Rise from eight hundred.

"The Chinese are all dead!" In the jungle below, a Japanese army lieutenant colonel wearing a camouflage hat looked up at the Chinese fighter planes that were rising at high speed in the sky, trailing thick smoke, with a hideous smile on his face.

Although they failed to ambush the most advanced "Thunder" fighter equipped by the Chinese side, it would be an excellent military achievement if they could shoot down 6 P-40s in one fell swoop.

Perhaps fighter planes rule the roost at high altitudes, but at medium and low altitudes, the 24 20mm anti-aircraft guns under his command are definitely a nightmare for all fighter planes.

  "Boom!" A loud bang!

The fuel tank of a P-40 fighter plane was pierced by a 20mm warhead, and the leaked aviation fuel was ignited by the flames at the tail of the plane, causing the fuel to explode and directly burning the fighter plane that was escaping at high speed into a fireball.

Pilot, no chance to parachute!

"Board!" The Japanese infantrymen on the ground erupted in thunderous cheers.

The Chinese infantrymen watching this scene on the high ground punched the trenches hard. Some felt the pain of seeing their air force comrades sacrificed, but more of them were watching their own fighter planes struggling to hold on under the ground fire, but they were powerless to do anything.

"Where are our guns? Why are our guns firing at the damn thing?" the young soldier on Ground 221 asked angrily.

"The Japanese anti-aircraft artillery positions are all 2500 meters away and in the dense forest. How do you want the artillerymen to fire? Just fire blindly?" Tan Tai Mingjing said calmly without turning his head, holding a telescope in his hand.

"Look, squad leader, what is that plane going to do?" a soldier nearby suddenly exclaimed.

Suddenly, there was a roar of an engine in the sky, even drowning out the sound of anti-aircraft artillery shells firing and exploding.

Tan Tai Ming Jing looked up and his eyes suddenly widened.

When ground anti-aircraft firepower is dense, the best way for a fighter plane to escape is to drop the heavy bombs on the wings to reduce the weight, and then quickly increase its speed to get out of the range of anti-aircraft guns.

It is absolutely unwise to attempt to compete with airborne heavy machine guns and ground-based anti-aircraft anti-aircraft guns, because anti-aircraft guns are protected by fortifications, and their number is definitely more than one or two. Moreover, the value of the two sides is completely not on the same level.

The commander of the air defense battalion, Cheng Tieshou, once said: "An airplane costs tens of thousands of silver dollars, and it takes several years to train a pilot. Let alone exchanging one anti-aircraft gun, even exchanging four anti-aircraft guns is worth it. If the Japanese dare to exchange, I will fight with them to the end. If they don't dare to exchange, I will chase them to the end. No matter which choice is made, the brave will win!"

This is the law followed by the anti-aircraft battalion when competing against the Japanese aircraft fleet, and it is also one of the secrets of their constant victory!

Of course, this is also due to the Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun, which was so powerful on the European battlefield that even the Americans imitated it in large quantities in the middle of the war, not to mention the Japanese technology tree.

Generally speaking, the best way to deal with ground anti-aircraft firepower is to drop bombs at medium and high altitudes and destroy it with carpet bombing, rather than rushing to medium and low altitudes and engaging in a bayonet fight.

But this fighter jet, which was diving almost straight down from an altitude of 2500 meters, obviously did not think so. From the roar of the aircraft's engine, it can be seen that the pilot pushed the throttle lever almost to the bottom and entered a full-speed dive mode.

It no longer looked like a moth flying into a flame, but rather like a meteorite falling from a high altitude. The air friction caused by the terrifying high speed gave people the illusion that sparks were flashing on the metal fuselage, although reason told the Chinese soldiers on the ground that it was the reflected light of the scorching midday sun.

The extreme determination and speed made people on the ground worry that the fighter plane would fall apart before it even reached low altitude due to its high speed.

The Chinese soldiers on the ground naturally could not hear the conversation from the air.

"Deputy Captain Lin, Tiger has been killed, Green Snake and Eagle were hit and need to make an emergency landing at Zhijiang Airport. I will cover the evacuation of my brothers!" Air Force Second Lieutenant Chen Xiangrong suppressed his grief and reported to Lin Heng who was hovering in the sky on guard.

