Chapter 277: 276 Asian Aviation Team’s First Cluster Bombing, Caceres City Battle
Shrike Hao flew northwest of Caceres City.
Below, hundreds of Falange Party soldiers were marching.
They had a very conspicuous mark, red berets.
This was the uniform of the Carlists, the royalist faction, and later the derived Falange Party uniform.
These hundreds of soldiers had a clear objective, heading straight for Caceres City.
Fang Wen was somewhat puzzled. How did Caceres City suddenly become a hot steamed bun, with this batch of rebels suddenly appearing? Could it be just to rescue the Vulture Legion pilots?
Unlikely. Their news wasn’t that fast, and they wouldn’t react so quickly.
Unless these rebels had long had designs on Caceres City, which caused them to clash with his own plan.
Thinking this way, Fang Wen felt it made sense.
But now that the situation had turned out like this, he absolutely could not let this batch of rebels enter the city.
Without teammates, Fang Wen instead became unrestrained. He entered mechanical perception state, becoming one with the machine, and the fuselage suddenly dove downward.
In an instant.
Shrike Hao went full horsepower, diving downward at extreme speed, altitude dropping lower and lower, low enough for the rebels on the ground to see.
Those hundreds of soldiers immediately panicked, with officers shouting for soldiers to take evasive action.
But the soldiers’ reactions varied; some ran to the sides of the road, some lay flat on the ground.
Even some bold ones raised guns and fired into the air.
These people became Fang Wen’s attack targets.
Shrike Hao flew past rapidly at an astonishing 480 kilometers per hour, while the two 20 mm autocannons on the nose fired simultaneously.
20 mm explosive warheads shot toward the ground; some exploded on the road, some directly hit soldiers, forming a line of explosive ballistics.
The 20 mm autocannon shells capable of tearing through airplane aluminum alloy armor caused enormous damage against ground soldiers as well.
Those soldiers standing on the road shooting, and those who didn’t evade in time, were plowed by autocannon shells, suffering heavy casualties.
After finishing the strafing on the enemy, Shrike Hao pulled up, circling in the air, preparing for the next round of attack.
The enemies below were stunned by one dive strafing. Facing the casualties on the road, they rushed back from both sides to treat the wounded.
This was the consequence of not having undergone air raid training. Shrike Hao in the sky adjusted its position and dove down again.
This round of dive strafing caused even greater damage and shattered the enemy’s morale.
Officers shouted loudly, but instead of rallying the soldiers, they had them flee back the way they came. The hundreds of soldiers lost their previous neat formation and fled in panic along the incoming road.
At this time, Fang Wen’s Shrike Hao had not stopped attacking, continuing to circle in the air, as if ready to strafe again at any moment.
Under this oppressive advantage attack, the Falange Party soldiers originally preparing to enter the city ran even faster.
Even so, Fang Wen did not stop, continuing to harass from the air, occasionally diving to strafe again.
This desperate air-to-ground threat scattered this batch of rebels, fleeing in all directions.
Once morale scattered, regrouping these soldiers to attack Caceres City again would be impossible for the time being.
After a bout of air-to-ground harassment, Fang Wen temporarily resolved the threat outside the city.
But the situation was not good; he felt something big was likely to happen.
Under this premonition, he landed in the city square.
The city square was still under the action team’s control, with powerful onboard machine guns sealing off the entrances to the city square, preventing enemies from approaching at all.
He got out of the airplane, hurried to the Boeing 247, took out the oil pipe, and refueled Shrike Hao.
“General Manager, let me do it.” Deng Zhongyu ran over and said.
Fang Wen handed the oil pipe to Deng Zhongyu and talked with him.
“There are hundreds of Falange Party soldiers outside the city preparing to come over. I just scattered them, but this situation won’t last long. I suspect there’s a rebel camp nearby, and they might send more troops.”
Deng Zhongyu said in surprise: “How can there be so many rebels? They can’t be here because of us.”
Fang Wen nodded: “It should have nothing to do with us. From their marching direction, they’re likely coming from Portugal. I estimate they’re troops Franco called in from overseas colonies.”
Franco’s rebels had many supporters in Spain’s overseas colonies, and this civil war was launched with support from the overseas colonies.
If Fang Wen’s judgment was correct, the rebels landing from Portugal were preparing to launch an attack from the southwest, targeting straight for Madrid.
No wonder the previous Madrid defense battle wasn’t that intense. It seemed Franco’s army was calling in troops from overseas, attacking from east and west simultaneously: the east strongly attacking Valencia with German and Italian support, the west attacking Madrid from the southwest with Portugal’s acquiescence.
And Fang Wen and the others encountering the vanguard here was just an accident.
After sorting out the situation, Fang Wen immediately held a temporary action group meeting in the Boeing 247.
He explained the situation to the action team members.
In response, these international warriors of the action team discussed it.
Their opinions were fairly consistent; all wanted to do something in this sudden situation, and not one was afraid and wanted to retreat.
