At the same time as the fierce battle in the air, the two battleships of the Japanese army also unceremoniously aimed their two sister ships with their thick main guns, and with a loud bang, the 356mm caliber armor-piercing shells easily penetrated the main armor of the two Soviet Kongo-class battleships at a close range of several kilometers, and the officers and men of the Soviet Red Navy on the ship knew that they could not be spared, and in desperation opened the water gate at the bottom of the ship and sank themselves, so as not to be captured by the Japanese two battleships again. As a result, due to the lack of water depth in Weihaiwei Port, it only sank and ran aground, but it could not be completely submerged into the sea

Not long ago, Pokryshkin, who once commanded all the Soviet aid air forces, once again showed calmness beyond his years, but now there are only a few hundred planes under his command, and Qingdao is farther away from Weihaiwei than the Korean Peninsula, so although the hundreds of planes of the Soviet aid air force around Qingdao have achieved certain results under his command, they still have not been able to save the fate of the total annihilation of the main force of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, but have suffered unprecedented losses because they are outnumbered, and the Soviet Heroes alone have sacrificed seven. Pokryshkin's landline plane was also damaged

After the surprise attack on Weihaiwei was successful, the Japanese Navy did not stop there, but sent more than 30,000 marines who had been preparing for Haode to occupy Weihaiwei Port under the cover of naval guns, which had lost the ability to resist, and at this time China only had less than 50,000 regular troops in Shandong, among which the Marine Division left in Qingdao was strong in combat effectiveness, but the division commander Hu Lian still did not dare to let his subordinates use flesh and blood to confront the devil's naval artillery, so he had to rush to Hu Weidong, who was far away in Bengbu, The Military Region Command is requested to at least transfer back the North China Air Corps immediately, because for China, which has limited naval strength, the only thing it can rely on to deal with the powerful Japanese Navy is the Air Force

Hu Weidong was also shocked when he learned that Weihaiwei had been attacked. He didn't expect the Japanese army to launch a counteroffensive of such a scale after suffering heavy losses in a row, but after thinking about it carefully, he understood that the two major armies of the Red Party were basically annihilated by the Japanese Army. The Japanese Navy should have recovered a little bit after recuperating for a while, so he immediately concluded that this surprise attack should only be carried out by the Japanese Navy alone, and the Japanese Marine Corps would be vulnerable to a single blow, once the cover of naval guns and aircraft was gone. I am afraid that even the local troops of the Central Plains Military Region will not be able to defeat them, and with their limited strength, they will be under the threat that the main forces of the 15 th Group Army and the North China Air Corps may go north to counterattack at any time. It is also difficult for Liliang to occupy more territory, and in addition, warships and aircraft are highly consumable arms, and this time the Japanese Navy has used almost all of Liliang, and it will be difficult to launch a major offensive in a short period of time, so there is no need to worry about the Japanese army taking advantage of the victory to march to Qingdao, China's largest naval base.

As long as Qingdao is not lost, Hu Weidong, who has never attached importance to the gains and losses of one city or one place, is no longer so nervous about the temporary loss of Weihaiwei, which is already unable to hold on. And in this matter. Hu Weidong also saw something deeper, and the Japanese navy's choice to attack the port of Weihaiwei, where the Soviet Pacific Fleet was entrenched, instead of the port of Qingdao, which was more important to China, was obviously unconscionable. You know, Japan is now at war with China, and the situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for Japan. Under these circumstances, Japan actually took the initiative to provoke the Soviet Union, an even more terrible enemy, and if it was only for revenge, Hu Weidong would not believe it.

"Could it be that the Americans are behind it? Among the current Western powers, only the Yankees have this motive and can offer a price that is enough to make Japan willing to be cannon fodder." After understanding this, Hu Weidong could not help but feel extremely dissatisfied with the US Government, after all, no matter what kind of benefits the Japanese obtained, it was not a good thing for the Chinese army, which was fighting bloody battles with the Japanese army. But on the other hand, this incident also made Hu Weidong see an opportunity to drag the Soviet Union into the water, if the powerful Soviet army can start a war against Japan, the bad thing will become a good thing, not only to kill people with a knife to eliminate more devils, but also to consume the Soviet Union, which seems to be a little too strong. For this reason, Hu Weidong deliberately asked the North China Air Corps to send back only 300 fighters, but not a single bomber that could pose a threat to the Japanese warships was moved, and this was not only because there were not many bombers left in the North China Air Corps

Stalin, who was far away in Moscow, could not believe his ears when he learned that Weihaiwei had been attacked and that the main force of the Pacific Fleet had been almost completely annihilated by the Japanese. As a result, the Soviet troops stationed in Weihaiwei and several nearby field airfields first became victims, and those who died in battle were only killed, and almost all of those who did not die were put in concentration camps for quarantine and examination, and less than a quarter were later released, and the Soviet aid air force that Stalin thought was ineffective in rescue was not spared, and even Pokryshkin, whom he had always admired, was reprimanded, but Pokryshkin was also a blessing in disguise, because of the relatively best performance, the officers above were swept away, In addition, the leader has always admired and valued him, and officially became the supreme commander of the entire Soviet aid air force, and was authorized to form an air force group on this basis, as a pilot for the establishment of an independent air force establishment in the Soviet Union.

In just a few years, he turned from a rookie pilot to a senior general at the level of a group army, and Pokryshkin felt like a dream, and in order to repay the leader's kindness, he risked offending people, boldly promoted a group of officers as young as him, and sent back to China all those old guys who were old-fashioned and could not accept his air force theory, thus greatly speeding up the formation of the First Army of the Soviet Air Force and the formation of combat effectiveness. In order to give full play to the advantages of the large formation, Pokryshkin also boldly established a fighter and bomber division to replace the original mixed aviation division. After some adjustments, the First Army of the Soviet Air Force had 4 fighter divisions and 2 bomber divisions. Each air division has three flight regiments, each flight regiment has four flight groups, each flight group has four flight squadrons, each fighter squadron is equipped with four aircraft, and the bomber squadron is equipped with three aircraft.

The entire First Army of the Air Force is equipped with more than 1,000 aircraft of various types, and if you count the reserves, the total number is more than 1,200. And the theory of speed maneuvering and the "8 planes" (based on the 2-plane formation tactics, which were different from the 3-plane formation tactics that were popular at that time, were pioneered by Pokryshkin. The formation air combat tactics were fully implemented in the army, making them shine in the war very quickly. (To be continued.) )