In the spring of 1952, there was an air battle on the Korean Peninsula, and during the post-war inventory, statisticians found that the United ** lost two F-86 fighters, and our army also had two MiG-15 fighters shot down and crashed.
General Liu Zhen, commander of the Air Force of the Chinese People's Volunteers, was not satisfied with this result, so he specially sent a telegram to Fang Ziyi, commander of the Fourth Air Force Division who participated in the battle, asking him to lead all the soldiers of the team to conduct a profound review.
On this day, Fang Ziyi was leading the soldiers to reflect on their combat mistakes, **The bell suddenly rang, and after Fang Ziyi took it, General Liu Zhen's excited voice appeared in his ears, "You have made great contributions!" Don't review it, hurry up, the review will be changed to a celebration banquet! ”
Fang Ziyi was puzzled, and then, General Liu Zhen explained it to him, and he understood the reason. It turned out that his soldier Zhang Jihui shot down the American pilot Davis, who is now dead.
Who is Davis? Why would defeating him cause such a stir? Let's take a closer look at the history of the Korean air war.
In the four months following the outbreak of the Korean War, the U.S.-led coalition sent the U.S. Far East Air Force to take part in the war on the Korean Peninsula.
As soon as the US air force units arrived on the battlefield, they showed their skills and gave the Korean people's army a disadvantage, and the US air force fighters roared and soon seized air supremacy over the territory of the DPRK.
In the face of the powerful US Air Force, the DPRK side had only more than 70 backward fighters and no skilled air force pilots, and the DPRK side was shot down by the US military with more than 30 planes in the first battle on the air battlefield between the two sides.
The US Air Force units unscrupulously piloted their bombers to gallop over the DPRK's airspace, leaving behind a few shells from time to time, striking at the DPRK ground without any scruples, and quickly cutting off the DPRK troops on the battlefield from their own rear.
Unable to receive follow-up support and logistical support, the Korean People's Forces were forced to retreat again and again, and soon retreated to the 38th parallel, so that the gains made by the DPRK were swallowed up step by step, and even its own cities were seized and occupied.
Kim Il Sung was so miserable that he had no choice but to send another request to the Soviet side, hoping that the Soviet Union would send troops to the Korean battlefield to provide support.
Of course, the Soviet side was unwilling to send large-scale troops into the Korean battlefield to participate in the battle, and Stalin and the Chinese side held secret discussions, hoping that China would send volunteer troops to the Korean battlefield.
In fact, before this, Kim Il Sung and Stalin had repeatedly asked the Chinese side for support, but the leaders of the previous ** and other ** leaders believed that this was not a good time to start a war, so they rejected the request of the Soviet Union and North Korea.
However, since the United States also asked the United States to jointly station on the Korean Peninsula, it was not only North Korea that was threatened, but also China's northeast region was seriously threatened, so the United States finally made the great decision of "resisting US aggression and aiding Korea and defending the homeland and the country."
After the Chinese People's Volunteers crossed the Yalu River under the leadership of the commander-in-chief and came to the Korean battlefield, the Soviet Union also sent its own air force units to sweep near the Andong region in northeastern China.
At that time, all the fighters sent by the Soviet side were MiG-15 jet fighters, and an air base was established here on the Soviet side.
Most of the MiG-15s were piloted by Soviet pilots themselves, patrolling the skies above the Yalu River to avoid the sudden arrival of the U.S. Air Force on the Sino-North Korean border.
On weekdays, Soviet pilots also trained Chinese pilots at airbases, allowing them to fly MiG-15 fighters as well.
If a group of capable and skilled Chinese pilots can be successfully trained in a short period of time, then the air force battle on the Korean battlefield will undergo great changes, and the US air force units will not have a difficult opponent in the sky.
In the initial engagement, most of the pilots flying the MiG-15 were pilots from the Soviet Union. After a short period of training and training, the volunteer air force has matured and can already fly fighter planes to fight the enemy.
Once, when the pilot of the Volunteer Army was patrolling with a MiG-15 fighter, he encountered a fighter plane of the US Air Force, and the first battle broke out between the two sides, in which the MiG-15 was shot down by the F-80 of the US Air Force, which opened the era of jet fighter operations on the Korean Peninsula.
