Chapter 326 The Battlefield in North China Is Becoming More and More Like the Pacific War
Ten minutes ago, Huairen Field Airport.
"Datong was attacked! All personnel quickly take their positions! Be prepared for all battles! I repeat! This is not a drill! This is not a drill!"
As the piercing alarm sounded over the airport, the pilots in the dormitory rushed to the hangar and the apron.
The anti-aircraft artillery battalion reacted faster, and it took only two minutes for all members to enter combat mode. After all, no one knew whether the devils would take a detour to Huairen.
During the period when the air force had not yet taken off, they were the main force to protect the airspace.
A moment later, Captain Wang Hai came to the Spitfire fighter numbered 079. Looking at the busy ground crew, he did not hesitate to devote himself to the preparation work.
"No need to bring Red Sun rockets, just load enough ammunition for the aircraft machine guns and cannons."
"According to the intelligence provided by the Datong defenders, the enemy did not send out heavy bombers this time. The power of the Western artillery is enough to deal with fighters and dive bombers."
"The loading speed of rockets is too slow, which may delay the fighter."
"Yes!"
Since Huairen Airport is in a state of combat readiness, ammunition and other supplies are placed next to the aircraft.
In order to ensure the speed of attack, the person in charge of the airport also equipped each Spitfire fighter with a dedicated ground crew and asked the comrades to be on standby at any time.
It is precisely because of sufficient preparation that the pilots can rush to the battlefield in the shortest time.
Six minutes later, thirty-six Spitfire fighters took off one after another. The slender fuselage and the graceful elliptical wings perfectly interpret what is the combination of speed and aesthetics.
Looking at the dashboard in front of him, Captain Wang Hai picked up the communicator at hand and said:
"Comrades, our speed is not fast enough! Keep speeding up and make sure to reach the battlefield within two minutes!"
"The Army Aviation of the North China Front is bombing the positions outside Datong, and the anti-aircraft artillery regiment on the ground has opened fire to counterattack. It is difficult to deal with the Japanese bombers with anti-aircraft guns alone. The people and brother troops in the city need our support!"
"It will be a fierce battle next, and we must not let any enemy planes return to Suiyuan!"
Hearing this, the communication channel suddenly became excited, and the morale of the team reached its peak in an instant.
One Spitfire fighter after another accelerated again, and the exhaust pipes on both sides of the piston engine seemed to be spewing out hot flames. The speed of the entire formation has exceeded 600 kilometers per hour.
"Got it!"
"Speed up! It's not the limit of the Spitfire yet!"
"If I shoot down one more enemy plane, I will reach the minimum standard of an ace pilot. Today I will teach the devils a lesson and let them know that the airspace of Shanxi will always belong to the Eighth Route Army."
The comrades who went to the battle this time were all elites of the First Air Division. Each of them had at least three records of shooting down planes, and there were even five newly promoted aces.
As gifted pilots, everyone naturally knew how important air supremacy was on the battlefield.
In a sense, a defensive position attacked unilaterally by enemy planes was like a dam that lacked maintenance and was in disrepair. As long as any point leaked, the whole dam would have the possibility of bursting.
With an almost overflowing fighting spirit, the formation finally arrived at the battle zone.
The clouds over Datong today were very high, and the comrades had a very good view in the sky, which could almost be regarded as a panoramic view.
Although the specific number of casualties was unknown, the smoke on the battlefield made everyone feel heartbroken, and they even began to blame themselves for not coming earlier.
"Attention all crews, attention all crews."
"We are about to pass over Datong, don't do anything that will cause tension on the ground."
"The anti-aircraft artillery regiment below has just finished fighting, and their nerves should not have recovered from the tense state. Be careful not to be accidentally injured by friendly fire."
"Next! We pursue!"
As soon as the word "pursue" came out, the comrades immediately responded actively on the communication channel, and no one was afraid to fight the enemy.
After all, at this point in 1941, the Spitfire 9 was the best fighter in the Republic of China and even in the whole of Asia. The advanced Merlin 61 engine gives it a maximum level flight speed of 656 kilometers per hour.
This data makes the Air Force 1st Division always have an innate advantage when fighting against the devils.
Even if it is a rookie on our side against the enemy's ace pilot, as long as the rookie is not determined to die, he can definitely leave the battlefield smoothly.
There is no other reason, the Army Aviation's planes are too slow. Whenever they encounter a Spitfire that pushes the fuel to the bottom, they don't even have the desire to pursue.
