Chapter 35 2. The U.S. Air Force is a hero

Before the Battle of Xiangxi began, General Chennault flew from Kunming to Zhijiang, and took command of the Chinese and American air forces to participate in the battle to defend Zhijiang.Chennault first led the US 14th Air Force to attack Shanghai Airport twice, destroying 92 Japanese aircraft and damaging 16. Immediately afterwards, Chennault launched a pre-emptive air strike against the Japanese attack on Zhijiang, dispatching a large number of planes, completely destroying the bridges in the triangle area of ​​Hengyang, Shaoyang, and Xiangtan behind the Japanese attack on Zhijiang.When the main force of the Japanese army entered Xuefeng Mountain, Chennault paid close attention to the development and changes of the battlefield, and studied the combat situation of the Chinese army and the Japanese army.In order to curb the Japanese army's offensive momentum, General Chennault decided to deal a heavy blow to the Japanese army, allowing the Japanese army to taste the taste of being bombed by planes.

He ordered the Fifth Battalion of the Sino-American Mixed Regiment to dispatch all aircraft to bomb Fangdong, Hongyan Temple, Dahuangsha, 1450 Heights and other key Japanese positions in turn, and bombed Changsha, Hengyang, and Lengshuitan Japanese airports at the same time.This bombing boosted the morale of the Chinese army, dealt a fatal blow to the unstable Japanese army, and forced the Japanese army to stop their rampant attacks on these points. General Chennault has been mentioned before, and his story is endless.In Zhijiang, Chennault governed the army very strictly. At that time, there were more than 6,000 logistics personnel in the U.S. Air Force Base stationed in Zhijiang. How to manage the army and how to get along with the people of Zhijiang was the most important thing for General Chen.In addition to imposing strict requirements and disciplines on various ministries, he also specially set up a U.S. law enforcement team to manage and punish all U.S. military officers and soldiers who violate the law and discipline and undermine Sino-U.S. relations.Once anyone violates military discipline, he will be arrested and sent to the Military Law Office for sanctions.The U.S. law enforcement team wears special military uniforms and wears armbands with the MP logo on their arms. A group of them patrols Zhijiang City, Qili Bridge, Zhupingpu and other places day and night on foot, on motorcycles, or in American jeeps. Severe punishment.

Under the leadership of General Chennault, the U.S. military has been in Zhijiang for so many years without any major incidents. The army has good discipline and gets along very well with the people of Zhijiang.This was very different from the situation in other places where the United States was stationed in China at that time, and it can be regarded as the best example of US military discipline.Therefore, Chennault is deeply loved by the people of Zhijiang, which is inseparable from his strict military management. Chennault was very happy when the Xiangxi battlefield turned around and the Japanese army's attack was intercepted by the Chinese army.When the Chinese army surrounded the 217th Regiment of the Japanese Army in Dashan, Chennault took the initiative to order the Air Force to provide air support and drop napalm bombs on the Japanese positions.Chashan suddenly turned into a sea of ​​flames, causing more than 700 enemies to be wiped out in the first battle of Chashan.

Chiang Kai-shek, Song Meiling, and Major General Chennault of the American Flying Tigers entered the headquarters of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army in Chongqing and entered under the main peak of Xuefeng Mountain. Chennault then ordered the 14th Aviation Squadron to dispatch all of them. Carpet bombing, 800-pound bombs shook the valley and the mountains.What made the Japanese army even more frightened was the Napaam bomb, a substance composed of gelatinous gasoline, which could burn people to ashes within a radius of 100 meters and burn the enemies hiding in caves and trenches to death.Not only have they never seen Japanese soldiers, they have never even heard of them.Xuefeng Mountain became a mountain of flames, and countless large and small fires spread from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain, devouring the frontier positions of the Japanese army.The Japanese army had no intention of fighting any more, and they fled the sea of ​​flames one after another, running wildly, looking for a corner where they could hide.The skin on their bodies had already turned into coke, only the eyeballs and teeth, and a little white color could barely be seen.

