Chapter 306: High-difficulty Formation Combat, Fang Wen’s Solo Aerial Over-the-limit Battle
Japanese Army bombing formation attacked from Hangzhou Bay, passing through Jiaxing, Haining, and other places.
Alarm sirens sounded one after another in cities along the way, and the people hurriedly hid, some in pits dug in their own homes, others completely unprepared and could only wait for their fate at home.
A scene of panic, the illusion of peace and prosperity completely vanished after the Japanese Army fully exposed its ambition to invade.
And in Hangzhou, it was even more tense.
Alarm sounds echoed throughout the city, the few air-raid shelters were packed with people, and more had to choose seemingly sturdy buildings to hide in.
Only soldiers remained on the streets, while outside the city, anti-aircraft machine guns were set up, waiting in strict formation.
At the same time, 4 fighter jets took off from Jianqiao Airport in the city center.
In the eyes of the soldiers and people, the number of fighter jets this time was much fewer than last time.
They couldn’t tell the difference between biplanes and monoplanes, and simply thought that the enemy outnumbered them.
Was this interception going to fail?
People felt disappointed in their hearts; no one wanted bombs to fall on their own homes. In the face of war, wealth and life became so fragile.
But in the sky, Fang Wen, piloting Shrike Hao and leading his subordinates into battle, didn’t think so much.
He, in mechanical perception state, had a full understanding of the enemy aircraft formation situation.
This bombing formation: 15 Type 96 fighters, 5 Type 97 bombers.
It belonged to the Japanese Army’s normal air raid formation, but their choice to come this time was so coincidental that Fang Wen had to suspect that there were likely Japanese spies lurking near Jianqiao Airport, who reported the recent air force movements to the Japanese Navy.
This wasn’t his wild speculation; five years ago during the Shanghai January 28th Incident, Japanese spies hid outside the airport and obtained intelligence by observing aircraft takeoffs and landings.
Five years had passed, and there were probably more Japanese spies than before, and even some who secretly defected to the enemy were sending intelligence to the Japanese side.
Therefore, after the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force suffered a setback in Nanjing, they chose to come to Hangzhou to regain face.
Fang Wen felt solemn in his heart. Even though his side only had 4 fighter jets against their 20—a one-to-five disadvantage—he could not retreat.
From the Spanish Civil War to air combat in Northern China, Fang Wen had a clearer plan for tactics.
In the current situation of fighting outnumbered, he absolutely could not clash head-on, but had to use another tactic.
Spatial Shift.
Using the performance advantages of Shrike Hao and the modified Il-16s, fight a novel harassment tactic.
According to his requirements, the 4 aircraft each had to become a highly skilled hunter, using speed and firepower advantages to perform high-difficulty flight maneuvers, penetrate to the rear of the enemy formation, disrupt their formation, and threaten the enemy bomber swarm.
This required a high level of skill and was extremely dangerous. For Du Jiahua, Shao Deqing, and Zhai Xiaojun, it was extremely challenging.
East of Hangzhou, over the ancient city of Yanguan on the Qiantang River.
The 20-aircraft bombing formation was about to reach Hangzhou. At 5000 meters altitude ahead of them, Fang Wen led the team flying in.
Through the secret telegram device, Fang Wen issued orders to the team members.
Immediately, the 4 aircraft pushed their engines to full load, increasing speed to maximum.
The 4 fighter jets that suddenly accelerated dove down.
The Japanese formation waited in strict readiness and, unlike last time, did not send out fighter jets to engage, but waited for the opponent to come in for head-on engagement.
This approach was actually the best response for Fang Wen and his team; clearly, the enemy had also done combat analysis.
But they thought air combat was too simple, or rather, Fang Wen from the future had a much deeper grasp of tactics than these Japanese aviators.
The 4 fighter jets did not charge head-on, but instead dived and changed direction, bypassing the Japanese formation.
This behavior was seen by the Japanese as a sign of cowardice; who knew how many Japanese aviator pilots were mocking Fang Wen and his team at that moment.
But a few seconds later, the situation changed abruptly.
Led by Fang Wen, the combat team suddenly dived and turned, and when diving to the lower right side of the enemy, the lead Shrike Hao pulled up and circled back first.
This was a special flight maneuver trained under Fang Wen’s leadership.
It was also a variant of dive bombing flight maneuvers: by diving at a 15-degree downward angle to escape the enemy’s line of sight, then quickly pulling up, using a high-difficulty loop maneuver to reach the enemy’s rear.
This tactic could achieve spatial deception, misaligning spatial positions with the enemy formation cluster, thus flanking to the enemy’s rear.
Such a high-difficulty flight maneuver.
Generally, only stunt pilots would perform it.
It was rarely used in actual combat.
