At 9 o'clock in the morning of 24 May 1936, after taking off from Shaoguan Airport, five fighters of the Guangdong Air Force divided into two formations and flew over Xinfeng at cruising speeds.

Recently, the people, who are accustomed to seeing airplanes flying back and forth in the sky, are busy with their own work just by looking up, and only the children are excitedly pointing to the planes in the sky and shouting excitedly.

Quietly set up on the machine-gun positions on the east, southeast, south, and west of the four hilltops or mountain beams outside Xinfeng City, the officers and men who had already entered the firing state looked nervously at the fighters slowly circling in the sky through the gap in the camouflage net covering their heads, and one by one they were sweating profusely, their palms were wet, but the signal for attack never sounded, and the officers and men who were eager to try could only watch the planes that had entered their range swaggering and flying northward.

The first batch of three fighters left for more than 20 minutes, and the two fighters that had walked around the county town of Dayu in the west flew from west to east, just over the Jiangjiashan machine-gun position in the west where Wu Ming and Kang Ze were located

Brigade Commander Wu Ming still held a telescope and motionless to observe the enemy planes, without any sign of giving the order to attack, and the excited and nervous officers and men had no choice but to let the two planes circle repeatedly over Xinfeng.

Kang Ze was quite nervous, but he had listened to Wu Ming's detailed analysis, and knew that with the current firepower configuration, he was not sure that he could shoot down two planes at a time, even if he shot down one of them and let the other escape or retaliate, the entire combat plan would not only fail completely, but also cause huge trouble, and neither he nor Wu Ming would be able to bear huge responsibility.

Twenty minutes later, the three Cantonese fighters flying to Ganzhou returned home, and returned with the two fighters that circled back and forth over Xinfeng City and expanded their flight range.

Wu Ming told Kang Ze in a low voice: "The five fighters that flew away are all Hawker III attack planes, this kind of aircraft engine is more advanced than other aircraft, the speed is faster, and the ground attack firepower is also good, we don't need to provoke them, and we can't afford to provoke them, we still need to wait patiently for the arrival of the Guangdong army's reconnaissance plane."

"The reconnaissance planes of the Guangdong army are basically special two-seat reconnaissance planes manufactured by the Chance Watt Company of the United States, the model has an altitude limit of 50 meters, and the speed is about 0 kilometers, and the speed will be reduced a lot when flying low and circling for reconnaissance, about 150 kilometers to 180 kilometers, and the planes are equipped with professional optical observation instruments, and it is estimated that there are also aviation cameras, but there are only two millimeter-caliber aviation machine guns for self-defense, and this is the kind of aircraft we are waiting for."

Kang Ze was no longer surprised by Wu Ming's extensive knowledge: "Is this kind of a very good reconnaissance opportunity coming?" If so, will there be other fighters to escort it? ”

Wu Ming replied: "Now I don't know if the road will come, there are fighter escort planes is certain, the single reconnaissance plane we saw before actually has escort planes, and the escort planes are within a radius of about 20 kilometers, specially for the aircraft that are conducting low-altitude circling reconnaissance to alert opponents who may arrive in other directions, even if we can't see the fighters on the ground who are on guard duty on the periphery, the actual distance between them and the reconnaissance planes will not be very far, what we are waiting for is this opportunity, after the escort fighters leave, Seize the opportunity to shoot down the reconnaissance plane that lowered its altitude to reconnoiter the ground. ”

Kang Ze sighed, shook his head, and said, "It took so much time and manpower and material resources, but what I was waiting for was only a fleeting opportunity...... I'm afraid that only you will do this in the whole army, but think about it, it will be a little harder at most, and there will be no loss, but once you succeed, all the efforts will be worth it. ”

"Yes, just like fishing, waiting for the fish to be hooked is much longer than the moment when the rod is lifted, but when you catch a big fish, the great joy in your heart cannot be described in any words...... How so? ”

Wu Ming thought for a while, approached Kang Ze's ear, and deliberately lowered his voice: "It's like sleeping with a woman, and I sweat for a long time, and only the most shivering time is the most refreshing." ”

Kang Ze was very stunned, and then laughed loudly and happily, seeing that the officers and soldiers all turned their heads to look at him, he had to stop abruptly, put his fist under his nose and coughed, held back his laughter and raised his hand to the serious Wu Ming and pointed at him again and again: "You, you ......"

