On June 7, 1937, this inadvertently broke out in a great air battle between China and China, which can be said to have shocked the whole world, both China and the Chinese side were able to organize such a large-scale coordinated assault operation of air forces, which made European and American countries extremely shocked, especially the weak Chinese Air Force, which was armed with imported weapons and equipment, and actually poured out to attack the huge naval ship and aircraft carrier formation of the Chinese army. This seems to require great courage and precise intelligence support and tactical synthesis of command and planning.

The surprise attacks on each other by the two armies are absolutely classic examples, and will undoubtedly open the door to the arrival of the air force era, and the air force will most likely change from an auxiliary support arm to a main combat arm.

At the same time that the naval formation anchored outside Wusongkou was attacked by the Chinese Air Force on a large scale, the four main field airfields on the north bank of Nanjing, the two spare airfields, the fortresses along the river, especially the Yanziji Fortress, and the first and second fleets of the Chinese Navy were also suddenly attacked by planes in the sky.

The air defense fleet, led by Chen Jiliang, commander of the Chinese Navy's First Fleet, led four capital ships, "Pinghai," "Ninghai," "Yingrui," and "Yixian," as the lead, and the Second Fleet's "Chuyou," "Chutai," "Zhengning," "Suining," "Qingtian," "Hupeng," "Hustork," "Pingming," and "Jiesheng" warships as the main force waged an unequal battle at Yanziji against the planes that had come to attack the Yue Army.

Although dozens of Swedish Forts 20-mm four-barreled anti-aircraft guns deployed on the Yanziji Fort and the Wulongshan Fortress, 16 German-made 88-mm antiaircraft guns on the Yanziji Battery, and a large number of improvised light and heavy machine gun-to-air fire, they still failed to organize the frenzied bombardment of the Yanziji Fort, and the two old 280-mm Krupp coastal defense guns were all destroyed by the Yue army on the semi-open gun position, and many German-made 150-mm howitzers with a 32-fold body caliber were also destroyed by the Yue army.

The warships of the Chinese Navy on the river calmly responded to the battle in the face of the huge attacking aircraft group of the Yue Army, and cooperated with the fire of the batteries to intercept the attack and bombing of the Yue Army fighters, and you must know that after the first wave of the attacking Syrian fighters dropped bombs and strafed several field airfields in Jiangbei, they found that the main force of the Chinese Air Force was not there, so they immediately shifted the targets of attack, and regarded the Yanziji Fort and the Wulongshan Fortress, the medium [***] heavy artillery group in Jiangbei, and the Chinese Navy warships rushing to support on the river as the main targets.

For a while, there was a burst of gunsmoke on the Yanziji Fort, and the cannon roared! The bombers and fighters of the Japanese army in the air were constantly circling to find an appropriate angle of attack, while the anti-aircraft gun positions on the Yanziji battery were constantly firing shells at the aircraft.

If compared with the previous Imperial Navy outside Wusongkou, whether it is the Chinese Navy or the anti-aircraft fire on the Yanziji Battery, it seems to be fierce and abnormal, but in fact they are fighting separately, and there is no effective fire interception network at all, and the effectiveness of the anti-aircraft artillery fire should be concentrated and unified angles and unified regional targets.

Although there were more than 20 Swedish Forts 20-mm four-barreled antiaircraft guns and a large number of light and heavy machine guns as a supplement to the short-range anti-aircraft fire, there were still nine German-made 88-mm antiaircraft guns destroyed by the Japanese bombers, and the guns of the blown up antiaircraft guns were littered with corpses, stumps and broken arms, and there were even people's internal organs hanging on the still red barrels and making a sizzling sound.

Although it was not that some of the planes of the Yue army were hit and fell, but on the whole, the losses of the Yue army were too small, during which even Zhang Xuewu's command was hit by three 500-pound aerial bombs, and after enjoying the shaking of the mountains, Zhang Xuewu frowned and looked at the sand table in a daze, and he also found that his attack plan was too hasty and reckless, as if the war had been suppressed and beaten by the army for more than ten days, and the losses of various troops were serious.

Therefore, he was ready to concentrate air power to attack the air force of the Yue army, and if he could sink an aircraft carrier, it would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to the morale of the Yue army, but now it seems that this idea is a bit inappropriate, and it may fully expose the strength of the air power of Nanjing, and the corresponding price paid for attacking the aircraft carrier of the Yue army seems to be too heavy.

In the eyes of the world, the army of the Empire is only second-rate in terms of equipment and tactics, and even the command of the generals, but the naval forces of the Empire are the first-class in the world, and Zhang Xuewu is also aware of his impatience.

Although Gao Zhihang led the returning fighter group to intercept the group of planes returning from the Chinese army and shot down 39 fighters of various types, because the fuel of both sides was extremely limited, they could not fight at all, so they quickly broke away from the battle.

