Bright Sword: Leading the Special Operations Squadron to Fight the Japs

Chapter 178 Lu Tianlong

The list provided by Wang Meng included all pilots of the Central Air Force and tower controllers of the Tianshui Military Airport in Gansu.

such as:

Lü Tianlong, commander of the 5th Fighter Squadron of the Central Air Force;

But why were the pilots of the 5th Fighter Squadron thrown into a military prison?

This story begins a year ago.

On May 1941, 5, intelligence personnel in Chongqing in the enemy-occupied area passed on important information: the Japanese were about to attack the military airport of the Fifth Pursuit Brigade.

Lü Tianlong, captain of the 5th Pursuit Squadron, asked for sick leave from the military doctor because of long-term combat, recurrence of stomach problems, and unbearable pain.

因此，由第29中队队长余平代理总领队，率领17架伊一153和四大队掉队的1架伊一153飞往陕西南郑躲避小鬼子的轰炸。

The next day, based on the latest intelligence, the Air Force Headquarters ordered the 18 fighter planes to take off again to avoid the Japanese bombing.

However, in order to avoid information leakage during the hasty takeoff, Yu Ping prepared to inform the team members of the destination via the radio after takeoff.

But on the way, they were suddenly attacked by two Japanese Zero fighters and three planes were shot down, including Yu Ping's plane.

The remaining planes were leaderless and had to land at the nearby Tianshui Airport in Gansu as their fuel was about to run out.

As a result, just after we landed, nine Japanese Zero fighters appeared above the airport. As we ran out of fuel, we were unable to take off to fight. All 9 fighters were destroyed on the ground. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

When Zhang Tingmeng, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Headquarters, arrived at the scene, he was furious and ordered all the pilots to be isolated and investigated one by one.

It was not until the next day that a truck was sent from Chengdu to take these pilots, who had nothing left, back to the base.

But we did not expect that the Japanese army would send planes to drop a large number of on-site photos and battle reports of the Tianshui attack over Chongqing, wantonly insulting our army.

The Air Force Command was outraged by this move and sent Lu Tianlong to prison for "not leading the team in person", and several others were dismissed from their posts.

Yu Tianlong and others were imprisoned, suffered endless torture, and were also mentally tormented.

Yu Tianlong, in particular, blamed himself and burst into tears.

Lin Shubing and Zhang Mengting made up a reason.

"Chief of Staff Zhang, I was also entrusted by someone to get them out of prison and let them live a good life for a few days."

Although this reason is a bit ridiculous, it is enough for Zhang Tingmeng to get by. It is meaningless for him to keep these people in prison anyway, so he might as well cash in directly.

"Fifty thousand dollars!"

Lin Shubing sneered in his heart. He thought Zhang Tingmeng was a loyal and righteous man, but he didn't expect that he was just a slave of Dayang.

"It seems that Chief of Staff Zhang knows what's in my pocket very well. Deal!"

Pay with one hand and teach with the other.

After Zhang Tingmeng brought the person out, he handed him over to Lin Shubing, took the money and left.

The frail Yu Tianlong hunched over and walked in front of Lin Shubing.

"I heard that you are brothers from the Eighth Route Army. Thank you! Ahem... "

Lin Shubing held Yu Tianlong's arm and asked in a caring manner.

"Brother Yu, what are your plans next?"

Yu Tianlong smiled bitterly. Although he was spared from jail now, he would definitely not be able to wear this military uniform again.

"We'll just have to take it one step at a time! It's okay for me personally, but I've implicated so many of my brothers. If I hadn't had a stomachache, I would have been able to bring them and the plane back!"

Yu Tianlong buried his head in his shoulders guiltily, and his shaking shoulders revealed his sadness.

"Captain, it doesn't matter if you don't want to be a pilot. We can fight the Japanese Zero fighters with our broken planes. Even if we die in battle, we will sacrifice our lives for our country. However, these bureaucrats in Chongqing are so heartless and ruthless. It's chilling!"

These once proud sons of heaven began to expose Chongqing's callousness one after another.

Seeing that the temperature was almost right, Lin Shubing stood on a wooden stake.

"Brothers, since everyone wants to fight the devils, I will show you a way."

Yu Tianlong and others are now at a dead end, so it couldn't be better for them to have a place to go.

"Commander of the Eighth Route Army, what is your solution?"

"Fight with us, the Eighth Route Army. We have the most advanced aircraft. We can shoot down the Japanese planes with one shot and hit them with one accuracy!"

After Yu Tianlong and others entered the prison, they knew nothing about what had happened in southern Shanxi.

How could the poor Eighth Route Army have airplanes? And the most advanced airplanes? This must be a pipe dream!

"Sir, what is the most advanced aircraft you are talking about? I-153?"

Lin Shubing burst out laughing when he heard this. Although the I-153 aircraft was excellent in various parameters, it was still slightly inferior to the Japanese Zero aircraft.

The I-153 is a single-engine, single-seat piston fighter produced by the Soviet Union in 1938, equipped with a 62-horsepower M1000 engine.

The maximum speed is 443 km/h, the ceiling is meters, and it is equipped with 4 7.62 mm machine guns.

The aircraft that the Soviet Union provided to Chongqing were all old, and the reliability of their machinery and weapons was very low, especially the machine guns, which had a failure rate as high as 9%.

The combined factors of inadequate personnel training, outdated aircraft, unreliable weapons and poor aircraft communications resulted in heavy losses in repeated battles.

During the Bishan air battle, twenty-five I-153 and I-154 aircraft intercepted a bomber formation escorted by 13 Japanese Zero fighters.

In the end, we were defeated, with 13 of our planes shot down and 11 forced to crash-land.

20 days later, the "Shuangliu Air Battle" broke out again in Shuangliu, Chengdu.

Of the 31 Chinese planes, 12 were shot down and 8 were damaged by 8 Zero fighters, while no Japanese planes suffered any casualties.

What Wang Meng got was the F6F Hellcat, which was specially designed to target the Zero fighter, and its performance was impeccable.

"Captain Yu, why don't you come with me to Jinnan to take a look? If you are not satisfied, you can leave at any time. If you are satisfied, you can stay and fight the devils together!"

Yu Tianlong looked back at his brothers in tattered clothes, now having nowhere to go, and nodded.

So, Lin Shubing ordered a platoon of the special operations squadron to protect Yu Tianlong and others back to southern Shanxi, while he took the remaining soldiers to Zhejiang University in Meitan, Guiyang.

Because Hangzhou fell, Zhejiang University moved to Meitan, Guiyang. Although the conditions were difficult, teaching and research work did not fall behind at all.

Masters such as Shu Xingbei and Su Buqing all worked at Zhejiang University.

Military and technical talents like Shu Xingbei have a high opinion of the famous Independent Column.

"Mr. Lin, your independent column has been very popular recently, and you've beaten the Japanese so hard that they're crying!"

"Mr. Xingbei, our ground equipment is great, but we have been bombed by the Japanese planes for years. Do you think if we can develop a device that can monitor the movements of the Japanese planes, can we respond in advance?"

Shu Xingbei touched his chin. As a physicist, he naturally knew the power of this thing.