HCB Chapter 876 Forced to Cancel
Chapter 876 Forced to Cancel
Tanaka, commander of the Japanese 23rd Army, sent a telegram to Sakagami and the domestic headquarters overnight, reporting his idea of changing the assault on the port town to a siege.
The telegram received a positive reply the next morning.
The night attack launched by the Japanese 104th Division lasted until dawn. From 10 pm to 5 am, the Japanese launched a total of three night raids, each lasting for a different length of time. The longest was the last one, which lasted for a full hour and a half.
But in the end it ended in failure.
After receiving Sakagami's affirmative reply, the Japanese 23rd Army Headquarters in Yuezhou immediately sent a telegram to Komoda Yasuichi, asking him to continue the attack this afternoon, but it was just a feint to attract the attention of the merchant corps' armed forces and tie down their forces.
He wanted the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade to complete this landing operation. If successful, the siege plan would be invalidated, but if the landing operation failed, the siege plan would be adopted.
But at 9 o'clock in the morning, the Communications Office received a telegram from the 7th Escort Fleet escorting the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade.
"Commander, I'm afraid we will have to cancel the plan for the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade to land at 3 pm," Anda Kosuke said to Tanaka as he walked into the command room.
"Why?" Tanaka turned around and asked.
Anda Xingzhu handed over the telegram and said, "The meteorological department of the 7th Escort Fleet has detected a typhoon heading this way. It is expected that the outer edge of the typhoon will reach the nearby waters around 1 pm. By then, let alone launching an attack, it is hard to say whether the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade can safely dock!"
Tanaka took the telegram and read it for a long time before saying, "Send a message to the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 7th Escort Fleet respectively. Tell them to dock as quickly as possible to avoid the typhoon and await further orders for the 7th Escort Fleet to find a bay to anchor. Don't let anything go wrong. All planned landing operations are canceled!"
"Hayi!"
Zhang Yunhe heard a clanging sound from the window in the office. He turned his head and found that a strong wind was blowing outside. He immediately put down his pen and walked to the window to look out. He saw the big trees outside were shaking in the wind.
"Is this... a typhoon coming?"
Zhang Yunhe thought of this and immediately turned around and walked to the desk to make a phone call.
He made several calls in succession. One was to the airport, instructing the flight formation to suspend all flight training, reconnaissance and combat missions during the typhoon; another was to the government, instructing them to send staff from each neighborhood to warn residents that the typhoon was coming and not to go out casually and to stay at home as much as possible.
There were also calls to commanders on various defense lines, asking soldiers to protect themselves while holding their posts, and calls to logistics personnel asking them to distribute raincoats to the soldiers.
Over the next two days, the typhoon raged, uprooting countless trees, shacks, advertising signs, and telephone poles. It was unknown how many people were swept away by the typhoon.
The strong wind brought torrential rain. Everyone hid in their houses, not daring to go out, and ate the rationed food distributed by the government.
The Japs have quieted down, but they have to. When the storm comes, they won't care who you are.
After the typhoon left, the Japanese did not launch another attack. The 51st Division remained in place waiting for supplies. The 104th Division received an order to choose a favorable terrain on the spot to build defensive fortifications.
A large amount of stones, cement, sand and steel bars were transported over, and they began to build a large number of permanent fortifications on nearby hilltops and traffic roads.
This situation was soon discovered by the merchant group's armed reconnaissance squad and intelligence department.
"The 104th Division has begun building fortifications? Bunkers, trenches, tunnels? What are the Japanese going to do?" Zhang Yunhe asked in confusion.
Ah Gui stood in front of the desk and said, "Sir, I think the Japanese have changed their targeting strategy. They used to want to eliminate us as quickly as possible, but now that they see they can't eliminate us in the near future, they may switch to a siege, hoping to trap us to death here. When we can't hold on any longer, we will surrender, and they will win."
Ah Gui's speculation was confirmed by intelligence obtained from various channels a few days later.
The air battle is still going on, with one or two rounds being fought every day. The battle for air supremacy is very important and crucial, so Zhang Yunhe does not intend to give up and admit defeat.
However, there are not many fighters and bombers in his backpack. From the beginning to now, he has taken out 150, including 100 fighters and 50 bombers.
After a month, there were only 60 fighter planes left, 20 bombers left, and 30 fighter planes and 20 bombers left in the backpack space. He did not plan to take them out all at once.
After more than a month of long-term battle for air supremacy, each side now dispatches a maximum of 10 sorties per day, and sometimes only 3 or 5 sorties. After all, each battle is a large-scale confrontation, and no one can afford it. The Japanese resources are already scarce, and they cannot withstand such consumption.
Zhang Yunhe planned to go to the Joker again and visit various arsenals and aircraft manufacturers, otherwise the stock in his backpack would soon be insufficient, and only the Joker had sufficient production capacity to meet his needs.
Before going to the Joker, he planned to restore the air transport channel with Jiangzhou to exchange what he needed. He needed various raw materials from the southwest, and the southwest also needed weapons and ammunition from his side.
At 7 o'clock that evening, after dinner at home, Zhang Yunhe sent away the guards, servants and children and called his wife and two concubines to his side.
"The air transport route to Jiangzhou will be restored tomorrow. I plan to go there in person. After all, there are some things that Qin Jian cannot make the decision on, so I have to go and discuss it myself."
After hearing what Zhang Yunhe said, the three wives panicked. Liu Huilan said with a worried look on her face: "It's too dangerous, isn't it? I heard that there are aerial attacks every day now. The Japanese fighter planes come over to provoke us every day without fail."
"Yes, if the Japanese find out that we have sent a transport plane to Jiangzhou, they will definitely send fighter planes to intercept it," Ah Zhen said worriedly.
The third concubine, Madam Hua, said directly: "You are not allowed to go. It is too dangerous. This is the first time the route has been restored. No one knows what will happen. Even if you want to go, you have to wait until the route is stable and you are sure that the Japanese have not discovered it before you go."
Zhang Yunhe comforted the wives: "I know you are worried. If there is any danger, I will definitely not go. I will only go if I am sure there is no danger!"
"The Japanese have installed a radar in Yuezhou, but the detection range of this radar is only 120 kilometers. Our transport planes will avoid the enemy's radar detection range after taking off. Moreover, the departure time is 5 o'clock in the morning, which is still dark. By the time it is bright around 6 o'clock, the transport planes have already left for a long time."
"Even if the Japs discovered us, they wouldn't be able to catch up even if they sent fighter planes to chase us."