The battle reports of the other five fleets were also quickly sent back.

Sihong Airport is the location of the 6th Bombardment Aviation Regiment of the Qing Air Force. It has more than 100 bombers of various types, one-third of which are the latest "Black Cloud" bombers.

However, the anti-aircraft artillery troops here were not as cowardly as those at Baoying Airport. They persisted in shooting under the constant attacks of dive bombers. Although they did not hit the Ming army aircraft, they caused the inexperienced Ming army aircraft groups to disperse and fight in formation.

There was chaos, and there was no orderly bombing in accordance with the predetermined plan. Instead, they fought independently and lacked coordination.

In this case, although more than thirty heavy twin-engine "Dark Clouds" were blown to the ground, more than forty bombers flew up and fled in all directions. The Ming Army's Kingfisher fighter jets shot down ten of them in the air.

Several aircraft. However, due to the chaos in the sky, the Qing army's "dark clouds" and the Ming army's "swans" were mixed together. The Kingfisher fighter pilots had never seen such a battle, and they were eager to pursue the enemy. The two Kingfishers fought hard.

A Swan was stationed in it and it was shot down. In the end, more than thirty Qing bombers escaped.

But the results were also huge: 32 Wuyun twin-engine bombers and 36 old single-engine bombers were destroyed, a total of 68 aircraft. The Ming army lost one "Swan", which was shot down by itself.

Dongtai Airport, like Baoying, is close to the Yangtze River and is the location of the 18th Combat Aviation Regiment of the Qing Air Force. There are 92 Jebie fighter jets and 20 Haidongqing fighter jets parked, for a total of 112 fighter jets.

But here, just like Baoying, there was paralysis and lack of alertness. The alarm was not sounded until the fleet of aircraft flew overhead. However, because the pilots of the Qing Army Aviation Group worked hard to fly the aircraft, and the Ming Army bombers lacked experience, they only sounded the alarm on the ground.

45 Zhebies were blown up, and 37 fighter jets flew into the sky, including 10 Haidongqings. These 10 Haidongqings fought with the Ming army's 24 Kingfishers and were quickly shot down one by one, but the Ming Dynasty

The army also shot down two Swans and a Kingfisher, and allowed the 27 Jebies to escape.

However, the surprise attack here was also very successful: 45 Jebie biplane fighters and 10 Haidongqing new fighter jets were destroyed, a total of 55. 27 Jebies flew away and escaped, and 20 Jebies and 10 Haidongqing stopped.

On the ground, the leakage net was not destroyed. The Ming army lost two Swans and one Kingfisher, both of which were shot down by the 10 Haidongqings.

The aircraft fleet on the west route also achieved great results.

Hefei Airport is the location of the 12th Bombardment Aviation Regiment of the Qing Air Force. 71 old single-engine bombers and 40 twin-engine Dark Cloud bombers were destroyed, a total of 111. However, due to the fierce anti-aircraft artillery, the Ming army was shot down 3 Swan bombers and 1 Osprey.

The dive bombers, the team leader ordered to return early, leaving 20 single-engine bombers and 15 Dark Cloud bombers on the airport.

Lu'an Airport is the location of the 5th Combat Aviation Regiment of the Qing Air Force. It destroyed 80 Jebie fighters and 24 Haidongqing fighters. It can be said to be a total annihilation. 4 Haidongqings were forced to fly into the sky, but they were all shot down by Kingfishers. However,

The Ming army lost 1 Osprey dive bomber and 1 Swan bomber.

…

However, the only difference is Fengyang Airport. This is the location of the First Combat Aviation Regiment of the Qing Air Force. The First Combat Aviation Regiment is the first air force of the Qing Empire. Among the Qing Air Force, it is the most heroic in combat and the most disciplined.

A strict regiment. This regiment has a concentration of elites. Many ace pilots belong to this regiment. The average flight hours of the entire regiment's pilots is more than 300 hours. All kinds of new equipment and new aircraft models are also given priority to this regiment. It can be said that the first

The Combat Aviation Regiment is the symbol of the Qing Air Force.

This regiment has 160 fighter jets, 80 of which are new Haidongqings. Moreover, Fengyang Airport is the farthest away from the transit point of the Ming army fleet, and was the last airport to be attacked. Before that, it had received air attacks on three airports.

In response to the alarm, 43 of the entire regiment's fighter jets were under maintenance and repair, while the remaining 60 Haidongqing and 57 Zhebie fighter jets, a total of 117 fighter jets, had all taken off and were ready.

