Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 435: Aerial Bombing: Van Fleet's Ammunition
In Jinan City, at the 43rd Army Headquarters, Lieutenant General Sakuragi Koichiro, the commander, is convening a meeting with several old devils;
At this time, the days of peace were already fading. There was only one 47th Division and two independent mixed brigades stationed in Jinan. Together with the garrisons in major cities such as Qingdao and Dezhou and along the railways, the total force was only 7. They were surrounded by the guerrilla column and the Eighth Route Army in several isolated points.

At this time, the North China Front Army had 1 troops under its command, the 114st Army (3th Division, 58000 independent brigades) stationed in Taiyuan;
驻济南第43军（47师团、独立混成第5旅团、独立混成第9旅团、独立歩兵第1旅团、第9独立警备队、第11独立警备队、第12独立警备队）7万人；

驻洛阳12军（110、115师团，1个骑兵旅团）7万人，方面军总部以及驻蒙军（战车第3师团，118师团，5个独立旅团）12万人，合计32万人。

It sounds like a lot, but it is not enough to be scattered across the vast North China region. The most important thing is that these troops are just empty shells, with outdated equipment and soldiers who are old, weak and sick.

The main force of the Eighth Route Army in North China had hundreds of thousands of troops, and the guerrilla column had 25 troops. Together with local troops and militia, the total number reached 200 million, which brought tremendous pressure to the Japanese garrisons in various places.

The Eighth Route Army launched a full-scale counterattack in Hedong, Hebei, Henan and other places. Almost all the main forces of the North China Front Army were tied down, and the support they could provide to the 43rd Army was limited.

Sakuragi Koichiro also realized this and said with a gloomy face:
"Gentlemen, the guerrilla column has already reached the city. This time they are still using the tactic of surrounding three sides and leaving one side, hoping to force the imperial army to voluntarily give up Jinan.

According to intelligence, the one who attacked Jinan City was its Fourth Detachment, led by Wang Jianfei, who had three military sub-districts, 3 infantry battalions and three artillery battalions under its command, with a total strength of about 18 troops.

There are also hundreds of fighter planes, 200 tanks, hundreds of artillery pieces, and about 10 local troops and militias supporting the operation. "

The Japanese were completely dumbfounded after hearing this. The difference in strength between the two sides was so great that it felt unreal. It was really like "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west."

见所有人都低头不语，樱木中将就点了47师团渡辺洋中将的将，47师团是43年5月14日以独立第67步兵团为基础在弘前编成；
下辖步兵91、105、131联队以及骑兵、山炮兵、工兵、辎重兵47联队，属于乙等师团，是43军唯一的野战师团。

Lieutenant General Watanabe Hiroshi had just taken over as the division commander and was also arrogant. When he saw the commander appointing him as the general, he snorted coldly and said:

"Commander, the guerrilla column and the Eighth Route Army are a group of farmers. They only had tens of thousands of people a few years ago. Blindly and quickly expanding the troops will inevitably lead to a sharp decline in combat effectiveness.

The Imperial Army couldn’t even operate the American aid equipment they received, such as airplanes and tanks, so how could they expect a group of farmers to operate them?
The guerrillas are just a bunch of paper tigers. They are nothing but a gift of heads and equipment to my elite 47th Division. I am confident that I can defeat them!"

Vice Admiral Sakuragi's expression became much better, and he said confidently:
“Gentlemen, Watanabe-kun is indeed a loyal and brave man of the Empire. His analysis is very reasonable. Although the guerrilla column has a large number of people, they are just a motley crowd with no experience in large-scale combat and urban siege warfare.

They were not able to use those new weapons, and there were more than 100,000 Chinese people in Jinan City. The guerrillas were afraid to launch a large-scale bombing of Jinan City.

I decided to fight the Chinese to the death in Jinan. As the saying goes, to defend a city, you must defend the wilderness. The outer defense line will be handed over to the 47th Infantry Division, the 5th Independent Mixed Brigade will be responsible for the defense of Qingdao, and the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 1st Independent Brigade will be responsible for the defense of Jinan city..."

Lieutenant General Sakuragi did not appreciate Yue Qianli's kindness, but was prepared to fight to the death and defend the city of Jinan to the death.

The city of Jinan was also the first big city attacked by the guerrilla column. The urban defense warfare, guerrilla warfare, mobile warfare, and urban siege warfare that the guerrilla column was good at before were very different?
Wang Jianfei, the commander-in-chief of the front line of the Jinan Campaign, also attached great importance to the urban assault and ordered the staff team to formulate a detailed combat plan;
He led his staff to repeatedly simulate and revise the plan, and finally finalized it after soliciting opinions from everyone.

On New Year's Day of the 34th year of the National Government, the Battle of Jinan officially began.

