Episode 22 The Great Air Battle in the Bohai Sea

On May 8, at 9:45 a.m., the will to take off to meet the enemy was transmitted to Dongying Daqing**.

I don't know what happened in the Bohai Strait here, but I didn't know until I received the holy decree. The captain of the group and the commander of the airfield immediately panicked, jumping up and down like numb claws, looking for the pilot, the technician, and the fuel director......

It's the first time that they, a small official with a sesame seed, have received the holy decree, but it's just enough to receive the holy decree, and the worst thing is that the emperor asked to take off immediately, but at the moment, most of the pilots are not at the airport. Shandong is a big rear, usually loose habits, some pilots take leave to go back to their hometown, some go to Dongying City to play, and some don't know where to go...... The technicians and ground staff are similar, they are all like this.

There are also those torpedo machines, it is said that there are only 30 or so of them in the country, which should be baby bumps. But because it is a baby bump, the task given to it is to guard the Bohai Sea and defend the Beijing-Tianjin gateway. In the face of the absolute superiority of the Southern Ming Navy, the Northern Qing Dynasty has always pursued the policy of preserving its strength. As long as the Ming army does not enter the Bohai Sea, it has always been tolerated, and of course it is impossible to let the torpedo planes go out and take the initiative to provoke the Nanming warships.

But the Ming fleet had not sailed into the Bohai Sea for decades. In the past ten years since the establishment of the Qing Air Force, the Bohai Sea has always been the world of the Qing Dynasty. When the torpedo brigade was first established, it was quite fresh from top to bottom, and it was a bit of a gearing up, but after a year or two, it was completely exhausted, and was quickly overwhelmed by the looseness, slackness, and decay that prevailed in the rear units of the Qing army.

At 9:45 a.m., the whole airport went crazy, but it was not until 10:10 a.m. that 62 pilots and enough ground crews were assembled.

36 torpedo planes were hastily inspected, 21 were dragged out, 21 were not a big problem, filled up with fuel, and hung up the torpedoes.

It wasn't until half past ten that 21 bulky biplane torpedo planes flew off the ground like ducks.

At this time, the 2nd Fighter Group of the 7th Air Regiment, which was also at another airfield in Dongying, had already taken to the air, and 32 Jebe fighters had been waiting for them in the sky for ten minutes. If you wait a little longer, you'll have to go down and refuel. Now it's hard to see this flock of ducks.

Only then did the 53 biplanes begin to form in a chaotic formation, and then staggered towards the northeast, looking for the Ming fleet.

The location of Dongying is very good, it is a protrusion of the Shandong Peninsula stretching out to the Bohai Sea, and it is just in the middle of the Bohai Sea, and the distance to the east and west ends is about the same. Taking off from here, whether it is to the east to the Bohai Strait, or to the west to Tianjin Dagukou, it is only about 100 kilometers, and the voyage is very cheap.

But the pilots of every torpedo plane, whether they were captains, bombardiers, or machine gunners, were pale at the moment, as if they knew that their fate was sealed. They knew that since the establishment of the torpedo unit for several years, they had made a symbolic flight several times, and they had all made meticulous preparations ten days and a half before when the superior officials came to inspect it.

They are also jealous of those who take leave to return to their hometowns and go to Dongying to be merry. Those guys were lucky enough to get away with it. Anyway, they will definitely be punished afterwards, but the pilots are all baby bumps, and no matter how they are punished, they won't be fatal! Oh my God, it's not fair!

I haven't seen any enemy ships yet, but almost every plane is keeping the same eye on it. The bombardier and machine gunner began to quietly negotiate with the captain on the in-flight radio: drop the torpedo when they see the enemy ship, then turn around and run.

……

At this time, 52 kilometers west of the Bohai Strait and about 100 kilometers northeast of Dongying, the Nanming Hongwu detachment had formed a circular air defense formation and was escorting the two aircraft carriers to turn around and sail southeast. The two aircraft carriers are heading against the wind at a speed of 30 knots to release the last reconnaissance aircraft. The key direction of investigation is Dongying in the southwest. Because there is a brigade of torpedo planes there, which is the only force in the Bohai Rim that can pose a real threat to the fleet.

At 10:40, after the last wave of reconnaissance planes was released by the two aircraft carriers Tianji and Tianxuan, the Hongwu detachment sailed back to the west course of 090 again, and the speed dropped to 20 knots.

A total of 32 twin-plane formations and a total of 64 sea kingfishers were released in two groups, and more than half of them flew in the direction of Dongying. There are now 104 Kingfishers on both aircraft carriers.

……

At this time, the two planes of a kingfisher two-plane formation were less than thirty kilometers away from the coast of Dongying, and they could already see the coast of Shandong. Although the reconnaissance planes were all scattered and did not form a group, Dongying was the main reconnaissance direction, and the reconnaissance planes became more and more dense the further they went here.

Now more than 1,000 meters away on the left and right, a two-plane formation can be seen in each.

