Chapter 69: The Death God of the Yangtze River
"Warning, Wingman 5, watch your right!" The wingman issued a warning, this was the advantage of dual-machine tactics. Zhou Zhi-kai could rest assured that his side and rear were handed over to the wingman, and he focused on attacking the enemy aircraft in front. It turned out that the Japanese were too arrogant, they didn't even bring ammunition for training near the front line, because fuel was also a precious resource for them, and at this time they could only import fuel from the United States. So one of the Zero fighters took off with ammunition to hold them back and gain time for the subsequent takeoff of the armed Zero fighters, adopting a collision tactic, attempting to injure Zhou Zhi-kai's plane from the side. Due to the high speed and close distance, the wingman was worried about misfiring and dared not open fire, and could only remind Zhou Zhi-kai to be careful.
Zhou Zhi Kai would not let him succeed, slightly moving the control stick to the right and reducing the throttle valve while pressing the left rudder pedal. The plane shifted a short distance to the right, but the Zero fighter failed to follow this action and suddenly rushed to within 100 meters in front of Zhou Zhi Kai. Almost simultaneously, Zhou Zhi Kai pressed the fire button, and the Zero fighter that had rushed forward disintegrated and exploded in mid-air.
"It was a beautiful shot, but I think we should leave now." The wingman congratulated Zhou Zhi-kai over the radio, and he was already satisfied with getting a result in his first air battle. Zhou Zhi-kai and his wingman regained altitude, seeing several approaching Zero fighters, and also felt that they should quit while they were ahead, as continuing would be risky, after all, this was above enemy-occupied territory.
"Wind tightens, shouting!" Zhou Zhi Kai used the Jianghu dialect to hail his wingman, then adjusted the throttle valve to maximum and whizzed over Yichang. The Zero fighter pilots were shocked to find that their proud high speed couldn't catch up with the two Chinese air force fighters in front, and could only follow far behind, eating dust. Zhou Zhi Kai quickly shook off these tails, humming a tune as he returned home, having harvested three more victories today, bringing his total to 10, earning him the title of Double Ace, which was much faster than accumulating merits at the Top Gun training camp. As a result, Zhou Zhi Kai's gloomy mood from the past few weeks was swept away.
During his return journey along the Yangtze River, Zhou Zhi-kai encountered several old acquaintances. The third squadron's Lei Yan-jun led a pair of I-16s in a dual-machine formation attacking a Japanese gunboat on the river. The Yangtze River was originally China's mother river, but due to its wide waterway and strong transportation capacity, it was utilized by Japan with a powerful navy as a tool for invading China, from August 13, 1937, when the Shanghai Incident occurred. Japan's navy and army pushed the front line into China's hinterland through the Yangtze River, which was not seen in other directions. From the situation map of 1940, it can be seen that Shanghai, Nanjing, Nanchang, Wuhan, and Yichang were repeatedly besieged along the Yangtze River upstream. At this time, China's navy only existed in name, so Japanese gunboats could leave their base at Shaojiang and go upriver for reconnaissance and destruction with great fanfare.
But today, this "ab-tei" type armored gunboat was unlucky. The two machine guns on the modified I-16 could easily penetrate its 6mm thin armor, damaging the equipment inside and killing the crew members. Its counterattack could only rely on a twin-mounted machine gun in the turret on top, but due to the protection of the turret, its angle was limited and it couldn't attack the fighter planes coming from behind. So when Zhou Zhi began to observe the battle, Lei Yanjun had already led his teammates in two rounds of attacks, and the armored gunboat was emitting black smoke, with the top turret being damaged in the first wave of attack.
"How about it, Thunderbird 3? Want me to lend a hand?" Zhou Zhi Kai recognized the team leader below, Lei Yan Jun, and couldn't help but feel a little itchy, wanting to try out this ground attack feeling.
"Stop, stop, stop! Chivalrous Guest 5, are you going to let us live or not? We can't fight in the air and we can't infiltrate deep into enemy territory. Today, we finally caught a small fish, so don't come and snatch it away from us." Lei Yanjun was about to succeed, how could he possibly give this battle result to Zhou Zhi Kai? He hurriedly delayed it.
"Haha, alright, Old Lei, you're still as stubborn as ever. I'll keep an eye on things up ahead, you guys go ahead and attack with peace of mind." Zhou Zhi Kai recognized the voice as Lei Yan Jun's.
"Thanks, brothers, let's send the little devils to the Western Heaven, and don't spare those who jump into the water!" Lei Yanjun decided to end it quickly. The four I-16 fighter planes simultaneously dove down and opened fire, with four lines of fire hitting the smoking armored gunboat along the water surface, blowing its hatch in two, while multiple leaks appeared in the bottom cabin, and the ship was doomed. This boat originally had 13 crew members, but now only three could move, so they jumped into the Yangtze River, trying to swim to the shore.
But Lei Yan didn't intend to let them off again, thinking back to the time in Nanjing when so many Chinese ships, even civilian ones, were sunk by Japanese fighter planes, and not even the sailors who fell into the water were spared. Now it was time for revenge. When the three Japanese sailors saw the diving fighter plane, they couldn't help but quicken their rowing speed, but how could they outrun an airplane? The large-caliber machine gun bullets easily tore through their bodies, and the nearby yellow river water was dyed a bloody red.