Until 3:30 p.m., there was no shadow of the plane in the sky, and the spy company and the three observation posts scattered about 15 kilometers away from the west, south, and southwest did not send back the news of the arrival of the enemy plane.

At 5:40 p.m., the sun was already in the west, and all the officers and soldiers, including Kang Ze, thought that there was no hope, only Wu Ming was still full of confidence, and he clearly told Kang Ze and Tian Zhenggang that the reason was very good:

"Today's appearance of the Guangdong army planes than the day before yesterday and yesterday is more than half, this is very abnormal, it is estimated that the Guangdong army planes in the sky over Xinfeng and Ganzhou did not find anything, so the focus of the investigation turned to the west of the Hunan and Guangdong border north of the area, and when they can not find any valuable targets there, it is very likely to fly over Xinfeng City again, so we must be patient, opportunities often appear in the first minute before giving up"

When the officers and men heard Wu Ming's words, they had no choice but to cheer up and wait patiently, and the result once again confirmed Wu Ming's correctness, and the opportunity appeared at the last moment when everyone was hopeless.

At 6:10 p.m., the radio station behind Wu Ming suddenly became active, and the forward observation group from the southwest made an urgent call, sending a set of exciting intelligence warning numbers repeated three times.

Wu Ming immediately grabbed the phone and gave an order to Tian Zhenggang, who was waiting for the main position in the south, Zhangjiafeng:

"A reconnaissance plane of the Guangdong Army, under the cover of a Hawker III attack plane, has flown over the No. 2 observation point in the southwest, and it is estimated that it will fly to our attack area in five minutes, please be ready for battle immediately; Repeat: A Guangdong reconnaissance plane, under the cover of a Hawker III attack plane, has flown over the No. 2 observation point in the southwest direction, and it is estimated that it will fly to our attack area in five minutes.

"Understood"

The officers and men on the Jiangjiashan position were excited when they heard Wu Ming's clear and loud voice, and five heavy machine guns and sixteen Czech machine guns pointed diagonally at the eastern sky were quickly ready to fire.

Kang Ze forcibly held back the excitement in his heart, followed Wu Ming to the front of the water-cooled machine gun, and almost at the same time as Wu Ming, he took out his binoculars and stared at the sky to the south

At 6:14 a.m., the roar of the plane's engine was faintly heard, and in less than half a minute, the huge sound was getting closer and closer, and a grass-green painted Hawker III fighter plane and an off-white two-seater reconnaissance plane slowly appeared in the southwestern sky, and the larger two-seater reconnaissance plane was particularly dazzling under the afterglow of the sky.

The two planes began to lower their altitude after drawing two graceful arcs, and the two planes circled over the county town in a slightly one formation after the other, and the two Hawker-3 fighters, which had circled around 360 degrees, suddenly accelerated to increase their altitude, pulled out a half arc in the clear blue sky, broke away from the reconnaissance plane, and flew towards the sky over Ganzhou in the direction of due north.

