"How is that possible..."

As he flew the Zero to the airport in Hsinchu, Mishima was still in disbelief.

Not long ago, after the reconnaissance aircraft unit received information that the squadron was crossing the sea, the Japanese army, which had been prepared for a long time, dispatched an aviation unit to intercept it.

Unlike China, Japan, like the United States, did not have an air force during this period, and the so-called air force was also divided into the army and navy.

At the same time, because of the importance of Taiwan and the fact that the number of fighter planes in the army is somewhat insufficient, and a considerable part of the number of them has to be distributed to the DPRK side, the army and navy have undertaken the task of guarding Taiwan this time, and as a result, the air forces of the Japanese army and navy have appeared in the skies over the Taiwan Strait at the same time.

This time, the Japanese Army's Type 1, Type 3, and Type 97 fighters were mainly responsible for protecting Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, as well as a small number of Type 4 fighters and some Type 95 biplane fighters that were supposed to have been decommissioned.

Except for the two-winged Type 95, the other fighters were basically relatively good fighters in the same era, and the Type 95 fighter was the last biplane fighter of the Japanese Army.

In 1934, Nakajima and Kawasaki competed for the Japanese Army's new fighter jet, although Nakajima's Ki-11 monoplane fighter was faster than Kawasaki's Ki-10 biplane fighter, but Ki-10 had better fighting and climbing performance and won the bid, the Japanese Army named Ki-10 as the Type 95 fighter, because 1935 was the year 2595 of the Japanese Emperor's Age, the Type 95 fighter can be said to be an improved version of the Type 92 fighter, which greatly reduced its weight and wind resistance and was made of a metal three-bladed propeller.

As for the Type 97 fighter, it is a single-engine, single-seat light fighter developed by the Japanese Army in the late 1930s. It was also the first fighter with a lower single-wing structure equipped by the Japanese Army.

The Type 97 fighter was designed and produced by Japan's Nakajima Aircraft Company, and other manufacturers include the Tachikawa Aircraft Factory and the Manchuria Aircraft Factory, with a total historical production of about 3,386 aircraft. Due to its excellent horizontal maneuverability, it is also known as the "ultimate light fighter".

This type of fighter was mainly distributed to front-line troops in 1938 and participated in the historic Battle of Normenheim. In the battle with the Soviet Air Force's I-15 and I-16 fighters, Japan claimed to have shot down 1,252 Soviet planes (only 200 planes were shot down in Soviet sources), while the Japanese Army admitted that the losses were 157 planes shot down and seriously damaged (64 planes were not returned and 64 planes were shot down, including 51 planes in the 97th World War, and 53 pilots were killed in battle). Compared with the Soviet Union, Japan's aircraft wear and tear reached 60% of the participating fighters.

As for the Type 1 fighter, it was mainly a single-engine, single-seat fighter developed by Nakajima Aircraft Company in December 1937 under the instructions of the Japanese Army. It was used to replace the Type 97 fighter.

It should be noted that the popularity of the Zero fighter in that year should be 'the most famous overseas'. At that time, the release of the movie "Kato Hayabusa Combat Team" in Japan because of the war spirit propaganda was instead the army's "one-style warfare? Hayabusa is more well-known to the Japanese people.

As for the three-way and four-way ...

Designed by Takeo Doi, the Type 3 fighter, it was the only inverted V-cylinder, liquid-cooled piston engine fighter mass-produced by the Japanese Army in World War II. At the time of the initial combat encounter, it was believed to be Bf109, and subsequent reports claimed to be of Italian design. So the U.S. military gave it the nickname Tony.

During the design and development of this aircraft, Japan purchased Bf109, He110 and He112 aircraft from Germany and conducted intensive testing, and the design of this aircraft was deeply influenced by the He110. The weakness of this machine is the same as that of the He110. The problem with the engine's cooling system was never resolved, and by the end of the Pacific War, many experienced craftsmen were called up for service, which also affected the quality of the machine.

In the early days of the Pacific War, although the Japanese Army Air Force relied on the Type 97 and Type 1 fighters to gain air supremacy in Southeast Asia for a short time, after 1942, the new fighters of the Allied forces gradually replaced the old ones in the 1930s, and the Japanese army began to fall into a disadvantage in aircraft performance. Therefore, a new fighter was urgently needed to get back into the first place, and the Feiyan, which began mass production in 1942, became the first choice. In 1942, Japan established the Flying 68 Sentai and the 78 Sentai using the Flying Swallow and put them into the New Guinea battlefield. However, due to engine problems, the 2 teams that used the flight to transfer lost 30% of the Feiyan before they reached the station. …,

The Type 4 fighter, codenamed 'FR' by the Allied Forces, was recognized as the best fighter of the Japanese army in World War II.

