Chapter 2: Fierce Aerial Battle

  He Juncai's blood was instantly ignited, Chongqing, Japanese devils, air raids, these words were so familiar to He Juncai who had studied in Chongqing for four years. The older generation of Chongqing people often talked about the days when they hid from bombing, recalling the Fourth Aviation Brigade and those Soviet big beards at that time. When He Juncai visited the Three Gorges Museum, he also saw on-site videos, photos, and artifacts of the massive bombings. At Jiaochangkou's overpass tunnel, there was a memorial hall for the air raid shelter that was bombed, killing more than 30,000 civilians. The Air Force Cemetery in Nanshan had once buried over 200 Blue Sky Warriors who died defending Chongqing. All this made it impossible for He Juncai, an "old angry youth" who still published commemorative blog posts on Anti-Japanese War Memorial Day, to forget.

  He Juncai even thought he was the reincarnation of one of the "Four Great Kings" fighter pilots of the War of Resistance, because when he was young, he often dreamed of driving a fighter plane to participate in large-scale flight and combat. This is also one of the reasons why He Juncai likes flying so much.

  He Juncai quickly adjusted his mindset and adapted to his new identity, eager to take action. Since it was during the War of Resistance, He Juncai swiftly confirmed that the airport below was Guangyangba Airport. The single-winged planes flying in the sky were likely Soviet-made I-16s (also known as Il-16), while the biplanes were probably I-152s (also known as Il-15). He Juncai was familiar with these aircraft. As he pondered, several Il-16s had already spotted this awkward plane and approached, ready to teach He Juncai a lesson. At that time, none of the planes were equipped with radios, and the wireless radio on the B8 only had a numerical receiver, with an analog part limited to broadcast channels. Therefore, He Juncai correctly pulled down the throttle, lowered the left control stick, and accelerated away from the battlefield.

  The B8 aircraft is the civilian version of Brazil's anti-riot battlefield aircraft, the "Super Tucano", powered by a powerful Pratt & Whitney PT6A-68/3 turboprop engine with a power output of 1193 kW. All weapon systems, armor, fire control and guidance systems were removed. Only the flight control system, navigation system and emergency rescue system were retained. At the same time, the anti-aircraft aircraft was changed from two seats to one seat, and the rear seat was equipped with unmanned control equipment (in case of emergency) and a panoramic camera, while the trainer aircraft remained dual-seat. In fact, the Super Tucano was originally a trainer aircraft. After reducing the weight of other useless equipment and armor, the B8's speed reached 600 km/h. The I-16 can't keep up (maximum 460 km/h).

  At this time, the 54 medium-sized aircraft that had been seen on radar earlier had entered the range of vision, flying in two formations from the northeast towards the city. At this time, He Juncai could already identify these twin-engine medium bombers as 96-type land-based attack aircraft belonging to the Japanese Navy. The 9 I-16s taking off from Guangyangba Airport slanted upwards to meet the enemy, with the slow-moving 10 I-152s following behind. According to He Juncai's visual estimate, the speed of these I-152s was not much different from that of the incoming 96-type attack aircraft. The fighter planes' speed was almost the same as that of the enemy bombers - what a sad thing!

  Two formations of enemy planes flew over He Juncai's B8 towards the downtown area of Chongqing, at which time smoke from anti-aircraft artillery explosions had already appeared in the sky above the city. The Japanese planes would enter the downtown area in two minutes, and at this time a squadron of I-16s first came to meet them, bravely charging towards the large formation of 96-type attack aircraft from an altitude of 3,000 meters. The leader of the I-16s, numbered IV-1, first fired out two bursts of flame, and the others also selected their targets and opened fire. In this simultaneous shooting, most Japanese planes were hit, but they still maintained their original formation and direction while launching a counterattack.

  Time was fleeting, and the two formations of 96-type attack aircraft had already entered the airspace above the main city area, beginning to drop bombs. The eggs fell continuously from the machine's belly bomb bay, whistling towards the ground, and the main city area of Chongqing was suddenly shrouded in explosions and smoke. At this time, the I-152 squadron behind caught up, and the two squadrons' fighter planes began to chase their targets amidst the hail of bullets fired by the 96-type attack aircraft. The I-16 with the number IV-1 scored first, hitting the engine of a 96-type attack aircraft, which left the battlefield with black smoke. The remaining 96-type attack aircraft were also damaged, but some fighter planes from both squadrons were hit as well. Both sides continued to exchange fire in the air.

  He Juncai was covered in sweat, but his plane had no armor or weapons. What to do? Ah, try using the simulated shooting laser indicator. He adjusted the power of the laser indicator to its maximum and pushed the control stick, sending the plane diving from 5,000 meters towards the Japanese aircraft formation. Since the Japanese planes were slower, with a speed of only 360 km/h, He Juncai had ample time to adjust his angle during the dive, charging towards the lead plane of the Japanese formation at an angle of 45 degrees.