After continuing to observe for more than 30 seconds, Wu Ming quickly put away the binoculars, turned to the three guards behind him and ordered loudly: "Flare gun preparation - release"

"Tom, tom—"

The blue signal flare shot up into the sky, and the dazzling bright light flashed two dazzling purple lights under the reflection of the golden afterglow, and the reconnaissance plane that was hovering in a counterclockwise direction flew right above the front of Jiang Jiashan, and the machine gunners who had been gathering momentum for a long time immediately tightened the trigger, and the dense rain of bullets flew in the fierce gunfire and the rising green gunsmoke

The pilot of the reconnaissance plane, who had already seen the three blue signal flares, realized that a huge danger was coming, and while exclaiming loudly, he accelerated his climb, but the hovering speed of the landline was too slow, and the distance between it and the rain of bullets fired from the dense Jiangjia Mountain was too close, and more than 30 bullets had already hit the rear of the plane, and the fragile tail of the plane shook violently, and in the blink of an eye, it was divided into several pieces and flew into the sky in a crisp tearing sound, and the entire body of the reconnaissance plane that was being lifted immediately turned up in high-speed flight. Straight into the sky over Zhangjialing in the south direction.

There was already a lot of gunfire on Zhangjialing, and Tian Zhenggang, who was personally operating a water-cooled heavy machine gun, saw the fighter plane rolling over, where was there any hesitation? Quickly adjusting the firing angle, letting out a long roar, the dense rain of bullets fired from the machine gun accurately hit the out-of-control reconnaissance fuselage, causing the plane fragments to splash and volley into the air, and the heavy nose of the plane suddenly fell in the rapidly expanding flames, drew a straight diagonal line, and smashed heavily into the rocks at the foot of the mountain, once again making an earth-shattering explosion.

The blazing air flow instantly shrouded the machine gun position on Zhangjialing, and the camouflage net that had already been lifted and the surrounding grass and trees were hunting in the strong wind, and Tian Zhenggang, who had excellent eyes, suddenly found that a white parachute was swaying and falling in the air more than 300 meters in front of him, and he even saw the pilot's hands waving constantly.

Tian Zhenggang was so excited that he was about to shout for the brothers to capture the prisoners, when a crisp gunshot blocked his voice in his throat, and a blood mist rose from the neck of the pilot, who was constantly struggling in mid-air in front of him, and his head was thrown back, and he could no longer lift it.

Tian Zhenggang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly rushed forward a few steps and bent down, looking at the place where the gunshots rang out in front of and below, and the anxiety and anger on his face instantly froze.

Behind the protruding rocks at the foot of the mountain, Lei Peng, the commander of the second company of the special agent and the leader of the sniper team, waved his hand to Tian Zhenggang above the mountain with a smile, lowered his head, quickly put away the scope that had just been disassembled, skillfully stuffed it into the leather bag and hung it on his shoulder, stood up and picked up the Mauser rifle wrapped in camouflage cloth, patted his buttocks full of dirt, and walked down the hill without saying a word.

On the banks of the Chengnan River, countless soldiers and civilians flocked out, looking in panic at the fire burning at the foot of the southern mountain and the pilot who was about to fall to the ground, and several reporters watched in amazement at everything that was happening in front of them, only the middle-aged photographer kept pressing the shutter, and then followed the more than ten officers and soldiers who shouted "save the pilot" and rushed to the accident site.

On Jiangjia Mountain in the west of the city, Kang Ze, whose body was trembling slightly, finally put down the binoculars, suddenly turned to Wu Ming and asked in a low voice, "You arranged the sniper?" ”

Wu Ming replied helplessly: "No way, you can't let the pilot live and talk nonsense to reporters, right?" If, then, he denies that he has taken the lead in attacking our defensive positions, and instead slanders us for attacking him, how would we be wronged? ”

Kang Ze looked at Wu Ming blankly, Wu Ming had already turned to leave, and loudly ordered the brothers to pack up and go down the mountain slowly, trying not to make too much noise.

A blazing mountain wind blew, Kang Ze, who was in a sluggish state, shuddered, suddenly let out a long sigh, silently put away the telescope and walked towards Wu Ming, who was about to go down the mountain.

On the filthy sky, the Hawker fighter plane, which had just left for less than eight minutes, flew quickly, circled twice above the crowd full of smoke and running, and hesitantly raised its altitude and flew southwest.

Under the remnant sun, the figure of the fighter plane that gradually disappeared farther and farther away, looking very lonely.