Chapter 52 4. Air combat in breakout

When Battalion Commander Luo Jun led the soldiers of the new barracks to fight against the Japanese army, his 22nd Army was also ordered to retreat.As mentioned earlier, in order to protect the safety of the commander's headquarters of the fifth theater, the 22nd Army has been stationed on the south bank of Weishan Lake, and confronted the Japanese army across the canal for more than a month. When the 22nd Army received the order to retreat and transfer from the Fifth Theater, it immediately bombarded the Japanese artillery positions and traffic points with artillery fire from the whole army.After destroying the Japanese positions near the Hanzhuang Iron Bridge and destroying the main traffic roads and bridges, the 22nd Army made an appearance of attacking across the board, thus confusing the main force of the Japanese army on the other side.

In order not to expose the retreat plan of the Chinese army early, the 41st Army of the 22nd Army sent a regiment to attack the front of Zhuangjinpu Road in South Korea. At the same time, all combat troops quickly withdrew from the battle and moved back.The 730th regiment that attacked Nanhanzhuang was the cover force of the whole army, and was later changed to the rear guard of the whole army. After a whole night of rapid march, they arrived at Huangji Station on Longhai Road, from where they pushed south again.The retreating team was too large, it was heavy, and it was an agency directly under the non-combat troops, so it was slow to move.When the troops crossed the Damiaoji, Zhangqigan, and Yangzhuang areas in the eastern section of Longhai Road, the Japanese army discovered that the Chinese army on the other side had retreated.

The reconnaissance planes of the Japanese army came over several times in a row. They circled in the air, probably wanting to scout the surrounding situation carefully, so they came one after another.The movement of the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft immediately attracted the attention of the 22nd Army. They realized that the Japanese army would have a large-scale bombing operation, so they gathered the existing light machine guns and heavy machine guns of the entire army and temporarily formed a powerful air defense force. force. Sure enough, the Japanese army raised observation balloons dozens of miles away. These balloons were specially used by the Japanese army to observe and monitor all aspects of the Chinese army's actions in order to direct the air planes and their ground forces to strike.Looking in the direction of Xuzhou, thick smoke rises to the sky, and the sound of rumbling cannons can be faintly heard, like thunder coming from the sky.The 22nd Army knew that in that direction, there were General Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army and Liu Ruming's 68th Army. They were still covering the transfer of troops, using their flesh and blood to block the advance of the Japanese army.

The retreating troops of the 22nd Army crossed Tushan Mountain and passed through Lintou Village before entering the old course of the Yellow River.The marching troops suddenly slowed down. The old course of the Yellow River was a sandy beach more than ten miles long. The ground was soft and the tired legs could not exert their strength.Coupled with the obstruction of some light and heavy vehicles or artillery vehicles, the team suddenly became a crowd. After seeing this situation, the headquarters immediately ordered the air defense force to prepare for air defense, and organized a large number of infantry to help the artillery and transport troop carts in the old course of the Yellow River. Block the river and walk out of this beach road.

The Japanese Air Force seemed to be waiting for this moment. When the troops were stuck in the sandy beach of the old course of the Yellow River, three enemy planes flew in from the sky. Another trip. The anti-aircraft force also began to shoot into the air, all the ammunition was fired, and one enemy plane was shot down immediately, and the other two escaped.But after a short time, Japanese Air Force planes came again, this time 9 planes, and they all dropped bombs on the old course of the Yellow River.The retreating troops suffered heavy casualties, and some vehicles were hit by shells, setting fire to them.

The enemy's planes still use the old method, after dropping bombs, they turn around again.The anti-aircraft force knew that the enemy was going to dive and shoot again, and a hundred and ten machine guns formed a tight firepower network to seal the direction of the enemy's dive, and shot down two more this time.The other planes were taken aback, and quickly pulled the plane up, not daring to fly at low altitude again. The Japanese Air Force was not reconciled to failure, and besides, there were so many Chinese troops piled up there, they did not take this opportunity to wait, they came again, this time 6 planes flew here.The artillery units in the old course of the Yellow River suffered heavy casualties.Being beaten in vain in the river is not as hard as the Japanese Air Force.When the enemy planes were approaching, the artillerymen fired their cannons into the sky. A shell hit an enemy plane and immediately exploded in the air, burning into a huge fireball.

The Japanese air force was not so insolent, and the air defense force of the Chinese army was enhanced. They had to drop bombs far and high, so that the threat to the ground was reduced.Some bombs fell in the wheat fields, and some fell on the sandy beach farther from the troops. The air defense force took down 4 aircraft of the Japanese Air Force and achieved victory in the air combat.A wreckage of a plane landed on the beach, billowing thick smoke. Some curious people ran to see it, only to realize that it was the plane.They picked up the fragments on the ground and kept them as souvenirs like treasures.

The whole army quickly passed the beach, and then entered the village on the south bank of the old course of the Yellow River.The troops treated the wounded there, reorganized, adjusted the vehicles and horses, and threw away some useless vehicles with empty ammunition and cannons blown up by enemy planes.The troops did not dare to stay for long, and the Japanese ground troops were turning around in this direction. The troops were about to set off, and the friendly troops came from behind.Like the 22nd Army just now, this unit also fell into the beach of the old course of the Yellow River, and was also bombed by the Japanese Air Force. They couldn't just watch the friendly troops being beaten and bombed. Their air defense units attacked again.

I don't know if the Japanese Air Force came here to retaliate. They flew 18 planes this time and organized them into two formations.The two infantry regiments of the air defense unit fired at the air with machine guns and heavy machine guns. The dense firepower blocked the air above the marching troops. They shot down two enemy planes and injured many more.However, the air defense units were strafed by enemy planes, and there were also casualties.This time the air defense force won again. In just over a day of air-to-air combat, 6 Japanese aircraft were shot down and many were damaged, so that the enemy aircraft did not dare to be rampant, and the retreating army returned to the rear in a mighty manner.