Devil's Army

Because the Japanese army had lost air superiority in this area and had no naval escorts, these three Japanese troop transport ships were disguised as civilian vessels.

The Japanese soldiers standing on the deck and in the wheelhouse were all dressed in civilian clothes.

Who knew that the arrogant Japanese soldiers were unwilling to hide and were still discovered by the pilots of the First Army.

One Japanese recruit, oblivious to the danger, could not bear the First Army's planes circling at low altitudes, conducting reconnaissance and shouting, and fired at the First Army's pilots.

More than 50 nautical miles from Shanghai, the Japanese commander, realizing the situation was dire, ordered the passenger ship to proceed at full speed toward Shanghai.

However, it was too late; a dense swarm of warplanes had already flown overhead.

These three passenger ships were requisitioned temporarily and were not equipped with anti-aircraft guns.

The Japanese commander had no choice but to order his soldiers to move all their Type 92 13.2mm anti-aircraft machine guns to the deck, bow, and stern, and fire fiercely into the air.

However, this amount of anti-aircraft firepower was utterly insignificant against the fighter jets and bombers of the First Army that roared in from all directions.

Although several of the army's aircraft were damaged by Japanese anti-aircraft machine guns in the initial engagement, the Japanese anti-aircraft machine guns were mostly destroyed as the battle progressed.

The fighter planes and bombers of the First Army lowered their flight altitude and began to bomb and straf the three Japanese troop transport ships indiscriminately.

Desperate, the Japanese soldiers could only raise their guns and fire into the air. But one after another, they were bombarded by machine gun shells and aerial bombs falling from the sky and flying into the sea.

The Japanese Army Ministry was shocked to learn that their troop transport ships had been attacked by the devilish air force. There were nearly 1 new recruits and instructors on the three ships. If all three ships were destroyed, their losses would be extremely heavy.

Helpless, they had to cobble together an air force unit from all over the country and rush to provide reinforcements.

Even the well-trained Japanese air force was no match for the First Army Air Force, let alone these second-line air forces hastily assembled.

When Squadron Leader Shang of the First Air Force saw Japanese warplanes roaring in, he immediately led two fighter squadrons to meet them in battle.

Meanwhile, the three bomber squadrons of the First Army continued to bomb Japanese troop transport ships.

Although the Japanese had more fighter planes than the entire army, their pilots lacked any semblance of discipline.

Instead of using the three-aircraft formation that posed a greater threat to the pilots of the First Army, they immediately pounced on the Devil Force's aircraft like wolves seeing sheep as soon as they saw them.

The pilots of the First Army easily divided and surrounded the Japanese warplanes, and defeated them one by one.

This was a one-sided massacre.

The pilots of the First Army, with their unparalleled speed, broke away from the Japanese pursuit. Then, using their agility, they locked onto Japanese aircraft and opened fire.

One after another, Japanese Zero fighter planes were hit, caught fire, emitted smoke, and crashed.

The one-sided air battle lasted for more than half an hour. All 32 Japanese fighters were shot down, while only two Huaxia III fighters of the First Army were slightly damaged.

Meanwhile, the three Japanese troop transport ships, already powerless to resist, were still fleeing at full speed towards Shanghai. But it was all in vain.

Under heavy bombing by the First Army's bombers, the propulsion systems of three Japanese troop transport ships were damaged one after another, and they drifted on the East China Sea, drifting with the waves.

The first-strike fighters that arrived later also joined in strafing the three Japanese troop transport ships.

The Japanese soldiers on the ship jumped into the sea to escape.

Soon after, three Japanese troop transport ships were bombed and sunk in the East China Sea.

Out of humanitarian considerations, the pilots of the First Army did not strafe or bomb the Japanese soldiers adrift at sea. Instead, they returned to Nanchang Airport.