diskusbooks Chapter 119: Prepare for Battle
Chapter 119: Prepare for Battle
Since the Japanese army sent out reconnaissance planes for reconnaissance, they must have some ideas.
Anyway, there is nothing to investigate in Shilihe Village except the 30 Type 85 self-propelled rocket launchers of the Second Rocket Artillery Battalion.
If setting up a fake target could lure the Japanese planes over.
Then as long as we shoot down dozens of them, we will make a lot of money.
So he chose to leave the two reconnaissance planes alone and wait and see whether the Japanese dared to come.
"Oda-kun, we have arrived above our target. Below us is Shilihe Village."
Oda-kun breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and smiled as he said, "Well, it seems the Eighth Route Army didn't deploy anti-aircraft firepower here, but moved all of their anti-aircraft weapons to Zuoyun County. And they don't seem to have discovered us."
"Yeah, that's great."
"The target has been found on the ground at seven o'clock."
On the ground, simulated inflatable models were placed on the ground, and a large number of soldiers from the engineering company were running back and forth, pretending to be busy.
This inflatable model looks fake if viewed from a close distance, but if viewed with a camera from several thousand meters in the air, it is a real target.
"Oh, this must be the Eighth Route Army's rocket artillery position. Take a picture and return immediately."
Their target was these rocket launchers, and it would be too dangerous to stay any longer.
Zhao Gang watched the two small black dots leaving Shilihe Village, and then took another look at the simulated artillery position.
He said thoughtfully, "It seems that the Japanese are targeting our rocket artillery positions. The air defense radars are turned on 24 hours a day and cannot be neglected for a moment."
"Yes, Commissar!"
The photos taken by the two reconnaissance planes were placed on Yoshio Shinozuka's desk in less than two hours.
"Yo, Abe-kun is as efficient as ever. He actually found the target so quickly."
After hearing Shinozuka Yoshio's praise, Abe Nobuo humbly said, "I just did my duty. We will conduct additional investigations in the evening."
"We can bomb the target only after we make sure it's still there, but bombing at night doesn't guarantee accuracy."
Shinozuka Yoshio said with great satisfaction: "This is enough. I look forward to hearing the news of your victory. May the Emperor bless you."
"The Emperor bless you."
Until dusk, the Japanese planes did not appear, and the 14th Division was still stationed about 20 kilometers away from Shilihe Village, without any movement.
There is always a drone conducting 14-hour reconnaissance over the 24th Division’s base.
Even at night, the drone's night camera can complete surveillance.
However, the Japanese reconnaissance plane appeared again, but it stayed over Shilihe Village for less than five minutes before returning.
This made Zhao Gang smell something.
"The Japanese want to launch a night bombing on our artillery positions."
After thinking for a long time, Zhao Gang deduced this conclusion from the strange movements of the Japanese reconnaissance plane.
The Japanese Army Aviation suffered too much loss at the hands of the Independent Regiment.
If they wanted daytime bombers, their bomber group should have appeared after the first wave of reconnaissance planes arrived.
But he waited for half a day and didn't see any Japanese planes appear.
It was obvious that they were not planning to bomb during the day.
In the evening, the reconnaissance plane appeared again. It was not difficult to guess from this strange behavior that the Japanese were about to take action.
The most likely thing to happen was a night bombing, so Zhao Gang easily came to this conclusion.
Zhao Gang directly connected to the surface-to-air missile company.
"The Japanese army is very likely to bomb at night, so we must arrange for people to be on duty at all posts tonight."
"Yes, the chairman!"
With radar monitoring, even if the Japanese planes come, they will be discovered from a long distance.
Generally speaking, the detection distance for such large targets is around 70 kilometers.
This left the independent regiment with enough time to prepare.
After the reconnaissance plane left, the entire Shilihe Village became quiet again.
Zhao Gang also prepared to go to bed early, as he estimated that he would not have much time to sleep today.
At 3 o'clock in the morning, the lights in the direction of Taiyuan Airport were bright, and fighter jets and bombers took off from the runway.
Soon, a total of more than 60 fighter jets and bombers completed formation and flew towards northwest Shanxi.
There are not many army aviation fighter jets in the northern region.
The main reason is that their losses are too great and the domestic supply cannot replenish them.
After all, the war in Southeast Asia also requires a large number of fighter jets.
These more than 60 aircraft were pieced together by them.
If this operation fails again, the First Army will have difficulty getting support from fighter jets for a long time.
The Empire will not throw precious fighter planes into this bottomless pit.
Since it was a night flight, the Japanese aircraft fleet's flight altitude basically remained at around 1000 meters.
In this era without radar, flying at night is still very dangerous.
If they had no other choice, they would never adopt this method.
