On the night of August 13, 1937, the Japanese cabinet made a resolution to increase its troops against China and expand its aggression. The encroachment against China, promoted by radical elements, finally elevated to a full-scale attack at the national level. From then on, the two countries no longer retained their mercy and fought to the end.

On August 14, a common typhoon in summer was located on the sea 60 kilometers east of Shanghai. Affected by the typhoon, the air was stuffy and there were heavy rains caused by tropical cyclones from time to time. It was not a day suitable for air combat. However, the war would not be quit due to the weather. The air forces of both sides launched the first fierce air battle since the full-scale war of resistance in such a typhoon.

Before the August 13th Incident, the National Government Air Force at that time had a total of 9 flight brigades and 5 independent flight squadrons, of which 1,2 and 8 were bomber brigades, 3,4 and 5 were fighter brigades, 6 was mixed brigades, 7 was reconnaissance aircraft brigades, and 9 was attack aircraft brigades. The above nine brigades were equipped with 95 fighter aircraft, 115 bombers, 20 attack aircraft, and 41 reconnaissance aircraft, totaling 271. In order to support the Battle of Shanghai, the Chinese Air Force dispatched the 2nd, 4, and 9th flight brigades originally planned for North China operations, and entered Ningde Airport in Anhui, Jianqiao Airport in Hangzhou, and Cao'e Airport in Shaoxing.

The Second Brigade stationed in Ningde, Anhui was the Bomber Brigade, with three squadrons of the 9th, 11th and 14th squadrons, each equipped with 9 Northrop Gamma 2e single-engine two-seat light bombers. This type of aircraft was produced jointly by China and the United States, with a maximum speed of 710 horsepower, a maximum speed of 352 kilometers per hour, a bomb load of 450 kilograms, and two 7.62mm aviation machine guns. At that time, it was a fast light fighter bomber with a relatively fast speed and a certain bomb load.

The Fourth Brigade, which was transferred to Hangzhou Jianqiao, was the Destroyer Brigade, which had three squadrons, 21, 22, and 23, each equipped with 9 single-seat Kosti Hawk iii imported from the United States. The aircraft has a maximum speed of 360 kilometers per hour, a load of 225 kilograms, and a 12.7mm and 1 7.62mm aviation machine gun. It is the main combat aircraft equipped by the Chinese Air Force before the full war of resistance. The captain of the Fourth Brigade was Gao Zhihang, the former Northeast Army Flying Eagle, which was famous all day later, a nationwide flying eagle.

The ninth brigade stationed in Cao'e, Shaoxing, is the attack aircraft brigade, with two squadrons of the 26th and 27th squadrons, and is equipped with 30 American-made two-seat A-12 Shellek (shrike) attack aircraft, which can carry 210 kilograms of ammunition, 4 7.62mm machine guns, and 1 7.62mm rear-fired machine gun, with a maximum speed of 293 kilometers per hour and a range of 774 kilometers.

Since the Japanese army has not yet occupied ground airports in East China, they can only rely on HNA to participate in the war. The Izumo armored ship and the Kawauchi light cruiser, each of which is responsible for invading China, each has a Type 95 two-seater water reconnaissance aircraft, and there are also three aircraft carriers temporarily to assist in the war: Fengxiang, Ryuka, Kaga, and a seaplane mothership, the Karma.

Due to the typhoon, the Japanese aircraft carriers had already traveled to Shanghai to take shelter from the Ma'an Islands, which had moved 130 nautical miles, and were unable to deploy carrier-based aircraft. On August 14, the Chinese Air Force occupied the weather light.

The Type 95 two-seater water reconnaissance aircraft commonly equipped on Japanese cruisers became the main force of the Japanese army on the same day.

In addition, at Taipei Matsuyama Airport on Taiwan Island, 700 kilometers southeast, a unique weapon that Japan HNA has been honing for a long time - the Type 96 land attack aircraft. The Japanese HNA Kaya Air Force only entered Matsuyama Airport on August 8, 1937, with 18 Type 96 land attacks. This is a land-based bomber that Yamamoto Iroku, who was jointly planned and built with the aviation faction in the navy during his tenure as the Technical Minister and Minister of the Navy's Aviation Headquarters, planned and built with the aviation faction in the Navy.

Figure 9. The 96 Land Attack with torpedoes, four years later, sank the battleship Prince of Wales the day after the outbreak of the Pacific War.

The 96 Land Attack, which had just been put into service in 1936, has not been tested in actual combat at this time. At that time, bombers could expand their range by enlarging the fuel tank, but fighters could not do this. Therefore, they could only equip the bombers with enough self-defense weapons and run naked. When they were intercepted by fighters, they used dense formation firepower nets to drive out the opponent's fighter jets.

