Chapter 28: F4U Makes Its Debut (Vote and Collect)

  What followed was an excruciating tug-of-war, the Battle of Madrid had officially begun, and in the entire city of Madrid you couldn't see the usual bustle, everywhere were soldiers preparing for battle.

  Sun Xiang and his small team had conducted multiple dogfights, the Italian planes occasionally whizzing over Madrid, the military airport in Madrid was already operating at overload, but this still couldn't solve the current pressing crisis.

  The number of rebel planes was too many, with more than 10 sorties taking off to fight every day, which made our little brothers suffer, but their achievements were also remarkable! In a week of fighting, Madrid shot down 28 aircraft, leaving only 13 that could participate in the battle. Sun Xiang's small team miraculously maintained its integrity. However, they also made the enemy pay a heavy loss of 48 planes being shot down. The loss ratio reached 1:1.7, which was simply a miracle for the Spanish army at that time!

  The F4U finally arrived at Madrid Airport this week, and Sun Xiang was excited to the point of shouting! This is simply a timely help in trouble! This high-performance aircraft can almost change the course of battle in this era! The best coordination team from the aircraft manufacturer also came with it! Seeing this team, Sun Xiang's heart surged with warmth, this is Howard's silent support for him!

  Sun Xiang did not immediately demonstrate the new aircraft, as at this time spies from various forces were trying every means to figure out the trump card of enemy countries or forces, so of course they could not let the new aircraft be exposed too early.

  November 22, 1936, the F4U Corsair appeared in advance on the battlefield of World War II, and made its debut over Spain. On the fuselage was a large bird with flames painted by Sun Xiang, with Arabic numerals 10 on both sides in striking white, and a bright silver body, curved wings, all telling its uniqueness.

  The small squadron, now officially renamed "Firebird", takes off. At 11:00 AM in the direction of Madrid at 7 o'clock position a large enemy air group is spotted!! This air group has the mission to bomb Madrid, and Joaquín García Morato leads it again.

  He was flying a CR.32, and behind him were no less than 10 Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers! This was a mixed formation of 7 fighters and 10 bombers, fortunately Sun Xiang's forward-thinking brain had an onboard radar system ahead of its time, the small team notified the base and began to climb in altitude.

  Sun Xiang relied on his own plane to climb quickly and took the lead in killing, with the other three planes following closely behind. Sun Xiang's plane launched a surprise attack in the clouds, 6 12.7mm machine guns spewing out their anger without hesitation!

  Six tongues of flame converged in the air, unleashing a powerful force that dealt a devastating blow to the enemy's dense formation! One plane was directly blown up in mid-air. Harvey and his two companions followed closely behind. Sun Xiang pushed forward on the control stick, tilting the nose of the plane slightly downward. A CR·32 entered the firing hole! With a light touch of his left hand, the machine gun spat out flames, its trajectory clearly extending forward before converging on the enemy plane's fuselage... Boom!! Another one down.

  The chaos caused by the explosion made the enemy planes unable to remain calm, and they began to scatter and flee. The three planes that followed also joined in the encirclement! No one had expected that there would be a scene where 4 planes were chasing after more than 10 planes.

  The enemy was actually intimidated by the firepower of Sun Xiang's plane, thinking that the three planes that followed were also of the same firepower. In a panic, the pilots' skills could only be played to three levels, which led to the defeat of the rebel planes, and Huajin-Garcia-Morato fled first.

  Seeing this situation, the bombers dropped their bombs and turned to escape. The F4U and Il-16 pursued them relentlessly. The F4U's superior performance was on full display! Its powerful pursuit capabilities and firepower were overwhelming. A Stuka appeared in Sun Xiang's line of sight, and as soon as it entered firing range, Sun Xiang pressed the machine gun trigger without hesitation. The machine gun bullets ripped the plane to shreds, and 2 seconds later, the plane disintegrated in mid-air.

  The firepower scared the rebel pilots, who tried hard to shake off Sun Xiang's pursuit, but the speed of the Huo Niao squadron's planes was absolutely the fastest at that time. As the distance between the escaping and pursuing planes narrowed bit by bit, it seemed that fate had already been sealed.

  The Ju 87s that dropped the bombs flew no slower than the CR.32 fighters, and when pilots found themselves being nipped at by four of them, they shook them off with all their might.

  The firepower of the I-16 was a bit disappointing, Harvey's machine gun bursts hit the JU87 several times, but failed to inflict fatal damage on the enemy. As a result, this plane was shot down by the quick-handed Soviet ace Turayev, and the plane crashed to the ground with black smoke.

  Hawker's excited and exasperated voice came over the radio, followed by a burst of thunderous laughter from within. With this one feat alone, Sun Xiang's combat record was increased by 8 planes! At that time, he could already be called a super ace pilot!

  The "Firebird" squad returned to the base with a warm welcome, such an achievement is simply a miracle, in a 4-to-17 situation, they actually achieved a 14-0 record, making people can't help but cheer and applaud for this heroic small team.

  The heroes' photos also appeared on the front page of the next day's newspaper. "Once again! Miracle!!" "Guardians shining in the sky over Madrid" "Fantastic Four" (Tribute to Justice League!) "Strange aircraft, super feats!" "Super International Squad" Such headlines made the Firebird Squad a household name.

  The next battle was intense and a bit suffocating, the rebels continued to put pressure on Madrid, the battle became a tug-of-war, both sides were under tremendous pressure, due to the difficulty of replenishing pilots, Madrid Airport had an embarrassing situation where there were more fighter planes than pilots.

  "The Firebird" squadron became the team with the highest attendance rate, the Soviet I-15 aircraft began to appear in large quantities, and the entire Madrid air force was left with only a small number of bombers and more than 40 fighter jets, including Sun Xiang's "Firebird" squadron.

  November 23, 1936, Sun Fo received a telegram from Hughes. In the general election on November 3, President Roosevelt was re-elected, which was good news for Sun Fo, and history did not deviate from its original trajectory.

  In the following weeks, the fighting was like a chicken with its neck wrung, and it seemed that the rebels had been somewhat stunned by the blow they received in the last aerial battle.

  Enemy aircraft sorties have decreased significantly, Sun Xiang and his comrades are happy to take a break. A month of life-and-death struggles has apparently stretched their nerves to the limit. Suddenly having nothing to do leaves Sun Xiang at a loss, in the rest room, he stares blankly at Sherry's letter, his thoughts of Sherry suddenly flooding his mind...

  December 15, 1936, weather: clear, light wind. The "Firebird" squadron supported the Guadalajara area, with intense ground fire between both sides. The "Firebird" squadron protected the bombers, and when the rebel pilots flying CR·32 planes saw that strange-looking F4U plane turn around, they fled immediately. Sun Xiang and others didn't chase after them either. After completing their mission and successfully destroying the enemy's heavy firepower, the bombers returned.

  The "Firebird" squadron circled above the position several times before pouring a burst of gunfire at the enemy position and then flying away.