Chapter 970: Great Victory, Sharpening the Knife
Just as the fighter planes of Lin Hao Base took off, in the Menggong Xiaori Brigade Command Headquarters, Takeuchi Lianshan received the news of the disastrous defeat of the Mitsui Battalion.

Not only that, Mitsui Yujiro was beheaded, which made Takeuchi Renzan furious.

"Baka, only a few dozen people from a brigade escaped?"

"Yes, Colonel!" the operations staff responded quickly.

Hearing that the news was true, Takeuchi Lianshan fell silent, and murderous intent surged throughout his body. Then he roared angrily:

"what is going on?"

"Sir Colonel, according to the report from the soldiers who escaped, they encountered the main force of the expeditionary force, including heavy artillery support!"

"Not only that, in addition to mortars, the other side also has heavy artillery with an estimated caliber of 155 mm. In addition, each of their soldiers is equipped with fully automatic weapons!" The combat staff summarized the information from the deserters.

Hearing this, Takeuchi Lianshan frowned even deeper and said in disbelief:
"How is this possible? Weren't the expeditionary forces wiped out? How could they still be there?"

"Did they mistake the Mi livestock for an expeditionary force? They can't possibly have such strong firepower!"

"No, we have verified it from many aspects. The one on the opposite side is the Expeditionary Force, and it is the Sichuan Army Corps!" the combat staff explained quickly.

At this point, Takeuchi Lianshan was even more dumbfounded. The Sichuan Army? Wasn't that just a ragtag army? When did they become so powerful?
"What? The Sichuan Army? Didn't they go back?"

"I don't know. They saw it with their own eyes. The enemy was flying the flag of the Sichuan Army and their morale was high. They didn't look like a unit composed of defeated soldiers at all. They seemed to be the enemy's elite troops." Xiao Rizi combat staff explained somewhat bewilderedly. In fact, he was also dumbfounded when he first heard it.

The main force of the expeditionary force had been defeated by them long ago and had even fled back to the west of the Nujiang River. Those left here were just some defeated soldiers without supplies and posed no threat at all.

"Damn it, what is going on?" Due to too little information, Takeuchi Renzan was unable to determine who the enemy was or how strong he was.

Just then, the communications staff came trotting in again, looking a little strange.

Takeuchi Lianshan asked curiously: "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Report to His Excellency the Colonel, we seem to have lost contact with the gold mine again!"

"Baga, baga, who did this?" He had just sent a batch of prisoners of war, how come he lost contact again?

As if sensing something was wrong, Takeuchi Lianshan took a deep breath and solemnly ordered:
"Go, have all squadrons gather towards Menggong immediately, and send out all the scouts at the same time."

"Colonel, aren't you being too cautious? Each squadron is carrying out security tasks. If they are withdrawn, the rebels will become active again!" the combat staff asked with some concern.

Hearing this, Takeuchi Lianshan shook his head and said:

"The enemy seems to be slowly eating away at our forces. Calculate how many people we have lost. The squadron that attacked the airport before, plus half of the squadron at the gold mine, and Mitsui Yujiro's battalion. We have lost almost half of the regiment's strength!"

"If we don't gather our forces, I'm afraid the entire regiment will be devoured by the enemy."

In an instant, the combat staff officer broke out in a cold sweat. Only then did he realize that the Takeuchi Corps had suffered such a heavy loss.

"What about the gold mine?" asked the combat staff officer with some pain.

After all, this gold mine is the largest gold mine near Menggong, and they all get a share of the profits. In just over a month, he got more than ten kilograms of gold, which is more than his military salary for ten years.

Now that it's suddenly gone, it means his income has become less, so naturally he feels the pain.

"Give up for now. First, figure out who these enemies are. Also, have the aviation unit send out fighter planes. We must find the area where the enemy is active!" Takeuchi Renzan gave orders in an orderly manner.

"Yes, Colonel!" The combat staff officer immediately went down to make arrangements.

······
"What, a Xiaori fighter plane was discovered?" Lin Hao, who was holding a combat meeting at the regiment headquarters, was stunned for a while after hearing Dong Dao's report.

Originally, Lin Hao was planning to buy a radar, but he found that this thing is not very practical at the moment. It is not as direct as the naked eye plus a telescope. The key is that no one knows how to use it now, and the requirements for radar soldiers are really high.

