Chapter 148: 147, Bombing The 6th Division Positions, Air-ground Cooperation Joint Attack
May 12th.
Three consecutive days.
Sun Debiao and a mountain man named Zhang Laifu moved along the Great Wall.
The two had no clear target.
Anyway, they just followed the Great Wall.
According to Sun Debiao’s idea, wherever the battle was urgent, they would call for bombing there.
Following this line of thinking, Sun Debiao and Zhang Laifu unexpectedly went from the Lengkou Great Wall section to Xifengkou, the protruding defense point in the middle of the Great Wall Defense Line.
On the distant ruined city wall, bloodstains remained, and saber fragments in the grass under the city wall reflected light in the sunlight.
All of this told the two that a fierce battle had once erupted here.
“We’re too late.” Sun Debiao said regretfully.
“Not late, as long as we find the Japanese’s large troops and bomb them to death.” Zhang Laifu didn’t think about strategic issues; he just wanted the immortal to bring heavenly punishment once more, bombing enough Japanese to avenge his father.
Sun Debiao nodded, the two lowered their bodies, avoided the sight of Japanese soldiers on the city wall, and headed to the next target.
They passed Qingquan Pass and arrived upstream of the Luan River.
Here, the battle was still ongoing: Nantianmen Great Wall Section.
There, it was only 150 kilometers from Beiping.
Thousands of Japanese troops were attacking that section of the city wall.
On the distant Luan River, countless Japanese troops were forcibly crossing the river.
In the sky, Japanese bombers circled back and forth, dropping bombs on the Great Wall.
This scene showed Sun Debiao and Zhang Laifu the cruelty and scale of the war.
Zhang Laifu panicked: “Benefactor, let’s go, even an immortal wouldn’t be useful here.”
Sun Debiao glared at Zhang Laifu, surveyed the surroundings, found a well-concealed spot, and spread out camouflage cloth to cover it.
Then he had Zhang Laifu stand guard outside while he took out the telegraph machine and sent radio waves to the south.
Shanghai.
The wedding banquet held by the Taishan Airlines General Manager was still ongoing.
After holding it in Jiaxing, it was held at Shanghai Airport, with a very lively atmosphere.
This was also the best cover; who would think that this pair of newlyweds would bomb the Japanese at night.
Fang Wen, with a face full of smiles, toasted with guests from all sides, one cup after another.
No one knew that he was drinking plain water; for the bombing operations that might happen every day, alcohol could not be touched.
This wedding banquet cover wouldn’t last much longer, and Fang Wen was also anxious. Could something have happened to Sun Debiao in the north?
Although worried, he still had to smile and mingle with the guests.
Until Shopkeeper Liu made a gesture.
This meant there was news from the north.
Fang Wen immediately raised his hand to his temple, swaying as if about to collapse: “I can’t anymore, I can’t. My head is so dizzy.”
Fang Shouxin immediately said: “The General Manager can’t hold his liquor. Everyone eat and drink well, I’ll take him to the bridal chamber.”
Amid the laughter, Fang Shouxin supported Fang Wen and left.
Once out of the banquet and in the residence, he was immediately sober, no trace of drunkenness.
Kuang Mingzhu, in a red wedding dress, stood up to help him change clothes. “You go, I’ll cover for you at home.”
Fang Wen nodded solemnly, went out through the secret door in the back room, and arrived at Fang Shouxin’s home.
There, Shopkeeper Liu took out the telegram message.
Taking the telegram message, Fang Wen examined it carefully.
【 Intense fighting around Gubeikou and Nantianmen.】
【 Japanese army has crossed the Luan River, defeated the defending troops on the south bank of the Luan River, forming an encirclement.】
【 More than ten bombers continuously bombing, defending troops in dire straits.】
Fang Wen immediately took out the map for analysis.
This showed that the bombing advantage from three days ago had naturally disappeared.
The 6th Division had four brigades in total, of which the Hiraga Brigade had lost its combat power due to bombing.
The remaining three Matsuda, Takada, and Hattori Brigades still launched river crossing attacks.
More than half of the Great Wall Defense Line had fallen, and the last section was also in dire straits.
The current situation was that this section of the Great Wall not only had to counter the frontal enemy but also deal with the 6th Division bypassing from behind.
Shopkeeper Liu and Fang Shouxin could also see the current situation.
The two spoke out:
“Wasn’t it the 57th Army defending the south bank of the Luan River? Four divisions in total, at least over 30,000 men.”
