The hazy mountains were awakened by the morning light, and a glimmer of light gradually turned white at the end of the mountains. At this time, the Xiaoshan base was extremely busy. The runway motors of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd caves roared, and fighter planes taxied on the runway. Runways 1 and 2 are all taking off fighters, and runway No. 3 is mainly taking off bombers. If you pay a little attention, it is not difficult to judge that the gliding distance of the fighter is short, and the body appears small and exquisite. And the bomber was bulky and clumsy. After several months of preparation, the Xiaoshan Air Base of the Eighth Route Army took the lead in opening the curtain of the air contest.

In the headquarters of the No. 1 Cave Warehouse Base, Ouyang Jian stood in front of the window and hugged his arms, his expression was very serious. He didn't seem to be moved by the spectacular scene in front of him, but was calculating how many fighters the Japanese army would send to meet him. "Chief of the General Staff, the fighters of the 1st Group are taking off, and the commander of the bombers, Major William, still does not understand, and asks why the bombers are not hanging bombs?" "Tell Major William that now is not the time to explain, orders must be carried out!" "Report, Nanchang Field Airport, Jiujiang Field Airport, Jingdezhen Field Airport, fighter planes are on standby."

"After the 1st Flying Group lifted into the air, the 2nd Flying Group went into combat readiness!" Ouyang Jian continued to give orders. "Chief of the General Staff, whether the 2nd wave of bombers will be lifted into the air." Zhang Yourong asked. "Don't hang the bullet! Sending out a group of bombers is a decoy, and we must attract more Japanese fighters to the war! ”

Major William, the commander of the bombers in the No. 3 cave, couldn't help but shrug his shoulders as he watched the bombers glide lightly, puzzled by the fact that the bombers did not take off into the air. Even if it is used as a decoy, it is necessary to carry bombs and take the opportunity to attack enemy airfields, and if the escort fighters have the upper hand, it is completely possible to bomb Japanese airfields. ”

Major William couldn't understand what kind of tactics this was, but the military order had to be carried out. Frankly speaking, if it weren't for Ouyang Jian personally in command, he would definitely not have done it honestly. Tie Ning, the leader of the 1st Flight Group, piloted the No. 01 fighter and was the first to fly into the blue sky, and a total of 54 fighters from the three flight squadrons under his command took to the air. Normally, a fighter squadron has 24 fighters in a squadron, while the Eighth Route Army flight squadron has 18 fighters.

After converging in a formation of 20 bombers in the air, the fighters roared towards the Songhu airfield. One of the 3 Donkey Kongs of the Flying Regiment, the captain of the Tiening Brigade took the lead in the first wave of attacks. Li Xiang, the captain of the 2nd Brigade, led the 2nd Brigade to carry out the second wave of attacks.

The 3rd Air Brigade and the Independent Aviation Group, as auxiliary combat groups, are located at Jiujiang, Nanchang, Jingdezhen and other field airfields, and can support operations at any time according to the situation. Tie Ning commanded the group of planes to fly over the airspace of Hangzhou and enter the enemy-occupied area, and the Japanese lookout post quickly reported the news to the Japanese airfield. The Japanese army had already made preparations at the Songhu Field Airfield, and with the terrible sound of sirens, the Japanese pilots quickly ran towards their fighters. According to the information provided by the lookout, Shigeru Oshima led two squadrons of Type 99 fighters and one squadron of Zero fighters to the skies, and their mission was to intercept operations.

At present, Songhu Airport has been continuously expanded, and 4 runways have been formed, and the size of the airport has also doubled. In addition, at two Japanese military airfields in the Nanjing area, fighter planes were also put on standby. In the Japanese headquarters in Nanjing, the atmosphere of the battle was very tense, and a Japanese combat staff officer reported: "It is reported that the target of the enemy plane's attack was the Songhu airfield, and according to the Hangzhou Lookout Sentinel, the enemy plane dispatched 54 fighters and 30 bombers. Judging by this, this was the first wave of air strikes by enemy aircraft. ”

"Your Excellency General, your prediction is very accurate, although the 14th Air Force of the US Army has deployed the main force to support the Burma battlefield, but the Eighth Route Army still can't bear it. In a large-scale battle in the air, the air force units of the Eighth Route Army were somewhat inadequate, and they lacked experience in air combat, so we could completely achieve victory. It was suggested that Nanjing fighters should be dispatched to support Songhu and catch him off guard. Gangcun Ningci shook his head and said: "The fighter planes at Nanjing Airport can't move. If I'm not mistaken, the enemy's commander must be Ouyang Jian! ”

