Chen Haihua was only 35 years old, and he served as the chief of staff of the Northeast Army Air Force Major General, and he was not from the Northeast, he was from Meixian County, Guangdong.

The reason why Chen Haihua, a native of Guangdong, can occupy a high position in the Northeast Army is that although the Northeast Army is also a local force with a strong regional character, Zhang Zuolin, the founder of the Northeast Army, does not have a strong sense of xenophobia like Yan Xishan. Zhang Xueliang misses him very much at this point, and attaches great importance to talents.

In addition, Chen Haihua's qualifications are also very old. After returning to China, Chen Haihua was recruited by Li Jishen, then member of the Nationalist Government, chief of staff of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, chairman of the Guangzhou Branch of the Central Political Conference, chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Government, and commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army.

In 1927, the first split of the KMT-CCP cooperation led to the emergence of three Whampoa military academies in Guangzhou, Wuhan and Nanjing. In Guangzhou, the former Central Military and Political School was still open, and Chen Haihua was appointed deputy captain. In May 1928, Vice President Li Jishen decided to change the name of the school to the National ** Army Officer School, and only 718 people remained in the school until graduation, and the rest were scattered to Wuhan, Nanjing and other places, called Huangpu Sixth Term. At this time, Chen Haihua received an invitation from Xu Shiying, then director of the Air Force Machinery Division of the Northeast Army, to come to the Northeast Army. He was appointed by Zhang Xueliang as the director of education of Northeast Aviation School.

Chen Haihua has indeed lived up to expectations, not only in the construction and teaching of aviation schools, but also made great contributions to the training of aviation talents for the Northeast Army, and his talent in aircraft design and manufacturing is also outstanding. Under his organizational leadership, the aircraft maintenance and manufacturing plant of the Northeast Army has designed a fighter and a bomber.

The fighters made by the Northeast Army themselves are called the Liao F1 type; The bomber is the Liao FH1 type, which can carry four 100-kilogram aerial bombs, which is a relatively long-range bomber. Both aircraft were biplanes, and in their design they absorbed the advantages of German and French fighters, and although they were not outstanding, they were relatively advanced models. However, both aircraft have only been built as a prototype and have not yet had time for large-scale production.

When Li Jichuan, Zhu Enhai, and Gao Zhihang came in, Chen Honglu was arguing with Chen Haihua.

"Chief of Staff, Rong Zhen doesn't let our Air Force participate in the war, are these planes that we bought for tens of millions of dollars just decorations?"

Chen Haihua looked very tired, and he should be very angry in his heart, but after all, he is the chief of staff, and the Northeast Army Air Force is now under his specific command, and he must be responsible for Zhang Xueliang.

Chen Haihua reprimanded Chen Honglu loudly: "Captain Chen, why don't you understand?" I've said it a few times, this is not what Chief of Staff Rong Zhen meant, this is what the young marshal meant. The refusal of the Air Force to participate in the war was an excuse for the major marshal not to create a war for the Kwantung Army, so as to take the initiative in the diplomatic settlement of disputes in the future. ”

Chen Haihua looked at Chen Honglu and several other captains and deputy captains, who were obviously very unconvinced, sighed and said, "Do you think that I, the chief of staff, don't want to take the plane into the sky and bomb little Japan?" But we are all soldiers, and it is our duty to obey orders, and not a single plane can take off, so don't talk about it, let's quickly lead your team members to withdraw to Dongda Camp. ”

Jiang Xingcheng was so anxious that he stomped his feet and said: "Chief of Staff, even if you don't participate in the war, these more than 200 planes will have to fly away, is it possible to leave these planes to little Japan?" ”

Chen Haihua waved his hand for the first time in annoyance and said: "Chief of Staff Rong Zhen does not let the plane take off, because he is afraid that it will reach the sky, you stunned young pilots can't control your hands and feet, once the Japanese army is bombed, Chief of Staff Rong Zhen will not be able to explain to the young marshal......"...,

Chen Haihua couldn't help but be a little overjoyed when he saw Li Jichuan, Zhu Enhai, and Gao Zhihang coming in.

The telephone numbers of the Dongta Airport and the Northeast Frontier Governor's Office have long been uncontactable, and at this time, Li Jichuan, the adjutant and director, is not by the side of Rong Zhen of the Chief's Office, but came to the Dongta Airport, and must have come to convey the order.

Chen Haihua also had a lot of complaints about Rong Zhen's refusal to allow the plane to take off, but after receiving the order from the Staff Office of the Northeast Frontier Governor's Office, Chen Haihua wanted to suggest to Rong Zhen that the plane be flown to Jinzhou after dawn, but the phone could not be contacted.

