Chapter 110: Air Defense
Just as the Nanjing Security Regiment stopped their attack and both sides hurriedly built fortifications, the Japanese army’s reinforcement air group arrived.
This was a support air group composed of six Type 97 heavy bombers and four Nakajima Type 97 fighters.
As soon as the air group arrived over Taierzhuang, the six Type 97 heavy bombers formed a wedge formation and began diving toward the ground, their bomb bay doors under the fuselage like the fangs of a ferocious beast bared wide.
Meanwhile, the four Nakajima fighters prowled on both sides like venomous bees, sunlight refracting blinding white light off their aluminum wings.
Explosions tore through the air. The first bomb landed next to a firepower point, instantly turning the newly repaired position into dust. Shrapnel from the machine gun flew like twisted dough twists, embedding into a nearby earthen wall.
Two soldiers carrying ammunition were instantly flung by the blast wave. Whole crates of grenades exploded one after another in the firelight, engulfing his figure in crimson smoke and dust.
“Air raid… air raid… take cover from the planes…”
The battlefield was filled with officers’ shouts everywhere. Soldiers burrowed into anti-aircraft bunkers or cover like startled mice. The ground was littered with blasted corpses and weapon parts.
“Fuck those damn little Japs, so what if they have planes!”
On the 1st Battalion’s position, Li Gaoyuan watched the bombers bomb indiscriminately everywhere and cursed furiously.
“Having planes really is impressive.”
In the regiment command post’s observation post, Su Yaoyang looked at the Japanese fighters dancing in the sky and sighed faintly.
He then immersed his mind into the necklace. It was still a little short. After redeeming another batch of supplies, his mental power should increase another notch, at which point he could redeem heavy artillery and unlock the fighter option.
But just having planes wasn’t enough; pilots were the biggest problem.
While he was lost in thought, the messenger reported: “Regiment Commander… Commander Li orders us to temporarily avoid the enemy and halt the offensive to avoid greater casualties, especially our artillery, which must be protected.”
“Tell Commander Li that I… um… Artillery Battalion… not good…” Su Yaoyang had just nodded when his expression changed, and he immediately lunged to the table to grab the phone.
“Hello… is this the Artillery Battalion? This is Su Yaoyang. I order you to immediately take cover.
Anti-aircraft Battalion… deploy immediately, prepare for air defense… what… just moved positions? That’s not allowed either…”
“Boom…”
While Su Yaoyang was speaking, a violent explosion sound faintly reached his ears.
“Oh no, the little Japs have spotted them!”
He threw down the receiver and rushed out of the Guandi Temple, ran to a dirt slope, raised his binoculars, and gazed toward the south bank of the Yong River. He saw several Japanese planes flying up and down, taking turns diving to bomb the artillery positions on the south bank.
At that moment, six black trails suddenly tore through the sky above the south bank of the Yong River—that was the unique sight of the Type 97 heavy bombers’ engines at maximum power, with incompletely burned aviation kerosene expelled as exhaust.
The ground of the artillery positions trembled under the shockwaves, with countless shell fragments flying everywhere in the air.
The anti-aircraft positions were shrouded in gun smoke and flying dust. When the Japanese planes approached, Anti-aircraft Battalion Commander Wei Dayan immediately ordered to open fire. However, compared to the Japanese planes, his order came a bit late. One M2A1 howitzer was instantly blasted apart on the spot, and the gunners around the cannon were turned into a cloud of blood mist along with it.
“Open fire… open fire… what are you standing around for? Fire back now!”
Wei Dayan’s roar tore through the heavy air. The anti-aircraft battalion’s sixteen Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns simultaneously spat blazing tongues of fire. The cannonade thundered like lightning, shaking the ground slightly, with muzzle flashes tracing dazzling paths in the sky.
High-explosive shells burst in mid-air one after another, their exploding firelight illuminating the gloomy clouds, fragments raining down everywhere.
The dense barrage filled the sky with gun smoke, the acrid gunpowder smell drifting with the wind, choking throats raw.
The sudden barrage tore through the clouds, and the Type 97 heavy bomber pilot’s hands suddenly tightened on the control stick.
His widened pupils reflected the sudden bursts of fire from the ground artillery positions—those black dots that should have been like ants to be slaughtered were now erupting in blinding orange-red light.
“Oh no, the Chinese have anti-aircraft guns!”
The startled shout had just left his mouth when the cabin filled with the shrill sound of metal tearing. The co-pilot’s cry stuck in his throat as a half-choked whimper.
Immediately after, he felt the wing trembling, like a dragonfly gripped by an invisible giant hand.
He yanked back desperately on the stick, but saw the bomber ahead-left suddenly explode—not a hit-induced fireball, but the entire airframe disintegrating in mid-air, aluminum skin scattering like shredded paper, fuel from the tanks spilling into a burning waterfall.
A heat wave carrying fragments slapped against the canopy, a pungent charred smell drilling into his nostrils. He didn’t know if the burnt stench came from outside or the short-circuited wires in his own cockpit.
In just a few seconds, three dashboard lights suddenly went out, the altimeter needle spinning wildly counterclockwise, as if mocking their earlier arrogance…
On the ground anti-aircraft battalion positions, the gunners were firing madly into the sky.
“Load shells!” The gun commander’s hoarse shout mixed with the metallic clash of the breech; even as the scorching shell casings brushed his ear, he ignored it.
As another string of shells tore through the air, a violent explosion rang out in the sky. A Type 97 bomber’s belly suddenly burst into an orange-red fireball, then disintegrated in mid-air, turning into a massive fireball plummeting toward the ground.
He wiped the sweat sticking his eyelashes but tasted a salty bitterness.
Through the distorting steam from the overheated barrel, he saw a hit enemy plane trailing black smoke as it crashed into the river.
With two heavy bombers shot down in succession, the Japanese were shocked and thoroughly enraged. Soon, the four Nakajima fighters originally providing high-altitude escort dove down from the clouds, their bullet streams plowing the anti-aircraft battalion’s ground like a harrow.
“Ah…”
A loader was bent over carrying an ammo crate. Sweat slid down his temple, carving clear tracks across his dust-covered face.
Suddenly, a sharp whistling tore through the air. He jerked his head up, his pupils reflecting the diving Nakajima fighter.
“Thud thud thud…!”
The dull thuds of 7.7mm bullets piercing his uniform were exceptionally piercing.
The hit right leg burned like it had been seared by a branding iron. His whole body staggered forward and collapsed.
In the instant the ammo crate slipped from his hands, he reached out futilely to grab something but only touched cold mud. The heavy crate smashed to the ground, kicking up a choking cloud of dust.
“Load shells… hurry and load…” In the blur, he seemed to hear the gun commander’s roar…
