Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 351 The Highlight Moment of the Air Force

In the sky east of Hankou, 24 bombers, escorted by 16 fighters, were heading straight for the city of WH. The commander of the formation, Colonel Furuyama Yosuke, was confident about the bombing.

The Chinese sky has become their back garden. In the Wuhan attack, the Central China Expeditionary Force mobilized more than 300 aircraft to participate in the war, which made it invincible in the East.

When he heard that China had also gathered more than 200 aircraft to join the war, he was not worried at all, but was eager to try;

His confidence comes from their own strength. Although they only have 16 fighter jets for escort, their bomber armament is not inferior to that of China's fighter jets.

这种最新型的96-1陆上攻击机不仅可以捷带800公斤炸弹，还装备了前3后1共计4挺机枪，综合性能在世界上都是顶尖的；
According to the intelligence obtained from the Chinese Air Force, the main fighter jets are a small number of Hawk 3 and I-15 fighter jets supported by Russia.

The I-15 fighter uses a wooden frame structure. The early model has a "Seagull" upper wing, a fixed landing gear, an open cockpit and a fixed rear three-point landing gear, with a two-blade propeller and a relatively simple appearance.
It is equipped with an M-22 radial engine with a power of 353 kilowatts, and its onboard weapons are two 7.62 mm PV-1 machine guns with synchronized firing devices.

Its performance is comparable to that of the Japanese heavy bombers, but slightly inferior to fighters. However, its flexibility is far inferior to that of fighters, which is the biggest shortcoming of bombers.
In terms of number, there were more than 40 fighter jets, so they approached the sky over Wuhan in a swagger, completely ignoring the Chinese Air Force.

When dense black dots appeared in front of them, Colonel Gushan was extremely excited. The Chinese aircraft fleet was finally lured out by them. So he flapped his wings and led a large formation straight towards the Chinese Air Force. Everyone was so excited that they seemed to be injected with chicken blood.

On the other side, Zhou Xin, who was driving a new I-152 fighter, was also extremely excited. Since he was shot down in the late stage of the Battle of Shanghai, he rarely encountered such a large-scale air battle.
During this period, his sworn brothers, under the leadership of their eldest brother Yue Qianli, were doing very well, killing thousands of Japanese soldiers and had long been famous throughout the world.

If he hadn't been unable to let go of China's sky, he would have gone to report to the boss. Fortunately, he now has a place to use his skills;
Looking at the dense black spots, the only thing he could do was to knock down all these bandits. This was the sky of China!

Soon both sides entered the attack area. Zhou Xin flapped his wings towards his wingman, and then flew straight towards the enemy's fleet.

The same thing happened to the Japanese aircraft group. Both sides were like two groups of swordsmen, holding up their giant swords and slashing at each other, and blood was drawn with every strike!

Zhou Xin's squadron now uses two-plane formations. This air combat tactic that is ahead of its time soon showed its magic. Coupled with Zhou Xin's superb combat skills, he shot down a Japanese fighter plane in just one encounter.

Just as another Japanese fighter was about to launch a surprise attack on No. 27011, Zhou Xin's wingman filled in the position in time and fired a burst of bullets;

Although it failed to hit Furuyama Yosuke's plane, it still frightened him and he said sweetly:
"Bakayaloo, two against one, this is not a job for a samurai."

Zhou Xin didn't care about the feelings of the Japanese. Seeing that the Japanese couldn't sneak attack him, he also wanted to shoot down his wingman, so he quickly came to support him and cooperated with his wingman Wei Xiaolin in a pick-and-roll, and smoothly intercepted the Japanese.
Wei Xiaolin took advantage of the situation and turned sideways to get rid of Lieutenant Colonel Gushan. With a few simple moves, he returned to his wingman position, cooperated with the leader to fight with the Japanese, and at the same time seized the most advantageous attack position.

Colonel Gushan also had rich combat experience. He took advantage of the performance of his aircraft and continued to fight with Zhou Xin's formation. He did not reveal any flaws for a while, and the two sides fought hard.
The other Japs did not have such good technology, especially those bulky bombers. Although their armament was not inferior to that of fighter planes, their poor maneuverability became their Achilles' heel. When faced with the new "two-plane formation" style of fighting, they would be locked after a few rounds.

Land attack planes were shot down one after another, and the balance between the two sides was gradually broken. During this period, Lieutenant Colonel Ivan also achieved his first victory since the battle in China, which made him very excited.
The Chinese were excited when they fought against the Japanese, and so were the Russians. The feud between the two sides could be traced back to the Russo-Japanese War.