Chen Haihua is not only competent as a technical expert, but even very good, but as a soldier, he is much worse, and he has no ability to make decisions on the spot. Therefore, he was very happy about Li Jichuan's arrival.

Chen Haihua hurriedly stepped forward, as if he had seen a savior, grabbed Li Jichuan and asked, "Director Li, are you here to convey the order?" Quite a few words The chief of staff changed his mind? ”

Li Jichuan nodded and said, "Yes, I'm here to convey the order." ”

Chen Honglu, who was on the side, couldn't help jumping up in surprise when he heard the new order.

"Great, Director Li, Chief of Staff Rong agreed that we would do it with the little devil?"

Li Jichuan looked at the captains who looked a little excited, shook his head with a wry smile and said, "No." ”

Seeing that everyone's demeanor had changed greatly, Li Jichuan hurriedly said again: "Chief of Staff Rong just received an urgent call from the young marshal. The major marshal still did not agree to war against Japan, and he insisted that the Sino-Japanese dispute should be resolved through diplomatic means. ”

Li Jichuan said to these air force officers who were extremely disappointed: "Now, the Fourth Route Army, which once helped us resist the Soviet army, is fighting hard against the Soviet army in Northern Mongolia, because there are no planes, and the troops of the Fourth Route Army have suffered heavy casualties. Major Marshal Order: All planes obeyed the order of Gao Zhihang, chief of staff of the Air Force of the Fourth Route Army, and all planes flew to North Mongolia to support the Fourth Route Army in resisting the Soviet Union. In this way, the young marshal not only repaid the favor of Commander-in-Chief Song Zhewu, but also prevented these planes from falling into the hands of the enemy. ”

This order should be said to be just a compromise between a few captains asking for battle and Zhang Xueliang and Rong Zhen not resisting the order, and it is not something they are willing to accept. However, after all, this order could save the plane from falling into the hands of the Kwantung Army, which gave them some comfort.

Chen Haihua finally breathed a sigh of relief at this time. Chen Haihua did not disagree with the fact that the planes should not be allowed to take to the air for combat, because the planes were only auxiliary means of combat, and there were no ground troops to persist in combat, and even if the planes took off after dawn, they would have to fly directly to Jinzhou with just a few bombs, and they would not stay long in the skies over Shenyang, otherwise there would not be enough fuel. If you want to refuel on the ground, it is absolutely impossible, and the Kwantung Army will never let go of an airport that is not heavily guarded.

And he knew that Zhang Xueliang's absolute confidant, Wang Yizhe, the commander of the Seventh Brigade, could not disobey Zhang Xueliang's orders at all. Since the main and only regular troops in the Shenyang area did not resist, it was better for these planes to fly away as soon as possible.

Therefore, it was not possible to prevent the Japanese invasion of Shenyang, and based on this situation, he did not object to Rong Zhen's order not to allow the Northeast Army Air Force to participate in the war.

However, he didn't understand why Zhang Xueliang didn't let the plane fly to Jinzhou, but went to Beimeng to help the Fourth Route Army. You must know that the Soviet army also has a large number of aircraft, and if the Northeast Army Air Force participates in the war, the planes will inevitably be damaged. Moreover, it is not necessary to go to all the planes to support North Mongolia, at least the dozen or so transport planes and trainer planes do not need to go to North Mongolia.

Chen Haihua glanced at Gao Zhihang, hesitated for a moment and said, "Director Li, did the plane fly to Jinzhou first, and then enter Mongolia from Jinzhou?" In that way, the planes of the Feipeng Brigade could fly to Beiping. ”…,

Li Jichuan shook his head and said: "Chief of Staff Chen, the reason why the planes have to fly to Beimeng is because the 7th Brigade of Beidaying has received an order not to resist, and the Japanese army will soon occupy Beidaying and Shenyang City, and then it will attack the airport." We didn't have ground support, we couldn't hold the airfield, and even if we wanted to fly away, we wouldn't be able to. ”

"According to intelligence, Japanese troops stationed in Liaoyang, Benxihu and Tieling will soon arrive in Shenyang. And we have more than 200 planes at the East Tower Airport, and even if the planes take off from the four runways at the same time, it will take two or three hours. ”

Li Jichuan's words made Chen Haihua taken aback again, and asked: "Director Li, you mean that the plane will take off now, and it is easy to get lost when flying at night, so the plane will be destroyed and people will die."

