Chapter 298: 297 Advance Aerial Reconnaissance, Nanyuan Air Combat, Great Victory
Fang Wen, who took off alone, ventured alone into the North China Theater.
Such an extremely risky action could only be dared by him, a bold man with exceptional skill.
Fang Wen, maintaining mechanical perception state, merged as one with Shrike Hao and flew off at high speed.
The airplane soon flew past the hometown of Fang Shouxin and his son; further ahead was Tianjin territory.
The radar detection device continuously issued alarms, indicating suspected aircraft activity ahead.
Under his mechanical perception state, he also gained a clearer understanding of the Japanese Army fighter jets flying in the air.
The Japanese Army had parked a large number of military aircraft at Dongjuzi Airport in Tianjin, over a hundred in number.
Airplanes were taking off and landing from time to time.
Over the skies above Tianjin, more than 30 aircraft were active—returning ones, just-departed ones—clearly with very frequent missions.
So many aircraft were carrying out air raid missions targeting our North China region, yet they did not expect an uninvited guest to intrude into their main base.
Fang Wen, who learned the positions of enemy aircraft through radar detection, did not leave because of this; instead, he took an even bolder action.
These enemy aircraft were all flying at 3000 meters altitude, their normal combat altitude.
In other words, at a higher position, without radar, the Japanese Army actually could not detect Fang Wen.
Even without radar developing friend-or-foe identification capability, they could not determine if the extra aircraft was enemy or friendly.
Thinking of this, Fang Wen immediately climbed altitude before the Japanese Army could detect him.
The superior-performing Shrike Hao raised the altitude to 6000 meters.
This was the limit for biplanes; basically, no biplanes would come to such an altitude.
This altitude was also the region where cumulonimbus clouds appeared.
（Cumulonimbus clouds）
This cotton-ball-like cloud layer was Fang Wen’s best cover.
Looking down from above, he lingered over the skies above Tianjin, testing the accuracy of the radar detection equipment and gaining more understanding of the Japanese Army’s fighter jet situation.
After some observation, he returned to Jinan Airport and recorded this information.
Over three days of observation, Fang Wen obtained first-hand intelligence on the Japanese Air Force fighter jets in the Tianjin area through personal reconnaissance.
In the information he collected, there were nearly 200 Japanese Army fighter jets of various models.
The most numerous among them were Type 95 fighter jets.
There were also two bomber models.
Type 93 twin-engine light bomber.
And a small number of Type 97 dive bombers.
Among them, the Type 97 dive bomber was the first Japanese Army monoplane Fang Wen had seen; clearly, they were using the North China battlefield as a place to experiment with new fighter jets.
Fang Wen felt that targeting this newest type of aircraft would produce better results.
Therefore, he paid special attention to the flight situation of the Type 97 dive bombers. These dive bombers, with better performance than the Type 93 bombers, were assigned to bombing operations at farther distances, so their main activity area was near the Beiping battlefield.
July 28, Jinan Airport, Taishan Aviation Team fully geared up and ready to depart.
Outside, ground crew were inspecting the airplanes to ensure they were in optimal condition before takeoff.
In the temporary command room, Fang Wen was also giving pre-action instructions.
“This action is independently executed by our Taishan Volunteer Army. With no friendly forces, when we strike, we require speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness: speed means rapid strike, accuracy means smoothly and on time reaching the designated combat area, ruthlessness means once the attack is launched, it must be completed in a short time, then immediately withdraw.”
The pilots listened solemnly to Fang Wen’s words, deeply imprinting these requirements in their minds.
Then Fang Wen stated the combat plan.
“In the early hours of today, the Japanese Army launched an offensive toward the Nanyuan area in Beiping. At the same time, another force of Japanese Army attacked part of the 38th Division and security team in Tianjin. To cooperate with the battle, the Japanese Army took off multiple batches of fighter jets from Dongjuzi Airport in Tianjin, conducting bombing harassment in different areas. Our target is the Japanese Army bombing formation bombing the 29th Army garrison camp in Nanyuan.”
At this point, Fang Wen checked his watch: “Time check, now it’s 1:12 PM, depart at exactly 2:00. Everyone must not go outside during this time, don’t drink too much water, all stay in place on standby.”
The pilots checked their wristwatches one after another, then waited in the temporary command room.
Time passed bit by bit; the wait of several dozen minutes ended.
Fang Wen was the first to stand up. “Depart.”
Under his lead, 7 elite pilots walked out of the room together and boarded their respective fighter jets.
Shrike Hao took off first, followed by seven modified Il-16s flying into the sky.
They formed a goose-shaped formation centered on Shrike Hao, flying at high altitude.
Flight altitude at 5000 meters; due to altitude, speed was somewhat reduced.
But this altitude could avoid direct encounters with the Japanese Army while allowing Fang Wen to detect targets early via the radar detection device.
After nearly an hour of flight, the fighter jet formation arrived above Beiping City.