The Chinese People's Volunteer Air Force flew MiG-15 fighters, and their main task was to intercept and bomb American bombers in North Korea and even the Yalu River area, and the performance advantage of MiG-15 fighters exceeded the performance of all US fighters on the Korean battlefield.
Even the US F-80 Meteor fighter, which is known for its speed, is much worse than the MiG-15 in terms of speed, with a difference of nearly 100 kilometers per hour.
Taking advantage of the superiority of its own fighters, our military has always waited for its own work and hovered at an altitude of nearly 14,000 meters to wait for the bombers and fighters of the US Air Force to enter its firepower.
After the US fighters entered the range of the MiG-15 fighters, our pilots had the opportunity to dive the fighters at high speed and take the US Air Force by surprise.
This style of play has been tried and tested repeatedly, so that the air force of the United States has a hard time, and it was not until the United States sent their latest fighter F-86 that the situation gradually improved.
In October 1951, Davis, the ace pilot of the US army, was ordered to enter the Korean War, on behalf of the United Air Force, he fought more than 60 times in half a year, and shot down 14 planes of the North Korean Air Force, which laid the situation of the US Air Force on the Korean battlefield in one fell swoop, and was known as the "MiG hunter".
For a long time after that, the U.S. Air Force had a hard time facing opponents on the Korean battlefield, and Davis did not have to fight often, so he stayed idle in the U.S. military station. Soon after, Davis applied for a return sabbatical, and the commander of the U.S. Far East Air Force, Willan, agreed to his request, with only a small request, hoping that he would fly again before taking a vacation.
Prior to this, the commander of the joint **, Li Qiwei, formulated a saturation bombing plan in an attempt to dispatch a large number of bombers to destroy North Korea's power facilities and railways.
After receiving the order, Willan dispatched eight B-29 fighters. As a result, when the air force squad was performing its mission at night, it was detected by the ground reconnaissance team of the Volunteers, and was attacked by the MiG fighters of the Volunteers, and the US squad fled in a hurry, and finally lost two B-29 fighters.
Wei Lan couldn't swallow this breath in his heart, he had never taken the air forces of China and North Korea to heart, but now he was suffering in the hands of the other party, Wei Lan felt that his dignity had been challenged. Therefore, he hoped that Davis would fly again before leaving, give the volunteers a little color, and redeem the losses he had suffered in the previous battle.
Davis immediately agreed to Willan's request, and as an ace pilot, he was already familiar with participating in air combat. After returning to the army, he wrote to his wife: "My dear, I will be on an escort mission in the near future, and after that mission, I will go to Hawaii to meet you and wait for my good news!"
On February 10, 1952, Frank, the commander of the Fifth Air Force who participated in the escort mission, came to the airport to see off the soldiers, he clasped Davis's hands, and said earnestly: "This mission is up to you, I hope you succeed, you can go back on vacation after returning victoriously, I look forward to getting your good news!" ”
Davis made an "OK" gesture, skillfully sat in the cabin, and led the soldiers to fly the F-86 combat power, covering the F-80 and F-84 bombers, and shot away from a long distance.
In this battle, Davis encountered his fateful enemy, the pilot of the Fourth Division of the People's Volunteer Air Force, Zhang Jihui, in the game between the two sides, Davis was one step behind, paid the price of his own life, and hastily ended his Air Force career.
On a sunny and cloudless day, this was the second time Zhang Jihui participated in actual combat on the Korean battlefield, and it was also the first time he witnessed a large-scale air battle.
When he flew the MiG-15 fighter into the air, what appeared in his line of sight were hundreds of enemy fighters, densely packed, black like dark clouds, giving people a serious sense of oppression.
Zhang Jihui was not deterred by the opponent's battle, and after communicating with his comrades, they drove fighter planes to catch up and compete with the enemy.
Zhang Jihui drove the MiG-15 to an altitude of 10,000 meters, which was outside the range of the US planes, and then dived towards the enemy planes, trying to catch them by surprise, but unfortunately the first attack did not achieve results, and Zhang Jihui was not discouraged and waited for the next opportunity.
