Chapter 3: The First Battle

  "Report to the superior, the river defense troops informed that 5 enemy planes are coming from the north, have crossed the Yellow River, and will arrive in about 1-2 minutes. I fired a signal flare to inform the lookout on the mountain to indicate the specific direction of the enemy plane's attack."

  "Great, he's finally here, just in time to deal with him!" He Wuting couldn't help but clench his fists and rub his palms together.

  Chen Hao was furious: "Quickly pass the order to stop firing, even if there is an arsenal behind us, we can't waste shells like this! Quickly call the first gunner who fired to come and see me!"

  Chen Hao and Xu Liang quickly became good friends. Chen Hao's arrival also brought Xu Liang a promotion from lieutenant to major. After meeting and talking with Xu Liang, Chen Hao felt like they had met too late. From Xu Liang, he understood that shooting at stationary and low-speed targets was completely different from high-speed targets. The plane's altitude, speed, initial velocity of the shells, gun elevation angle, lead amount, and a whole bunch of technical terms made Chen Hao spend a lot of effort to understand. Thinking about his own troops, more than half of whom were illiterate, how could he make them understand these things? It was a headache, and he couldn't help but sigh.

  Xu Liang said, "Captain Chen, it's not necessary for the brothers to understand all these theories. As long as they listen to our commands, we can definitely shoot down those little devils' planes!"

  "Good brother, what's your trick?"

  Xu Liang pointed to the sand table model and said: "Captain, you see that our factory is surrounded by hills 200-300 meters high, and our factory is in this natural small basin. Now, the direction of the enemy planes' attack is from the north. If the enemy dives to bomb, it will most likely enter or exit through the northeast direction of the gourd-shaped mouth. We only choose three directions with the highest probability of enemy planes passing through, calculate the shooting elements in advance, and when the enemy planes come to attack, all artillery will fire at the pre-set fixed position, forming a web of fire, while the anti-aircraft machine guns will chase after the enemy planes, this way we can make up for the lack of training in our troops."

  "Good brother, you're really something!"

  "We contacted the troops guarding the river again, set up more observation posts, and when enemy planes flew over the Yellow River, we were notified by phone in time. This one or two minutes of reaction time was precious for air defense operations. On the surrounding mountains, another batch of anti-aircraft lookout posts were arranged, and as soon as enemy planes came to attack, signals were sent to indicate the direction."

  Two young officers immediately put their ideas into practice. Eight anti-aircraft guns were arranged in three rows, 60 meters apart, with the muzzles pointing towards the northern sky. Chen Hao and Xu Liang studied and only gave the anti-aircraft guns three fixed firing directions, letting the gunners practice converting the muzzle position according to these three fixed values all day long. Also, they let the soldiers desperately practice to improve the speed of transporting shells, loading, and firing.

  The relocation of the factory is proceeding according to plan. First, the equipment and materials that have not been unpacked and used are being transported away. The loading was carried out at night, and the trains carrying the equipment departed before dawn, transferring to the Pinghan Line south section which was relatively safe at the time. The equipment is being dismantled, packed, and shipped according to plan step by step. The parts that have not been dismantled are still maintaining production, mainly the part that produces shells and bullets.

  Since Liu Wanqi destroyed the enemy's intelligence network, this area has become a blind spot for the enemy's intelligence for a time.

  Machines roar during the day and rush to transport at night.

  In late November, the banks of the Yellow River had a hint of early winter coolness. After more than two months of intense training, the high gun squad was able to quickly adjust the three fixed shooting directions according to Chen Hao's command. Moving and loading cannonballs were also quite familiar. Chen Hao and Xu Liang discussed and prepared for a live ammunition shooting exercise. He Wu Ting immediately came up with an idea when he heard their plan, reported to Li Dai Chun, and instructed the high gun squad: "Practice today, I'll be there to cheer you on!"

  After lunch, the exercise began.

  "Each to his post!" The gunners quickly ran to their respective positions.

  "Target number one!" The muzzle moved with the command.