Before the Type 4 fighter jet was officially put into service, the Type 97, Falcon, Zhong Kui, and Flying Swallow had to lag behind the Spitfire, and the taillights of the first two could not even be seen.
Even the fast representative of Japanese fighter jets, the Hayate, which was called the Greater East Asia Decisive Plane by the Army Air Force, had to be equipped with high-octane gasoline to compete with the Spitfire in terms of speed.
However, by 1944, the skies of the Republic of China might be full of performance monsters such as Storm + Resentment, or even a jet combination of Meteor + Vampire.
Type 4 fighter jet?
Stay where you want.
Back to the point, when the Spitfire formation was preparing to rely on its speed advantage to pursue the enemy fleeing the battlefield, Captain Wang Hai received a message from the ground command center.
In addition to the specific number of enemies and the direction of evacuation, the intelligence also specifically emphasized the discovery of Captain Liu.
This includes the changes in the size of the "Type 97 fighter" and the fact that the Japanese seem to have made technical iterations on the landing gear, allowing it to be freely retracted.
"Type 97 with retractable landing gear, Type 97 with a shape similar to that of a fathead fish?"
Muttering the key words in the intelligence, Captain Wang Hai was driving the fighter in pursuit while thinking hard in his mind.
Soon, a bold guess came to his mind.
"It seems that the Japanese have also changed their equipment. There should be Type 1 and Type 2 fighters in the formation attacking Datong today."
"Interesting, it seems that the North China air battle has ended the stage of the Western Front in Europe and officially entered a new chapter of the Pacific War."
During the Zhongtiao Mountain Campaign, the main force of the Eighth Route Army Air Force was the three brothers of the Fighter, Hurricane and Spitfire.
Among them, the Spitfire and Hurricane were mainly responsible for killing the escorting Type 97 fighters. The Fighter and a small number of Hurricanes were responsible for intercepting incoming bombers.
It was precisely because of the above combination that the comrades of the First Air Division after the war would jokingly call the Zhongtiao Mountain air battle the Republic of China version of the Battle of Britain.
After being beaten for half a year, the Japanese Army Air Force finally learned from its mistakes and brought out two new fighters.
In this way, the air battles in the North China battlefield will usher in an epic upgrade. The players on both sides will soon become Hurricane + Spitfire + Typhoon + Blenheim against Type 97 + Type 1 Falcon + Type 2 Zhong Kui.
Counting the underage version of the M3 Sturt running on the ground, isn’t this the youth version of the Pacific War?
After analyzing the correct answer, Captain Wang Hai shook his head and threw away the distracting thoughts in his mind, and then reminded the team members in the communication channel:
"Comrades, I just received urgent intelligence. The enemy's army is equipped with two new fighters."
"Among them, the one that looks very similar to the Type 97 is the Type 1 fighter. It has not been upgraded in terms of firepower and is still equipped with only two 7.7mm machine guns. But its maneuverability and speed have been improved. Don't circle and fight with the enemy."
"From the overall performance point of view, our Spitfire has an absolute advantage. We must play to our strengths and force the enemy to fight outside of its comfort zone."
Captain Wang Hai's tone was very relaxed, and he didn't seem to take the enemy's new aircraft seriously.
This is not because he is too arrogant, but mainly because the early models of the Japanese Type 1 fighter are really average in combat effectiveness.
Under normal circumstances, as long as the correct tactics are chosen during the battle. Even a somewhat outdated heavy fighter like the Blenheim can use self-defense firepower to kill the ace pilot's Jun.
Without waiting for the team members to reply, Captain Wang continued to impart his experience in fighting the enemy.
"The Type 1 Fighter Falcon just mentioned can perform many difficult stunts at low speeds."
"This fighter has a strong acceleration capability in the range of 240 kilometers to 400 kilometers per hour. From a tactical perspective, we should bring the enemy to an altitude of more than 5,000 meters to fight."
In the early days of the Pacific War, a group of pilots from the British mainland insisted on using the horizontal maneuvers against the BF109 to fight the devils head-on.
The result is imaginable. In just one week, the British army lost more than half.
After all, the Type 1 Fighter Falcon is very light. It can directly cut in from the inside during the circling process, and will eventually go around your six points in an incredible way.
The most correct way to fight with them is to dive and shoot, and immediately climb again after a round of attack. To put it bluntly, it is the classic BZ tactic.
