Guilin Airport.
Since Zhou Zhihan led the fleet to take off in the afternoon, Zhou Zhirou has been sitting in the airport command room. All attendees today are not allowed to leave even half a step. Even if they go to the toilet, they must be accompanied by several people and must be followed by soldiers.
In the current war, there must not be any slack, let alone leaks.
After dark, Zhou Zhirou kept smoking and walked back and forth in front of the large battle map. The officers present also smoked and drank tea, and from time to time they whispered about the current battle situation.
Zhou Zhirou glanced at her watch every few minutes and glanced at the door from time to time. If there was news, the intelligence officer would open the door and walk in immediately.
In order to achieve a stealthy raid, the two radios carried on the eight bombers also remained silent. Before the fleet took off, it was agreed that unless there was a major crisis, no reports would be sent until the sneak attack was successful.
It was already seven o'clock in the evening.
The bomber group has not yet sent a telegram, which at least means that the bomber group is not in danger, otherwise the transmitter will send a message to the headquarters as soon as possible.
Before dark, Zhou Zhirou received a telegram from Qiu Qingquan at Kunlun Pass, saying that a group of fighter jets heading to Kunlun Pass to support the battle encountered a large group of Japanese aircraft. Two planes were shot down and two were injured and left the battlefield. Fortunately, the pilots were not injured. , was rescued by fellow troops risking his life after parachuting.
Looking at the telegram, Zhou Zhirou's heart ached. Four more fighter planes were lost in this battle. This shows that the Japanese army is very strong in increasing its troops. Otherwise, it would be impossible to send so many fighter planes to Kunlun Pass at once.
The step of luring the snake out of the hole was successful, but I don't know how well Zhou Zhihan led the bomber group to quickly go south to avoid the Japanese army's eyes and ears, and then detoured eastward.
"Commander-in-Chief!"
Before the intelligence officer entered the house, the sound of him running and panting could be heard far outside the door.
Zhou Zhirou's lips were blistered from the cigarette. He simply sat on the chair and closed his eyes to rest. However, the two fingers of his right hand kept jumping up and down on the armrest of the chair. Hearing the words, he suddenly opened his eyes and stood up.
Everyone could hear the joy in the intelligence officer's tone.
As soon as the intelligence officer opened the door and before his legs entered the room, his smiling face appeared in everyone's eyes: "Report to the Commander-in-Chief! My bomber group blew up the Japanese Nanning Airport and is on its way back!"
"Say it again!"
Zhou Zhirou looked at the intelligence officer with wide eyes, fearing that she had heard wrongly.
The intelligence officer ran up to Zhou Zhirou in three steps and did not have time to salute: "A great victory, Commander-in-Chief! Xu Jianghua called, our bomber group achieved a great victory and destroyed about 200 Japanese fighter planes at Nanning Airport." shelf!"
More than two hundred?
Destroyed more than 200 enemy planes?
Everyone, including Zhou Zhirou, thought they had heard wrong.
Zhou Zhirou grabbed the intelligence officer's shoulder and widened his eyes: "Tell me again, how many fights?"
"More than two hundred aircraft! Commander-in-Chief!" The intelligence officer said as he handed the telegram to Zhou Zhirou.
"Jesus!"
Zhou Zhirou's hand holding the telegram was trembling a little, "We killed more than 200 fighter planes of the Japs... Unprecedented victory... Unprecedented..."
"Oh my God! We killed more than 200 Japanese fighter planes. It's unbelievable... Our nine bombers killed several Japanese air groups..."
The room suddenly became a sea of joy, and the officers laughed heartlessly.
A major asked the orderly to go to the kitchen to get food and wine. Everyone had not eaten since noon and was waiting for news. Now that there was great news, we had to celebrate.
"Quick!" Zhou Zhirou raised her hand to signal for everyone to pause the celebration and said to the intelligence officer, "Immediately. Send some good news to the principal immediately... just say... just say that our air force attacked the Japanese Nanning Airport and obtained Unprecedented victory, destroying more than 200 enemy planes."
The intelligence officer smiled broadly and said from ear to ear: "Yes! Commander-in-Chief!"
"No!" Zhou Zhirou immediately changed his mind, thought for a moment, and thought to himself, to be on the safe side, it would be best to say more than a hundred, "Blow up more than a hundred enemy planes..."
"Yes. Commander-in-Chief!"
After Zhou Zhirou signed the telegram, the intelligence officer turned around and trotted out of the room to send a report to the principal in Chongqing.
…
Nanning Airport.
Finally, the Japanese ground air defense forces and aviation forces realized that there was a misunderstanding, and the two sides immediately ceased fire. At this time, the fire at the airport could no longer be controlled by humans. The Japanese fighter planes returning from Kunlun Mountain could only land at other airports.
The fire at the airport was too great, and the explosions of ammunition continued to rumble. What was even more unlucky for the Japanese army was that the weapons depot was also destroyed. The few surviving airport personnel could only stand around from a distance, watching helplessly as everything in the airport was melted into pieces by the fire. Scrap copper and iron.