In the outer positions of the 47th Division, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers were on high alert. They built more than a thousand solid bunkers in the dangerous mountains and rivers outside the city.

The bunkers are connected by three layers of inner and outer trenches, and the positions are covered with barbed wire and mines, making them impregnable.

The commander of the 47th Division, Lieutenant General Watanabe Hiroshi, even clamored that if the Chinese wanted to capture Jinan City, they would have to exchange at least elite troops;
Wang Jianfei said to Zhou Xin:

"Third brother, I'm going to give you the task of smashing the Japanese's turtle shell. The Japanese want us to exchange 5 elite soldiers, and I'm going to give them tons of bombs in return!

I remember the boss once mentioned the concept of Van Fleet ammunition, saying that only Americans could afford it;
Looking at the world's famous generals, I have never heard of a Van Fleet, but this time I will start with you. Can you use Zhou Xin's ammunition to destroy the enemy's fortifications in one fell swoop? "

When Zhou Xin heard about the 5-ton bomb, he instantly became interested. He didn't expect that the fourth brother was also a big shot. He immediately raised his mouth and said:
"Fourth brother, you have learned a lot of new words from the eldest brother in the past few years. I like Zhou Xin's ammunition. I don't care about Van Vleet. From now on, this word belongs to me!
Don't worry, leave it to me. As long as we have enough ammunition, comrades can blow the shit out of the Japs."

It is better to provoke than to invite. This is exactly the effect Wang Jianfei wanted. He smiled and said:

"Don't worry, there are enough bombs!

The military factory's production capacity has caught up, plus the 10 tons of bombs that Lao Yue got back from Eagle Sauce in advance, it's enough for you to make."

Zhou Xin and others knew Yue Qianli's ability. He had been a guest of Franklin eight years ago. The Americans were rich and powerful, and bombs would not be a problem as long as they could eliminate the Japanese.

The fifth brother, Zhao Tianci, also came over and said:
"Brothers, I have good news for you all. The second brother has also come to join in the fun. I just wonder if the eldest brother will give him a few warships to play with."

Li Daomin said first:
"That's for sure. When we recover Qingdao, we'll have the best naval port, and it's inevitable that we'll get a fleet back.
Without a navy, how can we land on Fuso Island?"

The "Six Tigers of West Point" of that year were finally gathered together, and Yue Qianli fulfilled his promise and led them to launch a counterattack against the Japanese. The battle of Jinan began with the pursuit of the Japanese out of China. The first to take the field were Zhou Xin and his air prides.

At 300 a.m., Zhou Xin led 300 Flying Fortress bombers, escorted by 51 P- Mustang fighters, and headed straight for Jinan City. The dense swarm of planes was enough to block out the sky and the sun.

The Japanese were not willing to be outdone. In order to assist the 43rd Army in defending the city of Jinan, the North China Front Army dispatched a fleet of 240 Hawk-type, Type Gale fighters, and Zhong Kui-type land-based fighters to fight. This was also the last resort of the North China Front Army's air force.

The Hayabusa and Zhong Kui are both old land-based fighters, while the Type 680 Hayate is the latest fighter developed by the Japanese and has just been mass-produced. It was the fastest fighter in Japan during World War II, with a maximum flight speed of 2 km/h. Its main armaments were two 20mm cannons and two 2mm machine guns. Although it was Japan's fastest fighter, its speed was still not as fast as the Mustang, which had a maximum speed of 12.7 km/h. Its overall performance was comparable, but slightly better than the Mustang.

Zhou Xin rushed to the front in a Mustang fighter. The guerrilla column's air clusters had already generally used two-plane or multi-plane formations in tactics;

The pilots are superior to the Japanese in terms of combat experience. Half of them are aviation volunteers recruited by Yue Qianli in Yingjiang. They are all retired Yingjiang air combat aces and are tacitly approved by Yinggong.

Since the guerrilla column had established its own flight academy a long time ago, it has trained more than 2 pilots in the past few years. In addition to more than 3 returned overseas Chinese and American volunteer pilots, the guerrilla column has no shortage of excellent pilots.

The aircraft groups of both sides were like enemies meeting each other, extremely jealous of each other, and there was no need to mobilize at all, they just rushed up at full speed;

The two sides engaged in a bloody bayonet-fighting in the air. Damaged and destroyed planes fell like dumplings, some from the Japanese and some from our side.

Only 48 Type fighters in the enemy's fleet could fight the Mustang on equal terms, while the other old-fashioned aircraft were crushed by the guerrilla column "Wolf Pack";

With the support of double-plane and multi-plane formations and "wolf pack" tactics, the melee between the two sides was quickly determined. Most of the fallen planes were Japanese ones, and the loss ratio exceeded 5 to 1.

The eyes of Major General Sato Shunki, the commander of the air group, were full of bloodshot. If anger could shoot down Chinese planes, Zhou Xin's beloved plane would have fallen eight times.
After damaging a "Mustang", Major General Sato met his opponent in life, Zhou Xin.

