Chapter 6: The Sixth Bureau's Strangulation (4)

  Article 4

  As a red sun slowly rose over the surface of the South China Sea, the battered Three Baorong International Airport welcomed the first rays of sunlight after a night of fierce battle. The two-hour artillery duel between Chinese and Japanese troops had come to an end. Less than 300 soldiers from the Nanyang Liberation Army who remained at Three Baorong International Airport expanded their defensive line by 2 kilometers with the support of 2 companies of naval infantrymen from the People's Defense Military of China.

  Two soldiers of the 77th Amphibious Infantry Brigade of the People's Liberation Army Navy crouched in a newly constructed foxhole next to a destroyed Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force Type 74 tank on the highway leading to the airport, using a 95-style 5.8mm assault rifle to suppress the firepower of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces across the line. Although there were also intense machine gun sounds coming from not far away, the enemy's offensive seemed to have weakened compared to last night. Since 4 o'clock in the morning, Japanese tanks and armed helicopters had withdrawn from the battlefield in an orderly manner, possibly turning to attack another Chinese military landing site.

  "No matter what, Sanbao Island will be our army's first choice for landing. Not only is it the main base of the Chinese armed forces - the Nanyang Liberation Army, but also because the name of this city has a special significance to our nation - it is a symbol of our ancient nation's maritime border! " Standing in front of the airport command tower that was hit by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' artillery fire last night, Yang Guoying, commander of the 77th Marine Brigade of the Chinese People's National Defense Army, looked at the runway filled with shell craters and recalled General Qian Xiao's words before departure: "We're back, South China Sea! How are you after 600 years?!" Stepping on the rubble and leaning against the charred sandbags, Yang Guoying's eyes were slightly moist.

  The emergency repair operation at the Sihanoukville International Airport is proceeding in an orderly manner. In the face of airport facilities that were almost completely destroyed by artillery fire, and with two platoons of Chinese Navy Marines who parachuted in with combat troops, engineers are carrying automatic rifles they used to fight through the flames last night, quickly numbering and assessing the repairability of craters blown out on the runway. Lightweight foldable fiberglass panels salvaged from two Y-8S large transport planes that were forced to make an emergency landing on the grassy area east of the runway and were hit by Japanese Self-Defense Forces' artillery fire are being opened up and laid down in the uneven craters of varying sizes on the runway.

  "It will take at least two more days to fully repair the runway." Captain Hong Anbian, commander of the 77th Land Warfare Brigade's Engineer Battalion, who was helping the warriors transport small emergency generators and lay cables, shook his head in dismay as he saw Yang Guoyong's helpless expression. "How can this be?! I can give you at most six more hours. You know that our airborne troops are currently surrounded by at least two regiments of Japanese troops with superior strength... The next wave of airdropped heavy equipment is crucial to the current battle situation..."

  "That's not acceptable either. I can't play with the lives of pilots, according to regulations, this degree of damage should be repaired with crushed concrete, and now using fiberglass pavement panels is already a risk. Moreover, only 1 material was rescued from the plane yesterday"

  "In any case, I cannot agree to put the airport into use now."

  Hong An Bian stubbornly replied.

  "I'll report your opinions to the war zone headquarters, but you still have to try your best to hurry up. What requirements do you have, just bring them up?"

  Yang Guhong also knew that going to the current runway to withstand the Y-8S large transport aircraft with a weight of over 50 tons was indeed an adventure. But now there is only one try, because every second of hesitation may cause the blood of the Chinese expeditionary army to flow.

  "Comrades from the Nanyang Liberation Army have given us a great deal of help. Commander Yang Quan himself, despite his injuries, has joined in the work of clearing the runway." On the lawn on one side of the airport, wounded soldiers from the Nanyang Liberation Army, wrapped in thick bandages, were pulling and carrying away the wreckage of two Y-8S large transport planes from the lawn that could serve as a temporary runway.

  "Alright! Hurry up!"

  Yang Guhong silently watched the moving scenes at the airport, while the cannon fire coming from the east side constantly reminded him that his time was really running out.

  Tanzawa is an inconspicuous small town on the map. At 5 am, when the first batch of Japanese "Southern Dispatch Army" CH-47J Chinook transport helicopters arrived with FH-70 155mm lightweight towed howitzers and Type 01 lightweight 4x4 wheeled armored vehicles, what was presented to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces officers and soldiers was a quiet small town far from the hustle and bustle of war, as well as the faces of the townspeople who were at a loss but full of kindness.

  "This city is not suitable for battle, it will make our soldiers vulnerable." Jumping off his seat, Colonel Shigenori Shinoda, commander of the 4th Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, felt a sense of unease. Perhaps the atmosphere here was too similar to Shinoda's hometown - that remote island of Sado, far from Japan's hustle and bustle.

  The attack strategy of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces was simple, with the 4th Combined Brigade led by Shigenori Shibata implementing a "frog jump" tactic to quickly isolate the Chinese airborne troops. After forming a strategic encirclement around the Chinese airborne soldiers, the heavily armed Colonel Taro Uchida's Special Tank Regiment would deliver a crushing blow and annihilate the Chinese army in one fell swoop. And of course, the Tamamori district was the first stop for the 4th Combined Brigade's "frog jump" operation.

