Chapter 51 Chapter 51 Adventure Airdrop 2

When agreeing to the Hengyang garrison's power down request to strengthen the airdrop, the Sino-US joint air force was also very embarrassed.In addition to the weather, the Japanese army also strengthened their air defense firepower, so they often changed to airdrops at night; however, Hengyang City is too small. Whenever the night is dim, a lot of airdropped ammunition was mistakenly dropped on the Japanese army's position. I saw the supplies that the national army urgently needed. Falling into the hands of the enemy, the officers and soldiers stamped their feet angrily and cursed. Fang Xianjue brainstormed and adopted everyone's opinions: set up a circle of round lights with a diameter of about 10 meters in the center of Hengyang as a sign to guide the airdrop.Whenever night falls, you must listen carefully to identify the arrival of the Chinese and American Air Force transport planes, and immediately light up lights to indicate the throwing position.

Once, hearing the roar of the plane's motor at night, I thought it was another Chinese and American Air Force plane approaching the sky, so I hurriedly turned on the lights.Unexpectedly, it turned out that the Japanese army detected the secret and sent planes to sneak attack at night.After a violent bombing, the defenders lost a lot. Hearing the sound of planes every night, Captain Chen Xiangrong, like everyone else, was both happy and worried: I was happy that I hoped that the planes of the Chinese and American Air Forces would send more ammunition;With this hesitation, he did not dare to turn on the light.The Chinese and American Air Force transport planes hovered in the air for a long time, but when they saw no signal lights, they flew back again.Everyone was in a hurry.Captain Chen then telegraphed the Air Force Headquarters: Our plane will send out the signal flare first when flying, and when the signal flare is seen on the ground in Hengyang, the light will be lit again to indicate the airdrop.

On the second night, as soon as the plane arrived over Hengyang, it fired a signal gun, and the defenders immediately lit their lamps.However, the cunning Japanese army detected the intention of the national army, and the Japanese army's position also lit up.The pilot of the Chinese and American Air Force transport plane looked east and west, not knowing what to do, so he had to fly back again. Captain Chen was too angry to speak.Call the Air Force Command to ask for airdrops during the day. In Hengyang, where the fire is raging in July, the sun is white and shining, which is strong and dazzling.There are some white clouds floating in the sky, and sometimes the high air flow is fierce and sharp, and you can see the strange scene of floating clouds in the high sky that only the plateau has.

At this time, two transport planes of the Chinese and American Air Forces flew over Hengyang and circled. The Japanese anti-aircraft artillery fire was dense like a cobweb.White packages floated out of the cabin one by one, big and small, like mushrooms, scattered all over the sky. "Come here! This way, come here! This way..." The defenders didn't care to reveal their positions, some of them jumped and shouted, as if calling their first love urgently; or like calling their own son who hadn't seen each other for ten years Emotional. Seeing the package flying down, some defenders couldn't suppress their excited heartbeat, and even chased after it to pick it up.Sometimes watching the parcels falling on the Japanese positions or in the Xiangjiang River, the defenders only got half of them, and they couldn't help sighing, feeling helpless.

"Look, it's disgusting! The Japanese dog is smoking our cigarettes." The defender observed the sentry and said fiercely. On the Japanese army's position, the Japanese soldiers who snatched the air parcels falling from the national army were all elated. The guns and shells of the national army were not suitable for the caliber, so they were naturally useless and were abandoned.But the most irritating thing is the daily necessities, such as the cigarettes that the soldiers of the national army like to smoke and are currently in short supply, but are snatched by the Japanese army.Some Japanese soldiers were deliberately angry with the defenders, laughing wildly triumphantly, waving flaming cigarette butts and brand new handkerchiefs towards the defenders' positions.

Commander Zeng Jing was so angry that he pulled a medium-sized sniper rifle from a soldier, loaded the bullet, held his breath, aimed and shot, and killed a smoking Japanese soldier with one shot.The other Japanese soldiers were so frightened that they quickly hid and disappeared. Captain Chen Xiangrong hastily informed the Air Force Headquarters of the above situation, and asked the pilots to pay attention to not throwing supplies into the Japanese army next time. Soon, the Chinese and American Air Force transport planes flew in again.After hovering over the urban area for a week, he flew straight to the Japanese army's position, and dropped packages one by one to the enemy in a daze.Everyone was so angry that they cursed.Even Commander Fang Xianjue couldn't restrain himself, pointed at the plane in the sky and cursed: "Damn! What is this pilot not a traitor?" Captain Chen, remember his plane number quickly, you must settle accounts with him in the future ! Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu breathed heavily.

"Yes. If I catch him, I will definitely kill him!" General Cai Rulin, the combat supervisor and artillery commander, said angrily. However, before the cursing had ceased, a series of rumbling explosions came from the Japanese positions, like spring thunder rolling, and the ground trembled.Upon seeing this, the officers and soldiers of our army cheered thunderously, turned their worries into joy, and laughed. "It seems that we need to rehabilitate this pilot brother!" Commander Fang Xianjue said with a smile. "That's it, that's it! Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu agreed. It's wrong! It's wrong... Ah!" General Cai Rulin's last Beijing opera drawl drew another burst of laughter from everyone.

