It may be unbelievable to say that the National Government has moved its capital to Chongqing for nearly three years, but it has never established an effective air defense early warning mechanism to defend the capital. At that time, China's initial warning basically relied on setting up air defense observation stations on the usual routes of the Japanese army, relying on human power to visually search for invading enemy aircraft. Once the Japanese army adopted new routes and tactics, it would be possible to rely on the warning posts on the mountains around Chongqing as the last warning. However, when the traces of Japanese aircraft appeared at these posts, the warning time left for the Chinese people was basically no longer left.

Chongqing had just experienced such a catastrophe three months ago. On the night of June 5, the Japanese army carried out a five-hour large-scale bombing operation. It was because of the unfavorable early warning. When the alarm sounded, Japanese planes were approaching Chongqing city. Urban residents had no time to evacuate the surrounding area, so more than 10,000 people were squeezed into the air defense tunnel with a maximum capacity of 6,000 people that night. Due to the serious personnel and the dereliction of duty of the organization and management department, a large number of citizens died of oxygen and suffocation in the air defense tunnel. This is the famous large tunnel tragedy in history.

But even though such a tragic incident occurred, the Republic of China government still did not make any adjustments to the original air defense early warning mechanism. After that, not only did not investigate and review the matter, but instead rushed to bury and destroy the bodies and tamper with the number of casualties to cover up the government management and dereliction of duty. The tunnel had already installed a ventilation power exhaust fan in April, but it was not bribed by the relevant person in charge, so it was not accepted and connected for a long time.

This time, because we wanted to attract the main force of the Chinese Air Force, the Japanese army did not conduct any sudden attacks. On the contrary, the bomber group deliberately flew over the area around the identified Chinese air defense outposts, so that China could make early warnings. So when this group of Type 966 attack aircraft flew over Chongqing, the city's alarm had been sounded for a long time. The busy streets and riverside docks in the past had been evacuated at this time, and the streets and alleys were empty, and there was no one to see.

The Type 96 bomber lowered its altitude, and the pilot's bomber chewed the milk candy in his mouth, lying on the sightseeing device on the back cabin floor and carefully searching for the target. The group of bombers were regarded as bait to lure Chinese fighter jets to dispatch. However, the members of the Japanese bomber crew were unaware of this. They only knew that this was a conventional bombing mission, and the superiors' orders must be strictly followed in the plan afterwards. The Japanese army's habit was to do a full set of shows. Since it was said to be a bombing mission, it was really taken as a conventional bombing. They specially selected the area near the Yangtze River in the city center, which was densely populated and shops, and the heavy losses could easily arouse the determination of the Chinese Air Force to dispatch.

The bomber has participated in dozens of similar operations, and the map of the entire Chongqing city has long been memorized. He directed the pilot to adjust the course through the in-flight telephone, and watched the crosshairs in the scope slowly approaching the bombing target.

"Drop the bomb!" The bomber shouted and pressed the bomb drop switch.

The Mitsubishi Type 966 6-mounted attack aircraft is the most advanced twin bomber currently equipped by the Imperial Japanese Navy. At the beginning of the design, she was required to be able to mount torpedoes and heavy bombs. In order to consider the solidity of the fuselage and the utilization of the internal space, the designer did not choose a conventional belly bullet cabin, but hung all the mounts on the hanger at the bottom of the fuselage.`

When the bomb drop switch was turned on, twelve sixty-kilogram aviation bombs hung under the belly of the machine and left the hanger at the same time. The gray-green bullet body swayed and rolled towards the city below. After more than ten seconds, the entire fireball filled the sight of the scope with shock waves and various debris.

"Yaxi, the target hit." The bomber gave a thumbs up at the officer and co-pilot in the front cabin.

Dense bombs ignited the wooden buildings on the riverside, and the black smoke came out to cover the sky and the sun. When the bombing was born, the only two remaining inland gun ships of the Chinese Navy on the Yangtze River were slowly fleeing upstream in that section of the river. When the Japanese plane approached, the captain took the helm to avoid sailing. Looking down from the air, he saw these two old inland gun ships less than 100 tons began to row round after circle of white trails on the narrow river surface.

