As soon as the day dawned, on the 358th Regiment position 20 kilometers outside Zheng County, the mighty devils launched an attack.

The little devil is still the same old thing.

In the face of the solid and perfect position urgently built by the 358th Regiment, after the forward touched a nail, the devils first concentrated artillery bombardment, several 150 howitzers, more than 105 howitzers opened fire, and dense shells fell on the position.

The explosion sent up puffs of smoke and debris of dirt.

"Dog's day little devil."

On the front line, a company commander of the 358th Regiment hidden in the anti-artillery hole saw that one of his heavy machine gun squad concealment bunkers was hit by a 150 shell, the bunker was blown to pieces, and he could even see the heavy machine gun parts flying out, and he immediately broke his mouth and cursed.

Although the troops were transferred here a long time ago, the positions were well constructed, there were ring fortifications, anti-artillery holes, multi-storey civil fortifications.

But there was no concrete, no steel plates, even three layers of civil fortifications could barely defend against 105 shells, and there was nothing to do in the face of the power of 150 heavy guns, and the soldiers hiding inside could only pray not to be hit.

Fortunately, after only ten minutes, the devil's artillery fire began to extend, and the loss of the position was not large, only one platoon was killed or wounded.

"Get into position and get ready for battle."

The company commander immediately led the team into the position.

Obviously, the company commander of the 358th Regiment is also an old battalion commander, and he has very rich combat experience with devils, and he knows very well that the devils will rush up as soon as the artillery stops.

Before the troops of the 358th Regiment could arrange their firepower, the devils had already touched their positions.

"These devils..."

The battalion commander who led the team looked at the devil in the distance, and his pupils shrank.

can enter the position so quickly, and look at the running movements of these devils, don't think about it, they are all old devils.

"Hit!"

Although the devils are elite, they are not cowards, and the company commander immediately ordered to fire.

Da Da Da ·

Boom Boom Boom ·

A major battle broke out between the two sides, and for a time, bullets flew everywhere on the battlefield and shells flew on the battlefield.

With the ferocious firepower it had replenished, the battalion quickly repelled the attack of the devils, but as soon as the devils retreated, the shelling began again, and then the second wave of the offensive continued seamlessly.

"Hit."

Gritting his teeth, the battalion commander once again led the troops who had not had time to catch their breath to beat the devil back.

It's just that the second round of attacks that have just broken the devils, and the third round of devils has begun to assemble.

"Little devil, this is endless."

Looking at the third wave of devils, the battalion commander turned pale, and while organizing the battle, he sent people to ask for help from the regimental headquarters behind.

If he doesn't give him support and doesn't send out reserves, I'm afraid his position will not be protected.

Fortunately, at this time, there was a buzzing sound in the sky, followed by a 'bomb truck' attack plane diving, several heavy bombs fell to the ground, plus a round of machine gun strafing, the devils who blew up turned on their backs, and suffered heavy losses.

Not only did the retreating second wave of attacking troops suffer heavy losses, but the third wave of the offensive that had not yet been launched was directly crushed to death.

"That's the plane of the Separate Regiment."

"Haha, I didn't expect us to have air support too."

“····”

Suddenly, there was a cheer from the position.

The big soldiers at the bottom didn't care about the open and secret battles between the two sides, and the deceit between the top leaders, they cheered and applauded for the support of the independent regiment, wishing that this plane was their own.

"The independent regiment is still powerful."

Looking at the planes hovering in the sky, the battalion commander also breathed a sigh of relief.

With the support of the aircraft, the devils absolutely did not dare to continue the attack, not even shelling, and the planes condescendingly fired artillery, which could not be simpler. As he expected, the devil saw the plane in the sky and had to stop attacking.

Especially after the arrival of the second wave of planes, they began to bomb the rear positions of the devils, and the cheers were even louder, and they even took the opportunity to advance a certain distance and took the initiative to divide and annihilate a group of devils.

After a day of fighting, all the 358th Regiment was comfortable.

But compared to the comfort of the front line, Chu Yunfei, who commanded in the rear, had a solemn face.

"Tuanza, the situation is not good."

Fang Ligong looked at the map on the table, and his tone was anxious:

"There are too many little devils, we can't hold it for long, there are planes during the day, but planes can't support them at night."

"The defenses around Zheng County have collapsed, and there are routs everywhere, I'm afraid it's ·····"

Chu Yunfei didn't speak, but quietly looked at the map on the table, falling into deep thought.

The situation in central Henan was even worse than he expected, and the troops guarding Zheng County were even worse than he expected, in just two days of fighting, the defenders south of the Yellow River collapsed on all fronts, and there were routs everywhere, and the command system was almost ineffective, and only a small number of troops spontaneously resisted, but this point of resistance could not stop the rolling army of devils.

His side is able to hold on, even easily.

The five fighter planes he called for support, and the independent regiment's five sorties took turns to support, totaling more than 15 sorties, and with the support of the planes, the 358th Regiment not only repelled the devil's attack, but also suffered very little losses.

