After a long night, I am now a visitor, with the heroic deeds of the heroes, and enter the Military Museum of the Chinese Revolution. It was here that the family witnessed a dazzling fighter plane, called the Soviet-made MiG-15, which was the weapon of General Wang Hai in the past. It carries the number "079" on its body, and the nine stars are inlaid with its body, like a bright galaxy, engraved with the prestige of General Wang Hai shooting down nine enemy planes.
Gazing at its fighters, it seems to see the battlefield in the sky back then, filled with beacon fire. Nine stars, like nine dragons in the sky, guard the glory of China. Carefully inspect the battle marks of the fuselage, like the vicissitudes of time, telling the heroic battle in the air, the heroic legend of a generation of pilots.
However, the years passed, and in September 2020, General Wang Hai passed away due to illness at the age of ninety. From 1944, when he joined the revolution, to 1945, when he was officially brought under the banner of our party, the general contributed to the construction of the country for half a century. At that time, in troubled times, there were many brave men, and General Wang Hai was one of them.
His youthful ambition to join the local anti-Japanese team has always been consistent. The first time you set foot on the battlefield is the time to overcome obstacles. In 1944, the Shandong Anti-Japanese Youth Detachment swore an oath to resist the war, and Wang Hai, who was 19 years old, decisively joined it. Or it is rumored that it was the Shandong Weihai Youth Squadron at that time. In the years of resisting Japan and saving the country, the age of 19 and the high ambition are not anecdotal, but the dedication of Wang Hai and other young people is really valuable.
In 1945, the first call sign was stimulated, especially the propaganda in Shandong, and the United Front of the Chinese nation promoted, and the War of Resistance against Japan intensified. Wang Hai then joined our party and enrolled in Shandong Revolutionary University in June. At this time, in March 1946, the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army Aviation School was officially established, which was the first aviation school in China. Wang Hai seems to have had a yearning for the sky since he was a child, and when the three eastern provinces fell, although he was young, he was full of fear of the majestic things in the sky, and he also had an endless yearning for them. In June of the same year, Wang Hai successfully became a cadet of the aviation school's mechanical team.
For Wang Hai, he is the first batch of students in this school and a member of our People's Liberation Army. Before 1950, Wang Hai worked as a cadet, mechanic, and finally as a pilot. As we all know, this four-year period, from 1945 to 1949, was a period of fierce internal warfare in China. At the time of the air confrontation with the Kuomintang, although Wang Hai had not been formally incorporated into the air force (the air force of our party had not yet been established at that time), he had already undergone many tests in actual combat.
The year 1950 was a special year for Comrade Wang Hai. In the same year, Nanjing officially established the Fourth Mixed Brigade of the Air Force, which is of extraordinary significance to the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the newly-born Republic of China. This air brigade is the first aviation force with combat effectiveness in Chinese mainland. Although it was created to keep pace with the times, it was in fact imperative in the face of the threat of war. Because of the immediate arrival, it was a three-year War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
Looking at the time, the 4th Mixed Brigade of the Air Force was founded in June 1950, and the Republic of China crossed the Yalu River in October of the same year. The beginning and end of the story are obvious, and the sense of crisis at that time can be described as overflowing. It is the brigade that focuses on all the firepower of the Chinese mainland air force and gathers all adjustable talents, including Wang Hai, who is still being trained in the Northeast Air School.
Wang Hai, who first arrived in Nanjing, did not immediately engage in deep and practical warfare, but experienced nearly a year of actual combat training in Nanjing. He was first the squadron leader of the 29th Brigade of the 10th Regiment of the Fourth Mixed Brigade of the Air Force, and by 1951, when the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force officially went to the Korean battlefield, Comrade Wang Hai had been promoted to captain of the 1st Brigade of the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Air Force Division. In October of that month, with the urgency of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the air force brigade led by Wang Hai set foot on the Korean front for the first time.