The wingman of this two-plane formation was radioing the long plane:

"Captain, there is the coast of Shandong ahead, should we simply fly over Dongying and see their airport? Look if they took off. How's it going, Captain? Complete. ”

The long machine said in a gloomy voice:

"Just follow me. Where I go, you go, you don't have to worry so much. Complete. ”

"Ah, understood. Complete. ”

Suddenly, there was a hurried sound in the headphones:

"Attention, the group is spotted at ten o'clock below! You report and follow me at the same time! I'll take you there! Complete! ”

The wingman was excited:

"Understood! Complete! ”

As soon as the long plane pulled the control stick, the Kingfisher fighter flexibly rolled to the left, increased the throttle, and swooped down on the large group of planes in front of the left. The wingman also pounced on him, his eyes wide open, protecting the long plane.

The last few words of this two-plane formation were also heard by the other formations. At the same time, the two formations closest to them also saw the group below and rushed down.

……

At this time, the Hongwu detachment, which was 100 kilometers to the northeast, received reports of enemy aircraft.

"32 enemy fighters, 21 torpedo machines. …… There should have been 36 torpedo machines in the Qing army, but now only 21 have been found. Where are those 15? ”

In the command room of the aircraft carrier Tianji, the commander of the aircraft carrier formation flicked the enemy situation report, hesitated for ten seconds, and immediately ordered:

"Report to the flagship, request to turn to 120, headwind at full speed, we're going to fly again."

"Yes! Report to the flagship, request to turn 120! ”

Without a moment's delay, the two aircraft carriers first opened the high speed, tilted their bodies and made a sharp turn, and the bow set off white waves. Immediately after that, the entire fleet turned around.

The fighter jets that had been waiting on the deck for a long time started at the same time, and the pilots had already sat in the cockpit, and now they were finally able to go to the sky, and they all breathed a sigh of relief and their hearts were surging.

The wind was once again blowing and deafening on the deck, and one fighter jet after another slowly climbed onto the runway. The pilot gave a thumbs up to the ground crew next to him, then pushed the canopy up and rushed forward.

Soon, the two aircraft carriers each released 30 kingfishers into the sky. The first 28 went straight to the direction of Dongying, and the 32 that got up later were on alert over the fleet.

The commander of the aircraft carrier formation seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at this time. The pencil triangle was thrown on the chart table, and he sat in the chair, rubbed his face with his palms, and then sighed:

"The enemy has 32 fighters, and we have only three twin formations, six aircraft. But our lads were not afraid, and they attacked directly. Such morale, such self-confidence, would have been unimaginable a year ago. It seems that the era of my Ming Dynasty's superiority over the Qing Dynasty has arrived. ”

……

70 kilometers to the southwest, aerial dogfights are underway. Two torpedoes had already been shot into the sea, and the rest of the torpedo planes scattered in all directions.

Although the Kingfisher fighter is far faster and more agile than the Jebel biplane, there is a huge disparity in numbers. Six kingfishers swooped down from the sky, knocked out two torpedo planes with lightning speed, and then became entangled by more than thirty Jebels.

There were intertwined and beating lines of fire on all sides, and no matter how the six kingfishers flipped over, they could not shake off the enemy plane. Because behind each of them is not one or two, but three, four, five or six. And even if you turn around and throw off a round, you will immediately find that new enemy planes will appear in front, to the left, and to the right, and they will pounce on you in droves with tongues of fire.

During the dogfight, three Jebel fighters had already dragged black smoke into the sea, and two Kingfisher fighters had also been shot and fell into the sea.

The remaining four Kingfisher pilots finally remembered that their mission was reconnaissance, not heroes. The four men shouted to each other over the radio:

"Alright, alright, withdraw!"

"Run! If you don't run, you can't run away! ”

"Let's go!"

"Run!"

"You run first!"

"Let's run!"

"Whoever doesn't run is a bad seed!"

……

The four Kingfishers pulled the throttle and swooped down at the same time, breaking away from the fight at maximum speed.

The Qing army began to gather the torpedo planes, formed a formation again, and continued to advance. But of the remaining 19 torpedo planes, five of which had lost their torpedoes while evading the attack, had now returned.

The pilots of the remaining 14 torpedo planes were terrified, and they all hated it: these boys were smart, and they threw away their torpedoes in order to avoid enemy planes, and no one could say anything, and they could go home immediately.

Everyone else is calculating that the next time they encounter an enemy plane, they must also drop the torpedo first.

But from the headset came the captain's vicious order:

"Listen to me, don't drop any more torpedoes! What we are doing today is the emperor's mission, and it was ordered by the emperor himself! If you smash my head, I want your head too! Again, if you don't see the enemy fleet, you are not allowed to throw torpedoes at me! If you are beaten, you will be beaten, and if you are beaten, you will parachute! Anyway, it's not cold to jump into the sea on this day! It's just *** don't throw torpedoes at me, whoever throws the torpedo I kill whom, do you hear that? ”

The headphones were listlessly "heard...... At the same time, there was a lot of abuse in the belly of each unit.

