The weather is so good, how could there be dark clouds?
"No, it's an enemy plane! A Japanese plane is coming!"
"Why did the Japanese plane come at this time? Someone revealed our whereabouts?"
"Protect the airliner!"
Suddenly, the entire formation began to panic.
If it were just ten fighters from their fourth group, it would be nothing, but they still had to protect the passenger planes.
Not only the fighter pilots in the formation exclaimed, but even the people inside the passenger plane anxiously came to the plane window to watch the situation.
"Do you want to land immediately? Find a place to hide?"
"It's definitely too late to land. If you land at this time, you will definitely be targeted by the Japanese planes coming. We have to find a way to stop the Japanese planes and cover our evacuation from this place."
While everyone in the passenger plane was arguing, four I-16 fighter jets broke away from the formation near the passenger plane and headed directly towards the Japanese fleet to the north.
"Who is that? So brave?"
"It seems to be Li Hang and his 23rd Squadron!" Someone recognized Li Hang's aircraft number.
"Li Hang? He is indeed a loyal and brave man of the government!"
"We should take advantage of this opportunity to stay away from the battlefield immediately."
After a while, the pilot of the passenger plane began to accelerate, intending to leave here quickly.
However, the speed of the Junkers aircraft in front of me is not very fast. If the aircraft behind it cannot stop the enemy aircraft, it will be easily overtaken.
Dong Mingde was also a little anxious, and immediately asked Liu Zesheng to lead a detachment to meet the enemy with Li Hang and the other four, while he took the remaining three fighters to protect the passenger plane.
At this time, he was also thinking about why his whereabouts were exposed?
Someone leaked their whereabouts?
It's definitely impossible on the pilot's part, because they don't know when they will return.
Because the plane had been inspected and refueled after landing before, it had already been prepared for takeoff. The time from receiving the order to return to the official takeoff of the Fourth Group was less than ten minutes.
It would be impossible for the Japanese army to arrive here in such a short time.
In this way, it is possible that something went wrong on the Fifth War Zone side. The return time was estimated based on the whereabouts of the principal and others, so it happened that they attacked in large numbers just as they took off.
Well, actually the situation is the third one that Dong Mingde didn't guess.
It was the Japanese intelligence personnel in Xuzhou who reported the news to the North China Front Army Headquarters, and then to the Army Aviation Provisional Aviation Corps.
Because they learned that China had dispatched new fighter planes assisted by the Soviet Union, the Aviation Corps urgently transferred new aircraft from Peiping.
This took some time.
Knowing that the Chinese plane at Xuzhou Airport had not yet taken off, the Japanese aviation force took off to attack.
As for meeting Dong Mingde and others who had just taken off and returned, it was purely a coincidence.
Now whether it was a coincidence or not, they had to find a way to deal with it.
"No, it's a new Japanese fighter plane!"
When he saw the single-wing fighter jet shining silver in the sun, Li Hang immediately realized that it must be the Little Devil's Type 97 fighter jet.
He immediately issued a warning to Liang Tiancheng and other three team members.
Liang Tiancheng and the others were shocked. They didn't expect that their captain would guess it and actually encounter a new fighter plane of the Japanese Army.
However, the three planes coming to assist later did not know about it. Because of the distance and lack of radio, Li Hang and others could not inform the three of them at all.
Moreover, the Japanese Army Air Force was approaching fiercely and dispatched a large number of fighter planes. Although I couldn't count them clearly, there must be twenty of them.
The two armies were so close to each other that there was no way to avoid them and they had to go head-on.
Li Hang made a 'four' sign to his three men, which meant full firepower and they could only fight head-on.
There are actually 24 fighter planes in the Japanese fleet, including 6 Type 97 fighters and 18 Type 95 fighters.
It's not that the Japs don't want to send more Type 97 fighters, but there are only so many.
Because the Type 97 fighter jets only entered service this year, they were given priority in equipping the Kwantung Army.
The Kwantung Army is the general army and has a high level, which is not comparable to that of the North China Front. In addition, we need to be on guard against the Soviet Union, so naturally the good stuff should be given to the Kwantung Army first.
At this time, the temporary aviation regiment of the North China Front only had these 6 Type 97 fighter jets, and there were not many more unless they waited another month.
But Tokugawa Yoshitoshi had suffered a big loss before, so he naturally didn't want to let it go, so he sent 6 Type 97 fighters, supplemented by 18 Type 95 fighters.
The formation of Japanese aircraft does not all fly in a row, but three in a formation. This is a common formation method of the Chinese and Japanese air forces.
However, under the influence of Li Hang, the Chinese Air Force has begun reforms, all of which are two-plane formations.
"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"
When the 16 aviation machine guns on the four planes piloted by Li Hang and others rushed towards the Japanese army, the battle officially started.
To be honest, in 4 vs. 24, the Chinese Air Force dared to take the initiative to fight, while the Japanese fleet was still a little unfazed.
But when the Chinese Air Force's machine guns opened fire in unison, the Japanese pilots were also shocked. Is this such strong firepower?
The Japanese troops who reacted also began to fight back, but many Japanese pilots began to pull up their fighter planes to avoid this powerful firepower.
. . . . . .
"What happened? Why was the commander-in-chief's plane attacked by the Japanese as soon as it took off?"
At this time, at Xuzhou Airport, a group of high-level officials from the Fifth War Zone who had not yet left were being yelled at by the person headed by them.
When such an accident occurs, no one dares to take it seriously.
"Chief Li, has someone leaked his whereabouts?"
"Check it for me, I want to find out who wants to frame me for injustice!"
"Sir Li, the top priority is to ensure the safety of the commander-in-chief, otherwise we will all be sinners."
"The battlefield is in the sky, and there is no air force here in Xuzhou. How can we ensure it?"
"Send a report to the Third Air Force Group. They are at the airport in Henan. It should be possible to come over in time."
"What are you still doing? Go and give the order!"
"Chief Li, it's best to send the report to the Air Force's former enemy headquarters. It would be more appropriate for them to give the order to the Third Group."
"At this time, you are still thinking about this... Forget it, I will also send a report to the Air Force's former enemy headquarters and tell them the situation here. This is nothing!"
"But don't let anything happen!"
"Dong Mingde, Li Hang, Liang Tiancheng and Liu Zesheng are all here. They are so powerful, they should be able to stop them."
"Can they stop them? There are too many Japanese planes!"
For a moment, these people panicked and had no choice. If an accident happened to the passenger plane in the sky, things would change.
At that time, they all will become sinners.
Fortunately, a plane has already gone to intercept the Japanese plane. It should be the accompanying escort formation. But can it be stopped?
They thought that there were four relatively powerful pilots in the escort formation, and three of the Four Heavenly Kings were present.
Deputy Captain Dong Mingde is also an experienced person.
It's just that they have to protect the passenger plane and stop the enemy, which is very difficult.
