Volume 1: Entering the War of Resistance Chapter 68: Hunting in the Sky
As Chen Nade judged, the idle days of the Chinese Air Force soon passed. With pilots supplemented and formed a certain combat effectiveness, the Air Force Command decided to launch a new low-intensity confrontation - aerial hunting under the suggestion of He Junci.
The adoption of this tactic is based on several reasons: political, equipment and personnel.
From an international political and strategic perspective, Germany, Italy, and Japan have now formed a tight military alliance. Britain is resisting, the United States is watching, and it is necessary to take some action to make the international community recognize China's anti-war efforts and achievements. After all, China has held back millions of Japanese troops, and if China were to surrender, the world would likely lose World War II. Therefore, a counterattack must be launched, and victory must be achieved. Since victory can hardly be expected from the army, the air force must take on the heavy responsibility.
In terms of equipment, the Chinese Air Force is now strong and powerful with the full support of the Soviet Union, and can compete with Japan, which is an advantage that no other military branch has. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted radar secretly transported back from Germany has established a complete early warning line, effectively providing long-range early warning for the four flight brigades across the country.
In terms of personnel, after the previous low-intensity air warfare, the number and quality of airborne and ground personnel have been greatly improved. In particular, the success of the Chinese Expeditionary Air Force proved that Chinese pilots possess a very high level of combat tactics, which also gave the Air Force Command a lot of confidence.
Based on these reasons, the Air Force Command formulated a tactical plan for air guerrilla warfare. By exerting pressure on the Japanese military through low-intensity confrontation, it would be difficult for them to recover their combat effectiveness. The goal of the operation was to eliminate enemy air targets and valuable ground targets through guerrilla tactics, not seeking large gains each time, but relying on the accumulation of numbers to strike at the enemy. The Air Force Command strictly forbade deep penetration into enemy territory for attacks, and in principle, only organized guerrilla activities within the controlled area. However, the goal of the 4th Flying Group was not limited to this, as they were equipped with the Chinese Air Force's rare long-range bomber squadron - the 12th Squadron. This squadron had even bombed Japan itself, shocking the world.
In the allocation of targets, the strongest Fourth Flying Group in the Air Force was responsible for East China, that is, to deal with the Japanese naval aviation forces in Wuhan and Shanghai. The First and Second Flying Groups were responsible for North China, and the Third Flying Group was responsible for South China.
In response to the operational plans issued by Air Force Command, the 4th Flying Group was supplemented: The first priority is to attack enemy patrol aircraft, bombers and reconnaissance planes that have been discovered. Secondarily, attack valuable ground targets. If larger targets are found, call in long-range bomber forces to destroy them in small formations. The important requirement is to preserve oneself, especially pilots. In areas under one's own control, a special liaison group is responsible for coordinating the rescue and assistance of ground troops. If in enemy-occupied territory, the liaison group will also contact anti-Japanese authorities operating behind enemy lines for rescue.
Apart from this, He Junkai also issued a secret order to the pilots who participated in the war. If an enemy plane was shot down in enemy-occupied territory, it was necessary to ensure that the pilot was killed, because it was impossible to capture parachuting pilots in enemy-occupied areas. Originally, He Junkai thought that this order violated China's traditional moral principles and would be met with some resistance, but unexpectedly all the pilots accepted the order. This was because the Japanese had done the same thing many times before, and many pilots had witnessed their comrades being shot to pieces by enemy planes in mid-air, so the flames of revenge had long been burning in their chests. Morality did not apply here; everything that could eliminate Japan's war potential was correct.
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Air-to-air combat missions are generally undertaken by dual-machine formations, which have a high degree of freedom in the air. The lead aircraft can freely decide on the target and route of attack. This is because China's ground-based radio relay stations have not yet been established. If unmanned reconnaissance drones from floating bases are not dispatched as communication relays, fighter jets will quickly lose radio contact after taking off. This situation was encountered by the German Air Force on the European battlefield. Due to the urgent establishment of ground-based radio relays in the UK, British ground command centers can directly command aircraft in the air.
He Junchang, aware of the importance of communication in C3I, has begun to lay out wireless relay equipment within the control zone through the Economic Management Bureau. In addition, some relay stations have a secret mission, which is to intercept enemy radio messages and transmit the information back to the floating base via ground relays. The Chinese crypt room on the floating base uses high-performance computers to quickly decode the messages, far surpassing the British methods. Later, the interceptions were not limited to the enemy, but also included communications from other units of their own side. This secret was only known by a handful of core individuals.
The 4th Flying Group adopted the strategy of equipping the Yak-1 fighter with the 4th Flying Group to seize air superiority, constraining the Japanese Zero fighters, while the existing main force fighter I-16 was responsible for attacking enemy ground targets. Of course, if there were large ground targets, more than 30 96 land-based attack aircraft would not be vegetarian either.