At that time, the air force of the Republic of China was short of talents, and according to Wang Hai's recollections in his later years, the air force brigade led by him mainly came from the army, and most of them had no experience in actual combat in the air. Even those from the Northeast Air Force, most of the pilots are from the Army, have little flying experience, have only 52 hours of contact time, and have not undergone a single target training. Wang Haizi did not dare to hope for the outcome of such a troop being thrown into the Korean front line in the face of a strong air enemy led by the United States.
As soon as he arrived on the Korean battlefield, Comrade Wang Hai was ordered by his superiors to launch a mission to search for enemy planes in the air. However, most of his subordinates were pilots from the army, and none of them had ever set foot in actual combat in the air before, so that every reconnaissance, most of them "took advantage of the excitement and returned empty-handed" as a rule. This result was expected, because after all, these people had no experience in actual combat in the air, and for the first time, they exchanged fire with enemy planes, and the balance of defeat tipped in turn. In the face of the disadvantage of the air force, Wang Haixun immediately supplemented the personnel for the team members according to the situation of the enemy and us, and explored tactical skills.
After his retirement, General Wang Hai often said: "The sky is so vast, the Americans are also one person, and my generation is also one person, but my generation has been repeatedly attacked by the enemy, and it is difficult to shoot down the Americans." Confidence in winning battles is necessary, and there is a possibility of victory. These are Wang Hai's words to his subordinates, revealing the desire for victory and the emphasis on confidence, and the tenacity and pride of the soldiers in difficult times.
The flames of war burned out the morning glow, and the first battle was victorious. ** Zeng wittily said that "the United States is a paper tiger", watching the Wang Hai Brigade in the Korean War with the United States Air Force confrontation record and combat exploits, Yu deeply felt the foresight, not only to describe the United States' ideology as a paper tiger, even if its air force participated in the Korean War.
On November 9, 1951, the Wang Hai Brigade of the Republic Air Force faced a real combat opponent of the US Air Force for the first time and was carrying out reconnaissance missions in the air. Accidentally encountered the FMK-8 fighter-bomber, and after Wang Hai received the order from his superiors, the brigade successfully intercepted and destroyed the American plane. This battle became the "good start" of Wang Hai's brigade in the Korean War, even though it was only a small bomber, but for all the team members, it was full of determination and expectations for continuing to carry out the mission.
On November 18, 1951, with accurate intelligence, Wang Hai's brigade received an order from the upper echelons to face nine batches of a total of 148 US fighters and bombers. If this mission fails, or the news leaks, for the Wang Hai Brigade that is pursuing the victory, it will inevitably be chewed repeatedly by the paper tigers, because it is at a great disadvantage in terms of numbers and equipment, and the annihilation of the whole army will become a dangerous reality.
A total of 6 fighters from the Wang Hai Brigade and 16 fighters from the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Air Division, plus the support of the Soviet Air Force, participated in the air battle. At that time, part of the US military was located in the Yeongrou area, and part of it had already circled to Anju and near the Cheongchon River, and mainly bombed and strafed railway targets in North Korea. When Wang Hai's brigade approached the Qingchuan River Bridge, it clearly saw that 50 or 60 US enemy planes were wantonly bombing the bridge.
For Wang Hai, who has experienced four years of Xi, this opportunity is not to be missed. Under Wang Hai's command, the six fighters of the entire brigade swooped down towards dozens of US planes in unison. The US military was visibly panicked, and dozens of warplanes lost order in an instant. However, after systematic training, effective measures were quickly taken, first to occupy a favorable position, and then to form an orderly and offensive "circle array".
In the fierce battle with enemy planes, Wang Hai profoundly realized the threat posed by the "circle array" set up by the US military. His fighter plane managed to destroy one of them, but then another was replaced. If this continues, the disadvantages will gradually become apparent. Wang Hai thought quickly, summed up the countermeasures almost instantly, and shouted:
It is necessary to give full play to the vertical maneuverability of our planes that are superior to those of enemy planes, break this 'spiral circle' of the US military, and all the members of the team must climb high and occupy a position!”