Zhou Zhi-kai escorted Lei Yan-jun's team in the high altitude for a while, then the two teams of planes separated above Wanxian. The third brigade led by Lei Yan-jun would return to Chengdu, while Zhou Zhi-kai would return to Guangyangba Airport in Chongqing.
Today is the third day of executing air-to-ground hunting. According to the tradition of the 4th Flying Regiment, a routine summary meeting will be held at dusk every day. In the process of executing tasks, some problems were found. Firstly, there was a problem with communication. Due to the inability to command dual-machine formations in the air from the ground, the original information advantage could not be exerted. This problem has already been solved, and if an emergency situation arises, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft from floating bases can be dispatched as communication relays. Secondly, there is a lack of effective means of ground attack. Although machine guns are sufficient, after all, the current Chinese Air Force fighter jets are configured in an air-superiority manner, neither the downward view nor the armor can withstand the task of ground attack, especially for some units that require heavy firepower to strike. The Stuka-type air artillery is needed to help with this. Moreover, the Japanese currently have full confidence in their air power and have not equipped field troops with high-altitude machine guns and anti-aircraft guns. Therefore, the Chinese Air Force can temporarily conduct ground attacks using fighter jets, but this advantage will not last long. The Japanese, who are at a disadvantage, will certainly increase the configuration of anti-aircraft firepower. Finally, there is still too few Yak-1 fighters. According to reconnaissance, the Japanese have already deployed more than 30 Zero fighters in China, and currently, only the performance of the Yak-1 can slightly surpass it. This is unfavorable for long-term control of air superiority.
He Juncai and Zheng Shaoyu, commanders of the 4th Flying Group, carefully discussed the summaries submitted by several squadrons and made comments on them. For them, it is necessary to grasp the progress of executing the air patrol plan, just like grasping the fire in cooking. If they rush the Japanese too much, let them come and fight with themselves, it's not worth it. The best way is to harass the Japanese, disrupt their troop deployment and logistics supply, while also reducing losses and achieving the purpose of training the troops.
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Although some problems were found during the execution of the aerial hunting, it is undeniable that the aerial hunting plan recreated the Japanese army, partly in terms of materials and partly in spirit. Perhaps the Japanese had already become accustomed to China's constant retreats and thought that after they ceased fire, the Chinese should be happy to accept this fact, so they never expected the Chinese to take the initiative to attack, and the Chinese air force gave them too many "surprises".
In the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Army in Nanjing, Commander-in-Chief Nishio Toshiyuki and Chief of Staff Itagaki Seishirō were having a headache over this pile of battle reports. From the Yellow River line in North China to the Yangtze River basin, even several captured Chinese coastal ports - Xiamen, Swatow and Guangzhou - were attacked by small numbers of enemy planes. The planes of the Shina people seemed to have suddenly appeared above the barracks, warehouses and train stations of troops without anti-aircraft firepower, and the three-day attack made the already tense Imperial logistics supply line flash red lights everywhere. When the army aviation took off, these raiding fighters slipped away quickly into enemy-controlled areas like they had oil on their feet, making it impossible for them to chase or return. The Japanese Army felt the importance of anti-aircraft firepower for the first time, but at that time, they could only temporarily convert some small-caliber light and heavy machine guns to anti-aircraft fire, as the army did not yet have specialized anti-aircraft guns and cannons, leaving the skies to those incompetent air rickshaws.
At the same time, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Navy's China Fleet, Admiral Shigetarō Shimada was throwing a tantrum in his headquarters. The Zero fighters that had finally been replenished were lost to a surprise attack by the Chinese Air Force, with 4 planes shot down, and several reconnaissance planes also lost, with not a single pilot surviving, and multiple patrol boats on the Yangtze River sunk by enemy aircraft, with not a single sailor surviving either.
"Damn it!" Toda Shigeru smashed another teacup, the originally precious porcelain was just a tool for him to vent his anger.
"Order the flying squadrons to increase their aerial patrols! The fleet is forbidden from entering the Yangtze River above Wuhan without air cover!" The deputy officer quickly recorded his orders and left, no one dared to provoke the general's displeasure while he was in a rage.
"Those guys at the General Headquarters, stopping the execution of Operation 101 was a mistake." Isamu Imada pulled out a drawer and took out a plan book, which was another operation plan devised by his staff - Operation 601. Like Operation 101, this operation also attempted to force the Chinese government to surrender through large-scale bombing after gaining air superiority. The Navy had strong objections to the General Headquarters' decision to suspend Operation 101. Isamu Imada wrote his own comments on the plan book: "In order to quickly resolve the Sino-Japanese situation, we must take active military action, give the enemy a thorough blow and make them surrender. Increasingly worsen the enemy's predicament, making them cry out in despair. For this reason, the attack on Chongqing is the most effective - we must use airpower to heavily damage the enemy."
These past few days, the losses suffered by the Japanese Navy due to being attacked only strengthened this idea of his - without air superiority, there's no way to gain a foothold on the Chinese mainland! What made him even more vigilant was that the aviation unit reported that the Chinese Air Force had equipped a small number of high-performance fighter jets, whose performance was almost equivalent to that of the Empire of Japan's latest Zero fighter jet. This posed an important threat to carrying out strategic bombing missions. However, Tadashi Shimada did not report this up, but instead verified the intelligence through resources within the Chinese fleet itself, because he didn't want to bring any negative impact on his own strategic bombing plan.
The third day of National Day, continuous rain and fog.
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