  Yamamoto Jiro was the pilot of this plane, struggling to control the plane to maintain formation, suddenly saw a bright spot rapidly approaching from above, and couldn't help but look up. At this moment, the bright spot suddenly turned into a huge light spot.

  "Ahh!" Yamamoto Jiro let out a miserable cry, dropping the steering wheel and covering his eyes with both hands. Having been hit by high-powered laser beams at close range in both eyes without wearing protective goggles had severe consequences. The plane lost control and plummeted downwards, the co-pilot attempted to regain control of the plane, but Yamamoto Jiro had already lost consciousness and couldn't move out of the way.

  The "roar" of the 96th attack aircraft was like a burst of fireworks, plummeting into the Yangtze River and splashing up a large wave. The Japanese plane formation lost its lead plane and then three more planes were hit by Chinese fighter jets, one of which exploded in mid-air, affecting the remaining planes in the formation. In this situation, the Japanese planes began to retreat. The I-16 squadron continued to pursue for several kilometers but was unable to do anything about the remaining 50-plane 96th large formation without the support of the I-152 squadron. He Juncai had already pulled away from the scene after completing his attack earlier and now seized the opportunity to dive down towards one of the wounded 96th attack aircraft, perfectly replicating his previous attack and causing temporary damage to the pilot's retina. The injured pilot was unable to control the damaged plane, which crashed into a mountain peak and burst into flames. The remaining 96th attack aircraft was also cut off its right wing by the I-152 squadron's group attack and crashed into a field in a spin. He Juncai once again pulled his B8 fighter jet away from the scene, not wanting to get too close to the Chinese air force's fighter jets, just in case he got attacked.

  Zheng Shaoyu was the pilot of the No. IV-1 I-16, and since Gao Zhihang's death, he had been the commander of the 4th Squadron. He vowed to revive the 4th Squadron and defend the skies above Beiping in front of his predecessor's grave. At this time, he carefully observed the strange aircraft sitting in the cockpit. Judging from its behavior earlier, the aircraft was undoubtedly a friendly plane, but which squadron had such a strangely painted and styled aircraft? The fuselage of this aircraft was relatively slender (thinking it was a turbocharged propeller plane, not an air-cooled piston propeller plane), and the cockpit position was particularly high and prominent. With its narrow and long wings and streamlined fuselage, it looked extremely beautiful and powerful. From several tactical movements earlier, its speed was much better than his own I-16 in terms of level flight, dive, pull-up, and turn, which was astonishing since the I-16 was already a top-notch fighter at that time. Could it be that the squadron had just purchased new planes? However, the attack earlier was truly strange, as no machine guns or cannons were seen firing, yet two Japanese 96-type attack aircraft went down.

  Just then, Zheng Shaoyu formally shot down a 96-style aircraft, but his wings were also pierced by the 7.7mm machine gun on the back of the 96-style aircraft, and control was not so flexible. The fuel had also been consumed by more than half. Anyway, that strange plane shouldn't attack its own planes, Zheng Shaoyu shook his wings and ordered two squadrons to return to Guangyangba Airport for landing. In this air battle, a total of 4 96-style attack aircraft were shot down, two I-16s and I-152s were seriously damaged and needed repairs, and the rest all brought back some bullets.

  He Juncai circled the airport for a few rounds, thinking about whether to land and ask about the situation. At least he wanted to know what year it was in this time and space. However, when he glanced at the screen of the central control terminal, he felt that now was not an appropriate time. 100 kilometers away, another 27 planes were rushing towards Guangyangba Airport in the same formation as before. The cunning Japanese military was playing a double-line operation, relying on their numerous aircraft to launch a surprise attack on the airport during the Chinese air force's refueling time, attempting to wipe out the Fourth Air Force in one go. A warning must be issued! Although those planes with the blue sky and white sun emblem were not impressive, and their tactics were also poorly executed!

  He Juncai made a " Immelmann turn" to change the direction of flight, aligning with the runway, diving down, and making a low pass from east to west while shaking his wings, hoping to attract the attention of the airport personnel. The ground crew refueling and loading ammunition, as well as the pilots resting nearby, stared in amazement as an airplane whizzed over their heads, completely failing to understand He Juncai's intention. After pulling up the plane again, He Juncai thought of a most primitive method - he took out his notebook, wrote "27 enemy planes coming, 80 kilometers away, northeast direction", took off his left shoe and sock, tore off the paper, stuffed it in, and then flew low over the airport again, opened the cockpit cover, aimed at the pilot next to the plane with the number IV-1, and pushed out his smelly shoe horizontally.