However, Lin Hao did not give up. After all, radar is the general trend of the future, and both the navy and the air force cannot do without it.

Therefore, Lin Hao still had people introduce the latest radar technology from Da Ying, then instructed the military factory to upgrade, and spent a lot of money to have people produce a batch of radars.

It’s just that some materials are difficult to obtain, so it will take time. In order to prevent Xiao Rizi’s sneak attack, Lin Hao can only temporarily let the reconnaissance company separate a part of the reconnaissance team to be responsible for keeping a special eye on Xiao Rizi Airport.

"Yes, I just received intelligence that two Japanese fighter planes are flying towards our camp and are expected to arrive in ten minutes!" Dong Dao said quickly.

Hearing this, the faces of the other people in the meeting room changed. Although they now have anti-aircraft weapons, they still have no confidence in facing the Xiaori fighter jets.

"Commander, why don't we stop training for the time being? And then continue training after the bombing is over?" Meng Fanle couldn't help but persuade.

"Yes, Commander, how about we withdraw first?"

Hearing this, Lin Hao immediately rejected the proposal. What a joke! If they were really bombed by Xiao Ri fighter planes, the people's hearts that had been gathered with great difficulty would be dispersed.

"Humph, what's there to be afraid of with just two reconnaissance planes? Let Wang Wei and Li Hai attack and make sure to shoot down Xiao Rizi's fighter plane." After thinking for a while, Lin Hao said in a deep voice:

"Commander~!"

"Execute the order!" Before Meng Fanle could finish, Lin Hao interrupted:

"If we can't shoot it down, we can lead the fighter planes to our air defense positions and let the air defense forces help resolve it."

"Yes!"

At this time, Wang Hai and Li Hai, who were conducting flight training, received an order and immediately boarded their fighter planes as quickly as possible. Two P51D Mustang fighters began to glide on the runway.

"We must shoot down the invading enemy aircraft at all costs." Wang Wei and Li Hai both knew the importance of the mission.

The warehouses throughout the airport store countless supplies. Not only that, there are also many advanced equipment, as well as a new city under construction. These are the hopes for the future of the Sichuan Army.

And the most important point is that they want to shoot down enemy planes in the air to prove the meaning of their existence.

Therefore, Wang Wei and Li Hai made up their minds that they must win this battle and not lose.

"Li Hai, we can only win this battle and not lose. No matter whether it is the life and death of thousands of people in the base or the meaning of our existence, we cannot take a step back!" Wang Wei said in a deep voice.

Although they had only trained for less than half a month, they had made rapid progress and were already able to complete basic shooting movements.

About thirty kilometers away from the airport, Xiao Rizi’s two fighter jets were flying at a rapid speed.

The pilot of the leading plane couldn't help but complain to his wingman:

"I really don't understand what those people in the headquarters are doing. The skies over Myanmar have long been ours. The army's idiots actually asked us to do reconnaissance work. It's simply an insult to us."

The wingman next to him couldn't help but nod his head. It was indeed an insult to them that a second-class idiot actually commanded them.

In his eyes, they had already taken over the air battlefield, and the army's defeat was their own problem.

Moreover, in the entire East Asian air battlefield, no one can be their opponent, not even the American animals.

Therefore, at this moment, the pilots who were living a carefree life were extremely inflated and felt that they were invincible. Naturally, they did not like the fact that the army was ordering them around.

"Leader, the airport is ahead, and no enemy planes have been spotted yet." The wingman observed for a while and said casually.

"Well, prepare for a bombing and then reconnaissance, to teach these British guys a profound lesson!" The captain said casually.

"Yes, captain." Suddenly, a voice of fear came to the captain's ear.

"Damn, what kind of fighter plane is this? Oh my god, it's so fast? I'm being targeted."

At this time, the fighter's dogfighting style is still very simple, without so many techniques. The simplest one is to avoid dives, climbs, tail chases, and then perform counter-dives.

However, these are very challenging for the performance of the fighter and the skills of the pilot.

After learning that the Mitsubishi G4M Type 45 land attack aircraft was no match for the enemy aircraft, the Xiaori Air Force dispatched the latest developed Ki- dragon-slayer fighter that had just begun mass production.

This newly developed twin-engine heavy fighter uses the body of the Type 99 light bomber. Although its maneuverability is slightly poor, its speed exceeds kilometers per hour.