But the elite pilots specially recruited by Fang Wen were selected from thousands specifically to achieve this flight effect.
These elite pilots, the best of the best, after rigorous training and actual combat, had mastered some of the techniques taught by Fang Wen.
At least the high-difficulty maneuver of dive connecting to ascent loop turn, they had already mastered proficiently.
Now was the time to showcase their superb flying technique and cooperation.
The 4 fighter jets, driven by high-horsepower aircraft engines at full load, completed the entire set of flight maneuvers.
The aircraft looped and turned in the air, maintaining complete formation shape, and flanked to the enemy’s rear side.
In these short two or three minutes, they completed the spatial shift, successfully flanking behind the Japanese bombing formation right under their noses.
The 15 Type 96 carrier-based fighters were single-pilot aircraft; they had no eyes in the back of their heads and thus didn’t know that Fang Wen and his team had completed the spatial shift and arrived at their rear.
But the 5 Type 97 bombers were three-seaters, and the rear-seat bombardiers discovered the situation.
In this bombing formation, the fighters mainly protected the front and flanks, with no fighter protection at the rear.
Therefore, it was equivalent to leaving the five bombers facing an attack from 4 Chinese fighter jets.
The bomber pilots, unable to communicate by air yet, panicked.
Compared to the opponent, the Type 97 was very clumsy and couldn’t escape at all.
For this reason, the five Type 97 bombers chose to flee individually—save whoever they could.
The sudden detachment of their own bombers from formation flying left the fighter swarm confused, but soon they understood.
Fang Wen’s combat team concentrated fire on one of the bombers.
Under the dense autocannon barrage, the rear half of that Type 97 bomber was turned into a sieve.
The bombs it carried were detonated by an internal explosion, and the entire aircraft disintegrated instantly in the air.
The enemy had actually snuck to the rear to attack their own bombers; this mistake enraged the Japanese fighter swarm, and they immediately turned, trying to fight Fang Wen and his team to the death.
But while they were turning to lock on the enemy, Fang Wen’s lead combat team had already withdrawn from the theater of operations.
One successful strike, then immediate retreat—this was the positioning Fang Wen gave to this operation.
After all, 4 against 20, the disparity was too great; once pincered by the enemy after turning, his combat team would be in danger.
Therefore, after destroying one Type 97 bomber, he immediately sent an encrypted telegram order to his subordinates to transfer.
Immediately, the 4 aircraft climbed in altitude and hid in the clouds.
This way, with altitude advantage and cloud cover, enemy in the open and us in the dark, it strategically ensured their advantage.
Just as they transferred, the enemy fighter formation turned back to pincer, and the two passed by each other. Seeing Fang Wen and his team vanish into the high altitude, the Japanese fighter swarm was helpless.
For the Japanese fighters, the first duty was to protect the safety of the bombers.
If they abandoned protecting the bombers to chase Fang Wen and his team, it would be putting the cart before the horse.
And sending a small number of fighters against Fang Wen and his team would be insufficient.
Moreover, once the fighter swarm climbed to search for Fang Wen and his team, it would cause chaos in the entire formation.
Once the formation became chaotic, the protection of the bombers would be rendered meaningless and ineffective.
But doing nothing would allow Fang Wen and his team, watching from the high altitude, to launch attacks on the bombers at any time.
At this moment, the Imperial Japanese Navy aviators felt a strong sense of helplessness.
As expected of China’s ace pilot—such bizarre tactics and superb flying technique were simply crushing for them.
They had originally thought Hangzhou’s air defense was weak and they could find easy pickings, but they didn’t expect 4 aircraft from the opponent to pin them down firmly.
The current situation put the bomber formation in a dilemma.
This was a result completely unforeseen by the bombing formation.
Continue bombing, or immediately return to base?
Without any pre-set tactical discussion, this decision could only be made by the bombing formation’s team leader captain.
In the end, the bombing formation’s team leader captain made the decision.
That was, no matter the losses, the bombing mission must still be completed.
Immediately, the bombing formation dispatched three aircraft to the rear for protection and continued flying toward Hangzhou.
This response made Fang Wen feel it was tricky.
In a 4 vs 19 situation, as long as the opponent didn’t panic, it would be hard for him to succeed again. Charging in again would face a prepared Japanese force that would surely counterattack, with very high danger.
Probably, in the next attack, his three subordinate pilots would be lost here.
His mind raced like lightning, thinking.
His gaze involuntarily turned to the distant Hangzhou City.
Since he had decided to stay and guard Jianqiao Airport, he had the responsibility to defend the territory.
If the bomber formation flew over and dropped bombs inside Hangzhou City, who knew how many families would be shattered.
Then, what was the point of his staying here?
