Chapter 32: Surprise Attack on Hankou
Hankou Airport, a transportation hub located in the central area of modern-day Hankou, is still desolate around it.
In 1938, during the Battle of Wuhan, this was a frontline airport for the Chinese Air Force to fight against Japanese invaders. On May 19, two B-10 bombers led by Xu Huanzhang took off from this airport and flew to Japan's Kyushu region to scatter leaflets, becoming the first foreign military aircraft to enter Japanese airspace after the outbreak of World War II. Now, this airport has been occupied by the Japanese army and is used as the main base for naval aviation to bomb southwestern China. Currently, the Japanese Navy's carrier-based aircraft squadron is stationed at the airbase in Hankou under the name "Second Combined Aviation Corps". Due to the airport having a 1500-meter-long runway and spacious aprons, not only the navy but also the army's aviation corps use this airport.
At this time, in the air command room of the floating base far above Chongqing, the commander of the 4th Flying Brigade, He Junci, and his deputy, Zheng Shaoyu, as well as a group of combat staff officers were examining the reconnaissance photos of Hankou Airport. Most people, including Zheng Shaoyu, were not unfamiliar with Hankou Airport, but rather very familiar with it, because they had flown from Hankou Airport many times to execute missions. Especially on October 3, 1939, the Chinese Air Force and the Soviet Volunteer Aviation Corps together flew 9 DB-3 heavy bombers to launch a surprise attack on Hankou, destroying or damaging 160 Japanese aircraft, killing several high-ranking military officers including Deputy Commander of the Japanese Army's 11th Air Group, Ogawa Hiroshi, and Deputy Commander of the Japanese Navy's 12th Air Group, Ishikawa Tane. The commander of the Japanese Navy's Second Combined Aviation Squadron, Takahashi Nishiro, was seriously injured and disabled at that time.
So it was easy for them to identify the military targets such as hangars, fuel warehouses, ammunition depots, repair shops, command centers and pilots' dormitories in the reconnaissance plane's photos, and also marked out the strategic points on the periphery. The fourth staff group led by Colonel Shen Wu of the General Staff Headquarters immediately began to formulate a combat plan for a surprise attack on Hankou Airport. As there was already a pre-plan, this combat plan was quickly formulated and approved by the Air Force Command and the Military Commission.
The surprise attack was set for August 22, as the Chinese cryptanalysts had already cracked the Japanese naval cipher with the help of the floating base's central computer. According to their decoded telegrams, that evening the commander-in-chief of the Second Combined Air Force, Lieutenant General ōnishi Takijirō, would arrive at Hankou Airport to celebrate the great air victory brought by the Zero fighter with the 12th Air Group under his command. The Chinese Air Force did not want to let this butcher, who had blood on his hands from killing Chinese people, get away.
It's worth mentioning that the codename for this operation was set as "Lazi Chicken". Zheng Shaoyu asked He Junci why he wanted to come up with such a strange name. He Junci said: "The purpose of this time is to destroy or capture the Japanese aircraft, so it's 'find machine' (ji) haha, there's nothing more fun than Lazi Chicken in representing the joy of finding chicken." As a Sichuan native, Zheng Shaoyu thought about that dish full of chili peppers but with only a few pieces of chicken meat and couldn't help but laugh.
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August 22nd, 8:00 pm. Two sedans arrived at Hankou Airport under the escort of two armored vehicles and a truckload of soldiers. The headlights of the cars pierced through the darkness. Several high-ranking officers from the 12th and 13th Aviation Corps of the Second Combined Air Group, stationed at Hankou Airport, were already lined up to welcome their superior officer, Major General Taishi Nishio. This time, the celebration was centered around the 12th Aviation Corps, which had achieved a brilliant victory in the battle on August 20th, where Captain Saburo Sakai led 13 Zero fighters and shot down 12 Chinese Air Force planes. Captain Sakai also made an exception to appear among the welcoming crowd. All of this was recorded by a reconnaissance plane flying covertly at an altitude of 20,000 meters in the night sky.
The airborne base is on its way, and due to the need for nighttime concealment, the airborne base will not arrive over Hankou Airport until 9 pm. In order to shorten the pre-battle combat time, the staff department formulated a tactic different from the raid on Strasbourg, using transport planes and bombers to parachute soldiers to occupy peripheral strongpoints and airports, striving to disperse a large number of soldiers at one time. To achieve this tactic, almost all of China's transport planes and bombers were assembled at the airborne base.
