Chapter 6 Alternative Air Defense

  Tokugawa was in a gloomy mood. Although the "Imperial Army" was advancing victoriously on both the northern and southern fronts, the situation on the northern front seemed to be developing step by step according to Okabe's predictions. This made Tokugawa very angry. When the Japanese army approached Xinxiang, the Chinese side dismantled the 46-span bridge near the south bank of the Yellow River Railway Bridge and transported it to the south, then unhesitatingly blew up these empty piers. The Japanese army on the north bank was ordered to quickly advance to the north bank of the Yellow River and prevent the Chinese troops from blowing up the northern half of the bridge. With the width of the Yellow River, the destroyed 46-span bridge was enough to stop the Japanese army from crossing the river using the big bridge.

  If the North China Theater at that time crossed the Yellow River along the Ping-Han Railway and occupied Zhengzhou, cutting off the Longhai Railway, then the Chinese heavy troops in Shandong and Subei areas would be in a desperate situation. Moreover, the Japanese army could further threaten Wuhan, the temporary location of the National Government, by advancing southward along the Ping-Han Railway, making the war situation even more precarious for China. Now, a standoff has formed across the river in the Central Plains region, and the 5th War Zone troops in southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu have no worries about their rear.

  Aerial reconnaissance report, the Chinese side is dismantling railway equipment from the south bank of the Yellow River to Zhengzhou, apparently to transport these materials to the rear. Tokugawa thought: "Are the Shina people really preparing for a long-term resistance?"

  The North China Front Army ordered the Nakajima to focus on bombing the Zhengzhou railway hub and Gongxian Arsenal, and the Ogata brought up the fact that they had failed to destroy the Yellow River Railway Bridge at the beginning, which made most of the locomotives and vehicles in the northern section of the Pinghan Road retreat southward. This made Nakajima feel embarrassed and angry.

  Continuous snowfall seemed to be against Tokugawa as well. Finally, on a clear day, Tokugawa hastily ordered Shimaoka Kiyohiko to lead 11 bombers to execute his personally drafted plan to bomb the arsenal. The rest of the available planes were sent to bomb railway hubs.

  At this time, the main battlefield of Japan's general headquarters was in Shanghai, and Tetsuwan's temporary air squadron not only failed to receive reinforcements but also had some troops transferred to Shanghai. At this point, he felt that his forces were somewhat insufficient.

  The pilots who bombed Gongxian County returned to report that they had achieved great results, destroying many important facilities in the factory. This made Tokugawa feel very pleased with himself. However, the loss of three bombers shocked him, one of which crashed on the runway while returning to the airport. The 3rd Independent Flying Squadron was left with only one plane, flown by Island Valley Hen's captain. Tokugawa dared not be too proud, and early the next morning, he ordered the commander of the 1st Squadron, Shibata Shin'ichi, to send a reconnaissance plane to scout out the Gongxian Arsenal. From the high-altitude photographs taken by the reconnaissance plane, some buildings in the Gongxian Arsenal could be seen to have been destroyed. However, some chimneys in the factory were still emitting thick smoke. The reconnaissance plane also reported that it had come under anti-aircraft fire from Chinese forces while flying over the factory. From the photos, it could be seen that near the destroyed high-altitude guns on the Chinese arsenal's anti-aircraft gun emplacements, 8 new German-made anti-aircraft guns were lined up with their muzzles pointing towards the sky, and several of them were still spewing out raging flames, but seemed to be in a different state than usual... Upon closer inspection of other photos, the muzzles of some cannons could be seen protruding from the edge of a forest. Tokugawa was shocked: "There are hidden anti-aircraft guns here! How did the Chinese get so many anti-aircraft guns? No way, we have to ask the government to negotiate with Germany through diplomatic channels!"

  Tokugawa suddenly burst out laughing, startling several staff officers beside him. One of the staff asked: "Your Excellency, what are you laughing at?"

  "Look at these smoking chimneys and these newly added anti-aircraft guns. What do they indicate?"

  "What does it mean, General?" The staff officers did not dare to make a wild guess.

