Chapter 31: Zero Arrives (2)

  Lieutenant Commander Kondō Saburō flew his Zero fighter, attacking the Chinese Air Force fighters while fulfilling his duties as a squadron leader, observing the overall situation. He was very satisfied with the current attack results, and the Zero gave the Chinese Air Force fighters a surprise, although today's opponents were all single-wing I-16s, which were already clearly outdated, not to mention inferior to even the Navy's 96 Carrier Fighter, let alone his own new Zero fighter. Recently, due to the short legs of the 96 Fighter being unable to escort bombers, resulting in significant losses for the bomber units during Operation 101, with the arrival of the Zero, the situation had greatly improved. Lieutenant Commander Kondō Saburō felt very proud this time, and it seemed that when he returned, the bomber unit pilots would have to thank him properly.

  "Yoshi! I should have brought my camera to record this spectacular dogfight, 10:0, long live the Empire!" Lieutenant Nito Saburo thought to himself. "But those idiots, Yamashita and others, forgot to drop their auxiliary fuel tanks, aren't they tired of carrying those big things in a dogfight?" Due to their first participation in an air battle, half of the Zero fighters forgot to drop their auxiliary fuel tanks before engaging in combat. Despite this, the Chinese Air Force's planes were unable to gain the upper hand, which is a sad thing for the Chinese Air Force. Although Nito Saburo discovered this situation, since the Empire thought it was unnecessary to install wireless radios on fighter planes, he couldn't notify those rookies and had to let it go.

  Just as Kondo Saburo was despising Yamashita Shojiro, he suddenly discovered that the belly fuel tank of Yamashita's Zero fighter had been pierced with several small holes, igniting a flame. With the high-speed airflow, the fire quickly spread to the entire aircraft, and Yamashita and his Zero became an "airborne roast chicken".

  "Hakka, we're under attack!" Kondo Saburo had already spotted the few strange-shaped fighter planes diving down from the sky. These fighters came in pairs and dived down to attack the Zeroes. Kondo noticed that their speed was no less than his own Zero. It seemed these were the new Chinese air force fighter planes reported by the reconnaissance planes.

  Pull back while the going is good, as both ammunition and fuel were running low, Lieutenant Commander Mitsugo Mitsui quickly rocked his wings to signal withdrawal. Since these Zeros did not have radio equipment installed, not all of them headed back, Fujita Kihei had already shot down two Chinese Air Force I-16s, now he was excitedly chasing another damaged I-16, completely unaware that the other Zero fighters had already retreated.

  The Zero had already circled behind Zhou Zhi-kai's I-16, ready to attack. Liu Zhe-sheng was still 500 meters away from the Zero. He gritted his teeth and increased the throttle to maximum, firing a long burst of gunfire at a distance of 400 meters. The four machine guns roared! This burst lasted until the two planes were only 100 meters apart, when the attack finally took effect. Fujiwara Kihei's cockpit cover was blown off, and Fujiwara Kihei was killed on the spot in his seat, the Zero plane lost control and fell down.

  Seeing the footage sent back by the reconnaissance plane, Zheng Shaoyu sighed. He really didn't know that such a battle would be fought. Seeing the smoke and flames rising from the ground, Zheng Shaoyu lowered his head.

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  The anxious wait in Hankou finally came to an end for Lieutenant General Taishi Takashima, who received a battle report from the Ichang front announcing a complete victory. Not only was the bombing carried out smoothly, but also 16 Chinese Air Force Soviet-made fighter planes were shot down by Japanese fighters during escort (results reported by Japanese pilots, with some duplicate reports), while two of their own planes were lost in attacks by new Chinese Air Force fighters. Additionally, when landing at Ichang, a Zero fighter piloted by Takashi Okazaki was damaged and destroyed during an emergency landing due to damage to its landing gear. Taishi Takashima erased the records of his side's casualties and sent the report to Admiral Nobuyoshi Ikeuchi, Chief of Staff of the Chinese Fleet. The Japanese Navy celebrated with great fanfare.

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  He Juncai is now at Baishi Airport, sadly watching Zheng Shaoyu crying on the body of his comrades. In this battle, 10 I-16s were shot down by the Chinese Air Force, and many more were damaged. Two planes that made emergency landings have lost their maintenance value and are directly scrapped. The pilots who died in action include Major Yang Mengqing, commander of the 3rd Squadron, Huang Dongquan, Yu Bafeng, Si Tu Jian of the 21st Squadron, Lei Tingzhi, Cao Fei of the 28th Squadron. Many others were injured, including Commander Wang Yuanbo of the 4th Squadron. The Chinese Air Force has suffered a heavy blow.

  Zhou Zhi Kai hugged Zheng Shao Yu tightly and cried out: "Deputy Commander Zheng, it's all my fault! I've let down the brothers!" This time, the 21st squadron, which was tasked with the attack mission, suffered the heaviest losses. The departure of these former comrades-in-arms of the 4th Squadron had a huge impact on Zheng Shao Yu.

  "It's not Captain Zhou's fault, the fact is that the planes are too different, and there's no way to fight back!" Lieutenant Lei Yanjun, captain of the 3rd Squadron's 24th Squadron, spoke out in fairness.

  "It's no use saying these things, let's just summarize the experience and make sure this kind of situation never happens again." He Juncai said with a stern face. They had rehearsed this tactic many days ago, but he didn't expect it to be such a mess when it came time to actually do it, making him feel utterly frustrated. He had traveled through time in order to change history, but the wheels of history still seemed to be following their original trajectory with great inertia.