There is telepathy between masters, and Sato and Zhou Xin, two ace pilots from the enemy country, finally made eye contact;
Major General Sato had shot down more than a dozen American Eagle planes in the Pacific battlefield, six of which were Mustangs, so he did not take the "Mustang" seriously.

He was not afraid of the ace pilots of the Eagle Sauce, let alone the "rookie" of China. Although Zhou Xin's fuselage was covered with dense five-pointed stars, he did not care;
The leader among rookies is still a rookie!

Zhou Xin's mouth corners raised habitually, he flapped his wings towards his wingman, and then rushed towards the devils;

He felt that the Japs were a very tough ace, but he had been playing as an ace since he was a "rookie". The Chinese sky would not allow such powerful Japs to exist!

"Bakayaro, this is not a job for a samurai!"

Seeing the Chinese using two planes to deal with his one, Major General Sato cursed angrily, but did not take it to heart. He had fought against four American planes alone before, and shot down two of them and escaped unscathed.

At first, Major General Sato did not realize the power of the two-plane formation. After fighting for a while, he discovered that the Chinese two-plane formation was not a simple addition of numbers, but a whole set of tactical bonuses, which perfectly achieved the effect of one plus one being far greater than two.

Several times he relied on his rich combat experience and the performance advantages of his aircraft to occupy the "C" position, but was always replaced by Zhou Xin's wingman and missed several lore opportunities, which caused Sato's mentality to change subtly;
The one-sided fighting situation around the battlefield made him even more anxious. After less than an hour of bloody fighting, most of the Japanese planes had been shot down, and only a few dozen fighter planes were left in the sky struggling to hold on.

As the commander of the army, he knew better than anyone how valuable aircraft were. Due to the heavy bombing of the mainland by the Eagle Sauce, the industrial capacity dropped significantly.
Although the Type 4 fighter has excellent performance, its production capacity cannot keep up, and the lost air force is difficult to replenish, especially in the Chinese battlefield, which has been almost abandoned and it is impossible to replenish it. One less plane is one less.

The most feared thing for masters in a fight is distraction. Originally, Sato had some advantages in single combat against Zhou Xin's formation, but once he was distracted, many tactical moves could not be performed properly, and he lost a lot of opportunities;
Opportunities on the battlefield are fleeting, and wasting a good one is a crime against oneself. Sure enough, he made a mistake due to his distraction, and Zhou Xin's wingman seized the opportunity and fired several volleys at him.

One of the 12.7mm Lewis machine gun bullets hit his left wing, causing thick smoke and greatly affecting the maneuverability of the aircraft;
Major General Sato was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. Just as he was about to react, the host computer piloted by Zhou Xin successfully filled the position, occupied the best attacking position, and fired at his fuselage.

Major General Sato pulled up the fuselage in desperation. He almost watched his mount being dismembered and blown into pieces in the process.

Zhou Xin made a V-shaped scissor gesture to his wingman, and with the close cooperation of the two, they finally killed the most difficult old Japanese soldier;
At the same time, the outcome of the battle was decided. Most of the Japanese planes were shot down, and the few remaining planes were fleeing in a panic.

The guerrilla column's air prides were not going to let them go easily, and were chasing them down. The air supremacy over Jinan was firmly in the hands of the Chinese, and the Japanese infantry were about to face the raging wrath of the Chinese...

Flying Fortress bombers dropped tons of bombs one after another, and the Japanese positions were soon covered by billowing smoke and dust stirred up by the explosions;

Bunkers were destroyed, trenches were razed to the ground, groups of Japanese soldiers were engulfed by explosions, and Van Fried's ammunition began to show its terrifying magic.

After finally waiting for the first wave of aircraft to leave, the second wave came in and continued to rain bullets on the enemy's position. This time they used incendiary bombs, and the air was soon filled with the aroma of barbecue...

"Bakayaloo! The Chinese are using banned white phosphorus bombs. I'm going to report them to the League of Nations!"

"Bakayarō, the Chinese are not warriors if they only rely on dropping bombs from airplanes. If they have the guts, they can fight the Imperial Army one-on-one!"

"Bakayaro, this is not a job for samurai. The Imperial Army will not succumb to force!"

"Bagaya Road..."

Lieutenant General Watanabe Hiroshi was bombed into a grudge. He cursed the guerrilla column for as long as they bombed him, and greeted all members of Wang Jianfei's family, young and old.

Finally, the fleet finished dropping their bombs and left. Watanabe Hiroshi was about to teach the Chinese infantry a painful lesson, but Wang Jianfei, who was looking at them from a distance, just smiled and said:
"We're just getting started. Send a signal to Lao He. It's their artillery's turn next. Bomb them!"

(End of this chapter)