Chapter 300: 299 Assisting 38th Division Evacuation, Tianjin South Joint Air Combat, Jinan Airport Spy Discovery
North China warfare.
Tianjin has fallen, but the 38th Division defending Tianjin chose to fight to the death at the last moment, launching an attack on the Japanese Army.
In the end, they were still no match and withdrew from Tianjin.
The 38th Division headquarters, through a telegram from the 29th Army, requested support from the Taishan Airlines Escort Team. They did not expect this request to turn into a joint air combat.
The Tianjin Detachment’s 12 fighter jets, with approval from superiors, rolled out from Zhoujiakou Airport and waited in sequence beside the airport runway.
According to the agreement with the Taishan Airlines Escort Team, coordinated combat was set from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., and the specific time needed to be confirmed via telegram after prior reconnaissance.
In this era, sending planes into battle was not something done casually; there needed to be solid target information to formulate an air combat plan based on the situation.
For example, in the Spain air combat between both sides, and the Japanese Army, most of the time fighter formations would formulate corresponding combat missions only upon requests from ground troops.
But this time was different.
Although the 38th Division had withdrawn from Tianjin, with targets in the Cangzhou and Dezhou areas, the entire troops had lost contact, and the 38th Division headquarters that had requested air support from Fang Wen could not be reached.
This required aerial reconnaissance of the target area before the joint operation to confirm the theater of operations.
Fang Wen decided to personally conduct this flight reconnaissance; that area might be very dangerous, and he was not at ease with others going.
Regarding this, even the loyal Wu Yingzong did not stop him.
For the people of Taishan Airlines, the general manager was king in the sky; stopping him would be blasphemy against him. Regarding flight, the Taishan people absolutely trusted Fang Wen.
Immediately, he piloted Shrike Hao into the sky, flying north 180 kilometers to reach the Cangzhou area.
From Cangzhou to Tianjin, there was an 80-kilometer distance. The 38th Division, defeated and retreating, could not have military vehicles; for marching on foot, normal marching speed was 5 kilometers, forced march 10 kilometers, and they could not cover 80 kilometers in a day—it would take at least two days to arrive.
But the airplane did not even need half an hour.
At this moment, Fang Wen clearly understood the troubles ground troops faced against the air force.
Especially in plain areas, there was simply no way to shake off tracking by enemy aircraft in the sky.
A few minutes later, Fang Wen spotted the 38th Division on the ground.
This troops had already been scattered; there were no large-scale marching formations, but instead small groups retreating southward.
And 20 kilometers behind, a team of Japanese Army was pursuing.
Without aerial reconnaissance and harassment, they might still have been able to complete the retreat mission.
But now, several waves of fighter formations in the sky were continuously launching harassment attacks on them.
After all, it was too close to Tianjin, and the 38th Division had attacked the Japanese Army Airport, so the Japanese Army was determined to strike them down hard.
Observing all this, Shrike Hao, hidden in the high altitude, quietly returned to base, and Fang Wen had a clear combat plan.
After returning to Jinan Airport, he immediately sent a telegram to the Zhoujiakou side.
【Multiple batches of Japanese Army fighter jets are attacking the 38th Division 60 kilometers south of Tianjin, mostly Type 95 fighter jets, in formations of three to five aircraft.】
【Because they are too close to Tianjin, they have no vigilance at all; we can launch a surprise attack.】
Zhoujiakou Airport.
Captain Gao explained Fang Wen’s plan to his subordinates and other detachment captains.
“Brothers, the 38th Division is suffering successive attacks from Japanese Army fighter jets; it’s our turn to move out.”
The 12 pilots listening to him were the brave ones in the Tianjin Detachment; no further encouragement was needed from him—they immediately boarded the planes and took off one by one.
This batch of Huo Ke San fighter jets flew to Jinan and rendezvoused in the sky over Jinan with 8 fighter jets from the Taishan Escort Team.
The two aviation formations did not merge but departed side by side in their respective formations.
Half an hour later, they arrived at Cangzhou. Fang Wen accelerated Shrike Hao and led the way ahead.
He first arrived at the previously reconnoitered location.
An hour had passed, but the 38th Division’s progress had barely advanced, held back by the constantly appearing Japanese Army fighter jets.
The helpless 38th Division soldiers could only fire machine guns into the air, attempting to shoot down the Japanese Army fighter jets.
The success rate of this behavior was very low; up to now, no damage had been caused to the Japanese Army fighter jets.
At this moment, they suddenly discovered a distinctly different airplane appearing in the sky.
“Is that our plane?”
“Don’t know.”
“I heard from headquarters that they requested air support, but can those air force masters really be called upon?”
“Look, there are more behind him—one, two, so many.”
The appearance of nearly 20 Chinese fighter jets gave the 38th Division soldiers a tremendous shock.
