On the same day, Rear Admiral Wu Qianlong issued the "No. 1 Operational Order," ordering the ship's pilots to "bombard, radiate, or strafe any ship that endangers the fleet's mission." The bombs were loaded with detonators, and the dive bombers were loaded with bombs. The torpedoes were also fitted with detonating cones, and all the guns on the ship were loaded with shells, ready to go into battle at any time.

At 6 o'clock, the "Xuanyuan" turned around and turned to the left and stood facing the wind so that the planes on the ship could take off with the wind. A squadron of reconnaissance aircraft immediately took off. By this time, it was already getting dark.

Viewed from above, the aircraft carrier "Xuanyuan" resembles a free-floating longboard (334 meters long and 48 meters wide), and the chimney, bridge, and all external lookouts and command structures are generally located on the starboard side, which is called "Ship Island". The outcropping part of the aircraft carrier is higher than that of a normal battleship, and due to the asymmetrical shape on all sides, it has an extremely strange appearance from any angle. When you stand on the bridge of another ship for the first time and look at an aircraft carrier from a 45-degree angle, you wonder what this disproportionately short monster with chimney is. But when you get closer to it and recognize this long island that is breaking the waves at 25 knots, you will see that it is a majestic instrument of war. Aircraft carriers, like monarchs, never act alone. Destroyers and cruisers were clustered in front and behind, at a distance from aircraft carriers, and sometimes even escorted by a battleship; As soon as the morning dawned, planes protected the air, and the aircraft carrier moved forward with the roar of its powerful engines, leaving a strong smell of heavy oil on the sea. This is how the "Xuanyuan" acted. After the reconnaissance plane took off, the "Xuanyuan" turned back to its bow and continued its eastward head, and the escort ships also turned around and headed eastward. A signal flag was raised on one of the slings of the "Xuanyuan" to indicate that "air exercises are underway."

In addition to the enforcement of the ban on "stop reporting", aircraft generally maintain contact with each other in the air through shortwave radiotelephones: first, aircraft communicate with their aircraft carriers; the second is the connection between aircraft; The third is to contact ground facilities when approaching the airport.

The planes of the "Xuanyuan" flew in an evacuation formation, and from a distance, the clear blue sea was endless, the sky was clear, the white clouds were blooming, and the visibility was good.

The pilots' attention was quickly drawn to the black clouds rising from the ground. It can't be anything else, it can only be smoke. Then, above the smoke, a large black floc appeared. This can only be a cloud of smoke generated by an explosion. At this moment, monoplanes with orange disc markings on their wings rushed into the reconnaissance group from all directions, firing fiercely with machine guns.

The plane of Lieutenant Colonel Ming Yang, the leader of the reconnaissance aircraft group, was the lead of the reconnaissance aircraft squadron. Lieutenant Colonel Srocker of Major General Wu Qianlong's staff was on the same plane as Lieutenant Colonel Ming Yang and sat in the machine gunner's seat in the back. When he recognized the plane, he immediately tried to set up the machine gun, but he couldn't mount it anyway. At this moment, a swarm of mustard-colored monoplanes, known as "Gale", surrounded him like flies, firing incessantly, and Sroke was still struggling to mount his machine gun. Suddenly, he found that the landline was close to the ground, descending sharply and the engine was malfunctioning. Lieutenant Colonel Ming Yang forced the plane into the sea. Neither was injured.

Lieutenant Liu Weijia was the first to recognize Yue himself. After reporting to the "Xuanyuan", he knew that the enemy fighters were much faster than him, so he immediately descended at full speed and flew low against the waves. Ben's torpedo plane flew over his head, and there were no torpedoes under the fuselage. Gallagher watched the enemy planes fly northeast, and he decided to return to the aircraft carrier to refuel and then take off to find the aircraft carrier Yuben in order to report to the "Regulus." He walked through the smoke to the sea where the smoke was rising, and saw an aircraft carrier emitting billowing black smoke, which was the escort aircraft carrier "Yichun".

