Chapter 25 Countermeasures Strategy (Minor Revision)
It seems that He Junci is going to be busy for a while, but after experiencing the cruelty of war, he will no longer complain about anything. This is fate! God chose to let him cross into this time and space in order to avoid the people of Sichuan and all of China suffering like they did under the bombing of Japanese planes in his original time and space. So it's nothing to be tired for.
The 4th Flying Group is under the jurisdiction of the group headquarters, the 11th Flying Regiment, and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Flying Regiments. Among them, the group headquarters is mainly responsible for early warning and command; The 11th Flying Regiment is equipped with advanced "J-1" fighter jets, mainly based in floating air bases to maintain secrecy, together with the group headquarters, known as the flying regiment directly under the group headquarters; The 3rd, 4th, and 5th Flying Regiments are gradually replacing new I-16 fighter jets, stationed in Suining, Chongqing, and Chengdu respectively.
Due to the 11th Flying Brigade being equipped with fast fighter jets, it was organized into squadrons of 2 planes each, with 4 squadrons forming a regiment and 3 regiments forming a brigade. It had a total of 24 high-performance "J-1" fighter jets. The other brigades were still organized according to the three-three system, with one brigade having 27 fighter jets. Therefore, the 4th Flying Brigade had a total of 105 fighter jets, and there were also 17 additional planes as reserves (8 J-1s and 9 I-16s). It can be said that all of China's air force strength was concentrated here, except for the Soviet Volunteer Air Force which moved to Lanzhou, there was no such luxurious configuration.
Similarly, this also brought considerable pressure on He Junkai. In order to ensure smooth communication, He Junkai equipped each airport with wireless radios to prevent sabotage by Japanese spies. Each airport was also equipped with loudspeakers to avoid the inefficiency of commanding battles through flags as before. As for the original airborne radio, except for those originally equipped on the "Jian-1", He Junkai had no choice but to dismantle the airborne radio that was originally configured on each fighter plane in the 4th squadron and reconfigure it to the squadron leader level. The task of popularizing airborne radios could only wait until the Soviet Union absorbed the technology of miniaturizing radios and purchased a batch, or chose to import from the United States. However, the quality and communication distance of these radios were estimated to be much worse.
After the improvement of communication, He Juncai can at least guarantee the use of the airborne base's own radar equipment and the supplementary coverage of the reconnaissance aircraft's onboard radar to cover the air defense blind spots in Sichuan. No longer afraid of the Japanese army's scattered attacks, as long as they have the advantage of intelligence and communication, they can take down as many as they come. And the high-altitude high-speed "Jian-1" can overpower enemy reconnaissance planes, so it can avoid the tragedy of July 31 from happening again.
What really worried He Juncai was another matter. The nightmare of the "Zero" was about to unfold. In early August, the Soviet-made SB-2 bombers of the Chinese Air Force's 1st Squadron reported that a new Japanese fighter was chasing them after they completed their bombing mission and returned to base. Moreover, the Japanese fighters were usually unable to catch up with the SB-2, which had the fastest flight speed among all bombers in the world at that time, but this "new plane" could change positions back and forth behind it without being shaken off! According to the timeline, it was during the test flights and training of the "Zero" within the Japanese defense zone in Hankou. The Soviet Air Force had just begun to equip itself with the "Yak-1", and refused to provide this new plane to the Chinese Air Force without concrete evidence of the Japanese fighter's capabilities. The power exerted by the "Zero" fighters in the hands of Japan's elite pilots was terrifying, and in the following months, a total of 99 Chinese planes were shot down or destroyed by the "Zero" fighters, while only two "Zero" fighters were burned in ground accidents.
He Juncai urgently summoned several battalion commanders under his command to the tactical training room of the floating base to discuss countermeasures. Except for Liu Zhe-sheng, the newly appointed commander of the 11th Battalion, Wang Yuanbo, commander of the 4th Battalion, Yang Mengqing, commander of the 3rd Battalion, Huang Xinrui, commander of the 5th Battalion, and their deputy battalion commanders were all on the floating base for the first time from the transport plane. After arriving at the tactical training room, they were still in a state of excitement.
"Liuzhesheng, so you've been training in this heavenly place all along. The strange plane you flew is the one that was parked on the apron earlier?" Meanwhile, Wang Yukuin, deputy commander of the 4th squadron and Yang Mengqing, commander of the 3rd squadron were Liuzhesheng's senior classmates from the 4th class of Central Aviation School (Liuzhesheng being in the 5th class).
"Hello, two seniors." Liu Zhe Sheng was not only good at driving and designing, but also quite decent in his dealings with others. Later on, this guy almost became the commander of the air force. "I'm just a mediocre driver, it's the plane you saw earlier. How is it? The shape is very streamlined, the speed is fast, and the internal electronic system is excellent. You know, when we were fighting against each other, I found that when being attacked from behind, there was a warning light and an electronic alarm sound. Now I don't have to worry about being ambushed!" Liu Zhe Sheng was very satisfied with the "Jian-1" type fighter plane. He had already shot down two Japanese 97-style command bomber planes with this plane, making his total number of shootdowns reach eight, just two short of earning the title of "Super Ace Pilot".
Seeing several of his generals eyeing the plane greedily, He Juncai smiled and said, "Don't worry, this is the first batch of fighter jets provided by the Nanyang Chinese to support us, but it won't be the last. In a year or two at most, our Fourth Flying Squadron will all be equipped with the latest model of fighter jets!"
