

The armored regiment was originally the most suitable, with its speed and firepower, but it was bombed too badly in the early morning, and only one or two out of ten can still be mobilized, so it cannot form a combat force in a short period of time.

After thinking it over, since the Third Regiment was the closest to Lanfeng City, Doiyu immediately issued an order to the messenger: "Order the Third Infantry Regiment to abandon excess baggage and march at full speed. They must capture Lanfeng City within one and a half hours!"

……

On the other side, Kong Jie had just led his men into Lanfeng City when he heard that the Japanese were not far away. Li Yunlong hurriedly led his troops to form a battle formation three miles east of Lanfeng City.

At the very front was an armored battalion, thirty tanks arranged in a basic attack formation, lying there silently like steel behemoths.

To avoid alerting Xiaobenzi, everything was covered with military green canvas, making it difficult to spot anything unless you got a certain distance away.

This camouflage has been carried out by the armored battalion since entering the battlefield, mainly to avoid Japanese bombing. Sometimes they even add tree branches and weeds to prevent enemy aircraft from detecting the target as much as possible.

Li Mu also put a lot of effort into training the armored battalion, spending a high price to recruit five or six people familiar with tank warfare from the country's first armored division, the 200th Division of the Army, to serve as instructors for the armored battalion.

Due to the short timeframe, the armored battalion has only mastered the most basic formations, attack arrays, and tactics for coordinating with the army in combat.

Anything more can be added gradually in the future.

……

When the Japanese Third Regiment of more than 3,000 men marched for an hour and finally saw Lanfeng on the horizon, they also saw the army lined up in front of Lanfeng.

Despite the heavy bombing in the early morning, the little army did not lose its pride. Since the division commander had given the order to take Lanfeng, it would definitely take it and would not be intimidated by the mere army under Lanfeng.

They even believed that a single charge would send the enemy army fleeing in disarray, abandoning their armor and weapons. They were very experienced in this, and it had become a habit.

So the notebooks formed an attack formation and charged straight towards Lanfeng City, moving even faster.

As the two sides drew closer and closer, one thousand meters, eight hundred meters...

At Li Yunlong's command, the canvas on the tanks was torn off, and thirty steel behemoths lay there quietly, looking down at the enemy before them.

The soldiers of the Third Regiment, seeing a row of steel behemoths appear seven or eight hundred meters away, their dark cannons pointed directly at them, turned pale with fright. Pointing ahead, they stammered, "Tanks...tanks!"

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

As several signal flares soared into the sky, the drivers pushed the control levers and pressed the accelerator, and the nine-ton tank began to move slowly. Like a giant beast with its jaws wide open, it charged towards the notebook.

Although it is a light tank, its firepower is not weak. It is equipped with a 37mm cannon and two 7.92mm machine guns, and its top speed is 42 kilometers per hour.

As the little notebook stared in disbelief at the dozens of steel war machines lined up in a row, billowing black smoke from their rear ends, rolling over with the force of Mount Tai, a chill ran down his spine.

They were certainly no strangers to tanks, even though their tanks were just thin sheet metal compared to those of Europe, they were still invincible on the Chinese battlefield.

Now, their opponents also have tanks, and even more powerful ones.

Watching the rolling torrent of steel, many felt a sense of panic and despair. They had no heavy weapons, given their need for a forced march.

The only weapons that pose a threat to tanks are probably heavy machine guns and mortars.

The young leader's pride wouldn't allow them to flee in terror at the mere sight of the enemy, lest they fail to capture Lanfeng. Yet, he was also deeply afraid, wavering for a moment, and could only order the heavy machine guns and mortars to open fire immediately.

"Quickly...fire...fire now!"

For a time, the shouts of officers echoed throughout the small army.