"Commander, Hengyang City is long from north to south, and narrow from east to west. If you are airdropping at night, you should put a light on each of Huayue Temple and Caohe Pagoda as the direction of throwing; tell the air force to use the wind direction when throwing, and turn slightly east when it encounters a southeast wind. ; in case of southwest wind, it will be slightly westward. It may reduce misshooting!" Major General Rao Shaowei, the commander of the temporary 54th division, suggested over the phone. "That's right, Commander Rao, your analysis is very reasonable! Commander Fang Xianjue is as good as he is, and immediately turned around and ordered: Captain Chen, please tell the friendly army of the Air Force immediately!"

"Yes! I'll send the report right away!" Captain Chen Xiangrong replied. Although the soldiers of the 10th Army of the Hengyang National Army racked their brains and tried every means to instruct the airdrop, the throwing effect was still unsatisfactory.Even if the shot is accurate, the cannonball is deformed and cannot be used because the umbrella is not opened.The China-U.S. Joint Air Force sometimes said that the weather was too bad to come;The 10th Army is like waiting for the first love, waiting so hard for you! Disappointment after disappointment, really angry but want to cry without tears.

"Reporting to the military seat, the Air Force called and said that it had sent over tons of ammunition. There was also an American sergeant who fell with the package, and asked to find out if it landed in the urban area of ​​Hengyang!" A staff officer came in and reported. "What a hell! Yesterday I called to say that a large number of planes had arrived to deliver ammunition. After waiting all night, even the planes were gone. Where did the American soldiers come from?" Chief of Staff Sun Mingyu said angrily. "That's right! Just now Commander Fang sent an urgent telegram to Li, the deputy commander of the theater, asking for help with the ammunition. He received a reply saying yes: Two ships from the 46th Army have been sent to escort the ammunition, and Xijing sent people to negotiate. Isn't this a joke!" The military supervisor Cai Rulin said angrily that someone from the reinforcements outside the city must have lied about the military situation, saying that the friendly army has entered Hengyang, so there is such a saying!

"Who doesn't know that Hengyang City has been besieged for so many days. Where should I send people to collect ammunition? My old army commander!" Fang Xianjue read the telegram for a long time, and wrote with a pen, "I don't know why!" , and then sat down blankly, silent. Seeing this, everyone dared not to vent their atmosphere, and tiptoed in and out, for fear of making any noise and being scolded by the army commander! Fang Xianjue is full of gloom here, and his beloved Principal Jiang is also having a hard time.For Generalissimo Jiang, the solution to the airdrop issue was easy to discuss and arbitrarily determined, but the difficulty lay in the peripheral operations of the Hengyang Defense Battle.The distance between the drafting of the strategic plan and the actual battle is so great, the tendency of the troops to be alienated is so serious, and the disputes and disputes between the factions broke out again.Many things are neither deep nor shallow, and he can only encourage his subordinates again and again to support them firmly.The 10th Army is his direct descendant, an out-and-out Central Army.He put the 10th Army in the most critical place. What else can others say? You can still say that I only preserve my own strength and only use miscellaneous troops to eliminate dissidents! Such problems were repeatedly encountered during the War of Resistance.The 10th Army is the only central army in the Ninth War Zone, and it has no demonstration effect yet?! Although it has worked so hard, the reinforcements from all walks of life are still waiting and watching, shrinking and shrinking, and the various rescues for Hengyang are still ineffective. .Really sad! We can neither use heavy punishments for all armies, nor can we only use punishments and warnings.The Chinese military has not yet established a modern management system. The generals at all levels include various situations, interspersed with various factions and group interests, and have various types of soldiers with different experiences, and have various military education experiences and strategic thinking. .Is it conceivable for them to carry guns together and fight the Japanese now, following the command of a man named Chiang Kai-shek? Among the high-level decision-makers of the Military Commission, there is a kind of lazy resentment against the war, and any excuse will become an excuse for not actively preparing for war.There has always been a lack of sufficient understanding of the characteristics of Operation No. 1 that surpassed the usual military thinking and combat habits; the Pacific battlefield, the great victory of the US military against the Japanese army has constantly diverted people's attention. In mid-June, the U.S. military threatened the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific, and landed on Saipan, the capital of the archipelago, for a week. That is to say, all the Japanese strongholds around the islands were wiped out, and they quickly controlled the air and sea dominance in the nearby waters.Saipan is the largest island in the archipelago, covering an area of ​​122 square kilometers. It is a natural and excellent military port for the navy; several Japanese military airports on the island can be used as B-29 strategic bomber airports with a little modification. The impact of this war on the Tojo Cabinet of Japan was like a strong earthquake, and the B-29 strategic bomber had already crossed the inside and outside of Japan's courtyard.Tokyo, Yokosuka, Nagoya, Osaka, and Kyoto are all within the combat radius of the B-29 that took off from Saipan.This made the Japanese political and military circles feel heart-piercing anxiety and pain.