Fang Wen, activating mechanical perception state, observed the situation below.
The Nanyuan area south of Beiping City was also the location of the 29th Army military department camp, the core area of the entire North China War of Resistance. In the early hours of today, the Japanese Army had bombed this place.
Today the war intensity erupted; the Japanese Army would surely send aircraft to continue bombing to destroy the 29th Army’s command and decision-making capability.
What Fang Wen had to do now was wait for the enemy to come to him.
Soon, as he expected, a new batch of Japanese Army bomber formation arrived.
This bomber formation had 2 Type 97 bombers, 3 Type 93 light bombers, and 15 Type 95 fighter jets escorting.
In numbers, 20 to 8, more than twice that of Taishan Aviation Team.
But now the enemy had not detected Taishan Aviation Team; a sudden strike from above was absolutely unexpected by the enemy.
Fang Wen immediately operated the encrypted telegram order equipment to notify his subordinates to act.
8 fighter jets suddenly burst out from the cloud layer, killing toward the 20 enemy aircraft swarm at 3000 meters below like eagles.
The fighter jets diving down from high altitude opened combat in a combat posture completely unanticipated by the biplanes.
Upon reaching firing range, the 8 fighter jets had fire tongues erupting from the shooting muzzles at the nose position.
Autocannon shells poured out, shooting toward the enemy aircraft at a downward angle.
In an instant, 2 Type 95 biplanes were hit; the first hit position was their double wings, artillery fire tore apart the wings, directly causing the two aircraft to crash without suspense.
At this moment, the Japanese Army bomber formation reacted.
In response to this situation, the remaining 13 Type 95 fighter jets split into two groups: 5 escorting the bombers to withdraw, the other 8 engaging the attackers.
This temporary tactical change was clearly their preset emergency contingency measure.
But facing Fang Wen’s high-to-low attack posture, the biplanes faced a huge disadvantage.
Biplanes could not timely climb altitude for counterattack; any rash ascent would undoubtedly deliver themselves under the enemy’s gun muzzle.
Another Type 95 fighter jet was shot down due to such reckless behavior.
Another, due to fuselage damage, spewed black smoke and attempted forced landing outside Beiping City, but lost control and crashed into the city wall, destroying the aircraft and killing the pilot.
In this way, the Japanese Army fighter jets facing Fang Wen and the others were left with only 6; 6 biplanes against 8 monoplanes had no chance of victory.
Under Fang Wen’s deliberate restraint, the 7 elite pilots freely harvested the Japanese Army fighter jets; each shootdown would give them more confidence and experience in future air combat.
At the same time, Fang Wen observed the situation of the bomber formation on the other side.
The bomber formation, now with only 5 fighter jets escorting, chose to abandon the bombing mission and withdraw toward Tianjin direction.
Regarding this, Fang Wen calculated in his mind.
The distance between Beiping and Tianjin was only over 200 kilometers, with other Japanese Army flight formations active en route.
In the Nanyuan area, it was relatively safe; if allowed to escape, even halfway through the range, other Japanese Army fighter jets might appear, putting Taishan Aviation Team in danger.
Therefore, this fast, accurate, ruthless battle must end immediately; the harvest of results would stop here.
Immediately, he issued an encrypted telegram order, instructing Deng Zhongyu, Zhai Xiaojun, Fan Bosheng, and Du Jiahua to stay and continue entangling with the Japanese Army fighter jets; with 4 against 6, they should have no trouble handling the situation.
The other pilots: Qi Baoqian, Shao Deqing, and Rao Minghe, would go with him to kill toward the bombing formation preparing to escape.
Taishan Aviation Team’s 4 fighter jets broke away from the melee, flew east, and closely pursued the bombing formation preparing to withdraw.
Due to emergency withdrawal, different aircraft types had varying performance, immediately disrupting the original formation.
The Type 93 twin-engine light bombers with low flight speed were still at the level of the 1932 Shanghai air battle, a speed of over 200 kilometers per hour that could not escape Fang Wen and the others’ pursuit.
Facing this situation, their teammates clearly abandoned them.
Instantly, three Type 93 twin-engine light bombers were left behind by the formation as blocking bait, while the other two Type 97 bombers continued to retreat under the protection of 5 Type 95 fighter jets.
Facing this situation.
Fang Wen issued another encrypted telegram order.
He assigned the task of shooting down these two old-style bombers to Shao Deqing and Rao Minghe.
He himself continued the pursuit with Qi Baoqian.
In this way, the situation became 2 against 7.
Those five Type 95 fighter jets clearly thought they had a chance against two monoplanes, so they immediately turned and charged over.
Facing the counterattack of five biplanes, Fang Wen and Qi Baoqian used their old tactic from before.
The two monoplanes split left and right, arcing around the enemy aircraft for air dogfight.
Excellent aircraft performance allowed Shrike Hao and the Il-16 to bypass the enemy aircraft, while the opponents could not easily adjust direction in response.