“Yes, the remaining forces of the Japanese 6th Division are estimated at just over 10,000, less than 20,000, still forcibly crossing the river. How could they be defeated?”
Their doubts were also Fang Wen’s doubts.
If three days ago the 57th Army didn’t attack the Hiraga Brigade camp because of orders to hold position, how to explain the current situation.
He suddenly realized that relying on the Great Wall, the National Army could still confront the Japanese army, but in other environments, even with several times the troop advantage, they might not gain the upper hand.
The National Army was too weak.
Fang Wen couldn’t help but feel sorrowful.
But now was not the time for empty lamentation; no matter what, they had to make an effort to see if they could turn the battle situation around.
He pondered the bombing plan.
Now enemies were everywhere, and Sun Debiao fixing on one point for locking had no effect, since the Japanese army was now in mobile combat state and should be very dispersed.
Next, it would depend on the cooperation between himself and Sun Debiao.
Have Sun Debiao provide on-site directional bombing guidance, and himself conduct multi-point bombing based on his guidance.
This way, the effect of one long-range strategic bombing could be maximized.
After coming up with this idea, Fang Wen immediately replied to Sun Debiao.
On a high mountain, an unremarkable gray large stone.
Actually, it was just a piece of camouflage cloth.
Sun Debiao and Zhang Laifu stayed silently inside, motionless.
On the opposite mountain, a team of Japanese soldiers passed by without discovering them.
Zhang Laifu gripped the spear, sweat dripping from his palms, extremely nervous.
Sun Debiao was calm, holding the headphones and quietly waiting for the reply.
The telegram came, and he was immediately delighted to translate it.
【 Remember the locations you guide for bombing. Tonight, wherever you point, we bomb there.】
Looking at the message, Sun Debiao felt heroic spirit surging.
Tonight, he would be the great hero who saved Beiping.
He instructed: “Laifu, you stay here, I need to go out and find a better spot.”
“You’re risking your life, Japanese are right outside.” Zhang Laifu said nervously.
“It’s fine, I have a way.”
With that, Sun Debiao tucked a piece of camouflage cloth into his pocket, carefully watched the opposite side, and after the Japanese soldiers went downhill, covered himself with the camouflage cloth and crawled out.
He stealthily reached a high point on the mountaintop and surveyed the surroundings.
Those troops that crossed the river encountered resistance from the National Army; the National Army’s weapons were decent, and the battle was intense.
It seemed neither side could push back the other today.
Sun Debiao memorized this situation; tonight, here would be the first bombing target.
However, there were too many Japanese troops, spread out everywhere, covering a large area; it was unknown if the bombers could hit them all.
And the Japanese outside the Great Wall were the second target.
They had set up a camp outside the shooting range of the Great Wall, in a small valley surrounded by mountains on three sides.
Although it protected them from rear attacks, it became the best target for bombing, like turtles in a jar.
After making these judgments, Sun Debiao crawled back to the concealed spot, preparing to transport the signal transmitter out in batches.
Zhang Laifu hesitated: “Benefactor, I’ll go with you.”
Sun Debiao quickly shook his head: “No, you can’t do this well, don’t ruin my plan.”
He made three trips back and forth, transporting everything to the mountaintop, then covered with camouflage cloth and began simulated aiming.
There were many points needing bombing, and at night they couldn’t see clearly, so it had to be based on daytime locking.
To avoid mistakes at night, Sun Debiao came up with a makeshift method in a pinch.
He first confirmed the lock positions, then marked them with pebbles pointing in the direction, and memorized the angle for each lock point. At night, as long as he aligned with the pebble direction and adjusted the angle to lock, it would be twice the result with half the effort.
Of course, this required repeated practice to firmly remember.
Time passed bit by bit, and night fell.
6:30 PM.
f.220 quietly took off from the airport.
The airplane flew to Xiangxi Airport to load the latest batch of napalm bombs.
After loading, Huo Duanyang reported the situation.
“General Manager, a total of 127 bomb racks loaded, two 50-kilogram napalm bombs; this is all the current inventory.”
Fang Wen nodded; output couldn’t keep up with consumption, so to ensure bombing effect, new tactics were needed.
He confirmed the two napalm bombs were secure, boarded the airplane, took off, and flew northeast.
Following the signal source from the northeast, the airplane accurately arrived at the destination; it was past 3 AM again.
Below was the last holdout of the Great Wall Campaign, with the ancient city of Beiping behind it. Did the Japanese want to take Beiping in one go?
Fang Wen shook off his thoughts and issued the order.