The earliest development of the Type 4 in history can be traced back to December 1941, when Nakajima Aircraft Company began to design a derivative of the Type 2 single-seat fighter 'Zhong Kui' that had just been put into actual combat for the Japanese Army, with a maximum performance of 680 km/h and two 20 mm and 12.7 mm cannons. It is also a universal fighter that can take into account air defense and ground attack, and the relevant development is carried out by the Koyama team. Originally designed to mount a 2,000 hp engine on the Ki-44's fuselage, the main wing area was enlarged to reduce the difficulty of landing, and the fuel tank was increased to increase the range.

However, in this era, because the Japanese army urgently needed a new fighter that could completely overwhelm the Wehrmacht Air Force, Japan exchanged its aircraft technology with China through various channels, and developed the latest fighter type like the Type 4 even earlier than in history.

It should be noted that the Type 4 is also the only fighter that can compete with the Chinese ZD-20.

It's a pity that the number of four types is too small, so Japan mainly relies on zero battles to support the scene.

As a result of the success of the early stages of the Pacific War, and the fact that there were hardly any American fighters capable of confronting the Zero War, the confidence of the Japanese began to grow like an explosion. Therefore, although they know that China has already put into service the latest piston fighters, they also believe that the Zero War can completely fight overwhelmingly like China's latest fighters in the Pacific Theater—————— at least it is evenly matched.

In fact, in the Pacific theater at the beginning of World War II, the Zero was indeed a good fighter, after all, it was only equipped with a 1000-horsepower slag engine.

Very low wing loads, good stall characteristics, and extremely responsive handling at low speeds are the advantages of the Zero.

Of course, this is also due to the safety of the take-off and landing of the aircraft. It was based on the idea that Japan attached great importance to horizontal maneuvering ability at that time. Many of the above characteristics made the Zero fighter extremely excellent horizontal maneuver ability, both in terms of maneuver radius and maneuver rate, which surpassed the main aircraft of the Allied forces at that time. The aircraft's excellent horizontal rotation capability made it difficult for Allied pilots to get a chance to fire from the rear close to the Zero channel. Conversely, the Zero's superior maneuvering ability often gives the Zero an advantage in early close-range air combat.

In addition, compared to the fighters of the same period. The Zero has an inconceivably far range ahead of it.

Good climb rate below medium altitude, instantaneous climb rate almost comparable to aerobatic machines. Even if the tail is bitten, one or two flipped over and the situation may be reversed and the enemy aircraft can be bitten back.

As a carrier-based aircraft, quite good omnidirectional visibility.

For the fighter of the same period, it is considered to be a relatively early model equipped with a 20mm cannon. For the fighters of various countries in the early days with incomplete bullet-related equipment and weak structures, the firepower of this caliber level is very intimidating. And the likelihood of shooting down four heavy bombers from a single-engine light fighter is much higher. This firepower was more agile than the Zero fighter at the same time. But armed with only two machine guns in a one-style battle? The —————— that the Hayabusa is hard to reach is that the 20mm cannon carried by the Zero is said to be the most scummy 20mm cannon in World War II...

The 20mm cannon equipped by the Zero is a Type 99 cannon, and the manufacturing technology of the Type 99 cannon is designed for the first generation of large-caliber air cannons, that is, the recoil feed structure. Although the recoil type is simple in design, the recoil as a source of power for machine gun burst fire requires a certain strength to not be damaged by recoil, which the 1920s fighter jets with steel tubes or even wooden frames could not bear the excessive recoil.

In order to mount the cannon on the fighters of the 1920s, in addition to reducing the weight, the cannon had to use bullets with reduced charges to reduce the effect of recoil on the structure of the airframe as well as on the body of the gun. In this way, although successfully installed on fighters. However, the low muzzle velocity and short range of the bullet became the original sin of large-caliber air cannons in the 1920s. However, the target set for the original cannon: the bomber is still effective, but in the face of the low muzzle velocity of the fighter cannon of the 1940s, the Allied fighter jet can even surpass the speed of the dive, but the problem of short range and ballistic rapid fall still exists, so the firepower is naturally criticized by most experienced pilots, and the pilots at that time even disdainfully called the shells fired by the Type 99 as pee bombs (the ballistic rapid descent is like a pee path). ..., the low muzzle velocity of the Type 99 20mm cannon of the early Zero led to a short effective range and insufficient penetration. The trajectory is curved and scattered, and the even firing performance is also poor, and the effective range is actually much shorter than that of the American 0.50-inch heavy machine gun.