  Zheng Shaoyu was carefully observing the plane that had not lowered its landing gear after two dives, and noticed that his cockpit canopy was a single piece of glass, rather than multiple small windows connected together like his own I-16. At this moment, a dark object flew towards him. Zheng Shaoyu instinctively ducked, "bang" went the sound, and the dark object hit the wing and bounced to his feet. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a strange shoe (sneaker). Zheng Shaoyu picked up the shoe and found that its workmanship was extremely fine, and the materials used seemed not to be leather or fabric. Inside, there was also a smelly sock. Opening the sock revealed a piece of paper inside. Zheng Shaoyu took a look at the paper and broke out in cold sweat - now the airport was completely defenseless, with all anti-aircraft guns deployed near the city center of Chongqing. The planes lined up on either side of the runway were simply targets for the enemy.

  "Take off, all planes take off immediately!", Zheng Shaoyu immediately ordered the ground crew to stop refueling and loading ammunition, and had the liaison officer quickly hang up the "black" flag. He commanded all planes to take off immediately and led by example, getting into his own plane and having the ground crew start the engines, accelerating into the sky to buy time for his fellow pilots.

  Zheng Shaoyu took off and immediately gained altitude, approaching He Juncai's B8. This time He Juncai did not dodge, because he knew Zheng Shaoyu understood his intention. He pointed to the direction of the incoming enemy plane with his hand and made a "3" shape with his fingers. Zheng Shaoyu waved at him to indicate understanding.

  This time, the 4th large team, except for the injured plane, had one I-16 squadron and two I-152 squadrons that took off without reservation, because they were also targets on the ground. He Juncai adjusted the direction of the aircraft, and after the 4th large team took off and formed a formation, he actively flew towards the direction of the Japanese planes' attack. Zheng Shaoyu understood and led the 4th large team to follow behind him. Before meeting, He Juncai and Zheng Shaoyu's 4th large team climbed to a higher altitude and hid above the 5,000-meter-high cloud layer. When He Juncai judged from radar that the enemy planes were approaching below, he led the 4th large team's fighter jets to turn around and made a downward gesture to Zheng Shaoyu.

  Zheng Shaoyu flapped his wings after seeing He Juncai's gesture, and led the I-16 squadron to dive first. After breaking through the clouds, he was surprised to find that the Japanese bombers were flying in a dense formation of three planes per small team, three small teams per medium team, and three medium teams formed a large team at an altitude of around 3,000 meters. Zheng Shaoyu grinned from ear to ear, with both height and speed in ideal positions.

  "Captain Gao, I've come to help you avenge your death!", thinking that Captain Gao Zhihang had formally died from the bombing of this 96-style attack aircraft, Zheng Shaoyou's anger burned, accelerating his dive towards the Japanese bomber group.

  "Enemy attack!" The rear Japanese planes' gunners discovered the incoming Chinese air force fighter jets, and the bombers began to accelerate. However, some of the bombers in front were unaware of this, causing their formation to become disorganized.

  Zheng Shaoyu couldn't let go of such a good opportunity. He aimed at the nearest bomber's fuel tank and pressed down hard on the machine gun firing button. The four 7.62mm machine guns on the wings and head of his plane roared to life, and a large fire erupted from the bomber's fuel tank.

  At that time, all planes were using gasoline, and it seemed that the Japanese planes didn't pay much attention to fireproofing and leak-proofing their fuel tanks. Once a plane caught fire in mid-air, it was doomed.

  This plane was finished. Zheng Shaoyu continued to search for his next target, and the other planes also opened fire. However, the 96-type bomber had three machine guns on board, and with multiple planes forming up, their firepower was still strong, with almost no blind spots. The effect of the fighter jets' attack was not great.

  At this time, two squadrons of I-152s also dove down from above. The I-152 was a biplane, although it wasn't fast, but it was agile. Moreover, the Japanese planes' numerical advantage had disappeared, and Chinese air force fighter jets were attacking from all directions. Plane after plane was hit or smoked.

  The Japanese bomber commander had no choice but to order the bombs dropped, lighten the load and turn away. This air battle shot down one enemy plane, damaged 14 of them seriously, and heavily damaged two more. The Chinese Air Force lost two I-152s and an I-16. It should be said that the results were not bad. He Juncai did not participate in the attack because his aircraft was unarmored, and a single bullet could have taken his life in front of the bomber formation. Moreover, this time it was just a dispersal, and the situation was not urgent.

  This time, the planes of both squadrons did not have enough fuel and ammunition. Only 9 I-152s that did not take off during the first air defense battle had sufficient fuel, but with the speed of the I-152, they could not catch up with the 96th attack aircraft that dropped their bombs. Zheng Shaoyu could only order the Fourth Squadron to return.

  This time He Juncai did not follow him, he decided to return to the floating base to sort out his emotions and thoughts.