Chapter 275: 274 Aerial Bayonet Fight, Masters Clash, Caceres Ancient City
3 He.51 fighter jets and 2 Messerschmitt BF.109 fighter jets launched an attack on the transport aircraft escort formation.
Fang Wen’s mind rapidly recalled information about German Air Force flight formations.
In 1935, the German army established a three-tier, six-level organizational structure for its aviation force, from low to high.
Generally, a flight formation of 3 to 6 fighter jets forms the basic combat structure, used to handle various air missions.
The previous 6-fighter bomber escort formation was like that, and this time the 5 fighter jets were not tasked with escorting, belonging to a relatively high-spec air combat interception flight formation.
Moreover, it was 5 against 8; the opponents clearly felt confident in their superior skills and courage, definitely having masters.
Just as Fang Wen issued an encrypted telegram order for the 4 original Il-16s to guard the transport aircraft, while he led 3 modified Il-16 wingmen into battle, the opponents also reacted.
Unlike Fang Wen’s ability to command via encrypted telegram, this group of fighter jets clearly had pre-battle planning; the three He.51 fighter jets flew in a triangular formation to circle around, while the two BF.109 fighter jets charged head-on against Fang Wen’s 4 fighter jets.
As expected, he guessed right; the opponents were all experienced pilots. Fang Wen felt the pressure, but this was also the best actual combat lesson for elite pilots.
A high-end air combat situation unfolded from here.
One hundred kilometers south of Valencia, the Asian Aviation team encountered a senior pilot formation from the Vulture Legion.
The battlefield split into two parts.
4 Il-16s met 3 He.51s.
In air combat, the best defense is offense. To prevent enemy aircraft from damaging the DC-3 transport aircraft, the 4 Il-16s charged head-on.
Both sides fought fiercely, with bullets raining across the sky.
The He.51 pilots clearly did not expect the opponents to be so fierce; they quickly dispersed their formation and flew off in three directions.
This tactic was specifically aimed at the Asian Aviation team.
Aren’t you good at joint operations? Then it won’t go your way.
The three He.51s scattered; as long as one wasn’t caught, it could take the chance to attack the DC-3 transport aircraft.
Just as in their pre-battle planning, the 4 Il-16s had to disperse, with 2-per-group chasing targets.
One He.51 was left unattended; should they let it attack the transport aircraft?
Of course not.
Fang Wen’s side sent two wingmen to block its path.
A 6-vs-3 air chase battle unfolded; even for the Vulture Legion’s senior pilots, no matter how good their technique, the pressure increased greatly.
After all, the performance of the He.51 was inferior to the Il-16; they could at most tangle with 1 Il-16 using skill, but 2 was very taxing.
Through this tactical dispatch, Fang Wen disrupted the opponent’s sneak attack plan, but the pressure shifted entirely to his side.
Now, confronting the Messerschmitt BF.109 fighter jet were he and Red Army pilot Du Jiahua.
Du Jiahua’s flying technique was outstanding among the pilots, but now facing a German senior pilot flying the BF.109, the gap became apparent.
Seeing Du Jiahua being pulled away in distance during the chase, Fang Wen realized that if he didn’t quickly deal with the opponent, Du Jiahua might be in trouble.
He immediately responded; the Shrike Hao suddenly accelerated, charging straight at the Messerschmitt BF.109 fighter jet.
This was the most direct and also the most brutal duel method in piston aircraft air combat.
Aerial bayonet fight.
And Fang Wen’s opponent, at this moment, surprisingly made the same reaction.
The two fighter jets accelerated one after another, charging head-on.
2000 meters, 1000 meters; the distance between them grew closer.
This was a battle between the strong, where life and death hung by a thread.
The next second, the distance between the aircraft was within a few hundred meters.
The Messerschmitt BF.109 fighter jet’s pilot couldn’t hold back first and initiated the attack preemptively.
Its weapon system consisted of two 7.92 mm MG17 synchronized machine guns mounted above the engine cowling, plus another MG17 machine gun at the bottom bracket under the nose.
The three 7.92 mm machine guns fired bullets simultaneously, forming a deathly rain of bullets ahead.
This was predictive shooting by a seasoned fighter pilot of this era; the preemptively fired bullets served as both spear and shield. If the opponent rushed into effective range, these bullets would be fatally harvesting. At the same time, they formed a bullet rain barrier, preventing the opponent from head-on engagement.
Faced with this situation, Fang Wen, in a mechanical perception state, made a response.
Like a shrike combat iron bird, it showed astonishing micro-operations; the fuselage suddenly sideways turned, shifting the entire aircraft 200 meters away.
This distance deviation made the opponent’s predictive shooting ineffective, and there was no time for remedy.
Fang Wen, flying sideways past in the Shrike Hao, performed a unique operation.
He opened the left control stick and, at the moment the fuselage passed sideways by the opponent, pulled the trigger.