At this moment, the number of Chinese fighter jets actually exceeded the number of Japanese Army fighter jets.
The soldiers raised their guns and cheered.
In the sky, the enemy and friendly fighter swarms encountered each other.
The Japanese Army was using multiple batches of small tactical formations for reconnaissance and harassment, likely the Japanese Air Force commander’s way of letting these pilots practice in actual combat—after all, being so close to Tianjin ensured safety.
But they did not expect the Chinese Air Force to be so bold.
Fang Wen, in mechanical perception state, immediately grasped the overall situation.
The Japanese side had 5 combat groups: the foremost two groups each with three aircraft, and three more groups rushing from behind to rotate.
A total of 17 Type 95 fighter jets.
This was also the maximum they could handle; they had to be quick, or else large-scale aircraft takeoff from the Tianjin area for support would make it dangerous.
He turned his fuselage to the right, leading the Taishan Airlines Team to lock onto three enemy aircraft on the right as targets.
The Tianjin Detachment’s 12 aircraft flew to the left, preparing to take out the other three first.
Combat unfolded on both sides simultaneously.
Facing enemy aircraft outnumbering them, the Japanese Army fighter jets did not retreat.
In fact, they had no time to turn and flee; multiple directions were already sealed off by the enemy.
They had never imagined being surrounded by a greater number of Chinese fighter jets, leaving them panicked.
In this situation, these Japanese Army fighter jets reacted differently.
Some lowered their fuselages, trying to break through the lower layer of the encirclement to escape; others charged head-on.
For these actions, the pilots of the two aviation teams responded differently.
The Taishan Airlines Team pilots, having experienced Spain air combat and Nanyuan air combat, possessed rich combat experience.
They cunningly avoided the enemy aircraft trying to go down together, first dealing with the ones diving to escape, then returning to handle the others.
In an 8-vs-3 situation, they easily took out two, and the remaining one, in blind panic, dove low and stalled, crashing into a hillock.
In just ten minutes, the battle was resolved.
On the other side, 12 Huo Ke San surrounded Type 95 fighter jets.
This was a battle between two biplanes with similar performance.
They had absorbed Fang Wen’s taught air combat experience, similarly avoiding bayonet-style engagements, instead having wingmen launch the main attack.
Under machine gun strafing, one enemy aircraft was hit, its fuselage belching black smoke as it crashed onto the North China Plain.
The other two went even more berserk, each locking onto a Huo Ke San, trying to use speed advantage to cling and go down together.
This desperate style panicked the two Young Master Soldiers pilots who were targeted.
They broke formation to evade, creating a gap in the encirclement.
This gave the enemy a ray of hope; the two enemy aircraft immediately tried to escape through the gap.
One was shot down during escape, but the other successfully broke out of the kill zone.
Such a mistake, in a 12-vs-3 encirclement, was truly regrettable.
But now, there was no time for that.
The 11 enemy aircraft behind did not choose to retreat but charged together.
But this time, their formation was very scattered, making another encirclement impossible.
Clearly, the opponent’s tactical response was to hold Fang Wen and the others; in half an hour, Tianjin could send more aircraft for encirclement and suppression.
This tactic was surely preset in advance, and Fang Wen had a countermeasure.
That was to launch one wave of attack in the last ten minutes, taking down as many as possible, and withdraw immediately after ten minutes.
Immediately, the Taishan Airlines Team formation changed: 2-2 groups, mutually supporting, flying toward the enemy aircraft.
Fang Wen and his wingman Fan Bosheng targeted a Type 95.
This time, he mainly assisted, letting Fan Bosheng, who had slightly weaker combat ability in the aviation team, take the offensive to gain experience.
Fan Bosheng, who had never achieved a solo kill, performed very bravely this time.
He skillfully outmaneuvered the enemy aircraft, using agility to tail it.
The enemy aircraft, realizing it was tailed, panicked instantly—being pursued from the rear meant death was near.
Under death’s pressure, disregarding the Type 95’s performance, it forcibly descended at a large angle.
Such a high-angle position change was extremely dangerous for a biplane; its wings generated strong resistance, leading to damage.
Fan Bosheng pursuing from behind flexibly piloted the Il-16 in a dive chase angle, firing fatal 20mm autocannon shells.
Instantly, the enemy aircraft turned into a ball of exploding flame.
Fan Bosheng achieved a solo kill; all Taishan Airlines Team pilots now had their own honor of soloing an enemy aircraft.
By now, 6 minutes had passed.
Fang Wen obtained radar search feedback through mechanical perception.
Nearby feedback was the current air combat enemy and friendly aircraft, but farther away, many feedbacks appeared.
Clearly, the enemy’s reaction was even faster than planned; they could not stay here long—it was time to withdraw.
