Devil's Army

Chapter 1802: The Battle for Air Supremacy in Anhui Begins

To attack southern Anhui, one had to cross the Huai River, but the Japanese army had been deployed along the south bank of the Huai River.

The 5th Brigade of the 1st Army and the 15th Brigade have also been busy collecting ferries during this period to prepare to retake southern Anhui. However, the results have not been very good.

Because when the independent brigade attacked Dangshan County, the Japanese troops in Huaibei and Bengbu implemented ferry control.

All civilian ships on both sides of the Huai River were taken away by the Japanese army.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and the troops of the First Army on the north bank of the Huai River were still making preparations for the attack step by step.

Suddenly, the roar of a large number of planes came from the direction of Huainan.

The Japanese army mobilized air forces from several airports in southern Anhui and carried out fierce bombing on Bengbu, Huaibei and Suxian.

After the former Japanese flour mill headquarters was recaptured by the First Army in Bengbu City, it became the headquarters of the 15th Brigade and was subjected to heavy bombing by the Japanese army.

The 15th Brigade and the 5th Brigade collected a ferry hidden by the Huai River and were also bombed by the Japanese Air Force.

Upon hearing the news, the air force at Dangshan Airport quickly took off and intercepted.

Although the First Army Air Force at Dangshan Airport was far inferior in strength to the Japanese, Captain Liu and his wingmen, relying on the speed and flexibility of their Huaxia III fighters, repeatedly penetrated the Japanese fighter groups and shot down and damaged many Japanese fighters.

The Japanese army arranged three teams of fighter planes to encircle Captain Liu and his men, but none of them succeeded.

The fierce air battle lasted less than half an hour, and the Japanese air force, which had the advantage, suddenly retreated without warning.

Not long after the Japanese air force retreated, the Shandong and Henan air forces of the First Army arrived at the north bank of the Huai River, but by then there was no trace of the Japanese air force.

The Shandong Air Force turned to bombing Japanese fortifications and strongholds on the south bank of the Huai River.

The Henan Air Force launched fierce bombing and strafing on the Japanese outer fortifications and strongholds in Huainan and Lu'an.

In retaliation for the Japanese bombing of a military fortification and headquarters on the north bank of the Huai River, the Shandong Air Force subsequently launched an air strike on the Japanese Sanlijie Airport in Hefei.

Sanlijie Airport was filled with the shrill sound of air defense sirens. Antiaircraft guns and antiaircraft machine guns outside the airport fiercely strafed the air, attempting to form an impenetrable firepower network to prevent the First Army's aircraft from bombing Sanlijie Airport.

The brave pilots of the First Army continuously dived, dropped bombs and strafed the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery positions.

Japanese fighter planes at Sanli Street Airport took off one after another and engaged in battle with the First Army Air Force that broke through the Japanese air defense firepower network.

Just as the Shandong Air Force was engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese Army's Sanli Street anti-aircraft artillery and air force in Hefei, the Henan Air Force came in from the south.

The Japanese Air Force, which was already at a disadvantage, was under even greater pressure.

The Japanese Army's Hefei Sanli Street anti-aircraft artillery unit suffered heavy casualties from repeated low-altitude dive bombing by Shandong Air Force bombers and Henan Air Force bombers.

More and more First Army fighter planes and bombers broke through the interception of the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery units and launched bombing and strafing on Hefei Sanli Street Airport.

Soon, Japanese air forces from Wuhu, Guangde, and Anqing airports came to support, but were intercepted by fighter planes from the First Army.

The two sides engaged in a fierce battle over Sanli Street Airport.

Although the Japanese fighter planes had an advantage in numbers, their huge disadvantage in speed put them in a passive position when dealing with the First Army Air Force that came and went without a trace.

This major air battle that took place over Hefei Sanlijie Airport marked the beginning of the struggle for air supremacy between the First Army and the Japanese Army in Anhui.