“Next, I will carry out multi-point bombing. The bombing form will change based on the situation. Each bombing zone may have 4 drops, and for each drop, the bomb bay drop amount shall not exceed 10 bomb racks. Understood?”
“Understood.” The bomb group members replied in unison.
Then let’s begin. Fang Wen entered mechanical perception state, fully focused.
He locked onto the signal source, trying to understand the situation below; it was a large area of positions.
For such an extended position, as long as locked accurately, a straight-line bombing pattern plowing through would do.
Bomb one side, then return for reciprocating passes, enough to make these Japanese soldiers suffer.
Having locked the overall area below, Fang Wen controlled the airplane to align the fuselage, flew toward the other side of the position, and issued the order.
“Drop bombs.”
The bombardiers, who had been waiting, began operations, and the ammo handlers replenished new bomb racks.
The well-trained Taishan Volunteer Army members devoted themselves fully to the bombing operations.
Each bomb rack held 6*6=36 napalm bombs; three bomb bays dropping at once was 108 bombs. Completing the entire straight-line reciprocating bombing would total 1080 napalm bombs.
These bombs fell to the ground, explosions flashing one after another, continuously igniting anything flammable.
Facing this sudden bombing, reactions varied.
On the Japanese position, flaming figures ran chaotically, explosions nonstop, extreme chaos.
Because they were confronting the enemy head-on, their position was full of various ammunition; these wooden ammunition boxes were easily ignited, some exploding under high heat, causing even more damage.
And in the National Army command post opposite them.
They were also arguing about it.
“Army Commander, the Japanese are bombed again.”
“Do we charge this time?”
“If we don’t charge, does the Northeast Army still have any face? We said we’d hold the south bank of the Luan River, but as soon as the Japanese crossed, we lost the position.”
“Can’t blame us; the Japanese have bombers and cannons. Our firepower is too weak.”
Listening to their argument, Commander He slammed the table hard.
“I’ve decided. As soon as the bombing ends, immediately organize troops to charge the Japanese position.”
Under his order, the troops charged into the fiery sea of the just-bombed position.
Due to the sustained burning effect of the napalm bombs, the enemy position was in chaos and caught off guard.
Fang Wen observed the ground situation from high altitude with mechanical perception.
Though not clear, he could make some judgments from the various explosion flashes.
It seemed the Japanese position was under attack.
He felt somewhat relieved; air raids were meant to cooperate with ground troops.
This time, there was finally a good result.
This made him more expectant for the next air raid.
Why hadn’t Sun Debiao started aiming at the second signal source yet?
On a distant high mountain, Sun Debiao excitedly whispered: “It hit.”
He didn’t immediately adjust the signal transmitter to lock the next target.
Because he was unsure of the interval needed between bombings.
For this, he waited 2 minutes before starting the new lock.
After the new lock, the anticipated bombing continued, striking another brigade position of the 6th Division.
Then the third brigade position.
From 3 AM until 3:30 AM, the bombing lasted half an hour.
Averaging 10 minutes per bombing point.
In these fifteen minutes, 3240 napalm bombs caused sufficient battlefield chaos.
That Japanese position was full of fire points everywhere, weapons and ammunition occasionally self-detonating under high heat.
Though this bombing effect didn’t match the previous one, its sustained burning gave the National Army a chance to counterattack.
Nighttime fire attack plus National Army charge instantly turned the battle situation around.
Fang Wen had no time to observe the subsequent results; he still had one bombing point unfinished, and time was approaching 4 AM.
He had to complete it quickly and return to Shanghai Airport before dawn.
Otherwise, the secret of Taishan One would be exposed.
He anxiously awaited the final signal; once it appeared, he immediately flew to the last target.
There, he completed circling bombing, then dropped the two 50-kilogram napalm bombs at the exact center of the signal.
The circling bombing this time didn’t produce good results; over half of the more than 1000 bombs landed on the mountain ridges around the valley.
The Japanese in the camp might celebrate divine protection for this.
But the next moment, they faced two large napalm bombs.
Instantly, two mushroom clouds rose in the valley; in the narrow space, the fire from the exploded gasoline bombs ignited everything in the valley.
Done with this, Fang Wen immediately piloted the airplane south to return to base.
At 7 AM, he landed at Shanghai Airport.
This night, Taishan One flew 1000 kilometers from Shanghai to Xiangxi Airport, and 2500 kilometers from Xiangxi Airport—Great Wall—Shanghai.
All nighttime flight.
All long-range bombing carrying thousands of bombs.
Probably no one would imagine this bombing was done by Taishan Airlines, a private civil aviation company.