A 7.92 mm ZB26 light machine gun hidden in the Shrike aircraft belly fired bullets at the opponent.
This was a rare sideways shooting in air combat; even an experienced German senior pilot didn’t expect the opponent to have this move.
The bullet rain crossed 500 meters; though somewhat drifting, its power remained, instantly riddling the left side of the BF.109 fighter jet with a row of bullet holes.
The next second, the two aircraft passed each other.
Although the aircraft hadn’t turned yet, Fang Wen had already seen the opponent’s situation through mechanical perception.
The BF-109 fighter jet, hit on one side of the fuselage by machine gun fire, seemed not to have suffered heavy damage.
With a clear understanding of fighter jet structure, Fang Wen immediately determined that the BF-109 fighter jet’s important components were all concentrated in the wings and front section; the earlier shooting during the pass mainly hit the tail area behind the wings, so the opponent could still continue fighting.
He immediately turned the fuselage, preparing for another round.
Faced with Fang Wen’s such ferocious attack, the opponent feared battle.
He lacked the courage for a second aerial bayonet fight with Fang Wen, and from this confrontation, he also sensed he was no match for Fang Wen.
Therefore, this BF-109 fighter jet actually moved toward its wingmen.
The other BF-109 fighter jet also saw its wingman’s intent and proactively tangled with the Il-16 piloted by Du Jiahua.
As expected of senior pilots; without air combat communication devices, they tacitly chose the correct method.
If they coordinated successfully, pincering and downing Du Jiahua’s wingman, Fang Wen would face a 2-vs-1 situation.
But these two German army senior pilots didn’t know Fang Wen could command wingman actions via encrypted telegram orders.
Faced with the enemy aircraft’s change, Fang Wen issued an encrypted telegram order.
【Tactics 11】
The short encrypted telegram order contained rich information.
Du Jiahua immediately stopped tangling with his opponent and unhesitatingly rendezvoused with Fang Wen’s Shrike Hao.
He actively veered away, using a dive evasion maneuver; the fuselage suddenly dove down, causing the opponent to lose the target.
By the time the opponent adjusted the fuselage to pursue, Fang Wen had already flown the Shrike Hao into position behind Du Jiahua for cover.
Before the opponent could evade, it suffered 20 mm autocannon fire.
This aircraft’s landing gear was instantly hit; the 20 mm autocannon shell blew the entire landing gear apart.
A fighter jet without landing gear, even if no longer fighting, would hardly survive landing; this shot plunged the opponent into despair.
It became even more frantic instead, joining with the other BF-109 fighter jet to charge at Fang Wen’s Shrike Hao.
One in front and one behind; the front one, knowing survival was hopeless, was decisive and resolute; the latter, burning for revenge—they concentrated all firepower on Fang Wen’s Shrike Hao.
This was the most thrilling moment of this air combat.
If the BF-109 fighter jet was downed, there would be no suspense afterward.
If Fang Wen’s Shrike Hao was downed, the escort formation would similarly lose its brain and strongest air warrior, falling into crisis.
In an instant, time seemed to freeze.
In a wondrous state, Fang Wen made an all-around judgment of the battlefield.
The two BF-109 fighter jets seemed desperate but were not without method.
The front aircraft bit onto Fang Wen’s Shrike Hao in an aerial bayonet fight posture.
The enemy aircraft at full horsepower was hard to shake off.
Turning to evade was impossible; once turning, it would give the opponent an opening.
The rear cooperating enemy aircraft was even more deadly; taking advantage of its wingman holding Fang Wen, it was also accelerating to flank, preparing to attack from the Shrike Hao’s side and rear.
At this time, the Il-16 piloted by Du Jiahua hadn’t completed its turn and couldn’t cooperate with Fang Wen in time.
The melee on the transport aircraft side was still ongoing, even less able to aid Fang Wen at this moment.
The opponents were indeed very seasoned; at this life-or-death moment, they chose the optimal combat method.
At this moment, Fang Wen couldn’t help but feel admiration for these two German Condor Legion senior pilots.
Good tactics and excellent technique, but they picked the wrong opponent.
He immediately responded.
Dive U-turn.
This was a seemingly simple but extremely difficult flight maneuver.
The aircraft charged at the opponent, then suddenly dove downward; through this rapid deviation, it dodged the threat from the two fighter jets.
But the maneuver wasn’t over; the Shrike Hao wouldn’t just let the two enemy jets target Du Jiahua, who hadn’t turned yet.
While diving down, the aircraft suddenly pulled up the fuselage, first leveling it, then raising the nose upward.
Simply put, it was extremely difficult and placed high stress on the aircraft.
Even as Fang Wen completed the U-turn, he could feel the aircraft in an extreme state.
