The First Part of National Humiliation: The Lonely City's Bloody Battle Chapter 12: The Airport Under Siege

  Song Yuanhang, who had been awakened, was not surprised at all by the Japanese army's large-scale attack, and instead comforted Xu Tu'an not to panic.

  After washing his face slowly, he took the toothbrush handed over by the guard and brushed his teeth while mumbling: "Tell Commander Dai not to bother with those formalities. Does his unit still need inspection? I don't have a combat team for him. My constabulary battalion is the last reserve of the 200th Division. Just thinking about me in critical moments is enough! Now our defense work is busy, let the Second Hundred Division Guard Battalion take care of the inspection duties!"

  Afterwards, Song Yuanhang gave a ridiculous order for the troops to take a collective rest and then returned to his room, claiming he wanted to catch up on some sleep!

  The officers and men of the Garrison Brigade saw that their superiors were in a relaxed mood, and many well-informed people suddenly realized that the Chief of Staff was someone who could stay with Gu, and whether the reinforcements behind him could be reduced. This must be an easy task! The barracks of the Garrison Brigade were filled with a kind of relaxation that was completely out of tune with the sound of guns and artillery.

  But it's not that simple. How can Song Yuanhang sleep soundly when he's lying on the bed? He has already done his best, and there is really nothing else he can do now!

  "Man proposes, God disposes!"

  Song Yuanhang took a slight breath, yesterday evening when he was drinking, he actually thought of the boss of Fengyu Pavilion? The military doctor from the 200th Division who had seen before hadn't been seen again later. Had he been transferred away?

  Standing under the scorching sun, Xu Tu'an, who was urging and inspecting the preparations for battle, wanted to know that the chief of staff was thinking about some unrelated things, and he would surely faint from anger.

  Dai Anruo was stunned for a moment after receiving Song Yuanghai's reply, then smiled slightly and scolded: "This rabbit son, his own errand is avoided!"

  Standing beside him, Chief of Staff Zhou Zhi saw it clearly. He knew that although Dai Anlan scolded Song Yuanhang with his mouth, he was actually very happy in his heart. What does a self-motivated army mean? This goes without saying! At the same time, he also secretly praised Song Yuanhang for being a good person, who not only escaped his duty but also gained a good reputation.

  On the 21st, at dawn, the Japanese army's 15th Army's 5th Fighter Squadron dispatched 102 fighter planes and 77 bombers, which alternately bombed the Magwe British airbase, destroying or damaging all the British aircraft on the ground. From then on, the British Air Force lost its entire air power in Burma.

  The joint Sino-American air force, although under General Chennault's command had repelled the Japanese multiple air raid attempts, due to a lack of aircraft numbers and parts, ammunition, and fuel, was forced to relocate to southwestern Yunnan.

  Due to the air force being busy bombing British airports, the 55th Division of the Japanese army, which had no air support for the time being, did not rush to attack. On the 21st, they launched a probing attack all day under the cover of Type 92 infantry guns.

  Dai Anlan, who was on the front line, observed a complete Japanese attack at the observation post of the 598th Regiment and judged that the Japanese were adjusting their deployment, probing our army's defensive key points and firepower configuration. The war had already started, he asked the entire 598th Regiment to make preparations for a desperate defense.

  Dai Anlan controlled the overall situation in Tonggu, while Song Yuanhang focused on the 24th, when the Japanese 143rd Regiment launched a surprise attack on the airport. This was also the most critical time window for the defense of Tonggu. The Japanese surprise attack turned Tonggu into a truly isolated city, forcing the 200th Division and the Japanese to engage in fierce street fighting. It also gave the Japanese 56th Division's search regiment an opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the headquarters of the 200th Division, shaking the determination of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Du Yuming to hold out in Tonggu and wait for an opportunity to annihilate the enemy.