"Assholes, you are not high enough, what do you have to cover? Listen to my orders, continue to pull up and disengage, escort Green Snake and Eagle to Zhijiang Airport and then return to base! The three formations in the west of the city will continue to carry out the mission, and the flight formation will be commanded by Lieutenant Zhao Yishu! Attention, this is an order, and those who fail to comply will be punished by military law!" Lin Heng's low roar spread throughout the entire wireless communication channel.

"Deputy Captain Lin, what are you doing?" A cry of surprise came from the wireless communication channel.

This time Lin Heng did not reply, but looked up at the photo pasted in the cab. It was taken on the eve of his going abroad to study. He was still a young boy at that time. His parents and his elder sister, who was 11 years older than him, were standing beside him with smiles on their faces. The young master of the prestigious Lin family had a very bright future.

  Unfortunately, the war has come!

"Father, Mother, and Big Sister, see you in the next life!" Lin Heng sighed slightly in his heart and pushed down the rudder and throttle lever hard.

Lin Heng, who has participated in no less than 50 air battles of various sizes, knows very well what his choice this time represents.

  If a single aircraft breaks into the fire network woven by ground anti-aircraft artillery, the chance of survival will not exceed ten percent!

But as the highest commander of the Chinese Air Force at the time, he had no choice.

If no one launches a ground attack to attract the enemy's firepower, only one or two of the five fighter planes still struggling at a low altitude of 900 meters may be able to escape.

For the sake of his comrades and precious fighter planes, he had no choice but to sacrifice himself.

The silver fighter plane leaping straight down from the sky was not only visible to the Chinese soldiers on the ground, but also to the Japanese air defense battalion that was closer and could see it even more clearly.

"Yo! I just like this kind of bravery of flying into a flame like a moth! To express my respect for the warriors, I will treat you with a 75mm anti-aircraft gun." The army lieutenant colonel on the ground was not surprised but delighted when he saw the fighter planes rushing down from the sky.

  Until now, the four 75mm anti-aircraft guns have remained hidden and unfired. Aren’t they just waiting for more and bigger fish to take the bait?

The only regret was that only one of the three Chinese fighter planes in the sky landed, and the other two dropped a few bombs on the ground and immediately flew away at high speed.

  It seems that brave people are a minority after all!

However, the Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel overestimated his own communication speed and underestimated the Chinese Air Force Captain's almost terrifying aircraft control skills.

4门分布于5平方公里范围内直线间隔距离超过1000米的75毫米高射炮都还没收到可以开炮的命令，林恒那架编号4305的P-40战机就已经俯冲至800米的低空。

As Lin Heng pressed the bomb-drop button, two 500-pound bombs broke away from the wings and glided for only 400 meters before crashing into the ground, turning an entire hillside into a sea of ​​fire.

The Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel's face twitched violently. There were at least four 4mm anti-aircraft guns there. Under such violent air waves, there were probably few survivors.

This Chinese pilot who dares to rush down at low altitude is definitely one of the best in the Chinese Air Force.

"Baga! 1st Squadron, 2nd Squadron, concentrate your fire on him!" Although the Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel knew that the purpose of this Chinese pilot was to attract fire to save the five Chinese fighter planes that were still struggling to escape to high altitudes, his fierce appearance had already proved that he was worthy!

Eight of the 16 anti-aircraft guns that were still roaring turned their guns and began firing at Lin Heng's fighter plane.

After dropping the bomb, fighter plane No. 4305 became even lighter, like a swift in a storm, constantly flying through the deadly raindrops and spewing out its anger.

Yes, Lin Heng not only continued to control the fighter plane to avoid the continuous artillery fire below, but also launched attacks on the ground with the P-40's six onboard heavy machine guns.

Six 6mm Browning heavy machine guns opened fire fiercely. Even the tanks, known as the king of land warfare, did not dare to ignore it. The fierce firepower instantly formed six earth dragons visible to the naked eye on the ground.

For a moment, grass, trees, and gravel were flying all over the ground. Even the sandbag fortifications that the Japanese army had temporarily piled up around the anti-aircraft guns were shattered by a single blow in the face of the metal torrent composed of such thick metal bullets.

There was a 20mm machine gun battery located right on the trajectory of one of the "earth dragons".

If you say that this artillery crew had bad luck, then the Chinese fighter plane that just exploded into a fireball in the mid-air was at least 50% due to their artillery. If they had not just hit the tail of the fighter plane with two shells and ignited the flames, the fighter plane would not have been destroyed and the people on board would not have died in such a short time.