The Japanese commander asked what kind of bomb it was?As soon as it hit the ground, it raged into dozens of balls of flames, and the temperature around the position immediately increased sharply. The heat wave reached hundreds of degrees, forming a high-temperature zone in an instant, and the Japanese soldiers cried out. When the big counter-offensive began in the Battle of Xiangxi, Chennault knew that he was about to fulfill his mission. After serving in China for eight years and serving as the commander of the US Air Force in China for three years, he was about to retire.This was the last meeting in Kunming, General Marshall told him.Chennault really didn't want to leave China, his affection for China was too deep.The Chinese Anti-Japanese War has set up a platform for him, allowing him to fully demonstrate his talents on this platform and make himself a real hero.He is grateful to China. Without the Chinese battlefield, there would be no Chennault, and there would be no Chennault's world-famous Flying Tigers.

Chennault predicted that the end of the Japanese army is coming, and Germany and Italy have surrendered. How long can little Japan last?The day of surrender is only a month or two away.Chennault thought he could see it, he hoped to see the surrender of Japanese imperialism in China, and he wanted to share the joy of victory with the Chinese people. Chennault made a bold decision before retiring.Before Chennault made this decision, he checked it repeatedly.When he listened to He Yingqin's introduction of the situation on the front line, he paid great attention to a detail, that is, the Japanese army drilled into dense forests and mountains in Xuefeng Mountain, and was surrounded by Chinese troops in one place and another. Squatting in the forest and not going out, some are contacting the main force of the division, trying to get closer to them.Chennault had the idea then.

The U.S. Air Force Operations Department marked all the recent aerial reconnaissance on the map.Looking at the marks on the map, Chennault assigned missions to the 1st Battalion, 14th Air Force, and 5th Battalion of the Chinese and American Air Forces, requiring them to carry out a comprehensive attack on the Japanese troops on the ground over the southern, central, and western skies of Xuefeng Mountain, and take them to the ground. The remnants of the Japanese army were driven out from the mountains and deep forests, allowing the Chinese army to concentrate its superior forces to wipe out the Japanese army.

After receiving the task, the leaders of the various air force brigades made serious and specific arrangements and deployments, and made full preparations for combat.A veteran recalled that the dawn was really scary that day, and the planes at Zhijiang Airport roared into the sky one after another.When it was dawn, all the planes on the airport were dispatched, and all the planes that could fight were left to carry out their missions.The Chinese and American air forces poured down the products produced by the American arsenal calmly and freely.They effectively cooperated with the attack of the Chinese ground forces on the Japanese army from a front line of more than ten kilometers.

After that, the Chinese and American Air Force Mixed Brigade also carried out continuous bombing for a week on the main force of the Japanese army in the direction of the cave entrance, where about two wings were concentrated.The Zhijiang Air Force under the command of Chennault dispatched 2,500 sorties of P-40 and P-51 fighter jets and 183 sorties of medium bombers during the Xiangxi battle.A total of 3.6 million rounds of ammunition were fired, 1 million pounds of bombs were dropped, and more than 10,000 enemies were wiped out, accounting for 1/3 of the total number of enemies wiped out. In the Battle of Xiangxi, the Chinese and American Air Forces completely controlled the air supremacy.This is the first time in China's anti-Japanese battlefield that the support of the air force effectively killed the Japanese army, prevented the Japanese attack and covered the ground operations of the Chinese army, so that the Chinese army was effectively protected.When talking about the failure of the Xiangxi Battle, Takeo Imai, the deputy chief of the general staff of the Japanese invaders, attributed it to the failure of the air force and the lack of air supremacy.

In the report of the Japanese troops stationed in China reporting the battle situation to the base camp, General Chennault had the following comment: the Laohekou operation, which can be called a real example of air-ground coordination in China, was the first, and the Zhijiang operation was the second.At the farewell party for Chennault to leave office, Chiang Kai-shek said the following to Chennault: For eight years, General Chennault has done a lot for us, a lot of important and useful work.Everyone knows that General Chennault overcame many difficulties and obstacles, organized the Air Force Foreign Corps and came to China during the most difficult period of our country's war of resistance.Later, he served as the commander of the 23rd Battalion and the 14th Air Force of the U.S. Army, and because of his effective work, he greatly improved the environment of our country's war of resistance.In a sense, without Chennault and the air force he led, our war would be very difficult to fight.

War is a moral purification, a joy that can only be prolonged by violence.China's victory in the war of resistance did not come easily. This long-overdue national rejuvenation was won after a long period of fighting. It should be pointed out that General Chennault participated in our initial battle. Chennault Air Corps shot down and damaged Japanese aircraft, which was almost equivalent to the total output of Japanese aircraft in three years.Therefore, no matter from which aspect, it is a great achievement that cannot be praised too much.