Before he finished speaking, a black spot appeared between the clouds in front of him, spreading out very widely, in groups of four, a total of seven groups.

In the headphones of the Qing army's aircraft group, another frightened cry sounded.

……

As just now, the torpedo planes immediately dispersed and fled in all directions, and 29 Jebel immediately increased the throttle to meet them.

However, it is different now. Just now the Ming army only had 4 planes, but now there are 28 planes.

The leader of the Ming army group ordered:

"Fifth, sixth, seventh formations, go down to fight ducks, first, second, third, fourth formations, follow me!"

Then led 4 formations, a total of 16 Kingfishers, increased the throttle and pulled up to seize the height.

At the same time, a cheer rang out in the headphones of the other 3 formations and a total of 12 aircraft:

"Brothers, duck hunting!"

For a time, the sky above the sea was bloody.

The battle is divided into two layers. The upper level is a grappling between fighters, and the lower level is not a battle at all, it is completely a one-sided pursuit. Those biplane torpedo planes that fled for their lives were like bulky ducks, constantly diving downward, trying to use the high speed of the dive to get rid of the fighters behind them. However, the speed gap is too large, the maximum speed of the Qing army's torpedo aircraft is only 182 kilometers per hour, while the maximum speed of the Ming army's Kingfisher fighters is 392 kilometers per hour, which is not a grade at all.

In particular, there was still a heavy torpedo hanging under the belly of the torpedo machine, and the pilots kept in mind the intimidation of the captain and did not dare to throw it away. Before the "ducks" could finish their dive, they were chased by the kingfishers, and a beating tracer bullet line of fire appeared above.

Several torpedo planes were shrouded in tracer shell fire, the wooden wings and fuselage were torn, the open cockpit was also a mist of blood, and the machine gunner at the back was covered in blood, lying on his back, and flames were rising.

In the blink of an eye, six torpedo planes dragged long smoke into the sea.

The remaining torpedo machines did not give up, and immediately threw the torpedo into the sea and fled lightly. But even so, it is far from being chased by the Kingfisher fighters. A few minutes later, the last torpedo machine dragged black smoke and plunged headlong into the sea.

……

Although the battle at the top is a real battle, this battle is also a disparity in strength.

16 Kingfishers took on 29 Jebe, with an average of 1 Kingfisher going head-to-head with 1.8 Jebe. However, the superiority in the quality and training of the Ming army's fighters completely made up for the numerical inferiority. As a new generation of monoplane fighters, the speed and agility of the Kingfisher are not comparable to the old-fashioned Jebe. In addition, Jebe had only two 7.92mm machine guns, while Kingfisher had four.

Not to mention that the pilots who came this time were all veterans who had participated in the last Ming and Qing air battles, and the Qing army's Dongying Fighter Brigade was a rear unit and had never experienced an air battle.

The battle was very short, and within the first five minutes, 9 of the 29 Jebel fighters were knocked out, and 3 of the 16 Kingfisher fighters were killed. But at this time, the torpedo planes of the Qing army had been wiped out, and the 12 Kingfisher fighters that went down to chase and kill returned to the upper battlefield at this time and joined the encirclement and suppression of the Qing fighters.

The situation immediately turned one-sided. It turned out that the Ming army had 13 planes against 20 planes, which was to use quality to compete with quantity, but it only had "some advantages"; Now it has become 25 against 20, and it has become an "absolute advantage".

Seeing that the torpedo planes had been completely destroyed and that he had nothing left to defend, the leader of the Jebe fighter immediately ordered to leave the battle and return home.

But it's not that simple, the maximum speed of the Kingfisher fighter is 40 kilometers per hour faster than that of Jebe, if you want to chase, the Qing fighter will not be able to escape at all.

The Kingfisher leader was about to give the order to hunt down and annihilate the Qing Army's fighter squadron, but a voice from the aircraft carrier sounded in the headphones:

"Wasps call bees, wasps call bees......"

The team leader pressed the mask and replied, "Bee received, please speak." ”

"The northwest reconnaissance formation found Haidongqing fighters, about 80 kilometers away from you, and the number is about two squadrons...... I order you to quickly get out of the battle and return home...... Repeat, order you to quickly return home from the battle...... Complete. ”

The leader fought a cold war: the elite fighters of the Qing army in the Beijing-Tianjin area came to reinforce!

He immediately replied: "The bee received, understood." Immediate return to the ship, done. ”

The remaining 25 kingfishers stopped the pursuit, regrouped, and turned around and flew northeast. The remaining 13 Jebe fighters of the Qing army also escaped and were able to return.

……

At 11:20, the Kingfisher group returned to the aircraft carrier.

The kingfisher of the Ming army walked on the front foot, and the Hai Dongqing of the Qing army arrived on the back foot. But they circled around the designated airspace a few times, only to find parachutes floating on the sea, as well as floating oil and plane wreckage.

At the same time, the news of the annihilation of the ** torpedo machine brigade of the Qing Dynasty was also transmitted back.