"Why haven't you come back yet? The bomber formations of the China Aid Air Force have all returned. Why hasn't a single aircraft from the 23rd Squadron returned?"
At Wuhan Hankou Airport, Lao Zhou and Mao Bangchu were waiting anxiously on the airport tarmac.
More than half an hour ago, the 24 bombers that carried out the bombing mission returned safely and landed at Hankou Airport and Xiaogan Airport, but there was no movement from the escorting 23rd Squadron.
According to the explanation of the bomber formation, the 23rd Squadron did not land in Hefei to refuel before bombing Nanjing, but went there after completing the bombing mission.
"Mr. Zhou, why are you so worried? Didn't the Soviets say they might refuel in Hefei?" Mao Bangchu on the side didn't think there was any problem.
After all, the mission of bombing the Japanese airport in Nanjing has been successfully completed. The bombers did not damage a single bomber. This is a great victory. They are all thinking about how to compile a victory report. How many Japanese aircraft were destroyed in the victory report.
Lao Yiyi thought so, but then a major hurried over.
"Commander-in-Chief, the phone number of the personnel left behind at the former enemy headquarters."
"Walk!"
Lao Zhou immediately came to the communications room of Hankou Airport and immediately picked up the phone, "I'm Zhou Baifu."
"Commander-in-Chief, there is a telegram from Nanchang. The air strike formation composed of the Fourth Brigade, the Ninth Brigade and the China Aid Air Force has returned."
"Just tell me the result." Lao Zhou said expressionlessly.
"Back to the commander-in-chief, according to reports from Nanchang, this air strike destroyed more than 30 Japanese aircraft, including a large number of bombers. However, there were losses. A total of 4 of our fighters were shot down and 3 of them were damaged."
"What's going on? Why is the loss so big?"
"The air raid team encountered a Japanese aviation team over Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport. Such losses occurred after a fierce battle."
Upon hearing the news, Lao Zhou's expression became serious.
Who would have thought that something like this would happen, actually encountering a Japanese air force over Jianqiao Airport.
"The commander-in-chief, perhaps the newly reinforced Japanese air force, happened to be hit by our air raid formation." Mao Bangchu explained, "In general, we only lost 4 fighter planes, but we destroyed more than 100 Japanese planes. Thirty."
"It depends on how many Japanese planes were destroyed in the attack on Nanjing."
"According to the report of the bomber formation, there were more than 30 aircraft at Ming Forbidden City Airport and Daxiaochang Airport. Under the bombing of that intensity, they should have been destroyed.
In this way, the total will be about seventy. How about we order a hundred? "Mao Bangchu asked tentatively.
"Okay, I'll give you a hundred fights!" After thinking for a while, Lao Zhou agreed.
No one is going to confirm it anyway.
And there is not much difference between more than seventy and one hundred.
Lying about military achievements is common in war.
This is not only true for the national army, but also for the Japanese army. No one would be stupid enough to report their losses truthfully. They usually reduce their losses and exaggerate their results.
The same is true for the Japanese army.
So looking at those historical materials, during the Anti-Japanese War, there was a big difference in the number of casualties counted by both sides. Who knows how many specific casualties there were.
However, the losses caused by the air raid in Hangzhou also made Lao Zhou worried about the 23rd Squadron.
"They're back, they're back."
"Who's back?"
"Squadron 23!"
"One... two... Hey, why are there only nine planes? One less?"
Lao Zhou and others ran quickly towards the tarmac while listening to the discussions of the people around them.
At the same time, he did not forget to look at the sky, fearing that the plane that did not come back was Li Hang or Lu Jichun.
When he arrived near the runway, he breathed a sigh of relief after seeing both 2301 and 2305 landing one after another.
"I've seen two officers!"
When Lu Jichun and Li Hang got off the plane and learned that Lao Zhou was there, they quickly ran over to salute and report.
"Just come back. Why are you so slow? You came back an hour later than the bomber formation. Why is there one less plane?" Lao Zhou immediately asked.
"Commander, we encountered an accident when we returned from the mission. But the result was not bad. We shot down 10 Japanese aircraft and damaged 2 at the cost of losing one aircraft." No one died this time, Lu Jichun's mood Still very good.
"Shooted down 10 Japanese planes? Damaged 2? Your record is amazing!" Mao Bangchu was greatly surprised.
"Mr. Mao was serious, but he was just lucky. The Japanese plane that was chasing us was a Type 95 fighter of the Japanese Army Air Force. It was no match for the I-16 fighter we were flying.
The plane we lost was actually related to the pilot's inexperience, otherwise not a single plane would have been lost. "
Seeing that Lu Jichun did not mean to feel sad when he mentioned the loss of a plane, Mao Bangchu was a little confused and immediately asked, "The plane that was lost was just a plane that fell. Are the people okay?"
"Sir is wise. The pilot parachuted out and the local garrison is looking for him."
"As long as no one is killed! How is your squadron's record?" Lao Zhou showed an expectant expression.
Lu Jichun and Li Hang looked at each other, and finally the former answered, "Back to the commander-in-chief, in this battle, the 23rd Squadron shot down a total of 15 Japanese aircraft. Deputy Squadron Leader Li still had the best result, shooting down the Japs 96 There were 2 Type 95 fighter jets and 3.5 Type 95 fighter jets, for a total of 5.5 kills.
Next was Captain Liang of the second detachment, who shot down 3.5 Japanese aircraft.
In his humble position, he shot down 2 Japanese aircraft.
Zhou Zhikai shot down 1 Japanese aircraft.
. . . . "
It is equivalent to the five of them achieving a record of shooting down 12 aircraft, and the remaining two were shot down by others.
If you are lucky, you will get 0.5 aircraft, and if you are unlucky, you will get 0.25 aircraft.
In fact, the results of Li Hang and Liang Tiancheng's shooting down of three Type 96 carrier-based fighter jets were a bit tricky, because those three fighter jets were shot down in the air shortly after taking off from the Daqiaochang Airport.
However, when they count downed results, naturally it counts if they were shot down in the air, regardless of whether you just took off. As for those that were destroyed on the ground, that doesn't count. This is not a good statistic and can only be regarded as a team effort.
"Is it true? You shot down 15 Japanese planes in total?" After hearing this result, Lao Zhou was a little surprised and couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear.
"Commander-in-Chief, if the planes still have enough fuel, the two planes that escaped can still take down their humble jobs." Li Hang added.
"No need, no need. If we continue to pursue, we will go back to Nanjing! This result is already good. We shot down 15 enemy planes. What about the Japanese planes that were destroyed on the ground?" Lao Zhou was already very satisfied with the result.
"There should be more than a dozen Japanese aircraft of various types at the Ming Forbidden City Airport." Lu Jichun was in charge of the Ming Forbidden City Airport, so he knew a little bit about it.
"There should be more than 20 Japanese planes at Daqiaochang Airport."
"This is equivalent to your air strike mission. Your 23rd Squadron shot down 15 Japanese aircraft and assisted the bomber formation in blowing up more than 40 aircraft on the tarmac?"