"Our opponent is very shrewd, and our army aviation team at Songhu Airport is tough, and he won't be unaware. However, there must be other intentions in such a persistent way. I judged that the target of the enemy planes must be Nanjing, so the fighters at the Nanjing airfield could not move. According to the information we have, Jingdezhen Airport, Nanchang Airport, and Jiujiang Airport have all deployed enemy bomber squadrons, so we must not be fooled lightly. ”

The information of Gangcun Ningci cannot be said to be inaccurate, and at present, bomber fleets have indeed been deployed at Nanchang, Jiujiang, and Jingdezhen airfields. As the saying goes: Soldiers, treacherous! In fact, there are no bomber teams at Nanchang, Jiujiang, and Jingdezhen airports. True and false, false and true, Ouyang Jian will inevitably fight with Okamura Ningji. In fact, the bombers that appeared in the airfield were all fake planes made of wood.

At present, only the Xiaoshan Air Base and the Fuzhou Military Airport have deployed radars, so the Japanese reconnaissance planes can still carry out effective aerial reconnaissance against other airfields. Okamura Ninji said unusually calmly: "The purpose of restricting air combat to our area is to fight with the Eighth Route Army Air Force, and I want to see how many pilots the Eighth Route Army has." According to the information we have learned, the Eighth Route Army has only one flying regiment in Jiangxi, and it is a little naïve for a flying regiment to want to seize air supremacy! I think the code name of this air battle is the butcher. As long as we crush the air force of the Eighth Route Army, the enemy's counteroffensive plan will be aborted. ”

Okamura Ninji should be said to be a very shrewd tactician, but he still made a common sense mistake. Although the Eighth Route Army Flying Regiment seems to have only one regiment, in fact its size is equivalent to three regiments, and although the establishment of each squadron remains the same, the number of pilots in each squadron far exceeds that of one squadron. In fact, Ouyang Jian sent a combat brigade and 30 bombers to test the reaction of the Japanese army and see if Okamura Ningji dispatched fighters from Nanjing Airport to support Shanghai.

Not long after Tie Ning led the group of planes to cross the airspace of Hangzhou, Shigeru Oshima led the interceptor fighters to appear in front. "The planes listened to the order, the bomber group prepared to retreat, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd combat squadrons formed two planes to meet the enemy." When the order was given, the bomber group immediately turned around and retreated, and the fighters changed formation to meet the enemy. The enemies were very red when they met, and suddenly the two sides fought together in the air.

Shigeru Oshima skillfully pilots a Zero fighter and first locks on a Wildcat fighter. The Zero's maneuverability was indeed sensitive, and coupled with Shigeru Oshima's superb piloting skills, it quickly trapped a Wildcat fighter.

After a dazzling chase, Shigeru Oshima's scope prompted the attack command, and with a slick of machine guns, the Wildcat fighter was hit, and black smoke came out of its tail. As soon as the two sides fought, they shot down a plane of the Eighth Route Army Air Force, and the morale of the Japanese pilots was greatly boosted. Although the Zero Squadron was recruited from the Japanese mainland, the best pilots of the Japanese army were all in the naval combat sequence, so the pilots of the Japanese Zero fighters were basically second-rate, but they flew first-class fighters.

At first, Tie Ning was chased by a Japanese Zero fighter, and through a few unconventional actions, he got rid of the Japanese plane, turned over and bit the Japanese plane. Although the maneuverability of the Wildcat fighter is not as good as that of the Zero, the difference is not particularly obvious. In addition, the Wildcat fighter has rough skin and thick flesh, and one of the biggest flaws of the Zero fighter is that the skin is very easy to catch fire, which is the fatal wound of the Japanese Zero fighter. According to the defects of the Japanese Zero fighter, the United States specially produced a special airborne gun bullet, a kind of gun bullet that can help burn.

Due to the Zero's maneuverability, Tie Ning was never able to lock on to enemy aircraft. Since it was impossible to lock on to simply saturate the blow, all the on-board machine guns suddenly fired. With a dense rain of bullets, the Zero fighter was hit on the wings and immediately burst into flames. The Japanese pilots hurriedly withdrew from the battlefield when they found that something was wrong, but the fire on the wings of the Zero fighter became more and more intense, and the pilots who had flown less than a few kilometers were forced to abandon the plane and parachute, and the fighter plane crashed to the ground. For the defects of the Japanese fighters, the pilots have long been clear. Soon, another Zero fighter was smashed into a ball of fireball and fell to the ground.