  Song Yun-hang's bold idea was that the 200th Division, after being entangled with the Japanese army for several days, would appear to be surrounded by the Japanese army on the surface. However, once Luo Ying-xiang's new 22nd Division broke through the Japanese army's blockade at Nanyang Railway Station and advanced towards Tonggu, several divisions of the Expeditionary Force that had entered Burma would form a encirclement of the Japanese army from the outside, disrupting their strategic and tactical deployments.

  At this moment, the main force of the Japanese 55th Division was trapped in the suburbs of Tonggu, and the main force of the 56th Division was fighting outside Tonggu. One regiment was fighting fiercely in the city. The Japanese 55th and 56th Divisions were facing the danger of being cut off and annihilated by the four divisions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force that had arrived one after another.

  If the situation at Songhua River had been stabilized, would the 18th Division of the Japanese Army have dared to make a detour to Mishi and Bamo? Then the history of Yeren Mountain would not have been repeated. Perhaps Dai Anlan would not have died either.

  The only key is whether the 200th Division can hold out for so long in its solitary battle, and whether the New 22nd Division can break through the Japanese army's defense line and open up a path of advance for the follow-up troops.

  Thinking of this, Song Yuanghai immediately thought of the landmines he had set up on the outside of the forest and the gasoline buried inside the forest. As soon as he thought of those arrogant British people at the airport and the engineers assigned to the 200th Division, Song Yuanghai couldn't help but feel worried.

  "No way! I must personally command on the spot", thinking of this, Song Yuanhang brought a company of garrison troops and four armored vehicles to rush to the Krong Airport in the northern part of the city.

  After arriving at the airport, Song Yuanghai found that the person in charge of defending the airport was only a regimental commander of the engineering corps? Only after asking did he learn that the commander of the corps had returned to Chongqing with Deputy Commander-in-Chief Du on the 18th for treatment.

  Song Yuanhang didn't have to work hard at all, and he got the real situation out of the regimental commander's mouth. It turned out that He Kui, the commander of the military-affiliated engineering battalion, was actually the nephew of He Yingqin, a big shot in the Military Affairs Department!

  Only after inquiring did I learn that the battalion commander Zhang Dafu was actually an excellent student of the 8th class of Huangpu, and had fought bloody battles with the Japanese invaders at home, been wounded many times, and yet he is still only a deputy battalion commander?

  Song Yuanhang could see from Zhang Dafas attitude towards his superiors that this person must be a straight shooter, belonging to the kind of person who offends people every three days.

  Zhang Dafu, who was venting his grievances, completely forgot that Song Yuanhang in front of him was also a genuine prince, and this scolding also dragged Song Yuanhang into it.

  Looking at Zhang Dafu's indignant face, Song Yuanhang naturally knew the complex relationships within the National Government, including interest groups, factional relationships, family relationships, and departmental relationships. At the same time, he was also relieved that he didn't have to get involved in domestic factional struggles, and if there were any struggles, they would be with the British and Americans.

  Thinking of this, Song Yuanhang smiled slightly and looked at the camp commander with a very rustic name: "The great cause of resisting war and saving the country is everyone's responsibility, let alone you and me as party and national soldiers? However, legs are on one's own body, He Mouren has left, but I, Song Mouren, have not arrived?"

  As the previous order issued by Dai Anrui for the direct-affiliated engineering troops to cooperate with the constabulary in executing tasks had not been withdrawn, Song Yuanhang still nominally held the power to mobilize the engineering troops under his command. The sudden departure of He Dachun provided Song Yuanhang with a legitimate opportunity to take over.

  Song Yuanhang inspected the airport's defensive fortifications with Zhang Dafu, and was surprised to find that Zhang Dafu, a former infantryman, had built the positions in a perfectly standard and rational manner, which he had never seen before. Despite being only a lieutenant colonel and chief of staff, he couldn't help but feel the urge to dig into the corners.

  Zhang Dafu's semi-circular defensive fortifications were aimed at the small woods near the airport. After adjusting and deploying firepower, Song Yuanhang naturally looked at his watch and said: "Let's go! I'll stay here with you today, Brother Dafu! You'd better arrange something delicious for me."