As action commander, he issued an encrypted telegram order for the Taishan Airlines Team to return to formation regardless of whether combat was finished.
The Taishan Airlines Team pilots who received the order had actually already ended the battle with sharp air combat skills; even those without kills had seen targets flee.
They immediately returned to formation and turned to return to base.
This was also a warning to the National Air Force pilots of the Tianjin Detachment, as agreed before the action.
Seeing Fang Wen begin to withdraw, Captain Gao immediately became alert and took the lead, turning to fly away.
His action drew attention from friendly aircraft, who also noticed the Taishan Airlines Team’s return to base, so this side also ceased attacks and immediately returned to base.
But not everyone would obey orders.
Two Huo Ke San were still locked onto a Type 95, determined to claim this fat meat at hand.
At this moment, a large swarm of aircraft flew in from behind—the Japanese Army fighter jets from Tianjin Airport arrived early.
Seeing this, Captain Gao knew they could no longer stay to wait for those two.
The Type 95’s speed was one-fifth faster than Huo Ke San; with that speed difference, once the enemy swarm closed in, escape would be impossible.
Immediately, he led the team to accelerate and withdraw.
Only then did those two Huo Ke San fighter jets realize their situation, immediately abandoning their hunting target and fleeing in different directions.
One hour after the Taishan Airlines Team returned to base and landed, Fang Wen received a telegram from Zhoujiakou Airport.
【Returned to base, but two friendly aircraft greedily advanced for merit and are currently out of contact.】
【Our side shot down four Japanese Army fighter jets in this action. Please inform us of your results for joint reporting.】
Fang Wen had the telegraph operator reply.
【Taishan Airlines Team shot down 5 fighter jets this time.】
Shooting down only five this time was not the aviation team holding back.
Mainly because the theater of operations was too close to Tianjin, they were relatively cautious during the action.
The benefit was that before the Japanese Army support fighter swarm arrived, the Taishan Airlines Team had long slipped away.
The Tianjin Detachment could originally have returned intact too, but unfortunately those Young Master Soldiers got too carried away in the favorable situation and forgot the perils of war.
This time, those two were probably doomed.
Sure enough, three hours after the action ended, new information came from Zhoujiakou Airport.
The two fighter jets did not escape and ended up shattered to pieces under Japanese Army encirclement.
The impact of the air combat, while boosting morale, still showed the Japanese Army’s overall superiority clearly.
On August 1, over 6,000 defending troops at Beiping Nanyuan were disarmed.
After Tianjin’s fall, the pseudo Maintenance Association took over the original management functions.
More Japanese Army arrived via Shanhaiguan railroad transport and sea transport, assembling in Tianjin.
At this time, the belated National Army northward march finally set off.
The 7th Army Group advanced from Suiyuan and Shanxi toward Zhangjiakou, preparing to launch a recovery offensive from west of Beiping.
Meanwhile, Fang Wen was required by Nanjing to attend an air combat commendation meeting to boost War of Resistance morale.
This was an itinerary already agreed upon earlier with Nanjing; for the Taishan Volunteer Army’s status and to operate northward as an independent army, Fang Wen had to make this trip.
Before leaving, he instructed Wu Yingzong to ensure security at Jinan Airport; after all, even if the aviation team flew to Nanjing, the airport still stored premium aviation fuel and other important military supplies, and there could be no mishaps from Japanese spy sabotage.
Additionally, to counter possible Japanese Army air raids, Taishan Airport also needed to prepare anti-aircraft defenses.
The airport housed 10 20mm anti-aircraft guns, a lavish gift he prepared for Japanese Army aircraft; the three-dimensional interwoven anti-aircraft firepower net from 10 guns in different positions would surely make any daring intruders suffer.
Returning with Fang Wen were also pilots from the Tianjin Detachment who participated in the air combat. Clearly, the National Government intended to link this merit to itself, so the commendation meetings for the two air combats were combined into one.
August 3.
Taishan Airlines Team’s 8 fighter jets took off, flying to Nanjing.
Wu Yingzong, watching the planes depart, gradually grew serious.
He gathered his subordinates and arranged security inside and outside the airport; during the general manager’s absence, there must be no mishaps.
Especially for surveillance outside the airport, he raised the requirements: all strangers appearing outside the airport must be reported and investigated.
Immediately, merchants, employees, and shopkeepers outside the airport, while conducting normal business, also observed passing pedestrians and incoming customers.
In this heavenly net investigation, some situations that would not have been noticed were discovered.
In just these two days, a batch of strangers arrived outside the airport.
They included beggars begging on the streets, merchants staying at inns, rickshaw pullers, and idle laborers doing odd jobs.
These unassuming people, under close scrutiny, revealed some suspicious points.