  In the intense Sanbō Garan siege, the exhausted Japanese Self-Defense Forces' 4th Composite Brigade's first wave of troops to arrive in Tamako City included a light infantry battalion and the main force of the brigade's helicopter unit. Under the support of hovering "Longbow-Apaches", the Japanese Self-Defense Forces easily controlled the city.

  "Find them." Standing on the rooftop platform of a 6-story small building in the tranquil city, looking out at the dense red forest outside the city, Lieutenant General Shinoda Munetaka's heart always had an inexplicable sense of unease. He urgently needed to find his opponent as soon as possible - the 22nd Airborne Division, known as the "ace of aces" among China's rapid reaction forces. Under the rotor of the anti-tank armed helicopter, Shinoda was certain that his opponent had arrived, a soldier's intuition told him.

  "Enemy BMD-3 airborne infantry fighting vehicles have been spotted. Position...". The Japanese OH-1 helicopter, responsible for reconnaissance in the eastern part of the battlefield, detected the approaching threat through its thermal imager, but before it could report the enemy's exact position, two short-range vehicle-mounted surface-to-air missiles instantly turned the lone OH-1 into a burning fireball in mid-air. "Enemy attack." Almost at that moment, all Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers realized what they were about to face - real combat, actual battle. Unlike the lightly armed Nan'yang Liberation Army during the Sanbao Ridge siege, this time their opponents were the regular Chinese army, equipped with modernized weapons just like them.

  The Chinese 98-S airborne infantry fighting vehicle, an improvement of the Russian BMD-3, rumbled out of the Hongzehulin woods, accompanied by military jeeps loaded with various weapons and China's unique airborne equipment - the sidecar motorcycle. Although small, the sidecar motorcycles provided basic mobility for paratroopers. The numerous weapons that can be carried on the vehicle include: 107mm single-barrel rocket artillery (range 500m), 100/2/60mm mortar (range 6400/5700/5700m), 2mm recoilless rifle (range 2000m), Red Arrow 73 anti-tank missile (range 3000-4000m), mm high-angle dual-purpose machine gun (range 1500m), 35mm grenade launcher (20kg, range 1750m), as well as HN/QW series shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, 50mm rocket launchers, 0mm rocket tubes, flamethrowers, and mm general-purpose machine guns.

  With barely any time to think, a close-quarters battle had already unfolded. The 122mm lightweight towed howitzer shells of the Chinese airborne troops accurately landed on the positions of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in Tamatsukuri Castle. "There are Chinese scouts inside the castle!"

  The Japanese Self-Defense Forces' new commander-in-chief, Shigenori Shibata, has not yet responded.

  A small playground in the west of the city, which had been converted into a temporary helicopter airport, was hit first by several CH-47J "Chinook" transport helicopters. In the thick smoke that enveloped almost the entire city, Japan's Self-Defense Forces' "Longbow Apache" also joined the battle. With the support of two powerful turbine shaft engines, Japan's Self-Defense Forces' "Longbow Apache", using the cover of buildings, launched a frenzied attack on the Chinese armored group speeding towards the city at full speed with "Hellfire" anti-tank missiles and 70mm rockets. One 98-S type paratrooper vehicle was unfortunately hit by "Hellfire", and the Chinese airborne troops quickly abandoned the vehicle. Smoke bombs exploded in the air above the Chinese airborne troops' armored vehicles, but before they completely enveloped the battlefield, two more 98-S type paratrooper vehicles were hit, with their 30mm cannon turrets blown off by the blast wave, like severed heads.

  But all this could not shake the determination of Chinese soldiers. More anti-aircraft missiles came in the smoke, and even the "Longbow-Apache" with advanced electronic warfare devices could not dodge flexibly in such urban warfare. Two "Longbow-Apaches" were shot down by Chinese troops' anti-aircraft missiles and crashed into a small alley in Taimiao Town. A portable air defense missile fired from a building hit another tail wing, and the armed helicopter, smoking heavily, crashed into a three-story house like an injured eagle. The last one obviously lost its confidence to fight again and turned to flee towards Sanbao Ridge.

  In the chaos, Chinese paratroopers' snipers who had infiltrated the small town of Tainan naturally went on a killing spree. From time to time, Japanese soldiers were shot dead by bullets coming from hidden places. "An ambush!" Looking at his troops being beaten passively in the city, Shigenori Shinoda silently prepared to accept defeat, he was tired and disgusted. The era of Sonno Joi was already too far away for Japan. In the chaos, the cry of a Japanese soldier whose leg was blown off by a grenade kept coming, extremely desolate.

  The 30mm cannon of the 98-S airborne infantry fighting vehicle fired fiercely, while the infantry on board quickly disembarked and joined the intense street battle. The organized resistance of the Japanese "Nanyang Dispatched Army" was gradually being suppressed. "Captured? Ha! I don't want to be the laughing stock of those fools." Not far away, a 01-style light armored vehicle that was still resisting was hit by an anti-tank missile carried by the 98-S airborne infantry fighting vehicle, bursting into flames, and the defeated Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers were running around in panic.

  Shinohara Munekazu checked his sidearm and slowly walked down the stairs. "Don't move! Raise your hands!" Two Chinese paratroopers appeared in front of him, shouting at him in stiff Japanese. Shinohara sneered, raised his hand, and fired, hitting the soldier standing in front. A wave of intense pain washed over him as he gazed at the bayonet on the 87-type automatic rifle, resembling an AK-47, lodged in his chest. Shinohara felt like laughing, but blood was already pouring out of his mouth...