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Zhou Zhikai led his wingman to take off from Chongqing and search along the Yangtze River. Every day, the 4th Flying Group would send out a pair of aircraft like this to perform air patrol tasks, but except for the Yak-1 fighter jets of the 4th Squadron, which were allowed to enter enemy territory to attack airborne targets. The 3rd and 5th Squadrons were still required to operate within their own radar detection range, avoiding being lured by Zero fighters. In other words, Zhou Zhikai had more freedom, which made him feel very happy. Although he failed to be selected as a Top Gun instructor in the draw, he was unexpectedly assigned to perform patrol tasks and actually fought against the Japanese, which was even more enjoyable. Yesterday, Zhou Zhikai had shot down a Ki-51 Sonia reconnaissance plane, which attempted to escape at high speed in the high altitude, but did not expect that the Yak-1 fighter jet would be much faster than it, and soon it was shot down. Zhou Zhikai didn't return to base with his wingman until he saw the parachuting pilot being captured by the ground troops who rushed up.
"Today we need something a bit bigger." Zhou Zhi Kai said, sitting in the cockpit of his Yak-1 fighter jet, bantering with his wingman.
"Yes, otherwise let's fly further today and take a look."
"This is exactly what I meant, this Yak-1 has great performance and strong firepower, but it can't be fully utilized if we stay in the rear." Zhou Zhi-kai was very satisfied with the new equipment of the Yak-1, not only was it easy to operate, but its firepower was also very strong. The key point was that it was fast, exceeding all Japanese fighter planes currently in service. If they encountered any situation, they could neither fight nor outrun them. So he decided to take a risk and fly deep into the area controlled by the enemy along the Yangtze River.
This era did not have the Three Gorges Dam, so the Three Gorges were very dangerous. Yichang, as the end of the Three Gorges, became wider and no longer navigated through mountains and valleys. After the Battle of Zaoyi in June this year, Yichang was occupied by the Japanese, and its airport and dock became the front-line base for the Japanese army to attack Chongqing. Therefore, in the sky above Yichang, Zhou Zhi found his target quickly, several Zero fighters training at low altitude.
It's a pity to say that the Japanese naval aviation is really pitiful. The Zero fighter had just appeared on the stage, and the navy was eager to introduce more than a dozen of them. However, before they could play their due role, they were captured along with the planes. The Japanese Navy had to bear the ridicule of the world and urgently allocated another batch. The planes were easy to solve, but the pilots had to be retrained, which took a lot of time.
Above Yichang Airport, these temporary fighter planes are conducting intense flight exercises, without noticing that there are two strange fighter planes shuttling in the clouds. Zhou Zhi-kai led his wingman to circle around once, confirming that there were no other Japanese fighter planes in the air.
"Shall we take another shot?" Although the lead aircraft can decide whether to attack or not, Zhou Zhi-kai always asks for his wingman's opinion.
"Cheers!" The pilot who had just finished the Top Gun course was eager for a dogfight with Japanese fighter planes.
"Alright, stick with me. Let's see what you've learned at Top Gun." Zhou Zhi Kai pushed the control stick forward and dove down towards several Zero fighters that were oblivious to the danger below them. The Zero fighters were currently engaged in dogfighting training, so their speed and altitude were not high, and the pilots' attention was focused on the fight, completely unaware of the threat coming from above.
"Ah! How did the Chinese plane appear here!" The officer on the ground who was watching the battle discovered two small dots diving out of the clouds, and through his binoculars he saw the blue sky white sun emblem on the wings of the intruder. But now he had no way to warn the fighter planes in the air that were intently engaged in dogfighting training, these fighter planes didn't even have wireless radios installed, so he could only watch as those two fighter planes fiercely pounced on our own fighter planes that were intently focused on their training. All he could do was order all the fighter planes on the ground to take off and respond.
To achieve greater results in the first wave of attack, Zhou Zhikai did not adopt the standard double-seater formation of one in front and one behind, but instead flew alongside his wingman, each targeting a Zero fighter.
"Rat-a-tat-tat, boom-boom-boom", the firing sound of Yak-1 fighter was slightly different from that of I-16. The dense and lower sound was the shooting voice of the two machine guns, which had a lot of ammunition, Zhou Zhi-kai used them to correct the firing line. Then it was the turn of the 20mm cannon mounted in the propeller hub, its sound was slow and low, but one hit could knock down the fragile Japanese fighter. After calibrating the firing line, two shells accurately hit the middle position of the Zero fighter's fuselage, the Zero fighter had cancelled armor to gain high performance, and its structure was not strong enough, so it scattered beautifully in the air. The shooting of the wingman caused another Zero fighter's wing to fall off, and this fighter was already beyond salvation. After being suddenly attacked, the remaining few Zero fighters quickly dived down to accelerate.
"These guys aren't slow to react!" Zhou Zhi-kai banked the plane towards the next target, ordering his wingman to quickly take cover. The next step would be to engage in a dogfight. Taking advantage of the enemy's low speed, Zhou Zhi-kai soon latched onto another enemy plane's tail. In a short burst of fire, this unfortunate aircraft was hit in the cockpit, its canopy blown off, and the pilot inside was torn into several pieces by the high-explosive shells. By now, several more Zero fighters had taken off and were climbing to altitude, putting the Chinese air force at a clear disadvantage.
In the hazy rain and smoke of Jiangnan...
The second day of National Day.
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