The Eighth Route Army lost a total of seven fighter planes, five of which were modified rocket launchers... Because they were equipped with bulky and aerodynamic rocket launchers, their flight performance was further reduced and they were almost a target for the Japanese.
But the Japanese cannot safely bite these fighters because they must slow down when biting these heavy rocket-propelled fighters. Therefore, when they shoot down the target, they will definitely become the target of enemy fighters.
Therefore, almost all the Japanese soldiers on the battlefield had one idea: kill the enemy fighter planes first, and then deal with these "cannonball" things.
This is the main reason why only five rocket fighters were damaged. Otherwise, none of the dozens of rocket fighters would be able to come back when facing the "Zero".
There is nothing wrong with the Japanese pilots wanting to do this. After all, rocket fighters pose no threat to them.
The problem is...
They had no idea that they would lose this air battle, and that they would lose so miserably that it would be an exaggeration to say that the entire army was wiped out.
However, the Japanese's sense of shame and honor caused the surviving pilots to conceal some key information.
The "Zero War" pilot who returned injured is named Komatsu Yingling.
The reason why only one pilot survived was because the Japanese did not even have a parachute in their early "Zero War".
This is not because the Japanese are brave or have some Bushido spirit.
The reason is that on the one hand, the Japanese are very confident in the "Zero War" and believe that such fighters have almost no need to parachute... This is true, because in the early actual combat, the "Zero War" was rarely shot down, and once it was shot down, due to "
The structural flaw of "Zero War" is that the pilot is often shot dead or directly disintegrated, and the pilot has no time to parachute at all.
On the other hand, the Japs are reducing weight for flight... The parachute also has weight. This weight may not be huge, but it saves every cent for the aircraft, because the Japs can convert this weight into ammunition or
It is fuel to increase combat effectiveness or range.
This situation was until the modification of "Zero War"... To be precise, it was not a modification of "Zero War", but Yingjiang identified the shortcomings of "Zero War" and developed a targeted "Hellcat" fighter
, this caused the "Zero War" to be shot down so rapidly that it was not possible to equip it with a parachute.
More importantly, the Japs also believed that if the pilots were not equipped with parachutes, they would not easily parachute, but would choose to use their last strength to fight the enemy until the end.
Therefore, no one of the 11 downed "Zero Battles" parachuted out, but in the 96th Ship Battle, three pilots parachuted out...
Wu Guozhi also asked: "Battal Commander, the Japanese pilots parachuted! They hit our parachuting pilots, should we hit them in return?"
"What are you talking about?" Wang Xuexin vetoed the proposal without thinking: "Can we be such immoral people? Listen up, everyone. No skydivers are allowed to be hit! If a dog bites you, you can still bite it back.
?”
"Yes!" Wu Guozhi said this with some reluctance. He thought to himself that if the Japanese pilots were sent back, they might come in "Zero War" next time.
What Wu Guozhi didn't know was that Wang Xuexin turned around and said to Principal Tang: "Director, contact the guerrillas near Dalinkou and capture those who can be captured. If they can't be captured... you know!"
Principal Tang nodded and immediately hung up the phone.
The reason why Wang Xuexin said this is because the air combat area is in the guerrilla zone, which is what the Japanese call a quasi-security zone.
This area is home to both the Chinese army and the Japs, and they are intertwined with each other without clear boundaries. Most of the time, the Japs and puppet troops are stationed in villages and towns, while the wilds and mountains are where the guerrillas operate.
Once the pilot parachutes, he will most likely land in the wild.
It all depends on who moves faster. The guerrillas will definitely be closer to the target, and the Japanese will send a convoy to the parachute point for rescue immediately.
It's not easy for the guerrillas to take people away, but if they want to kill the target... it doesn't take much effort.
Later, Wang Xuexin learned that this actually did not require the guerrillas to take action at all. As soon as the Japanese landed on the ground, they directly let the people working in the fields kill them with hoes and hatchets.
Komatsu Yingling is one of the few surviving pilots and the only surviving "Zero Combat" pilot.
Therefore, Okamura Neiji immediately ordered Komatsu Ningling to be taken to Taiyuan for questioning, even though he was still injured.
With a bloody bandage hanging on his shoulder, Komatsu Yingling looked pale and struggled to stand up and salute in front of Okamura Neji. Then he lowered his head with shame and said: "Your Excellency, General, my subordinates are incompetent, please convict me!"
Okamura Neji's face was very ugly. Although he was so angry that he wanted to pull out the pilot in front of him and shoot him, he still wanted to know what happened, so he gritted his teeth and asked: "What happened? Why did your squadron have all the troops?"
Annihilated? You can't beat these Chinese pilots?"
"Yes!" Xiao Songyingling straightened up and bent down, repeating: "This subordinate is incompetent, please punish me!"
Shinozuka Yoshio slapped Komatsu Karei to the ground. Komatsu Karei struggled and stood up immediately. He continued to bend down and said: "Please punish me!"
Yoshio Shinozuka was so angry that he grabbed him by the collar and said, "Your Excellency, the general, you want to know the reason, the reason!"
Xiaosongxingling obviously got the wrong idea. The Japanese military never likes to "make excuses". They think that a defeat is a defeat and there is no need to say anything. Talking about the reasons is more like "making excuses". Therefore, Xiaosongxingling
He kept silent because he didn't expect Okamura Neji to really want to know the reason.
At this point, Komatsu Yingling made a calculation in his mind: Is it because the enemy's tactics have improved? That will only make the superiors think that the "zero battle" squadron is inferior in skills and deserves death! Then...
So Komatsu Yingling stood up and replied: "Your Majesty General, the enemy's fighter planes are several times ours, and they are equipped with rs82... The range of this kind of 'shells' is far beyond the range of our army!"
Okamura Neji couldn't help but frowned when he heard this.
All along, he didn't think rs82 could play any role in air combat, but now...
Did the pilot lie?
It doesn't seem to be the case, because it was indeed observed on the ground that enemy fighter planes fired "cannonballs" and exploded in the fleet, and it was true that two "Zero Fighters" were blown up by "cannonballs".
Could it be said that rs82 is real?
Then why doesn’t the wooly bear use eagle sauce?
What Okamura Neiji didn't expect was that the rockets fired by the Eighth Route Army were not RS82 at all. It was more realistic to say that they were anti-aircraft guns. Moreover, the purpose of launching these rockets was not to shoot down fighter planes, but to increase smoke confusion.