Planes fly over southern China, a land that looks unusually calm in the August weather, but the flames of war may soon burn here.

The 39th Fighter Regiment flew to Guilin Airport along the Hunan and Vietnam railway lines, and down you can see rows of green military vehicles slowly wriggling forward along the narrow railway line through the green rice fields that were divided into pieces, and the planes flew over mountains, rivers, and forests.

The German-made BF109 is a high-speed interceptor with good performance, the only drawback is that the range is too short, and after replacing the larger fuel tank at the special request of Guangxi, its range has only reached 900 kilometers, which is half that of the Austro-Hungarian F-5 "Saker". However, its climb rate during combat is better than that of the Austro-Hungarian fighter, and if it is used for defense, its performance is better than that of the F-5 fighter, but its weakness is reflected in the long-range transfer, the 39th Fighter Regiment needs to transfer in Guilin to fly to Nanchang, while the 40th Fighter Regiment equipped with Austro-Hungarian F-5 fighters can fly directly to Nanchang Airport.

The 39th Air Regiment refueled at Guilin Airport, where Kukocz met Kahn, a German military adviser, and learned that the shape of Shanghai was already critical.

The Japanese launched a full-scale offensive in the northeast, and in Jinzhou, the Kwantung Army broke through the Daling River defense line and, with the support of the navy, landed in the area around Huludao. The Northeast Frontier Army could only retreat to Chaoyang, Chifeng, and Shanhaiguan. But in Qiqihar, the Northeast Frontier Army smashed the Japanese offensive and won the battle to defend the river bridge. The Japanese army could only adjust its forces and temporarily stopped military operations on the Heilongjiang front. But north of the Heilongjiang River, since the main forces of the Far Eastern Army were concentrated on the line of the Yenisei River, the Japanese army went up the river. Basically, there was no resistance, and Mohe had already been occupied.

In Shanghai, only Chen Leshan's 4th Army Division was stationed in Songhu, and Jiang Zuobin, chief of the General Staff, ordered the 6th and 19th Divisions of the Jiangsu Army to rush to Shanghai, but Qi Xieyuan, the military superintendent of Jiangsu, was worried that his strength would be damaged, so he deliberately delayed the operation.

The Japanese army attacking Shanghai was very arrogant. The Marines, with only 8,000 troops, first launched an attack on Wusong. On the afternoon of 13 August, the vanguard of the Japanese army and the Fourth Division first fought at Wusongkou, followed by fierce fighting in the urban area of Shanghai around the Japanese concession area of Hongkou.

The scale of the battle expanded rapidly, both China and Japan began to carry out large-scale troop reinforcements to Shanghai, the Japanese warships anchored outside the mouth of the Yangtze River began to shell the Wusong Fort, Chen Guangyuan ordered the Zhejiang Protector Sun Chuanfang to send the 10th Army Division to reinforce Shanghai.

After the 11th Air Division flew to Nanchang, it discovered a serious mistake on the part of the Chinese, who did not have enough airfields in the most important part of East China to accommodate the combat aircraft of the two air divisions. Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai are key areas of China's financial income. So far, Jiangsu has only three airports in Nanjing, Yangzhou and Suzhou, and only three airports in Zhejiang. The capacity of these airports is not large, and at most only one flight group can be accommodated. The situation in Jiangxi is not much better, with only Nanchang, Jiujiang and Ganzhou having airports. The Beiyang government devoted its main energies to the north. The construction of the south is basically a matter for each province to do.

The situation in Anhui is slightly better, because it has been closely following the Anhui system over the years. The Beiyang government also opened a joint steel plant in Wuhu with the Austro-Hungarian Carlsen Iron and Steel Works. Ni Sichong has always been a cadre of the Anhui system, and after his death, his son-in-law Wang Pu succeeded him as the envoy of the Anhui Protector and has been taken care of by Beiyang.

Due to Anhui's relatively strong military strength, the Beiyang government has built seven airports in Wuhu, Anqing, the capital of Anhui Province, Guangde, Hefei, Ni's Laochao Bengbu, Chuxian and Taihu in southern Anhui, and the scale is relatively large.

Nanchang Airport has been crammed into a ball. The two flight regiments of the 11th Aviation Division and the two aviation brigades of the Jiangxi Army itself packed the airport, and there was no way, so the 39th Air Regiment could only move to Guangde Airport in Anhui.

