Chapter 2 Chapter Two

On August 13, 1937, at the headquarters of the Chinese Air Force in Nanjing, Chennault stayed up until the early morning to formulate the first combat plan for the Air Force. Goal: Bomb Japanese ships. The air force was to cooperate with the army in combat. The Japanese ships parked on the Huangpu River posed a serious threat to the Chinese army. "Tiger General" Huang Meixing was killed by the shells fired by the Japanese ships. Obviously, the goal is set very accurately, it depends on the effect. The effect sucks, sucks! The weather conditions in Shanghai were bad that day, and it was difficult to see below clearly, making it difficult to carry out high-altitude bombing. This was something Chennault did not think of at first.

If you can't blow it up, then return to the flight. No one was willing to return to the voyage, and they all held back their energy to blow up one of them and make a great contribution. There are two types of bombing methods. High altitudes are not feasible, so the only option is to lower the altitude and dive, but the problem is that all bomber pilots have only received training at altitudes of 7,500 feet, and they have not practiced much at low altitudes. The flight altitude quickly dropped to 1500 feet, which was bad. During the descent, they didn't know to control the speed of the ship, and unknowingly they sailed over the public concession, and avoiding the concession was something that Chennault had repeatedly emphasized in his orders.

What's more serious is that the bombing sight on the plane has not been readjusted. Everyone thought they were covering the Japanese warship, but they were aiming at the center of the public concession! Undoubtedly, when the bombs went down, there were heavy casualties, but the losses were not Japanese troops or ships, but Chinese and foreign civilians. Chennault tried his best, but what he shot was an out-and-out own goal—except for accidentally bombing the International Settlement, the real target Japanese warship was safe and sound. My God, how is this possible? Chennault immediately flew a plane to inspect the front line in person. He wanted to go to Shanghai where the accident happened, but he stopped over the Yangtze River.

There are three Chinese bombers conducting dive bombing in front of them, and the bomb has already hit a warship. Great, anyway, there must be such a kick into the opponent's goal. Chennault's plane was affixed with the logo of a neutral country and did not have any combat equipment, but he was brave enough to pass by the warship under the rain of bullets. At first glance, people almost fell off the plane headlong. The sign on the deck of the warship is large and obvious. It turned out to be a British cruiser. Chennault turned away angrily. When I returned to Nanjing Airport, I saw that my own wing was full of bullet holes, and it turned out that I had also been shot.

You bomb the British ship, you also bomb my "neutral country" plane, what are the long eyes for! The Americans roared, and installed machine guns on my plane, and installed them immediately. He stared at the bomber pilot who had just returned: Wait until I give you medals, let me see one of you shoot at me next time, I will shoot him down immediately! Chennault was devastated by his failure in the first round. Even now, it is no longer possible to teach the pilots how to dive bomb. It is still necessary to rely on tactics to win. This tactic is: use fighters to deal with bombers.

Chennault is a caring person. Before he was invited to China, he sneaked into Japan secretly and collected first-hand information about the Japanese Air Force. This information made his heart beat endlessly. It turns out that the Japanese have also studied the "authentic air force theory" of the United States, and they believe in every word in it. They are absolute supporters of the "bombing supremacy theory". What is not good for you to learn? If you want to learn this, it seems that it is impossible not to be unlucky. Based on this, Chennault judged that Japanese bombers would definitely not use fighter jets to escort them when they came to attack.

Long before the "August 13" Battle of Shanghai, Chennault had selected a group of the best fighter pilots, using the best aircraft models, for assault training, and the content of the training was only one thing, which was to deal with bombers. The Chinese Air Force has a total of three fighter brigades, and most of the so-called best fighter pilots are concentrated in the four brigades. The four squadron leaders, sub-team leaders and ordinary pilots all graduated from the Central Aviation School.This aviation school is the base camp of American consultants. It accepts American education, and the training and assessment are very strict. It is definitely not the kind of Italian instructors who close their eyes and nod their heads, and they can get a diploma smoothly. Therefore, they naturally become Chinese pilots. The best of the best.