The tragic fate of the Fengyang detachment of the Ming Army's central air group began.

Originally, I just thought that the First Fighter Regiment of the Qing Army would be more tenacious and would fly regardless of the bombing. There might be some air battles, so more aircraft were allocated to the Fengyang detachment. There were more swans and ospreys.

In other fleets, there are 32 Kingfisher fighter jets.

But what I didn't expect was that the first combat group did not "fly tenaciously", but the whole group took off and already formed a formation in the air.

When the Ming army's fighter formation saw this scene, 32 Kingfishers immediately bravely rushed forward and started a melee with 117 Qing army fighter jets. The Osprey formation and the Swan formation also dispersed, evading while continuing to fly towards the airport.

.

The Qing army's 44 Haidongqing entangled 32 Kingfisher fighters, making them unable to protect the bombers. The other 16 Haidongqings led 57 Zhefa and began to kill the Ming army bombers.

When the Ming Army's 60 "Ospreys" and 30 "Swans" flew over the airport to drop bombs, they had already suffered heavy losses. There were still 40 Osprey dive bombers left and 8 Swan bombers left. These 8 were already 4.

injured.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the leader of the Ming army's fleet immediately ordered the Swan bombers to drop their bombs and escape separately. The task of bombing the hangar was handed over to the Osprey formation. The Osprey bombers were better because they were more flexible and could dive to dodge, plus the Qing fighter jets

Having no experience in dealing with dive bombers, and focusing mainly on large targets like the "Swan", the Osprey suffered limited losses and successfully dropped the bomb on the hangar. Of the 23 Jebies being maintained in the hangar, 20

The aircraft at Haidongqing was blown up.

However, the bulky Swan bombers did not escape at all. They were shot down one by one by Haidongqing like turkeys, which is exactly what the saying "Haitongqing catches swans" was said to be. When the leader of the fleet looked at the end

After a "Swan" fell to the ground dragging black smoke, he gritted his teeth and ordered everyone to return. The leader led the remaining 20 Kingfishers and fought with the remaining 40 Haidongqings, trying his best to form the Osprey formation.

Create opportunities for escape.

The "Kingfisher" and the "Haitongqing" are the same generation of fighter jets designed in the early 1930s and put into service in the first half of the 1930s. It can be said that the performance is almost the same. It can be said that the "Kingfisher" is slightly higher. But the "Haidong"

The number of "Qing" is twice that of "Kingfisher", and the quality of the pilots of the Qing Army's First Fighter Regiment is equivalent to that of the Ming Army's pilots. The Qing Army can easily use a "Four-Four Formation" to attack a "Four-Four Formation" of the Ming Army.

"Two-two formation" means using two pairs of lead aircraft and wingmen to attack a pair of lead aircraft and wingmen.

In addition, Fengyang Airport is the farthest airport, and the Ming army came from afar. At this time, the "Kingfisher" was almost running out of fuel and could no longer withstand the fight. There were only 4 Kingfishers left.

Qing's faster speed allows him to escape from the battlefield.

The Fengyang detachment of the Ming Army suffered heavy losses: all 30 Swan bombers were lost, 23 of 60 Osprey dive bombers were lost, and 28 of 32 Kingfisher fighters were lost.

In comparison, the results were very pitiful. 23 Jebies and 20 Haitung Qins were blown up in the hangar, and 24 Haitung Qins and 12 Jebies were shot down in air combat. A total of 79 aircraft.

If it was an air battle in which both sides were prepared, this loss ratio should be considered a defeat, but it cannot be regarded as a disastrous defeat. But as a sneak attack, and it was beaten like this, it was a complete disastrous defeat.

…

At about six o'clock in the evening, all the formations came back. At more than a dozen airports, pilots took off their flight hats tiredly, sat in the hangar, and told the statistical officers about their results. The difference was that at most airports,

It was full of victory and laughter, but only three airports were shrouded in sadness and depression. These three airports even seemed empty because there were not so many planes anymore.

Detailed battle reports have been sent to the headquarters one after another. Now the central command hall is full of joy. The two commanders Xiang Xiaoqiang, who is the direct planner, and Lu Hang, who is the direct commander, and Haihang Commander, have become the focus of everyone. The officers are all happy and congratulate them.

The female officers brought champagne and opened it for everyone on the spot. This victory was worth celebrating. Even including the failure of Fengyang Airport, the victory was greater than expected.

