Bright Sword: Iron Will 62

Chapter 62: Night Raid on Yangmingbao Airport

January 21, 2025

Chapter 62: Night Raid on Yangmingbao Airport

Late night on the 16th.

Zhao Fangyuan, leading the Third Regiment, successfully arrived near Yangmingbao.

At the troops’ resting place, a messenger ran over.

“Regimental Commander, Chief of Staff!”

“A scout reports that a Japanese airbase has been found three li southeast!” (Li is a unit of length, approximately half a kilometer)

Kong Zhiyong immediately pressed, “About how many troops are stationed there?”

The messenger blurted out, “Roughly a company of Japanese soldiers, and we also saw quite a few machine gun posts!”

Zhao Fangyuan and Kong Zhiyong exchanged a glance.

A company of Japanese soldiers, at most three hundred men.

For the full-strength Third Regiment, it wasn’t enough to fill a tooth crack.

Zhao Fangyuan smiled happily, “The rear Japanese have extremely low vigilance. At such an important military base, they only deployed a single company.”

“The rest of the main force is all stationed in Yangmingbao town. They really underestimate us!”

The Japanese troops stationed near Yangmingbao town belonged to an infantry regiment from the Xiangyue Division.

They also guarded Yangmingbao Airport.

Zhao Fangyuan made a decisive decision, “A mere company of Japanese soldiers, we don’t need to go all out!”

“The First Battalion will attack the airport, the Second Battalion will engage any enemy coming from the Daixian direction, and the Third Battalion will serve as a reserve force to deal with any unforeseen circumstances.”

“What do you think?”

Kong Zhiyong nodded, “The attack must be swift. Let’s pull two companies from the Third Battalion. Speed is key.”

“Let’s catch the Japanese off guard!”

After a brief discussion, the two quickly finalized the battle plan.

Time was of the essence; they would act that night!

Zhao Fangyuan led the remaining two hundred reserve soldiers to a mountaintop southwest of the airport.

Kong Zhiyong personally went to the front lines to command the battle.

One o’clock in the morning.

The First Battalion arrived at its attack position on time.

“My God, this is the little devils’ airport?”

“The lights are so bright! How are we going to sneak in?”

“Those planes must be so expensive! The little devils guard them like treasures!”

The soldiers lay prone on the ground, looking at the heavily guarded airport, and gossiping amongst themselves.

“Hey, do you think when we attack the planes, we should go for the head or the tail?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll carry a whole plane back no matter what!”

“You can’t even carry a plane, can you?”

“If I can’t carry the whole thing, I’ll at least bring back a tail!”

Airplanes were rare in China. Many soldiers had only heard of them and had never seen one in person.

The battalion commander, however, had learned a little from Wang Feng, “Listen up! When you see the planes, aim for the fuel tanks.”

“Did you hear me?!”

In the dark, someone timidly asked, “Battalion Commander, where are the fuel tanks?”

The battalion commander scowled, “Damn it, if you live to see a plane, I’ll tell you then!”

At 1:30 a.m., after all battalions reached their designated battle positions, the battle officially began.

The First Battalion, plus the Fourth and Fifth Companies drawn from the Second Battalion, a total of five infantry companies.

They split into two groups and quietly approached the airport.

On the outskirts of the airport, several high-powered searchlights of the Japanese army swept back and forth, illuminating the surrounding area like daylight.

In addition, the Japanese army had guard towers, barbed wire, and patrol units.

According to information from the locals, landmines were possibly buried in some sections, having accidentally injured many curious civilians who approached in recent times.

To break into the airport under these conditions required high soldier proficiency.

“Keep your steps low!”

“Don’t make a sound!”

The First Battalion Commander held his rifle with one hand, lowering his body as much as possible. He took advantage of the gaps between the Japanese searchlights, half-squatting and moving quickly.

The soldiers behind him followed closely, rapidly closing in on the edge of the airport.

