vstars Chapter 322 Aircraft Airdrop Supplies
Chapter 322 Aircraft Airdrop Supplies
Gaoda nodded, his eyes swept over the three brigade commanders one by one: "Everyone, let's change our tactics. Tomorrow we will continue to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese positions to consume their ammunition.
After everyone returns, tell the soldiers not to rush too far forward in tomorrow's attack and to protect themselves.
Our focus is to consume the enemy's ammunition. I want to see how long the enemy's ammunition can last."
Li Yunlong nodded: "Commander, this is a good idea. We can slowly exhaust their strength like a cat catching a mouse."
Ding Wei also added: "Yes, we must maintain fire suppression to prevent them from showing their heads easily, while reducing our casualties."
"Okay, everyone go back and prepare." Gundam said.
"Yes, Commander."
Everyone quickly turned around and left the command center.
In each camp, soldiers sat around the campfire, listening to the cadres' pre-war mobilization.
........
On the other side, the atmosphere in the Japanese command center was tense and depressing.
Yamamoto and Ito were standing in the command center. The chief of staff's voice echoed in the center. He was reporting on the battle situation this afternoon.
"Report to the General, this afternoon the Eighth Route Army Independent Column launched a fierce attack on the Majiapo defense line from the southeast, northwest, and northeast.
After the desperate resistance of the imperial soldiers, we held our position and did not allow the Eighth Route Army to occupy it. "
Yamamoto frowned and asked, "What are the casualties?"
The chief of staff said with a heavy face: "General, in the offensive and defensive battle this afternoon, our soldiers suffered more than 7400 casualties, most of whom were killed by enemy artillery fire.
The enemy's artillery is too powerful. The attacking Eighth Route Army troops can call for artillery support at any time and launch artillery strikes on our firepower points."
Yamamoto's face turned gloomy in an instant. He didn't expect the casualties this afternoon to be so heavy. It was completely beyond his expectations.
His mind was full of doubts and he had no idea about the ammunition reserves of the independent column.
In his opinion, the independent column's artillery shells seemed endless. He really had no idea where the Eighth Route Army got so many artillery shells. It was really weird.
Ito on the side said anxiously: "General Yamamoto, the current situation does not seem to be developing in the direction we expected. The firepower of the independent column is simply terrifying. No army has ever had such firepower on the Chinese battlefield."
The Chief of Staff continued, "Your Excellencies, Generals, we are now faced with a very serious problem. Our ammunition reserves are running low.
After all the bullets are distributed, each soldier can receive a maximum of 170 bullets, but because machine gun fire requires more bullets, in order to ensure continuous firepower, each soldier now has an ammunition quota of less than 130 bullets.
If the Eighth Route Army launches an even more fierce attack tomorrow like it did today, we may not even last a whole morning before we run out of ammunition. "
Yamamoto and Ito were shocked when they heard the chief of staff's words. They didn't expect the consumption on the front line to be so huge.
Before setting off, the two divisions were equipped with ammunition reserves that could sustain combat for about 20 days, but they were almost used up in less than a week.
The main reason was that the firepower of the independent column was too fierce, forcing the Japanese soldiers to fight back frantically, which led to a sharp increase in ammunition consumption.
Yamamoto realized that the situation was already extremely critical. If they failed to get replenishment of weapons and ammunition by tomorrow morning, they would be out of bullets in the afternoon, and the two divisions would be finished.
He immediately ordered the communicator to contact the Taiyuan Command and request air support, because only in this way would they have a chance of survival.
"Contact Taiyuan Headquarters immediately and request air support. We need ammunition supplies!"
At the same time, he also ordered all troops to shrink their defenses, abandon some unimportant positions on the periphery, and concentrate all weapons and ammunition for unified distribution.
He said to the chief of staff: "Pass on my order that all troops must shrink their defense lines, abandon unnecessary positions, concentrate all ammunition, and give priority to supplying the front line."
He also ordered the soldiers to use bullets sparingly, and to send the Eighth Route Army into position for hand-to-hand combat when necessary. He believed that with the bayonet fighting skills of the imperial soldiers, the Eighth Route Army could suffer heavy losses.
He said to Ito: "We must let the soldiers save ammunition. If the Eighth Route Army approaches, we will use hand-to-hand combat to decide the outcome. The bayonet skills of the imperial soldiers are unmatched by them."
As Yamamoto issued orders one by one, the Japanese soldiers on Majiapo began to move one after another.
.......
at the same time.
In the Taiyuan First Army Headquarters, Okamura Neiji stood in front of a huge map with a frown on his face.
When he received the urgent telegram from Yamamoto, he knew that the battle situation on the front line had reached a critical juncture and any hesitation could lead to the collapse of the entire front.
Okamura Neiji decisively ordered the logistics troops to take action and transport weapons and ammunition to the airport.
After receiving the order, the logistics soldiers took quick action.
In the shortest possible time, they loaded hundreds of trucks with bullets, artillery shells and grenades, and then quickly transported them to the airport for airdrop.
The logistics department knew that the most scarce thing on the front line was bullets, so they prepared more than 500 million rounds of bullets. These bullets were boxed, marked, and then quickly loaded onto trucks.
The Taiyuan Airport was brightly lit late at night, with fifty or sixty Japanese bombers and transport planes waiting to be loaded at the airport.
On the runway of the airport, thousands of Japanese soldiers were busy packing the airdropped supplies. Once a plane was full, it would take off immediately and fly to the Majiapo position.
The roar of planes continued to be heard in the airport, and one after another Japanese planes flew into the sky and flew towards their destination.
High in the sky, aviation transport planes flew quickly in the darkness.
When the first transport plane arrived over Majiapo, it was already past 1 o'clock in the morning and the sky was slowly turning pale.
The Japanese soldiers at the Majiapo position looked at the planes in the sky and cheered with joy.
They knew that these planes were loaded with supplies, which were their hope to continue fighting.
As the transport plane flew past at high speed, parachutes unfolded in the sky and the airdropped supplies slowly fell towards Majiapo.
These supplies are as important as lifelines to the Japanese soldiers on the front line.
After dropping the supplies, the transport plane quickly increased its altitude and returned, not daring to stay over Majiapo.
They didn't dare to get close to the independent column's camp. You know, the independent column had powerful anti-aircraft firepower, and the Japanese pilots didn't want to be shot down by anti-aircraft firepower.
At the Majiapo position, the Japanese soldiers quickly collected the supplies dropped from the air.
"Hurry, move these ammunition and supplies into the cave!" a squadron leader ordered loudly.
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers responded in unison and they moved quickly to move the ammunition into the cave.
With the arrival of supplies, the morale of the Japanese soldiers at the Majiapo position was boosted to a certain extent.