This was the founding battle for the Japanese to become a world-recognized power. Like the Qing Empire, Russia also became a stepping stone in the rise of the Japanese.

Before this, they were known as the European gendarmes, but after losing to the dwarfs from the East, they became a private joke among the Western powers.

This is just a matter of face. After the European war ended, a revolution broke out in Russia. The Allied Powers formed the Anti-Japanese Army, and the Japanese were the most excited.
They took advantage of Russia's misfortune, set their sights on Russia's Far East, sent troops to Siberia, and almost took Russia's life.

In this world, they have always been the ones who have been stealing other people's land. They never expected that the Japanese, whom they despised the most, would also set their eyes on their land, and the feud became even bigger.

The old grudges have not been settled yet, and now the Japs have started to make trouble at Zhanggufeng, which is the border between China and Russia.

This is something that the Maos cannot tolerate. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Maos are the ones who least want to see China being swallowed up by the devils, because they will not be able to sleep well if they have such evil people as neighbors.
The strategic focus of Russia is in Europe, but they will not give up an inch of territory in the East. If they allow the Japanese to annex China, they will never have peace in the East and will be in danger of being pounced on and bitten by the vicious dog of the Japanese at any time. So Russia began to aid China.

Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov came to China under this background. They joined as an aviation volunteer team in their personal capacity and wore the uniforms of the Chinese National Army. The Japanese could not find fault with it.
He was the best pilot of the Russian army. After shooting down a Japanese plane, he targeted another Japanese fighter plane and a fight broke out between the two sides.

When the two planes passed each other, the Japanese ace pilot Higashino Yumi was surprised to see a Western face, who was obviously a Slav, and immediately cursed:
"Bakayaluo, these furry bears have lost their conscience!"

Major Higashino also understood politics. As soon as he saw Ivanov's attire, he knew what Russia was planning. He knew that it was useless to get angry. The most effective way of counterattack was to shoot down Ivanov's fighter plane and make them pay the price.

Ivanov also wanted to kill Major Higashino. After coming to China, he not only won the friendship of Zhou Xin and others, but also saw the atrocities of the Japanese in China.

He could not imagine the misery that would follow after such a group of beasts broke into his home, so what the Chinese Dawali family (the Mao Zedong and the National Army also called each other comrades) said was very right - only dead devils are good devils!

"Ula!"

"Itaya!"

The two men rushed towards each other shouting their iconic slogans. There were no fancy moves, and it was a life-and-death fight from the start.

Both sides tried their best but still couldn't knock out the other. They were both on the verge of death. They seemed evenly matched, but in fact, they were on the verge of life and death...

Zhou Xin's formation and Furuyama Yosuke were also on the verge of life and death. In the words of the storyteller, "they fought for three hundred rounds, and the world was eclipsed!" As more and more Japanese bombers were shot down, Furuyama Yosuke had long lost his previous calm and confidence. As the formation commander, he had to be responsible for the entire bomber formation;

He blamed all of this on Zhou Xin and the other man. If they hadn't been pestering him, the bomber formation wouldn't have lost so badly!

"Bakayarō, two people fighting one is not a job for warriors!"

Lieutenant Colonel Furuyama exhaled the fragrance once more, and perhaps without even realizing it, he was already beginning to get agitated;
A playful smile appeared on Zhou Xin's lips. With rich practical experience, he had long seen that the Japanese had lost their patience and were eager to find him to decide the outcome.

He did not do as the Japanese wanted. He teased them for more than ten minutes like a monkey, completely exhausting their patience.

The time was right, so he shook the fuselage again and conveyed his intention to his wingman. The two brothers had practiced this countless times in private with model aircraft;
Wei Xiaolin understood at a glance that Old Zhou was going to trick him again, and his spirits rose, like a hungry wolf seeing fat meat.

Zhou Xin is plotting against the Japanese, and so is Lieutenant Colonel Gushan.

He was a little anxious, but he still knew what was important. He also understood Zhou Xin's intention, so he played along and pretended to be very anxious. As he was familiar with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he was ready to use a "delaying knife trick" on Zhou Xin.

When the two of them clashed again, Lieutenant Colonel Gu Shan pretended to be distracted from the main battlefield, and Zhou Xin took the best attacking position.

Lieutenant Colonel Gushan revealed a flaw in his panic, which was seized by Zhou Xin, who fired a long burst of shots at him, almost hitting the fuselage of Lieutenant Colonel Gushan. Lieutenant Colonel Gushan was so scared that he fled in panic.

