The Chinese troops on the other side did not know the plans of the Japanese army, and continued to carry out various consolidation work in a step-by-step manner. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

After the capture of Mt. Oriba and the 382 Heights, it can be said that the situation of the war, which was originally unfavorable to the Chinese army, quickly became clear.

When Halsey heard about the victory, he called Zhang Chi and exclaimed, "Unbelievable, Colonel! I thought you would eventually have to choose to withdraw from Iwo Jima, but you won a brilliant victory on Iwo Jima...... It's a miracle that you captured and took control of the airport in just two days, and with such small casualties! ”

"Thank you!" Zhang Chi replied: "Another...... General, we are hurrying to repair the airfield, and in a few hours our airfield will be ready for use. Of course, we don't dare to guarantee that the enemy will not shell, you know...... The northeastern part of the island is mostly mountainous, and the Japanese still have many howitzers and mortars in their hands, and their artillery will cross the 382 heights to reach the airfield. However, I still hope that the fighter squadron that came to reinforce will be stationed as soon as possible! ”

"No problem!" Halsey replied dryly, "The squadron will arrive before dark, so be ready to receive it!" ”

"Yes!" Hearing this, Zhang relaxed, and half of his hanging heart was let go.

The reason why Zhang Chi was so worried was because he knew that the United States at this time did not want the Chinese army to beat the Japanese too hard in the direction of Japan, that is, on Iwo Jima, so he was not sure what excuse the United States would find not to provide fighter planes for the Chinese army.

Zhang Chi guessed correctly, in fact, the United States did deliberately refuse to provide fighter planes for the Chinese army, because the Chinese army's attack was so fast that it was completely beyond their expectations.

But Halsey objected to it.

Halsey's reasoning is simple:

First, no matter how tight the battlefield in the Philippines is, 16 "Hellcat" fighters in one squadron are just a trivial matter, and if even 16 "Hellcat" fighters cannot be provided, then it is not to say that our soldiers do not believe it, and the war correspondents who take pictures everywhere on the battlefield do not believe it. What's even more terrifying is that those war correspondents also took a lot of photos, and then it didn't take long for big reports around the world to appear...... "There are a large number of 'Hellcat' fighters vacant at the US air base, but they are unwilling to provide a little reinforcement for the Chinese troops."

(Note: One squadron of the U.S. Marine Corps has 16 fighters)

Second, with the current situation of the Chinese army, there is no turning back. In other words, even if the U.S. military does not provide the Chinese army with "Hellcat" fighters, the Chinese army is afraid that it will not choose to abandon Iwo Jima, because they have already seized a good opportunity, and this opportunity will not have a second time.

Then, if the U.S. military does not provide reinforcements, the consequence is that the Chinese navy may be defeated by the enemy, and then the Chinese army will be in a quagmire.

This will undoubtedly greatly damage the vitality of the Chinese army, which will also lead to a series of adverse consequences, such as the credibility of the US military has been frustrated, and the US military has lost an elite force that can fight the Japanese army.

To sum up, not providing reinforcements to the Chinese troops is undoubtedly short-sighted and extremely stupid.

As a result, the U.S. military finally agreed to send a squadron of 16 Hellcat fighters to Iwo Jima.

However, the first plane to land on Iwo Jima Airport 1 was not a Hellcat, but a B29 bomber.

While Zhang Chi was busy directing the troops to land and repair the airfield, Halsey made a phone call and said, "Colonel, can the airport receive planes?" ”

Zhang Chi looked at his watch and asked with some puzzlement: "General, there are still more than two hours before dark......

"I'm not talking about 'Hellcat'!" Halsey anxiously interrupted Zhang Chi's words and said: "It's B29, it has just returned from the mission of bombing the Philippines, but it broke down and deviated from the course, and needs to make an emergency landing on Iwo Jima!" ”

"I'm not sure, General!" Zhang Chi replied: "But I will do my best!" ”

"Hmm!" Halsey replied, "You still have ...... Fifteen minutes! ”

"Fifteen minutes?!"

Zhang Chi didn't say anything anymore, immediately hung up the phone and shouted to Staff Officer Liang: "Quick, immediately build a runway on the airport, there is a bomber that needs to make an emergency landing!" ”

"Yes!" Staff Officer Liang responded.

Staff Officer Liang didn't take it seriously at first, because now the airfield is almost repaired...... This is also the efficiency of bulldozers and excavators, and of course, the role of the corpses of devils, which provide sappers with good materials for filling holes.

By this time, landing a bomber was not a big problem, although it had not been completely repaired.

But as soon as I heard that this bomber was B29...... This is not an ordinary small bomber of more than 2,000 kilograms, but a big guy of more than 30,000 kilograms, so he immediately gave an order to the walkie-talkie nervously.

In fact, Halsey still estimated the time to be long, perhaps the B29 flew fast because of the failure and needed to make an emergency landing, so just after ten minutes, a huge figure of the B29 appeared in the sky, and then it descended in a "rumble" sound......

Zhang Chi was not at the airport, and he didn't know about the various panics at the airport because of this situation, but fortunately, this B29 still landed without danger...... The bomber's first visit to Iwo Jima airfield was the Universal Dinah, whose ammunition hatch door was stuck in the open position and the fuel divertizer valve was malfunctioning.

When it landed at Airfield No. 1, the Japanese were aware of its presence and immediately organized artillery fire to bombard Airfield No. 1.

But the Chinese sappers had the foresight to brave the artillery fire to drag the behemoth, which had a wingspan of 43 meters, into the corner of the Japanese artillery fire.

On the other hand, the artillery fire of the Chinese army also suppressed the Japanese artillery.

But in reality, this artillery suppression did not have much effect...... Most of the Japanese artillery fire was hidden in tunnels and fortifications, and even if it was known, it was difficult to pose a threat to it.

But this is not necessarily, there is an incident that is...... The naval guns bombarded the high ground where the Japanese army was located, and originally thought that it was useless and just hit casually, but unexpectedly it caused a landslide and buried the target area.

Of course, this is just a small incident that is difficult to encounter, and of course fighting a war will not be like waiting for a rabbit to try your luck.

The advantage of the landing of the B29 to the Chinese troops was that the location of the Japanese artillery dead spots was confirmed, and then these places were naturally used as places where the "Hellcat" fighters were parked.

(To be continued.) )