Holding at night, it is not a big problem, it is nothing more than that the casualties will be greater.

Theoretically, there is no point in continuing to hold on, and it is only a matter of time before Zheng County is lost. But here, he has air support and sufficient supplies, and he can buy a long time for the follow-up troops.

As long as he delays for a week, the Tang Corps will be able to free up his hands to deal with the devils.

Suddenly, a staff officer ran in:

"Three Battalions Telegraph."

"In the early morning of the 23rd, a large group of Japanese troops secretly marched to the Zhengxian station and occupied the north gate of Zhengxian (Zhou) by sneak attack."

"What?"

Chu Yunfei's face changed greatly, and he immediately scolded:

"A flock of straw bales!"

Zheng County is an important town, with more than 8,000 troops stationed, and it was actually touched by a brigade of devils to the station, and the north gate was occupied.

"Prepare to retreat."

Taking a deep breath, Chu Yunfei spoke helplessly.

A brigade of devils occupies the north gate of Zheng County, and with the defense ability of the devils, it is absolutely impossible to recapture it in a short period of time, and there will inevitably be a large army of devils to follow up, which means that Zheng County has been lost.

He continued to hold on, and by tomorrow, the 358th Regiment would be surrounded, and at that time, even if the independent regiment had more air support, the 358th Regiment surrounded by devils would inevitably be completely annihilated.

The other side.

That is, on the devil's position opposite the 358th Regiment, after being bombed all the way by the plane, the devil was also honest, hid the artillery, and waited for the night to come before launching an attack.

At this time, a devil is counting casualties.

"Six hundred and twenty-seven people were broken, seventy-two people were missing, and five hundred and ninety-nine people were injured."

"Yaga."

"A bunch of trash."

Hearing the staff officer's report data, the commander of the Devil Dazuo Wing, who was responsible for directing the attack on the position of the 358th Regiment, suddenly jumped to his feet in anger.

His infantry wing was only about 4,000 people, and in just one day's attack, nearly a quarter of the casualties were lost, and the disappearance of Yu Shajia had reached a second-line full brigade.

It's unprecedented.

Since crossing the Yellow River three days ago, the total casualties of other troops have been no more than that.

"Co-Captain."

A captain said in a bitter tone:

"The enemy on the opposite side is different from the previous ones, they have strong firepower, a tenacious will to fight, and they are supported by aircraft."

"Let's go down."

Hearing the captain's report, the corner of the captain's eyes jumped.

He also went to the front line to see it, so he naturally knew the reason for such huge casualties.

The defenders' positions are no longer as shattered as they were a few days ago, the defending troops are very tenacious, and the weapons and equipment are very advanced, and the artillery fire is not weaker than the imperial wing level, so it must be the elite troops of the Republic of China.

Of course, it's nothing.

He has the support of heavy artillery at the army level, the reserve force is sufficient, a large number of recruits can make up for the combat losses, and it is only a matter of time before he takes the position in front of him.

But I don't know where a batch of fighters flew from, and they were planes that I had never seen before, with a large bomb load, fierce firepower, and wave after wave, the planes kept circling in the sky all the time, and most of the casualties in his wing were caused by those fighters.

And in the face of enemy planes circling in the air, the heavy artillery units did not dare to expose them.

"Wing Commander, General Gangcun called, asking about the casualties of my wing."

Suddenly, a staff officer ran in and said.

"General Gangmura, ask about casualties."

The Wing Captain's tone was full of bitterness.

Although it is not clear why the top boss called to ask, but ····· In just one day, he relied on a wing to double the total casualties of the imperial army since the beginning of the war.

This is obviously not a good thing.

After connecting the phone, the co-captain shook it all out for the first time, without the slightest concealment.

After all, he can't hide this matter, so it is better to explain it in full and strive for leniency. Of course, the wing commander also focused on the reasons for his failure today, the sudden arrival of dozens of new planes, and the bombshell that did not require money.

Just to his surprise, after hearing about his casualties, General Gangcun only scolded him for a word of rubbish, and then instructed him to repair in place.

That's it?

One sentence of Baga is over?

Hanging up the phone, the captain of the devil wing was a little sluggish for a while.

Compared with the sluggishness of the captain of the devil wing, Gangcun was full of entanglement and sadness, and then sighed deeply.

The battle went smoothly as a whole, even beyond expectations, and the 37th Division and the 7th Mixed Brigade had already surrounded Zheng County, and the first phase of the operation was completed ahead of schedule.

The problem, however, is that the casualties are too great.

In today's one-day battle, there were nearly 3,000 casualties, and the number of jade shatters exceeded 1,200, and in just one day, the casualties directly more than tripled. At this rate, when he fights in the central Henan region and the Jinghan line is opened, I am afraid that more than half of the casualties will be lost, and tens of thousands of jade will be broken.

And all this, because of the aircraft of the Separate Regiment.

In just one day, the other side flew more than 130 sorties and dropped more than 300 tons of bombs.