  "This at least shows that the Gongxian Arsenal in Henan has not shown any signs of relocation. The foolish Chinese actually think they can maintain normal production at the arsenal by strengthening their air defenses. Haha, no wonder they fail everywhere, their troops are too lacking in weapons and ammunition. Our Great Japanese Imperial Army has already occupied their capital Nanjing, the Chinese are finished, they've been barely holding on under our military might for almost half a year now, and finally can't hold on anymore, hahahaha!"

  "General, we're about to win, aren't we?"

  "Yes."

  "To hasten the arrival of victory, I believe we should severely punish those Chinese who dare to resist the Imperial Army, in order to crush the will to resist of the Chinese people in areas that have not yet been occupied."

  "Haha, Matsuda-kun, you're not simple, a formidable younger generation, great, young people, very good, with unlimited prospects."

  "Thank you, General."

  "Order: The 6th Bombing Squadron will take over the mission to bomb the Gongxian Arsenal. For the next week, as long as weather permits, all available bombers of the squadron will fly over the Gongxian Arsenal and carry out bombing missions. Special attention should be paid to keeping the planes outside the range of Chinese anti-aircraft fire during the bombing. Conserve our strength, repeat the bombing, haha, let's see how long they can hold on!"

  "Yes!"

  Li Daichen and Xu Liang left, He Wuting and Chen Hao ordered the existing anti-aircraft guns and machine guns to be withdrawn from the position and enter the air defense fortifications that night. The wooden high cannon and the mud people wearing military uniforms were also deployed one by one. Xiao Wangzi said to Chen Hao with a sense of reluctance: "Captain, if enemy planes come again tomorrow, these wooden guys can't shoot them down. Can we leave one or two anti-aircraft machine guns on the position? When the devils come, we can also fight back." Chen Hao also felt that if they didn't fight back on the last day of the arsenal and just suffered from the bombing, it would be too shameful. If they could shoot down one or two devil planes on the last day, it would be good to make a final effort. So he discussed with He Wuting. He Wuting did not dare to disobey Li Daichen's orders at all. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Anti-aircraft machine guns cannot be left on the position. What Comrade Li instructed us before leaving is something we must listen to. However, I have many light and heavy machine guns here. Why don't we deploy more of them on the mountain and let my guard comrades also experience it? You will leave tomorrow, so take a rest today and recharge your energy. We can fight against the devils again in the provincial city." Chen Hao was not satisfied with this, and the two men argued back and forth. In the end, they decided that the guard team and the air defense team would each send half of their personnel to deploy four Russian-made 1910-type twin-barreled Maxim heavy machine guns and four Czech-style light machine guns near the high cannon position on the mountain. They would wait for enemy planes to dive towards the "high cannon" position before launching a fierce attack. After all, they remembered Li Daichen's words about not being impulsive and bloodthirsty, and agreed that neither of them would go to the front line as machine gunners. Chen Hao ordered Liang Youtian to lead the team and instructed them that after seeing the enemy planes dive for the first time, the light and heavy machine guns would fire simultaneously. Regardless of whether they hit the enemy plane or not, they were not allowed to engage in a prolonged battle, and all personnel would withdraw from the mountain fortifications into the air defense tunnels.

  The Russian 1910 Maxim machine gun was designed by Colonel Sokolov of Russia, with a defensive shield and dual-wheel mount, standardized in 1910 and produced until after World War II, making it the largest production model of the Maxim machine gun. The Hengxian Arsenal began to copy this machine gun in 1928.

  The next morning, Liang You Tian led the brothers into the position, and He Wu Ting and Chen Hao set up their command post at the entrance of a wild air defense cave. At 10:30, the river defense troops reported that they heard the sound of planes, but did not see any enemy aircraft. He and Chen looked at each other and thought to themselves, "Good guy, you're coming so early today!" Signal flares rose into the sky, and the air raid alarm sounded again. Although there were not many troops left behind, the momentum was not small. Soon, the sound of planes could be heard here too, and there were no observation posts on the mountain. He Wu Ting and Chen Hao both used binoculars to gaze up at the sky. Finally, they spotted an enemy plane entering the airspace above the factory from high altitude, circling once before slightly lowering its height. The enemy plane neither dropped bombs nor fired shots, and He Wu Ting said, "What kind of trick is this devil playing?" Chen Hao replied, "It's a reconnaissance plane." "Great, it's come to probe our strengths and weaknesses!" "Then let's show him the bottom line?" "Good!"