It was time to use that thing.
Thinking of this, Fang Wen made a decision in his heart.
He took out the Shang-Zhou ancient cauldron brought back from the American Indian ruins from the hidden groove on the right side of the cockpit.
As the amber cross lost its effect, this ancient cauldron was his last source to replenish mysterious energy.
Mysterious energy—Fang Wen speculated it was faith power from various ancient religions, yet it could be absorbed by his ability.
Absorbing this energy could strengthen his abilities.
But there was another use.
That was to forcibly use this energy to temporarily enhance his own energy for stronger performance.
And now was the time to use this mysterious energy for enhancement.
He took a deep breath and hung the bronze ding around his chest.
At this moment, the long-lost mysterious energy was once again absorbed into his body.
At the same time, he fully activated mechanical perception. With the continuous support of mysterious energy, Fang Wen’s mechanical perception suddenly temporarily broke through to a new level.
This was a state he had never encountered before.
The original mechanical perception only integrated him with the machine, allowing better flight piloting.
But now, he had higher, more precise perception; every detail of the entire aircraft was under control.
Moreover, an even more miraculous ability emerged.
Telekinesis.
This supernatural-like ability actually appeared on Fang Wen.
Under his mental control, the bronze small cauldron and objects in the cockpit all floated up and moved in mid-air following his thoughts.
Business first; he gave up testing telekinesis control, and the bronze small cauldron and other objects fell.
With his state upgraded, Fang Wen issued an encrypted telegram order for the three Il-16s to wait; he would strike alone.
This order completely exceeded the expectations of the three pilots under him. Even if the general manager’s strength was strong, the opponent had 15 fighter jets.
But they had no way to dissuade him and could only watch as Shrike Hao rushed out from the high altitude.
Japanese Army bombing formation air raid on Hangzhou.
The whole city was in chaos, with only a few bold people observing the sky.
They saw a Japanese aircraft destroyed and immediately cheered.
But the fighters guarding Hangzhou were only 4, and outnumbered, they still couldn’t stop the opponent’s action.
Seeing the bombing formation continue flying toward Hangzhou, the sparse anti-aircraft fire couldn’t organize their bombing at all.
The people watching the sky prepared to return to their hiding places to await the bombing.
At this moment.
High in the sky.
A fighter jet of not particularly large size flew out from the clouds and charged toward the enemy aircraft swarm.
Just like its name, Shrike, the butcher bird, dared to strike even against larger birds.
The small Shrike Hao, under high horsepower, sped into the enemy swarm.
This scene made the people preparing to leave stop in their tracks.
That small fighter jet erupted with astonishing strength.
It single-handedly penetrated the enemy aircraft swarm, weaving through gaps between enemy aircraft while launching attacks.
It was just like a martial arts master from folk novels, fighting ten enemies without falling behind, darting in and out of the enemy swarm several times.
The people in Hangzhou City were stunned.
China has such a strong pilot—too unbelievable.
Fang Wen piloted Shrike Hao for a solo strike.
Under the temporary enhancement of a large amount of mysterious energy, his state was super optimal.
The oversights in original mechanical perception observation were now all clearly presented, even more detailed.
Even the unity of mind and body was stronger than before; in this state, Shrike Hao’s capabilities were brought to the extreme.
This fighter jet, modified by him, was no longer the previous P-26 performance: speed approaching 480 kilometers per hour, various agile operations reaching the utmost limit of its capabilities.
Fang Wen himself felt his excitement; absorbing too much mysterious energy at once brought effects that were too good.
He controlled Shrike Hao to plunge into the enemy swarm, selected the first target, and opened fire directly.
As the aircraft sped through, 20mm autocannon shells mercilessly fired, shooting down a Type 96 fighter directly ahead.
The explosion left the bombing formation somewhat dazed.
Too sudden.
They didn’t even know where the enemy came from.
But soon, a second fighter was attacked, allowing them to spot the target.
It was that lead fighter, said to be China’s ace pilot with excellent performance in multiple air combats.
But he was too bold, actually charging alone into the bombing formation.
In response, the Japanese aviator pilots, feeling belittled, flew into rage and tried to attack Shrike Hao.
But they couldn’t grasp Shrike Hao’s flight path at all.
This ghost-like fighter jet easily penetrated the bombing formation, only to kill in from another direction soon after; each weave caused great chaos to the opponent.
After several ins and outs, the entire bombing formation was completely disrupted; they could no longer form a complete flight formation, and Fang Wen’s personal exquisite flight piloting disturbed their entire operation.
This was also the effect Fang Wen wanted to achieve.
He sent an encrypted telegram order, and the three waiting Il-16s charged out, coordinating with his action to strike the four bombers in the already chaotic flight formation.