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  The Chairman of the Military Commission, Chiang Kai-shek, convened an emergency meeting, and a group of people crowded into the reception hall of the Huangshan government office, with a very oppressive atmosphere.

  "Mr. Chairman, in this battle, our air force lost a total of 12 fighter planes and six people were killed, including Squadron Leader Yang Qing. The enemy used the latest aircraft to participate in joint combat with various branches of the military, taking advantage of the sun's position and altitude to launch surprise attacks on us from above and below. In terms of performance and speed, they were superior to our aircraft. Our planes, due to their performance characteristics, are suitable for fighting at an altitude of 3,000 meters, so the enemy initially had the advantage of altitude. The performance of our aircraft was too poor, with speed, climb rate, and firepower all far inferior to those of the enemy's aircraft. Except for defensive purposes, we had almost no opportunity to counterattack. Therefore, throughout the battle, opportunities for our planes to fire were extremely rare, and the outcome of victory or defeat was clear. Fortunately, the morale of our troops was high, and they remained united throughout, even though casualties were heavy, with not a single person leaving their post. Unity and sincerity, sharing life and death together, were indeed the main reasons for minimizing damage this time. And the care for equipment was particularly evident, as even in the midst of difficulties with both personnel and aircraft injured, they were able to fly their planes back to base with great difficulty, which is truly commendable." Air Force Commander-in-Chief Zhou Zhi Rou stood up to speak first, analyzing the reasons for China's air force defeat.

  "Commander Zhou, please sit down. I know the air force has difficulties, but I still hope you all strive to work together for the great cause of resisting Japan!" Chiang Kai-shek had already learned from He Juncai about the terror of the Zero fighter plane and no longer ordered the Chinese air force to counterattack immediately as he did in history. "Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with the Japanese new-style fighter planes?"

  "Mr. Chairman, before this battle, the air force had discussed how to defeat the enemy, but at the time of the war, due to insufficient training, the tactical characteristics were not brought into play. In the future, we should increase our training and use the new J-1 fighter to simulate the enemy's Zero fighter and engage in confrontations with our Soviet-made fighters. I believe that in the future, it will not be a one-sided defeat like today!" Air Force Commander Mao Bangchu also felt stifled, as they had already developed tactics to defeat the enemy, but failed to bring them into play during the battle.

  "Chairman Mao's instructions are correct. Currently, the air force is not temporarily short of aircraft and fuel, and should intensify training, while practicing new tactics, more Soviet-made fighter jets should be put into use." Zhou Zhi Rou nodded in agreement.

  "The enemy's Zero fighter planes are being produced more and more, if this continues our army will find it difficult to resist, and we may lose air superiority! We should negotiate with the Soviet Union to introduce newer model fighter planes to counter them, and at the same time start researching and developing our own fighter planes." The head of the Equipment Department, Huang Guangrui, had previously discussed this with He Juncang, who gave him some aircraft design and engine materials, giving him some confidence in self-designing and producing. However, distant water cannot quench present thirst, for the time being we should continue to acquire new model fighter planes from abroad that can counter them."

  "Huang's words are quite right, and forced resistance is not the ultimate solution after all. At this time, please ask Director Huang to take full responsibility and negotiate with President Sun Ke of the Judicial Yuan for help from the Soviet Union!" Chiang Kai-shek agreed with Huang Guangrui's opinion.

  "Mr. Chairman, I suggest launching a surprise attack on the forward base of the enemy's Zero fighter plane - Hankou, destroying or capturing new fighter planes, so as to maintain air balance between the two sides for a short period of time and win time for our army!" He Juncai knew that he should first reverse the balance of power to its original state, otherwise the Japanese advantage would become greater and greater.

  "Oh? Is this feasible? Can we replicate the surprise attack on Europe?" Chiang Kai-shek was very interested in this, as attacking the enemy's rear would greatly boost national morale and gain more international support. The recent US loan had been stalled, but with this news, it should be a big help.

  "Report to the Chairman, the 'Frog Jump' class combat plan of the floating base was originally designed for a surprise attack on the Japanese army's logistics base, so it is completely feasible. If the Chairman agrees, the General Staff can come up with a plan within one day!" Chief of Staff Hu Baixi stood up and replied.

  "Alright, gentlemen, you have a strategy to defeat the enemy, I will fully support each of you! The day our surprise attack succeeds will be the day when the souls of my fallen airmen today rest in peace!" Chiang Kai-shek declared with great fanfare.

  "Long live the Chairman!" Everyone stood up and responded loudly.

  When everyone left, Huang Guangrui called out to He Junci from behind. Huang Guangrui told him that the research on self-made aircraft had achieved some results and hoped he could visit the Aviation Design Institute in Chengdu after this battle. He Junci naturally agreed, as the Fourth Flying Team of the Air Force still needed the help of the Equipment Department. Moreover, some industrial and military equipment introduced from the Soviet Union can also be processed simply, if they can cultivate talents quickly and form their own aircraft design and manufacturing team, it will reduce dependence on foreign weapons. China must solve the problem that it cannot produce its own weapons in order to gain a great power status in World War II, otherwise it will always be strangled by others.

  He Juncai's current task is to plan a surprise attack on Hankou. If they can't destroy the Japanese Zero fighters, everything will be in vain.

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