When I was studying at the Northeast Aviation School, the plane maintenance workers were all Japanese, and some Japanese teachers took us. At that time, the equipment was collected first, and almost 100 aircraft were collected, including "99 high", single-seat and twin-engine aircraft. We collect machines everywhere and assemble them by the Japanese. Our People's Air Force was established on this basis, and to leave this is to disrespect history.
The old aviation school is quite hard. Dinner is a table for six people, and there are no seats. Tableware is made of mud. We usually eat mixed rice, so we can improve our life on Sunday, get a braised pork and a big steamed bread. The monitor of the kitchen is still at the door, only allowed to eat, not to take, so we eat very hard and can't bend over.
We are in Anton's place, the temperature is over 40 degrees below zero, and the quilt is frozen by the breath of sleeping at night. The next day, the water in the basin turned into ice. Later, the gasoline left by the Japanese devils was burned out. What if there is no gasoline? China people are still smart, and engineers are studying whether alcohol can be used instead of gasoline. It is said that France once had this idea, but it did not succeed. Let's study, make the eye of the engine fuel injection bigger and spray more, which is the alcohol produced in Harbin. Burn this thing for a while, and you can make do with it. We flew barefoot and without shoes.
After we flew out, we were stationed at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and made an air show. At that time, Comrade Chen Yi came to see it and was very happy. We finally have our own air force. He gave everyone a watch. This is the first time a bumpkin has worn a watch. It's a Swiss watch. My watch was injured in the war, so I jumped out of my umbrella and lost it. I am very sorry.
The air force was originally divided into two divisions: the fourth aviation division and the third aviation division. I am the squadron leader of the fourth aviation division. Because my flying skills are also good, I was transferred to the third aviation division and became the team leader. At that time, I was promoted to three levels a year, from deputy head to head and deputy teacher. I became a department-level cadre in my twenties.
At the beginning of the Korean War, there were four aviation divisions and three aviation divisions, plus two other regiments, and one * * * had 200 planes. The United States and the United Nations Air Force have 1200 aircraft, which is six times that of us. There are fourteen air wings in the United States. Among these fourteen wings, there are two fighter wings, three bomber wings, two light bomber wings, three squadron bomber wings, one marine aviation wing and three fighter brigades. At that time, most American pilots flew 1000 hours, but some flew less than 1000 hours or hundreds of hours. Among them, Davis and Edward were pilots during World War II.
At that time, our pilot flew on a jet plane for twenty or thirty hours. I have been flying the propeller for more than ten hours. Here, I want to tell you such a question. After World War II, jets were not used on the battlefield, so American jet pilots didn't really fight, and neither did China jet pilots. Although you had experience in World War II, the plane you were flying was propeller-driven. Skilled flying skills, but not absolute, don't ignore this historical condition. Because the real battle of jets is in the Korean battlefield, China's young volunteer air force and the old American air force have advantages. In addition, our pilots at that time, under the education and training of the party, were highly conscious and hated the enemy.
I was a battalion commander at that time, and I didn't take part in the war. Chang Gankun, deputy commander of the Air Force, went to Shenyang to mobilize, and their pilot talked to me. I said: There are so many people in China, so are you Americans and China people. I can't believe I can't beat you. From our point of view, we are brave and not afraid of death. All problems are solved by nailing our heads to our belts. Practice has proved that our young air force is like this. My experience is that empty talk is not enough. Only selflessness can make us fearless, and only fearlessness can make us brave and fearless in battle. You don't have this. It's a lie to say it a thousand times and ten thousand times.
After Chairman Mao's call, the whole country donated 3600 planes. How much did it cost? In the early days of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the children wrote to us, which was very encouraging: if you were shot down by Americans, you would not be worthy to be pilots in party member and people in China. I also received a letter. The little girl who wrote this letter was born in a Soviet bomb shelter. Her parents can speak Russian, so she was named Salina, which means warning air defense in Russian. At that time, she was twelve years old and came back from the Soviet Union. Write me a letter when you come back, tell me her birth experience first, and then ask me: when you return to your motherland, you won't listen to the air defense alarm and go to the air raid shelter every day, will you? This inspired me a lot, so I am very grateful to this child. When I was a teacher, I went to Beijing to see her. She is over sixty years old.
I clearly remember that Commander-in-Chief Zhu De once told us that courage and skill are tactics. Think about the energy at that time, it is true, selfless can be fearless, fearless can go forward, not afraid of death, this is a truth. Of course, the price we pay is still very high. To resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, 330 other planes were shot down and 95 were injured. We were shot down by the United States 23 1 and wounded 15 1. I was shot down by an American plane myself. I parachuted. Cadres above the deputy head of our regiment sacrificed 1 16 people, which was very costly. This 1 16 pilot is no less than a division. In the late period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there were not many parachutes and sacrifices left for our pilots. The cadres above the deputy squadron leader of our regiment add up to 12 people take off. Although our brigade has made great achievements, it has sacrificed four pilots, Sun, Sun, Yan and Yan. We can survive. We are survivors. You came to interview me and write articles, not to commemorate us, but to commemorate the martyrs.