Zhang Jihui remained motionless, staring at the enemy's movements with sharp eyes like a falcon, and at this time, he could hear his own strong heartbeat.
After communicating with his comrade's wingman, he attacked again, targeting an enemy plane not far away.
The American pilots had apparently found themselves prey, and they used all their might, maneuvering the fighter planes to dodge again and again, trying to get rid of Zhang Jihui's attack. These people are worthy of being veterans of World War II, and in addition to evading, he still has the strength to fight back, causing a lot of trouble to Zhang Jihui.
Zhang Jihui dealt with it calmly, like an experienced hunter, he refused to let go of his prey easily, and pursued this enemy plane relentlessly, as long as he aimed, he did not hesitate to fire shells.
Finally, after a few shells, the enemy plane did not manage to dodge and rose white smoke. Zhang Jihui took advantage of the victory to pursue, watched the enemy pilot the plane to land on the sea, quickly pursued up, continued to fire a few shells, and watched the enemy plane burst into flames, Zhang Jihui stopped.
This was the first time Zhang Jihui had shot down an enemy plane on the battlefield, and he was in a good mood, and after circling the scene several times to make sure that the enemy could not survive, he flew the fighter plane to prepare for the return flight.
At this moment, six enemy planes appeared behind Zhang Jihui, shooting at us in the form of a column, and not far from their range, there were also lone comrades-in-arms of our army, Zhang Jihui hurriedly turned around and prepared to support his comrades-in-arms.
During the battle, Zhang Jihui found that his plane suddenly trembled, and he realized: his record may have been shot! He hurriedly looked behind him, and there were two enemy planes sneaking up on him.
The incident happened suddenly, Zhang Jihui quickly shifted to the left at the first time, turning the fighter plane upside down, and the US military did not give him a chance, they took advantage of the advantage, kept chasing after him, and fired a few shells at Zhang Jihui from time to time.
Zhang Jihui knew that he had reached the critical point of life and death, and the slightest careless step might destroy the plane and kill people, so he calmly controlled the fighter plane, while dodging, while observing the position of the enemy plane, and was always ready to counterattack.
Finally, in the interval between the enemy planes firing shells, Zhang Jihui found an opportunity to quickly turn around and launch a counterattack.
However, after launching a counterattack, he found that his artillery shells were insufficient, and after sending three or four shells, he died down, Zhang Jihui couldn't help but get nervous, and he could only dodge on the battlefield without shells, like a lamb waiting to be fed.
After a while, the enemy also discovered Zhang Jihui's embarrassment, and they brazenly approached Zhang Jihui's range in an attempt to drop ammunition at close range.
Forced to have no choice, Zhang Jihui could only concentrate and maneuver the plane to move irregularly, rising and falling from time to time, not giving the enemy a chance to aim. At this time, his breathing became heavy, beads of sweat the size of beans oozed from his forehead, and Zhang Jihui felt a strong sense of suffocation.
Although the enemy plane never hit him, Zhang Jihui also understood that escaping and retreating were not long-term methods, and the enemy plane would eventually hit him.
In the end, he decided to fly the fighter plane and collide with the enemy, after all, the most powerful attack, that is, the best means of defense.
After making up his mind, Zhang Jihui saw the opportunity and drove the fighter plane to rush towards the enemy, and in a very short time, he got close to the enemy plane, and he could even see the appearance of the US pilot sitting in the fighter plane.
The U.S. military also understood Zhang Jihui's intentions, at this time, the two sides are not only a confrontation of manipulation technology, but also a psychological game, but if one side is timid, then he faces the fate of defeat and being shot down.
At the last moment, Zhang Jihui was ready to die with the enemy, but the other party suddenly retreated, quickly turned around, and dodged Zhang Jihui's impact, but now the altitude of the two sides has been extremely low, almost the same as the mountain, the US pilot did not have time to react, directly hit the mountain, and the mountain forest suddenly ignited a raging fire.
Zhang Jihui successfully completed the battle, and in this life-and-death contest, Zhang Jihui won the final victory, and he also transformed into an experienced air force pilot.