The interior of the floating base is now brightly lit, with a busy scene everywhere. The commanders of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment, equipped with full gear, boarded the plane with paratroopers, but due to the heavy equipment they carried, someone had to help push them up. The transport capacity was still limited, and the first wave of airborne troops mainly occupied the outer strongholds, with more than 300 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion being airdropped first.
At 8:30, the floating base that had just flown over Jingzhou extinguished most of its lights and then opened the top cover on both sides with a "whirring" sound, revealing the apron and two runways. The first to take off were eight J-11 fighter jets, which would be responsible for seizing air superiority and providing emergency ground support under the command of the Airborne Command Center. Next to take off were numerous transport planes and bombers, which would carry out airdrop missions. After a flurry of activity, the floating base returned to calmness, thanks to its well-trained personnel, despite the large number of aircraft taking off at once without any issues. Half an hour later, the transport planes and bombers flew back, this time with Liu Xun's first battalion and the special operations company of the regiment launching a strike, aiming to directly occupy the airport. The dangerous and important mission was entrusted to these elite troops.
Liu Xun, although he commanded excellently in the surprise attack on Strasbourg and led three squads to successfully defend the town at the cost of one death and one injury. However, due to releasing civilians during a covert operation, he did not receive any awards or promotions. According to rumors, the 1st Marine Battalion is about to be expanded into the 1st Marine Brigade, and all officers and soldiers will have opportunities for promotion, so Liu Xun's wasted opportunity this time is quite regrettable.
Liu Xun once again fully armed himself and sat on a DB-3 heavy bomber, they were divided into three teams scattered among the three transport planes. The aircraft responsible for airborne this time are quite diverse, the modified DB-3 is not bad, of course, it's best to ride the original transport plane DC-2 and DC-3, but unfortunately, there are too few, even the Chinese Aviation Company's passenger planes were temporarily requisitioned. Some unlucky troops were assigned to medium bombers SB-2 and some old-fashioned bombers, that was a real mess.
Liu Xun saw eight J-1 fighter jets take off on the runway again. Then his own DB-3 started to taxi, and the heavy DB-3 taxied all the way to the end of the runway before lifting its nose under the speed of the floating base itself and the effect of the headwind, making Liu Xun very nervous. After the plane took off, Liu Xun knew that from now on they would have to rely on themselves. Liu Xun closed his eyes and began to recall every detail of the mission again. The second company where the three rows were located was responsible for attacking the grand hall (dining hall) where the celebration was being held, and the regiment commander required them to capture as many Japanese military officers alive as possible. Liu Xun thought this would be quite difficult.
The co-pilot walked over and patted Liu Xun's shoulder, saying that they would be arriving at the airspace of Hankou Airport in a few minutes, asking them to get ready.
"Everyone, check your parachutes and equipment, prepare for airborne!" Liu Xun stood up and loudly told the team members, now is the time to enter a state of combat readiness.
Due to the sudden attack, the occupation of key points on the airport's periphery was very quiet. Therefore, the Japanese garrison at Hankou Airport was not alert at all, and instead relaxed their vigilance because of tonight's celebration, some officers and soldiers who should have been on duty sneaked into the scene of the celebration to catch a glimpse of Lieutenant General Kanji Ishiwara. The runway lights were not turned on, and naval aviation rarely performed nighttime flight missions, let alone today.
The red indicator light came on, and the paratroopers on DB-3 jumped out of the cabin one by one. Liu Xun was the last one. While he was still in the air, he saw several J-1 fighter jets diving towards several anti-aircraft machine gun bunkers at a low altitude close to the ground. The four heavy machine guns on the wings and head of the planes shot out fiery bullets, blowing the soldiers and machine guns in the bunkers to pieces. Then Liu Xun landed on the ground, quickly disentangled his parachute and gathered his men. All three squads of soldiers landed on the runway, except for two who jumped into a drainage ditch in the dark and sprained their feet. The rest quickly gathered together.
"Get ready, target is the airport cafeteria!" Liu Xun gave the order. The original Hankou Airport cafeteria was used as the venue for this celebration. Due to the sudden attack on the airport, the cafeteria quickly turned off its lights and some people rushed out of it. Liu Xun's three rows were divided into three small teams that quickly approached the cafeteria and started attacking. The Japanese soldiers participating in the celebration did not carry weapons, only some officers were equipped with Nambu pistols, which was simply no match for the fully armed Marine Corps. The people who rushed out soon became corpses.
