in2ebook Chapter 290: The First Bombing
Chapter 290: The First Bombing
Blind Cheng immediately called the company commander and soldiers.
"You don't have to drink those bland soups. Our comrades from the Independent Column are bringing us supplies!"
Blind Cheng pointed at several large trucks in front of him.
"What are you still standing there for? Unload the goods quickly!"
"Okay, okay, okay!"
The company commander led the soldiers to move down several large trucks of supplies and piled them up into a small hill.
Blind Cheng called the political commissar in charge of logistics and asked them to distribute the compressed biscuits and instant noodles immediately so that the soldiers could taste them.
The company just now also received six boxes of instant noodles and five boxes of compressed biscuits.
"Brothers, let's celebrate the New Year today. Can we boil two boxes while we have hot water?"
"Captain, three boxes! We are all exhausted after a long day!"
The company commander gritted his teeth and waved his hand.
"Okay, then three boxes! Eat them first!"
Three boxes of instant noodles were poured into two large iron pots. The soldiers each held a seasoning packet, tore it open and licked it, then squatted in front of the iron pots waiting.
It was just as their company commander said, the red noodle soup was so appetizing.
After two minutes, the company commander took two chopsticks, picked up a long noodle, blew on it twice, slurped it down, closed his eyes and began to feel it.
After waiting for a while, he opened his eyes.
"Smells good, it's cooked! Everyone, eat!"
The company commander personally served the noodles, two chopsticks of noodles and two spoonfuls of soup. The soldiers all ate with rosy faces and greasy mouths, and finally drank up all the soup.
Finally, the soldier, still unsatisfied, looked at the bottom of the pot.
"Captain, please add some more water. I don't think it's too watery!"
The company commander threw the spoon to him angrily.
"You can do it yourself. I can't afford to lose this person!"
The soldier immediately added a bowl of water, rinsed the bottom of the pot, and drank it all in satisfaction.
The soldiers of the Independent Column and the 772nd Regiment all had a good sleep that night.
Early the next morning, the two teams separated again.
The troops of the 772nd Regiment launched an attack on some strongholds and county towns to the west and north of Ningxiang.
The independent column attacked toward the west of Xiangning, expecting to capture the four towns of Guantou, Taitou, Shuanghe and Guanghua, and then meet up with the main force at Wei Zhuang, northwest of Linfen, before 6 pm.
Since the Japanese invaders and puppet troops defending these strongholds and towns either fled to Linfen or were concentrated in Xiangning and wiped out, the remaining security teams and puppet troops in these four towns were as weak as chickens and dogs and could not withstand a single blow.
It was as easy as taking a walk, and it took no effort at all to capture these towns. For the safety of the rear, a company was left in each of the four towns to ensure that any lurking enemies would be desperate and destroy the supply lines or retaliate against the civilians.
Finally at six o'clock in the evening, on the western front, the 1st Infantry Division, the 2nd Infantry Division, and the 3rd Infantry Division completed the encirclement of Linfen.
On the eastern front, the 2nd Armored Division had already taken Wuxiang and was preparing to advance toward Yushe. The 3rd Armored Division occupied Liaoxian and was preparing to attack in the direction of Yangquan.
At the Pingshun Military Fortress, Li Yunlong watched the small red flags gradually being planted in various counties and towns, and nodded with satisfaction.
"Very good, everything is going well on the eastern and western fronts! How is it in the south? Are there no signs of movement from the Japanese in Xinxiang and Zhengxian?"
"Not yet, but according to intelligence, the enemy has concentrated a large number of bombers and fighters at the airports in Xinxiang and Zhengxian. However, the enemy's target is not clear yet, and it may be aimed at the Chongqing troops!"
Li Yunlong kept his eyes on Zheng County and Xinxiang. They were too close to Pingshun, so these two military points had to be captured as soon as possible. Otherwise, the depth would be too short and it would be easy to suffer heavy losses.
"Have Dai Anlan prepare for air defense, contact the brigade commander, and ask him to help us contact the intelligence personnel in Zheng County and Xinxiang to find out what the Japanese are up to!"
Li Yunlong and Wang Meng discussed for a while and decided to launch a tentative attack on Linfen at 8 o'clock the next morning to see how thick the Japanese devils' shells were.
The sun rose quietly from the east, and 30 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of the Independent Column Aviation Division took off, fully loaded with bombs, and flew towards Linfen City under the escort of 60 F6F Hellcat fighters.
It was expected to arrive over Linfen at around 8 o'clock and bomb the city walls and trenches west of Linfen to open a gap for the 1st Infantry Division, which would be the main attacker.
Ding Wei was delighted when he saw the sky full of planes and some big ones.
"We used to be bombed, but we never thought we could get air support today!"
"Captain, we have all seen fighter planes, what are these big guys?"
"It seems to be called the Pen-17 bomber. Anyway, it is used to drop bombs. Those bombs are bigger than you!"
Ishida Keio looked at the sky full of planes and ordered a small number of anti-aircraft machine guns and Type 25 mm machine guns to open fire.
But this firepower is not even a tickle for the thick-skinned B-17 and F6.
The hands of the pocket watch turned to eight o'clock, and thirty B-17 bombers opened their bomb bays, and one aerial bomb after another fell on the city walls and trenches east of Linfen City.
Big pits appeared at the points where the aerial bombs hit, and there was no grass growing nearby.
However, the effectiveness of the bombing is unknown.
At the same time, Ding Wei's artillery regiment's 60 105mm howitzers also began to fire fiercely, bombarding the pre-set targets.
In an instant, the earth shook and the mountains trembled. The trenches and city walls east of Linfen City were all engulfed in flames, and the sky was filled with black smoke that enveloped the sun.
Ishida Keio felt the earth shaking in the underground air defense headquarters. Although he was mentally prepared enough, he was still caught off guard by the bombing that lasted for half an hour.
"Baga, when did the Eighth Route Army have such firepower!"
Ishida Keio is now very glad that a large number of underground fortifications have been built, otherwise these carbon-based creatures would probably be wiped out without a trace.
The artillery fire was too loud, and the Japanese infantry began to crawl out of the air-raid shelters.
In this bombing, except for the bunkers that were directly hit by aerial bombs and 105mm artillery shells, the rest were completely unscathed.
Therefore, only about 10% of the Japanese soldiers in the trenches and bunkers were killed, which had little impact on their combat effectiveness.
Seeing the equally standing city wall through the telescope, Ding Wei began to doubt his life. He didn't expect that the city wall of Linfen was so strong.
Moreover, it seems that there were no Japanese soldiers on the city wall when the bombing just happened. Now that the bombing is over, they came out from other air defense facilities.
"Damn it, don't the damn Japanese look down on our bombing? Why are they all hiding?"
In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of Kenjiro Miura, Ishida Keio had already studied the strategy of passive air defense:
Run when the bomb drops, and get on board when the plane runs away!
Ding Wei hesitated at this time. If he only relied on 60 howitzers and the artillery of each regiment to suppress the fire, the effect would probably not be great.
But no matter what, we still have to give it a try and find out the enemy's firepower points.
"Call the captain!"