I have a point. When high technology comes to the military field, weapons are more advanced, but we can't ignore one thing. The human factor is still the fundamental factor. No matter how advanced weapons are, those who master the use of weapons cannot give full play to their advantages, and even the best weapons are useless. Pilots have never suffered this kind of pain. It is good to rely on high-tech weapons and equipment, but you can't play the role of advanced weapons, and even the best plane is useless. Can you shoot down the enemy? Therefore, this point cannot be ignored. Never talk empty words, talk big or lie. The more reform and opening up, the more efforts should be made in this regard. This effort is not enough.
On the other hand, in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it was not my superb skills, but this brigade. I can't do this without a good wingman, Jiao Wenjing. It can be said that I had no worries in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, because Jiao performed the duties of wingman. The wingman covered the captain, who shot down the enemy plane. You also have the credit of wingman. With him around, I have no worries, so I bravely lead everyone to fight enemy planes.
Sun, an aerial photography expert, also appeared in our brigade. Sun is a model of a pilot. He dares to see the red with a bayonet. At that time, neither plane had radar, and the search found that it depended entirely on the pilot's eyes. Every time he fought, he found the enemy plane in advance. When he found out, he bravely approached the enemy and fired at him. He shot down seven planes that wounded the enemy.
86 days after our division entered Korea, Liu Yalou, commander of the Air Force, wrote a report to Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao personally approved a passage in the report-the Third Aviation Division fought bravely, which was very good and gratifying. Later, I heard from the revolutionaries of the older generation that we had fought with Chairman Mao all our lives, and he never wrote us a word. It's your honor to be in the third aviation division, and Chairman Mao wrote an inscription for you.
195 1 year1month 18 at 2: 50 pm, the headquarters informed us that there were nine batches of 184 planes taking off in the United States. At the beginning, the United States fought air battles with us, mainly F-84 fighter-bombers. There is a saying in China that F-84 aircraft is "oil", because there are two auxiliary fuel tanks at the two wing tips, in order to increase the blank time and flight radius. On that day, the enemy plane was partly covered by fighter-bomber F-84 and partly by F-86. I am the battalion chief, and my direct leader is Hu Lin, deputy head of the regiment. We have 22 planes. Before taking off, four planes were found to be out of order, and there were eighteen left. When I went to Qingchuan River, I left two. At that time, the Soviet Red Army took off 88 planes, so there were 104 planes. Our altitude at that time was 8000 meters. When we approached the Qing Chuan River, we found an enemy plane. Deputy Director Hu Lin asked us to lower the altitude from 8000m to 6000m. I was able to search in the air, and I was never afraid of fighting. As soon as I saw dozens of planes on the lower left in the distance, I took six planes, rushed out from six kilometers away, gave the order to attack me and went down. Some bombs of more than 20 enemy planes have not been dropped, because the two auxiliary fuel tanks of the plane have not been disposed of, and they are loaded with bombs, so the flexibility is not good. We dived from six kilometers and rushed to 1500 meters at a speed of at least 800 kilometers per hour. It's not easy to handle, so you have to get close to it.
They also have many planes. As soon as I saw that they couldn't do it, I gave the order to climb up and take up space. I'll pull them up and take their places before going down. At first, the enemy didn't find us. Later, when they found us, they quickly threw bombs, some on the bridge, some on the road, and they were flexible after throwing the plane. I happened to see a plane, and I was going to attack it. Another enemy plane circled behind me. At this time, Jiao saw it and acted quickly. He dropped it first. After the abortion, I was out of danger. I saw another enemy plane. I also knocked out this enemy plane ... This time Jiao and I shot down two, Sun shot down one and Zhang * * * shot down five.
At that time, the enemy adopted a tactic called "circle war". Circle wars break out one after another. You're in the front and I'm in the back. You can't attack anyone. You can't hit him. We shot down five planes. Although the plane has an auxiliary fuel tank, it has a short flying time, and it takes no more than ten minutes to fight an air battle. As soon as we saw that there were so many enemy planes and our record was good, we gave the order to turn back. This time it was 195 1 year1month 18, and I didn't lose anything. I shot down five planes at once. It was a good fight.