"But I must remind everyone that everything you see on the floating base is a national top secret. No matter what, it cannot be leaked out, including to your own family!" He Juncai turned serious and reminded everyone. "Today's tactical discussion is mainly about how to deal with the Japanese army's new fighter planes. Please look at the screen." He Juncai brought up some data on the "Zero" carrier-based fighter plane from his computer onto the screen in the tactics training room.
"Wow!" The pilots present could see at a glance that this fighter was a killer. The streamlined fuselage showed its excellent aerodynamic performance, and the long-barreled cannon on the wing showed its powerful firepower. "What you are seeing is the first prototype of the 'Zero' series fighter, although it is still in the trial production stage, but the Japanese army suffered heavy losses in the early bombing of Chongqing, so they urgently needed fighters to escort their bombers, and introduced this unformed fighter into China."
"From the information I've gathered, this aircraft's performance in terms of speed, range, maneuverability, climb rate and firepower is superior to our current Soviet-made fighter jets. Of course, the 'Jian-1' can match up against it, but after all, the 'Jian-1' cannot be produced at present and its numbers are limited."
"What we are seeing now is the 'A6M2 Zero Fighter 11th Type', with a wingspan of 10.8 meters, length of 9.7 meters and height of 3.94 meters, powered by one Mitsubishi 'Sakae' air-cooled engine with an output of approximately 950 horsepower. Its range exceeds 2220 kilometers, and we notice that it can carry large drop tanks. The armament includes two Type 97 7.7mm machine guns in the nose and two Type 99-2 20mm cannons on the wings, everyone must be careful, getting hit by one or two of these is not pleasant. For the 'Zero', it also adopted many advanced technologies, such as the first use of retractable landing gear, electric heated flight suits, constant speed propellers, duralumin stressed skin construction, bubble-shaped canopy and large drop tanks that can be jettisoned. This aircraft will be our formidable enemy for a long time!" He Juncai made a summary, in fact not only was the Chinese Air Force bullied by the Zero fighter, but also the US and UK were initially unable to counter it.
"Are you guys feeling the pressure?" He Juncai saw that these backbone members of the Fourth Flight Team were all pale. "Fortunately, a spear and a shield cannot be obtained at the same time. This aircraft has abandoned its protective properties to achieve high speed and high maneuverability. Its cockpit and fuel tank are almost without armor, and the fuel tank cannot self-seal, making it easy to catch fire when hit by large-caliber machine guns."
"The key is crucial!" He Juncai whetted everyone's appetite. "Our beloved intelligence personnel have found several weaknesses in the Zero for us."
"Wow, Captain, you should have said that earlier! Everyone was so nervous when you were talking about the situation being so serious." Wang Yuanbo joked with He Junci.
"This intelligence personnel is too capable, right? They can even get the intelligence of a plane that's still in testing?" Zheng Shaoyu was shocked by the omnipotent intelligence personnel.
"You haven't seen the future versions of Du Niang and Gu Ge, have you?" He Junci muttered to himself. "Well, one of our overseas intelligence personnel happened to be a test pilot." He Junci continued to ramble on. "Cough, cough. Let's get back to the weaknesses of the Zero fighter. I'll talk about it first, and then we can all discuss how to take advantage of them later."
"Firstly, as I just mentioned, it has poor defensive capabilities and is prone to catching fire. Secondly, once its speed exceeds 370 kilometers per hour, it becomes difficult to control and loses agility, especially when making right turns. Additionally, due to the use of a float-type carburetor under negative acceleration conditions, the engine is extremely prone to stalling. I'd like to reiterate that the Zero fighter has exceptionally excellent vertical maneuverability. Due to its light weight, good aerodynamic shape, small wing loading, and large surplus thrust, it has great climbing and turning capabilities. That's all for now, let's see how you all plan to deal with it!" After He Juncai finished introducing, he asked everyone to speak up, knowing that some methods of dealing with the Zero had been passed down through history, but he hoped that these squadron leaders and deputy squadron leaders would use their brains to fight, rather than just relying on bravery.
"Our I-16 was originally not good at dogfighting, with very low mobility, and it's even more impossible to dogfight against this new fighter." The third squadron leader Yang Mengqing said first. This heroic figure in history died from the attack of Zero fighters during the 913 Mountain Air Battle.
"I-16 replaced with large-caliber machine guns, perhaps we can configure some incendiary bombs to be installed in the ammunition chain. Several aircraft opened fire at the same time, which should threaten the poorly protected 'Zero'." Commander Huang Xinrui of the 5th Pursuit Squadron suggested this, and historically, this overseas Chinese returnee died on March 14, 1941, from an attack by a Zero fighter plane. The two air battles resulted in heavy losses for the Chinese Air Force.
"When being bitten at high speed, roll to the right instead of making a left turn to escape. When being bitten at low speed, dive vertically downwards to escape." Wang Yuanbo added two defensive strategies.
"I think that in order to avoid fighting alone, we should strictly maintain a formation of two or three planes and cover each other," said Zheng Shaoyu after some thought.
"Everyone has spoken very well. Please ask Deputy Commander Zheng to organize these contents, and each squadron leader will take them back and immediately carry out targeted training! Especially the third, fourth, and fifth squadrons, you have transferred pilots to the eleventh squadron, and the newly supplemented flight school graduates must be brought into a state of combat readiness as soon as possible. After all, flying an I-16 is much more complicated." He Juncai summarized.
The Japanese never thought that there would be a big BUG like He Zhongcai, and the "Zero" fighter, which was expected by the Empire, had not yet officially debuted, but it was already thoroughly studied.
