April 9, 1941, Suiyuan, airborne training base.

A military exercise codenamed "Operation North Wind" is about to begin.

The troops participating in this exercise are mainly a regiment of the 151st Airborne Division, the Nanjing Heroes Regiment of the 1st Division of the First Army, a squadron of the Hunter Brigade, a squadron of the Air Force, and a battalion of the Engineer Corps.

Just as the sky turned white, Jiangdong's jeep roared into the training base.

The commander-in-chief of the "Operation North Wind" exercise and the commander of the 151st Airborne Division An Ziliang came over personally and reported:

"Commander-in-Chief, all troops are in place, please give your instructions!"

The world was still gray, and the sun would not rise for half an hour. Jiang Dong glanced at the spacious but silent training ground, nodded and said:

"Let's get started!"

"yes!"

Under the guidance of the airborne division soldiers, Jiang Dong came to the observation platform of the training base.

Zhang Shengqing, commander of the First Army, and Wu Zhan, deputy chief of staff, were already waiting here.

This Operation North Wind exercise was led by the General Staff Department and coordinated by the First Army and the 151st Airborne Division. It was designed to test the training of the troops in parachuting, airborne landings, and airdrops of supplies during this period.

It is also an experiment of new tactics.

"Commander-in-Chief..."

"Commander-in-Chief..."

Zhang Shengqing and Wu Zhan said hello to Jiang Dong at the same time. Jiang Dong came and sat down between them and said:

"Operation Beifeng already has a commander-in-chief. Let's just sit here and watch it. Don't talk during the exercise, and don't interrupt the commander-in-chief's command. We'll talk about it after the exercise is over!"

"yes!!"

They both responded in unison and sat down quietly.

The mission of Operation North Wind is to seize and control the airport and create conditions for the subsequent arrival of personnel and materials.

It's not completely bright yet, so it's a good time to parachute.

Not long after Jiang Dong sat down, the roar of an airplane engine came from above his head.

The sound becomes louder and louder from far to near.

Jiang Dong, Wu Zhan and others looked up at the sky at the same time, and saw a dark group of aircraft appearing in the western sky, as if migrating geese were passing by.

A large number of aircraft were used in the exercise, including at least 100 transport aircraft alone.

100 transport planes maintained a formation in the air and approached the target. From the ground, the planes seemed to be very close to each other, but in fact they were very far apart.

100 transport planes completely covered half of the sky, overwhelming them with overwhelming force.

Surrounding the transport aircraft formation was a squadron of fighter escorts, all of them J-1 fighters.

Before the flight formation in the sky arrived at the scheduled airport, the anti-aircraft firepower and heavy firepower on the airport were violently attacked at the same time, with continuous explosions and flashing firelights.

Special forces on the ground are responsible for clearing heavy firepower on the airport and providing guidance for airborne landings.

The simultaneous appearance of ground attacks and aircraft in the sky panicked the "Japanese troops" defending the airport.

Some were busy fighting the special forces on the ground, while others started shooting in the air.

After seeing the guidance signals on the ground clearly, the skydiving indicator light in the transport aircraft changed from yellow to green.

Under the command of the officers, soldiers from a regiment of the 151st Airborne Division began to parachute.

Countless white parachutes suddenly appeared in the sky above the target airport. The density of the parachutes made people feel numb, and they were quickly approaching the ground.

"Huhuhu..."

With bullets that were not densely packed, the soldiers of the airborne regiment landed one after another.

Ignoring handling the parachutes, the soldiers consciously formed a team with their surrounding comrades, and the small team formed a large team. Finally, the company and battalion were used as a unit to attack the airport.

The attack came so suddenly that the airport defenders could not wait for reinforcements to arrive.

From the time the first explosion was heard to the time the airport was controlled by the airborne division, it took no more than 45 minutes, and it was daylight at this time.

After taking out the airport defenders, the soldiers were divided into two teams, one team cleared the runway, and the other team built a defensive position.

An hour after the parachute landing, the second batch of transport planes arrived.

The second batch of transport planes were still carrying airborne troops, and they all landed by means of a sudden landing.

