bullyxtreme Chapter 1066 Landing in the Northwest
Chapter 1066 Landing in the Northwest
Yuezhou, the Japanese headquarters.
Yokoyama was standing in front of the sand table studying the battle situation when a staff officer walked in, stood at attention, and said, "Report! Air Force Regiment Commander He Tian has arrived!"
“Let him in!” Yokoyama said, turning around.
"Hai!"
He Tian was quickly brought in, and he bowed to Yokoyama Ritsusatsu and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Commander!"
Yokoyama stared at He Tian with a stern face and asked coldly, "He Tian, I sent you to lead a team to bomb Jiangzhou, but what did you do? You sent 60 fighter jets, but only brought back 33, 13 of which were damaged. Do you know how precious the Empire's fighter jets and pilots are right now?"
"How did you become a regimental commander?"
"Ha, it was my dereliction of duty!" He Tian quickly admitted his mistake, and then he said, "However, Commander, there is something I must report to you. When I led the flight squadron to Jiangzhou, a group of fighter jets from Jiangzhou rushed towards us to meet us in battle!"
"There are approximately 60 aircraft. This is clearly not something that can be accomplished hastily and quickly. I suspect that the news of this air raid was leaked long ago; or perhaps the radar in Jiangzhou was replaced with an ultra-long-range warning radar, otherwise they would not have had sufficient preparation to launch 60 fighter jets into combat!"
"What?! Is that even possible?" Yokoyama was clearly incredulous.
He Tian immediately took out several photos from his pocket and handed them over with both hands, saying, "These are photos taken by our fighter jets. I've already had them developed. Please take a look."
"This is the Chinese fighter jet formation. Look at the number of fighter jets in the formation; it's no less than the number of our fighter jets. This definitely can't be accomplished in a short time; it must have required a certain amount of preparation time."
"And these are a few more. Just as we were fighting the Chinese aircraft, 10 large planes suddenly appeared behind them. They looked like heavy bombers. Their armament was terrifying. There were no fewer than 10 machine guns, and a cannon in the tail. Even if their cabins were riddled with bullets, they could still fly!"
Yokoyama examined the photos closely, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. He looked up and said, "I will have the Army Intelligence Department and the Plum Blossom Hall investigate this matter. During this time, your flight wing should rest and train well. Go back now!"
"Hai!"
Five days later, the 76th Special Agent, who was hiding in Jiangzhou, secretly sent back a message. Yokoyama then learned the reason for the failure of the last air raid: there was a long-range early warning radar at the western suburbs airport of Jiangzhou that could detect flying objects 200 kilometers away.
"So that's how it is. Order the intelligence department to have their intelligence personnel find out the terrain and defenses of the Jiangzhou West Suburb Airport and draw up a complete map of the airport!" Hengshan said to his staff.
"Hai!"
Just as the Japanese were issuing orders to their spies lurking in Jiangzhou to gather information about the western suburban airport, Zhang Yunhe had already personally piloted a B-29 to the northwest.
Just yesterday, Liu Huilan sent him a telegram from the Northwest saying that the airport runway had been completed. The chosen site was on a loess plateau with flat terrain. The loess soil was originally very compacted, but after a week of continuous compaction by a large number of soldiers and civilians driving mules to pull stone rollers, the loess soil on the runway had become as hard as rock.
After being continuously rolled by stone rollers, the soldiers and civilians in the base area also collected a lot of fertile soil, added some sand, clay and other materials, and repeatedly compacted it to lay a layer on the runway. Its hardness was comparable to that of rock, and even if artillery shells were used to blast the runway, only a mark could be blasted out.
Given the conditions of the base, even building just a 30-meter-wide and 1500-meter-long track would be extremely costly, but it was a last resort given the lack of cement.
Zhang Yunhe set off at 4:00 AM. The British weapons, equipment, and ammunition he was donating to the two divisions in the base area had all been airlifted there and airdropped a week earlier.
This time, the supplies to be transported are the urgently needed items that Liu Huilan asked him to purchase last time, mainly medical supplies and medicines.
Airdrops are too costly. If Zhang Yunhe continues to use airdrops, he cannot afford the high expenses. Not to mention anything else, the pilots' salaries and subsidies are twice as high as those for landing and unloading at the airport.
Moreover, airdrops require crew members, and the cost of crew members is also a significant expense. If the cargo is airlifted and landed at the airport, at least the unloading process can be handled by the military at the base, saving them a considerable amount of money.
This time, Zhang Yunhe only brought one pilot with him. He was the lead pilot, and the other pilot was the co-pilot and also the mechanic. If the plane malfunctioned, the co-pilot could also repair it himself.
"Boss, are we really going to land there? I heard the conditions there are terrible. Do they have high-standard cement for building airports? If it's a dirt runway, with the weight of our B-29, I'm worried the tires will get stuck when it hits the ground!"
While observing the avionics system, Zhang Yunhe gripped the control stick with both hands and said, "Don't worry, although they don't have high-grade cement, the runway they built should be able to withstand the impact of this aircraft landing!"
This time, Zhang Yunhe did not bring any other crew members. On the one hand, this would save some costs, and on the other hand, the weapons on this bomber could be remotely controlled, without the need for dedicated machine gunners and gunners to operate them manually. This was because the aircraft was equipped with the most advanced machine gun turret remote control system of the era, which was also one of the core designs of this aircraft.
At seven o'clock in the morning, the sky was already beginning to lighten, and the plane was about to fly over the base area.
After flying for another ten minutes or so, the plane entered the airspace above the base area. As he and Liu Huilan had agreed in their telegram communication, the people at the base area lit several bonfires around the airport, and the billowing smoke indicated the flight direction and the location of the airport to Zhang Yunhe.
"Look over there, the airport is right there, get ready to land!" Zhang Yunhe said, pointing to the spot where the thick smoke was rising.
"Okay, boss!"
The sun rose, and the sunlight was a bit dazzling, so Zhang Yunhe had to take out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. After circling the plane halfway, he began to descend towards the airport runway.
There were a large number of soldiers on guard around the airport, and red flags were planted everywhere. There was a guard every three steps and a sentry every five steps.
With the help of the co-pilot, Zhang Yunhe finally landed the plane safely. The moment the tires touched the ground, the loud friction made a screeching sound and a pungent smell filled the air.
After taxiing for more than 1000 meters, the plane came to a slow stop. The cabin door opened shortly afterward, the gangway was lowered, and Zhang Yunhe led the co-pilot down the stairs one by one. Liu Huilan quickly ran over.