Fang Wen spoke up: “I’ve already sent Du Jiahua to find support. To deal with these ground troops without air space, there’s no need to worry with the Asian Aviation team. As for the discovered military situation, Deng Zhongyu, go get the telegraph machine and send a telegram to the command headquarters, reporting the situation here.”
Deng Zhongyu accepted the order, took out the telegraph machine placed in the Boeing 247, and immediately reported the situation.
At this time, Fang Wen’s arrangements were not yet complete.
“We need to rescue George Baker. He knows the local situation, and we need his opinion on what to do next.”
Action team members all raised hands requesting to participate in rescuing George Baker.
Fang Wen unfolded the map and pointed out George Baker’s trapped location.
From the city square to there was 800 meters, but Falange Party troops blocked the way, so going directly was not feasible.
But the roads in this city were interconnected, so they could go around from the other side.
Fang Wen had scouted that side from the air; no enemy forces were present.
The rescue plan was thus set; three action team members prepared to set off.
They hid behind the Boeing 247, and after the next wave of enemy attack was repelled, they dashed to the other side of the square.
The three took a big detour, reached the other side of the square, and flanked along the road there toward George Baker’s trapped location.
Half an hour later, the three action team members arrived outside the castle-like building, quickly dealt with the outer guards, and fought their way in.
The sudden outbreak of combat let George Baker know his rescuers had arrived. He led the remaining 2 action team members in a coordinated attack.
Under the pincer attack from inside and out, the enemies in the castle were cleared out. George Baker and his group immediately returned to the city square the way they came.
The rescue operation ended smoothly, and George Baker returned to the city square.
After a brief exchange with Fang Wen, he also understood the current situation and immediately took out the map to discuss with Fang Wen.
“If Franco’s rebels are preparing to attack Madrid from here, they must plan to link up with the rebels in the Toledo area southwest of Madrid, then launch an attack on the university district from the southwest.”
Looking at the map, Fang Wen thought briefly and asked: “Why did the rebels send troops to Caceres City?”
George Baker pointed at the map and explained: “The terrain here is flat, with only Caceres City built on high ground. Since ancient times, it has been a strategic key point, controlling the entire area. Once they control Caceres City, they can pass through here with peace of mind.”
So that’s how it was. Although Caceres City currently had no Popular Front garrison, the rebels were still cautious enough to send vanguard troops to occupy it for the main force to pass through later.
Troops capable of marching in the plains must be Franco’s elite units, likely including mechanized forces supported by Germany and Italy.
If they passed through here and assembled in Toledo, Madrid wouldn’t hold.
Fang Wen and George Baker exchanged looks; facing such critical military intelligence, it was hard to decide.
Organizing his words, Fang Wen spoke up.
“The Vulture Corps is entangled with the Soviet Volunteer Aviation Team in Valencia and won’t pay attention here for the time being. The Asian Aviation team can help you block the enemy. The problem is, where do the ground troops come from?”
The question Fang Wen asked was a big problem. This place itself was not under Popular Front control, and local armed forces wouldn’t help against the Falange Party.
They could at most guarantee non-participation, but where would the troops to hold Caceres City come from?
George Baker pointed southeast of Caceres City.
“The only thing we can count on is here, the militia of the agricultural trade unions. That’s the only troops that can be mobilized in a short time.”
George Baker, who understood the domestic situation in Spain, saw it clearly. Soon, the telegram from the International Brigades command headquarters arrived.
Deng Zhongyu, guarding the telegraph machine, handed the transcribed telegram paper to Fang Wen.
【Hold out for one day; reinforcements will arrive at the latest by tomorrow morning.】
From this itinerary, the reinforcements were exactly from the area George Baker mentioned.
The so-called holding out for one day meant firmly defending the city square.
As long as people were in the city square, it was like a nail driven into the city center, preventing the enemy from fully controlling Caceres City.
But this requirement was somewhat daunting.
Even if just resisting for one day, the action team had already lost 2 people; with the pilot, there were only 13.
It was fine for now, but once night fell, the enemy might sneak attack under cover of darkness.
Thinking of this, Fang Wen had to prepare.
He went to the rear compartment of the Boeing 247, took out the toolbox, and began directly dismantling the airplane’s lighting equipment.
This was originally for guiding ground during night flight landing. Now dismantled, Fang Wen extended the wires, made a simple switch, added a cylindrical lampshade, and a crude searchlight was ready.
At this time, the Asian Aviation team’s flight formation also arrived over Caceres City.
Seeing this, Fang Wen immediately boarded Shrike Hao and took off.
Shrike Hao flew to high altitude, forming a fighter formation with the Asian Aviation team’s 7 Il-16s.
After one round of air-to-ground attack, Shrike Hao’s payload capacity was only half left. For this air-to-ground assault, he chose to act as commander, saving the remaining ammunition for possible crisis moments.
Thus, in mechanical perception state, Fang Wen led the fighter formation to begin cruising around Caceres City.
