On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers, American bicycle workers, made the first powerful, longitudinal, and manned airplane in human history with canvas pasted on willow branches. Although the first test flight of this aircraft called "Flyer 1" was only 3 meters high, the range was only 37 meters, and it was only 12 seconds in the air, but it opened the first page of human aviation history. Since then, the world's industrial powers have begun to develop the aviation industry.

The aviation industry of the Chinese started not late. On September 21, 1909, Feng Ru, an overseas Chinese living in the United States, flew his own "Feng Ru No. 1" aircraft over Oakland, USA. Only a year later, in 1910, the Qing Dynasty purchased the first aircraft, and in August of the same year, he allocated funds to appoint Liu Zuocheng and Li Baozhuo, who had returned from Liu, to build a factory shed in Yanjing Nanyuan to manufacture aircraft, and used the Nanyuan garrison to build China's first airport. Although the first flight test flight of the first aircraft manufactured by Liu Zuocheng and Li Baoyan failed, the dream of the Chinese artificial aircraft has been flying with difficulty.

In February 1911, Feng Ru returned to Guangdong with his assistant and two planes, and after the Xinhai Revolution he was appointed captain of the flying team by Sun Yat-sen. Unfortunately, Feng Ru was wrecked during an air show in 1912 and died.

During the Xinhai Revolution, the revolutionaries had a broad vision and founded four air forces in one go. Of course, the number of aircraft in the initial period of the air force was small, very rudimentary, and the combat effectiveness was limited, and most of them disappeared.

Because Yuan Shikai had a ghost in his heart after stealing the fruits of the Xinhai Revolution, he wanted to strengthen his military strength, so he not only approved the purchase of aircraft, but also approved the establishment of Nanyuan Aviation School, the first batch of 50 recruits to train pilots. This objectively promoted the start of China's aviation industry.

In 1913, Yuan Shikai's naval commander-in-chief, Liu Guanxiong, selected fourteen students from the naval fleet and sent them to the United States to learn how to build airplanes. In 1916, this group of people returned to China after completing their studies and prepared for the establishment of the Naval Aircraft Engineering Office in the Mawei Shipbuilding Bureau in Fujian. The Aircraft Department of the Mawei Ship Administration Bureau was formally established in January 1918, with workshops such as wooden waki, iron hull, and joint disturbance, with more than 200 workers, with Zeng Yijing in charge of maintenance and Ba Yuzao in charge of design. In August of the following year, the Aircraft Department of the Mawei Ship Administration Bureau manufactured China's first water training aircraft "A-1". The A-1 is a 100 hp twin-boom biplane with a fuselage made of domestic elm wood and three seats. Because it is a seaplane, there is no need for an airport, and a docking station is built in the middle of the river with the water surface as a runway. It's a pity that the pilot of the test flight at that time, Huaqiao Zeisso, was inexperienced and failed in the test flight. Undeterred, the designers of the flight department continued to develop the A-2 and A-3 while sending Cao Mingzhi, Wu Rukui, Chen Taiyao, Liu Daoyi, and others to the Philippine Aviation College to learn flight technology. These men graduated and returned to China in April 1921 and successfully conducted test flights. They were the first batch of pilots in our country. On July 30, 1923, the Guangdong Aircraft Factory presided over by Yang Yat-sen successfully developed the "Le Shiwen No. 1", and Sun Yat-sen and his wife Song Qingling attended the test flight ceremony at Dashatou Airport. By 1930, the Aircraft Division of the Mawei Ship Administration Bureau had produced a total of 17 aircraft of 7 types, including trainer planes, reconnaissance planes, coastal patrol planes, and torpedo bombers.

During the Republic of China, warlords fought in a melee, today you fight me, tomorrow I will fight you, and the plane has also become a magic weapon to defeat the enemy. Warlords of all stripes have bought planes and aircraft manufacturing equipment from abroad, but of course they can't buy any good planes, most of which are eliminated after the First World War, and there are all kinds of brands, turning China into a universal aircraft expo. As a result, not only the political axes of the north and the nationalist axes of the south set up aviation schools and aircraft factories, but even the warlords of various provinces also set up aviation schools and aircraft factories one after another. There are six relatively large aircraft factories, among which the Guangdong Aircraft Factory founded by Sun Yat-sen and the Shaoguan Aircraft Factory founded by Chen Jiongming in 1934 are relatively advanced, and the Guangdong Aircraft Factory has been in operation for 13 years and has produced 60 "Yangcheng" trainers, destroyers, and bombers. The Shaoguan Aircraft Factory produced 30 "Fuxing" aircraft and 10 "Hawk" aircraft.