The 96 Land Attack is a weapon designed and produced in such an air combat mode. The aircraft can carry 7 people and is equipped with self-defense machine guns on the body, back and sides of the fuselage, which can carry a 500-kilogram bomb or torpedo, or 4 250-kilogram bombs, with a range of more than 3,000 kilometers and a combat radius of 1,500 kilometers. The straight-line distance from Taipei to Hangzhou is 600 kilometers, which is the closest airport to the combat area under the control of the Japanese army (the airport in southern North Korea is 700 kilometers away, and the airport in North China is more than 1,000 kilometers). A shorter attack distance can reduce the fatigue of aircrews.

At 7 a.m. on August 14, five Qianswater Cosai v-92c two-seat reconnaissance aircraft from Xu Silian's 35th Squadron of the 35th Squadron of the Central Aviation School's temporary brigade took off from Jianqiao Airport first and bombed the Japanese headquarters of the Shanghai Gongda Spinning Factory. All returned without any losses. Due to the slow speed of these aircraft, in order to avoid losses, they took off at 3:45 a.m.

The Cosair style is actually a two-seater convertible reconnaissance aircraft designed by Chanswater for the US Navy. The US military model is o2u-1d, nicknamed Corsair. Of course, this seaplane really cannot afford the vicious nickname "Pirates" (later famous F4u Pirate Style is also a product of the company). It was transliterated as "Cosair" back then. The version exported to China in 1929 was v-65c, and the later supplemented version was v-92c.

It is more worth mentioning that the first aircraft seized by the Red Army, the "Lenin", was the Qianswater Cosai V-65c type. Under the pilot of the surrender pilot Long Wenguang, he took the Red Army commander Chen Changhao to bomb Huang'an County, Jiangxi Province under the control of the National Army. This story appears in the TV series "Iron Blood Red An".

During World War II, the subsequent aircraft of the O2u remained the main watercraft of the US Navy surface ships, performing communication and reconnaissance tasks.

At 8 a.m., the Second Brigade dispatched three squadrons to a total of 21 Northrop aircraft. Under the command of Deputy Brigade Sun Tonggang, he took off from Guangde to Shanghai. The target was the Japanese headquarters of the Gongda Spinning Mill (storing ammunition and supplies urgently needed by the Japanese army), Huishan Wharf (cutting off Japanese reinforcements) and the Japanese invading fleet on the Huangpu River.

At 9:50, Xie Yuqing, the captain of the 9th Squadron of the Second Brigade, led 9 Northrop 2e bombers to bomb Huishan Pier.

At around 10:10, the 11th Squadron of the Second Brigade, three Northrop 2e bombers dropped two 250 kilogram bombs on the Izumo, but unfortunately they were not hit. Several bombs unfortunately fell into the city, causing hundreds of casualties.

At 11 o'clock, nine Hawk iii fighter bombers from the 24th Squadron of the Fifth Brigade, led by the captain Ding Jixu, chased and bombed a Japanese destroyer at Bailong Port. They took off from Yangzhou Airport in Jiangsu at 9:20 am. Each aircraft carried a 225 kilogram bomb case and searched eastward along the Yangtze River to find a Japanese ship. At 10:50 squadron, the 24th Squadron searched to the Bailong Port near Chuansha County (east of the Huangpu River) in the outskirts of Shanghai. After diving and dropping the bomb, the Japanese ship was shot at the stern.

After the Second Brigade completed its mission, due to the influence of bad weather, 15 planes returned to Guangde via Kunshan Airport in Suzhou, and 6 other planes flew to Jiaxing and Jianqiao Airports in Zhejiang, and returned to Guangde base one after another in the afternoon. Although the Second Brigade failed to hit the Izumo attack that morning, it suffered no losses (see an outdated old ship, a sighing history: the Izumo armored ship during the 14-year War of Resistance Against Japan).

At 14:00 p.m., inspired by the bombing injuring the Japanese destroyer in the morning, the 24th Squadron of the Fifth Brigade attacked again. The squadron leader Liu Cuigang, deputy squadron leader Liang Hongyun, and pilot Yuan Baokang bombed the Japanese Marine Corps Command. This time, the Japanese army learned from the morning's lesson and took off the Type 95 water reconnaissance aircraft on the two cruisers Izumo and Kawaui as air alert. After completing the mission, the 24th Squadron was attacked behind the Type 95 water reconnaissance piloted by the carrier-based aircraft of Kawau Oshio Sanfeicao. Liang Hongyun's No. 2410 Hawk iii was unfortunately shot down, and Liang Hongyun died of serious injuries. Yuan Baokang's landing gear was broken and the plane was destroyed during the emergency landing, and Yuan Baokang survived the death.