  "Target two!" "Target three!"

  The 8 guns moved in unison with the commands and directions of the signal flags.

  "Next, live firing begins, load the cannon!"

  At this time, the phone rang urgently. Chen Hao picked up the phone: "I am, good, understood!" He put down the phone and said to the signal soldier: "Quickly fire a red signal flare!"

  "What's wrong?" He Wu Ting asked.

  "Report to the superior, the river defense troops informed that 5 enemy planes are coming from the north, have crossed the Yellow River, and will arrive in about 1-2 minutes. I fired a signal flare to inform the lookout on the mountain of the specific direction of the enemy's attack."

  "Great, he's finally here, just in time to deal with him!" He Wuting couldn't help but clench his fists and rub his palms together.

  As they spoke, a message tree on the mountain top in the northeast direction fell down.

  "Take aim at target number one, prepare!" The muzzle of the gun pointed towards the northeast sky, and everyone held their breath waiting. Finally, two enemy planes appeared in everyone's line of sight. "Boom!" A high-altitude cannon set up in the first row fired without waiting for orders. This time, 8 high-altitude cannons and 4 high-firing machine guns suddenly roared like a boiling pot. These 8 high-altitude cannons neither rotated nor aimed, but only fired frantically at the pre-estimated route of the enemy planes. The high-firing machine guns turned around busily. As soon as the simultaneous shooting started, the first enemy plane was obviously hit, and it dragged thick smoke in the air, rolling over and struggling to escape northward. Under this sudden attack, the other 4 enemy planes hastily dropped their bombs and quickly climbed higher. The enemy planes flew back northward. The high-firing machine guns stopped firing. But the 8 high-altitude cannons were still simultaneously shooting into the sky. Chen Hao was furious: "Quickly pass on the order to stop firing! Even if there is an ammunition factory behind us, we can't waste shells like this! Quickly call over the first cannon commander who fired!"

  With a dirty face and sweating all over, the No. 1 gunner ran over excitedly: "Captain, I hit it! I hit one!"

  Chen Hao didn't say a word, raised his hand and slapped him: "You damn little Wangzi, who told you to disobey orders and fire randomly? According to Xu's plan, these 5 enemy planes shouldn't have been shot down completely, at least half of them should be left! Now look what happened, where is the Japanese plane that was supposed to fall?"

  He Wu Ting said: "Commander Chen, no need to get angry. This is the first time our factory has engaged in air defense combat, and it's not easy to achieve such results. Everyone has worked hard. Just now, everyone saw that Xiao Wangzi was telling the truth, we did hit an enemy plane. We will immediately send a search team to the mountain to see if it fell on our territory. The little devils won't just give up like this, everyone should be prepared, I estimate they will come again soon."

  In the evening, in the conference room of the Arsenal factory, Li Daichun sat at the conference table fiddling with a leather glove that He Wuting and others had picked up from the mountain. The glove was printed with "Showa 12th year Yokosuka Army Arsenal Sakai". He Wuting was reporting on the air defense situation this afternoon: "It has been confirmed that there were 14 bombs dropped in the factory area, with no losses. Outside the factory, 13 bombs fell in the Dongbei Shaji settlement, killing and injuring dozens of civilians. According to the river defense troops' message, the enemy plane we hit was flying low over their position, spewing smoke, and crashed into the Yellow River near the north shore."

  Li Daichen looked up at Chen Hao: "You said that on the Shanghai battlefield, you never shot down an enemy plane. Coming here for the first time to fight in air defense and taking down a 96-type devil's plane with one punch is not bad!"

  Chen Hao looked somewhat flustered, hastily standing up: "Reporting to the superior officer, this is mainly due to Deputy Captain Xu Liang's credit. I am incompetent in governing the army and the military discipline is not strict, so the troops fired on their own accord. Otherwise... the results of the battle would have been even greater."

