The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 131 School Balloon Shooting
Early morning, Yongxing Village
After a day of careful deployment, a new round of all-out attack by the No. 16 Wing was about to begin. However, it was not the combat troops in Yongxing Village that kicked off the attack, but a special balloon unit.

Two kilometers behind Yongxing Village, a Japanese independent balloon squadron that had recently arrived at the Xinkou battlefield was intensively carrying out lift-off operations. Since the Type 16 siege heavy artillery was reinforced to the Infantry No. 175 Regiment, Shinohara Seiichiro was a good man and did his best. He urgently transferred an independent balloon squadron through some channel (a balloon squadron consists of a command team, an operation team, an anti-aircraft machine gun team, a supply team, and an equipment squad, plus There are [-] people in total at the squadron headquarters). Although the powerful artillery is extremely powerful and has excellent performance, its performance cannot be brought into full play without good observation equipment.

The Japanese army has been equipped with balloons for decades. This kind of school-launched balloon is low-cost to manufacture, and its hanging basket is used as an observation platform. It is condescending, has a wide field of vision, and is outstanding in indicating and correcting artillery bombardments.

During the French Revolution in 1794, at the Battle of Fleurus, the French army put the first actual military balloon on the battlefield.Balloons were subsequently used extensively during the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Second Boer War, the Russo-Japanese War, and World War I.

This kind of tethered balloon has several advantages over airplanes: First, it can hover in the air and observe targets 360 degrees. The observation instrument can detect targets up to 20 kilometers away, but it is difficult for a passing airplane to clearly detect them. Observation.The second is that the balloon is connected to a telephone line, which can transmit information to the front at any time. At that time, the aircraft had to type out the radio code before transmitting the information.Third, the balloon is not affected by time and can be launched at night.Fourth, the balloon makes no sound when it takes off and is difficult to detect. Of course, it also has many shortcomings, such as inconvenient maneuvering, complex operation, and extremely easy to be attacked by aircraft and anti-aircraft fire.

However, in China, this is not a problem. In the main battlefields of North and East China, the flat terrain can ensure that large school-launched balloons can maneuver at will, while the Chinese army's weak anti-aircraft firepower and air force pose almost no threat to the Japanese army's school-launched balloons.

Soldiers from the Japanese Balloon Squadron deployed the huge school-launched balloon on the ground, and connected the school-launched balloon with the five-ton tethered truck through more than a dozen huge mooring ropes. Then, the Japanese army continued to fill it with hydrogen. Among the balloons, the huge school launch balloon slowly rose under the gaze of countless soldiers of the No. 16 Infantry Regiment.

In the artillery position outside Yongxing Village, two Type 150 75mm cannons of the Japanese temporary heavy siege artillery squadron have been placed. Next to the position of the temporary heavy artillery squadron, there is also a squadron of Type [-] [-]mm cannons. The mountain artillery and a squadron's Type [-] [-]mm howitzer were two heavy artillery pieces that stood out among the mountain artillery and light howitzers. Soon, the Japanese gunner who was operating the artillery used the rangefinder and saw the slowly rising sky behind. A large school launch balloon was launched, and then the telephone soldiers on the artillery position quickly connected the phone to the school launch balloon.

At the very back of the artillery position, Isao Kakihara, the temporary supreme commander of this small artillery group, looked at the school launch balloons in the sky behind him and felt extremely happy. Before the temporary heavy artillery squadron arrived, he thought he would lose his temporary job as artillery commander. Position, but I didn't expect that the squadron leader of this temporary artillery squadron was actually just a lieutenant.

Moreover, the grade of this squadron leader at the Army Sergeant School was lower than his. Therefore, Isao Kakihara was still the commander of this temporary small artillery group. However, he could only command the squadron's Type [-] mountain artillery. It was then expanded to command the Type [-] howitzer of the [-]nd Field Artillery Regiment. Until now, it was able to command the artillery strike firepower at the corps level. The infantry was losing one battle after another, but Kakihara Isao's scope of command authority and responsibility exceeded Come bigger.

Raising his binoculars and looking at the school launch balloon in mid-air, Isao Kakihara felt even more heroic. Although it was not a formal appointment, he had commanded joint operations with mountain artillery, howitzers and heavy cannons. If this experience was written on his qualifications list , whether he applies to the Army University or applies to be transferred to the Army Artillery School as an instructor in the future, this qualification is enough to make him stand out among many competitors.