The most memorable ones should be 1952, 65438+ February 2nd, 65438+ February 3rd. On the afternoon of February 2, 65438, we had a battle. In this battle, Sun's plane was injured, and the plane was punched with twelve holes, but it was not the key part and operating system. Sun landed in Dahushan by plane, and the plane could not be repaired immediately, so he stayed there for one night and took a bus ride for more than two hours, and came back on February 3, 65438. We advised Sun not to take off in the afternoon. Sun said, I'm not sick, and there are so few people. He's leaving! I played one in the morning and another in the afternoon. He took part in the battle on the afternoon of February 3, 65438. Over Qingchuan River, Sun was surrounded by ten enemy planes. Many enemy planes shot at him and the plane caught fire. He flew a burning plane into an enemy plane and died at the age of 24.
1in July, 1984, I served as deputy commander of the air force, and Zhang Aiping, Minister of National Defense, led a military delegation from China to visit the United States. Charles A Gabriel, chief of staff of the US Air Force, didn't want to see me in advance. Because there was a gap in the visit, gabriel suddenly asked me to meet alone through the military attache. I felt very sudden, so I reported it to Zhang, and Zhang agreed.
At that time, Zhang Weiyi was an Air Force attache in the American Embassy. He accompanied me to Gabriel's office in the Pentagon. I saw many model planes on his desk. I'm also a pilot, and I like airplane models. As soon as I saw it, there was an F-86 in the model on the table, which was our main rival in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. At that time, the superior informed the US Air Force that there were only two brigades equipped with F-86s on the Korean battlefield, one was the 5 1 brigade, and the other was the 4th brigade. The plane of 5 1 Brigade sprayed two yellow lines on the wing, which we have already seen in the air. There is no such yellow line on the plane of Brigade 4.
As soon as I saw it, I told Gabriel that the F-86 on the yellow line is the 5 1 brigade of your US Air Force. Gabriel was surprised. He said, how do you know? I said that on the Korean battlefield, we often met the yellow line F-86. He asked me: Who do you think draws the yellow line well or badly? I said, it's best to spray yellow lines. Without the yellow line, the fourth brigade can't do it. Gabriel smiled proudly when he heard this. He said, I'm with the 5 1 brigade. On the Korean battlefield, I was the squadron leader of the 5 1 brigade. So we can talk casually.
Then I thought, why did he want to see me? Because he participated in the Korean War and fought with us in the air, but he has never been to China or seen a pilot in China. I am the Deputy Commander of China Air Force. He must know when I went. He wants to see me, probably to see what kind of pilot China is. !
During this visit, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States and the heads of various arms and services exchanged views with us in a conference room of the Pentagon. Zhang introduced the members of the delegation to them. When introducing me, he said: This is Wang Hai, deputy commander of our air force. In the United States, the air force chief of staff is just like the air force commander. Gabriel said, we know each other, and we fought each other. He turned me down. I think his last sentence may have been translated incorrectly, or he said so, but it was just a friendly gesture. So later I specifically talked about this issue in my memoirs. You know, we don't know each other. How did you know I hit you? I'm not sure I turned you down. I guess the translation may not be accurate, but he is serious. Later, I said: if you invade us again, I will shoot you down. I still have this gesture. At this time, Minister Zhang said: This is called a soldier who defeats others without fighting!
Before I retired, the Red Army delegation of the old Soviet Union came to visit, and we invited them to come. The oldest is 82 years old. One of them joined the Soviet Air Force to help War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, China, and beat the Japanese in Wuhan. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the deputy head of one of our airports was also a lieutenant general, who was over 80 years old. Deputy Commander Hu Lin and I are responsible for receiving them. I said three words. I said: We in China Air Force will never forget your help. First, you taught us technology; Second, you lead us to fight; Third, our pilots in China don't drink at all. You teach us to drink every night-it was too tired at that time. At most, it takes off three times a day, and I have also experimented specially. I lost a kilo of meat three times. At first, our pilots didn't drink, and we ate in a canteen with the Soviet Red Army. We can't drink, so they make us drink, and we learn. I told them these three things and they all laughed.
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, we lived in the same airport. Kozhedub and others took off from the east, and our third aviation division took off from the west. We often meet. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, I asked the Central Military Commission to let him visit. The CMC agreed, and so did he, but he died of sudden hypertension. Later, his lover accompanied her with his son, the wife of General Marokov, deputy commander and chief of staff of the Russian Air Force. I asked Hu Lin to accompany her to visit Dandong Airport during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea. When I was in the aviation school, before the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, when I was in a crash course, he visited China with the Soviet youth delegation. At that time, he was a lieutenant colonel and gave us a lecture in the auditorium all morning. Listening to his report is very enlightening. After shooting down 63 planes in World War II, he went to China to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. He was a colonel commander and became an air marshal after returning to China. When the Soviet Union collapsed, his son was a navy lieutenant colonel, who had retired with a monthly retirement fee of $300. It was difficult at that time. After our research, three people each took out ten thousand yuan to buy her a bunch of things.