"How did they do it in just one day, 100 sorties?"

In the headquarters, the new chief of staff of the North China Front was puzzled.

Even the Second Flying Regiment of the Fifth Air Army, which has more than 100 aircraft, sorties more than 100 times a day, is very difficult and requires a long time to prepare.

Gangmura Ningji glanced at his new chief of staff, but did not speak, nor explained.

He naturally knew the reason, although the pilots of the independent regiment were insufficient, there were really many planes, and the materials and ammunition were even more overflowing, otherwise he would not have used a large amount of heavy oil to secretly trade with the imperial army in exchange for the imperial army to loot machinery and equipment from Southeast Asia.

But this is a new arrival.

Explanation, it's a waste of time.

It's better to find a way to deal with the planes of the Separate Regiment.

"Order the 2nd Flying Regiment to expel and destroy those enemy planes."

Okamura Ningji thought about it for a long time, and in the end, he could only ask the flying group to send planes to drive away and destroy those independent regiment planes, after all, the North China Front was rarely equipped with anti-aircraft weapons because there was no air threat all along.

As for the mixed group of the Chinese and American air forces, it has always operated near the Yangtze River.

"That's all there is to it."

The chief of staff sighed.

As a result, aviation will not be able to support the ground forces.

······

At the same time.

Jincheng Airport.

In the evening, with the rotation of the five-bladed propeller, six 'bomb trucks' stopped steadily on the airport gun runway, and then slowly taxied to the tarmac next to the runway.

The bubble cockpit was pushed away, and Huang Quan climbed out of the cockpit and jumped directly off the plane with the help of a soft ladder.

"Captain."

The six of them gathered in front of Huang Quan.

"Haha..."

Seeing all five people fly back, Huang Quan immediately smiled with satisfaction.

All five are newbies.

Today, Heyuan County sent 35 new pilots, all of whom are novices and have only been in contact with flying for a few months.

Fortunately, they were directly selected from the elite soldiers of the independent regiment, and they had a good level of education, had a flying talent, and had excellent psychological qualities; after more than two months of training, they had initially mastered basic flying skills, and they all had more than 100 hours of flying experience, including more than 30 hours of independent flying experience.

In order to improve the technical level of the pilots as soon as possible, the regiment headquarters sent them to Jincheng Airport.

Actual combat is the best training.

Although he is still a rookie, it may not be possible to dive and maneuver to support the front-line battle, but there is no problem at all in bombing the baggage team behind the devil, the devil lacks air defense weapons, just fly over flat, drop the bomb and return home.

patted several people on the shoulders in turn and said:

"Have a good rest tonight, and you'll have to keep busy tomorrow."

"Yes."

The other five responded loudly.

The voices of these people could not hide their excitement.

Bombing devils is really exciting.

And each of them flew at least two sorties today, dropped more than ten tons of explosives, and a few of them even played dive strafing.

After the novice pilot went to rest, Huang Quan came to the hangar, at this time the concrete hangar was brightly lit, and a large number of logistics personnel were stepping up the maintenance of the fighter plane to prepare for tomorrow's flight.

"How?"

Huang Quan said to the person in charge of airport logistics maintenance:

"Can you do it today?"

The person in charge of logistics was a member of Huang Quan's team, who came to the independent regiment with him, and he replied confidently:

"No problem, I promise you have a plane to fly tomorrow."

Huang Quan was a little surprised.

Today, a large number of new planes have been sent over, and so far, there are 100 attack planes at Jincheng Airport, which is a huge workload, and this group of people has only been in contact with new planes for less than three months, and even most of the maintenance personnel are novices.

The head of logistics explains:

"This aircraft is very advanced, the manufacturing level is extremely high, and the technology is still very mature, the failure rate is very low, the maintenance is completely process-oriented, the training of logistics personnel is very simple, and it only takes fifteen minutes to change the engine by skill."

Hearing this, Huang Quan nodded in agreement.

After flying for nearly three months, he deeply realized that both the 'bomb truck' attack plane and the fighter plane, both the technology and the manufacturing process are very advanced.

Generally speaking, the more advanced the aircraft, the less mature it is and the more prone it is to breakdown.

For example, in combat missions in Europe and the United States, there are often such situations: 60 of the latest planes took off, three of them returned home due to a malfunction, four crashed due to a malfunction, and then only 53 completed the mission.

And the aircraft provided by Boss Chen to the Independent Regiment did not have this problem at all.

So far, there has never been a single flight failure.

Of course, part of the reason is that most of the current planes are new, which have been in service for less than a month, and there are indeed many spare parts, so it is really not possible, just replace the parts, and replace them there if there is a problem.

"Okay."

Huang Quan left satisfied.

In the end, he summoned all forty-nine (one wounded) pilots, held an operational meeting, summed up today's problems, and assigned tomorrow's combat missions:

"Tomorrow we will strive to make two hundred sorties and double the devils."

"Yes."

All pilots speak confidently.