  Song Yuanhang said on the left, "Big Fa Brother!" and on the right, "Big Fa Brother!" which made Zhang Dafa's face turn bright red. Then Zhang Dafa whispered: "My hometown is in Hunan, my ancestors had a few acres of thin fields, the name was taken by Father, it really can't be changed! If the official doesn't mind, just call me by my courtesy name, Changyin."

  "Oh! Long Ying!" Song Yuanhang pondered for a moment, patted Zhang Dafu's shoulder and said: "In private, don't call me officer or not, just call me Song Old Brother or An Yi!"

  At 9:00 pm, the Japanese 55th Division's 143rd Regiment, led by Meng Jian, successfully bypassed the flank of the 600th Regiment's defensive position. When the 600th Regiment became aware of this, the Japanese 112nd and 144th Regiments launched a comprehensive attack on the 600th Regiment's position east of the railway to coordinate with the surprise attack of the 143rd Regiment.

  Song Yuanhang, standing in the center of the airport's circular defensive fortifications, held a pair of binoculars and occasionally looked towards the direction of the 600th Regiment's defense, because he had heard a special and unfamiliar cannon sound. The dense and intense explosion sounds were concentrated every twenty seconds! According to the Japanese artillery manual operation time, the flight distance calculated from the projectile trajectory, and the rich identification experience possessed by Song Yuanhang as a sniper professional made it clear that the caliber of the artillery used by the Japanese army for the bombardment exceeded 130mm, and was likely to be the 150mm heavy howitzer equipped by the Japanese army, with a scale no less than a brigade.

  In the Imperial Japanese Army's divisional order of battle, heavy artillery regiments were only assigned to army-level units. Was the heavy artillery regiment attached to the 55th Division ahead of schedule in history?

  Song Yuanhang clearly knew that the current Japanese 55th Division had already deployed the 112th, 143rd, 144th Regiments, the 55th Cavalry Regiment, the 55th Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 55th Engineer Regiment and the 55th Logistics Regiment outside Tonggu City. The ratio of enemy to our infantry had reached an extremely dangerous level of 1.9:1. If a 'pre-arrived' heavy artillery regiment was added, it would be adding insult to injury.

  In fact, Song Yuanhang did not know that the Japanese heavy artillery regiment had arrived as early as the morning of the 19th, but at that time, the British and Expeditionary Forces' intelligence systems failed to detect it in time.

  The search party sent by the Japanese 112th Regiment was annihilated, but historically, the remnants of this Japanese search party successfully held a bridgehead attack point, allowing the follow-up troops to quickly deploy.

  Song Yuanhang's nine war chariots and a garrison equipped with American-made automatic weapons made the Imperial Army, which could have established its merits, report to Tenshō ahead of time. Takeuchi Hiroshi, who felt ashamed, changed his battle plan and directly requested the heavy artillery unit to provide assistance.

  The rumble of gunfire startled Song Yuanhang, causing him to break out in a cold sweat. The butterfly's wings had already begun to gently stir the pages of history. At this moment, he also realized his previous misunderstanding - all the historical knowledge he had acquired came from military books written by later generations, and these books were based on the old war reports of the Nationalist government!

  Regarding the National Army's war report, Song Yuanghai indeed did not dare to flatter himself. An effective battlefield intelligence gathering plan also began to take shape in his mind, and he also realized that even if he had many plans, without power or troops, he would still be unable to implement them.

  22:03! The birds in the forest suddenly took to the sky at night, and a smile appeared on Song Yuanhang's mouth, but immediately became frowning. He was worried about the safety of the "flames" buried in the forest. Although he had checked the camouflage repeatedly before, he couldn't help but tense up again at this moment. If discovered by the Japanese army, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

  At 22:20! The arrogant Japanese 143rd Infantry Regiment, under the cover of more than a dozen mortars, did not stop for a moment and directly launched an attack on the airport guard troops.

  Song Yuanhang let out a long sigh of relief! The Japanese launched an attack, which proved that they had not discovered the 'Flaming Fire'!