  "Alright, you must be ready to fight at all times. I have studied in Japan for many years and have a certain understanding of the Japanese people. They will definitely seek revenge, and the number of enemy planes next time may double. You must not slack off. This time, we shot down an enemy plane, and as a reward, your air defense squadron will receive 300 yuan from the Pacific Ocean." "Thank you, Commander Li!" "Good job!" "Yes!"

  Li Daiming said to Song Jianyan: "Director Song, report on the relocation situation."

  "The factory has recently undergone intense dismantling and transportation, and most of the equipment has now safely arrived in Hanyang. Dr. Wu's personnel have all withdrawn with the equipment. Our other technical personnel have also withdrawn two-thirds, leaving only the gunpowder and shell workshops' equipment yet to be evacuated. Starting tonight, the factory will cease production entirely, dismantle the remaining equipment, and within three days, all of the factory's equipment will be dismantled and loaded onto vehicles."

  "To mobilize some skilled workers of key trades to retreat with the factory. Alas, it's hard to leave one's hometown." Li Daichen glanced at the attendees, seemingly deep in thought. At that time, Gongxian Arsenal had 116 staff members, 2,830 formal workers, and 1,622 temporary workers. All staff members and their families would retreat with the factory. The temporary workers had relatively low technical skills and were all dismissed on the spot. What about the formal workers?

  "Report to the factory director, according to preliminary understanding, many workers are unwilling to evacuate with the factory. Some are willing to retreat with the factory, but require their families to go together." Reported by Wang, head of the General Affairs Department.

  "Anyone who is willing to leave will be allowed to bring their family members with them, but personal luggage must be limited in weight! After all equipment and technical personnel have withdrawn, we will begin organizing the withdrawal of workers and their families who are willing to leave. At that time, the air defense troops will board the vehicles in batches and provide cover for the withdrawal." Li Daichun said.

  "Are we going to arrange for the air defense troops to leave with the last batch of equipment?" Song Jianyan asked.

  "No, let the air defense troops stay and continue to entangle with enemy planes." Now it seems that the enemy still doesn't know that our factory has largely relocated. I don't want them to find out too early, or else the road won't be safe. Once a large group of workers and their families leave, there's no secret to keep. Having anti-aircraft guns follow everyone can have a reassuring effect." Li Daichen said.

  "The situation here has been more or less settled. Director Li, are you going to Hankou first? The big head of our factory is already there."

  "No, I'm here, the last batch to leave. On the other side of Hankou, you go first, Director Song, and represent me in charge. Also, hurry up and get the carpenters at the factory to make 8 fake anti-aircraft guns, as realistic as possible, and when we've all withdrawn, set them up on the original anti-aircraft gun positions."

  Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was getting a bit annoyed. After receiving the task of bombing the Gongxian Arsenal from General Terauchi Hisaichi, he immediately returned to his command center and prepared to dispatch the 3rd Independent Air Squadron to carry out this mission. The 3rd Independent Squadron was a heavy bomber squadron equipped with the then most advanced Japanese Type 96 bomber, which had a maximum payload of only 800 kg and a top speed of just over 300 km/h. Compared to bombers in the late war period such as the American B-29, it was hardly a bomber, but among the active aircraft in the mid-1930s, it was considered an advanced model. Just as the 3rd Squadron was about to bomb Gongxian, the Army Command Center urgently notified Tokugawa that two regiments of the 5th Division under Itagaki Seishirō were ambushed and surrounded by Chinese troops near Pingxingguan in Shanxi Province, requesting Tokugawa to immediately dispatch bombers for support.

  Modern warfare cannot be calculated solely based on the ratio of troops between two sides. During the War of Resistance, the Japanese side's air superiority alone greatly offset our side's numerical advantage, not to mention that the enemy had many other advantages. In the later stages of the war, after we gained air supremacy, in places such as western Yunnan, Burma, northern Guangxi and western Hunan, our young student soldiers who were equipped with American arms and received regular modern warfare training fought against the Japanese army like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