Both China and Japan are mobilizing troops to Shanghai. The Japanese side transferred the Tiangu Detachment stationed in Dalian and the Shigeto Detachment in Taiwan to Shanghai, and later decided to send additional divisions of the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 13th, 101st, and 106th Divisions of the Army

At the beginning of September, the Japanese army transferred the Tiangu detachment stationed in Dalian and the Shigeto detachment in Taiwan to Shanghai. It was then decided to send additional divisions to the 3rd, 9th, 13th, and 101st Divisions, two independent field heavy artillery brigades, and two air wings to form the East China Dispatch Army, with Admiral Matsui Ishine as commander, and at the same time the navy to send a Chinese task force headed by four aircraft carriers.

At this time, the Japanese army had more than 1,000 land and sea combat planes and more than 80 warships in East China, preparing for a three-dimensional decisive battle with the Chinese army.

A full-scale war broke out between China and Japan.

The 12th Division of the Army stationed in Jiangxi, the 7th and 8th Divisions of the Central Army stationed in Hunan, the 3rd, 13th, and 24th Divisions of the Central Army in Hubei, and the 1st and 3rd Divisions of the Anhui Provincial Army formed the East China Front, with Wu Peifu as the commander-in-chief, to reinforce Shanghai. At the same time, the central divisions stationed in Guangdong and Guizhou also sent reinforcements to the front line of Zhejiang and Jiangxi.

At this time, the waters near Shanghai had been blockaded by the Japanese navy, and Japan refused the "mediation" of Germany, Austria, Britain, and France, and insisted on expanding the war in China.

Due to the lack of experienced pilots, the German and Austrian aviation consultants were able to take part in the battle and become "volunteer aviation officers" after filling out the "volunteer application form", and in fact they were still commanding and training the original air force. Lieutenant Colonel Kukocz filled out the form without hesitation, he was eager to fly the plane himself to experience the battle, but of course some people were reluctant to do so, and they were left behind.

Now he received a new position, Chief of Staff of the 39th Aviation Regiment, and on August 17, they finally received the order to enter the battle.

In August, the weather in southern China is not very good, the sky will rain from time to time, and there are almost no sunny days.

In the morning, before dawn, Lieutenant Colonel Kukocz began to get up and came to the airport.

The airport was wet, and two young mechanics in oil-stained overalls were checking the white 1103 Messersmitt fighter he was flying in the faint morning light, and a mechanic poked his head out from under the wing, "Sir, are you going to start today?" The pilots are already in the war room. ”

"Hmm." Kukochi replied ambiguously, and began to walk towards a two-story building next to the airport, arranging his flight suit, the fur flight suit was soft, but it was a little too hot in southern China.

Before the personnel arrived, more than 30 young pilots in flight suits sat lazily in the large conference room, chatting with each other, the lights in the conference room were on, but the windows were covered with thick blackout curtains. Most of China's pilots come from wealthy families, like to have long hair, and are free-spirited.

At 5:30 a.m., all the pilots arrived, and Colonel Chen Qiguang, commander of the 39th Air Regiment, first made a pre-war mobilization. Later, when Kukocchi was deployed before the operation, he pointed a long wooden stick at a footage of Japanese planes and warships on a large screen, and talked about the focus of the operation: attacking the Japanese naval fleet.

The Japanese Navy's air fleet composed of four aircraft carriers was not vulnerable to attack in the waters of the Zhoushan Islands, but the 3rd Fleet in the Huangpu River had been supporting the Japanese army's military operations on land with naval guns, causing great casualties to the defending Chinese army.

"The armored cruiser 'Izumo', with a standard displacement of 9750, is an old armored cruiser built in the pre-dreadnought era, with strong protection, modern modifications, and is currently the flagship of Japan's 3rd Fleet." Kukochi pointed to the video projector on the screen and said, "The main target of our operation is this Japanese warship, of course, other Japanese warships are also the targets of this operation, and our purpose is to force the Japanese fleet to withdraw from the waters of the Yangtze River." ”

He then went on to point out several secondary targets, including warships such as the "Kiri", "Yura" and "Yaeyama", mainly light cruisers.

The 39th Air Regiment will deploy all one fighter group and one bomber group at once, which will include a total of 72 BF109 fighters and 48 Junkers Ju87 dive bombers, and the fighters will also carry a 100-kilogram aerial bomb to interfere in the battle, and the main attack force will be three squadrons of dive bombers.

"Well, that's the way it is. Fighters have to continue escorting after the bomb is dropped, and the bomber returns immediately after the bomb is dropped, without waiting for formation! Colonel Chen Qiguang finally concluded.

It was almost dawn, and at 6 o'clock in the morning, the order to set off was officially given. (To be continued......)