It’s not just the Japanese military that can see the school launch balloon. The weather today is very good and cloudless. While giving the Japanese military school launch balloon a very good observation field, it also exposes itself. When the balloon lifts to an altitude of 500 meters, At that time, they happened to be discovered by the sentry deployed by the Sixth Company in the trench. This sentry may have seen this behemoth for the first time. The vast majority of Chinese soldiers were from farmers and did not have any advanced scientific knowledge. When looking at When he saw a huge oval-shaped sphere flying across the air, the sentry turned pale with fright. Seeing that this thing could fly into the sky, he subconsciously thought it was a Japanese aircraft, so the sentry turned directly towards the sky. Shots fired.

This shot woke up He Wei, who was taking a nap in the command post. He Wei thought it was the Japanese who were coming, and rushed out of the command post to observe.

"what's the situation?"

He Wei ran wildly and shouted. He was followed by the deputy squad leader of the second squad. The soldier who fired the shot was from his squad. When He Wei arrived at the sentry position, he couldn't even see a Japanese soldier. , the deputy squad leader thought it was his men who fired randomly, and He Wei was by his side again. He suddenly lost all dignity and raised his leg to kick him.

"You fucking fired the gun randomly, please admit your mistake to the platoon leader."

At this time, He Wei had already noticed the school shooting balloon in mid-air. He yelled at the deputy squad leader of the second class, stopped his foot that was about to kick out, then walked to the shocked sentry and patted it. Pat him on the shoulder and say, "Well done, well done."

The deputy squad leader of the second squad was confused by He Wei's move. He scratched his head and said to He Wei: "Platoon leader, he fired guns randomly and did a good job."

He Wei looked at the balloon rising higher and higher through the telescope and said: "Don't focus all your eyes on the ground, look at the sky."

Looking at the balloon, He Wei suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart. As a standard time traveler, of course he knew that it was a calibration balloon used to determine the shooting target position for the artillery.

In his previous life, he had read a lot of information. The Japanese army had developed a military observation balloon called the Yamada-style balloon as early as the Russo-Japanese War. This balloon was even sold to the Beiyang Army in the late Qing Dynasty. However, in this era, To be honest, this is already a kind of backward equipment. Western European countries have already begun to develop and equip various artillery calibration observation machines, which are much more advanced than this thing.What makes He Wei puzzled is that the Japanese have not used it for a long time, but they have used it at this time. What is their purpose? Moreover, it is not that he has not been bombarded before. He is bombarded every day. The Japanese bombardment is obviously very accurate. Okay, why go to all the trouble to get this balloon out to calibrate the shooting?
After thinking about it, He Wei suddenly thought of something. According to his memory, the Japanese army dispatched a large number of school-launched balloons during the Nanjing offensive, and the artillery guided by the school-launched balloons seemed to be unusual. Mountain field artillery is a large-caliber cannon equipped for independent siege heavy artillery. It was these school-fired balloons that blasted large gaps one after another in the solid Ming city wall of Nanjing, opening the way for the Japanese infantry to attack the city. guided large-caliber howitzer.

According to common sense, it is unlikely that the Japanese army would go to great lengths to use balloons to guide the shooting of the 75mm mountain field artillery. Thinking of this, He Wei wondered whether the Japanese had added artillery, and it was a large-caliber cannon?
Siege artillery, siege artillery, but where is the city here for the Japanese to attack?

Could it be Yanzhuang?
He Wei suddenly thought, and then secretly thought that the Japanese might have judged that there were Chinese troops inside Yanzhuang, and their frontal attacks on the field positions outside the village had repeatedly failed, so they jumped over the wall and found large-caliber heavy artillery, intending to use the heavy artillery to directly attack Yanzhuang. Blast to a pulp?

Yanzhuang is a typical village structure in North China. The outer wall of Zhuangzi is nearly ten meters high and about five or six meters thick. However, it is made of earth. Even the masonry structure of Nanjing and the city wall reinforced by concrete fortifications cannot stand. It could not withstand the heavy artillery of the Japanese army, let alone the broken earth walls of Yanzhuang.

If the Japanese army did not blow up the city wall, but used heavy artillery to bombard the inside of Zhuangzi, it would be even worse. The houses there could not withstand the bombardment at all. There was nothing in Zhuangzi except simple street fighting fortifications, and an infantry battalion was packed inside. If a few rounds of large-caliber heavy artillery are fired, this village can be turned into a cemetery.