  But Tokugawa received an order from his superior, and hastily ordered the only mobile independent third squadron in his hand to fly to Pingxingguan to assist in the battle. This was on September 25, 1937. After dispatching the warplane, Tokugawa muttered to himself: "It must be that cowardly Okabe who got the situation wrong. How could the Chinese army, which is fleeing at the sight of the wind, possibly launch a counterattack and even try to devour two regiments of Japan's most elite Itagaki 5th Division? Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! How can Okabe come up with such a big joke? What use are his theories that are good for nothing but deceiving people? War relies on weapons and willpower. Can't stand the fact that this kind of person will also be promoted to lieutenant general and sit on an equal footing with me, Tokugawa Hidenori! It's said that he may even take command as the commander-in-chief of the Mongolia Garrison Army, the Imperial Headquarters is really blind!" Thinking of Terauchi's favoritism towards Okabe, Tokugawa felt indignant.

  The report of the third squadron's return was far beyond Tokugawa's expectations. When the planes arrived at the battlefield, Chinese troops had already charged down the mountain and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Japanese soldiers, both sides were entangled and fighting to the death. The plane flew low and circled around, the faces of soldiers on both sides could be seen clearly, but it was impossible to drop bombs or strafe. Tokugawa was full of doubts, the Chinese soldiers he had in mind were malnourished, pale and thin, how dare they fight against the well-trained Imperial Army with bayonets?

  Afterwards, further news came that the Japanese army had lost more than 1,000 soldiers and most of the personnel who escaped were injured. More than a hundred military vehicles were destroyed. Since the start of the "July 7th" war, the Japanese army had never suffered such a great loss. What was even more surprising to the Japanese devils was that the troops that achieved this achievement were the Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party, which was the worst equipped in the regular Chinese army.

  Since then, the Shanxi-Suiyuan army, which had been pushed south along the Tongpu Railway and had not been able to withstand a single blow from the Japanese army, suddenly became tough. Almost every county, every transportation line, and every important village and town had to go through fierce battles before they could be taken over.

  There was even a brigade of Shanxi-Suiyuan army that defended a county seat against the Japanese army, fighting street by street and house by house from outside the city wall to inside the city, and held out for 13 days. The entire officer corps, from the brigade commander down, fought heroically to the death.

  The Chinese army was not afraid of sacrifice and fought bravely, effectively slowing down the enemy's offensive and consuming their strength. However, the method of dividing troops to defend territory used by the Nationalist Army had a major flaw. From the perspective of the war zone, the Nationalist Army had a large number of troops and held an advantage in terms of troop numbers. However, from the perspective of each individual battle, they were always at a disadvantage due to being surrounded by enemy forces with superior numbers.

  In fact, this weakness of the Nationalist Army was already apparent when they fought against the Red Army in Jiangxi. At that time, the Nationalist Army would often use more than ten times the number of troops as the Red Army to encircle and attack them, but in the early battles, the Red Army, which had concentrated its forces, won victory after victory, creating a situation where "700 li were driven in 15 days, and thousands of enemy soldiers were swept away like a broom".

  The reason for this was that the Nationalist Army was not truly a national army, but rather a private army used to maintain the interests of certain groups. The military was a tool for maintaining private interests, so during wartime, eliminating enemies and preserving strength became the guiding principle, which eventually became a habit.

  Private armies only followed personal relationships, not merit, resulting in many mediocre officials holding high positions, while the incompetence of commanders was disastrous for the army. This method of dividing troops to defend territory used by the Nationalist Army remained unchanged even during the Liberation War.

  The head of the US military advisory group, General Barrow, publicly ridiculed this situation as a "wall psychology" on the eve of the Jinan Battle. After the Nationalist Party retreated to Taiwan, Yan Xishan wrote a special article reflecting on and criticizing this.

  In contrast, when one unit of the Japanese army or later the US military was attacked or surrounded, other units would always be ordered to fight to the death to rescue them, and their coordination and cooperation were quite good.

  The Japanese army encountered stubborn resistance from the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, and their reliance on air support grew even greater. The air force of the Tokugawa flew sorties day after day without a single break.