However, it also has the advantages of high practical ceiling, fierce firepower and long range. It is often used for ground attack and interception of high-altitude bombers, which is very suitable for the Chinese battlefield. But this time, facing the P51D Mustang fighter, the speed difference of 200 kilometers per hour was immediately revealed.

Therefore, when the pilot of the Xiao Ri Zi plane discovered the enemy, he had already been hit by a hail of bullets. Fortunately, the damage to the aircraft was not serious.

But when they were about to attack, they found that the enemy had already disappeared.

"Great, this fighter jet is really amazing." Li Hai said excitedly as he maneuvered the nose of the plane upward.

"Can you please not get excited? This isn't the first time you've shot someone down!" Wang Wei couldn't help but advise.

"Hehe, I couldn't help myself when I saw Xiao Ri's plane!" Li Hai said with a grin.

"After getting to the height, you go left and I go right. After completing the attack, try to focus on the fight. Wait for me to deal with the opponent, then I will help you!" Wang Wei simply arranged the tactics.

Although Lin Hao and Daying Air Force instructor both praised this fighter very highly, Wang Wei still felt a little insecure.

"Okay!" Li Hai nodded immediately without any further ado.

At this time, Wang Wei pushed the accelerator and flew towards the Xiao Ri Zi wingman at high speed. For these young pilots, there was no tactics to speak of. They just rushed up and killed the opponent first.

"Damn, what kind of fighter plane is this? It takes off so fast, wingman, quickly get out of the way." The pilot of the lead plane saw Wang Wei flying the fighter plane to attack the wingman, so he shouted quickly.

"Baga, it's too fast. There's no way to avoid it. I repeat, there's no way to avoid it." The Xiaorizi wingman was too slow, with a full speed of only over 51 kilometers per hour. It had no way of getting rid of the PD Mustang.

"Lock on, fire!" Seeing Xiao Ri Zi's wingman enter the firing range, Wang Wei took a deep breath and immediately pressed the fire button.

Four 4mm Browning heavy machine guns and four 12.7mm Browning light machine guns opened fire at the same time, and then the bullets hit the Xiao Ri Zi fighter planes instantly like pouring water.

With a loud bang, Xiao Ri Zi's wingman fighter was blown up in mid-air, and he didn't even have a chance to parachute.

"Baka, baka~!" Seeing his wingman being destroyed, the leader's eyes turned red. He knew that his fighter plane was no match for the other side and retreated immediately.

Unfortunately, it was too late. After dealing with the wingman, Wang Wei’s confidence increased greatly.

"Li Hai, I'll hold him back, and you kill him after you get to a high altitude."

"Yes!" Li Hai originally wanted to hone his combat skills, but found that there was no such skill at all. He just used the height and high speed of the fighter plane to launch a surprise attack, catch up with the opponent, and then press the fire button to kill them all.

Especially in the current situation, they have an absolute advantage of two against one, and the fighter planes they fly are more advanced than the ones we fly in the past.

In the end, Xiao Ri Zi's leader plane could not escape the fate of being shot down.

Before dying, the captain of the Xiao Zi aircraft looked unwilling and asked, why are there such advanced fighter jets here?

Unwilling to give up, the pilot of the Xiaotian aircraft was shot down along with the fighter plane.
When Wang Wei and Li Hai landed, they were warmly welcomed. Before the air battle, all the officers and soldiers of the Sichuan Army felt that it would be a great victory if they could drive away the enemy planes.

Unexpectedly, the results of the battle were beyond their expectations. The enemy was not driven away, but was completely annihilated by their air force.

This shocked the officers and soldiers of the Sichuan Army Corps extremely. Until this moment, they truly felt that they really had an air force and that their air force was so powerful.

"Well done." Lin Hao felt a little excited when he saw the two of them.

From now on, their fighter planes are no longer fledglings in the nest, but eagles that can spread their wings and fly high. They finally don’t have to worry about air raids in their daily lives.

"Thank you for your cultivation, Commander!" Wang Wei stood at attention and saluted.

"Work hard. Next we will train more pilots. We will have more fighter jets in the future." Lin Hao patted the two men on the shoulders and said solemnly.

"Yes, Danzao!"

······
Next, Lin Hao commended the two pilots, celebrated, and then went to inspect the training situation.

During this period, the troops have been undergoing intensive training, and the content of the training is all some new tactics.

