Chapter 307: Feint East, Strike West
Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Gao Liujin’s troops came to a complete halt five kilometers from the airport.
The importance of the airport was known to the Japanese invaders, who had fortified it heavily.
Even though the Jin Sui Army attacked fiercely all the way to Taiyuan City, no troops were pulled from the airport’s defenses.
In fact, patrols and alerts had even been strengthened here.
Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Gao Liujin’s troops could advance no further, or they would be discovered.
Looking up at the setting sun in the west, Gao Liujin gnawed on dry rations biscuits and said impatiently, “We’ve been holding back for so long, and now we’re finally going to pull off a big one. Why is this sun setting so slowly?”
They had to wait for the sun to set completely; only when night fell could they attack.
Otherwise, if the airport’s airplanes were alerted and took off in an emergency ahead of time, flying over for fierce bombardment, it wouldn’t be a joke.
And another thing!
Once it was dark, the Japanese invaders’ airplanes couldn’t take off; they could only stay on the airport.
At night, with no visibility, even if the Japanese aircraft wanted to force a takeoff, the end result would be the planes destroyed and pilots dead.
Whew!
Whew!
Whew!
At this moment, a formation of aircraft flew overhead; they had finished bombing the Jin Sui Army and were returning to the airport.
Ding Wei looked at these airplanes with regret: “What a pity.”
“Old Ding, what do you find pity about?” Li Yunlong asked.
“These Japanese invaders’ airplanes are hateful and make our teeth itch with rage, but setting aside the hatred, these airplanes are good things, better than tanks or cannons!” Ding Wei sighed. “If we could capture them and form our own air force, how great that would be. But we can’t take them back; we have to destroy them all. Too bad.”
Li Yunlong shook his head and said, “Old Ding, even if we could grab these Japanese invaders’ airplanes, we couldn’t handle training the pilots, let alone how much fuel these things burn—our logistics can’t supply enough fuel. It’s easier to just blow them up. They’re just Japanese aircraft. Once Younger Brother Li develops our military industry, our weapons will be even better. Why worry about not capturing more Japanese invaders’ airplanes?”
Gao Liujin chimed in from the side: “Exactly. As long as Factory Director Li can get our military industry up and running, and our gear is good, these little Japanese invaders’ airplanes will be meat on our plate—we can grab as many as we want! At that time, forget airplanes; I’ll even grab a few of their warships. Oh yeah, don’t the little Japanese invaders have that aircraft carrier? If we grab one, we can capture dozens of airplanes on it.”
Ding Wei glanced at the uncultured Gao Liujin and corrected him: “It’s aircraft carrier, not aircraft public carrier!”
Gao Liujin looked skeptical: “Chickens and ducks have males and females; warships have mothers, so surely they have fathers too?”
“Old Ding, let’s move a bit to the side.” Li Yunlong pulled Ding Wei a couple steps away; this Gao Liujin was too uncultured.
You said an aircraft carrier can have dozens of airplanes on it; those are like the offspring of the aircraft carrier.
You damn father carrier—how does that give birth!
If you’ve got the guts, you, Gao Liujin, give birth to one first!
……
The dry rations were finished, and they had drunk their fill of water.
The troops rested for twenty minutes, recovering their spirits and stamina to the best state.
The sun had completely set below the horizon, and night had fallen.
Tonight’s moon was obscured by clouds, with a cool, strong wind blowing.
Li Yunlong chuckled: “A dark night with high winds is perfect for killing and arson. Let’s move out.”
“Let’s get to it!” Gao Liujin spat into his palm and immediately took the lead in getting to work.
Due to the tight defenses at the Japanese invaders’ airport, Li Yunlong adopted a strategy of feigning an attack in the east while striking in the west.
That was to have Gao Liujin lead his team in a fierce assault from the east side of the airport, putting on the strongest possible posture as the main attack.
To make the Japanese invaders at the airport think Gao Liujin was going to break through from the east to the airport.
As long as Gao Liujin attacked brilliantly, most of the Japanese invaders’ defensive troops were likely to be moved to the east.
Then the other three directions would be weakly defended, and Li Yunlong and Ding Wei could join forces, pick one direction, and thrust straight into the airport like a sharp knife!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Gao Liujin’s Hell Cannon and Type 92 Infantry Gun roared to life.
The defenses on the outer perimeter north of the airport were quickly destroyed.
Even though the Japanese invaders’ machine gun fire was still sweeping, once the rocket launchers came out, that machine gun fire quickly went silent.
With superior firepower, Gao Liujin’s troops rapidly advanced toward the north side of the airport.
Facing this sudden attack, the Japanese invaders’ garrison officer looked shocked: “Such fierce combat power—this must be Eighth Route Army troops.”
“General, we need to report to the commander immediately and have him send over the poison gas shells,” his adjutant shouted urgently.
These poison gas shells were specifically reserved for dealing with the Eighth Route Army.
Now that the Eighth Route Army had appeared, the poison gas shells needed to be brought over and used right away.
“I’m afraid it’s too late; the Eighth Route Army is moving too fast, and they’re too close to the airport,” the Japanese invaders’ garrison officer said angrily.