In this sortie, the Chinese Air Force Headquarters, together with the Flying Tigers of the Rehe Corps and the Soviet Volunteer Air Force for Aiding China, shot down 45 Japanese fighters, sank the heavy cruiser Yaeyama and three destroyers, and severely damaged 11 ships, including the Izumo battleship, the Kaga aircraft carrier, the Fengxiang aircraft carrier, and the kamikaze aircraft carrier.

The Chinese Air Force and the Soviet Volunteer Air Force lost 56 bombers of various types, 39 destroyers and attack planes, and almost all of their fighters were damaged.

Eight ships, including "Yingrui," "Yixian," "Suining," "Qingtian," "Hupeng," "Hustork," "Pingming," and "Jiesheng," were sunk, the "Chuyou" ran aground, Chen Jiliang, commander of the First Fleet, was seriously wounded, and the rest of the ships were also scarred.

In fact, this large-scale air raid is tantamount to the bombing of the Chinese air force and the Chinese fleet sent by the Chinese army, and the bombing of the Chinese field airfields, fortresses, and fleets by the Chinese army, both sides are tyrannical to the other side without air support.

Although the Chinese fleet outside Wusongkou looked like smoke billowing out of the air, the overall strength of the Chinese army was not damaged, and the aircraft carriers of the Chinese army, which had been repeatedly attacked and attacked, were still standing, and the Chinese air force pilots' sacrifice of their lives and deaths left an extremely deep impression on the reporters from various countries watching the battle in the concession.

After this battle, the Chinese Air Force, which suffered heavy damage to the logistics airport, was still able to defend the sky of Nanjing? The biggest weakness of the Chinese Air Force has also been undoubtedly exposed through this war, that is, under the international joint military embargo, the battle losses of the Chinese Air Force cannot be replenished at all, and he can easily obtain support from the country, which is a war of attrition, and China, which has been jointly embargoed and blockaded by the United States, Britain, France and other countries, is destined to be unable to consume.

From a strategic and tactical point of view, Zhang Xuewu's suggestion is understandable, and it also corresponds to the offensive mentality of the Chinese Air Force, which has always occupied a certain advantage, but whether it is Zhang Xuewu or the Chinese Air Force or even the Soviet Volunteer Air Force to aid China, they have not been able to take into account that in fact, their large-scale concentrated attack is exactly what he dreamed of, and fighting for consumption was originally the thing that he hated the most. But in the sky over Nanjing, it has become a magic weapon for me to win.

After a blood-stained air battle that was unprecedented in the history of Asia and even in the world, the air forces of the army, navy, and navy, which were eager to retaliate, set off again at an interval of three hours and once again made a surprise attack on the field airfield in China, completely crushing the combat strength of the Chinese Air Force.

Whether it is Zhou Zhirou or Zhang Xuewu, and even the Soviet Volunteer Air Force for China, they all believe that the Chinese army has the ability to continuously attack and fight, but our army also does not have the ability to meet the enemy, so all the fighters must be immediately transferred and fight again one after another.

In a forest not far from Mengzhuang, an unknown small village on the north bank, twenty-two last fighters of the Flying Tigers were covered with camouflage camouflage, Gao Zhihang looked at sixty-one subordinates and hundreds of ground crews, Gao Zhihang's eyes were almost full of tears, there were only so many people left, but these people are extremely experienced pilots and ground crews, these people are the precious seeds of the Rehe Air Force, they have accumulated rich experience during the battle with Yuekou in Shanghai and Nanjing, None of them can be sacrificed lightly.

Gao Zhihang took a deep breath, glanced at a female lieutenant reporter from the Central News on the side, and said to everyone: "The air force is making a strategic shift in order to defend Xuzhou and Wuhan in order to take the next step, and the Soviet Volunteer Air Force is also making a strategic transfer, and their airports are all destroyed by the army, the ground crew has suffered huge losses, and many equipment and spare parts have been destroyed in the air raid, but our Flying Tigers can't go, our corps commander is still in Nanjing, as long as there is a Chinese fighter in the sky over Nanjing, We have to defend this sky until the last second, not to mention that we still need twenty-two fighters to defend Nanjing and defend the corps commander! Let's leave it to the unforgettable pain of the person! Let them remember the defenders of this sky! Flying Tigers! ”

Since Peng Mengji was appointed by Zhang Xuewu as the commander of the Yanziji garrison, he has always been conscientious, every time he checks the defensive line and artillery deployment, and prepares to deal with all kinds of attacks and attacks of the army, the army side is equipped with the 41st Division to fully defend Yanziji, for the fire aid and fortification construction of the fort and the 41st Division, Peng Mengji has coordinated with the 41st Division many times, and the two sides are quite active in coordination because of the relationship of codependence and coexistence.

(To be continued)