When the Japanese aircraft group approached Shilihe Village about 80 kilometers away, the radar issued an early warning.
In less than ten seconds, the sound of air raid sirens rang out over Shilihe Village.
The moment he heard the air raid alarm, Zhao Gang suddenly opened his eyes from his light sleep.
"Sure enough, it's here!"
The shrill sound of the air raid sirens proved that his guess was correct. The Japanese were indeed going to launch a night air raid on Shilihe Village.
He quickly put on his clothes and took a car to the anti-aircraft position.
The camouflage of six Hongqi-6A air defense missile vehicles has been removed, and the radars are still working.
Zhao Gang came to the radar screen and asked, "What's the situation now?"
"Reporting to the Commissioner, we spotted a Japanese aircraft group five minutes ago. They are heading southeast. They should be from Taiyuan."
"There are 65 of them, traveling at a speed of only 190 kilometers per hour, at an altitude of 1000 meters. Judging by the size of the targets, they are Japanese bombers."
Zhao Gang nodded and said solemnly, "Let them in first. Don't let them escape at all."
Just at this moment, an officer ran over and reported an urgent enemy situation.
"Reporting to the Commissioner, unusual movement has been detected from the direction of the 14th Division. Their ground forces have been dispatched, all in trucks heading towards us."
Zhao Gang's eyes narrowed.
The Japanese are planning to attack from both the air and the ground, and if the ground forces launch an attack, it will attract their attention and create opportunities for air strike aircraft.
At the same time, Shilihe Village must be in chaos after the air raid. If they launch a night attack, they will be caught off guard.
In this way, it will be easy to take over Shilihe Village.
I have to say that the Japanese had a very clear plan, but they didn't know that this was a trap he had set.
"Order the Second Rocket Artillery Battalion to bring the Japanese troops closer and attack them. Try to kill as many of their active forces as possible to reduce the pressure on Zuoyun County."
"Notify the frontline positions and tell them to hold their ground tightly. Don't let even a single Japanese soldier in."
"Yes, Zhengwei."
The independent regiment had added too many new recruits and was not very good at night combat.
Moreover, fighting at night would limit the independent regiment's superior firepower.
Therefore, the independent regiment has always avoided night battles.
But this time they had to face the pressure from the Japanese, and they also took this opportunity to train their troops.
"Hey, hurry up and move forward."
The elite vanguard of the 14th Division sped along the road in trucks, while the 113th Division, as the enemy, could only run forward, and would be scolded if it ran slowly.
More than 20,000 people were marching blindly on the road, but discipline was maintained very well and no trouble was found.
"Boom boom boom..."
Ten minutes later, the roar of an engine was heard in the distant sky, and all the Japanese soldiers couldn't help but look up.
Under the hazy moonlight, they could only vaguely see the shadows of the fighter planes in the sky.
"Our fighter planes have finally arrived. These damned Chinese are doomed."
After seeing the cluster of fighter planes, their morale was greatly boosted.
The decadent and fearful morale of the day was swept away, and everyone's eyes were filled with revenge.
"Signal the fleet and give them directions."
After seeing the fleet of aircraft vaguely appearing in the sky, Lieutenant General Kawanami Mi immediately spoke to the officer next to him.
In the sky, the fighter planes led the way, followed closely by the bombers.
Some of the fighters carried high-lumen military flares for night use, which could stay in the air for a long time and provide them with vision for bombing.
"The ground forces have given a signal. Shilihe Village is 15 degrees west by south... 15 kilometers away."
After receiving guidance from ground forces, the fleet obtained more precise coordinates.
After hearing this, the Japanese pilots became more confident and were full of confidence in this night bombing.
For them, this is also a battle of revenge.
"Continue to lower the altitude to 500 meters and engage the enemy covertly."
The pilot issued the latest order.
The lower the altitude, the more accurate their bombing will be.
And their every move is displayed on the radar car.
"The distance is 13 kilometers, and the altitude is about 740 meters."
"The distance is 11 kilometers, and the altitude is about 630 meters."
"8 kilometers away, altitude 550 meters, within the effective range of our missiles."
"Distance 6 kilometers, altitude 520."
"Distance 5 kilometers, altitude 510..."
Without radar detection, the roar coming from the sky could be heard in Shilihe Village at this moment.
All the soldiers have now entered the air defense facilities and hidden themselves.
"Reporting to the Commissioner, the 14th Division's vanguard is 10 kilometers away from us and will engage our frontline troops in approximately ten minutes."
The officer ran over and reported.
Zhao Gang directly ordered: "Pass on my order, the surface-to-air missile company will open fire immediately, and in five minutes, issue the firing order to the second rocket artillery battalion."
"At the same time, send a telegram to the frontline positions to prepare for battle."
"Yes, fire!"