After the end of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek gradually reorganized the whole [***] forces. In 1934, when Kong Xiangxi went to Italy for a visit, Mussolini told Kong Xiangxi that he said that his navy was strong, and that China's development of the navy could not catch up with the development of the air force in any case, and that only by developing the air force could it catch up. When these words were passed on to the explanation, the more Chiang Kai-shek pondered it, the more he felt that Mussolini was right, so he decided to develop the air force and changed the aviation administration under the Ministry of Military Affairs into a committee. According to Chiang Kai-shek's words, it is necessary to "create a new air force in China and build a new air force in China as soon as possible." The Nationalist Axe and the United States signed an agreement to form a Hawker aircraft in Hangzhou. However, it was not until 1936 that the Guangdong Air Force returned to the central government during the "Liangguang Incident", and the national political axe could be regarded as the basic integration of the national aviation forces. With the addition of the newly purchased Hawker III aircraft from the United States, the fighters were organized into three squadrons, 3, 4 and 5, each with three squadrons of 10 fighters each, and 29 reading squadrons.

At this time, Chiang Kai-shek could develop the air force on a large scale, but thinking about it, developing the air force is a matter of spending a lot of money, and the financial revenue of a county is not enough to buy an airplane! The corrupt officials under his command have no other skills, but their ability to make money is not small, and if they let these people manage the procurement of the Air Force, won't they send the money to the fire pit? Besides, the Air Force is a new branch of the armed forces, and it is very powerful, so outsiders cannot be allowed to take charge of the Communist Army. As a result, Chiang Kai-shek set up a secretary general under the chairman of the Aviation Committee, and let Chiang's wife Soong Meiling personally serve as the secretary general to specifically plan the development of the air force, that is, the actual commander of the air force.

Song Meiling is indeed capable, although she is airsick on a plane and has never learned aviation, she is ice and snow smart, and she is naturally beautiful, charming, and has a strong affinity. Not to mention, letting her manage the Air Force is really the right person, she is really carefully planned, established rules and regulations, and manages the Air Force in an orderly manner. However, Soong Meiling was not a strategist after all, and she did not have an accurate grasp of the timing of a full-scale war between China and China, resulting in the Chinese Air Force's efforts to purchase aircraft and spare parts that did not keep up with the actual needs of the war.

In Soong Meiling's view, the aircraft manufacturing industry in various countries is developing rapidly, and new models are emerging one after another, and what you buy today will already lag behind tomorrow, so it is better to buy some of them for the time being, mainly to save money, and once China says that war starts, it is not too late to buy again, and it can be guaranteed that the Chinese Air Force will use the most advanced aircraft. In addition, she has lived in the United States for a long time and is used to seeing free trade in the United States, thinking that as long as she has money, it is not a big problem to buy anything. There is another reason, that is, I am deceitful. By the end of '36, the intelligence department had obtained information that there were only 3,000 planes in the country, and all of them were copied or purchased planes, and many of the models were relatively old, indicating that the manufacturing capacity of the aviation industry was limited and it was still in the imitation stage. As everyone knows, the aviation industry at this time has entered the stage of independent research and development, and mass production has been realized. The last reason was that the Chinese at that time, no one at that time had ever experienced a large-scale air battle, and they did not have a good understanding of the role of military aircraft and the tragic bombing in the upcoming Sino-Japanese war. In this way, although Liu Yimin issued several speeches reminding the people to actively prepare for war and purchase and manufacture more aircraft and aviation ammunition, that string was still missing in the hearts of Song Meiling and others.

In this way, in addition to the $6.2 million spent by China in 1934 and 1935 to import 213 aircraft and 94 engines from the United States, in 1936 China only used part of the $3.5 million raised by the birthday celebration to buy some Hawker III aircraft, and the rest of the donations and financial appropriations were deposited in the Bank of Hong Kong by Soong Meiling, ready to be used to purchase the latest fighter jets if the situation deteriorated. As a result, as soon as the Lugou Bridge Incident occurred, not only did the military and navy block China's shipping routes, but even those old empires in Europe and the United States put on a neutral face, so that China could not afford to buy planes, and even if they bought them, they could not transport them back. At this time, Song Meiling wanted to buy planes from Europe and the United States to equip the Air Force, but it was no longer possible.

When Chiang Kai-shek heard that the Chinese Air Force had only 600 aircraft at the start of the war, including only 305 fighters, and only half of them were combat-ready, he was stunned.

