Chapter 32 Chapter 6 Strategizing (4)

5 Following an order from the base camp, the "Zhongzheng Air Force Fleet" of the Air Force, to which the pilot Yu Shicheng belonged, transferred from Hankou to the Central Plains overnight to stand by. The Chiang Kai-shek fleet was a well-known ace fleet of the Air Force during the Anti-Japanese War, known as the "Air Royal Forest Army", and its origin can be traced back to 1936, before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.At that time, the national government realized that the all-out war of resistance was inevitable, so in the name of celebrating Chiang Kai-shek's 50th birthday, a vigorous campaign of "presenting planes to celebrate his birthday" was launched across the country.Calculated on the basis of 100,000 oceans equivalent to one aircraft, the provinces and overseas patriotic overseas Chinese donated a total of more than forty aircraft. These aircraft were organized into a neat fighter brigade, which Chiang Kai-shek personally named "Chiang Cheng Fleet".

In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, ferocious Japanese bandits turned the vast Chinese sky into a place for them to run rampant. Japanese planes swarmed in and bombed Chinese cities and villages indiscriminately day and night.According to post-war materials, the comparison of the air forces of China and Japan is as follows: As of June 1937, Japan had about 2,700 combat aircraft of various types, organized into 91 air teams, and owned six aircraft carriers. Every year, it can produce 1,580 combat aircraft, 500,000 tons of ships, 10,000 automobiles and tanks, and more than 700 large-caliber artillery pieces...

At the same time, the Chinese Air Force had a total of 603 aircraft, of which about 200 were trainers and old aircraft that could not fight. There were actually about 300 combat aircraft. Outdated old aircraft, many fighters cannot take off due to lack of spare parts... (The above figures can be found in "China's War of Resistance Against Japan and the End of the Second World War: A Collection of Statistics 1931-1945", Naval Press, May 1988 edition) In the first three months of the War of Resistance, the loss of Chinese fighter planes was as high as one-third Second, although the brave and fearless Chinese pilots are not afraid of sacrifice, such as the "air force soul" Gao Zhihang, Shen Chonghui who drove the plane into the enemy ship, the air force warrior Yan Haiwen, the red warrior Liu Cuigang, the parachutist Le Yiqin, etc., they created Time and time again, the miracle of air combat with less victory, shooting down enemy planes more than their own losses, but after all, Chinese planes are getting fewer and fewer, and it is difficult to resist the enemy's attack.Enemy planes poured in continuously like dark clouds, eventually covering the sky of China.The backward China not only lacks the aviation industry, but also lacks the precious foreign exchange to buy fighter jets, so the loss of one plane is one less.However, the number of Japanese aircraft on the battlefield increased rapidly from 800 in the "July 7th Incident" to 1,200, and the peak reached 1,500!By the end of World War II in 1945, Japan's annual aircraft production capacity had reached an unprecedented 10,000 aircraft, ranking among the top in the world. Although this militaristic military production still failed to save the aggressors from their fate.

The CKS fleet is composed of the best pilots of the Air Force. The famous air combat hero Li Dangui once served as the captain of the fleet. He led his team to shoot down 12 Japanese planes in the "February 18 Wuhan Air Battle" in 1938, and died for his country.After several battles between the north and the south, the fleet personnel changed several times, and there were very few veteran pilots with air combat experience. Second Lieutenant Yu Shicheng graduated from the aviation school in advance to join the war at this critical juncture of the Anti-Japanese War. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the "Il-15" and "Il-16" fighter jets aided by the Soviet government to China were considered advanced fighter jets in the world at that time, and their performance was superior to that of Japanese aircraft.The Il-16 is a biplane fighter. Although it is a bit slow, it has a small turning radius and powerful firepower. The pilots gave it the majestic nickname "Thor".The Il-15 piloted by Second Lieutenant Yu Shicheng is a light single-wing fighter, fast and maneuverable, equipped with quadruple high-speed machine guns, and people affectionately call it "Lightning".Due to the small number of our fighters, it is difficult to replenish them. Although we have achieved excellent results many times, it is still difficult to resist the enemy's crazy attack.Experienced pilots said that Japanese pilots are not good at single-aircraft dogfighting, and Chinese aircraft are often not at a disadvantage in one-on-one air combat.But the Japanese are used to implementing "wolf pack tactics" in the air. They often carry out siege with several times their strength, or sneak attack on ground airports. Many Chinese planes are destroyed by the enemy before they even have time to take off.

In the spring of 1938 AD, the young "Chiang Cheng Fleet" was ordered to station at Henan Zhoukou Airport on standby.It was a difficult time when the Anti-Japanese War was defeated. The Japanese invaders frenziedly attacked the Central Plains. Our army and people resisted tenaciously on the bloody battlefield. Yu Shicheng and his comrades were determined to fight bravely without fear of sacrifice, and used the banner of victory to support the motherland and the people. sunny blue sky coming. 6 In the middle of the night, Lin Dafu, the gunner of the iron-clad train, was awakened by the sound of an emergency horn. He saw that the sky outside the station was still dark, and there was already a huge roar of steam locomotives starting on the railway, so he hurriedly woke up his twin brother Lin Erfu to get on the train. Set off.Both Dalin and Erlin are patriotic overseas Chinese in Nanyang. The army they serve in is a new type of army secretly built by the Chinese base camp on the eve of the Anti-Japanese War-the armored train column.

The so-called "iron armored train", as the name suggests, is to install cannons and protective armor on the wheels of the train, making it a mobile fort that can move and fight along thousands of miles of railway lines.At the beginning of the 20th century, armored trains appeared on the European battlefield. During the First World War, the British and French allied forces dispatched many batches of armored trains in the famous Battle of Verdun, which dealt a heavy blow to the German and Austrian troops with fierce artillery fire.In the Russia of the October Revolution, Stalin even ordered to equip the Red Army armored trains with 100mm cannons, and then drove to Belarus, Ukraine and Transcaucasus to suppress those enemies who opposed the revolution.The armored train was unstoppable, and the Cossack cavalry, known for their valor and combat bravery, dropped their helmets and armor and fled.

So the armored train has the reputation of "Land Cruiser". After the success of the Northern Expedition, the National Government purchased two armored trains from Germany and named them "Zhongshan No. 1" and "Zhongshan No. 2". Later, they imitated several trains and formally established the headquarters of the armored train column.The Zhongshan armored train is pulled by one or two steam locomotives and can reach a speed of more than 50 kilometers per hour.There is a rotating turret installed at the bottom of the train, equipped with multiple German Krupp 88mm cannons, which can shoot at enemy targets in a 360-degree rotation.Due to the strong traction of the steam locomotive, in addition to the warhead and ammunition carriages, the armored train can also be equipped with multiple infantry support carriages. In 1931, when Jiang, Feng, and Yan fought in the Central Plains, Chiang Kai-shek sent iron-clad trains to the north to reinforce them. They swept the Beijing-Han Railway and the Longhai Railway all the way, and made great contributions to the national government's pacification of the Central Plains.

In the spring of 1938, the Anti-Japanese War reached a critical moment of life and death. The 14th Doihara Division crossed the Yellow River and went deep into the strategically important areas of the Central Plains. The Wuhan headquarters ordered the armored trains "Zhongshan No. 1" and "Zhongshan No. 2" to rush to the front line to fight.The twin brothers Dalin and Erlin were full of national hatred. Together with all the officers and soldiers, they solemnly swore to the battle flag that they would never leave the battlefield until the invading Japanese bandits were wiped out.