Eight H-3 Flying Fortress bombers lined up in the air in an echelon formation and flew eastward towards the rising sun. The engine of the H-3 was refined, the speed was good, and it did not take long to reach the skies over Shanghai.

Having reached the target, the plane began to reduce altitude. Through the thin clouds, Fu Guoqiang saw Shanghai in the morning light. The city is beautiful, with scattered houses and neat cities, and the winding Huangpu River is like a ribbon......

His mind went back to the days when he was engaged in intelligence work in Shanghai, when he rented a shikumen in the concession, not far from the Bund, and every day he was busy walking there, watching the boats and pedestrians coming and going on the Huangpu River, and he felt the benefits of living in a stable country.

War! Oh, those who have been at peace for a long time do not know how to cherish it.

"Prepare to drop the bomb!" Liu Cuigang's order interrupted Fu Guoqiang's thoughts and pulled him back to reality from a moment's memory. The plane was constantly descending in altitude, and he could already vaguely see the Japanese artillery positions. The Japanese anti-aircraft artillery fire had already started, and all kinds of anti-aircraft guns on the ground were constantly firing into the air, and the black smoke from high-speed shells exploded under the H-3 bombers, and Fu Guoqiang could faintly hear the sound of the anti-aircraft guns "dong dong".

"No! The target is too small, and now the bomb is afraid that the error will be large, and it is easy to accidentally injure the surrounding residential areas! The bombardier said as he looked at his target below.

This is a major disadvantage of fighting on the territory of the country, so in the defensive battle of Shanghai, the army units did not use heavy artillery, because they were worried that the artillery fire would be blindless and hurt the ordinary people.

Liu Cuigang was silent for a moment, and after a moment he decisively ordered: "Attention all crew members!" Drop the flight altitude! ”

After a hover, the eight H-3 bombers began to descend to an altitude of about 800 meters, and the Japanese anti-aircraft fire was completely capable of tearing them apart. The dense artillery fire had already come, and Fu Guoqiang saw the black * exploding around the plane, and the air wave of the * explosion was also affecting the flight stability of the plane.

"Go a little lower!" Liu Cuigang ordered decisively.

Fu Guoqiang, who was sitting in the co-pilot position, glanced at him, which meant that he was asking him with his eyes, if it was lower, the bomber formation would be in a very dangerous situation.

As if he understood what Fu Guoqiang meant, Liu Cuigang said simply: "Descend to a height of 500 meters and strive to accurately drop bombs!" ”

After receiving the order, the planes began to descend in altitude, and after a circle, the bomber formation descended to an altitude of 500 meters, and at this time the Japanese artillery fire was already quite intensive, and even the air defense sirens on the ground could be faintly heard.

"Bomb dropping!" The bomber formation flew at a low altitude, and 250 kg of * fell as if it were raining. Knock knock! Several black smoke exploded on the ground, and the observer saw it and clenched his fist with one hand and shouted excitedly: "Good! Right on target! ”

Immediately afterwards, other planes also began to drop bombs, and the Japanese artillery positions were in a sea of fire. However, the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery fire did not weaken, all kinds of anti-aircraft bombs kept coming, and the wings were hit and made all kinds of thunderclapping sounds.

Just as the pilots were happy, Liu Cuigang's No. 2 aircraft on their left flank reported bad news, and they were hit.

"Get out of it quickly!" "Elevated!" "Elevated!" …… Various sounds were heard on the radio, and in a short time the bomber was smoked by anti-aircraft fire.

"Jump!" As soon as Liu Cui gave the order, he simply called out in plain language.

However, the crew of the bomber did not respond, and he struggled to control the fuselage and swooped down.

"What is he going to do?" Fu Guoqiang asked in surprise.

Liu Cuigang muttered: "He is going to take a suicide attack, only in this way can the plane be blown up and shattered when it lands, so that the Japanese army will not be able to get our prototype." ”

"Comrades-in-arms! Farewell! "Machine 2 made one last sound, and then plunged down like a meteor. Through the plane's viewing glass, Fu Guoqiang saw the light of an explosion rising on the ground.

The other bombers quickly rose to a safe altitude, and just as they were about to return home, Liu Cuigang asked all the crew members about the remaining situation. After the crews reported that they were left, Liu Cuigang did not give the order to return to the ship, but continued to look for the second target, the Japanese Special Marine Corps Command.

"Attention the whole group! Now go to the next goal. The remaining seven bombers immediately switched formations and, escorted by several fighters, began to search for the Japanese command.

The speed in the air was fast, and in less than a moment they searched the location of the headquarters of the Japanese Special Marine Corps. The warship-like structure is made entirely of reinforced concrete, and has been repeatedly attacked by the Army. In front of the 500 pounds * of the H-3 bomber armament, all this will cease to exist.