Liu Xun and his men had already occupied the cafeteria, and the other two platoons of the second company had blocked off the exits from the other two directions. This time it was like catching turtles in a jar. The other two companies had taken over almost all the military targets that were left unguarded, including the hangar, fuel depot, arsenal, repair shop, command center and pilots' dormitory, and began to mop up the remaining enemy forces.
Under the crescent moon, the floating base had broken through the clouds, revealing its sleek silhouette as it began to descend in altitude. A swift and decisive battle was necessary. With a single glance from Liu Xun, several soldiers quickly pulled out hand grenades, pulled out the safety pins on their helmets, and then threw them in through the window.
"Boom!" The blast wave from the explosion blew open the closed doors and windows, and several Japanese soldiers who were guarding the door were also blown out. Taking advantage of the smoke and dust from the explosion, Liu Xun was the first to rush in. His submachine gun fired fiercely into the darkness, and immediately a chorus of mournful cries erupted. After the second company controlled the situation and turned on the lights in the dining hall, what entered Liu Xun's eyes were several corpses and a group of Japanese pilots cowering in the corner wearing flight jackets. They were originally the main characters of this celebration, but now it seemed they had to become prisoners. This group of Japanese pilots was not honest, one of them raised his command knife, trying to resist. Liu Xun took a look and found that the target of this operation was missing, after all, an officer's uniform could be identified at a glance, and the highest military rank among the leaders here was only a lieutenant colonel.
"Surrender and drop your sword!" Liu Xun shouted at the lieutenant colonel.
"Ah!" Unexpectedly, the lieutenant colonel rushed towards Liu Xun, waving his command knife.
"Rat-a-tat-tat!" Liu Xun fired a burst of bullets, turning the Japanese lieutenant into a beehive. The other Japanese pilots who followed were taken down by three rows of soldiers, leaving only a few pilots hiding in the corner with their hands up. Seeing the door exposed behind them, Liu Xun quickly handed over the task of accepting their surrender to the other platoon and kicked open the door.
A group of officers knelt together surrounding ōishi Kuranosuke, who had removed his upper garment. ōishi held a dirk in his hand wrapped with white cloth, appearing to be ready for seppuku.
"Damn you!" Liu Xun rushed up and knocked Daixi Zhilang unconscious with a rifle butt, knocking out several teeth. The other officers tried to resist, but the air force commander was no match for the ferocious soldiers of the First Army, who beat him until his face was bruised and bound him up.
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Commander Mao Bangchu stood on the apron of the floating airbase, watching as the soldiers of the 1st Land Warfare Regiment towed in plane after plane of Japanese aircraft. The Zero fighters were given top priority, to prevent these new planes from threatening Chongqing's air defenses again. Seven intact Zeros were brought over, and three more that were being repaired in the repair depot were also transported over. Next came the main force bombers of the 2nd Joint Aviation Brigade, the 96 Land Attack Aircraft, a top-notch medium-range bomber with the drawback of being prone to catching fire when its fuel tanks were hit. Other Japanese naval and army reconnaissance planes, liaison aircraft, etc., were brought in as many as could be transported, and stored oil, mechanical equipment, and ammunition were also loaded on board one after another. This time, they would empty out the entire Japanese base at Hankou Airport!
While admiring the streamlined shape of the Zero fighter, Mao Bang saw some soldiers from the 1st Land Warfare Regiment bringing a string of prisoners, one of whom was still lying on a stretcher.
"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, fortunately without disgracing the order, we captured one enemy lieutenant general and several other commanders. This is the surrendered command sword." Liu Xun recognized Mao Bangchu and hastily stepped forward two steps to report and handed over the surrendered military sword.
"This is the first time since the start of the war that we've captured an enemy general of such high rank! Mao Bangchu excitedly took over the command sword and found that the scabbard still had a chrysanthemum pattern on it, this lieutenant general was not ordinary. This time we have won a great victory!"
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The Japanese military joint air raid command found that something was wrong, and General Taishi did not return on time. The phone call to the Hankou airport also couldn't get through, so they sent a liaison team from the city of Hankou to the Hankou airport. Along the way, they saw many signs of bombing, and all kinds of guard posts had been removed. When they arrived at the airport, they saw corpses everywhere and empty runways and hangars, and finally realized that something big had happened!
The Chief of Staff of the Japanese China Fleet, Nobuyoshi Ike, flew into a rage and personally ordered the airports in Wuhan, Yichang and other places to take off and track down the enemy. At this time, the floating airbase had already risen to a safe altitude and returned secretly.
Have a great weekend!
Points, push, close, brothers all stand up!