The six fighters of Wang Hai's brigade immediately raised their noses and flew to a high altitude. When the six fighters reached the designated altitude, they took full advantage of the top-down swooping momentum and quickly rushed into the enemy's so-called "spiral circle". This is exactly what Wang Hai said about the vertical maneuverability of the MiG-15. Although the kinetic energy of the aircraft of the Air Force of the Republic at that time was inferior to that of the US military, Wang Hai subconsciously gave full play to the advantages of our army.
More than a dozen times of repeated responses finally plunged dozens of enemy planes of the US military into chaos again, and they had no understanding of China's tactics and had never faced such a situation in training. Immediately afterwards, in the face of the US fighters that had fallen into chaos, Wang Hai's brigade launched a harvesting operation, and with the close cooperation of six fighters of our army, the mission ended successfully with a 5:0 result, and Wang Hai himself destroyed two enemy planes.
This almost perfect example of the Chinese Air Force's fight against US imperialism was finally engraved in the annals of the Republic's Air Force wars. On December 5 of the same year, Wang Hai's brigade received an order from the ground command again, although the specific process was not recorded, but later generations only know that in this battle between the Chinese and American air forces, the number was 4:12, and the two sides fought fiercely for a long time, and finally ended successfully with a proud record of 6:1.
On December 9, 1952, Wang Hai's brigade once again showed its might in the skies over the Korean battlefield. Despite experiencing several "skirmishes" with the US military in the past, those Air Force pilots promoted by the Army have already tasted victory in this series of battles and have accumulated rich experience in actual combat. Perhaps these veterans of the Republic had doubts about the power of US imperialism before confronting it for the first time.
However, through repeated battles, Wang Hai's brigade realized that although the US Air Force was powerful, it was by no means invincible. That afternoon, Wang Hai suddenly received an order from his superiors that the enemy he would face this time was no longer a paper tiger, but a paper lion, because the air force sent by the US military had a total of 72 fighters and 56 bombers. These fighters were mainly responsible for escorting around and over bombers.
At that time, more than 100 US warplanes were concentrating on the No. 2 theater on the map of our army to carry out continuous bombing of the Pyongyang and Yongrou areas. After receiving the order, Wang Hai led 12 fighters to the front line. Before arriving at the designated place, the ground commander conveyed the latest news to Wang Hai: "There are 4 wolf cubs 20 kilometers ahead of the left. "Through the display screen on the plane, it is clear that about 4 enemy planes are slowly moving in this direction.
12:4 "This comparison of the number of enemy fighters is also the first time for Wang Hai. He didn't expect that he would be able to lead a campaign with more and less fighting. So, Wang Hai ordered 12 fighters to rush to the 4 enemy planes together, without any order. In the face of 12 fighters of our army, 4 fighters of the enemy army immediately discarded the auxiliary fuel tanks and turned around and fled. Wang Hai understood the principle of "taking advantage of victory to pursue", but he concluded that there must be a huge "wolf pack" behind these four "little wolves", so he did not order the pursuit, but asked the 12 fighters to adjust their strategic formation and wait for the arrival of the "wolf pack".
Sure enough, as Wang Hai expected, the main force of the enemy planes turned back in the direction of the four fleeing enemy planes. According to Wang Hai's recollection: "At that time, it was really a piece of black oppression." 4 enemy planes brought back more than 20 enemy planes, and although they rushed towards our troops at great speed, judging by the formation of these more than 20 enemy planes, this should be an experienced team.
I don't know if these more than 20 enemy planes were not aware of the existence of Wang Hai's brigade, or they were too late to deal with the subsequent attack of Wang Hai's brigade. More than 20 enemy planes were completely exposed to the field of vision, and Wang Hai gave an order: "Hit hard!.""The 12 fighters rushed towards more than 20 enemy planes in unison, and the main force of the enemy planes had no time to react.