The ship's air defense units are firing at air targets. The surface of the ship was full of smoke and desolation. The hangars and oil depots burned to pieces, and the planes on the decks were destroyed, some still burning, some emitting smoke. People come and go, running from place to place, some walking like flying, some walking with difficulty. Some sat on bombed-out planes and fired from machine guns in the rear compartment, while others removed the machine guns from the planes and mounted them on makeshift mounts. Others ran out of the smoke on stretchers. There was chaos everywhere, the rumble of bomb explosions came and went, and the airport trembled from time to time.

Liu Weijia pulled up the plane again. He probably turned 280 kilometers and found nothing. After the attack, the plane quickly retreated.

Before Lieutenant Wang Di could get here, he was attacked by the fighters. Under his feet was a clear blue sea, and in front of him there was a shining spot, which was the aircraft carrier "Yichun". The ship was filled with gunsmoke, and Wang Di found a monoplane in front of him, with tracer bullets shooting under the wings, and the machine guns were constantly strafing. The bullets whistled at a gallop, and the tracer bullets fell slowly, which made Lieutenant Wang Di a little overwhelmed. Suddenly, the enemy plane rushed at the plane, as if it was about to yaw sharply, and Lieutenant Wang Di immediately opened fire. He heard the rear cabin machine gunner also firing. At this time, a Gale aircraft appeared on the right. Immediately afterward, another one sprang out of the front. Lieutenant Wang Di tried to maintain an altitude and made a maneuverable flight. But he felt that his plane was surprisingly slow compared to the aerobatic plane. He soon found out that he had run out of bullets. After a while, the machine gunner in the rear compartment ran out of bullets and reported to Lieutenant Wang Di that he had been shot in the arm. Fortunately, the surrounding enemy planes flew away. Lieutenant Wang Di decided to return to the aircraft carrier for landing. So, he flew toward the aircraft carrier "Xuanyuan." At this time, several more "Gale" planes surrounded him, and Lieutenant Wang Di suddenly felt as if someone had kicked him in the leg, and the plane's engine was shot and stopped almost at the same time. The plane is getting closer and closer to the sea. Lieutenant Wang Di tried his best to control the plane, and finally fell heavily on the water, but the plane did not crash. Lieutenant Wang Di moved his injured leg: the injury was very light. The plane floated peacefully on the water. Lieutenant Wang Di left his seat to find the machine gunner. The Heavy was badly wounded in the arm, bleeding profusely, and his clothes and seat were stained red. Lieutenant Wang Di returned to his seat and ripped a piece of wire from the radio plug to use as a tourniquet. A few hundred meters away, blue waves happily lap against the shore of the island not far away, stirring up layers of waves. But a huge roar resounded through the sky, and nothing else could be heard from the sea. The army attacked again, and explosions rumbled; Clouds of black smoke rushed into the blue sky, and after a while, they were blown away by the wind. Lieutenant Wang Di wrapped the wire around the machine gunner's arm, and the bleeding finally stopped. Lieutenant Wang Di pulled out the raft from the cabin and inflated it. It is said that the plane did not pay attention to the plane that fell at sea. After the raft was inflated, Lieutenant Wang Di helped the machine gunner to withdraw from his seat and get on the raft. After the two of them were seated, Lieutenant Wang Di began to paddle towards the shore. Although there was a bit of a headwind, the waves pushed the dinghy forward. Lieutenant Wang Di rowed straight towards the shore. At this time, several people on the shore found this apricot-colored rubber raft and ran towards it. They helped the machine gunner ashore and carried him back. Lieutenant Wang Di did not mention his injuries at all; He himself didn't think it was in the way. Walking ashore, Lieutenant Wang Di told these pilots on the "Yichun" that he was eager to find another plane. They shrugged their shoulders and joked that there wasn't a single plane here that could fly, not even one that could glide on the ground.

