Chapter 27: 27, Zhabei Air Combat
In the skies over the area from Zhabei District in Shanghai to the Bund, more than twenty airplanes were crisscrossing in flight, with streams of bullets tearing through the sky.
This was the most tense combat atmosphere since the January 28th Incident.
Some bold citizens risked opening windows or going directly to balconies to look at the sky.
Even the 19th Route Army officers and soldiers stationed in various parts of the urban area were watching this air combat.
When two airplanes collided, people felt sorry for it.
When Japanese Army fighter jets cut in with three times the number to surround and attack our fighter jets, everyone broke into a cold sweat.
There were also those who didn’t recognize the types of airplanes in the sky, and the radio station would promptly explain to everyone the methods to distinguish between enemy and friendly airplanes.
Soon after, a series of huge explosions came from the Huangpu River side, and well-informed people brought back major news that a Japanese Army warship had been sunk.
This was of course the achievement of our Air Force, and the pent-up frustration in people’s hearts seemed to find release as they rushed to spread the news.
Most civilians didn’t know how critical the situation facing the aviation team in the sky was now.
16 Japanese Army carrier-based Type 3 fighter jets were madly surrounding and attacking the 6 K-47 fighter jets of the Guangdong Air Force.
They bit very tightly, not giving any chance to retreat.
Moreover, it was a tactic of three chasing one; once locked by the opponent, it was easy to receive crossfire attacks, greatly increasing the probability of being hit.
At this time, there was no more cooperation possible; the most critical thing was to promptly withdraw from the theater of operations. As long as they reached the rear depth behind SH city, the enemy would have to give up the pursuit.
Radio waves transmitted this order to each fighter jet in the aviation team.
“Conduct a tactical retreat, Fang Wen, you be careful.”
The second half of the sentence was special attention to Fang Wen. Compared to the K-47 fighter jet, the Rhine NYP-2 had poorer flexibility. Once bitten and chased, it was hard to shake off.
“Received, I’ll be careful,” Fang Wen replied.
Immediately, the 6 K-47 fighter jets suddenly performed various tactical maneuvers: some climbed, some turned, some descended.
The sudden tactical maneuvers instantly opened some distance, turning the aerial standoff into a chase.
On Fang Wen’s side, two escort wingmen drew away four airplanes’ pursuit, but there was still one Type 3 fighter jet locked onto him.
Obviously, the opponent believed that just one fighter jet could deal with the relatively bulky Rhine NYP-2 military transport aircraft.
Through mechanical perception, Fang Wen made a judgment.
The enemy aircraft was 2000 meters behind in a straight line, and in terms of speed, the opponent was probably at 240 kilometers per hour.
Compared to the Rhine NYP-2’s 220 kilometers per hour, it was ten percent higher.
And in flexibility, the Rhine NYP-2 was also inferior to the Type 3 fighter jet. Any erroneous flight operation could further shorten the distance between them. Once entering the effective range within one thousand meters, the Rhine NYP-2 would be a sitting duck.
As for what constituted an erroneous flight operation, Fang Wen had his own judgment through mechanical perception.
The Rhine NYP-2 had a large wingspan and wide fuselage. Forcing a climb would create more resistance, thereby greatly reducing speed, which was the most dangerous operation.
A sideways turn might open some distance in the first two seconds, but after the opponent reacted with a diagonal insertion pursuit, it could still quickly close the pursuit range.
For the Rhine NYP-2 without weapons for counterattack, the best response was dive flight and ultra-low altitude flight.
This was also the most dangerous behavior, the ultimate test of the driver’s courage and technology.
Fang Wen urgently said, “Grip the seat and safety rope tight, descending.”
The three in the cabin reacted differently.
Howard, who knew a little Chinese, reacted fastest, tightly wrapping his safety rope around the seat and then gripping the armrests.
The machine gunner paled and did the same.
Pan Jiafeng reacted more slowly and hadn’t responded yet.
Suddenly, the airplane sank sharply. Howard and the machine gunner, having prepared, stayed in their seats, but Pan Jiafeng flew up and hit the cabin ceiling.
Luckily, his motor nerves were good; he reacted in time and, upon falling, tightly grabbed the safety rope, preventing him from being flung to the back of the airplane.
In the cockpit, Fang Wen was fully focused on operating.
He pushed the control stick forward, and the fuselage dove toward the ground at a large angle.
This was the fastest way to shake off the enemy. Under the combined effects of the airplane’s tare weight, propulsive force, and Earth’s gravity, the speed instantly broke the limit.
It instantly opened distance from the Type 3 fighter jet behind.
The opponent was unwilling to give up this prey that was about to be in hand and also dove down.
Two airplanes, one large and one small, descended from the sky, attracting the attention of SH citizens.
Such a large-angle dive looked just like the two airplanes crashing.
Getting closer and closer, the airplanes kept enlarging in people’s pupils.
Almost there!
Through mechanical perception, Fang Wen was making adjustments. He could perceive the internal equipment operation of the airplane to pull up the fuselage as slowly as possible to the maximum extent.
The Rhine NYP-2 dove from five thousand meters but pulled up 25 degrees at 3000 meters.
The airplane gradually leveled its fuselage along an arc, but the pursuer behind failed to adjust in time and continued diving until 2000 meters before pulling up.
In this back and forth, through operation, the Rhine NYP-2 shook off the pursuer.
But the crisis was not over yet.
Two more enemy aircraft flanked from left and right; these were reinforcements coming from the nearshore direction. If caught in the pincer, the Rhine NYP-2 would be in danger again.
Intersecting bullet shadows streaked through the air, passing over Fang Wen’s head; the opponent had already entered shooting state.
Fang Wen pushed the control stick down and turned left.
The fuselage tilted to the left side and dived sideways downward.
This angle just barely missed the fighter jet below.
A 3000-meter dive with 3 fighter jets still chasing behind; the situation was extremely tense.
To completely shake off the opponent, Fang Wen made an even more dangerous operation.
The airplane continued descending until one thousand five hundred meters before making the extreme pull-up.
Behind the Rhine NYP-2, the two later enemy aircraft had given up the pursuit, but that old opponent was still chasing relentlessly.
Obviously, he had endless anger from being toyed with multiple times by the Rhine NYP-2 and was determined to destroy it in the skies over Shanghai.
But all of this was within Fang Wen’s plan.
He calmly completed the extreme pull-up operation in succession, leveling the fuselage at six hundred meters altitude and flying over SH city.
A whooshing sound; an iron bird blocked the rising sun, flew past, and was greeted with cheers from the citizens.
The following Type 3 fighter jet, however, received endless scorn.
Even more, 19th Route Army soldiers on high buildings set up machine guns for anti-aircraft strafing.
Faced with this situation, the opponent realized he could no longer complete the pursuit and could only climb back into the high sky.
At this point, Fang Wen’s suspended heart finally settled; unknowingly, he was drenched in sweat.
In the next ten minutes, the Rhine NYP-2 flew low and left the SH urban area, with no more pursuers behind, and the wireless communication equipment transmitted calls from the aviation team.
“Iron Bird, if you hear this, please respond. Iron Bird, if you hear this, please respond.”
“Iron Bird received, have entered safe area,” Fang Wen replied.
“That’s good, return to airport individually, no formation flying.”
“Received.”