In addition, the ammunition base is small (the early Type 99 No. 1 gun is only 60 rounds each), which is only enough for one or two long point shots for less experienced pilots, and the ammunition has been exhausted when they are still groping for the front load, and the actual combat effect is extremely low.

And as soon as the 20mm cannon is exhausted. The pilot had to rely on the 7.7mm machine gun in the nose, but the caliber and power of this gun were too small to penetrate the armor plates of many fighters. It is even difficult to damage the structure, and it requires a very high density and a long life to take effect. The trajectory and muzzle velocity of the 7.7mm and 20mm guns are also very different, and unless they are fired at within 100 meters, only one of them can hit when fired in a salvo.

In addition to the problems with the cannons, the weight of the aircraft had to be deliberately reduced because the design required a low wing load. As a result, the structural strength was not enough to withstand the stress caused by the large-scale action at high speed, and the prototype No. 2 encountered the situation that the dive overrun spar and the outer plate of the main wing could not bear the load, resulting in the disintegration of the structure. This problem is still similar on production machines. Although the Japanese army knew about the problem early on and tried to strengthen and modify the airframe structure, the problem that the Zero fighter was weaker than its opponent in high-speed dive compared with Western fighters was never substantially solved. In addition, the lack of structural strength also means that the aircraft is not able to withstand battle damage.

In addition, Japan's engine technology is inferior to that of other advanced aviation countries, so the flight performance of the Zero fighter must be achieved by paranoid reduction of the weight of the airframe, which exacerbates the structural strength problem mentioned in the previous point.

In a nutshell. Just like its own advantages, the disadvantages of the Zero are equally striking.

Of course, when dealing with the American fighters, these shortcomings of the Zero can still be tolerated, after all, compared with the early fighters of the Americans. Zero still has considerable advantages.

However, even the Japanese themselves understand that the best performance in their army is not the Zero, which is an alternative fighter to the extreme, but a fighter like the Type 4, that is, a Hurricane...

Of course, even so, the Japanese still have a lot of confidence in the Zero Style. After all, there is a record in the Pacific Ocean.

It's a pity that in the skies over the Taiwan Strait, this self-confidence was swept away by the ZD-20 fighters ...

————————————————————

After learning that the Chinese sea-crossing force had been dispatched, the Japanese army and naval aviation in Taiwan were soon dispatched as well. The Zero and Storm fighters, on the other hand, were tasked with covering bombers and torpedo planes.

However, when they were about to reach the skies above the sea-crossing force, the ZD-20 swooped down from a high altitude with the advantage of speed, and its superior performance was brought by its high-performance engine. Combined with the powerful firepower of four 20mm cannons on the wings and two 12.7mm large-caliber machine guns under the nose, the air battle quickly turned into a one-sided slaughter.

In this massacre, both the Zero and the bombers named after the 97 and 99 were almost all shattered by the ZD-20's 20mm cannon and 12.7mm machine gun. The only fighter that can compete with the ZD-20 is the Type 4 "Hurricane" fighter, which is almost as few as the Type 95 biplane...

It's a pity that the number of Type 4 fighters, which is only one brigade, will not be able to save the whole situation at all ...

Even if a few bombers broke through to the skies of the sea-crossing force under the cover of other escort aircraft, they only caused quite limited damage—————— and these bombers did die in the end.

After all, there were still some light and heavy cruisers and destroyers escorting the escort, and even landing ships. It also has a certain amount of armament to protect itself, especially the 12.7mm caliber multi-barreled Gatling gun, and a large number of equipment landing ships and other ships .......

In terms of firepower. This 12.7mm caliber multi-barreled machine gun may even be more fierce than the 20mm machine gun equipped with the ZD-20...

————————————————————

Just as Mishima, who had narrowly escaped the disaster, was returning to the air base in Hsinchu with other fighters, the sea-crossing force continued to sail rapidly in the direction of the Penghu Islands. Although the air raid just now also caused some trouble, due to the outstanding performance of the escort force, the sea-crossing unit soon reorganized its formation and continued to sail in the direction of the Penghu Islands.

And this time. After receiving a message from a heavy cruiser that the interceptor had been killed. The bomber group in the air base near Xiamen was also quickly dispatched ...

The narrow width of the Taiwan Strait does bring a lot of convenience, and it is precisely because of this convenience that even if it is not a heavy bomber like the H-3 or H-40, even if it is only a dive bomber like the FH-7, it can still carry out bombing missions, and there is no need to worry about the range at all...

In fact, this is also a helpless thing, at the moment almost all the H-3 bombers are in the Kunming base, used to bomb Bangkok, in fact, these days the H-3 fleet has almost leveled Bangkok.