Xiang Xiaoqiang held the victory statistics table, and the bottom column clearly read:

A total of 72 Wuyun twin-engine bombers, 107 various old single-engine bombers, 98 Haidongqing fighter jets, and 260 old-fashioned Jebie fighter jets were destroyed. A total of 179 bombers and 358 fighter jets were destroyed. A total of 537

shelf.

Our losses: 37 Swan twin-engine bombers, 25 Osprey dive bombers, and 30 Kingfisher fighters. - A total of 92 aircraft.

The results cannot be said to be huge! It cannot be said to be amazing! This is a typical one-sided victory.

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the jubilant officers around him, and he was grinning from ear to ear. This victory was of great significance. The Manchu and Qing Air Force currently had about 1,500 combat aircraft, but now they had destroyed more than 500 of them.

, the number of combat aircraft in the Ming and Qing Dynasties has basically equalized. Moreover, the aircraft performance and pilot quality of the Ming Army are generally higher than those of the Qing Army. This means that the strategic advantage in the air has been greatly favored by the Ming Army.

What's even more valuable is that this operation destroyed 98 Haidongqing fighter jets of the Qing army. This new type of fighter jet, the Manchu and Qing Air Force only had about 200 in total. Now it is equivalent to destroying half of them, leaving about a hundred. And the Nanming Air Force

There are still about 300 Kingfisher fighter jets in existence.

It can be said that for a long period of time, the Ming army will have the upper hand in air combat.

Xiang Xiaoqiang even thought that if the timing could be more perfect this time and Fengyang Airport did not receive early warning, more than 100 Qing fighter jets would be destroyed, and his own losses would probably not exceed 20.

Instead of the current 92.

Of course, this unprecedented air raid taught the Qing army a lesson. There will never be such an opportunity again. In the future, every time a Qing aircraft is destroyed, it will have to rely on real air combat.

Now, it’s time to start solving the problem in Nanjing.

There are still 150 Osprey dive bombers left out of 175. The pilots of these dive bombers are destined to have a very hard day today. As soon as they got off the plane, they were given priority to report the results, and then were immediately arranged to have dinner in advance. Then they were assigned new tasks,

While it's still dark, bomb Pukou and northwest Nanjing.

Although the pilots were very tired, they knew that the next step was to directly relieve the siege of Nanjing. Moreover, many of them found it very enjoyable and unfinished in their first actual combat. They welcomed this important and not too dangerous mission.

150 Ospreys were filled with fuel, reloaded with bombs, and escorted by 150 Kingfishers, they took to the sky. The escort ratio reached one to one, which was very high. And actual combat proved that this kind of dive bomber is not as good as a level bomber.

It is easy to shoot down. But the commander of the Army Aviation still sent them a large number of escort aircraft. On the one hand, the fighter jets are relatively idle now. In addition, Xiang Xiaoqiang also suggested that these 150 Ospreys should be protected carefully to prevent the situation like Fengyang Airport from happening again. Now

Dive bombers are so important to ground operations that they will be used frequently in subsequent military operations. And there are only 150 of them, so losing one is a huge loss.

…

In a fortification at Pukou Pier, Emperor Guangwu sat at the table and looked at a report with an expressionless face. - About forty minutes ago, Dongtai, Baoying, Sihong, Fengyang, Hefei, Lu'an, six blocks

At the same time, the military airport was bombed by a large number of Ming army aircraft. Our army suffered heavy losses, with the loss of aircraft estimated at more than 500 aircraft.

He looked at it for a while, then raised his head blankly and asked:

"What's this?"

The faces of the generals in front of them were as white as paper, and no one dared to speak.

Emperor Guangwu lowered his head, looked at it again, and tapped the paper:

"You guys are talking, what on earth is this? Where did it come from?"

The air force staff officer in front of me turned red in the face, and said after a long pause:

"This...this is the report that was just...sent. We were bombed by Ming army planes and suffered...losses..."

Emperor Guangwu suddenly became happy. He threw the paper on the table and said:

"Are you kidding? We lost more than 500 aircraft. How many more did the Ming army gain?... They only had a thousand or so aircraft that they could fight with. Why did they kill more than 500 of us in just half an hour? How can you continue?

Go check it out and ask them to write down the numbers after they wake up."

This air force staff officer was just a colonel. Originally, he had nothing to do with the attack on Nanjing. He was just the only representative of the air force among the officers who followed the emperor to Pukou. But with this report, he believed in the seriousness of the matter.

. Unlike Emperor Guangwu who only knew about cannons, he knew what the air force could do.
To be continued...