Fortunately, the U-turn succeeded; the Shrike Hao shifted position with the high-difficulty tactical maneuver. At the moment of rolling turn, with the raised fuselage, it also completed aiming; 20 mm autocannon shells swept upward from below at a tricky angle.
An unbelievable tactical maneuver with shooting—even the two veteran pilots hadn’t anticipated it.
The enemy aircraft with its landing gear shot off was hit in the belly again.
Numerous autocannon shells tore through the belly, exploding inside the aircraft; shrapnel instantly destroyed the engine and oil pipe, and the high temperature from high speed ignited the aviation gasoline inside the aircraft.
The internal explosion occurred, with shattered fragments splashing outward.
Fang Wen hadn’t expected the BF-109 fighter jet’s explosion to be so violent; the splashing debris scratched the Shrike Hao fuselage, even deeply scoring the added sealed cockpit canopy.
He hurriedly adjusted position and flew away from the explosion site; meanwhile, the other BF-109 fighter jet was also affected by the blast, with one wing sliced by flying fragments, missing a corner.
The air duel between the Shrike Hao and the two BF-109 fighter jets unexpectedly ended due to the front aircraft’s explosion.
The other BF-109 fighter jet, with its right wing damaged, lost balance and wobbled in the air.
Clearly, this aircraft had lost the ability to continue fighting; the pilot’s only option was to struggle to control aircraft balance for a survivable landing in a nearby area.
First hit by Fang Wen, then witnessing his wingman downed by Fang Wen—it indeed broke this pilot’s will to fight; he recklessly flew the damaged BF-109 fighter jet away.
Fang Wen originally wanted to press the advantage and down it, but on second thought, this harmless BF-109 fighter jet, if captured intact, would be highly valuable for reference in future fighter jet production.
After all, this model, during World War II, spawned many variants and was a mainstay fighter jet of the German Air Force.
With this in mind, Fang Wen immediately gave up the downing plan.
He sent an encrypted telegram order to his subordinates to clean up, while he flew the Shrike Hao to tail it.
To obtain a complete aircraft, Fang Wen piloted the Shrike Hao, following unhurriedly.
The BF-109 fighter jet ahead knew Fang Wen was following; it once tried to return to base but was blocked by the Shrike Hao, ultimately giving up return to base and wobbling westward.
This flight lasted a full hour.
Neither Fang Wen nor the opposing pilot expected it to last so long.
Until the BF-109’s fuel was nearly exhausted did the opponent choose a forced landing.
The aircraft wobbled down in altitude, flying over the ancient city below, ultimately choosing to land in the square in the city.
Fang Wen didn’t follow to land; unfamiliar territory—though seemingly remote, he didn’t know who controlled it. To get that BF-109, he needed to clarify the situation first.
He pulled out the map and, based on impressions from the flight path, located their current position on it.
Caceres City.
An ancient small city in western Spain.
400 kilometers from Valencia, southwest of Madrid.
He lowered altitude to observe the situation below.
Below, residents in Caceres ancient city swarmed out, surrounding the pilot.
These people were also interested in the Shrike Hao in the sky; many waved at the sky.
It seemed that, due to its remoteness, this place was unrelated to the Popular Front or Franco.
Fang Wen thought it over but still didn’t land, deciding instead to return to base and seek help from the International Brigades.
The Shrike Hao returned the same way and landed at Albacete Base.
By now, the Asian Aviation team had also completed the escort mission and returned; after parking the aircraft, Fang Wen got out and exchanged information with the team members, learning what happened after he left.
With the loss of the two BF-109s’ strong support, the remaining three Vulture Legion biplane fighter jets lost their advantage; two were downed, the other escaped.
After understanding the situation, Fang Wen didn’t linger at camp but immediately headed to the International Brigades Command Headquarters.
As a regular here, the guards didn’t stop him; he went straight to headquarters.
The headquarters was in a meeting; a group of officers discussed around the sand table. The adjutant of the International Brigades commander spotted Fang Wen, walked over, and asked.
“Heard the transport aircraft escort formation was attacked; everything okay?”
“Situation’s good; downed three, smoothly completed the escort mission,” Fang Wen replied.
The adjutant was very surprised: “Your Asian Aviation team is really impressive.”
Fang Wen didn’t dwell on this with the adjutant; he had urgent business and promptly explained tracking the BF-109 that forced landed in Caceres City.
For the Soviet Union, the BF-109 fighter jet represented Europe’s newest and best fighter jet, with high research value. Thus, the Soviet officers in the International Brigades Command Headquarters unanimously agreed to go to Caceres City and retrieve that BF-109 fighter jet.
For this, Fang Wen had a request: he wanted to go along, and that BF-109 fighter jet as spoils of war should be studied by him first.
The officers at the International Brigades Command Headquarters had no issue with this; as long as the aircraft stayed at base, studying it was fine.
They then began organizing personnel, preparing to head to Caceres City.