Three squadrons of the Second Brigade also launched another attack after re-installing the bomb that afternoon. They arrived in Shanghai at around 4 pm. Using the cover of clouds, the Izumo carrier-based aircraft first discovered Chinese aircraft and sneaked down the No. 907 Northrop bomber of the 9th Squadron (pilot Zhu Hongxin was seriously injured, and the machine gunner Ren Yunge was killed). Zhou Tingfang, the squadron leader of the 34th Fighter Squadron who escorted the bomber, immediately pursued and shot down the Izumo carrier-based aircraft. Two Japanese pilots, Miyata, Izusaki, managed to make a forced landing and fled to death.

The three Chanswater Cosai v-92c two-seat light bombers of the temporary 35th Squadron led by Xu Silian and six Hawk fighters of the 34th Squadron led by Liu Lingci took off and bombed the Japanese arsenal of the Gongda Spinning Mill. The Japanese army's original construction of a temporary airport here was also forced to interrupt.

The Japanese army was extremely furious at the 76 air strikes of the weak Chinese Air Force that day. Because Fengxiang, Ryuxiang and Kaga three aircraft carriers were close to the center of the typhoon, the two-wing carrier-based aircraft on the ship could not take off and land. The Japanese army was determined to launch a counterattack from the distant Taiwan island. At 9:40 am, the commander of the Third Fleet, Hasegawa Kiyo, ordered the Kaya Air Force at Taipei Matsuyama Airport to launch a counterattack against the Chinese Air Force. The commander of the Japanese Navy's First United Airlines Fleet stationed in Taipei, Colonel Tozuka Daotaro, commander of the Kaya Air Force, ordered Colonel Ishii, the commander of the Kaya Air Force, to immediately form two aircraft groups, each carrying two 250 kilograms of bombs, and attacked Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport and Guangde Airport respectively.

At 2:50 pm, the two nine-machine clusters were led by Major Taro Asano, the first team to bomb Guangde, Anhui, and the second team to bomb Jianqiao, Hangzhou. After the two teams flew over the Taiwan Strait, they separated over Yongkang in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and each flew to the designated targets.

Shinichi Shinichi Nida, nicknamed "Ferro Bear", is a famous Japanese test pilot, known as one of HNA's "Four Heavenly Kings of the Middle Attacks". He is also a loyal believer in the theory of fighter uselessness. When the Shinida team gradually approached Hangzhou, Hangzhou was still in the typhoon and cloudy area, covered with dark clouds, with clouds of 300 to 500 meters high and visibility was only 500 meters. Due to the poor visibility, at around 4 pm, when the Shinida team entered the airspace around Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport, the formation was disrupted. Only six Japanese planes flew sporadically over the airport, and Japanese planes immediately dropped the first bomb of the Japanese Navy Air Force after the full war of resistance in China at a height of 500 meters.

At 13:25, three deportation aircraft squadrons of the Fourth Chinese Air Force took off from Zhoujiakou Airport in Henan and transferred to Jianqiao Airport in Hangzhou. Also due to the typhoon, most of the entire Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui areas were ****. The three squadrons encountered low pressure as soon as they entered Wuhu, Anhui and were unstable. After a long-distance flight through the clouds and rain, the 21st and 23rd squadrons flew to Xianqiao Airport first at 15:40, and the 22nd squadron arrived late because they landed at Guangde Airport in Anhui on the way.

The captain Gao Zhihang was waiting by the runway at 13:20 that day. He had received an early warning at this time - "Many large Japanese bombers were flying towards the direction of Amaranth Bridge." So when the 21st Squadron and the 23rd Squadron were about to land, Gao Zhihang quickly ordered the two teams of fighter jets to take off again with shouts and gestures, and used the remaining little oil to intercept Japanese aircraft. Then, he himself boarded the landline that Cao Shirong taxied to the side of the runway for him to take off urgently.

At 4 pm, the Shinta team and the Hawk iii fighter plane led by Gao Zhihang started an encounter over Jianqiao Airport. Due to the interference of the clouds, both sides were caught off guard.

Major Shinichi Shinda's first team was injured as soon as it broke out of the clouds. He escaped with the second plane without dropping bombs.

The squad 3 (pilot Momosaki Ikio Mikami Kazuka) entered from the northeast direction, dropped bombs at the airport repair shop, hitting a fuel tank truck on the railway next to the airport, causing a strong explosion. After the bombs were dropped, the Momosaki aircraft immediately turned right and attempted to leave the battlefield. But it was too late. With the cooperation of Tan Wen, the captain of the 21st Squadron, the captain Gao Zhihang, tightly bit the Momosaki aircraft, first destroyed the tail cannon of the Momosaki aircraft with a machine gun, and then calmly followed up and aimed, accurately hit the main fuel tank of the Momosaki aircraft, knocked it into a ball of fire, and finally fell on the banks of the Qiantang River. This was the first Japanese aircraft shot down by the National Air Force after the start of the full-scale war of resistance (the seaplane of Captain Miyata who was shot down by Zhou Tingfang in the morning was not confirmed at the time).