The more he thought about it, the more scared he became. He Wei quickly ran into the command post and connected the phone to Yanzhuang. When the call was connected and without waiting for a reply, He Wei shouted in an urgent tone: "Chen Tuanfu, hurry up. Inform Battalion Commander Zhang, take the brothers in Zhuangzi and rush outside, come to me quickly, and take as much ammunition as you can, throw away what you can't take away, run away."

"What? He Wei, what do you mean?"

But it was not Chen Zhen's voice on the other end of the phone. It turned out that the person who answered the phone was Zhang Yongbin, the commander of the 57rd Battalion of the [-]th Regiment. Chen Zhen was not there, but was counting ammunition in a private house. When He Wei explained the situation clearly, Zhang Yongbin immediately hung up. He picked up the phone and quickly ran out of the command post inside Zhuangzi.

Although the top commander of the Yanzhuang garrison is Chen Zhen, except for a platoon from the communications company directly under the 57th regiment, the rest of the troops in this village are members of the third battalion of the 57th regiment. If Zhang Yongbin is not in a hurry, who is?
As a result, thanks to He Wei's emergency response in front of the battle, a large-scale retreat involving hundreds of lives began. Zhang Yongbin immediately rushed to the yard after hanging up the phone, and immediately sent buglers to blow the emergency assembly call. Inside, he issued notification orders to several messengers and asked them to go to each company to give orders for retreat and transportation of ammunition.

Zhang Yongbin's order was clearly heard word for word by Xiong Mancang, the leader of the cooking squad of the Sixth Company who was cooking in the yard. When he heard that he was about to be bombarded, Xiong Mancang's face turned green with fright and he quickly called his men to carry it. Lift the cauldron and prepare to retreat.

As a result, a large-scale retreat operation began. The officers and soldiers in Zhuangzi learned that the Japanese army might launch a large-scale artillery attack. Driven by the desire to survive, the officers and soldiers in Zhuangzi acted extremely efficiently, and the [-]th Division was the central The troops were relatively well trained on weekdays, and most of the cadres at all levels were from Huangpu and were well organized. Therefore, although the retreat process was somewhat chaotic, it did not turn into a large-scale retreat.

In less than half an hour, the troops inside Zhuangzi left the village. The retreating third battalion consisted of the seventh infantry company, the eighth infantry company, the ninth infantry company, the heavy machine gun company and the mortar platoon. The regiment directly under the communications The company's platoons were withdrawn in order. Among the infantry queues, there were more than a dozen mule-horse carts filled with ammunition and supply baggage. They were loaded with ammunition stored in the village and were urgently transported. , most of the ammunition stored in the village was removed, leaving only a dozen boxes of Gong-made long-handled grenades that could not be taken away.

Infantrymen, carriages, and packhorses carrying mortars and heavy machine guns crowded together. They rushed out of the village in a hurry and rushed towards the sixth company's position. The scene was chaotic and orderly, although the scene was slightly chaotic. But fortunately, the officers were well organized and did not cause any trouble. What is slightly funny is that the person who rushed to the front of the team was none other than the cooking team of the Sixth Company. As the saying goes, first come first who is near the water and tower, and command in the village. The cooking team of the Sixth Company, which was cooking, learned of the retreat order before other units. Xiong Mancang was so frightened that he threw away the half-finished meal. He hurriedly gathered a group of people and carried them on his back. The [-]-year-old Gai given to them by He Wei rushed to the front of the retreating team carrying a large iron pot.

In the Japanese army's position, the school's balloon squad was still leisurely preparing for battle before the artillery bombardment. Compared with the front-line infantry and artillery troops, the combat style of the balloon troops was much more fatigued. These people Having been away from the front line for a long time, I have no idea of ​​the brutality of front line combat, so my daily style is naturally much different.

In history, the Japanese balloon troops even took the initiative to provoke the infantry of the Chinese field troops. Naturally, the final result was that they were beaten up. In the basket of the balloon, two Japanese observers were admiring the view of North China. The beautiful scenery, suddenly, in the high-magnification large telescope, densely packed small gray dots suddenly appeared on the periphery of the shooting target.

Upon discovering that the Chinese troops were retreating, the shocked observer immediately connected the phone to the command post of the No. 16 Wing.

In the command post of the No. 16 Wing in Yongxing Village, Juro Goto heard that the call was from the balloon squadron. He was very happy at the moment. He thought that the calibration of the school launch balloon had been completed, but the first words from the opposite party made him Frozen there.

"Reporting to the commander, a large number of enemy infantry rushed out of the target village."

(End of this chapter)