  Tokugawa's nightmare was getting more and more terrifying: the 9th Heavy Bombardment Squadron was ordered to bomb Taiyuan, but before they even reached the skies above Taiyuan, a welcoming party suddenly appeared in the sky - a team of Hawk II fighter planes quickly came to greet them. With the strong rhythmic sound of machine gun fire from the welcoming party, half of the Japanese bombers, without fighter escorts, performed an early "dive bombing" farewell performance. The "dive" was very perfect - all the way to the ground; the "bombing" was also very complete - the bombs did not even leave the aircraft, and the remaining wreckage was not too much. It turned out that the Chinese side had just reinforced Shanxi with 4 fighter squadrons to boost morale. Before this, the Japanese devils' North China Front Army's fighter planes were low-flying and strafing Chinese infantry positions every day, playing the role of ground attack. Now, they had to face the challenge of the Chinese air force. The Chinese army established a solid defensive position in Xinkou. And the Japanese bombers, without fighter cover, no longer dared to be reckless. Tokugawa Yoshitoshi had to organize a battle for air supremacy for the first time since participating in the invasion of China.

  A series of air battles unfolded above Taiyuan. At that time, the main fighter aircraft of the Chinese Air Force was the American Hawk III, while the reinforcements in Shanxi were the old-fashioned Hawk II. These dozen or so old planes actually engaged in fierce combat with the two fighter squadrons of the Japanese Air Force, which they took great pride in, for nearly a month. Even the Japanese ace pilot, Sanada Hiroyoshi, known as the "King of Interceptors", was shot down by Chen Qiguang, the commander of the Chinese Air Force. Although the enemy air force suffered heavy losses, their lost planes could be continuously replenished domestically, whereas China's backward technology and industry made it impossible to manufacture new planes, so every loss was a permanent one. In the end, only three of the dozen or so Hawk II planes that had reinforced Shanxi remained, and they were forced to retreat to Luoyang for repairs. After paying a heavy price for over a month, the Japanese Air Force finally regained its freedom of action, and having eliminated the threat from the skies, they resumed their indiscriminate bombing of Chinese military and civilians, with the front line at Xingxian being subjected to particularly frenzied bombardment. Just as the Japanese were regaining their arrogance, news arrived that made them furious: the airfield on the Yangmingbao front line had been raided by the Eighth Route Army, destroying 24 planes. Since the "July 7th Incident", the Japanese Air Force had always acted with impunity, but this time in Shanxi they suffered a severe blow from both the Nationalist and Communist forces of China, both in the air and on the ground.

  By late November, the Shanxi campaign had come to an end, and after replenishment, Tachikawa was able to withdraw troops to carry out the bombing of Hongdong. According to his estimate, the Chinese were slow in their work, and it was impossible for the Hongdong Arsenal to start moving at this time. He did not expect that the Hongdong Arsenal had already moved away from most of its equipment. What he did not expect even more was that the bombing of Hongdong encountered a hard nail from the very beginning. Five warplanes of the 3rd Independent Bombing Squadron were hit, one of which was shot down and crashed into the Yellow River along with the pilot. The returning planes, except for the squadron leader's plane, were damaged to varying degrees. Except for the squadron leader, all the pilots of the 3rd Squadron were newly replenished from Japan at that time. At that time, the Japanese Air Force did not exaggerate its achievements too much. Unlike in the late war period, if according to the achievements reported by Japanese pilots, the US Navy would have been destroyed countless times.

  Tokugawa gradually calmed down, called in Captain Shimatani Kōhei, and carefully asked about the air raid and the situation of the Chinese anti-aircraft forces. He thought for a while in front of the sand table, then said to the staff officer: "Order two squadrons from the 9th Air Group to prepare for an air raid on Hengyang Arsenal with Independent Squadron 3, under the unified command of Captain Shimatani Kōhei. Let the two squadron leaders come here, I want to personally give them instructions on air raid tactics. As soon as the weather conditions permit, take off immediately and thoroughly destroy the Hengyang Arsenal in China, absolutely do not let them safely relocate to the rear!"