Fortunately, the morale of the officers and men of the Chinese Air Force is high, and they fight desperately, preferring to die with the enemy rather than flinch in the slightest. These planes were used to wage a desperate struggle against the army, navy, and air force that had 5,000 planes, and from the Battle of Taiyuan to the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Nanjing, the battles were impressive, and the martyrs of the Air Force were bloody and fertile in the sky, composing heroic songs one after another. However, after all, there is a huge disparity, and after the Battle of Songhu, although the Chinese Air Force shot down a large number of planes, the Chinese Air Force can replenish them at any time, while the Chinese Air Force cannot replenish them. China lost two-thirds of its aircraft in the Battle of Songhu, and by early November 1937, the Chinese Air Force had really become an air force, with only 36 aircraft remaining.

At this time, it was the Soviet Union that provided great assistance to the Chinese people.

Since August 20, 1937, when the two countries signed the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in Nanjing, the Soviet Union has increased its assistance to China out of sympathy for the Chinese people and the needs of its own strategy. On 27 August, Chiang Kai-shek met with Soviet Ambassador to China Bogomolov, and in addition to asking the Soviet Union to provide loans, send advisory missions, and support the weapons and ammunition of 20 Chinese divisions, he openly raised the specific issue of asking the Soviet political axe to "allow Soviet pilots to join the Chinese Air Force as volunteers," and at the same time requested that Soviet flight instructors be sent as soon as possible to help train China's air force. In November, due to the great losses of the Chinese Air Force and the complete loss of air supremacy on the battlefield, Chiang Kai-shek sent another telegram to Stalin, requesting that combat aircraft be supported as soon as possible and that Soviet Air Force volunteers be sent into China to participate in the war.

By 1 December, the Soviet Union had handed over 86 aircraft of various types to China. By February 1938, the Soviet Union had supplied China with 225 aircraft of various types.

From the end of November 1937 to January 1938, the Soviet Air Force Volunteer Corps entered China in three batches, starting with only 99 people, including 36 pilots, organized into a bomber squadron and a fighter squadron. Their fighters mainly have two types, the I-15 and the I-16, which are the first-line equipment of the Soviet army, and the I-15 is relatively flexible and convenient for horizontal combat, and is called "Yellow Warbler" by the Soviets. The I-16 is called the "Swallow" because of its speed and ease of vertical combat and pursuit. The "Yellow Oriole" and the "Swallow" are matched with high and low, often winning more with less, and have made great contributions to the Chinese Air Force's mastery of battlefield air supremacy. The bomber was the "Tupolev" SB bomber, which the Soviets called "Katyusha", and its speed was faster than that of the contemporaries of the Yuben-96 fighter.

At that time, because the Soviet Union did not declare war on the Soviet Union, the Soviet Air Force Volunteer Corps was called the "Sword of Justice Brigade of the Chinese Air Force" to the outside world, and all the planes were numbered according to the serial numbers of the Chinese Air Force fighters.

On 1 December, on the day of their arrival in Nanjing, the Soviet Air Force volunteers went into battle, shooting down and damaging 10 Japanese bombers and four fighters, losing two planes and the pilot parachuting and being rescued. On December 2, six planes were shot down, and on December 3, four planes were shot down.

However, there were too many military planes, and every few batches of attacks were made, and the Soviet Air Force Volunteer Corps fought several battles one after another, and there were not many combat experience among the members, so the losses continued to increase. One pilot was so frightened that he refused to go into battle on the grounds that he was sick, and had to be transferred to the rear to become a flight instructor.

However, with the extension of time and the arrival of more pilots with combat experience, these problems were gradually overcome, and the Soviet Air Force volunteers fought side by side with the Chinese Air Force, becoming stronger and stronger, participating in all air battles since December 1, 1937, and obtaining impressive fighters.

Taiwan's Songshan Airport is an important base for the Chinese military, storing a large amount of aircraft, aviation gasoline, and aviation ammunition.

Chiang Kai-shek, after receiving information that the Japanese army had strengthened the Songshan airfield in Taipei, was bent on blowing it up. There was no choice but to ask for help from the Soviet Air Force Volunteer Corps.

It is good to bomb the airfield in Taipei, but Hankou has a range of more than 1000 kilometers from Taipei, which is exactly at the limit of the "Tupolev" SB bomber. Matsuyama Airport is also surrounded by mountains, and the terrain is hidden and heavily defended. However, the air force aiding China also has its own advantages, that is, the Soviet pilots have long been accustomed to forcible bombing without fighter escort, and the "Tupolev" SB bomber has a speed advantage, and the leader of the Porunin squadron, Fidruk, boldly proposed that the bomber group fly at an altitude of 4,000 to 4,800 meters to increase the range, and the aircraft group will cross Taiwan from the north, and then descend to the 3,600-meter airspace in the south, bomb in the air, and return to the mainland.