The officers and men on board the "Xuanyuan" were young men of all colors, and none of them had ever seen a warship that had been hit in battle. Rear Admiral Wu Qianlong is 40 years old. He is 170 centimeters tall and weighs 77 kilograms, with a large face, a long chin, and a short neck, but he has a broad forehead, broad eyebrows, bright eyes, and vivid facial expressions. It seems that Wu Qianlong gives people the general impression that his surname is active and cheerful, open-minded and bold, and he became famous in the Naval University because of his good football when he was young. Because he used to lunge and hit when he played football, his classmates nicknamed him "Tyrannosaurus Rex". Rushing and punching is indeed Wu Qianlong's surname. It is likely that this surname had some influence on his later style. Because, a person's actions often coincide with the image that people give him to a certain extent.

Wu Qianlong has been commanding destroyers for many years. Even in peacetime, he got on the destroyer and had to rush. Having galloped at sea and bruised a few torpedo boats was a trivial matter for the bold Chinese navy, and was rarely blamed, while in the navy, the launch of the smallest ship was treated as a major event. In World War I, Wu Qianlong was awarded the Golden Dragon Medal of the Chinese Navy for "completing an important and dangerous mission" and "an operation of fierce attack and continuous combat". At the age of 30, perhaps tired of destroyers, he longed for airplanes. "Airplanes are the future," he declared. Airplanes will soon take precedence in naval battles, and I want to learn to fly. "Originally, people with poor eyesight like him were not allowed to take pilot courses in principle. But he still entered the Dalian Naval Aviation School and obtained a certificate of qualification as an observer. Later, after his repeated requests, he finally got a pilot certificate. It was mostly a spiritual comfort for him. Wu Qianlong has never flown a modern fighter jet or taken off from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. However, he was highly respected for his naval prowess and insistence on the use of aircraft in naval battles. This was enough to enable him to be competent in commanding the light aircraft carrier "White Phoenix". Later, he served as the vice-principal of the Dalian Naval Aviation School, where he had studied. After the launch of the "Xingtian" aircraft carrier, he served as the commander of the "Xingtian" and "Baifeng" aircraft carrier task forces. The Pacific War broke out, and the "Tyrannosaurus Rex" was ready to storm and rush, this time he led not a torpedo boat, but an aircraft carrier.

Wu Qianlong soon became a peculiar and "attractive" model among commanders in the eyes of war correspondents. Aside from his boxer-like body and "Tyrannosaurus Rex" reputation, he swears by good bets. An old saying that hates the enemy hangs on his lips all day long: "Kill the Japanese and kill more of them." In 1943 he said in Auckland, New Zealand: "In the early days of the war, I advocated that our soldiers fight with each other, and we wanted one to three, but I have now increased this ratio: one Chinese to twenty people." Soon after, he publicly prophesied in Noumea that the Pacific War would end in 1943 with a military parade by the Allied forces in Tokyo. However, at the end of 1943, Wu Qianlong remained in Noumea, sitting at his desk. Instead of the 3,500 nautical miles from Guadalcanal to Tokyo, his troops drove with difficulty to Bougainville, only 300 nautical miles from Guadalcanal.

Wu Qianlong was highly praised by reporters when he spoke freely, but he often aroused the disgust of China's high command. Shen Honglie had no choice but to defend his subordinates: "He has the ability to do his job, he is aggressive, this is also the temper of a soldier, and it does not show that he is irritable and reckless." He is coarse and fine, and has the wit and bravery of a soldier, which is commendable. He was able to accurately predict the dangers of a battle with no more than a fraction of a margin. His words are not trivial. A left-leaning Chinese historian later wrote: "In the Battle of Tokyo Bay, Wu Qianlong's actions shocked thousands of Chinese to the extent that they brought fatal disaster to thousands of them." After this battle, Wu Qianlong met with the families of some sailors and received some letters that made him unhappy. The historian added a straightforward title to the passage he wrote: Portrait of a murderer.