In fact, the core is to teach them how to use ammunition lavishly for bombing. Once the two armies meet, they will first use planes to bombard them. After the bombardment, they will observe whether there is anyone there. If there is anyone, they will use artillery to bombard them. If there is no one, they will send tanks and infantry to push forward.

To sum it up in one sentence, planes bomb, artillery fire, and infantry follow tanks to charge, and this tactic will not be considered outdated in the next hundred years.

If it is in an open area, there is nothing wrong with conducting trench warfare, but it does not seem to be applicable in jungle warfare.

Because in jungle warfare, the enemy will always hide a few soldiers in many unexpected places and launch a surprise attack on you at a time you least expect.

But next, they were going to fight a siege, so this tactic was necessary. Lin Hao asked to change the tactics and let Xiao Ri feel the fear of being covered by artillery fire.

In order to form a strong combat capability as quickly as possible, the ammunition needed for training was used freely.

The advantage of this kind of training is that the troops grow very quickly, especially the artillery. According to the normal training syllabus, it would take at least three months to get out to battle. But now it is different.

In just half a month, the artillery shortages in each battalion and company were basically replenished, the artillery companies directly under the regiment headquarters were all equipped, and the ten M1 Long-legged Toms also began training.

Since it was live-ammunition training, and the kind with endless live ammunition, after half a month, even new recruits could hit whatever they were pointed at. This skill developed with artillery shells is something that no one can envy.

Lin Hao had made sufficient preparations for this counterattack. He planned to send troops immediately after the rainy season ended.

The rainy season not only affects the marching speed, but also affects the transportation of heavy artillery, especially on mountain roads. The rainy season causes landslides, muddy roads, etc., making the transportation of artillery very troublesome.

Once the rainy season is over, his ten 155mm M1 heavy artillery can be pulled to Menggong.

After leaving the artillery training ground, Lin Hao went straight to the tank training base.

At this time, Zhao He and others were conducting tank training. Ever since seeing the A32 tank, he has been training day and night with the goal of being able to go to the battlefield.

"Target, straight ahead, enemy spotted at 600 meters, prepare high-explosive bombs!" Zhao He, the tank commander, immediately gave the order to fire.

"Yes, right in front of the target, high-explosive bomb!" The gunner stepped on the trigger decisively.

With a bang, the fake target six hundred meters away was hit instantly.

"Commander, you're here?" When Zhao He saw Lin Hao, he said he would continue training, then jumped off the tank, came up to Lin Hao and saluted.

"Well, let's see how the training goes!" Lin Hao nodded and said.

Hearing this, Zhao He immediately said:
"That's good. The soldiers are eager to fight and hope to complete their training as soon as possible so that they can go to the battlefield and kill their lives!"

"Commander, this A32 tank is really powerful. If it faces the Type tank, it will be like a stick poking into tofu. It will penetrate it with one poke."

The A32 tank produced by Lin Hao can actually become the famous T34-76 tank if it is slightly strengthened.

However, Lin Hao did not strengthen it. Instead, he reduced the configuration and weakened the A32. It is more like an enhanced version of the A20. It still uses a 45mm gun, but it has been upgraded to a long-barreled gun.

The armor has been upgraded to 42mm inclined armor, so when facing the small-scale tanks, it is just as Zhao He said, one shot kills one kid, and with the 42mm inclined armor, there is no need to worry about being penetrated by the small-scale tanks.

In short, it has the firepower of the A20, armor similar to that of the T34, is second only to the BT-7 tank, and has a speed of nearly 80 kilometers.

The reason why Lin Hao designed it this way was mainly to install an air conditioner, because in Southeast Asia with its tropical rainforest climate, air conditioning is the guarantee of combat effectiveness.

Of course, when facing other powers in the future, the A32 must be upgraded to the T34 tank, or even directly produce the legendary Type 59 tank.

But now, the weakened version of the A32 tank designed for Xiao Rizi is more than enough to beat Xiao Rizi badly.

"So, we can go into battle now?" Lin Hao asked.

"Yes, Commander. I think the best training is on the battlefield. No matter how much training there is, it is still not as good as an actual combat. The effect may be better than training for several days." Zhao He has always believed in training elite soldiers through actual combat.

"Okay, take a good rest these days and be ready to go out at any time." After saying this, Lin Hao left the training ground.

Everything is ready and we are ready to send troops at any time.

(End of this chapter)