As for the best aircraft type, it is the American Eagle (Hawker).They are the aces among the 91 available aircraft, and they are by no means comparable to the bad Italian aircraft. Later facts also proved that this model is indeed the sharpest combat weapon of the Chinese Air Force. As the saying goes, a good horse is equipped with a good saddle, and the two "most" add one piece, and the spear will not be as bright as usual. In front of bright students, Teacher Yang gives everything he has.This is the "partial transformation" that Chennault promised to the Chiang couple on Lushan Mountain.

His hard work was not in vain, and he soon received his reward in the second round: the "August 14th" air battle was a complete victory. The victory in the "August 14th" air battle was not only related to Chennault's proper use of tactics, but also another legendary figure. Among the pilots, there are the best among the best. Standing on the top of the pagoda is Gao Zhihang, the captain of the Fourth Brigade, who has since been hailed as the "God" of the Chinese Air Force. Gao Zhihang's life experience was very rough. He used to be a member of the Northeast Air Force.

Like Weng Zhaoyuan in the 19th Route Army, Gao Zhihang also learned his flying skills in France, but the old man turned around and returned to his starting point in the army, while Gao Zhihang became a darling in the air by chance. Gao Zhihang became a major pilot (ranked in the army) at the age of 19. Seeing this, Chennault may be going crazy and depressed. He is almost 50 years old, and his card in the US Air Force is still a lieutenant. But five years later, the reality dealt a severe blow to the entire Northeast Army, including Gao Zhihang. On the night of "September 18th", more than 300 planes were parked at the Northeast Airport, but no bombs were fired, and all of them were given to the Japanese intact.

Faced with this cruel scene, this Northeast man named Gao Zhihang was heartbroken. He was no longer young, although in terms of biological age, he was only 24 years old. Behind Gao Zhihang is the figure of an army ruthlessly played by fate. Because of a chance, I went to Shenyang and saw the only remaining Beidaying barracks there, which should be a stable. At that time, I had to shoot a video. For this reason, I couldn't calm down, but when I was in the real scene, I still felt an inexplicable melancholy and sentimentality. Back then, there must have been many officers and soldiers of the Northeast Army coming in and out. At that time, in the Northeast, the thatch was very high, and the cavalry rode horses and galloped on the grassland, so the grass was like a wave, and a line was cut from the middle. streamline, and continue to extend forward. It's just that this moving scene was suddenly and mercilessly interrupted.After that night, the horse lost its owner, the stable lost its horse, and the sky over the northeast was gloomy until it was completely silent. Over time, this army called the Northeast Army has also won the championship of the three armies, and once ruled the Central Plains, and was once the master of this black land. Former masters, where have you been? Gao Zhihang bid farewell to his family and entered Shanhaiguan alone. From then on, he will spend every cold night, missing his hometown and relatives like a knife. From then on, his heart will be awakened again and again, but only in his dreams can he see himself walking on the road home . I will be back, I will definitely be back! In Nanjing, Gao Zhihang was introduced to join the Central Aviation School. However, according to the regulations at the time, Air Force officers could not marry foreign women, and Gao Zhihang's wife was an exiled Belarusian aristocrat, which became the biggest obstacle for him to join the Central Air Force. I don't know what the person who made this rule thinks. Marrying a foreign beauty is a patriotic act. Are you happy to let foreigners abduct all our beauties? Gao Zhihang and his wife had a very deep relationship. He was so confused that he couldn't sleep all night. In the end, he gritted his teeth, hardened his heart, and wrote the strangest and most touching "divorce letter" in history: A Farewell to Northeast China It's a farewell, please don't resent me, because when the country is in crisis, why do you call it home? If you want to serve the country, that's all you can do. I remember that when I read Lin Juemin's book when I was in school, the sentence "I will say goodbye to you forever with this book" almost made me "teardrops and pen and ink flow down together". Compared with that kind of "farewell", Gao Zhihang's "resignation" undoubtedly means life and death. Same heartbroken, same heartbroken. Since then, Gao Zhihang has lost his love forever, and he can no longer hold others in his heart, and his Russian wife finally disappeared in the war. No one knows whether this future "God" of the Air Force will often see that familiar face in his dreams, and whether he will burst into tears when he wakes up in the morning. This is a personal tragedy, but it is the country's luck, because Gao Zhihang was finally able to return to his old profession. However, he was no longer the major pilot that everyone envied, he was downgraded three ranks in a row, and became a Second Lieutenant of the Air Force, with the following note: trainee.