On February 10, 1952, Zhang Jihui received the task again, and after breakfast, he was ready to go, entered the cockpit, and stroked every inch of the console, which was a habit he developed.
After the battle began, Zhang Jihui quickly flew the fighter plane into the air, and he was engrossed in staring at the movements around him. Suddenly, he saw a small black dot appear in the right rear of the fighter, which was moving rapidly, he hurriedly communicated with the wingman, piloted the fighter plane to rise quickly, and occupied the advantage of altitude, so that the enemy's sneak attack plan was stillborn.
When he piloted the fighter plane and wingman to entangle the enemy-led fighter, after seeing the letters and patterns on the enemy plane, he knew that it was the fighter piloted by Davis in the intelligence.
Zhang Jihui also heard Davis's name like thunder, knowing that he had a glorious record of shooting down 14 MiG fighters on the Korean battlefield, which was a difficult bone to gnaw, Zhang Jihui paid 12 points of attention and did not dare to underestimate it.
The moment the two sides approached, both Zhang Jihui and Davis discovered each other's intentions.
They decisively fired a shell, and then quickly drove the fighter plane to dodge, Zhang Jihui seemed to know Davis's next move, Davis dodged according to inertia, but happened to be hit by a shell, and the fighter suddenly fell quickly to the ground with white smoke.
At this time, another enemy plane appeared in Zhang Jihui's line of sight, facing the direction of the sun's rays, and the cunning enemy tried to use the sunlight as a cover.
Zhang Jihui did not intend to deal with the other side, the previous battle made him more confident, he quickly drove the fighter plane towards the enemy, fired two shells at the enemy at close range, the enemy plane turned into a cloud of fireworks, fell to the ground.
In just 58 seconds, Zhang Jihui, with the cooperation of his comrades-in-arms, shot down two US fighters, which was a huge victory in the air battle between North Korea.
The personnel on the ground did not know the specific situation, and when they inspected the battlefield, they found that our army, like the enemy, had lost two planes, and General Liu Zhen, commander of the Air Force of the Chinese People's Volunteers, was not satisfied with this, because our army's resources were not as rich as the other side's, and they could not afford such losses.
General Liu Zhen sent a telegram to the Fourth Division of the Air Force, asking them to do a review of the battle and strive to reduce the number of ** in the next battle. After receiving the telegram, the Fourth Air Force Division held a four-day review meeting to reflect on the reasons for its "defeat" in battle.
On the fifth day, Liu Zhen received news from Liu Yalou at the Air Force Headquarters, and it turned out that after the end of the air battle, when the local volunteer troops were cleaning up the battlefield, they found a stainless steel identity badge from the burning wreckage of the US plane, and this identity badge was from Davis.
Everyone in the Air Force knows Davis, this man is invincible in air battles, causing a lot of trouble to our army, and his sacrifice is great news for our army.
Liu Zhen hurriedly sent someone to understand the specific process of this incident, and knew the wonderful game between Zhang Jihui and Davis, and many volunteers who witnessed this battle on the battlefield also wrote proof materials, General Liu Zhen looked at these materials, excited, and shouted: "Good, good, it's really good!" ”
Afterwards, he hurriedly called Fang Ziyi, the commander of the Fourth Division of the Air Force, "Don't review, you have made great contributions, quickly change the review meeting to a celebration banquet!" ”
North Korean leader Kim Il Sung personally presented him with the Order of the Republic, and the Fourth Air Force Division also held a grand commendation meeting and awarded him the Medal of Honor for Special Merit.
Zhang Jihui brought the medal to his chest, he touched the honor excitedly, his eyes were full of tears, and he said excitedly: "I never thought that I would have today, for the motherland, for the people, I will use my whole life to defend the dignity of the motherland's air force." ”
After this incident, Zhang Jihui was not complacent, he led the soldiers of the 4th Air Division to participate in the air combat plan many times, and was affectionately called "air hero" by his comrades-in-arms.
After the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Zhang Jihui has been serving in the air force, and under the arrangement of the Military Commission, he went to the Red Banner Air Force Command College in Moscow, the Soviet Union, for systematic study, and later rose to the deputy commander of the Air Force, which led to the development of China's early air force units.