Li Guidan, the captain of the 21st Squadron, led the team member Lieutenant Liu Zhesheng and Wang Wenhua, and jointly shot down the Third Squadron No. 3 (pilot Mitsui Jingyi Kao) in Lijia Village, Qiaosi Town. Some people also said that it was shot down by Liang Tiancheng, a pilot of the 23rd Squadron.

The third team 2 (pilot Da Chuanjun) was also bitten by Gao Zhihang and attacked continuously. He was shot 73 times, and the left engine failed, and the plane was almost knocked into a sieve. When the plane returned, it was chased by Zheng Shaoyu, the 22nd Squadron. Unfortunately, the 7.7mm machine gun was too weak. The severely damaged Jiuliu Land Attack finally took the risk of flying low, avoided the pursuit, barely flew back to Songshan, Taipei, and was scrapped after the forced landing at the airport. After the war, the Japanese army transported Da Chuanjun's plane back to Japan for exhibition to boast about its "prosperous martial arts" and "survival ability".

In this ten-minute air battle, several other Japanese planes were also severely damaged.

The first team that bombed Guangde Airport led by Major Taro Asano Shinobuki was not very lucky. At 16:30, when they were about to arrive in Guangde, they encountered the Hawk iii fighter of Captain Zhou Tingfang, the squadron leader of the temporary 34th Squadron. Zhou Tingfang had no time to replenish ammunition at this time, but he was full of courage and simply repeatedly attacked the Japanese aircraft formation with a single aircraft, causing the Japanese aircraft to throw all 16 bombs into the rice fields next to the airport without causing any losses.

On the way back, Asano's team happened to meet the 22nd Deportation Plane Squadron who had just refueled in Guangde and continued to fly to Jianqiao, Hangzhou. The squadron leader Zheng Shaoyu pursued and hit his second team No. 2 (pilot Ogawa Rensan Yi-Yi-Cao). The Ogawa aircraft finally flew to Keelung Sheliao Island (now renamed Heping Island) and fell into the sea when they landed near the sea surface of Keelung Sheliao Island (now renamed Heping Island).

Based on the records of the Japanese army, 18 96 Land Attacks that were rushing from a long range on the same day were shot down on the spot (Momosaki Sansho and Mitsui Ichi Kazuki), one fell to the sea after being seriously injured (Ogawa Ichi Kazuki), one was scrapped after being seriously injured (Dashiki) and four others were injured (Ishita Captain, Osugi Kazuki, Inoue Misho and Fukuda Nichi Kazuki).

None of the Chinese Air Force's fighter jets were shot down, and no pilots were injured in the air combat. However, because the fourth brigade had insufficient fuel during the emergency takeoff, two fighters were shut down due to exhaustion of fuel after a short battle, namely Liu Shufan's No. 2105 and Jin Anyi's No. 2106. Liu Shufan's plane hit the tree when he was forced to land in the field and was injured in his head. He was sent to Guangji Hospital in Hangzhou for 15 minutes and died due to excessive bleeding. Jin Anyi's plane was slightly damaged and he was slightly injured.

During the air battle on August 14, the Chinese Air Force shot down 5 sunset aircraft (Miyata aircraft, Momosaki aircraft, Ogawa aircraft, Mitsui aircraft, and Daishang aircraft), and four self-damaged fighters (Liang Hongyun 2410 aircraft, Zhu Hongxin 907 aircraft, Liu Shufan 2105 aircraft, and Jin Anyi 2106 aircraft). In the complex environment of the wartime period at that time, the results collected by the Chinese Army were 6 sunset aircraft, and the self-damaged in air combat were 0. Therefore, the National Government listed August 14 as the "Air Force Day"!

The victory of the 814 air battle inspired the military and civilians and air force soldiers who insisted on the war of resistance across the country. However, the situation of the enemy being strong and we are weak, and the enemy being large and we are small still cannot be changed. In the subsequent fierce air battle with the Japanese army, the first batch of pilots of the National Government did not retreat in front of the superior enemy aircraft, fought to the end, and showed their bloody spirit and national spirit!

The "Four Heavenly Kings" of the Chinese Air Force, led by Gao Zhihang, died for their country within one year of war! Basically none of the first batch of fighter pilots in the National Government survived 1938!

Perhaps, only the following sentence can best express the heroism and eternal wishes of the Air Force soldiers back then:

Watch the iron wings cover the sky, the motors sing together, and the beautiful beautiful rivers and mountains shine on the invincible group of aircraft!

The above historical plots from the "burning island group" were not yet seen when Su Feiyang was there, which was the battle before and after the August 14th Air Battle, that is, the battles before and after the Shanghai Air Battle.
Chapter completed!