Zhou Xin chased him relentlessly, firing as he chased. Lieutenant Colonel Gu Shan moved among the hail of bullets. Zhou Xin's several sure-fire attacks were evaded by Lao Gui's skilled tactical moves, and Zhou Xin used up most of his bullets.

After several unsuccessful attacks, Zhou Xin seemed to be in a tight relationship with the Japanese. He fired bullets at Lieutenant Colonel Gushan without mercy and was almost catching up with him.

Lieutenant Colonel Gushan was waiting for this opportunity. When Zhou Xin finished attacking and his strength was almost exhausted, he suddenly pulled up the nose of the plane to the maximum, made a big loop and climbed, and disappeared under Zhou Xin's nose;
By the time Zhou Xin reacted, Lieutenant Colonel Gushan's fighter plane had appeared on the upper left behind Zhou Xin, with the machine gun on the nose of the plane aimed at the back of Zhou Xin's fighter plane.

Lieutenant Colonel Gushan showed a triumphant smile on his face. As long as he opened fire, Zhou Xin would be dead without a burial place.
It's just that he had only read the "Drag the Sword" strategy in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but he didn't know that there is a saying in China that goes "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it." Before he could open fire, Wei Xiaolin, who was ambushing behind him, opened fire.

The long tongue of fire struck Lieutenant Colonel Furuyama's fighter plane like the god of death's scythe, splitting it in half. Until his death, he never figured out why he was the one to die.

This is the power of a two-plane formation. You will always have teammates protecting your vital points. You just need to trust your comrades.

A two-plane formation is not simply one plus one equals two, but rather it is achieved through skillful tactical coordination that one plus one is greater than two.

There is no such thing as a one-on-one fight, two against one is more cost-effective!
Zhou Xin has been promoting and researching new tactics such as the four-plane formation and wolf pack tactics. He is accurately walking down the bright road of group fights.

Just as Zhou Xin's victory was decided, the fight between Ivanov and Higashino Yumi was about to come to an end;
The "Russian bear", which has always been famous for its thick skin and strong flesh, gradually gained the upper hand in the life-and-death battle between the two sides, and Major Higashino was really anxious.

More than half of the Japanese planes in the sky had been shot down, and everywhere you looked were Chinese planes. It was clear that the balance of victory had tipped towards the Chinese.

After Major Higashino was confused, he gave Ivanov a great opportunity. As the best pilot of Russia, he naturally would not waste it.

After taking the C position, he decisively pressed the trigger, and a long string of bullets sprayed towards the Japanese. Major Higashino made evasive actions reflexively, but he only dodged most of the bullets. The fuselage was hit by at least three bullets and began to burn, with thick smoke billowing;

Seeing that things were hopeless, Major Higashino immediately chose to abandon the plane and parachute, then shouted angrily:
"I'll be back!"

Ivanov was not a soft-hearted person. Seeing the Japanese parachuted, he would not let Major Higashino go.

An ace pilot with rich combat experience was much more valuable than a broken plane, so he fired a burst of bullets at the enemy's parachute, which frightened Major Higashino and he cursed:
"Bagayalu, this is too unethical. Shooting at parachuting pilots, is there still the Geneva Convention? Is there still the law?"

Major Higashino seemed to have forgotten one thing: neither the Japanese nor the Russians had signed the Geneva Convention, so Ivanov's behavior was reasonable.

If one volley of bullets missed the target, then another one would be fired. Major Higashino was so frightened that his parachute exploded, and he free fell from a height of thousands of meters and had an intimate kiss with the land of China. He fell so badly that even Aunt Amaterasu was disgusted by him.

With the last Japanese plane shot down, dozens of planes of Gushan's formation that attacked Wuhan were almost all destroyed, with only a few planes escaping. The Chinese side lost only 5 planes, 4 of which were from the Mao Air Volunteer Team.

This made the arrogant Ivanov finally find the gap. Everyone was using the same aircraft, so it was impossible for the gap to be so big. He suspected that this was related to the two-aircraft formation promoted by Zhou Xin.

When everyone returned triumphantly, Ivanov came to Zhou Xin with a bottle of vodka. He knew that the bottle of vodka was a bit shabby, and using it to exchange for Davari's Zhou's exquisite tactics would put Zhou at a disadvantage;
But his sister Natasha was not in China, otherwise he could use Natasha in exchange, so after watching Zhou Xin drink a big mouthful of vodka, Ivanov said in half-baked Chinese:
"Davali, Natasha is the most beautiful trumpet creeper in Mao Zedong—her most admired hero is Haiyan—Zhou, you are the Haiyan of China!"

Zhou Xin was completely confused, and Ivanov affectionately stuffed a photo into his hand.

(End of this chapter)