As for the H-40 or something, the number is too small, although the H-3 and FH-7 are not as good as the H-3 and FH-7 in terms of performance, but after all, they still cannot form a large destructive force.

On the contrary, the FH-7 dive bomber, although a considerable number of them are in Thailand, but the number of such bombers is relatively large, and after the start of the war, several aircraft factories in the country are operating at full capacity, so there is no need to worry about the number of bombers.

And now, with the sea-crossing troops still a few dozen nautical miles away from the Penghu Islands, the bomber units have carried out large-scale bombing operations against the Japanese fortifications on the Penghu Islands under the escort of ZD-20 fighters.

Compared to the Thais, the Japanese were obviously more tricky, but fortunately, the limited space in the Penghu Islands limited the deployment of the Japanese. But even so, the Japanese, who had a considerable number of high-performance anti-aircraft weapons. Still shot down a lot of FH7 bombers on bombing missions, but the ZD20 on escort missions did not suffer much loss.

It is no wonder that after all, the ZD20, which does not need to perform ground attack missions, only needs to be responsible for defending against the attacks of Japanese aviation at high altitudes, and there is no need to go to low altitudes at all. Naturally, it could not be targeted by the Japanese.

Even if the Japanese wanted to deal with these fighters, even if they were Zeros, they would have to deal with the dive bombers above their heads.

In the face of Japanese anti-aircraft fire, the incoming dive bombers lost at least dozens of aircraft, but similarly, the Japanese positions and fortifications were also blown up by the FH-7 bombers.

That is, in this case. The sea-crossing troops arrived...

——————————————————

"It's finally here..."

Looking at the Penghu Islands that had already entered the field of vision, Zhu Dequan put down the telescope and said to the side of the big mate.

"Tell the Army guys that they can go..."

Just as Zhu Dequan said this, the Japanese troops, who had also discovered the sea-crossing troops, also began to use shore defense artillery to bombard the ships of the sea-crossing troops.

On the other side, the sea-crossing troops and the outer escort fleet also began to anchor. Then turn the muzzles of the ship's guns to the Penghu Islands.

"Boom !!"

Amid the dense sound of artillery, the landing ship opened the gate and dropped out one landing craft after another.

"Pay attention, stay ashore..."

Inside the landing craft, the officers were loudly repeating the precautions of the past training. On the other side, the pilots of the landing craft also drove at full speed and galloped in the direction of Penghu.

"Boom !!"

I don't know if the gunners were too powerful, or the officers and men on the landing craft were too unlucky, but in the process of landing on the beach of the island, a landing craft was directly hit by a shell, and as a result, the entire landing craft quickly burst into flames in the explosion. As for how many people on board the landing craft are still alive ......, no one really knows ...

Since the landing force consisting of landing craft on the sea is very dense, although such things are not many, they are definitely not few. In just a few minutes, at least six landing craft were already hit by Japanese small-caliber shore defense guns.

Although not every landing craft was completely wiped out like the one just now, the landed craft that were hit were still heavily damaged, and many of them were not very far from the death of the whole boat.

At this time, the landing force, consisting of landing craft, had only sailed a third of the distance.

"Damn. Let the fire of the navy be fierce, and now the Japanese have already smashed shells on our heads!! ”

On the bridge of a landing ship. Seeing that one or two of the landing craft heading for Penghu would be hit from time to time, an officer who looked like a division commander said loudly to the chief of staff.

In fact, he was in a hurry, and the navy was in a hurry, just when the army was constantly sinking and destroying landing craft, perhaps because of some kind of stimulation, the navy's artillery fire was much more fierce than just now.

It's a pity that no matter at any time, at least there is no too obvious generation difference in the technical level of the two sides, then the shore defense artillery is always stronger than the naval gun, which even a battleship can't do.

After all, on the floating sea, the naval guns really can't aim well, and the shore defense guns on the other side are not only down-to-earth, but also obviously higher than the naval guns in terms of protection level...

Although the navy has always wanted to suppress the shore defense artillery on Penghu Island, it has unfortunately not succeeded, and in the case of continuous warships being hit by shore defense artillery, the navy has a feeling that it is gradually being suppressed.

Fortunately, at this time, the bomber group that had just returned finally returned home after reloading ammunition and fuel.

When the shore defense artillery group was bombarded, the Japanese artillery fire was significantly reduced, that is, in this case, the landing force began to accelerate in the direction of Penghu, and after paying large losses, the first landing craft finally docked on the beach of Penghu—————— although not long after the landing craft opened the hatch, a 75mm shell had already flown in along the hatch...