When a group of important figures from the theater headquarters arrived at the airport, Li Hang and Liang Tiancheng were returning from their flight.
There is no doubt that the four Li Hangs have been praised by many big figures, especially Li Hang and Liang Tiancheng.
In this air battle, the two shot down 6 and 3.5 aircraft respectively, which is undoubtedly a great achievement.
Strictly speaking, the records of the four of them were not bad. Zhou Zhikai and the remaining one also shot down 3 and 1.5 aircraft respectively.
Who would have thought that originally I just went to the front line to show off and boost morale, but I didn't expect that I won two consecutive rounds of bye battles, and the effect of boosting morale was also very good.
Someone did the math.
Counting the results of these six, Li Hang had already shot down thirty.
This achievement is too dazzling.
Liang Tiancheng also exceeded 10 and has reached 13. This is not only the second among the new four kings, but also the second ace of the Chinese Air Force.
Even Zhou Zhikai has a record of 8 fights.
It can only be said that this 23rd Squadron is going to defy the odds.
But the Japanese army was a little unhappy.
"Commander Nishio just called and reprimanded our division."
In Zaozhuang, Lieutenant General Isotani Rensuke, the division head of the Japanese Tenth Division, looked at the two brigade commanders and chiefs of staff in front of him with a gloomy expression.
Chief of Staff Umemura was a little puzzled, "Division Commander, Commander Nishio would be too unkind to reprimand us because of the ineffective frontline attack. This is only the first attack."
"It was not because the frontline attack failed, but because our intelligence was wrong, which caused heavy losses to the aviation force. Lieutenant General Tokugawa of the Aviation Corps directly found Commander Nishio and said that our frontline troops were spreading intelligence indiscriminately." Rensuke Isotani explained.
"Distributing information indiscriminately? Is it Captain Furong's report on the previous China fighter plane?" Major General Tian Jiu remembered something.
As soon as he finished speaking, he found the division commander staring at him, "It's because of this. The Chinese fighter planes over Taierzhuang were not the ones that attacked the imperial army before, but the Fourth Battalion of the Chinese Air Force. The leader was called Li Hang."
"Li Hang? This name sounds familiar."
"This is the person who made His Majesty the Emperor angry. It was this Li Hang who killed King Jiuyan of Asaka Palace and two lieutenant general division commanders in Nanjing. This time he led four advanced Russian fighter planes to reinforce Taierzhuang before the war. That idiot Colonel Rong did not clearly explain the situation of the China fighter planes in the telegram, which led to a miscalculation on the part of the aviation force.
As a result, the Army Aviation lost a total of 14 fighter planes in Taierzhuang. This was the Army Aviation's largest loss since the Jinpu Line battle. Lieutenant General Tokugawa was naturally very angry. "
After hearing Isotani Rensuke's explanation, everyone realized what the problem was.
The main reason was that when the Furong Wing requested tactical support, it did not clearly explain the situation of the Chinese fighters, which led to a miscalculation on the part of the Army Aviation.
Under normal circumstances, this incident would not cause a military commander like Nisio Hiszo to personally call and reprimand a division commander like Lieutenant General Rensuke Isotani.
The key is still Lieutenant General Tokugawa.
The surname Tokugawa is very special in Japan because this is the family where the Tokugawa shogunate is located.
Of course Tokugawa Yoshitoshi is the head of the Shimizu Tokugawa family of the Tokugawa family, and the Shimizu Tokugawa family belongs to the three nobles of the Tokugawa family. Although not as noble as the noble three nobles of the Tokugawa family, the head still has the title of earl even after the Meiji Restoration.
It's just that Tokugawa Yoshitoshi's father gave up his title due to financial difficulties when he was young. As a result, his eldest son failed to inherit the title of earl. The emperor later made him a baron.
It’s a family aspect.
In addition, Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was the first Japanese pilot to fly into the sky.
Well, flying a plane into the sky.
Therefore, his career has been related to flying, and now he is the leader of Army Aviation, with a high status.
That's why Nishio Juzo came to trouble Isotani Rensuke.
"We couldn't have predicted this situation. Nine planes were still less than the Chinese's four planes. This is probably their own aviation problem." Major General Tian Jiu felt that it was a bit unfair.
"What's the use of talking about this now? I'm just curious about why Li Hang is in Xuzhou. Has the Fifth Theater of China strengthened the aviation force in Xuzhou?" Isotani Rensuke was a little worried.
Judging from today's air battle, it seems that the Air Force's aircraft cannot defeat the Chinese aircraft, which is a bit embarrassing.
Even if there is an advantage on the ground, but no air superiority, this will still have some impact on the battle situation.
"Then let the aviation force bomb the Xuzhou airport. Even if the Chinese have advanced aircraft, they won't have too many." Chief of Staff Memura analyzed.
"This is Army Aviation's matter, and we won't get involved. Tell the Furong United Team that if you don't want to be punished, then you can take advantage of it and make meritorious service."
"Hi!"
The Japanese army was furious about this, especially the Army Aviation side.
They thought that the Fourth Battalion was sent to the Xuzhou battlefield, so they hurriedly transferred new fighters from the Kwantung Army, namely Type 97 fighters.
This is a new fighter aircraft of the Japanese Army. It has outstanding performance and is no worse than the Type 96 carrier-based fighter. The two are similar in appearance, but the difference is that the Type 97 has a closed cockpit, while the Type 96 carrier-based fighter has an open cockpit.
Li Hang didn't know that the Japanese Army Airlines was facing a formidable enemy, because in the afternoon, a group of people escorted the JU-52 passenger plane back to Wuhan.
In order to ensure safety, some bullets were evenly distributed from six planes including Mao Yingchu to Li Hang's plane, especially Li Hang and Liang Tiancheng, to avoid encountering Japanese aircraft when returning midway.
As for Zhou Zhikai's and his two fighter planes, although they were somewhat damaged, they were still able to fly, but their condition was not that good. They just happened to fly back to Wuhan for repairs.
. . . . . .
There is a warehouse near the tarmac at Hankou Airport. It used to be a place where maintenance materials were stored, including damaged aircraft, and some parts were dismantled and used if they could be used.
However, after the successful test flight of Li Hang's wooden aircraft, part of the warehouse was cleared out to park the aircraft, and the airport garrison also sent a squad of soldiers to take turns on duty.
In fact, many people don't take this wooden airplane seriously. They think it is just made of wood. Even though it can fly, it is still different from other metal airplanes.
In fact, they have never thought that both Hawker 2 and 3, as well as the I-15 and 16, actually have wooden structures, but they are not like Li Hang's all-wood aircraft.
The main reason is that people in this era do not have a strong sense of confidentiality.
"I really didn't expect that a plane made of wood could fly."
"What's wrong with flying? I didn't see Chief Li almost having an accident when he was flying."
"If that's the case, why do you still treat this wooden plane like a treasure?"
"who knows."
"who?"