In mechanical perception state, Fang Wen’s detection range was much larger than other pilots’, and more precise.
After two cruise flights, he discovered the rebel vanguard’s camp 50 kilometers outside Caceres City.
The enemies in this camp numbered more, with over a dozen military vehicles and infantry guns.
Clearly prepared for attacking Caceres City.
The hundreds of soldiers Fang Wen scattered earlier should have come from here.
But here, it was much more dangerous for the Asian Aviation team.
When the aviation team flew over the camp, ground concealed anti-aircraft weapons suddenly activated.
20 mm anti-aircraft guns fired a large number of autocannon shells weaving in the air.
With the enemy suddenly attacking, lead-flying Fang Wen immediately issued an encrypted telegram order.
The fighter swarm receiving the encrypted telegram order immediately turned and climbed, diverting away from the ground anti-aircraft fire.
Fang Wen, having dodged the ground attack, was not nervous. The anti-aircraft firepower in the enemy camp was too sparse, lacking precise aiming and shooting capability. Downing fighters relied more on luck and dense fire nets.
But the premise was fighters at higher positions. For areas with anti-aircraft weapons, dive strafing was basically impossible.
Now it was time to see the fighter formation’s air-dropped bombing capability.
Fang Wen first issued an order for subordinate pilots to conduct the first round of free bombing.
This was the moment to test the pilots’ air strike combat ability.
The 7 Il-16s burst out from high-altitude clouds, and when flying over the camp, activated the bomb release device. Each airplane dropped one cylindrical bomb manufactured by a Spanish military factory. The bombs fell from high altitude, but only one-third hit the target; the rest scattered around the camp.
A one-third cluster bombing hit rate was passing, after all, high-altitude bombing in this era mainly relied on pilots’ manual judgment.
But for Fang Wen, it was unsatisfactory; the next round couldn’t waste ammunition like this.
He issued an encrypted telegram order for the fighters to reform the formation, led by himself circling back in the air.
This collective airdrop order was issued by Fang Wen.
When arriving over the camp, Fang Wen made the best-feeling judgment and simultaneously pressed the encrypted telegram sending device.
At the same time, all fighters in the flight formation receiving the order dropped their bombs.
Over a dozen cylindrical bombs fell from high altitude, turning into small black dots smashing toward the ground.
Ten-odd seconds later, the bombs landed evenly in the camp, with nearly seventy percent hitting.
In an instant, the camp erupted in a patch of flashes of fire and smoke and dust. Some bombs even detonated ammunition boxes placed in the open, causing more intense chain explosions.
The explosion-concentrated area was those dozen military vehicles, neatly parked together, destroyed in the explosions and flames.
The chaos from the explosions silenced the camp’s anti-aircraft guns. Soldiers ran everywhere putting out fires and carrying wounded.
At the same time, the high-altitude flight formation turned back and flew away.
This air raid caused huge destruction to the camp and intimidated the enemy. Fang Wen felt that at least today, this unit wouldn’t rashly sortie again.
After all, the military vehicles in the camp were all destroyed; they had no mobility to reach Caceres City.
These European soldiers marching 50 kilometers in a day? Unlikely.
The Asian Aviation team completed the air raid and returned to base. Fang Wen continued landing in the city square.
Now the enemy’s reinforcements were temporarily not coming. The only concern was the 200 Falange Party soldiers in the city.
In the following time, both sides remained in standoff.
The Falange Party soldiers didn’t dare rush out; the power of the onboard machine guns was too astonishing, sealing off the entire road entrance.
Time passed bit by bit, and dusk fell.
When night fell, the electric lamps in the city were shot out one by one, meaning the Falange Party was starting a new action.
In the dark corners, Falange Party soldiers wearing dark clothes moved stealthily. They had learned their lesson, dispersing and heading to other entrances to the city square, attempting a dispersed encirclement attack.
Facing this, the searchlights Fang Wen modified during the day came into play. Several searchlights suddenly lit up, sweeping the entire square.
The suddenly brightly lit square revealed Falange Party soldiers one by one.
Fang Wen and the action team members fired at the targets revealed by the light beams.
Targets under the searchlights were too obvious. Machine guns and submachine guns swept along the lights, and enemies fell one by one in the square.
This round of sneak attack failed for the Falange Party.
The remaining soldiers panicked and withdrew from the square.
But in the next round, they changed to a new method. These people somehow got many cotton quilts and steel plates, loaded them on carts—layer of steel plate, layer of cotton quilt as protection—and soldiers hid behind the carts to launch a new attack.
This method actually blocked the onboard machine gun fire.
If those crude bulletproof carts weren’t dealt with, the Falange Party might really break through.
For this, Fang Wen ran out of the Boeing 247 and climbed onto Shrike Hao.
After startup, Shrike Hao pivoted in place, aimed at the distant bulletproof carts, and the 20 mm autocannon fired deadly flashes of fire.