Due to the commander’s judgment, the Eighth Route Army was likely to show up at the Taiyuan Arsenal.
So half of the remaining poison gas shells had been placed at the Taiyuan Arsenal.
Who would have thought the Eighth Route Army wouldn’t attack the Taiyuan Arsenal but instead came to attack the airport.
“You contact the commander immediately and urgently request the poison gas shells. Hopefully it’s not too late. I’ll mobilize the main forces to hold off the Eighth Route Army’s attack as much as possible,” the Japanese invaders’ garrison officer still said to the adjutant.
“Yes, General.” The adjutant hurried off to make the call.
The Japanese invaders’ garrison officer immediately issued orders, mobilizing key forces to hold off the Eighth Route Army’s attack with all their might.
At the same time, the Japanese invaders’ garrison officer also called the airport side.
“Hashimoto, you must have heard the attack noises over there too. The Eighth Route Army has shown up,” the Japanese invaders’ garrison officer said to the airport officer on the other end of the line. “You need to have your airplanes ready for emergency takeoff.”
“Idiot, emergency takeoff? Are you joking? It’s nighttime!” Hashimoto cursed. “Moreover, the pilots have been flying high-intensity missions every day and are exhausted; this is their golden rest time. On top of that, their airplanes just landed at the airport, haven’t been checked, haven’t been refueled, and ammunition hasn’t been replenished. Forcing exhausted takeoffs in the dark will only end with them all crashing.”
The garrison officer said gravely: “Due to the Jin Sui Army, the commander probably can’t mobilize troops for reinforcement in the short term. I’m doing my best to hold off the Eighth Route Army here, but their artillery fire is too numerous and fierce; I don’t have absolute confidence. I know airplanes shouldn’t force takeoff at night, but you’d better prepare for the worst in advance.”
“The worst?” Hashimoto cursed again. “What worst? You don’t mean for me to blow up the airplanes myself and withdraw with the pilots, do you? Do you know how critical the neighboring battle is? Their air support can’t stop! And the thirty airplanes borrowed from the Kwantung Army just arrived today—surely they won’t be destroyed! Without airplanes, who will escort the Kumamoto Division’s supply trains?”
“Hashimoto, I can only say I’ll do my best to hold off the Eighth Route Army,” the garrison officer said with some resolve. “If I can’t hold, I’ll commit seppuku to the Emperor!”
After the garrison officer finished speaking, the call ended.
“Idiot, idiot, damn it!” Hashimoto heard the hang-up tone, angrily slamming the microphone onto the rack. “These damn Eighth Route Army—they deliberately attacked at night, exploiting our airplanes’ weakness of not being able to force takeoff at night.”
If the Eighth Route Army had attacked during the day.
No matter how strong their attack.
As long as the airport’s airplanes took off in an emergency and went over for fierce bombardment, the Eighth Route Army would be done for.
But now it’s night, poor visibility; forcing airplanes to take off from the airport at night, invisible in the sky—what difference from flies buzzing around!
Cursing aside, Hashimoto quickly summoned his adjutant and ordered: “Go transmit my command immediately: all pilots assemble and stand by, prepare to withdraw at any time.”
Listening to the increasingly close gunfire and cannon sounds, though Hashimoto was unwilling to believe the Eighth Route Army’s combat power was this strong, he still had to prepare for the worst.
Airplanes are valuable!
Fuel is valuable!
The airport’s facilities are all valuable!
But the most valuable are these pilots.
They are elite pilots with hundreds or even thousands of flight hours.
The adjutant was stunned: “General, what about the airplanes? Are we abandoning them?”
The Eighth Route Army hasn’t even reached here yet—are we giving up the airplanes?
“Go prepare first.” Hashimoto didn’t respond.
Although the gunfire sounds were getting closer, the speed seemed to be slowing.
It looked like the garrison officer had mobilized the main defensive forces to hold them off.
But whether they could ultimately hold, it was still uncertain.
“Hai.” The adjutant hurried off.
……
“Regiment Commander, the Japanese invaders’ firepower has intensified a lot; we can’t break through!” Gao Liujin’s troops had advanced halfway when the number of Japanese invaders blocking the front suddenly increased, with fierce firepower; even Gao Liujin’s artillery was being suppressed.
“Damn it!” Gao Liujin cursed. “Looks like I can’t single-handedly charge to the airport after all.”
Indeed, though it was a feint attack, Gao wanted to try if he could actually reach the airport.
Now it seemed it was wishful thinking.
This Japanese invaders’ garrison officer must have gathered the main troops from the defensive lines.
This iron wall blocking the front was like an insurmountable chasm!
Gao Liujin still roared: “Don’t stop! Keep firing for me! The fiercer we fight, the more Japanese invaders we contain, increasing the chances of Li Yunlong and Ding Wei succeeding. Don’t conserve ammunition—fight for me!”
Under Gao Liujin’s orders, his team howled as they poured out firepower.
The troops were like an enraged beast; no matter how they roared, they couldn’t break through the wall in front.
A smile appeared on the Japanese invaders’ garrison officer’s face: “Excellent, it seems these Eighth Route Army aren’t unstoppable after all. I worried for nothing.”