  But if you say they are lucky, then what about the trajectory that collided directly with the metal torrent extending from 150 meters away?

The P-40 has a maximum speed of 580 kilometers per hour. In such a desperate environment, Lin Heng had already driven the engine to the point of smoking, and the distance of 150 meters was just a matter of breath.

At least 30 bullets as thick as fingers swept around the cannon, and the two gunners were instantly beaten into blood gourds. The shrapnel splashing on the steel made several Japanese soldiers around scream in pain. Lin Heng, who had taken advantage, did not turn the rudder to the left to disengage, but made a sharp turn and rushed to the Japanese artillery position on the right hillside that was still chasing his comrades and shooting.

The six onboard heavy machine guns once again spit out ferocious fire snakes. Even Tan Tai Ming Jing, who was 6 kilometers away, could see the smoke and dust rising from the hillside through the telescope.

"This pilot brother is really great." Although the soldier lying next to Tan Tai Ming Jing could not see the crazy attack traces of his own fighter plane with his naked eyes, he knew from the direction of the fighter plane's movement that the fighter plane was attacking the ground on its own, with the purpose of allowing the five fighter planes in the sky to escape smoothly.

"But he will be in danger this way. All the Japanese artillery fire will be aimed at him." Tan Tai Mingjing's face was extremely serious.

"Bang, bang, bang!" As white fog continued to explode in the sky, the Chinese infantrymen's faces collectively looked ugly.

In addition to the 2mm anti-aircraft machine guns, the Japanese actually had larger caliber anti-aircraft guns, and the original survival rate of only 0% was almost reduced to .

Four Taisho 4-type 75mm anti-aircraft guns distributed on several hills fired at the Chinese fighter plane that was madly advancing and strafing the ground. The sky was densely covered with white fog, and the nearest fog almost bloomed on the wing, but the fighter plane flew past at high speed, leaving the white fog far behind it.

The Chinese soldiers finally felt relieved.

Perhaps only Lin Heng himself in the fighter plane knew that the violent shaking of the fighter plane meant that the shrapnel flying out of the white fog only seven or eight meters away from the fighter plane finally hit the fuselage of the fighter plane. Even though it had not hit the critical position, the fighter plane could still maintain its combat effectiveness for the time being.

However, as he continued to go deeper, when all the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery aimed at him, he had no way to survive.

But what does it matter? Looking up at the sky, the five fighter planes have already jumped into the 5-meter altitude, basically out of the attack range of the 2000mm machine guns. His tactical goal has basically been achieved.

"Baga! Damn Chinese, you must die!"

The Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel watched as the five Chinese fighter planes in the sky had already escaped, and the two fighter planes that were trailing thick smoke were shaky but still fled to the southwest under the protection of several Chinese fighter planes. His back teeth were almost broken.

All this was caused by the Chinese fighter plane that dived down from high altitude, resulting in his achievement of shooting down only 6 enemy planes instead of 2.

One of them had already exploded in mid-air, and the other one was naturally a fighter plane that was still speeding at low altitude.

Although several 20mm anti-aircraft guns were lost, there were still 15 guns capable of attacking the sky, and even 4 more 75mm anti-aircraft guns from the Taisho th year were added as a backup.

Although the 75mm anti-aircraft gun has a low initial velocity of the projectile and a low rate of fire, it is a large-caliber anti-aircraft gun after all. It has a firing height of 7900 meters to the air, and the 6.5-kilogram projectile has sufficient lethality. The barrage formed by the concentrated fire of four guns is enough to bury any low-altitude fighter plane in the blue sky.

This Chinese fighter jet is dead.

"Deputy Captain Lin, hold on, I'm coming!" Chen Xiangrong in the sky has begun to control the fighter plane to turn.

"One for five, I'm making a big profit. If you come, not only will I die, but I will also lose a plane and a pilot that I trained with great difficulty. You want me to die with no joy, right?" This time, Lin Heng did not use military orders to suppress his subordinates' behavior, but answered calmly.

"But..." The Air Force lieutenant burst into tears and choked, not knowing how to answer.

"My personal belongings have been packed before I boarded the plane. Remember to send the package to my eldest sister. I have already saved the address." Lin Heng continued calmly. "But it won't be that easy for the devils to kill me!"