At this time, the enemies around the airport had already reacted and were attacking the airport desperately.

The enemy is several times greater than our own, and the first and second batches of soldiers who landed are undergoing an unprecedented test.

As the sun rose high, the third batch of transport planes finally arrived.

The heavy equipment was directly dropped by air, and aircraft carrying the engineering troops and the Nanjing Heroes Regiment landed directly at the airport.

The soldiers of the First Army quickly ran out of the plane to support the airborne troops who had been fighting hard for two hours.

The transport plane briefly stopped at the airport behind enemy lines, then quickly left with the wounded.

A squadron of fighter jets has been hovering in the sky, using their maneuverability to prevent surrounding enemy forces from forming a cluster.

At the same time, dive and strafing methods were used to help ground troops clear enemy long-range artillery fire.

One advantage of airborne landings over parachuting is that troops can assemble and enter combat more quickly.

With the increase in airborne troops, the commander-in-chief had more than enough troops to defend the airport. The troops began to leave the airport and actively attacked surrounding transportation hubs and important military facilities.

Since the battle started, parachutes have not stopped flying from the sky, and equipment and ammunition have been continuously dropped around the airport.

After several hours of work, the Corps of Engineers restored the airport to good condition.

The tower started working and directed the aircraft to land and depart in an orderly manner.

The fighter jets on guard duty landed directly at the airport to replenish fuel and ammunition, which improved combat efficiency and effectively cooperated with the infantry.

Combat forces were continuously poured into the depths of the enemy, causing the enemies on the front line to panic and start to retreat one after another, fearing that they would be dumped.

The armored group broke through the defense line, pursued the enemy along the communication line, and finally merged with the airborne troops in the enemy's great depth.

At this time, a large amount of fuel and supplies had been stocked at the airport. The headquarters, field hospital, communications and liaison office, etc. were already in full swing. Each unit replenished fuel and ammunition as quickly as possible and continued to advance toward the core.

"Operation North Wind" lasted for 6 hours. Jiangdong watched it from beginning to end, and also recorded some problems that the exercise headquarters had not considered or that were exposed during the exercise.

This set of tactics was summed up by the staff and the airborne division through constant exploration during training under his guidance.

After the exercise, all the officers and soldiers participating in the exercise lined up in order, waiting for Jiangdong to speak.

Jiangdong affirmed the soldiers' training during this period and hoped that they would continue their efforts and sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in war.

At the subsequent summary meeting, Jiangdong pointed out the problems exposed during the exercise one by one.

An Ziliang, Wu Zhan and Zhang Shengqing also recognized some of these problems and promised to improve them in future training and strive to avoid similar situations during combat.

After the summary meeting, Jiang Dong asked Wu Zhan next to him:

"How many transport aircraft are currently capable of participating in combat?"

"Two hundred!" Wu Zhan replied neatly:

"Half Soviet Li-2 transport plane, half American C47 transport plane!

One transport aircraft can deliver 35 soldiers and equipment at a time, and 100 aircraft can deliver a regiment!"

Jiang Dong nodded. The two transport aircraft were fundamentally the same. He thought for a while and said:

"The first batch of one regiment delivered was barely enough to seize and control the airport. However, as the war progresses, the aircraft will definitely suffer losses, and the subsequent delivery capabilities are somewhat insufficient.

And we need to attack at least three airports at the same time, as the current number of transport aircraft is still too few!"

Wu Zhan frowned and nodded,

"To seize control of three airports at the same time, we need at least 500 transport aircraft. This..."

Jiang Dong smiled and said:

"I am very satisfied with the performance of each unit today. We will continue to train and expand the scale!

I'll figure out a way to deal with the plane, Lao Wu, just worry about training!"

"clear!"

In less than four months until August, 300 transport aircraft should be available.

Jiangdong stayed at the airborne training base for a day and left only after he had a thorough understanding of the various units involved in the airborne operations.

There are currently three airborne divisions, numbered from 151 to 153.

These three divisions will be the vanguard force to seize control of the airport in the future. After the airborne division is the First Army, which is mainly responsible for expanding the results of the battle.
Chapter completed!