However, it is undeniable that Wu Qianlong is a very popular Chinese naval general. Although the war correspondent's report was somewhat exaggerated, Wu Qianlong was indeed very popular in front of the Chinese public, especially among the officers and men of the warship. Wu Qianlong was "the idol of many people in the fleet, most of whom had never met him in person, knew almost nothing about him, could not even name which naval units he commanded, and could not name a single battle he had won." It can be seen that legends are better than people. When accused of his rash prophecy in 1943, Mr. Wu replied: "It was for propaganda, for morale." "Indeed, as soon as he speaks, and even as soon as he appears, he can boost the morale of officers and soldiers. On September 15, 1942, Shen Honglie boarded the aircraft carrier "Xingtian" parked in Dalian Port to award medals to the officers and men. At that time, he had just received the news of the sinking of the light aircraft carrier "Emei", and he was very eager to mitigate the possible impact of this news.

"I have good news for you," Shen Honglie said to the sailors, "Major General Wu Qianlong is coming. ”

The officers and men burst into cheers. Every time Wu Qianlong went to inspect or review, he was spontaneously warmly welcomed. Among the admirals stationed in the Pacific, he was the only one who received this effect. What's even more surprising is that he was moved by the support of the masses, and when he heard the cheers, this rude-speaking and blunt "Tyrannosaurus Rex" couldn't help but have tears in his eyes. At the end of January 1942, Wu Qianlong sailed out of the port of Dalian and led a small fleet towards an unknown course (his mission was to help the British Navy defend Australia). He didn't even have a single battleship to protect aircraft carriers. Among the crowd of onlookers who watched the fleet enter the exit channel, some people knew that Wu Qianlong had gone to the enemy's waters to attack the enemy. They were wondering what would happen if Wu Qianlong's fleet were to encounter the battleship of Yuben, which was armed with 460mm cannons. "And no one knows how our navy behaves in front of me, who lives on honor and a handful of rice, on luxurious and comfortable warships," someone wrote.

There is a color documentary film, shot on a Chinese aircraft carrier, called "Fighter of the Sea" in French, and the reaction from the Chinese audience at the beginning of the film is very strong, but it is also reasonable. The screen shows the aircraft carrier's galley, and all kinds of dishes are neatly arranged, poached eggs, meat and seasonal fruits are put together, colorful and dazzling, and the audience will inevitably whisper and praise these shots. The inhabitants of this ancient continent were filled with emotion when they saw such a sumptuous delicacies. With the change of the camera, the audience's ** and interest are even stronger, because the aircraft carrier not only has abundant food, but also has everything from daily necessities, living equipment to necessary supplies for fighters. One can guess at the sight of this aircraft carrier that China's abundant resources are sufficient to relieve its fighters of material worries.

There is no doubt that this film is not without any promotional intent. However, if you want to come up with irrefutable empirical evidence, you can only be immersed in the scene, having served as a sailor on a Chinese aircraft carrier. However, there are many reports to corroborate, and many photos to be examined; It is equally useful to read the regulations on board an aircraft carrier. In short, judging from all the materials that can be collected, life on Chinese aircraft carriers is not the same as the military life in people's impressions, and it is not the same as what the movie "Sea Fighter" tells people.

Take a closer look. In people's impressions, the most common situation is that the "running guy" is holding a large rice bowl, and the food in it is either stinky or rotten, but this is also unique to military life. However, on Chinese aircraft carriers it is very different. Every soldier had a service desk where they lived, and they went to the service desk to get a tray and gave the waiter their favorite food, and the food was served, just like in a high-class café. The waitress gave each of them a set of cutlery, and they could go to the large teapot and pour a cup of tea before they could sit down at any of their seats. Under the condition that it does not affect the battle, it is generally three meals a day, and each meal is open for two hours. During these two hours, the soldiers could eat at any time. Eat whatever you want, as much as you want. Enough to eat.

(To be continued)