  He Wu Ting pressed the electric key with wires connected, 8 "high cannons" spewed out flames at the same time, and a large cluster of black smoke burst in the air. The enemy plane hastily climbed high, turned two more circles, and flew away. Liang You Tian and his men on the mountain felt quite disappointed. They waited until nightfall, but the enemy plane did not appear again.

  At night, Chen Hao's anti-aircraft squadron boarded the eastbound train. This special train mainly transported the employees and their families who followed the factory to retreat. Temporary workers did not follow the factory to retreat. Less than half of the formal workers withdrew. After arriving in Zhengzhou, the train was reorganized, and several carriages of the high artillery squadron were hung on another eastbound train. The railway workers who suffered from enemy air raids sent many eggs, roasted chicken, beef, and wine to the cars of these eastern anti-Japanese soldiers. Chen Hao asked Liang You Tian to take Xiaowang down to visit Xu Liang at the location of the railway hospital, instructing them to return to Kaifeng 4 hours later.

  Li Daichun received a telegram from the Military Affairs Department on his way, and directly retreated to Zhuzhou, Hunan. On the way, he stopped the car and used the railway telephone to call the Gongxian Arsenal dedicated line to inquire about the situation in the factory, instructing He Wuting to do a good job of leaving work and not to act rashly.

  The temporary workers in the factory have all been laid off. The formal workers who stayed in the factory can still receive some living expenses on a monthly basis, most of whom live near the factory, and some live in caves. The 700-acre factory area is desolate and quiet, and the chimneys no longer emit smoke.

  The day after Chen Hao and the others left, at 12:15 pm on the second day, 12 enemy planes came from the north to attack. He Wuting ordered the air raid alarm to be sounded, and everyone went into the air-raid shelter. He himself hid in the air-raid shelter and closed the circuit breaker to create a visual and auditory effect of anti-aircraft guns firing simultaneously. This was repeated for several days, causing extensive damage to the buildings in the factory.

  Several days of bombing raids on the Heng County Arsenal resulted in significant damage, with no losses to aircraft. This made Lieutenant Colonel Ryōichi Shimada, commander of the 6th Heavy Bomber Squadron, extremely pleased. Captain Tadashi Shimaya was puzzled: How could the 6th Squadron escape unscathed under the intense anti-aircraft fire? He requested that General Tokugawa allow him to join the 6th Squadron's command and continue bombing the Heng County Arsenal in order to learn their tactics. Tokugawa agreed to Shimaya's request.

  On his first mission with the 6th Squadron, Shimaya discovered something strange about the anti-aircraft fire: all the guns were firing blindly in one direction, with distinct differences in the sound of the explosions and the smoke trails. He silently cursed the stupidity of the 6th Squadron, especially the arrogant Ryōichi Shimada, who was like a foolish pig. Such "anti-aircraft" fire could not bring down planes, and it was laughable that they were avoiding the "anti-aircraft" range as if it were a real threat.

  Shimaya ignored Shimada's orders and dove towards the anti-aircraft position, attacking with ease, as if in a shooting practice. Several of the "anti-aircraft" guns quickly caught fire, and other pilots joined in the attack on the position. Soon, all the "anti-aircraft" guns were burning fiercely, and the soldiers manning them were blown to pieces.

  In this battle, the entire anti-aircraft force at the Heng County Arsenal was annihilated. However, Ryōichi Shimada was not pleased. General Tokugawa received the report and was stunned for half a day. He realized that he had been deceived by the Chinese. Thinking of the ridicule and criticism from Lieutenant General Kiyotake Kawaguchi, Tokugawa's anger was indescribable.

  After calming down, Tokugawa abandoned his plan to send reconnaissance planes to take photos and verify the situation. He did not want to leave evidence of his foolishness. In the following days, Tokugawa used the excuse that the war in the Tianjin area urgently needed air support and stopped bombing the Heng County Arsenal. The North China Military Command also did not investigate further.

  This was a typical example of the Japanese military's "lower-level officials covering up for their superiors" characteristic.