The performance of the Japanese Type 99 fighter is similar to that of the Wildcat fighter, but the Japanese Type 99 fighter is a wooden skeleton, which is the biggest shortcoming. The two sides chased back and forth, and after 20 minutes, each side withdrew from the battlefield and returned. At this time, 54 fighters of the 2nd Flying Group of the Eighth Route Army covered 30 bombers one after another. As if the two sides had agreed, the Japanese reserve team on standby quickly rose into the air to intercept it. The battle in the air continued, and the sky was filled with gunsmoke and was spectacular.

Tie Ning piloted the fighter plane to land at the Qiliping Alternate Airport, about 10 kilometers northwest of the base, and in the fierce air battle, his team was shot down 8 fighters and 4 were wounded. His result was to shoot down a Japanese Zero and damage a Zero. The Japanese were shot down 5 fighters and 2 wounded. The result of the first round of the two sides was 12 to 7.

The fighter plane stopped at the end of the runway, and Tie Ning got down from the cockpit and took off his helmet, with a very depressed expression on his face. At this time, a military jeep entered the airport at a gallop.

Tie Ning hurriedly stepped forward, and after the jeep stopped, he saw Zhang Yourong, the commander of the flight regiment, get out of the car. "Report to the regiment commander, the Japanese Zero fighters are indeed advanced, we lost 8 fighters and lost 4 wounded. The Japanese were shot down 5 and wounded 2. However, the shortcomings of the Zero have been proven, as soon as it is hit, it will catch fire. Zhang Yourong said: "Chief of General Staff Ouyang has understood the situation and asked me to convey: You have played very well, and I hope you will continue to work hard." "Please tell the chief, we will continue to work hard!"

At this time, the ground commander gave an order, and Tie Ning quickly ran to the fighter. His squadron was replenished at Qiliping airfield, and the bomber group was joined in the air and flew in the opposite direction towards Songhu again. The situation of the 2nd Group in fierce fighting was also not optimistic, 7 fighters were shot down and 3 were wounded. They shot down 3 Japanese planes and damaged 1. Li Xiang, the leader of the 2nd brigade, was even more depressed than Tie Ning. Night fell, and the first day of brutal air combat ended. In the cave headquarters, Ouyang Jian listened expressionlessly to Zhang Yourong's report on the loss of fighters.

"The Chief of the General Staff, the 1st and 2nd Flying Groups, after 8 fierce air battles, lost a total of 43 fighters and wounded 12. The Japanese lost 26 fighters and wounded 18. "Notify the flight regiment, immediately sum up experience, and meet the battle in the sky tomorrow." After Ouyang Jian finished speaking, he walked to the next room, and now he was most concerned about the situation of the pilot being rescued. When he entered the next room and saw Mu Shixiong waiting for news next to the radio, he didn't bother, but sat on a chair and waited. After a long time, Mu Shixiong walked over and said.

"Chief of the General Staff, the situation has come back that 35 pilots have been rescued, 5 have been killed, 3 are missing, and so far the information has been confirmed. 10 Japanese pilots were killed and 5 captured. In addition, the situation of the guerrillas has not yet been counted. Ouyang Jian let out a sigh of relief and said, "Let Little Japan be happy first, he thinks that in his own occupied area, the pilot will be safe." Okamura Ninji was too naïve, he probably forgot whose land this was. "Ouyang Jian doesn't care about the loss of the fighter, the safety of the pilot is of paramount importance.

At the headquarters of the Japanese army in Nanjing, all the generals and officers celebrated with smiles and smiles. Okamura Ninji was the only one with an expressionless face, and although it was gratifying to win the first air battle, he was concerned about the loss of the pilot. "According to the report, Wing Commander Matsui reported that so far, only 8 pilots have been rescued, and the other pilots are missing. In addition, Matsui reported that during the search, they killed five pilots and captured one pilot of the Eighth Route Army. "Bastard, let Wing Captain Matsui continue to increase the search force, and be sure to find the missing pilot!"

The chief of staff said with relief: "Your Excellency, although the airspace of the engagement is in our control area, our search forces are limited and the terrain is unfamiliar. There is no way, we can only rely on the Imperial Association Army and the local militia to arm. However, the Imperial Alliance Army and the militia were Chinese after all, and they did not contribute to the work. The current situation is not good, and these Chinese are half-hearted. "What the chief of staff said is the truth, and Okamura Ninji seems to understand Ouyang Jian's intentions." Commander Matsui was ordered to increase the number of search forces and eliminate local guerrillas and resistance groups. ”

The order given by Okamura Ninji to Captain Matsui undoubtedly caused a brutal fight on the ground, which was something that everyone, including Ouyang Jian, did not expect.