"Prepare to drop the bomb!" Liu Cuigang gave the order again, this time they did not lower the air, because the Japanese headquarters has always been a Japanese expatriate gathering area, few Chinese live near it, plus when the war just began, this is the place where the two armies are fiercely contested, and it is already a ruin, so Liu Cuigang does not have the slightest concern in this regard.

The order to drop bombs was immediately given, and the bomber formations fell one by one like eggs, and the sturdy Japanese headquarters was soon greatly damaged.

Bang! The Japanese headquarters at the bow of the ship was reduced to rubble, and the other conjoined buildings were on fire.

But before the pilots could celebrate, the roar of the plane's engines rang out in the air. The fighter on guard raised the alarm - the Japanese air force formation was coming.

After being bombed, the Japanese Army's air force was ready to take to the skies, but their airfield runway was also damaged by bombers and could not be lifted into the air.

At this time, the Japanese aircraft carrier squadron in the waters of Shanghai also received a request for help from the army on the war situation, and their carrier-based planes were always on standby, and they immediately took to the air to fight after receiving the order. More than 20 Type 9 single-fight planes galloped from the sea, and the time when they arrived at the battlefield coincided with the time when the bomber group bombed the Japanese headquarters, and the two sides met unexpectedly, and the bombers only had a pitiful two anti-aircraft guns, and they fought back while rising.

Several "Lightning" fighters served as escorts and became the main force of escorts. The performance of the two fighters is similar, both are monoplane metal aircraft, but the speed of the lightning is faster. After discovering the formation of Japanese planes, Le Yiqin, the captain of the escort formation, immediately raised it, and then dived down to attack the weak part of the armor on the top of the fuselage of the Japanese plane.

The escort formation of the Chinese Air Force fought with Japanese planes in a small number of battles against a strong enemy.

However, courage could not make up for the gap in strength, and after a while, two fighters were damaged and withdrew from the battle. A fighter plane was hit, but what made people angry was that seeing that their fleet was getting smaller and smaller, Le Yiqin was a little anxious, the Japanese planes were still entangled, and the bomber group had risen out of the battlefield, but as an escort formation, they were surrounded by Japanese planes.

"Fight!" Le Yiqin turned on the radio and conveyed the order to the crowd, which was not an order, a bit like a certain emotion they were transmitting.

The pilots seemed to be infected by this emotion, and began the battle below with an attitude of seeing death as if they were at home. At this time, the roaring sound of the machine came, and Le Yiqin saw dozens of "Lightning" fighters in formation.

Tata Tower! The fighters in the front formation opened fire, and a Japanese Type 9 single battle was hit, and it fell down in black smoke.

Le Yiqin clearly saw that the fighter that shot down the Japanese plane was painted No. 0010, wasn't that Captain Gao's landline? Before Le Yiqin could get excited, Gao Zhihang's voice came from his radio: "The whole formation!" Full formation! ”

The escort fighters soon joined the formation of Gao Zhihang's fleet, and more than 30 fighters and more than 20 Japanese Type 9 single battles were mixed together, starting a scuffle of swords and swords.

After a while, Japanese reinforcement fighters also arrived one after another, and Suzhou Airport also took off fighters urgently to meet them. At its peak, the two sides dispatched nearly 100 warplanes to engage in air battles over Shanghai.

The large-scale air battle scene attracted the attention of many Shanghai citizens, who walked out of their homes and looked up to watch the air battle.

Whenever they saw the Japanese fighter plane shot down, they applauded and cheered excitedly, and many even threw their hats and other items into the air to cheer for the Chinese Air Force!

The large-scale air battle ended after nearly an hour, and it was the largest air battle since the start of the Sino-Japanese war, in which the Chinese Air Force lost nine fighters, seriously damaged three, and eight pilots died. The Japanese suffered heavier losses, with a total of 23 fighters shot down, and the 2.5 to 1 battle ratio was indeed a big victory. On the other hand, in order to expand the results of the battle, the propaganda department publicized that more than 70 Japanese fighters were shot down in the 9.01 Shanghai air battle, and they won a complete victory!

A few days later, Huang Ke personally held a memorial service for the eight pilots who had died, and the national media also reported on the Shanghai air battle at length.

As a result, this incident aroused the enthusiasm of the people of the whole country for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and many citizens and wealthy businessmen donated money and materials one after another, and Zhao Tinghui and Fu Wangshan in the south even took the initiative to donate money to buy airplanes, and a trend of learning from the air force was formed throughout the country, but behind this was the Japanese air force ready to go.

After learning of the defeat in the air battle in Shanghai, Matsui Ishone calmly began to think about the next coping strategy, and he deeply knew the importance of air supremacy. After the air battle in Shanghai, the Japanese air force suffered a lot of losses, and it would definitely not work without the air force, so Matsui began to think about his next step.