The battle plan inside the airport was simple: The First Battalion Commander, leading the First, Second, and Third Companies, would draw Japanese fire. The Fourth and Fifth Companies would take advantage of the diversion to destroy the planes in the hangar.

The distance to the airport was getting closer, and the soldiers’ nerves were taut, hanging in their chests, not daring to breathe heavily.

The leading First Battalion Commander broke out in a fine layer of cold sweat. A searchlight was patrolling around, its harsh light almost illuminating the rapidly advancing soldiers.

The Japanese soldiers on duty in the guard tower noticed something unusual and shouted toward the darkness:

“Baka!” (Japanese for “idiot” or “fool”)

“Who’s there?!”

Seeing no response, the Japanese soldier gestured with his eyes, “Searchlight, that way!”

All the frontline aircraft involved in the Xin Kou bombing were stationed at Yangmingbao Airport.

Although the Japanese troops guarding it were few, their vigilance was high.

Below.

The First Battalion Commander saw the Japanese soldier turning the searchlight, and combined with the Japanese words he didn’t understand, immediately realized something was wrong.

“Fire!”

A narrow road leads to a meeting of brave men. The First Battalion Commander made a decisive decision and fired the first shot.

*Da da da!*

*Bang!*

The grenadiers seized the initiative and launched the attack first.

In the dark night, they could barely see the Japanese machine gun positions with the faint moonlight.

The grenadiers, who were not proficient in operation, suffered a significant drop in shooting accuracy.

But it didn’t matter.

Limited-range bombardment was allowed!

Three or five groups acted together, concentrating their attack on one Japanese firepower point.

Two heavy machine guns fell silent. Taking advantage of the lull in fire, the First Battalion launched a concentrated charge from all directions.

“Kill!”

The Japanese company commander was panicked. Under the cover of night, he could not see how many enemy troops were attacking; he only heard the shouts of killing spreading throughout the mountains.

Wherever the searchlights swept, there were heads everywhere.

He roughly estimated there were at least a thousand people.

“Something’s wrong!”

“This is definitely the main force of the Shanxi Defense Army!”

“Organize a counterattack!”

“Comms! Quick, request reinforcements!”

The company commander forced himself to calm down and hurriedly shouted around.

In the hangar, the pilots immediately received news of the airport being attacked. They quickly ran to the hangar, wanting to start the plane and escape.

*Buzz!*

The engine had just started when gunshots suddenly rang out.

It was the soldiers of the Fourth and Fifth Companies!

These two companies, taking advantage of the fact that the main Japanese force was engaged by the First Battalion, slipped into the airport from the rear flank.

“Brothers, let’s smash the planes!”

The Fourth Company Commander shouted, and the soldiers behind him immediately swarmed forward.

The Japanese pilots armed with pistols seemed like unarmed children in front of the soldiers.

After a fierce gun battle, almost all the pilots fell in pools of blood.

“Smash them!”

The soldiers swarmed forward and began to find ways to destroy the airplanes.

*Clang clang clang!*

The soldiers beat the fuselage with their rifle butts, but they couldn’t even dent it after a long time.

Some soldiers, in a moment of inspiration, jumped onto the cockpit covers and smashed all the glass on top.

The Fourth Company Commander was anxious, “Use grenades!”

“Use grenades to blow up the planes!”

The soldiers came to their senses and immediately dispersed to the sides, starting to place grenades.

However, the main concentration points were still on both sides of the wings.

Most soldiers did not have much idea about the engines and fuel tanks; they only knew that without wings, the birds could no longer fly.

*Bang!*

Explosions rang out continuously. Besides grenades, the soldiers also tried shooting the planes with rifles.

*Boom!*

A fighter plane suddenly rose in flames.

“Hey, how did you hit that one just now?”

“I don’t know; the company commander said to hit its head.”

No more, something came up today. I’ll make up for it later.

(End of chapter)

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