This time, Fang Wen did not hold back; merged as one with Shrike Hao, he maneuvered the specially modified 7.92 mm machine gun on the fuselage side of Shrike Hao, aiming at the belly of a Type 95 and firing.
The two aircraft passed shoulder-to-shoulder; the opponent’s side was shot with a long bullet hole.
This time, the Type 95 pilot did not have the good luck of that Vulture Legion ace pilot; after penetrating the thin aircraft skin, the 7.92 mm bullets hit the pilot in the cockpit.
Hit by several bullets, the Japanese Army pilot ended his life on the spot; that aircraft also lost control and dove toward the ground, the impact flames even igniting wheat stubble in the Fengtai District farmland.
Having dealt with this opponent, Fang Wen adjusted his fuselage and came behind the enemy aircraft.
At this point, those Type 95 fighter jets began to circle and turn.
Such easy targets, Fang Wen would not miss; a string of autocannon shells caused the tail of a Type 95 to explode, detonating on the spot.
The remaining 3 Japanese Army fighter jets: one bitten by Qi Baoqian, the other two actually abandoned their teammate and fled toward Tianjin direction.
Clearly, these two had lost their courage, throwing aside the escort mission and only thinking of escaping.
Fang Wen did not pursue these two lost dogs, but instead single-handedly chased the root target of this action: the Type 97 fighter jet.
This new-type bomber had a flight speed of 420 kilometers per hour; under full-speed escape, it was not easy to catch up.
Plus the time consumed earlier fighting the Type 95 fighter jets, Shrike Hao would probably need ten minutes to catch up to the two bombers.
Regarding this, Fang Wen chose not to give up.
He sent encrypted telegram orders to the other members of Taishan Aviation Team, requiring them to withdraw immediately after combat ended.
Without other pilots, he instead had more courage and confidence to go all out.
Immediately, Shrike Hao accelerated again and pursued.
Facing this situation, the Type 97 dive bombers without fighter jet escort would be fish meat on the chopping block once caught up, to be slaughtered at will.
For this, the two Type 97 dive bombers chose to split paths; this way, no matter which one was caught, the other could escape.
Regarding this, Fang Wen did not hesitate and directly chose the one on the right.
As the distance closed, Fang Wen’s hand reached for the autocannon firing lever.
A string of 20 mm autocannon shells fired out, as always penetrating the thin metal skin of the Japanese Army fighter jet; the belly instantly exploded with a large hole.
The shooting did not stop; Shrike Hao closely pursued the decelerating enemy aircraft and continued firing until the Type 97 dive bomber disintegrated in the air into a huge fireworks display.
At this point, Fang Wen completed his self-set combat plan, destroying one Japanese Army new-type bomber.
At this moment, the onboard radar detection device also detected a large number of enemy aircraft approaching ahead.
Clearly, nearby there was a Japanese Army fighter jet swarm executing another mission; the action plan should also end.
He immediately turned around and disengaged from the war zone.
One hour later, Fang Wen returned to Jinan Airport.
The first thing after disembarking was to confirm the number of Taishan Aviation Team pilots returning.
All seven pilots returned.
Fang Wen held a post-battle summary meeting to understand everyone’s situation.
The pilots, all with good performances, reported their situations one after another.
In this battle, facing fifteen Type 95 fighter jets, two Type 97 dive bombers, three Type 93 light bombers, Taishan Aviation Team’s results were as follows.
Fang Wen shot down 2 Type 95 fighter jets and 1 Type 97 dive bomber.
Deng Zhongyu shot down two Type 95s, one solo and one in cooperation with Fan Bosheng.
Zhai Xiaojun shot down 1 Type 95.
Fan Bosheng cooperated in shooting down two Type 95s.
Du Jiahua shot down two, one solo and one in cooperation with Fan Bosheng.
Shao Deqing shot down 1 Type 95 and 1 Type 93 light bomber.
Rao Minghe shot down two Type 93 light bombers.
Qi Baoqian shot down 1 Type 95.
Overall, a total of 9 Type 95 fighter jets, 3 Type 93 light bombers, and 1 Type 97 dive bomber were shot down.
In such a battle, shooting down 13 Japanese side fighter jets at once, the results were astonishing.
Fang Wen summarized the reasons for the success of this action.
“We achieved such victory mainly by launching a sneak attack, prepared against unprepared; additionally, our Taishan Aviation Team’s overall strength and aircraft performance are better than theirs. In situations where numbers are not extremely disparate, winning is certain. But we cannot be proud because of this. The Japanese will surely investigate this action and take corresponding measures; in the future, wanting to launch sneak attacks with the same tactics will likely be more difficult.”
He rationally explained the reasons for the action’s success and anticipated future changes.
But the impact and changes brought by this air battle were far from as simple as he thought.
Not only did the Japanese Air Force react with great shock.
The National Air Force was also surprised by this sudden unexpected major air victory.
Both sides conducted investigations into this.