As he spoke, as Lin Heng turned the rudder sharply and slowed down, the fighter plane, which was advancing rapidly, suddenly turned left like a nimble little bird. At the same time, the plane flew directly to a low altitude of 300 meters, thus avoiding the rows of shells fired at it.

"Damn it, the Chinese wants to escape, kill him, kill him!" The Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel's face instantly became extremely ugly.

Everyone thought that this fighter would use a straight and rising method to avoid the barrage of bullets that were constantly attacking him. The four 4mm anti-aircraft guns had even preset two barrages of bullets at 75 meters and 1000 meters to intercept him.

But unexpectedly, this Chinese fighter plane actually rushed to a low altitude of 20 meters under the dense fire of 300mm machine guns, making the preset barrage wall all fall short.

Of course, for this experienced air defense captain, the Chinese fighter plane turning left meant that he was going to escape to the Chinese position. In this way, even if the fighter plane was hit and caught fire, he still had a chance to parachute and escape above the Chinese position.

"Everyone get ready and follow me out of the position to rescue people! Qiangzi, go report to the platoon leader and company commander." Tan Tai Mingjing looked at the fighter plane drawing an arc and flying towards him. Admiration flashed in his eyes, but he reacted immediately.

Continuing to fly forward would only lead to death, but flying towards his own position would still give him a glimmer of hope. The Chinese pilot, whom he had never met, had an excellent combat reaction.

As he was speaking, Lin Heng felt the plane tremble suddenly and its speed dropped rapidly. Looking from the rearview mirror, the tail of the plane was almost invisible. It must have been destroyed by a shell.

As the speed of the plane decreased, the 20mm machine gun below chased the fighter plane and fired more vigorously.

One shell even hit the cockpit directly. If the cockpit was not protected by 20mm armor, the 20mm warhead would have penetrated the cockpit and shot Lin Heng into a sieve.

However, the violent vibration caused the cockpit components to deform and completely locked the cabin cover. Lin Heng, who had already made all preparations for parachuting, pushed the cabin cover calmly, but found in despair that he could not push it.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, Lin Heng gave up the urge to smash the cabin cover with his pistol. If the cabin cover was smashed at such a high speed, the howling wind would turn the glass fragments into a more deadly threat than shrapnel.

  If you can't parachute, then you can only make an emergency landing!

The speed of the fighter plane, which was emitting black smoke and had dropped to less than 200 kilometers per hour, flew over the mountain top, shaking and continuing to descend, and finally stopped after bouncing forward for hundreds of meters in a completely deserted farmland.

This piece of farmland was 221 meters in front of Hill 400. Tan Tai Ming Jing and six soldiers had already jumped off the cliff and were climbing over the deep trench, moving forward with their backs bent towards where the plane stopped.

When the plane was still dozens of meters above the ground, Tan Tai Ming Jing had already determined the approximate location where the plane would make an emergency landing and left the position first. It was not until this time that the Japanese army, which was more than 700 meters away, reacted.

"Yo! Caught him alive!" A Japanese major on the opposite side was ecstatic.

For both China and Japan, pilots are a type of highly skilled soldier. They are far more useful alive than dead. They are excellent bargaining chips whether used for taking photos and publishing them in newspapers to humiliate the enemy or for exchanging prisoners of war.

During the week of fighting, there were more than ten pilots from both China and Japan who parachuted successfully, but only two Chinese pilots fell into the hands of the Japanese. One of them refused to surrender and held on for half a day with his pistol, saving the last bullet for himself.

It is estimated that there are more than five Japanese pilots in the hands of the Chinese. The Japanese army urgently needs more bargaining chips to exchange these valuable pilots.

The Japanese sent at least one infantry squad toward the planes.

"All mortars and heavy machine guns in the company, stop them at all costs." Tu Yunsheng calmly ordered after arriving at the front line. "Also, ask for help from Battalion Commander Leng, and request the 1st Battalion's artillery company and heavy mortar platoon to provide full support."

As barrages of bullets exploded in the direction of the Japanese infantry's advance, the Japanese soldiers on the front line also picked up the telephone receivers.

I'm afraid no one on the Chinese and Japanese sides had expected that, for the sake of a Chinese pilot, the two sides would engage in a large-scale precision artillery battle without engaging in an offensive or defensive battle.

Even in the end, it was no longer just about blocking the enemy infantry's advance, but simply venting artillery fire. (End of this chapter)