1 At the beginning of April in the twenty-seventh year of the Republic of China (1938), the victory news of the "Taierzhuang War" came, and the whole country rejoiced and all the people celebrated together. Wuhan, the center of the Anti-Japanese War, held a torch parade overnight to celebrate the victory with carnival.But then the situation took a turn for the worse, the Japanese counterattacked aggressively, and the situation on the front line of Xuzhou was precarious. An important sign of the deterioration of the situation is that Japanese planes began to carry out large-scale air strikes on the cities behind.April 29th is Japan's "Tianchang Festival", which is the birthday of Emperor Hirohito celebrated by Japanese people.The day before, Japanese radio announced that in order to congratulate His Majesty the Emperor with victory, Japanese planes would bombard the Chinese (Chinese) city of Wuhan mercilessly until it was wiped off the map.

This is the first death card publicly issued by the brutal Japanese bandits to this densely populated central China city.For my father's family and millions of Chinese living in the three towns of Wuhan, the days of peace are numbered, and the enemy's festival has become their day of suffering. They cannot escape a bloody disaster from the sky. At 8 o'clock in the morning, 18 heavy bombers of the Japanese Navy, under the cover of 36 fighter jets, rushed towards Wuhan aggressively.The arrogant Japanese radio station also threatened that this would be an "indiscriminate" bombing. Indiscriminate means that there is no need to distinguish between military and civilian targets. In other words, it is a brutal massacre at will.When the capital Nanjing fell more than five months ago, Wuhan became the temporary anti-war center of the Nationalist government. Not only the state organs and war headquarters were relocated to the city, but also foreign embassies, diplomatic agencies, and organs and factories from all occupied areas of the country were relocated to the city. Schools and public groups also gathered in the three towns of Wuhan.For the Japanese, Wuhan is not only a transportation hub and a strategic location in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, but also the heart of China's War of Resistance. To destroy China, Wuhan must be destroyed first, and to destroy China's War of Resistance, Wuhan must be destroyed first.

This is why the Japanese have vowed to "wipe off the map" of Wuhan. According to the information provided by the traitors, the Japanese knew everything about the Chinese Air Force stationed at Hankou Airport in advance. They not only knew the designations and movements of these troops, but also knew that these troops actually had no more than a dozen combat aircraft in what they claimed to be three fighter brigades. Most of these aircraft have been spying on military secrets that have been overdue and severely damaged.In the past ten months of the Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese Air Force, which has been attacking the strong with the weak, has been on the verge of being exhausted. Therefore, the Japanese, who have an absolute advantage, are very confident. In the face of the powerful Japanese escort fleet, the defeated remnants of the Chinese Air Force have no choice but to flee as soon as possible. far?

On this day, the cumulus clouds covering the central China area suddenly dispersed, and a round of red sun showed a smiling face from the thick clouds.At about nine o'clock, my 12-year-old father, Deng Shuyi, was reciting a book in the classroom of St. Paul's Primary School in Hankou. He still remembers that it was a Chinese class that day, and the text Mr. Guo Wen recited was . At this time, a knife-like air raid siren sounded over the city. St. Paul's Primary School is a church school located in the British Concession in Hankou. The road is still called Poyang Street.The symbol of the school is a church with a steeple. Every Sunday, the believers in Hankou will come to the church to worship.At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the church spire was painted with a red and white cross sign, which was a neutral position expressed by foreign institutions in China to the warring parties in accordance with international practice.But when the air raid siren sounded, the order in the classroom was still in chaos. The elementary school students rushed out of the classroom like frightened birds, and huddled in the chaotic playground to watch the excitement.

A sharp-eyed classmate was the first to spot the enemy plane, and he screamed: Ah... Japanese planes!My father looked out from the classmate's arm, and he saw a group of small black spots like wasps appearing under the sun.Later, these black spots gradually climbed up and climbed into the sun, which made people feel a little frightened, as if the sun had become a vicious hive. Japanese planes were about to approach the undefended city. Suddenly there was a heavy and powerful roar of a motor in the low altitude, and another student exclaimed: "Look at it...the plane!"So my father turned his head quickly, and he saw a group of shiny silver planes flying from the direction of Jiang'an Railway Station. When the fleet roared over the city, they all saw a striking blue sky and white day emblem under the wings of the plane.

The Chinese plane took off to meet it! Since the Anti-Japanese War, the greatest wish of the common people is to hope that their army will soon become stronger, so that they can drive the evil Japanese bandits out of China.On this day their wish was partially fulfilled.My father said that there were very few Chinese planes in the past. I heard that most of the planes at Hankou Airport were wooden planes used to deceive the Japanese. Once enemy planes invaded the sky, it was difficult to find Chinese planes.But this time is different.As the thunderous motors shook the sky, he saw teams of Chinese fighter planes take off to meet them. The number of them and the huge lineup were unprecedented, and they had greatly overwhelmed the enemy planes. The weak Chinese side.

I consulted the historical materials of newspapers and magazines at that time to prove that my father's narration was not wishful thinking. "Records of the Kuomintang Air Force Anti-Japanese War" (China Archives Publishing House, 1994 edition) contains: "April 29 Wuhan Great Air Battle" The Chinese Air Force dispatched 64 new fighter jets, occupying an absolute advantage.Another book "Blue Sky and Blue Blood Promoting National Prestige—Historical Materials of the Chinese Air Force's Anti-Japanese War" (China Literature and History Publishing House, 1990 edition) contains: The Chinese Air Force's four, three and five brigades took off Soviet-made fighter jets "Il-15" and "Il-16" "...A total of sixty-four planes took off from Hankou and Xiaogan Airports to meet the enemy.

It was such an inspiring scene. The father said that the school was boiling immediately, the students cheered and excited, and many teachers looked up at the sky and burst into tears. The moment of revenge they had been looking forward to finally came.The people on the ground watched as the Chinese planes lined up in battle formation went straight into the blue sky, and then rushed towards the invincible and brutal enemy with overwhelming momentum. In fact, the Japanese intelligence was not wrong. There were indeed only a dozen Chinese fighter jets at Hankou Airport, and due to the long-term struggle and lack of spare parts, the combat effectiveness of these scarred aircraft was greatly reduced.But what the Japanese never expected was that the Soviet (Russian) Air Force Aid to China, that is, the "Soviet Volunteer Army" sent by Marshal Stalin, had secretly arrived in China, and two well-equipped and high-morale fighter brigades transferred overnight to Xiaogan Airport outside Wuhan. , and became the absolute main force in this surprisingly victorious anti-Japanese air battle.