On December 9, 1952, Wang Hai's brigade once again showed strong combat effectiveness over the Korean battlefield. 12 fighters of our army rushed to the bottom of the enemy army and quickly broke the formation of the enemy army. Once the enemy's formation was broken, Wang Hai commanded 12 fighters to begin to break through the enemy planes at the bottom of the air one by one in an orderly manner. Although the enemy reacted quickly, our 12 fighters still maintained a firm grip in this battle. The enemy planes suffered heavy losses, not only shot down by our troops, but also many damaged, which greatly reduced their morale and severely damaged their combat effectiveness.
This battle made Wang Hai's brigade famous in the air force of the Republic. Later, through inquiring into the news, the members of the Wang Hai Brigade learned that the more than 20 enemy planes they fought fiercely that day turned out to be the ace flight unit of the US military, that is, the "51 st Flying Group," which was a well-known flying group during World War II.
This battle also proved that even the ace flying unit of the US military cannot be invincible in the face of the air force of our republic. In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it was not uncommon for the Republic Air Force Brigade to be like the "Wang Hai Brigade". Although the Air Force of the Republic was formed only two years after the beginning of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it was in the actual combat environment with US imperialism that these air force units were able to grow rapidly.
Every U.S. air strike may have momentum, but when it comes to actual war, victory or defeat is not certain. Taking the last air battle of the Wang Hai Brigade in the Korean War as an example, this air force group, which was only two or three years old, actually succeeded in defeating the 51st Flying Group, which was famous during World War II, and demonstrated the great strength of the air force of the Republic of China. This shows that although the US military is strong, in the actual combat confrontation with the air force of the Republic, victory or defeat is not absolute, and strength will ultimately be the best proof.
Meritorious service and heroics, Wang Hai's brigade created a brilliant air battle. In General Wang Hai's experience in air combat, the term "fighting bayonets in the air" frequently appears. Why fight bayonets in the air?General Wang Hai explained in a later interview: "When facing enemy planes to open fire, the nearest distance may be 140 meters, while US fighter planes generally fire at thousands of meters, and the nearest is only 5 or 600 metersMeaning that if we hit an enemy aircraft, the wreckage of the enemy aircraft after it was shot down will most likely hit our own plane. ”
Wang Hai and the brigade he led relied on this courage and grasp of actual combat experience to create brilliant achievements again and again. During the two years that the Republic Air Force entered the DPRK to fight, Wang Hai's brigade shot down a total of 330 enemy planes and damaged 95 enemy planes, thus forming a tremendous deterrent to the US Air Force. General Wang Hai and his brigade became a legend in the history of the Chinese Air Force and were hailed as "the nemesis of ace pilots of the US military".
This successful record stems from the three indispensable spiritual factors of "confidence, wisdom, and bravery". The perfect combination of these three finally enabled the People's Volunteers to win the victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Wang Hai and Wang Hai's brigade also won many group and individual honors because of their countless brilliant achievements in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, among which Wang Hai was known as the "eternal trump card of the Republic Air Force".
After the victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, according to the commendation documents of the headquarters of the Chinese People's Volunteers, 300,000 meritorious heroes of the people emerged, and they were the revolutionary ancestors that their children should most admire and thank in the future. Among the 300,000 people's meritorious heroes, there are 217 special meritorious heroes of the Volunteer Army, including two special combat heroes, Huang Jiguang and Yang Gensi. General Wang Hai was listed as a first-class combat hero, becoming the only one among the 46 people who was later awarded the rank of general.
In 1988, at the age of 62, Comrade Wang Hai was awarded the rank of general, becoming a legend in the history of the Air Force of the Republic. Although he has passed away, his great achievements for the Republic and his fighting spirit will forever remain in the memory of our times.