Coincidentally, this thing is a basic training subject of the Air Force First Division, and it is also the specialty of every soldier.
After briefly describing the advantages and disadvantages of the Type 1 fighter, Captain Wang Hai began to talk about the second type.
"The overall size is smaller, but the head is larger. This fighter is better than the Type 97 and Type 1 in terms of firepower and speed."
"It is equipped with two 7.7 and 12.7 mm aircraft machine guns, and the number of spare bullets is also remarkable."
"The speed of this thing can be infinitely close to 600 kilometers per hour at an altitude of 5,000 meters. It takes five minutes to climb to this altitude."
"It is worth mentioning that the Japanese pilots flying the Type 2 fighter are likely to use the same tactics as us."
The size of the Type 2 fighter Zhong Kui is very small, only slightly larger than the Yak-3, and the size is comparable to the La-7. It can definitely be ranked among the smallest fighters in World War II.
The reason why the enemy will use the same tactics is that it was greatly influenced by the Battle of Nomonhan in the early stages of its design.
At that time, the Russian pilots were driving I-16s, relying on the BZ tactics of diving and breaking away to suppress the Type 97, which made the Army Aviation urgently need an aircraft that can use vertical maneuvering tactics.
In this way, the Type 2 fighter was born.
Moreover, Kuroe Yasuhiko was himself known as the pioneer of the Army Aviation's vertical maneuvering tactics. In the original timeline, he drove the Type 2 fighter to beat the Buffalo and Hurricane in Southeast Asia.
Listening to Captain Wang's description, all the comrades in the formation fell silent, not because everyone thought the Japanese's new aircraft was too strong.
On the contrary, compared with the paper data, this so-called Type 2 fighter was nothing great.
In terms of firepower, four machine guns plus two machine guns completely beat the Japanese 7.7 and 12.7 combination.
In terms of speed, the maximum speed of the Spitfire is 656 kilometers per hour, and the Japanese took all their efforts to break through 600.
The most outrageous thing is the climbing ability. The big Spitfire can climb to 6,000 meters in five minutes, while your Type 2 fighter is still at 5,000 meters.
Based on the above situation, if you use the same tactics to fight me, wouldn’t that be a dead end?
What’s more, the Spitfire of the Eighth Route Army Air Force is a standard equipment, while the Japanese Type 2 fighter Zhong Kui is still in the exploratory stage. The technology is not fully mature, which means that the number must not be too large.
Our equipment has the performance, and we are still determined to use justice to fight in groups. Why do you have the right to fight me?
After a few seconds, someone finally broke the silence in the communication channel.
"That's it?"
"Captain Wang, I don't seem to understand what you mean. Why do I feel that the new planes of the Japanese are still not that good?"
"Perhaps compared with the Type 97, the so-called Type 1 and Type 2 will indeed add some difficulty to the battle. But I always believe in one thing, that is, we will win this battle."
The answers of the comrades did not surprise Captain Wang Hai. He thought for a while and said:
"Be serious, arrogant soldiers will be defeated!"
"It is for your good to explain the performance and characteristics of the enemy's new equipment, so that you will not be caught off guard by the Japanese when you see unfamiliar planes during the battle."
"Remember one sentence! We must attach importance to the enemy tactically and despise the enemy strategically!"
······
When the five flying squadrons left Shanxi, all the Japanese breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.
In their inherent thinking, as long as they can successfully return to their own territory, it means that the next journey will be safe.
Unlike the team members who relaxed their vigilance, Heijiang Baoyan always had an ominous premonition. The old Japanese frowned and observed the rear of the formation from time to time.
As if he had guessed what the major was thinking, the wingman next to him said in the communication channel:
"Kuroe-kun, you are too nervous, relax a little."
"Our Type 2 fighter is a new weapon that can even defeat the BF-109E. Intelligence shows that the Eighth Route Army has only six Spitfire fighters. It is not a problem for us to take down a group of Hurricanes."
"Even if there are many Hurricanes, our Type 2 has an advantage in speed. If we can't beat them, can we still run away?"
The wingman's persuasion made Kuroe Yasuhiko's tense nerves a little relieved.
Yes, what's there to be afraid of Hurricanes.
That thing has no firepower and no maneuverability. Compared with the advanced Type 2 fighter, it is completely outdated.
The ace pilot of the German Third said that if the Japanese Army Aviation can fly the Ki-44 well, then they can definitely defeat the Eighth Route Army using British aircraft!