Li Jichuan pointed at Gao Zhihang and said: "Flying at night, Chief of Staff Gao has a way, let's have him to talk to you, but hurry up, it's already early in the morning... More, be quick. ”

Just now, outside the headquarters, the people sent by Han Guangdi had already told Gao Zhihang about Li Jichuan and Zhu Enhai joining the Fourth Route Army, and Gao Zhihang and Li Jichuan had already discussed it.

Originally, Gao Zhihang knew that Zhang Xueliang was not allowed to resist, and he was angry in his heart, so he considered two plans: one was that he wanted to wait for Chen Haihua to dismiss the airport personnel, and he led the more than 200 people sent by the Fourth Route Army to the Northeast Army to study, and flew the plane away; The second plan is to control Chen Haihua and the captain of the guard with the cooperation of the personnel sent by the special brigade to assist, and then persuade some pilots of the Northeast Army to fly the plane away in advance.

As time went on, there was no time to take the first plan, and if Li Jichuan didn't come, he was preparing to use the second plan.

Li Jichuan's arrival made Gao Zhihang also breathe a sigh of relief, and there was a risk of clashing with the Northeast Army's airport guard unit by forcibly flying away.

Gao Zhihang walked to the front and said loudly: "Chief of Staff Chen, brothers of the Northeast Army, although our Fourth Route Army still has very few planes for the time being, our technical level in manufacturing aircraft is already very strong. For example, take the F1 aircraft manufactured by the Northeast Army itself. ”

As soon as F1 was mentioned, Chen Haihua couldn't help but feel proud in his heart, this is the aircraft he organized to design and manufacture, although the engine is imported, and even some parts are also imported, but the overall design of the aircraft is brand new, in terms of performance, even if it is not stronger than European and American biplanes, at least it is not lagging behind.

Gao Zhihang continued: "Our Aviation Research Institute in Taiyuan has also developed a fighter jet, because the engine produced by our engine factory itself is not satisfactory in performance for the time being, and our engine is still imported. However, except for the engine, all other components are produced by ourselves, and it is also a monoplane, full metal skin, in terms of performance, it is already in the world's advanced ranks. ”

"What monowing, or all-metal skin?"

The people present, except for Li Jichuan and Zhu Enhai, everyone else is a professional, monoplane and all-metal skin are the development direction of the aircraft, and it is just emerging abroad, Taiyuan can design and manufacture it by itself? If this is the case, then Taiyuan's aircraft manufacturing capacity is too amazing.

Because of the time constraints, Gao Zhihang did not have time to explain the performance of the aircraft to them in detail, and then said: "Our aircraft has mastered the night flight technology. ”

"What? Can your planes fly at night without getting lost? Chen Honglu asked in surprise.

"Yes, these twelve planes I brought with me, all of them are equipped with radio navigation equipment. This navigation device is the most advanced in the world and the only one in the world that is in use. It can help us to fly accurately to our field airfield on the Horqin steppe, and if we seize the time to take off now and divide into twelve teams, each led by one of our planes, we will all be able to fly away before dawn, and we will not leave a single plane to the Kwantung Army. ”…,

Gao Zhihang's words surprised everyone, even Li Jichuan and Zhu Enhai. In their view, whether it is the arsenal of the Northeast Army or the air force of the Northeast Army, whether it is equipment or technology, the Northeast is the most advanced in the country. They never imagined that Taiyuan's technical level would be so high.

Chen Haihua was also very excited, waved his hand and said, "Okay, then let's hurry up and refuel the plane, and we are not allowed to reload the bombs." ”

Chen Haihua's refusal to load bombs did not cause everyone's displeasure, and they all knew that this was not because Chen Haihua was afraid that they would bomb the Kwantung Army, but because it was dangerous for bombers and planes to land with bombs.

The older Jiang Xingcheng was more steady, and asked another question: "Ziheng, it's not impossible for your plane to be piloted, but how can our plane identify the pilot plane in the air, how to maintain the formation, and what if it is lost?" ”

Since Gao Zhihang had been working on these planes for a long time, he naturally had a solid plan.

"The twelve planes I brought with me all have night lights, and the others can be identified by them. In addition, in order to prevent the loss of the fleet, we have to equip each aircraft with flare guns, which are fired every five minutes to prevent separation. ”

Gao Zhihang told Chen Haihua again: "Chief of Staff Chen, you and the staff officers at the airport will be the first to leave first by transport plane. ”

Gao Zhihang was afraid that Chen Haihua would make another extraneous incident, so he sent him away first.

When the first batch of planes, including Chen Haihua's Junker transport plane, flew away, Chen Honglu hurriedly ran to Gao Zhihang and Li Jichuan ...... sweaty.