At this time, Chongqing's air defense forces finally began to fight back. Several small-caliber anti-aircraft guns arranged near the dock fired rows of tracer bullets, but due to the limited shooting height, they could only blow up beautiful white and black smoke balls in the air hundreds of meters away from the belly of the Japanese aircraft.

Chongqing's ground air defense firepower is inconsistent with the city's status in terms of quality and quantity. According to military statistics in 1939, the Chongqing defense firepower is only seventeen Bofos 75mm anti-aircraft guns, eight 37mm, five 25mm and three 2Omm machine guns. The Chinese government relies on these pitiful anti-aircraft weapons as the last line of defense for the city's air defense to resist the Japanese bomber swarms that are coming like locusts.

What is even more surprising is that these weapons are not concentrated and used, but are distributed around Chongqing, defending several key government keys. The Japanese army once carried out bombing operations specifically for these air defense fire. So by September, Chongqing had few large-caliber anti-aircraft guns with the courage to fire. Unless Japanese planes approached the official residence of the state leader, they would remain silent to prevent the use of the important weapons of the Party and the country from being vain.

The air defense firepower on the ground was weak, and the 966 attack was as if it was unmanned above Chongqing. It quickly dropped the ammunition it carried, leaving a mess on the ground. At this time, the bomber group changed its course and was about to return to the base, but the Chinese fighter planes waiting for the Japanese army still did not show up, which made the Zero fighter group ambushing at high altitude begin to feel a little anxious. What should I do if the Chinese Air Force did not appear? No one seemed to mention this issue when making a plan.

"Be patient, they will definitely show up." Mindo comforted himself in a low voice.

"They like to raid from the rear when our army returns, as they do before." Jungfuji swayed his wings and signaled the squadron to follow him.

The tactics adopted by the Chinese Air Force at that time may now seem a bit negative, mainly because the Air Force is under too much pressure from the top government, and is subject to strict restrictions in both combat and training. Any pilot who violates these combat regulations will be subject to military law.

When the Sino-Japanese War broke out, the Chinese Air Force was not weak and could be regarded as a good powerhouse worldwide. Many pilots were trained abroad, and the government also hired many foreign instructors. Although they may have some lack of combat will, they are not far from the world average on the technical level.

Because of the influence of the social atmosphere at that time and the technical force that regarded itself as superior, many arrogant soldiers and generals who ignored military disciplines appeared in the Air Force, embezzled, smuggled, and stole military supplies. They even had bad incidents in which bomber pilots deliberately created accidents and destroyed landlines in order to evade training, which made foreign consultants who witnessed the incident shook their heads and sighed. This kind of military morale cannot be fought. However, when the war was really approaching, the Chinese Air Force's pride's sect made extremely outstanding performance on the battlefield, which not only inspired the courage of countless Chinese people to resist Japan, but also offset the negative images left by many air forces.

At the beginning of the war, the aircraft equipped by the Chinese Air Force was still in the same era as the Japanese aircraft. There was not much difference in technical performance between the two sides. The performance of some advanced models was even better than that of some Japanese troops. The Japanese aviation troops at that time, whether they belonged to the Navy or the 6th Army, were actually the same as the Chinese Air Force in terms of practical experience.

The Japanese army had never really experienced any formal air combat before, and the formulation of air combat tactics was mostly copied from the experience of the European battlefield. Judging from the level at that time, the Japanese army used the tactics, the commanders lacked experience in air combat, the pilots only knew how to execute orders by machinery, and the staff who made the plan ignored the actual situation and only ignored the lives of the pilot with a blind optimistic attitude. For example, when they did not obtain a stable forward base, they often ordered bombers to raid for a long distance across the strait, and because the range of escort fighters was insufficient, these fragile bombers were allowed to act alone. It is conceivable how miserable the exhausted Japanese Navy pilot and old bombers with poor self-defense firepower would be when they encountered intercepting fighters from the Chinese Air Force.
Chapter completed!