In 1923, Marshal Zhang was appointed as the General Office of the Aviation Department of the three Northeastern provinces. As soon as he took office, he reorganized the Northeast Aviation Department into five teams: Flying Tigers, Flying Peng, Flying Eagle, and Flying Leopard. Zhang Xueliang also served as the captain of the "Flying" team.
In order to run the aviation department better, Zhang Xueliang not only hired foreign instructors from Japan and Russia with high salaries, but also sent a group of outstanding young people abroad for further study.
Subsequently, the Fengtian Aviation School founded by Marshal Zhang also developed vigorously, and these continued to enrich the technical strength of Northeast Airlines. In 1925, after rigorous training, the first batch of more than 60 aviation students graduated from the aviation school.
At that time, the Northeast Aviation Department already owned more than 50 aircraft and nearly 100 pilots.
After that, Marshal Zhang expanded the aviation force. He not only established a seaplane fleet, but also purchased 9 reconnaissance aircraft, 8 seaplanes, 9 bombers, 5 fighter jets, and trainers from Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and other countries.
There are 8 aircraft, basically setting up the Northeast Air Force's frame.
At this time, Fengxi Aviation was quite large in terms of technology, mechanical equipment, and specialized aviation personnel, which was unique in China at the time.
On the eve of the September 18th Incident, the Northeast Air Force, through the reorganization and training of Marshal Zhang, had significantly improved its technology, tactics, equipment, and configuration. It now had more than 100 pilots and nearly 300 aircraft.
These skilled pilots were able to adapt to a variety of combat methods, which was unique among the warlords in the country at that time. The strength of the air force was not far behind that of the National Army Air Force at that time.
Unfortunately, due to the non-resistance policy of the September 18th Incident, most of the Northeast Army's aircraft fell into the hands of the Japanese army, and only a dozen or so aircraft deployed in Peiping survived.
At this time, Marshal Zhang, who had lost his base camp in the Northeast, was no longer able to support a branch like the Air Force that required a lot of military expenditures. He could only follow the trend and surrender the dozens of pilots and remaining aircraft he had spent countless years and hard work to train to the Central Army.
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So now the former leader of the Northeastern Army and Air Force in Peking has actually become Chief Qian who made a special trip to accept it.
Although Chief Qian is still a layman on aviation operations, and he cannot directly order the few dozen remaining aircraft to compete with the aviation force of the Japanese Kwantung Army for battlefield air supremacy, it has nothing to do with bravery or not. It is called going to die.
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However, after consulting Zhou Wen in Taiyuan, he knew that although the Northeast Army's air force did not have a few aircraft and could not withstand any consumption, the entire Kwantung Army's aviation force only had about 100 aircraft, most of which were bombers and only fighter jets.
40 or so aircraft, which made it impossible for the Japanese aircraft to patrol the skies over Jehol Province around the clock and in the entire airspace. Moreover, there were no radar or other search technologies at this period, so the only way to detect the opponent's aircraft was to search with the naked eye.
Therefore, as long as the Chinese Air Force is not actively looking for Japanese aircraft for air combat, but is only flying reconnaissance in the airspace of Jehol Province, its own safety will not be a big problem.
And although Zhou Wen is not very clear about the models of Japanese aircraft, he knows that the flying speed of fighter jets in various countries around the world during this period was basically around 300 kilometers per hour, while bombers were within the range of 200-250 kilometers, which truly represented the top technology of propeller aircraft.
The airplane has not yet been invented.
The technical level of Japan's aviation industry is still far behind that of aviation powers such as Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is estimated that their current fighter jets will not fly more than 300 kilometers.
The only Japanese aircraft that can compete with European and American aircraft and still have a slight advantage in maneuverability and endurance is the famous Zero fighter, but it is still 7 years away from the advent of the Zero fighter.
Some people may say that the flight speed of a fighter jet does not determine the combat performance of the aircraft. There are many technical parameters included, such as climb speed, dive speed, turning radius, endurance, etc.
However, Zhou Wen’s idea for Chief Qian is not to engage in combat with Japanese aircraft, but only to conduct harassment and reconnaissance. Of course, if it is found that the Japanese army is too overconfident and does not send fighter jets to escort and cover the bombers, then the bombers with slow speed and poor maneuverability will also attack you.
It's not impossible.
Even if I'm spotted by a Japanese fighter jet and I turn around and run away, everyone's speed is about the same anyway, so you can't catch up with me, right?
In fact, the air force tactics that Zhou Wen contributed to Commander Qian are guerrilla tactics. Instead of confronting you head-on, he will attack you by sneak attack when the time is right. If not, he will swim quickly on the edge of the battlefield, just like maggots on the tarsus, leaving you uneasy.
Chief Qian naturally knows what this little brother Zhou Wen is capable of. Although Zhou Wen is not in the Air Force, the advice given by a man who knows this from birth is very worthy of reference and adoption. What's more, Chief Qian himself doesn't understand it, right?
So after he arrived in Peiping, he conducted detailed consultation and selection on the existing aircraft of the Northeast Army Air Force. As a result, he really found a high-speed aircraft that was more suitable for reconnaissance and harassment.
Speaking of which, Commander Qian was deeply saddened by the choice of this aircraft.
What kind of aircraft can make Commander Qian feel emotional?
In fact, it is an aircraft produced by the Northeast Army itself. In the words of later generations, it is a domestic aircraft.
You must know that before the September 18th Incident, the overall level of the Northeast military industry had the top technology and scale in China. It was able to build its own aircraft and had already built its own aircraft.
The fighter jets manufactured by the Northeast Army are very distinctive. The fighter jet is called Liao F1 type.
It was a bi-wing type aircraft, which absorbed the advantages of German and French fighter jets. It was equipped with two Lewis aircraft machine guns, and its engine was imported from France. It was considered a relatively advanced aircraft at the time.
Although the Liao F1 fighter still adopts a bi-wing design, due to borrowing technology from French Gaudelon aircraft, the entire aircraft uses a large amount of wooden structure, resulting in a greatly reduced weight of the aircraft body. The maximum speed can reach 330 kilometers at an altitude of 4,000 meters.
Although the Liao F1 fighter jet adopts a wooden structure, its dive performance is not very good, and it will vibrate strongly and even risk disintegration.
However, the tactics formulated by Zhou Wen did not require a dive. Even if I saw the Japanese plane from a distance, I would turn around and leave, just not to fight you.
But there are existing threats. As long as the Japanese army knows that there are Chinese fighter jets cruising in the sky, who knows whether they will rush over, bite them and run away?
And if it is used for reconnaissance, there is no danger. I will fly at low altitude for reconnaissance first. If I find the Japanese aircraft, I will immediately climb to an altitude of 4,000 meters, and then run away at full power. With the Japanese aircraft's speed of less than 300 kilometers per hour, I can only