Saburo Sakai, who was lucky enough to save his life, picked up a branch from the roadside and used it as a crutch. He endured the pain and limped into the air defense position, looking for medical treatment. He personally experienced the air raid that almost cost him his life. , witnessed the entire process of the Chinese Air Force from launching an attack to breaking away after bombing. While hating the Chinese Air Force to the core, I admired it to the point of falling to the ground.
While being treated in the hospital, Saburo Itai wrote in his diary and commented on the empire's failure at Nanning Airport: This was the biggest failure of the Japanese Air Force in the Sino-Japanese War.
The accuracy of the enemy's bombing and the speed with which they left the battlefield after the bombing can be said to be unprecedented.
I have been on the battlefield in China for many years, and I have never seen the Chinese Air Force fight so cleanly and neatly. I both hate and admire it.
On the other hand, the failure of the empire came from underestimation of the enemy, indolence, arrogance, old-fashioned tactics, and chaotic command, which led to such tragic consequences. Not a single fighter plane parked in the airport was spared, there were countless casualties, oil storage tanks were destroyed, and the entire airport was at least Paralyzed for two months...
…
An incendiary bomb lit up, and everyone saw a Chinese fighter jet appear in the bright light. The blue sky and white sun emblem on the wing was extremely dazzling. It was the commander-in-chief's fighter jet, swinging its wings left and right in the air, celebrating victory!
"The commander-in-chief is back!"
The pilots of the eight bombers cheered and gently shook their wings along with Zhou Zhihan's fighter in celebration!
Just now, Zhou Zhihan caught up with the fleet. After detecting that there were no enemies around, he fired a flare to identify himself in the darkness.
The Spitfire's launch of flares was also one of the original plans. When the bombers finished dropping their bombs, Zhou Zhihan acted as a rear guard to cover the retreat. He waited for him to repel his pursuers, and after catching up with the fleet, he launched flares to show his identity. At the same time, he also guided everyone to move closer to him and follow him smoothly. A sign of return, and if a bomber deviates, the flare can also indicate the direction.
Zhou Zhihan led all the bombers back to Guilin Airport successfully. All pilots who participated in the air raid got off the plane safely and received a warm welcome...
The principal in Chongqing was very happy to learn about this incident. He personally sent a telegram to express his congratulations and said that he would hold a banquet at a selected date to entertain the pilots who went on this expedition. He also asked the Air Force Headquarters to bury the pilots who died in the Kunlun Pass and treat them well. his family.
The next morning, major newspapers in China published the glorious results of the Chinese Air Force, boosting the confidence of the military and civilians.
This brilliant victory broke several records during the Anti-Japanese War.
1. Major General Tsukamoto Tsukamoto, the highest-ranking Japanese aviation officer, was seriously injured, and more than a dozen other officers such as colonels, lieutenants, and majors were killed.
It is particularly worth mentioning that Major General Tsukamoto 243 was the future successor that Japanese Navy Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku was determined to train. Because he lost an arm in the air raid this time, he had to transfer to the base air force. Commander, from now on, the Japanese army will never find a naval general as proficient in aviation as him.
Reluctantly, Yamamoto Isoroku had no choice but to let Chuichi Nagumo, who graduated from the same class as Tsukamoto 243, serve as the commander-in-chief of the Naval Mobility Department.
However, Chuichi Nagumo's performance in the Battle of Midway was sluggish and his command errors led to the destruction of the elite Japanese navy and naval aviation. The Pacific War thus became a turning point for Japan's defeat and surrender.
This battle made Washington, who had watched the Chinese battlefield with a cold eye, finally make the decision to assist the Chinese Air Force, and the birth of the Flying Tigers began to be brewed.
Second, the Chinese bomber group launched its first attack on Nanning Airport and achieved unprecedented success in bombing the Japanese aviation base.
In the past, the Chinese Air Force could barely deal with the bombing of enemy aircraft, and could not spare the time to attack the enemy's home base. This surprise attack was a first of its kind, which not only impressed the world's air forces, but also greatly frightened the Japanese Air Force.
Third, in this battle, the most Japanese military aircraft were destroyed, including the destruction and semi-destroyed of more than 200 Japanese fighter aircraft (the Japanese military reported 100 aircraft to the outside world), second only to the Pearl Harbor incident.
Shortly after the Chinese Air Force achieved a great victory, at ten o'clock that night, another good news came from the front line. The old dog Masao Nakamura, who had been full of evil, finally died at Kunlun Pass.
After the death of Masao Nakamura, the morale of the 42nd Regiment was extremely low. It was quickly defeated under the fierce attack of the Chinese Army. On the way to escape, several Japanese soldiers carrying the body of Masao Nakamura were finally unable to bear the weight and stopped halfway. Abandoning it, the pursuing Chinese troops obtained it and found a diary in Masao Nakamura's clothes.
Major General Yu Nakamura Masao, Qiu Qingquan and Dai Anlan reported to General Du Yuming how to deal with the body of Masao Nakamura.
