Other Highlights and
Achievements of the 4th Pursuit Group
Chinese Air Force During
the War of Resistance
On August 14, 1937, the first-ever large-scale
aerial battle in China was brilliantly fought and decisively won by the 4th
Pursuit Group of the Chinese Air Force.
From 1937 through 1942, during the
eight-year War of Resistance against the Japanese invasion, all four commanders
of the 4th Pursuit Group, Wang Tianxiang[1]
(aged 31, 1906-1937), Gao Zhihang (age 30, 1907-1937), Li Gueidan[2]
(age 24, 1914-1938), and Zheng Shaoyu (age 31, 1911-1942), through their gallant fighting, each one
after the other, made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
Of all the Pursuit Groups of the
Chinese Air Force, the 4th Pursuit Group had the highest number of
fatalities and wounds from combats. This
was especially true in the most devastating four years from 1937 through 1941
when China alone was fighting the Japanese, before Japan’s attack on Pearl
Harbor in December 1941.
The 4th Pursuit Group had
two nicknames. One was the renowned “Zhihang Group.” But the other was the lesser-known
“Lieutenant Group.” This second name
came from the unique fact that in the Hankou[3]
Wuchang[4] Defense War in 1938, all the members
of the 4th Pursuit Group were all called by the military rank of
Lieutenant, from commander, which was the highest position, to pilots, which
was the lowest position. They earned this equal rank of lieutenant because they
were so young, but so skilled. This was indeed a rare situation. In some ways, this reflected our strict Air
Force personnel system and the military ranking system. It also illustrated that our Air Force was
still in its fledgling stage. All members of the Group were young, spirited
cadets, who had just graduated from the Chinese Central Aviation Academy. They all had strong aspirations to defend our
country from the Japanese aggression.
In the Nanchang Air Base, the records
from the combat skills training of the 4th Pursuit Group were
superb. As an example, the requirement
for bombing and shooting was a 90% hit rate. All the pilots met or exceeded the
requirement. The caliber of these airmen’s crucial and precise combat skills
was the key factor contributing to the “8.14” victory as well as all the
subsequent air battles with varying degrees of success in destroying enemy
planes, including those at Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Nanchang, Sueifan[5],
Tairzhuang[6],
Chongqing[7],
Liangshan[8]
and Chengdu[9].
On the 70th anniversary celebration of the Japanese surrender, this article was translated by:
Debbie Cheng, 寇蕩平 （臺北空小） July 2015 Los Angeles, CA
Debbie Cheng, 寇蕩平 （臺北空小） July 2015 Los Angeles, CA
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