On 23 February, which happened to be the Army Day of the Soviet Red Army, the commander of the Soviet Air Force Volunteer Corps, Liuchagov, decided to make a long-distance raid on Taipei's Songshan Airport as a gift for Army Day, so he ordered 12 planes of the Sino-Soviet mixed formation bomber squadron stationed in Nanchang and 28 planes of the Soviet Air Force Volunteer Squadron stationed in Hankou to bomb the Songshan airfield.

What is full of drama is that in the early morning of 23 July, before the departure of the Poleunin squadron, 18 bombers of the Chinese army suddenly arrived over the Hankou airport, and the airport sounded a terrible alarm. The strange thing is that the plane does not seem to have discovered the Hankou airport, and turned around and flew to bomb Changsha.

Porunin shouted luck and immediately gave the order to take off. After taking off and completing the formation, in order to save fuel, Porunin ordered the formation to rise directly to an altitude of 5,500 meters and fly straight to Taipei. The Sino-Soviet mixed formation that took off from Nanchang failed to reach Taiwan due to the deviation in the calculation of the navigator.

After flying for a few hours, the Poryunin squadron arrived in Taipei, and after the navigator determined the direction, Poryunin found an air attack in the clouds, and immediately ordered the formation to rush out of the clouds, slow down and prepare to attack.

After breaking through the clouds, Matsuyama Airport is right in front of you. At the Songshan airfield in front of him, there was not a single alert fighter in the air, and there was no anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground, and rows of warplanes were neatly arranged on one side of the runway, and on the other side were huge oil depots and engine rooms.

Suppressing the ecstasy in his heart, Poleonin commanded loudly through the throat intercom: "All attention, I am Poleonin, launch a dive attack." Repeat, all of them launch a dive attack. After speaking, Poleunin pressed the nose of the plane and swooped down towards Matsuyama Airport.

The first bombs were dropped precisely in the center of the airfield, and the explosions rang out. Several military pilots who were on standby in the cabin tried to launch their planes into the air to meet the enemy, but the planes did not taxi far before they were hit by bomb fragments and exploded. Then there was an explosion at the oil depot, and the fire rose into the sky with billowing smoke. Then came the explosion of the ammunition depot, and Matsuyama Airport became a living purgatory. That scene was like a replica of the Eighth Route Army's air force sneak attack on the military airfield in North China.

Seeing that the goal was achieved, Poleunin gave the order to return home. In this campaign, more than 40 planes of the Chinese army were blown up, a large number of fighters that had not yet had time to be assembled were destroyed, and a large amount of aviation fuel and a large amount of aviation ammunition that could be used for three years at Songshan Airport were destroyed. It was said that the governor of Taiwan was immediately recalled to China, and the commander of the Songshan base committed suicide.

Seven hours later, the Poleunin squadron returned triumphantly to the Hankou airport, where the heroes were greeted by a crowd of cheering people in the streets.

Song Meiling personally set up a banquet to celebrate the heroes, and the cake she gave was written in eye-catching red letters: "Salute to the volunteer pilots of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army!" ”

After the incident, Porunin received the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" for the bombing of the Matsuyama airfield.

At this time, the Battle of Wuhan had reached a critical period, and the air forces of the two sides had repeatedly engaged in fierce air battles in order to compete for air supremacy, cover the operations of ground troops, and protect important targets. Although the strength of the military aviation force is strong, after a series of sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Army Air Force in North China, the veteran pilots of the North China Aviation Group have lost all of them, and those who have been replenished are all rookies. The aviation units they sent to the battlefield in Wuhan had limited combat effectiveness. After such a long period of combat attrition, the ace pilots of the Central China Dispatch Army and the carrier-based aircraft of the Navy also suffered heavy losses in the battles with the Chinese Air Force and the Soviet Air Force Volunteer Corps. The original elite of the Chinese Air Force has basically been exhausted, and now the 200 pilots who have returned from training in the Soviet Union and the pilots trained in China by the Soviet Volunteer Corps are all on the battlefield. It is only a matter of the number and quality of aircraft that are missing. Now, the heroic Eighth Route Army Aviation Brigade is ordered to support the Wuhan battlefield, which is a group of eagles that have been nurtured by Liu Yimin and trained in the tactics of the United States and the Soviet Union.

(To be continued)